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Skateboard sighed heavily, leaning into the sweet bliss of the pillows behind him. The poor phighter's body was bruised and bullied, blooming dark bruises underneath sweat-sheened skin marked by desperate nails and ever-hungry teeth. However, despite the battered state of his being, the skater felt relatively good, his recent orgasm washing over him like the sweet push of a shallow beach wave. He laid on his back- where he had been very firmly placed- and let his useless, quivering limbs melt into the mattress, digits spasming and clawing at nothing. He took in his first few deep breaths, a stark contrast to the interrupted and irregular gasps shaken from his overwhelmed system mere moments before. His throat was raw from the endless cacophony of unintentional, filthy pleas and moans pouring from his abused insides (What could he say? He was a loud demon, sue him).
Next to him, Coil had dismounted, sitting up beside the pillow prince. His form was shuddering from similar physical strain, his back torn up as if he had survived a wild animal attack. The two shared a short silence, completely breaking the vile storm of never-ending sound that had dominated the room beforehand. In the place of desperate wailing and primal growling, there were soft pants, the steady inhale of two playgrounders sharing the gentler moments of bliss. Especially for their age, domestic calm was as rare as gold. To survive in the industrial slum, an inphernal needed to sharpen their horns and their wit as soon as they could. It was better to harm someone else before giving them the chance to harm you. Affection was raw, unfiltered, and explicit. Romance was usually only found buried in lewd acts of lust, and quickly forgotten about as soon as the euphoria wore off. Skateboard bit his lip: that meant he didn't have much time.
He flipped onto his side, left horn digging into the soft pillow cushioning his head as he gazed up at the upright boxer. Coil felt his presence, giving him a sideways glance as his mouth still hung slightly agape, in the middle of collecting his breath (If there's one thing Skate could hand to the guy, it's that he gave his all for everything he did. Seriously, he acted as if sex was life-or-death). A cheesy, exhausted grin cracked the phighter's face.
"Hey there, handsome," he sneered. Coil scoffed, shoving a clammy palm into the other's face to shut him up as he giggled.
"I preferred when you couldn't form sentences," he groaned.
"Yeah, me too," Skate circled a lone, slender finger on the sheets, arching his hip up in a sultry manner. Coil gagged.
He used that instance to scoot closer to the other, flopping his head on the boxer's thigh. There, the weapon that had impaled him so ruthlessly hanged limp and thouroughly drained. The smell was a bit much, but the warmth of his skin was definately welcome. He had felt cold and empty ever since he had come down from his high. Two lean and still-kind-of-shaking arms snaked their way across Coil's lap, closing him in a loose grasp.
"Ugh, your horns tryna disembowl me," said inphernal scorned, moving back towards the headboard as he pushed the skater forward towards his knees.
Skateboard clung to him defiantly, his torso now splayed over the other's legs. "Lay back then," he cooed. "It'll feel so much better, trust me, dude." He had turned again to face Coil, posing himself like a cat trying to trap its owner to not getting up. His body lay battered as a soldier's, and the extra exertion of trying to maintain a composed posture stung like a horde of angry bees, but it would all be worth it. He just needed Coil to agree. He'd already done so much for him, he deserved this. He was shaking, and dirty, and sore. Just give him what he wanted already.
Coil huffed, avoiding eye contact. "I need to get up," he replied, placing a palm on the skater's face to silence him. "Need to clean you up and everything."
That comment stabbed into his heart like a steel sword. The despair and rage of not getting what he worked so hard to get, what he deserved sank into his throat, quiverring his lower lip. His saucy smile fell into a strained grimace. The calm and nonchalant hands lazily dangling from Coil's hip turned into desperate claws, digging their nails into his skin as to hopelessly cage him in. His back arched, curling around Coil's leg. The skater sighed harshly, mixed by betrayal and frustration.
"Come on, dude, just for a minute," he snapped, throwing away his coy facade in place for a genuinely pissed off scowl. "I'm not gonna die."
Skateboard was already reaching out to grab at Coil, keep him there like a statue when the other responded. "Yeah, no," he insisted, pushing away his hands with his much bigger, sturdier palms. The act was a stoic denial, a final answer. "I got stuff to do, and so do you. The sooner you're not sweating like a hot dog the sooner we can continue with out day."
That was the final arrow in his chest, the straw that broke the camel's back. Not just a vague insuation that this afterglow was pathetically temporary, but a direct claim that it was unwanted and disposable. The warm, gooey goodness of nonsexual physical intimacy that Skateboard desired so deeply was seen as an annoying interference. His wants, his hopes of deceiving the boxer he loved into spending just a moment to give Skateboard what he wanted. The moment that Skateboard was put through the ringer for. Yes, he eagerly consented to it, and it was a pretty enjoyable experience, but that sweet, sweet treasure that he waited so patiently for was his main motive. And to have it blatantly disregarded after Skateboard let the other have his body for so long... it... it hurt. It really did.
"Please." All cunning and conspiracy was completely shattered, his raw emotion lying bare his his face. Skateboard rose from Coil's lap, gripping his arms with frenzied mania. His mouth was wobbling, tears of pure frustration and exhaustion pricking at his already wet eyes. His chin was wrinkled in misery. Instead of trying to wrap himself around Coil like a boneless fox skin, he hunched at eye-level, staring the other inphernal in the eye as his hands dug desperatlely into grey flesh.
"Dude." The boxer was clearly put off by the sudden tonal shift, rearing his head back to create more space bewteen the two. The gap was probably half and inch, but to Skateboard, it was miles and miles of empty ocean. The fact Coil was so repulsed by him he felt the need to back away, even if just with his head... his grip softened in disbelief. "What the hell is going on. You're being weird."
"Literally I'm just asking you to stay here," he threw out, brows furrowing in simmering detestment. "It's not even that crazy: just a minute, a second, something, man."
Coil inspected Skateboard as if he were a foreign alien, another lifeform speaking in unrecognizable gargain. Skateboard sank down, feeling the hopelessness of the situation anchor down in his gut. He was going to spend tonight alone again. Cold, used, and alone.
"You do this, you always do this," the boxer interrogates, eyes narrowed. "Like, five seconds after we have sex, you suddenly get really clingy. Let me just get some water or something, man."
"You promise you're gonna come back?"
It was a stupid question. Of course he was going to come back, dipshit. Why would he get the supplies to clean you up if he wasn't even going to come back? Coil was enough of a smartass to point the clear error out, maybe spit out a clever quip regarding the idiocracy. It was something that was right up his alley.
Instead, the boxer's brow lowered, and he leaned in, a concerned expression brewing in his face. "What is this about?"
"I just," deep breath, "I just want you to stay here with me, dammit! This is the only gods-forsaken time I ever get to do this kind of shit with you! I just want, like, five fucking seconds of your time, is that too much to ask for?!" he seethed, heeling himself back to gesture sporadically with his hands; his limbs fully extended with ferocious strain. Coil was adamantedly shocked, flinching backwards as his roommate concluded his ferocious verbal explosion.
"You... want to cuddle?" he asked cautiously, like he was pacing himself through a minefield. Skateboard's spade-tipped tail lashed behind him.
"Yes!" he practically wailed the response, hunching over once more in exasperation. His arms fell lamely to his sides.
After a pause where his eyes darted over Skateboard's form, Coil let out a long sigh. "Why didn't you just ask for it, dumbass?" he muttered, index and thumb pinching between his eyes. He started to get up. Skateboard was too spent to try and stop him, both physically, mentally, and emotionally. "I'm getting the towel, scream at me from the bed."
Skateboard did just that, falling on his back to face the bathroom. "Because, fucking- you're you! You're, like, fucking.... one of those alpha douchebags, who only care about, like, money and fame or whatever," he ranted. "You all think cuddling is, like, stupid. I can't... I can't get you to hug me unless we have sex. That's why I do this shit with you in the first place." By that point he was despondently murmuring, the verbal manifestation of his thoughts embarrassing him.
The faucet was heard for a moment, before absolute silence followed. It hung heavy over the room equivelent to a gelatinous air threatening to suffocate the phighters. No wise-cracks, no insults, nothing. The raw lack of sound from the other was unsettling, especially after Skateboard had laid his naked heart out on the bed for him to crush.
After a while, the boxer's head poked through the bathroom doorway. He was carrying a cup of water in one hand, a small hand towel draped over his shoulder. That was pretty elementary, but what drew Skateboard's attention was Coil's face. Usually, Coil treated aftercare like dismantling a biograft: stoic expression, pouting lips, and concentrated silence. But now, his eyes formed perfect wide circles: not from horror, but rather another emotion just as pure. His pupils were swollen until they damn near took up both of his eyes. His mouth was slightly ajar. The usual wrinkles of either focus or annoyance were completely vanished. The only ridge in his skin was from his eyebrows curling upwards.
"You.. you do all of that just to cuddle?" he whispered, fragile as a cracked vase. Everyone knew Coil as bigger than life; a showman boxer who performed confidentially and loudly for the crowds. So, hearing his voice so small and guilty absolutely tore Skateboard up.
He sat back, letting Coil sit next to him in order to wipe down sweat and other stains. But, the calloused hand clutching the towel hesitated, hovering over his broad stomach as what could only be described as puppy eyes stared up at him. Skateboard scratched the back of his head, suddenly more awkward than he remembered.
"Uh, yeah, just- like, y'know," he mumbled, trying to fish around for a response that wouldn't further ruin his reputation. "You strong punchy guys don't... don't like soft, mushy stuff, so I just thought..." he bounced his indexes off of each other, pointedly avoiding looking at Coil.
"You just wanted to cuddle?" he repeated, finally placing the wet towel down on his skin. The cool sensation distracted Skateboard from the burning shame he felt melting his face. "Skate, look at me."
He did not. In response, Coil used a strong hand - a hand that had crushed metal and tore through walls - to gently reach up to the skater and coddle his cheek. He ever-so-slowly guided his face to meet his, his course fingers pushing enough to prompt him, but gentle enough to let the skater push back if he wasn't comfortable. He let himself be guided.
Eventually, their gazes met. Both filled with guilt for entirely different reasons.
Coil broke the tense silence between them. "Skate," he breathed, "I'd let you cuddle me whenever. You don't have to, like, go to such extreme measures just for a hug, man."
Skateboard's shoulders subtly perked up, a small energy being reignited within him. "Well, like, you don't really like staying around afterwards, so-"
"I didn't know you liked it!" he squealed. "If I had known, I'd- I'd spend, like... I don't fuckin' know, an absurd amount of time here with you," he gestured around, absolutely flabbergasted by the two's complete lack of communication. He braced his head on his hand, dragging it down his face. Skateboard giggled at the display.
"Really, like actually?"
"Of course, you dumb sack of shit!" he laughed heartedly, launching himself to plant a firm kiss on the skater's forehead. Skateboard leaned back into the pillows, smiling dumbly as a sunburnt blush flourished on his face. Coil continued rubbing at his body with the damp towel, washing him down like a car. "Just let me clean you up, first. You're grimy as hell."
A few minutes of banter over their almost comedic situation later,
("So, like, you only had sex with me to cuddle afterwards? Like, it wasn't enjoyable?"
"No, no, it was hot, just, like... when you're thinking of something else, it kinda... like, ruins the moment, y'know?"
"So I still got game?"
A pillow was thrown. "Shut the fuck up, man.")
Skateboard found himself exactly where he dreamed of; curled up against a big muscular inphernal. His lean, skinny frame fit perfectly around the other, his limbs wrapping around the other's bulky figure like snow coating a mountain.
The space between them was practically nonexistant, strong grey arms bolting the giddy skater against a broad chest. Their legs were intertwined like tree roots- even their ankles clicking together. In all of Skateboard's stupid daydreams of being held and cherished, this had them all beat by a landslide. His good-for-nothing tail told on his joy by thumping against the mattress, and the lovesick smile ruining his face wasn't helping at all.
Not to mention Coil decided to absolutely pamper him, his thick fingers carding through his ratty hair and his head snuggled above his scalp, dotting his hairline with various kisses and whispers of mushy love more disgusting than the most explicit porn on the planet.
"Stupid dumb idiot." Kiss.
"You're dumb as shit, y'know?" Kiss.
"'f course I'd wanna sit here and waste time with you." Kiss.
"You're precious, and cute, and smart." Kiss.
"... And also really hot." Giggle. Kiss.
"...I love you. You know that, right?" Kiss.
And laying there, bare as the day he was born, swaddled in fresh blankets around the inphernal he loved more than anything, Skate did. He really did.