Kankri awoke with a start very early in the afternoon to the sound of urgent rapping at his door. The harmfully bright Beforian sun was still setting, so a shout tore from his throat as he opened his eyes and came face-to-face with the harsh, burning glare from its rays as it slid almost timidly, as though apologizing for nearly blinding the troll, behind the horizon. He shut his eyes instinctively and waited for the sunset to give way to the evening. When his alarm clock went off signalling as such, he opened them again and pulled himself out of his recuperacoon reluctantly. Still dripping with sopor slime, he pulled on his candy-red turtleneck and black pants (which took an agonizingly long time to zip up) before limbering through his hive towards the front door. This had better be good, Kankri thought. When he finally reached his destination, he flicked on the ceiling lamp and gingerly wrapped his hand around the doorknob before pulling it towards him, and was surprised when he was instantly met with a tight embrace and numerous kisses all over his face.
"Happy wriggling day, babe!" an all-too familiar voice interjected before continuing to lavish him with affection like an eager puppy. After what felt like ages, Cronus pulled away to catch his breath, and Kankri almost laughed: he had sunglasses covering his eyes- numerous pairs, in fact, one over the other. He couldn't contain his snickers and let one slip past, and he shielded his mouth with his hand as a stream of derisive giggles flew from him. The violet-blooded troll noticed Kankri, who, much to his chagrin, was bent over laughing by that point (the low-blood assumed it was because he had ingested a bit of sopor slime), and grinned before saying, "Hey, quit busting my bulge! It v-was to protect my eyes from the sun!" Kankri stopped a few moments later, the tiniest of smiles still gracing his features. Cronus promptly made the decision to kiss it right off him, quickly gripping the front of his sweater and tugging him close.
As the enlightening effects of the slime wore off, Kankri became more aware of what was going on and hesitated between pushing away and returning the sea-dweller's affections- as he ruminated, he just stood stock-still and closed his eyes. Cronus ended up making his mind up for him: after a minute or so without answer, he brought himself to pull away and pressed his scarred forehead to his love's and cupped his face. After a moment or so of meeting each other's gazes- Cronus' expectant and almost impatient, Kankri's apprehensive and confused- the land-dweller gently lowered the other's hands and explained, "Well, Cronus, it's not that I'm not enjoying this, but... well, you did do all of that without even asking me first (very triggering for some, by the way- I know you're always very physical with people without asking first or even after they're refused your advances multiple times and you really should try to stop it, but I also am aware of the fact that is a hard habit to crack, so I forgive you for now), and..." he gestured towards the slime on his face, the only visible parts of him because of his conservative clothing, "I didn't even have a chance to wash myself before you came in. I am in no mood to do anything even remotely concupiscent with you until I get this sticky mess off me. Therefore, I'd like to take a quick shower and then... well, I'll consider going forward with this." As he finished his speech and turned towards the washroom, Cronus perked up, white eyes seeming to glow, and grabbed his lover's arm. Kankri was met with a flirtatious smirk.
"Hmm, there is one thing that I think combines both of our- interests," he drawled. Kankri raised one eyebrow, waiting for his idea, which he had a feeling would involve the entering of pants: they had never gone past innocent kisses on the mouth, but the sea-dweller had made his desires quite obvious on numerous occasions (he flashed back to an awkward moment when he found Cronus, somehow having broken into his respiteblock, stark naked next to a bottle of lube and unlit candles, who was fast asleep from waiting for his lover to arrive). Though the lowblood did have red feelings for him, he wasn't sure if he was ready to go that far with him. It also meant breaking his chastity pact- then again, apparently his post-Scratch self broke his, so who's to say he had to adhere to it?
"V-Well, how-v should I put this..." Cronus continued sheepishly. Kankri noticed the violet tint on his cheeks and wasn't sure if it was from the make-out session earlier or some feeling of embarrassment from his upcoming suggestion. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at him like a mother waiting for her child to come up with a poor excuse for a wrongdoing.
"V-We could show-ver together!" he exclaimed as if proud of it. "I mean, I have to w-vash off a bit anyways, too." He wrapped his slender fingers under the hem of his shirt and rolled it up, revealing some chunks of hardening green slime on his torso. "It's actually sticking to my gills a bit and it's really painful, so can w-ve quit discussing it and just hurry it up already?" He enquired eagerly. He gave the most innocent of smiles, his sharp teeth peeking through, but Kankri wouldn't give in to his puppy-dog eyes so easily.
"Ah, yes, because I'm quite sure that you won't commit anything lascivious in a literally steamy environment in which both of us are in the nude in an enclosed space. Yes, I am just so confident," Kankri intoned sarcastically.
"H-Hey!" Cronus interjected, raising his hands in defence. "I'm not saying w-ve have to, nor are v-we absolutely going to, do... that v-while v-we're in there; it's just to save v-water! I mean, I'm not saying it v-won't happen," the sea-dweller continued, tone slightly more seductive, "but v-we'll see how it goes, hey?"
Kankri stared at him for a moment before concluding with a huff. "Fine. But," he warned, "if you start doing anything sexual or something else with which I am uncomfortable without my vocally expressed consent, I will leave."
"Understood, chief!" he exclaimed gleefully, "Not that I was gonna do something without your permission anyway," he added quickly.
The red-blood slowly began to pull up his sweater, his vision clouded with soft, red fabric. By the time he could see again, his boyfriend was already stark naked, his divested clothing scattered haphazardly around him. His grey skin was unmarred other than a few nicks, presumably from hunting in the waters of Beforus prior to his death. The flesh around his gills, which were pierced with numerous gold rings (one of his nipples was pierced, too- he'd forgotten about that), was tinted violet and had small patches of crust on them from infection, presumably due to the hardening sopor slime inside of them. Kankri made it a point to keep his wandering eyes away from Cronus' crotch, but he was ogling regardless, and stopped to unzip his high-waist pants. He would have done it in one smooth motion had he not noted that catching his skin in the zipper was a hazard- unfortunately, it made it seem like he was putting on a show, and though he kept his eyes fixated on the floor by his feet, he could feel the high-blood's eyes burning holes into him.
It wasn't long before he felt hot breath at the crook of his neck and flinched, but strong hands at his shoulders held him in place.
"Jeez, relax, chief," he whispered into the shell of his ear, "I'm just taking off your necklace." Cronus brought his arms forward languidly, bringing him even closer to Kankri until their torsoes were touching (respecting his lover's wishes, he arched his back so his crotch was still a small distance away from the land-dweller's), bending his arms and began to soothingly brush his fingers at the base of the red-blood's neck, sending shivers down his spine. For some reason he couldn't place, Kankri froze, his thumb and forefinger idly grabbing the zipper but not moving it, only shivering as quietly as possible a few times. Eventually, Cronus' fingers located the clasp, opened it, and brought the two ends of the chain away from each other as if from magnetic repelling. He backed away and squatted to gently place his precious necklace atop the previously discarded turtleneck, shining brightly in the artificial light from the ceiling. He rose and murmured, "Hey, let's get back to that zipper."
The sea-dweller's words stirred Kankri from his daze and his arm jerked slightly, sending the zipper further down, almost to the bottom end. Cronus simpered and put his hand on his boyfriend's, wrapping his fingers around it and extending his elbow to push the hand lower and unzip it more. When it was fully undone, his thumb was still rubbing smooth circles on the back of his hand gently. Kankri slipped his hand out almost reluctantly and put his hands on the waistband on either hip: he only had to stretch the band away from him and they fell on their own. He was about to step out of the pile around his feet when Cronus swept him up bridal-style. The red-blood squeaked in surprise and he laughed heartily.
"C-Cronus!" Kankri exclaimed.
"Sorry, babe," he replied, "just w-vanted to get you there in style. V-Want me to put you down?"
His flame sighed before shaking his head in the negative. "No, but please take into consideration that others may experience extreme discomfort at such a sudden action, especially without given permission, so try not to do it again-" his sermon was cut short by a long, deep kiss. Just as Kankri was reaching up to touch his cheek, Cronus pulled away with the tiniest of smiles and walked in the direction of the bathroom, his footsteps echoing in the otherwise still hive.
When they arrived, he put Kankri down after turning on the light and he felt the freezing tile against the palms of his feet. He gathered two towels in his arms and put them on the floor next to the shower while Cronus went to turn on the shower, what little fat that was on his firm ass jiggling with his footsteps. The low-blood heard a squeak before the shower came to life, the cascading water creating a lovely melody as it drummed against the wall. He heard little breaks in the sounds from what he assumed was Cronus' hand testing the temperature. About a minute later, he turned his head towards him and said "It should be fine now-v" before stepping into the shower.
Kankri moved the curtain aside and walked in, hissing at the almost scalding water (Cronus mumbled "Sorry" before turning the handle to lower the temperature until it was a much more comforting warmth). His boyfriend managed to acquire the rose bar of soap before he could, so he just tried to get his hair wet enough for the shampoo to be effective. He noted that the sea-dweller's hair didn't move very much despite how wet it was, probably due to the ridiculous amount of gel he put in it everyday- however, once he poured a generous amount of shampoo onto his hand and started lathering himself with it, it began to relax and fall next to his fins. The water on his piercings there cleaned them and they shone brilliantly. It was almost... mesmerizing, the dance they did as he moved his head to coat all of his hair in the white foam.
Kankri felt something lightly tap his temple that arose him from his transfix; it was the bottle of shampoo, which the sea-dweller was holding out behind himself. He took it and began to quickly squeezed out more than he needed (he planned on using it as soap, since it would clean him as he washed it out, anyway), still staring at Cronus' back. As if reading his mind, he moved forward so he wasn't blocking the stream of water as much so Kankri could use it. The low-blood scratched his head almost painfully hard quickly, accidentally knocking into one of his horns as he did, and started to wash it out. The feeling of the lather coursing down his body was very soothing, and he added onto that by gently running his fingers through his jet black locks to further the removal of the suds, which sent even more tingles through him.
A low tch followed by a sharp intake of breath broke that peace. He looked to Cronus' gills and saw that he was picking at the crust in his gills. When he flicked it out from under his neon-yellow fingernails, he saw some purple stuck to one chunk and winced. He was going to offer to help him, but it appeared to have been the last piece, as the sea-dweller had turned his attention to the bottle of conditioner (Kankri never bothered with using it, as his hair just stayed spiky and upright no matter what he did- but he understood why the high-blood would need it, considering the fact that he would frequently comb it back almost religiously). Kankri was already finished with everything he needed to do, and was about to step out to dry himself off when he heard a faint sound.
It was Cronus. He was humming something.
He turned his attention to the melody of it, but he didn't recognize it. The land-dweller could only assume that it was something that he had written. The violet-blooded troll was very passionate about his songwriting, and would always perform them for Kankri the moment they were ready (he'd woken him up just to play something for him once- funnily enough, it was a lullaby, so he just fell right back to sleep afterwards). Is this a work-in-progress? Kankri wondered. He hadn't noticed that he'd asked that question aloud, and Cronus turned around, wearing child-like, almost innocent smile.
"Yeah, I just started making up the tune now-v," he explained. "Do you like it so far?"
The low-blood grinned eagerly and nodded. He wasn't being patronizing or generous- he thought it was beautiful. Suddenly, he felt strong arms wrap around him, one hand resting just under an arm, the other burying itself in his wet hair, fingers massaging his tender scalp. Cronus pressed a gentle kiss to the crown of his head and murmured, "V-Want me to keep going?" In response, Kankri enveloped him in an embrace of his own, letting his head fall against the other's sternum, the sea-dweller's lips never leaving his head. He felt Cronus' smile, and he pressed the underside of his chin where his mouth was and began to hum again, the running water providing its harmony, the vibrations tickling Kankri's scalp.
As he continued his impromptu performance, he began to sway slightly to the beat, careful not to move too much lest they slip and fall. The low-blood tried to mimic the motions to the best of his ability, but would occasionally miscalculate and stumble over himself, making Cronus stop the song to giggle. Eventually, when he had figured out the chorus and the general tune, he shut his eyes and smiled as he presumably thought out the lyrics in his head, and the low-blood found himself transfixed.
He, in all of his life and so far in the afterlife, had never seen him so... at peace. Though his posture was not bad, his normally tense muscles were lax as he embraced his lover, as if he were exhausted from a long journey and needed to rest for a while, finding solace in the haven. The land-dweller craned his neck upward, hair brushing against the other's nose, and saw the absolute contentment gracing his features. Cronus seemed to always be smiling, but this was the first truly honest one he'd seen in what seemed like ages.
Then again, maybe he really was his safe place, his desperately-needed stop on his trip. Though his methods were questionable at times, all he ever wanted was to be loved in return; a pure, true love, not a superficial one, and the red-blood could only assume that he had found that in Kankri. The notion of him being so important to Cronus sent a warm feeling through his entire body, and it pulled at the corners of his lips. Without thinking, he brought a hand up to his cheek and elevated the arch of his foot just slightly to kiss him.
The hum that followed was one of surprise and arousal into Kankri's mouth. The sea-dweller's hands hurried to tangle themselves in his lover's damp hair. They parted to catch their breath and turned their heads to meet again many times, and one hand moved to his cheek, the thumb roughly pushing at his cheek to open his mouth and forced his tongue inside. He was about to push at him in protest (it did violate his rule from earlier, after all), but he found the sensation too enjoyable to want it to stop, so he just opened his mouth more to make it easier for him. His rough, serpent-like tongue flailed around to find his cheeks, and Kankri's tongue impulsively jerked up when it ran down his palate. They both groaned when their tongues met, and their bulges moved involuntarily and mimicked the movements of their owners' tongues, tangled and slippery with slurry. The newborn adrenaline that began to rush through Cronus' body urged him to pin Kankri against the wall of the shower.
The low-blood hissed at the frigidness of the surface against his naked skin and he moved his head away to intone, "Cronus, ah, wait" as he turned his attention to the crook of his neck. He lapped hungrily at the flesh before biting down on it, hollowing his cheek to suck on it and leave a mark. To get him to cease, Kankri took a fistful of hair and yanked at it, to which he yelped in pain. He then noticed how flushed his face was- his cheeks, nose and now swollen lips were painted a deep violet, and he was breathing heavily.
"Sorry," he said. He had moved his hands to press against either side of his boyfriend's head. The hickey was already starting to turn an angry red, and he had to stop himself from simpering- even though Kankri was likely to don his sweater for the next few days, as he did almost all the time, it was nice to think that his lover would later see it in the mirror, a nice reminder of what had happened on his birthday. He planned to leave many more: on his thighs, his collarbone, his shoulders... but he needed permission first. "Yo, Kankri," he began, "are v-we gonna go all the v-way w-vith this or not? I'm fine either v-way, but..."
The low-blood couldn't bear to meet Cronus' eyes. He could even feel immense heat rushing to his face, and covered it with his hands to hide it. They were gently moved away by a gentle pull at his wrists, revealing his lover's face as if they were playing peek-a-boo.
"Are you nerv-wous?" he asked. "It's fine if you are- makes sense, really. Just tell me, I v-won't be mad, I sw-vear." Though he had a reputation of making biting remarks towards those who turned down his advances, he heard true sincerity in his voice, but was still at a loss for words.
"I- um, well, I... you see- oh..." he stuttered nervously.
Cronus chuckled deep in his throat. "It's a rare sight to see you, of all people, speechless." He had expected Kankri to at least smile at that, but his gaze was still fixed on the tile floor, and his eyebrows rose in realization. "Are you a v-wirgin, Kankri?"
"Yes," he blurted without thinking, not having the courage to look him in the eye, "are you?"
Cronus smirked out of his flame's vision. "Yeah, but I've seen mow-vies." He put his thumb at Kankri's chin, forefinger just beneath it, and changed the angle of his head. "I'll be gentle. I sorta know-v w-vhat I'm doing, so you don't need to v-worry- much," he added with a laugh.
After some calming breaths and a moment's rumination, Kankri murmured quickly, as if embarrassed, "Fine, just be gentle and don't do anything strange."
The sea-dweller wondered what "strange" qualified as, but made no comment. He grinned, positively elated. "V-Wonderful!" he exclaimed. He quickly pecked the tip of Kankri's nose and... well, froze.
Shit, nev-wer got this far before, he thought. What was he supposed to do again? He remembered a moment or so later. Oh, right. Gotta decide that first.
"Um, do you v-want to bottom or...?" His boyfriend nodded sheepishly in reply. His tentabulge retracted back into his body to give better access to his nook. Cronus took a deep breath and let his hand hover over Kankri's groin. He waited for any sign of discontentment or hesitation before running his middle finger through the gap between the lips of the slit. His lover gasped and shuddered, quickly moving his hands to Cronus' shoulders when his legs threatened to give way. The high-blood's other arm caressed his cheek and he pressed gentle kisses to his face as he continued to tease the hole, revelling in the gorgeous and arousing sounds tearing from Kankri's throat.
After a few minutes that felt like sweeps, neither of them could take the strain this was putting on their bodies. Cronus' sex was pulsing and writhing, coating itself in violet liquid in preparation, but the land-dweller was the first to speak. "Please," he begged, "hurry." He moved his head back to get a better view of Kankri's face. It was contorted in pleasure, eyes shut tight, almost glowing with the bright red blood, hot and angry under his skin, and the sight was unbearable; he wanted to just take him in his arms and fuck him senseless, but his lover was vestal: he needed to prepare him first, lest he experience unbearable pain.
"This is gonna hurt a bit, but it'll get better soon, OK?" he said. He looked to his lover's face, waiting for a signal to start. Kankri inhaled deeply, letting it go slowly, and nodded, opening his eyes and smiling weakly but lovingly. Cronus kissed his forehead before, at last, pushing his finger into his nook.
The low-blood let out a small whine, but made no other noticeable sounds of protest as the digit moved in and out languidly. Fortunately, the slurry that was being produced from the arousal functioned as a good substitute for lube. He took the quiet, now pleasured grunts as an indicator that he should add more fingers, which he did.
This part didn't go as well: he appeared to have accidentally scratched the walls of his entrance with his nail upon adding the next digit, and Kankri cried out in pain, blunt nails digging into Cronus' shoulders and drawing a bit of blood. The high-blood flinched and a flurry of apologies spilled from him into his boyfriend's ear as he lavished his face and neck with more kisses.
"C-Cronus, it's fine," he interjected, discomfort evident in his tone, "just hurry up." The sea-dweller nodded yet again, continuing his affectionate ministrations in an attempt to further relax him, before adding one, then two, more fingers, thrusting them at an even pace as Kankri's noises changed from winces to moans. Once he knew that the other was ready, he pulled them out and, just to tease him, licked the slurry off his fingers, never breaking eye contact. It tasted bitter, but it wasn't unpleasant. Kankri just rolled his eyes, to which Cronus simpered.
When he was done, he told the low-blood to bend his legs slightly. He hooked his arms through the crook and lifted him in one quick motion, almost tipping over from the new mass. After a bit of precarious teetering (which was mainly a joke; Kankri weighed almost nothing), he pressed the low-blood against the wall and joined their foreheads together.
"Ready?" he asked, grunting as his desperate bulge grazed against his ass in its spasms. Kankri wrapped his skinny arms around Cronus' neck and pressed a soft kiss at the corner of his lips. He tilted his head slightly so their mouths met as he willed his bulge to the low-blood's entrance and pressed it an inch or so in.
They both groaned at the new contact, Kankri's eyes twisting shut at the slight pain of the new stretching. He slowly lowered his lover to put more of his length in until he was buried to the hilt. Both of their breathing was quite laboured and thick, the low-blood's interspersed with small winces, and neither of them moved. Cronus awaited the cue for him to keep going and, judging from how tightly he was being held, it would be a while until the other was fully accustomed to his girth.
To pass the time and try to get him to calm down faster, he focused his attention back to Kankri's lips, kissing passionately but slowly. He wanted to touch, to cradle, to hold, but the low-blood would certainly fall if he did so, and that wouldn't be very smooth. Besides, they were probably as close as they could possibly be, so who was he to complain?
Kankri was not perfect, not by any means. He could be abrasive in his loquaciousness, hypocritical in his sense of justice, and heartless in his frequent lack of sympathy with others' turmoil, all of which Cronus was sometimes the victim, but he still loved him with all of his heart. He wanted him to be by his side for the rest of eternity in the afterlife, and he could only hope that Kankri shared those desires, that Kankri cared for him just as much as he him. As if the low-blood was reading his mind, he pulled away and murmured those three little words into his ear, the ones he'd been waiting for for so long. They tumbled from his lips like he'd recited them over and over again to himself in the mirror, but still were tinted with vestal nervousness. He lifted his hips and pushed them back down again, moaning aloud as his ass hit Cronus's skin, to let him know that he was ready, willing... no, wanting to give himself to him. Cronus bucked his hips in return and they began their dance.
They created a push-and-pull rhythm almost instantly, getting lost in the sensations of it all. They both threw caution to the wind and let their arms roam and touch and grope and hold, desperately trying to find purchase but still loving the feeling of falling. They would kiss haphazardly, moans escaping them without restraint, the only sounds in the entire respiteblock other than the running water. Kankri was the first to cry out his lover's name, and Cronus was all too eager to murmur it in return, and they would call and answer each other without even realizing it. When the sea-dweller's legs began to shake from the immense, lascivious pleasure, he took one of his lover's wandering hands into his own, pressing the back of it against the wall behind him and intertwining their fingers, their grips tight and needy on each other.
The tightness in their guts was becoming stronger and both of them felt their releases coming. The symphony they made with their cries crescendo-ed gradually as they neared completion, and they finished almost at the same time with a shout, one deep and one high. Cronus' slurry coated the walls of Kankri's nook and the slippery tentabulge fell out quickly, taking red and violet liquid with it that splattered on the tile floor to scurry away into the drain. The low-blood toppled against his lover's chest, panting heavily, legs too weak to support him. Cronus wrapped his arms around him and propped him up with the wall as support.
When their breathing returned to normal, the sea-dweller whispered in reply, "I love you, too, Kankri." He wasn't sure if he was asleep or not, but he could have sworn that he felt a tired smile against his pecs in response.
Author's Notes
Cronus and Kankri are kinda tough to write, admittedly (especially when Kankri doesn't have much opportunities for dialogue). I read as many RP guides as I could, but sorry if they're still kinda OOC. To be honest, I'd actually love it if you could give me some tips in comments so that I get better in the future!
Expect two or three more Cronus/Kankri fics soon.
Thanks for reading~