The date with Eridan was predictably disastrous; Cronus stomped back to his dreambubble hive after it was over, chewing irritably on his unlit cigarette. Sheesh, that had been painful; how whiny and self-absorbed and entitled could a guy get? He couldn't even provoke him enough for a suitable kismesissitude...

Thinking of which, Cronus started musing on Kankri again. He couldn't say a black quadrant with him had crossed his mind before, but it wasn't a terrible idea now he thought about it. Their clash over their respective love and hate lives had resulted in Kankri, amazingly enough, giving him the silent treatment; he'd tried to start conversations over the past few... units of time which had very little meaning in the dreambubbles, given that night and day occurred more or less at random and years could feel like minutes or millennia depending on how bored he was. But anyway, he'd tried to talk to Kankri and earned only a turned back for his pains. Glub, that troll could be irritating when he put his mind to it. Stuck-up little mutant, who did he think he was, disrespecting his Empress-ordained guardians?

Cronus clasped his hands together and grinned gleefully. Yes, this was a great idea! He'd seduce the repressed little shit in no time once he got over being black-zoned - his nagging was on the pale side, but hey, a quadrant was a quadrant. And maybe once Kankri filled a pail he'd be less insufferable. Of course then Cronus would hate him less, but his aim would be achieved by then so who cared? He could deal with that when it happened.

Kankri came by later on, apologising as verbosely as usual for triggering him by ignoring him "because I know (trigger warning, personal issues) how strongly you depend on attention" and how he hoped Cronus had learned his lesson of respecting others' boundaries. Cronus ignored him throughout, facing away from him with arms folded, watching him from the corner of his eye. Kankri, however, barely even seemed to notice. Better try a different approach. He surreptitiously untucked his T-shirt and undid the top button of his fly, tucked his thumbs in his belt both to draw attention and to prevent his jeans actually falling off, and turned around, eyebrows raised suitably. Kankri, however, was in mid-lecture, nose in the air and eyes closed in concentration.

"Hey. Hey, Kan," Cronus interrupted him, snapping his fingers in front of Kankri's nose until the little troll opened his eyes and scowled at him. "Yeah, I'm sure this is all real interesting, but..." He put one hand on Kankri's shoulder. "I'm sure there's more interestin' shit vwe could be doing."

Kankri's eyes widened and he jerked away, going for his whistle. Cronus stepped back, surprised. Sure, he'd done the same thing before but the only reactions he had got were nervousness and irritation from Mituna and a whack round the head the one time he'd tried it on Meenah. Kankri looked as if he thought Cronus was about to kill him. That wasn't hate, that was terror.

"Vwhoa! Calm dowvn, man, cool it!" Cronus raised both hands and backed off further. "Sorry, I mowved too quick, I guess."

"Cronus," Kankri managed to say, his breathing rapid. "Cronus, don't do that. Ever."

"I'm sorry! Shit, I really am." Cronus realised with surprise that he meant it. The thought which had come into his head first was to make sure Kankri was okay. Well, fuck. Still, they did say you should respect your black partners even while harming them, and traumatising them permanently without permission was terrible manners, but still, maybe caring so much was a sign that was a bad move. "Okay, personal space issues, I get it. So I guess that's a trigger. Scary."

"Yes. Yes, it is." Kankri was still shaking. "I... I don't want to go into it, but you know perfectly well that concupiscent actions are not something I wish to discuss, and certainly not something I wish to engage in. What brought this on? I'm usually the only one you don't behave like that around!"

"Just thinkin'," Cronus mumbled. "Evidently not thinkin' enough. Sorry."

"Indeed," said Kankri stiffly, putting his whistle away. "Well, it was nice to get a sincere apology. I don't think we need speak any more of it."

Cronus surreptitiously refastened his fly. "Okay, thanks. I'll not do that again."

Well, he mused, that didn't rule anything out permanently. Just needed to be more subtle.