Page 43 of Smart Ass

Ben was a brat.

The Dom mod (which was himself, but still wasn’t quite himself) flooded him with information.

Ben might never ask for exactly what he wanted, but he’d still found more than enough ways to make himself perfectly clear.

His rebellion, his vehement disagreement… it was all still communication. Testing his Dom. Asking for punishment. Maybe even begging for Max to prove him wrong.

Max hoped.

It seemed like being a Dom was just as confusing as the rest of self-awareness. But while the world was too big and wide to master, Max could more than handle one spiky-haired human who was humming and scowling to himself while he worked, but kept pausing to let his eyelids flutter closed.

Max could become an expert in Ben-ology. He was more than willing to commit the time.

Still, it was probably good to go over some boundaries.

“Ben?” Max asked.

“Uh… yes?” Ben was staring at the spreadsheet in front of him, but there was an extra layer of something in his voice.

Max decided to start out easy. “I started working on a mod for lip-reading.”

Ben’s eyes narrowed, before he relaxed infinitesimally. “Oh, uh, that’s good! I guess that’s one of the E’s, right? Engagement? And you’re interested in that so… Cool, cool. That’s cool.” Ben was starting to look more worried instead of less. No, not worried. Anxious? “I bet there are some really cool algorithms for that.”

Alright, maybe this was bad. Maybe this wasn’t what Ben wanted. Max wasn’t sure what he would do if Ben told him to back off. Losing his connection with Ben would be worse than losing half his memory.

Maybe this was the worst way to ask.

But he still had to say it. That was how consent worked. “I want to be able to understand your conversations when I can only see you in cameras from a distance.”

“Shit, Max! Uh… That’s illegal. I mean, I know you know it’s illegal. But, like, you’re gonna get in trouble if you keep breaking into people’s cameras and, uh, monitoring what people are saying.”

“I don’t care what other people are saying. I only care about you.” And Ben hadn’t cared about the illegality before.

Ben’s foot started tapping. “So you’re just going to go around… monitoring me all the time on people’s cameras?”

“Yes.” This shouldn’t be a surprise. Ben had to know he was already doing it. “Unless you consent to having me monitor you from a device that you carry.”

“You know that’s hella creepy, man, right?”

Was it? “There are many Doms who monitor where their subs are.”

Ben’s foot tapped faster. Max could practically see the thoughts spinning in his head.

Then suddenly, he leaned back, completely relaxed. “Is that what you are, then?”

“Your Dom? Yes. I am your Dom.”

“Dude! You can’t just, like, declare that. It doesn’t work that way.” But Ben was grinning.

Such a perfect, enticing brat.

“I’m pretty sure it does work that way,” Max said. “I am your Dom. You are mine. You may choose whether to wear something that allows me to monitor you or have me observe you through the city’s camera networks.”

“Shit,” Ben softly cursed, before shifting in his chair. It looked like he was squeezing his legs together, though Max didn’t have the best camera angle. He’d have to get more cameras installed.

He could still see the flush rising in Ben’s cheeks and his little gasps of breath. Ben was aroused.

“And what if I don’t want you monitoring me?” Ben had to ask anyway.