Everything went back to how it was supposed to be in wake of the Hazel incident. Their relationship feels even stronger than before.
On the day Karlyle made up with Ash, he fell into a deep, long slumber while hugging him close. Apparently neither of them could sleep a wink the day before, and Ash slept like a log with Karlyle cradled in his arms. They fell asleep while watching the bluish evening sky through the window, and got up together when the warm yellow sunlight tickled their eyelashes. As the sun rose, they looked into each other's eyes. A soft smile bloomed on Karlyle's lips as he immersed himself in Ash's gaze.
Their two-day fight, which seems so short and long at the same time, now seems like a distant past. He hasn't forgotten the vivid despair and pain he felt, but the cozy time with Ash has healed him somehow. He’s come to realize many things as well - the enormity of Ash’s love for him. But also that his rather alarming desire to monopolize and restrain Ash was even stronger than he thought.
After realizing those things, the idea of getting married, which he has been ruminating about for quite a while, has come bursting from his chest, up his throat, and to the tip of his tongue. To the point where he can hardly hold it in any longer. But it's still too early. They just had their fight last week, so bringing marriage up after at least a few weeks later would make more sense, right?
Even though that thought has taken residence inside his head, he can't help but hesitate. As a result, unconsciously, he keeps sneaking glances at Ash. Noticing it, Ash observes him for a few days with a contemplative face, and then sends a text to him on Friday evening.
[There's a place I want to stop by after work. Would you like to go with me?]
Of course Karlyle says yes. He still feels guilty about them having to cancel the zoo date due to their fight, he had been looking for something to do to make up for that anyways. He contemplates taking a trip around the Croatian and Greek coasts before autumn finally kicks in, and finally he arrives in Soho.
Soho, as always, is overcrowded. People sitting on patios fill up the narrow alleyways. He takes careful steps in his pointed shoes to avoid rubbish on the road. Of course he appreciates everything Ash does, but Karlyle finds Soho a bit much.
After rolling up the sleeves of his thin white summer shirt, Karlyle arrives at the address Ash gave him. He stops between a small coffee shop famous for its Flat White Coffee and an open space in the city center in an alley leading to Yauatcha. Compared to other places in the city, the smell of weed here is exceptionally strong. It’s quite filthy as well.
"Are you here?"
As he is about to call Ash, Ash has found him first. Ash’s arms envelop his waist, which is unusually thin for his physique. Warmth spreads beneath his thin shirt.
"Ash."
His face, stiff with the discomfort of coming to such a rowdy place, brightens in an instant. Unable to hide his joy, Karlyke rubs Ash's hands on his waist.
"Did you have a good day?"
"It wasn't bad. Except for the fact that I couldn't wait to see you. What about your day, my Lyle?"
"I had a good day, too."
Even the cliche regards become special words when he exchanges them with Ash. Tracing the back of Ash's hands, Karlyle asks what he has been curious about.
"What do you want to do here?"
As if he had waiting for this question, Ash perks up and whispers in his ears:
"There's something I want Lyle to pick out for me."
Hearing that Ash needs him, Karlyle answers with enthusiasm.
"Do you? I understand. What do I need to choose?"
Ash rests his chin on Karlyle's shoulder. Suddenly, without warning his lips close around Karlyle's ear. He murmurs.
"Do you prefer outdoor sex or getting punished in a different way?"
A bewildered expression appears on Karlyle's face. He can’t understand what he just heard. Ash’s kind voice is a complete contradiction to what he just said.
"What did you….?"
"You have to choose one of those two options first. What we do after depends on that."
Karlyle replays his words from 3 seconds ago, “Outdoor sex” reverberates in his eardrums. Of course, instinctively, he chooses the opposite of that.
"I choose getting punished in a different way…. Ash?"
"You choose that? Huh? What's wrong?"
"... Have I done something to warrant punishment?"
Karlyle observes Ash's demeanor from behind and asks cautiously. He wants to see Ash's face, but he can't because Ash's forearms are gripping his waist so tightly. What did I do wrong? Karlyle quickly retraces what he has done the last few days. Was he being too pushy the other day, pleading with Ash to stop licking his nipples?.
"Have you already forgotten? I asked you that very seriously."
Or is he referring to their first fight last week? It would be understandable, since Karlyle had been so quick to judge Ash without even listening to him. But he thought Ash had forgiven him that day.
"I know you have forgiven me….."
"You promised me you wouldn't smile in front of my acquaintances. We even pinky promised. What did I say would happen if you broke the promise then?"
Ash points out the time just prior to when they fought. Karlyle's complexion turns white. At that time, he was so emotionally shaken that he totally forgot about it, but Ash is right. However, he soon finds a contradiction in Ash's words. What they promised wasn't that.
"But Ash….wasn't it our promise that I wouldn't drink more than 3 glasses of wine?"
For some reason, he has bad feelings about both of the options Ash gave him, so Karlyle tries to find his ways out. He feels like he needs to get out of this situation.
"As expected, I figured Lyle wouldn't let it go."
Ash responds, totally prepared for that answer from Karlyle.
"But you broke that promise, too. I saw Lyle drinking whiskey behind my back."
Karlyle thought Ash was drunk and asleep on the couch, but he seemed to remember Karlyle drinking whiskey with Natalie during the poker game that lasted until dawn. It was Natalie's proposal so he couldn't refuse. Disappointment rises inside his chest. His lips purse, he resigns. He is a gentleman, he can't act unsightly and go back on his word. He did break their promise, after all.
"....You have good eyes, Ash."
Karlyle ends up praising his lover. Smiling joyfully, Ash loosens his arms. Then he points to Karlyle's side.
"Okay, then shall we go in?"
"Go in where…."
He is about to ask when he sees the place. His mouth falls shut. How come he didn't see it when coming here? The pink neon sign "SEX SHOP" hidden in the shade of the building seems so obvious now.
"Ash, please wait."
"There are so many things Lyle has to choose."
Gripping Karlyle's bashful retreating figure, Ash pulls him straight into the store. Karlyle's heart thumps as if he's committing an indecent act. He closes his eyes tightly, bewildered and unsure what to do. He is now committing the most irreverent impertinence in the world. What a situation for a notorious noble to enter a place like this!
His grandfather's scolding, his mother's startled eyes, his father's disappointed face, terrifying imaginations flash through his mind one after another. What's worse, he even imagines Kyle saying that he didn’t expect Karlyle to be that kind of person through tears.
While Karlyle is going through the horrors of being reprimanded by his family in his head, Ash steers him through the store. Karlyle keeps his eyes straight ahead, avoiding looking at anything around them. But Ash doesn't leave him alone.
"Babe, look at this."
Seeing Karlyle's cute reaction, Ash giggles. He flutters his eyelashes anxiously, then turns his head stiffly. Ash hugs his rigid body.
"Can you pick out the ones here first?"
Karlyle lifts his chin and looks at the tools hanging on the wall all the way up to the ceiling. From handcuffs made of flurry pink fur, police's handcuffs, to leather handcuffs, there are many different types.
"You can ask if you want to see more. There are even things that are fixed to frames."
Ash's words pass through his brain and fly elsewhere. His head feels completely blank. Karlyle stares at the appalling products on the wall with a feeling of dizziness. He has no idea there are so many lascivious products in the world.
How the hell does Ash even know about all these? Karlyle stops himself from saying what he had been thinking for a long time: Ash’s tastes are a little…well, abnormal.
Seeing the vulgar props in front of him, Karlyle presses his lips together, his face pale. It feels as if his rationale has been chucked into an immersion blender. Ash smiles and kisses him gently on his cheek.
"Can't you choose? Shall we change the punishment to outdoor sex then? Choose a place, Lyle. The park? Or the office bathroom? Well, doing it in the car doesn't sound bad, but it's an enclosed place so we can't really call it outdoors."
As soon as Ash's horrifying words pierce through his brain, Karlyle immediately raises his hand. His elegant hand points to a thick black leather handcuff.
"I choose this."
With a poised voice like what he uses while doing office work, Karlyle stops Ash before things get out of control. Ash made a disappointed sound.
"Are you sure? You can still change your mind now."
Karlyle shakes his head. No matter how he looks at it, handcuffs are the best option. During his rut, Ash gripped both of Karlyle's hands tight to prevent him from moving, so a pair of handcuffs must be similar.
"I won't change my mind."
"Okay. Then let's continue."
"What?"
It isn't over?
"Lyle is startled like a rabbit, let's choose two more."
What should he point out in Ash's sentence? That he is too tall to be compared to a rabbit? Or why on earth do they need two more perverse products?
Ash pretends to not notice Karlyle's bewildered eyes. Looking like the most innocent person in this place, he calmly guides Karlyle without giving him any chances to escape.
The next section is a feast of small and round rings. Their shapes vary little by little, and their sizes are about the middle finger and the thumb. There's also a painfully looking thick bracelet with spikes made of chrome.
Are these accessories? Karlyle looks for the use tags of these oddities. But there are none. Looking around, he sees something like a leather bracelet. It seems to be a bracelet. Although its size is just about that of a child's…..
This time, Ash doesn't ask Karlyle to choose right away. Instead, he talks to the store clerk very carefully.
"Are these chargeable?"
"I heard that there are chargeable ones these days, but for now, we only have battery types. You don't have to worry about the elasticity."
"Then this must be the longest lasting one, right?"
"That's right. I'm sure it'll satisfy you, it can still work even if your partner has come and fainted several times. But it's better not to use it for more than 30 minutes."
Those words seem to satisfy Ash. Ash picks up a semi-transparent, apricot-colored round ring. Karlyke tries to leave all the "cum" and "fainted" stuff he just heard out of his ears. How can he have a conversation like that with someone he doesn't know? Everything he heard was much too obscene.
"Okay, pick one."
Ash tells him to choose. However, the options are somehow odd.
"For bracelets, their shapes are a bit….unique."
Karlyle chooses his words carefully to respect Ash's tastes as much as possible.
"Bracelets?"
A ha ha, Ash bursts into laughter. Karlyle glances at the items in Ash's palms. One is the painful-looking chrome bracelet he just saw earlier, and the other is a small apricot-colored ring.
"You think these are bracelets? I'm going crazy from how cute you are. Oh my god…. Come on, choose one."
Ash whispers in an unbearably inviting voice and urges him gently. At Ash's uncharacteristic eagerness, Karlyle chooses the normal-looking apricot one.
"You really don't know what this is?"
"I don't know."
Ash looks around, then bends his upper body down near Karlyle like telling a secret. Karlyle also lowers himself down a little in line with him. Ash raises his hand and pretends to cover his mouth.
"I'll tell you when we get home."
Karlyle's doomed. Yes, totally doomed. Whatever that thing is, he just wants to get out of here. This place is like the Sodom* of London, surely there’s some corruption, some sort of miasma in the air that’s sucking the soul right out of his body.
*(Pardon me if I'm wrong) Sodom is the city of sin, the legendary biblical city destroyed by God for its wickedness (yeah, u know what Lyle is referring that shop to)
Ash calms Karlyle, who keeps trying to sneak to the entrance, and leads him to choose the last piece. Lastly, even Karlyle, who has mostly no knowledge about these tools, can recognize at a glance what that is. He groans inside at the feast of fake genitals boxed in stylish cases. He lets out a faint sigh, then covers his eyes with both hands.
"Ash….this….really….I don't need it."
"Lyle might want to comfort yourself when I'm not by your side."
"I don't need anything other than Ash's, I'm fine."
Karlyle protests desperately, wondering why he is explaining this. What he just said was true. He has never touched himself even on business trips, being away from Ash. Karlyle is a man who’s priorities lie far from masturbation. After meeting Ash, he’s often collapsing in pleasure at Ash’s hands, but outside of his rut when he has no choice but to satiate the fire in his body, he doesn't feel any desire when he is alone.
"Of course I know Lyle takes mine the best."
"I'll go with this."
If he lets him go on, Ash will never stop talking. Karlyle stretches his hand out and quickly picks something randomly to prevent it. Unfortunately, what he ends up pointing at is a vibrating dildo. Karlyle was entirely unaware of that since he just wanted to escape from here by any means necessary. As a result, in Ash's hand now is a dildo with a round tip and a thin overall length that can stimulate the prostate.
Ash is holding those 3 items and standing in front of him, Karlyle can't even bear to look at those hideous things anymore. He turns his gaze away. Looking at Ash desperately, Karlyle finally lets out a weak sound. He hates those indecent things.
"....Can't you forgive me just this once?"
His voice is so despondent. His stomach trembles in a totally different way from when he is reprimanded by his grandfather. Karlyle is worried that he may show an even more indecent face in front of Ash if he uses those. He is really nervous.
"Do you want me to let it slide?"
He feels too shameful to admit it, so he is silent. Ash shrugs his shoulders and makes an offer, as if he'd really let it slide.
"Then there's a third option."
Hearing that, Karlyle is so delighted that if he were an animal, his ears would be standing up right now.
"What is it?"
"Is there anything you want to say to me?"
Ash has seen through him. Goodness, it’s as though Ash is a mind reader. It's true that Karlyle has been hiding something from Ash recently. But how can he ask Ash to be his partner forever in a sex shop of all places?
"That…."
"If you tell me now, I'll forget everything that happened just now."
Karlyle looks around. Sex toys of all sorts of unknown purposes are glaring at him from all sides. How can he propose to Ash in such a terrible place like this? Karlyle isn’t the best at social cues, but this much is just common sense. He closes his eyes tightly, then opens them with resignation.
"Let me pay the bill."
He chooses to give in.
"I mean it."
"Thanks for the suggestion, but I think I should just go with the punishment."
The situation he's in is too tragic, nothing but difficult choices. Ash stands attached to Karlyle's side, who wants to pay the bill to get out quickly, and adds an unknown absorbent before paying.
This has been, without a doubt, the worst shopping experience of Karlyle's life.