Eridan checked up on Aradia again after dinner the next evening; she was breathing the smoldering wisps of the flowers she had burnt. The red bud was fresh in her mouth, being chewed to a fine mush before being swallowed. He sat there for a moment, looking her over, before speaking, "You look much better, I take it they wwork fast?"
"Yes, they do, but the affects are so short-lived they're needed constantly," she breathed as deep as she could before turning to him, "Thank you, that was very kind of you to do. I would have never expected someone of regal blood to do such a thing for the lowest the blood castes such as myself,"
Eridan shrugged, "Kar taught me better than that. Livvin in that dungeon taught me a lot a things. 'Sides, you're not as troublesome as some other lowwbloods I could name. But I wwon't, pointless anywways,"
Aradia sighed softly, his rivalry with Sollux had calmed but it was still in the air. Of course he'd feel black toward the troll that had let Karkat fall victim to the Subjugglators once again. She could not say she could not comprehend such pain so she did not judge. Such negative emotions would only harbor more ill-will toward her already fragile body. They did not speak after that, they only edged toward each other. Eridan started first with caution; he gently placed a hand on her cheek and pecked her lips. She did not respond at first, she was probing his actions. She wanted to understand what he wanted exactly whilst conveying that she had some reservations about the whole idea of this affair. She wanted this to be careful and as subtle as possible.
"Ar, you okay?" he asked, pulling away after a few kisses.
"Yes," she told him, "I'm just a tad new to this whole sort of thing. I'd like to take it slow,"
"Yeh, me too Aradia," he told her, cupping her cheek again. She smiled softly as he spoke her name again; it was nice to hear her name spoken with such sweet passion again. He pecked her lips again, moaning softly as he felt her hands on his face. They were a tad chilled, most likely due from her illness. He took her hands in his, which were not as small as Karkat's he noted as he brought them to his mouth. They were just as delicate though, so unbelievably fragile and defined. Idly, he wondered why he hadn't kissed the mutant's fingertips while they consummated their union in that barn. Smiling softly at the recollection of Karkat's hand on his face he kissed Aradia's fingertips, finding the act quite pleasant. He drew a few giggles from Aradia, who softly commented her hands her quite sensitive due to all her excavations. He began to kiss up her arm, idly wondering how ticklish she was.
Karkat's flesh was quite sensitive due to the scarring that Gamzee's past games left behind; as if an instruction manual on how to inflict massive pain without lacerating too deep and causing death. Eridan had to be careful with the mutantblood the night they gave themselves to each other despite his rather rough nature. The sea-dweller could not lie to himself, he liked it rough. He wanted to be rough with Karkat; not to the extremes he assumed the indigoblood pushed him to, but enough to make his lover scream like a hunt crying for the end. He would only allow himself to be so in the bedroom if Karkat permitted him; lovemaking relied on mutual trust and sacrifice. He knew that he and Aradia did not share such a trust, this was merely a fantasy and he knew he'd have to be gentle. It would be quite an educational journal of sexual hopefulness; he wanted to be extra gentle with his matesprit when he saw him next. There was no doubt in his head he'd be quite fragile after being torn from the only troll who had given him hope during his incarceration and forced affair with the Grand Highblood.
"Ah…" Aradia cooed softly as he placed tender kisses on her neck, which was a tad thinner than Karkat's. Of course she was thin; her ailment drained quite a bit out of her. He did not hear any negative recants though about what their intentions were, so he continued. Aradia cooed softly, closing her eyes as she brought her hands to the back of his head, running her hands through his hair. It wasn't nearly as thick as her own, but still quite thick. It felt a tad rough under her fingers, but she supposed it was because as a sea-dweller he spent a lot of time in salt water. Not that it mattered though; it was just nice to feel the recently cleaned locks beneath her fingers. The flicker of violet in his hair was quite attractive too; no other troll she knew had such a selective mutation before. Shifting somewhat she lied down, pulling him down and on top of her.
He kissed her lips once he situated himself on top of her, as if assuring her silently that he was not going to push her faster just because he was on top of her. He was trying to take his time. A thought occurred to him after a moment, urging him to move to her ear where he whispered softly, "Howw wwould you prefer this?"
"What do you mean?" she asked softly.
"Do you wwant to use a bucket? Or do you prefer mutual penetration? Top or bottom?" he asked.
"O-oh…" she blushed softly, that was something she hadn't been expecting. Honestly, she was often on bottom; she had tried mutual penetration with her matesprit and moirail and honestly preferred to be the one being penetrated. It was a selfish thought, she considered, because she liked to stroke along her own bulge whilst her matesprit penetrated her nook. It had been a sexual habit she had grown into since Sollux was sometimes a tad hard to handle with his dual-bulges. It was also her way of assuring that she'd be undergoing something she enjoyed thoroughly whilst be penetrated. Granted, it wasn't the most pleasurable of the two, it was merely sexual insurance. Thus, she had grown into it after a while and had brought a bucket along on the trip, "Um…bottom and I have a bucket in the box over there,"
She sat up a bit and pointed to it. He pecked her lips softly before removing himself from on top of her and turning to the box, "I think its best we both use the bucket at the same time, avoid any purging,"
"Yeh, I figured," he commented as he retrieved the bucket.
"Thank you," Aradia smiled softly as he handed her the bucket, she set it aside next to her matt. He cupped her cheek when he turned around; she touched the back of his hand. The gesture was so tender, too tender for someone of their varying castes. It was something she had missed. His kisses were just as tender too, drawing gentle coos from her as they lay back again. She let her hands wander this time, she was quite eager to explore the body that would soon be joined with hers in unparalleled, impersonal passion. She was certain to be careful around his ribs, she and her moirail thoroughly enjoyed reading and much of the knowledge she absorbed stayed with her to this day. She used her knowledge of history to benefit her team; the tunnels were her strategy, the organization of power, the food and herbal substances that got her team by. There was no doubt she knew about the anatomy of a sea-dweller, thus she knew to touch him softly around his closed gills.
"Mm, that feels nice Ar," he whispered softly, easing her mental distress. She hooked her fingers under his shirt and pulled it over his head, smiling softly as she caught sight of his body. Whilst still slim the sinews of his body were still visible; signifying a healthy balance and structure within him. She frowned somewhat, momentarily feeling ashamed of her body. She had lost so much weight due to her disease; the grooves of each rib were slowly coming into sight without the need to bend at a certain angle. She had always been a slim troll from her excavations, which were quite taxing, but the current state of her body, if caught naked, would be a rather concerning sight.
Eridan did not notice her slight distress as she pondered over her physical appearance; he was kissing her abdomen through the fabric. It was dirty, the clothe that was, and not worth his time. He slid his hands under her shirt, exploring her torso as he moved back to her lips, drawing her to coo and gasp a bit as he reached her vestigial grub legs and fatpads. Her skin was quite smooth and soft, suggesting that she often cleansed her body of the dirt. It was not a commodity for her, he supposed, as she needed to appear clean and hygienic to suppress the physical suggestions of her illness.
"Ah…Eridan…" she moaned softly, arching her back as he cupped both her fatpads beneath the shirt. They were small so she did not require a fat-pad holder, but they fit in his hands perfectly which unconsciously reminded him of Feferi when he was with her in such an intimate manner. Due to her constant swimming she was quite slim and her fatpads were not as a big as her ancestor's due to her young age. The similarity was quite pleasing as he still held some mating fondness for his former red interest. They were also one of the pleasure centers that female trolls had the honor of bearing. The hormonal structure for a female troll was far superior to their male counterparts since they were the hunters, the top sex. Fatpads were a biological defense against any abdominal injuries; storing fat to protect vital organs and also bearing glands that promoted healing of the abdomen, making them rather sensitive organs. They needed to be sensitive to alert the body of any damage that needed to be repaired and the nervous reactions were quite useful inside the bedroom. His hands remained there for a moment as his fingers began to idly press in and massage the flesh, which was surprisingly soft, as he felt himself becoming aroused. Pheromones were beginning to secrete from their sweat glands, urging on arousal. He sat up for a moment and began to untie the front of her shirt. She normally wore a vest to keep the whole thing from becoming undone and it was much easier than easing a shirt over her swirling horns.
She whimpered softly as he did so, taking as deep a breath as she could to calm herself.
"You alright Ar?" he asked as he noted her unease.
"I'm okay," she responded, sitting up so he could ease the sleeves off of her arms, "It's just…No one has seen me naked in quite a while, aside from Sollux and that was over a month ago. I didn't want him to note my weight loss when it started to become apparent,"
"You shouldn't be so self conscious about shit you can't control," he nuzzled his nose against her hair as the clothe fell off her shoulders, rubbing up and down her back tenderly. Aradia seemed genuinely shocked for a moment at the comment before letting it sink in; how many scars had Karkat received the Grand Highblood that his matesprit had kissed into a painless state? He had seen worse, she assumed. She found it a tad odd he didn't pull away to look her over and was taking his time in holding her bare abdomen against his. His fingers slid up and down her sides gently, barely grazing the sensitive ribs and vestigial grub legs, slowly enticing her into arousal as his pheromone scent leaked into her nostrils. She shifted somewhat as she positioned her legs around his hips, one of her hands rubbing his back and the other tracing down her unnaturally flat stomach to beneath her pant's line. She moaned gutturally as her fingers were met by her slim bulge, which eagerly coiled around her fingers in a desperate need for release.
"Mmm," she moaned softly as he suckled on her neck, wrapping his arms around her as he gently eased her back onto the matt. He eased his arms out from out her so he could sit up in order to look her over. She was indeed abnormally slim; the indentions of her hip bones could be seen, as well as the grooves of her ribs as they met her stomach area, which was abnormally sunk in. She was not unattractive though, the gauntness of her form reminded him of Karkat who was quite thin and fragile looking as well. He also noted that her hand was beneath her pants, which left not much to the imagination since he could see her tentabulge moving beneath the clothe along with her hand.
He chuckled, gently taking a hold of her wrist and easing her hand out from under her pants; a thread-thin trail of maroon material following its path. He then hooked his fingers under her pants and panties and eased them off. Her legs were just as thin as Karkat's and decently bare of hair; the semblance was uncanny, he thought idly. The whole idea of an affair dedicated to pure fantasy was becoming more and more enticing. He would have continued to look longer if not for his own bulge, which had pushed past his seedflap and rubbing against the opening to his undergarments and causing the material to tighten as it swelled with blood. Shivering somewhat, he eased his pants down past his knees before slowly crawling back on top of her, kicking the garments off once his lips began to meet hers in a series of passionate kisses.
"Mm," he licked her bottom lip, enticed by the sweet favoring of her lipstick, "Do you need any preparation?"
"No," she breathed softly, shifting beneath him somewhat as his hands once again cupping her fatpads. Her hands remained on his back, squeezing his shoulders and shoulder-blades whilst wandering up and down the palette, "I'll be okay,"
He smiled softly and leaned up to peck her lips, webbing one his hands between her own. He did not know how used she was to penetration or how versatile her sexual history had been so he did not want to leave her with no buffer to grind her through the first penetration. Nuzzling her neck he leaned into her, thrusting his bulge slowly and gently into her. He did not want to trigger an attack. He pushed in gently, slowly until he heard a cry emanate from her mouth and the nails of her free hand dig into his shoulder.
"Eridan," she gasped softly, looking him in the eye, "Please, not all the way. Don't go too deep yet. Be patient,"
He took a deep breath, pulling himself an inch or so out of her. Karkat and Feferi had been shocked by the feel of his bulge and its underside fin-extension at first, it would make sense that she'd prefer to grow into it. He shivered pleasurably as he felt her bulge coil tightly around the remaining base of his bulge, "Alright, I don't mm…wwant you to be uncomfortable,"
"Thank you," she smiled sweetly, pecking his lips softly and cupping his cheek (which required removing her hand from his, as it was still intertwined with his fingers.) He returned the kiss, albeit more passionately, as he began to thrust. He heeded the sounds out of her mouth as if they were the words he had been praying for, trying to pick up any clues of discomfort or short-breathiness. He made sure not to retain too much pressure on her body, idly exploring it with his hands, as did her own, in order to read each other's movements. Gradually, these touches and precautions started to fade from scoping mechanisms to caressive, heated gestures. They weren't thinking of one another, they knew they weren't. This was just a fantasy, a lying phantom of the romances they longed for.
In Eridan's mind he imagined Karkat beneath him. He imagined the mutant's legs wrapping around his hips and thighs, he visualized the maroonblooded troll's delicate arms and hands that wrapped around him and massaged his back bearing the ring he had left behind. It was the only trinket Karkat had of his matesprit and he longed to see the mutantblood wearing it. When he noted it was Aradia beneath him though he held his vocal exclamation backs. If he started to call her by his matesprit's name it would seem rather unappreciative and this liaison came with great sacrifice.
"Ah," she cooed pleasurable, kissing up and down the side of his neck, "Go deeper,"
"You sure?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm ready," she breathed, craning her neck back as he began to suckle, intentionally leaving hickies in his wake. He considered that he shouldn't leave marks on her skin, but then he recalled she wore a collar that rode up her neck so high they'd be covered. He also enjoyed hearing the gasps and short giggles he received from her. It occurred to him that he hadn't made Karkat giggle at all during their first time, perhaps because he hadn't been as gentle as he was being with Aradia. Taking it nice and slow seemed to have its benefits. In fact, it was more than beneficial, it was wonderful. He could feel everything about his partner melding into him, everything about her body synced with him perfectly. He rested gently against her as he continued his ministrations, balancing on his forearms and hamstrings, taking his time in seeking release.
Shivering, he looked down for a moment as he felt Aradia's bulge grind against his stomach, as it no longer had a partner bulge to coil around. He chuckled somewhat, nuzzling her neck lovingly when he noted her spare hand became entangled in her own appendage. She seemed relaxed and was breathing evenly, if not a little too taken into the pleasure of mating. As if methodically they began to increase the intensity of their ministrations, trying their best not to get too loud and alert their neighbors, until reaching the climatic stage. Aradia, who was starting to pant, pushed herself up, and into his lap with the bucket in hand. She bit her lip as she felt her bulge tighten to nearly an excruciating level around her hand, her nook followed suit to the sea-dwellers bulge, which was coiled just as tightly. Gogdammit, he needed to time this correctly or there'd be genetic material everywhere.
"Fuck…" he groaned, nuzzling the side of his head into her hair as she kissed and breathed into his neck heatedly, "Almost…"
"Me too," she panted, pulling away and trying to situate the bucket between them, "Keep…going…"
Groaning, Eridan decided to lie back, bringing Aradia with him to sit on his raised thighs. This position was ideal because it still allowed their bulges to mingle whilst providing enough room for the bucket to intervene. The world was blurry and she felt dizzy, she nearly dropped the bucket. She had to hold her face and try to calm herself down as her orgasm overtook her. The prince courteously took a hold of the bucket, positioning it just before their genetic material was released at the height of orgasm. He squeezed the handle, nearly breaking the metal, and bit his tongue just as Aradia did. It was such a gentle, mild climax that dwindled slowly; like the flutter of a fairy-like insect from flower to flower. He was not sure how long he lied there, beneath her, nor did she as she calmed her breathing from her high, but they were happy when they were back to reality.
After such impersonal passion it was expected that both partners were turn their heads and look the other way; it was just for pleasure, after all. They knew what to expect when the fantasy was over. It did not end that way though; setting the bucket aside Eridan leaned up and kissed her softly before wrapping his arms around her and lying close.
"I like spendin time wwith you," he whispered softly, "You think I could just…Stay here? Wwith you?"
Aradia honestly did not know how to respond. Did this suggest that he was romantically interested in her? Then again, the same occurrence had taken place when she and her moirail experimented. She supposed it would not be risky to let him stay besides her. He was quite warm, which was soothing to her somewhat chilled flesh. She smiled softly and kissed his shoulder, nuzzling his affectionately as she rested her face against his chest, "I'd like that. Thank you, for staying,"
This intimate interaction continued for the follow two weeks. They would not always make love (despite they did enjoy being tangled up in each other's bodies and souls for such wonderful lapses of time); sometimes they'd lie awake and converse in a warm embrace, others they'd just cuddle, sometimes Eridan would hold her as she struggled to breathe and her maroon blood dispersed from her mouth hastily. With all of these acts, he was always gentle; whether he was rubbing her back or kissing all over her body, he was cautious with each touch. Presently, the attacks were not as frequent as they were without the medicinal herbs, which she rationed accordingly. Just one more month, they knew that in one more month this affair had to end and Aradia would be closer to death than she ever would be with the sea-dweller.
Their mutual understanding of what they were doing was not permanent, but it was also risky. There was no telling what would happen if anyone were to find out. Aradia had no excuse to justify enabling the prince's infidelity except for her selfish endeavor to feel not alone. She had left Sollux in the arms of his fishy mistress because she cared so deeply for him that she did not want to be a burden. She did not want him to blame himself for her death or being unaware of her wretched disease. She wanted him to move on, whereas the prince sought someone to sate his lonesomeness with. Surely, they were using each other's presence for their own self-interested reasons. She knew that he did not see her, he saw Karkat and likewise she saw Sollux.
The prince's heart would be the one beating in the end and they both knew better than to let slip an infidelity. With her death the truth of this lie would lose half its merit, for the prince would never speak of his growing fondness toward the lowblood. She would take her own fondness to the grave; it would grow cold with her heart at the very last pulse. This arrangement, nonetheless, was being conducted between quite a literal rock and a literal hard place. Surely someone would start to snoop and that one troll so happened to be the one closest to the Aires; the Gemini.
Sollux began to feel a stirring within the tunnels shortly after Aradia broke it off with him. To an extent he had began to feel a sense of mutuality with the separation, he and Feferi were hitting it off. Shortly afterwards though he felt something was amiss with the whole charade. He tried to think of what to say exactly to Aradia in order to patch things up. He didn't want to end up having another mood swing and shaming the whole confrontation to some poor memory of what was meant to be a closure-based discussion. He approached her tent with caution, thinking over what he was about to say with even more caution, and opened the tent's entrance flap. He paused for a moment, jaw dropping at the sight of his former matesprit and his rival in a passionate embrace whilst kissing just as passionately. She noted him when she pulled away, gasping and pushing the sea-dweller away slightly.
"S-Sollux!" she gasped.
"Huh?" Eridan furrowed his brow, turning to the mustard-blooded troll, "Oh, hey Sol,"
"Don't hey Thol me! What the fuck ith thith?" Sollux demanded, growing angry, "Ith thith why you broke up with me? For thith?"
"What? Sollux! No," Aradia started, "This just…happened…"
"Oh my fucking gog!" Sollux cursed.
"Sol, just shut the fuck up," Eridan deadpanned, "You cheated on Ar and I kept fuckin' quiet about it. Ar broke up so you could be happy, noww shut the fuck up and let her be happy,"
"The fuck?! I'm being unfaithful? You're cheating on Karkat you thupid athhole!" Sollux got up in his face, "You beat the thit out of me for leaving him behind and now you're cheating on him?! And with my former matethprit nonetheleth! Fuck you!"
"Oh be quiet Sollux," Aradia pushed herself between the two, "Look, we're all guilty of infidelities here, but I know what I'm doing. We're both fully aware of what we're doing and we're not in a quadrant,"
"Aa," Sollux frowned, he always felt so awful when Aradia was speaking down to him; something about the way she spoke so fluidly and calmly always made him feel bad for snapping out at her, "Ith thith why you broke up with me? For him?"
"No Sollux," she breathed, "We've been growing apart for some time and I saw that the sea-dweller made you happy. I want you to be happy Sollux; I want you to be with Feferi if that is what you really want,"
"And what about him?" Sollux asked, pointing accusingly at Eridan. The prince was tempted to spit in the slime-blooded troll's face; he wanted to degrade him for his ignorance of Aradia's impending death and audacity to say she was being perfidious. What she did with her body and her heart was up to her entirely just as it was up to him to do what he wanted with his heart and body, yet another social justice term from his beloved matesprit.
"This didn't start until after we broke up. It just happened," she told him, "We were just talking and the next thing we knew, well…"
She strained to not scratch the back of her head, "It's not going to last, we know what we're doing. Please, don't tell Karkat,"
Sollux bit his lip, a horrible wave of guilt, anger, and sadness falling upon him. The look on her face was sweet and modest, how could it be possible to be so calm and modest in such an adulterous situation? Sighing, he turned away, he didn't want to look at her. He could feel tension rise in his chest, "Alright Aa, I won't tell Karkat, but only becauthe I'm no better,"
"Thank you Sollux," she smiled softly.
"Yeh…" he rubbed his eyes, "I'm…gonna leave now…"
Eridan rolled his eyes, he had a feeling this would not be the last he would hear from the 3-D eyed troll.