Scars - HugsForBugs - Hollow Knight (Video Games) [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

Every time you take them for a wash in the hot springs, you find yourself mesmerized by them. Every scar, every mark, every blemish is beautiful to you, and sometimes you really have to remind them of how much you cherish every last one.

They don't think themselves beautiful, not at all
If anything, they are ashamed of their appearance. Self conscious of every scar and crack that marks their carapace. Pulling close their cloak so as to cover and hide as much of themselves to the outside world as possible.

A vessel meant to be eternally empty, free of any imperfection, of any flaw, covered in what they view as the visual representation of their damnation, every mark a testimony to their utter failure as a pure vessel, and you know they are ashamed of it with every fiber of their being.
You on the other hand, view them with reverence of a kind. Every mark, in your eyes, the very definition of beauty. They've been through so much, crawled out of actual hell on earth, and survived. Survived and lived despite being in a world hellbent on destroying them. Survived and allowed themselves to flourish despite it all.

These trips to the hotsprings, once a mandatory painstaking trip to cleanse their wounds and help them heal during their physical recovery, have now become a routine respite for the two of you, a place of mental and emotional healing and reflection
The journey to reach the springs is still somewhat slow and painstaking. Their wounds have healed over nicely by now, an abundance of scars and shallow dips marking over what were once life threatening craters and jagged bleeding wounds carved into them from the infection. But the hunch in their back is still prevalent, the wheeze in their lungs bringing a need to stop and catch their breath frequently, and they still limp, their lack of a left arm unbalancing them with every step. Nonetheless, they insist on these regular trips despite your many offers to make a functioning bath system in their home.

And so it is that the two of you slowly but surely hobble down to the nearest springs in the Crossroads, the path familiar and as silent as ever. Without the infection present, you seldom ever encounter another living creature here, with the exception of the occasional tiktik scurrying about in search of food.

Finally, after what seems like an eternity of stumbling around the stone carved paths that wind throughout the crossroads, you reach your destination, Hollow's breaths wheezing softly behind you as you push aside the lichen curtain growing over the stone entrance to reveal the large familiar cavernous walls of the hotsprings, the steamy warm air welcoming and relaxing after your time spent wandering in the chill of the crossroads.

You help Hollow over to the stone bench across from one of the larger, deeper pools in the spring, leaning their nail, used more as a crutch than as an actual weapon these days, against the bench. You unclasp the clip of the long flowing cloak you made for them, letting it fall from around their body and drape it over the back of the bench. They shiver softly, every mark on them now fully exposed, and they would be horrified to be around anyone else but you in this moment. You reassuringly brush your hand against their mask, watching as their shoulders visable relax at your touch, and then slowly guide them to the nearby pool
They ease slowly down into the water with an audible sigh, sinking up to their chest in the warm, gently flowing currents of the spring and tilting their head back to rest against the edge of the pool.

You casually remove your own clothes next, tossing them up to rest alongside Hollow's cloak on the back of the bench. You plan on taking advantage of the steaming healing waters of the springs yourself, but first things first you snatch a bar of soap and washcloth from the small satchel you brought with you and sit down at the edge of the pool behind Hollow to scrub them up good before you settle in yourself.

They sit up a bit as you plop down onto the ledge and begin scrubbing at their back and shoulders. Dipping the soap and cloth into the water you begin lathering them up and firmly but gently scrubbing at the dirt that has gathered on their carapace, mindful to be soft over the still sensitive scars that scatter across their entire back and left side.

They shudder beneath your fingertips as you work the soap into their shell and run the washcloth gently around each and every crevice, loving the sensation. Touch is still a new and exciting experience for them despite how many times the two of you have done this by now. The vast majority of their life having been spent being completely deprived of meaningful contact with other people, since a "pure vessel" was to have no desire or need to be touched by another.
But they aren't a pure vessel, and they never have been.

Once their back and horns have been scrubbed to your satisfaction, you wade into the water and position yourself to scrub their front, straddling their legs in the shallow pool and half sitting on their lap so that you can reach their face and chest, unaware of their increasing sensitivity as you work your hands all over them.

A part of them always feels guilty for letting themselves get worked up over being touched like this so easily, at how far they've fallen from grace that the gentle attentions of the caretaker they've come to love and adore so quickly turns them into a disaster. They can't help but feel a pang of self loathing as they reflect on what a disappointment they must be to everyone, how pitiful it is that the supposed chosen Pure Vessel is so desperate and deprived for meaningful interaction that they turn into a total mess whenever you run those soft, smooth, gentle hands up their body. And oh how they can't get enough of it...how often these interactions lead to them desperately wanting to be f*cked in the middle of the hotsprings during their bath.
Truly a disappointment to society, they think idly as their breathing hitches and picks up speed when your fingers brush across a particularly sensitive scar near their neck.

By the time you lean back against their lap to admire your handiwork, they're desperately trying not to wriggle and writhe against the smooth bare skin pressed across their hips and waist, the warm waters of the spring seeming to set their lower half on fire as you shift and rub against them.

"There, clean as a whistle! Not sure how you got so dirty in just a few days time but- hey are you okay?" You pause mid ramble as you finally seem to realize their uncomfortable shifting beneath you.
Upon having your full attention turned on them the vessel squirms in embarrassment and you're suddenly made aware of what exactly the problem is as a distinctive something writhes against your inner thigh under the water.

"....oh" you trail off and the vessel reaches their arm up to press across their face so that they don't have to meet your eyes, wholly embarrassed and self loathing as their arousal makes itself entirely apparent.
You recover from your surprise fairly quickly and, upon realizing how embarrassed they clearly are, swoop in to cut off the self depreciating rant you can practically hear them going over in their mind.

"Hey hey it's okay..." You reach out with both hands, gently brushing their own arm aside so that you can cup either side of their mask in your palms and make eye contact with them.
"It's okay.." you shush gently and you can see tears gathering in the corners of their dark eyes.
You lean forward to press your forehead to theirs gently, fingers still cupping their cheeks as you shush and reassure them and they whine softly and nuzzle you back.

"I'm sorry sweetie...I had no idea you were getting so worked up by this...please don't be embarrassed...it's okay." you move to get up from their lap but they shake their head and grasp desperately at you with their hand, not wanting the feeling of your warm body against theirs to go, embarrassment being overshadowed by their desperation to be held and loved on.
*Don't go...* They sign with their hand once they have you back against them.
*Please don't go...stay...help..me?* They sign the last two words with obvious hesitation, embarrassment flaring up again...but their desperation overrides it once more as they feel you shift against them and a pang of pleasure shoots up their spine from the movement.

Realizing what your vessel is asking of you, you quickly nod and lean forward to press your face to theirs once more.
"Of course sweetheart, of course...all you needed to do was ask. I will never ever mind helping you with whatever you need" you croon reassuringly, kissing the crack across their forehead and trailing down to kiss the side of their mouth as you begin purposefully grinding your hips against them slightly.

Their reaction is instant as they lurch against you, a breathy silent moan escaping their parted jaws as you press one hand against their chest and another along their cheek and rock back and forth against them in the water.

Their tendril dick writhes against your thigh, many smaller smoother tendrils surrounding it curl over your inner thighs gently and pull you closer to them as they rock into your touch and begin panting rather loudly, small clouds of void rising into the water around your legs as their tendrils seize and curl with the sudden stimulation.

...please
You're almost taken off guard by the quiet thought they send through their void, a method of communication they rarely use, though you've never been able to figure out how exactly you can understand it. It's less of actual voice, and moreso quiet thoughts impressed on your mind in a gentle flowing rhythm, whispered into your mind.
Please...I'll do anything...please..touch me.. their thoughts are muddled and choked with need but the plea is clear as it rings in your mind and sets your own core ablaze with it's desperation.
Suddenly you want out of this damn water so that you can feel them entirely and unhindered.

As if sensing your thoughts in turn, the vessel suddenly scoops you up in their one arm, lifting both themselves and you up to sit on the side of the pool as water cascades down your bodies and steam rolls up from around you.
You waste no time in pressing your face to theirs, kissing them deeply and needy as they set you back down on their dripping lap, their dick and surrounding tendrils instantly wrapping back around whatever skin they can reach and leaving trails of void dripping down your thighs.

Please...ride me they beg through the void as they desperately grind against you...but it's not enough.. they NEED you. They need you to pin them against the side of this spring and ride them until they can't stand up straight. They need you to f*ck them until they can't walk.
Their thoughts grind to an instant halt the second you lift yourself up and guide their co*ck into you, lowering yourself to take their entire length until your hips meet theirs with a wet squelch.
Their surrounding tendrils immediately move to wrap around your hips and thighs, pulling them deeper into their mate as their entire body is wracked with uncontrollable shudders.

You pause your own movements for a second as they desperately couple against you, barely pulling back before thrusting back up and into you with choking needy whines, mating with you passionately as they half curl over you and wrap their arm around you, pressing their head against your neck and shoulder.

You let them go on like this for a few moments more before you take the lead, gently pressing your hands into their shoulders and lifting yourself up and down on their wet twitching tendril, setting into a jerky rhythm as they still their own hips as best they can to let you ride them.

They tilt their head up towards the ceiling in utter bliss as your bodies connect over and over, each thrust of your hips sending wet squelching noises and their soft keening moans resounding throughout the hotspring's walls as you repeatedly fill yourself to the brim on the vessel's co*ck.
Please please please..so good..feels so good they whimper in voidspeak, their thoughts becoming nothing more than jumbled and desperate begging as they near the edge of their tolerance.

"You're so good...so good for me..." You manage to gasp out as you feel your own climax approaching
"So good...so nice...so perfect" you reach your hand out, running it down the most scarred part of their chest and they buck back underneath you, their co*ck throbbing hard as the heady combination of praise and touch to their sensitive scars sends them oh so close to the edge.

Dontstopdontstop feelssogood Iloveyou pleaseyesplease goodforyou feelsgood Iloveyou. They're practically crying out in your mind now as they sloppily buck up into you trying desperately to push themselves and you over that sweet edge.

Goingtocum ahfeelssogood iloveyouiloveyousomuch ah ah.

You go down on them as hard as you can and as their co*ck slams into your sweet spot it sends you tumbling over the edge, crying out and burying your face in their chest as you cum hard.
The vessel jerks against you in response as your walls tightening around them sends them spiralling into their own org*sm, and they cry out softly against you, filling you with their void cum so much so that it leaks out between your bodies, staining your legs black with their release as their mass of tendrils seize and twitch wildly against the legs they're wrapped around.

The two of you writhe against one another for a few moments more, desperately milking your highs for all that they are worth.
Finally, after a few moments more you stop, both of you panting hard and trembling against one another as you press close to their chest to stabilize yourself.
Everything falls silent for a few minutes, save for Hollow's deep wheezing breaths and the steady dripping of water in the hotspring as you recover.

You finally manage to lift your head up from where it's been pressed to their chest to survey the mess the two of you have made in your coupling, and quickly realize you're both going to need to bathe again.

But as you let your head drop back down against their chest and listen to the soothing rhythm of their heartbeat against your cheek as you trace your fingers once more across their scars and feel them shiver at your touch...

You don't think you really mind all that much.