𝕺𝖇𝖘𝖎𝖉𝖎𝖆𝖓 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕾𝖒𝖔𝖐𝖊

I

It's been a week since Phantom was first summoned. No ghouls ever talked to him, so a lot of the time he spent it in his mostly empty room. Any time ghouls were in the ghoul den and he walked past it, the room went silent, like his presence ruins the moment. He was never brought down for dinner, and usually only got the leftovers. He always just told himself that the others weren't used to him yet, and that they just had to get comfortable, but no matter how much he tried to convince himself it only felt like the others hated him more and more.

Dew, on the other hand, was never really present anymore, like he was dead to the world. He always stayed in his room or just away from the others, he didn't even come down for dinner anymore. When everybody else had left, he grabs some, or sometimes the ghouls would leave a plate for him. He rarely ever attended practices, he had no motivation to do anything but stay in his dark room and mourn his best friends presence. Mourn their dumb inside jokes. Mourn when Aether would barge in at any given moment. Mourn when they'd fall asleep together or cuddle in the afternoon. Mourn every moment they were separated. He couldn't sneak to the other side of the Ministry either, it was too long and he was bound to be caught by a Sibling or Imperator herself.

It was quiet and gloomy. It was depressing.

Practice was early this morning, at 8:00. Since Dew ending up at practice was very rare, Swiss, Rain, or Cirrus were sent to go see if he was attending. This morning it was Swiss' turn.

Swiss knocked gently on the wood door, the name 'Dewdrop' engraved into the door, just like all the other doors with names engraved into them according to the corresponding ghoul. "Firecracker, you awake in there?" Swiss cooed. He waited a couple of moments, receiving only silence so he cracked open the door. Dew laid asleep in his bed, cuddling up to a pillow that he was pretending was Aether and his large body curled up next to him. Swiss has noticed that Dew no longer purrs in his sleep, and usually he does, all the time and it's always loud. But, since Aether's leaving, it's been nothing but peaceful silence yet the reasoning for his lack of purrs probably wasn't as peaceful.

Swiss slowly strides into the room, walking up to Dew's bed and gently shaking him awake. "Hey, firecracker." He purred, smiling down at Dew as he pushed a strand of silky red hair behind Dew's webbed ear, yet it quickly fell back into place. Dew only let out a sleepy groan and buried his face into the pillow.

Swiss giggled and smiled, "You look very comfy. I just wanted to see if you planned on coming to practice." Dew frowned slightly, hating the thought of even being near anyone but Swiss and Rain right now. He let out a muffled "mm-mm" into the fabric.

Swiss just giggled again, bending down and pressing a kiss to Dew's fiery orange skin. "Can you stay with me?" Dew asked in a small voice, making Swiss purr happily. "Aww.. I really wish I could stay, firecracker, but just because you're not going to practice doesn't mean I'm not either. Yet, I promise I'll come back and cuddle up with you when it's over."

Dew nodded reluctantly, "How long?" He mumbled, looking up at him with drowsy red eyes. Swiss frowned, petting Dew's hair. "I'm sorry, but it's two hours. I promise I'll come back, no worries."

Dew sighed and nodded again, closing his eyes and tossing his blanket over his shoulder. Swiss kissed his cheek before standing up and walking out, gently shutting the door behind him. Once Swiss was gone, he sluggishly reached over and grabbed his phone off the nightstand, pulling it off the charger and looking at the repeated messages he had gotten from Aether.

"Hey firefly, are you up?" Sent at 7:30.

"You're probably still asleep, knowing you, but that's alright." Sent at 7:32.
"I just want to get in some talk time with you before chores." Sent at 7:33.
"They usually start at 8:45. I know, early, blegh. LOL." Sent at 7:34.

Dew sent back a text as quickly as he could, it was 8:20 and he also wanted talk time with Aether before he had to get to chores.

"hey Aeth, i just woke up, so sorry. would you like to FaceTime?" Sent at 8:20.

Aether was quick to respond.

"Okay!"

Aether quickly called Dew, Dew very obviously answered. Dew was curled up in his bed, his phone not far from his face, showing how cozy he was lying warmly in his bed. Aether was sat at a desk, probably in his room on the other side of the Ministry.

"Good morning firefly, look at how comfortable you look." Aether smiled sweetly, making Dew giggle. "Nothing explains how much I wish I was right there, curled up next to you."

"Yeah.." Dew sighed. "I miss you so much, Aeth. I'm glad I still have Swiss and Rain here, they make me forget how much I want you back." Aether gave a very soft smile and nodded. "I'm glad you're still okay, firefly. When's practice?" Aether purred. Dew hesitated for a little, but eventually breathed out an answer. "8:00.. AM."

Aether's eyes widened, he was surprised. He knew how strict Dew was with himself about getting to practice on time, no matter how much he'd sleep in, it was just apart of his natural water ghoul instincts. "8? Firefly, do you not notice it's 20 minutes after 8?" Aether spoke, only receiving a sluggish nod from Dew. "Are you alright, firefly?"

"I.. I haven't really.. been motivated enough to leave my room without you. I've just been.. rotting away in my room." Dew mumbled.

"Oh firefly.." Aether cooed, "you should've told me how bad it's been. I would've at least attempted to sneak over to the ghoul wing, even if it meant being caught by a Sibling a million times or being punished by Sister."

"Being punished by Sister?!" Dew exclaimed. "You know how harsh she is on us ghouls, if she had caught you or been reported to by Siblings, she would've given you ten times more of these 'chores' you've got. Or maybe worse, since they seem so strict on keeping you retired ghouls all locked up and hidden away despite the reunion three times a year."

"I know, I know, I hear it from the others enough. But this is frustrating, even being around the other ghouls from era 3 that we were friends with, I just can't get over it. I miss you guys, I even miss my brother despite him replacing me. It wasn't his fault. I feel so bad."

Dew let out a small growl, seeming to not like the thought of Phantom. He couldn't help but hold a grudge, Phantom's presence was the reason that him and Aether weren't together anymore. Aether just sighed, "I understand you, Dewdrop."

Aether called him 'Dewdrop' rather than the usual firefly. Dew wasn't used to it, nor did he like it. Even before Dew's transformation Aether called him a nickname. He let out a small huff.

"I understand you, Dewdrop." Aether repeated. "Times are tough, we're separated. But remember my promise. I'll be back, Dewdrop. I promise on everything I have, and everything I have left. It may be different and difficult to handle, trust me, my mind's been all jumbled and just.. hard to process. I bet yours has been the same, but just.. promise me, that no matter how hard it gets, that you remember I'll be with you every step of the way. And though I'm not there physically, I will be soon."

Dew nodded, relaxing at Aether's words. "Okay, Aeth. I promise, on everything I have and everything I have left. Thank you." Aether smiled, but it faded quickly as he checked the time. "Oh firefly.. I'm sorry, but it's 8:40."

Dew frowned but nodded. "Okay." He mumbled, looking sadly at the camera.

"Alright, firefly. I'll text you back as soon as I'm done with my chores." Aether smiled warmly, trying to cheer up Dew a little. "I love you, firefly."

"Love you too, Aeth." Dew replied.

"Bye bye." Aether spoke before ending the call.