Fishes For Kisses

     “Wait what?!?” Mumbo squeaked, looking at X absolutely sure he had to have misheard, and yet... 

     “I said… you could pay with a kiss.” Even behind the tint of the other man’s visor, the tall hermit was sure he could see a blush blooming on the admin’s cheeks.

     Okay then… so he hadn’t misheard.

     But, well… how was he supposed to answer ?

     He hadn't come prepared to deal with a request like that. Granted, he apparently hadn’t come prepared for anything to do with this shopping trip at all, for when he had finished haggling with the admin, he’d discovered he’d apparently left his valuables shulker laying around his base somewhere instead of in his ender chest where it belonged. So here he was, in Xisuma’s fish shop, a box full of tropical fish meant to repopulate the pacific aquarium before Iskall noticed he’d accidentally killed an alarmingly high number during his redstoning with no way to pay, and no doubt doing a decent impersonation of a fish himself at X’s suggested alternative. 

     “Um… okay, I guess, I mean... Do you mean on the lips? I mean… if you’d like- if that’s, um, what you want - I guess.” Oh goodness! - but did he need to stop stuttering. He took a deep steadying breath. Okay. “Yes. Deal.”

     Before Mumbo had even managed to finish, X had grabbed his hand and was pulling him into a shady corridor between a couple of tanks and out of the direct line of sight of anyone walking in the front doors. Mumbo swallowed thickly as X’s hand came up and undid the catch of his helmet. 

     Okay. Right now. No problem. It’s not like he hadn’t kissed a fellow before. No big deal.

     He felt his cheeks get hot when the helmet came away and X shook his hair out a bit, turning to look up at him with bright ocean eyes, which almost seemed to glow in the shifting water-warped light of the tanks. The sight made Mumbo’s heart skip a beat in his moment of bewildered shock, the youngest Hermit having forgotten how handsome the admin was with his helmet off.

     “Al’rite’.” Xisuma said, his voice a bit tighter sounding than normal as he looked up into Mumbo’s face, licking at his lips as he squared himself up, causing Mumbo to mirror the nervous tell. “Twelve fish for one kiss. On the lips. That’s the agreement.”

     Mumbo swallowed again and nodded, wondering if it would come across wrong if he loosened his tie, ‘cause honestly, right now it felt awfully tight about his throat all of a sudden. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath to ready himself and started to lean forward and-

     There came a quick, dry peck of lips against his and they were gone. 

     Mumbo's eyes popped open in startlement and he blinked at where X was stepping back, his face flushed and his eyes looking anywhere but at Mumbo.

     Wait... Was… Was that it? Really?!

     "Well then," X said, hands fumbling with untwisting the straps on his helmet, "pleasure doing business with you."

     "Really?" Mumbo asked, stepping forward and reaching out to still the other man's hands. "Was that really all you wanted? I mean... I feel like I've underpaid here." He said, though honestly after having psyched himself up so much... even though he was the one who was supposed to be rendering payment, well, that little peck of a kiss had left him feeling like somehow he'd been the one cheated.

     "Well, it was only a dozen fish." Xisuma said again, not really looking at Mumbo through his still very present blush, and then the tall hermit finally had it click over in his head. X hadn't really expected him to take him up on the offer... and he was just as worked up over the idea as Mumbo was.

     If he wanted to do this thing right he was going to have to give the other man an excuse.

     "I'll take two!" He blurted out as X began to lift his helmet. "Two dozen. So... I owe you another kiss, right? So... um," He felt his face grow very hot indeed, "may I kiss you again?"

     Xisuma blinked, but he nodded as if not quite believing what he was hearing. Well, good. Now he and Mumbo were even on that front. Stepping forward the younger man brought his hand up to cup Xisuma's cheek, tilting the admin’s head up so that he wouldn't have to bend down quite so low. The new angle exposed the long line of Xisuma’s throat, and Mumbo was fascinated to see the heavy bob of X’s Adam's apple when the admin swallowed, his eyes locked on Mumbo's lips.

     The tall redstoner leaned in that last little bit and slanted his mouth over X's, making sure it was no quick shy peck this time. Holding his lips firmly against the other’s until he felt the slight tremor in them still, and then the admin's mouth softened against his and they were moving together, the pressure growing firmer between them, the slow blossoming of something warm and drowsy and powerfully large rising up to fill the air around them.

     They broke contact at last, Mumbo looking down into X's face, soft and unconcerned in a way Mumbo hadn’t seen the other man look in a while.

     "Thank you." He breathed into the space between them. "That was very nice.”

     “Yeah, it was.”

     “Could I… interest you in... a tip for your services?”

     “Never say no to a tip.” Xisuma breathed, his eyes growing a bit darker as he looked up at the younger hermit. 

     This time they both moved and after only a half a heartbeat Mumbo parted his lips and found Xisuma's tongue waiting for him. The moment was electric and with a rush of exchanged air both men pressed into each other. Mumbo’s greater height, stepping X back into the cool glass of the tank even as the admin pressed himself up into Mumbo's torso; his hand reaching behind the slender hips and pulling the suited man even tighter against him as they explored each other’s mouths with lips and tongues.

     Hands began to roam as the kiss deepened further. Mumbo, for himself hunting out the chinks in the other man’s armour, looking to find the soft places hidden behind the hard shell. X, on the other hand, was having no such trouble and his gripping fingers pulled Mumbo's shirt free of his trousers. Mumbo gasped into Xisuma's mouth when unexpectedly gloveless fingers found their way beneath the fabric to stroke over the bare skin of his back. 

     That touch lit a fire in Mumbo and he pressed his whole body into Xisuma, his leg instinctively slotting in-between the other man’s and pressing in, feeling well satisfied with the way X melted back into the wall even as his hips bucked forward into Mumbo's touch.

     The kiss grew sloppy, Mumbo's hands finding their way into X’s hair to hold him steady as he licked and nipped at the other man as X panted against him.

     "Mumbo~" X gasped when they broke for air, but Mumbo wasn't ready for words and reason to reassert themselves just yet and he quickly dove back from more, a thrill of gratification running down his spine at the little moan it elicited from the other man. "Mumbo we should~”

     "Hello hello hello! X, are you about?!" Zedaph’s cheerful salutation for the shop entrance might as well have shattered the tank glass and doused them both in icy water for how quickly it sent the both of them scrambling to disentangle themselves and straighten dishevelled hair and clothing. “I need some more pets for my fish flinger now that I ironed out the kinks! Xisuma?”

     With a last rueful look, X hastily stuffed his helm on and walked out to bargain with Zedaph while Mumbo pressed his over-heated face against the cool water-filled glass, listening to the murmur of the other hermits as they negotiated a price and the delivery of, what sounded like, most of Xisuma's remaining stock, to Mumbo.

     He was still nowhere near cooled down enough when Zed gave his brisk cheerful farewell and he was sure he still looked a proper mess when he felt X's shadow fall on him from the entrance of the little nook.

     "Right! Then, Um... well I guess I should be going. Let you get on with your business and all... "Mumbo said, straightening up and turning to leave before things could get awkward, only to turn right into another press of lips on his own, as X went up on his toes to reach him, his helmet once again tucked under his arm.

     "The only business I have to get back to, my friend... is deciding if we’re going to finish what we started back at mine… or if I’m just going to drag you into the back room."

     "Oh? Oh! Um, well... is there a bed in the back?" Mumbo asked, not quite believing his audacity, but apparently, it was the right thing to say, because next thing he knew X had caught Mumbo's hand in his own again. The tall mustached man found himself once more being towed in Xisuma’s wake, this time right into the backrooms of the shop.

     And Mumbo couldn’t help but marvel that his little trip to pick up some fish had gone so… swimmingly.