#signalsandcodes

Toronto winter rattled the windows. Inside the condo everything was warm, measured, intentional. They weren’t dressing for nightlife; they were dressing for terrain.

Coach moved first. He laid his gear out on the back of the couch: leather, latex, gloves, boots. Nothing glittered. Nothing begged attention. Everything meant something.

The latex compression shirt went on first, black, high-gloss, fitted tight across his chest in a way that made movement seem calculated. Leather gloves flexed over his hands, creaking softly. Leather pants rode low over heavy boots. Finally, the leather baseball cap slid backward over damp curls. The look didn’t ask questions. It answered them.

Wells stood at the mirror, weighing choices. Not for style; for code. Leather shorts vs leggings. Gold vs blue. Show vs signal.

He settled into black latex leggings, glossed clean, sculpting his legs with an athletic precision. A gold stripe down each side caught the light like a command. A gold latex tank, racerback, deep cut—framed his shoulders, and a gold chain, thick like hardware, dropped against his sternum.

Boots laced tight. Gold puffer thrown over his shoulder for the street.

Coach looked once, slow. No correction.

“Leather shorts would’ve been louder,” he said.

Wells shrugged. “Didn’t feel loud. Felt… right.”

Coach nodded. That was approval in his language.

The cab slid north through slush and salt. Wells sat contained, chain glinting. Coach sprawled, glove resting on his knee like punctuation.

Woody’s was bright, friendly, unbothered. Pop tracks, drag posters, a handful of boys in harness pre-gaming the same direction.

At the bar, Wells lifted a hand.

“Two Rye and Gingers.”

Local correctness. No fuss.

The bartender didn’t blink at leather and latex—this was the Village, not a surprise.

Wells slid Coach his drink. Coach tasted, approved with a quiet, “Mm.” Wells didn’t grin, but the corners of his mouth knew they could.

Movement here wasn’t dance yet. Just sway. Posture. Eyes.

Coach leaned back on one elbow, gloves creaking. Wells leaned forward, chain hanging.

The dynamic was already on the page.

Two drinks, fast but not sloppy, and Coach tapped the bar twice.

“Eagle.”

Wells zipped his puffer halfway, nodded.

“Yeah.”

Church Street shifted as they walked—brighter to darker, club to leather, pop to bass, flirting to protocol. Boots on concrete, latex against thigh, leather against wind.

Coach didn’t hurry. Wells didn’t lag. They walked like they knew where they were going—not just geographically.

The bouncer at the Eagle door read them in three seconds:

Coach = Dom, leather, gloves, cap. Wells = boi, latex, chain, stripes.

Door opened. No words.

Inside was heat and leather and sweat and bass without spectacle. Not a club, an ecosystem. Men clocked each other with eyes and shoulders. No one forced anything.

Coach took the bar rail, one gloved hand down, stance open. Wells half-step left, angled in, shoulder near.

No contact. All intention.

Old guard looked, nodded, approved. Younger switches eyed both. Puppy scene caught the gold stripe and grinned. No one confused roles.

Wells inhaled. “Feels like scouting.”

Coach’s mouth flicked. “Only if you’re auditioning.”

Wells took a sip. “Maybe I am.”

Coach didn’t argue.

Wells moved first, chest open, hips in rhythm. Coach followed half-beat later, behind, not overshadowing. Not claiming. Just placing.

One leather daddy tried to intercept Wells’ orbit. Coach touched two fingers to his chest—no hostility, just information. The man chuckled, nodded, moved on. Wells never saw it. He just felt steadier.

Smoking wasn’t habit. It was ritual rebellion. Village logic: nights decide their own rules.

Coach lit both cigarettes, lighter cupped in gloved hand. Wells accepted from his mouth like it was nothing.

“Didn’t think you smoked,” Wells said.

Coach exhaled into the cold. “I don’t.”

“Same.”

“Must be the night.”

Wells’ laugh fogged in the air. A pair of Leather men nodded at Coach, eyed Wells’ stripe, kept walking.

Wells flicked ash. “I felt read in there.”

Coach: “Good rooms read fast.”

“And if they got it wrong?”

Coach smirked. “They didn’t.”

Cigs burned down. He crushed his. Wells mirrored.

Back inside.

Music slowed, bass thick.

Wells moved, looser now, sweat giving latex a shine.

Coach slipped behind him, not grinding, not claiming. Just positioning. Coach placed his hands on Wells' shoulder and them moved them down.

Gloved hand found Wells’ hip. Other settled along his ribs, steadying, holding axis, defining movement. No words.

Wells tipped his head back a breath.

“You keep time better when you stop thinking,” Coach murmured.

Wells laughed into his shoulder. “You coach on the dance floor now?”

“Only when it matters.” Wells didn’t argue. Didn’t need to.

Two older leather men approached—boots, shirtless only wearing leather harnesses, leather boots, leather pants, thick shoulders, hairy chests, muscular and hyper-masculine. thick shoulders.

One nodded to Coach. “You training him?”

Coach shrugged. “Not my call yet.”

They both smiled. Approval without touch.

They moved on.

Wells’ breath hitched, not fear. Recognition.

Closing spilled bodies onto Church. Coach flagged a cab with two fingers.

They slid inside, latex squeaking, leather settling.

The quiet was warm and late and sweetened by rye.

Coach’s gloved hand settled on Wells’ thigh. Heavy. Certain. Not grabbing. Just there. While he put is other arm over Wells' shoulder.

Wells stared forward. “Comfortable?”

Coach: “Looks like you don’t mind.”

Wells smirked. “Didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t move.”

Wells’ grin flickered. “Didn’t have to.”

City lights stretched across the windshield like liquid.

“You held me on the floor,” Wells said.

“You stayed there.”

“You made it look like I had a choice.”

Coach’s voice dipped. “You danced better thinking you didn’t.”

Wells laughed—a little reckless now.

“Funny. You dance better than you coach.”

“That’s a first.”

“Maybe a compliment.”

“Better than maybe.”

Coach tugged off one glove with his teeth, dropped it in his lap, bare hand returning to Wells’ thigh. Warmer. Thumb tapping the gold stripe.

“You’re not subtle,” Coach said.

“You’re not blind,” Wells shot back.

The cab turned. Windows fogged. Silence charged.

Coach leaned in. “Let’s get inside, Gold.”

Not a command. Not a question. Just the next move.