Bucky shifts a little so he can work his thigh between Natalia's and since he still has his underwear on, he figures that will keep them from going too far too soon. He's got plenty of control right now and he wants to take his time kissing and touching and then seeing if it leads to something else.
"You should spend some time up here with me," he murmurs. "It's easier for me to hold you and touch you when we're up here than it is down there."
He frowns though. "Unless...it doesn't hurt you being up here for too long, does it?"
They stopped kissing and he started talking, which brought a brief frown to the mermaid's forehead, but she blinked her eyes open at what he actually said.
"I...don't know," she confessed. "I never stayed out of the water for very long." None of her sisters had. The only time they really came ashore was to set traps, or shelter, in her case, for their prospective breeders.
"It...feels strange, in the air. I feel so...heavy, out of the ocean." And she didn't really like it, either. "Sand is raspy." She glanced over his shoulder at the beach outside of the small shelter. "Storms are very scary."
"Well, if you don't feel safe at any time or you feel uncomfortable, tell me and we can stop. I just want to get to know you, all right? Do you like it when I touch you?"
Since it's new for her, maybe that's the more important thing to ask. If she doesn't like being touched the way he's touching her and it's uncomfortable because she's out of the water, he wants to know so he can stop.
"No, touching doesn't hurt." At least, not like sand across sensitive skin did. But living in a water-filled environment wasn't entirely conducive to building up resistance to minor offenses like sand. "Everything is just...bright, up here." The fire was like the sun, in the corner of her eye.
"Things are...better, below. Calm and quiet, cool and comfortable." It was her home habitat, after all. Her lashes lowered, her expression sobering, and she gently traced fingertips over his collarbone. "Sad, that you will never see it like me."
"I guess I can't, really," Bucky says. He knows he looks a bit sad when he says it, too, because they can't really ever be together except in little snatches of time. He can't actually live with her or hold her while they sleep or any of the things couples do all the time.
"Has there ever been anyone like me? Someone that's been brought down under the water the way you brought me down?"
It had been temporary but he could breathe down there just like he'd been on land and while it was weird, he could talk and think and all the things he needed to do.
Natalia shook her head; she'd never dared bring anyone beneath the waves with her, as her sisters would have berated her harshly. "No." It was a whisper. "Just you." He'd already been drowning when she first encountered him, and to keep him alive, she had to share her breath with him. But taking him down with her during the storm had been her own decision, one she now almost regretted.
"Little magic," she said then. "A rare gift, given to a human. But sometimes a necessity, when it comes to keeping them alive to breed."
"I guess so," Bucky says. He keeps moving his fingertips over her skin, just enjoying touching her and hopefully she's enjoying it too. He stays quiet for a moment before speaking again.
"So when you get pregnant, do you have to stay on land? Or only to have the baby? Sorry, I don't know anything about this. I have to know how best I can help you, you know? And if you have to be up here when you're pregnant or something, I have to make sure it's nice."
A slim bare shoulder lifted in a shrug. "Don't know," Natalia confessed, lowering her gaze. "My sisters never told me." She'd assumed that once the time came and she conceived, she'd simply know what to do. It wasn't as if there was an instruction manual for these sorts of things.
"I suppose I will know when the time comes." That was really the best she could do. "If it comes," was the hesitant amendment to that statement.
"Sometimes you have to try more than once," Bucky agrees. "And I don't know...what you have going on. But sex is enjoyable, Natalia. I promise you, you'll want to do it more than once. At least I hope you will. If you're not liking it, you probably need to let me know."
If he's going to do this (does he really have a choice? no.), he's at least going to make it romantic and pleasurable for both of them. He's not going to hurt her or make it seem like he's disinterested.
She glanced up to blink at him, then her brows furrowed quizzically. "Is...is that what you call breeding? This 'sex' word?" Her knowledge of human vocabulary was so very limited. Then she shrugged again. "It doesn't matter if I enjoy or not. I have to do it, in order to bear a daughter."
Simple fact, that. But a corner of her mind turned over and thought that her sisters must like it, because there was always a frenzy whenever humans entered the water.
"Yeah, that's the word for it. And it's good because you get to be close to someone and share yourself," Bucky explains. "We can kiss and touch like we are right now and then I can...you know. Get you warmed up. Have you ever touched yourself?"
This is possibly the most awkward conversation he's ever had but he thinks it needs to be done.
"Do mermaids do that? Touch themselves to feel good?"
Again, the little mermaid just blinked at him, not understanding anything he was asking. It showed in her confused expression. "...why would we do that? It sounds silly to me." What sense did that even make?
She never minded kissing - she'd read about that in a book long ago, but anything beyond that was alien to the girl. Her species wasn't exactly a friendly one, and they seldom interacted together, beyond fights over mates or food.
"Uh, well, I guess I could show you? It's different because it'll be me doing it but you could do it to yourself too," Bucky says. He trails his fingers along the curve of her breast and down her belly before stroking them up and down her thighs a bit.
"How do you feel right now?" If she's getting warmed up, that's what he wants, because if she's going to like this she needs to actually get the real experience and he wants to make it a good experience for her.
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"You should spend some time up here with me," he murmurs. "It's easier for me to hold you and touch you when we're up here than it is down there."
He frowns though. "Unless...it doesn't hurt you being up here for too long, does it?"
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"I...don't know," she confessed. "I never stayed out of the water for very long." None of her sisters had. The only time they really came ashore was to set traps, or shelter, in her case, for their prospective breeders.
"It...feels strange, in the air. I feel so...heavy, out of the ocean." And she didn't really like it, either. "Sand is raspy." She glanced over his shoulder at the beach outside of the small shelter. "Storms are very scary."
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Since it's new for her, maybe that's the more important thing to ask. If she doesn't like being touched the way he's touching her and it's uncomfortable because she's out of the water, he wants to know so he can stop.
"Or is it uncomfortable or painful?"
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"Things are...better, below. Calm and quiet, cool and comfortable." It was her home habitat, after all. Her lashes lowered, her expression sobering, and she gently traced fingertips over his collarbone. "Sad, that you will never see it like me."
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"Has there ever been anyone like me? Someone that's been brought down under the water the way you brought me down?"
It had been temporary but he could breathe down there just like he'd been on land and while it was weird, he could talk and think and all the things he needed to do.
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"Little magic," she said then. "A rare gift, given to a human. But sometimes a necessity, when it comes to keeping them alive to breed."
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"So when you get pregnant, do you have to stay on land? Or only to have the baby? Sorry, I don't know anything about this. I have to know how best I can help you, you know? And if you have to be up here when you're pregnant or something, I have to make sure it's nice."
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"I suppose I will know when the time comes." That was really the best she could do. "If it comes," was the hesitant amendment to that statement.
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If he's going to do this (does he really have a choice? no.), he's at least going to make it romantic and pleasurable for both of them. He's not going to hurt her or make it seem like he's disinterested.
"I like sex, anyway."
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Simple fact, that. But a corner of her mind turned over and thought that her sisters must like it, because there was always a frenzy whenever humans entered the water.
"What is so likable about it?"
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This is possibly the most awkward conversation he's ever had but he thinks it needs to be done.
"Do mermaids do that? Touch themselves to feel good?"
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She never minded kissing - she'd read about that in a book long ago, but anything beyond that was alien to the girl. Her species wasn't exactly a friendly one, and they seldom interacted together, beyond fights over mates or food.
"What does that mean?"
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"How do you feel right now?" If she's getting warmed up, that's what he wants, because if she's going to like this she needs to actually get the real experience and he wants to make it a good experience for her.
"Do you like this?"