A Whisper in the Night

And the earth was without form, and void;

As soon as the ghoul had been led out of the room, his demeanor seemed to change completely. He was silent, stiff, like he had left the grace he carried back in the office. 

"Is everything ok?" Terzo had noticed the change in energy right away, the air had gotten heavy much to quick. 

"Yes, I...I am not used to meeting new people, my apologies if I seem... awkward. Especially around the other ghouls." Even though he expressed worry, he still followed stoically, eyes locked in front of him as they walked. 

"There is nothing to worry about nuovo, it might take some time but my ghouls should soften up, of course, loosing the mask may help with that." He reached up to tap the cheek of the mask, and the ghoul looked down at him for a moment. The silence spoke louder than the ghoul could have.

Not going to happen, got it. Terzo thought to himself, lowering his hand as he looked away once again. 

"If it is not to personal, why the mask?" He didn't want to pry, but it was strange and a little unnerving. 

"No ghoul, or human, has ever seen my face. It is....personal insecurities, I suppose. I am not hiding anything important, it is simply a preference." They rounded one more corner and came to a stop in front of some double doors.

"I see, well, we are here. Are you ready to meet your new pack?" The ghoul tensed at the word, he wanted to make a good impression, to get along, but deep down he wanted to curl up so small he would disappear. 

What if he messed it up? What if they just didn't like him? What if he said the wrong things? Or hurt someones feelings?

He was forcefully pulled from his thoughts with the click of the doors opening, and his shoulders tensed even harder as the heavy door swung open. 

"Ciao my dears!" Terzo exclaimed as he stepped into the room. Well, if you could call it that. The new ghouls eyes wandered, it was like a fancy apartment inside of their wing of the church. He first noticed a living room, it was lower than the entry area, giving it an appealing and open energy to the space. Comfortable chairs and cushions where scattered around the main couch, backed against the raised wall of the entryway. A TV hung high enough that you could see it from the dining area on the other side of the "room". The table was big, but nothing fancy, and was right next to the decently sized kitchen. Just between the kitchen and living area was a wide hallway that led to many doors. One other hallway branched from the living room, but had quite a few less doors in it. The lighting was warm and comfortable, as was the space as a whole. It gave the ghoul a sense of home he had rarely ever felt before. 

He didn't notice the room had gone silent until someone gave a pointed 'eh-hem' in his direction.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was someone speaking to me?" His posture fixed itself quickly and he griped his hands behind his back tighter.

"No, but you seemed pretty spaced, takin' in the sights?" A short ghoulette looked up at him with a smiling face. Now that he thought about it, none of the ghouls where wearing the masks they where before. 

"Why yes, it is very comfortable in here, it has a warm energy I quite like." He returned her smile, even though she couldn't see it through the mask, she could see it in the way he tilted his head. 

"Good to hear! Cause this is where you'll be staying!" She put emphasis to her words by opening her arms, presenting the scene all over again, which received a small chuckle from the newby. 

"So whats with the mask?" Another ghoul chimed in, sounding rather unimpressed with the conversation in front of him. 

"DEW!" The ghoulette in front of him shouted at him, to which he put up his hands in defense.

"I wear it for personal reasons, that is all I would like to talk on it at this time." He kept cool, calm and centered, even as the ghoul that he now new as Dew walked up to him.

"So you're ugly?" Dew stated bluntly.

"Dew, stop it!" The ghoulette yelped again.

"No, it's alright," He held a hand up to the ghoulette gently. "I understand why Dew-"

"Dewdrop" He didn't break eye contact, staring daggers into the new member.

"I understand why Dewdrop is curious, it's not exactly normal, this situation that is." He turned to face Dewdrop once again. "And I understand that you might not trust me right away. I hope that we can become friends, but for now," He held a hand out to the shorter male. "we can simply be acquaintances?"

Dew looked from the ghouls mask down to the hand in front of him, then back again. 

"Sure." He did not take the hand before him, and instead turned around, walking through one of the doors in the longer hallway. 

"Well, that was something." Terzo finally piped up, sensing the lingering tension in the room. "Can't say I'm surprised, he is a little spitfire after all."

"That's our Dew." The shorter ghoulette rolled her eyes and turned around to face the newcomer once again. "I'm Sunshine, its nice to meet you, new roomie." She took the hand that was still extended for herself and gave one hard shake. 

"And its a pleasure to meet you as well." He looked back to her, she was small and round, everything about her screamed soft. Her styled curly shoulder-length hair, her purple t-shirt she now wore, as well as her happy aura. Sunshine was a perfect name for her.

Sunshine led introductions, and everyone seemed much more comfortable now then they did in the summoning room, which the timid ghoul was quite happy about. 

"I guess you don't have a name picked out yet?" A ghoul named Rain spoke up after everyone had introduced themselves. 

"Ah, no, I suppose I was put on the spot." He shot one hand up to rub the back of his neck. "How did you all pick your names?"

"Well, we kinda named each other?" The ghoul Aether said, getting a confused head tilt from the nameless ghoul. "We're kinda named after our elements or personalities, so when a new ghoul shows up we give them a name based on that, its not usually very original or special. But it works." He stated with a nod.

"I see, that does make a lot of sense then." He gave a quick look back to sunshine, who gave him a beaming smile. 

"What is your element?" It was a voice he hadn't recognized, Mountain, tall and quiet they told him. "You can usually tell from the way a ghoul acts but I can't with you." 

"Oh, I'm an air ghoul." 

"I suppose that's why you are so timid, not loud, but not silent either, like a whisper." Aether shrugged at his statement. 

"Perfect!" The multi-ghoul, Swiss, exclaimed. "Whisper, or Whisp, easy, elementally appropriate, its perfect. What'dya think?"

He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Rain. "I think you're so cheesy its sad." He stated with a chuckle, only to get an elbow to the ribs. 

"I like it." The ghoul said between giggles. "I think it suits me, yes?" 

With that he was lead to his new room, the long hallway was for the ghouls, and the shorter one for the ghoulettes. There was nothing to extraordinary about the room, it was big, with a bathroom attached and a large wardrobe against the wall. For the most part, empty. 

It had gotten quite late and everyone was turning in for the night, he waved them off before locking the door and finally taking off his mask. He set it gently on the bed, making his way to the bathroom, picking up two towels that had been left on the bed for him. As soon as he was in the smaller room he threw one of the towels over the mirror. He gave a tired sigh as he entered shower, letting the water run cold for a moment as he let his glamour slip all the way, exposing his horns and tail to the slowly warming water. 

"How am I gonna do this?" He whispered to himself, laying his head against the wall of the shower. He let his eyes shut and sank into his own thoughts as the water took over his senses.

NOTES

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HEHE you thought I would tell you what he looked like, but you have been fooled!