“So, tell me more about the man you’ve met? You said something about needing my lifestyle expertise?”
“Ah, well, I was going to visit Padraig, this was… mid-November. So I stopped in Green Bay and couldn’t sleep, so I went to a straight-friendly bar,” Francis started, then ate for a bit. “I met him there. This younger guy. Blond, really fit. Had that sort of dangerous closeted look about him.”
Joel nodded while he chewed. Once he’d taken a drink, he stated, “That one where they’re scared and anxious and angry at the same time?”
“Oh yeah,” Francis drawled slowly. Every gay man had seen the look on someone’s face—sometimes their own—at some point in their life. “So of course I went and sat right next to him.”
Joel laughed with clear delight. “Of course you did. How did he react?”
Francis filled him in up to the point where Mark had gone for the restroom. “I guess something in me snapped then. He was responding to me in an odd way. While I recognized the danger, I also had this… this power trip going on?”
Joel chuckled. “You were feeling Dommy.”
“I guess so. But I really hadn’t before. Sure there’s the odd vanilla type of power play, you know. But nothing like this. Not like….” Francis licked his lips, tasting the buttery herb sauce, then drank some water as he tried to figure out how to put it.
“Something clicked,” Joel guessed. Francis nodded, because he couldn’t explain it better than that. “You know me as a submissive, which is what and who I am. But did you know I’ve actually switched a few times?”
Francis frowned. He hadn’t known that. To him, Joel was the quintessential submissive. “How did that happen?”
“It’s always been at a club or a play party. You know Master and I are monogamous for the most part. But it’s always been with a certain kind of sub. Usually a young guy, someone just starting. Someone who looks scared of the Doms and just… I don’t know. I feel like this protectiveness and I ask Master and he says go for it. I’m good at it, too.” Joel smiled.
“I can understand that. You’re very caring. It makes sense that would be the good starter Dom without being a Dom,” Francis murmured thoughtfully.
“Yes, but here’s the thing. It takes very specific kind of chemistry. So far, in the last fifteen years, I’ve only met three subs who have made me feel like that. And trust me, I’ve seen hundreds of new boys enter the scene and be intimidated.”
“So you’re saying it’s him specifically that makes me feel like this?”
“Possibly. I mean, if I’m completely honest, you have always had this Dommy side in you.”
Francis, who had just finished his meal and was setting his utensils down on the plate, dropped them with aclank. “What?”
“You’ve a dominant in you, Francis. It’s been obvious to me since we met.”
“And you never said anything?”
Joel rolled his eyes as he pushed his own plate away. “When you’re kinky, it’s pretty fucking hard to go to someone vanilla and tell them ‘hey I think you might have a kinky side in you’ without sounding sleazy. At least in my opinion.”
“I’m gonna tell your Master you cussed,” Francis said, grinning.
Joel grinned back at him. “And how will you know I didn’t do it on purpose, knowing you’d tell Master so I’ll get a spanking tonight?”
Francis huffed out a laugh. “Fine, fine. But honestly, I guess I did know that about myself. I’ve always taken the lead with some of my lovers pretty naturally. Not to this extent though, I don’t think. And Mark, he’s… he doesn’t read as submissive.”
“Not to someone vanilla, I would guess. But if I was to meet him, I could probably tell, especially if I had him in the same room with Master. You know him, he has that aura that makes people look subby.”
“Oh yeah. Aiden is pretty good at that,” Francis admitted. Aiden had the kind of dominant radiance not many people outside the scene had. It was hard to describe, but he elicited a reaction from a lot of people he met, without them even understanding what was going on.
“Look, he’s a cop, right? He can’t seem vulnerable in any way in that job. Besides, if he’s been closeted all his life… maybe it’s a gay thing, too? Sensitivity, putting yourself into a position where someone else is in control—that might read as feminine or gay or just weak to him.”
A woman with red hair and a chef’s jacket walked out of the kitchen with two bowls of something. A waitress followed her with a tray of coffees.
“How was your meal?” the chef asked as she put down the bowls for them.
“Dana, this is my dear friend Francis, Francis, this is our head chef Dana.”
Francis shook her hand, smiling. “The salmon was incredible. Definitely would recommend it to others.”
“Thank you, I like to come up with things and it’s nice to get a second opinion.” Dana looked pleased. “Here’s some of my peppermint ice cream and coffee for dessert. I’m going back to prep for the dinner service.”
