Work Text:
One Touch
By: Hime1982
His hands weren't meant for soft and tender touches, they were meant for forging and pain. But he wanted them to touch tenderly and softly.
Stepping up to the anvil, he took the glowing piece of metal and began to hammer it into a shape of something he knew she would like. Ting! Ting! The hammer beat out a rhythm he could focus on, a cadence he could sing to. He began to hum an Oseram tune that most forgers used. It felt familiar, like home. But he had a new home, he had Meridian. That was before... Before she came along. Now his home is out there, wandering the wilds of the west. He never knew when it happened, but he woke one morning, while traveling with her and camping out under the stars, that he looked down and saw her, curled into his side, and realized that he had fallen deeply in love with this woman.
Her hair was the one thing he knew he could never forget, like sunset or forge-fire. The gleam in her eye when she finds something interesting, the warm smile she has when she talks and teaches Beta something of this new world, the gentle look she has given him when they speak to each other. Everything about her made his heart grow fonder and fonder until it became full with something that he needed to release. He needed her to know, even if...even if she didn't return his feelings. The gift he was making, he hoped, should help him convey his love to her.
His humming turned into singing, his rich baritone voice carried through the forge along with the cling-clang of the hammer to steel. The song was an old forging song that his ancestors had used when they first put metal to the fire and crafted their first weapons. The ringing of the hammering and his voice melded together like a perfect harmony, one forged in the fires of history. His hands in constant motion, hammering and smelting, back and forth. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this at peace. He felt useful at a forge, something to quell the restlessness within him. But a voice rang out and startled him from his calm. He turned and looked up to see a familiar face. Her face. The world slowed for him then, causing tunnel-vision for him, and seeing only one thing there.
The woman he loved: Aloy.
---------------------------------------------------
Her hands were made for survival, for the draw of the bowstring, the salvaging of machine parts, and the saving of the world. She didn't know tenderness and softness, didn't think her hands could do those things.
But meeting and getting to know a certain Oseram Vanguardsman began to change those thoughts.
When she saw him in the Daunt, her hands itched to touch him. Wanted to tenderly and softly caress his face, run them across his broad chest, trace the dark lines inked into his skin. To touch and feel every plane of muscle upon his body entered her mind at the time, until she saw the Bristleback charge at him. She shook her head to clear those thoughts away. She needed to focus, get back to the task at hand.
The Charger beneath her had veered off course and into an open field filled with Burrowers and Scroungers; she hoped that they didn't take note of her. Steering her Charger back to the road, she continued her journey toward the new Oseram place that she was traveling to. She didn't know what she would find there since her friends were being ominous about it. All were smiling, though, when she began to leave the base, exchanging knowing looks between each other. She didn't see the Vanguardsman there, thinking that he must have gone off to Hidden Ember to help their friends there with some things. The road opened up to a wide plain with settlements dotted here and there. All Oseram, of course. The most central one had a massive forge within its walls and upon asking where her friend was, she began to head to the place where metal became something new.
She never thought she could love anybody. Never thought it could be possible. But the day she woke in his arms, after having to camp out under the stars, she felt it. The stirrings of a feeling she couldn't name, a spark igniting a blaze deep within her soul. She yearned to see him more and more, just being near him set her heart racing and stole her breath from her. The first thing she saw in her mind upon waking was him and the last thing she thought of before she fell asleep was him. She needed him to know but she was scared that he would reject her, and that would kill her. The gift she carried with her suddenly felt very heavy, but she was here now, no turning back.
She came upon the open door of the forge and was greeted by the most wondrous sound she had ever heard. The baritone melody floated through the air and she was taken aback. Who could be singing and working in the forge and sound so sweet? She crept quietly through the door and rounded the corner to see a broad, sweat-slicked, nude back facing the door to one of the side forges. She saw the meticulously tattooed lines intricately designed crossing from one shoulder to the center of the back, trailing down the man's spine and slipping beneath the waist band of his trousers. The shape of his hair told her all she needed to know. She gasped and he turned. Time nearly came to a stop as she took in the sight before her.
The singing and tattoos belonged to the one she had fallen in love with: Erend.
Erend and Aloy just stood there staring at each other, wondering if they knew about how the other felt. Aloy made the first move, walking in and up to the anvil. Erend just continued to stare, mouth agape, as she looked down at the object he was making. She was trying to figure out what he was making, when he took the thing and plunged it back into the forge. He wanted it to be a surprise for her. She looked up at him, confusion marring her features. He turned back and saw her face. A face that he wanted to touch and caress. She looked up into his calm-before-the-storm colored eyes and was struck mute. There was so much she wanted to tell him but she was incapable of speech. He looked into her forest green eyes and fell into silence. The things he longed to say to her were stuck in his throat, unable to be spoken.
They stood there, unmoving and silent, staring into each other's eyes, hoping that they could convey the feelings they had for one another with just that look. Aloy, still staring into his eyes, moved around the anvil to stand before him. Her hand moved of its own accord and she finally touched his chest. It was that one touch that spurred Erend into action. His hand gently cupped her face, feeling for the first time her soft, beautiful, and kind skin. He stopped breathing, hoping that she deck him outright-which he more than likely would have deserved. But no, she didn't move, didn't breath, just stood there staring at him, touching his muscled abs. With his hand on the anvil to steady himself, he leaned down and gained the first taste of her.
Stunned, she couldn't think. What was she to do? Luckily her body knew what it was supposed to do. Her eyes fluttered shut and fully accepted the kiss. Her hands traced the very shape of the man she loved. Though he was still glistening with sweat, she continued to touch him, sliding her hands up his torso to his chest where they stopped. She had not known that the Oseram also pierced other parts and found the ring in his nipple. She began to play with it and that elicited a moan from him, which she swallowed up by driving the kiss deeper. Lips parted and they knew that this kiss was the beginning of something new, something they both had wanted for a very long time. They both stood still, silent as the night, staring into each others eyes, now knowing just how the other felt.
“Erend,” she whispered.
That was all it took for him sweep her up into his arms and kiss her all over again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on, not knowing what could happen next for them. Setting her down, Erend walked Aloy back toward an unused worktable with a stupid grin on his face. Aloy was giddy with happiness that she didn't realize where he was herding her to until her back hit the workbench. Looking over her shoulder and back at him, she gasped. Erend reached behind her and pushed everything off the table, picking her up and setting her on its surface. Laying his hands on either side of her hips, he leaned in and kiss her hungrily.
Aloy's knees sat wide open and Erend stepped in-between them. She felt the heat radiating from his form, singeing her soul. She began to remove her armor to stave off the burning feeling she felt, though it may not have been due to the temperature of the small forge they were near, but due to the man in front of her. He helped her shed the lighter pieces of armor that led to Aloy being in only her breast-band. She moved her hands to remove the last remnants of cloth from her body, slowly undoing it to give Erend a show. He groaned lustfully as he watched the tiny strip of linen slide down to the floor, fully exposing Aloy. She followed his eye movement as he stared longingly at her breasts, felt his hands slip up her sides and to cup each one in his large, rough, yet surprisingly gentle hands. His thumb swiped across one of her nipples and gained a moan from her.
Aloy laid her hands upon his chest again, finding their way to his pectorals and his nipple ring. She leaned forward and began to suckle on the non-pierced nipple while she played with the other. He groaned loudly and she felt it reverberate through her entire body. He pushed her away from his chest and kissed her passionately. She pulled away and laid horizontally on the bench. Erend then got quite an eyeful of her. He never really saw how small she was, but was very surprised at how muscular she really was. She saw that he was leering at her form, so she decided to bait him.
“You just gonna stand there or are you gonna join me?”
His breath caught in his chest. She was teasing him. She was teasing him! A smile hitched upon his face and he planted his palms on the table.
“Is this a request or a demand?”
“If you don't get your ass up here right now,” she cooed, “then I will have to punish you.”
Shaking his head he said, “Yes ma'am.”
He hopped up onto the table and laid beside her. Leaning upon his forearm, he bent forward and kissed her. She felt his hands running down the length of her body, stopping at the waistband of her leggings. He pulled out of the kiss, breathing hard, and looked into her eyes for permission. Chest heaving, she nodded and he began his trail of kisses down her torso. She moaned as his beard brushed her more sensitive areas. He tugged on her leggings, sliding them past her hips, just as he got to her breasts. He place his lips upon the right breast, sucking and pulling the nipple up, causing her to buck and moan. With her leggings now out of the way, he slid his hand to her most private of places. She was breathing heavily before but the moment his fingers slipped through her curls and into the slit, she was practically panting. He felt her buck harder and moaning greatly.
He never thought that this would make him so hard so quickly. He finished her breast and descended to meet where his hand was. She began to whine and whimper, wanting more. She felt his lips graze her inner thigh and she gasped, writhing with ecstasy as his tongue lapped at the soft skin. His fingers had been slowly sliding in and out of her, causing her to become very, very wet. He slid them out one last time and licked them clean, finally getting a taste of her. She felt him chuckle against her skin as he began to bury his face into her folds. The sound she made then stoked the flames within his belly, making him grow harder and harder. Erend opened her lower lips up and began to play with her clit. She whined and moaned louder, bucking and gasping, wanting him to truly taste her.
He needed her to wait, to come when he wanted her to. Aloy knew it was time because he plunged his tongue into her and was taking pleasure in eating her. She was overcome by passion and desire, groaning and grasping for purchase on the bench. She got a hold of the side of the table with one hand and Erend's head with the other. He was enjoying the taste of her very much, something he never thought he'd ever have the chance to experience. She wanted to come for him but it seemed that he was trying to keep her at bay. She took her hand down from his head and brought it to her sensitive bundle of nerves. He caught her hand in his before she could get that far, moaning a 'No' into her.
“E...rend,” she breathed.
Pulling his face from her, he whispered, “Shh, we're just getting started.”
He kissed his way back to her lips, soaked in her fluids. Aloy's body was vibrating from the intensity of Erend's lips upon her most sensitive area. She put her hands upon his hips and started to tug at his trousers. He hummed against her jawline.
“What do you thi-” he started to say.
“My turn,” she replied.
Suddenly, Erend found himself being flipped onto his back and saw Aloy straddling him. She had a wicked smile on her face and a devilish gleam in her eye. She began kissing his jaw, trailing them down his throat to his collarbone. She nipped and nibbled, leaving marks on him that made him growl low in his chest. Aloy found that to be exhilarating and sexy. She kissed along the dark lines of his tattoos toward his nipples. She took the ring in-between her fingers toyed with it. Erend groaned and growled, breathing heavily. He grabbed her ass and squeezed hard. She hummed into his chest as he fondled her backside. She reached between their bodies and under his pants to take hold of him. Aloy didn't realized how big he was and was pleasantly surprised. She began to stroke him and he moan deliciously. Following his treasure trail, she made her way down his torso. She looked up-just as he had-and saw his nod slightly. She pulled his trousers down and beheld him for the first time.
He was, indeed, big. Bracing herself on his large thighs, held him still and dipped her head to meet his. Lips touching the tip, Erend gasped, just as she had. Her hands were gentle upon his cock and her lips were just as soft as they were when he kissed her for the first time. She stoked him tenderly, figuring out how he likes being touched. She was sucking him and his mind began to go blank. He couldn't think straight, couldn't focus on anything. She felt him harden farther in her hand and tasted his fluids leaking into her mouth. She licked his tip and he bucked against her lips. She laughed wickedly while licking along his engorged member. A sharp intake of air from Erend told Aloy everything she wanted to hear, that this is what he liked.
“A-Aloy!” he moaned.
She made her way back to his face and said, “Now you know how I felt.”
He put his hand upon her cheek and pulled her in for an earth-shattering kiss. Aloy felt like she had died and gone to this heaven that the Old Ones had mentioned in the data-points. Erend knew the time had come to complete this dance of theirs. He turned her back over and gripped himself, bringing his cock toward her opening. He stopped short, realizing that this may be her first time, and looked her in the eye.
“Are you sure?” he whispered.
“I wouldn't be under you if I wasn't sure,” she said breathily.
He kissed her as he entered her. He proceeded slowly, knowing that it might be painful for her. She felt the stretching as he slid into her, his length and girth pushing farther and father inside. He broke the kiss off as she began to gasp for air.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Y-yes. Keep going,” she replied.
He continued to insert himself in her until he reached the hilt. He looked at her face and restrained himself from hammering her too hard. He needed to take it slow and steady, not take her like the other women from his past. This was new for her, a situation that she put herself into that she didn't know how to deal with. She tried and failed to read the outcome, never having experienced it before. Erend knew that she wasn't just another one-night stand, she was his heart, the fire for his forge. Aloy felt that this was the beginning of forever with this Oseram, the arrow to her bow, her life and her love. He began a slow rhythm, sliding in and out, thrusted in a measured tempo. She matched his beat with her own movements, all while making sounds that made him want more.
She clinched around him tightly and he restrained himself from pushing too hard, giving her time to adjust to him. He leaned one elbow upon the table and tangled his other hand in her hair. He sank his lips to her throat and kissed gently. Aloy tilted her head back to give him more and he moaned. They moved as one, thrusting and touching.
“Aloy,” he said in a husky voice.
“F-fuck Erend!”
“I'm here, strong as ever.”
“More!” she whispered. “H-harder. F-faster.”
“If that is what you wish, my flame.”
Erend thrusted a little faster and pushed into her harder. A gasp escaped her lips and she griped his bicep, her nails digging into his flesh. He grunted with exertion and sweat peppered his brow. Aloy felt the push to her orgasm begin but she needed to tame it, to come with her beloved. Erend knew his own crescendo was going to start but seeing Aloy trying to still hers made him want to hold on to his as well. The push and pull of their bodies, the heat boiling just beneath the surface, the hold of this time and place, it was everything that they had wanted for as long as they could remember. Possibly longer.
Aloy realized that she had wanted Erend since they met in Mother's Heart on the night of the Proving. She was more focused on winning the Proving, to gain her boon and to ask about her mother, but she felt that she was driven to Erend by some unforeseen force. Her heart yearned while her mind kept her on track for her mission. Now, she could truly focus on what matters: her heart's pursuit for love. And while she was in Landfall, the realization hit her hard. Erend was the only one she wanted. The only one her heart had been yearning for, for over a year and a half.
Erend knew that she was special, but he wasn't sure how special she really was. He met her in Nora lands and thought she wasn't worth their ire or hatred. She was a bright-spark amidst the darkness, her forge-fire hair flowing through the crowd like a wildfire through a forest. He felt his heart beat five times more and three times harder upon seeing her, more than any other woman he encountered in his twenty-six years of life. Aloy pulled on something within him that he thought was dead and buried.
The face of his first lover had haunted him for years and her death weighed heavily on his mind. But when Aloy entered his life, he felt, for the first time in years, his heart race and his breath stilled. He remembered his first lover, her name long lost to the flames of time, had the same effect on him. The Old Ones saying of “love at first sight” hit him like a ton of slag and he was stricken, lost to this Nora maiden. His heart was forever hers and he lost it, albeit silently, when they heard of the violent end to the Proving. So when she appeared at the gates of Meridian saying his name, he was flying.
Granted, she only there because of Olin. But he still felt elated that she finally came. It was during a bad time, and he begged her to help him find out about his sister, she relented and helped. He got his answers and realized that he could do this, be the captain that his sister had been, and he gained a friend in the process. A friend that he lost his heart to. But, she was more than a pretty face, she was a force to be reckoned and one hell of a fighter.
You know what, when we first met, I thought I just a big shot talking to a pretty girl hidden in the middle of nowhere. But now I see that I was lucky just to get a minute of your time.
When she had responded saying that she'd always have a minute, maybe even two, for him, he felt the flames of the forge burning him, melting the slag from the metal. And after the Battle of the Spire, he wanted to grab her into a great big hug, swing her around and kiss her. And then...she left. For half a year he stewed and blundered through each day, wondering why she ran off. He was upset and rightfully so. He thought they were friends, thought she would at least say goodbye to him.
But then, in the Daunt, he was clearing out the Bristlebacks and there she was. Radiant as the sun, with a smile like a sunbeam. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. Aloy's warning can too late as a Bristleback rammed into his ribs, sending him flying.
Returning to the present, Erend was still in shock that Aloy would ever entertain ideas about being with him. He knew how he felt about her, but never in his wildest dreams did he ever think that she felt the same. He felt euphoric, and he would do anything she asked-or wanted-of him, including death to protect her. He was finally home.
Aloy moaned loudly and Erend relished it. They were close to release but still holding out for the other, waiting patiently until they couldn't last. Aloy heard Erend making noises that she'd never heard him make and it was driving her to clench around him harder and harder. Erend was about to break. He couldn't wait much longer, feeling her grow tighter on his cock. Aloy gasped, feeling her orgasm begin.
“E-Erend, I...I can't...”
“I...I know. Let me...let me...” He grunted. “Let me...join you.”
Erend helped Aloy push to the finish, releasing together in a melody of gasps, cries, and satisfied moans. Breathing heavily, Erend slid out of her and rolled to his back. They laid there panting from their love-making, and both completely knowing how the other felt. Aloy turned her head and looked at the man she loved. Erend, too, turned to look at her and saw the love in her eyes.
Through the the deep breaths he whispered, “I love you, Aloy.”
She smiled and replied, “And I love you, Erend.”
His grin was as brilliant as the sun, and it matched her own smile. He took hold of her hand and laced his fingers through hers, a motion that both startled and steadied her. He drew up on one elbow and leaned down to kiss her. It was a tender kiss, the most tenderest of kisses he could create and Aloy felt it all the way down to her toes. Erend pulled from her face and chuckled.
Looking quizzically up at him, she asked, “What?”
“'S nothing. But I do think that you have given me more than those two minutes you promised.”
Aloy slapped him lightly on the arm as she continued to smile up at him. All of a sudden, a growling sound rose to their ears and Erend looked down at Aloy's abdomen.
“I guess I worked up an appetite."
Erend smiled and shook his head. "I'll go rustle up some food. There's a bath around here somewhere that you can use to clean up with. Waters always hot."
A small giggle came from Aloy. "I kind of figured."
Erend's eyes crinkled with merriment as he replied. "Of course, you're the smartest woman I know."
He rolled back over her, kissing her sweetly on the lips as he went, and climbed off the bench. He stood there taking the sight of her sprawled out on the table like a banquet feast. Erend looked to her face and smiled, leaning down to kiss her once more. The sound of her stomach growling again, much louder this time, set him sighing and moving away to redress. Aloy watched as he put back on his small clothes, trousers and boots, enraptured by the pull of muscle beneath his skin.
She rolled over and leaned her head on her arm as the man she loved grabbed a shirt from a hidden alcove next to the forge. She was saddened when he slid the shirt over his head and covered his perfectly sculpted and inked torso. She watched him walk out of the dark of the forge and into the bright and brilliant sunlight. Aloy sat up and hopped off the bench and began looking for the bath that her lover mentioned.
Replacing her Focus (how it came off is unknown), she tapped it and scanned the room. She found it in a darkened corner and took herself and her clothing over to it. It was more of hot spring than a bath, but Aloy wasn't picky. She slipped into the hot waters and sighed. She sat there soaking in the warmth, relishing the feel, soothing the knots and kinks in her back muscles, shoulders, arms, and legs. She removed her braids and sank under the water.
Aloy then felt something brush against her thigh. She bolted straight up, sputtering and gasping before she felt something push her head back under the water. Flailing and splashing did nothing to remove the hand from her head and she was kicking herself mentally for not bringing her diving mask with her into the spring. Making love to Erend seemed to have dulled her instincts-along with the warmth of the water-but she began to formulate a plan to get out of her predicament.
But just before she could put her plan into action, the hand, and pressure, disappeared. She flung her head out of the water, sputtering and gasping again, to find Erend wrestling with a man who was as tall as her lover and twice as wide. Erend had returned from getting food when he heard the splashing, and thinking that he could join Aloy in the bath, he found an Oseram man with Tenakth markings forcing something, or someone, under. He grabbed the stranger, spun him around and decked him. Dropping to the ground, Erend began to fight the stranger with blows to the face and torso. The stranger bucked Erend off and, pinning him to the ground, threw punches at him.
When they heard the splashing and gasping, Erend took the opportunity to jab as hard as he could into the stranger's face and knock him out cold. Aloy watched as Erend stood up and turned to face her. Aloy saw him smile and noticed a cut on his lip, as well as on the side of his head. She hopped out of the spring and walked up to him and cradled the face, running her thumb along his lower lip.
"Your lip is split." she said, looking into his eyes.
"'S nothing. It'll mend on it own."
"And cut on your head? Will that mend on its own too?"
She poked at the gash and he gave a sharp intake of pain.
"Well, maybe not that one."
Aloy smiled and Erend smiled back. It was only then that he remembered that she was just in the spring and completely naked. His smile turned more wicked and he stripped off his shirt. Aloy's mouth went dry and she licked her lips watching as Erend then stripped off his trousers. He stood there, looking at her face, as he then began to slowly remove his small clothes. She whimpered as he stopped just above his member, bulging and straining against the fabric, and it made him want to tease her more. He dragged his hand across her mid-section and around her hip as he looked upon her nude body. Her eyes followed him as he walked around to her back and caressed her buttocks, feeling him lean toward her back and gently breathe onto her neck.
Erend pushed his still restrained bulge against her ass and heard her moan as he kissed and sucked on her neck, grazing his teeth on her skin. Aloy knew what he was trying to do and, though she would never admit it, it was working. In a sense. Well, two could play that game!
"Tell me, Erend," she said, "how did I feel wrapped around you?"
Erend stopped and breathed a sigh. "Wonderful," he whispered in her ear.
Aloy stepped away from him, having momentarily distracted him, and turned to face him. She smiled coyly at him and gathered up her clothes.
"You need to bathe. Afterwards, we need to see to our unwanted guest."
Erend then realized that he had forgotten about the man who tried to drown the woman he loved. He looked down at the subject in question and hoped that he would stay unconscious long enough for them to get the guards to take him. He removed his small clothes fully and stepped into the spring to bathe. Aloy knew he was watching her so she made a show of dressing. He enjoyed it just as much as watching her undress, if his growing shaft was any indication. They smiled at each other and Aloy turned to see what he had brought to eat. She was starving and it smelled so good.
Erend finally emerged from the water, dressed, and joined her at the table-the same one they had used earlier as a bed to their love-making. They ate in comfortable silence, with occasional moan of deliciousness from Aloy making Erend quiver pleasurably. Once they were finished, they turned their attention to the man on the floor.
"What should we do about him?" Aloy asked.
"Hmm..." Erend made to think about it. "Maybe we toss him out into the street, let someone else take care of it."
She smacked his arm, smiling and rolling her eyes at him. "I don't think the guards would be happy with that."
"I guess you're right," he said with mock disappointment.
She giggled at him and thought of something. "I think we should take him to the guards, tell them what happened."
Erend rubbed the back of his neck and thought about it. "Yeah, we should."
Aloy saw the worry in his eyes. "What is it, Erend?"
"It's...it's nothing, love. Just...I'd like to know why this slag heap was trying to drown you."
Aloy looked at the prone figure on the ground and had wondered the same thing. Why was someone trying to drown her? Were they ordered to? She knew that they had to get to the bottom of it, one way or another. She asked Erend to pick him up and they headed out to find the nearest guard station. They explained the situation to the guards and left with the agreement that they would be summoned should the guards find out any information. Erend invited Aloy back to his lodgings to rest before returning to the Base. She accepted eagerly.
When they reached his temporary apartment, Erend pulled out a key and inserted it into the lock. The moment he had the door open, Aloy grabbed his shirt, pulled him into a passionate kiss, and kicked the door closed. He pushed her against the wall, without breaking the kiss, wrapped his arms around her, and lifted her. Aloy threw her legs around his waist and he walked them to the bedroom. Two hours later, they were sitting at the table eating the dinner that Erend cooked.
Evening turned to night and they retired to the bedroom. Aloy and Erend crawled into bed and she snuggled into his arms as sleep took them.
"'Night Aloy," he whispered.
"G'night Erend."
Their hands weren't meant for soft, tender caresses, but they realized that they could be. Their hands were meant for each other; hard for battles and gentle for their love.