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They were perched on the bank, in the sand, with Lance leaning back a bit onto his hands, so that Keith, hunched slightly forward, could groom him.
Keith took his time, gently pulling gunk from between Lance’s beautiful blue scales with the razor-sharp tips of his claws. It was easy to get lost in grooming Lance, who, though not particularly vain, would groom the scales around his face every evening before they bedded down; he always sparkled and shone, even in the depths where the sunlight did not reach.
Now he seemed to be half dozing as they basked in the warmth of the sun. Neither was worried about drying out, not with the sea breeze carrying the necessary salt water to their skin. His eyes were closed as he relaxed under Keith’s careful fingers.
He’d never told Keith, but the red mer was the only mer besides his mother he let groom him. He had refused an other’s touch in such an intimate way until he met Keith. It partly had to do with the fact that grooming meant allowing someone to be around you when you were vulnerable; it mostly had to do with the fact that Lance could never have imagined meeting someone who would want to take care of him like this—someone who would want to spend his time making Lance shine.
But now Lance was getting emotional about it. He’d never told his mate about the grooming fact because he didn’t quite know how Keith would react. He knew it wouldn’t be a bad reaction, but Keith was shy about showing off how he felt, still even to Lance (though Lance could read him incredibly well); he didn’t want to put Keith in a position where he felt uncomfortable.
In order to deal with his own emotions, though, Lance clicked out a sporadic chain of noises that meant something like <Alright, cuddle time> and turned so that he could wrestle Keith into a position where they could hold each other tight against the warm sand. He nuzzled his face under Keith’s jaw, where his skin was softest and where the mating mark was left, a pretty little scar that looked like a silver band.
Keith made a noise deep in his chest that didn’t really mean anything except that he was pleased with the situation.
They both dozed off in the heat of the sun, neither thinking of the past, just enjoying the present.