The Knight and the Kobold, Arc I part 4
After their narrow escape the duo wake up naked and alone in the wilderness, and take a hard look of their situation...
The morning was chilly, with wisps of fog nipping at exposed skin. Boners and Reinhardt huddled at the base of a large oak, the majestic tree indifferent to their discomfort as they laid exposed to the elements. They had ran in the blackness of the night for a good while, dreading the sounds of pursuit, but no-one had followed them. Nevertheless they had kept going well beyond midnight, stumbling through thickets and ravines like small, timid animals, until they had collapsed in this spot. They had fallen into a fitful sleep in the open sight of anyone who would happen by, but thankfully no-one came, and the pale light of the morning sun eventually woke them up.
The kobold was first to rise, and he clambered groggily into the knight's lap like a faithful hound waking up its master. He sat sideways, resting his head against Reinhardt's hairy chest. Despite his small stature Boners was surprisingly heavy, as his wide hips and rump had more muscle than fat.
"Snglzrmss", he mumbled drowsily.
Reinhardt grunted, and wrapped his arms around the furry warmth that had settled against him, like a child cuddling his favorite stuffed toy. His face twitched occasionally, as if he was still caught up in the throes of some dream, but as the forest around them slowly brightened the years of military training aroused him to from the land of slumber to alertness. He yawned and smacked his lips, and then his eyes blinked open to look groggily down at the kobold laying upon him.
"...What are you doing?"
His voice was still muzzy and heavy with sleep, but the warmth and softness of the kobold settled into his lap began to have their obvious effects.
"Hush, I'm warming you up. Your human fur is useless." Boners rubbed his cheek against Reinhardt's bulging pecs, their flesh taut under his touch. He ran his paw on his chest, tugging at the dark, scraggly hairs idly. "We're pretty much screwed, aren't we?"
Reinhardt was about to push the little thing off of him, if only to retain his pride, but that comment from the kobold stayed his hand. He left his arms loosely wrapped around the kobold.
"Yeah, I think we are."
His fingers began tracing random patterns through the fur of Boners' back on their own accord, and he let out a heavy sigh as he stared up into the canopy of branches above them.
Boners felt something poking against him uncomfortably and he shifted his rump, its damp weight grinding into Reinhardt's lap. "Even if we evade the bat monsters, and manage to navigate out of here, there's several days' worth of travel to the nearest town. And I lost all my notes, containing the entire trip's worth of geological data. It's a complete bust..."
"Nnngh, yeah..." Reinhardt grit his teeth, distracted by the kobold's movements on his lap. It was uncomfortable, but at the same time the fluffy weight rubbing against what was quickly growing into an embarrassing problem felt very, very nice. He cleared his throat as he started to blush.. "...Can you stop moving around so much?"
Boners stopped stroking the man's chest, and craned his head to look up with his most innocent puppy dog eyes. "Why, are you bothered by something...?" The little creature sounded much too coy for his own good.
For a moment the kobold's tilted head and floppy ears made him look like a mutt Reinhardt had had while growing up, which was not making the situation any more comfortable. He grunted, and forced the kobold down to sit between his legs. He ignored the blush on his face, and the erection pulsing on his stomach as he gave Boners a stern look.
"There are multiple things about you that bother me, if I may be blunt." A memory of what had occurred last night jolted his mind, and he groaned as he felt his manhood twitch and its tip grow wetter.
The kobold sighed and turned around on his butt. He leaned against Reinhardt, ignoring the thick member pressing against the small of his back, and steepled his hands on his potbelly.
"It's about the last night, isn't it?", he spoke to the woods, without meeting the man's eyes. "Are you disappointed in me?"
He dug the soft ground with the heel of his foot idly. It was wet and mucky, a layer of fallen leaves plastered on brown grass.
"Not... disappointed." The knight looked off into the woods himself, watching as the mist around them slowly faded in the light of morning. "You used an enemy's weakness to your advantage in order to secure a safe escape route. It was... impressive, but..." He felt his cheeks grow even warmer and he faltered.
Again an image from last night flashed before his eyes. The movement of the kobold against the bars of their cage, the look in his eyes as he slowly removed his undergarment, and the soft, low huskiness of his voice. He grimaced as the memory made his cock throb. He should not have been surprised, because kobolds had their reputation after all, but its effect on him had been unanticipated. Boners pursed his lips and thought for a moment, then rolled around trapping the man's cock between their bellies. He propped himself up on his elbows to meet Reinhardt's gaze.
"Look" he paused to formulate what he was about to say. "My kind likes sex. It's the glue that binds the society together, everybody realizes that. Whereas you", he furrowed his brows and prodded Reinhardt's belly with his forefinger, "you humans use sex to separate, to mark someone as your personal property. And that's my problem here."
His breath billowed in the brisk air, accentuating his every word. The slight sneer at the corner of his mouth made the stare of his yellow eyes look almost predatory.
Reinhardt groaned at the pressure being put upon his manhood, and his gaze was drawn back to the kobold. "That's wrong... Sex is supposed to be a fulfillment of a marriage, a consummation between two who are bound together. Not the... the cheap acts you kobolds perform for any and everyone." His face set into a stern expression once more. "And it is not something that is done between men… males... whatever."
Boners' neck grew tired to crane upwards, and with a sigh he let his head fall down, face first on the human's rocky abs. He smelled nice. Reinhardt's erection throbbed against his sternum in defiance against his words, and for a moment neither them spoke. Then Boners clambered up on his knees and planted himself again in the knight's lap. He took the man's hand in his and guided it to his own crotch, wrapping Reinhardt's fingers around his plump balls.
"Look! It's not scary, they're just like yours. That's where my fun juice gets made. Go ahead, explore all you want."
"...Don't call it that."
The knight's face remained set in his stern expression, but he did not pull his hand away from the kobold's crotch. He could feel the heat of Boners's package against his palm as his fingers slowly stroked through the short fur covering the kobold's ball sack.
"I shouldn't be doing this... it's wrong." The words sounded pathetic even to his own ears, especially has his hand slowly closed around the plump, slightly squishy sheath between Boners's legs.
"Uh-huh." The kobold did not seem convinced. He gasped when a particularly strong tug sent a jolt of pleasure through his nethers. "And that's my dick, much like yours. It's smaller, but swells up a bit when ready, more from base and less from tip." He drew sharp breath through his clenched teeth. "And it's very, very sensitive all the way." His red tip peeked from its sheath, wet and glistening. He curled his toes in pleasure from the knight's attentions. "See? We're bonding already."
"Shut up..." Reinhardt could feel the weight of the balls on his fingertips, the warmth of the furry sheath in his grip, smell the salty aroma of arousal. Memories of his pet mixed with stray thoughts about his comrades that had been stamped down quickly, making conflicted thoughts run through his mind.
"As you wish." The kobold shrugged, and spread his legs to allow for better access. He leaned back and propped himself on his elbows, watching the man toy with his body.
Slowly Reinhardt's finger ran around the tip of the kobold's cock, and then pushed past it to dip into the warm pouch of Boners' sheath. The man breathed slowly and evenly, smelling the scent of his own body, and the rising scent from the kobold. His cock pulsed and spat a line of precum between them.
"Mmm...yes. Feels good, doesn't it?" Boners started to stroke the man slowly, tugging him from tip to hilt, stretching his foreskin taut and then releasing it. The kobold's paw pads felt like squishy nubs against the knight's sensitive skin.
"Mmmf..." Reinhardt did not want to admit how good it felt, much better than his own hand, but his breathing was getting shallower and his cheeks flushed with red.
He rubbed Boners's furry chest, enjoyed the sensation of his scraggly hair running between his fingers, but then lightly pushed him away once more. Even then the knight continued sliding his finger down into Boners's sheath, stretching it out and testing its depths.
"Boners..." The knight licked his lips, and looked down at what they were doing to each other. "I understand why you... seduced that creature back there. But I don't understand why… Why me...?"
Boners stopped and pulled the knight's hand gently out of his sheath, then turned his attention towards the finger. His short, dry tongue made tiny licks against the slick appendage, his canine teeth occasionally brushing against it as he savored the taste of the man's sweat mingled with his own wetness.
"Why not? I like you", he said as he lapped up, finishing with inserting the entire finger in his mouth and sucking on it like a treat.
"It's not that simple. It can't be."
Reinhardt's finger moved around in Boners's maw, rubbing against the hot, wet muscle of the kobold's tongue and running along the hard, sharp nubs of his teeth. The kobold sank down on the knight's body, his soft package settling against the firm rod of Reinhardt's erection, and he began rocking his hips grinding them against each other..
The kobold smooshed the finger between his teeth gently, catching it and then letting it go, playing cat and mouse with the digit and his tongue. It felt good to rub his body against the man, to drag his furry sheath and his heavy balls over the man's warm, rigid member. He pressed a bit harder, trapping the skin and making his penis slip out completely, a slick red rod steaming in the chill of morning air. Reinhardt moaned and leaned back falling on the mossy ground, legs spread eagled, shameless and rude like a common animal. Boners grinned and tousled his hair. His belly rose and descended in the pace of his hastened breathing.
"It is that simple, Rein."
"You're a kobold. I'm a human. And we're both male."
The stern expression on his face was slipping as he gazed down at the kobold. He rose up and leaned forward, pressing and rubbing their members together once more as his hands settled on Boners's thin shoulders. He loomed over the kobold, strong and powerful, but could not understand why he felt so helpless caught in his gaze.
“I'm Rein to you now?", he asked and lifted his eyebrows. No one had called him that in years.
"I'm glad we're starting to see eye to eye, but...", the kobold lifted his leg between them and pressed against Reinhardt's crotch with his muscular foot. His claws dug in the man's soft belly "...my ass is still sore from the last night, so easy there champ." The kobold chuckled as he pushed the man off himself.
The knight laid on the ground, panting and confused, as Boners turned towards him and rested his head on the man's chest.
"You're still disappointed in me, hmm?" His tone rose in question and he smirked.
"...You know your own limits and know not to push yourself past the point of overexertion." Slowly, Reinhardt's arms closed around the kobold once more. "Conserving your energy in hostile territory is important, especially when trying to penetrate enemy lines…" Reinhardt coughed when he realized how much his nervous blathering amused the kobold, and let it wind down. “So, uh, no, I'm not disappointed in you."
They laid in silence for a while, the human feeling the kobold's warm weight settled against him. Boners was content to doze on the man, eyes closed and being lulled by the steady rise and fall of his chest. His furry cheek was nestled between the human's hairy pecs, and his wet nose tip snuffled softly as he breathed in the human's scent.
"But I am. You know why?" Boners opened his eyes and looked into distance. "Books. One book in particular, 'The tale of the tribe'. You probably haven't heard of it, but it's the kobold national epic. It tells how we came to be as people, depicting our history from ancient days to our last king. It was one of the first works to be translated into your language." He huffed, and continued sounding glum. "When I first came to your capital i looked for it in a bookstore, just to see how it was received among humans and our new masters. I finally found it in the pornography section."
"What did you expect?", Reinhardt sputtered. “You kobolds can't seem to go five minutes without-" He cut himself off. "You treat sex like it's a, a pastime... And yes, there are some humans who do the same, but they aren't... well..."
Reinhardt shut up. He had said the first thing that had came to his mind, without even pausing to ask the kobold--an actual expert--if it was true. He realized that all this time he had seen and spoken to his prejudices, not the real Boners now laying in his arms.
Boners scratched Reinhardt's chest like one would a pet. "Yes...and no. It's more complicated than that." His ears perked up. "I was thinking, maybe you would like to learn?"
Reinhardt looked down to the kobold. "...Why not? Everything else about this expedition has been a disaster. Perhaps..."
They had already come to an understanding of sorts, by not constantly sniping at each other as they had been at the start. It was not much, but it was a beginning. Reinhardt grunted and looked away, his cheeks warming once more.
He murmured softly to himself. "Perhaps one thing can go right..."
Before Boners could reply they heard rustling from the treeline, and a middle aged man dressed like a villager emerged. He was heavyset and bearded, and had a worried expression on his otherwise kindly face.
"Sorry, are you two lost? I thought I heard something from my backyard and came to investigate." Boners and Reinhardt glanced at each other, stricken with a panicked look. "See our village is just behind these trees… maybe you should come in and get some clothes before anyone else sees you?" The man scratched his head.
Reinhardt stayed frozen for a long moment, just staring up at the man. "This isn't what it looks like!", he yelped and quickly rolled Boners off of himself and moved to cover his crotch. He cleared his throat. "If you could provide some clothes, then yes, that would be greatly appreciated."
"By the ancestors, we're rescued!" Boners yelped and jumped up in delight, completely ignoring the fact that he was naked. His tail wagged as he hurried to clasp the stranger's arm. “I knew that good things happen to those who deserve it the most! I'm Boners, tribe of Flint, son of Watchmaker, a geologist at your service!"
“Well hello there little fella! I'm Aldous and me and my wife run the inn here at Wolf's Gate. Pleased to make your acquaintance!" The man shook Boners's hand without snickering like humans usually did when they heard his name.
Reinhardt stepped closer cupping his genitals. “Excuse me, but I was not aware that there was a village so far in the wilderness? We were supposed to map out the uninhabited frontier."
Aldous shrugged. “We're a small community of castaways and outsiders, so we don't like reminding the world of our existence." He saw the suspicious faces Boners and Reinhardt were making, and laughed heartily clapping his hands. “But we get visitors from time to time, otherwise I wouldn't have an inn to keep! Let's get you boys some clothes on and warm soup in, you really look like you could use it!"
“I'm sorry about this, but we were attacked by bat-creature bandits…" Reinhardt started, but trailed off when he saw how worried Aldous turned. He cast his eyes down, inadvertently staring right into Reinhardt's crotch which made the knight feel flustered but too awkward to draw attention to the fact.
“It's better to speak of such things only inside closed doors. The forest listens, and he hears." He turned to leave and motioned the two to follow.
As they cleared the trees they came to a cozy village, small but prosperous looking. The villagers they met greeted them cheerily but kept their distance out of politeness, which suited the blushing, naked knight very well. Boners strolled down the street without a shred of clothing or shame, his pudgy body and family jewels jiggling as he walked with a jaunty step, waving at people and smiling a bit too lewdly to men and women they met.
However, it did not take Reinhardt to notice a detail that struck him as odd. A good ways from where they were rose a hill, and on it stood a dilapidated castle surrounded by thick, dark forest. Despite its distance it seemed to loom over the village, and every single townsfolk they saw avoided looking at its direction, flinching their faces away whenever it accidentally crept into their field of vision. A sense of foreboding came to Reinhardt, one that the otherwise worldly kobold was oblivious to. He squared his shoulders. It was easier to think in terms of duty than love, but either way he would protect the kobold. Reinhardt was his bodyguard, Boners was his charge. They belonged together.
(TO BE CONTINUED…)