Chapter 4
Bastian
This was so much harder than I’d expected…and not turning out at all like I’d thought our conversation would go.
I’d just been planning on interrogating him so I knew he was safe, and somehow, it’d turned into chaos. I was pretty sure it was his family’s fault with their ridiculous behavior, but I’d completely lost track of how to make sure we blamed it on them.
Orlando was watching me expectantly and it took several moments too long to realize he’d asked me a question.
An inappropriate one?
Maybe?
I’d told him I was a Dom.
For fuck’s sake…had I done this to myself?
“Yes.” I could do this. “He would like being your first but don’t put your life on hold waiting for the right Daddy to come along. You need to date and have fun and explore what makes you happy.”
Had that sounded like I was moaning out the words?
No. I’d sounded fine…neighborly and probably even professional.
Orlando just rocked back and forth on his heels and grinned. “I like the idea of my Daddy being my first, but don’t worry, I’ve dated. I just mostly found stupid guys or weird ones. Not good weird. Bad weird. So I don’t mind waiting for the right person.”
What did he mean by bad weird?
I had every intention of asking but he just kept chattering. “Enzo’s boyfriend Terrence said it’s important to remember our self-worth and to not get taken in by assholes who just want your asshole. So I’m going to remember how important my asshole is.”
I was pretty sure that lecture had gotten mangled somehow, but I found myself nodding anyway. “You’re very special and you need to be with someone who understands that.”
And who wasn’t a dick or out on work release.
Lord.
Work release?
“Thank you.” Beaming at me, Orlando did a happy wiggle before almost unconsciously reaching over to pet his flowers.
Those fucking flowers from his goddamned stalker.
“I think understanding that I’ve got a special friend will help make it more believable for my family.
” Turning back to me, Orlando looked like he was ready to dive into the crazy plan.
“I really appreciate how helpful you’re being, but I guess since you’re a Dom, I should’ve expected that.
The internet says good ones are very helpful to the subs around them even if they’re not in a romantic relationship. ”
How much research had he been doing?
“I do my best.” What was the right answer that wouldn’t make me sound like a bossy asshole? “But even friends have limits, so you need to make sure I don’t overstep yours.”
It seemed like a reasonable response, but Orlando never did anything reasonable.
His smile brightened again and he threw his arms around me in a big hug. “Thank you for helping me figure out my limits. You’re amazing. This is going to make kissing you and looking romantic together so much easier.”
What?
Wait.
How?
What had I agreed to?
Before I could figure it out—feeling his body pressed against mine was slightly distracting—he pulled back and gave me a serious look. “But Doms have limits too.”
His I’ve been researching expression let me know where he’d got that fun bit of information before he said it out loud. “I read that online. It’s a lot more helpful than I was expecting. I’ll respect your limits, though.”
Still looking adorably serious, Orlando straightened like he was giving a presentation in school.
“Should we use the stoplight system? I think that would be easiest to remember. Terrence said you don’t want to pick safewords that you’ll forget when you get stressed.
Then you’ll just end up calling out random fruits or things like that. ”
Safewords?
What did he think we’d do where we’d need safewords?
Shit.
I couldn’t tell a sub they didn’t need to think about safewords…what if he needed them?
“I think that’s a good plan and I’m glad you understand that both parties in a relationship or even simply doing a scene need safewords.” Technically they could be used for conversations or in a lot of nonsexual situations.
Having safewords didn’t mean we’d do anything inappropriate.
“But if you start calling out peach and kumquat, I’ll guess it’s about safewords.” My teasing got a snicker out of him and his wiggling got even more enthusiastic. “And I’m happy to help you figure out how to talk about limits and to give you some accurate resources if you need it.”
God only knew what he’d found online.
“Oh.” Looking frighteningly excited, Orlando stepped closer without seeming to realize that one deep breath would have him rubbing against me.
“Do you know other Doms in the area? What about Daddies? If my Secret Santa Daddy doesn’t work out, I’m going to need to figure out how to find them. The dating sites are hard.”
And his family was all over them.
Fucking hell.
“Yes, I can help you.” How had I gotten myself into this situation? “Let’s work on one thing at a time, though. Getting your family off your back about library lady comes first and then we’ll work on helping you figure out what you want in a relationship with a Daddy.”
That sounded logical but I was starting to understand I needed to carefully think through any suggestion that came out of Orlando’s mouth.
“Yes.” Nearly bouncing again, he reached over and picked one of the tiny trucks off the arrangement. “Family first and Daddy second.”
I thought we’d made progress until he started zooming the toy over the table. “But once I get my Daddy, he comes first and family will come second. He’s going to have to help me with that, though, because they’re naughty.”
Amen.
“Terrence is smart and he might be able to help if my Daddy can’t do it.
” Making a thinking sound as he raced the car along the length of the table, he gave me a quick glance.
“If you were a Daddy, could you do it? You’d tell your boy you came first, right?
If you made it an order then he couldn’t worry. ”
Was this the point I was supposed to tell him I was a Daddy?
“Yes.” Was it wrong I hadn’t told him? “In that situation, hypothetically, I would make sure my boy knew I came first and I would handle nosy relatives.”
Orlando nodded earnestly and went back to focusing on his car. “Terrence is doing good at managing them because he realized Enzo isn’t good at it. He said that it’s his way of taking care of Enzo, but I think he just likes fucking with the family. He’s smart.”
Smart sounded like another word for troublemaking drama queen, but I wasn’t in a relationship with the guy, so it wasn’t something I had to worry about. Besides, thinking about their family, it’d take an asshole genius to get one over on them.
“He sounds very interesting.” That got a giggle out of Orlando, but he didn’t seem offended. “I think only one person in each relationship needs to be good at dealing with your family, so if you don’t want to, we need to make sure your Daddy can do it.”
I’d said something stupid or dangerous because Orlando smiled again. “You’ll help tell him how to handle them, right? My Daddy, I mean.”
Picking up another truck, it seemed clear that he meant his Secret Santa Daddy as he started racing the two trucks side-by-side. “He’s nice and gets me good presents but he might not understand that they’re high-maintenance.”
And crazy.
And didn’t have enough grown-up supervision by people who could make good decisions.
“Yes, I will do my best to help explain your family and how to handle them.” At the very least it would give me a good chance to interrogate the asshole sending him toys and flowers.
“But that’s something you can’t compromise on.
If your Secret Santa guy can’t handle your family, then he’s not the right Daddy for you. ”
There was no way he could handle them, so I didn’t have anything to worry about.
“You handle them really good, so you can teach him.” Zooming the trucks again, he giggled when the dump truck won. “You’re a good teacher, so you’ll do a good job helping me learn about being a little and helping my Daddy be good with my family.”
Fuck.
I needed to learn to just shut up so he could play and not get me into trouble.
“I’m glad you think I’m a good teacher.” That wasn’t promising anything, so I didn’t need to worry about lying. “But we’ll handle that when we come to it.”
“Yes, family first, so we need to plan our dates first.” As I mentally groaned, Orlando peeked over at me again as he restarted the race. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure Secret Santa Daddy knows you’re just a good helper, so he won’t get jealous about kisses or questions or that kind of stuff.”
I wasn’t sure that conversation would go as expected based on how I could imagine myself reacting. “I’ll help with that conversation too.”
Yes, I was just a good helper.
No nefarious intentions here.
“Thank you.” Looking littler with each smile, Orlando didn’t lose focus on his toys for long. “I didn’t know there were grown-ups that didn’t have to be big and could keep their toys and play with them. My family said collectors got to keep their toys in boxes but they didn’t play with them.”
I probably shouldn’t think of his family as assholes since a lot of people believed the same thing, but they were assholes for a variety of other things. Lumping in something new wouldn’t tip the bucket one way or the other.
“Yes, I’m glad you know that now.” Should I have been the one to tell him that? “I wasn’t sure if that was a conversation we needed to have.”
He’d been so fucking innocent that it’d been hard to tell what he was into and what was just him being him.
Shrugging, he didn’t seem upset about it either way. “I didn’t know it was a thing, so I was glad when Enzo had to explain stuff because of Terrence.”
Was it appropriate to ask how the fuck that’d come up?
Probably not.
“Well, now I know it’s something you’re interested in, so I can answer questions.” At least I could answer them more factually than the internet could. “I won’t get embarrassed or upset about them, though. So ask anything you want to know.”
Hopefully just not stuff about my own preferences and life.
“And you won’t get squirmy?” It wasn’t a word adult Orlando had ever used, so I took it as another clue he was sharing a new side of himself with me. “You get squirmy.”
Huffing dramatically, I loved the giggle it got me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I never got squirmy.
I was just careful around him because he’d been young…and innocent…and…very Orlando.
“I’m talking about squirmies. You get squirmy.” His evil villain snicker had me trying not to laugh. “But if you’re going to be my helper man, you can’t get squirmy.”
“I don’t get squirmy.” That was not a grown-up word I was going to use to describe myself. “But I will answer questions. Try me.”
Stepping inside, I closed the door behind me since he hadn’t thought to tell me to do it and he was currently occupied with more important things than the temperature.
Like testing me and racing his trucks.
“Did you know some littles wear diapers? Some don’t.” He shrugged and tried to sound very nonchalant but it was adorable and obvious. “Some do. I found cute ones but I’m going to wait until my Daddy wants to try them with me.”
He went right for gold-level testing.
“Yes, I know that some littles wear diapers.” What else did I know that I could tell him?
I’d never had a little who liked diapers but I knew friends who wore them.
“There are online stores that sell diapers and onesies and jammies. There are also a couple of stores around the country that sell them in person.”
They weren’t Walmart-level stores, but they were interesting.
“I could take a vacation with my Daddy to one?” Orlando looked away from his toys and back to me as he asked the question.
“Yes. I was at a work convention in Las Vegas a couple of years ago and one of my friends who lives there is a Daddy with a little. They took me over to the store and showed me around.” I’d been single at the time, so I’d picked out some random stuff, but there wasn’t anything I needed to confess to Orlando.
“That would be a fun place to vacation to and you could go to the store.”
I wasn’t sure if any of the other ones were located in tourist areas but it wouldn’t be hard to figure out.
“I’ve never been there.” Orlando made a thinking sound before he went back to zooming for the trucks. After a few moments his sound effects shifted again. “My mother said I was too young to go when Cousin Philip had his party there last year.”
I wasn’t going to actually agree with his mother but she wasn’t wrong to keep him from going.
“Wasn’t that the cousin who got arrested and his wedding was postponed because of all the legal fees?” His fiancé ended up leaving him for some guy who was in a band. “I think you’d have more fun going with your Daddy.”
At least it would be safer…and should be a lot less likely to end up with lawyers getting involved.
It’d better be safer with less lawyers involved.