Archive of Our Own ^beta

It could not be said, after the particular venture he'd just undertaken, that Gideon Coal would not do anything for love. Because apparently, "reluctantly agreeing to a three-day travel by foot (one way) to the city for some obscure cooking ingredient (so obscure, it was beyond the abilities of Kremy's magical Ingredient Bag to conjure)" was on the list of things he was going to do for his husband. It was a task that would have been made so much simpler, had any of them been able to conjure a portal, or had Kremy not insisted on needing the damn stuff right when Gideon was in the middle of making repairs to his bike. He gave some explanation of urgency that left Gideon confused and frustrated, but something about the way Kremy had looked at him and asked so nice, so kindly, had him packing his bag before he could think to say no.

It was a great fortune, then - to him and his marriage - that only one day into his trek, he was able to find a street vendor in a neighboring town who had that exact item. The relief that came over both him and Frost (who had agreed to accompany him, after Kremy insisted he not go alone), was immense. Neither of them was particularly excited to make this journey. Their arms had been suitably twisted by the fact that Kremy held Frost's paycheck in one hand, and Gideon's balls in the other. But with their expedition abridged, they found their second wind as they returned home.

It was as they approached the carnival grounds, however, that Frost paused. His brow furrowed as he seemed to be listening to something. It took several steps before Gideon realized he was alone and talking to himself. He turned and gave the tabaxi a questioning look.

"What'sa matter, Frosty?"

"Hold on..." Frost held up a finger, eyes turning upward as if in thought, or still listening to something Gideon couldn't hear. He hummed low. "It's Gricko... He and Torbek seem to be at your home right now."

"Alright?" Gideon stepped in closer, his tone cautious. It wasn't too abnormal for the whole gang to hang out at his and Kremy's, but something seemed off. "They pissing Kremy off or something?" He huffed lightly.

Adjusting his pack, Frost nodded to himself, and continued on their path with a quickened pace. "I think we should hurry back now."

"Wh-- Wait, what's wrong?" Gideon followed behind. He felt his heart thump like it'd just hit his stomach. "Is someone hurt?"

"Not yet, but it... It sounds like quite the situation."

Gideon groaned with dread, picking up his pace as they neared his home. Once his and Kremy's parlor wagon came into view, they saw a familiar goblin and bugbear standing outside, both visibly shaken.

"What's wrong?" Gideon jogged up to them. "Where's Kremy?"

"Ohhh," Gricko greeted them with a forced smile. He stood conspicuously in the way of the door. "Welcome back, lads! You two are early!"

"What's going on, man-- Move--!" After trying unsuccessfully to sidestep past Gricko, Gideon physically picked the goblin up under the arms. He was stopped again, however, by a gangly hand attached to a long, furry arm.

"Torbek would not recommend going in there, Mr. Gideon." Torbek was shaking slightly, his eyes wild with fright. "Gricko almost lost an arm!"

Gideon looked, bewildered, between the two of them.  His agitation grew with the lack of answers. "What are you two talking about??"

"Well, that's kind of the thing," Gricko looked at Gideon sheepishly where he was held aloft, eye level. "We don't know what's going on. All we know was we came to visit and somebody was in a bit of a, erm... mood."

"M-Mr. Kremy was like an animal!" Torbek wrapped his arms around himself protectively. "Like an actual alligator, not just the folk! We barely made it out with our lives!"

Gideon blinked at the two of them. "What'd you two do to piss him off so bad?"

"I think he was well into that mood by the time we arrived, actually." Gricko crossed his arms, shoulders hunched to his ears and feet dangling. "I'm just glad we didn't bring Hootsie along. He was dangerous, Gideon! All... snapping and hissing!"

"Perhaps I could take a look into his mind," Frost suggested. "See if there's some explanation."

Torbek backed several long paces away from the wagon door. "I-I don't think Mr. Kremy would like that!"

There was a moment of silence as they all watched Frost close his eyes. Not ten seconds later, they opened again with a jolt.

"Hm."

"What? Is he alright?" Gideon asked.

"I think so... but when I contacted him, I was informed in no uncertain terms that probing his mind further would get us all dismembered via death roll." He frowned. With a whimper, Torbek moved to hide behind a nearby tree. "I got a very vivid mental image to go along with that threat. It was... concerning."

"Alright, enough of this." Gideon set Gricko down and stepped up to the wagon door.

"Gideon, wait!" Gricko called. Gideon turned with a sigh. "I just wanna say... It's been an honor serving with you all these years." He gave a melodramatic salute. "And your bravery this day will not be forgotten."

Rolling his eyes, Gideon turned and opened the wagon door.

The inside was dark and quiet, contrasting heavily with the scene of violence Gricko and Torbek had painted. The space opened up to a familiar large, open living area - their magically expanded home - lit only by the waning daylight coming in the windows. When Gideon lit a lamp, however, he noticed a few things wrong.

Mainly, some things were missing - including, most notably, Kremy. Strange things, as well, though: blankets from the couch, pillows from the settee, even the coats and jackets from the hooks by the door. Peering around, Gideon couldn't even find a rag in the kitchen.

"Kremy?" he called. Perhaps Kremy was doing some laundry. He could just prestidigitate most things clean, but sometimes he still wanted to give clothes a good proper wash.

There was a clatter from behind the closed door to their bedroom. Gideon felt a small bit of trepidation. Then he felt really stupid for that trepidation. Gricko annoying Kremy didn't mean Gideon was in any danger. This wasn't the feywild, there weren't any curses going around distorting their personalites. Still, the memory of being a frog prince chased by a bloodthirsty weregator was hard to shake in that moment.

"Kremy...?" The door let out a long, wailing creak as Gideon turned the knob and swung it slowly open. He tried to focus less on how menacing it felt in the silence, and more on how he'd need to get some oil on those hinges.

The bedroom, like the rest of the wagon, was dark. In the dim light of the window, Gideon saw only the odd grey shapes of familiar furniture, and a less familiar amorphous shape at the foot of the bed - a large pile of something. Frowning in confusion, he lit a nearby lamp.

It became immediately apparent where all the missing items in the house had gone. There on the floor sat seemingly everything in a pile - a large, soft, eclectic mound. Gideon could make out a lot of his own clothes in it, and a few shirts scattered across the floor. It was an odd sight, one that certainly didn't feel normal, but it also didn't imply the level of chaos Gricko and Torbek's story had suggested. And still, there was no sign of Kremy.

Closing the door quietly behind him, Gideon took a few paces forward. His eyes scanned the room. "Kremy...?"

It was after a long, disarming silence, just as Gideon reached the bed, that he heard a voice down by his feet.

"Why're you home?"

Gideon jumped, and then let out an undignified yell as he saw what was peeking out from below the bedframe. In the dark below their mattress, two gleaming eyes and a long row of sharp teeth grinned out by his feet. Out of sheer instinctual reflex, he jumped up onto the bed, scrambling up the bare mattress toward the headboard.

"FUCK!!" Gideon put a hand to his chest, feeling his own heart pounding. "Kremy, what the FUCK!?"

"What the fuck me? What the fuck you!" Kremy called out from below Gideon. "You shouldn't be home yet!"

"I-- We-- I found the-- ... No, hold on!" Through the fog of terror, Gideon found it in him to be indignant. "What are YOU doing?? I come back, Gricko's saying you chased him, all our shit's in a pile on the floor, you--" It was now, eyes scanning the room, that Gideon noticed all the emptied dresser drawers. His heart found a new, awful reason to sink. "Krem, are you... Are you packing our shit?"

"What?" Kremy sounded oddly breathless from beneath the bed.

"All my shit's..." Gideon swallowed a lump in his throat. "Were you leaving?"

"What?"

"Or... Or kicking me out?" Through the hurt, he found he could only respond with anger. "Sent me away to... to give you time to throw my stuff out on the fuckin' lawn?? The fuck did I do--!?"

"Gid--"

His volume grew with his fury. "Didn't even have the decency to say it was over to my face! Like a fuckin' coward! I didn't even..." His breath was coming heavy, a new panic weighing in his chest, pulling his heart down kicking and screaming into his gut.

"Gid!"

"Sent me off on a wild goddamn goose chase--!"

"GIDEON!"

Suddenly, those wild, gleaming eyes and alligator maw were back, over the other edge of the mattress. Gideon had just a glimpse of Kremy's hunched figure crawling up toward him before his body decided on flight rather than fight. With a scream much higher than he knew he was capable of, he went tumbling off the mattress and onto the floor.

"FUCK!"

Kremy scrambled across the bed toward him. Gideon shuffled back across the floor. Vaguely, he thought about Torbek cowering behind a tree, and he felt he understood now. Kremy was crawling on all fours, shoulders hunched, eyes wild with an intensity Gideon had never seen and flashing with a light that seemed to come from within him. He leered down at Gideon.

"I am not fucking leaving you, you prick!"

Gideon blinked. It took a moment for him to remember his anger, having almost lost it completely to fear. "Wh-- Then why the fuck--?"

Kremy could have simply hopped off the bed. He could have sat up, swung his legs over and stood up before Gideon. Instead, for some godawful reason, he crawled down on hands and knees to the floor, toward where Gideon was frantically shuffling backwards. Gid's back hit the wall. Kremy began to close in.

"I am not leaving you. I am not packing your shit." He was at Gideon's feet now. Gideon wondered for a moment if he was going to have to fight his own husband for his life. "I just..." Kremy paused. The menacing set of his mouth twisted into something else - something more like anxiety. "I just didn't expect you, alright! I-I woulda cleaned up if I'd..." He sat back on his haunches, scrubbed a hand over his eyes.

Gideon swallowed, caught his breath. With Kremy looking more like himself, he cautiously relaxed his shoulders. "... Did ya attack Gricko and Torbek?"

"They should learn to fuckin' knock!"

Gideon sighed. "Right..." He looked over at the pile of damn-near-everthing on the floor. "Well what's all that?"

Kremy glanced over his shoulder at the mess, looking cowed and embarrassed. At length, he shrugged a shoulder. "... Laundry..."

"That ain't laundry, Krem." He watched Kremy, shivering a bit in his undershirt and boxers. His own clothes were visible in the pile with Gideon's, likely getting wrinkled - a thing Kremy would usually never allow. Gid felt the pang of a new sort of concern. "C'mon, c'mere..." He opened his arms in invitation. Kremy crawled over, burying his face in Gid's stomach and absorbing some of his warmth. "Tell me what's up."

Kremy held Gideon around the middle and let out a sigh. "It's embarrassin'..."

"Well, I won't laugh." Gideon was sure he was still too shaken to laugh, even if it was something funny.

After several deep breaths and passes of Gideon's hand over his back, Kremy mumbled something.

"Wassat?"

"'M in rut..."

Gid frowned. "You're in a rut?"

"No," Kremy sighed. Finally, he unhid his face, laid his chin in the valley between Gideon's pecs and gazed pathetically up at him. "I'm in rut. The worst of my life. 'S never been this bad..."

"I'm not-- What's that, what's rut?" Gideon stroked along the ridge of scales on the back of Kremy's head. Kremy's eyes fell shut as he let out a soft, rumbling sound. His toothed mouth twisted into a frown of dread.

"It's-- Well... It's..." Gideon squeezed his shoulder encouragingly. "... First of all, I haven't had a proper rut since I was a much younger man. Thought that was all behind me by now. But even then, it's never been this... intense." Gideon hummed, but felt no less confused. Eventually, Kremy let out a huff. "... It's an alligator thing, alright?"

"What kinda alligator thing?"

"Goddammit, Gid-- I'm horny, alright! And mad! Angry and horny!" Kremy pushed himself up onto his hands. Gideon shrank back a bit as he saw that wild look in his eyes return. "All I wanna do is... is fight 'n breed, and it won't stop! It's fuckin' humiliatin'!"

"Oh! A-Alright, well..." Gideon felt himself blush. "Y'know we can... do something about that, probably."

"Yeah?" Kremy was slowly climbing further up over him. Gideon felt a thrill of terror, mixed now with a much more familiar thrill. A low growl underscored Kremy's words. "Y'know, talented as I am, cher, I think I'd have a hard time breedin' ya."

If Gideon had not been so caught off-guard, so simultaneously aroused and terrified, he would have had a real funny quip. Maybe something about trying anyway. Or about Kremy underselling his talents. But just then, with Kremy crawling up him like a predator moving in for the kill, he couldn't find any of the words.

"Gid, I gotta warn ya..." Kremy's voice was suddenly quite breathy. Gid felt the flames in his hair jump to life at the sound - felt something else jump to life as well. "If you stay in this room, you are either gettin' eaten or humped." He dipped his chin, pressed his forehead to Gideon's. That gleam returned to his eyes as his pupils dilated, letting the light of Gideon's flames in and shining it back at him. "Either way, I'm startin' with your leg."

Gideon let out a shuddering breath. "Fuck..."

But before Kremy could make good on either promise, there was a soft, tentative knock on their door. Kremy's head whipped around, staring at it. Slowly, it opened just the smallest bit, enough for a long green nose to poke through.

"Gideon?" came Gricko's voice. Kremy let out a low snarl. "You alright in there, Big Red? We got concerned when the screaming stopped--"

In the blink of an eye, Kremy was off Gideon and scrambling across the floor toward the intruder. Just as quickly, Gideon sprang into action, reaching out and grabbing Kremy by the tail and yanking him back.

"Close the door, Gricko!" He climbed up over Kremy, straddling him. His hand clamped down over the gatorfolk's snout, pinning his head to the ground and holding his jaws closed. "I got it handled!"

But over his voice, the hiss Kremy emitted - a sound that was transitioning into something lower, something more threatening and rumbling - could be heard clearly.

"Are you sure--"

"I'm sure! Get goin'!"

"Suit yerself!" And with a click of the door, Gricko fled.

Gideon took a moment to catch his breath. Slowly, with his hand still over Kremy's jaws, he sat up onto his knees. "Now then... That is enough with the damn bitin'!  Alright?" He frowned down at his husband. "I know you're havin' a- a situation right now, but you can't keep tryna-- Wh- What're you--?" As he spoke, he felt the press of something rising up between his legs. Glancing down, he saw Kremy's hips raised, his tail lifting slowly like a cat in heat. Gideon felt his face and hair burning. "... Oh. Well... um... right..." He looked to Kremy's face, seeing his eyes unfocused in a dazed expression.  The low growl Gideon had been hearing suddenly seemed less like aggression and more like a purr. "... Okay, look, if I let go of you, do you promise not to bite?"

Kremy gave another long bellow, stretching his arms out across the floor in front of him. His tail ran its length over Gideon's groin as it lifted further. Gid figured that was a yes.

"Alright..." Tentatively, he lifted his hand off of Kremy's face. As he sat back, his gaze fell on Kremy's ass, now on full display. He whistled low. "Jeez, babe, yer soaked through..."

It wasn't an exaggeration. With his tail lifted out of the way, Gideon could see a large wet stain where Kremy's boxers met his slit. The fabric clung to the erection emerging from it.

Kremy let out a pathetic sound. "I know..." He covered his eyes with both hands. "Gid, it's-- I can't--"

"Alright, alright, shhh," Gid soothed. His hand ran over the ridge of Kremy's spine soothingly. "Just take a breath, alright? 'M here, I gotcha. I'll take care of ya."

Gideon had to take a moment to gather himself. He'd never seen Kremy this desperate, this needy. It was a heady thing, a sight that left him almost dizzy with the blood rushing out of his head to places that needed it much more pertinently. He took a moment to feel where Kremy was wet. The lightest touch had Kremy's cock twitching.

"Alright..." Gideon undid the button keeping Kremy's boxers closed over his tail. Kremy was panting softly even before the underwear was peeled down. "Yer alright..." A kind of loud, throaty moan Gideon rarely got to hear left Kremy's throat as his fingers rubbed over his cock, trailed up over the slick entrance where it emerged from within him. Slowly, he pressed a finger in. "That alright?"

"More..." Kremy stretched out on the floor wantonly, eyes squeezed shut in equal parts pleasure and dissatisfaction.

Gideon slid a second, then third finger in, finding they fit easily. Kremy seemed much more satisfied with that number. Rocking them in and out, angling his hand to hit that spot he knew Kremy loved, he leaned down to speak low in his ear. "Does that help, sweetheart?"

Kremy was breathing deeply with every movement of Gideon's hand. His brow was pinched as he turned his face into the crook of his own arm. "Would help a lot more if it was your dick..." Gid increased his pace minutely. Kremy's tail twitched and legs splayed a bit more.

"Mmm..." Gid hummed. He laid a kiss right above Kremy's jaw, where he knew his ear to be. "And what about my tongue? How much would that help ya?"

The answer was, it seemed, "very much." Almost immediately upon suggesting it, Kremy tensed with a gasp. His nails dug into the hardwood floor, scratching across it as he let out a series of breathy sounds. Gideon was caught off guard, but immediately began moving his hand more roughly, recognizing that Kremy was right on the precipice. He tipped over it with a loud, screaming "F-FUCK!!"

Gideon kept his hand moving until the twitches in Kremy's cock and inner walls calmed. Panting heavily, Kremy fell limp, as if his strings had been cut.

"... Well," Gideon said at length. He ran a soothing hand up and down Kremy's thigh. "That was easier than I thought."

"Don't get too comfortable." Kremy was already sounding more himself, albeit breathless. He weakly snapped his fingers, presumably to clean the mess now left on his stomach. "I'll be hard again in five minutes."

"Wha-- Really?" Gideon looked at him, bewildered. Kremy certainly had a shorter refractory period than him - that much he had learned early in their relationship - but surely he was exaggerating.

If the pained expression on his face was anything to go by, however, he was not. "It's been damn near every five minutes since... I dunno, however long you'd been gone."

"So this whole time...?" Gideon had to fight to pay attention now, and not get lost in imagining it.

"Yeah... I got no sleep last night." He sounded tired, pathetic. "I've just been... nestin' and fuckin' myself and wanting to kill anything that got close. No clue when it'll be over, either; could be tomorrow, could be a week from now..."

"Well, y'know, Kremy..." Gideon moved to sit beside him, tugging him again into his arms and off the cold floor. Kremy went willingly, crawling into his lap. "Why did ya send me away, then? I'd've thought if anything, I should definitely be around to help you with this."

Kremy shook his head, where it was buried in Gid's shoulder. "Didn't want you seein' me like this."

"Why not?" They were close enough to the pile of Everything that he decided, based on how much more comfortable it looked than the bare floor they were on, to slide over to it. Leaning back, he sank into the odd, uneven plushness and adjusted Kremy in his arms.

Kremy glanced up at the pile behind them guiltily. "It ain't normal... Not for most people. And I wasn't even expecting it to be half this bad."

"What, so you... pile shit together and get horny every few minutes? You think I can't handle that?" Gid ducked his head and lifted Kremy's chin enough to look him in the eye. "You and I've both seen a lot weirder, you know that."

Kremy's eyes were misty. It didn't shock Gideon, considering how hormonal he'd just admitted to being, but it made a soft spot in his heart ache. "I get needy, Gid. Clingy. Aggressive.  Neurotic."

"Yeah, what else is new?" Gideon said with a smirk.

Oh. It had been meant as a lighthearted joke, one of their usual loving jabs, but it was clearly the wrong response in that moment. Kremy's eyes grew wetter, a single tear falling. If he'd had a lip, it would be quivering.

"Oh... Oh, no, Krem, I didn't mean--"

Kremy was already pushing off him. "This is what I mean!"

"Krem, babe, hey--"

"I'm vulnerable right now, Gid! I don't need your-- your fuckin' comments and jokes and..." He sounded choked. Gideon felt like absolute shit.

"Ah Kremy, I didn't mean anything by it, you know that!"

"No, but you're right!" Kremy turned away from him, climbing up to cover the Pile with his body, adding himself to it like a used shirt. "I'm too much! Right now especially! And all I wanted was to just... just be too much by myself where you wouldn't have to see it and make some fuckin' snarky-ass comment--"

"Kremy!" Gid sat up, turned to face him. He was currently eye level with Kremy's bare hip, and had to move slightly to dodge his swinging tail. Reaching out, he halted its movement with a firm hand. "You are not too much, alright!"

Kremy gave a hearty sniff, but said nothing. Gideon sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry. This is new to me, okay?  You never told me about this before, I dunno what I'm doing. But I'm trying to tell ya..." He moved up to his knees, leaning over the clothes to speak closer to Kremy's face. "I can handle it, alright? Even if it's not just... a bunch of constant sex, even if it's not all fun 'n games." He saw Kremy's head tilt, listening to him, though he wouldn't make eye contact. "Should know by now I'm not just here for the fun parts."

Finally, Kremy's eye turned to look at Gideon from its corner. "... I almost ate Gricko."

"I know." He ran a hand placatingly over Kremy's back. "Threatened to eat me too, 'n I'm still here."

Kremy turned his head to look at him properly. The last time Gideon had seen him look this sad and sorry, he'd been drunk off his ass, admitting through slurred words how he'd scratched Gid's bike on accident. (He would have forgiven him, but the look of relief when Gid reminded him he had magic to fix it had been heartwarming.) "... You're my best friend."

Gid felt a soft smile spread across his face. "I know.  I'm lucky enough to be your husband, too."

"Yeah, but..." Kremy swiped a wrist across his nose. "You didn't really get to choose that."

"Been choosing it every day we've been together, actually."

Kremy looked devastated with emotion. Turning over, he slid down the pile a bit and reached his hands out, beckoning Gideon into his arms. Gideon moved over him, letting himself get pulled into a hug.

"I got'chu," he muttered, and pressed a kiss to Kremy's jaw.

After holding each other for a while, Kremy whispered into his ear with a voice still sweetly choked. "... Can I have that tongue now?"

"Hm? The what?"

"Yer tongue..." His hips shifted. Based on what was pressed now to Gid's thigh, he figured their five minutes were up. "When you said--"

"Oh, right, right." Gideon chuckled, pulling away to lay a few warm kisses to Kremy's mouth. Kremy's eyes fluttered. The tip of his tongue met his lips on the last one. "Might as well make myself useful, hm?"

"Please..." His breath was coming heavier. The tears had stopped, but there was a desperation in his voice that kept it choked. "Please please please..." His thighs spread.

Gideon glanced down, taking in the sight. Kremy was, miraculously, hard again, glistening with slick as his legs trembled. God, he was gorgeous like this, spread out and needy. Gid reached a hand down to wrap around his cock, and marveled once more at how it immediately twitched at his touch.

"Please, please please," Kremy continued to beg, arching his back. Gideon kissed down his body. He would have loved to take his time with this, see just how many "pleases" he could get out of him tonight.  But he wasn't going to be cruel.  His man needed him.

"Yer alright," he soothed in a hushed voice, as his lips moved down over the undershirt covering Kremy's torso. It had ridden up, exposing his belly and slight waist. Gideon elected to keep the foreplay to a minimum for now, and kissed down the length of his cock. Kremy let out a sob, his hands scrambled to grab whatever in the Pile lay below him.

Gideon's tongue took a short detour along Kremy's length before resuming its trail toward the destination he'd had in mind. His eyes fell closed as he licked over his husband's slit. Kremy tasted different this time, his scent was stronger than usual, in a way that was certainly not unpleasant.  Gid had some vague notion in his mind about hormones and biology before he quickly tossed that boring line of thought to the side in favor of a much more interesting focus. Kremy gave a full-body shudder as his tongue entered him.

It was difficult to work in such a hunched position, however. Hooking both arms under Kremy's legs, holding him by the hips, Gideon lifted him enough to allow himself to sit up on his haunches. His knees had luckily ended up on some rags that had slid from the pile, cushioning them some. More comfortable now, he got to work bobbing his head, flexing and flicking his tongue, doing everything he could think of to get more of those gorgeous, shameless sounds from his husband. Legs wrapped around his face, thighs quivered against his ears, muffling the world around him, but still he heard him.

And gods, Kremy was hot like this. It might be more complicated than a fun sex marathon, but Gideon would do his damnedest to keep him feeling good throughout it. Never again would Kremy try to go through a rut alone, not after Gideon was done with him.

Kremy's hand found Gideon's hair, alternating between tugging and stroking. Gid cracked an eye open to glance up at him. He caught silver eyes watching him with blown pupils, a row of sharp teeth on display as his mouth hung open with heavy breath. Gid's cock twitched in his pants. It had been ignored for so long, and as much as Gideon wanted to concentrate on his partner, he found he had to indulge a bit. Shifting Kremy's thighs slightly, he slid his suspenders down off each shoulder, and reached to unfasten his pants. He'd just gotten his fist on his cock, groaning in relief, when Kremy tensed, tight as a bow string.

"Fuck, fuck fuck fuck, fu-uck...!"

That's it, baby, Gideon desperately wanted to say. As it was, his mouth was occupied. He reached his free hand up to stroke Kremy's cock as he kept his tongue moving. That's it, c'mon, c'mon, gimme another, and in another five minutes I'm coming back for more. As many as you need, I'm here, I'm not goin' anywhere.

When Kremy did come, it was with such violent thrashing and bucking that Gid had to stop stroking himself just to maintain a hold on him and not get his own neck snapped. (Although, if he had to choose a way to go...)

Kremy came down with a series of whimpers, shaking like a leaf in a windstorm. As he went limp, he was gently lowered to the pile below him. But gods, seeing him lying there, ruined, his cries still echoing in Gideon's ears, Gid found he was helpless to stop from stroking himself again.

It seemed to take a minute for Kremy to gain enough awareness to realize what his husband was doing.  To Gid's dismay, he reached down a hand to stop him.

"What--"

"No, no Gid I need that, don't--"

Gideon released himself with a huff, leaning down to take some his frustration out on Kremy's neck, sucking marks aggressively. "Kremy, c'mon..."

"Now who's beggin'?" Kremy tilted his head, smirking as he held onto broad shoulders.

"Yer just so... fuckin' hot, I gotta..."

"Mm, gotta what?" He seemed lucid enough now to be smug. Gid moved to kick his pants off, cursing when they got stuck on his boots. When he'd gotten his bottom half bare through a series of awkward kicks, he pressed down into Kremy, hips flush together. Kremy grinned around a gasp.

"Given you two already, have I not earned one m'self?" His hips shifted, taking the edge off with some friction.

"Gotta pace yourself, cher. I'm gonna need that dick real soon."

Gideon moaned into his collarbone. "Gonna let me fuck ya next?"

"Possibly..." But Gideon's enthusiasm was already rubbing off on him (in more ways than one), and they began moving against each other in rhythmic, wave-like motions. Hands wandered fervently, lips and teeth made frequent stops to all their favorite spots. "Might make ya... wait a few more rounds," he panted. "Maybe I should be fuckin' you next..."

"Yeah?" Gideon thrust his cock over the length of Kremy's slit, earning a gasp. "You know I love havin' you between my legs, babe."

With a sudden shove, Kremy flipped Gideon off him and pulled himself on top, bracketed by Gid's legs. The momentum it took to move them both almost sent them rolling off the hill of blankets and clothes and rags, but Gideon caught himself with a breathless laugh. That laughter was quickly stolen, however, by the eyes leering down at him.

A slender green hand gripped Gideon's jaw as Kremy loomed over him, backlit by the one lamp Gideon had been able to light when he'd entered. The look in his half-lidded eyes was a familiar one to Gideon. There hadn't been a single time that look didn't promise something fantastic.

"That how you want it, cher?" His other hand moved down, out of sight, between his own legs. "You been so good to me, you wanna get taken care of, too?"

Gideon was panting. He saw the way his flames burned brighter, lighting his husband's face, their reflection dancing in his eyes. "Wanna keep bein' good to ya..."

"Think you can be good from down there?" From the movement of Kremy's arm, it was obvious he was fingering himself. Perhaps he was trying to speed along the refractory period, get himself up again to take Gideon. Gid shuddered and arched. "You do look awfully pretty bent in half, baby..."

And considering the size difference, Kremy was very good at bending Gideon in half, he knew well.

"C'n do whatever y' want to me," he gasped. "Oh fuck..."

Kremy's eyes fluttered a moment with the movement of his hand. A slick sound underscored their dirty talk. "That's such a generous offer, sugar, you know I can never turn it down. Ya gonna let me finger you open?"

Gideon nodded enthusiastically. It hadn't occurred to him until that moment just how far away the drawer with their lube was, but before he could think too much about it, he felt a hand, already incredibly slick, press a wet fingertip to his entrance. He bit back a groan, lifting his knees higher. He nearly finished right there when he realized what was lubricating the finger now fucking him.

"Holy shit..." he gasped. "Babe, did you--"

A second finger joined the first, going in with surprising ease.

"Is it enough?" Kremy asked sweetly, but with a hint of real concern behind his words. He knew Gid liked it a little rough, a little burn by the time he'd finished with him, an ache to carry as a reminder. This, though... Gods, Kremy had been so wet, this would get him in just fine. Gideon nodded.

Almost without thought, his hand had tried to reach again for his cock. Kremy smacked it away, before reaching up to drag his nails over Gid's still-clothed pec, right over his nipple. Gideon bit his lip, tensing.

"Thought I was gonna be the desperate one here," Kremy crooned. Gideon let out a warbling shout as his tit was smacked, before fingers pinched his nipple through the shirt. "But oh, honey, you're so hungry for it, ain't'cha?"

Gideon nodded again, making some vague, desperate noise of ascent. He loved when Kremy got like this - teasing and domineering, all with an undercurrent of affection so deep it made Gideon combust (often quite literally). "Want it, want you..."

"Who's the one in rut now, cher?" A third finger joined the first two, bending just slightly at the knuckles, pressing up with each thrust in and dragging out in a curling grasp. Gideon's jaw dropped with a silent gasp. "Or, y'know, with you, aren't most things about heat?"

Gideon had little idea where this was going, but he liked the sound of it, liked hearing Kremy talk like that. "Yeah, fuck, yeah..."

"You feelin' needy? You need to get fucked so bad, filled right up..." His fingers were moving more roughly, his gaze intense as he hovered above Gideon. "Lift your knees for me, sweet thing, open yourself up."

"Yes, oh shit--" Gideon pulled his knees up obediently, hands shaking as he held his own thighs.

"Gonna give ya what ya need, gonna fold you like a fuckin' lawn chair..." His other hand disappeared, the wet sounds telling Gideon exactly where it went.

"Yeah, fuck yeah, Krem..." He grit his teeth. "C'mon, fuckin' give it to me--"

"Gonna fill you up, breed you so fuckin' good--"

In the haze of arousal, it took a moment for the words to register in Gideon's mind. When they did, he paused his blind agreements, listening.

"Won't be able to walk straight." Okay, Gideon liked the sound of that. Kremy kept going, leaning over him to rest his head to Gid's chest while his hands worked. "But I don't need ya to walk, I need ya here, at the nest, lettin' me fuck that pretty hole 'til you're bred 'n full of me..."

"Bred?"

Kremy moaned, as if the word itself was conjuring filthy images in his mind. "Nest's gonna be so full by the time I'm done with you--"

"Oh...?"

"Everyone's gonna fuckin'... look what we've made and know what I've done to ya--"

"... Like kids?"

Kremy froze. For a moment, they could have heard a pin drop in that room. When he looked up at Gideon, a bewildered expression replaced all arousal. "What??"

"You... saying you want eggs?  In the nest?" Gid asked tentatively. "Like, kids?"

Kremy's face twisted. His voice pitched up an octave in incredulity. "... I can't ACTUALLY knock you up, Gid!"

"No, I know! I know! I'm just--"

"Baron below, what a way to kill the mood!"

"You just-- You kept talkin' 'bout it, I thought if you suddenly wanted 'em--"

"I don't--"

"-- that's something we need to discuss!"

Kremy sat back on his knees. "Right NOW??"

Gid could feel his face getting boiling hot. "I mean you were just talkin' about it!"

Kremy pinched the space between his eyes, squeezing them shut. "... I didn't mean it literally, Gid!"

"Okay! Alright! Good! Now I know!"

His eyes snapped open suddenly. "Do you--?"

"No! No, I'm not--" Gideon waved his hands vaguely. His embarrassment was such that he was certain he could fry an egg on his face.

Kremy sighed. "... Scare the fuck outta me with that."

"Alright, I'm sorry, okay?"

"You know how hard it is to kill a boner when you're in rut, Gideon Coal?" He was leaning over Gid with such wide eyes and exaggerated seriousness, Gid found himself able to laugh despite himself. "I'm actually impressed."

Gideon's arms wrapped around Kremy, pulling him down into a kiss. "Well forget what I said and get it back."

"I'll try," Kremy's mouth nuzzled against Gideon's lips. "But now I'm wonderin' if I need to wear protection. Anything about genasi anatomy I don't know about?"

Gideon groaned. "Kremy..."

"Swear to the Baron, Gid, if you try babytrappin' me, I'm gonna be makin' the longest cigarette run you've ever seen."

"Alright--"

"Gonna go on a hundred year quest to the feywild for those things."  He leaned down to whisper low into Gid's ear, like how a lover might profess their adoration, just for him to hear. "Only way you'll hear of me again is through legend and folklore. I'll become a rumor. A deadbeat myth."

"Drop it, now, will ya?" Gid kissed along the side of his mouth. "And work on gettin' me pregnant."

"Watch it," Kremy warned with a light bite to his ear. Gideon gave one last chuckle, which was swallowed in a gasp.

Jokes quickly left him as that tongue - so much longer and more dexterous than any other he'd known (why hadn't he had more lizardkin partners before Kremy?) - teased inside the shell of his ear. Nipples had always been his favorite erroneous zone, but this? Easy second. Especially with the low rumbling sound of a horny gatorfolk to accompany it. As if a button had been pressed, shutting off his willpower, he felt his legs fall open and jaw drop and eyes roll back, heard a choked sound leave his own throat.

The mood wasn't difficult to recover after that. Kremy stroked his own slick over his cock before driving it into his partner. Gideon moaned out his appreciation as he was fucked with a renewed desperation, stoking his own arousal back from doused embers into a raging pyre. He held Kremy close to him, barely letting any air between them. The breath was repeatedly punched from him with each thrust, cutting off his mantra of rough curses and soft encouragements. Kremy was smaller than him, but as Gideon had heard many times, it wasn't about size so much as technique. And oh, did his baby have technique.

"Up, hold 'em up," Kremy begged as he pushed Gid's knees up to his chest. Their movements had caused them to slide off the mound - the nest, Gideon supposed it was, somewhere in a small, forgotten, cognizant part of his mind - onto a few scant blankets on the floor. Gideon willingly bent to his husband's will, panting as he held himself open and Kremy braced his hands on either side of Gideon's head, driving in with a singleminded focus.

His rut did not give him stamina, but even so, it was enough for Gideon. The sight of Kremy tensing, shaking, his jaw hanging open in the kind of pleasure that could only be captured after a frantic chase, got him there as much as the cock pounding into him. He was swept up in the unstoppable wake of a bursting dam - not so much tipping over the edge as hurdling off at a speed and momentum that left him airborne for a small eternity, before letting him crash back down to earth. Winded, shattered, doused.

Kremy, once more, collapsed under the weight of his own afterglow. Gideon was there to catch him, hold him close as they both let their breaths catch up to them. He could hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears, and looked down to see Kremy, head on his chest, listening in as well.

It was a long couple minutes before a single word broke the quiet air.

"Fuck."

Kremy nodded weakly. "Think I..." he swallowed. His words came out slurred. "Think I wanna... try sleepin'..."

Gideon remembered vaguely something Kremy had mentioned about getting no sleep, and nodded. "Here?"

"Nah... Not comfer'ble."

Neither of them made a move to get up, however. Not for a long time, anyway. Exhaustion tried desperately to pull Gideon into sleep, but a cold, hard floor against his hot back was slowly making its effects known on his body. With the reluctance of a man walking to the gallows, Gideon made to sit up.

"C'mon," he mumbled, trying to get Kremy off him. Then, when that proved impossible, tried to juggle standing up on shakey legs while gathering Kremy in his arms. With much effort, he was able to snag a blanket from the nest, and lay them both on the bed. They would have to do without sheets for tonight. No way in hell was Gideon gonna bother with all that right now.

His back barely hit the mattress - blanket haphazardly tucked around them, gator plastered to his chest - before sleep claimed him.

The next time consciousness found him, he didn't remember dreaming, but it seemed he must have moved at some point. Rather than on his back, he was on his side. Rather than curled up on his chest, Kremy was curled against his back - his very own little big spoon. Gideon smiled sleepily to himself, until he realized why he was awake. Kremy's hands were running over his torso with a clumsy kind of enthusiasm, like a drunk trying to find their keys in a couch cushion. He was hissing Gideon's name into his ear.

"Gid..."

"M'what?"

"You awake?" He sounded hopeful and guilty all at once.

"Mhm..." Gideon hummed in a less than convincing way.

"Can I, um..." It was then Gideon noticed something hard and wet poking at his thigh, and suddenly was reminded of their situation. It made him chuckle softly, but he didn't yet have the energy to tend to Kremy properly.

"What'cha need?"

Kremy blew out a breath, ran his nails over Gideon's stomach as he writhed against his back. It made Gid wiggle ticklishly. "Can I, uh... Um, yer thighs?"

"Mhm..." Gideon lifted his leg slightly. Kremy let out a grateful sigh.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou..." There was the sound of him stroking wetness over his own cock, before Gideon felt him press between his thighs. He let his leg drop, squeezed them together a bit.

"Tight 'nough f'r ya?" he mumbled.

Kremy let out a groan as his hips moved. The head of his cock nudged the back of Gid's balls in a way that was not unpleasant. "Yer perfect, 's perfect..." His nails dug into Gideon's pecs as he muttered, "Oh, ya feel so much better than yer pillow..."

Gideon blinked his eyes open, squinting in the dim light. "M' what?"

"Nothin', go back to sleep..."

Unable to grapple with that bit of information just yet, Gideon decided that was just what he would do. He had a vague awareness of Kremy's pace picking up, his soft whimpers, and the hot mess he left between his legs. There was a snap, and all mess was gone. And so was Gideon.

When he woke again, it was still night. The world outside their window remained dark, trees and carnival rides silhouetted against a backdrop of stars. The world was quiet. Save for, it seemed, a conspicuous crunching sound.

Gideon blinked as he heard it again. Vaguely, a memory of Kremy saying he'd nearly eaten Gricko came to mind, and he had half a second of delirious worry before he was awake enough to realize Gricko's bones probably didn't crunch like a biscuit.

Pulling in a deep breath, Gideon turned onto his back and gazed blearily over at his husband, who sat hunched over a plate in bed. He paused mid-chew as he looked down at Gideon.

"Hey." His eating resumed.

"And you yell at me for gettin' crumbs in the bed..." He yawned wide and scratched his chest. It took a moment to realize it was bare. Hadn't he worn his shirt to bed? Looking around, questions were both answered and raised as he saw Kremy wearing it. The fabric hung off his frame so loose, he'd initially thought it was a blanket. "How'd ya get...?"

Kremy reached over and brought a glass to Gideon's hand. "Drink up, I know you're gonna need it by now."

Now that he mentioned it, Gideon was parched. He swallowed the whole glass in a few large gulps and smacked his lips. "Can I--"

Kremy reached out, holding a cookie to Gid's lips. Gid bit into it gratefully.

"Mm... What are these?"

"Spice currant cookies." He took another from the full plate on his lap. "Stomach was roarin' like a leonin after all that activity."

Gideon nodded, stealing another snack off the plate, before he paused. "... Did you just make these?"

"Hm? Nah, I made 'em the other night. Just before my rut hit." His jaws opened wide as he flung one, whole, into his mouth.

"The other night."

"Mm."

Gideon sat up. "When I was away?"

The penny seemed to drop for Kremy mid-chew as he froze, eyes wide and staring ahead guiltily.

"The berries you absolutely needed and could not get anywhere else--"

Kremy swallowed. "Now hold on--"

"Sent me on a journey that would have been a whole WEEK--"

"-- Gid, I told you--"

"Where'd ya get 'em? Hm? Bet it was that bag, bet you coulda gotten them the WHOLE time!"

"It was not!" Kremy had the balls to look offended in that moment, as if he was the one sent on a wild gooseberry chase. Raising his chin, he turned away to get his own glass of water from the nightstand and set down his half empty plate. At length, he mumbled, "... There's some bushes outside the wagon."

Gideon groaned in frustration, slumping back against the headboard. "Y'know, you shouldn't have done that."

Kremy scoffed petulently, brushing crumbs off himself. "Well I-- Look, I've already explained myself enough! I said I was sorry."

"I don't recall you sayin' that, actually."

"Yeah, well..." He pouted, as much as one could pout without lips.

Gideon crossed his arms over his chest. "I really don't like you sending me away, Kremy."

"I know..." There was a hint of the emotional volatility from before, his eyes getting just a bit misty. Gideon didn't bend to it, not just yet.

"And I mean, y'know, you're here all alone, goin'--" He stopped himself from saying crazy, not sure how that would be received. "-- goin' into your rut. What would've happened if, like, I dunno." He shrugged. "... I mean you almost killed our friends, what if you got confronted by someone less... less edible-lookin' and more..."

Now he was the one pouting. Scratching his neck, his gaze fell to his lap. In his peripheral vision, he saw Kremy look over at him.

"More what?"

"Y'know..." His shoulders hitched up to his ears. "... You only got two things on the mind."

Kremy turned onto his hip, facing Gideon. Gid refused to look up, feeling embarrassed by his own insecurity. "You think I'd cheat on ya?"

"Well... Look, I'm not sayin' it'd be your fault necessarily, I know a lot of that was..." He made a vague motion with his hand. "Instincts 'n shit, so..."

"You think," Kremy leaned in a bit closer. "That some handsome stranger could come in here, walk through that door... He'd see me curled up, desperate and wantin'. I'd try 'n bite him, like I did everyone else. Then what?" Hesitantly, Gideon glanced over. The look in Kremy's eyes was intense, but unreadable. "He'd hold me down, wrestle me, same as you'd done. And me, so very in need of a good fuckin', my husband out of town, leavin' me all alone... You think I'd raise my tail for him, too?"

Gideon blinked. He saw now a familiar undercurrent of want in Kremy's gaze. It sparked inside him something hot, burning, angry. He found his breath coming a bit harder, felt his nostrils flairing.

"You think he'd ask me, 'why you pretty thing, who's left you all alone here? I can't just leave you like this can I? No, I'm not a monster. I'll help ya out, don't you worry...'" A green hand moved almost distractedly over Gideon's chest.

Gideon took in a shaking breath, let it out in a huff of steam. "He wouldn't dare..."

"He might, Gid." Kremy moved, slowly, fluidly, gaze unbroken, into Gideon's lap. "No one around to stop him. Like you said, I might be in no state to say no."

He bit his lip hard enough to taste blood. His hands moved to hold Kremy's hips with the same intensity. The flames of his jealousy over a man who didn't even exist beyond a hypothetical were lapping at his heart.

"What d'you think I'd do, Gid?" A gentle hand stroked a stray strand of burning hair from his forehead. "Think I'd spread my legs? Think I'd raise my tail? Think I'd bend him over our bed, really give it to him?"

Gideon's voice was a low growl. "No, ya wouldn't..."

Kremy leaned into him, hands resting on his shoulders. His pupils were blown wide once more; Gideon saw his own jealous flames reflected back at him in them. "Why wouldn't I, cher?"

Furiously, Gid turned them over, throwing Kremy back onto the bed. A loud huff escaped them both.

"Because yer not his."

Kremy stretched his arms out above him, spreading his legs invitingly.  "Whose am I?"

"Mine," Gideon growled with a ferocity that rivaled any alligator.

Kremy was already breathless below him, spread out wantonly in nothing but his husband's shirt. "'S right, sugar... 'N you'd tell him, wouldn't ya?"

"Wouldn't tell him nothin', I'd be beatin' the shit outta him..." Almost of their own accord, he felt his hips pressing down, thrusting his cock against Kremy's. Kremy keened, writhed, his hands ran excitedly over his man's huge arms. Arms that could hold him, fight for him, protect him, keep and defend him.

"Bet you'd-- fuck, ya'd come in here, see me pantin' on the floor, him tryna get his hands on me--" He let out a gasp, nails digging into biceps as Gid left biting kisses along his neck. "You'd wring his fuckin' neck, wouldn't ya, honey?"

"Snap that fucker over my knee like a goddamn stick," he grunted out.

Kremy leaned his head back, baring his throat. The contrast of trust, of submission, while talking about what he knew Gideon was capable of doing to a man, left Gideon dizzy with want.

"Oh-- Oh, Gid, but I'd still be there, I'd still be so needy, so fuckin' empty--" His words fell into a shuddering gasp as the head of Gideon's cock found his entrance and sank in.

"I'd take care of ya... always have, always will..." Gid panted, as he wasted no time setting a punishing pace. The bed below them creaked with the force of his thrusts. Kremy's babbling, encouraging words huffed out with every breath punched out of him. "Tell me-- Tell me who's got ya."

"You... You fu-uckin' got m-me..."

"Tell me the only man you'd-- you'd let take ya like this, c'mon!"

Kremy's back arched, his arms spread out, his nails dug into the bare mattress below him. "Y-You-- Oh f-fuck...!" His slender ribcage was rising and falling below the spare fabric of Gideon's shirt as he gasped for breath. "Yo-You fuckin'... ruin me for any o-other man...!"

Gideon was pounding into him now, giving Kremy every inch of himself. He felt himself hitting resistance, a wall, the absolute edge of what Kremy had to give him. Surrounded by him, full of him. No space to spare and nothing left wanting.

"No one-- No one else, yer not givin' it to no one else, don't need no one else--"

Kremy was beyond words, mouth hanging open in a continuous gasp of breath he seemed unable to catch. Gid caught a glimpse of his eyes rolling back as he was pushed across the bed with the force of his thrusts, before his head tipped back over the edge of the mattress. Gid pressed his body down, covering him, holding him. The wet slide of Kremy's cock against his stomach, trapped between them, spurned him on even more.

Where every approach of orgasm for Kremy up to this point had seemed like a desperate grapple - a biting fight between him and his own body, triumphantly wrestling his release from its grasp - this looked different. He got quiet, went half limp. Tiny whimpers were pressed out of him as Gideon gave him everything he had. Where Gideon was all power and might and motion, Kremy was lost in the throes of a sweet surrender, a small death. Gideon knew when he'd started coming, not just by the jerking of his cock, not just the quivering of muscles around his own where it was buried within him, but by the small, gasping intake of breath, fragile as a string of glass - life leaving and reentering his body.

He didn't stop coming, not for a while. Gideon wanted to watch it all, see how far he could take him, but was overtaken by his own wave - a riptide pulling him out somewhere, a current he couldn't fight. By the time he gave his last shaking thrust - wound so tight he thought vaguely he might break his teeth - he could still feel Kremy's aftershocks.

He had just enough awareness to move to the side as he collapsed, keeping himself from crushing the man below him. Both men were shaking, breathless, spent. Gideon could see his own sweat steaming off his skin.

After a moment of drunken afterglow, he realized Kremy was still hanging partially off the bed, his head dangling back.

"Krem..."

He felt the briefest shock of concern when Kremy didn't reply, wondering for a half second if he'd killed him. But then, dead men don't breathe, and Kremy was doing some heavy breathing. Gently, Gid slid a hand behind his head and lifted it, tugged his body further into the bed.

Kremy seemed to be fighting a losing battle with his eyelids. His eyes rolled a minute before blearily focusing on Gideon's face.

"Y'alright?" Gid gave him a fond smile. Kremy's tongue seemed to be giving him just as much trouble as his eyes. He responded simply with a shakey thumbs up.

Even with his sweat evaporating, Gid felt hair sticking to his forehead and temples. He felt simultaneously invigorated and depleted. His energy was spent, his heart was full. He could do nothing in that moment but press his lips to any part of Kremy within reach.

It took a long while before Kremy could speak. His voice broke on the first attempt, he cleared his throat and tried again.

"Almos'... Almos' fainted."

The small green shoulder beneath Gideon's head was shivering still as he glanced up. "Yeah?"

"Mhm..."

"Damn."

"Mmhm..."

It would have been quite the fight to stay awake after that. Neither of them had it in them to try.

===========

When wakefulness found Gideon this time, it was not by the sunlight streaming in the window on his face, or the sound of birdsong just outside the window. It was the smell of cooking meats, and the gnawing emptiness in his gut.

Stretching, he was unsurprised to find himself alone in the bed, and even less surprised to feel a few pleasant aches in his body. It would have been nice to have a sleepy gatorfolk to wrap himself around as he dozed in and out of consciousness for a while, but he was not about to complain when he knew just where those delicious smells were coming from. With a yawn, he rolled out of bed, found a pair of pants from the pile at its foot (a pile which looked oddly more tidy than it had last night), and pulled them on before lumbering out into the kitchen.

Kremy stood at the stove with his back to Gideon, dressed informally in his apron, an untucked shirt and slacks, humming and shaking his hips to something jazzy only he could hear. Gideon felt a grin tugging on his lips as he watched for a minute. His husband looked relaxed, unburdened in a way he rarely did. He felt a little pride, figuring he had something to do with that.

Unable to stay away any longer (especially with the growling protests of his stomach), Gid padded across the kitchen to Kremy. There was no surprise when Kremy felt arms wrap around his waist, only a pleased hum as he leaned back into the embrace.

"What'cha makin'?" Gideon's bearded chin rested on his shoulder. Looking down, he saw several eggs frying in the pan Kremy was currently working with. A second pan sat on the back burner with a piece of steak sizzling in it. Off to the side, he saw two plates - one stacked high with cooked meat, and the other with still-raw slabs waiting their turn. They looked and smelled like they might have been marinated in something. Gid felt his mouth water.

"Little brunch." Kremy pressed his cheek to Gideon's, smiling toothily. "Thought you might be hungry when you got up."

Gideon let out a low groan. "Spoil me." A kiss was pressed to the side of Kremy's mouth.

Kremy hummed. "Think you earned it, after all that work you put in last night." He took the eggs off the burner, sliding them onto a nearby plate with his spatula. "Fuck me that good, you deserve some good eatin'."

With a chuckle, Gideon hugged him a bit tighter around the middle. "I give you good meat, you give me good meat, hm?"

Kremy rolled his eyes, but his mood was not diminished by his husband's terrible sense of humor. "You keep distractin' me, that good meat's gonna get burnt." He gave him a sidelong look. "And I don't mean just the steak."

Burying his grin in Kremy's neck, Gid continued getting handsy. His fingers had just slipped under Kremy's apron when a wide tail almost reflexively pushed back into his hips.

"Fuck, Gid, did I not tire you out yet?" He sounded just a bit breathless, undercutting his attempt at annoyance.

"Never get tired of ya," Gideon spoke into his ear, but then pouted a bit. "... Yer rut isn't done already, is it?"

"It seemed to be, 'til you started..." A hand ran teasingly light fingertips over the front of his slacks, distracting him. "... Y'know, I think it's your fault."

"What's my fault?"

"This rut bullshit." Even as he complained, his tail was rubbing back on Gideon in a way that could only be encouraging. "Never been this strong, but I think that's... that's 'cause I'd never been, y'know... Goin' steady with anyone during it."

Gideon hummed thoughtfully, as if his hand wasn't currently dipping below the waistband of Kremy's slacks. "So what, your body figures you got a mate or somethin', since you're finally getting some good dick on a regular basis?" Kremy smacked his arm.

"I dunno, I just... Look, I'm not gonna get anywhere with this food if you keep this up."

"Mmm, and I am hungry."

Whatever weak protest Kremy had got lost as he was turned around, pushed up against the nearby counter and kissed. Before Gideon could steal all of his focus, he reached over a hand to fumble with the stove, turning it off.

"Not gonna... burn nothin', don't care how fuckin' sexy you're bein'--" As he said it, Gideon was already sinking to his knees in front of him. The apron was lifted, and his head disappeared beneath.

It was then, with Kremy gripping the edge of the counter, getting lost in the feeling of lips pressed low on his stomach and hands reaching behind him to unfasten his pants, that the absolute biggest mood-killer he could fathom (save the mention of offspring) decided to rap on the door.

Kremy only had time to swing his head around to face the door before it was being pushed open tentatively. He stared with wide eyes as a long green nose came into view, just as it had the night before.

"Gideonnnn," Gricko called in a nervous sing-song. "You still alive, mate?"

The arrangement of Kremy's kitchen in relation to the front door gave a clear view for him of the goblin daring to enter. Luckily, blessedly, there was a strip of counterspace between where he stood now and said door, obstructing their guest's view of any part of the kitchen below waist-level.

"Oh!" Gricko looked frightened.  His grin poorly masked his obvious dread.  Kremy's rage was much less hidden as he glowered across the way at him.  "Kremy, you're um... You look well! I-Is Gideon by any chance--"

Gideon, frozen as he was on his knees, was blocked fully from Gricko's view. But one thing wasn't: an assortment of raw meats stacked high on plates, right beside a murderous, snarling alligator. Somehow, the half-broken motor turning the gears in his goblin mind seemed to find only one conclusion possible from the evidence it gathered.

"Oh NO!" Gricko looked on in horror.  Kremy let out a low, threatening growl. "OH GODS, Frosty!! FROSTY HE'S EATING GIDEON!!"

"What!?" Suddenly, Frost's head was also peeking into the door, now swung wide open. Behind them, a horrified Torbek could be seen for only a moment, before he collapsed in shock and terror.

Kremy's arms crossed over his chest as, slowly, a familiar red face rose up to peek over the counter separating them, looking equally unamused.

"... Oh!" Immediately, the distress slipped off Gricko's face. He turned to Frost with a relieved smile. "Never mind, it's the other way 'round!"

Kremy picked up the nearest object he could reach - a large wooden spoon - and hurled it in Gricko's direction. It made contact with the back of his head with a hollow thunk!  Gricko toppled over off the parlor wagon steps.

"WILL YOU LEARN TO FUCKING KNOCK!?" Kremy leaned bodily over the counter, looking ready to crawl over it and give the goblin a repeat of their last encounter. Gideon, while tempted to let him go for it, grabbed his husband around the waist and held him back.

Through a rushed babble of apologies, Frost scrambled for the doorknob. The door slammed shut, leaving a mortifying silence in its wake. Until Gideon burst into a fit of laughter.

"Rut or not, I'm gonna kill that motherfucker," Kremy vowed, smoothing his hands over his apron.  "And we're changing the locks.  Never shoulda given them a set of keys."

With a grunt, Gideon rose back up onto his feet. "We can't go killin' anyone on an empty stomach.  Maybe after breakfast."

Rolling his eyes, Kremy continued to grumble to himself as he turned the stove back on. Gideon leaned against the counter, watching him with a soft smile. After he'd had a moment to cool off, Kremy's gaze turned to a bag next to Gideon's hip.

"What's that?"

"Hm? Oh, these are those berries. Y'know the ultra rare, incredibly necessary berries you had me go get." Gideon held the bag out with a teasing smirk.

"Oh... Right." Kremy looked a little sheepish. "Well, give 'em here, I got a hankerin' for some pancakes."

Gideon handed them over. "Oh, ya got a cravin'?" he asked casually.

Kremy hummed, taking the bag and inspecting its contents. "Been thinking about them cookies ever since I woke up."

Gideon leaned his elbow on the counter and batted his eyes. "Why Krem... You tellin' me it worked?"

"What worked?" He put another skillet on the stove top.

With a sickeningly sweet voice and exaggerated pout, Gideon cooed, "Am I gonna be a papa?"

There was a silence. The skillet Kremy had just set down was lifted once again.

With cackling laughter, Gideon managed to grab the plate of cooked steaks and bolt, dodging the curses and utensils being hurled at him.

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