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Spring is a beautiful time anywhere, but nowhere moreso than the castle. The trees that Corrin had planted start to sprout beautiful green leaves, new buds promising sweet smelling flowers in just a few more weeks. The kitchen garden starts to work again in earnest after appearing to lie dormant, though early crops are already making their way into the mess hall. It was a beautiful time of year, a refreshing one, and one that set you completely at ease.
Your girlfriend, on the other hand, has never been more jittery.
It's the first spring that finds the two of you in a relationship, and the first you’d noticed her dramatic change in behaviour. She's full of energy, volunteering for more training drills and actual missions than ever before. It’s unsettling, considering how much you know your girlfriend loves her naps, but she seems perfectly healthy, so you try not to worry.
The thing you’re really worried about is how it seems she’s avoiding you. She no longer slips in to your room in the middle of the night to curl into the warmth of your body, doesn’t sneak fruit from your plate in the mornings. As much as she seems to be everywhere, everywhere doesn’t seem to include anywhere near you. Your heart twinges every time her eyes dart from you, every time her path diverts from yours in the halls—and the worst part is that you can’t think of anything you could have done to offend her so terribly.
It hurts too much to be in the mess hall when your girlfriend seems so hellbent on putting distance between you, so you take your breakfast early, sneaking it up to the battlements to watch the sun rise. You expect no company other than whoever is on patrol, so you’re curious when someone flops next to you with a whump . It’s even more curious when you realise it’s your distant love.
Her tail, always wagging, is totally still. Her ears are folded, forlorn in a way that’s too unlike her. It’s a Selkie you’d never seen, and one you hoped not to see again.
“I’m making you sad,” she mumbles, playing with your fingers. “I never meant to make you sad…”
You sigh. She flinches, but settles when you give her playful fingers a quick squeeze. “I’m sad because I miss you, and I'm worried about you. You know you can talk to me about anything, right? Whatever it is, you don’t have to avoid me. I want to be here for you.”
“You’ve got a heart made of soft squishy things, bunny,” she says with a smile. “I love you a lot. ‘s just hard ‘cause I’ve never had a girlfriend that I really really really like during the season, and it’s hard…”
“Spring’s hard for you? Why?”
Colour rises deep and fast on Selkie’s cheeks. “Um, it’s embarrassing. I mean, I’ll tell you, because it’s getting way too hard to be away from you for so long, but just know it’s a kitsune thing, not a Selkie-is-a-weirdo thing, okay?” When you nod, she interlaces your fingers, anchoring herself for the hard words to come. “So. Kitsune. Animal hybrids, right?”
“...yes?”
“And we have some characteristics of the animal we’re a hybrid of—like, like I’m furry and I like to smell stuff more than I like to listen, and—”
“I get it,” you interrupt gently.
“Sorry, tangents. So, something else we have in common with animals is… a mating season. It makes us restless, and desperate for our lovers. It tends to be the middle of spring, depending on who you ask. For me, it started kinda early this spring.”
“Oh, honey.” She lets you pull her head into your shoulder, lets you rock her gently from side to side. You can feel her inhaling your scent, a reassuring sound you haven’t heard in too long. “Why did you think you had to go through that alone?”
“Well, we’ve never talked about mating. Or sex. Making love? What’s the right phrase?”
“All of them are okay. We don’t have to talk it through now, though—maybe tonight?” She nods, and snuggles into your side contentedly. It’s comfortable, but something nags at you, and you know that you have to match her bravery with your own. “You’ve been so honest with me, my love, and I guess there’s something about me that you should know.” A deep breath to center yourself, eyes open and pointed at the horizon. “I’m trans.”
Selkie tilts her head to the side in confusion.
“You don’t know what that means, do you?” When she shakes her head, you smile. “When I was born, they told my mother I was male. She raised me that way. But as I grew up, I knew that wasn’t true—I’m a woman, through and through. I thought you should know, just in case that makes the whole ‘mating’ thing different in any way.”
A moment of quiet stretches out between you. The birds are just waking up, singing loud from branches to declare the beginning of the day. You know your girlfriend so well that you’d convinced yourself that she’d be accepting, that she’d be someone who understood. That hope is what keeps you calm as she responds.
“You were scared to tell me,” she says, finally. “I could smell it. Um, I don’t really get all of human culture, completely, so I don’t really understand why this is scary for you, but thank you for telling me. I can tell it was a big deal to you. And I love you just as much as I did before—maybe more? Because I know you trust me? And that’s like, that’s love!”
You don’t notice that you’re crying until Selkie thumbs the tears away from under your eyes, looking at you with that love and understanding that you can just tell comes from the purest place in her heart.
“And mating is always something to discuss with your lover, before you get into it. Some people don’t like stuff in ‘em, some people love it, some people want things that other people are uncomfortable with—part of being a good mate is knowing what your partner loves.”
“You’re already a great girlfriend, Selkie. I know you’ll be the best mate.”
“I’m gonna be number one! Joint number one—’cause I know you’re gonna be just perfect, too!”
Selkie holds your hand the whole journey into the forest, even though the thrum of impatience to bound off on her own is palpable under her skin. You keep pace with her, only stumbling over rouge tree roots a couple of times.
She comes to a sudden stop in a grove of huge old trees, “Here,” she declares. There’s not a huge amount of space between the trees, but the forest floor is made up of a blanket of thick grass, shaded and cool. You had made sure she’d packed a thick blanket, just to keep the two of you relatively clean and comfortable, but on the way you’d caught sight of a small spring that would be great to take a dip in if things got messy.
“It’s a lovely spot, Selk.” Your girlfriend beams at you. You can only imagine how important it is for her to hear that, to know that you’re already proud of her work as a mate. You take on your own role, unraveling the blanket and checking that she'd remembered to pack lubrication, then take her hand and pull her down with you. “What's the plan now?”
“Well, I’m kinda going crazy wanting to mate you right now, so, that first? Then I’ll go find food for us, and then, um, we eat? And do whatever you want. Maybe mate again? There’s not really a schedule after eating…”
You pull her towards you, pull her into a gentle kiss with a little scratch behind her ears that has her melting into you. “I think we can make that work.”
Selkie had told you that she was an alpha, but you didn’t quite grasp what that meant until she really started taking control. Dominance and strength exude from her as she takes your mouth with a harder kiss, a deeper kiss, something almost feral. She tastes like the berries from breakfast, and something savoury that she probably snacked on after. Her hands are feverish as they trail against the skin under your shirt, pushing it up until it’s bunched over the binding you wear.
It’s not often that you let anyone near that part of your body, but the trust you have in Selkie runs so deep that the fear doesn’t even’t register until her fingers start to undo the knot the rests against your back. Your inhale is instinctual, but Selkie stills her fingers.
“This still okay?”
“Yeah,” you breathe out. “Yeah, it’s fine—just strange. It’s just that no-one’s ever… I mean, not in this context, y’know?”
Her fingers keep working the knotted fabric, but she makes sure she keeps her eyes on yours the entire time. She’s searching for discomfort, but doesn’t find it, not even when the binding falls away and your breasts are free. Sakura and Dwight, the two healers you trusted, had been working with you to help you enhance parts of your body that would make you feel like you were living comfortably in your skin, and one of the positives had been that your breasts had grown a little. You were no Camilla, but that wasn’t your goal—they were yours , and that was what mattered.
“Your boobs are like my size! That’s so cute, we match!” Selkie is unabashed as she sheds her dress—a loose thing that she had only thrown on for modesty as you raced out of the castle together. She throws the dress to the side, throws her own breast wrap and underwear on the pile, and gets right back to being in your face. “Can I touch ‘em?”
“I wish you would.”
Her fingertips are full of energy as they work paths around the heft of your boob, drifting close to your nipple just to see your sharp inhales. She lights up when she realises the effect it has on you, letting her thumbs pinch the sensitive flesh of your nipple until you’re groaning, shifting with arousal underneath her.
“Sensitive little bunny…”
Her mouth closes around a nipple, her tongue trying to tease you in slow circles. Warmth blooms from the outside in, starting on the surface of your skin until it’s sinking into the pit of your stomach. Her fingers trail from teasing the other nipple, down your stomach, down until—
“Don’t, not there—”
“No touching there?” she asks, her hand already back to the nipple.
“No. But you can, um… I want you to fuck me.”
“Oh gods yeah,” she says.
You go where she moves you, only too happy to be led by her, rolling on to your stomach and presenting your ass to her with a little wiggle. She gives it a playful slap, then massages the skin, squeezing and rolling like she’s kneading dough. When her hand moves, there's a coolness left behind, and you make a questioning noise. It's answered by the movement of the blanket behind you, the sound of a lid being undone, and a giggle from your girlfriend as she pours the lube on her fingers.
Her first two fingers are cold against the warmth of you, but you relax into them, and with little effort, they’re inside you. She works them like it’s instinct for her, in and out, deeper and deeper until the scissoring has you moaning, bucking back into her. She pours more of the slippery liquid around your hole, giggling at the squelching noises it makes as she adds a third finger.
“Gods, I can just feel you opening up for me, pretty thing. So cute, and all mine...”
You keen as she sweet-talks you, her words relaxing you even further into the blanket. The loosening lets her pry into you further, lets her fingertips graze the spot that has your toes curling and your scream being let loose to the elements.
“Fuck, Selkie, fuck, right there, yes!”
Your lover is clearly coming in to her own as a tease, letting the burn in the pit of your stomach ramp up until you’re about to cry out with your release before removing herself from you completely. You feel yourself flutter around the loss.
“Selkie, don’t tease.” Your whining draws a giggle from your lover, who presses a kiss to the back of your head.
“But my whiny little bun is so cute!” Something else, something bigger and warmer presses up against your hole, something that promises that you won’t be left wanting much longer. “You ready for the ride of your life?” The rocking of your hips back onto her, teasing the tip of her knot is her answer.
The relief of not having to wait any longer must have been immense for her, because almost immediately she’s easing in to you, doting hands holding your hips as she sinks herself closer and closer to you. You can feel her hips shifting from side to side—you can only be thankful for her wagging tail adding the sweetest sensation to your lovemaking.
“Gods, Selkie—you’re the perfect fit—”
She had explained a little about alpha physiology when you discussed what you were comfortable with, that she was capable of producing a knot—an adaptation that alpha kitsune had to ensure they could carry on their legacy. She had made you think that it would immediately be huge, and you had been prepared to deal with the discomfort—anything to make her feel better—but it’s nothing like that. You’re a perfect fit for each other.
For a few, brilliant seconds, the two of you are still. Selkie is buried in you up to the hilt, and the only sound for miles around are your heavy breaths. It’s the first time you’ve ever found her rendered speechless.
Her voice comes from next to your ear, breathy and steady. “I’ve been waiting for so long for you, darling… Gonna treat you so good.”
Her pace starts less feverishly than you expected: a steady, heavy roll of her hips into yours, driving her into you like waves against rocks. She fucks into you, a heavy weight against your prostate that has you tingling from sensation. Your rim is so tender, stretched open on her; it's a burn so pleasant that you wish it would never stop.
When her fingers draw lines up and around your back, you know there will never be another for you. She finds all the spots that aren’t ticklish, but tender, spots that have you panting with just as much pleasure as her knot growing inside you. No-one would ever know your body like her—it’s a truth you know instinctively.
And then, when you’re sure the pressure inside you will have you burst into a thousand pieces of starlight, she stills. The fullness of her knot, the pulsing of cum, it’s just enough to push you over the edge; you come with a shout, a raw thing that pulls at your throat.
The two of you collapse together in a heap on the blanket beneath you, still locked in place. You can tell her knot isn’t going anywhere quickly—you can only hope that she’s burned enough energy that she won’t wriggle around too much.
As the sweat cools on your skin, and your breathing evens out, you check in with your new mate. “Was that everything you were expecting, Selk?”
“It was even better! Like an itch that’s been scratched, but I also got laid.” She nuzzles into your neck until your chin is tickled by the fur of her ear. “Can we stay like this for a little while? ‘m gonna go get food, promise, it’s just—”
“It’s a nice moment. I say we stay in it for a little while longer.”