It seemed only natural, after a long morning of trudging through the countryside and a lunch of the bland ration bars he had packed, to fall into each other against the hillside, laughing as they play-wrestled and Khroma pressed his forehead against his companion’s, grinning broadly.

Nahan smiled back at him, something soft that made the lines around his eyes crinkle, and he hesitated for only a moment before he tugged at the steel of Khroma’s breastplate.

“May I?”

Khroma felt his body heating up already, shifting to straddle Nahan’s lap. “Oh, please.”

They worked together to unclasp the Paladin’s armor, leaving him in his tunic and pants as he playfully dragged Nahan’s jacket off and threw it to the side.

He laughed at the way Nahan’s hair tendrils tangled when he awkwardly tugged off his bandana, helping the alien put it to rights, even as he hoped he would get his hands in it again later. The air between them was charged and electric, the promise of a long-held desperation about to be fulfilled.

“Have you ... done this before?” Nahan said a touch awkwardly, his hands hovering just above Khroma’s hip bones, as if he wasn’t sure he had the right to touch.

Khroma's grin turned sharp at the edges, and he pulled at Nahan’s hands, encouraging him to grip harder.

“Oh, certainly. I promise, you don’t need to worry about that.”

Nahan relaxed, his shoulders losing their tension under Khroma’s grip, and he used his leverage on the Paladin’s waist to pull him down more firmly into his lap.

“Perfect.”

With that, he tilted his head down to nip at Khroma’s lips, the warmth and closeness enveloping them. The two sat there for a long moment, kissing almost lazily as they mapped out each other’s mouths. Then one of Nahan’s hands moved, dipping underneath Khroma’s tunic to stroke at the divot of his hip, and Khroma broke the kiss with a gasp.

Nahan immediately ducked his head and set to work on Khroma’s neck, pressing teasing kisses against the thin skin of his throat. Khroma moaned and tilted his head to the side to give him more room, shivering as Nahan’s sharp fangs scraped his skin.

He fumbled, tugging futilely at the strange latches and buttons on his partner’s clothes. Khroma felt young and clumsy, like a teen stumbling to wrestle off another apprentice’s armor for a midnight tryst.

Nahan laughed, the sound rumbling out of his chest in a way that Khroma could finally feel against his skin.

“No need to rush,” he said, and Khroma huffed at his clear amusement.

“Easy for you to say,” Khroma muttered. “I’ve apparently been kept forcefully abstinent for several thousand years.”

“Fair enough!” Nahan chuckled, and tipped them over, cushioning the back of Khroma’s head with one firm hand, as they landed with his back against the grass.

His other hand stroked upwards, skirting right past where Khroma really wanted it to drag his tunic up and over his head. Khroma cooperated solely to get his partner’s hands back on his skin, where they belonged -- and moaned, when Nahan gathered up both of his wrists and pinned them above his head, one-handed.

“Yeah?” Nahan murmured, sharp canines brushing across his bare shoulder. “Like that?”

“Yeah,” Khroma managed to gasp out, hips twitching restlessly, though there wasn’t anywhere he could go with Nahan’s other hand on his stomach, trapping him in place.

Khroma was broader than Nahan, and certainly more muscled, but it seemed to take the alien little effort to move him around, regardless, and Khroma registered the knowledge with a clench in his gut.

“Want more?”

Khroma let out a frustrated groan. “Nahan, if you don’t do more, I’ll flip us over and do it myself!”