Bug Hugs

"I'm sorry about all that," the mango king reassured. "I figured the last thing you needed was more unwanted attention..."

Truth be told, Jac didn't mind positive attention too much, albeit he did fear it may set some expectations he wouldn't be entirely able to fulfill. At least now, in private, he could push it out of his mind and focus on what mattered.

"It's okay, I'll live," Jac breathed. After a rather strange and unexpected applause from practically the entire Changeling kingdom, Jac and Thorax learned that their little episode had somehow created some form of "love energy", which spread throughout the rest of the changelings and provided them with a little spark of magic. As Thorax had explained, this is exactly what they had been lacking, and the reason Jac's party had been sent in the first place.

"Generally speaking, um, we're not entirely... 'used to' the whole 'sharing love' thing Twilight and her friends showed us," Thorax had explained. "We can do it, I guess, but it's just... not a habit yet, I suppose. Especially not with the new kingdom being half-built and all."

Jac and Thorax were now inside Thorax's hive-slash-home-slash-cave... thing. It was about as makeshift as anything else in the kingdom, but notably larger. And more lived-in.

Once reaching Thorax's bedroom, the changeling sat on his bed and gestured Jac to sit anywhere he pleased. Besides the bed, there was an Equestrian computer desk, a bean bag chair, and the floor. For an entirely different species, this bedroom was uncharacteristically... familiar. Not in the sense that Jac had been here before, but rather, it seemed like something straight out of someone's daily life. Not a palace, not a strange and alien hive, not a vast luxury suite... but a simple bedroom not particularly unlike his own. Aside from the walls being stone, at least.

At this point, Jac was pretty sure changelings (and especially Thorax) wouldn't mind sharing a little personal space - so he simply plopped right next to Thorax on the bed. Something about being able to do this so freely, without judgment and without question, was oddly... comforting. Liberating.

"I mostly just pulled us here to get away from the attention," Thorax explained. "I... get kinda nervous from that kind of attention too, honestly. In fact, I almost didn't want to be king at all, but Twilight didn't give me much choice when Chrysalis was defeated."

Jac had never expected to sympathize so much with a being of this much authority. Something about Thorax, king of the changelings, was just so... real. So personal. Like he was just as much a real, living creature as Jac or any other pony. And judging by Thorax's behavior, it seemed like that's all he wanted to be.

"Though... the things we did back there..." Thorax seemed to have trouble putting his words together. "Well, um, changelings are pretty open with love and touching and all, but that... was different."

He made somewhat of a dorky smile, as if he were admitting an embarrassing secret. Jac honestly didn't know how to feel about this, besides the comfort and safety in the presence of this unexpected character.

"I uh... I want to ask you something," the king eventually stated, seemingly trying his hardest to force the words out. "And it's... a little, different, I guess."

Jac perked his ears. doing his best to look accepting and understanding. To add to the effect, he nodded slowly.

"The reason that... thing, happened earlier... that doesn't just happen out of nowhere. Changeling love magic doesn't generate from just any old hug." Thorax seemed visibly uncomfortable and stiff, as if this entire discussion was making him feel vulnerable. "In other words, the reason that we... were able to, um, do... that, is, becaus-"

Thorax was worried he wouldn't be able to finish the sentence, but when Jac kissed him on the lips, he knew he wouldn't have to.

"MM- mmmmm!!~"

Jac had began to feel an enormous, powerful urge. And that urge manifested as a kiss - a long, deep, sensual kiss directly on the lips - which gave Thorax the answer to his question before he even asked it.

Yes.

Jac wasn't the best with words in emotional situations. He wasn't the best with anything, really; his emotions tended to take control of him once they got powerful enough. And normally, this was a bad thing. But listening to Thorax talk, listening to him struggle to express his feelings, seeing his stiffened movements and anxious shuffling... it reminded Jac of himself. It all seemed like a reflection of himself, and this perspective gave him a new understanding of himself. And he understood that he wasn't alone anymore.

The two slowly lowered onto the pillows, which were somehow much softer than their appearance suggested (which was already pretty soft). The two beings' heads rested on them, gently pressed into each other as well. Their arms worked themselves around each other's backs, subconsciously and automatically. It was like a spell had overcome the two of them, binding them to each other and connecting them in a manner neither of them had experienced before.

Despite being another species entirely, Thorax felt oddly similar to a pony. His shape, his movements, his expressions... the biggest difference from Jac's species was the color, and also probably the horns. But none of this mattered. It didn't matter if Thorax was a changeling, a pony, or even a fish - the feelings they shared would be the same.

The two laid like this for what felt like both an eternity and an instant. An unknown horizon twice as comfortable as home ever was. Two complete strangers to each other, and yet... they loved each other more than anyone else in the world.

"Thorax?" Jac finally breathed.

"mm?" he responded.

"Thank you."

For being here. For keeping him from being alone. For making him feel loved, and accepted. For being someone he could identify with and be comfortable beside. All of these things and more, yet none of them needed to be said. It wasn't telepathy, nor was it clairvoyance. The two simply felt the same emotions at the same time, and their expressions and movements communicated more than words ever could. All in an instant.

Jac wrapped his wings around Thorax, surrounding the two in a feathery cocoon of private, intimate emotion. Thorax let out a gentle moan, and Jac mimicked a similar sound in response. This went back and forth, the two creatures moaning in tandem as if they needed a reminder that the other was still there. To make sure they didn't leave.

Each breath and each moan was like a confession of a thousand lives, carrying the culmination of every memory they had ever felt, every emotion that had ever entered their psyche, and every location they had ever visited. Their entire autobiography conveyed with a breath, with each glance they shared, and with each and every touch of their arms, their hands, and their lips. Not a single word was spoken, but everything was shared.

In that moment, Jac felt like he knew Thorax better than any other before him. And Thorax... felt like he knew Jac better than he knew himself.

"Hey... uh," Thorax abruptly began, breaking the eternal rhythm of soft moans. Jac simply looked into his eyes intently.

"What's your name?"

And through the absurdity of this question, and the circumstances that lead them here... they laughed. They laughed like no pony (or changeling) had ever laughed before. They laughed so hard that their chests began to hurt and lungs began to wheeze, their emotions so powerful that they occupied more space in their lungs than the air they needed to live. Because, for this moment, simply being here together was even better than living.

In the time it took them to calm down, their embrace returned. And with it, their composure. Time was no longer perceived, for all they knew, each moment was simultaneously an eternity and a nanosecond. It didn't matter either way, for right now, they were together. And that's what mattered.

"Jac," Jac stated softly.

Jac felt Thorax's grip around him tighten, and the changeling pressed their foreheads together.

"Hey Jac?"

"...what?"

"I love you."

Oddly enough, this statement wasn't a very big impact to Jac. In his fantasies, Jac had always played this statement up to be the monumental turning point in a relationship, the magical key words to happiness... now he knew that they weren't. They were nothing more than a simple reminder, a reminder of something he already knew. Something he had known ever since their first hug, but hadn't been able to fully understand the implications until now.

Jac could do nothing but smile, more deeply and more fully than he had ever smiled before. Not a wide or cheesy smile, but simply a smile from deep in his heart. And it felt good.

"Um... Jac?" Thorax asked once more, but this time, he seemed unexpectedly concerned.

This shift in tone alarmed Jac slightly, and he braced himself to comfort Thorax with whatever problem he could possibly present. As if Jac were a shining knight guarding Thorax's happiness, he would do anything to keep Thorax happy. But he quickly realized his assumption was perhaps slightly off the target as he took notice of an odd touch against his left leg. And it was only at this moment that Jac finally realized that Thorax had been completely naked ever since they got here.

And Thorax's boner was right against him.

Thorax blushed so much he began to look more tomato than mango, and Jac could do nothing but gape in awe. Thorax... King of the changelings... had his penis right against Jac's leg, full mast and thick as could be.

And he was huge.