Part Four

Pairing: Reed/William Jason/Chase
Category: Hurt/comfort
Implements: still none
Type: slash
Series: Navigating the World and Relationships
Warnings: none

Part 4

"I can do it myself," snarled William.

`And we almost made it through the night without the snarling,' Reed thought to
himself. "I know you can, but I am just offering to take
you sighted guide. It's crowded in here."

The end of the Friday night football game at the university coincided with the
end of the play that they had just attended. The night had started without any
snarling as Reed and William met Jason and Chase at the community theater. The
couples had enjoyed the local talent as they gave their rendition of Mama Mia. 
All four had joined in when the cast had encouraged the audience to help sing
the title song. They were all laughing and talking as they walked to a little
pizza parlor and the sidewalk had overflowed with people from both events. The
result was a packed pizza parlor, with little room to navigate.

"You won't accidentally hit anyone with your cane if you take my arm and go
sighted guide," Reed said again, trying to coax the prickly
young man into a safer way to travel through the throng of people.

"Make up your damn mind," William continued to snarl. "You want me to get out
and experience new places then you want to protect me. Come on, Reed, are you
my O&M now, or are you my boyfriend?"

"All I'm…," Reed started to say when Jason's voice abruptly cut in.

"William," Jason said firmly. "Chase is guiding me; let Reed guide you and let's
get a table."

William quickly brought his cane parallel to his body with one hand and took
hold of Reed's arm right above the elbow with his other hand, confirming Reed's
belief that William was a Brat. William responded so well to the firm, quiet
voice of a Top. He knew, too, that he was going to have to bring the subject up
sooner or later. Then he realized that it would be sooner rather than later as
Chase spoke.

"I'd be sitting on a sore butt if I'd talked to you that way," Chase said to
Jason.

"You need to hush, if you don't want that to become a reality," Jason replied to
Chase.

"What? What did you say?" William asked.

"Come on, there's a table over there," Reed quickly walked, guiding William over
to the empty table in back, hoping to stop that line of questioning.

"You want to split an extra large pepperoni?" Reed asked when they were all
settled at the table. "I bet we won't have to wait as long if we get something
simple."

"I want to know what Chase meant," William replied nastily. "Are you saying that
Jason hits you?"

"No, he doesn't hit me, but he sure doesn't let me get away with the shit you're
pulling either," Chase replied back just as nastily. "You're always throwing
what Jason calls a temper tantrum. Now I see why he doesn't put up with that
kind of bullshit from me. You're acting just like a fucking two-year-old,
wanting to do everything yourself."

"Two-year-old," screeched William.

"Enough," Jason and Reed said at the same time.

"This is not a discussion to be had in a restaurant, especially with that kind
of language." Jason said, directing the last to Chase.

The Tops ordered the pepperoni pizza, and the rest of the late night dinner was
eaten quietly as everyone was lost in his own thoughts. Reed knew the plans he
had to ravish William once they got back to his apartment would have to wait as
Jason leaned in and said quietly in his ear. "You are going to have to talk to
your Brat and set down some boundaries soon if you want this relationship to go
anywhere."

"I can't believe Chase," William said as Reed shut the door to his apartment. 
"Calling me a two year old. Temper tantrums? I don't throw temper tantrums."

"Well, you're doing a pretty good job now," Reed replied as he watched William
stomp into the bathroom.

"What?" William snarled as he turned back around.

"I said, you are doing a pretty good job of throwing a temper tantrum right
now," Reed said firmly. Reed knew that this was it; now was the time and place
to bring up the issue of discipline in their relationship. But he was nervous,
too. In past relationships, Reed had always had control and steered the
direction the relationship went. He had done it naturally, without thought or
conscious effort. This would be the first time he actually talked openly about
discipline with a partner. He and Jason had spent many evenings discussing
about Tops and Brats. The more Jason talked to him, the more comfortable he
felt that he knew who and what he was.

He saw the love and support Jason gave to Chase and he knew he wanted that with
his own lover. `And that's why all my other relationships have failed,' he
thought to himself. `They were Brats, whether they knew it or not, and they were
instinctively responding to me as a Top. I just didn't know it until Jason and
Chase showed me.' He didn't want this relationship to fail; he knew that living
in a discipline partnership was the best for both him and William.

"So, what? Are you going to hit me? Like Jason apparently hits Chase?"

"William, Jason doesn't hit Chase. He told you that." Reed said.

"Yeah, well, he also said that he'd be sitting on a sore butt!" William argued.

"William, that's between Jason and Chase, I don't feel comfortable telling you
about their life," Reed hedged. He was glad that the subject had been brought
up but wished Chase hadn't said what he did about having a sore butt. "It's
private."

"Private?" William all but shouted. "Chase seemed pretty open about it. Saying
it right there in front of everyone. And saying that I act like a fucking
two-year-old."

"William, I've had enough of the vulgar language," Reed said firmly. "Chase has
been with Jason for over five years. I was friends with Jason before they even
met. So, yeah, Chase feels comfortable saying some things that are pretty
private."

"So, Jason hitting Chase is private," William said sarcastically.

"He doesn't hit him, he spanks him," Reed said, frustrated with the way the
conversation was going.

"Spanks him?! That's abuse!" William exclaimed.

"No, it's discipline." Reed explained. "Didn't your parents ever spank you when
you did something you weren't suppose to? Or give you a swat just to get your
attention?"

"No, my parents never hit me! They protected me. And they usually just let me
calm down on my own when I got upset. Upset, not a temper tantrum," William
clarified.

"William, come here and sit down," Reed saw that once again William responded to
the authority in his voice as William folded his cane and sat down. "I will
never walk away and leave you when you are upset. I don't think that helps
anyone, to just leave you alone when you're upset. I think we should talk things
out. Don't you agree?"

"Well, yeah. I do like it when you talk to me when I get upset," William agreed.
"I guess I like the way you talk to me when I'm upset. You make me- I don't
know- feel safe. Does that sound stupid?"

"No, that doesn't sound stupid, I like that you feel safe with me. Have you
ever heard of domestic discipline?" Reed questioned.

"Domestic discipline? You mean domestic abuse? Where you hit me and I try to
hide bruises from everyone? I've heard the reports on T.V. and know the signs of
someone who is being abused," William said.

"Think about it, William. You said you've heard the reports and know the signs
of abuse. Does Chase show any of those signs? Does he seem fearful of Jason? 
Does Jason try and isolate Chase?" Reed prodded William to think.

"No," William said. "But it seems like the same thing."

"No, they are two very different things. Domestic abuse is about hurting
someone; domestic discipline is about teaching someone. That is what discipline
is, teaching how to live within a set of rules or boundaries. Domestic
discipline is teaching someone how to live within the boundaries of a
relationship, so that the relationship can grow," Reed explained.

"So, that's what Chase and Jason do?" William asked.

"Yes, but that's between them. I want to talk to you about us. Do you remember
when you heard Jason call Chase a Brat?" Reed asked. William nodded.

"Well, usually in a domestic discipline relationship, there are defined roles. 
The roles are Tops and Brats. Tops like control, they like to protect. Protect
the relationship as well as the Brat. Brats tend to find comfort in the rules
and boundaries a Top sets. Brats may not like the actual discipline, but they
do like the feeling of safety they get from it. Just like you said you feel safe
when I talk to you when you get upset."

"Are you saying I'm a Brat?" William asked sounding offended.

"William, it's a title of sorts, a definition of your personality, not a
derogatory term. And yes, you are a Brat. You display all the traits of a Brat,
from the signs you show when you get overwhelmed or anxious to the way you calm
down when someone takes control of the situation. "

"So, you're a Top, and I'm a Brat," William said. "And you want to punish me
when I get upset?"

"I want to use discipline to help our relationship grow," Reed clarified.

"So, you want to set rules and then punish me when I break a rule?" William
asked.

"I wouldn't set rules," Reed stressed the word I. "We would set boundaries
together. Boundaries that would help you feel safe."

"But then you would punish me if I broke those boundaries?" William pushed.

"Yes, William."

"How?"

"Well, I may stand you in the corner to think about something. Or I may have
you write lines on your computer. There are lots of ways."

"Would you spank me?" Reed knew this was the real question William had wanted to
ask.

"Yes, I would." Reed said. "I would spank you if you put yourself in danger. I
believe that we should sit down together and talk about what boundaries we need
to help our relationship grow. I haven't consciously lived in a domestic
discipline relationship before but I think we should talk it out."

"You haven't? Then how do you know all about this?"

"The same way as you," laughed Reed. "But it was Jason that said something to
me, not Chase."

"What did he say, you needed a sore butt?" William laughed back.

"No, he told me it was time I quit leading my Brats on and get my act together
as a Top, or I'd never keep a Brat around." Reed told him.

"So, you knew they were Brats? And I don't think I like that word," William
said.

"William, Brat isn't an insult, not the way it's used in a discipline
relationship." Then Reed went on to explain about his failed relationships. 
"And no, I didn't know about Tops and Brats at the time. Jason explained to me
that some people have the Top personality and some have the Brat personality. 
That they tended to gravitate to each other. He said that I was inadvertently
giving off Top vibes that Brats responded to instinctively, but I never followed
through. But I want to follow through with you. You're too important to me to
let this relationship fail."

"You're important to me too. Can I think about it?" William asked.

"Yes, you can think about it. And we can talk about it. All of this doesn't
need to be decided right this moment. If you want, I can ask Jason and Chase if
they wouldn't mind coming over and explaining their relationship and how it
works. I can't promise they will; most couples in this kind of relationship are
very private."

"Can I still stay the weekend here?"

"Of course," Reed said then took William's lips with his own. "I had plans to
ravish this body tonight."


Even though they didn't talk about it the rest of the weekend, Reed knew that it
was on both their minds. Reed adjusted himself discreetly as memories of the
way he had ravished his boy came in to his mind. William responded to his touch
so hungrily, which spurred on his own passion. Despite their conversation, or
because of it, their love making had been very fulfilling leaving them both
sated and exhausted.

Saturday quickly went by as they watched a football game on TV play. Saturday
evening they went and enjoyed dinner and a beer before coming home and enjoying
each other's bodies.

Sunday afternoon, as William was packing up his laptop and things he would need
for work on Monday morning, Reed knew that the subject of discipline was playing
on his mind.

This was confirmed as William turned to him and asked, "So, you think Jason and
Chase would talk to us? You know, about this discipline thing?"

"I don't know. All I can do is ask," Reed replied honestly.



"It's about time you talked to that boy, he needs some discipline."," Jason said
into the phone when Reed had called Sunday night and told him about the
conversation that had taken place Friday night. Reed also asked if Jason would
have time to meet him for lunch. He suspected Jason was waiting for this call
when Jason instead of agreeing to meet at a restaurant, invited Reed to his
office. Jason had explained to Reed that his office was private and the
university cafeteria would send up sandwiches and coffee.

"So, you brought up the discipline topic with your Brat," Jason prompted.

"Yes, with some help from your Brat," Reed laughed.

"He never was one to mince words, my Chase."

"No, that's true," Reed agreed. "And that is just what we need, some open and
honest talking."

"Quit, skirting the issue. What do you want?" Jason asked bluntly.

"William and I would like you and Chase to come over and discuss how discipline
relationships work," Reed told Jason just as bluntly.

"What you mean a tutorial or something?"

"No, just talk. Let Chase talk to William about being a Brat. Like you talked
to me once about being a Top." Reed explained. "Just like me, William hadn't
heard those terms until I brought it up. How many nights did we sit up talking
about Top, Brats, and discipline? Those talks helped me come to terms with who
I was."

"Is this what William wants? To talk to another Brat?" Jason asked.

"Yes, I suggested it, but he brought it up again on Sunday. It helped me to
talk to another Top. I think it will help him to talk to another Brat."

"Let me check with Chase, but I don't think he'll mind," Jason said. "How about
we plan to have dinner at your place Friday night? I think your Brat would feel
more comfortable on his home turf."

Reed agreed and they made plans for Friday night as they finished their lunch. 
Reed knew that William would snarl a lot come Friday night but that by the end
of the night he would hopefully have a better understanding of domestic
discipline.

TBC