Kisses & Contracts || LGBTQ

Chapter 1: Teach me about BDSM

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The lounge is fairly quiet tonight, not late enough for the bar hopping crowd nor is it early enough for the dinner crowd. It's just them, in their usual booth, on a Tuesday night. So the chances of Milo having misheard Cameron are low, but he still questions whether he misunderstood something. "You want me to...what?"

Cameron's not looking at him. In fact, he's looking everywhere but at Milo. "Teach me about BDSM."

Milo needs to rewind. He needs to be at least one drink more sober.

They had walked down the stairs into the basement, sat at the booth, and talked about work. They ordered their usual drinks and an appetizer. Chatting, small talk, giving each other shit whenever the opportunity arose. And then Cameron had gotten fidgety. And Milo noticed he was nursing his drink more than usual.

And Cameron had asked...

Cameron snaps in front of Milo's face. "Don't make it weird."

"Don't make it-!" The words choke out of him. This isn't their usual dynamic. Usually Milo brags about his nights and Cameron shuts him up by buying him a drink. Cameron's always been a prude, describes himself that way. He has sex but doesn't like to talk about it. So this...none of this...

"It's not like you haven't talked to me about it before." Cameron's staring at his drink as he says it, his dark hair falling into his face.

"Well. Yeah, when it was about me and my partners. What are you even asking? Like actually asking? Did something happen? Did you try something? Did it not go well?" An edge of panic enters Milo's voice.

Cameron looks into Milo's eyes finally, startled. "No! No, nothing like that. I'm just..." And now he's the one who can't finish his sentences. "Never mind. I shouldn't have asked."

Milo wishes for the crowd. He wishes it were just a little less silent between them right now. He brushes his blonde hair off his forehead, a nervous tick, and it falls immediately back into place. This isn't something he'd ever expected to actually talk to Cameron about, didn't think Cameron would ever be interested in BDSM. But... "If this is something you're actually considering," Milo starts, more serious than he's ever been this many drinks in, "then we should talk about it."

The ice cubes in Cameron's glass rattle as he rolls the bottom of the glass against the table. He's hunched over the way he always does when he wants the floor to swallow him whole. He's always been so good at making himself small. "I don't wanna make it weird. I shouldn't have said anything. I'll find...I don't know. I'll..."

"No." It's a little harsher than Milo means to be. His body language is a direct contrast to Cameron's. His shoulders aren't the broadest but he carries himself as if they are, chest open, taking up more space than he should be able to.

Cameron looks up, caught off guard. Eyes widening.

There's a moment, a fraction of a second, where something connects between them. But it's gone so quickly, they both convince themselves it hadn't happened.

Cameron's eyes are back to normal when Milo shakes it off. "No," he repeats, a little softer. His jaw works as he tries to find the right words, then he sighs and looks at the ceiling before focusing on Cameron again. "I'm not letting you do this without knowing you're getting the right information about it. If you're doing this, you're going through me. I don't care if it's weird."

Cameron's lips are pressed together tightly and he's gone back to avoiding Milo's gaze.

"What?" Milo presses.

A puff of air breaks apart Cameron's lips. "I had a feeling you'd say something like that."

Milo's eyes narrow. "How long have you been thinking about asking me about this?"