Kankri sat on the side of the tree fort, kind of glad that Demara and the others were gone. He sighed and picked at a loose thread on his sweater, practically imagining Porrim scolding him for being rough with the fabric.

However, at this moment, he really didn't care.

"Stupid Amp9ra…" he muttered, tagging it mentally as '#private 9nly'. The troll kicked his feet a little, pulling a longer thread off of his bright red sweater.

A finger gently tapped his shoulder, "Mind if I sit?"

Quickly, Kankri glanced up, then went back to picking at his wrist, "It w9n't 69ther me… G9 right ahead…"

Cronus, in his full god tier, sat next to Kankri, "So, howv goes it? Anything happen wvhile I wvas out?"

"N9."

He leaned back a bit, and then remembered his wings. With a slight sigh, he changed into his more suiting clothes and un-tucked his cigarette from behind his ear, "Wvell, as it turns out…," he twirled it in his fingers, looking up, "Eridan and I don't really dig each other… I guess wve just kind of wvent 'out' on a platonic friend date or wvatevwer…"

"9h, I am s9rry t9 hear that…" #tw: hearing #tw: listening

"Wvhy wvould you be sorry? It wvasn't your fault, Kankri…" he smiled a bit, his eyes closed as he held the cig in his teeth. Cronus put his arms under his head as he spoke around the 'cancer stick' with expertise, "Besides, I havwe feelings for someone else…"

Kankri went back to picking at his sweater, "W9ult y9u like to talk a69ut that person instead? If y9u d9n't, we c9uld always find something that y9u w9uld find m9re enj9yible and that w9uldn't tri-"

"Don't say the wvord 'trigger', man… It wvill trigger me…"

His jaw dropped and he covered his mouth as he said in a muffled tone, "I'm s9rry, I didn't mean t9 — y9u, y9u sh9uld've t9ld me s9 I c9uld've av9ided it. D9 y9u even have a m9irail t9 c9mf9rt y9u in this case? S9rry if I — y9u again, I just assumed with y9ur dapper attitude and gleaming smile that y9u w9uld have 9ne 9f m9st pe9ple. I sh9uldn't make such recent judgments seeing as everything changes in 6u66les… Is there anything I may get t9 help you feel less —?"

Cronus was smiling pretty hard, eyes still shut as he tried not to laugh at Kankri. He sat up after making a slightly hurt look on his face, "Wvell… You could tell me wvhat's wvrong wvith you…"

"There is n9thing wr9ng," he answered with a pout after realizing Cronus was fucking with him.

"Sure there's not… You seem all depressed wvhile I'm awvay on a date wvith Eri, then don't shut up wvhen I come back…"

Kankri huffed, "That has n9thing t9 d9 with anything. I d9n't see why y9u think it d9es." #tw: seeing #tw: sight

"Come on, Kankri… Tell me wvhat's wvrong… Wvho am I going to tell?"

"I am perfectly c9ntent n9t telling y9u. And peer pressure is a trigger, s9 tag it."

"I wvill tag it if you wvould grace me wvith wvhat is making you upset… Or, should I say, wvhat's triggering you."

Kankri didn't answer; instead he just stared over the side, looking at his feet. Slowly, he felt a trigger speech bubbling up, but shoved it back down, not wanting to make Cronus to get mad and walk away or do something stupid. Dammit, say something. Anything at this point would be good… He felt an arm wrap around his shoulders and he looked up, slightly surprised.

"Fine, you don't havwe to tell me. I just thought it wvould be nice to knowv…" He leaned down and kissed Kankri's forehead. #tw: 'accidental' kiss #my bad Kankri

Kankri slowly started to turn a bright red and pulled his sweater up over his face.

The other troll smiled a bit, then took one of the longer bits of thread that Kankri pulled off his sweater and tied one end to the smaller troll's pinky.

"What are y9u d9ing?"

"Just doing something Demara told me about…" He then tied the other end to his own pinky, with some difficulty. "Hey, Kankri…"

"… What is it?"

"You can tell me your speeches wvhenevwer you wvant… Heh, I don't mind them at all."