—
Gus had to admit, it was nice having friends who were into kink. It had actually been Iggy’s idea to go back to that shop with the explicit purpose of outing themselves, and he hadn’t been sure about it at first, but the idea had made Iggy so happy that he couldn’t say no.
When James had smiled and told Gus that he was obviously doing a good job taking care of his boy, Gus had been hit with a really sudden realization that nobody else he knew would ever understand that, and that had been that.
It turned out that he and Ignatius had been at it for a little longer than James and Ron, not that it was obvious by how comfortable the two of them were with it. They were into really different stuff for the most part, but it was still someone they could talk to like normal people and not have to worry about hiding important parts of their relationship.
Mostly they didn’t even talk about kink. It wasn’t like it was any of their whole lives, though James and Ron were clearly headed towards the 24/7 thing. Ignatius and James had a common interest in paganism, and Ron and Gus watched the same cooking shows. It had turned out they had mutual friends, though it seemed like Isaac hadn’t managed to finagle a threesome out of James and Ron yet. They mostly just hung out, and it if happened and Gus and James swapped spanking tips, that was how it went.
“Why in the world would a space station even have that weakness?” James asked, annoyed at a forty-year-old movie. “That’s a stupid contrivance.”
“Shh,” Ron said, arms wrapped around James, who was sitting on him. “Just watch.”
“But it’s stupid.”
“Watch.”
“Fine. But it’s stupid.”
James fell into silence, and they continued watching. Gus stroked Ignatius’s hair while they did. He was on the floor, his head resting on Gus’s knee. It was a simple, visual form of submission that Iggy liked, one that could easily be played off as a preference for sitting on the floor if Ronaldo or someone asked.
The movie ended eventually, and James shook his head. “I don’t get it.”
“The next one is really good,” Gus promised.
“If you say so.”
He really didn’t know anything about pop culture. It was kind of hilarious. He always came around. Except to the Marvel movies, apparently those had never grown on him. Gus had taken Ron with him and Ignatius to see Endgame.
“I need to go to the bathroom,” Ron said.
James didn’t move. “That’s nice.”
“No, really.”
“I don’t hear you asking properly.”
Ron blushed, glancing at Gus and Ignatius. “Sorry. Can I please be allowed to go to the bathroom, sir? I really need to pee.”
“Hm. That’s better. Is it an emergency?”
“Uh…”
“If I make you keep sitting here, how much longer before you pee yourself?”
“Maybe…ten minutes?”
“Hm,” James said, not moving. He smiled. “I’ll think about it. Iggy, did you read that book I lent you?”
Gus tapped Iggy’s head, giving him permission to answer. “I’m partway through it,” he said. “I don’t agree with the part about the fertility rituals in northern France…”
They talked for, and Gus knew this because he watched the clock, nine minutes about the book. Only then did James seem to remember that Ron was there. He got up. “Go to the bathroom,” he said, and Ron didn’t stand until then. “Don’t make a mess.”
“Yes, sir,” Ron muttered, flushing, and he hurried off.
“When did you start controlling his bladder?” Gus asked, curious. “I don’t remember you doing that before.”
“I don’t usually,” James said. “I don’t care much about when Ron pees. But I do like humiliating him.”
Iggy shifted on the floor. “Does he like it?” Gus asked.
“Of course.” James smiled. “Sometimes, anyway.”
“I think Iggy’s still on the fence about humiliation,” Gus said, not caring that Iggy could hear them. He’d object if he didn’t want them talking about this. “At least in front of other people. He’ll happily lick my feet when we’re alone, but if I made him do it now he’d probably think I was punishing him.”
“May I say something, sir?”
“Fine,” Gus said, tapping Iggy’s head again. It was good to reinforce the nonverbal commands.
“I’d know you weren’t punishing me. But I wouldn’t like it.”
“Hm,” Gus said, considering that. “How much wouldn’t you like it? Out of ten.”
Understanding what the question meant, Iggy thought about that for a minute, and Gus gave him time to formulate his answer. “Seven,” he finally said.
“Hm,” Gus said again. He looked at James. “Seven is his upper limit for things I can make him do without a time-out to talk about it first.”
“I assume ten means he’d use his safeword if you tried it?” James guessed.
“Yeah, ten is a hard no,” Gus said. “When was the last time you gave me a ten, Iggy?”
Iggy thought about it a second. “It was when you wanted to ask me to masturbate in the gym shower.”
“And what did I do?”
“You promised never to tell me to do it.”
Gus smiled. “That’s right. Iggy’s used his safeword a bunch of times, and I thought it was a good idea for him to have a way to just tell me when I pitched an idea what he actually meant when he said he didn’t like something.”
“The difference between eating your vegetables and eating poison,” James said with a smile. “That’s a good idea.”
Gus nodded. “Speaking of sevens, though. Iggy, why don’t you show James how well that cream of his is working?”
Iggy’s eyes went wide, and he visibly swallowed, but he did nod. “Yes, sir,” he muttered, standing up. James watched him curiously. On their second trip to the store, Gus had bought a different kind of cream for Iggy. The first one hadn’t done much, but it had had a side effect that Gus had liked when Iggy had left it on too long.
Iggy unbuttoned his pants and pushed them down, exposing himself for James. “Your shirt’s in the way,” Gus told him.
“Sorry, sir,” Iggy said, lifting it up and off, revealing his completely hairless chest, right down to his pubic bone.
“So it’s working,” James said, smiling. “Good. I made that myself and I wasn’t sure if it would. But it looks really good.”
“I put it on him a week ago and he hasn’t grown a speck since then.” Gus said proudly. “Last time it was about three weeks before anything grew back. Seriously, you should sell that stuff.”
“I did,” James said, leaning in to get a closer look. “Was there any rash, or irritation or anything?”
Gus looked at Iggy, who shook his head. “No, sir,” he said, face and shoulders red. “It was all fine.”
“Good, let me know if anything changes. Maybe I ought to use that on Ron.”
As if on cue, Ron came back into the room then, slowing when he saw what was happening. “There you are,” James said, glancing at him. “Did you wash properly?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want you getting an infection. Let me see.”
Ron nodded, not as hesitant as Iggy, and he stood in front of Ron and undid his pants, pushing them down. He wasn’t wearing any underwear and he presented his dick for James’s inspection. His dick, and specifically the plastic cage around it. “Nice,” Gus said. “Is that new?”
“We’ve been trying it on and off for a few weeks now,” James said, idly fondling Ron as he inspected the cage. “I like it.” James smiled up at Ron now. “We were just talking about humiliation and how fun it is.”
Ron and Iggy looked at each other, shared bashful smiles, and then looked away. Gus smirked. “I’ve been thinking about trying Iggy out with a chastity device,” he said. The way Iggy suddenly looked at him was enough to convince Gus to at least try it. “I think it would be cute on him, don’t you?”
“I do,” James agreed. “If Iggy has some questions about it, he could ask Ron what it’s like.”
Gus nodded. “Do you?” he asked Iggy.
“Well…” Iggy’s mouth moved for a second. “D-do you like it?” he asked.
Ron bit his lip. “Tell him the truth,” James said, tone warning.
“Not really,” Ron admitted. “I don’t hate it. But it was hard to get used to. Now that I’ve been wearing it a lot it’s not too bad. I guess I don’t really notice it most of the time.”
Iggy nodded along, looking closely at Ron’s dick, which was of course making Ron’s blush deepen, which was the point. “What does it…feel like?”
“It feels like my dick’s stuck in a plastic cage.”
Iggy giggled. “Okay.”
“What’s it like not to have any hair?”
Iggy looked anywhere but at Ron suddenly. “It makes me feel like a little boy.”
“Hm. Cool.”
“Can we talk about it a bit once I’ve done some more research?” Gus asked James. “I’m curious how it works.”
“Sure. I can send you some stuff I read.”
“That’d be great. Let’s watch the second movie. You’ll like it better, promise.”
James rolled his eyes. “Fine. Ron, put it on.”
“Sure,” Ron said, moving to…
“Did anyone say to pull your pants up?” James asked him. Ron froze. “Put the movie on.”
“S-sorry.”
“I never mentioned this because I didn’t want to make you guys uncomfortable,” James told Gus, “But I don’t normally let Ron wear clothes in the house.”
Gus smiled. “Don’t let us get in your way.”
James nodded at Ron, who dutifully undressed without any apparent shame, though he was still blushing. “Good boy. Put the movie on.”
While Ron did that, Gus turned his smile on Iggy. “I think Ron would feel better with some company, Iggy.”
“Yes, sir.”
This time James made Ron sit on the floor too, and used his shoulders as a footrest while the theme for movie started to play. Iggy sat on the other side of Gus’s legs so he and Ron would be beside each other. James continued to make snarky comments all through the second movie, only shutting up when Ron got up and made him popcorn.
And Gus just enjoyed having friends who he and Iggy could be normal around.
—
How Best to Use a Sword 