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It was a late spring afternoon in the Dark Forest. It was getting warmer every day, so the residents of the kingdom preferred to stay hidden under the cool canopies and bushes of the forest. Some of those residents included the King of said forest and his Fairy love, the Crown Princess of the Light Fields.
Bog and Marianne had taken a little break from their tour through some new parts of the Dark Forest - at least new for Marianne - and waited for the setting sun to see the glowing wonders of this area. Their shelter was a little hole under the roots of a tree, a very secluded place compared to the rest of the forest. Currently, they were absorbed in a joyful mix of playing tag and a tickle fight. The hole was big enough to crawl around, so they tried to snatch the other and tickle them until they escaped or surrendered.
Right now, Bog was after Marianne. On one hand, he had the advantage of long limbs and thus a longer reach. But it was also his disadvantage. Since he couldn’t move as well as the smaller Fairy, who quickly jumped and rolled out of his reach whenever his hands came too close to her. Her movements were quick and she taunted him for being such an inflexible stick, so Bog resorted to the tactic of patience, something he needed to practice anyway. For several minutes he only halfhearted tried to catch her, until she finally got slower and made a mistake. Quickly, he grabbed her at her arms and pinned them down, and pressed her back against his front. Immediately his other hand went to her stomach, where he lifted her tunic a bit to tickle her skin. Of course, Marianne started to laugh and thrash uncontrollably, but his grip was strong, and not even her kicking legs could help her escape. After a few minutes, she admitted her defeat.
"Please, Bog! Hahaha! Stop it!! I yield, I yield!" the Fairy princess gasped between laughs and her eyes were red from tears of laughter.
"Do ye now," Bog said with a dark chuckle. He toned down his tickling, but didn't stop it entirely. "And what does that mean?" he asked her with smugness, which made her grunt in annoyance, despite he laughs.
"You won. You are better then me. Happy? Then let me go now!" Marianne demanded reluctantly and thrashed a bit more.
"More than happy," he grinned widely and finally let go of her. She simply slumped down into his lap and tried to get her laugh and breath under control. When she managed this, Marianne turned around to face the still grinning Bog and punched him slightly against his chest, causing him to make a small oomph sound.
"That was cheap Bog," she complained, but had no real ill will in her voice, so he maintained his grin, while he scratched over his chest where she had punched him.
"It was just some payback for calling me an inflexible stick." Now she returned the playful smirk.
"Hey, it's just the truth. Not my fault that you are so ridiculously tall."
"Not everyone can be a wee, slippery Fairy, tough girl." he snorted amused, in which she joined him.
"Maybe playing tag in such a narrow space wasn't such a good idea in the first place."
"Agreed." he nodded and his eyes settled on her, to watch her thoughtfully. Bog tended to do this, whenever he was pondering, if he really wanted to say to or do something with her. Despite being called impatient, the Goblin King often overthought every word and action that had to with their...relationship, which they still had no real name for. Sometimes it was a bit annoying, but deep within, Marianne appreciated it a lot. It meant that it was important for him not to screw up things, something he was far better with than her. Besides, she could shamelessly exploit his state of distraction to get lost in those wonderful soul-blue eyes of his.
The moment Bog came to a conclusion was when his face broke out into a bright smile, which made her heart do flip-flops. They didn't know each other for long, but Marianne already had the feeling she would never get used to. The sight of how happy he looked whenever he smiled like this, just because of her. She was so distracted, that she almost missed his next words.
"There are certainly better things we could do."
Before Marianne could ask what he had in mind, the smile had formed into a smirk and his arms wound around her body again, but this time in a gentle embrace. He started to stroke through her hair and scratch softly along her ear, which made her purr blissfully and she snuggled closer to him.
Two months had passed since the night where Bog had kidnapped Marianne's sister Dawn and since the morning they had confessed their love for each other. Somehow that time had been very bizarre for the Fairy princess, to get used again to love and trust someone, especially since the person of her new formed affections was a Goblin, their King nonetheless. At least she wasn't alone in her insecurity, since Bog seemed to be even more awkward and unsure about how to behave than her in this new relationship. But after a few weeks they got used to the situation, to be in love and to each other. And Marianne could have never imagined that a Goblin could be so affectionate!
They had shared many embraces and hugs like this, had kissed several times, chaste and hot ones equally and even had shared his bed together, of course strictly for cuddling and sleeping. Whenever they were alone and undisturbed, Bog would draw her into his lap and randomly stroke and cradle the spots that turned her into a puddle. He seemed to enjoy seeing her like this, as much as she enjoyed his affectionateness. But she still tried to caress him in the same way and had discovered, that scratching over his armored parts was just as pleasant for him, as when she did it on his skin. Never had she shared such sweet caresses with Roland. In the time she had been together with Bog, Marianne realized how shallow and empty her former relationship had been. She wanted to catch up on everything she had missed and her Goblin paramour seemed more to eager to help her with that.
Marianne was still enjoying his stroking, when Bog dipped down his head and started nuzzling her neck with his cheeks and lips. He had been doing this a lot and as always, the little stubble on his chin tickled her and she had to giggle. The first times she had wondered what this was about, but since she had started to like the nuzzling she had never questioned it. Lately she had felt his teeth scrapping gently over her skin, just as they did now.
"If I wouldn't know better, I would be afraid you want to bite me." Marianne chuckled and stroked the back of his head. At first Bog enjoyed her caressing, but then suddenly tensed up and moved his head away from her neck.
"Well,..A-A can stop, if ye want." he stuttered nervously. Marianne frowned, perplexed at him, which made him avert his eyes from her. Why did he act so flustered out of nowhere? Did she say something wrong? Her eyes went wide, when an assumption hit her.
"Wait. Did you...do you actually want to bite me?" she asked him. She could have kicked herself for the appalled tone she had accidentally used, since it made him flinch and lean away from her.
"Aye...But-but not to hurt ye." he tried to reassure her, but still didn't look into her eyes. The Fairy princess was at a bit of a loss on what he meant by that. Biting always hurt the one who got bitten. And why would Bog want to do that to her? Was it a Goblin thing? Those questions pondered at her mind, but the miserable expression he made distracted her. Marianne knew this look; it was a look full of the fear that he had done something wrong, something that would make her afraid of him, something too different for her to stay at his side. He had this expression a lot, but so far there was nothing to different for her to actually doubt this relationship. They simply had to clear things up.
Marianne started to stroke over his arm, to get his attention back. Hesitantly, Bog moved his eyes up to her face, and she gently smiled at him.
"And…what was it for? Does the...neck nuzzling have something to do with it?" Marianne asked carefully, hoping to approach the subject the right way. She had slipped out of his lap and now sat in front of him, to face him better. As usual, when Bog got nervous he clicked his claws against each other. His response was just a small nod at first, but when the Fairy raised her brows in question he gulped and explained.
"Ye see...we Goblins normally don't...kiss to show affection."
"You don't?" Marianne was genuinely surprised and also confused when Bog nodded again. "But how do you...I mean we have kissed that day back then, I hadn't need to explain it to you first."
"It's not that we don't know about it. We simply...don't do it that often." he shrugged and then scrunched his face a bit while musing. "A guess Goblins adapted it from the Fairies a long time ago, together with the clothing thing and other stuff. Most of it is rarely done these days and hardly understood by many, including the kissing. After all, not all Goblins have lips in the first place." Marianne hummed in understanding.
"Soooo...the nuzzling is the Goblin's way of a kiss?" Again, Bog nodded and was visibly relaxed now. It always calmed him down when she asked him about the ways of his kind and made no sign of being disgusted by it.
"For almost every Goblin race, the neck and throat are the most vulnerable spots on their body. Coming near them with yer fangs and claws, but staying gentle shows that ye're not a danger and allowing someone coming in so close is a sign that ye trust them not to harm ye." That was logical. In her time she spent in the Dark Forest, Marianne had already learned a lot about the Goblins. They weren't as brutal and wild as the Fairies always had painted them. Sure, they were a bit rough, fights and displays of dominance dissolved most things in the Dark Forest, but the Goblins always did it with respect and their instinctual behavior had always a deeper meaning. It was very different from the hollow, hypocritical platitudes of her people. Marianne liked that.
She wanted to voice it, that she liked the way of a Goblin kiss much more than the Fairy kiss, that she loved it when Bog nuzzled her neck and that it always sent a pleasant shiver down her spine. Instead, her gaucherie got the better of her.
"Huh, seems I've put my life more at risk with you than I thought. How reckless of me," she said jokingly. Of course, Bog didn't understand it as a joke and he panicked.
"Marianne, A swear, A would have never-" But before he could utter another word, Marianne had put a finger on his lips to silence him.
"It's okay Bog. That was a bad joke, sorry," she apologized with a sheepish smile. It was really hard for her to contain her sharp tongue when Bog was in this state; he easily misinterpreted her words wrong, which was understandable. In hindsight it really was a stupid thing to say. She had to work on that.
When he didn't make another attempt to apologize, she took her finger away. The Goblin made the same befuddled face he did when she had silenced him the first time like this. It was so adorable, but she couldn't dwell on it since she still had to assure him that he did nothing wrong. It was indeed new to her, since Fairies didn't do anything with the neck when showing affections -maybe kiss it slightly - and mostly concentrated on the face, but she was more than willing to try out new things, especially when it involved Bog.
"There is no problem with the nuzzling. I...I do trust you, so it's fine." A blush came over her face with the next words. "In fact...I really like it."
"Ye...ye do?" Bog's befuddled expression melted into a hesitant smile and his voice had such a delighted note, that it made Marianne giggle.
"Of course I do. Otherwise I wouldn't have allowed it. Even when those tickle like hell..." she poked his chin where his stubble were "...I really enjoy it. It's nice and…intimate." The blush on her cheeks grew even stronger. The Goblin on the other hand seemed to be more than relieved about her answer and breathed out.
"Good…A mean...yeah, that's good. A was actually afraid it would..."
"Frighten me off?" Marianne asked with a raised brow and when he nodded, she let out a laugh. "Oh Bog, it really takes more than that to make me run away. I'm a tough girl, or did you forget that?" A deep chuckle made his form shake a bit.
"How could A? Ye remind me of it almost every day." Satisfied, she hummed and climbed back into his lap. He welcomed her with his hand on her hips, to secure her, while Marianne clasped her arms around his neck and looked him in the eyes.
"Maybe I need to remind you of it even more?"
"Hmm, A wouldn't mind that." he said and mirrored her loving smile. She couldn't hold back her dreamy sigh, before she raised her head and met his lips in a short, but still sweet kiss. She trailed with her kisses along his face. Bog liked this immensely, if his twitching wings were any indication. Whenever Marianne normally did this, she had stopped at his jawline, but with her new knowledge she continued her trail to his neck. The grip of his hands on her hips became a bit stronger and so she slowed down her kisses, giving him the chance to stop her, if he didn't like it. And she wouldn't be mad at him. After all, this thing with the neck was pretty important for Goblins.
But to her relief he didn't withdraw. On the contrary, he even stretched his neck so she had better access. Presenting himself like this must be an even greater display of trust than just letting her near his neck. A wave of affection rushed through Marianne and she thanked him right away with nuzzling his Adam's apple and neck. Bog made this throaty hum whenever they had a passionate kiss, and right now she could feel it even more as usual, which made her stomach go really warm.
While she caressed his neck, Bog didn't stay idle. His hands started stroking over Marianne's sides and, without disturbing her ministration, he nuzzled his nose into her hair and gave light kisses to her ear from time to time. Marianne sighed happily. Oh, she could get so used to this, and they were on a good way to make this to a daily happening. She wondered how she could have survived a whole year without affection like this. Not that she ever had gotten affection like this.
"Are all Goblins so cuddly like you or are you a special case?" she asked him, giggling after awhile and rested her head against his neck. Bog huffed into her hair.
"Special case. A think 15 years without...this...did a toll on me." he explained rather absently, since he was more occupied with making Marianne's hair even more wild than before with his nose. At first she only hummed in agreement, but then her eyes popped open.
"15 years? What do you mean with 15 years?" she asked him, puzzled, and lent back to gaze at him. Bog didn't look any less puzzled on her sudden reaction and only stuttered.
"Uh, that is how long...how long love was banned in ma kingdom." That was how long he lived with a broken heart. Marianne gulped slightly. And here she had thought that the one year she had lived with one was bad. It was nothing compared to Bog.
She wondered why this surprised her that much. After all, the Ban on Love in the Dark Forest had existed since she was a child. But to hear it from him was different. How young had he been at the time?
Bog had been King as long as she could remember and it still had her surprised to hear that he was twelve years older than her. Both had been really awkward at that discovery, since that was a huge age difference, but they quickly put this aside. Now Marianne did her math and realized that he had been just 19 years old, when he had his heart broken. Three years younger than she was when it happened to her. It tightened her heart to think about how long Bog had been alone with no physical contact at all. No wonder he was always so hesitant and cherished every embrace so much. It also explained why he always let her lead when it came to new things. He simply had no idea what to do and what was expected of him. Maybe her relationship with Roland was shallow, but she still was the one with more experience. Now she felt awful for thinking that she had such a worse time alone.
"Marianne?" Bog's hesitant and concerned voice cut through her musing and she realized that her face had a sadden expression on it. Quickly, she shook her head to show that it was nothing and also to get rid of those thoughts. It was sad indeed, but Marianne was very sure if he would appreciate her concern, not that she would actually mention it. Mentally, she made the decision for them both, that they really need to do more cuddling. Right now, she only let out an amused huff.
"Well, that explains why you are such a grumpy pinecone." she joked with the intention to lighten up the mood, which was successful. His concern forgotten Bog bristled at that in a comical way.
"A'm not grumpy or a pinecone, princess."
"Oh, you are." Marianne said with a grin and took his face in her hands. "You are my big, grumpy pinecone."
It hadn't been her intention to emphasize the teasing that much, it really hadn't. She just looked as shocked as Bog and was about to apologize, when he let out a disbelieving huff and smiled softly at her.
"Well, when it includes to be yers, than A won't object to that." At first, Marianne was rather speechless at his words. She hadn't expected this. Whenever she had called Roland hers, he hadn't been pleased and she had apologized for this. It had been natural that she had been his buttercup, but as the woman he hadn't allowed her to lay a claim on him like this. But Bog seemed to be more than happy to be called hers.
She could feel how hot her cheeks went and to prevent that her eyes would start to get wet, she buried her head in his shoulder.
"Idiot..." she mumbled and punched slightly against his chest. He only chuckled.
"Maybe, but A'm yer idiot." He said it in such a delighted voice, that Marianne had to snort, more in disbelieve than amusement and punched him again, but this time her attempt was even weaker. Right now, she could have called him anything and he would happily accept it, as long as he could state he was hers. How did she have gotten so lucky?
While she tried to regain her countenance, Bog simply wrung one arm around her torso to cradle her closer to him and started to stroke with his claws along her nape. There goes the Cuddle-Goblin again, Marianne thought, amused, but didn't say anything. She had realized how much he needed this, so she would let him do this as often and long as he wanted it. After all, it wasn't like she didn't enjoy this. Before the relaxation completely hit her, something came back into her mind.
"By the way, you still haven't told me what biting had to do with the nuzzling thin,." she mumbled against his shoulder. Bog immediately went rigid and the nervous tone in his voice was more than clear.
"Ah, that....well..."
Had he hoped she would have forgotten about that, since it was obviously awkward for him to talk about it. She thought about dropping the question, but on the other hand she really wanted to understand what it was about and why Bog would want to do it to her. So to make it easier for him, she cuddled her head against his chest, so that he didn’t have to look at her and she rephrased the question.
"Tell me, Bog. Why do Goblins would want to bite the other?" Upon this question, Bog relaxed a bit and started stroking her hair again, even when it was more absent now. He cleared his throat before talking.
"It's...some kind of next step, after two Goblins have shown their trust to each other, and when they get more...intimate." Ah, so that's why he got so nervous, Marianne thought and felt her own cheeks grow a bit warm again, but didn't interrupt him. "The biting serves to...mark yer partner, to show others that they already belong to someone. And to show that they thrust their mate with their life." Huh, speaking of laying a claim on someone. Seemed that Goblins didn't only do it with words, but proudly show it around.
"Do both parts mark the other?" Marianne asked quietly and she could feel him nodding when his chin ran over her head. Now biting didn't sound so awful anymore. With a sly smile she moved her head a bit to peek up at him. "And you want to do that to me?" She had to bite back a laugh, when Bog's face flushed and he immediately waved with his hand in an attempt to reassure her.
"Ah, aye. B-but A would have never done it without asking or at least explaining to ye. It was obvious that ye didn't know about it and A didn't want to scare ye or...to hurt...ye...." At the end he trailed off with his sentence, since Marianne had straighten up herself and smiled warmly at him.
"I really appreciate that." she whispered and took his hands into hers, or at least tried to. "To be honest, I would have been surprised, if you would have bitten me out of nowhere." A sheepish smile crossed Bog's face and Marianne had to let out a huff of laughter, before she brought his hands to her cheeks and brushed them along his long fingers. "But now that I know about it...I'm perfectly fine with it. I...would love to be marked as yours."
"Really?" The astonishment in his voice and face let her conclude that he hadn't expected it from her to be so okay with this. It made her grin with glee, that she could surprise him in such a positive way.
"Really. After all it means that I can also mark you as mine," she said and wriggled with her eyebrows. Bog breathed out a disbelieving laugh, before he smirked at her.
"With pleasure." Even when Marianne wanted to giggle now, she tried to sound as tempting as possible.
"Oh, that surely will be involved." Then they couldn't hold back anymore and started to snicker for good a minute, while they were blushing like hell. They weren't that far in their relationship with that, but they surely loved to tease each other with it. The Goblin was the first one to sober up and his face got a concerned edge to it.
"Still...A'm worried. That A will hurt ye," he said in a low tone. His hands were free again and with a finger he traced Marianne's slender neck gently, which made her hum pleasantly. "Yer Fairy skin isn't as robust as the one of a Goblin. Should A bite just a bit too strong..." His mouth had formed into a thin, grim line, while he didn't dare to finish his sentence.
Marianne nodded. That really was a thing to consider. There was no doubt, that she wouldn't survive a serious bite from him or at least would be damaged beyond repair. She realized how much more she had to trust Bog than a Goblin girl would have to. "A would never want to hurt ye Marianne." he whispered insistently. When she looked up, she could see all the love and concern in his eyes and Marianne knew...trusting him wasn't the issue. She leant more into his touch and stroke with her fingers over the back of his hand.
"I know." she answered with a reassuring smile. "When the time comes...we both will be careful about it. Okay?" He looked more than relieved about her words, glad that she also thought of her safety, just as he did.
"Okay."
"Good." she said, and to seal their promise she stretched herself to meet his lips in a long and tender kiss. When they parted, Bog didn't leave it at that. Just like Marianne before, he planted several kisses along her face to her neck, which he kissed even more intensely and nuzzled it, while his fingers scratched softly over her back. She purred in bliss and stroke her fingers over his cheekbones, which made him growl also pleasant. Oh, she could spent hours just doing this, she realized.
"A think we should leave soon. The sun is now gone." Bog murmured against her neck after several minutes and Marianne enjoyed the way his breath tickled her skin. A glance over her shoulder confirmed his statement. The light of the sun was gone and she could already notice the green and blue glowing of the fluorescent plants.
"Hmmm, five more minutes should be okay." she suggested and to convince him, she gave his ear a light kiss. Bog made a deep chuckle at that.
"Well, as my princess wishes." he answered with a smirk against her skin. Marianne hummed pleased with his answer and out of joy of calling her his. The sentiment was much more honest and not so demanding like Roland always did. And it was equal. To show how much she appreciate this, she gave him another Goblin kiss, which caused another throaty hum from him. She liked it that she felt it more than she heard it.
Bog nestled his chin in her hair and she almost missed his words, since he mumbled them quietly against her scalp. "Thank ye."
Those little words caused her heart to beat faster and a pleasant warmth spread through her whole body. Marianne didn't know what he thanked her for. Maybe for accepting the different customs of his people, maybe because she allowed him such embraces whenever he wanted or maybe simply because he could love her and she loved him back....and to he honest, she didn't really cared for the reason. The fact alone that he was thankful and happy about things she did and said, was enough to make her hum joyfully and give him a very intense kiss at his throat. After all she shared the sentiment, whichever it was.
In the end it took them almost two hours to finally leave the hole, but both couldn't be happier about it. Intense cuddle-time just had a bit more priority than exploration.