Before Miles knew it, an energetic young thing of indeterminate gender was bounding over to him with two bundles of hot pink cotton rope in hand. "Ooh, will you tie me up for charity, Daddy? I love your tattoos!"
Are you even legal? Miles wanted to ask, but bit his tongue; the festival was very strict about checking ID at the gate. "Thanks! And absolutely, let me see your rope. Do you want a harness just around your chest like mine, or down farther?"
He hadn't expected how many young adults would be at the festival. He certainly hadn't expected how many would call him 'Daddy'. Being an actual father made that feel weird and wrong, but he could push away the discomfort for charity.
Darren had been right about lineups; soon they were working at the very back of the tent as the crowd of shoppers pushed their eager potential rope-bunnies in farther. The scent of spray-sunscreen and warm bodies made the air thick and stifling if he went too far from the fan misters. "Next year we're going to have to charge more," Darren murmured, giving Miles a wink asa pair of young twinks wearing little more than Miles got to the front of the line.
"Did you see there's a kiddie pool where people pee on each other?" one of them asked him, shocked and delighted.
"There's been lineups there since the festival opened," Miles told him with a laugh.
Fortunately, Miles had practiced enough to work through the increasing claustrophobia, and the soft cotton rope was forgiving. He managed to get through the ties more and more efficiently, even as the heat and the misting fans made his hands and other people's bodies slippery.
Every time things started to feel like too much, all he had to do was catch Darren's eye. His husband's silent pride and reassurance were more than enough to settle his nerves.
He'd trained for this, and Darren wouldn't let him fail. He could do this.
? ? ?
∞ 11 ∞
Knot-tty for Charity
Miles felt more confident as the morning went on, enough to talk to the festival-goers as he harnessed them. It was surprisingly easy to ask them about their Folsom experience, or kink, or answer their questions about Shibari. There were a couple of short lengths of jute in the booth as an object lesson, and Miles ended up hanging one from his belt. It was easy to wrap it around someone so they could feel the difference between the cotton and jute, and how tantalizingly unforgiving the jute was, even just around the wrists in a makeshift pair of cuffs.
To his disappointment, they were too busy to really be social, though the people from May's charity and the other booth boys at "Bound & Proud" were warm and friendly. He and Darren had a number of couples come through for harnesses who were cute and talkative, but they didn't really have time to get beyond niceties.
"I think we're going to have to do a beginner lesson at the bondage meetup group," Darren told him as he finished up another jute harness. "I've given out all of their cards."
"I'd like that," Miles replied, glad for an opportunity that would hopefully be slightly less hairy.
Darren beckoned the next pair forward - an eager, muscular man in minimal club wear and a puppy mask, and his smaller, shyer friend. "Hey guys, thanks so much for your donation. I'm Darren - I'll do your jute harness for you - and you can go see Miles for your blue one, sweetheart."
From the way the young man clutched his bundle of rope, he was unmistakably nervous. He was almost overdressed for the weather in a white, short-sleeved button-down shirt and capris, wide-eyed behind his glasses. Miles gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Hey, cutie. I'm Miles. What's your name?"
"Um - Chris. Sorry, I haven't really, um, done anything like this before." His hesitant smile was adorable.
Miles couldn't help but feel a bit of protective adoration for the young man. "It's alright. Everyone has to start somewhere. Don't worry, I get tied up all the time." He took the length of rope and began to uncoil it.
"You?" Chris's eyebrows rose. "But you're so strong?"
"Sure, but anyone can enjoy Shibari. Darren ties me up regularly. Here, let me just show you what it's going to feel like around your chest. Hold your arms up for me." It had been easy to follow Darren's lead, mimicking his own introduction even with the softer rope. "The first time I was put in Shibari, we spent ages just playing with the rope like this. Just getting used to the feel of being restrained and how it moves against your body."
It was delightfully easy to get the young man to relax, even laughing as Miles started to build his harness. He was adorable, eager and breathless, pulling out his phone to take down the information of the meetup group.
"The other kind of rope does look really good on Jay," he said softly, looking over to where Darren had run lengths of jute down between his friend's thighs on either side of his growing bulge.
Darren, catching their gaze, gave Miles a smile and a nod that was unmistakably encouraging.
Chris bit his lip as he looked up at Miles, dark eyes wide behind his glasses. "I don't suppose you could show me what it feels like, too?"
It was impossible to ignore the way the young man's soft, shy manner made his chest tighten. More importantly, Darrenwantedhim to act. "Give me your wrists," he murmured, pulling the length of jute from his belt.
Chris offered them up without question, breath coming faster as Miles looped and twisted the jute, pulling them tight together. "Oh.... It's hard...."
"It's a lot rougher than the cotton," Miles answered, his own voice unexpectedly husky. "The rope locks in on itself when you twist and knot it like this, so it won't budge, no matter how much you struggle." It made the young man draw a soft gasp, arching closer to him as a visible shudder ran through his body.
"What happens next?" he asked, breathless. "Now that I'm all tied up and helpless...."
