Chapter Text
He pressed his head in between Lalna’s shoulder blades. The pressure behind his eyes subsided somewhat as he closed his eyes.
Lalna initially jumped but relaxed as soon as he realized it was Xephos hugging him.
“Oh, hey, Xeph’,” Lalna said, a grin in his voice. He turned around to face him and readjusted Xephos in his arms so he was now lying against the man’s chest. Xephos looked up at him.
“What’s up?” Lalna’s voice shifted slightly. He had the same look on his face that he always did when Xephos initiated physical affection, slightly surprised and unsure, but nevertheless happy.
Xephos chewed his lip. “I was thinking perhaps we could call it an early day?”
Lalna raised an eyebrow. “An early day? The Xephos I know would never do that. What’s the occasion? Is the world finally ending or something?” he said, a teasing tone in his voice.
Xephos rolled his eyes. “No. I just have a headache,” he admitted, now feeling somewhat embarrassed for his reasoning. Maybe he was just being overdramatic.
Lalna tilted his head. “Oh,” he said simply, searching Xephos’ face for some other sign of illness. “Here, hold on.”
He placed his fingers on Xephos’ temples and gently began massaging the two points on his head. Xephos flinched at the sudden movement but melted at the touch thereafter.
Lalna grinned. “Better?”
Xephos sighed and nodded. “Much, yes.” He let his eyes close. Lalna continued to massage his temples. Xephos felt his eyelids grow heavier until he finally let them fall closed and his thoughts evaporated. He let out a soft exhale of contentment and heard Lalna laugh slightly before the room fell quiet again.
For a moment, Xephos hadn’t realized anything had happened, until he heard Lalna gasp slightly.
It was then he identified a soft, rumbling sound. A soft, rumbling sound coming from him.
Xephos jerked away from Lalna’s hands so quickly he nearly fell over, swallowing down the noise as heat rushed to his face.
Lalna stared at him, his mouth agape. His eyes were bright with curiosity. “Was that-“
“It was nothing!” Xephos snapped defensively.
Lalna’s face split into an ecstatic grin. His face mirrored childlike wonder with how excited he’d become. “Do you purr?”
Xephos’ face burned brightly with embarrassment. The blue glow reflected off the metal in the room. He crossed his arms and scowled at his shoes. “I can usually stop myself,”he grumbled.
“Could you do it again?”
Xephos jolted and snapped his head back up to look at the other. “What? No!”
Lalna frowned, his bottom lip jutting in a slight pout. “Why not?”
“It- it’s embarrassing!”
“Why?”
“Because it’s-“ Xephos sighed frustratedly as he ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t really know why, he just knew he… wasn’t supposed to.
Lalna stuck out his bottom lip further. “Please?”
Xephos squirmed. It wasn’t as if he didn’t trust Lalna, he did. There was an intimate part of him that wanted to share the sound with him as well, to entrust him with something that felt so vulnerable. But, at the same time, there was something deep inside of him that felt the need to be ashamed of it. To hide it.
He worried his bottom lip for a moment before he sighed and relented.
“Fine. But you have to promise not to make fun-“
“I promise!” Lalna interrupted, looking giddy and curious as could be.
Lalna gently began playing with his hair and rubbing gentle circles behind his ears. The effect was almost instant, as his core seemed to melt and the familiar tickling pressure rose in his throat. His eyelids fluttered closed involuntarily at the touch.
It was almost harder to let himself purr than it was to stop himself from instinctively repressing it the moment the urge came about. He forced his muscles to relax and let the quiet trill in his chest naturally ebb and flow with his breath. A knot in his torso he hadn’t realized was there started to unravel. He felt safe in a way he couldn’t recall having felt in the past.