The calm of the night had been broken by a torrential storm. Rain pounded on the windows of Kankri's hive and thunder rattled the thin panes. He was seated comfortably on his couch, lounging with a book he had been attempting to finish reading for weeks. Kankri found the story charming and distracting from the thunder and lightning outside, the crashing and roaring had always been a fear of his. Lightning struck after a period of soft rain and he jolted, nearly throwing the book across the room. Kankri sighed, and tried to relax once again, this time disturbed by a knock at the door.
"For the love of all that is good in this world! I swear on my vow if Cronus is on the other side of this door I will..," he opened the door and there stood...Damara? She was drenched with rainwater, her arms crossed and a pout on her lips. Red mascara ran down her cheeks from the water dripping down her face, "Goodness, Damara! Come in, are you alright? You should have brought an umbrella with you. Perhaps let me know you were coming in advance, it can be triggering to.." He paused as he felt his sweater dampen. Lowering his gaze a bit, the rust-blooded girl was hugging him, her face buried in his chest. He tensed, "Damara, please...let go."
"Kankri...apology..to you," her broken accent was quite apparent as she let go and looked at the ground as if in shame. Kankri looked beyond confused and stood there stunned. She noticed and gave a little bow, "Forgive touches?"
"Damara, you are quite alright. No need for an apology, I simply wasn't expecting such...intimate contact," he tugged at his sweater examining the damp spots, "At least your cosmetics are red so they won't stain my sweater," he gave an awkward chuckle trying to lighten the oddly weighty tone. She simply made a hiccup-like sob. Kankri felt like ice just shot through his veins and shivered at the sound. It wasn't rain that had made her mascara run, "Let's get you inside...you'll catch a cold out there," he tried to remember how Porrim mothered him when he was sad. Kankri reached out shakily, "Trigger warning pale touch," he set his hands on her shoulders lightly, guiding her inside.
She let him lead her inside, choking back little sobs. Damara was grateful the rain dripping from her hair hid the tears rolling down her cheeks. Her night so far had been gog awful, last thing she needed was to be lectured by Kankri for desiring pale contact from him. Damara really had no one else to go to, Rufioh was...well, used to be her only quadrant she had filled. Now, she had nobody. Kankri released her shoulders and stepped in front of her, she could feel him looking down at her and braced for the worst.
"Please lift your head," he requested in a cool, calm tone, "I find it unnerving to talk to someone's hair..," she lifted her head to look him in the eye, struggling to maintain her gaze, "I don't wish to make you uncomfortable, but perhaps you should change out of those wet clothes? I have some spare items I can let you borrow, I simply can't have you catch a cold," her face contorted in an expression of confusion.
"I borrow clothes…" she mumbled and simply nodded, he smiled a bit
"I'll also get you a towel, your cosmetics are smeared and running...that can't be very comfortable for someone who tries to look nice," Kankri was attempting to be kind and compliment her. He was a bit harsh and stubborn, but he wasn't a total jerk. He knew something bad must have happened, she was a pretty private troll and crying in front of someone wouldn't be the norm. Damara's lips curled in a small smile at that. She was confused, but not about to take his kindness for granted, "Once I retrieve the clothes, you may change in my respiteblock. I request you keep your hands off my possessions. While you're changing would you like tea or hot cocoa to warm you up?"
"Please cocoa, little puffs?" She brightened up a little bit and made a pinching gesture with her index finger and thumb, mimicking squishing something. Kankri tried to avoid smiling too much at the slight change in her mood. Porrim would be proud.
"Ah, marshmallows. Yes, of course. Now follow me," he started off to his respiteblock with Damara trailing behind looking around at his hive. It was so neat, and plain. Hers was a mess, covered in clutter and the walls coated in posters for various animes. The posters she'd probably take down when she went home, she didn't want the memories lingering. She bumped into the soft knit of Kankri's sweater, he had stopped in front of her to open his door, "Oh! Goodness, Damara may I implore you to be more careful?" He opened his door and she stepped into his respiteblock.
"Very clean, you do good keep all neat," she smiled looking around a bit in awe. Mostly because the thought that she's probably the only outsider that's ever been in Kankri's respiteblock passed through her head. It was almost as plain as the rest of his hive, but she noticed little trinkets and books on some shelves.
Kankri had gone to his closet and opened the door to a wardrobe consisting mostly of the same red sweater and black pants he wore every day. He hummed to himself as he snatched a sweater off a hanger and tried to figure out what to give her for bottoms. Damara had wandered to the far side of his room to look at the spines of his books. The titles were long, each involving lengthy synonyms for simple words. Kankri had settled upon giving her a pair of shorts that he had outgrown as a wriggler for he figured his pants might be a bit big on her frame. He turned to see Damara about to touch one of the books.
"Ahem," he cleared his throat, to which she jolted and turned to face him with an apologetic smile, "Here are the clothes, I will attend to making some hot chocolate for you. If you need anything don't hesitate to request any assistance," he set the clothes folded neatly on his bed.
She watched him as he left the room and shut the door. He was being awfully kind. Sure, he was his usual uptight self, but overall he was being warm. Damara shrugged off the confusion and stripped away her wet clothes leaving them in a pile on the floor. She shivered at the cold air hitting her damp, bare skin and quickly reached for the shorts and slipped them on. Damara giggled, he must have been so small as a wriggler for them to fit her so nicely. She then grabbed the sweater and began to put it on, pulling it down best she could. The fabric wouldn't move...she tugged a bit harder. She was stuck with the neck of the sweater partially past her horns.
"Kankri!" she called out, her face was flushed a bit in embarrassment as she attempted to pull it down further. The fabric of his sweater just barely covered her chest from its position stuck on her horns.
"Coming!" He responded from his kitchen, he had just finished pouring the cocoa for the both of them and set the tea kettle back on the stove with a small clang. Moving to his room he opened the door, "What do you..oh my…" his face flushed candy red and a hand flew up to cover his eyes, "Damara! You know very well that exposure of skin in such a manner can be quite triggering! Are you trying to upset me?" He sounded more irritated than he intended to.
"Stuck...sweater around horns.." She whimpered, glad he couldn't see that she was upset with herself. She heard Kankri sigh.
"Stay still," Kankri moved closer to her and reluctantly uncovered his eyes. Oh gog, it felt lewd just looking at her. He made quick work of stretching the fabric to move past her horns and settle on her chest. The sweater was large on her, the bottom hem reaching the hem of the shorts he gave her...she looked like she had no pants on. Kankri's flush grew worse, "T-there. If you would like to, you may settle on the couch and I'll bring you hot cocoa," Damara looked at him confused, why was he so red? She simply smoothed the sweater down and nodded, shuffling to the couch.
Kankri just watched her go wide eyed. Why was his hemo-pusher beating faster? He shrugged it off best he could and went to gather her wet clothes to put in the dryer. He picked them up and went to his little drying unit in a separate room. Opening the lid he gingerly placed each item in. Shirt, skirt,...panties...oh gog...panties. He restrained a squeak bubbling in his throat, chucked the panties in the dryer with a horrified face and slammed the lid. Kankri started it up and went to get the cocoa, hopefully it hadn't gotten cold.
Damara was situated on the couch, sprawled out as if it was her own. She had her face nuzzled up against a pillow, the tears had come back full force and left little damp spots on the pillow. The fabric of Kankri's sweater was soft and smelled comforting, she rubbed the material between her fingers to soothe herself. Kankri approached with the mugs of cocoa and looked her over before coming into her line of sight. He almost chuckled at the sight of her, she looked like a tuckered out wriggler.
"May I sit with you?" He asked softly. She made a mumble and buried her face in the pillow, "Damara, I can't hear you with your face full of caw-beast feather pillow" she didn't answer, but simply sat up, giving him space to sit next to her. Damara curled her knees up to her chest and rested her head atop her knees, "Thank you," he moved to sit next to her, holding a mug and setting the other down in front of her on the small coffee table he kept. He could see the sadness in her eyes and sighed, "May I inquire as to what happened?" He readied himself for a harsh response.
"Rufioh break red for horse boy, he leave but no say," she worded it best she could in her mumbles, a couple tears rolled down her face. Kankri gave a bewildered look. Rufioh left her? Wait,...leave..but no say...he cheated?! On her? Kankri wasn't one for quadrants, but he knew how Damara was with him. She was sweet, kind...everything a matesprit should be by the book.
"Perhaps Rufioh has a hard time not taking things for granted, like your sweet demeanor," Kankri tried to reassure her, "Surely, he didn't leave because of inadequacy on your end," her breath hitched in a sob, "Trigger warning pale touch," Kankri's hand shook as he reached behind her and rubbed her back, scootching closer to make the reach less awkward. Damara lurched away from his touch for a moment before relaxing back and letting him rub her back.
"You think no fault of me?" She turned her head to rest the side of her face on her knees and look at him. Internally she questioned his honesty, on the basis of her own doubts and well, Kankri wasn't known to be so sympathetic.
"Honestly, I believe if there is fault to be had it's Rufioh's...pardon if I triggered you in taking sides on this matter," He had ceased rubbing her back and returned his hands to his lap, fiddling with his fingers. She gave him the weirdest feeling. His hemo-pusher raced a bit, his nutrient processing sack felt like there were knots in it. Kankri chalked it up to primal urge and nothing more, considering she had a newly empty caliginous quadrant. Damara had sat up and was giving him a funny look as if she was trying to figure something out, "W-what are you.."
"Trigger warning pale hug," she said plainly, her trigger warning accompanied by a tender smile and not long after a big, tight hug. Kankri made an audible gasp as he felt her fly into his lap with her arms around his neck. He gulped and hesitantly hugged back, letting her cling to him. This felt, nice. Not as uncomfortable as he expected, he held her a bit tighter.
"It'll be okay, nothing's going to hurt you while you're here at least...no one is going to hurt you," he mumbled, hoping she was too tired to hear him. He felt her breath deepen, she was dozing off in his arms. Kankri blushed and did his best to shift her off of him and onto the couch, grabbing a blanket and tucking her in as Porrim would have done for him, "Goodnight.." He kissed her forehead and went to his room. Content and confused with the odd feelings in his chest.