#almul

Almul was reasonably certain that they were, in fact, not tasty. Alzu’s approval was probably at least mostly due to the fact that he was drunk. Very drunk, evidently, and gnawing lightly on Almul’s helm. Which was confusing, and kind of hot and damp, but not really objectionable. Almost cute, actually, and-

Almul squeaked lightly as Alzu licked at their face, then sighed and leaned away slightly, staring up at their lap full of Lyca. Okay, definitely cute. But- maybe not good for public? Almul hadn’t seen Alzu drunk before, they weren’t certain if he was going to get loud or otherwise troublesome, so it was probably a good plan to leave. Good thing Alzu was already all gathered up- all that Almul had to do was wrap their arms more securely around him, supporting his butt (which was made difficult by that rapidly wagging tail) and holding his lithe frame close so he couldn’t fall off. Alzu was obliging enough, content to lean his head over Almul’s shoulder and nibble on various parts of his back, so all Almul had to do was start walking. The benefits of having paid for one’s alcohol in advance.

Once outside the bar, Almul shifted Alzu up a bit higher, slinging him over one shoulder for easier carrying, and warbled in complaint when Alzu started to gnaw on their cape. Not that it hurt, they just didn’t like the tugging sensation very much, and they could do without drool inside the material. Or drool anywhere, but at least on the outside of them it was easy to clean off.

 Alzu gnawed lightly at various parts of Almul for most of the walk, chewing on their shoulder for the most part, and occasionally paused the chewing to aim a saucy grin at anyone who caught his attention. Also things like “hey, gorgeous, you’n’me’n that hot stuff next t’ ya” now and then, most of which was ignored. Someone did take the opportunity to smack Alzu’s rear as they walked by, but Almul recognized them as someone Alzu had played with before, so they just chirped in response. That wasn’t a threat- not with someone who knew that Alzu enjoyed that sort of thing. Which he clearly did, as his response to the smack was an even wider grin and a short bark.

 Almul didn’t stop for interactions, though, they wanted to get to someplace quiet. Just in case Alzu got feisty in one way or another. Because- what was Alzu going to do? Flirt with everyone more thoroughly and then seduce someone into bed? Alzu didn’t like when drunk people were being hit on, and Almul had some understanding of why, so… probably shouldn’t let Alzu hit on people further than comments. And, hm- drunk people lost their inhibitions, right? What if Alzu decided to start grinding on Almul? Because Almul wouldn’t really mind that, in fact it would probably be enjoyable, but it didn’t seem appropriate for anywhere in public.

Once they were in private, that changed. A quiet patch of woodland, out of easy earshot of everyone- this would work. Chirruping softly, Almul set Alzu down and sat down next to him, waiting to see what would happen- and was immediately pounced on again.

Yep, they’d expected this. All right, fine by them, might be interest-

No grinding? Also interesting, though a different kind. What was Alzu up to, then, if not-

Puzzled, Almul wriggled until they got comfortable on their back, chirping occasionally in gentle protest if Alzu stepped too hard on any particular spot. So… what was he up to?

 Alzu shifted around for a minute or two, trying to get comfortable, then flopped gently against Almul’s side and propped himself up enough to grin down at the other. “Yer cute. Real cute, know that? Lookit- cutie. Cutie li’l. Yeeeah- cute. Lemme nuzz’l.” he muttered, then attempted to nuzzle at Almul’s face. Since Almul had more empty space than face at the moment, it didn’t do much- he just ended up with part of his face inside Almul’s helm, which earned a pouty whine and a sulky expression. Which was rather hard for Almul to see until they pushed Alzu’s face away.

 Cute?

Almul murred softly, intrigued, but dismissed the comment. Alzu was drunk, after all, and drunk people said silly things. And they really had no complaints about their appearance, but they weren’t cute. You couldn’t be cute without a face. Also, they were made of metal and fire, so… not cute, no.

Then again, Alzu had called a dragon cute, so… his standards were different. All the same, Almul shook their helm slightly and chuckled, a visible signal of their dismissal. Nope.

 “Yeeeah. Cute cute. An’ yer a smart- learnin’ stuff all good. An’ a strong, yeah- an’ real brave. If I were you, I’d’a wann’ move t’ where there ain’t any humans ever. You? Yer walkin’ ‘roun’ wi’ all th’ humans. Real good, yeah- brave. A good’n.” Alzu purred, tail waving, and kneaded his hands firmly on Almul’s frame as he snuggled into the other’s shoulder. “Yeah… warm. Good’n. Good, good.”

Doing his level best to hug Almul despite them being on the floor, Alzu squirmed happily and pushed his face into Almul’s frame, gradually settling against them until he could get comfortable lying still. “How of’n’m I gonn’ have t’ say tha’? I wan’ y’ t’ hear.”

 Oh, well- they weren’t so sure about all that. The first couple of points, maybe, but- brave? No, that was silly. They kept having nightmares, for goodness’ sake, had still barely gotten over that happening often. Yeah, definitely drunk talk. It… felt nice, though, even if… a lot of it might not really be true. Heh.

Okay, they could… they could enjoy this, as much as they would get of it, right? No harm. Just… talk, that was all. Just… talk.

 Alzu must have noticed their disbelief, though, because he grumbled softly before bapping Almul lightly in the helm with one hand. “Hey. Yer a good’n. Brave’n good. Shoosh’n, you. Shoosh. You a good. An’ I got no- no words, bu’ you a good. Y’ hear’n? Yeah.”

Clumsily attempting to gather Almul’s entire frame into his arms, Alzu snuggled up close and purred, nuzzling into their throat as much as he could with such a long snout. “Good’n. You’s a good, Almul. Yah. Good’n. Lookit- I luv ya, hear? Yeah- luv ya. Sweet li’l. All cudd’l.”

 …what? Yeah, okay, Alzu was- was very drunk, and-

And still talking, not giving Almul any time to think, to dismiss anything-

 “Good’n warm, a li’l sweet’n. I gotcha. Good’n, luv ya. An’ I- lookit, ah’m drunk. So you- you ‘mind me, an’ then ‘ll tell y’ again, yeah?” Alzu murred, then opened his mouth and fit it lightly around Almul’s throat before slowly moving up to grip their helm. Shaking his head slowly back and forth, he rocked Almul’s helm in a gentle, affectionate, very drooly gesture, then finally let go and settled again. “Good ‘un.”

 Oh.

Almul’s hands skittered uncertainly across Alzu’s back, then they wrapped their arms around him and hugged, tight, staring up at-

Okay, so he was drunk, but he sounded sincere. Looked it, too. Ears up, eyes wide, tail waving, not giving any sign that he was lying or- or anything.

Goodness.

Alzu meant that. All of it.

What… what were they supposed to do with that?

Almul had… absolutely no idea. Less than no idea. So they just… didn’t do anything, not really, other than staring at Alzu. For… probably two minutes, at least, during which time he got comfy and started to doze off.

Eventually, Almul raised one hand and stroked down Alzu’s head, then curled fully into him and snuggled into his throat. Chirping quiet sounds, they stroked his back and sides, as much as they could reach, trying to figure out the odd fluttering in their chest that was not coming from any part of them, then…

They couldn’t speak. Never had been able to, as far as they knew. But… they could try some other things.

They didn’t know exactly where Alzu’s heart was, but they put their hand firmly over what was probably about the right spot, squeezing gently at the thick fur there, and crooned the most affectionate sound they could manage with a throat made of metal shards.

“Nnh- hm, eh, Almul. ‘Lo. ‘s up?”

Alzu panted a lazy grin up at the suit of armor sitting on his legs, head lolling to the side, then blinked and glanced down at his crotch. “Ah. ‘s me. I’m up.” He cackled, tail wagging absently as he got a look at his own crotch, and glanced up at Almul after a moment. “Eh- oh, right. Ya ain’t got tha’, wouldn’- yeah, m’kay, y’ wann’ see?”

 Almul had already been tugging on Alzu’s waistband with a clawtip, and they responded to the question by nodding and pulling a bit harder. Clearly, something was going on, and they wanted to know what. There was, what- okay, right, people had things in their pants, but- this was something a bit more than usual, wasn’t it?

 “Yeah- a’ight. ‘ere- okay. So- I tol’ ya ‘bout masturbatin’, yeah? M’kay- that iiis-“

Alzu wriggled around until he was comfortable on his back again, now with Almul sitting between his legs, and worked his shorts down off of his hips until Almul could see properly. “Yeah. Tha’ is wha’ we call an erection. Mos’ people jus’ say ‘boner’, though, slang term’n’all. So- ‘ere. Real careful, ya got sharp bits, bu’ touch.”

 Well.

Almul tilted their head to the side, slowly reaching out with one hand, and pressed the side of their finger against the tip of Alzu’s shaft- trying to touch without bringing any sharp bits too close. They didn’t like the texture, though, and withdrew with an unhappy squawk of metal on metal. Too smooth, no thank you- too much like the sort of skin they didn’t like.

 “Ah, eh- yeah, ‘s all- ain’t got fur there. Sorry. Bu’, tha’ aside- ya wanna demonstration? Yeah?” Alzu rumbled, tail thumping happily, and slowly wrapped a hand around his cock. He’d explained sex to Almul earlier, as much as possible without overwhelming them, but- nothing better than a practical demonstration. “M’kay. So- sometimes this ‘appens. People wi’ bits jus’ wake up wi’ their bits goin’. Sometimes it’s cos’a sexy dreams, sometimes cos’a nothin’. Me, t’day, nothin’. Jus’woke up like this. Sit back- ya watch.”

Hey, he didn’t have anything to do right now, he could indulge. Especially since it would be educational for his very curious friend.

Tail waving softly, Alzu grinned up at Almul, offering a good look at his body language, then ran a fingertip softly over the six narrow slits at the very tip of his cock. “Now… these’re only on th’ Lyca. Lookit- drip slick stuff, see? ‘Cos it ain’t any fun I’ everythin’s dry, y’gotta have slippery, so. ‘s usually th’ females o’ whatever species tha’ got the slippery, bu’ Lyca, ‘s both. So- rub m’self real soft an’ gentle ‘till th’ drippin’ gets down further, rub th’ slick ‘round a bit. Then, mmr- then th’ fun happens.”

Alzu stroked lightly at his own length for a minute or two, enough time to demonstrate that the dripping from the slits increased greatly as his arousal built, then quickly slid a hand around himself to spread the lube before squeezing around his shaft.

 Intrigued, Almul settled a bit to watch, listening intently as Alzu’s breathing sped up. It almost sounded like distress, but Alzu had his tongue lolling and the rest of his face relaxed, so he clearly wasn’t upset or in pain. Excited, then. Which fit, from what they’d been told about how this sort of thing worked. But- the fluid was interesting. Not a good texture, but- good to look at. Shiny. Shame it was more like skin than Almul liked, or they would have been much more interested in touching.

As Alzu’s breathing sped further, Almul leaned in further to watch until they were just about looking down at him, watching his hands and the shiny fluid between his fingers. Interesting sight, very interesting sounds- quiet moans, whines, noises they’d never heard from Alzu before.

 Alzu didn’t bother to take his time once he saw that Almul was fully intrigued. He rocked his hips nice and slowly, thrust up into his hand, paused to rub around the tip of his cock now and then, and that was it. As his arousal built, he added in the occasional squeeze around his knot, tilting his head to look up at his companion. “Yeah- th’ knot’s made t’ lock in, so- only does its thing if th’ dick thinks there’s somethin’ ‘round all o’ it tha’s worth knottin’ in. Gotta –hhah- fool ‘im.”

Hindpaws twitching lightly, Alzu aimed a happy grin up at his observer, shamelessly showing himself off.

When he came, it was with a soft, panting whine, tail thumping furiously on the ground, and he tightened one hand firmly around his knot.

He was awake now, and it was a very nice awakening.

 Almul chirped quietly in interest and reached, rubbing a fingertip through the silvery fluid spattered lightly up Alzu’s stomach, then lifted that hand to taste. Interesting. And- the sounds, also interesting. Really, this whole thing was very interesting, and they rather wanted to see what happened when two people got up to this sort of thing. It wasn’t as if Almul could get involved. Nor did they want to, urgh.  fluids everywhere and fur-less bits, but maybe they could watch? Did people do that sometimes?

 Alzu propped himself up on his elbows for long enough to lick his own stomach clean, “Yeah- c’mere. Now ‘s f’ warm.” Alzu declared, reaching up to pull Almul down for snuggles, then grinned and glanced down at himself. “Lookit. Usually- th’ whole thing goes back all soft, like here, bu’ I got a knot an’ that part stays all hard f’ awhile. Tha’ expands, see? Wants t’ be locked inside. So- gotta sit f’ a li’l while, be comfy, ‘cos pants ain’t gonna fit real good yet.”

Strong hands forcing buckles apart despite their feeble efforts to struggle free, bare human skin somehow not parting under their claws, muffled skreels for help going unheard as the pool of Alzu’s blood started to soak into their back and stain their cloak-

Clasps clamping down painfully tight, fixing their plating around unpleasantly shifting limbs and damp, wet skin, their last few scraps of mobility vanishing as a being far stronger than them forced them to move-

Oh-so-familiar despair and helplessness sinking in again as their vision started to fade out, as the sounds around them dimmed, as their voice gave out, as their entire frame was pressed around the body of the being who was controlling them, forcing them to move, their entire world fading to nothing but the sensation of someone inside them-

Alzu was dead, and the being who had killed them had caught Almul, wasn’t hurt by their claws, wasn’t burned by their flame, was stronger than them and had them prisoner and they couldn’t get away, and Almul’s last coherent act was a silent scream of panic as their claws tried to clench on nothing and failed-

 “Almul, hey- hey, wake up-“

 Suddenly, the clammy heat inside them and the sticky, hot puddle against their back vanished, replaced by coolness against their back and a familiar, soft, comfortable warmth sprawled across their front. Correction: sprawled across them, wrapped around them, and licking their helm.

And somebody was screaming.

Oh. Their voice was back.

Bewildered, Almul trailed off and stared up at the blackness, claws flexing on whatever they were hooked int- ah, no, that felt like thick fur and skin, and this was Alzu, alive and warm and now bleeding but only thanks to them-

And the seemingly invincible human was gone. Just Alzu- hugging them and licking gently at their helm.

What… what had just-

 “Ah, fuck- ah’m sorry, Almul. Figured you’d be sleepin’ f’ awhile, ran off t’ get some supplies- an’ then I come back an’ yer screamin’ yer li’l helm off. Shh-shh, ‘s okay- ‘s jus’ me. I gotcha. Ain’t hurtin’ ya. Ain’t no one here, shush, I gotcha. Now, ah… take yer claws outta my shoulders?” Alzu asked softly, letting his head rest gently on Almul’s shoulder, and loosened his grip on them slightly. “Ain’t no good tryin’ t’ let y’ sleep alone, huh? Easy, sh-“

 Almul’s vision flickered back into existence, and they chirped out a quick apology as they removed their claws from Alzu’s hide, leaning up to see if he was- no, no, he wasn’t bleeding much, his fur had gotten in the way, he was probably-

He was alive, Alzu was alive, Almul was free, no one was hurting either of them-

Almul made a soft, rattling, sobbing noise, shaking all over, and buried their face in Alzu’s shoulder. Pressing up against him, they rocked slowly, whining, arms tight around Alzu’s frame, clinging with everything that they had to the one who kept them safe-

Safe from people, safe from the weather, from their own mind.

Quivering, Almul tried to curl into a ball with Alzu, chattering softly as he obliged them and curled with them. Pushing into Alzu as much as they could, they tried to rock into his frame, doing their absolute best to just melt into him and into the ground.

 “Yeah, there we go- shh. Ah, Hell- you’d be cryin’ now if ya could, wouldn’ ya? Poor thing- heard ya screamin’ all th’ way back on th’ road, an’ you got plenty t’ be screamin’ about. A’ight… tha’s it. No lettin’ you sleep alone. M’kay- you keep clingin’, y’ rattle-cry all y’ want, I am gonn’ sit up an’ try out- look, I got polishin’ stuff. Lemme get you all shined up- gonn’ make ya look pretty. Lemme know if any o’ this ain’t comfy.”

Alzu didn’t try to get loose of Almul’s grip, but he did wiggle until he had the top half of himself free and could reach his bag. “A’ight. I got good scrubby sand, a new scrubbin’ cloth, an’ some oil. Talked t’ the local armorer, asked ‘er ‘bout magical armor, an’ she says this ain’t gonn’ mess wi’ anything. Didn’ tell ‘er what kind of magical, don’ worry. I figure- we get you all shiny, you prob’ly feel nice.”

Crooning softly, he started on a spot on Almul’s shoulder, rubbing firmly with a cloth coated in the sand and oil. It easily cleared away the assorted dirt, and, after a bit more work, it removed the thin outer layer of dingy plating. Alzu had figured out at that point that Almul apparently shed- as their outer plating began to tarnish, it would eventually be easy enough to scrub loose, but the thickness of their plating never decreased. Presumably they grew more somehow. That also explained why their lighter scars faded away, why only the scars that went entirely through plating stayed over time. Interesting, and helpful. Besides- as Alzu scrubbed away the ready-to-shed bits, there was a soft sheen revealed underneath, and it looked nice. Hopefully he could get Almul cleaned up enough to see that nice shine everywhere.

 Soothed more than slightly by the pleasant scrubbing, Almul gradually stilled, their shuddering easing away. Chirruping quietly, they pushed their face into Alzu’s shoulder again, hugging close, and began to knead softly at what they could reach of his back. Okay, maybe this could… could they apologize? They’d dug their claws into Alzu, hurt him, and, oh- he was so good to them, he didn’t deserve that, he deserved good things. And that- that was much nicer to think about than what had just been happening, so they were just going to lay here, rub at Alzu’s back, and try to decide what else to do.

By the time Alzu had finished scrubbing both their forearms, they had a plan. Chirping quietly, they wriggled until they got free of him, then immediately climbed up onto his back and straddled his hips, just above his tail. A tail which immediately started to wag much harder, especially as Alzu placed both hands between his shoulder blades.

 Azu instinctively pushed up into the weight, propping himself up on his elbows to look over his shoulder, then relaxed a bit and just aimed a lazy grin up at Almul. “Hey- get yer rusty ass back down here, I gotta finish cleanin’ you. Can’t reach ya if yer up ther- ooh. Ooh. Ah, m’kay, thiiis is not quite what I intended to- nnh, nope, not complainin’. Yeah, that is nice.”

Slumping down against the ground, Alzu laid his head down and just relaxed, eyes fluttering shut as the heels of Almul’s hands pressed against the areas just below his shoulder blades. “Ah, yeah… mmh. Li’l bit in? Yyyyeah. ‘S too bad you ain’t gotta dick, otherwise y’ could fuck me an’ do that at th’ same time, an’ you know how much people like it when I do that t’ ‘em. We gotta get y’ a fake cock, strap ‘er onta ya, an’ then we have some fun. Ooh- y’ wann’ try?”

 Much calmer now, Almul massaged gently up and down Alzu’s back, everywhere they could easily reach except the bleeding spots. They thought about the suggestion for a moment, then shrugged and nodded, definitely intrigued. What- that was something that could be done? They wouldn’t feel it, of course, but it would probably be fun. Good noises from Alzu, probably.

And definitely a much more pleasant thing to consider than some other thoughts that wanted out.

Hm. Come to think of it, Alzu distracting them with touch, attention, and talk of sex was very in-character.

Nice.

They’d have to let him continue polishing them once they were done rubbing his back. But first- this. See if he kept making pleasant noises. Maybe see if this was the sort of contact that led to people becoming aroused. Then again- Alzu might not be a good measure for what got people turned on. A lot of things got Alzu turned on.

Though, apparently, not this. Maybe because his crotch was pressed against the ground? Or maybe just the wrong sort of attention. Almul could try to ask later, but, for now, rubbing.

And not thinking about before.

Not right now.