Training Wheels

2

When Monday rolled around, I was frantic. I spent most of Sunday primping - for no reason, I was aware - and googling various methods of soothing anxiety. I was petrified of absolutely nothing, to be honest. I knew what I was facing; I had searched the website for Fetish and viewed their gallery, so I knew what the place looked like. I even used google maps to view the streets surrounding the venue.

There was really nothing that was going to calm me down, I decided until I was inside Fetish and had had a moment to adjust.

After the munch on Saturday, Harry and I had exchanged numbers and my phone dinged with a text from the other boy.

“Oh my god,” I groaned, seeing that he was outside of my building already.
With a last glance in the mirror, I ruffled my hair to be a bit more presentable and smoothed over my black jeans, a band tee, and denim jacket. I’d barely slipped on my shoes when my roommate, Louis, walked through the door.

“Be safe, don’t die, if the place looks cool hook me up.” He says as he walks past me and into his room. I sigh before leaving, trying not to trip as I carefully rush out the door and onto the street.

Harry is waiting, leaning against a large black car. A range rover.

“Holy shit.”

I hadn’t realized I’d spoken aloud until I hear Harry’s sparkling laugh, and he tugs open the car’s door for me.

The drive is short and mostly quiet, just Harry explaining how the venue works, what he does and what I should expect. I know that he works the booking desk, plans appointments for the professional dominants and submissives that work through Fetish, and he checks in the individuals who work in a much… different sense.

“They have a cleaning slave?”

“I’m telling you, he pays us to clean the place. I wish I was joking, but he just really loves cleaning.” I can’t help but laugh when Harry just shrugs, leading me from the lot he’s parked his car in and up to the large metal doors on the side of the building in front of us.

The outside is very normal, the decorative front looking elegant and dark, but the side of the building showing just how large it really is, with several stories of grey and black concrete.

Harry unlocks the door, tugging the heavy metal open and guiding me in. The hallway is dim but not dark, the walls a creamy white and plenty of victorian-era decor littering the walls and furniture.

It looks like this is a waiting area, almost, with the long couches and end tables lining most of the hall that leads up to a large glass desk near the main entrance.

“This is my desk, front and center. I’m secretly an attention whore so I make sure everyone has to look at my pretty face before going any further,” Harry snorts as he grabs a clipboard off of the desk and turns back to me.

Where I’m stood in the main lobby area, the place looks an almost strange mix of old and modern. Glass fixtures and tables take the place of usual wood but the black, white and wine red colors blend the contrasting themes together well.

There’s a bit more furniture here, but the two branching hallways catch my interest. The one directly opposite the entrance we used appears to lead to a stairwell, and the other is much wider, black glass doors blocking the view.

I see Harry writing something on his board before he looks back up at me.

“What do you think?” He asks.

“This looks incredible. A bit scary, maybe.” I tell him honestly.

His smile doesn’t feel judgemental at all, and I try to remember to breathe. While I look around the lobby area, I take deep breaths and close my eyes every few minutes, trying to calm down.

I jump, my heart leaping in my chest when Harry suddenly claps his hands together, the sound ringing loudly in the silence.

“Sorry,” He laughs, “Didn’t mean for that to be so loud.” His eyes seem to be studying me for a moment, looking over my clothes and back to my eyes before he grabs a small ring of keys and stands. “Let’s get on with the tour, yeah?”

I sigh and nod, placing my hand on my chest as if to ease the pounding there. I simply follow after Harry as he unlocks each door we pass, entering first through the black glass.

“These are interview rooms and private spaces, strictly for non-play purposes. This larger room is for events and classes. Upstairs on the second floor is a level of play-oriented classrooms, gear rigs, stuff like that. The third floor is all playrooms.” Harry says, looking to me to be sure I was listening as we made our way through the bottom floor to open everything up.

“Mistress Pez will be here in about half an hour, so I’ll show you the upper floors before she arrives.” I glance at him questioningly, frowning.

“She’s one of the professional dominants that work here during the day. Also one of the educators here.” I nod, glancing around the large space before taking a moment to collect myself again.

“If you’re too overwhelmed, we can just hang out down here. Didn’t mean to just throw you in here.”

I shake my head in protest, but Harry just laughs.

“It’s okay, really, I’m just trying to take it all in. This place looks so cool. A bit heavy on the velvet in the front, maybe.” I joke, hoping it doesn’t sound too forced. Harry only nods and looks around for a moment.

“What are you really looking for?” He asks, voice lower in the quiet room.

“What do you mean?” I frown, confused by his question.

Harry sighs a bit, not unhappily, and he walks me back to the lobby area and towards the stairs.

“You went to the munch because you’re looking to meet people and connect with the scene here, right?” We walk up the two sets of concrete stairs, our footsteps clamoring loudly in the silence.

“Yeah, I guess,” I respond, trying to shrug it off but I know he’s completely right.

“So what are you looking for here? Do you just want casual play, the classes, a dominant?” He presses.

We stop, facing a large black and clear glass door that opens to several more rooms and one larger room at the end of the hallway. These must be the classrooms he talked about.

When we walk through the door, he turns to me with a brow raised expectantly.

My throat tightens a bit, but I force out the answer I almost don’t want to give him.

“I’m trying to like, overcome my anxiety partially. I want to be open enough to participate at events but it’s kind of terrifying for me sometimes. I’m also…” I hesitate, not knowing how this will really sound to Harry, “I am also looking for a dominant. A relationship, I guess. I just really want to be involved in the world here instead of just online.”

My voice is tiny by the end, and Harry’s eyes seem so dark in the unlit hall. The windows let in natural light but it’s a gray day and the pale light only seems to darken the emerald of his eyes as he looks at me. I begin to feel nervous when he turns and leads me to the large room at the very end of the hall, without saying anything.

When we walk through the heavy doors, though, he moves over to a large wooden bench on the wall to our right and sits, gesturing to the spot next to him.

“It’s good that you know what you want. Coming here with no real goal usually messes things up a bit, makes you lose track of what you came here for in the first place.” He’s roaming the room with his eyes, not stopping on any particular thing as I sit next to him. The bench is hard, and there’s leather lining the seat and back, along with many straps hanging from the bottom of the seat. This was clearly meant as a restraining bench, albeit an uncomfortable one.

I don’t really know how to respond to Harry’s words, so I choose to look around the room in silence. Most of the room is red and black, with lots of gear and furniture hanging in a manner that might look a bit menacing to a vanilla person.

“What kind of submissive are you? And what are you looking for in a dom?” Harry blurts out, almost as if he hadn’t meant to say it out loud. His eyes were trained forward but he turns to me when I look to him, eyes dark in the bright room and his hands are nervously clenched in his lap.

“I…” I pause to think. I’m not sure entirely what he means by what kind of sub, but I tell myself to be confident in whatever I say. Not like it does me any good, but at least I can pretend to be confident.

“I’m not as, um, hardcore as some other submissives, I don't think. I have some... out-there fantasies though, I suppose. I think I’m pretty tame, to be honest. But there’s so much I want to try, who knows.”

Harry’s eyes seem to jump at this, and I can see his adam’s apple bob against his throat. I try not to read too much into it and continue.

“I guess I’m looking for a more experienced dom that can sort of take over for me. I don’t mean like, full control right away - just, a dom that knows what I like being able to decide things for me would be nice. Someone who can lead me in the best direction for me. That’s more the kind of control I would want, I suppose.” I know I’m rambling, but he still looks interested so I figure it’s not too bad yet. Before I continue again, though. I decide to stop myself, unsure of how much detail Harry really cares to know.

“What else? Besides someone who wants you enough to take care of you like that, what else are you looking for?” Harry’s voice is surprisingly rough when he speaks again, and I can’t help the way my muscles tense pleasantly at the low hum.

“Well, hopefully, someone who is also into all the same things as me. And doesn’t mind having a little patience while I learn. Whose limits and likes match mine. I just sort of feel like something has been missing in my life, and the idea of making someone happy and submitting to them has always been what I wanted, even if I didn’t realize it. ” I say quietly.

“What are your hard limits then?” He asks, moving his arm to lay against the bench behind me, barely touching my shoulder where his hand hangs.

“Absolutely no scat, needles, enema stuff, kicking or hard beating, and preferably nothing goes up my ass until im ready for that,” Harry bursts out a cackle, covering his mouth immediately and I can see the tops of his cheeks blossoming red under his fingers. I can’t help but laugh at how cute the sound was, covering my own mouth to hide for a moment.

“Pretend you didn’t hear that.” His voice is still raspy but with a squeaky edge to it when he moves his hand back behind my shoulder, just barely brushing my neck. “What about soft limits?”

“Hm… I don’t really like whips, heavy chains or anything like that, or being caged up. I also haven’t really… I’ve never actually had sex.” I can feel the heat creeping up my own cheeks now and I cringe when my voice almost cracks on my last words. “But I want that to be a part of my… activity. So.”

“Okay. There’s nothing wrong with that.” Harry’s hand settles over my shoulder, thumb rubbing circles through my shirt and I’m strangely eased by it. I usually don’t like being touched or looking people in the eyes, but Harry makes it all feel different.

“Can I ask you something? I understand if it’s very personal or if you’d rather not answer.” I nod, waiting for the question. “Are you trans?”

I almost snort a bit, realizing that I’ve not mentioned it. John had used my correct pronouns from the get-go and no one else had questioned it either.

“Yeah, I am. I don’t mind talking about it either, don’t worry.” I say, hoping to ease the little bit of anxiety I can see in Harry’s eyes.

He nods, staying quiet for a moment. I look around a bit more, just studying the objects around us when I hear him take a long breath in.

“Would you like to do the intake today? To become a member here?” He questions simply.

“Yeah. I really like this place. Since I’m a bit familiar with it now, I won’t be so anxious coming here in the future. Thank you so much for bringing me.” I say honestly. Harry’s eyes are somehow so bright in the light of the room but so dark in the forest green of his iris. It feels like I’m missing something he’s putting out and I’m just not seeing it.

He hesitates, like he’s going to speak, but stops.

“That’s good.” He hums.

I just nod, wondering why he’s being so strange, but I shake it off and just hope I haven’t said something weird. I look down at my hands where they sit in my lap, fiddling with the silver ring sitting on my middle finger, twisting it around to avoid looking at him again.

“I quite like you.” Harry suddenly says, not forceful like an accident but quiet like he almost didn’t want me to hear.

I don’t look at him right away, trying to process his words before I attempt a response that I’ll probably fuck up. I feel his hand heavy and warm on my shoulder still and when I turn to him, he has a small smile on his lips and his eyes seem to shine.

“I quite like you too,” I mimic. I do like him, he’s been incredibly nice to me and he’s also potentially the most attractive person I’ve ever met. I realize, though, that I don’t know nearly as much about him as he does me. “I’m glad I met you.”

Before I can ask him any of the questions filling my head, we hear a quiet sound from the lower level, like a door slamming closed. Harry checks his phone and nods.

“Mistress Pez is here.”