Work Text:
It was a lazy three O'clock afternoon, wading by through the minds of two women who had no hurry in their lives. After the game, bank accounts filled to the brim, Rose had finally achieved the authorship she had always hoped. Porrim worked at a non-profit. Rose kept a straight face mostly, but her humor had kept Porrim laughing brightly. Each woman was at ease: leaning back, sitting widely, taking space on the cafe table with elbows, and fiddling with jewelery.
"It's so nice to see you one on one," Porrim smiled earnestly, "I get so wrapped up at the center that I forget to just get coffee with friends sometimes."
"While I wish my motivations had been so simple, there was something I wanted to speak with you about," Rose looked down into her latte and ran her fingers along the rim.
"Oh?"
"I'm worried about Kanaya."
"What's wrong, Rose?"
"Over the last month she just hasn't been herself, I'm afraid," her face become more set, from an easy calm to a thin lipped worry, "She's snapped at me a few times, hasn't been keeping up with her herb garden, keeps putting off responsibilities, and I even saw her spend the entirety of Saturday on our couch reading without so much as a quick hop into the ablution trap and a spritz of lip color. I know not everyone bathes everyday, but it's uncommon for Kanaya. I even purchased her favorite bath bomb and its lain unused for a week. I encouraged her many times to reach out to you, but she seems to recoil at the mention of your name." Rose was very flustered at this point, gesticulating in a small space with great fervor.
Porrim took the human's hand and nodded. "Rose, I have to ask you an embarrassing question, and I'm sorry in advance."
"I suppose there's no preparing for it." She took a breath.
"Has Kanaya been masturbating more than usual?"
There was a moment of silence as Rose blushed wildly before whispering, "How did you know?"
"We may want to move this conversation somewhere private. I have an office at the center with charts."
"Charts?"
---
Your name is Kanaya Maryam and you feel like utter shit lately. It started about a month ago, now that you think about it, but it didn't strike you until just this week that there was something wrong. Your first clue had been on Saturday. A weight hung in your chest, and though in previous days you had reprieve, there was none on that day, only a thirst you could not quench and a numb stomach. You hadn't the motivation to even shower.
Night came, and you saw Rose walk by with a worried look in her eye. Why would Rose be- oh.
Then things started to click into place: the increasing amount you had been pailing yourself, the lessening of satisfaction with each pailing, the way a touch from your matespirit would wake a piece of your skin as though part of a ghost had become solid for a rare minute. You thought about how you had been kissing lately, your tongue so eager as to cause your human to pull back, saying, "That's a little too much for me, darling." Rubbing your tongue over your fangs, you imagined not the gentle lovemaking you were used to, but a frantic grab for pleasure. The visions of your imagination confused you, and you realized with a shock.
Your name is Kanaya Maryam and you are in heat for the first time of your life.
It is completely unlike the books you and Karkat used to discuss. Your nook didn't drip more than usual. Your bulge did not double in size. It had remained quite the same size, in fact. You did not eye every troll who walked down the street lustily; your sexuality was still tied to feelings of safety and caring. Except that now you half-hoped for a matespirit to hold you down through the frenzied jolts of pleasure, to remove from you the awful burden of self-control.
Maybe it was time to talk to someone. But whom? You were the first of your peers to enter heat, as far as you knew. There were the Beforan trolls, but you had entered heat early. Would you be made fun of? Was it even heat? Perhaps your mind was jumping to conclusions. There was always Porrim, but surely she would be embarrassed to have to explain to her younger dancestor the simple mechanics everyone ought to know already, right?
It was easy to let the weight in your chest take over, to let your head swim through its now familiar fog and get distracted by your book again. Why fight it when no one would come to help anyway?
---
"So those are you options," Porrim leaned back, an hour later. Her office was covered with various anatomical drawings and bookshelves. The human was overwhelmed, having learned about several glands she suspected were secrets even to her Alternian.
"I think," she replied after a silence, "that I would like your help talking to Kanaya about this issue. Do you have the time this evening?"
"Yes. How does eight sound?"
"I'll bring supplies."
Rose held her face in her hands. "Are you intending to use them?"
"Only if everyone wants to," the question seemed to have caught her off guard, to be unexpected. She looked at Rose with a puzzled glance, "Are you and Kanaya monogamous?"
"In a way?" The human fiddled with a tight curl of her hair, nervous, "We spoke of it once or twice and decided to discuss it once it became a relevant question. Usually we're quite satisfied with each other. I, at least, am not overly experimental in terms of other partners."
"Well, how do you feel about a potential threesome?" The troll spoke English now, careful to soften her voice and leave out the usual clicks that sharpened on the hard consonants.
"Considering it's you, and given the circumstances, I feel laissez-faire. If it were to become a regular occurrence I might want time to mull it over, but as a one-time event I have no objection."
"Alright."
Rose added, "Isn't it mildly incestuous? For you and her to?"
"I don't think so. Ancestors are never supposed to meet their descendants, and it seems that by meeting, the mystique has died. Earth trolls don't have the same culture as Beforan or Alternian trolls: the languages is changing, the music is different, even the quadrants are shifting. Like almost no one is Pale-Monogamous anymore, thanks to human influence."
The deep-bodied lesbian seemed pensive.
Porrim shrugged. "If Kanaya doesn't feel good about us touching, I'm not going to push it. It's just a friendly offer."
"Oh shit. I should go talk to her."
"Yeah, go on. I'll see you in a bit."
---
The door to the small apartment opened, and Rose stepped in lightly. Her bag hit the counter. Her shoes were left by the door, and Kanaya closed the book she was reading to greet her love. Sure enough, smart lilac eyes soon met the jadeblood's, but there was a weight in the air still, or at least Kanaya felt one. She wondered if she should have gotten up, pretended to be well, greeted Rose with an eager hello and a chaste kiss instead of her resigned gaze.
Rose sat down on the chair across from her lover, clearing her throat to say, "I owe you an apology."
The troll half-heartedly sat up. "Whatever for?"
"I spoke with Porrim about how despondent you've been lately without asking your permission."
Kanaya's eyes bore a hole into the floor. "I suppose what's done is done," no forgiveness was issued, but she wasn't going to make a fight of it. Continuing, she asked, "What was her advice on the matter."
"That's the other half of my apology. She's going to be here at 8 tonight, and I should have asked you about that as well."
"Rose that is quite a lot of liberties for you to have taken. Are you that worried about my health?"
"Yes, love." plush brown fingers met thin grey ones. Kanaya didn't move her hand at first. She stood slowly, like iron hung from her shoulders. "I should shower. Do we have something to offer Porrim when she comes by, or should I head by the grocer's quickly?"
Not everyone gets mad in a loud way. In fact, some people are at their most livid with what they do not say. Rose practically quivered in her skin to see Kanaya like this. This had only happened once before, when Vriska had attempted to issue a half-assed apology for her antics with Tavros.
A shower and a trip to the store for dinner later, Kanaya was still gritting her teeth. She never snapped, she was never rude, but it was obvious to anyone that knew her what had happened wasn't alright. There were no clever jabs, no unnecessary movements, no Alternian poetry being murmured for its soothing patterns of chirps and whirrs. Her favorite sundress, often worn with no underwear, left the ache of her back and shoulders open for Rose to see as she did dishes and prepared the table. Lean, almost too lean in places, the gardener's agile spine was now tight with worry. The bright white ivy print on golden yellow did nothing to lessen the effect. unadorned grey hands simply worked through the anger, focusing on making a quick meal.
Rose stayed out of the way, knowing full well her lover would calm down in time and approach when they would be able to speak productively. Bracing herself for a long night, she picked a dress she was fond of, as goth as anyone could manage to be in this uncommonly hot night, black lace trim on equally black linen. Finally in full control of a large fortune, Rose had hunted down tailors all over the country, tired of clothing that never fit or had just been scaled up from a design meant for a smaller woman. The linen breathed so well she may as well have been naked. It had been a good find.
She took a few minutes to busy her hands applying her signature lilac lip color and eyeshadow. Her usual headband had a tentacle print on it tonight, keeping her tight black curls out of her face. She enjoyed the pop of pastel on the umber of her skin, and it almost settled her stomach.
At 8:10, there was a knock at the door. Rose opened it to greet Porrim, ample bosom in a black bra under a thin white tank, wide hips set in tight jean shorts, confident even if green flip-flops that seemed an odd pick for the walk down summer city sidewalks. Rose forgot that Porrim could make any outfit imposing by sheer force of will. Perhaps it was the winding black ink tattoos, or the easy way in which she took up space in a room.
"Hey," Porrim came in and set down a small duffel bag, "Hope I'm not too early."
Kanaya walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel, "You're right on time. Dinner's ready." For her dancestor, she had pulled out a smile and brighter tone of voice. They hugged, and Kanaya led Porrim into the kitchen. Dinner talk focused on Porrim's work at the clinic with other trolls and the younger troll's work at the florist's shop down the street. Somehow they managed to keep the conversation away from the incoming rut, and away from Porrim's actual reason for visiting. The sun had not yet set, taking its mirthful time in the sky, leaving it blue for hours in complete opposition to the languid oranges and pinks of winter skylines. Rose got distracted a couple of times wondering when she should mention the sun and sky in her current novel, but no one seemed to mind much.
"Thank you so much for dinner, Kanaya," Porrim chirped in Beforan. Rose had been the only one speaking in human English all night, as per usual, but she followed Beforan and Alternian perfectly.
"You're welcome," Kanaya got up from her seat and started to clear the table, "Shall we adjourn to the living room to discuss business?"
"Oh my," the sex educator chuckled, "I wouldn't call it business, but yes."
The three women sat on the floor, a Beforan tradition, on a thick rug. The "patient" began speaking, "I suppose there is no denying that I have begun my first heat."
The others were quiet, giving her room to continue.
"Surely we can all agree that in matters concerning my personal growth and wellbeing, I deserve a say. Which is to say, I am a bit upset that this dinner was organized without consulting me first."
There was a collective nod.
"There's nothing to be done about it now. I submit myself to whatever mechanizations you two have concocted."
Porrim was trying not to laugh, "I was just going to offer to explain stuff, Kanaya. Maybe fool around."
Ordinarily, the florist would have had an embarrassed giggle at her own expense. Today, the cornea of sweat starting on Porrim's skin caught her breath in her chest and she felt it open like a wide, hungry thing. Today she felt the word sex echo in there and tickle in just the right spot. Such an unnecessary reaction, but Kanaya could only pause.
Her human lover picked up the silence, "I was also hoping, perhaps," she shifted to sit behind Kanaya, "I could help? Your needs seem to have- shifted." As Rose's hands traced up Kanaya's bare calf, the troll found herself freezing in place, inexplicably struck with nervousness even as her body welcomed the touch like a beacon.
"I-" she managed to squeak out, "have been approaching you differently, yes. Sensations have been magnified for me, it seems."
The older woman scooted forward, one hand resting on Kanaya's thigh. "You're right. We should have asked you before. So, do you know what you want right now?"
"No, not really."
Rose gave a reassuring kiss to her girlfriend's shoulder and Kanaya's train of thought was completely overwhelmed by memories of them, the lilac lipstick, the tiger's-eye gleam of them covered in gloss finish, the almost cherrywood simplicity of those lips, those particular lips, bare on her own. She stiffened, overwhelmed by the difference in her reaction, not trusting her body or decisions at that moment.
Porrim was concerned, now. She pulled her hand away for a moment before asking, "Is it okay to touch you?"
There was an affirmative nod in response. Arms wrapped around Kanaya from behind, cradling her waist. Grey met grey for the caress of a cheek, a teasing motion that led down the side of her neck and her exposed collarbone.
"It's okay, easy, talk to me." Porrim's voice was warm and close, oh so close to her numb, overwhelmed face. Her body had alighted to a pool of murky heat, a specter in the room.
She heard herself admit, voice quavering with her heartbeat, "I just don't want to hurt Rose."
There was a chuckle, and the hands around her waist pulled tighter. "You're not going to hurt me, or anyone. We've got you."
With that, Kanaya just about fell face first into Porrim and it was as if the fog of her body had found its physical form once more. Her lips were her entire focus, and her dancestor was no less eager, holding back nothing, letting tongue and tooth nip and gather as deep breaths of relief washed over the two like ocean spray.
Behind the new adult now sat Rose, watching for the first time as her love kissed another, taking in with scholarly air the idea of Kanaya kissing another troll and finding it oddly calming. She didn't have to face the fire head on; she could sit back and observe and join in at her leisure. There was a confidence in the experienced hands that now cupped Kan's face, the fangs that bared themselves without shame or air of retreat. Breath and gasp and whimper became moan and mumble, bidding the human to join the celebration. Join she did, palming the rumble spheres she knew so well.
"Rose?" Came the groan.
The human planted a kiss and massaged and giggled. "Tell me, love."
"Rose please."
Now it was Porrim's turn to observe, to listen with pricked ears as she searched for the zipper on this blasted sundress. Her center was already throbbing, responding to the younger troll's pheromones.
"Please what?"
"I need s-someone to-"
"Bashful now?"
The emerald flush on that face just thrilled Porrim with a shudder. She took hold of Kanaya by the base of her hair and licked down the now almost-sweating neck and murmured, "I want to hear you say it too. I know exactly how it feels, but you have to ask for this."
"Fuck both of you for being so smug."
The comment caused a peal of laughter and a healthy chortle. Both seductresses paused for a moment, too busy giggling. Purple eyes met green and they smiled at each other. It was good to share concern for the same beautiful person, to be united in wanting to touch that brightness.
"Well? I'm not wrong." Kanaya huffed.
Porrim lay back on her heels for a moment. "No, you're right. We've gotten ahead of ourselves perhaps."
A human mouth latched itself onto Kanaya's neck with renewed vigor. She cried out, "R-rose! Yes, please, this." Porrim grinned with bare teeth and watched for a moment, realizing the dress had no zipper and would have to be lifted. Eventually.
In a voice more frustrated than aroused, Kanaya resigned, "Yes, I need this. I want you and Porrim to touch me, make this ridiculous fog pass so I can concentrate again. Just don't make me beg. It's bad enough to have turned into a slob."
Hands crept up under her dress and toward her damp thighs, over her chest and into her hair. With two sets, she couldn't keep track, and who really cared at this point anyway? She dissolved into a fog of moans, into writhing forward onto her elbows as Porrim walked over to dig in her duffel. Rose picked up the slack, getting on her knees to grind hips into ass and to pull nails down the back the dress failed to cover. The underwear which had so delicately framed her was pulled away.
Rose and Porrim switched places. "As you wish, dearest," the human purred. The older troll started to tease Kanaya's outer lips, naturally hairless, gleaming with green lubricant. To this Porrim added synthetic lubricant, clear but effective, her fingers making an unnecessary mess of the swollen outer lips. She was rewarded with gasps and hip rolls, encouraging her to go deeper. She obliged, taking time to visit and lubricate inner lips and the sanctum of the clit hood before inserting anything.
"W-wow..." Porrim exhaled, reverent. "You're so hot for this."
Hot was a literal description. Kanaya was engorged, lubricated, unfolded, and waiting for any sort of stimulus. Porrim had prepared a strap on, condom covered, and now guided the tip into her dancestor. The younger troll sounded off like a trumpet, pushing her hips back and coming to rest on all fours. Her dress was still on, though Rose had found a moment to remove her own. She sat in front of her lover, presenting a well-trimmed garden of labia for consumption. Purple-tinted umber orchids that filled nostrils with the scent of yew trees and barest hints of honeysuckle.
"Rose, I can smell you from here," Kanaya was almost drooling, eyes fixed on the gift in front of her.
The author grinned, "You know what to do."
As Kanaya lowered herself to pleasure Rose, Porrim complicated the act by starting to slowly, teasingly, roll her hips to fuck the ivy-green, doughy orifice the strap-on was in. The three bodies fell into sync. Each crash of Porrim's toy into Kanaya led to another upward stroke of the tongue on the pearl of Rose's sex, and it built a humid tension. The slow pace allowed them to continue on until time ran confusing, a chorus of moans and pants, but no one was going to reach climax at this rate.
The blasted fog of hormonal drives that had weighed on the younger jadeblood was now a welcome chorus of happy nerves, floating her in pleasure. Goal or though of orgasm she had none, only to be here in the rocking grind of bodies.
It was Rose who called for reprieve, "Porrim, stay still for just a-aah second?" This gave Kanaya the signal to focus on the task in front of her, toy still buried in her as she furiously licked Rose to orgasm. The human arched back, hand in her lover's hair, crying the name she had come to hold so dear. After a few moments to huff and pant her way down from post-orgasm bliss, she pulled back from Kanaya.
Porrim took this as a sign to continue, slowly pumping in and out, picking up speed slowly. With each thrust of the dildo Kanaya's body shook and wiggled, and she muttered pleas in three languages. Rose handed Porrim a small vibrator, which found its way to to Kanaya's clit by way of a kindly reacharound. Porrim deftly ground her hips into the younger troll, and was rewarded with a clenching nook and satisfied groan.
Kanaya slowly removed herself from the dildo and lay down for a moment. Rose was about to raise herself from the bed, about to offer a friendly hand to Porrim, but as she opened her mouth to say, "Why don't I-" Porrim raised her hand in a gesture of pause.
The new troll was raising herself from the floor already, turning to face Porrim herself, entranced, too tired to speak. The elder Maryam leaned back onto her behind, legs splayed and shaking from their effort, eyes wide and shining. Rose watched as Kanaya crawled over and began to lick and suck the very instrument that had brought her to climax. Worship and gratitude slid down the phallus in the form of unabashed spittle.
It grew a wonder in the human's heart to see the change begin in a subtle way. Kanaya, dear sweet Kanaya who always fell asleep after pailing without fail, was awake and moving and asking for more. She was loud and rampant and exuberant. Rose felt her heart warm. Her hand went to her own clit, and she begin to really enjoy the show.
Porrim stopped Kanaya just long enough to stand up and be done with the harness. When she lay back down, green lubricant was dripping out of her.
"Please?"
No more needed to be said. The entranced florist picked up where she left off, her mind a fugue of white noise as her tongue took over her entire focus. The ride to orgasm was pleasant, several minutes of concentrated licking that pooled blood in the area and sent shivers up Porrim's spine. She came quietly, holding back, and she continued to feel pristine as the haze wore off and she looked over to Rose.
Kanaya looked to Rose too, and in a few minutes the three women were making a sandwich. Rose was getting herself off in the middle as the others caressed and whispered to her.
"Thank you my love," came the whispers from one side, with hands that hit all Rose's secret pleasures, "Let me hear you, dearest, I love you and your voice, you know i do." To this Rose gave moans aplenty, the happy slicking sound of her fingers polishing the vital nerves. Moaning was really a bad way to describe it; her body was singing from the depths, sending out an aria of the way electricity filled and warmed the breadth of her physical form.
From the other, hands exploring, learning the softness and expansive beauty of the body, commenting sweetly, "Thats it. Let it feel good. I can smell you and it makes me hot." To this, Rose gave her shamelessness, splaying herself out, entangling legs and closing her eyes.
Between the interplay of messages and the hands covering her, it was a smooth ride to her own second climax. With a shudder and a whimper she went taut, coming down to a natural cuddle pile.
"That was something," she murmured, burying her face into Kanaya.
"Yes, actually," her words vibrated in Rose's skull.
Porrim jumped in, spooning the middle-person carefully, "So how is your first heat starting off?"
"Much more subtle than I expected?"
"Oh?" The sex educator noted.
"Well, sensation is a little stronger, but mostly because my mind is focusing on it. I can't seem to ignore my body to focus on other things."
The voice buried in Kanaya's bosom spoke next, "You did exhibit symptoms of mild depression."
"Yes," the Alternian replied, "How long do those last?"
The Beforan offered, "If you have enough sex they won't happen. But the effects of heat last an earth month."
"That's not overly burdensome." Rose was optimistic.
"It's not," Porrim continued, "Also, most places realize the rut is happening and will accommodate you."
"I fear the predominant accommodation will be with my matespirit." Kanaya was unsure now, not wanting to threaten her flushed relationship but also worried about burdening the academic she lived with.
Said academic was far less concerned. "I'm sure we can arrange something," she chirped.
"For which I am rather grateful." The florist was careful to mention.
"I know. What else did you notice?
"I feel much more clear headed now," Kanaya added, "and hungry. I don't think I've been hungry for two weeks. Porrim, what is heat like for you?"
"Oh, not much different from my usual self." She was leaning on one of her elbows, other arm draped happily over Rose's midsection.
"So the depressive symptoms?" Now Rose was intrigued.
"Yeah I deal with something akin to that almost the entire sweep. I'm used to it,though, and I have plenty of playmates."
"The sensation of an empty chest?" Kanaya murmured.
"Yes?"
"You feel that?" The disbelief was wide in her eyes.
"If I go a week or two without sex and let myself get bored, yes. So you should keep busy if you want to avoid becoming attached to your couch. Though it looks like you're at the end of your cycle."
"Noted."
"So," the human prodded, "if those symptoms are something you experience constantly, what does heat look like for you?"
Porrim was happy to answer, "It's almost easier? Kanaya was right when she said it gets hard to concentrate, but I just feel too good to focus. Also, it's not just me, for once. Every other troll is wondering when the next play session is going to be, so it's not as lonely."
"Do most trolls keep to their quadrants?" came the next question.
"They were expected to under the Empress," Kanaya tried to answer.
"These days its much looser," The elder Maryam corrected gently, "Everyone does what suits them. I know I mentioned this back at the clinic, but some trolls don't even pail during heat. They just hole up with a month worth of television and a lot of comfort food."
"Porrim, I have a delicate question." The younger Maryam was forcing herself not to mumble.
"Sure."
"Did my, uhm- "scent" change?"
"Oh! Yeah, your natural lubricant gets muskier."
"I shall have to investigate." Rose giggled.
"Oh?" Kanaya sounded intrigued.
"Yes, later. After my repose."
The Alternian was having none of this. "You are finally rid of my post-coital nap, only to insist upon one yourself?"
"Yes. And I reserve the right to taunt you once you return to that habit," the author stuck her tongue out in jest.
The three women shortly moved to a bed for a short nap, happy in the idea that what had once seemed an impossible gap was breached. In the summer night, the muggy air held them, washed them of winter's fear-mongering winds and spring's capriciousness. In sleep, they thrashed and danced about each other, throwing sheets to the floor and snoring lightly. The morning would find them fresh and desirous, with vices afresh to revel in.