A Man and His Ghouls

Up in Flames

It was a nice, sunny Saturday afternoon at the Copia mansion, and The Cardinal was in the middle of the pool lounging on a massive, inflatable flamingo, dressed in nothing but a pair of designer sunglasses and flowery, multi-coloured swim trunks, his freckled, slightly chubby torso on full display; a rarity for the awkward man. 

He smiled, gently petting the Ghoul beside him. Rain had been having a rather hard time as of late, so he chose to be by his Masters’ side all of today. Copia and the Ghoul watched curiously as the others played and hung out in the pool around them, splashing the vampire and his pet every once in a while. 

The Ghouls were wearing black swim trunks adorned with silver grucifixes as the Ghoulettes wore bikinis in a similar design, their charcoal-coloured bodies glistening in the hot Summer sun from a mix of water and sweat. 

Cardi studied the playful Ghouls one-by-one, admiring his pets. Fire and Mountain played around in the bean-shaped pool, splashing one another, laughing as they talked. 

At the very end of the pool, just a little further back from Phoenix and Earth, a buff Aether, nicknamed ‘Basilisk’ for his intimidating stature, was sat on the edge with his legs in the water as he chatted with a floating Multi Ghoul, also known as ‘Swiss Army Ghoul’, who was paddling gently in place, tail swishing back and forth as it made cute little ripples. 

The Ghoulettes were chasing one another in Copia’s rose garden, running around with large water guns as they giggled, hiding behind the many flowered topiaries as each tried to escape the steady streams of water coming from the other. 

The Cardinal sighed, closing his eyes. He was so very happy that his family had convinced him to clean up the pool. He really needed this; they all did. There were some drawbacks to the decision though, one being felt by the old man at that very moment in the form of subtle back pain. 

Ever since Papa III’s ghostly antics scared away all scheduled services Copia had attempted to hire, he had to either do most tasks himself or with help from the Ghouls, — which was an odd experience, to say the least. 
Life was much easier when they lived with the Clergy, but The Cardinal still cherished the alone time his mansion home provided. 

His daydreaming was quickly interrupted by a loud, echoing ‘splash’ followed by a scream and some soft, muffled crying. 
”HEY!” A gruff female voice echoed through the garden, “you didn’t need to fuckin’ do that!” As Cardi looked up, he could see that the angry woman was who the group called ‘Tall Ghoulette’, and the crying figure was Small Ghoulette, sitting at the edge of the pool, covering her face with her clawed hands. 

At this point both The Cardinal and Rain had jumped off the pool toy and swam over to see what was going on, staring at the chaos unfolding in front of them. “Uh, should we intervene, Master?” Aether asked, looking down at Cardi from his place atop the pool’s edge. Multi, who was now lounging arms crossed on the side of the pool, simply tilted his head, curious as well. 
“I am not really sure, Aeth.” Copia started, looking up at the Ghoul, “I wouldn’t want to upset them by butting in, so I believe it might be best to watch from a distance.” Copia finished, locking his gaze upon the fighting Ghouls, hoping he wouldn’t soon regret his decision. 

“I uh… didn’t mean for that to happen.” Fire said sheepishly as he hid behind Earth, scared of the growling Ghoulette pacing angrily in front of the two. 
“…I think it would be best if I go check on her first,” Phoenix’s living shield spoke as he moved towards the smaller Ghoulette, leaving him alone with the angry woman.

As Mountain walked up to Small Ghoulette she quickly jumped back in the water before looking back at him with a pointed finger. “I don’t want to talk to you, bully!” Her high-pitched voice squeaked out, frowning before crossing her arms in disappointment, tail quickly splashing the water behind her as she fumed. 

Earth sat down, cross-legged on the soft grass, tilting his head at the Ghoulette. “Do you really think I’d try to hurt you on purpose…?” He asked sincerely.
The consensus in the Clergy’s Science Division was that Earth Ghouls had evolved from lesser Ghouls, gaining powerful strength to help build their habitats and survive in the harsh elements.
Unfortunately, though, their ancient texts have since been lost to time, so no Earth Ghoul truly knows how to properly control their own strength, Mountain included. 

“Well… no.” The Ghoulette admitted with a sigh, uncrossing her arms, water spraying a little as her hands hit the pool. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you really did hurt me!” She yelled, frustrated, before turning around to reveal that Mountain had pushed her into the pool so hard that the force had created a large red bruise on the back of her right arm. 
The Ghoul looked visibly uncomfortable as he looked down, picking at the dirt below him. 

Tall Ghoulette was pacing back and forth, expletive after expletive exiting her pursed lips. ”That fucking— YOU!” she growled, stopping in her tracks as she saw the mastermind draw closer, walking fast toward him. 
“So!” She began, grabbing hold of his neck with a clawed hand. “What makes you think I shouldn’t break you right here and now?” 
Fire shrugged as he stared at his attacker, “I’unno, ‘cuz you love me?” He grinned, clearly not understanding why she was so angered by his actions. 

The Tall Ghoulette let him go with a loud, frustrated growl. “Fuck you, fuck you, FUCK YOU!” She screamed into the heavens before calming down a little, staring at the prankster. “You KNOW how much your ridiculous pranks frazzle her, and yet you still got Earth to go through with what had to be the worst one yet!” She finished with a sigh. “So, what’s your excuse?”

“I… don’t have one”, the tiny male Ghoul answered, staring up at the giant woman as he started to realise just how badly he fucked up. Tall Ghoulette simply hugged the man, kissing him on the cheek before looking deep into his eyes, “I hope you know how much I hate you right now.” Fire simply laughed, “Well you ain’t exactly good at showin’ it.” 
“Oh, shut up.” The Ghuleh said with a smile before looking over at her fellow Air Ghoul and the mountainous man in front of her. “It seems like things might be going well? They aren’t screaming, so that’s a good sign…” She mused, leaning herself against Phoenix’s shoulder. 

Fire tilted his head at her with a raised eyebrow, “Does this mean I’m off the hook?” She quickly responded by punching him in the side. 
“—Then what the fuck am I s’posed to do?” Fire spat, utter confusion spread on his face. 
“Okay,” she started, placing both hands on his shoulders as she stared into his eyes, “just don’t do this kind of bullshit, — it’s that simple.” 
Fire furrowed his brow, “Wait… ‘this kind of bullshit’? — Does that mean I can still prank you guys?” The Ghuleh simply sighed, lowering her head in annoyance. “Of course you fucking can! I just don’t want anyone else getting hurt,” she spoke before lifting her head with an exhausted laugh, “you can be such a clueless asshole sometimes, I swear.” 
“…oh.” he spoke quickly, looking around as if a lightbulb had gone off in his head. He finally realised it wasn’t about the prank itself, but the pain it had helped to inflict. The Ghoulette simply smiled, shaking her head, “Welcome to the realm of common sense, dude.” 

“I really should not have agreed to the prank…” Earth admitted to Small Ghoulette as he smiled softly at her, face full of guilt. “and I apologise for hurting you, Cupcake.” The small Air Ghoul briskly swam towards Mountain before leaning on the edge of the pool, looking up at him. 
“Pet names won’t save ya now, bud.” She growled out before grabbing her water gun from the side of the pool and spraying him with a steady stream of water, cackling like a madwoman with a huge smile on her face, clearly feeling better than she was before.

The laughter got Fire’s attention, walking himself over to the Ghoulette with a sad, awkward look on his face, knowing he had to apologise. 
“So…” he started, kneeling down next to the now-drenched Earth Ghoul, who then proceeded to stand up and join Tall Ghoulette a few steps away. 
“Is everything fine, now?” He asked the Air Ghoul with a tilted head, hoping the tiny girl didn’t hate him. 

She crossed her arms in a huff, turning her back on Fire, water rippling from the swift movement. Once he had noticed the bruise, he quickly jumped in and swam over to her. “A-ah shit…” he gasped, clawed fingers gently running over the large bruise, making the Ghoulette shiver a little from his touch. 
“I… fuck. I’m so sorry, Ghuleh… I promise it won’t happen again!” He apologised profusely before she turned around and pounced on him, creating a large splash as she held the boy tight. 

“Of course I forgive you, dude!!” She squealed, the Fire Ghoul startled by her odd set of reactions. 
“Wait, really?” He asked, hoping she wasn’t just being nice to him. 
Small Ghoulette quickly kissed him on the lips, “why would I lie to you?” She smiled before nuzzling close, the Ghoul reciprocating with a soft purr. 

“…Oh, get a room, you two!” Tall Ghoulette giggled, yelling towards the couple as she leaned against Mountain, who had privately apologised to her earlier. 
“No no no, please don’t get a room!” Copia chuckled, “I’m thoroughly enjoying the show!” He loudly exclaimed, clearly egging on the public display of affection as the Ghouls around him laughed. 

The two lovers simply ignored the laughing fools, purring as they continued to happily embrace one another, purrs drowning out the surrounding noise.
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