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heavy-heartstrings · 2 years ago

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Your Lips

Summary: Aloy sees Kotallo without his face paint for the first time and becomes a little obsessed.

Pairing: Aloy x Kotallo

Word Count: 2300

A/N: This was written for Day 1 of the Kotaloy Celebration Week 2023. The prompt was Kisses / First kiss / Stolen kiss / Familiar kiss.

It was all Kotallo’s fault.

Aloy had never had these kind of problems before he came into her life with his big beautiful eyes and his deep rumbling voice.

She’d worked really hard on getting her reactions to him under control. Making sure not to linger to long in his room when she went to talk to him, not getting caught up staring into his soulful eyes and restraining herself from reaching out and touching him. She might have slipped up once or twice but on the whole she’d been doing a good job.

Until late one night when she arrived back at the base, dirty and tired from clearing out yet another rebel camp, to find Kotallo sitting in the lounge area with a cup of tea in his hands.

“Aloy,” he greeted her, his voice washing over her like a gentle wave. “Welcome back.”

Aloy found herself unable to voice a response, her throat suddenly as dry as the desert. With all the time she’d spent - stealthily - looking at this man she’d thought she knew every inch of his face and yet here he was, his face completely void of the paint that usually graced his features and she found herself overcome with the realization of how unbelievably beautiful he was.

His skin seemed to glow with a golden hue, his eyes appeared even softer than usual and his lips… all mother save her, those lips. Surprisingly plump and tantalizingly rosy, the scar running through them emphasizing their shape. Aloy found herself overcome with the urge to feel them against her own.

“Would you like some tea?” he asked.

All she managed to utter was a low unintelligible grunt, but Kotallo was already rising and making his way towards the bar counter. Her mind was screaming at her to get the hell out of there before she did something stupid and yet she found herself following after him as if drawn by an invisible string.

He hand’s her a cup with tea, his fingers lightly brushing against her own causing a shiver to run along her spine. “Long day?”

“Yeah,” she croaked out, surprising herself with how husky her voice came out. “Rebels.”

“Hm,” he hummed, gazing at her with an intensity that usually would have made her try and divert his attention, but at the moment she was too occupied with the sight of his naked lips. She was so captivated that when he spoke it took her a moment to register what he’d said, distracted by the way his lips moved when he spoke. “You know if there’s ever anything I can assist you with you need only say the word.”

“Thanks Kotallo, that’s… I’ll keep that in mind.”

He smiled softly and Aloy almost feel out of her chair at the sight.

Kotallo reached out as if to steady her, but changed his mind at the last second, resting his forearm on the counter and leaning in to observe her closer. His smile had become replaced with a concerned frown. “It’s late. You should get some rest.”

She could have just agreed, told him that she was tired and fled to the safety of her room. But her attention was still on his mouth and at that moment she would have done anything to see that smile again. Her mind seemed to have completely short-circuited, it was the only reason she could think of that would explain what happened next.

She hadn’t realized she was tightly gripping onto the edge of the counter until she had to force herself to release it, reaching up with her right hand and softly caressing his lips with her fingers. It was almost as if time stood still, the only thing existing at that moment was the feel of his lips, warm and slightly chafed underneath her fingertips. She could have stayed in that moment forever, but when she gently pressed her thumb against his bottom lip Kotallo let out a sharp gasp.

Up until then he’d been completely still, almost as if he’d been holding his breath, and that slight reaction was enough to bring her out of the daze. She leapt backwards of the chair, barely managing to stay upright in her frenzy as she desperately tried to come up with an explanation, “I… there was something… on your lip that I… It’s gone now so… I’m going to go. To bed. To sleep. It’s late and I… Good night.”

In a move that might be the most cowardly thing she had ever done she turned and fled to her room before she could find out his reaction.

She tried to convince herself that it had just been a temporary lapse in judgment. She’d been tired, exhausted really, and she’d been taken by surprise of seeing Kotallo without his face paint. After a good night’s rest she felt confident she would be able to face him without further embarrassing herself.

Her conviction lasted for about five minutes.

Zo, Erend and Alva were eating breakfast when she came out to the common area. She bade them a good morning and had to stop herself from asking where Kotallo was. She didn’t have to wait long however, as he came out from his room a minute later.

He looked like his usual painted self and she breathed a sigh of relief. Then he smiled at her. It was just a quick stretch of his lips as he greeted them a good morning, gone almost as soon as it appeared, yet it was enough to knock the air from her lungs.

“Aloy, are you alright?” Zo asked, after a minute of her standing frozen to the spot.

“Yeah,” she answered automatically, her voice coming out hoarse. “I… have some errands I need to get done. I’ll be out for most of the day.”

“Ah, at least stay for breakfast,” Erend tried to persuade her.

But Aloy had already began walking backwards towards the west exit, shaking her head as she tried to muster an apologetic smile. “No, I… I’m not very hungry right now. I’ll eat something on the road.”

For the second time in as many days, Aloy turned tail and fled, needing to put as much distance between herself and the temptation of Kotallo’s lips as possible.

For the next five days she managed to keep herself from being in Kotallo’s presence for more than a handful of minutes. She got so many tasks that she’d been meaning to take care of done that she found herself with nothing on her to do list for the first time in years.

She considered heading out anyway, maybe go to Chainscrape and catch up with Petra, but the truth was that the solitude of the last few days was starting to grate on her. Avoiding Kotallo had meant avoiding the base and she missed spending time with her friends. She knew they in turn was missing her as well, Beta in particular had expressed disappointment that Aloy had barely been around lately. So it was with a nervous but determined stride that she walked into he common room that morning, only to be brought up short when Kotallo was the only one there.

“Morning Commander.”

“Good morning.” She hesitated for a split second, but she didn’t doubt Kotallo’s eagle eyes would have caught her hesitation, before continuing forward and joining him at the table. “Where is everyone?”

“Zo said the smell of the food was making her nauseous so she went outside to get some air. Erend left Hidden Ember early this morning, Beta is having her breakfast downstairs and Alva is spending a couple of days at Landfall.

“Oh.” They sat in silence for a while, Aloy nibbling on some bread while trying her hardest not to stare at Kotallo’s lips. Which was more difficult than one might assume since every time he took a bite of his food she found her gaze drawn to them.

Each time he took a bite of bread she imagined how those lips would feel if they were biting down on her own lips, every time he nibbled on a piece of fruit she imagined him grazing his teeth along her neck, and when a drop of juice dripped down the side of his mouth and he reached out with his tongue to lick it away she let out a sound that was somewhere between a moan and a growl.

His eyes snapped to meet hers, a heat in his gaze that made her dizzy. Or maybe that was because her breathing had gotten fast and short, as if she’d just gone head to head with a Scorcher.

“Aloy,” he groaned, and the sound seemed to shoot through her like a bolt of lightning.

She suddenly realized that she’d leaned in closer, his face now mere inches from her own, and if she just leaned a little further she’d be able to press her lips against his. “Kotallo,” she whimpered, suddenly desperate for him to either close the gap between them or push her away. Anything to free her from this trance she found herself in.

The sound of the east door opening cut through the silence that developed them and once again Aloy found herself leaping back, her chair falling to the ground in her haste to get away. Kotallo’s gaze was still firmly on her, but the heat in his eyes had been replaced by a sorrow that made her heart sink in her chest.

“Good morning, Aloy,” Zo greeted as she walked into the base. “I’m glad to see you’ve decided to join us once again.”

Aloy found herself unable to respond, her eyes still locked on Kotallo.

“Is everything alright?” Zo asked, her voice concerned.

“I… I’m sorry,” she choked out. Unable to stand the weight of Kotallo’s gaze and the feelings of guilt swelling up inside her she pushed past Zo, ignoring the other woman calling her name, and hurried down the east corridor and out into the chilly morning air.

She realized belatedly that she didn’t have any of her gear with her. Her bow, her spear and even all her shards were still in her room. But there was no way she could go back inside there now. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself. She just needed to find somewhere to go for the day, then she could sneak back into the base after dark and get her things and then-

The door opened behind her.

The heavy footsteps told her who it was without her needing to turn around and her body felt frozen in place, afraid to as much as let out a breath.

“Aloy,” Kotallo breathed, his voice pleading.

Helpless to deny him anything, she steeled her nerves and forced herself to turn around and face him. Seeing him standing there was like a punch to the gut. He seemed to tower over her and it felt like his dark eyes could see right through her.

“Kotallo…” her voice trailed off on the wind. What could she possibly say to explain herself.

“I owe you an apology.”

It took a second for his words to sink in and when they did she couldn’t make sense of them. Why was he apologizing? She was the one who had been acting irrational and behaving inappropriately. “What?”

“I’ve clearly made you uncomfortable with my conduct.”

Aloy blinked. Then for variety she blinked again. “What?”

Kotallo tilted his head, furrowing his brow and narrowing his eyes in confusion. “You’ve been avoiding me for days, ever since that night when…” he trailed of and it was difficult to see behind his face paint but it almost looked as if he was blushing. “Clearly I’ve made you uncomfortable.”

“What? No! Kotallo-” Without thinking she reached out to him, wanting to reassure him. Realizing what she’d done she quickly dropped her hand, swallowing down the sudden lump in her throat. She had to tell him the truth, no matter how mortifying it was going to be. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s me, I… I can’t stop thinking about… kissing you.”

It felt like an eternity were all he did was stare at her, his eyes boring in to hers. Her face felt like it was on fire and she suspected it was as red as her hair, but she forced herself to hold his gaze.

Then, slowly, he took a step closer.

Then another. And another. Until finally his face was a mere breath away from hers.

He reached up to gently run his thumb across her lips, a feather light touch that made her heart beat wildly in her chest. He moved his hand to cup her cheek, leaning in until his lips were almost against her own and whispered, “Permission granted.”

He had barely gotten the words out before Aloy leaned in and pressed her lips against his.

At first their lips only brushed lightly against each other’s, Aloy’s eyes slipped close as Kotallo’s mouth moved softly against hers.

She hears herself let out a moan and Kotallo’s mouth becomes more urgent, his hand moving to tangle in her hair. Using his grip to tilt her head ever so slightly he takes her bottom lip between his, gently sucking. She lets out a whimper and parted her lips, allowing him to deepen the kiss.

Kissing him was like. . . Aloy didn’t have the words to express it.

When he eventually pulled away he rested his forehead against hers. He was breathing heavily, his gaze flitting from her lips to her eyes. “Will that be enough to satisfy your curiosity? he asked, a smirk on his kiss swollen lips.

Several smart retorts came to her mind, as well as some heartfelt ones. But in the end she decided that her mouth - and his too - would be far better occupied with things that didn’t involve talking.

#kotaloy celebration week #aloy x kotallo #kotaloy #horizon forbidden west #kotaloy fanfic #my fanfic #your lips

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