Ease [Cashton/Muke]

Chapter eighty

Ashton feels a little intrusive in Calum and Michael's lunch so he opts to stay pretty quiet. He lets Calum talk about Tokyo and Michael talk about his plans with Luke, offering very few interjections.
"Sir?" Ashton cuts in shyly just after the waitress takes their plates.
"Yes sweets?" Calum hums, giving his submissive his full attention.
"May I be excused? I don't want to push in to this lunch more than I have and I have a few things to do this afternoon." Ashton asks courteously.
"You're not pushing in at all, but of course you can leave darling. Don't worry about the cheque, I'll fix it on my way out." Calum leans in to kiss him softly on the cheek.
"Thank you sir. I love you."
"Love you too sweetheart." Calum replies as Ashton stands up and walks out, on a quest to find all the high end shops in the city.

"He seems... different... more submissive." Michael comments once Ashton is out of the restaurant.
"He's more comfortable like this. He just seems more peaceful within himself. He's at ease." Calum answers thoughtfully.
"And that's come naturally?" Michael queries.
"Yeah. I think he's always been a naturally very submissive person and he's just recently allowed that. He's been so much more comfortable and less panicky since he started calling me sir all the time." Calum tells his best friend.
"Wait," Michael furrows his brows, "didn't you always say you had a feeling your soulmate would be particularly submissive?"
"Oh." Calum's mouth falls open, "I did. Wow. It's crazy how life works."
"I'm so happy for you." Michael grins.
"As I am for you, it's fantastic that Luke is your soulmate. You're perfect for each other." Calum smiles.
"That's what soulmate means you dumbass." Michael rolls his eyes.

Ashton walks through the streets of Sydney, loving how homely yet exciting it feels. He and Calum, or more accurately, Franco, had set up a bank account of his own ever since he signed the modelling contract. Post fashion week, he had finally received his first paychecks. Before he even had the money he decided that the first thing he would buy would be something for Calum. Calum gave him everything and he was excited to finally give back to his dom. He had plans to buy things for his family as well but he wouldn't see them till the weekend so it made sense to purchase Calum's gift first.

"Hello, can I help you?" A shop assistant dressed smartly in all black asks Ashton as he steps inside a fancy looking jeweller.
"I'm, uh," Ashton gulps, even with money he found a place like this intimidating. "I'm looking for a present for my dom."
"Lovely. Is it for a special occasion or just because? Did you have anything in mind?" The woman beams.
"Just because, a bit of a general thank you I guess. No idea what to get him." Ashton purses his lips.
"Sorry for not introducing myself, I'm Leena. Why don't you tell me about your dom and we can try and find something?" She sticks her hand out and Ashton easily accepts it to shake. He's felt so much more confident in all aspects of his life since he fully accepted his status, allowed himself to be a submissive and see it as the strength it is.

"He's got everything he could need so I think I need to get something more personalised." Ashton says as they walk across the pristine floor. The shop is quiet and sophisticated, Ashton absolutely feels out of his depth.
"Well we offer in store engraving on virtually any product, we can do that today." Leena informs him.
"Thinking of products he'll use... do you have cuff links or something?" Ashton considers.
"Why yes we do, right this why."

"Here we are," Leena stops in front of the cabinet of cufflinks, "are there any that stand out to you?"
"Oh. There's so many choices." Ashton breathes out, staring at the rows upon rows of cufflinks.
"We like to have something for everyone's personal taste. Would you say he's more simple or unique?" Leena asks.
"Probably unique, he likes to stand out in a crowd."
"Well then statement cufflinks could be the perfect but subtle way to do that." Leena replies, a silence falling over them as they both look over the selection of cufflinks.

"Are they hearts?" Ashton asks hopefully, pointing towards one of the few sets of black cufflinks.
"They are. Would you like to have a closer look?"
"Yes please." Ashton says excitedly before Leena moves to unlock the cabinet. She slowly pulls out the small black cufflinks and places them on a velvet tray on the counter.

"They're perfect." Ashton whispers as he picks them up, studying them closely and feeling like they capture Calum's personality flawlessly.
"I'm glad to hear it. We can also engrave them if you'd like."
"Yes please, I think just an 'A' on one and 'C' on the other."
"Of course, let me show you the fonts we offer." Leena says as she pulls out a piece of paper from a draw, covered in different font samples.

Ashton chooses a simple serif font, leaving 20 minutes later and $370 poorer with it already gift wrapped. He walks out with a stupid grin on his face, happily trotting around Sydney and window shopping until Calum calls him around 4:15.
"Hi sir," Ashton starts as he picks up the phone.
"Hello sweets. I'm leaving work now, do you want me to pick you up in the city somewhere?" Calum asks as he packs up his things in his office.
"Yeah sure, I've just been window shopping and browsing. I'm um," Ashton quickly spins around, "near the top of Hyde Park."
"Great, I'll be there soon. Bye, love you."
"Love you too." The call quickly ends and Ashton makes refuge on a wooden bench for the next 10 minutes.

"I got you a present." Ashton bursts excitedly as soon as they're out of the garage at home.
"Really sweets? You didn't have to." Calum reassures his sub, heart already feeling full at the thought.
"Yes, I wanted to. Now that I finally have money of my own, I wanna give back to you." Ashton smiles softly, getting out the small wrapped gift box from the shopping bag as Calum sits in the armchair in the corner of their bedroom.

"Here. Thank you for everything sir." Ashton gives his dom a kiss as he hands over the present, watching nervously as Calum opens it. He'll be devastated if his dom doesn't like it.
"Thank you so much, I love you endlessly sweetheart." Calum replies, carefully unwrapping the meticulous silver paper. He sees the box of the jeweller when he gets through the paper and he gasps, "oh Ashton."

"They're beautiful." Calum's jaw drops when he first catches sight of the black heart shaped cufflinks.
"I'm glad you think so," Ashton blushes.
"Of course I think so, they're perfect. And the engraving!" Calum cries out, hugging Ashton tightly. "Thank you so much darling. I love them. You didn't have to but I'm very grateful."
"I'm so glad you love them." Ashton sighs contently, resting his head on his doms shoulder happily.

A/N: I foreshadowed part of this chapter in chapter four you are welcome and this end makes me soft. Like my love for you, I'm always soft for you all

-Grace Williams xo