Blessed by light and burden of shadows. [ closed ]

[privatematter]

WHO Shannon Vaughn (privatematter), Eli Delacroix (aspectional).
WHAT Eli is an idiot; Shannon is curious. How exactly does D/s go down when you're not to the Having Sex stage in the relationship yet?
WHEN Late 1990. Seven months after Jumpscapades.
WHERE Shannon's place.

Shannon was anxious. Not in a bad way, but the anticipatory way that everyone got when something new and exciting was going up and there was no way it could go badly, but predicting the end outcome was almost impossible. It was a great feeling, but one that left Shannon feeling like a teen heading out to prom instead of a grown man getting ready to have fun with his boyfriend and potentially make some hilariously heartfelt gestures to express his trust in Eli. That was probably something he didn't do enough in general, actually.

Breakfast had been something simple. Pancakes, fresh cut fruit and sausage. Eli had come over pretty early to get ready, talking over the generalities of what they were going to do while the specifics were to wait for after they were done. Well, now they were done and sitting on the couch, and Shannon's leg was jiggling even under the hand he had placed on his knee to keep himself still. Lacey had wandered off after breakfast, stomach filled with her own food and presumably was napping on the foot of the bed in Shannon's room. Probably for the better, really.

"So," he said, ignoring the obvious tell he was giving off. If Eli took it for misapprehension, then Shannon was going to definitely lean over and smack him. "Where do we start?"

Comments

[privatematter]

There was a flare of defiance in Shannon's eyes at the scolding. While he said nothing and let Eli direct him as he pleased, he balled his hands up halfway and finished fixing the boot. How else was he supposed to speak? The idea of dressing Eli up in all that amazing leather himself was grand, but not enough for Shannon to drop the attitude entirely.

He dropped his hands to his side, licked at his dry lips and said nothing. Eli hadn't posed any questions. Just issued an order he wasn't sure how to follow.

[aspectional]

Defiance was what he expected from that and once his boot was finished being done up, he rose to a standing position and stepped back. Well, now it was time for something a little different. "Stand up and then hold your hands out in front of you," he commanded, his voice bearing no hint of the previous displeasure. Eli moved to his bag, digging through it until he found a soft rope and took it out, alongside a sport bottle, which he clipped to a belt loop.

Grabbing Shannon's hands, Eli started to tied them together securely with the rope. Once he did that, he pushed his bound hands down and then moved to stand beside him, his hand going to the back of his neck like he had done when they first started. "I am going to lead you somewhere. When we get there, I will help you back down to your knees. You will then not do anything until I give you an order. Do you understand?"

[privatematter]

Whatever Shannon had been expecting Eli to do in follow-up for the little show, tying up his hands hadn't been on the list. Well, it had somewhere (he'd done a modicum of research as well as he could being a blind man in the nineties, thank you), but not in a situation like this. His head tilted at the sound of hollow plastic, the click of the clip and things got even more confusing for him. What was Eli getting up to now?

Nothing really screamed any sort of alarm bells, however, and so Shannon allowed himself a nod. Partially to show that he'd heard, and partially to feel the leather gloves against the nape of his neck. "Yes, sir," he said. That was the easiest way to answer, no chance for him to say something out of line again. He would do this and he'd do it well. Maybe he'd get another kiss for it.

[aspectional]

As soon as Eli heard his answer, he led Shannon to the kitchen and then helped him back down to his knees as he said he would. After all, the Dom's job was to take care of his sub and he wasn't going to be lax in that. When he was sure Shannon was on his knees properly, Eli straightened up and unclipped the bottle from his pants, taking off the cap as he went over to the sink and filled up the bottle with water.

Once that was done, he went back over to Shannon while screwing the cap on tightly. Kneeling down, he studied Shannon carefully and popped open the top of the cap and brushed it against his lips. "Drink this," he said softly, his free hand reaching down and grabbing a piece of rope he had left hanging for this express purpose, so Shannon wouldn't try for holding the bottle.

[privatematter]

Once they'd started to move, it was easy to figure out where Eli was taking Shannon. His confusion only doubled when they got there and Eli guided him onto his knees (which ended up being pretty necessary, as Shannon certainly did not possess the balance to do it with his hands bound up) and he heard the sink run. This couldn't be some kind of punishment for talking back. Water wouldn't be a punishment.

It was good foresight on Eli's part, as Shannon instinctively brought his arms up to try and cup the bottle himself. He grunted when they were brought up short, tracing the tension back to Eli and for a moment he didn't move at all. Slowly, he let his hands fall back down to his lap and tilted his head forward to wrap his lips around the spout of the bottle and started to drink. As he did, he let his eyes close to hide the feelings getting mixed up and around at Eli's attention. This was definitely something Shannon could do for himself even if they were playing their power game right now. What did it mean that Eli was still commanding the situation? He was grateful for the water, for Eli's consideration to his odd metabolism, but confused at Eli keeping him from doing it himself.

[aspectional]

It wasn't meant to be a punishment. If Eli wanted to punish him, he would definitely let him know what was and wasn't punishment for his mind to filter things properly and didn't cause him to be on edge about every new thing they did together. There was a reason for everything Eli did, even if Shannon didn't realize what exactly they were yet. He was teaching him and while it might not make sense to Shannon, it would soon enough.

While he let him drink, the hand holding onto the rope let go of it to hold onto one of Shannon's hands, squeezing it gently. It was like he could tell that there was some conflict underneath and was trying to comfort him. He did want to make sure this all went well for the both of them. "Let me know when you've had enough water by squeezing my hand twice," said Eli as he kept an eye on Shannon. This was a two way street and they both needed to work together for this to not fall apart on them.

[privatematter]

There was enough trust from Shannon that he would take whatever licks Eli might dole out. He just wasn't sure when they were coming, or how exactly punishments were to be made. He was beginning to see that this wasn't a punishment, but still couldn't puzzle out the reason for the rope all of a sudden. Perhaps it was just to distract him.

Shannon couldn't help it. When Eli took his hand, he curled his fingers around it, shifting his other hand to try and add it. He was too thirsty to have need of the command, pausing only long enough to take a breath and let air fill the bottle again as he drained it. Once it seemed to him that the bottle was empty, Shannon finally squeezed once, twice in succession and let his head dip down, away from the lip of the bottle.

[aspectional]

When Shannon was done, Eli pulled the bottle away and shook it to see if there was anything left. Finding it to be empty, he smiled softly and leaned in to kiss him. He did very well with this and definitely deserved a reward, even if the kiss was quick and this time didn't involve any hair petting. "Good boy," Eli said as he pulled away and clipped the bottle to his pants once again. "Did you get enough to drink or did you want more?"

[privatematter]

Despite his bound hands, despite the order not to do anything unless ordered to, Shannon leaned forward to try and keep the kiss lasting longer. Now he was just being greedy, buying time for the bubble of warmth and safety. His hands automatically clung to the one Eli still had in his grip as if to keep his balance with the movement; it didn't help all that much, as he still ended up wobbling from his unfamiliarity with his position and how to work his center of balance while kneeling.

Against his wishes, the kiss ended and Shannon sighed softly. "Not yet," he answered. He was good enough to last for now. He was sure Eli must have had other plans to follow through on, after all.

[aspectional]

The moment Shannon started to wobble, Eli automatically put a hand on his shoulder to steady him. Shannon was lucky that Eli was distracted from him trying to lengthen the kiss to make sure he didn't fall over and hurt himself. When he was sure Shannon wasn't going to topple over, he let go of his shoulder and removed his other hand from Shannon's grasp.

Grabbing Shannon's bound wrists, he moved his arms so that they went over Eli's head and hooked around his neck. He then grabbed onto Shannon underneath his armpits and pulled both Shannon and himself up into a standing position where Eli seemed to pull him into a hug and picked him up. "Wrap your legs around me," he ordered calmly, waiting to see if he would do so.

[privatematter]

Again with the unexpected decisions. Shannon grunted at being picked up, unable to stop the "What?" that popped out with it, the instinctive motion of reaching back and trying to place his feet on the ground. He knew by the placement of his arms around Eli's neck and the way he was being held up exactly what Eli wanted, but that didn't jive. Shannon was very used to following his instincts, and needing to be carried anywhere instead of being directed or memorizing the path himself was not anywhere in his skillset.

The surprise was making him forget his place. "What happened to leading me around?" he asked as if to stall.

[aspectional]

That was too much for Eli to let Shannon get away with and he reached down and gave Shannon a hard smack on his thigh to pull his attention away from the carrying for a moment. It was enough to sting, but not enough to cause any sort of damage. "Don't forget your place or I'll do more than that to you," he warned, sounding serious enough that it looked like he'd go through with it. "Now wrap your legs around me."

[privatematter]

For lack of any other available motion, Shannon rocked with the smack and buried his head along the crook of Eli's neck and collarbone to hide his gasp. The leather glove Eli was wearing added to the sting against his unprotected skin and he took a few breaths through his nose to let it begin to fade. Once the pain was still there but dissipating, he pulled his legs up and let them encircle Eli's waist, hooking his ankles together to keep himself from slipping. There was no thought of a safeword in his mind, the slap hadn't been that bad, just the notion that Shannon couldn't conceive why he should keep fighting it when Eli was obviously very determined.

[aspectional]

At Shannon's reaction to the smack, Eli rubs his back to try and soothe him, his head turning so that he can speak to him. He doesn't like punishing his subs, but he knows that it helps when it's needed, especially with a beginner like Shannon who needed to be taught properly so that he didn't learn bad behavior. "It's okay now, punishment's over. I'm not angry with you," he said gently, making sure he knew that once the punishment was given, he wouldn't be disappointed by that mistake from then on. "It's back to our regularly scheduled program now, okay?"

[privatematter]

Hearing those words went a long way. His breathing beginning to even out, Shannon nodded against Eli's neck, then huffed and placed his chin against his own arm instead to keep his glasses from pressing painfully into his temple. "Yes sir," he mumbled. Eli being angry at him was indeed a worry, something that he figured was being exasperated by his currently-heightened emotions. This crisscross of having control, giving control and not being sure what Eli was going to do with the control was sending him outside his realm of expertise entirely.

[aspectional]

As soon as he felt Shannon starting to calm and his response, Eli kissed him on his jaw to give him one last bit of comfort before they moved on. Adjusting his arms to make sure he doesn't drop him, Eli started to walk around the place, not really going one place or another, doing so to make Shannon lose his sense of direction. He wants to force Shannon to lose every bit of control so he can truly get him to submit for him. All during the walk, he is intensely focused on Shannon and waiting for the right response. He doesn't want to start too early or wait too long as either could be potentially disastrous.

[privatematter]

At first, Shannon kept a general idea of where they were as a matter of course. However, as Eli moved with a different stride and speed than Shannon usually did, mixed with Shannon's own position of facing backward an his feet no longer touching the floor, it started to get fuzzy. Try as he might, after a few rotations Shannon had lost his sense of placement somewhere around what he hoped was the dining room but he couldn't really be sure. His hold around Eli tightened without conscious thought.

Being lost in his own home, which was relatively small but perfect for just himself and Lacey, was a terrifying prospect. Eli was not giving him any hints to his location, no bumps or pauses or turns that made sense. As they continued to move, Shannon found himself starting to shake as he anticipated them crashing or tripping or Shannon simply never finding his location again. Where was he? Where was Eli taking him that he couldn't piece it together? Maybe he should put his feet down again, take the smack and put a stop to this... Shannon had to know where he was.

[aspectional]

There it was, the breaking point that he was looking for. The tighter hold was an obvious tell, but the wrong one and if he had acted on that, it would have been too soon. It was the shaking that he had been waiting on, knowing that he's in the sweet spot he needs to pull off the riskiest move he could have done their first time out successfully.

He takes a couple steps forward to press Shannon's back up against a wall, far enough away from anything that Shannon wouldn't be able to touch something that could clue him in on their location. "Hey, it's alright, just listen to my voice and focus on me, okay? I've got you and you're safe. Trust me, I'll get you through this." His voice is as soft and soothing as he can get it, his left hand coming up and resting on the back of Shannon's neck. He's not touching the hair yet, but that will be happening soon.

[privatematter]

Shannon whimpered. He was against the wall, but his sense of direction was not helped by the grounding at all. In fact, it seemed to hurt it even more as he should have been able to place something by their position but there was nothing to grasp onto. His head automatically pressed backward to try and straighten his spine, shaking it against Eli's words of comfort. That was all well and good, but where were they?

Yet Eli continued to speak, the same soothing tone, the same calm cadence. Eli wanted Shannon to focus on him, but how could he when he didn't know where they were? It wasn't fair that Eli was using Shannon's blindness against him. Eli had to know what he was doing when he'd started meandering around. Eli wanted to show him how these sorts of relationships could work, built on trust and understanding. How was this supposed to make Shannon trust Eli more? Eli knew what he was doing whereas Shannon was still utterly naive. Eli wasn't angry with him, he had said so. Eli was just trying to talk to him now.

With a groan, Shannon shook his head again. Behind Eli's head, his hands began to flex while he sporadically tugged at the binding. He was lost, and Eli... Eli wasn't.

[aspectional]

"Focus on me." His words are still strangely soothing, but there's the obvious edge of a command in his voice. This is a delicate situation and Eli isn't going to back down now. No, this calls for him to push more. "I'm your eyes, I know where you are. You know where we are. This is the only place that matters. You're here with me. I would never lead you astray, trust me."

His left hand moved up into Shannon's hair, fingers burying deep into it to massage his scalp. He wants him to relax, to focus on him and only him, and this is the one way he really knows how. As soon as he gets a good rhythm going for the hair petting, Eli kissed him forcefully, pressing him up against the wall even more as he did. If he original plan didn't work, then he was just going to short his brain out with the best damn kiss Eli's ever given.

[privatematter]

There was an awful lot of comfort going on in those few moments. Eli's words carried a confidence and control to it that stopped Shannon's hopeless shaking of his head. When Eli started to card his hand through his sub's hair, thoughts started to fizzle out from his mind leaving only the vestiges of certainty echoing from Eli himself. Eli was there. All Shannon wanted to know was where Eli was, and he was right there.

Shannon didn't even try to bite back the moan of pleasure as Eli kissed him. He let Eli in immediately, returning the kiss with a fervor powered by fear forgotten. Pleasure rode through his body as Eli did not let up, and Shannon returned the favor by being as reactive and positive as he could. He brought his bound hands closer together, trying to use them and his legs to pull Eli even closer against himself; Eli was here and he wanted Eli to be closer, wanted to make sure the moment would never end. What else did he have to worry about when Eli could take care of whatever got in their way?

[aspectional]

Now that was what Eli was trying to achieve. His risky plan paid off big time and be way overjoyed by the fact. The big obstacle now was making sure that he stayed like this for a while longer. He knew it was going to wear off soon enough, especially if he stopped making out and petting his hair, so he wasn't going to stop and see just how longer he could prolong it, as well as find out if he could make it last through tying him up on a bed. There was only one way to find out and that was by doing.

His right hand moved to Shannon's leg and pushed it more against him, trying to urge Shannon to tighten his legs around him as much as he could. He then pulled away from the wall and made his way to where his bag was on the floor, squatting down carefully while his free arm hooked the bag by its straps and he carried it at his elbow. Getting to the spare bedroom was easier, only having to really worry about the door as he kept up the making out and hair petting to keep him nice and distracted from what he was doing. Slipping the bag down and tossing it to the opposite side of the bed, Eli slowly and carefully lowered Shannon and himself onto the bed, not once interrupting the kiss or his petting.

[privatematter]

If Shannon could have noticed anything aside from the feel of his body against Eli's, skin against warmed leather and soft lips meeting in between, he probably wouldn't have even tried. This was what he wanted, Eli's attention and care and everything else came afterward. When prompted, his legs tightened up accordingly and he put more of his weight onto his arms as best he could without injuring Eli. His world had narrowed into the single pinpoint of his Dom and sensations making him quiver all the way down his spine.

When they were laid out on the bed, he hardly noticed. It should have been a sign to tell him where he was, but it no longer mattered. Lack of pressure on his arms to hold his weight simply meant he could place them between their two bodies, press even more of himself into the kiss and warmth being offered. Getting him to actually let go of Eli while he was so thoroughly taken up by the task at hand was going to be interesting.

[aspectional]

For the moment, Eli took advantage of Shannon's pinpoint attention and focused on him completely, his right hand going to Shannon's hip and slowly sliding up his body. It was definitely a wonderful experience, having someone focused completely on him, and Eli wanted to savor it as much as he could.

After a little bit, he realized that he had come in here with a plan and grabbed at his bag, searching by touch for the leather and rope shackles he was planning on using on his sub. It didn't take him long to find them and pull them out. Placing them at his side, he then worked on untying the ropes from Shannon's wrists. One handed was going to be a pain, so instead he took his hand from Shannon's hair and quickly undid the knot before he plunged his left hand back into his hair.

[privatematter]

There was a definite sound of protest when Eli removed his left hand, however brief that absence lasted. He wiggled his body at the touch along his side, long-ticklish nerves yelping out in joy and making his back arch off the bed. His hands were freed soon after and the sub had no other option but to feel out his Dom and categorize whatever parts he could. They had done the touchy-feely making out before, but this was so much better. It was exploration, it was water to a dying plant, it was everything the sub needed. His hand drifted to the bottom of his Dom's shirt, slipping in underneath and splaying out along his abdomen to begin a rhythmic rubbing with his thumb in time with the Dom's similar ministrations in his hair; his other hand went up behind the Dom's neck to hold him there, to tease at the soft hairs at his nape.

He could have honestly stayed there all day. Loving, and being loved and protected was all he needed, all he could fathom wanting.