21. Volt #3
“There probably are. Gardeners love them, and they’re one of my favorites.
Pansies are bright and bold. They’re not shy about letting all of their colors show.
They’re incredibly soft and delicate to the touch, yet they’re strong enough to thrive in the winter when all the other flowers have died.
” He let that sink in for a moment. Wallace was still studying the flowers as the chefbot’s screen slowly scrolled through the images.
As they watched together, he whispered against Wallace’s ear, “Look at them. Pansies grow on thin, delicate stems so they can bend in the harshest rainstorm and then pop right back up when the sun shines. And they grow well with other flowers, filling in empty spaces and making a harmonious composition without overshadowing anyone else.”
Volt finally tipped Wallace’s face toward him. “I think you should be damned proud to be a pansy.”
More crystalline tears spilled from Wallace’s eyes, but he was smiling now. “You think so?”
“Hell, yes. You’re my vibrant, gorgeous, delicate, strong pansy. I couldn’t be prouder to call you mine. And I also think that these pansies would be an excellent model for you to base your management style on.” He brushed his thumb across Wallace’s lip. “They’re just as pretty as my boy.”
Wallace gave a soggy sort of laugh. “Okay, Daddy. I, um, I guess I understand what you’re saying.”
“Do you, baby? Because I want you to understand that you can be feminine and soft, or colorful and bright, and still be an excellent manager. You can fill in the spaces to support your colleagues without throwing your weight around. When you find your management style, when you let your magnificence show, you’ll impress and empower everyone around you. Everyone will want to be on your team.”
“Do you really think so, Daddy?” Wallace asked with those beautiful brown eyes, still glistening with tears. Eyes that Volt could get lost in.
“I absolutely believe it. And I’ve known you long enough to see who you are and what you can do.”
“Okay, but… how do I change when I’m at work? What do I actually do? And what if I do change, but everyone has hated me so long that they don’t care?”
Volt kissed those soft ruby lips, because he just needed to be closer to his baby.
“Then they’re assholes. But I don’t think that’s what will happen.
I think that if you change a few of your behaviors, there would be a lot of people on your team who would be open to having functional, respectful working relationships with you, and some who would genuinely enjoy spending time with you as friends. ”
“Isn’t it too late now? I’m quitting soon,” Wallace asked doubtfully.
Volt knew that Wallace would want to try, though, even if he needed to be goaded into it. His creampuff was so much stronger than he realized.
“Well, I wish you would quit tomorrow,” Volt nudged him gently. That day couldn’t come soon enough. “But since you’re not, this is a perfect opportunity to test things out. If it doesn’t work, there’s no loss. I don’t think it’s too late, though.”
“So it’s okay if they still hate me?”
“It’s okay,” Volt agreed. His baby awed him every day.
“I guess I could… try?”
“There’s my brave boy.” Volt kissed him again, thinking. “Would it help if Daddy made you some new rules?”
“Oh, please, Daddy.” Wallace crowed, adoration making his face glow. “That’s what I need, Daddy. Then I can do it for you, right? And if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t matter, because I’d still be your, uh… your…!”
“You’d still be my good girl, wouldn’t you? My sweet baby who works so hard just to please me?”
Wallace nodded, silent and pleased.
Volt could feel his cock filling, and for a moment, he considered giving it the command to go down.
He didn’t stop it, though. Maybe talking management strategies shouldn’t turn him on, but being Wallace’s Daddy, taking care of him, made Volt aroused as hell.
And he really liked feeling his own body’s natural responses. To experience arousal that had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with this rush of pleasure at having his sexy boy on his lap and seeing that dreamy look on his face.
He also wanted Wallace to feel his hard on. To rub it subtly against that plump thigh throughout their discussion.
His baby should always know how hot he made him.
“Alright, here are Daddy’s new rules for his pretty pansy,” he said between kisses, thinking ahead to what would work best for Wallace and how to make him successful. “Every day, you’re going to do two things for Daddy. Alright?”
“Yes, Daddy,” Wallace cooed, looking beyond eager.
Volt grinned. This was his fucking catnip.
“First, you’re going to spend some time with a person or people who you want to get to know better.
You’re going to be yourself around them, and assume that they’ll be open to building a stronger relationship, even if it takes a while.
You could invite them to have lunch with you, for example. ”
“Can it be a meeting?” Wallace asked, looking worried.
Ideally, no. But maybe Wallace needed some baby steps? “Are there meetings where you would spend time together and collaborate on something? Something more informal where you’re not just being the boss?”
“Yeah. There are brainstorming meetings and collaborative feedback meetings. I like those, but my father told me I was wasting my time with them and making people uncomfortable.”
“Those sound perfect,” Volt told him. And Wollencroft Senior could suck a bag of dicks. “Those meetings would absolutely count, as long as you’re being your sweet self. You could also have coffee with someone you might like, or go out to drinks with your team after work.”
“Those sound harder.” Wallace bit his pretty pink lip, which only gave Volt an excuse to tease it with his thumb.
“Then start with what’s easiest, and we’ll work our way up. I’ll expect one encounter each day, but there will be extra rewards when you try something that feels scarier.”
“Rewards?” Wallace asked, perking up.
Volt slid a hand up that ample thigh. “Rewards.”
Wallace shivered. “And you’ll help me?” he begged.
“Every step of the way.” Volt kissed him, claiming that sweet mouth and swallowing down his groans. He should have been tired of it after all the kissing in the past day, but he still couldn’t get enough.
“Thank you, Daddy,” Wallace said, when he finally let him up for air.
He looked so damned reverent. Grateful.
It made Volt feel like a god.
“Your second new rule,” Volt continued, “is that you’re going to give someone a genuine compliment each day.
It can be about anything you like, from their clothes to their work, but it needs to be something that you actually admire.
It can be public, where you acknowledge them in front of their team, or private with just the two of you.
But it has to be more than one sentence, and it has to be specific. ”
“Give me an example,” Wallace requested.
“Hmmm…” Volt mused, nibbling at a tasty earlobe while he thought. So much of this just came automatically to him, but he knew that Wallace had never been as confident.
Or, more likely, had been shamed and bullied by his father, and then coached in all the wrong ways out of some misguided attempt to make a “man” out of him.
So, examples it would be. “Alright, let me give you a few. ‘Hey, Wallace, I like the new sweater. It’s a good color on you.’”
“Oh! That’s not too bad at all. Can you give me another example?” Wallace asked, clearly thinking this through.
“Sure. You want to be specific, honest, and appropriate to the situation. Like this. ‘Hey, Wallace, really nice work on the project. I saw the thought you put into those details, and I think it’ll make a big difference for the user experience.’”
Wallace’s forehead wrinkled. “Are you sure people won’t think it’s weird if I say something like that? They won’t think I’m lying?”
Volt bit back a chuckle. What the fuck had Wallace been told before? “Would you think someone was lying if they said something like that to you?”
“Well, yeah,” Wallace said, like this was something obvious. “Don’t people say stuff like that to suck up?”
Jesus H. Christ. “Let’s try thinking of it a different way. You said you liked me in this shirt. Well, the gray one that was similar to this. Were you lying about that?”
“No, Daddy. I like both of them. They’re really hot.”
Volt’s chest warmed. He hadn’t been fishing for a compliment, but he was still new to wearing everyday clothes, and to hear that Wallace thought that his solid-colored henleys were sexy made a difference.
He didn’t want to be a sex symbol all the time, he even wanted to fade into the background a bit if he could, but at the same time, he wanted Wallace to find him attractive.
The fact that Wallace seemed to think henleys and jeans were just as hot as his old loincloths meant a lot to him.
“There you go. You said that because you meant it, and I believed you that you meant it.”
Wallace blinked, then stared like this was a total revelation. “So people really mean those things they say?”
“I’d say… ninety percent of the time for about ninety percent of people.
Sure, people tell little white lies sometimes.
Like, I told Angel that he’d written a good poem once, because I knew he was proud of it, and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
I think he knew it wasn’t his thing, because he hasn’t written any more, but I supported him while he was trying it.
And I always tell Magnolia that she looks stunning, even if her lipstick is crooked, because she’s a stunning person inside.
So maybe the details aren’t true, but the sentiment is.
” Volt could have given more examples about how he’d talked with clients, telling them what they wanted to hear because it made them feel good, but it wasn’t something he wanted to bring into this conversation.
Or really think about at all when Wallace was around.