Archive of Our Own ^beta

  This was bad. This was very bad. Copia was supposed to be out of the dressing room fifteen minutes ago, yet none of the ghouls had seen him, none of the sisters had heard from him, and none of the brothers had seen him since breakfast. Dewdrop was vibrating with anxiety to the point where Aether had to physically force him to sit and stop wearing holes in the soles of his shoes with his frantic pacing.

  As twenty minutes rolled around, the present clergy decided that someone had to venture into Papa’s dressing room and find out what was wrong. The problem with this was that no one wanted to be the unlucky soul to walk in on whatever unholy horrors were delaying their frontman, nor did anyone want to face his fury.

  Well, fury was not quite the right word for how Papa Emeritus IV would respond to such a breach of protocol. Had Papa II still been in charge, perhaps that would be the correct description. However, Copia was a very different man. He was more likely to scream and hide and then make embittered comments and petty jabs at whoever offended him for the next month or more. That was what the clergy feared. After some debate, the group decided to play Rock Paper Scissors and whoever lost the most would be the one to confront Copia.

  Dew would later blame his results on being distracted. Typically, he was much better at Rock Paper Scissors, yet when it mattered most he kept losing. Of fucking course. First he lost to Aether. Then he was paired up with Rain and lost again. Then came Sister Amelia (lost), Sister Beatrice (lost), Brother Gregory (lost), Sibling Adrian (lost), Sister Julia (lost) and lastly, Swiss. The irony of the two multi-instrumentalists being the two finalists of the game was lost on no one. By all means the rest of the ghouls had expected better from Swiss at least, if not Dew as well. After all, both were so adaptable. Alas, their talents were completely lost on this stupid game of luck.

  “Well, if you lose I promise I’ll keep him distracted,” Swiss joked, attempting to cut the tension.

  “We both know that is going to go about as well as the time we tried to distract him from making jabs at Cirrus after walking in on her and Cumulus.”

  “Come on, Dew. I’m trying to help here.”

  “Would you two hurry up? Tech won’t stop nagging me about sound check,” Sister Beatrice interrupted.

  “Okay fine—Rock Paper Scissors Shoot!”

Swiss held out two open fingers.

Scissors.

Dewdrop held out a flat hand.

Paper.

  “FUCK!”

  “Hey, hey, what’s the worst that could happen? Sister Imperator offed him with no warning? He’s summoned Cthulhu and has a tentacle up his ass? Seriously, it’s nothing we can’t sort out. Just go rip the metaphorical bandaid off and I’ll get you a beer later, okay?” Swiss patted Dew on the shoulder and escaped back to the bus to help the siblings unloading their gear.

  “Easy for you to say. You don’t have to go in there. Asshole,” the fire ghoul fumed as he stomped over to Copia’s dressing room.

He knocked on the door.

  “Just-just a moment!” Copia yelled from the other side.

  “You said that ten minutes ago. We need you out here like a half hour ago. Get it together and come on,” Dewdrop grumbled. He heard a muffled thud from inside the room.

  “Shit! Ow. I am okay, amico mio! Just go back to the bus and I’ll join you all in no time, si?” Copia replied.

  “Bullshit. I’m coming in.”

  “What?! No, wait!”

  “We’ve been waiting, your unholiness. I’m coming in.”

  Before Copia could respond, the door handle glowed red and clicked open.

  Dew was pleasantly surprised that the papa did not, in fact, have a tentacle up his ass. Instead, Copia was sitting on the floor with his legs stretched straight and his pants unbuttoned. Though his shirt and jacket were buttoned, Dew could tell that the fabric was pulled dangerously tight across his little belly and the fasteners of his pants were pulled far apart by his girth. He quickly attempted to cover himself with his arms, but only succeeded in drawing more attention to his predicament as his shoulders slumped in and accentuated the curve of his stomach.

  “I am sorry, Dewdrop. You should not have to see me in such a pathetic state,” he whined, eyes glimmering with tears.

  “Hey, you’re the one who chose to wear ridiculously tight suits for your rituals. You could have just gone with the papal vestments like the first and second.”

  Copia blushed. “I’ve always quite liked tight garments. They feel like a second skin. I just-I should have thought what the consequences of such a long hiatus might be to my body.”

  “Well, we can figure that out later. For now we need to get you at least somewhat presentable for tonight’s ritual.”

  Dew sat on the floor and maneuvered Copia so he was laying on his back. He grabbed the two sides of the man’s pants and yanked them towards each other. No luck.

  “I have already tried that,” Copia grumbled, “it doesn’t work no matter how hard I tug.”

  “Okay. Okay. Let me think for a moment.”

  “This is hopeless, I should just call off the show, I can’t—“

  “Stop that, I’ve got an idea,” Dew interrupted. He dug around in his pockets for a moment before presenting a small black hair tie. Copia frowned.

  “How is a hair tie going to help?”

  “Just trust me. I think this will work.”

  Dew threaded the tie through the buttonhole of the pants, looped one end over the other to secure it and stretched the loose loop over the button on the other side. He then yanked at the zipper  a few more times until it closed a bit more and wrapped the end of the hair tie around the button once more to make the top close a bit further.

  “There. You’re in. Now, can we get on with sound check?”

~~~~~~~~

  Copia felt like a can of pastry dough. Despite Dewdrop’s ingenious solution to his wardrobe problem, the seams of his pants dug in to his flesh and his suit jacket was so tight he had a hard time taking in full breaths. This made singing especially difficult and he had a hard time keeping up with his choreography with his already limited breathing.

  Fortunately, the audience seemed dazzled as usual by his performance and he managed to keep most of his discomfort internalized, focusing on the encouraging cheers of the crowd. In fact, by the time they got to Monstrance Clock, he was on such an adrenaline high that he had nearly forgotten how primed to pop his suit had felt the whole night.

  Unfortunately, the suit did not forget. As the final chorus started, Copia jumped up onto the raised platform at center stage only to feel a distinctive pop and a slight loosening in the seat area. Though he couldn’t turn to look, he knew he’d just ripped his pants. Somehow he made it through the end of the song. Somehow he made it through the bows without turning his back to the audience. As soon as the lights went out for the last time, he sprinted back to his dressing room, ignoring the shouts of his ghouls and further tearing of his pants until he was safe behind the door.

  He untied Dewdrop’s hair tie, freeing the zipper to pull open from the pressure of his waist. He tugged and pulled and yanked at the now-useless garment until he was free at last and chucked it at the wall in fury and despair. He slumped forward and put his head in his hands only to feel one of his jacket buttons pop free as well. His soft belly now pooled in his lap unhindered, as if mocking him for his gluttony and selfishness over the past two years.

  Copia felt miserable, but what was worse was how fascinated he was by his new softness. He squished the fat around his waist and couldn’t help but gasp at how nice the sensation was. It was like a cat kneading him. Solid. Comforting. Tears sprung to his eyes again as another wave of shame hit him. How could he have let himself go so badly?! No one would find an ageing and chubby papa alluring. No one would turn to Satanas because of his work. He would be discarded just as the previous papas had been.

  Someone knocked on his door and Copia was promptly reminded that he was in his underwear and a busted open jacket, no pants to be seen and his fat belly sticking out of his shirt. In short, he was in no state to receive guests.

  “I can hear you in there. Are you gonna open the door or not?” Dewdrop grumbled outside.

  “No.”

  “So I take it you’re keeping my hair tie?”

  “Shit!”

  Copia scrambled to his feet and searched the floor for the small item he had thrown in fury a few minutes earlier. Once he found it he opened the door just a crack in order to pass the hair tie to his ghoul and quickly retreat into hiding once more. However, as soon as the door was open, Dew shoved a foot in between the door and door jam. Copia pushed on the foot and the door with no success.

  “You know, busting up my foot would make the rest of this tour a real pain. I need that to use my pedals.”

  “Then get your foot out of the doorway!” Copia yelled back.

  “Not gonna happen. You ran back here crying. The other ghouls are worried. Unfortunately, they tasked me with sorting things out, so I’m not leaving you alone until I’m sure you’re going to be alright for the rest of the tour.”

  “I’ll be fine! Just leave me to get changed and I’ll meet you on the bus soon, si?”

  “After you took two full hours to get ready without asking anyone for help and left us all in a panic? Yeah, I don’t think so. Come on, let me in. If you really are going to be fine, I’ll just help you pack things up. If you’re not, I’ll figure out how to help.”

  Copia sighed. “I’m not getting out of this, am I?”

  “Nope.”

  “Fine, fine, come in, but be quick about it.”

  Dew slipped into the dressing room once more and stood staring at Papa Emeritus IV, half dressed in front of him, plump thighs reddened from those terrible suit pants and plump belly pushing out of the remaining suit pieces.

  “Could you—could you please stop staring at me like that?” Copia squeaked, tears returning to his eyes.

  “Sorry! Sorry, you’re just—“

  “Horribly fat?”

  “Voluptuous.”

  Copia raised an eyebrow. “That’s the word you go for? Voluptuous?”

  “Yeah,” Dew shrugged, “I mean, you’ve always had nice thighs, but damn. Now they’re amazing.”

  Copia blushed. “Oh. I…wasn’t expecting that response.”

  Dew shifted awkwardly from foot to foot and scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, I uh…might have a bit of a thing for bigger guys, not gonna lie.”

  “That actually explains a lot.”

  “You mean me an Aether?”

  “Yes.”

  “You like him too though,” Dew probed.

  “I uh…suppose you are right. I like all of you though, I do!” Copia rushed to assure the small fire ghoul. Dew rolled his eyes.

  “Believe me, I know. You wouldn’t be fondling the two of us on stage or looking up at Swiss and the Ghoulettes with that look of awe you get sometimes if you weren’t a slut for all of us. I’ve even seen you hitting on Rain and Mountain a few times, shy as those two can be compared to the rest of us.”

  “Am I really that obvious?”

  “Oh absolutely. But, you do seem to give the most attention to me and Aether. Is there any particular reason for that?” Dew sauntered closer to Copia, caressing one of his thighs with his tail, the spaded tip just barely brushing his crotch enough to make him shiver.

  “I-I like confidence in my partners. Aether is quite strong. The idea of him holding me at his mercy is-is rather arousing.”

  Dew circled behind him, bringing his mouth up to the Papa’s ear. “And what about me?”

  “You? Well, um. You are much smaller, yes, but you are so very flexible, and you like to play dirty.”

  “Oh? Would you like me to play dirty with you?”

  “Yes, please,” Copia whined, leaning into to ghoul.

  This was all Dew needed to hear. He sank his teeth into Copia’s neck and ripped at his remaining clothes with his claws. Buttons and shreds of shimmering fabric scattered across the room. His tail snaked into his briefs and stroked teasingly at the underside of his cock.

  Now freed of his suit, Copia’s full body was revealed to Dewdrop and he let out an ominous growl.

  “Sweet Satan, you’re thick now,” he moaned, running a clawed hand from Copia’s chest down to his belly, kneading into the soft flesh. Copia whined again and gripped onto the ghoul’s shoulders as his knees went weak.

  “Please, Dew,” he begged, unsure what exactly he was begging for, but knowing he needed more. Dew lowered him onto the floor and straddled his hips, leaning down to pull Copia into a kiss.

  A forked tongue swirled in Copia’s mouth and sharp teeth drew blood from his lips. The ghoul above him ground his hips down against his cock, pulling soft moans from him. One hand threaded through his hair, tugging his head to control the kiss while the other had moved down from his stomach to claw at his hips. Just as Copia was getting dangerously dizzy, Dew broke the kiss and looked down at him with pure lust in his eyes.

  “I’m going to fuck that gorgeous ass of yours and leave my mark over every part of you I love, is that okay?”

  Copia nodded silently and in return was flipped onto his hands and knees. Dew ripped his briefs apart and incinerated his own clothes in a flash of fire and smoke.

  “I didn’t know you could do that,” Copia gasped.

  “I didn’t know you could still talk. Let’s fix that,” Dew growled before shoving his fingers in his mouth and pinching his bitten tongue until Copia yelped.

  “That’s more like it. Now, on to business.”

  Dew grabbed an ash-coated packet of lube from where he’d tossed it before incinerating his clothes and spread some on his fingers. He pushed a single finger in and quickly realized that his papa was already mostly prepped.

  “Had an fun afternoon, did we?”

  “Mmmph!” Copia whined, fingers still in his mouth.

  “Well, no matter, makes my work a lot easier,” Dew shrugged before slamming his full, slick length into his hole. Copia shouted into the ghoul’s hand, legs quivering before finally giving out and nearly crashing him to the floor before Dew could grab him and settle him onto his lap.

  “Bad position?”

  Copia nodded weakly, chest heaving and face flushed.

  “This a bit better?”

  Another nod.

  “Good.”

  With that settled, Dew began to roll his hips more gently into his human partner, causing a soft gasp with each thrust. Copia’s shaking hands reached down to touch himself, but were quickly swatted away by the ghoul.

  “No. You can jerk yourself off whenever you want. Now is about me showing you how much I love you, no matter how you’ve changed. Especially for how you’ve changed.”

  Copia sniffed back more tears at Dewdrop’s words. Though he faced away from him, Copia threaded a hand through the ghoul’s fingers and gently kissed the back of his hand, putting as much love and appreciation as he could in those soft kisses. When Dew felt the dripping of tears onto his hand, however, his thrusts stopped and he flipped Copia around to face him.

  “Hey, wait, are you okay? Do you need to stop?” he asked frantically. Copia shook his head and tugged his ghoul into a tight embrace. He muttered something into his shoulder.

  “Didn’t quite catch that.”

  “I said please say that again?”

  “What, that I love you?”

  “No—well, maybe that too, but I mean the part about liking how I’ve changed?”

  Dew laughed. “I was going to show you that next. Does that count?”

  “Could you do both?” Copia asked, hiding his reddening face in Dewdrop’s shoulder.

  “Of course, but where do I start?”

  Dew pulled the papa back and laid him on the floor, crawling over him once more.

  “Let’s see…how about the way your chin has filled out? How it pushes against your tie when you look down? It make me want to just—“ Dew cut himself off by licking his way down Copia’s jaw and nibbling at the soft underside of his chin until he writhed in pleasure.

  “Or how about the way your arms have just a touch more softness to them that’s only noticeable in the tightest sleeves or when you make dramatic gestures? It makes those gestures just a bit more enchanting to me.”

  Clawed fingers scraped down those arms leaving red trails in their wake and making Copia thrust up against the ghoul with a whine.

  “Or how about this little belly of yours? So much more to hold, to pet, to lick, to bite, to squeeze,” Dew purred as he demonstrated each action on Copia’s soft middle. By the time he settled to kneading his subtle love handles, Copia’s was moaning in earnest and scrabbling at Dewdrop’s back with his own, blunted nails.

  “Oh, and I can’t forget these delicious thighs of yours. The way they wobble when you stomp your feet. The way it wobbles all the way up to your ass. Oh, and that ass of yours! My hands are just too small to fully grasp it now and you have no idea how that drives me wild. When you sway your hips against me? Instant hard-on. Thank fuck I wear a cup or everyone would be getting an eyeful at every ritual. Not that they aren’t already with this thing wobbling in their faces,” Dew went on, kneading at Papa’s ass cheeks and trailing kisses along the meat of his thighs. Copia moaned as the ghoul sucked a hickey into his inner thigh and bucked up once more before coming nearly untouched. He writhed and panted out his ghoul’s name while Dew finally showed mercy and stroked him through the orgasm until the man lay boneless on the floor, staring up at the fire ghoul with peaceful adoration in his eyes.

  “Thank you, Dewdrop,” he muttered weakly, pulling the ghoul down to his level for a much slower and gentler kiss. Dew ground his hips lazily against his papa’s thigh until his own orgasm rolled through him in blissful waves.

  “The pleasure was mine, really. To be honest, I never thought you would let me do that.”

  “What, give me a fantastic orgasm? You’ve done that before,” Copia laughed.

  “No, I mean let me tell you how I feel about you. About how you look. It felt like overstepping some unspoken boundary or something, letting emotions in on the fun,” Dew shrugged.

  “I’m glad you offered. I think I needed that.”

  “Yeah, I think you did too. You also need to explain this to the costume designer somehow.”

  “Oh for fucks—did you have to bring that up now? Now I’m stressing about it again. And you tore that new suit to shreds. How am I supposed to explain that?!” Copia whined, pushing the ghoul off of him to grab his casual, bus-riding clothes.

  “Fuck if I know. Rabid rat attack?”

  “Rats don’t get rabies.”

  “Oh, sorry I’m not a rat expert,” Dew sassed, standing up and snatching some of Copia’s spare clothes.

  “I do hope you intend to return those to me later, Dew. I don’t have many clothes with me that fit right now,” Copia grumbled, gesturing at how his shirt was pulled taught over his stomach.

  “Hmm, maybe you should go naked then. I certainly wouldn’t complain.”

  “Give me my clothing back by tomorrow or I’m stealing your boyfriend’s. And maybe stealing your boyfriend.”

  Dew snorted, cinching the oversized sweatpants around himself so they wouldn’t fall off and walking to the door. “We’ve got an open relationship, Papa. Go right ahead.”

  “Ah, what have I gotten myself into here?” Copia’s lamented as he gathered the last of his things and shoved his shredded wardrobe into a duffel bag.

  “My pants, that’s what.”

  “You say as you are quite literally in my pants.”

  “I’ll get in your pants any time you’d like, Papa,” Dew winked, jogging out of the room and back to the bus before Copia could come up with another good reply. He sighed and made his way towards the bus.

  “Now to think of how to break the news to our dear costumer…”