The Pied Piper of D/s

This is the kind of prompt I like! :) It's obviously up on AO3 as well!

Day 18: Mine

“Mine.”

The unexpected growl against the nape of his neck sent a shiver down Blaine’s spine. He wriggled in Kurt’s tight embrace. “Always,” he whispered into the darkness.

But Kurt didn’t respond. His slow, even breathing told Blaine he was asleep. Talking in his sleep. Blaine’s cock swelled against its cage.

Kurt wasn’t usually possessive. At least not after their first crazy week of figuring each other out. And Blaine didn’t need Kurt to be possessive. Blaine’s kinks were about worshipping and serving and being cherished. But that rumbled mine had stirred something deep inside him.

He wriggled again, experimenting.

“Mmmm-mmm,” Kurt breathed a negation, holding Blaine tight. “Mine.”

Hot pleasure ran through Blaine’s body and he couldn’t hold back a moan. The thought that, even asleep, Kurt could twist him up and turn him on so thoroughly . . . well, the thought twisted him up and thoroughly turned him on. Blaine’s arms were trapped against his body by Kurt’s embrace, his cock was trapped by Kurt’s cage, his heart was trapped by their bond, and he was happy to lay here all night, wallowing in the eroticism of all of those predicaments.

“Blaine?” Kurt’s voice was sleep-soft, no trace of a growl.

“Did I wake you up? I’m sorry.”

“You’re breathing funny.”

“Sorry,” Blaine said again, smiling.

“Everything okay?”

“Everything’s perfect.”

“Then why are you breathing funny?”

Blaine had to think about how to answer that. “Sexy dream,” he finally said.

“Mmmm. Was I there?”

“Do you even have to ask? You are my sexy dream. You know why?”

“Why?”

“Because I’m yours,” Blaine said, pitching his voice as deep as he could.

“Mmm. I like the way you say that.”

“So do I.” Blaine guided Kurt’s hand down to where his cage rocked gently with the throbbing of his cock.

“You really like it,” Kurt said as he thumbed the flesh pushing through the steel bars.

This one was a challenge! Happily the next two prompts are much more EF-friendly! As always you can hop over to AO3 to read if you like!

“New glasses?” Blaine asked as he hung his jacket in the closet.

Kurt had one hand on the living room wall and his eyes, behind dark, semi-transparent lenses, took a circuitous route to focus on Blaine. “No. Well, yes, I guess. Connie gave them to me. They’re augmented something-or-others. I’m not even here, really. I think I’m standing in the Colosseum.”

“In Rome?”

“That’s the one.”

“Am I there? I mean, can you see me?”

Kurt turned a slow pirouette. “I think so? There are a lot of people here. It might be a live feed? With tourists?”

“And why did Connie give them to you?” Blaine asked.

“She says I should be more involved in – virtual messaging she called it. I think the glasses are connected to the studio’s Fly account. So I can share things with our followers. Apparently we have a lot of them.”

Blaine smiled at him. “Of course you do. Well better you than me. I’m too old for that kind of thing.”

“Don’t be silly. I’m sure you could do it if you wanted to. We have to think young if we’re going to feel young.” Kurt pushed the glasses down his nose and looked over them at Blaine. “Speaking of which, how did your appointment go?”

Blaine grinned at him. “He said the physical therapy was completely successful. My knee is cleared for any and all activity.” He sidled closer and slid an arm around Kurt’s waist. “And you know what that means?”

“What?” Kurt asked with a smile.

“It means I’m allowed to kneel for you again. Whenever and wherever you want.”

“Finally!”

“In fact, unless you have other plans I’m going to strip right now and start making up for lost time.”

“I can’t think of . . . oh.” Kurt leaned away from Blaine and his eyes shifted, still pointing at Blaine but not focused on him.

“What oh?” Blaine asked.

Kurt snatched the glasses off. A blush bloomed on his cheeks. “Oh, um . . .”

“Kurt.”

“It’s possible you just said that for a global audience of my followers.”

“What? Kurt!”

“Well I didn’t know! I don’t know how it all works. I thought I was just testing it.”

“So how do you know people heard me? Maybe you weren’t connected.”

Kurt ducked his head. “There are . . . comments.”

Blaine’s stomach clenched. “Comments?! What . . . no, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”

“I mean. They were complimentary.”

“That doesn’t make it any better Kurt!” Blaine pulled the glasses from Kurt’s hand. “Are they still on?”

“I don’t know! I told you I didn’t know how it worked.”

“Well do something! Call Connie. Make her turn it off.”

“Right!” Kurt dropped the glasses on the coffee table and picked up his phone.

“Don’t just leave them there!” Blaine said. “What if they’re still listening?”

“Oh dear god!” Kurt ran for the kitchen and came back with a dishtowel. He wrapped it around the glasses then shoved them, towel and all, in the drawer of their end table. “There! Is that okay? Can I call now?” He didn’t wait for Blaine to answer.

Several hours, two phone calls, and one emergency lesson in VR glasses later, they sat on the couch an arm’s length apart with the now-inert glasses on the coffee table. Kurt looked so abashed that it was hard for Blaine to maintain his righteous indignation. But he was trying.

“Connie said there’s really no harm done,” Kurt said. “I mean, half the population is submissive, and kneeling is a basic submissive need.”

“Kurt. People in Malaysia heard me offering to strip for you.”

“One person in Malaysia,” Kurt corrected. “That’s what Connie said. I think it’s really late there? It was mostly Europe. And the Americas. I seem to have a lot of followers in Brazil. You probably would too after this. If you had a Fly account. Connie said you should think about getting one.”

Blaine couldn’t find words to respond. He put his head in his hands and sighed.

“And she said all the comments were really supportive. I mean, there were a couple ageist idiots, but the global consensus is that you’re a silver fox.”

Blaine lifted his head and stared. “Who even says silver fox anymore?”

“My followers?” Kurt did the one-shoulder shrug that, when paired with his lopsided contrite smile, Blaine had never been able to resist. “I mean. They’re not wrong.”

“Flattery isn’t going to get you anywhere.”

“Does that mean the kneeling thing is out of the question?” Kurt asked.

Blaine almost sincerely wished it was. But they both knew differently. Kurt inched closer to Blaine. “Tell you what. I’ll take the glasses out to the shed. Far, far away. And when I come back, you could be in your pajamas in bed. Or you could be naked waiting for me to come back and fuck your face really, really slowly, while you hump the floor and moan.” He jumped up, snatched the glasses, and headed for the back door.

Hi guys! I'm still here! I was out of town for a few weeks visiting Mr. Lil, who is working away from home, then came back to start a kitchen renovation, which meant packing the kitchen, setting up the temporary kitchen, etc. But I'm back to a writing routine finally! So we continue with Klaine Advent 2021! And here's your magic carpet to AO3 if you prefer!

Day 16: Chance

Blaine took the stairs up to their apartment two at a time. He still didn’t trust the rickety elevator, and for anyone under the age of seventy walking was faster anyhow. Not that he was rushing. Yes, it was Friday and yes, getting to Kurt on Friday nights had been his driving force since they’d met, but they were in New York now. They had each other every night. There was no need to rush just because it was Friday. But old habits died hard. Blaine had to stop and quiet his breathing before he unlocked their door.

He was greeted by a delicious smell and Kurt’s soprano singing out, “Hey sweetie!” as he came through the door. He left his jacket in the closet and beelined for his soulmate. He wrapped his arms around Kurt from behind but Kurt bumped him back with his hip.

“Critical moment!” he said and Blaine, already used to this kind of thing, backed away. “Go sit down and wait for me. I won’t be long. And I have a surprise for you, if you’re good.”

Well if that wasn’t enough to slam Blaine right back into his Lima Friday Night headspace, the fact that he found himself on his knees instead of on the couch, without having decided to fall to them, certainly was. Blaine had a lot of happy places, but on his knees simply waiting for Kurt was one of the happiest. He folded his arms behind him into formal position and listed to the sounds Kurt made moving around the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on something wonderful before sliding it into the oven.

Eventually Kurt’s feet moved in Blaine’s direction. He plopped onto the couch with a sigh and reached out to stroke Blaine’s curls. “Look at you, all old school Friday night. You can relax now. I’m here.”

Blaine let his arms fall to his lap and smiled up at Kurt. “Hey,” he said softly.

“Hey sweetie. How was your day?”

Kurt looked a little worried but Blaine understood. Formal position was Blaine’s go-to when he needed to calm himself.

“It was great. I promise,” Blaine reassured him. “This just felt right tonight. Because I’m so happy.”

Kurt leaned over and kissed him, lips soft and gentle. “That’s good,” he said when he was done with Blaine’s lips, “because I had an idea.”

“I like your ideas.”

Kurt smiled. “You’ll like this one. I’m feeling like giving you a chance to fuck me.”

Blaine’s belly twisted like a wrung-out dishrag and his cock stood up and applauded. “A chance?” he breathed. “What do I have to do?”

Kurt considered. “I’m thinking . . . ask me.”

“Ask? To fuck you? It’s that simple?”

Kurt’s eyes took on a dangerous twinkle. “Ask me and find out.”

Blaine had to wait for a shiver to roll down his spine before he could answer. “Thank you.”

Kurt peered at him. “Not what I was expecting when I told you to ask me.”

“I’m sorry,” Blaine said. “I can’t help it. You just make me so happy.”

“Ah. So it’s that kind of night.”

“I mean it, Kurt. You’ve pushed yourself so far, and you’ve trusted me and trusted our bond and I’m just really lucky to have you.”

“All this because I’m willing to let you fuck me?”

“All this because you’re the best soulmate in the universe.”

Kurt leaned back on the sofa and his smile was equal parts loving and dangerous. “Better be careful. I might decide to just let you tell me how awesome I am all night. Instead of the fucking.”

“I would. I’d be perfectly happy to kneel here until the sun comes up telling you how amazing you are. Or,” Blaine pulled his arms back to formal position and ducked his head in a submissive bow, “you could let me fuck you while I tell you how amazing you are.”

“You think you’re up for that?”

Blaine’s cock flexed its response. “I am most definitely up for that.”

Kurt considered. “I don’t know. You still haven’t asked me.”

But Blaine had this. “Please,” he breathed, expertly walking the line between humility and need. “Please let me worship you while I fuck you, Master.”

“Mmmm. Very nice. Keep it up and I might even let you come.” He leaned close, his lips brushing Blaine’s ear. “Inside me.” Then he was gone, into the kitchen to check on his concoction.

Still chugging forward! :) Obligatory AO3 link!

Day 15: Appendix

“Blaine?”

Blaine rushed to the chair next to the bed and slid his hand into Kurt’s. “I’m here, baby. How are you feeling?”

Kurt turned his head toward Blaine, his eyes soft and unfocused. “Dizzy. Blaine?”

“Yes?”

“I love you so much.”

“I know, honey. The doctor said everything went fine. And dizzy is normal.”

“I mean I really, really love you.”

Blaine glanced up at the nurse hovering over the machine that was tracking Kurt’s vitals. She smiled at him. “It’s okay. He’s not fully out of the anesthesia yet. He may ramble for a while. And he probably won’t remember any of it once he’s really awake.”

“I’m completely awake,” Kurt said but his voice was soft and slurred. “Blaine?”

“Hmmm?”

Kurt beckoned him close. “Did they take out my suspendix?”

“Your appendix, honey. Remember?”

“What did I say?”

Blaine smiled. “You said suspendix.”

Kurt’s forehead creased. “My tongue isn’t working. Ap-pen-dix.” His face relaxed and he smiled at Blaine.  “Suspendix is when I hang you from the ceiling and torture you.”

Blaine felt his face go hot. He couldn’t bear to look up at the nurse. “Appendix, that’s right,” he said, ignoring the other part. “You had an operation.”

The nurse’s hand brushed Blaine’s shoulder. “Believe me, that’s far from the most humiliating thing I’ve heard in post-op.”

Kurt gave her a loopy smile. “It’s fine. He likes to be humiliated. But you have to get it exactly right. It took me a long time to figure it out. Not like the bondage. That’s easy. Just wave a rope in his direction and he’s hard.”

“Kurt . . .” Blaine pleaded.

“What? You like bondage. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I love tying you up. I’m not ashamed to admit it.”

“He really can’t control it,” the nurse said. “I’ll give you some privacy as soon as I get this last reading.” She pushed a button on the machine, all business, for which Blaine was inexpressibly grateful.

“Don’t deny it, Blaine. Or I might have to punish you.”

“Kurt!”

“Remember to ask the doctor how long before I can punish you. I’m probably not allowed to swing a paddle for a while. But there’s always the humbler and a crop. A crop is light. Just the wrist really. I don’t think the doctor would mind if I crop your balls, do you?”

Blaine let his head drop onto the bed.

“Still not the worst,” the nurse murmured. “I’ll leave you to it,” she said louder. “Mr. Hummel, just press the call button if you need anything.”

As soon as she was gone Kurt lapsed into silence. Of course. Blaine stayed where he was though, just in case. Eventually a hand came down on Blaine’s head, fingers carding through his curls

“Blaine?” Kurt said softly. “Is the operation over? And why are you hiding in the bed?”

More fun! I feel so productive! ;) Here's your link to AO3...

Day 14: Offend

Kurt had to take a moment, after his office door swung shut behind Paolo, before he could bring himself to turn and look at Blaine. Blaine was very much looking at him.

“He didn’t mean to offend you, sweetie,” Kurt tried.

Blaine looked harder.

“Okay he did mean to offend you, but that’s just Paolo. He means to offend everyone. It’s how he makes himself feel superior.”

Blaine must have been holding his breath because he blew it out in a slow, eloquent stream before saying, “I have never once heard him say anything remotely offensive to you.”

“Well, yes, but that’s because I’m still his golden boy. Eventually he’ll get tired of the novelty and I’ll be paddling frantically away in the same boat as everyone else.”

Blaine’s eyes narrowed. “It’s been six years, four modeling campaigns, and two seasonal collections. It’s not because you’re new, Kurt. It’s because you’re . . . you. And I’m with you.”

Kurt went back to his desk and settled behind his latest renderings. “If you’re suggesting that he’s jealous in some way –”

“If the shoe fits.”

“– that’s completely ridiculous because we’re both doms. What in the world would he do with me?”

Blaine turned to the mirror and started stripping out of the suit they’d been fitting. “People switch, you know. Also not every sexual encounter has to include bondage. I’m pretty sure we’ve simply fucked at least once or twice.”

“There’s no need for sarcasm,” Kurt said, rushing to pull Blaine’s hands away from the buttons he was abusing. “And don’t take it out on the suit. Paolo didn’t make it. I did. I made it specially for you because I love and value you.”

Blaine struggled against Kurt’s hands before surrendering and letting him open the jacket and slip it off. “There’s no need to coddle me either,” he said. “I’m allowed to be upset.”

“Of course you are, sweetie.”

“Coddling,” Blaine groused, but his body began to relax under Kurt’s ministrations. He let Kurt lift one hand, then the other, undoing cuff buttons.

“Coddling you is my prerogative. We all need a little coddling sometimes.”

“Which makes it sound like you’re trying to change the subject.”

“What was the subject?” Kurt asked as he hung up the dress shirt and turned back to Blaine’s trousers.

“How Paolo treats me. Or mistreats, actually.”

Blaine reached for his zipper but Kurt again pushed his hands away. “Now you’re being dramatic. He doesn’t mistreat you, he’s just rude. He’s a terribly rude man. But you’ll always have me to protect you.”

Blaine sighed. “I do know it’s not really about me. And I know he’s rude to everyone except you. It’s just hard for me because you’re my soulmate.”

“Which means that I am exclusively, always yours, Blaine. No matter what Paolo thinks, says, or does.” Kurt unzipped Blaine’s trousers and slid them down his hips, exposing royal blue silk panties. “Now whoever made you wear these, they were definitely mistreating you.”

That earned Kurt a rueful half-smile. “That’s different. I want you to humiliate me. In the right way. I signed a contract and everything.”

Kurt slipped his hand in Blaine’s and squeezed. “And I do know there’s a wrong way and I know that Paolo can be an asshole, but we have what we have because of him.”

“Because of you. And your talent.”

“And the opportunities he’s given me to express it. You know it’s true.”

Blaine sighed. “I do. I get that he’s a necessary evil. It just sucks.”

“I can talk to him.”

“Definitely not. I’ve seen him when he senses weakness. I will continue pretending that I don’t even notice. For you. Because you asked me to and I am,” he smiled for real now, “so fucking obedient.”

He looked suddenly so delicious there, naked except for the panties, his cock already thickening just from talking about obedience, that Kurt grabbed his street clothes and shoved them into his surprised arms.

“You’d better get dressed before I can’t wait till tonight and have to take you right here over the desk,” he said with a grin.

“Would that be so bad?” Blaine asked.

Kurt nodded toward the door. “That doesn’t have a lock. And Paolo has never even heard of knocking.”

“I will see you at home then,” Blaine said as he dressed.

I really couldn't resist this one! For those of you who want to see it, the painting Kurt and Blaine are looking at can be seen here. And you can get to the AO3 link here!

Day 13: Arrow

“Oh. Oh my.”

Kurt turned from an uninspiring painting of the Annunciation to see what Blaine was looking at and had to take a moment.

“Wow.”

“Right?” Blaine asked.

“Wow.”

They both stood silent in front of the painting. A bound young man with pale, luminous skin and rosebud lips was stretched against the tree he was tied to. Lithe muscles rippled under his skin. Adoring eyes pleaded toward heaven. The drape that barely circled his hips was only a whisper away from being pornographic.

Kurt was suddenly very aware that they were in public. There were other people in the gallery. That was definitely a shame. “What is it?” he asked Blaine.

“Saint Sebastian,” Blaine said. He leaned in to peer at the card. “It’s on loan. Which makes sense because there’s no way I would have missed this when I’ve been here before.”

“What’s with the arrows?”

Blaine took a step backward, closer to Kurt, a little too close under the circumstances. “He was martyred. They tied him to a tree and shot arrows at him.”

Kurt stared at the saint’s bound hands which hung loose and graceful despite the arrows piercing his flesh. “He looks like he liked it.”

“They always do,” Blaine said. “You know. The ecstasy of martyrdom.”

Kurt didn’t know about the ecstasy of martyrdom but he knew a gorgeous image of male suffering when he saw one. For a dying saint, Sebastian was giving God some serious come fuck me eyes. “Was he submissive?” he asked.

“Sebastian? I don’t know. I kind of feel like all those saints were. With the obedience and self-denial and chastity and all.”

“Let’s not forget flagellation,” Kurt said. He slipped an arm around Blaine’s waist and pulled him close, his eyes still fixed on the painting.

“Never forget flagellation,” Blaine said, craning his neck to give Kurt his best come fuck me eyes. His were even better than Saint Sebastian’s.

Kurt tightened his grip and bent low to Blaine’s ear. “Let’s get out of here.”

***

“Hands, Blaine!”

Blaine groaned and forced his fists to open. “This isn’t easy you know. I’m not a painting. I react to pain.”

“I’m not exactly stabbing you with an arrow.” Kurt brandished the feather quill.

“Well it feels like you are.”

Kurt poked Blaine’s nipple with the pointy end of the quill, making him yelp. Then he poked it a second time for good measure.

“Ow!”

“You are so not getting into the spirit of this thing.”

Blaine let his head fall back against the door, between his upraised, bound arms. “You wanted to recreate the painting and you have. I like it Kurt. I do. I just also have human reactions.”

Kurt sighed. “I’m not talking about the image of the painting. I want to recreate what you said. The ecstasy of martyrdom.”

“My cock is hard. How much more ecstasy do you need?”

Kurt was quiet for a moment, studying Blaine. Then he touched the point of the quill lightly under Blaine’s collarbone and drew a gentle line ever so slowly across his chest. “The point,” he said as he lightly, lightly scratched, “is that Saint Sebastian welcomes the pain. He loves it because he’s suffering for his master. God, in his case, but the point stands. We don’t know if he was actually hard, because the evil painter hates us,” he let the quill trail downward, still gently, Blaine could feel gooseflesh in its wake, “but that’s not the point. And you being hard isn’t the point.” The quill reached Blaine’s groin and he sucked in a breath as Kurt let it slide across his balls. “The point is you welcome the suffering because it’s from your master. It opens you up. Your surrender isn’t in enduring, it’s in offering.”

As the quill teased his balls Blaine wanted to close his eyes but Kurt’s wouldn’t let him. They pinned him to the door as effectively as any arrow, and Blaine felt himself soften just as Kurt said, leaning into the anticipatory danger of the teasing quill point.

“When I give you pain, you welcome it.” The quill point stabbed deeper, quickly, then was gone. Blaine’s breath caught but his hands stayed as Kurt wanted them. “Better,” Kurt said with a smile. “You should open under the pain. Blossom under it.” Another stab, at the base of Blaine’s cock, and when he wanted to suck air in Blaine forced himself to breathe it out instead, imagining himself as a flower, opening and offering. “Don’t anticipate and don’t react. Long for it, and accept it whenever or wherever it comes.” The quill dragged up the length of Blaine’s cock and over the glans and Blaine let himself fall against the door and into Kurt’s words. His fingers were open, soft and graceful, reaching for Kurt’s gift. The sharp sting continued as Kurt drew patterns with the quill point on the head of Blaine’s cock and the familiar yet always surprising blend of pleasure and pain rewarded Blaine for his obedience.

“You got all that from a painting?” he murmured.

I'm stretching "invisible" here but we just had transparent! C'mon, random word generator! ;) AO3 here!

Day 12: Invisible

Blaine knelt in the dark. It wasn’t really dark, just dark for him behind a soft black blindfold that Kurt had recently added to their collection. It was their first time playing with it. Blaine had never really fantasized about blindfolds but apparently Kurt had, and Blaine loved Kurt and trusted him so here he was, naked, twisted into his formal position, and completely sightless.

Still at it! This one was fun! Obligatory AO3 link!

Day 11: Demonstrate

The club was darker than usual, with the demonstration platform spotlight in stark white light. Kurt found it a little disconcerting. The pale-skinned submissive kneeling in complicated bondage on the padded dais looked ghostly in the glow, almost alien, and his black-clad dominant seemed larger than life by comparison.

I totally messed up because Fan was supposed to be Day 9 and Transparent was 10 but I'm guessing no one cares at all! We'll just move along and pretend nothing happened. Here's a link to AO3!

Day 10: Fan

When the boy approached them, Blaine stepped away, as he always did. He was about to offer to take the picture, as he also always did, but this one was young enough to be a selfie professional. He’d posed and snapped and probably posted to whatever site the young folks were posting to these days before Blaine could open his mouth to speak.

Hi everyone! I'm back again again! ;) We all got Covid for Thanksgiving (first time so I can't complain) and battling that ran into the holidays and so we're just now getting back to our routines including my weekly writing get-together. So hopefully the words will keep coming now! Happy New Year everyone! Here's the magic link!

Day Nine: Transparent

Kurt was standing in front of the mirror, making important final adjustments to the knot of his tie, when Blaine appeared behind him, stretching up to hook his chin over Kurt’s shoulder.

For this one I decided to rewrite a classic Glee moment in EF form. Obviously in my world it's not their first "I love you" but I still like it. :) Here's the link!

Day 8: Cup

“So the song was called . . .?”

“My Cup. Yes.”

Blaine took a sip of his coffee. “And it was about . . .?”

“A cup.”

Onward and upward! We've arrived at 2021! The Year We Got Vaccinated. I'm so grateful for all of your likes and comments! And just that anyone is still reading these. I WILL finish! And after I do . . . who knows?? Meanwhile, here's your AO3 link!

Day Seven: Rhythm

“Please,” Blaine panted. “Kurt, please. I can’t take it anymore!”

“Oh I’m pretty sure you can,” Kurt said, altering his rhythm not one tiny bit.

I'm back! I took a week or so off to go on vacation with @pepperroxd @sparrow30 and @wingsofwriting . We had an amazing time but now I'm back to being a regular writer. It's working so far! This is (finally) the end of Advent 2020. After this we're on to Advent 2021! And don't forget you can read this on AO3 if you prefer!

Day Twenty-Four: Zealous

Blaine was pretty sure he was about to die.

He was bound about as tightly as he’d ever been, practically mummified by soft, inescapable rope that tied his arms to his torso and his legs to each other. Kurt had layered coil after coil until only Blaine’s nipples and his cock and balls – pulled up from between his legs and tied off with their own bit of rope – were bare. Kurt sat on the edge of the bed, assaulting Blaine’s body with the tiniest paintbrush Blaine had ever seen. It was the fifth in a series of increasingly smaller brushes that Kurt was using to bring Blaine to the edge of orgasm. It was, he’d said, an experiment. He had a stopwatch. He was taking notes on a laptop that sat open on Blaine’s thighs.

Thank you all for your good wishes etc! I'm still writing so it's working! :) And I'm so grateful for all of you here reading. Here's the AO3 link!

Day Twenty-Three: Yard

“Here, sweetheart,” Lars drawled, handing Kurt a freezing cold silver cup. “Mint julep. The cups are our housewarming gift to you.” He handed a second cup to Jeff, who was relaxing in one of the rockers, then leaned against a porch post with his own drink. “Well isn’t this bucolic. Very country squire, Kurt. I approve.”

So you know, give me a word like "worthless" in the EF 'verse and there's only really one place to go. ;) And you can go to AO3 if you prefer!

Day Twenty-Two: Worthless

He woke from a dream of being bound in iron to find that it wasn’t a dream at all. He lay, gasping, immobilized, unyielding bars wrapped tight around his chest and belly. For half a heartbeat panic bloomed in Kurt’s gut, but then the bars around him twitched and Blaine’s breath fanned the back of his neck as he grunted unintelligible, frantic sleep noises. Kurt’s heart, at least, relaxed. The rest of him tried not to squirm against Blaine’s death grip.

This was new.

Admittedly, just sharing a bed was still pretty new for Kurt, but it had been a couple of months now and while he often woke up in Blaine’s arms, he’d never felt imprisoned by them. He considered trying to go back to sleep, but both his arms were going numb, Blaine was still mumbling against his ear, and breathing was becoming an issue. Hoping for an easy out, Kurt squirmed gently against Blaine’s hold.

Blaine growled a denial and his grip tightened.

“Blaine?” Kurt whispered. “Honey you’re kind of hurting me.”

Nothing.

“Blaine?” Kurt tried again, louder this time. He managed to wriggle a hand to pat Blaine’s thigh. “I’m all for togetherness but I also like breathing.”

It still wasn’t enough. Kurt was pretty sure the feeling that he was suffocating was all in his head. So to speak. Still.

“Blaine!”

Behind him Blaine started and cried out but Kurt was ready. He wriggled around in Blaine’s loosened embrace and wrapped Blaine in his own arms, secure, but not suffocating. “I’m here, Blaine. You’re safe.”

Like a frightened child, Blaine burrowed into Kurt’s embrace, gaspy whimpers muffled against Kurt’s chest.

 “Hey, wake up. It’s okay. Come on.” Kurt stroked Blaine’s curls until the cries slowed, then stopped. When Blaine lifted his head and opened bleary eyes, Kurt gave him a reassuring smile.

“Kurt?”

“That’s right.” Kurt gently brushed the hair from Blaine’s forehead. “I think you were having a nightmare. And also giving me the full constrictor experience.”

Blaine’s head flopped back onto Kurt’s chest. “Oh god. And I woke you up. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, honey. Look on the bright side. After that squeezing I don’t think I’ll have any trouble fitting into my outfit for –”

Suddenly Blaine was shaking. A sob escaped his attempt to suppress it.

“Oh hey! It’s okay.” Kurt eased Blaine onto his back and stroked tears from his cheeks. The ease with which Blaine expressed emotion could still startle and alarm him. Kurt thought of himself as expressive, but when real things – things that mattered – were involved he could deflect like nobody’s business. But that wasn’t what Blaine needed.

“I guess it was a pretty bad nightmare?” he asked.

Blaine nodded.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Blaine shook his head, but a fresh sob belied his denial.

“Was it about before you met me?” Kurt pressed.

“Worse,” Blaine croaked.

“Please tell me. I think you’ll feel better if you do.”

Blaine sniffed. “You left me. We met, and I wasn’t good enough. And you left me.”

Kurt’s heart sank. Blaine didn’t show his insecurities often. He was still too busy being the adult – the experienced partner. But the shadows haunting his eyes told Kurt this was about more than just a nightmare. “You know that’s never going to happen, right?”

Blaine turned away, hiding his face as he spoke. “But it almost did, didn’t it?”

“Hey.” Kurt cupped Blaine’s cheek and ever so gently forced him to look at him. “Seriously. That was one moment. And it was scary but we got through it. And it wasn’t ever about you not being good enough. You could never not be good enough for me. I know you know that.”

Blaine’s head jerked in what might have been an attempt to nod. A failed attempt.

“Blaine,” Kurt said firmly, using his best dominant tone.

“Hmmm?”

“I know you know that.”

It must have been the right thing to say. Kurt breathed a sigh of relief as Blaine’s body finally relaxed against him. His arm curled around Kurt’s waist and he cuddled in again, this time without the frantic whimpering. “I promise I do,” he said, sounding like himself again. “You just have to understand. I felt so worthless for so long before I met you.”

“But never since, right?”

“Oh god, no Kurt. Never ever since. Scared sometimes. Angry occasionally. But you never make me feel anything less than perfect. My conscious brain knows that’s all in the past. But I guess my subconscious isn’t quite over it yet.”

“Well I will be here to give your subconscious a good talking to whenever it needs one. Because you are the most precious thing in my life. Nothing will ever be more precious than you.”

Blaine smiled, a smile that reached his eyes and everything. He pulled Kurt down and kissed him with soft, reassuring lips. “I know that. I know. Thank you for always showing me. And my subconscious.”

Hey look! Vanish! Pretty much what I did. :) Hi everyone! Surprise! Some of you remember from my previous posts that I had breast cancer this year. There's a long update over on AO3 but the nutshell is I'm through with treatment, I managed to avoid chemo (yay!) and my 10-year recurrence risk is pretty low so I will take it. I'm completely done with treatment and am cancer-free. Hooray! I'm still wading a bit through the psychological part - I'm sure that's going to take a bit. But I'm here! And I'm writing. I have a group of friends who are artists and we all decided to set a weekly get-together to make art. Well, they make art. I write. I'm hoping to get a couple of one-shots out a week until the Advents are all complete and then buckle down to Sure of You. I have a plan and I'm sticking with it! So here's the first of what I hope will be lots of Advent installments. I'm so grateful for any of you who are still here to read them! Here's the magic link to AO3.

Day Twenty-One: Vanish

“Blaine, sweetie, where did you put the . . .” Kurt stopped in the bedroom doorway, transfixed by the sight of his soulmate, naked, craning to look over his shoulder in the full-length mirror. He suppressed a smile; pulled it into a faux glower. “Again? Are you ever going to stop looking at those welts?”

Blaine sighed and untwisted to look at Kurt. “Yes. Because they’re gone.” He sounded desperately sad.

Kurt dropped the annoyed pretense. “Oh, honey. All marks vanish eventually. Unless you’ve done it wrong.”

“But I loved them.”

“Yes, I noticed. You’ve barely had clothes on since we did it,” Kurt said. “At first I thought it was because it hurt to be dressed but given how often you’re in here looking . . .”

“I’m going to miss them.”

“Me too sweetie.” It was true. They didn’t often play hard enough to leave those kind of marks on Blaine but their friend Jack had been facilitating a single-tail workshop and the very few times they’d played that way had always been peak experiences for Blaine. They’d come home with a short single-tail and they both loved using it but, well, it was a lot and Kurt had to be in a very specific headspace to want to hurt Blaine that way.

“I want more,” Blaine said, pulling Kurt out of his own head.

“I know you love the whip,” Kurt said as he crossed the room and took Blaine’s hands in his.

“I’m hearing a but.”

“But,” Kurt smiled, “it’s a lot for me.”

“I know.”

“I mean, it’s a classic for a reason,” Kurt said, “but it’s different from a paddle or the tawse. It’s not as . . . intimate? I’m not as close to you and I can’t see your face and I worry I’ll misjudge or –”

“You would never hurt me,” Blaine said with a certainty that still, after their years together, took Kurt’s breath away.

“Also, I think it might lose its novelty if we did it too often. We’re soulmates, you might remember. So if I think it’s best to save the honest-to-god whip for special occasions I suspect you think that too. Even if you don’t want to admit it.”

“You’re right.” Blaine pouted. “I don’t want to admit it.”

Kurt rewarded him for his honesty with a quick kiss. “I promise we’ll do it again. Of course we will. I am a dominant after all. You weren’t the only one staring at those welts every day. You have no idea how it made me feel knowing I’d put them there. With a freaking whip.”

Blaine quirked an eyebrow at Kurt. “You were incredible with it. Like every fantasy I’ve ever had. I was imagining you were a pirate captain and I was a very naughty deckhand.”

“Arghhh,” Kurt said.

“Exactly. Save that for next time. I want full roleplay. And at least twice as many welts.”

“Pretty demanding for a deckhand.”

“Naughty deckhand. I’m excellent at naughty. With the right incentive.” Blaine gave Kurt his own kiss and headed to the bathroom, bouncing his ass as he went. Naughty indeed.