Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Malik
He was adorable… in looks, personality, and his honesty.
“As long as you’ve made your limits very clear at that point, I have no objection to adjusting third date expectations to date two.” My answer was polite, but he blushed and squirmed like something about it turned him on.
Testing the waters with what little I knew about auras, I focused on my Dom side and thought about being his Daddy as I raised one eyebrow and lowered my voice slightly. “Can you be a good boy and make your limits clear?”
“Oh.” As his eyes went wide and he relaxed against the table, I realized that’d gone better than I’d anticipated. “That’s… I’m a good boy.”
Well, it looked like we weren’t going to have a problem finding his Little side. Aura plus Daddy voice equaled Little.
“Then we’ll make plans to have special private time after our second date.” When my carefully worded response got a serious nod and he didn’t think it was a silly way to phrase it, I knew I’d guessed right about his headspace. “And today we’ll talk and maybe find something to play?”
We hadn’t planned much beyond a first meeting but it wouldn’t be difficult to shift gears and do something his Little side would enjoy.
“I like playing.” Something about that had his head clearing and he blinked a few times before he straightened. “But we can talk and have our… our date first. I don’t want to… inconvenience you. We’re here to get to know each other not goof off.”
His dates somehow seemed to have gone worse than mine, and I wasn’t sure how that was possible considering one guy I’d met had a panic attack and a vampire I’d tried to date’s first words had been about not liking fur with his blood.
Rude.
It was technically hair and nothing I could do anything about so that date had ended quickly.
“You are not an inconvenience and neither are your wants and needs.” We had to get that spelled out right away. “If we decide to change plans because being Little is what you need in the moment, I have no problem with that. Especially when I was encouraging it to begin with.”
And that got me another blush.
Delightful.
It also earned me another wiggle as he stopped fighting his Little side.
“I like being encouraged and your aura when you did it and how you sounded and you’ve got a nice accent and I like playing and it’s been a long time since I got to play and it’s been a long time since I got second date stuff too. ”
A very long time, judging by the signals he was sending off and what he’d said.
Regular humans seemed to be able to push down their needs for an absurdly long time before they snapped or struggled seriously with the emotional consequences of it, but anyone with magic seemed to have a much lower threshold when it came to getting those needs met.
It could literally be a need for Alton and not just something that helped him relax. He seemed to have spent so much time around humans he’d forgotten that fact.
Maybe he hadn’t known it to begin with?
Had he said who he was raised by?
“I’m glad you liked how I encouraged you. It made me happy too.” That made Littlish Alton smile and he rocked side to side before he rested his elbows on the table again. “The idea of playing with you also made me happy because I want to get to know all the different sides of you.”
That got a naughty giggle from the cute human-looking man. “The grown-up side too.”
“That’s right.” But I pretended to look serious and held up one finger. “But after our second date.”
More giggles escaped as he sat straight and returned my expression. “Yes. Second-date time.”
The fact that he was looking forward to it said I didn’t have to worry about our chemistry only going one way. “First date is for Little fun and talking.”
A snicker escaped before he remembered that he was pretending to be serious and gave me an adorable frown that he probably thought made him look grown-up. “Second dates are for big fun.”
I had no problem with that, so I nodded but did my best not to dwell on it yet. I wasn’t sure what desire would do to my aura and I didn’t want that distracting my new little friend. “That’s right. But for our first date how about we walk over to a playground?”
Alton scrunched up his face and looked around at what seemed to be a small rural rest stop next to a state park entrance. “Where?”
Time to test what he could sense.
“How many paths do you see?” I pointed to the other side of the green space where I’d come from. “It’s okay if you only see one.”
“Three.” He sat up, pleased with himself and waved his hand toward the different paths. “One. Two. Three.”
“That’s wonderful.” It made keeping him safe in the woods easier at the very least. “The first one is the path that leads to the walking trails in the state park. So lots of fun but lots of humans. The second one goes to my village. The third one goes to the play park with swings and then will lead us to my house if we go a bit further than that.”
Most humans and even a lot of non-humans would only see the first one, though. The spells that had been placed on the land were strong and it wreaked havoc with some groups’ senses. The local shifters claimed the area made them motion sick for some reason.
It kept us off of human social media, though, so everyone decided it was worth a bit of Dramamine.
Thankfully, Alton didn’t seem to have that problem which had me wondering more about his background. I wasn’t going to poke at Alton in his current headspace, however.
I could be nosy later.
“I like swings.” Rocking back and forth like he was imagining being on the swings, he smiled then looked nervous. “Can… can I play?”
There were several reasons he could be asking the question, but I nodded and tried to find a good way to respond to as many of them as possible.
“Yes. We’ll have privacy because there was no one playing when I walked past it.
The only family that has small kids right now are off visiting the wife’s family.
So we can have as much fun as we want and no one else will care even if they accidentally see it. ”
We would never be the most interesting people in the village.
Something about small communities made them either go frighteningly openminded or incredibly judgmental and mine had gone the openminded route. Although everyone mostly kept their interesting bits as private as possible since that was just how we seemed to be wired.
“Oh.” Wiggling excitedly, Alton didn’t seem to mind the idea of being seen but I knew we’d have to address that specifically later. “I like playing. The… the lady said I could have a swing in my backyard. She said… she said my Daddy would like that.”
Interesting.
“She’s right.” Because I was definitely going to be his Daddy and the swing was basically in his backyard already. “Should we go see it?”
Nodding, Alton sat straighter and looked like he was ready to jump off the picnic table. “Can… can I bring my water?”
“Yes.” Picking up the bottle he’d walked over with, I looked toward his car. “Do you have a snack or any toys you want to bring with us?”
That had his eyes going wide and he gaped at me for several long seconds. Considering it was a much more startled response than I’d gotten when I’d walked out of the woods, it was telling. “I… I can bring Bouncy?”
Hoping that wasn’t a dog or something actually alive, I nodded. “Yes. Let’s go grab… Bouncy?”
Please let it not be a dog.
Please let it not be a dog.
They never reacted well to my species and I had no desire to be tracked through the woods every time it saw me.
Having one beagle in the village was enough to make everyone realize we just weren’t made for dogs.
Thank the gods above.
It was a stuffed kangaroo.
“Bouncy.” Alton beamed as he pulled it out of a small toy animal carrier from the passenger seat, strapped in and everything, then held up his friend for me to see. “She’s bossy.”
I wasn’t sure if I could laugh at that or not, so I took the comment seriously. “I find that a lot of women are, but they’re necessary for society.”
Men of most species didn’t do well without them.
Giggling, Alton nodded. “Moms are bossy. Girls are bossy. Work girls are bossy. They do stuff.”
That was a very good way to explain it.
“They do.” As he locked the car again, he looked down at his keys and frowned. “Here.”
Clearly Daddy did the carrying.
“Thank you.” Pushing back the desire to kiss his head, after putting them in my pocket, I held out my hand. “Is this okay?”
That got me another excited nod and Alton bounced like his kangaroo would as he took it. “Yes. You’re pretty, so I like holding your hand.”
Pretty?
I was not pretty under any sense of the word… even my own species considered me rugged rather than handsome.
Oh.
“My aura?” That got me another smile and I felt smarter. “I’m glad you like it.”
Especially since I hadn’t been doing anything to make it brighter or adjust it in any way.
“It’s pretty.” Having declared me pretty, Alton bounced again pulling me toward the trail that would lead to the park. “Is it a big walk?”
“No. It’s not too far.” Making sure to adjust my stride to account for our height difference, I let him take a few hops in the right direction. “But hopping might make you tired.”
He cocked his head and thought about that problem as he took another hop. “You like carrying me. You said so.”
He wasn’t wrong, but I was also glad to hear that he didn’t mind the idea. “That’s right. I’m going to like carrying you.”
“I don’t get carried.” Trying to look casual as he shrugged, he was adorable as he swung our hands and peeked over at me. “Nope. Daddies just don’t do that.”
This one could, so I took the hints he was giving and slid the water bottle in my pocket. “Hop up here, little Roo.”
Giggling, he held out his arms and squealed as I wrapped my hands around his torso and picked him up. “I’m so tall, Daddy.”
“Wrap your legs around me.” He wasn’t heavy enough to be hard to carry, but he was wiggly and that would make it difficult. “That’s perfect. Good boy.”
Holding me tight kept him from squirming, but he didn’t mind being still as he and Bouncy snuggled against me. “I like being carried.”
“Well, I just happen to be an oversized Daddy, so I’m glad this works out for both of us.” My response had him giggling again as he curled into me and rested his head on my shoulder. “You’ll fit in my lap for cuddles and we can pretend you’re my joey, little Roo.”
That got another silly sound from him as he hid his face against my neck and nodded, nuzzling against my hair. “I didn’t think to ask for a Daddy big enough to carry me.”
“Well, the fates figured it out for you anyway.” No kissing until we’ve talked about it. No kissing until we’ve talked about it. “What kind of Daddy did you ask for?”
I wasn’t sure if that would throw off his headspace but he giggled and hid tighter against me. “One who liked cuddles and playtime and wanted Little me.”
Making a surprised sound, I acted shocked, getting another silly sound from him. “That’s me.”
Alton nodded, snuggling against me as he clung to me and Bouncy. “I found you. You were hard to find.”
“It’s the magic.” I was partly being silly and partly being honest, but got a dramatic sigh of agreement from Alton. “It’s naughty sometimes, but we did it.”
“I’m not naughty.” Little Alton seemed to want to make that very clear. “You’re not naughty either… and you’re snuggly and carry me big and you’re pretty.”
My aura.
I could get used to being pretty.
“Thank you.” Hmm. “Can I kiss your head, little Roo?”
Alton snickered like it was a funny question but he nodded. “Good boys get head kisses.”
“I think a Daddy can give his boy head kisses all the time, even if he’s been naughty, but what do you think?” Had he been quoting something he’d read or seen online or was that how he felt?
Making a soft thinking sound, he barely shrugged as he answered. “Well, kisses are important.”
“They are.” Turning my head, I gave his cheek a soft peck and then a smacky kiss when he didn’t pull away. “Little kisses are important but so are big ones.”
“Yes.” Hugging me tighter, Alton seemed relieved we were on the same page. “Lots of kisses are important too.”
So did he like attention or was he more touch starved than I’d originally thought?
“I’m glad we’re in agreement on that.” As well as a lot of other things so far. I knew that wouldn’t always be the case, but it seemed like the matchmaker had been right. We were compatible on enough of the important parts that I wasn’t worried about the rest.
“Do you see the park?” Long strides and the fact that the park wasn’t as far from the road as he probably assumed meant it didn’t take as long for it to appear through the trees. “Should we go on the swings first?”
Alton sucked in an excited breath and pulled away to see the park. “Oh, it’s so big.”
Well, our species was significantly bigger than anyone who presented as human and that meant our children were much bigger than he’d probably imagined as well. “So it’s got plenty of room to play.”
The fact that he was on the short side for a human impacted that too, but I knew better than to point it out first. Addressing height was something I was going to let him bring up first. Money, body counts, and political beliefs were stuff I’d bring up before asking a man who grew up around humans if he knew he was short.
“I like playing.” He was excited but waited until we were standing by the swings to start his let me down wiggles. “Look, Daddy, it’s got a fort and a slide.”
“I’m glad you like it.” Each generation of new fathers seemed to get the impulse to add on to it and improve the park in some way.
The women liked to joke that it was their way of showing off their manhood and it’d turned into some kind of weird competition.
“The slide is tall, though, so we’re going to be careful on that one. ”
Some people had no common sense because that thing needed a safety railing on the stairs and higher sides in general.
“I’ll be safe.” Patting my chest, Alton beamed up at me as I set him on his feet. “You’ll catch me.”
At the end or if he fell off the sides?
He was never playing at the park by himself.