atehimrightup | (no subject)

George starts to take the tack from Lee, carefully putting it away. "And that's why we're talking about it. I want to make sure that I'm entirely clear on what you want." With everything put away, he steps in again, hand cradling the side of Lee's neck, pulling him in to kiss him. "What about the pain? For correction purposes?"

"This is already kind of doing it for me. To be clear," Lee tells him, because George is carrying over that same calm energy from the stall while Lee is just all over the place. He doesn't let Lee's weird energy rattle him, just steps in close and touches him, and Lee goes still at the hand on his neck. He's grateful to be kissed. It seems like he's able to breathe easier afterward.

"Um. That's fine. You know that I'm okay with a little pain," Lee assures him, brow furrowed slightly as he thinks about it. He likes that he added that it's for correction purposes. It's not a punishment, but a reminder. It's an instruction on how to do better, and Lee thinks he would be very okay with that. "I like the correction part. Like, it's not to hurt me, right? It's to keep me focused. Like what you said about the horse. You'd never hurt him. So that's-- yeah." His eyes glaze over a little bit. "How would you do it?"

He smiles at that. It might be deliberate, how he's touching Lee, how he's pitched his voice. He's calibrating. He's got many talents, but this -- being the answer to a lover's fantasy -- is one of his greatest. It's the one that still comes easiest.

"Hmm," he says, thumb stroking against Lee's pulse. "With a horse, it'd be the bit or the crop. The crop would be easy enough to emulate, obviously. And the bit -- a gag of some sort, maybe. You wouldn't need a voice."

He reaches out with his free hand, stirs the leather straps hanging on the rack.

This might kill him. He really thought he would just come watch his beloved boyfriend gallop around on a horse for a bit and then they'd go home. Now he's all flustered and feels like he's just discovered this brand new piece of himself and he has no idea what to do with it.

But George does.

His voice is low and calm, thumb gliding soothingly over his pulse, and Lee rests his hands loosely on George's hips and just stares at him with this utterly besotted look in his eyes. George's very pretty hand glides over leather straps and Lee swallows hard.

"I don't want to be a horse. I feel like I should say that again," he gets out, chuckling softly. "I am very much a boy. But-- yeah. Watching you like that, it-- I dunno. It was like something clicked. Like oh, that's what I've never been able to articulate. That's what I want. But you're doing it to an animal, so I got embarrassed. Sorry I was a brat."

He's kind of rambling, which he doesn't usually do. It happens when he gets nervous sometimes. "I'm just confused."

"I'm not talking about a bridle, don't worry," says George, his voice warm. "And you've been a brat before -- it's not that much of a surprise. A riding crop, though." He makes a soft, thoughtful noise. "I don't have one. We'd have to buy one."

"Takes one to know one," Lee teases gently, tucking his thumbs into the waistband of George's tight pants while staring at the side of his face, quirking a brow. "You seem fixated on the hitting me with a riding crop part."

"I'm not adverse to the idea," he admits, smirking a little before he bends his head to take a kiss, nudging Lee back against the wooden wall. "But if it doesn't work, I'm not married to the idea. There'll be other opportunities, I'm sure."

George moves him gently but surely, pressing him against the wall next to dangling leather straps. He kisses Lee and he hums happily, reaching up to put one hand on George's cheek as he returns it.

"How do you feel about it? I mean, is that something you'd want to do?" He feels nervous and he knows it's probably dumb, but he can't seem to help it. "This is like, your thing. You and the horses. I am not trying to encroach on it or anything. I wasn't expecting to feel the things I felt. You were just-- god, you make me feel everything."

"I like the idea of it," he says, smiling at Lee, hips pressed forward to keep him against the wall. "Of being with you like that. I don't think it's encroaching on anything. Like you said, you don't want to be a horse, and you don't want me to think of you as a horse. You want me to take you in hand." He tilts his head. "I can do that."

"Yeah, I just--" George's hips press into his and it makes it a little hard to think. And then George sums it up so simply, you want me to take you in hand, and he whimpers a little and nods. "Sometimes I feel so wild, and everything you said in there about trust and confidence, about making sure he knew his place. I just-- I want that. For me."

He swallows hard and tips his head back, looking at George through half-lidded eyes with his cheeks still flushed, messy hair spilling in his face. "Sometimes I really do feel like a spooked animal and I want you to make me calm like that."

"I'm pretty sure I can give you that," he says, brushing Lee's hair back from his face. "I think I know exactly what you want." He lifts one hand, takes hold of Lee's jaw and holds him to a firm, hungry kiss. "You want to be reminded of my expectations of you. Of how to be good."

Lee stares at George with wide, bright eyes, nodding a little and blinking slowly as George sweeps his hair back. And then he’s kissed, hard and firm and good, and Lee’s knees go a little weak.

“Yes. Mostly I want to be good,” Lee says, because it’s not about pain or being corrected or bossed around. He just wants to do a good job, and his face is pink and his voice is a little broken when he speaks next. “I want to know you’re proud of me. And that I’m safe.”

He’s never had either of those things. Not until now.

"For the complete avoidance of doubt," says George, his lips still close enough to smudge against Lee's mouth as he speaks. "You are good, and I am proud of you, and you are always safe with me." He brushes another kiss against Lee's mouth. "I don't mind showing you, though."

He squeezes Lee's jaw before he lets him go. "Go wait for me. I'll be there in a minute. I need to make sure Bramble's settled before I leave."

Lee tries very hard to keep it together, but George just said the perfect thing. He said a whole series of perfect things and Lee fully whimpers, eyes rolling back into his head a little. If there were any doubts about his praise kink before (there weren’t) then they’d be all gone now. Is there such a thing as a safety and security kink? Because he has that for sure.

“Oh god,” he says just before George kisses him, feeling a little lightheaded.

And then George squeezes his jaw and okay, yeah. He gets why Alex likes that so much. He stares at George, eyes wide and lips parted, and then shakes himself and clears his throat, two splotches of color high on his cheeks.

“Yes. Okay. Take your time,” Lee says, trying to sound calm and put together but probably missing the mark entirely. “I’ll be by the truck.”

He turns to leave the room, glancing over his shoulder as he does, and very nearly walks into the doorframe. A distressed and embarrassed whine escapes him and he flees the barn entirely, jogging toward the truck.

George is absolutely, accuately aware of the effect that all of this is having on Lee, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying it. He does take his time, settling the blanket over Bramble, making sure that he's got everything he needs to be comfortable through the night. He grabs his coat, the flowers that Lee bought him, and his bag and walks out to where Lee is waiting.

"I do think we ought to swing by that store we've been to before," he says. "See if anything catches our eye."

While waiting for George, Lee smokes a cigarette to settle his nerves. He doesn’t smoke as often as he used to, but it’s not because of any conscious decision on his part. It just doesn’t feel like something he needs as much anymore.

He lifts his head when he hears George emerge, cheeks hollowed around the filter. He’s carrying the flowers Lee gave him, looking gorgeous and windswept, and Lee can’t believe this is his life.

“Just say you want to get a riding crop,” he teases, lifting one foot so he can stub his cigarette out on the bottom of his shoe and then toss it in a trash can. He comes forward to take George’s bag from him, then opens the passenger side door and sets the bag in the back before moving so George can climb in.

“You must not be too eager,” he jokes as he slides in behind the wheel. “If you don’t want to get me right home.”

"Is that I'm not eager, or that I want to make you wait?" Asks George, sliding into his own seat and reaching to buckle himself in. "Because, and I don't know if you know this, you're fucking beautiful when you're flustered." He grins. "And, yes, I want a riding crop. And anything else that takes my fancy."

“Oh my god,” Lee says with a delighted laugh, reaching over to playfully push at George’s face before starting the engine. “I’m going to live to regret this, aren’t I?”

He highly, highly doubts it, and he doesn’t even consider it when he heads away from their building and toward the toy shop. Because he’ll give George whatever he wants. Even if it’s going to the sex shop in that outfit so he can peruse riding crops specifically to embarrass Lee. He’s so whipped.

"Perhaps." He doesn't intend to make Lee doubt it, but he does like flustering Lee, likes getting him to the point where he's so turned on he's incoherent and blushing. "But I doubt it. I'll make it up to you."

"Of that I have no doubt," Lee assures him in a tone that's steadier, but still fond. He glances over at George, looking at home in his beat up truck holding his bunch of flowers, and Lee is so in love that he doesn't know what to do with it all.

Eventually they make it to the shop and Lee parks out front. It looks slightly more skeevy in the harsh light of day, but Lee doesn't mind. He likes this place. The people are nice and nonjudgmental, and this is where George learned the first few clues about what Lee is. It's where he told Lee that it was okay to like what he likes, and that had seemed like such a big deal then. It still does, but it reminds him just how far they've come.

"After you, darling," Lee says after he's raced around to open George's door for him, leaning over in an exaggerated bow. "Your palace awaits."

Lee's relaxed a little bit, which is good. George leaves his flowers on the seat, sliding out of the truck. He cups the side of Lee's face when he straightens, pulling him in for a kiss. "This is about you, not me," he teases. "Let's not forget that."

"You're the one who wanted to come here," Lee mumbles against George's mouth, but he knows what George means and it makes him feel warm all over. He smiles, kisses George again, and then takes his hand to lead him into the shop. He's not so flustered anymore, not like he was the first time, but it's still a trip so see so many explicitly gay things on display and to not have them hidden in a shadowy corner somewhere.

"Hi," Lee says to the dark haired girl who casually greets them from behind the counter. And then, maybe to get a jump on George embarrassing him, he continues. "My boyfriend would like a riding crop."

"Yeah, the outfit kind of gave it away," she says blandly, but she's smiling and pointing. "The pony play section is over there. Hook a right at the butt plugs."

Oh no. Before George can even say anything, Lee all but jumps on his back and slaps a hand over his mouth. "Oh no." The girl raises her eyebrows and Lee sort of wants to die. "This is going to be terrible for me."

George's eyebrows raise at what the girl says, but also the way Lee reacts to it, the hand over his mouth. He gently disengages himself, a definite smirk on his face. "Well, we should definitely go and look at that," he says. He offers Lee his hand. "Come on, love."

Lee lets out an exaggerated whine and takes George's hand as if he's being led to the gallows, but it's mostly for show. He just hates being out of his element and so vulnerable, but he reminds himself that it's okay because he's with George and although George will surely tease him, he won't actually judge him or be cruel.

"Just remember that I'm emotionally fragile," he says as he's tugged through the shop past a wide array of butt plugs and leather. And yeah, wow. There's a whole sign and everything. Pony Play. There's a whole leather mask with little leather horse ears and a mane and Lee shoots George a glare. "Don't even think about it. I will set this whole place on fire."

"I'll remember," says George, squeezing Lee's fingers. "I'll take care of you, sweetheart." His eyebrows raise at the leather mask. "Don't worry. I remember you don't want to be a horse. Though..." He tilts his head at a display of plugs with tails. "I'll admit that those are tempting."