Cronus wasn't sure how to react to this turn of events. This was pretty much the complete opposite of what he had expected, but, true to form, his body ended up acting before his mind had the chance to catch up. He ran his hands down Kankri's side, tugging at the hem of his sweater and disentangling himself from his matesprit so he could remove it. The moment he'd gotten the bulky sweater off of the smaller troll Kankri pulled him in again, his kisses fierce and determined in a surprising but not at all unwanted manner. Then again, Cronus had never known Kankri to do anything halfheartedly. It just came as a bit of a surprise that it applied to the physical side of their relationship as well.

As usual, Cronus' hands reacted before his mind could catch up. He moved his hands to the hem of the high-waisted pants that Kankri always wore, finally experienced enough to be able to get the button undone and the fly done without much trouble. He started to tug them off, but Kankri batted Cronus' hands away, yanking them off himself.

"Calm down cheif, I'm not going any wvhere." Cronus chuckled, though in reality he was perfectly satisfied with the pace at which things were moving forward. But this statement seemed to bring Kankri back to reality for a moment, and he pulled back from the seadweller, a frown fixed on his face.

"Hey, you alright, Kan?" Cronus asked, genuinely concerned now. He placed his hands firmly on his matesprit's forearms, holding Kankri back from him a little.

"I'm completely fine." Kankri said, sounding brusque and a little prideful and turning up his nose a little, but only in his usual manner. This was all the assurance that Cronus needed that this was in fact the same Kankri he knew and loved. Cronus pulled him back in, eliciting a startled squeak from the smaller troll.

At this point Cronus found himself hesitating again, but not for long as Kankri pressed his lips to his throat, nipping at the sensitive areas around his gills and rubbing at the base of each of his horns.

"Kan-" Cronus bit his lip, not sure if he really wanted to say the words that were on the tip of his tongue. Because as much as he wanted this, Cronus wasn't sure that moving things forwards physically was the best idea considering everything that had happened between him and Kankri as of late. But looking at him matesprit now, he seemed to sure that this was really what he wanted. He'd known right from the start that pailing wasn't going to be a part of his relationship with Kankri, and as much as he wanted it, it felt almost wrong to be doing this now. Something was still off with Kankri.

"Cronus, are you alright?"

"I'm perfect, chief." Cronus said kissing Kankri lightly on the lips and attempting to shrug it off completely. He desperately wanted the words to be true; he told himself he just wasn't trying hard enough.

"If you say so." Kankri responded not sounding completely satisfied with Cronus' half-hearted answer. Cronus sighed, wishing he could just will himself out of the funk that he and Kankri seemed to be in. Kankri kissed him back after a moment's hesitation, and this time Cronus decided to just let himself go with it.

Kankri's hesitation didn't last though, and soon Cronus felt his matesprit's warm hands sliding under his shit and then up his chest until the seadweller raised his arms and allowed him to remove the garment. Immediately after this Kankri reached down to remove his own baggy sweater, but Cronus reached out and stopped him.

"Come on Kan, you don't havwe to do all the wvork." Cronus teased, pulling the sweater off of the smaller troll before rolling his hips towards him. Kankri responded with a breathy moan.

"Cronus-" Kankri moaned again, throwing his head back. "Could we perhaps... move this along a little?"

"Wvell you 't havwe to ask me twvice." Cronus chuckled, running a hand up the inside of Kankri's thigh, guiding his legs open and repositioning himself between them before grinding up against Kankri again.

"Kan..." Cronus sighed, his doubts coming to the front of his mind again. But Kankri seemed to be the one taking charge here so... That must mean that this was really what he wanted, right? Cronus told himself to let it go once and for all.

"Yes Cronus?" Kankri said, the concern in his expression and tone making it evident that he had picked up on Cronus' hesitation.

"Nothing." Cronus said, moving his hands back up to Kankri's waist to undo the button of his pants and un-tuck his shirt, pulling it off in the same motion. After this he allowed his hands to roam over Kankri's bare skin, before bringing one to rest on his hip, running the other through the smaller troll's hair, rubbing gently at the base of one horn. At this, Kankri practically melted into him, grinding his hips against Cronus'.

Cronus' bulge was already completely unsheated by the time Kankri pressed a hand against it through his jeans. A moan that was partially from arousal and partially from frustration escaped Cronus' lips. Kankri sighed before giving Cronus a half smile that was bordering on smirk and undid his fly, yanking the seadweller's pants down slightly so they were out of the way.

Kankri wasn't hesitating this time. He pushed two fingers into Cronus' nook, wrapping the others around his bulge. Cronus arched his back, a high-pitched moan escaping his lips.

"Kan, please," Cronus moaned in a half-whisper. He didn't even know what he was asking, really. He knew it probably couldn't go any further than this, in fact, he wasn't even sure that he wanted to, but he was too lost in the sensation to think clearly.

"Cronus..." Kankri gave the seadweller a calculating look, a hint of a smile touching the corners of his mouth. After another moment he drew close to Cronus, removing his hand from Cronus' nook and bulge, leaning back slightly and removing his own pants and briefs. Cronus stared down at the candy red nook and bulge that were both dripping, still unable to completely grasp what was happening.

After a moment, Cronus made himself snap out of it though. This was really happening. And this was what he wanted. Just being emotionally close to Kankri was great, of course, and when it came to the more physical side of things it was as though Cronus really knew what he was missing anyways. But every time the two went further, he got a little more of an idea. And though he told himself that he didn't care about the physical side of the relationship, and he had been committed to making that true, the more of an idea of what it would be like, the harder it got to deny.

"You sure you wvanna do this, Kan?" Cronus asked, not bothering to hide his concern, even if Kankri probably wouldn't be able to recognize the reason for it.

"Positive" Kankri said, giving him a hard look at first before relaxing, his expression breaking into a soft yet obviously nervous smile.

Cronus took a deep breath, drawing himself closer to Kankri and guiding his legs a little further apart, moving closer to Kankri until his bulge came into contact with the warm, dripping outer folds of Kankri's nook. As this happened most of his anxiousness left him, impulse and instinct kicking in. He rolled hips swiftly forward until they came into contact with the back of Kankri's thighs. Kankri winced as he did so, whimpering slightly.

"Sorry Kan, I'll go slower!" Cronus said, pulling out completely and waiting a moment before pushing into Kankri's nook again, making sure to go slowly this time. Once he had pushed all the way in he waited, his eyes intently focused on Kankri's face, waiting for him to give the okay to start moving again.

"You can keep going." Kankri half-whispered after a few moments. Cronus nodded, pulling back until his bulge was almost completely out of Kankri's nook and then thrusting back in.

After a few more whines from Kankri, each followed by a hastily muttered apology from Cronus, he started to get the hang of this. Cronus' movements gradually became shorter and faster, which seemed to be the ticket for Kankri. He began to moan softly, both hands gripping tightly at Cronus' forearms. Encouraged at what seemed like a positive reaction, Cronus kept going, making his thrusts little faster each time. It felt completely amazing, and Cronus could feel himself growing close to releasing.

Not long after this Kankri let out a high, loud moan that he cut off halfway, and Cronus pulled out a little as Kankri's release of genetic material leaked out, dripping down both trolls' thighs and staining Cronus' sheets a bright red. Cronus could feel himself getting close too, so he kept going until his violet genetic material joined the crimson that had already soaked his sheets.

Rolling off of Kankri, Cronus lay down and pulled him close, burying his face in his matesprit's hair. The two trolls lay entwined that way for a while and Cronus had been on the verge of drifting off to sleep when Kankri spoke again.

"What did you and Rufioh do while you were... away? The two of you were together, correct?" The question caught Cronus off guard, and he pulled back slightly, fixing a baffled stare at Kankri.

"I don't knowv... Not all that much, really. I mean, wve wvould just do the same things wve did back home, really. Lots of music. And he tried to teach me fiduspawn, but I nevwer really understood it. Not really my thing, anwvays. Wvhy do you ask?" Cronus asked, genuinely curious as to what had brought this on.

"I was just curious, really. Even when we played SGRUB, I never traveled very far. I figured it must be pretty different out there, alone. Though I guess you weren't alone." Kankri said, and for once the vocally expressive troll's voice betrayed no hint of what might be going on in his head.

"That's right. I guess if you wvant to knowv about it I can tell you more sometime. But I mostly thought it wvas pretty boring out there." Cronus said, hoping that Kankri wold leave it at. He never quite knew how to act when Kankri brought up his time away. He still felt bad for having cut and run when he and Kankri had started having problems. And that train of thought reminded Cronus that the issues that he and Kankri had had never really been resolved. Sure, Kankri wasn't so angry and sharp with Cronus anymore, and Cronus didn't feel guilty and like he wanted to run away from his relationship, but that was really just a product of his having left. He and Kankri hadn't talked about, so they hadn't ever really resolved anything.

"I see." Kankri sat in silence for a moment before turning to Cronus, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, and getting up, collecting his scattered clothing and dressing himself.

"You don't havwe to go." Cronus said as Kankri headed for the door, trying his best not to sound like he was whining. He knew that Kankri probably had other things to do.

"Welll..." Kankri glanced back and Cronus and the bed that he had just vacated, before letting out a sigh and breaking into a soft smile. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to stay here a little while lounger." He said, returning to the bed and easily nestling back into Cronus' arms.

"Just a little while longer..."

AN: So yeah, this chapter took me a whole month to write! Unlike with my other breaks, where life has gotten in the way, in this case I'm just really bad at writing smut. Anyways, apologies for the long break in updates. I was also hoping I could come up with a better chapter title, but had no such luck. But yeah, hope you liked it!