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Derek had an idea of what it was like to kiss Avery. After all, for most of the time he’s known the slime, his thoughts have been conveniently full of those kinds of scenarios. Visions and memories that aren’t his yet worm between the seams of his everyday life, up against facts about the weather and reminders for events that haven’t happened.
—Sitting next to each other in the kitchen, sharing a chaste kiss before the day's events stole their attention—
—Getting back from a hunting trip, lingering close and spending a moment to welcome each other with their lips, soft affection shown as they clean up—
—Pressed against each other, Derek’s hands resting firmly on Avery’s waist and wandering as the slime pressed against him and broke away only to trail down his jaw and—
Well. You get the point.
However, the two had yet to share their first official kiss. And despite Derek knowing a million ways it could (and would) happen in the future, he realized he had no idea what it actually felt like to kiss Avery. He had the vocabulary to describe it, sure, but no real-life feeling to pair any number of visions with.
And Derek, for the first time in a while, found himself extremely eager to find out something new.
_
It feels amazing, Derek decides. Turns out a simple ‘can I kiss you?’ in the middle of the day was all that was needed to have Avery excitedly climbing into Derek’s space on his bed and closing the distance between them. The connection is soft, timid for a bit, but quickly becomes more confident each time they part and reconnect. Derek can feel Avery’s slime warm underneath his fingers as he cups his face, and he slides his hand down to the space between his neck and shoulder, pinky teasing beneath the fabric of Avery’s shirt. They break apart, Derek smiling when he notices the trail of slime that stays on his fingers.
Avery seems to have the opposite reaction, though, following Derek’s line of sight and grimacing when he sees the traces of himself against the knight’s skin. In an instant, the slime that Derek is still touching cools, the corner of Avery’s mouth twitching as he collects the residue. Derek frowns, watching the others’ motions silently. Avery mumbles a quiet apology, but Derek waves him off, leaning back in. Avery sighs into the kiss, hands settling softly on the knight's thighs and trailing up to rest on his waist. Derek knows Avery can feel the slight shiver that runs through him, the slime’s lips curling into a smile against his own. Derek huffs a laugh, their lips parting but still ghosting over one another, and his hands find their way underneath Avery’s thighs, coaxing him forward until their legs are tangled and resting on top of each other as he presses forward again.
Avery’s slime becomes blessedly warm again under his touch, and he smiles when it starts to sink between his fingers. Avery doesn’t need to tell Derek for him to know what it means when the slime’s body acts this way, and despite Derek also knowing that Avery considers said responses to be a nuisance, all it means to him is that he’s doing something right. Derek has made it clear before that he really doesn’t mind it, but, well.
From what Avery’s experienced, he could say, pretty confidently, that people don’t usually like it when every time they make the mistake of touching Avery a little too much, they leave with a little piece of him. So he changed. He hardened his form, just enough to have any contact be relatively mess-free. If anything was stubbornly left behind or missed, it was swiftly collected with a sheepish apology and a change of topic.
Then, suddenly, this knight stumbles into his life and tells him the exact opposite of everything he’s carefully adjusted himself to fit. Sucks that old habits die hard, though.
Avery tends to, in moments of fluster, get a little…less than solid. His already soft edges drip a little more, and his ‘skin’ becomes just slightly easier to sink into. It’s never enough to melt completely, but he considers it a hassle when his slimy residue is left on surfaces more often than before, harder to contain.
Derek very quickly notices this happening while their lips are connected, the corners of Avery’s mouth twitching slightly, and his eyebrows furrowing as he battles to keep himself literally and figuratively together, while trying desperately to keep pressing against Derek and reciprocate.
Derek pulls away and smiles at the small frown that Avery gives him in response. The slime's hair is dripping slightly, and his face is glowing just barely more than usual with what can be considered an equivalent to blush. Derek can feel Avery’s form trembling under his fingertips, breathing shaky now that there’s distance between them again, enough for Avery to attempt to re-solidify. Derek frowns.
“Avery, you—“
“I know, I know, I just—ugh, I’m trying to fix it, just gimme a second—“ he grumbles, hands twitching as they hover near Derek’s shoulders.
Derek swiftly interrupts him, taking Avery’s face in his hands and forcing their eyes to meet.
“I don’t mind. I was going to say you should relax.”
Derek leans close and noses into the crook of Avery’s neck and shoulder, moving his hand to trace down his arm, and tilting his head up to press a chaste kiss against where his jawbone would be.
“I want you to enjoy this,” he says, moving to gently pull the other closer until Avery’s exposed skin leaves obvious traces on Derek’s body. The sight has the slime's breath catching, and his effort to keep himself together wavers. Derek pulls back just enough to look him in the eyes again, his fingertips dragging lightly over wherever he can reach on Avery’s body, stopping to linger on exposed slime, almost worshiping it with his touch and the way it rests between his fingers.
“Do you think you can let go for me, Avery?” Derek speaks softly, his voice low but oh so comforting, and before Avery can register it, his body is sinking just that much more into the knight, his form still solid but noticeably softer, the warmth from his core spreading through his limbs and seeping through the knight’s clothes from where he’s pressed against him. Derek smiles and presses light kisses over Avery’s face, once at the corner of his eye and on his cheeks, on his temple, and at the edge of his mouth, pulling back and leaving Avery’s skin tingling.
Avery feels the need to lean in and do the same when he stops short, noticing the faint shine against Derek’s lips that wasn’t there before, a light green sheen when it catches the light that has Avery pulling away and covering his mouth as a violent flush takes over his body.
“Oh my Notch, I— that's—“ him. Avery’s slime is currently spread across Derek’s lips, and a swift glance down at his body shows that the rest of him doesn’t seem to be faring much better, traces being left in greater quantity now that his form has relaxed. He quickly shoves away the thought of how thrilling it is that he is literally all over Derek right now in favor of trying to separate himself from the knight as fast as possible.
Derek’s hold is firm, though, and Avery’s movements stop dead when the knight tugs him right back into place and smashes their lips together, pressing as much of himself against the other as possible. Avery tries and fails to not eagerly press back, hands hovering around Derek’s torso as he hums into the kiss, not quite touching. A part of Avery is still stubbornly keeping his movements restricted, not wanting Derek to get any messier than he already has, which he seems to take slight irritation in as he deepens the kiss and leans into Avery’s hold. Avery can feel the way his skin sticks just a little more against Derek’s touch before the knight lifts a hand from his arm, a glistening trail connecting the two. Avery doesn’t have time to feel mortified, as Derek’s hands are already being placed against a new area of skin, and Avery is pulled into another dizzying liplock.
The combined glimpses of himself being left in greater quantity and the feeling of it all make him gasp quietly, and Derek seizes the opening with purpose, his tongue parting through Avery’s lips as the slime makes a small noise of surprise. The knight sucks once on his tongue and smiles when the other trembles, eager to keep up and match Derek because—finally they’re kissing like this. He's wanted this for so long—but still hesitant because—shouldn’t this be grossing Derek out just a little? Avery is a slime. How could Derek possibly be so okay with all of this? All of him?—
Derek then suddenly pulls away, leaving them both gasping slightly for air, and Avery has only a moment to realize there’s a fine line of his slime still connecting them both before the wet tip of Derek’s tongue is swiping over his lips and breaking the trail before locking eyes with Avery and swallowing oh my Notch—
Avery is sputtering, his eyes wide and locked onto Derek’s mouth as he watches the knight’s Adam’s apple bob with the swallow, his parted lips glistening with his spit and his slime, and Avery feels like he might faint with the sheer force of the flush that has taken over his body. Derek huffs a laugh and tips his head to meet Avery’s gaze again, the slime pursing his lips in still shocked silence.
“May we please continue now that I’ve hopefully proven to you that I do not give a fuck that you’re made of slime? Because I really want to keep kissing you, even if I’ve gotten a little bit messy,” he says with a laugh. Avery doesn’t need to be told twice.