Archive of Our Own

If you were my boy, you'd be getting the strap for this.

Tom groaned into his pillow. Why couldn't he get those words out of his head?

He barely remembered most of last night. It had been one of the Sig Ep weeknight parties and the frat would absolutely let them in, but GDIs and frosh needed to bring their own booze. So Tom had pregamed pretty heavily and he remembered arriving at the party a bit tipsy but the rest of the night was mostly just flashes. He definitely remembered dancing with one of the dom Sig brothers and he thought he puked behind Hamlin Hall, but otherwise basically nothing coherent.

Well, nothing until his roommate found him sitting under a tree on the path back from the library. For some reason Tom could remember with almost perfect clarity Chris sighing as he'd dragged Tom up and encouraged him to lean against him and continue to walk together back home.

“Ah, Tommy.” Chris had said a bit ruefully and with just a touch of concern, “You really are getting out of control.”

“Yeah, Yeah.” Tom remembered slurring at him.

“You really need a guardian to take you in hand.”

Tom had laughed at him. Too loud for that time of night. He winced at the memory. “Ain't no dom gon-gonna take me anywhere. You sure as heck won't.”

Chris huffed out, “Jeeze, you are sloshed. Don't you have morning classes? If you were my boy, you'd be getting the strap for this.”

Tom didn't remember how he responded to that. Heck, Tom didn't remember how he had gotten into bed that night. But that tiny little interaction sat in his memory, clear as day.

And he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Chris had been his friend since orientation. After freshman year, when most of Tom's friend group had managed to snag a triple suite in Mather Hall, he and Chris had agreed to pair off and go with a large double down the hall.

In the whole year and a half Tom had known Chris, the dom had been completely cool about his dynamic. He never did the thing doms did where they talked down to him or called him “boy” or anything like that.

Chris hung out with Tom and his sub friends. Chris punched Tom in the shoulder and told him to fuck off when he was giving Chris shit. Chris was properly salty when he lost at Mario Kart to Tom's badass driving skills but picked up a controller and lost again after the appropriate trash talk had been dispensed.

Chris was cool. Chris was his friend. Chris was his best friend.

But apparently, Chris thought he should get taken in hand. Chris thought he needed a guardian. Chris wanted to take a strap to him. What the fuck?!

And why the fuck couldn't Tom stop thinking about it?

Tom knew who he was. He was a sub. His ID said so and he wasn't ashamed of it. But he wasn't one of those stereotypical sub boys who needed a dom riding him all the damn time, wearing a collar out in public and asking his dom for permission for every little thing.  He didn’t care if his dynamics counselor said his test indicated “lifestyle tendencies.”  He was a scene sub and that was all he needed.

He could go down a few times a month with a dom he found on Grindr or at a frat party and he was fine. He knelt for a bit, got a spanking, maybe got his mouth or ass fucked, maybe even some bondage and let himself float for the evening. And then he went right back to kicking Chris' ass in every video game under the sun and telling stuffy Professor Winstrom why Strauss was a piece of shit white dom trying to build some grand western superiority theory out of conspiracist readings of ancient philosophers.

He was fine. He sure as shit didn't need a fucking guardian. He didn't need anybody to take him in hand.

But he couldn't stop thinking about it.

He'd woken up late and groggy, his head aching, having already missed his first class that morning. He groaned and stretched and then the memory had hit him full force and now he'd been spiraling well into the afternoon.

Because even the very thought had Tom's stomach clenching up and his cock half hard and he thought about how it would have felt if instead of – apparently – tucking Tom into bed before crashing out himself, Chris had bent him over the desk and wailed on his ass. Called him a naughty boy and… and made him stand in the corner before sending him to bed with a swat.

Tom could feel himself blushing furiously. His hand strayed towards his dick. He started stroking, moaning a bit as he imagined every possible permutation of Chris lecturing him about how irresponsible it was to go drinking on a school night. Why the fuck did the idea of his stupid, unfairly attractive roommate lecturing him like a little boy have him hard as fuck and wanting to moan out loud?

Finally, just as he was about to cum, Tom thought of one last idea. What if, instead of going to the stupid Sig Ep party, he'd turned it down, told Lily and Kieran to go on without him. If he'd just gone back to the dorm because Chris – because his guardian, had told him no and he didn't want to get punished.

And that was the thought that finally sent him over into one of the better orgasms of his 20-year-old life.

As he caught his breath, Tom smiled a bit. Okay, good. Just a stupid sub fantasy. Everybody got them. Now he'd jerked it and played it out he could forget about it. Like normal.

Tom's head was killing him. The hangover and jerking off did not combine well. He got up, grabbed his current plastic water cup – emblazoned with a fading Palmerston crest – and went to the communal dorm bathroom. As he filled it up, he couldn't help but glance over to the last shower on the right where they were lined up in the back of the bathroom. It had been missing a shower curtain all year. Nobody used it, but all the doms in the dorm—well not Chris, but the others—joked that it was the “sub shower.”

Everybody knew that back before they'd had codynamic dorms, a lot of schools, including Palmerston, had had communal showers in the open rather than stalls for the sub dorms. That way, the House Doms—basically RAs on a power trip—could inspect them while they showered. Remind them of their place. Fucking gross. They'd gotten rid of those in the main dorms when they’d stopped segregating by dynamic - though Tom was pretty sure they still kept some in the caste dorms.  Tom didn’t know.  He didn’t keep up with that stuff.  It wasn’t for him.

But still, every time Tom passed the showers he couldn't help but glance at the sub shower and imagine if he was forced to shower there and all the other students on the floor could see him showering because subs don't get privacy. It was a gross, stupid sub fantasy. Just something to rub off to in the shower about and forget.

But now that he was thinking about sub fantasies he was already back on what Chris said.

“You really need a guardian to take you in hand.”

As he slipped back into their room, chugging his water, Tom couldn't help but stop before heading back to bed. His brain was running too fast, the thoughts everywhere. Tom went over to his chest of drawers and pulled out the top one. He pushed his boxers aside and fingered the white double-backed briefs underneath.  The kind they only sold these days for little kids and like… little subs. He didn't know why he'd bought them. He didn't wear briefs. Ever. Hadn't since he was like eight.

He'd gotten them from a special sub store online just before he'd moved in with Chris. He'd hidden them carefully in the bottom of his duffle and had only unpacked after Chris had gone to the dining hall on move-in day. He'd only worn a pair twice, both for less than an hour, when he was sure Chris was at class. He didn't know why. Something about them just made him feel... small, controlled... good.

Tom ran his fingers along the waistbands and shook his head. Tried to get the thoughts to calm down. But Tom's hands strayed to the chest of drawers to the left of his own. Chris' drawers.

Tom knew where Chris kept his toys. He'd seen him putting a plug back in the second drawer down back in October after he'd finished a night with some Freshman sub he'd met at one of his stupid psych major mixers. Tom had stayed with Kieran that night, but he'd gotten back early that morning in the hopes of catching some extra shut eye and found Chris shoving the pretty gigantic toy into the drawer.

Now Tom found himself reaching and opening Chris’ drawer. He knew it was an invasion of privacy. He knew he had no business going through Chris' shit. But like. What the fuck was this so-called strap like.

So screwing his courage up, Tom pulled open Chris' drawer. Laid out neatly like the fucking anal retentive dom Chris was, was a fucking' motherload of sex toys. A set of cuffs, two different plugs – one like big but kinda reasonable and one huge to Tom's eyes, a fucking crazy dildo with ridges, a weird clear paddle, like five different colored lengths of rope, and finally, laying across the whole length of the drawer, was the damn strap. The thing was a bit less than two feet long, a few inches wide, thick as fuck and made of smooth leather. There was a wooden handle at one end imprinted with a maker's mark. Tom was leaning down to inspect it when suddenly there was a whoosh of air behind him as the door opened.

“Hey, sleeping beauty, how's the hea-” Chris' voice cut off as he apparently noticed his roommate looking at his sex toy drawer, “What are you doing?”

Tom shoved the drawer closed with a start and stumbled back, looking at Chris with wide eyes. His roommate had his hands on his hips and his head tilted to the side. He didn't look angry. He just seemed... inquisitive, like he'd run into something he hadn't expected.

“No-Nothing” Tom stammered. That sounded pitiful.  He tried to reach out for a reasonable excuse, but somehow all of his vaunted fast talk bullshit that got him through Winstrom's third cold call on “the glory of a classical education” had fled him.

“Thomas.” Chris said, suddenly all stern, deep and firm. Tom had never heard him say his name like that before. Suddenly, as if he had somehow forgotten, Tom remembered that Chris wasn't just his bro. His roommate. His friend. Chris was a dom. “Why were you -”

Suddenly Chris cut himself off. As if he realized what he was doing and forcibly dragged himself back. “Shit. Fuck. Sorry, Tom.” Chris said, in a voice far closer to what Tom was used to hearing from the dork. “I didn't mean to get all cave man dom on you.”

Tom wasn't sure he hated cave man dom on Chris. But still, it was a chance to avoid having to talk about staring at Chris' sex toys. So. Tom nodded at him a bit dumbly, “Yeah, uh, no worries, man. It's all good. I didn't really mean to go snooping through your stuff. Just got kind of confused with the,” he waved towards his head, “you know, hangover. Was trying to grab a new shirt.”

Chris frowned at him for a moment like he knew it was bullshit. But then his expression cleared and he shrugged, “Alright, sure, if you say so.”

They lapsed into silence. Tom moved his hand over to his drawers again and grabbed a random shirt blindly and changed while Chris set down his bag and laid down on his bed with one of his texts books.

As he was shrugging the shirt on Tom couldn't help but glance over to the drawer with the strap in it. Couldn't help but think about it again.

“If you were my boy, you'd be getting the strap for this.”

Ugh. Fuck it. Fine. The stupid sub fantasy wasn't going away.

“Hey. Chris,” Tom ground out, “Thanks for helping me last night.”

Chris set down his book and looked at him before shrugging, “No worries, dude. Happy to help. You might want to watch the drinking, though. Still pretty cold at night to be falling asleep on the quad.”

Tom tried to chuckle wryly, but it came out a bit forced. It was a fair concern. Last year, at orientation, they'd all been scared with stories about the kid who'd gotten so stoned he'd wandered off, fallen asleep in a field, and died of exposure a decade ago.

“Did you mean what you said, though.” Tom cringed a bit, “Last night.”

“When I said what last night?” Chris asked, voice still neutral and calm. Like he couldn't see Tom breaking out in fucking goosebumps and jitters over this conversation.

“About. You know. Thinking I needed a guardian.”

That broke through Chris' calm facade and Tom watched as his roommate's face went on a little journey.  At first he seemed horrified and embarrassed – like he was going to apologize again for going cave man dom on Tom. Then, after a moment, he seemed to focus on Tom more sharply, see him standing there, curled in on himself, unsure, shivering, scared. Then his face smoothed out and he sat up on the bed to give Tom his fully attention.

“Well, Tommy,” Chris never called him Tommy. The only people who called him Tommy were his parents and doms trying to get one over on him. Somehow, though, Tom didn't mind this time. “Why do you ask? Do you think you need a guardian?”

“Fuck no!” Tom swore anger swelling up in him, “That's bullshit. I just want to know why you thought I did. I thought we were cool!”

“We are cool, Tommy.” Chris held his hands up, “And we can never talk about this again if you don't want to. But, to answer your question. You've been drinking more, skipping classes more, you've been going home with sketchier doms. It worries me. Worries Lily, Kieran, and Liam, too. You ditched Lily and Kier last night, you know.”

Tom opened his mouth to tell Chris where he could stuff his stupid overbearing domly concern but Chris held up a finger, silencing him, “And,” Chris continued, his eyes crinkling a bit, “You've been pushing me lately. Little things. Insults, deliberately picking fights with me, cursing when we talk more, trying riskier antics when you know I'm watching. Like that time where you ran across the street right before the truck went by on North Main.”

“Hey!” Tom said, indignant, “Just because you're slow and can't jay walk properly because you grew up in Bumfuck, Nowhere doesn't mean I'm... what did you call it?”

“Pushing me.” Chris said, still in that infuriating calm voice, still with that stupid little smirk of his with his eyes crinkling back at Tom. “And sure.  Okay.  Maybe. But in Bumfuck, Nowhere, when we see a sub spiraling into riskier choices and pushing the nearest dom he knows, that reads pretty loud and clear as 'looking for boundaries.'”

“Looking for -” Tom sputtered, “What?”

“Boundaries, Tom.” Chris said, “I think you're looking for somebody to put down some boundaries for you. Call you to task, tell you no. To put it clinically, if you want, I don't think your scenes with the Kappas and Sig Eps are getting you all the way there to regulate your hormone levels any more.”

Tom wanted to continue to react angrily and tell Chris to fuck off. But something about that didn't ring wholly false. He remembered the last thing he'd thought about before he came earlier. About being told no and listening, about having a rule from Chris that he didn't break because it was real and he would have gotten spanked if he hadn't. He stomach still clenched at that and his thoughts skittered away.

“And,” Tom said, in a smaller voice, like it no longer fit in him, “You think a guardian would fix it?”

“I think the right one, yeah. I think you're craving rules, structure, a feeling of consistency and a guardian could give you that. Wouldn't even have to be a whole public, official thing, just somebody on campus who knows you and can help keep you in line. Somebody who could help you out for longer than just a scene. Does that sound like something you might find helpful?”

Tom looked down and bit his lip. Fuck. He wanted to tell Chris that no, of course it didn't sound helpful. He was an independent sub who did scenes and went right back to kicking ass.

But. Fuck. He couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like. He hadn't been able to think about what it would be like all morning.

It was just another stupid sub fantasy. But. Maybe it was a sub fantasy he wanted to try?

“You said the right one,” Tom said, “How would I even know what the 'right dom’ is?”

Chris smiled at him, like he was proud of Tom for even considering it. “Well. There's a list of emergency doms that the school keeps on hand for people who need one and I think that there are a few who are listed for long-term help.”

Tom looked up at him aghast. Chris wanted him to sign on with some rando who couldn't even get a sub of their own. Before he could say anything Chris held up that damn finger again and Tom settled into silence.

“But, frankly, even with their training, you would need to have a lot of trust for this kind of thing. I would honestly pick a dom friend you trust and whose style you like.”

Tom looked at him seriously, “So that means you.”

“Me or Liam, yeah.”

Tom scoffed, “Yeah, no, Liam is all into dressing guys in skirts. That ain't for me.”

Chris laughed indulgently, “Don't knock it til you try it, Tommy. Gender's just a cage, after all.”

Tom glared at him. “So why don't I see you wearing a dress and pearls to go out on Fridays?”

Chris smirked at him, “I recognize the cage I'm living in too, buddy. I'm working on it.”

Tom chuckled. He always wondered if Chris was always this crazy, or if being a psych major just made him this way.

“But okay, not Liam, then,” Chris added seriously, bringing the conversation right back on topic. He looked at Tom and Tom had to avoid his eyes after a moment. He couldn't deal with having this conversation while he was staring into them.

“But-.” Tom started then frowned, stopped, and started again, “But wo-would you even do that? Be my...”

“Your guardian, Tommy?” Chris said, deceptively calm, “Yeah, I could do that for you. I'd love to help you out. Would you want me to?”

Tom blinked. Holy shit. This conversation was really going there.

Tom ignored the question, “If. If you were my guardian. What would that mean?”

“Well. We'd talk a bunch and set up some rules for you and write them up in a guardianship agreement for us to keep and file with the dynamics office. Things to help curb some of your riskier activities and help you get back under control.”

“Yeah, you'd just take over my whole damn life and turn me into your little sub robot, is that it?” Tom said, anger rocketing back in at the idea of needing to be “gotten back under control.”

Chris shook his head, “Nah, Tommy. I don't want to take over your life. We could talk about your rules together as long as it takes. And you could always safeword and talk to me if you think a rule is too much or too unfair.  We’re not talking about an order of revocation, just a guardianship agreement.”

Tom breathed.  Sure, fine, in theory Tom could safeword out of anything absent an O.R..  But everybody’d all heard horror stories.  Though, the fact that Chris wanted to file the agreement probably meant he was serious.  It meant his dynamics counselor would know and could check in on them.  It also was annoying and took forever and something like 90% of college students ignored.  But of course Chris wanted to do everything above-board.

It also meant the campus cops would know to call Chris if Tom fucked up.

“What if I didn’t agree with a rule you thought was really important?”

“If you safeworded, I would respect your decision to define the terms of my guardianship, just like I’m respecting your decision now.  Ultimately we both need to agree to the terms of any contract.  But, yes, short of a safeword, you can disagree all you want and I’ll consider your arguments, but the rule stands if I say it does and if you break it, I would punish you for it.”

“And if I didn’t want to be punished?” Tom challenged.

“Oh Tommy, I can promise you, you wouldn’t want to be punished, even if you need to be.  But if you resist, I can definitely force you to take it, trust me. And if you need that, that’s fine, you just might end up with a sorer bottom at the end of it.”

Tom's insides squirmed a bit at that idea. Somehow, he didn't hate it.

Tom stayed quiet for a minute and thought.

“Okay.” Tom said, “Let's say I was maybe! Possibly! Considering this. What would it look like?”

Chris smiled at him again, and something warm bloomed in his chest.

“Are you talking about right now?” Chris asked, still smiling.

Tom nodded jerkily. “Yeah, like if we were to make you my guardian. Right now. What would that look like?”

“Well first, I'd want to make clear, we would both want to start with a trial period. You don't know if you really want this and neither of us know how our dynamics will work together. We've never scened. So we would want to start off with, say, a month of me being your guardian.”

“Eventually, tonight, we'd want to go over what rules would work for you and my expectations for you in following them. What we both wanted you to achieve and stay safe and feel protected and bound the way you need to. We would want to keep things relatively light and easy to follow. Just the basics. We can always add more over time. We'd go over limits and talk about communication styles going forward. All that good stuff.”

Tom rolled his eyes at this. Sounded like a lot of talking for what amounted to Chris telling him “straighten up, fly right.” But of course Chris wanted to talk it to death. He did that with fucking everything.

“But first,” Oh shit, Chris was still talking, “we would need to deal with last night.”

“Last night?” Tom croaked out.

“Yeah, Tommy. I can tell you right now that if we do this, your rules sure as heck aren't going to let you get black out on a Tuesday and skip your Wednesday classes. And I think we would want to start as we intend to go on.  So yeah, I’d give you the punishment you earned last night.”

“What?” Tom almost screeched but then his thoughts stumbled. Tom dot exe stopped responding. Please press control+alt+delete to restart your Tom. “I. Uh. What?”

“If I were to start being your guardian, right now, I would want to punish you for last night's drinking episode. And presumably the classes you skipped today. Because, Tommy, I think we both know you shouldn't be doing that.”

Tom gaped at him. Even though Chris was phrasing everything as a hypothetical still, that pretense was wearing very thin. This was getting very real very fast all of a sudden.

“How... How would you. Um. Punish... me? I mean. If we did that.” Tom managed to get out, visibly cringing.

Chris had that damn superior smirk on his face again. “Oh, Tommy. I think I already answered that question last night. I think that's why you were looking in my drawer just now.”

“Um.” Tom visibly squirmed while he was standing there and glanced back towards Chris' second drawer from the top. “Oh.”

“What did I say I would do last night, Tommy, if you were my boy?” Chris said, with a definite command about it.

Tom looked at him and blanched, but Chris just met his eyes and stared him down. Fuck, he was serious. Chris was going to make him say it.

“You.” Tom blew out a breath shakily, “You said that if I was your boy, you'd give me the strap.”

“Yup.” Chris said, popping the p at the end. “I think damn near killing yourself falling asleep drunk on the quad probably should be a strapping offense, don't you?”

“But!” Tom said desperately, “I didn't know! We weren't doing anything, you weren't my guardian yet! You aren't my guardian yet!”

Tom couldn't help but notice that he was talking about Chris not being his guardian “yet.” But now they were both saying it like Chris would be. Probably really really soon.

“And!” Tom added on, desperately, “What about that whole talk about limits and setting rules and communication styles and safewords and all that other crap?!”

“Tommy.” Chris said seriously, “Is pain and impact play a limit for you?”

“What? No. I'm good. I can take it”

“What about pain for punishment?” Chris pressed.

Tom shook his head and bared his teeth, “No. Nah. I said I can take it.”

“Paddles and straps good?” Chris added, lightly.

“I've never taken a strap.” Tom admitted, “But I've done plenty. Nothing I can't handle.”

Chris chuckled evily, “Yeah, I wouldn't be too sure about that.”

“It's not a limit.” Tom said, a bit petulantly.

“Okay. What about lectures, being held down, nudity here in the room with just me, corner time. Any of that a limit either?”

“Ugh. Seriously, what is with this baby shit? Yeah, that's fine too.”

Chris clapped his hands, “Great! Consider your limits as far as getting a strapping for last night covered. We can deal with the rest later.” After a breath, Chris added, almost perfunctorily, “If I were you guardian, that is.”

“Anyway,” Chris continued, “As far as not being your guardian last night. That's fair. I wasn't.” Tom almost let out a breath, “But first, I think you knew when you were doing it that what you were doing last night was stupid and irresponsible. Heck, I think if you look inside yourself, you'll see that the reason we're even having this conversation at all is because you feel a guilty and a bit scared by how far you went last night. I want to help you deal with those feelings.”

“By beating the shit out of me.” Tom interjected.

“By giving you a punishment and a space to get it out through catharsis, yes.” Chris replied, “And second, I want you to understand that I am serious about boundaries and your well-being and that if you were to break my rules again, you would face real consequences. I think that would help establish roles for us. I want you to know you're safe with me and that I've got you from now on.”

“If you were my guardian,” Tom added on for him.

Chris nodded, “Yes. If.”

Tom stared at him for a moment. He couldn't really believe he was even having this conversation. With Chris. Who was legitimately the only cool dom at this whole damn school. “I just want to be really, painfully clear here.” Tom said, “Are you offering to be my guardian, Chris?”

Chris nods, “Yeah, Tom, I am.”

Tom begins to pace in the limited space between their two beds. He had to move, had to think, it was the only way he could deal with the surreality of this whole... thing. “And if I say yes, we would start immediately?”

“Yeah, basically.” Chris agreed.

“And we would go for a month?” Tom said.

“Or, I mean, until you safeworded out and told me you wanted to stop. And of course, we could just continue indefinitely if we found it worked.” Chris shrugged at him.

Yeah, Tom could not even remotely consider that part of it. A month was enough time to think about. “Um.” Tom said, “And if we started right now. You would...” Tom forced himself to push the words out, “Punish me. For last night.”

“Yep, you got it.” His roommate said cheerfully.

“But uh,” Deep breath, “What if I say no?”

Chris was probably the coolest dom that Tom knew. He didn't put on airs, he didn't ruffle your hair when you were talking on the sidewalk, he never pushed for his choice when they were deciding what to do. Tom couldn't even say the same thing for Liam. Liam always had this slight edge of command whenever he and Tom got into an argument. But Chris was just... a really good friend. And now they'd had this whole fucked up insane conversation. Tom had no fucking clue what was going to happen to that friendship now. Had Tom just irrevocably blown it up because Tom couldn't keep his damn fucking stupid sub fantasies in his pants, where they belonged?

Chris stood up and crossed over the room to put his arms on Tom's shoulders and stop him from pacing. Tom hadn't realized he'd been pacing faster and faster they had talked. He was a little out of breath.

Chris looked him straight in the eyes and said, extremely seriously, “Tom, if you say no, we don't ever have to talk about it again, I'll apologize for speaking out of turn last night and you can beat me at Mario Kart. We stay just as things have been.”

Chris stepped back and let Tom stand on his own for a moment.

“What if. Like. I want to talk about it again? Like sometime down the road.”

“Offer's open for as long as you want it to be.” Chris shrugged, “I mean I can't promise nothing would change that, but like. I want to be there for you and if being your guardian is how you want me to be there for you... That'd be good. A day, a month, a year from now. Just come tell me you want me to be your guardian or you want to talk about it some more and I'll be here to listen to you and we can start right as we're talking about now.” Chris smirked a bit at him, “With your punishment for last night.”

“What?” Tom glared at him, “Really? You'd punish me last night a year from now? Come on!”

“Yeah, really, Tommy.” Chris still had that damn smirk on his face. It was, Tom thought, unfairly attractive. “Can't have you thinking you can get out of punishments just by delaying things. Not a good way to start setting boundaries is it?”

“Ugh, fuuuuck you, Chris.” Chris just laughed at that.

But something about Chris' response settled something in Tom's stomach. Oddly, the assurance that he didn't have to give up anything – either Chris' friendship or the chance to try it out later – if he wasn't ready made it easier to consider... saying yes. Even the promise that no matter what, if Tom did say yes, he'd get punished for last night made it easier. It felt... Tom didn't know, but good somehow to know that he couldn't play this out until Chris forgot about the drinking and let him get away with it.   For some reason, Tom didn't want to get away with it.

And, Tom thought with some heat, he actually really liked the way Chris smiled at him and called him Tommy. He even liked the stupid smirk.

And he couldn't stop thinking about the damn strap in Chris' drawer.

And Chris was... Chris was really the best person Tom could possibly imagine exploring what a... guardianship type... thing would be like. Tom trusted him, liked him, and – Tom could admit in the privacy of his own mind – he was basically exactly Tom's type. Broad shoulders and a couple inches taller than Tom himself, with a wicked smile, red-brown hair and gorgeous hazel eyes, Chris was a catch. Tom had quietly... appreciated him when he'd gotten back from the shower every morning. So like the idea of having those hands on him did not exactly sway Tom against the deal.

Tom blew out a breath. He was already thinking about it, already planning it. He knew he wanted it, even he could admit that now. So what? Was he going to just let being afraid of change stop him? Fuck that noise, Tom wasn't scared of anything.

Tom stopped staring at his feet and looked Chris dead in the eye.

And then promptly stumbled over his words, “Hey, uh. Chris. I. Um. Think I would like you to be my guardian. Yeah. That. I think we should do that.”

Smoooooth. Tom cringed at himself.

But Chris just smiled his biggest smile all night and he actually reached over and hugged Tom. And not like a bro hug with one arm that they usually shared, but this big, all embracing hug that left Tom feeling oddly smothered and safe at the same time. Tom was too stunned to do anything about it. “Alright, lets do that. One month trial guardianship, starting right now.”

Tom nodded into Chris' shoulder. Yeah. Okay. He could do this. It was fine. Nothing to be scared of.  Just suddenly jumping into a massive 24/7 dom-sub relationship with his roommate. Totally easy.

“You ready to get started, Tommy?” Chris asked softly into his ear.

Tom nodded again.

“Nuh uh, buddy.” Chris said, “I need words.”

Tom groaned into Chris' t-shirt. But he had signed up for this. He'd literally just signed up for this. “Yeah, okay. I'm ready.”

“Alright,” Chris' voice was almost down to a whisper in Tom's ear, but still, infuriatingly calm, “Go on over to my drawer – I know you know the one – and take out the paddle and and the strap.”

The sudden reality of what was about to happen crashed over Tom. Fuuuuuuck. He had literally just signed up to take a strapping from a guy who he fucking knew put in like five workouts at the school gym every week. Why the fuck had Tom done that? He must be crazy.

Tom gave a kind of half groan half whine, but Chris just let him out of the embrace and gave him a slight push towards the drawers.

Tom couldn't help if he took a few extra steps and moved a bit slowly across the five feet or so to the drawers. He opened the drawer, and there, sitting where he had left them, was the weird clear, thin plastic paddle and the leather strap. Tom picked up the implements like they were snakes – held in the thumb and forefinger of each hand – and turned around.

Chris had moved back to his bed and was sitting on the edge casually with his legs spread wide. He motioned Tom over, “Alright, come on over here, boy.”

Boy. Fuck. Tom usually hated when doms used that with him. And Chris had fucking never done that. But. Tom guessed that now, he really was Chris' boy. And somehow that change had suddenly moved the word from irritating to something far more uncomfortable and scary. Something close to right.

Tom trudged back across the room to his new guardian, who, the moment Tom got within range, grabbed him by his belt loops and dragged him firmly to stand in between Chris' splayed legs.

“I'll take those from you, thanks.” Chris said, as he grabbed the implements from Tom and laid them out on the bed next to his hip. He then turned by to Tom, holding him still by his hips.

“So, my boy, what are your safe words?”

“Stoplight system.” Tom answered, almost by rote. He'd done this with every new scene partner he had ever had.  Well… Every scene partner he’d scened with while sober. It was basic as heck.

“Good. Me too.” Chris said, nodding approvingly, “And you will call red or yellow if you need to, won't you?”

Tom groaned and almost rolled his eyes. He hated this part. Even if every dom worth his salt made sure to ask this and make Tom answer, he still hated it. Hated having to acknowledge and agree to safeword. He wondered if he could dodge it with Chris and just get him to get on with it.

“Yeah, yeah. Boring dom safety stuff,” Chris said, reading his mind. Or just remembering the number of times Tom had bitched about it to him, “But I did ask you a question, Tommy, and I expect a verbal answer.”

“Ugh, yes, fine, I'll call yellow or red if I need to, okay, happy?”

Chris smirked at him again, “Oh, my boy, you are going to be trouble.”

“What does that mean?” Tom demanded.

“I mean we are literally two minutes into me being your guardian – and you already know you have a punishment coming – and you are already copping an attitude.”

Tom scoffed, “You really thought that just saying saying yes would make me suddenly treat you like God come early?” Then suddenly Tom felt self-conscious. For some reason he wanted this to actually go well. He didn't want Chris to get mad at him. He glanced at the paddle and strap on the bed. Madder at him.

But Chris continued to smirk his stupid fucking smirk, “No. I didn't expect that at all. Honestly, I'm not sure you would be you if you weren't going to spew some kind of sass at me every now and then.”

“Is. Is that okay?” Tom couldn't help but ask.

“Yeah, Tommy, it's fine.” His roommate ran a comforting hand down his back, “I knew what I was getting into with you when I offered to be your guardian. And, to be frank, I like mouthy subs.”

“Oh. Good.” Tom said awkwardly.

“Okay, let's get this show on the road,” Chris said, “Hands on my shoulders, Tommy.”

Tom followed directions and placed his hands on Chris' shoulders as the dom leaned forward and unbuttoned his jeans – the same jeans he'd gone out in last night Tom realized. He hadn't changed for bed or all through the day. There was still mud from sitting under the tree on the back.

It didn't take long for Chris to have Tom’s boxers and jeans pushed down – way down to his knees. And now Tom blushed as his dick was free to the wind and definitely interested in the proceedings. This wasn't the first time Chris had seen Tom naked, they were roommates after all and neither of them were particularly careful about changing after showers – but somehow being exposed just this much was worse than being all the way naked.

Chris ignored Tom's erection, though. Instead, he just lifted Tom's hands off of his shoulders and used one grip on Tom’s wrist and a hand on his back to turn Tom and move him so he was arrayed over one of Chris' knees. Tom's chest rested on the bed, but his legs hung off Chris' lap where he sat on the tall dorm bed.  His toes couldn't quite reach the floor.

Tom had been in this position dozens of times for probably over a dozen doms since he got to college. But somehow, this time felt way more real and exposing than all those sexy playdates.

“So Tommy,” Chris said lightly, “Why are you being punished?”

Tom, his face invisible to his new guardian, rolled his eyes. He hated when doms did this nonsense. They both knew why he was here, get on with it.

Also something about the word “punished” just settled right into his gut.

“I drank too much last night.”

“Yes you did,” Chris confirmed, “And what else?”

Tom groaned aloud, “I got blackout and was falling asleep on the quad in winter.”

Chris sounded grim this time, “Yes, you did that too. That's dangerous as fuck, Tom. People really do die. They didn't make up that story about the kid and the field. And we're going to talk about rules in a bit, but as long as you are mine, you are never going to do that again. Understand?”

Fuck, Chris might be actually, properly mad about this. And Tom had just signed up to be Chris' sub. He was already regretting his decisions. Though Tom couldn't decide if he was regretting going out last night or asking Chris to be his guardian so Chris could do something about the fact that he went out last night.

Shit. Chris was still waiting for an answer. Tom nodded. Chris swatted Tom's bare ass firmly with his hand and Tom yelped, “Words, Tommy. Do. You. Under. Stand?” He punctuated each word with another swat. They weren't sharp enough to be very painful, but were enough sting to get Tom talking.

“Yes, Sir!” Tom blurted out, the honorific slipping into the answer almost without Tom noticing, "I understand!"

“Anything else you want to add about why you're over my knee right now?”

“Uh...” Tom sweated, “I looked in your drawer of toys without permission?”

Chris laughed out loud at that, “You know, I hadn't even considered that one. But fair point, Tommy, you probably shouldn't snoop through people's stuff without their permission. But going forward, they're going to be for taking you in hand, so I think it's fair enough that you get to look at them.” Tom smiled at the humor weakly. “Anything else you're getting punished for?”

Tom squirmed a bit over his lap. He'd just copped to something Chris hadn't even been considering. How on earth was he going to make sure he only listed stuff Chris considered serious? He made a little frustrated whining sound in his throat. “You haven't even set the rules yet, Chris! I'm not sure what's against them!”

Chris chuckled again, “Fair point, boy.” Chris ruffled his hair and Tom wanted to hate it. Wanted to, but didn't. “But I think you can guess that I might be annoyed that you skipped your classes today because you were hung over from all the drinking you definitely shouldn't have been doing.”

Ah. Fuck.

“I think you know well enough without me telling you that all of that was risky, stupid, and asking for trouble.” Chris continued, more serious now, “So your punishment is going to start with my lexan paddle,” What the fuck was lexan? Tom thought, “And we'll finish with the strap, like I promised you.”

Tom clenched his ass in anticipation. Fuck. He had figured something like that was in store when he got both instruments out. Tom jumped a little when he felt the slightly cold plastic of the paddle rubbing lightly against his ass. Why the fuck did he agree to this?!

“What's your color, Tommy?” Chris asked softly.

Tom blew out a breath and he was both glad Chris reminded him he could opt out at any time and also fucking mad because it meant that Tom had to admit, again, that he was okay with what was happening. That he wanted it, at some level.

“Green, Sir.” Tom said.

“Let me be clear,” Chris said, grim and firm, “I never, ever want you to do anything as dangerous as last night again, and if you get even close, you're going to get your punishment entirely with the strap and it's going to be far longer than this one.”

At that point, the paddle lifted away from Tom's ass and his heart got a little swooping sensation. Shit here it comes. The paddle struck swift and firmly, but less hard than Tom expected but holy shit that did not matter because it stung worse than absolutely anything Tom had felt before. A sharp surface level sting that bloomed rapidly after the sudden shock of the swat.

Chris didn't give him any time to focus on the feeling. The next swat with the paddle hit just as Tom even registered the sting from the first. Chris peppered him with firm swats at such a rapid pace that it rapidly overwhelmed Tom's capacity for stoicism and he quickly began to squirm and let out little pained, “Ows” and quiet curses. Chris tightened his grip on Tom's side and continued to swat rapidly.

The constant pain just wouldn't end. It had to end, Tom needed it to stop right now!

“Chriiiiiissss” Tom whined, still squirming as much as he was able to, “Please, enough. I get it.”

Chris chuckled a bit darkly, “Oh, my boy, this is still just warm up. We're not even close to done.”

“Chris!” Tom shrieked and then, realizing how loud he had been, covered his mouth. Chris stopped paddling him at that – though he left the plastic paddle resting against Tom's ass.

“What is it?” Chris asked gently.

Tom squirmed a bit so he could look around in his current position and look at Chris' face. “I just... thin walls. What if people hear?”

Chris used his free hand that had been holding Tom still to gently push him back down flat over his knee and rub his back. “What if they do?” Chris asked him back.

“I just. I don't want people to know I... that you...” Ugh, Tom didn't want to have to say it.

“That I'm your guardian and I'm punishing you for behaving badly?” Chris asked, in the same gentle tone, but Tom could hear that slight smirk in his voice. Tom blushed deeply and nodded into the bed. Chris tapped the paddle against his pink ass and said, “Words, Tommy.”

“Yeah, I don't want them to know that.” Tom said, still unwilling to repeat Chris' description.

Chris seemed to be content with that, though, and said, “It's okay, Tom. If they hear anything, they'll assume it's just a sub I'm scening with with or you doing a scene. Nobody's going to assume it's anything more than that unless we tell them.”

Tom guessed that was true. It was hitting him how much more than a scene this was. Chris had already told him that if he did anything like this again he'd be getting a worse punishment and that wasn't just idle kinky roleplay talk. Tom had really given him the power to do that.

“I'm going to get started again, Tom,” Chris said softly, “Color?”

Tom shuddered a bit but said, “Green.”

When the paddle came down again, Tom squealed out loud. “Fuck! Chris! Not so hard!”

Chris ignored his objection and brought the paddle down again, just as hard as the first time, and much harder than before they'd paused. “God, Tommy, you have no fucking idea how worried I have been the past few months.” Chris said, as he continued to paddle at a steady, pace of hard swats, “I've watched you escalate with ever more risky bullshit, ever more alcohol, skipping classes, going home with doms you just met while you and they were drunk.”

As Chris spoke, Tom rapidly got back to squirming and his quiet exclamations of pain became louder and higher and closer to whimpers. Tom kept scrabbling for the moment when it had to end. He needed it to end and it just kept going on, the pain layering over and over in a hotter and hotter sting that wouldn't stop.

“I kept feeling helpless and couldn't figure out what was going on. I kept trying to understand why my friend was spiraling out like this? But now we know. Don't worry, Tommy, I'll give you the rules and control you need to feel safe and protected. I know it sucks to push when there’s nothing to push against, no boundaries for you.  That can be really scary.  Don’t worry, your boundaries will be right where you need them to be from now on. And every time you push up against them, I'll help show that to you by giving you exactly. What. You. Need.” Chris did the whole punctuating the last few words with extra hard swats and it finally broke a dam in Tom's head.

“Chris! Please! Stop!” Tom begged, his voice high and whiney “I'm sorry! Stop! Fuck! Ow! I'll be good!”

Chris didn't listen, he just kept spanking while Tom scrabbled against the sheets on the bed. Finally, out of all control, Tom just let himself squirm and felt the first traitorous tears leak out of his eyes.

A few seconds – and swats – after that Chris stops and rubs Tom's back for a second while Tom just lays there, sorry for himself and crying silently.

“Okay, Tom,” Chris says after a moment, “Lets wrap this up with the strap. I want you to crawl on the bed and lie down flat.”

Tom reacts immediately, “What? No! Chris, I can't take anymore! I'm sorry!”

Chris replies sweetly, “I know you are, but that's not how it works, sweetheart. Unless you're giving me a color, I need you to get on up on the bed.”

Tom almost calls yellow. He really almost does. He can't take any more spanking. The thing that holds him back, the only thing, is that it's Chris. Ultimately, with Chris rubbing his back and the calm voice of his friend in his ear, Tom knows he's okay. It'll hurt, but he can take it. Part of him, he thinks, might even want to.

So, tearfully, Tom clambered off Chris' lap to more fully lie on the middle of the bed on his stomach, with his head turned to look at Chris and the strap. Chris stands up and turns so he looms over Tom and the strap next to him on the bed slithers up as Chris pulls it and hangs it over his shoulder, laying the paddle back down in its place.

“Do you want me to hold you down?” Chris asks calmly, as if he doesn't really care which Tom picks, but does want to know the answer. “If you move out of position, I'm going to give you two extra, so the help staying still might be nice.”

Tom blushed and nodded. “Yeah, real nice.” He said wetly, “But fine.” Yeah, he wanted Chris to hold him down, and not just because it might save him some extra with the strap. The idea of the dom holding him down at any time, even for a punishment, did things to his head that he couldn't stop. Made him feel safe, which was ironic, since Chris was holding him down in order to light his ass on fire.

“Okay, buddy, hands behind your back.” Chris says, softly, and Tom complies, resting his wrists on his arms at the small of his back. Prior doms had liked that in scene and Chris seems to, too. Tom watches as Chris reaches down and holds his arms together with one hand and pushing him down slightly into the bed, pinning him there. Then he takes the strap with his other hand and looks at Tom kindly, “Okay, Tom, you're getting ten and then we're done, got it?”

“Ten?” Tom ask pitifully. Not sure he can take ten of anything, right now, much less the terrifying-looking strap.

“Yeah, ten,” Tom groaned but didn't try to move, “but then it's over. Give me your color?”

Tom wasn't going to give up, “Green, Sir. I'm Green.”

“Good boy,” Chris said, and then he lifted the strap off his shoulder and laid it into Tom's ass and damnit, Tom was happy Chris was holding him down because there was no way he was staying in position on his own. The strap seared a line of fire deep into his ass. Where the lexan paddle was a sharp sting on the surface that slowly inched down into his butt, this was a deep thuddy ball of what the fuck was that pain. Tom barely noticed himself crying out wordlessly.

Tom felt the strap lift and he could only close his eyes and try to breathe and then it slammed down again. And Tom broke. He went straight past the quiet crying he had mostly stopped in the shift to lie down on the bed and outright let out a sob. With each further strike with the strap, Tom cried out. In between the hits, Tom cried fluently. Chris continued to strap him steadily and without letting up from the top of his ass to the top of his thighs.

Tom didn't even try to count the strokes from the strap. He just knew that eventually they stopped coming and the hold on his wrists loosened. Chris reached with his other hand and soothed it through Tom's hair making soft, calming sounds. “There, boy, there there. It's over, we're done. Shhh. You're okay, you made it through.”

Tom slowly but surely stopped sobbing and his shaking calmed down. Chris helped him get up and move, slowly to stand up next to the bed. Chris opened his arms and Tom fairly headbutted into Chris' shoulder, desperate for the comfort. Chris held him and Tom let himself sink in to being hugged by his guardian. Chris kept making soft little sounds to calm him.

Eventually, Tom felt himself settle, his sniffles dried and he just felt empty and calm. He loosened his hold on Chris and the dom let him step back slightly. Chris looked at his face for a long moment and then nodded his head decisively, “Okay, sweetheart, you did a great job. Now I am going to have you do a bit of corner time to help the lesson settle in and then we'll talk, okay?”

Tom wanted to whimper at that, but he also just wanted to do whatever Chris told him. He nodded.

“Okay, sir.”

Chris smiled at him and gently marched him over to the empty corner of the room with a hand on his lower back. As he moved, he realized he could only kind of waddle because his pants and boxers were around his thighs. Tom reached down to pick them up but Chris just said, “No, leave them, Tommy.” And Tom did, just letting himself waddle where Chris was leading him.

They reached the corner and Chris positioned Tom so he was facing the corner and couldn't see the rest of the room except for the bare white cinderblocks of their dorm room.

“Alright, Tommy,” Chris said gently, “Hands on the back of your head. Yeah, like that. Widen your stance a little. There you go, good boy. If I put you in the corner, this is how I want you.”

Tom flushed a bit as he recognized what he must look like. His pants down, his flaming ass on display and his hands on his head, all made him feel so... small and pitiful. Like a punished little boy, or like the whimpering sub stereotype from those dynamic ed videos.

Tom guessed that was what he was now: Chris' punished little sub.

Chris was still rubbing his back lightly though and that helped Tom feel okay. Like maybe being Chris' punished little sub was exactly what he needed to be. “Good boy, okay, I'm going to go back to the bed and read. I want you to stay like this until I call you. I'll be here the whole time if you need me. But I just want you to stay still and not talk. Just think and feel for a bit. Got it.”

Tom nodded. Chris didn't demand words from him just ruffled his hair above his hands and walked away.

At first, Tom felt a bit bereft without Chris' hands on him.  But, he stood there like he was told. Slowly, the last of the shocks from the spanking seeped out of him and the quiet of the room seeped in. Tom could hear Chris quietly turning the pages in his book, but otherwise, it was silent. There was something almost hypnotizing about the sheer utter nothing of what he was doing – nothing to look at, nothing to hear, nothing to do, just to be here in the corner because his guardian had put him there.

Something about the calm act of obedience with Chris watching over him let the quiet of the room settle into him in a way in hadn’t before.  Tom could feel the time begin to slip away. Tom had been in sub space plenty of times before – it wasn't like he was doing scene with all those upper classman doms every night for the past three months for nothing. And Tom could recognize the signs in himself now, too, the slight floaty sensation, his thoughts slipping through his fingers. But it wasn't as overwhelming as it was in a scene.  Right now, Tom didn’t feel the high of being used or degraded ramping up to rough sex. This somehow felt like a calmer, softer version of sub space. An easier blanket of control holding him.

Tom found that he liked this version. Despite his ass sending every firing off every possible pain signal, he mostly just felt peaceful. He didn't know why getting a beating like – Tom sighed to himself and admitted he was just amping it up to make himself feel better – Tom didn't know why being punished like this was helping to settle him so much, but it was.

It felt like a long time that Chirs kept him in the corner. But eventually, Tom heard Chris put down his book and say, “Okay, boy, pull your pants up and come sit with me on the bed.”

Tom did as he was told, quickly easing his pants and boxers up over his sore ass and coming quickly to Chris, who pulled him down next to him and threw an arm over his shoulder. Tom let out a breath in pain a bit as his ass touched the bed but otherwise didn't complain.

“How're you doing?” Chris asked, and something about his voice had changed a bit. It was still soft and gentle, but a bit less of the firmness in it, something closer to the jocular tone they had normally together.

Tom smiled up at him almost shyly, “I'm… I'm doing okay. Still a bit in space, but good to talk.”

Chris laughed, “I meant your ass, man, but that's really good to hear.”

Tom chucked a bit at that too, “I mean my ass is dying and on fire. Just. Ow. Did you have to go so hard?”

Chris kept smiling, but his voice got a bit firmer again, “Yeah, I did, Tom. You've been spiraling and I got real scared. You can expect more of the same if we have to have another talk about it. Understand?”

Tom gulped. Another reminder that this wasn't just a scene, this was what they were doing now.  All the time. “Uh. Yeah. I got it.” He paused a moment, “So. Uh. How are we doing this now? I mean. From now on?”

Chris squeezed his shoulder in support, “Okay. This evening, after dinner, I’ll print out a standard guardianship agreement and limits sheet and we can fill in all the blanks.  I’ll file it in the morning if we’re happy with it.  But before dinner, I do want to discuss rules.”

Tom swallowed. How much of a sub was Chris going to force him into being?

“As I told you, this can be just between us and our dynamics counselors and I am going to provide you with only the rules I think you need, okay? If we need to revise based on how you feel or how you behave, we will, okay?”

“Uh. Yeah. Okay. I guess.”

“And” Chris added, “I am going to want your input on what rules you need, and what rules you want.”

“Want? Why would I want rules?!”

Chris rubbed his shoulder a bit, “I mean you wanted me to be your guardian, there's got to be some feeling in you that wants rules. Don't worry, I'm not going to take over your whole life in a month.   But if you find that what we're doing isn't getting deep enough for you, I want you to reach out and tell me, okay?”

Tom nodded. Sure fine, whatever, like that will ever happen.

“I’m serious, Tom.  You might now know how far your lifestyle needs go.  If you find yourself needing more rules, getting itchy like you were before today, I want you to talk to me.  If you push me instead, like you’ve been pushing me, you’ll get more rules and a spanking.  Understand?”

“Yes! Okay!  I get it!" Tom said, exasperated, "Look, can you just tell me what rules you are going to put on me?”

Chris frowned a bit but nodded, “Okay, and I want your input on these. But based on what's been going on, here's my thoughts. First, no more alcohol on school nights and no more staying out late. Sunday through Thursday, you stay dry, got me?”

Tom reared back as far was Chris' hand on his shoulder would let him, “Oh come on, not even on Wednesdays? I don't have class on Thursdays.”

Chris smiled indulgently and nodded, “Fine, fair point, you can have Wednesday might as a mid-week weekend too. But the other weeknights are totally dry and your curfew is 10. Got it?”

Tom was pretty happy about getting the extra day to drink but, “A Curfew?! Come on, Chris.”

“Yeah, a curfew. You've been out late every night for two weeks. You've got morning classes – which I know you skip and we will be getting to that in a moment – your sleep is important.”

“But-”

“And,” Chris held up another finger, “I deserve to know you are alive and okay rather than worrying you're getting drunk and falling asleep on campus.”

“I-” Tom sighed, “Does it have to be 10? That's super early.”

“Yeah, it's 10. I want you to get at least 8 hours of sleep and you need an hour to get ready for bed and you have class at 8 on Monday and Tuesday. You can text me if you want to stay out later and I'll consider giving your permission, okay?”

Tom growled. Literally audibly growled. But he also nodded his head. And shifted a little on his sore, stinging ass that was not happy about having to sit like this rather than flop on his stomach. Chris chuckled at his shifting.

“Good boy.  Now, on weekends – and wednedays –  just try to either be home by midnight or tell me where you are and when you'll be home by then, okay? I don't want to worry.”

Tom sighed. But he nodded, “Okay, mom.”

Chris laughed, and said, “Just a bit more. No more skipping classes without a good reason and permission from me.”

“What? Come on-” Tom got one look at Chris' face and decided continuing that argument wasn't going to get anywhere. And really, these rules weren't that bad. Like honestly, things that Tom knew he should probably be doing anyway. Except the curfew thing. That was dumb, but whatever. Still way way less than most subs with guardians out there. “Fine.” He conceded, “Anything else?”

“Yeah.” Chris smirked, “One more for Mr. Expert Jaywalker here. When you're with me, you will let me start crossing the street first.”

Ugh. That was Chris all over, just taking one more time to give him shit. “God, you’re an asshole!” Tom shouted at him.

“Yup.” Chris said, popping the P, “But still a rule.”

“Ugh, fine. You dick.”

Chris laughed, “Alright, that's all for now. Wanna play some Smash?”

Tom blinked, trying to catch up to the sudden topic change, “Uh, what?”

“You know, Smash Brothers, the game you play all the time and swear without evidence you're better at than me?”

“Wha-? I am so better than you! The record doesn't lie! I'm up 5 games!”

“That's just because you've used Jigglypuff for like two weeks straight. Maybe vary it up unless you're too chicken.” Chris started making fake chicken noises until Tom shoved him off and stood up to go grab the controllers.

“Okay, fine. Screw it. I'll beat you into the pavement with Samus and then we'll see who's laughing.”

“I’m sure you'll try.” Chris said mockingly and grabbed the controller Tom tossed him.  “But seriously, Tom.”

Tom looked up at his roommate warily, and Chris continued, “I'm really proud of you for trying this guardianship thing out with me. I think it could be good as heck for both of us. Just watch the rules, because I will absolutely come down on you if you break them, got it?”

“Uh.” Tom flushed again, and his backside twinged, still smarting pretty bad, “Yeah, I got it.”

“Cool. Now let me show you how Fox is going to teach you and your little power armor fighter a lesson or two about speed.”

They continued to banter as the game loaded up and Tom threw himself down on his bed – on his stomach of course. He couldn't help but smile a little. His ass hurt, but he still felt a bit of that calm, happy headspace at the edge of his thoughts. And somehow, even only the tiny number of rules Chris had imposed gave him a tingling in his head and his chest.

So okay, maybe this wasn't just a stupid sub fantasy. Maybe it was going to be real life. And maybe that wasn't the worst thing in the world.