Page 58 of Love Unlimited

Who are you going to meet?

Marco. He’s the Deaf Dom you met the night of the mosh.

Oh, right. He seemed friendly. He had kind eyes.

Ash smiled. When Zhong had met him, Marco had been decked out in leather and Greg had been nearly naked at his feet. He’d talked about whipping his sub, and yet Zhong’s first description of him was “friendly.” Ash supposed he did have kind eyes, but not everyone would have seen it, especially the first time they walked into a kink club.

He said he had some questions for you about the contracting work you do, so I told him I could give him your number. When Zhong nodded, Ash went on. But we’re just going out for coffee to chat. I feel like I need someone to talk to.

Is everything alright? Daddy searched Ash’s face, like if he could look hard enough he could see any bruise or bump on their psyche as well as their skin.

Everything is good, Ash assured him, feeling warm inside from the close attention. It’s just nice to get another perspective on relationship stuff sometimes.

That seemed to assuage Daddy’s worries. That makes sense. I bet it’s different talking to Landon now. Zhong always insisted that he had trouble making sense of emotions, but some things he saw really clearly. Well, have a good time then. Don’t have too many sweets.

How many can I have? Ash asked with their cutest grin. They loved this aspect of the dynamic, the quiet daily reminders that Daddy was looking after them.

Daddy’s eyebrows drew together sternly. One. Then a small smile snuck through. One drink and one pastry.

Ash snuggled in for a hug. You’re the best Daddy ever.

Ash skipped down the stairs and slipped on their shoes, a sparkly silver canvas pair to go with the lacy silver shawl that Daddy had draped over their plain white t-shirt this morning when they informed him that it wasn’t exciting enough.

The sun was hot enough that they walked in the shade, but it was a gorgeous day and they were enjoying getting to know Dustin’s neighborhood. Most importantly, everyone they walked past gave them polite greetings without a hint of judgment, and a pair of women passing by with a stroller gave them a wide smile that identified them immediately as fellow queers.

Being visibly genderqueer in public wasn’t always safe, but this felt like a neighborhood where Ash wouldn’t have to worry. Dustin had said his neighbors all knew he was queer, and it was nice to have confirmation.

Ash found the coffee shop without any trouble, a quirky little spot with mismatched cushions and a hand-drawn chalkboard menu. The tables were mostly full, about equally split between focused people hunched over their laptops, parents with gooey-fingered toddlers, and folks meeting in couples or trios to chat.

Marco had already found a spot, and Ash slid in across from him. He was wearing a plain maroon t-shirt with jeans, his dark hair neatly combed. He had a laptop bag on the floor at his feet, and he slid his computer into it when he saw them.

Hey, Marco greeted them. I already ordered, so take your time if you want to look. They have a touch-screen ordering system, so you don’t have to voice if you don’t want to.

Nice! Give me a minute then.

Ash found something tasty-looking in the interface, paid, and then checked in with the server. It was going to be impossible for them to hear her call their name over background music and chatter of the room. Relying heavily on speech reading, Ash gave Marco’s name and their own, then pointed to the table. She seemed to already know Marco, so Ash gratefully popped off their hearing aids and slipped them into the case in their purse to remove the distraction.

I can’t believe you live so close, Ash commented when they got back to the table.

I can’t either. I just moved in with Greg, and it’s been fun to get to know the neighborhood. This is my favorite spot when I want to work outside the house.

So living with Greg is working well?

Marco’s dark eyes lit with a smile that stretched across his coppery skin. Couldn’t be happier. We had a rough journey but I think we’re really finding our way.

Ash motioned for him to continue, greedy for details.

His old relationship was more of a service dynamic, and I’m a Daddy Dom through and through. It’s been hard for him to let me take care of him. But, to be honest, it’s been hard for me to let him take care of me. So we’ve both been adapting. But God, is it good when it all works out.

Ash smirked. You figured you could survive having your sub licking your boots and bringing you coffee in bed? One of the best parts of ASL was that so few people knew the language that Ash could just say stuff like this in public. Even if someone was fluent, they’d still look away to avoid eavesdropping.

Marco threw his head back and laughed, his expression ringing through the room even though Ash couldn’t hear it. The funny thing is, the boot service is sexy, but the coffee in bed was where I had to draw the line. We’ve been doing some service weekends because I know how much he enjoys it, but mostly I just want to take care of him. We get in each other’s way sometimes. It’s evolving.

Their conversation was interrupted by the server bringing over their food. She set down an empty mug, a little pot of tea, and sesame bagel with cream cheese in front of Marco, and then delivered Ash’s order with a flourish.

Wow, Marco shook his hand downward in awe. That’s some coffee. Or hot chocolate? What even is that?

Ash beamed, inordinately pleased with themself. Coffee. Daddy said I could have a drink treat and a pastry treat.