30. Training Check #2
Drake looks at Micah and me. “Then every time you tie her, her body map may be slightly different.”
We both nod.
Cami folds her arms. “So how much of a problem are they?”
“Not automatically a problem at all.”
Some of the tension leaves her shoulders.
“But you adapt the rope to the medical device. Never the other way around.”
I approve of that answer.
He points toward the Dexcom without getting close enough to touch it. “No rope directly over it. Nothing sitting where it's likely to migrate onto it. Don't catch the adhesive edge.”
Then the Pod.
“Same principle here.”
Cami nods. “My bigger question is whether there are better places for me to put the Pod if I know we're doing this.”
Drake considers that. “There isn't one universal rope-friendly site. You still use sites approved for your system, rotate them properly, and make sure your equipment works the way it is supposed to.”
“Right.”
“But if you know you're practicing a torso pattern all week and you're due for a Pod change, don't intentionally put a fresh one directly under the place you expect rope to run.”
Cami laughs. “That seems obvious when you say it.”
“You'd be surprised.”
I don't think he's joking.
“What about thighs?” she asks. “I use those fairly often.”
“Depends on the rope. That's the point. Some days the thigh might be perfect. Other days it might be exactly where you need clear space.”
He looks between the three of us. “You look at the body she has that day. Devices included.”
Cami points at him. “I like that.”
“So do I,” I say.
Drake looks at me. “If the rope pattern you planned conflicts with her devices?”
“We change the rope pattern.”
“Correct.” No hesitation.
Drake has her move through a few simple motions first—checking her range of motion.
Arms up.
Shoulders rotating.
Hands opening and closing.
Establishing what normal feels like before anything changes.
Then he puts rope on her.
Nothing dramatic.
Nothing remotely resembling the photographs on the walls.
Both arms together in front of her.
A simple, non-load-bearing demonstration meant to show us what appropriate contact and tension feel like on an actual person.
He keeps talking to Cami.
“What do you feel?”
“Pressure.”
“Anything sharp?”
“No.”
“Burning? Tingling? Electric?”
She glances at him. “Electric is really one of the words?”
“Yes.”
“Good to know.”
He has her move her fingers.
Open and close her hand.
Then he changes something slightly.
“Different?”
“Tighter.”
“Better or worse?”
She considers. “Not bad. But I liked it better before.”
He changes it back immediately.
Then looks at the rest of us. “She wins.”
Jeremiah nods.
“You can understand anatomy and know exactly how you think the rope should feel,” Drake continues. “You still don't live in her nervous system.” His eyes stop on me. “The bottom's report always outranks your visual opinion.”
I almost smile.
When he's finished, he removes everything and checks her arm again before he lets her leave the mat.
Cami rubs her wrist.
Alexis looks at her. “Well?”
Cami thinks. “Less dramatic than I expected. But I liked the pressure.”
My body responds to that sentence in a way which is inappropriate for an educational environment.
Drake begins gathering rope. “That is enough for today.”
Carter looks startled.
“You've been here more than two hours.”
He looks at his watch. “Oh.”
Drake points at the four of us. “Your homework is not tying up your girlfriends.”
Carter raises both hands, palms forward. “I wasn't going to.”
Drake gives him a look. “You practice handling rope. You practice what I showed you on yourselves or each other. You review the anatomy we discussed.”
His attention settles on Jeremiah. “No deciding you're ready for an elaborate harness because you watched a video.”
“I would not do that.”
“Good.”
Then he looks directly at me. “And no rewriting my entire curriculum before your next lesson.”
Cami makes a noise.
Micah looks away.
Jeremiah smiles.
I cross my arms. “I wasn't planning to.”
Drake stares at me. “You were thinking about it.”
I dislike how accurate that is. “I have questions.”
“You should.”
“I’ll make a list.”
Cami laughs openly now.
Drake finally smiles. “Bring it next time.”
Outside, the March air is cold enough that Cami immediately buries her hands in her jacket pockets.
Alexis is still talking about the photographs on the studio wall.
Micah falls into step beside me as we head toward the car.
After several seconds, I ask, “You really could see how it was going to shift?”
He looks at me. “On Carter?”
“Yes.”
He nods. “I don't know how to explain it.”
“Try.”
He thinks. “It looked like drawing.”
I wait.
“If I put a line somewhere on a body, it changes where your eye goes and how everything around it balances.” He traces something invisible through the air. “The rope felt like that. Except the line has pressure.”
That makes sense.
“I didn't think about it sexually at all,” he adds.
“Neither did I.”
He gives me a look.
I amend. “Almost not at all.”
That earns a quiet laugh.
Cami comes up behind us. “I heard that.”
“You weren't meant to.”
“Too bad.”
She wedges herself between us and hooks her arm through Micah's.
Her other hand reaches toward me, slowing where I can see it.
I take it.
“Thoughts?” she asks.
“Many.”
“That’s a surprise.”
“I don't like being bad at it.”
Micah laughs.
Cami squeezes my hand. “You weren't bad.”
“I was objectively the third-best beginner.”
“Fourth,” Micah corrects.
I look at him.
He smiles.
Cami starts laughing.
“I hate both of you.”
“No, you don't.”
Unfortunately, she is correct.
My phone buzzes.
Dex
how was bondage school
Cami leans over to read.
Micah sees it too.
I type.
Ronan
Educational
Three dots appear immediately.
Dex
that is the least sexy answer possible
Cami
It was not supposed to be sexy.
Dex
you went to a building full of rope with multiple doms, a tattoo artist, a billionaire, and two hot women
i reject the premise
Micah pulls out his own phone.
Micah
I learned more than Ronan.
I turn toward him.
He puts the phone away.
Cami laughs hard enough she nearly trips.
Another message appears.
Dex
OH MY GOD
is he okay?
I put my phone back in my pocket.
“I am not responding.”
Cami is still laughing.
Micah looks entirely too pleased with himself.
And despite Dex being hundreds of miles away, the three of us suddenly feel a little less incomplete.
I can tolerate being a beginner—for now.
Especially because I know what comes next.
Practice.
More questions.
Another lesson.
Then another.
And eventually, if I put rope on someone I love, I will know enough to remember the thing Theo made clearest today.
Knowing the rope is not the same thing as knowing the person inside it.