#sub!rhett

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An hour into your trip to the bar with Lara your opinion may have changed just a bit. Maybe it was Lara’s play-by-play of every move Rhett made, squealed into your ear against your will, maybe it was the way those jeans fit his thighs so well but,, you kind of understood the obsession now. With every shot you and Lara downed your chest felt warmer, and her mooning became more over the top. At least, that was until another handsome cowboy asked her to dance, and swept her away in the blink of an eye. Then it was just you at the bar, eyes traitorously flickering over to Rhett and back without the excuse of Lara drunkenly waxing poetic about the color of his eyes and the size of his hands.

After all, you were only human.

The difference between you and Lara though, generally, was that you kept that information locked up tight in your chest. So he’s pretty, so what. You still don’t date cowboys and you still are just here to do a job. A contract job. A job that will have you leaving town again at the end of the month and never seeing that cowboy again. It’s something you should be firm about, fully sober you was so set on that. But now that you’ve gone and drank a bit… and maybe stared a bit too long at the curve of his ass…

…….and if he’s the one who sends you a drink from the opposite side of the bar, tipping his Stetson politely when the waitress points him out as the sender….

Maybe you’ll allow yourself one bad decision.

When he slides into the seat and asks your name all polite, the drawl in his voice making you feel some type of way, you tell him.

“I’m Rhett,”

“Oh,” you let out a little laugh, “I know who you are.”

“Do you now?” he laughs, and there’s a little smile drawn across his lips that you can’t tell if it’s cocky or self deprecating.

“Word travels, small towns, you know the drill.” you respond in a way you hope is flippant, eyes drawn down to the hand he has wrapped loosely around the neck of his own beer. You can see the tendons flex in his forearm as he swirls what’s left of the drink in the bottle, and your mind drifts a bit to thoughts of his hands elsewhere. You shake the thought away though. Goddamn Lara, it was like all of her horny thoughts had just been transferred to your brain.

“Wasn’t sure that’d be true for someone new in town.”

“How do you know I’m new to town?” you raise an eyebrow, pausing to take a sip of your drink.

“Word travels, small towns, you know the drill.” he repeats back at you, giving you a little grin that makes his eyes sparkle mischievously.

You roll your eyes at him good naturedly. “Okay, fair enough, I guess I walked into that one.”

He clinks his drink lightly against yours with a little wink, tipping back the rest of his beer, with you following suit. You definitely don’t use the moment to fixate on the line of his throat as he drinks.

“So what’s brought you to town?”

And then the conversation is easy, too easy, and an hour slips by and then two with the pair of you talking and laughing together months instead of minutes. Soon you’re both a bit too tipsy and you decide it’s time to head home, so that hopefully tomorrow your head will be on straight enough for work.

“Can I ask for your number? Or you gonna shoot me down all polite ‘cause you’re already spoken for?” you slide on your jacket as you think about how to answer.

“Nah, not spoken for. I just don’t date cowboys.” you smile, maybe a bit more wistfully than you meant to let show.

“Don’t s’pose I could change yer mind, could I? Cowboy break your heart r’ somethin’?” It’s a very kind pushback to your soft ‘no’, which just makes the war going on in your brain even harder to sort out. He’s so pretty,,, but -

“I think you’d have better luck with someone like my friend Lara, you seem more her type.” You nod over to your sweet tipsy friend on the dancefloor.

“Not yours?” he doesn’t even glance over to see who you had pointed out, he leans closer into your space. If you wanted to, you could tip forward and brush your lips against his, and the drink pleasantly warming you is making you feel like that’s the best thing to do right now.

“You want the real answer, cowboy?” You ask, closing the space between your bodies until the two of you are chest to chest. You see his eyes flicker down to your lips and up again, completely enraptured.

“Tell me,” he answers, voice so soft you only see the shape of it on his lips.

“You’d have to let me lead.” you whisper the words into the shell of his ear, drag a hand down his side to hold him by his hips, pressure light but firm. “Let me take you apart and put you back together.”

Here’s usually where you usually find resistance. Men who have some issue with the power dynamics and what it means about their manliness, men who take it as a threat and get angry, or men who simply aren’t interested. You think Rhett’s the latter. You’re almost taken aback when he sags against your hold, head tucked low against your neck. “You’d like that? You’d be good for me?”

“I’d let ‘cha, whatever you want.” You feel one of his hands sneak to your waist, just to grip onto your shirt.

When you tip his head up, one finger under his jaw, to look in his eyes you see them blown wide with desire, the deep blue eclipsed almost entirely by black.

“Anything I want, Rhett?” you lean in, brushing your lips against his in a barely there kiss, watching how his eyelashes flutter closed just for a moment. You can see his Adam's apple bob in his throat as he tries to compose himself. He manages a nod, eyes searching yours.

“Please,” he says, his voice a low rumble.

You smile, pleased. You place one open mouthed kiss at the hinge of his neck and jaw and watch his pulse jump. But then you step back, watching as his eyes widen. “You busy tomorrow honey?”

He looks confused, it's cute. “No, uh - don’t think so.”

You slide your hand into his back pocket to take out his phone, typing your number in. “You call me tomorrow sober so I know you’re serious, ‘n I’ll take care of you. ‘Mkay baby?”

A boyish almost starstruck look washes over his face.

“You like when I call you baby?”

“M-yessir.” he says low, only slurring a little bit.

Goddamn fucking cowboys, he was going to kill you.

“Good, fits you.” You tip his Stetson up so you can press one kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.” You make to leave, but he’s quick, loops a hand loosely around your wrist.

“Y’promise?” he asks, and you can see past the desire, past the drunkenness softening the edges of his expression, the vulnerability of his question. You can’t resist drawing back in and pressing a much gentler, sweeter kiss to his cheek.

“Promise.” You squeeze his hand gently and go to leave but he pulls gently again on your wrist. He looks even shyer now.

“S’not true what they say in town ‘bout me. M’ not like that not,” he seems to lose his train of thought a bit. “I like you. I haven’t.” You nod like what he’s said makes full sense.

“Rhett I think you’re pretty drunk, you’ll tell me in the morning okay?”

“M’kay.”

“And for the record, I like you too. S’ why I gave ya my number.”

That brings the full smile back to his face, and he tips back into sitting on his bar stool.

___

rhett giggles as a warmth blooms in his cheeks. his coworker pulls an exaggerated face at what he's just confessed to, and they move along to the next segment quickly.

they finish up the episode, but not without rhett stating one more time that he likes to be punished. he's in a certain mood today, but his best friend- and the most clueless crush rhett's ever had- isn't taking the bait. he doesn't want to play that game today, that game where he pretends not to know what rhett's talking about, like he doesn't understand the concept of the word that floats in the air unsaid every time rhett drops hints- submissive.

no, today, link wants nothing to do with it, and he puts up a firm boundary by changing quickly and grabbing his keys without offering to hang out. his quickness to exit the studio and leave rhett lonely causes a whorl of shame in rhett, but that shame only turns him on even more. he's not ashamed of how he feels, what he wants, just how desperately he needs it sometimes. but he knows he oughtn't be ashamed of that either.

right now, rhett needs the real thing. he needs the one person who shows him not to be ashamed of his horny, submissive tendencies. today, rhett needs to be dominated by the only person who really knows how to give it to him. rhett needs his woman. jessie.

rhett grabs his keys and rushes home while the pang of link's abandonment still throbs in his jeans. he's been such a bad boy today and he knows it. he's giving everything away right when he's supposed to be saving all his dirty jokes and he's trying to get attention from link in a way he's supposed to only want from jessie. he's begging anyone who will listen to fuck him, hell, if jessie had been working on a project today he might've even gone to tease josh, or trevor.

rhett pulls up to the house and climbs out from the car just as his beautiful wife appears in the doorway. he thinks for a moment how impossibly fucking lucky he is, then goes to her to get what he wants, the greedy boy. she greets him with a kiss and her lips are sweet with cinnamon. rhett’s hands find the soft curves of her warm body and he feels her up as he deepens the kiss.

jessie pulls back and giggles, pink in her cheeks. “hey, baby,” she twangs, that sweet southern lilt throwing his heart straight back to NC. jessie sways in his arms and blinks prettily up at him, and rhett remembers this ain’t the south- this is california. this is where all the weirdos live, and he’s one of them.

“i was a bad boy today, baby,” rhett says in his baby voice. he squeezes jessie’s hips. rhett growls what he needs, wasting no time, “i need to be punished.”

jessie’s dark eyes go even darker and she gives a filthy grin. she loops a finger through his belt and tugs. “get inside, hubby. tell me all about it.”

**

in the bedroom, rhett kicks off his shoes and jeans and crawls onto the bed. he keeps his work shirt on and his boxers, propping up his cute little socked feet as he waits for jessie to tell him what to do. he loves this part, when jessie gets into character. from sweet little southern housewife to dommy mommy!

jessie makes eyes with rhett as she shimmies out of her lounge pants. she’s in a black tank top and a sports bra, no makeup cuz she worked from home today. it’s nearly 5pm and the setting sun comes in through the bedroom window to alight her perfect cleavage aglow, which rhett is gazing at as she changes. she turns around and the sunset hits her ass, which rhett likes even more. he lets himself warm up at the sight of his hot wife as she goes to the closet and bends over.

“let’s cut the shit,” she says, and her voice has changed. he can’t see her mouth moving as her voice darkens, sharpens, commands him to speak up. “tell me exactly what you said today, bad boy.”

rhett perks up, both in posture and between his legs. jessie sways her butt seductively as she rifles around for what rhett knows is in there. but she won’t take it out until he answers. “punishment,” he grunts, eyes on the pretty cleft of jessie’s cheeks. “i said i liked punishment and being mistreated.”

jessie stands up, something in her hands. “anything else?”

rhett confesses. “i mentioned bunnyranch. made it seem like we’d been there.”

his wife turns around, harness in one hand, big purple cock in the other. “we have.”

rhett whimpers at the sight, cock twitching. his hole tightens up and he gets nervous. it’s always so hard to fit that thing inside him, but jessie makes it worth it. every single time. jessie makes rhett watch her put the toy in the harness, then put the harness on, over her panties, so he can’t even reach behind and play with her cunt when she fucks him. he whines as she slides the black straps over her hips and clumsily adjusts the ridiculous toy. it points at him.

jessie crosses her arms. “that’s enough. i’ve got what i need. now turn around and get on all fours. you’re going to be punished for saying all that, baby. people need to pay good money to hear it!”

rhett obeys and gets on all fours. he puts his eyes on the wall in front of him and arches his back a little, sensing jessie as she moves behind him, still talking. she puts her warm hands on his hips and slides his boxers down. rhett groans at how forward his woman is, wasting no time at all as she strips him of his boxers.

“what happens to bad boys who don’t keep their mouth shut?” the dom cooes, crawling up on the bed behind him. her manicured fingers tickle the bare flesh of his ass, curling so he can feel the scratch of smooth gel fingernails.

“they get punished,” answers the sub.

“yes,” she grabs him by the hip with one hand and threads the other up to his curls. “but you’re my bad boy, aren’t you? and sometimes your punishments feel good for you. i like to make you feel good. i’m nice like that.”

rhett makes a soft noise in response, feeling the tightness of his wife’s hand in his sensitive curls tug and release. then her hands are gone and he hears a click. one hand returns to his bare hip as a lubricated fingertip swirls on his hole. the soft noises become breathy as jessie moves her finger, teasing that need that rhett’s had all day to be absolutely destroyed.

“my good boy says bad things sometimes,” his dom whispers. “but he’s still a good boy at the end of the day. and good boys need dick too, right?”

jessie slips her finger inside the big man.

“oh, fuck-”

she presses a second finger, “good boys don’t swear!” and the stretch feels so good. rhett’s body warms to it and warms to her, backing up into his wife, feeling the ridiculous toy hanging off her small frame.

“please, p-please, tell me again how good boys need good dick-”

pumping two fingers steadily now, rhett can hear his wife’s breath get ragged. she’s getting excited touching him like this, so he squeezes his ass on her fingers to get her going more. with her free hand she grabs the lube and starts wetting up her cock- rhett has to peek behind him to see it.

jessie meets his eyes and quickly uses her wet hand to force his head back down. rhett’s dick twitches and his ass burns hot for more.

“good boys-” she grunts, jerking and finger-fucking with both hands, rhett keeping his head down and his hands gripping the blankets. “good boys keep their heads down. keep your head down- i’m gonna fuck you now.”

rhett keeps his head down as jessie spreads her two fingers, giving him one last stretch before she pulls back. he feels so small and exposed and vulnerable like this, but the emasculation doesn’t really hit til his petite wife grabs his bare hips and pulls him towards her cock. she scrambles to her feet clumsily cuz he’s so damn big, and that’s when rhett really feels it.

he slips into subspace the moment the head of jessie’s toy nudges his hole. she holds onto his hips with sticky hands as she pushes slowly through the wetness, stretching rhett and filling him up like she does every few months. the big man cries out, tears slipping down his handsome nose as she pushes as much as she can into him.

the room is quiet save their ragged breathing, and then the slick, horny noise of jessie pulling back a few inches and giving them back to rhett’s tight, excited ass. every muscle tenses as rhett’s insides yield to jessie, opening up for the toy and for her, opening up like he’s always wanted to, the lucky bastard. the noises pick up as jessie starts fucking, falling off with her words as she steadily pegs her man.

rhett’s hot and sweaty in his work shirt and socks, but he keeps his head down as his wife tops him. when she leans down, he can feel her tank top on his back, and he whines at not even being able to feel her bare breasts. she’s withholding what he wants, and it hurts him, and it’s everything. when she releases one hip and gives his happy cheek a smack, rhett yips and jessie starts talking again.

“bad boys get dick, good boys get dick. everybody gets dick. but not everybody gets my dick...” she smacks him again, grabbing the little fat he’s got and squeezing the cheek hard as she fucks. “only my hubby gets my dick.”

“h-hot,” rhett grunts, “you’re so h-hot,”

jessie doesnt tell him to speak up, it’s like she’s lost in her own world. her happy hips keep fucking, tearing rhett apart, fucking him up and stirring up his insides and churning butter in his belly and destroying him just like he’d wanted, but she’s forgetting his needs as she humps erratically, without rhythm.

rhett whines every time she nearly hits him perfectly, then hits a different thrust that tweaks a bit of pain. she’s deliberately fucking him up without pinpointing his pleasure and it’s driving him crazy! like a good sub, he takes it anyway. he’s biting his pillow, tears streaming down his face, when jessie finally comes back to herself. she’s still mumbling pretty words about how perfect his ass is when she shifts on her knees, adjusts the hold on his waist, and starts fuckin’.

this time, she knows what to do. she hits rhett over and over right where he needs it, leaning up and getting leverage on his body to get him right there. it’s absurd, and it looks incredible- this petite fem woman on her feet on the bed, humping her husband like she’s a fucking dog in heat- and rhett imagines it, imagines link seeing it, and his orgasm begins to build.

“baby, baby, i’m-”

“i know,” grunts jessie, and she pulls back hard, slamming her toy in thrusts so big rhett can’t help but disobey her. he’s such a bad boy!

he raises his head and cries out, cursing. “fuck! oh fuck! oh fuck, jessie, fuck me! fuck me! fuck me!”

jessie keeps fucking as she chastises him, smacking him once for every curse. she’s a little too rough when she spanks him and grabs his tender curls, and it hurts. it feels like mistreatment, like punishment, and it feels good. it feels so fucking good, and he wishes he could be fucked like this forever, and he wishes jessie’s pussy was in his face, and he wishes link was watching, and-

“ahhhh!” rhett’s orgasm wracks as jessie hits him, ass clenching down to keep her right there, and she reaches underneath him for his cock just as he begins to come. she squeezes his fat, neglected cock and he comes hard on the sheets, trembling and bucking between her hand and her cock.

when the bad-boy-turned-good-boy-turned-perfect-sub releases all he can, jessie slips out and tips him over, pushing him down onto the bed and away from his mess. she keeps the harness on as she snuggles up behind him, making him feel the sticky tip against his back as a reminder of what a messy, needy husband he is.

Some stars were on when they were on and off when they were off.

Rhett was no stranger to the biz. He had it on good confidence that the guy who played the Bible Man was no angel and the singing Psalmbook had shelled out a lot of cash to get certain mugshots out of the public eye.

Link Neal wasn't like that. His only vice was a tall glass of chocolate milk stirred with peanut butter in a spoon. He was never 'off.' He was never 'on.' He was just...himself, even when he said something odd he just owned it.

He talked to everyone with the same honesty. He stooped down to talk to kids eye-to-eye, something Rhett may or may not have said himself was 'for losers', laughing over buds with his beers. But if you had looked him in the eye then you'd have caught his lie. Nobody would have. Nobody looked at him, really looked at him the way Mister Neal did. Made him feel like a frog, his heart splayed open on a dissection table, wrists pinned and eyes glassy. He squirmed.

Currently Rhett was at the bodega a block from his apartment. There was no work today and he was out of dog treats so he figured he could spoil his princess a little since he had a steady gig now.

He was just wondering about whether he should spoil himself too and get some jumbo Drown-aroos for nostalgia sake, when a croaky voice behind him asked,

"Excuse me dear, could you reach those for me?"

Fully having accepted that his role in life was to double as an EZ Grabber he started turning around, but almost dropped his treats when he heard the unmistakable good-natured chuckle of his mentor

"No problemo, Madam."

he turned to see him handing a box of tissues from a top shelf to an old lady in bifocals.

"You need any help carrying all that?"

"Oh, no it's no trouble at all." she said,

and started in Rhett's direction with her little cart piled high, while Link went the other way.

Rhett ducked into the aisle he'd already gone through on impulse, watching his boss through the slats between two shelves. It felt wrong to spy but it felt wrong-er for him to even be here, outside of the studio. Aviators pushed up in his silvery streak and a brown leather jacket. A cotton shirt. No sweater.

This was like seeing God at the gas pump.

Suddenly Link turned so they were facing each other, separated by a wall of aisle. Rhett's hiding spot would have felt compromised if he didn't know the man to be easily absorbed into a task to the point of tuning out his surroundings.

Currently he was pouring over the cereals in front of him, eyebrows quizzical as he compared a box of Avocado Toast Crunch and Pagan Oats. Just then a tap on his left arm made him startle audibly and he turned around.

"Dearie, was that man who helped me- I'm sorry but my eyes aren't what they used to be- but was that the fellow from the TV program? Mister Neal? I wonder if I could trouble him for an autograph..."

she began fishing in her purse for a pen and craning her neck as if looking for some sign of him

"Oh my grandson is such a big fan!"

Rhett cringed, subconsciously glancing back to where he knew Link was, He had no experience with being a recognizable figure but he did know that Link looked awfully peaceful and was clearly not in TV-mode.

"Who? I'm not sure I-"

"Over there! I thought, no it couldn't be, his hair's too grey - but then I saw you watching him through the wall all star-struck and I knew I had it right the first time!"

Rhett paled. She was being so dang loud. He waved his hands in front of him defensively, trying to tamp down her excitement and looking over his shoulder to see if Link had caught that.

"No, Ma'am. No it's not- I thought that too but it's not him. It's not. Sorry."

"Oh," she said, stopping her pen hunt "ah well, thank you, sonny."

the woman appeared crestfallen, and was returning to her cart when a beaming Link Neal swooped over from behind a display.

"Are my ears burning or did I hear somebody's little grand is a big fan?"

Rhett stood on the sidelines, watched the man nod and 'oh?' and 'ah' as the woman went on and on, gesturing at a length of wallet photos of her various grandkids, nieces and nephews.

Then he watched Link produce a Mythical Valley postcard from seemingly out of nowhere, sign it with a flourish and exchange well wishes while scrawling a thoughtful comment to the paper. After he sent her on her way and waved at her as she turned down the aisle to the cashier he turned to face Rhett, who silently wished he could melt onto the floor and be mopped up, wrung out and sloshed down a gutter grate.

"Hey, Rhett." Link said, arms akimbo and leaning back against his cart. "You shop here too?"

"Hey," Rhett said. "uh, yeah, it's right near my apartment." Rhett froze momentarily as the thought of Link Neal seeing his apartment flashed through his mind but he shook it off.

"Oh?" Link said, "Well I just come here cause the Whole Foods never has the Crunch kind of my favorite cereal. But I don't see any here."

He scanned the aisle again, "Man, I hope they didn't recall that stuff. I know it has more sugar than both these combined. Maybe it's just the universe's way of saying I need to finally make the switch to somethin' more 'grown up'?" he said, adding scare quotes for effect.

Rhett couldn't believe it. Here he was in the wake of the most awkward experience he'd had since high school and Link was over here prattling on about his damn cereal like nothing had happened.

Rhett knew if that had been him back there, he'd have either shuffled out of there right quick so as to avoid the dreaded fan-interaction-before-9am or agreed to just sign but be falling asleep on himself the whole time as the old lady went on, listing her seemingly endless progeny.

What made this shaken-up seltzer can of a man so bubbly, so sincere so early in the morning? And did he shave his legs? Rhett's gaze had travelled down to where the cuffed chinos met the flat-top shoes, revealing an amount of ankle that felt indecent on a guy he'd only ever seen wearing layers.

His skin looked tanned, smooth. Naked.

He ripped his gaze away and something else caught his eye,

"Oh, here's one." he pointed at the very top shelf where a lone Raisin Crunch box was perched. Link's eyes lit up.

"Nice!"

He leaned on his toes over-eagerly, his hands grasped the box but the smile wiped from his face the instant he realized he was falling forward.

Rhett tumbled over himself and got between Link and the aisle in an instant, his brain caught up to him when he realized he had his arms around Link Neal, whose own wrists were crossed around his neck, hanging on for a second before planting each of his feet on the tiled floor.

He felt more than heard a breathy relieved laugh beside his ear.

Warm.

He shivered, unconsciously leaning back which kept Link clinging onto him a little longer than necessary. Rhett's heart thumped against the cereal box that was jammed between their chests.

"C-close call. Ha. Sumthin about that Crunch just makes me dAngerous. I guess."

He was joking around but when he pulled back his eyes were all sparkly and he looked kind of loopy. Rhett couldn't talk. He had never seen this Neal.

Link was so flustered he almost stumbled again with the box. Rhett caught it as it slipped from the shaky hand, gaze still unbroken as he took him in. Heat crept up his neck when he realized their arms were still...well, around each other. One of Link's now braced against his chest and one of his gripping Link at the waist, bunching in the cotton under his jacket, So close to skin Rhett would only have to inch-

"Ahem."

Some guy to their left cleared his throat and they sprung apart, letting him through so he could grab some items from the shelf they'd been occupying. Rhett silently hoped that jerkoff choked on his Cursed Charms. Link fidgeted, putting his shades on and Rhett felt the cold air swoop in between them.

"So, guess I'll leave you to finish up your shopping." Link said, straightening up,

"It is your weekend, I'm sure you got better things to do'n catch your clumsy boss all day."

Rhett couldn't think of a single thing better than that, actually, but he suddenly remembered he had come here to get food for Barbara so he played along and pretended to be very interested in a display of no-tears shampoo. Then he counted to thirty and took another guilty look over at Link, whistling to himself at the self-checkout.

Sunday found Rhett in the shadier part of the park, taking Barbara for a walk, which meant Barbara was taking him for a walk. He liked that no-one seemed to be around, cause it meant his stream of one-sided Barbara-babble went uninterrupted away from judgey eyes and judgier ears.

He was just getting to the part of his walk where he inevitably watched Barbara pee on a bush then called her out for being the stinkiest girl in the world when he heard then saw someone strolling down the path in his direction. He knew that walk. He knew that whistle.

Fuck.

Link Neal was walking down the path with something under his arm. Seemingly he hadn't caught sight of Rhett yet. Rhett was rooted to his spot and suddenly incredibly aware he was wearing his dog dad uniform, an old Bojangles Tee that said 'It's Bo-Time!' (that he may or may not have used to wash his truck with before he sold it) with the holes to prove it, wranglers, socks for warmth and sandals for comfort.

"Hey!" he heard a cheery shout.

Too late.

"Hey, Rhett!"

Rhett waved sheepishly at his boss and fidgeted with his belt loops as Link skipped the rest of the way over.

"Dang man, two days in a row?" Link said half breathless,

"That's crazy!"

"Yeah," Rhett said, taking his boss' appearance in.

Link was again dressed in what Rhett now recognized as his more low-key Incognito-Mode. Cotton shirt, dark teal flannel jacket, cuffed jeans and impossibly white sneakers.

"I..." No sweater in sight. Just naked V-neck and a flash of chest hair.

"I guess so." he finished, not quite remembering what he was responding to.

"That your dog?"

Link asked, gesturing at Barbara who was currently leaning against a tree, yapping at something up in the branches.

"Nah," Rhett shoved his hands in his pockets for effect,

"I'm a dog napper." he quipped, "Just really bad at it."

Link laughed. It was a giggly laugh that tapered off then geared back up until he was wheezing.

The joke was objectively not that funny but Link seemed to enjoy laughing at himself laughing.

He came down from it with a breathy sigh and looked at Rhett through watery crescent eyes. The whole thing had been so stupidly cute to watch that Rhett had done nothing but stare and soak up whatever it was radiating off the guy. Link nudged him playfully with his knuckles and Rhett felt the tension in his shoulders slacken instantly. He unconsciously took his hands out of his pockets but felt like he had nowhere appropriate to put them. He settled on pointing at a tiny dark brown dog that was trailing behind Link.

"That yours?"

Oh yeah, that's Jade. She's still enjoying her walk but this one," Link pointed his chin at the peanut butter-colored pup in his arms, "he got a little spooked sho I had to pick him up~" Link's voice was getting increasingly sappy as he went on, smooshing his face against the pair of perked up ears.

"Cuz he gets sho shcared of the bigger dogs, dun't he."

Rhett was ordinarily put off by people being mushy with their pets but this display was oddly not-entirely-obnoxious. The guy was manhandling his dog like it was a posable figurine but talking about it like a proud Papa.

The dog - Jasper - looked helpless but not unhappy held there, seemingly soothed by all the smooshing and baby-talk. For one fleeting moment Rhett considered what it'd be like being so small and so contented curled up in Link's-

"Wow, Rhett..."

"Huh?" Rhett's gaze snapped up to meet misty looking eyes.

"I said wow, lookathat, your hair's really growing out. I barely recognized you walkin' this way." Link said. "Like some kinda...wild man." Rhett waited for him to elaborate but he didn't. Was there a compliment in there? He hadn't felt this awkward since he got asked out on April Fool's day back in middle school by a well-meaning crush with crappy timing.

"I was gonna go feed the ducks, if you and Barbara'd like to join me." Link suggested, switching Jasper to a one-armed hold and fishing a brown paper bag out of his jacket.

"Oh, yeah sure." said Rhett, "Wait, that's not bread, is it?" he quirked an eyebrow,

"Yeah..." Link said, raising his.

"Cause bread is actually really, really bad for them. It messes up their digestive systems." Rhett said, stopping himself before going off on a rant about this fact he'd only had to explain to people 15 times since moving here.

"Dangit." Link swore, or almost swore.

"Well...I mean, how long have you been feeding ducks bread?" Rhett asked.

"Like," Link looked like he was counting in his head, "Eight years?"

Link looked up at Rhett who winced before he could stop himself.

Links eyes widened behind his frames.

"Hey, hey- it's not that bad- just- switch to peas, you can-"

"Shit!" Link blurted suddenly,

"Wh-uhh?" Rhett slurred, taken aback. Did he just-

"Oh. Shit."

Link had stepped in it. He waggled his foot around wildly trying to flick off the stuff.

"Hey, hey don't get it on me. Hang on."

Rhett caught his leg mid-motion to slow him down. He kneeled down to get a cautious closer look.

"Relax." he finally spoke, "It's not dog crap."

"It's not?" he heard Link's voice above him, wobbly like he was going to throw up.

"Nah. It's a dead dove."

He felt a hand grip his hair from above, felt Link go limp as he let go of his leg. He looked up at him and met Link's stunned face with his own trying to stay serious and ultimately breaking out in a stupid smile,

"Jus kiddin'" he said, "S' just a mushroom."

After a second of dawning comprehension Link grinned at him and yoinked his hair playfully before leaning over, resting Jasper down and confirming it was in fact just a big ole squishy mushroom and not something gag-worthy at all.

"You jerk."

he said, but his voice smiled, then his whole face did.

There it was.

That was the good stuff and Rhett didn't care he felt a little bit like a junkie if it meant more of this- whatever this was filling him up inside.

Link pelted him with a breadcrumb which he caught between his fingers, which spurred Link on to send more his way until he was emptying the bag of floaty crumbs over his head and Rhett was throwing some back, then just catching them in his mouth til he was nearly falling backwards. The both of them were laughing so hard they nearly didn't notice Barbara yapping at a frightened Jasper.

"Barbara! Manners!" Rhett scolded, sauntering over and corralling her. Jasper ducked out of his way and yelped when he came over, tail tucked between his legs and he was reminded, once more, of his intimidating stature.

"Yeah, he gets a lil shcared of men." Link said, scooping him back up, "Actually, he didn't like men at all until he met me." Link said, semi-smugly resting his chin on Jasper's forehead and burying a kiss into the fur there. Rhett twisted the leash in his hands.

Jasper had it good.

And Rhett had it bad, he just wasn't sure what 'it' was. Yet.

A camera flash went off and Link visibly startled, noticing a couple of artsy looking kids (probably students come to the park to take photos). He regained his composure and glanced at his watch.

"I should probably get going, don't wanna be here after dark, you know." he looked around for Jade, who was behind him.

"Uh, yeah." Rhett nodded. "Me and Barbara were gonna head out anyways. So..."

Rhett rubbed the back of his head which was still tingling where Link had yanked it. He knew himself to be tender-headed but that particular tug, though by no means pain-free had been curiously... memorable.

"See you at work!" he blurted out, Link already paces away from and waving over his shoulder with his free hand, stooping down and calling Jade who followed him slowly as he left the park. Rhett heard him shout something in reply that sounded like

"Nice running into ya! Again!"

Rhett spent the greater part of the last day of his weekend at the library, then when they closed he went back to flipping through his script back at his apartment. That night, he tossed and turned. The moon was entirely too bright and his brain was buzzing with ideas too loud to let him sleep.

After a streak of seven straight nights hitting the pillow hard and waking up harder, and knowing tomorrow he would be back at work and need his energy, Rhett's frustration culminated in pulling an all-nighter, scribbling in his snotebook while a VHS he'd taped over with some classic MV episodes hummed in the background.

It was 3am when he finally put his pencil down and opened his Dream Dictionary. He flicked through it hoping to find something useful, like techniques for remembering dreams once you'd woken up, and stumbled across a word that lit his brain up for a fraction of a second.

'Bacon.'

Wait, was the dream about bacon? Or was he just hungry?

His stomach growled in reply but he shook it off for now. He was hungrier for answers now. Okay, 'Bacon' he read aloud. 'See 'Meat'' he flipped even faster to the 'M's and found it.

'Meat. Meat is a universal symbol of passion. This food is a staple which symbolizes sustenance at a fundamental level. Dreams featuring meat indicate a desire that needs to be fed. This can be an idea, a project or more physical craving, depending on the state of the meat and the dreamer's reaction to it.'

"Huh." he said, laying the book back down on the table and leaning back into his chair, his back sore from hunching over so long.

"Well that was useless."

Another image came to him, unbidden and he started flipping pages again.

"Soap...soap...s- here it is."

'Soap. To imagine yourself washing yourself with soap indicates a need to 'purify' certain aspects of yourself. The dreamer may feel a sense of guil-'

Rhett snapped the book shut, annoyed.

Nothing in here was helpful, it all just made him more confused. After a few more minutes of aimless flipping, reading and scribbling he decided to call it a night. He binged on bacon, chugged some milk and managed to catch a wink before sunrise.

Back at work on Monday Link was sparking with energy and it was contagious. He was still Mister Neal here at the studio but Rhett's run-ins with him were like getting glimpses of skin through that stupid sweater. And it did something for Rhett to know even the Mythical best Neighbor ever wouldn't get to see him the way Rhett got to.

He absent-mindedly doodled the two of them in a corner of his script during a noisy table read, and regretted it instantly when a slender hand snatched it from under him, Link was right next to him, his expression tickled at the crude rendering of his likeness.

"How come you drew yourself with a dog collar on?"

Oh, of course now everyone gets quiet.

That caused Josh and Nicole at the other end of the table to look up from their discussion, eyebrows held high. Smirks playing at the corners of their mouths. Link had a way of saying things in the most incriminating way possible.

"Look atchu, looking up with me with those puppy dog eyes" Link was having fun playing keep away with the script. It didn't help their proximity was forcing Rhett to look up at his boss, hands unwilling to grab but eyes begging for the paper back. Was he blushing?

"That's not --me!" Rhett said, his voice crackling a bit and giving him away. He had basically drawn himself but with more hair, fur. "-that's Damiel, from the episode where he tried to fit in n be a regular dog-"

"The one where I brought back 'just yourself be if quare are you'? We got a lot of letters after that one..." that train of thought seemed to distract him as he reminisced so Rhett gathered up the script as soon as Link put it down, unconsciously clutching it to his chest.

After the meeting Link leaned over and whispered in his ear.

"Don't throw it away."

and then

"Sorry for being a jerk about it."

he said, something in his voice both assured him he was sorry but at the same time would absolutely do it again for kicks.

And he was so. dang. close. to Rhett's face.

He blushed under his beard.

"It's not a bad drawing." he added.

"Just picking up a paintbrush- uh- pencil- that's what makes you an artist."

he was doing an impression of a certain fanbrush-wielding show host he always talked about with a fonder expression than Rhett was comfortable with. Rhett didn't get it but whatever.

Link nudged him with his elbow,

"My sweater's nicer'n that though."

Rhett wanted to bite back that it wasn't- it was even uglier than he could possibly draw it. That he constantly had the urge to rip it off the guy. Get a look at the white cotton shirt he wore underneath, hell, even seeing his bare chest would be better.

It sometimes frustrated him the way the stupid old man sweater moved over Link's frame, not so baggy that someone paying attention wouldn't notice the lean, flexible...possibly sensitive body beneath it.

Okay, Rhett would level with you here, he found it frustrating in more than one way and he paid more attention than he was ready to admit.

But no matter how many times he found his thoughts drifting to itchy soft sweaters and softer touches and that voice saying soft words that could somehow instantly make him--

Hard.

Okay.

This was getting hard. Mister Neal- Link, as he liked to be called, but which still felt... inappropriate, somehow, was still Rhett's boss.

A foolish man could mistake Link for being soft for his goofyness, but the man was not afraid of putting you in line when you'd run afoul of one of his many rules.

Rhett learned this the hard way when he'd tried cramming all the little figures - the tiny wooden characters that populated the scale model of Mythical Valley- into their foam lined carrying case when they were clearing the studio for the long weekend.

"What are y- dagumit- those aren't toys, Rhett!" he marched over to where Rhett stood mid-shove.

"They represent the colourful assortment of good people in this f-" a stumble, "-ictional town. Heck, most of em have been here longer'n you!"

An ordinary person could blink and miss that almost-eff-up but Rhett couldn't bring himself to blink when Link was madder than he'd ever seen. He shrunk.

"Oh- I'm sorry- I was just- I mean-" Rhett's mouth had stopped working as his brain short circuited. The shorter man was standing hands on hips and frowning down at him in a way that made him feel like a delinquent schoolboy.

"Uhm. Alright. How should I...do it?" he heard himself say in the smallest voice.

"Well," Link tapped the case with the tip of his shoe meaningfully, "What you're gonna do is take each of 'em out from that pile-up and put them into their designated slot,"

He picked one up to demonstrate, scrutinized it and placed it into its spot.

"Caaarefully."

"Uh...okay. Sorry Li-"

"I'm not the one you should be saying sorry to, Rhett." now was one of those times 'Link' felt inappropriate. He snapped, rolling his eyes. "You're 'sorry'."

"'Pologize to little Big Deborah there! Kiss her hat and put her back where she belongs."

Well now.

That's-

But whatever word that was, Rhett's mind couldn't say. Things had gone fuzzy again.

Blinking back his bewilderment Rhett felt himself simply nod and comply. He picked her up gently, kissed her hat, and put her in the case.

"I'm sorry, big Deborah." Rhett couldn't help his gaze from wandering up to see Link's face. He needed to know that he wasn't mad at him anymore. Their eyes met. Link stared at him, then suddenly he blinked twice, and the bluster was gone.

"I'm so sorry, Mailperson Jen." he repeated his ministrations, the thread of eye contact between them unbroken. The room was all quiet except for the tiny kiss noise where his lips touched the figure, the clink as he slid them into place. His mentor's breathing.

"Like this, Mister Neal?" he felt himself ask, still soft, moving to pick up the next figure, a smiling figurine of the sweater-clad man himself. He handled this one different, he couldn't help it. He brought it up to his mouth and slowly-

He looked up at the bigger Link, whose words seemed to have gotten caught below his collar. He sucked in a breath and Rhett's gaze traced a bead of sweat that slid down a clean-shaven throat, disappeared beneath a starched white shirt. They had already shut off the AC in the studio and Rhett knew Link had to be hot under that sweater.

"Alright, that's enough. You don't gotta apologize to all of em." Link said, waving dismissively. He hoisted himself to standing.

"Just put them back and remember to switch off the lights in the storage locker." he adjusted his sweater and shuffled off, leaving Rhett alone, kneeling in the studio. Rhett blinked twice. He stared after him, gaze catching on the little bit of lower back that flashed as his boss tucked his shirt back in. He snapped out of his stupor when the forehead of the little Mister Neal met his lips.

He didn't mean to do that.

Fuck.

Stevie was in her office, head between her hands. She'd just gotten off the phone with a real piece of shit (industry term) and now someone was knocking on her office door.

Aaaand here came the headache.

Right on fucking cue.

She swigged some Liquid Death for courage.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Chase." came Chase's voice.

She beckoned for him to come in then remembered he didn't have X-ray vision and spoke up, "Come in."

"Uh, just got something for the lost-and-found." he said, apologetically shuffling in, aware from the state of her desk that he'd come in at a spectacularly bad time.

"It was just over by the cubbies but it doesn't have a name on it so..." he trailed off, pulling a tiny paperback out from behind him and showing it to her, flitting through the pages to show the lack of label.

"Wait- hang on, there's writing in here. Lemme see." She held out her hand and took it, nodding to Chase to indicate he could go.

"Thanks Chase. Sorry. Just- you know -we're having one of those days." she said, gesturing vaguely at the mess of envelopes and they exchanged knowing looks.

She thumbed through the dream dictionary, stopping at a page with writing scrawled on it.

Notes and doodles in a style that looked instantly familiar, near the top was circled 'Meat.'

Link let his hand rest lightly on Rhett’s waist. That was nothing, he might as well be just holding on for balance. There was no reaction from Rhett. Link moved the hand slowly, tracing the lines of the tartan with his fingertips, down, down, down, until he got to the hem of the garment. His fingertips brushed the back of Rhett’s bare knee making him jump.

“Link?”

“Shhh,” Link shushed with a smirk. “There is no Link here.”

Rhett turned his body a bit and found Link’s eyes with his own. They were round and pleading.

“Sir?” The word was barely a whisper but it lit Link’s brain like it was the 4th of July.

“Mmh. Yeah. Just be a good boy and keep your mouth shut. Can you do that for me?” Link lifted an eyebrow at him asking for permission. Rhett swallowed hard and nodded before turning back. Link’s heart skipped a beat. Rhett was too good for him. Such a good boy. He knew how much Link liked the public setting; the thrill of the possibility of getting caught.

Link’s hand slipped under the kilt. It rose slowly, pressing lightly on the back of Rhett’s thigh. Link was holding his breath. He was anxious to get to his prize, to feel Rhett vulnerable and shivering in his arms. But they still had time. They still had many stops to go. Link could prolong the pleasure a bit. Enjoy the moment just before; the precipice, the thrill before the plunge.

Rhett’s thigh tensed under Link’s touch and he stopped to give it a firm squeeze. Rhett moved a little. His body swayed against Link, like he was silently begging Link to go on.

“So needy,” Link muttered against his neck and gave it a quick kiss. Rhett hummed under his breath, just a small sound, but it made Link’s insides burst into flames. He wasn’t waiting anymore. He was ready to jump.

His hand found its way to Rhett’s tight little rump. Link caressed the bare cheek and longed to give it a nice, hard slap. Unfortunately, there was no space for that kind of play here. Maybe later… He could hear Rhett’s breathing quickening and felt his own doing the same. He was painfully hard, his cock throbbing against his tight jeans.

Instead of a slap, Link gave Rhett’s ass cheek an almost brutal squeeze; just hard enough to make Rhett almost lose his balance and moan but not so hard that he’d scream. It was a tightrope that Link had learned to walk well. Rhett’s body crashed against him and Link wrapped his other arm around Rhett’s waist for support. Rhett huffed out an almost panicked breath.

“Okay?” Link whispered.

“Mm-hmm,” came the answer.

“Very good. You were so quiet. You deserve a prize for that. Don’t you think so?” Link whispered straight into Rhett’s ear. Rhett trembled on his arms and Link licked his lips hungrily. What wouldn’t he give right now to open his zipper, slip out his leaky cock and slowly thrust it inside his willing partner? But they had no time to go as far as that.

Link settled on something quick and fun. He extracted his hand and bent his head behind Rhett to coat his index and middle fingers with saliva. His hand was back on Rhett’s ass in no time and he pushed his lips against Rhett’s ear again.

“A little help? Spread for me, babe.”

Rhett’s other hand stayed above his head on the handle and the other ducked down and joined Link’s hand under his kilt. He grabbed his own ass cheek and shifted it to give Link more room to play.

“Thank you. So obedient.”

Rhett’s breaths came in small, shallows huffs as Link’s fingers circled his rim. Link tried to control his own breathing as well but it was hard. They were surrounded by people; someone was basically standing back to chest with Rhett. Link could barely contain himself. Shivers of excitement and pleasure ran through his body as he slipped his finger inside Rhett.

A small whimper. That’s all Rhett let out. It rolled from his lips like a present meant just for Link and he accepted it with a low groan of his own. He could feel Rhett’s hips moving as he undoubtedly craved for some pressure for his cock. He must be so hard right now. Link had to know for sure. The arm circling Rhett’s waist dropped down for a moment and palmed the front of the kilt under the codpiece. Link hummed with pleasure as his hand met the thick cock pressing against the accessory. It was very fortunate that was included in the get-up. Otherwise, Rhett would have had a very apparent tenting situation going on. Link gave Rhett another squeeze that was met with a cough that was meant to cover the low moan escaping Rhett’s throat.

Link’s finger worked deeper into Rhett’s tight warmth. Link let his forehead fall against Rhett’s shoulder and closed his eyes. For just a moment, they were alone; just the two of them in an empty car, Rhett shivering in Link’s arms and Link almost knuckle deep inside him. Rhett pushed against Link’s finger, rolled his hips, kept breathing heavy and erratic. Link drew his finger out and pushed in with two. Not as far this time, just enough to feel the little nodule of nerves with his fingertips. He braced himself and pressed hard.

Rhett bucked and writhed in Link’s arms. His hand grabbed the handle so hard his knuckles turned to white and he stopped breathing altogether. It was too much for Link and he had to sink his teeth into Rhett’s shoulder to quell the greedy growl that threatened to release from him. That just made matters worse for Rhett and Link knew that but couldn’t help himself.

“Please, sir,” a faint, raspy whisper floated to Link’s ears and his stomach burned with coiling heat.

“Relax. I got you,” Link whispered back.

Rhett drew a deep breath and his body stilled. Link kept moving inside him, rubbing up against the spot that usually made Rhett a mess of whines and moans. He was silent now, letting out only tiny little whimpers once in a while. His hips rocked against Link’s fingers and the hand holding onto the handle shook slightly from strain.

“Still good?” Link whispered.

“Yes, sir.” The answer was quiet but clear as day. Link almost howled from want.  

“Our stop’s coming soon,” Link rasped as his fingers scissored and applied more pressure against Rhett’s prostate.

Rhett drew a sharp breath and the movement of his hips quickened. He fucked himself with Link’s fingers. Link was about to pass out from the arousal. He was rutting his clothed cock against Rhett’s thigh. He knew he couldn’t come into his pants – he had no change of clothes – but he couldn’t help himself, the need to feel Rhett was too great. Rhett pinned him between himself and the door behind him.

“You coming soon too, darlin’?” Link murmured. He could see Rhett nodding but no sound came out. Their stop was approaching and Link felt the desperation in Rhett’s movements. Link’s hand slipped away from Rhett’s waist and found its way under the front of the kilt. He knew they were playing a dangerous came now. He hadn’t meant for this to escalate so far but damn if he wasn’t going to help Rhett get where he wanted. Link’s hand wrapped around Rhett’s cock and he stroked fast and hard.

That was just enough for Rhett to disintegrate. His body suddenly straightened and tensed up. Link was sure he could hear him grind his teeth together as he came. He felt the hot spurts of cum covering his fingers and he kept pumping until Rhett relaxed against him and let out a small satisfied sigh. Link let his head fall back against the door and closed his eyes. The waves of pleasure coursed through him as he was biting on the inside of his cheek to not scream. He tasted blood. He didn’t care. He was floating.

“Thank you, sir.” The dreamy whisper made Link’s still racing heart skip a beat.

“The pleasure is all mine, baby,” he whispered back.

Then the subway slowed to a stop. Link quickly cleaned off his hand on the underside of Rhett’s kilt. With shaky legs, they maneuvered their way out of the car and onto the platform. Rhett turned to look at Link. His eyes were soft and searching. Link drew him into a kiss. Public displays of affection weren’t really their thing but Link had to make an exception. Rhett tasted salty and sweet. Link sighed into his mouth and felt Rhett’s arms wrapping around him. They breathed each other for a moment, ignoring the world around them. When they finally parted, Link glanced at the clock.