30 Days of Drabbles

8: Ritual

Prompt: Ritual
Warnings/TWs: none
Tags: Aftercare, Fluff, Implied Edging, Collars, Light Dom/Sub, BDSM

--

Scott watches Mitch carefully as he sits on his heels, still, silent, in the middle of the room. He's a little breathless, courtesy of the orgasm Scott'd finally let him have after half a day of edging, and Scott's kind of proud of himself for getting Mitch so riled up. He's so pretty when he comes, and the longer Scott can keep him teetering on the edge, the prettier the final climax is.

The room's warm, probably a little more than would be normally comfortable, but right now, in this headspace, Scott knows Mitch won't notice. He'll be focused on the slow, steady pace of Scott's steps on the hardwood. He has to make a conscious effort to keep each pace heavy, because they're doing a lighter scene today and he's not in heeled boots, just barefoot in a black tank top and black skinnies. If they were doing a full scene, Scott'd be in something stronger, maybe a leather jacket or blazer on top of skinnies, and Mitch would be completely naked but for a heavy leather collar. Right now, he's got one of their thinner collars on, still black leather, but much, much lighter, and Scott knows from experience it won't have thrown him as far under. One of his tshirts sits loosely on his shoulders, puddling softly in his lap. The fabric across his back is a little darker where sweat has soaked through.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Scott stops, then, directly in front of Mitch. Mitch has his head lowered, but he knows Scott's there.

"Eyes," Scott says, keeping his voice firm but gentle. He hadn't let himself completely down into a dom headspace since they'd agreed that today they wanted to keep it light. Mitch had just needed something to help him let go of control for a day, and given their schedule, there's not enough time for an intense scene and recovery.

Mitch's gaze meets Scott's and stays there, unwavering with no inclination to break, something Scott'd normally not stand for, but their 'Light' rules are a little more flexible than their normal rules.

"Good. Color? You may speak."

"Green. Fuzzy," Mitch says quietly, keeping eye contact. That's something they've worked out for all their scenes - when Scott asks for colors or checks his safeword, Mitch has to make at least a moment of eye contact if he can (but only when asked, and for no longer than a few seconds if they're in the middle of something). If he's so far under that that's not possible, responsibility falls to Scott to determine if he feels it's safe for them to continue. Usually, if Mitch is that far gone, though, Scott ends the scene and moves into aftercare, because he's not entirely comfortable sceneing if Mitch can't verbalize if and when he needs to stop or take a break.

"Good boy," Scott murmurs, taking the three steps forward so he can crouch in front of Mitch. He lets his left hand run through Mitch's soft, slightly damp hair and down his cheek, and Mitch shivers, leaning a little into the touch. Scott's right hand settles gently at Mitch's throat, left fingers running nimbly to the back of his neck and unlatching the collar with practiced ease. He lets it fall into his right hand and sets it gently on the floor, out of the way. He'll take care of it later. Mitch's throat bobs under Scott's hand as he swallows, and Scott leaves it there a moment before he tips Mitch's chin up and presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth. That completes their scene-ending ritual.

"Good boy," Scott says again before he stands, holding out a hand for Mitch to take. "C'mon. Get on the bed. I'll be back in one minute."

Scott pulls Mitch up, steadying him with a hand on his back when he sways from the headrush and probably from the fuzziness of subspace. Scott guides Mitch to their bed, making sure he's lying down before he leaves the room. The moment the door closes behind Scott, he lets himself take a breath before he dashes his usual route around their apartment. Bathroom to change out of his sweaty tank and into a clean, dry one and throw on a flannel, peel off the skinnies, and wiggle into soft lounge pants. Kitchen to grab a glass of apple juice and saltines for Mitch and two bottles of cool water. Back to their room.

Scott opens the door quietly. Mitch's curled on his side, facing the door, and Scott smiles when he sees the way Mitch's face lights up at his appearance. Scott's only been gone for all of a minute, but it still makes him happy.

"Hi, Mitch. Sit up for a moment, babe." Scott sets the food and water down on the side table, sitting on the bed and pulling Mitch into a tight hug when he sits up. "Coming back?"

Mitch thinks for a moment, nodding a little. "Yeah. Still fuzzy though.

"Okay. Drink up." Scott hands Mitch the glass, making sure he gets at least a third of the glass into his system before he takes it back. "Eat at least three of those before we sleep, okay?" He gives Mitch three saltines and waits for him to nibble through them all. Scott gulps down most of his bottle of water and lets Mitch finish the rest, then pushes him gently on the shoulder. "Cuddle time, love."

Scott pulls Mitch down into the covers so that he's facing him, and drops a kiss onto Mitch's forehead.

"You did such a good job today, babe, I'm so proud of you. Was everything okay?"

Mitch nods sleepily, tucking his head into Scott's shoulder. "Was good. Felt good."

"And I asked for colors at the right times?"

Mitch nods again. "'m sleepy."

"Okay. Sleep now, I'm here. We'll talk more when you wake up. I love you, Mitchy." Scott presses another kiss to Mitch's head before Mitch burrows a little closer and Scott closes his eyes.

-fin.