Kankri was always avoiding the water. Many times had you taken him to the shores of your dream bubbles or to the cliffs above the whispering shore only to have him scramble away at the slightest thought of the water's touch. Your secret matespritship had already "triggered" him, and you couldn't stand being scolded for so long just for wanting a kiss or to hold hands only because it may "cause someone discomfort", so it was the moments like this, when the two of you just say together, quietly chatting and occasionally kissing if Kankri would allow, that made you most happy.
"Hey, Kan," your voice rings out under the dark sky. "How come you don't like the water?"
His hand grasps yours tighter than before.
"Cronus," his voice sounds tiny compared to your own, and you turn to look at him, other hand extinguishing your cancer stick in the grass. "You shouldn't ask such questions without-"
"Without proper warning, yeah, yeah. Ok, trigger warning, Kan. Why?"
He doesn't look at you but instead squints at the sky and sighs a deep breath that reminds you of the days he looks most like the mutant you assumed him to be. His hand flexes again before he answers.
"I..." His trailing voice is new to you, foreign. "I think it's time I showed you something, Cronus."
He removes himself from your grasp, the warmth of his close body fading. You look at him, questioning his motives before nodding when he stars at you expectantly.
"Ok, Chief, shoot."
Once standing, you face him, not exactly sure what to expect. Is he going to just give you another lecture on the principals of fears and how each troll's should be respected? Instead though, Kankri looks at you through he white, dead eyes again and turns on his heels toward the waters below. He makes his way down the cliff side, turning to watch your careful following steps in the night air. When you're both standing in the sand, black and red shoes slipping through the small grains, he begins to do what you least expected - remove his clothes. It starts with his shoes oddly, and you can't help but stare like a wiggler as he plops both off before retuning his piercing gaze to you.
"Would you kindly remove yours as well, Cronus? I know it won't trigger you so I won't bother with the warnings and such, but I do feel it is necessary to get my point across."
He waits to move again until you nod and being to remove your own shoes and socks and then begins toward his pants. It is, you think, removing your jacket and shirt, as if he is removing them so deliberately and slowly in the fashion just to tantalize you.
It's only once he's standing in his underwear and sweater that you realize you've never actually seen him without the hideous red thing on. By the time you'd become acquainted with your matesprit, Porrim had already knitted the sweater, and no matter how many times you'd attempted to remove the damn clothing during your secret make outs, he always flinched when you'd gotten close enough before panicking and ripping himself from your grip.
His stare is deliberate, long and intense before you can finally speak.
"Kankri, you don't have to tell -"
"I want to."
And it's the first time you've heard the phrase from his (long winded) mouth. You nod to him, understanding how dire he feels the situation is, though you still think it's just water. He looks at you, perhaps for reassurance, you can't tell, and slowly moves his grey hands toward the hem of his shirt.
"What I'm about to do," Kankri begins, lifting, "just please don't be upset." And with his final words, you're watching in shocked disbelief as he pulls the scarlet sweater over his nubby horns. There below his rib cage, ever so similar to what you had seen hundreds of times on your own body, are large gill slits, flaming red and clenched close to his body. You let out a gasp, leaning closer with your hands. How could Kankri, a land troll of the lowest caliber have gills...? Your hand moves of it's own accord, and when it touches his side, he flinches slightly. You find yourself letting out a hushed 'shoosh' of comfort. They clench closer to his side when your hand trails along them, and for the first time, you notice Kankri standing before you almost naked and tense as a bow. His fists are held shut along with his eyes, and when he feels your gentle knowing touch, they open again to gaze at you. There are similar slits on his neck, the reason for the large collar, you reckon, and your eyes move along his jugular toward his now pained looking face.
"Kan..." You can hardly breathe, looking at your matesprit in his most vulnerable state, and for once you think that the surge of pity that reels over you is truly love rather than the trollian emotion you know too well.
"I know," he begins, voice so unlike it's powerful form you're used to. "I'm...I'm a freak." And the word is so foreign and angry on his tongue that you can't help but move to his face and just capture his lips in your own, closing your eyes and standing there until he does the same. It's an awkward movement, but as you stand there kissing the bravest and strongest troll you know, you can't help but smile into it. Before you realize, he's pulling away to stare into your eyes and you still can't bring yourself to speak and break the moment. Your hands move to your own shirt, pulling the white fabric away from your chest to show him your own pains. He stares at you when you stand before him, hands out to reveal the angry purple scars along your own gills. Marks from when you'd tried sewing them shut in an angry fit of hatred and longing to be "more human".
You glance away when he move as you did before, his own hand tentatively tracing the raised flesh.
"Cronus," there's that fear again in his voice, sharper now, "Why did you..." He can't bring himself to say it, and part of you wants to laugh bitterly at that.
"I wanted to be human. I thought perhaps somebody would accept me if I just..." Your own voice trails again and you scrunch your face at the thought. "Just, forget it, ok, chief?" And he's looking at you again, those big white eyes so full and clear of thought.
"You won't tell anyone," he asks, motioning toward himself. You look at him almost incredulously.
"Of course not," your voice provides, and you find him grabbing hold of your hands and moving toward the water's edge. He sits in the wet sand, body again holding tight as the cold liquids splash against him.
"Kan, it's ok to breathe with them," you attempt to supply, but you know it sounds silly.
You find yourself moving once more, but this time you're on top of him, lifting yourself to perch on his knees. "Want to come with me?" It isn't much of a question, but you look down at the pool of water beneath you two and back toward the Seer before you.
"Yeah," he stutters out. You kiss him again, chaste and quick, before moving backwards and off his lap. The cool waters that envelop you as you slide into the sea are welcoming and familiar to your body, but you're sure Kankri isn't as comfortable. You watch him slowly move, hands gripping the rocky edge as he lowers his body into the cool waters. His eyes are closed tightly when he is fully submerged, but he slowly opens them to look at you. You give him a reassuring smile as he adjusts and open your mouth to speak.
"Like this," and you move your gills open for him, inhaling the salty waters through your throat gills and out your chest. His breathing is rushed underwater, and you can tell he isn't practiced nearly enough. You place your hands on his shoulders gently so as to slow his rapid treading and gasps.
"Slower."
He looks at you and tries again, breathing in then out in half panicked attempts for air.
"Good," and you're smiling at him now, all sharp teeth and lips. Kankri looks at you, breathing in then out, in then out. "See, Kan? You're doing great." Once he's gathered his breathing, he moves closer to you, sighing. His hands clench to you for support, but you really don't mind. He looks as if he's searching for the right words again, but when he opens his mouth to speak you can't help from meeting it with your own once more. Your lips melt to his own, the warmth of his body now much more evident to you in the cold sea.
"You're beautiful," you tell him when he habitually removes himself for air. He glances at you in disbelief. Your hands run over his flitting gills again. They're so much larger than your own, strong and swollen candy red with his pounding blood. Your gazes meet and he's moving his hands to catch the find around your ears between his fingers before pulling you closer. As you slip you tongue into his opener mouth you begin to realize you may have created a problem for yourself as you feel your bugle begin to unsheathe itself. Kankri must take notice of the now moving organ as well since he glances down toward the pairs of undergarments separating the two of you again then back to your face. You try to hide your embarrassment now by pushing yourself back, the water swaying toward your matesprit in the process.
"I didn't mean to," you begin hastily, glancing around for something, anything to distract him with. "It was an honest mistake, Kan, I swear," but then he's back close to you, eyes half lidded and looking straight into your soul you swear.
"Cronus," he begins, "it's ok, I'm not offended."
You sigh looking back at him.
"I'm really sorry though, Kan, I know how you feel about that stuff, and I -" he cuts you off by pushing his hips toward your own. It succeeds with a vengeance as a rush of pure static pleasure runs up your spine upon feeling his own sheathed bulge against your own.
Oh.
Ooooh. And his hands are now near your short's hem, moving ever so teasingly along them.
"I guess you will be the one to "break my vows" or so you say." His voice is muffled from the water, but you must hear him clear as day when you comprehend it all. Kankri Vantas, a land troll will gills, is now pressing against you insinuating that the two of you actually mate, and you just... Wow. A few bubbles escape your lips when he moves again and asks you quietly.
"Cronus, will you?"
And that was all it took, the invitation from his mouth for you to grab his sides and pull him close once more. Your lips together feel wonderful, full of passion and slick with spit and water. You slide a leg up between his thighs, pressing his groin area slowly. He involuntarily grinds closer to you, gills flaring in the waters below as he breathes once more, heavy now with not only effort but also lust. Your hands make their way along his waist moving his pants down below to his ankles where they're promptly forgotten. He moans through the kiss now, and you pull apart to watch his red-flushed bulge wiggle away from his abdomen. It's slimy pre-slime mixes with the waters around you, and it takes great effort for youto stop staring and remove your own pants. Kankri is now panting through his gills, breathing increasing as he watches you in anticipation. Your own bulge is now writing for attention, purple and thick below you. You can feel the nook opening at the base of your bulge, and the throbbing resonating from that area is driving you mad. You glance at Kankri again, seeking his approval, but his hands are flitting down toward your thighs, an before you register what's going on, they're around your bulge, guiding you ever so closer. You gasp as his fingers dance around the sensitive skin, and he smiles up toward you, a rare occurrence, you've decided.
"Kan," you pant, letting your bulge writhe around his fingers in a futile search for his nook. Each grip of your bulge and his hands sends another wave of pleasure through your body, and it takes a good amount of self restraint for you to pull away.
"Kan," you pant his name so as to assure you aren't unhappy. He looks up at you with such lust and need but nods anyways.
You move so you're beside Kankri, convinced that though you've had no prior experience, he needs more attention, and move so that your own gills are touching his. You beeline for his neck with your lips, kissing here and there ever so lightly. You want to claim every square inch of his body as yours alone. His breath hitches when you rub your gills along his, allowing the sensitive skin to flit open and close on each other. He groans, and now you can see his fully erect bulge dancing in the waters was you kiss his collar bone. You leave a trail back toward his lips this time, pushing your bodies close to one and other again. His bulge wraps around your own as your tongues fight for dominance in the cavern of his mouth. You feel the warmth of his body surround your own bulge as it squirms it's way into Kankri's book, pressing through the muscled tissues of the opening. He gasps between your kiss, and his sensitive erogenous tissues clench against you, refusing to remove the engorged organ until receiving what is so desired. It's your turn to groan when Kankri enters your own nook, pressing the tip of his bulge up into your body. The intense pleasure is almost enough to send you off the edge, but it only amplifies when Kankri moves back in for another kiss. His hands wrap around your horns, rubbing at the bases and sliding up through your no longer slicked back hair. His mouth lets put a long set of air when you press your own hands into his small horns, massaging the bases and rolling your palms over the tips.
"C-Cronus," he moans, eyes coming to your own. "I..gah! I can't take much more."
And now you're pressing your crotches closer, moving your bulge up into his body, seeking release. You're so close, you can feel it, an you trail your hands up to his gills once more as you press in.
"Kankri!" Your voice resonates as you feel your bulge spill genetic material up into his nook, sendng spasms of pleasure and shock up through your body. Seconds later he's doing the same, red bulge convulsing as he groans out his orgasm into you. Your nook greedily takes the materials, instinctively storing the materials later for what would normally be the drones' pails. Your bulges untangle, moving to curl back into their protective slots as the two of you come back from your high. You realize you're panting just as hard as he is; releasing air bubbles from your throat as your gills flare up and down seeking oxygen.
You move toward your matesprit again, pulling him in for another chaste kiss. Kankri moves and smiles as you show your affection, but when you pull away, you notice his eyes and sinking and he looks utterly exhausted. You smile involuntarily before extending your hand to him.
"Come on, Kan. "
He takes it, and you pull the pair of you out onto the sandy beach of the shore. He pants once on land again, attempting to regain his normal breath.
You lay down in the sand, exhausted and yet completely content with your nook feeling fuller than it ever had before. That full warm feeling isn't unwelcome, but soon you find Kankri crawling onto your chest, curling his naked body around your own and snuggling into your neck.
"Cronus," he begins, voice not nearly as weak as before.
You smile but move to look at him and just place a finger onto his lips.
"Shh, not now, Kankri. I'm too flushed for you to even think."
And once again, you see him smile back at you. He curls closer, whispering into you, "'m flushed for you, too..."
Your arms wrap tightly around him, your real love and matesprit, as you cuddle under the dark sky.
And for once you can say you feel complete. An actual mate with you, and the proud and great Kankri Vantas at that!
"Human love you, Kan."
He hesitates before responding.
"Gills and all?"
"Gills and all."