| Status | complete |
| Tags | d/s, f/f, romance |
| Warnings | none |
Dawn finished the last of her morning sidework - in this case, rolling napkins around knives and forks, but before that it had been checking all the condiment containers, and still earlier helping the the cooks put away a delivery of produce. Now, she took a moment to look around the diner, checking that everything was neat and tidy. The Short Stack Cafe opened at five every day, early enough for the earliest morning commuters, and stayed open until nine at night. Mercifully, today she only had a single shift, so she'd be off duty just after lunch. She went to the front door, took one last glance around the diner, and flipped the sign to OPEN.
She was surprised by their first customer. The 5am crowd were pretty much all other service workers like Dawn herself or construction workers on their way to job sites. The Short Stack's cooks made delicious and filling food, in quantity, for a very good price, which made it quite popular with those who needed a hearty meal to get through their shifts and didn't have a whole lot to spend on it. The first person who entered, less than a minute after she'd flipped the sign, was a very pale, very slender blonde woman carrying a messenger bag. She gave a shy smile and stood by the hostess stand to wait for Dawn to seat her. Dawn saw the edge of a collar peeking out from underneath the woman's blouse - one of the plain ones favored by unclaimed subs, it looked to be. Interesting.
"For one?", Dawn said, giving her a welcoming smile. She rifled through her memory, but she didn't think she'd ever seen the woman before. A first-time customer, at 5am?
The woman blushed slightly, adding a small amount of color to her cheeks.
"Er, yes please, ma'am," she said.
"This way, hon," Dawn said, motioning for the woman to follow.
Dawn seated her at an out-of-the-way corner booth, where the woman could sit facing towards or away from the rest of the dining area as she pleased. The woman gave her another small smile and slid into the corner, putting her back to the wall. Dawn handed her a menu.
"Anything I can get you to start?"
"Coffee please? Black?"
"Sure thing, hon. I'll be right back with that, then I'll take your food order."
Dawn walked back to the service area, thinking. Clarity, expectations, suggestions. She served a lot of submissive customers on an average day - indeed, because of who they usually catered to, probably a majority of their customers were subs - but it never hurt to go over the basics again. Clarity: be direct, be transparent. Expectations: let them know what you wanted from them and when. Suggestions: be ready to offer ideas or reduce lists of choices.
She smiled, remembering Rosie, her old mentor and one of the other waitresses who'd worked here when Dawn had started, years ago. Rosie was long-retired now and, Dawn hoped, off in some sleepy little country town enjoying a comfortable old age with her sub. Rosie had helped her learn the ropes (so to speak) and Dawn still thought of her almost every day. She took the coffee pot off the brewer, inhaled the smell of fresh coffee, and carried the pot as well as a mug back to the woman's table.
"Here you go," she said, setting the mug down and carefully filling it with coffee. "Free refills as long as you're here," she added - another policy that made the Short Stack popular with some of the regulars, for sure.
"Now, can I get you something to eat?"
The woman was still staring down at the menu, looking uncertain.
"Can I offer a suggestion?"
She looked up at Dawn, met her gaze, blushed, lowered her eyes a bit, evidently realized she was now looking at Dawn's chest, blushed even redder, and then looked back at the table. Dawn did her best to suppress her reflexive grin - while it was adorable, she didn't want the woman to think she was laughing at her.
"Please," the woman said.
Dawn made a show of looking out the window. It was still dark, of course, but she could nonetheless see that a gentle rain was falling, although according to the forecast it would clear later in the day. From the corner of her eye, Dawn saw the woman relax slightly now that she was no longer being looked at.
"Based on the weather," Dawn said, "I think it might be a pancake kind of day."
"That sounds great," the woman said. "Do you have a favorite kind?
"Hm," Dawn said, touching a finger to her lips and looking back at the woman, who blushed yet again and stared into her coffee cup. "For you, I think... blueberry, although my favorite is banana."
The woman handed Dawn her menu. "Blueberry pancakes, then, please, ma'am."
Dawn gave her another gentle smile. "Coming right up, hon."
When she returned with the pancakes, the woman had a laptop unfolded on the table and was busily typing. To avoid interrupting her, Dawn set the plate of pancakes down without saying anything and was turning away to attend to her other tables when the women spoke.
"Oh, er, ma'am? Is it - is it okay if I sit here and work for a while?"
Dawn cast a quick glance around the diner - while it was getting busy, it was still less than half full. She was about to give an equivocal answer, then she remembered: clarity, expectations, suggestions. Instead, she said:
"Well, it usually doesn't fill up on a weekday morning, but if it does and we need the table, I'll move you to one of the counter seats, okay? Other than that, you can stay as long as you like."
The woman nodded, looking grateful. "Thank you."
"Sure thing," Dawn said. "By the way, in case you need me for anything, I'm Dawn." She pointed at her name tag.
"Oh, erm. I'm Alice," the woman replied. "Pleased to meet you, ma'am."
"And you, hon," Dawn said, returning the honorific. "I'll be around, just yell."
Alice nodded, turning back to her laptop, and Dawn left her to her work.
Around nine, things had died down quite a bit - the morning commuters had mostly been and gone, and there were only a handful of regulars sitting in their booths. They were mostly retirees, Dawn knew, nursing coffees and taking their time with breakfasts as they read their papers, and over in the corner, still typing away, was Alice. Dawn was mildly curious what she was working on, but it would have been overly intrusive to ask, even though she knew that Alice would likely happily tell her. Instead, Dawn kept her coffee cup full and went out of her way not to interrupt her.
By around ten, by her count, the woman had had about three and a half cups of coffee, and the Short Stack's coffee definitely wasn't weak, so Dawn made an executive decision.
"Hey, hon, I'm switching you to decaf, just so you know."
Alice looked up from her laptop. "Oh, er, yes. Thank you ma'am, I hadn't noticed how much I was drinking."
Dawn smiled. Sub customers were always a pleasure to take care of.
"Of course," she said, taking the empty mug and replacing it with a clean one full of decaf. "Anything else I can get you?"
"No, thank you, ma'am."
Dawn gave her a slightly quizzical look. "Do remember to stand up and stretch once in a while, yeah?"
"Oh, er," Alice said, dragging her eyes off her screen. "That's a - yes, good point, ma'am."
"If you want to stretch your legs little bit I'll keep an eye on your things for you."
Alice dipped her head in acceptance. "Thank you, ma'am," she said, sliding out of the booth.
As usual, Viv was early for her shift - she was scheduled starting at noon, but she walked in at around 11:30, walked back to the service area, and shrugged off her coat. Dawn was back there, helping the two cooks prepare for the lunchtime crowd. This would be mostly people who worked in the nearby office buildings, looking to fit a proper sit-down meal into their lunch breaks, so quick service would be critical. She was grateful to have Viv here early for that.
Dawn assessed Viv quickly - something was off, her usual chipper demeanor wasn't quite there. Hm.
"Everything alright, hon?"
Viv gave her an unconvincing smile. "Bad date last night, ma'am," she said.
Dawn grimaced. For Viv to still be feeling it the next morning, it must've been pretty bad indeed.
"Tell me about it?"
"After the lunch rush?"
"Sure."
Alice must've gone while Dawn was helping prepare for lunch, but the diner was plenty full anyway, and she and Viv were both on their feet almost nonstop for an hour and a half. Finally, things started to wind down around 1:30 - nearly half an hour after Dawn's shift was supposed to have ended, but that wasn't unusual and she took it in stride.
After things had quieted down a bit and the few remaining tables had all paid and were now simply lingering over the last of their drinks, Dawn found Viv and gently nudged her towards the door to the back of the diner. There was no break room, but both the kitchen staff and the servers often took their breaks out here, where they could smoke if they wanted to and there were at least no customers.
Dawn followed Viv outside. The other woman leaned against the wall of the diner, wrapping her arms around herself. To Dawn it seemed like she had hunched in on herself a bit as well - not at all the bubbly Viv she was used to. Dawn stood a couple of paces from her, close enough for Viv to feel protected but far enough away for her not to feel trapped.
"What happened?", she said, quietly.
Viv sighed. Dawn saw her reach up, apparently unconsciously, and touch the same plain mint-green collar she usually wore.
"I was stupid," Viv said.
"I find that hard to believe."
"I... we didn't negotiate up front, is all. I should have asked."
Dawn sighed. "It takes two to not negotiate, hon."
Viv gave her an appreciative look, a small smile. "Anyway, we got - we got a bit into things and then he. He did something I didn't like so I asked to stop, and he - he said if I didn't want to play I could just go home. So. I went home."
Dawn managed to keep her frustration with Viv's date - whoever it had been - out of her mouth. How could he have been so careless?
"Do you - can I help a bit?"
Viv shook her head. "You already have, honestly, ma'am."
Dawn smiled at her. "Chin up, hon. Next one will be better."
"I hope so," Viv said, turning to head back inside.
A few days later, Dawn was on the second shift, working one to nine, when she spotted Alice coming in. Viv got the other woman seated in the same corner booth she'd had last time and handed her a menu. Dawn waited a couple of minutes, then made her way over.
"Alice, right?"
Alice gave her a shy smile. "You remembered!"
"You're pretty memorable, hon."
Alice blushed deeply. Dawn enjoyed it for a moment, then added:
"Not many people go through five cups of coffee in a day."
"Oh! Yeah, I... it helps me stay warm," Alice said. "And awake."
"Ma'am," she added, wincing. As it happened Dawn wasn't fussy, either outside relationships or inside them, about all the proper ways for subs to address doms and vice versa, but Alice had no way to know that.
"No worries, hon," Dawn said, excusing her mistake. "Can I get you anything though? Coffee?"
Alice nodded. "Please, ma'am."
"You take it black, right?"
"Yes ma'am."
"I'll go get that for you. Do you know what you want to eat?"
"Ah, I think I need another minute with the menu. Thank you, though, ma'am."
Wow, the woman really was being fastidious about "ma'am" now. Dawn gave her a warm smile for the effort.
"In that case I'll be back in a minute with the coffee," she said - clarity, expectations, suggestions - "and you'll have picked out what you want by then?"
"Yes, ma'am," Alice said, nodding. The poor woman was still blushing, which Dawn thought was quite a good look on her, really.
Dawn was just turning to go fetch Alice's coffee when, out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed Viv talking to a customer. The customer, a man a good few inches taller than Viv (and than Dawn herself), was standing. His body language was tense, as was Viv's, and as Dawn watched she saw Viv take a step backwards, which the man matched with a step forwards. This wasn't good. She glanced down at Alice and saw that she looked almost as distressed as Viv did. Dawn walked over, laid a gentle hand on Viv's forearm, and said:
"Back of house, now."
Viv nodded, looking frightened.
With Viv safe, Dawn turned to face the man, crossing her arms over her chest.
"What seems to be the problem?"
The man took in her body language - the hard line of her mouth, her steady gaze - and deflated immediately. She watched him coldly as he retook his seat, muttering something about terrible service. Dawn gave him a curt nod and turned away, disgusted. For whatever reason, some doms thought it was their God-given right to simply bully subs they ran into for their own amusement or gain, especially those who were stuck in their proximity. The thought of it made Dawn a bit sick, but she'd heard enough stories from Viv and her other friends to know just how common it was, whether she personally could understand it or not. She swung past Alice's table, ostensibly with her coffee but really to offer a reassuring smile, and then headed back into the service area to find Viv.
Viv was sitting in a corner, curled up and breathing hard. Dawn crouched in front of her.
"I dealt with it," she said. "I'm taking his table." If Dawn had her way, she'd simply kick the man out here and now, but the Short Stack's owners weren't huge fans of kicking out paying customers if they didn't have to.
Viv nodded.
"Talk to me," Dawn said.
Viv shivered. "Sorry, Miss," she said.
Dawn laid a hand lightly on one of Viv's shoulder. For her to slip into calling Dawn "Miss" she must be pretty shaken up. They'd been friends long enough for it not to be weird, but...
"Wasn't your fault, hon," she said. "You're good."
Viv let out a shaky breath, nodded again. "Thanks."
Dawn got back to her feet, offered Viv a hand up.
"You take seven from me," she said, meaning the corner booth Alice was occupying. "Do not go near twelve," the man's table, "at all. If he needs something, you get me instead. That clear?"
Viv nodded. "Yes, ma'am, I've got it."
Dawn clapped her on the shoulder. "Back to it then."
Alice occupied her corner booth all the way through the afternoon and the evening, taking regular breaks to stand up and stretch but otherwise typing away on her laptop. Viv headed off at the end of her shift, and then the cooks, and eventually, with closing time just a few minutes away, it was just Dawn and Alice.
"Hey, uh, hon?"
Alice looked up. "Yes, ma'am?"
"We close in like five minutes."
"Oh!", Alice said. "Sorry, I have no idea what..."
"No worries, hon," Dawn said. "As the saying goes, you don't have to go home but you can't stay here."
Alice gave her a shy smile. "I didn't - didn't notice it was getting dark out," she said, sounding kind of nervous.
Dawn tilted her head slightly. "Not a nighttime person?"
"Ah, I don't really like being out alone after dark," Alice said, finishing packing her messenger bag.
Dawn nodded. That, too, was a pretty common sentiment among the subs she knew.
"If you want," Dawn said, "I'll walk with you. I don't live too far away."
"Oh, I don't want to - to impose, ma'am," Alice stammered.
"Not a problem," Dawn assured her. "Wait until I'm done with closing out, then we'll go together. It'll be like fifteen minutes."
"Yes, ma'am," Alice said, blushing once more.
Alice lived only a few blocks away. Dawn knew that, objectively, the area wasn't any more dangerous than any other stretch of city street, but she also understood how it could seem so, especially to an unclaimed sub. Predatory doms, prowling around for vulnerable subs alone, were a very real risk and an even larger fear.
Or at least, would be, without Dawn here.
Alice had one hand resting easily on her messenger bag, the other holding the strap, and to Dawn she seemed to be relaxed. She wasn't talkative, but then neither was Dawn after an eight-hour shift, so Dawn just enjoyed the silent companionship.
"Tell me when we get to your block," she said to Alice, breaking the quiet.
"Yes, ma'am."
A few minutes later, she said: "This one."
Dawn stopped abruptly on the corner. The street was at least kind of lit, so she wouldn't totally lose track of Alice. It would be a bit more polite to escort the sub the entire way, but she wanted to make a point - to Alice - of going out of her way not to know precisely where she lived.
"You okay to get home from here?"
Alice nodded, turned, and set off down the street. Dawn watched her the entire way.
Dawn blinked herself awake and checked her clock. It was 4:30am, the usual time she woke up on days she had the morning shift. It took her a minute to remember that she was off today, but she must've forgotten to unset her alarm. Groaning, she rolled over and tried to fall back asleep, but after a few minutes she knew it would be no use. She'd always been a light sleeper anyway, and once she woke she was up for the day. She sat, yawned, and decided that in the absence of anything else to do she might as well shower. The hot water helped a little bit, although she was still not nearly as awake as she'd like. She dressed, started some coffee, and stared out of her tiny apartment's one window at the dark street outside.
The sun was just beginning to light the sky above, casting everything in pretty blue and purple hues. Dawn impulsively decided she wanted to see the sunrise from outside, so she poured her coffee into a travel mug, grabbed a light jacket, and slung her purse over her shoulder. Outside, the air was crisp - as cool as it ever got in summer - and smelled fresh and clean from recent rain. Dawn let herself wander slowly down her street, headed roughly towards the nearest park but in no particular hurry to get there, sipping her coffee and just enjoying her existence.
She arrived at the park, which was empty bar a couple of early-morning runners, and claimed a bench that faced east. She sat, working on her coffee and appreciating the way the wind made the trees sway, and waited. She let herself sink into a shallow meditation and felt herself relax.
"Dawn?"
She shook herself and looked up.
"Alice?"
The other woman was standing a few paces from her bench, dressed in nothing but running shorts, sneakers, unclaimed collar and a sports bra, flushed, and breathing heavily. Dawn exerted considerable effort to not obviously admire her and mostly succeeded.
Alice opened and shut her mouth, then said:
"I was running."
Dawn smiled. "I figured," she replied, nodding to Alice's outfit.
Alice blushed. "Sorry, ma'am."
Dawn sat back a little bit on the bench. She almost said "flustered is cute on you," but it felt a bit too aggressive. Instead, she said:
"I'm just waiting to see the sunrise. If you have more running to do, I'll be here for a bit."
"Yes ma'am," Alice said, and set off again at a run. Dawn suddenly found she had less interest in the sunrise, so instead she watched Alice run around the edge of the park, trying not to be too obvious about it. Alice ran with a kind of fluid grace that Dawn found very impressive, and as far as she was able to judge, the woman's pace never wavered a bit, even though it was clear she was starting to tire. For that matter, simply being awake this early on a weekend morning to run alone showed a kind of inner strength that she definitely found appealing.
She nursed her coffee, alternating watching Alice with watching the eastern sky, and pondered.
Alice ran three more laps of the park, which Dawn's phone confirmed was a distance of over two miles. After her third lap, she slowed to a jog, and started heading towards Dawn, who had just made up her mind.
"Hey," Alice called, jogging closer.
Dawn smiled, took another sip from her coffee, and controlled her nerves.
"Hey," Dawn replied.
Alice's breathing had mostly slowed back to normal now. She came to a stop a few paces from Dawn again. Dawn opened her mouth to speak, but Alice spoke first:
"doyouwanttogoonadatewithmema'am?"
Dawn blinked. "Again but slower?"
Alice cringed but obeyed. "Do you w-want to go on a date with me, ma'am?"
"Absolutely," Dawn said. "I was just about to ask you the same."
"Oh!", Alice said, brightening. "Oh."
"I don't mind that you asked first," Dawn said. "It's cute."
Alice blushed again, looked down at her feet. "Thanks," she mumbled.
"Unless you want to do tonight," Dawn said, "my next day off is Thursday."
Alice shook her head. "I have a class tonight, ma'am. Can we do Thursday?"
"Sure," Dawn said, smiling. She dug her notepad out of her purse, tore off a page, carefully wrote her own phone number on it, and handed it to Alice. Alice took it in both hands, stared at it for a moment, then pocketed it.
"Text me when you're home," Dawn said, "and we can decide what to do."
"Yes ma'am!"
"And Alice?"
"Yes ma'am?"
"If you decide you don't want to after all, it won't be awkward, I promise."
Alice nodded, standing uneasily. She was probably getting cold in just her running gear now that she wasn't moving, but Dawn could tell she didn't want to go until dismissed.
"Looks like time for a shower and a warm breakfast for you," Dawn said.
"Yes ma'am," Alice nodded. She dipped her head, then turned and jogged off towards home.
Dawn, for her part, ended up missing most of the sunrise after all.
"Rae? Thoughts?"
Alice's roommate looked up from her schoolwork.
"It looks great on you but it's not really, you know, you?"
Alice frowned and started to unzip the dress. "What do you mean?"
"I mean I don't think I've ever even seen you in a dress before."
"Yeah, but you've never seen me go on a date before either."
Rae shrugged. "All I'm saying is, she thought you were cute before in jeans and sneakers, so why not stick with that? It's not like you're going anywhere fancy, right?"
Rae wasn't wrong there. Dawn had picked out a casual Chinese restaurant nearby - one Alice had been to with her friends more than once, in fact. Alice had been very relieved, partly because fancy really wasn't comfortable for her and partly because she didn't have unlimited money to spend, even on a date with a cute domme, and did not at all like the idea of Dawn spending a lot on her either.
Alice hummed. "I suppose you're right," she said, stripping out of her dress and pulling her jeans back on. She would at least, she decided, wear her cutest blouse. It was a little bit lower-cut than she usually liked, but fit her perfectly, and the low neckline showed off her neck and unclaimed collar, which was something that doms were supposed to find attractive.
She finished dressing, thought for a moment, and ended up putting a change of clothes and her toothbrush into her messenger bag. Rae saw her and smirked.
"On the first date?"
Alice blushed. "It's good to be prepared. Besides, I seem to recall someone else that returned very late from a first date a while ago. Like, days late."
It was Rae's turn to flush red. "Fair."
Alice saw Rae gently touch her own unclaimed collar and felt a bubble of happiness for her roommate. The first date Alice had alluded to had been several months ago, now, and she knew Rae and her dom had been talking about making things more official.
"Although speaking of being prepared," Rae said.
Alice nodded. "Here's where we're gonna be for dinner, and afterward if we end up going back to her place I'll call you. Her number's on my desk too if you need it."
"Well, don't forget. If I don't hear from you I'm calling the cops."
Alice grinned and showed Rae her phone - she had three separate alarms set, all named "CALL RAE" and spaced five minutes apart. "I won't."
Alice picked up her messenger bag, slung it over her shoulder, and hesitated by the door of their apartment. Rae got up from her desk, came over, and hugged her tightly. Alice felt her tension ease a little bit.
"You've got this," Rae said, still holding her.
"Thanks."
"Go get her!"
Alice nodded. "Wish me luck."
Dawn was doing her best to look calmer than she felt. She wasn't supposed to be nervous, even on a first date, but Dawn was a lot of things she wasn't supposed to be a lot of the time. The hostess was an acquaintance of hers, as were a lot of other restaurant workers, and the woman must've read Dawn's tension and figured out what was going on, because she had instantly offered Dawn what was obviously the best date table in the place. Dawn now sat in an intimately-lit nook, partly shielded from the rest of the dining area, and tried very hard not to check her phone. She'd texted Alice an hour before their planned meeting, just to make sure she was still okay, and gotten an enthusiastic yes, but still...
Dawn was well aware that she hardly counted as a catch, dating-wise. As a 27-year-old college dropout working a waitressing job, she was about as far from the stereotypical good match that subs were supposed to all be looking for as it was possible to be. She was especially aware that most people would consider her job to be "sub work", and that when dominants worked in restaurants at all, it was generally as managers or head chefs. That said, Alice had met her at work, so that particular hurdle was already past.
Just then, she saw Alice walk into the restaurant, precisely (in fact, when Dawn checked her watch, down to the second) at the agreed time. The hostess gestured towards Dawn and she saw Alice nod and follow the other woman to her table.
Alice took the offered chair opposite Dawn.
"Evening, ma'am."
"Evening, Alice. You look lovely."
Dawn was rewarded with a deep blush. "So do you, ma'am."
The hostess silently laid a menu on the table and retreated to give them privacy.
"Before we start," Dawn said, "I'm planning to pay for tonight."
She caught the tiniest frown crossing Alice's face, so she added: "However, if we decide to do this again, you can pay next time, alright?"
Alice nodded. "That seems fair, ma'am."
Dawn perused the menu, picked out what she wanted, then offered it to Alice. Politeness allowed her to either accept it and choose for herself, or decline it, in which case Dawn was expected to choose for her. Dawn had no idea what Alice liked other than blueberry pancakes and coffee, so she was quietly relieved when Alice took the menu from her and started scanning it.
Over appetizers and entrees, Dawn learned that Alice was a journalism student, although what she really wanted to do was creative writing, and Dawn talked a bit about her childhood, gathering her nerves. She generally made a policy of laying out all the hurdles at the start of a new relationship, under the theory that it was easier to be rejected earlier rather than later, but having a policy of doing it didn't make it less difficult to actually do.
"I, um," Dawn said. "I was studying to be a social worker, but I ended up dropping out my sophomore year."
"Oh," Alice said. Dawn didn't hear any judgment in her voice, just sympathy. "How come?"
"It's not that happy of a story," Dawn said.
Alice reached across the table, offering Dawn one of her hands. "It doesn't have to be."
Dawn nodded, took a tip of her water, took Alice's hand. "I've... I have depression, I guess you'd say. It's a thing I struggle with sometimes. Anyway, near the start of my sophomore year I had a really, really bad episode and I just couldn't - couldn't even make myself get out of bed, let alone go to classes or do homework. I missed so much that they ended up calling me in and telling me that if I wanted to, I could take the semester as a leave of absence and try again, but I was... I was so crushed then that I decided to just leave."
"Not my finest moment," she finished. She risked a look up at Alice and saw the sub watching her intently.
"My heart hurts for past-Dawn," Alice said, eventually.
"Mine too."
"Are things better for you now?"
Dawn nodded. "Yeah. I... the whole experience sucked, but it was a bit of a turning point for me. Helped me get things back together a bit, although I definitely still have my bad days. Also it turns out I really like waitressing."
Alice smiled. "Sometimes being who you were is a necessary part of being who you are," she said.
"I like that."
Just after they'd ordered desserts, Alice's phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her messenger bag and looked at it for a second.
"I told my roommate I'd check in with her," she explained. "Is it okay if I do that here, ma'am?"
"Sure."
Alice dialed and lifted the phone to her ear.
"Hey Rae!"
"Nah, it's going terrible, actually. Totally miserable. Can't wait to get home."
Dawn's jaw dropped. What...?
"You too," Alice said, and hung up.
Once she'd put her phone away, Dawn asked: "Terrible?"
"Oh," Alice blushed. "Sorry, I should have explained. Um. If I... if I tell her things are going great, that means I need help. It's like a - a code."
"Ah," Dawn said, feeling a rush of relief, mixed with confusion and a spark of anger at the world that made it necessary for Alice to have such a code in the first place. "So what does it mean when it's going terribly?"
"That I'm really enjoying myself, ma'am."
Dawn smiled. "Me too."
Dessert arrived, and there was a comfortable silence as they ate.
Afterwards, Dawn said: "I had a really great evening, Alice. Would you like to do this again?"
She was rewarded with a vigorous nod. "Oh, yes, ma'am. Very much."
Dawn felt herself blush a little. "Come on," she said. "I'll walk you to your place."
"In a good mood today, ma'am?"
Dawn smiled at Viv as she shrugged off her jacket. "Yeah."
Viv held out a clean apron. "Care to share?"
Dawn slipped the apron on and started fastening it.
"Had a good date last night."
"Ooh! Anyone I know? It wasn't Megan, was it?"
Dawn giggled. Megan was a friend of Viv's who was very much interested in Dawn. Unfortunately Dawn didn't feel the same way about her, although it had taken a couple of dates to work that out.
"No. I'm sure she would've told you if it had been. Actually, do you remember the blonde lady who was camped here the other day for a while?"
"Yeah! Blueberry pancakes, right?"
"She got that again? Heh. Anyway, her name's Alice, and we... went out last night. Just to a restaurant."
Viv made an exasperated gesture after Dawn paused. "That's all I get? You went out to a restaurant?"
Dawn laughed. "There's not a lot more to tell. I had fun though, and she said she did too, so."
"So... are you going to see her again then, ma'am?"
Dawn smiled, blushing slightly. "If she wants to."
Viv couldn't resist: "If she wants to? What kind of domme are you, huh, ma'am?"
Dawn winced. "You know," she said, "she had a - a code for telling her roommate if she got in trouble."
Viv's joking tone vanished. "That's smart," she said, more quietly.
"She's a smart one in general."
Viv grinned again. "I look forward to hearing more about her, ma'am."
"Maybe after you finish your sidework."
"Yes, ma'am!"
The afternoon shift was easy. To someone else it might have been boring, even, but to Dawn it just meant more of an opportunity to focus on the few customers she did have. The lack of tips, though, was another matter. Dawn did her best not to worry about it too much.
After Viv had headed out, Dawn was left to preside over an almost-empty dining area. A couple of regulars were sitting in their usual places, and a glance told her that none of them needed anything. Just as Dawn was finishing the last task she could think of that even possibly needed doing, a couple walked in: a tall, even statuesque female dominant with a male submissive a couple of inches shorter than she. Dawn got them seated in a booth, then laid a menu on the table between them.
"Can I get you folks anything to drink while you're deciding on food?"
To her surprise, the male sub replied: "Miss will have an americano, and I'll have a cappucino, please, ma'am."
Dawn nodded. "You got it. I'll be back in a couple with the drinks, then I'll take your food orders."
Dawn did her best not to stare, but her curiosity was irresistable. As she was making both drinks, she watched the couple out of the corner of her eye. The sub reached across the table, offering both his hands to the dominant, and she took his hands and squeezed them. He said something quietly to her, and Dawn saw her nod.
She returned with the two drinks and set them carefully down on the table. She touched the front pocket of her apron, making sure that she did have her order pad in case she needed it, but left it for now.
"What can I get for you?"
Again the submissive answered her: "Miss would like the belgian waffle with strawberry compote, and I would like a BLT please, ma'am."
"Breakfast for" - she made a show of checking her watch - "dinner, my favorite also." She smiled at the dominant, who gave her a nervous smile in return.
"Coming right up," Dawn said, taking the menu from the sub and excusing herself.
"Oh, ma'am?"
Dawn hustled back over to the table. "Yes?"
"Can you point us to the bathroom?"
Dawn did so, and was once again surprised when the domme stood, ducking past Dawn, and went into the ladies' room. Dawn looked back down at the submissive; he was watching the woman with what was obviously intense fondness. Mentally, Dawn shrugged, and filed the entire situation away as one of life's small mysteries. She regularly met dozens of strangers each work week, and had long ago lost count of the things she'd seen that she didn't fully understand.
She checked on her other tables, then went back to the service area to tidy up. From the corner of her eye, she saw the domme return to the table, the sub slide out from his side of the booth, and the domme slide in next to him, leaving her pressed into the corner. Her sub curled up next to her in the booth, and she put an arm around him and laid one hand on his chest. The easy affection and their obvious comfort with one another was one of the cutest things Dawn had recently seen, and she found herself smiling as she swept the floor.
After she'd served them their meals, seen to her other regulars, and gotten a couple of new tables sat, Dawn took a moment to step outside and look at her phone. She was delighted to see a text from Alice, and immediately replied.
Dawn paused, staring at her phone.
Dawn smiled at her phone, engraved the words on her heart.
D: It's a date, then.
She pocketed her phone and went back inside.
She dropped off the check for the couple, visited all her other tables, then swung back to their booth, since she'd seen the sub lay a credit card atop the bill. She ran the card and returned it, then wandered away to give them space. They both left soon afterwards, and then the submissive walked back in by himself.
"Did you forget something?", Dawn asked.
"No, actually," he said, then lowered his voice.
"Thanks, ma'am," he said.
Dawn's puzzlement must have been obvious.
"My - Miss is a little bit... strange. I'm sure you noticed?"
Dawn nodded.
"This was the nicest time we've had out together in a long time. A lot of the fancier places won't... well, they make her feel uncomfortable."
"I can imagine," Dawn said. "I'm glad you both felt welcome here."
"Anyway, I wanted to tell you that - that she authorized the tip I left you, just so you don't worry about that."
"Got it," Dawn said, now intensely curious about the check, which she hadn't yet had time to pick up.
"Thank you again," the man said, dipping his head. "We will definitely be back, ma'am."
Dawn found it impossible to focus all the way through her Tuesday morning shift. Her mind kept drifting to her evening plans with Alice. Despite Alice's reassurances, Dawn was nervous about spending time alone with her. It was an odd feeling and once she took it apart she realized that it was fear. She liked Alice - quite a bit, actually - and she was afraid of being rejected by her, of saying or doing the wrong thing, or frightening her, or... of just not being what Alice wanted. Dawn usually didn't feel like what people wanted, really.
She made herself confront that fear. She would go, she would try to enjoy spending time with Alice, and if things didn't work out then at least she was lucky to find out now rather than further down the line. Dawn gritted her teeth, trying to dispel her own hope, then realized how ridiculous that was, shook herself, and made herself go back to doing her actual job rather than stewing.
After work, she went home, showered again, changed, and packed. It seemed very presumptuous to bring things for an overnight stay, but... Alice had invited her, hadn't she? She swapped her usual purse for a larger one and packed a change of clothes, telling herself that if they turned out not to be needed, she simply wouldn't mention them to Alice.
Alice was waiting on the same bench Dawn had been sitting on when Alice had first asked her out. The memory made Dawn smile, and the fact that it had been Alice doing the asking eased her anxiety a little bit.
"Hey," she called, as she came close.
"Evening ma'am," Alice said, getting to her feet. Dawn was about to turn to lead the way to the restaurant she'd chosen when Alice took two quick steps towards her and wrapped her arms around her. After a surprised moment, Dawn hugged her back.
"Sorry," Alice said. She started to let go, but Dawn tightened her grip before she could.
"What for?"
"I should've asked first, ma'am."
"I suppose that's true, but I don't mind at all. The opposite, in fact."
Alice blushed, smiled, and laid her head on Dawn's shoulder.
"I missed you. I know it's really cliche or whatever but I did."
Dawn stroked her hair gently. "Being cliche is okay."
Alice slowly pulled away from her. "I hope being hungry is okay too."
Dawn grinned. "Follow me. I think I know just the place."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"You mentioned that you had studying to do," Dawn said, "so I figured something quick was best, and... I really like pizza, I guess, so here we are."
Alice was only sort of paying attention, though. She was looking, wide-eyed, over the massive menu. "Blue cheese? Broccoli? Jalapenos?"
Dawn smiled. "Not all at the same time, I'd think. Would you like me to choose?"
Alice nodded. "Yes, please, ma'am."
"Go get us a table."
Alice nodded and turned to obey, but then stopped. "Ma'am, we - we agreed that it was my turn to pay this time."
"Oh, that's true, and thank you for reminding me. How about if I tell you what to get for us and I'll find the table?"
"Yes, thank you, ma'am."
"That was... amazing, ma'am."
"I'm glad," Dawn said, smiling. "That's one of my favorite places. I swing by there after work sometimes if I'm in a pizza mood."
"Thank you for sharing it with me," Alice said. "And for... for letting me pay for dinner."
"I did say I would," Dawn pointed out.
"I know," Alice said, "but I feel like a lot of doms would get kind of uncomfortable with it. I'm glad you aren't."
Dawn nodded. "How come it matters to you? If you feel like explaining."
Alice paused. "Um. I don't want to... hm. You know that stereotype of the kept sub where the dom pays for everything and takes care of all their needs and they just kind of like, exist? I don't - I don't want that, and having you pay for stuff would make me feel like that's where we were headed, ma'am."
"That makes sense," Dawn said, thoughtful. "I'm not sure I could really afford to have that kind of sub anyway on waitress money."
"Well," Alice said, "from what I've heard being a journalist isn't that great on that front either, but as long as you'd be fine being poor together..."
"Planning our lives together on the second date?"
Alice blushed. "Sorry. I did say cliche, didn't I, ma'am?"
Dawn reached out and took her hand. "It's cute."
Alice's blush deepened. "Thank you, ma'am."
Alice let Dawn into her apartment, apologizing for the mess. The living room definitely looked... well, lived in, was how Dawn would describe it. Alice told her she could sit anywhere she liked and offered to make Dawn tea, which she gratefully accepted. Dawn sipped it, letting the warmth percolate through her body.
"I didn't... really think this through," Alice admitted. "I feel like you're going to be super bored just sitting there while I study."
Dawn smiled at the blushing sub. "No worries. I have a book. Plus, I imagine you'll take breaks."
Alice nodded.
"What do you need to do to study, anyway?"
"Go over these three chapters and make notes, basically."
Dawn grinned. "I have an idea to help you stay on task."
"Y - you do?"
"You'll find out as soon as you finish the first chapter's notes," Dawn said.
Dawn split her time between reading and watching Alice. She was working with every appearance of intense concentration, scanning textbook pages, taking notes, and humming to herself as she worked. The illusion was only broken by her looking up, every so often, at Dawn, as though worried that Dawn would somehow silently slip out. Dawn gave her a reassuring smile each time she looked, and considered her next move. She thought that, at this point, she had a fairly good idea of what Alice might be interested in, and she was both anxious and eager to find out whether she was right.
"Done, ma'am!"
Dawn looked up, as though she hadn't been watching Alice the whole time.
"Show me," she said, making no move to stand.
Alice pulled herself up and carried her binder of notes over to Dawn, offering it to her.
Dawn shook her head very slightly. "On your knees," she said.
Alice swallowed and got to her knees, still holding the binder out. Dawn took it from her and laid on her own lap. Dawn gave her a warm smile and reached out with one hand to pet her while she looked over Alice's pages of neat handwriting. It was mostly meaningless to her, unfortunately, especially because a lot of it was the condensed version of a subject she wasn't familiar with, but she could see that Alice had put a great deal of care into it.
Alice was definitely enjoying being petted, but her voice still shook a bit:
"Is it... alright, ma'am?"
Dawn gave her a slow nod. "You obviously worked very hard. Good work."
Alice flushed, lowering her head.
"Thank you, ma'am."
Dawn stroked her hair again. "Is this good?"
"Oh yes ma'am, very much."
"I'm glad," she said. "Go do your second chapter."
Dawn watched Alice try to get back into studying, feeling a little spark of guilty pleasure when she realized the other woman was now having a lot of difficulty focusing. It was a little bit mean, she supposed, to distract her like that, but the rush of power it gave her was worth it - as was watching Alice stop, shut her eyes, and re-center herself. Dawn admired her strength of will, although she supposed it could be simply that Alice wanted more of what Dawn had given her and was willing to study if that was what it took.
"Done, ma'am," Alice said, sounding a lot more subdued than she had last time.
"Show me," Dawn said again, and waited to see what Alice would do. The sub came over to the armchair Dawn was occupying, knelt in front of her, and offered her binder again, head bowed.
"Good," Dawn purred, taking it from her. Again, she stroked Alice's hair - but this time, she allowed her fingertips to trail down the side of Alice's neck, to light momentarily on her collar... to brush across the hollow of her throat. She heard the sub's breath catch when she hooked two fingertips underneath her grey unclaimed collar. Dawn tugged lightly, and Alice shuffled slightly closer to her. Dawn looked down at the binder in her lap, forcing herself not to look at Alice even though she very much wanted to. Patience was a virtue, she reminded herself, making herself keep her eyes on the notes and a gentle tension on Alice's collar.
After an eternity (probably about two minutes), Dawn carefully shut the binder and finally let herself look at Alice. The other woman's breathing was ragged and she had flushed a deep red, and she didn't seem to want to meet Dawn's eye.
"Good work again," Dawn said.
Alice nodded, replied breathlessly: "Thank you, ma'am."
"Last chapter," Dawn said, handing Alice back her binder and releasing her light hold on her collar.
Dawn saw Alice sit for a few minutes at her desk, apparently meditating, before she started trying to work through the last chapter. She let herself enjoy the knowledge that she'd affected the sub so deeply with just her presence, her voice, and the lightest touches in the right spots - just as she let herself enjoy that Alice had the strength of will to overcome being affected. The knowledge that Alice could re-center herself so easily made it all the more appealing to push her off balance in the first place, she realized.
Dawn read about five pages of her book in the forty-five minutes it took Alice to get through her last study chapter. When she'd finished, Alice didn't even speak - just stood, carried her binder over to Dawn, and sank to her knees in front of her with both arms outstretched. Dawn rewarded her with a warm smile, took the binder from her without touching her, and glanced over it quickly. It was obviously well-done yet again, even though it looked to Dawn like Alice's handwriting might have gotten just a tiny bit shaky near the end. She shut the binder, set it on the coffee table behind Alice, and reached for Alice again. The sub trembled, but the look on her face told Dawn it was anticipation and not fear.
"Come here," Dawn said, taking Alice's collar in one hand - firmly, this time - and gently coaxing her closer. Alice gasped (what a delightful sound, Dawn thought) and approached, and approached, and approached as Dawn led her forward. When she was leaning against Dawn's legs, Dawn leaned forward and slowly, carefully placed a kiss on her forehead, still holding her firmly by the collar.
"Great work," she said, amazed by the steadiness of her own voice.
Alice nodded, eyes shining. "Th - thank you, ma'am."
"I think this kind of work, especially in the presence of such a powerful distraction, merits a special reward, don't you?"
"Whatever... whatever you think I deserve, ma'am."
Dawn felt a shiver of delight. She very much enjoyed seeing Alice like this - the normally assertive (at least by sub standards), forthright woman had turned so shy and eager to please.
"I have quite a good idea of what you deserve," Dawn said, "and I think it's best discussed in your bedroom."
Dawn followed Alice into her bedroom.
"Sit on your bed."
"Yes, ma'am," Alice said, dreamily. Dawn studied her face, took in her deep red flush and her unfocused eyes. The woman was deep into subspace already, she thought - and Dawn hadn't gotten to negotiate with her yet. Oops. She'd have to be very careful with her for now and then they'd talk about it later, so... very safe practices for now.
Dawn stood over Alice, thoughtful.
"Bring me your hairbrush."
"Yes, ma'am," Alice said. She went into the bathroom attached to her bedroom, came back with a plain black hairbrush, and offered it to Dawn. Dawn took it from her.
"Your - your lap ma'am?"
"Hm? No, hon, I'm not going to spank you. You were good, remember?"
"Oh, yes, ma'am," Alice said. "Thank you, ma'am."
"Sit," Dawn said. "Between my legs, however's comfortable, with your back to me."
Alice nodded and folded herself on the floor, sitting cross legged against the side of her own bed. Dawn ran her fingertips gently down the side of her throat, ghosting over her grey collar.
"Good girl," she said, and delighted in watching Alice shiver.
"I'm going to brush your hair," Dawn said, "and I have an order for you, okay? For the rest of the night."
"Anything, ma'am," Alice said, in a tone suggesting that she really did mean anything. Dawn felt a rush of warmth in her chest (and between her legs) at the amount of power Alice had given her. Not that she could make much use of it tonight, but next time, after they'd had a chance to talk about it...
"If you get uncomfortable," Dawn said, "either physically or emotionally, you tell me immediately, okay?"
Alice nodded, leaning slightly to press against one of Dawn's legs. "Yes, ma'am."
Dawn took Alice's hair - wonderfully soft, like silk in the hands - and started to run the brush very slowly through it, starting with short strokes near the tips and slowly working her way upwards. Alice sighed happily under Dawn's attentions. Dawn took a brief break to wrap a hand very lightly around her throat, just above her collar, and made the other woman gasp in surprise and delight.
"You have gorgeous hair," Dawn said, putting the brush aside. "I hope I get to touch it more often."
"Yes, ma'am," Alice murmured.
Dawn gently took Alice by the collar, holding it with just her fingertips.
"Onto the bed," she said, "on your stomach."
Alice hopped up immediately and stretched out across her bed. Dawn thought she saw the tiniest wiggle of her hips, but she couldn't be sure. Either way, she had no such plans tonight, so she put it (and Alice's butt, which was fantastic) out of mind. Instead, she kneeled astride Alice's hips and leaned over her to whisper in her ear:
"Interested in a massage, hon?"
"Mmm, yes ma'am," Alice said, sounding relaxed.
Dawn sat back up and slowly slid her hands underneath Alice's blouse and up the bare skin of her back. The feel of touching her like this was glorious. Dawn ran her hands up and down a couple of times, relishing having Alice's permission to touch her like this, then started searching her back for places that needed special attention.
Eventually, Dawn ran out of places to work on. She found herself unable to resist gently scratching her nails down Alice's back as she withdrew her hands, drawing another surprised (and obviously pleased) gasp from the sub. She filed that for later, then climbed off of Alice and stretched out on the bed next to her. Alice seemed half-asleep, body loose and peaceful. Dawn kissed her forehead gently.
"Tired, hon?"
Alice nodded.
"Let's brush our teeth, and then we'll sleep."
Dawn stood and headed into the living room to grab her bag. When she turned to return to Alice's room, she was surprised to see the other woman watching her, clinging to the doorframe of her own bedroom. Dawn swept past her, touching her lightly, and Alice followed at her heels into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and made sure Alice did hers as well, then took the woman by the hand and led her into her bed.
Dawn yawned and pulled Alice close. The other woman whimpered slightly, tilting her head to expose the side of her neck. Dawn remembered hearing about this - something subs sometimes did when they were really deep down, although she couldn't remember why. She put one arm around Alice, squeezing slightly, and with her other hand gathered both of the sub's wrists. Alice's breath caught but she still didn't say anything. Dawn gave her a final kiss on the forehead.
"Sleep time for you I think," she said.
Alice nodded slowly. Dawn gave her a gentle push, encouraging her to face away, then wrapped herself around the other woman and held her securely. She stayed like that, mind mostly blank, simply enjoying Alice's presence until eventually she drifted off.
Dawn woke slowly, surprised by the sunlight on her face. It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't in her own bed, and then another moment to realize that there was another woman curled peacefully in her arms. Memories of the previous night with Alice came flooding back and Dawn laid a soft kiss on the back of the other woman's neck, right above the curve of her unclaimed collar.
"Morning ma'am," Alice murmured, still sounding sleepy herself.
"Morning you too," Dawn replied. "How're you feeling?"
Alice rolled over to face Dawn. "Amazing."
Dawn laid a hand on the side of the other woman's jaw and stroked her skin gently. "I'm really glad."
"Did you... did I get a massage last night? I kinda remember..."
Dawn nodded. "Yeah, you did. You, um, went under pretty deep and pretty fast. Quicker than I expected, actually, and easier."
Alice blushed. "Um. That's good."
"Is that not usually true?"
"Er," Alice said, blush deepening. "I've never... um. I've never actually been under before."
"Oh," Dawn said. "That was your first time subbing?"
Alice nodded. "I - did I do it right, ma'am?"
Dawn smiled. "Hon, that was one of the best nights of my life, and that was with our clothes on the entire time. You had fun, I had fun, so I'd say you did great."
Alice buried her face in Dawn's chest. "Thanks," she said.
Dawn laid a hand on the back of Alice's head and silently held her for a minute.
"Do you have time for breakfast? No idea what your class schedule is like."
Alice grabbed her phone off her nightstand, checked the time.
"Yeah, easily."
"Well, do you want to shower first or second?"
Alice gave her a sly grin. "Not together?"
Dawn laughed. "Not this time, hon. Are you in some kind of hurry?"
"I just like you, ma'am."
"I like you too."
Alice disentangled herself from Dawn, rolled out of her bed, stood, and stretched. She was still wearing her clothes from the previous night, as was Dawn. Alice took off her socks, jeans, and blouse and tossed them into her laundry hamper, leaving herself in just her underwear. Dawn tried hard not to stare.
"Would you - um, would you like to be the one to...?"
Warmth gathered in Dawn's heart at being asked to do something so intimate.
"Sure," she said. "Come here."
Alice kneeled by the side of the bed, facing away from Dawn. She pulled her own hair up and out of the way, exposing the buckle of her unclaimed collar. Dawn undid the buckle, pulled the collar off, gently touched Alice's now-bare neck, and then laid the collar on her nightstand.
Alice shivered. "Thank you, ma'am," she said.
"I'll be here," Dawn said. "Go shower."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Dawn yawned again, slowly sipping her coffee. Across the table from her, Alice was nursing her own coffee; a pair of plates, now holding only crumbs, sat on the table between them. Dawn was filled with a kind of contentment that she'd never really experienced before. She had certainly played with subs before, even enjoyed herself a lot, but... it had never felt like that. Alice was glowing so brightly that she seemed to light the room, at least to Dawn. Being around happy subs was always a pleasant experience, but every square inch of Alice's skin seemed to radiate a mix of satisfaction and safety that Dawn thought she could probably spend the rest of her life drinking in, if it was available to her.
She was still pondering that feeling when Alice spoke up.
"I want more of that, ma'am."
Dawn grinned. "That makes two of us. I'll have a look at my schedule once I get to work and text you."
Alice nodded, blushed.
"I really like you, ma'am," she said.
"That's mutual."
A comfortable silence passed.
"How does it feel so good?", Alice asked, with considerable emphasis on the last word.
Dawn shrugged. "It's been a while since biology but I think it's partly that your body likes subbing and partly that your brain likes me."
"It definitely does."
Dawn squeezed Alice's hand across the table.
Alice finished her coffee. "I'd better get to class," she said.
"Go. I'll text you."
"Yes ma'am!"
After Alice's first class of the day was finished, she had an hour-long break before her next class. Normally she would've spent it getting ahead on homework but today she found a pleasant spot to sit in the sun and dug out her tablet, eager to call her parents. After a couple of rings her mom's smiling face, framed by her curly chestnut hair, filled the screen.
"Hey honeybee!"
Alice blushed slightly at her childhood nickname. "Hi Mom. Is Dad around too?"
"Oh, yes, I think he's out in the garden. I'll bring you to him."
The inside of her parents' home looked exactly as she remembered it. Alice's mom carried the tablet out to the back yard. She heard her mom speak:
"Sir? It's Alice!"
Her dad's grin briefly filled the entire frame, then the view zoomed out a little bit to show Alice's mom peeking over her dad's shoulder, leaning lightly on him. He looped an arm around her and pulled her close, and Alice saw her curl into him slightly. Her parents were still more obviously in love, even after all these years, than just about anyone else Alice knew and it always warmed her heart to see them together.
"Morning honeybee," her dad said, petting her mom's hair gently. "Don't you have school?"
"There's a gap between my classes," Alice explained.
"Ah," he said. "You - you look like you're in a great mood," he said, fondly.
"I went on a date!"
Alice's mom gasped with delight. Her dad smiled too.
"I'm guessing it was a good one?"
"She was amazing, dad. Really amazing. She just made me feel so... I don't know, so safe, I guess. Like I was calmer than I thought I even could be."
Her mom, looking wistful, gently kissed her dad on the cheek. He blushed slightly and ruffled her hair.
"That's great to hear, honeybee," he said. "Was this a first date?"
"Second."
"I hope we get to meet her."
"If things keep working out, I bet you will."
Her mom looked like she might be about to pass out from excitement. Alice could understand that; parents often worried about whether their sub children would be able to find healthy and loving relationships. For that matter, in her place Alice would have worried about the same thing. Her eyes lighted briefly on her mom's collar - the same well-worn band of dark leather that she'd worn since shortly after Alice was born. If she was very lucky, she thought, she might be able to find a dom she wanted to stay with for that long, and if she was even more lucky, that dom might just be Dawn.
Her dad handed the tablet back to her mom, sending her back inside with a gentle command - something Alice half-heard about sunblock - and her view bounced around a bit as her mom went back into the kitchen. Her mom set the tablet on the kitchen counter at an angle that let Alice see she was partway through putting some groceries away.
"Is she - is she treating you alright?"
The worry in her mom's tone was unmistakable.
"Yeah," Alice said. "I know what to be careful of, mom. She... she's really tender."
The relief was plain on her mother's face.
"Honeybee, you know if you ever need us, you can call and your father will come get you, no matter what any other dom says."
Alice smiled. It was the same promise her parents had made her when she'd left home for college in the first place.
"I know, mom. I still remember your number."
Her mom smiled.
"If she's good to you," her mom said, "then you make sure you're good to her too and things will work out."
Alice nodded. "I will." She paused, looking around the grassy courtyard. "I'd better get started on some homework, though. It was great talking to you both."
Her mom gave her an affectionate look. "We love you, honeybee."
"I love you too, mom."
Dawn arrived at work a little before Viv's shift was supposed to end. As soon as she got in she went to check the roster to see when her days off were. When she unlocked her phone to text Alice as she'd promised, she was surprised to see that Alice had sent her her entire class schedule.
She held up her phone next to the roster, matching times and dates up in her head.
Dawn stared at her own last message, hoping it wasn't too forward, and then she saw Alice's reply:
Having exhausted her supply of flirtation for the moment, Dawn slipped her phone inside a pocket.
"You had another date, didn't you?"
She turned to look at Viv. "It's kind of creepy that you guessed that," she replied, grinning.
"Look, you just have a... you literally look taller, or something. It's so obvious."
Huh. Dawn supposed she was actually standing up a bit straighter than she usually did.
"Well, yeah, I did. With Alice again."
"You get up to any, you know, activities this time?"
"Good Lord," Dawn said. "You're terrible. Do I seem like the kind of domme that would kiss and tell?"
"Aha! So you did kiss!"
"Someone should put you over their knee and educate you about asking prying questions," Dawn said, grinning. "Unfortunately my shift's starting or I'd volunteer."
"I'm sure I can find someone," Viv said, eyes sparkling. "Anyway, it's been pretty quiet so far. I'm probably just gonna clock out now instead of waiting around for the lunch rush, if that's okay, ma'am?"
Dawn nodded, trying her apron on. "Go for it."
Viv left, and Dawn looked around the dining area - just a few regulars reading by themselves, a pair of business people chatting quietly over the remains of their coffees. She checked in with all of the regulars and the business people, none of whom needed anything, and then started doing a bit of tidying. She'd only been at it for a couple of minutes when she heard the door open.
A group of four teenage girls walked in together, giggling. All four of them were very much of a type: tanned, lean and athletic, the sort of girls who had always made Dawn feel inferior when she herself was a teenager. She flinched when she heard all four of them burst into laughter at once. It wasn't anything to do with her, she knew, but the sound itself was associated with so many unhappy memories.
She put her emotions away and hustled to the front to greet them.
"Table for four?"
The girl at the front of the group was obviously a domme from her body language. Dawn saw the girl's eyes momentarily flicker to her neck and back, and saw the recognition in her eyes. She gave Dawn a tiny respectful nod.
"Yes please."
"This way," Dawn said, leading the four of them to one of the largest booths. She laid four menus on the table, then made an extremely quick read of the group. Two of the girls were wearing what were obviously fairly new collars - they looked to be at about that age, at any rate - and one of those two was occasionally nervously touching hers, as though she still wasn't used to the feel of it around her neck. The girl who'd led the group Dawn could easily tell was a domme, but the fourth girl was somewhat of a puzzle. Her body language was withdrawn and (if Dawn was any judge) overpoweringly anxious, but her neck was bare. Dawn shrugged mentally - it wasn't like she really needed to know.
"Can I get you ladies any drinks to start?"
The domme answered first. "Skim latte for me," she said, "and mocha with whole milk for Steph," indicating one of the two collared subs, "and also... hmm... orange juice for Kate," indicating the girl Dawn had been puzzling over earlier. The domme then gestured to the other collared sub, who spoke:
"Hot chocolate, please, ma'am."
"Skim latte, whole mocha, orange juice, hot chocolate, you got it. I'll be back with those drinks and take your food order in a sec."
Dawn worked her way quickly through the two espresso drinks and the hot chocolate, poured the orange juice, got all four drinks into a tray, and carried them back over. The four girls were having an animated conversation. Dawn set down all four drinks, surrepititiously assessing the fourth girl (Kate, she remembered) again. The domme girl had ordered for her, but she had no collar - perhaps she was still figuring things out?
Dawn took their food orders, then checked in on all the regulars and saw the business people out. She started wiping down the drink prep area, and out of the corner of her eye, saw the domme girl (whose name she still hadn't managed to catch) briefly rummage in her purse and pull out a plain blue unclaimed collar. Kate turned away from her, offering her neck, and the domme girl slipped the collar onto her and buckled it.
Once all their food was up, Dawn gathered all of it onto a tray and carried it over to the table. She set the dishes down one by one.
"Anything else I can do for you?", she asked, making eye contact with the domme. The girl blushed and looked down at the table, then over at the girl named Kate.
"No, we're good," she said, still not looking at Dawn.
Dawn nodded. "Just yell if you need me."
The girls ate steadily, talking and laughing together as teenagers did. Kate looked considerably more relaxed, which was a relief for Dawn - having a distressed sub nearby never did good things for her emotional state. After they'd finished eating and paid, Dawn saw the domme girl undo Kate's collar and put it back inside her purse. Hm. She escorted the four of them out, swung back by the table, and was pleasantly surprised with a more generous tip than teenagers usually left.
Interesting.
The next morning, Dawn had to do one of her least favorite things: work an opening shift immediately after a closing shift. That arrangement often had her getting home at 10pm and leaving for work at 4am, which left little time for activities like, say, sleeping. Unfortunately, Viv wasn't available and that was the entire roster, so it had to happen or the diner couldn't open. At least she was getting paid the overtime rate for it, for the good that did on her base pay.
Still yawning herself awake, she got to work at 4:30 and started preparing the dining area. Both cooks were already hard at work in the back, chopping and cleaning and getting ready for the day. Dawn finished her own prep work just before five, unlocked the front door, and started doing aimless tasks so she wouldn't look idle.
Her first guest of the day was none other than Alice.
"Hey," Dawn said, welcoming her with a smile. "Table for one?"
Alice grinned. "It won't be weird, right, ma'am? If I eat here?"
"Not unless you make it weird. Or you stiff me on the tip or something," Dawn joked.
"You know I'd never, ma'am."
"Then I don't see a problem. Follow me."
She escorted Alice to a booth and got her sat. "Blueberry pancakes and coffee?"
"Whatever you think I should have, ma'am."
"Coming right up, then. Here to do schoolwork today?"
Alice nodded.
"I'll do my best to keep you comfortable, then. It's nice to get to see you at work."
Alice blushed slightly. "I... did partly come here because I wanted to see you, ma'am."
"Even though we had a date that ended like twenty-four hours ago? And we have another one in two days?"
Alice giggled. "I don't know what to say. I just like you, ma'am."
Dawn's look softened. "I like you too, hon. I'll go grab your coffee."
An hour into her shift, Alice had eaten and was just starting on her second cup of coffee. It gave Dawn a warm, contended feeling to see Alice properly nourished. Seeing people one cared about well-fed was supposed to be an instinct that subs had more strongly than doms, but Dawn didn't really believe that - and anyway, so what if it was? It was what she felt, normal or not.
Dawn stifled a yawn and poured herself her own second cup of coffee too. The Short Stack was actually getting close to half-full, mostly with the same crowd as usual, which was certainly keeping her busy. As she was making another pass around the dining room, the saw the couple from the other day walk in - the statuesque, silent domme with her male sub. The domme looked quite tense, and the sub kept glancing at her, as though checking she was okay.
"Welcome back," she said, giving them both her most hospitable smile and doing her best to put them at ease.
"Thank you ma'am," the sub said. "Could we get a table for two please?"
"Sure thing," Dawn said. She almost said "follow me" until it occured to her that, while she was addressing a sub customer, he was in the presence of his dominant who might not appreciate her ordering him around. Instead, she said: "I have a corner table free, if you'd like?", and as she did so, led both the sub and the domme towards it.
"That's great, thank you, ma'am," he said, as the domme curled into the corner again and he slid in next to her.
"What can I get for you?"
The couple exchanged a glance.
"We need a minute, I think, ma'am" the sub said.
"Sure thing. I'll do a round of the dining room and be back." Clarity, expectations, suggestions, she repeated in her head as she circled the room, forcing herself not to stare at the couple. She delivered half a dozen drink refills, ran two fresh entrees to tables, very briefly flirted with Alice, then returned to the corner table.
The sub was leaning on his dominant, her arm around him and folded over his chest. He looked up at Dawn when she approached but didn't move to sit up. It looked to Dawn like the domme was still quite uneasy, but her sub now seemed totally relaxed. That surprised her a bit - she would've expected him to be on edge as well, since he could surely feel his dominant's tension, if Dawn could see it.
"Do you know what you'd like? Or do you need a bit more time?"
"Ah, no, we're alright now ma'am. Can we get an americano and a cappucino to drink, and the waffle with the cut fruit please?"
Dawn nodded, memorizing the order.
"The waffle's great, but it probably won't feed two people if you're both hungry," she pointed out.
"That's - that's alright. Miss isn't feeling up to eating much, ma'am."
"Got it. Can I get you... maybe something really simple? We can do a little bit of plain oatmeal or something, if you'd like. It just seems a shame to start the day on an empty stomach."
The domme looked at Dawn for a moment, obviously curious. Her sub turned slightly to look at her. The domme looked indecisive for a moment, then gave a tiny nod.
"If you can, that'd be amazing, ma'am."
"Yeah, no worries. I'll go put that in and get started on your drinks."
A few minutes and another circuit of the dining room later, Dawn, temporarily bereft of tasks, decided to do some cleaning. Just then, her phone buzzed - a text from Alice, who was sitting not twenty feet from her.
Dawn stared at her until Alice noticed, looked up, and blushed.
She pocketed her phone, checked in on the kitchen, then stepped out front to sweep fallen leaves off the sidewalk - not technically part of her job, but it helped keep the place tidy-looking. She came back inside just in time to see the male submissive headed for the bathrooms. A quick glance showed that the domme had barely touched the small bowl of oatmeal Dawn had served her, and was picking at it with the tip of her spoon. If it had been a sub customer she would've been pretty assertive about making sure they were fed, but she couldn't do that here. Hm.
Dawn decided to approach the question with a lot of deference.
"Excuse me, ma'am? Is everything alright with the oatmeal?"
The domme looked up at her, and Dawn saw her checking Dawn's neck for a collar. Not finding one, an obvious flash of puzzlement crossed her face that Dawn had addressed her as she did. Dominants generally avoided using honorifics for each other, especially "ma'am" and the like, which were exclusively used by submissives. Dawn did her best to simply look helpful, hoping that the very sub-like question would put the other woman more at ease.
It did not work, though. The domme looked down at her oatmeal again, frowning. Finally, she spoke in a rough voice:
"It's fine, thank you. I'm just not really hungry."
"Gotcha. I'll take it off your bill, then - it was my idea in the first place."
"There's no - no need for that. If I didn't want it I would have said so."
"Fair enough. I'm Dawn, by the way."
She saw the first real smile she'd seen from the other woman. "Vanessa."
When Vanessa's sub returned from the bathroom, Dawn saw them have a brief, low-voiced conversation, and then saw the sub cast a wide-eyed look in her direction. She hoped she hadn't given offense - the domme had not seemed bothered, at least, but still.
Once they'd finished their meal and paid (tipping generously again, Dawn noticed), she left them to finish their drinks at their leisure while she attended to her other customers and flirted again with Alice. She was surprised when she turned to see Vanessa and her sub still standing by the entrance. She hustled over to them.
"Everything okay? Can I help you find something?"
The sub was looking at Vanessa expectantly. She looked down for a moment, then back at Dawn.
"Thank you," she said, slowly.
"No worries," Dawn said, but her attention was on the sub's face - he was smiling brightly at Vanessa, as though she'd just done something amazing. He took his dominant's hand in his own, squeezed, and pressed himself against her. She put an arm briefly around him, then led him out of the diner.
By the time Friday evening finally came, Dawn was almost overwhelmed by her own anxiety. She knew that Alice was both willing and eager to go much further than they had on their previous date, and she really wanted to make sure the sub had a good time tonight. She had tidied and re-tidied and again re-tidied her apartment, gone quickly grocery shopping for a few ingredients, and made her bed an embarassing number of times. Her apartment felt more ready for guests than it had been in... several months, probably.
Dawn decided to go a little bit dressier for tonight, and pulled a dark green cocktail dress, elegantly simple, out of her closet. It was easily the nicest piece of clothing she owned (a very lucky thrift-store find), and the color brought her eyes out a little bit. She paired it with some low heels to give her a little bit of height; she was about as tall as Alice, and even a couple of extra inches would reinforce their power dynamic a bit. She slung her purse over her shoulder, rechecked her hair once more in the mirror, touched up her lipstick slightly, and set off for Alice's university.
Alice had a class ending at six, and she'd invited Dawn to meet her on one of the grassy common areas between the university buildings. Dawn wandered over slowly; she had left herself plenty of time and the late afternoon weather was perfect. She tuned out the noise of the city around her and felt herself relax a bit.
She arrived at the common area a few minutes early. The grass was full of students, alone or in small groups, sitting and enjoying the sun. Dawn, feeling a bit like an outsider, sat on a bench on the edge of the commons and looked around anxiously. She dug out her phone, texted Alice a rough description of where she was, then stared at it blankly to avoid looking up. After a couple of minutes, she heard and then saw a flood of students coming out of one of the nearby buildings. She scanned the crowd... and there was Alice!
She was wearing a cream-colored sundress, with her hair spilling out of the headband she wore, and she was so beautiful that Dawn's heart ached. The late afternoon sun made her blonde curls a halo. She was laughing and joking with another woman - also a sub, Dawn could tell, and as she watched Alice pulled her phone from her messenger bag, peeked at it, then looked up and towards where Dawn was sitting.
Alice's eyes widened, and then her face broke into the biggest, warmest smile Dawn had ever seen. She walked quickly over to the bench Dawn was on, with the other sub tagging along.
"Wow," Alice said, after she'd come to a halt a couple of steps away. "You look amazing, ma'am!"
Dawn felt herself blush. "Wow yourself," she said.
"Oh! Um, ma'am, this is my roommate Rae. She's the one I was calling that time at the restaurant."
Dawn gave the other sub a small nod. "Good to meet you."
"Jesus," she heard Rae mutter under her breath. "No wonder." Then, as if suddenly realizing she'd been addressed, she spoke up:
"Great to meet you as well, ma'am!"
"What was that 'no wonder' about?", Dawn said, fixing her with a stare. Rae blushed and looked away.
"Uh, I, um. Alice and I have been roommates for three years now and I've never seen her go on a date before, so I was... wondering what the deal was. Ma'am."
"And did you figure it out?"
"Um, yes. You're - you're gorgeous, ma'am."
Dawn laughed. "I'm very glad to hear that."
She turned her attention to Alice. "Shall we?"
"Yes ma'am!"
On the walk back to her apartment, Dawn was just about to start a conversation when Alice suddenly blurted:
"It - it wasn't just because you're pretty, ma'am. I want you to know that."
"No?"
"I mean, I know what Rae said, but it - it really wasn't."
Dawn smiled. "What was it, then?"
"It was two things, really. Do you remember the day we met?"
"I don't think I could forget it."
"You... you made me stop having caffeine, and you reminded me to stretch. Do you know I still remember to take stretch breaks because of that?"
Dawn giggled. "What a fantastic way to pick up subs, then."
Alice joined her in laughing. "The - the second thing was... do you remember when that guy was angry with the other waitress?"
"I sure do. Her name's Viv, by the way."
"Right. Well, he was doing that - that thing doms sometimes do when they're being jerks, where they get close to you and make you feel small. He was doing that to her, and you... I remember you went and got between them, but after that you came and checked on me, too. It just... I don't know, ma'am. It made me feel so important to you and so cared-about even though I was just some girl camping in a booth."
Dawn reached out and took Alice's hand in her own.
"You are important to me," she said, "and I do care about you."
Alice smiled. "I know that now, ma'am."
Dawn led Alice to her apartment building. Alice stopped on the sidewalk outside.
"Just texting Rae where I am," she explained. Dawn nodded, understanding, and busied herself checking her mailbox. Once Alice was done, Dawn led her up the stairs and let her into her apartment. All tidied up, the place was actually pretty charming, she had to admit; the last embers of the sunlight gave it a warm, cozy feeling and she felt she'd done a good job with the little space she had in her living area. She had no TV, so she'd given a lot of it over to an extremely comfortable couch and a couple of bookshelves.
Dawn slipped her shoes off and invited Alice to do the same.
"So," she said. "I thought we'd make dinner together first, then after that we can sit down and discuss things, and you can show me what you brought with you."
Alice grinned. "Yes ma'am, although I... admit I half-expected to be ravished immediately when we got inside."
"Oh yes? Do I seem like the ravishing-immediately type?"
"Well, no, ma'am, but you can't tell sometimes."
Dawn took two quick steps towards Alice, backing her into a wall. She laid one hand on the wall next to Alice's head and drew herself up, filling Alice's space with her own presence. She saw Alice flush, saw the slight tremble of mixed nerves and desire. She grinned slowly, just slightly showing her teeth. Alice shrank, eyes wide. Dawn leaned close, parting her lips slightly - teeth now inches from Alice's throat.
"You really can't," she said, voice husky. Alice nodded quickly, and Dawn could swear she heard a small whimper.
She stepped back abruptly.
"So," she said. "Shall we cook?"
"That," Alice said, putting her fork down, "was amazing. You're a great cook, ma'am."
"It was a team effort," Dawn pointed out.
"It was, but you were making all the decisions. I was just extra hands."
Dawn grinned. "Very talented extra hands, then," she said. After a moment, watching Alice's face, she added: "and obedient." Alice blushed, looked down at her own lap.
"Yes ma'am."
"Let's clean the plates and put them away, and then I want to have a conversation with you about what you brought."
"Yes ma'am!"
With the dishes cleaned and put away, Dawn brought Alice over to her living room couch, sat, and gently pushed the sub to her knees on the carpet in front of her. Alice settled to a comfortable pose and gave Dawn a warm smile.
"So," Dawn said. She leaned over, picked up the backpack Alice had brought, and placed it on the ground next to her. "Present your toys."
"Yes ma'am. I, um, I did leave my - my restraints at home, but I brought just about everything else."
Dawn nodded. "Good." That was very proper of Alice - maybe even a little bit too polite, but Dawn didn't mind that. It was safest if any given toy was used only on one submissive, and the easiest way to arrange that was simply for submissives to own their own toys, which also meant that they could own the toys that worked best for themselves. The exception was restraints, which doms were expected to have and know, although subs often had their own as well.
Alice reached into her backpack, drew out a cloth-wrapped bundle, and offered it to Dawn with both hands. Dawn unrolled it slowly, carefully - this was something Alice was gifting to her, however temporarily. It was a small flogger, with a synthetic grip and delicate metal chains for the tails. Dawn picked it up, ran her hands down the chains. They were polished smooth, so not likely to break the skin, and glittered pleasingly in the light. On the base of the handle was a small, styilized image of a bird in flight.
"It's beautiful," Dawn said. folding it carefully and returning it to its cloth wrapping. "I'm going to enjoy using it on you."
Alice grinned shyly. "Yes ma'am." She reached into her bag again and drew out a narrow paddle, in gorgeous dark wood. She offered it to Dawn, who took it and held it, testing the weight and balance. It fit her hand like it had been custom made for her.
"Wow," Dawn said. "You have very good taste."
"Th - thank you, ma'am," Alice said, cheeks colored.
Dawn set the paddle on the couch next to her, reached into her pack, and came out with a small cloth bag, which she again presented to Dawn with both hands. Dawn took it, undid the bow that held its drawstring closed, and opened it. She dipped a hand inside and came back with a few wooden clothespins.
"I've never used these before," she said. "But I bet I can figure it out."
"Yes ma'am," Alice said, as Dawn set the bag aside. The next item Alice offered her was a clear ziploc bag, containing a ball gag and a blindfold. Dawn smiled at that - blindfolds were a particular favorite of hers.
"Last item, ma'am," Alice said, offering her a pair of leather gloves. Dawn unfurled them, and saw that the palms of the gloves had dozens of small spikes, driven through the gloves from the inside. Intrigued, she slipped one of them on; while not perfectly comfortable it certainly fit her.
"These look like they hurt," Dawn murmured.
"I expect so, ma'am," Alice said.
"You've never had them used on you?"
Alice shook her head. "I want to try, though."
Dawn took the glove off, folded it together with its partner, and laid them aside.
"You didn't bring any insertables?"
Alice flushed. "I don't, um, don't own any, ma'am."
"Not interested, or...?"
"Um," Alice said. "I... don't really... um. I'm too... to shy to buy them, ma'am."
Dawn giggled. "You're adorable, you know that?"
"Thank you, ma'am."
Dawn reached for her, laid a hand on Alice's jaw. "I don't really have any either, but fortunately I'm good at improvising."
"So," Dawn said. "You've never been on the receiving end of any of these before, right?"
"Ah, yes, ma'am. Not for real, anyway. I've tried all of them out lightly on myself before."
Dawn smiled. "Alright, then. We're going to go through each one of these, and I'm going to learn how best to hurt you with them, and you're going to tell me how you feel."
Alice visibly shivered. "Y-yes, ma'am."
"Before we get started," Dawn went on, "and before either of us gets too... into things, is there anything I shouldn't do tonight, or that you don't feel ready for?"
Alice opened her mouth, shut it again, and looked down at the floor, obviously thinking.
"Not that I think you'd do, ma'am," she said, finally.
Dawn was curious what Alice thought she wouldn't do, but she didn't want to dampen the mood at the moment. That discussion, the deeper discussion of hard and soft limits, could come later - for now she had plenty in mind to fill a very enjoyable evening using only the things Alice had already given her.
"How about sex? With barriers, obviously."
Alice blushed very red indeed. "That - more than okay with that, ma'am."
Dawn grinned. "Follow me, then," she said, picked up the toys Alice had given her, and led the sub into her bedroom.
"Strip, then kneel on my bed."
Alice undressed quickly, dropped her clothes in a pile on the floor, then climbed onto Dawn's bed and knelt facing her, with her hands folded in her lap.
"Hm," Dawn said, studying her. "Both hands on the back of your head."
Alice hesitated for a moment, then obeyed, straightening her back, which pushed her breasts forward slightly. Dawn smiled at her, not letting herself get distracted by how gorgeous Alice was naked just yet.
"Knees a little further apart," she said. "Right under your shoulders."
Alice did so, keeping her back straight and her head up but not meeting Dawn's gaze any more.
"For if - or when, maybe - we're playing again in future, I want you to remember this exact pose. This is the presentation position, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"You think you could hold it for a while?"
"Probably yes. Until my arms get tired, ma'am."
"Good. If that starts happening, you tell me. Speaking of telling me, how are you feeling right now, Alice?"
"Ah... vulnerable, ma'am. And exposed."
Dawn gently stroked Alice's hair. "That's how you're supposed to feel. How about scared?"
Alice hesitated. "A little, ma'am."
"A little is okay, but if you start feeling more scared, I want to know, okay?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Now, here's what we're going to do. You're going to stay in that exact position as best you can, and I'm going to try using your toys on you, and you're going to tell me how each one feels. So far as you're physically able, you are not going to move. Do you understand?"
Alice visibly shivered again. "Yes, ma'am. I'm to - to hold this position while you hurt me."
"Exactly," Dawn purred. "One of the things you'll learn about me is that I believe in discipline and willpower more than I believe in steel and leather, although I'm definitely not opposed to restraints when the situation calls for it. Now," she said, "let's find out how this gorgeous flogger feels, shall we?"
She picked the toy up carefully from where it lay on the bed next to Alice.
"I'm not going to blindfold you tonight," she said, running her hands gently over the flogger's hanging chains, "because I want you to be able to see what's happening - and because I want you to be able to see my enjoying it."
"Yes, ma'am," Alice said, eyes fixed on the flogger.
Dawn quickly decided that she enjoyed hurting Alice. No surprise there, but as she methodically worked her way across Alice's exposed body, laying fans of gorgeous red lines across her skin, she kept her gaze mostly on Alice's face, and what she saw there delighted her. Alice was trembling after the first dozen hits, clearly bending her willpower wholly towards staying still as Dawn had instructed her. Each time the flogger landed she flinched, and once Dawn saw one of her hands move just slightly, but the sub instantly replaced it and gritted her teeth.
After twenty (Dawn had kept count, silently, not wanting to distract Alice from keeping the position - yet, anyway), she laid the flogger on the bed next to Alice and started petting the top of her head. She gave Alice an appraising look: her cheeks were flushed, she was breathing very heavily, and... yes, Dawn could see the tell-tale slightly distant look. Alice, too, had been enjoying herself.
"How did that feel?"
Alice turned her head slightly to look at Dawn, but Dawn cut her off before she opened her mouth.
"Did I tell you to stop holding the position?"
Alice squeaked and snapped her gaze back to straight ahead.
"No, ma'am, I'm sorry, ma'am."
Dawn curled her fingers slightly, taking a handful of Alice's hair, and squeezed for a second. "Next time you disobey me there'll be an actual punishment," she said. Alice was new and perhaps hadn't known what Dawn expected of her - and besides, being merciful in this moment would only reinforce to Alice the power that Dawn held.
"Aren't - weren't you just punishing me, ma'am?"
Dawn frowned. "Okay," she said, "now I need you to actually look at me. Hold the rest of the position, though."
Alice did, and Dawn sat down on the bed next to her so she wouldn't be taller than the sub any more.
"When I'm punishing you for something," Dawn said, "you'll know for certain. A punishment always starts with having you explain what you did wrong and why it was wrong, and then me explaining how the punishment will help you do better. I know not all dominants do it that way, but that's how I do it. Does that make sense?"
"Ah - yes, ma'am," Alice said, quietly. "I'll do my best to remember."
Dawn stroked her hair gently again, watching her body language a bit for signs of distress. There was a faint tremor in her arms - not surprising, after holding the presentation position for a while - but also she looked a bit downcast now. Hm.
"I'm sorry I ruined the mood, ma'am," Alice said.
Dawn grinned. "Well, two things about that," she said. "The first is that having a talk about how I punish disobedience doesn't really ruin the mood for me, and the second is that... the mood is a thing we made, and we can just make it again now. I mean," she said, with a meaningful look at the other toys laid on the bed.
"We have all the tools we need."
Alice flushed. "Yes ma'am."
"Are your arms tired?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"If I told you to keep holding it, you would, wouldn't you?"
"Of course, ma'am!"
Dawn leaned close. "So eager to please," she murmured, and gently kissed the side of Alice's throat. The sub whimpered, but still didn't move.
"Ready for the paddle next?"
Alice's voice started to take on that dreamy quality Dawn loved: "Whatever would please you most, ma'am."
"Hm," Dawn said. "I think you deserve a little break from that position."
She scooted a bit further onto her bed and patted her own lap. "Here, face down," she said. "I'm going to use the paddle on you."
"Yes ma'am," Alice said, and obeyed.
Dawn allowed herself a little while to simply appreciate Alice, naked and trying not to squirm, in her lap and in her power. The marks she'd left with the chain flogger were slowly fading, but her butt - her beautiful, perfectly rounded little butt, just crying out to be spanked - was yet untouched. Dawn ran her fingertips gently up the back of one of Alice's thighs, watching her skin break into goosebumps.
"How are you feeling so far? Red, yellow, green?"
"Green, ma'am. Very, very... very green."
Dawn grinned, feeling the warm glow of having pleased a sub she cared about very much. "That's good, because I'm about to make part of you very, very red."
Alice giggled. "Can't wait, ma'am."
Dawn picked up the paddle from where it lay on the mattress next to her. It really was a beautiful instrument. She tapped it experimentally against Alice's butt, enjoying the startled response, even though there'd been no force at all behind it.
"Nervous?"
"A little, ma'am."
Dawn laid her off hand on the back of Alice's head. "I don't want to give you more than you can take," she said, "and I'm relying on you to tell me where that is."
"Yes, ma'am."
"But," Dawn went on, "I think that you can take quite a lot, can't you?"
Alice paused. "For you, ma'am."
Dawn felt her own thighs press together unconsciously and a rush of heat pool between her legs. She felt immensely lucky to have such a hot submissive playing with her in the first place, but that Alice wanted to please her so much... it was a heady feeling and not one she was very used to.
"I love hearing that," she purred, and then took a fistful of Alice's hair in a tight grip. Alice gasped in pain but said nothing.
"Helping you stay still," she said.
Alice managed to laugh. "Appreciate it, ma'am."
Dawn took the paddle in her other hand. Her first hit wasn't particularly hard - just testing Alice's reactions, really. She wanted to get a sense for how much she was hurting Alice and how close to her sub's tolerances she was getting. Her next few blows were progressively harder. She marked where Alice winced, where she yelped, and how hard Dawn had to hit to get her to cry out in pain. It would take her more practice to really learn the other woman's body, she knew, but being very deliberate about it felt... good. Being deliberate about it made her feel even more like she was in control of the situation, of her sub, and of herself.
At a certain point, though, she had to put aside her thoughts about carefully learning how Alice's body responded and simply enjoy enjoy hurting her. She felt her own mind clearing a bit, her own body relaxing, and herself falling into the rhythm of swinging the paddle. Alice was crying out in what was obviously a mix of pain and enjoyment, trying her best (so well, Dawn thought, such good behavior) to stay still. Dawn had kept a firm grip on her hair as she spanked her, and when she tightened that grip slightly, she was treated to a moan of raw pleasure that sent heat surging through her own body in turn.
In fact, she realized when she momentarily paused to check in with her own body, she was desperately turned on, and if her guess was right so was Alice. Perhaps it was time for a new activity. She set the paddle down on the bed but kept her tight grip on Alice's hair.
"How was that?"
"A - amazing, ma'am," Alice said, between breaths. "M - more?"
Dawn laughed. "No. I have something else in mind now. I'm going to give you a choice, Alice."
"Ma'am?"
Dawn let her now-free spanking hand wander down the curve of Alice's butt and between her thighs.
"Either I'm going to fuck you now," she said, "or I'll let you serve me with your mouth. Your choice."
"Your mouth," Alice said with no hesitation whatsoever. "I mean, um, my mouth, ma'am. Serving you. With my mouth."
Dawn giggled. "Wow, someone knows what she wants."
Alice blushed deeply. "Yes ma'am."
"Ever done this before, hon?"
After a short pause, Alice said: "Once, ma'am."
"Hm," Dawn said. "On your knees in front of me, hands in your lap, and shut your eyes and keep them closed."
Alice did so. "Ma'am?"
"Just changing," Dawn said, stepping out of her cocktail dress and pulling on a blouse and her shortest skirt. She pulled her panties off as well and tossed them into her laundry hamper to be dealt with later. A pack of single-use dental dams was right where she'd left it, so she unwrapped one and stuck it to her skin, checked that the transparent plastic was covering everything important, then sat back down in front of where Alice was kneeling.
"Eyes open," she said.
Alice looked up at her, and then Dawn saw her eyes flicker momentarily down - between Dawn's slightly spread legs - and then back up. She could see the curiosity on Alice's face. Dawn smirked at her.
"Getting to see me naked," she said, "is a special privilege and one you haven't earned yet, hon. Also, I happen to like the feeling of being clothed while you're naked."
Alice nodded enthusiastically. "Me too, ma'am."
Dawn spread her legs further, inviting Alice forward. Alice started towards her, but Dawn stopped her with a very gentle touch on her forehead.
"Alice?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"You're nervous about doing a good job, right?"
Alice hesitated. "Very, ma'am."
"I'm not expecting perfection or anything close to it, just obedience and desire to serve, do you understand? I'll tell you what I like and what I don't, so just listen to me and you'll do fine."
Alice gave Dawn a small smile, manifestly relieved. "Yes, ma'am. I'm excited to serve you, ma'am."
Dawn moved her fingertips from Alice's forehead to the crown of her head and petted her gently. "Show me."
Alice was indeed, Dawn soon realized, not particularly skilled - yet - at giving oral sex, but she more than made up for it in enthusiasm, obedience, and the manifest joy she was taking in serving. Dawn relaxed a little bit, letting Alice explore her sex with her tongue and fingertips, giving her gentle guidance as she went. She wasn't particularly concerned with her own orgasm just now, anyway. She kept one hand resting on Alice's head, affectionately stroking her hair as she whispered encouragement.
Skilled or not, though, Alice's efforts were intensely pleasurable, and Dawn could feel herself tensing. Alice's tongue brushed repeatedly across her clit and Dawn, squirming, squeezed her legs together slightly around her. She heard herself moan as a bolt of pleasure shot through her. It occurred to her, just then, that she'd probably get to spend quite a bit of time teaching Alice to do this, and Alice would end up getting very, very good at it indeed... Mmm.
Dawn let herself get lost in the feeling of Alice serving her, let herself drift into fantasizing about... about keeping her, about Dawn's collar around her neck, about Alice kneeling by her side... about drawing those adorable little moans out of the sub over and over... about pinning her down and fucking her.
She heard herself moan again, squeezed her thighs around Alice once more. She decided to dwell on that specific fantasy, on the imagined feeling of Alice, soft and yielding underneath her, and she let one of her own hands wander between her legs and find her clit. Alice took the hint and moved her attentions lower down. It took Dawn only seconds of stroking herself before she came, gripping Alice tightly by the hair and forcing her face against her sex. After she'd caught her breath, she released her grip, took Alice by the collar instead, and pulled her up and onto the bed.
Alice was... unspeakably gorgeous. Breathless, flushed, eyes unfocused, and still apparently very deep down from serving, she looked absolutely perfect. Dawn laid down on her side, pulling Alice into an embrace, pressing herself against the sub's back.
"That," she said, "was great."
"Th - thank you, ma'am," Alice said, dreamily. Dawn took her collar firmly with one hand, wrapping an arm around her. Her other hand found its way between Alice's legs.
"Now it's my turn," Dawn purred, lips inches from Alice's throat.
Alice moaned before Dawn's searching fingers had even made contact with her skin. Dawn kissed the side of her throat softly, smiling.
"You're ready for that, huh?"
Alice nodded rapidly. "P - please, ma'am."
Dawn grinned. "You have been very good tonight, it's true... grab your collar with both hands and hold onto it."
Alice obeyed her.
"Your hands stay there until I say otherwise, okay?"
"Yes ma'am!"
Dawn kissed the curve of her neck again. "Stay here. I'm getting gloves."
"Yes ma'am." Alice turned her head slightly to watch Dawn out of the corner of her eye when she left the bed, but she kept both her fists closed around her collar as ordered. Dawn hated to break physical contact with Alice while her sub was this far under, but at least she didn't have to leave the room, and next time she'd try to plan the scene ahead a bit more. She gave Alice a reassuring smile, dug out disposable gloves, pulled on a pair, and rejoined her on the bed.
"On your back," she said, "and spread your legs a bit for me."
Alice was - wow, she was really incredibly wet. The intoxicating scent of her arousal filled the air, and Dawn could see a small dark patch starting to spread on the bed underneath her. Dawn moved between the other woman's legs and gently cupped her sex with one gloved hand, enjoying the way Alice jumped from the sudden contact.
"Remember," she said, "hands stay on your collar."
Alice nodded urgently. "Won't - won't forget, ma'am."
Dawn started exploring slowly, fingertips flitting over Alice's skin, watching her face and body to see how she was reacting. She let the tip of one finger press ever so slightly inside the sub, making her gasp with delight. Dawn grinned and slowly worked a finger deep inside her until she could press the heel of her hand against Alice's clit. Alice was squirming in a most attractive way, panting and moaning. She let out a yelp of pleasure when Dawn started working a second finger inside her, relishing the hot, tight feel of her sub around her.
"Enjoying yourself, hon?"
"Y - yes, ma'am, yes, yes, yes. I'm gonna - I'm really close, ma'am,"
Dawn smiled, feeling the warm glow of pride and affection in her chest.
"Are you trying to wait for my permission, hon?"
Alice nodded frantically. Dawn shifted her fingers inside her, deliberately rocked her hand against Alice's clit. Alice wailed, fists clenched so tightly around her collar that her knuckles were white. Dawn thought about teasing her further, but... what she wanted most in this moment to see Alice come.
"You may," she said, flexing her fingers inside her sub and using her other hand to start quickly rubbing her clit. Alice lasted only a moment more before Dawn felt her contract around her fingers, heard her cry out in pleasure. Dawn gradually slowed her pace as she brought the other woman back down, and once she was done, she pulled her gloves off and gathered Alice into her arms.
"That," she said, kissing Alice's forehead softly, "was beautiful."
"Mm," Alice said, seeming half-asleep and utterly relaxed. Dawn noticed that both her hands were still wrapped around her own collar, exactly as Dawn had ordered her. Dawn gently tugged on one of her wrists.
"You can let go now, hon."
Alice's hands slowly uncurled, and Dawn gathered both of her sub's wrists and held them. Alice was obviously completely submerged in subspace and probably not even capable of talking any more. Dawn felt a sense of absolute contentment and peace suffusing her being, seemingly radiating out from everywhere her skin touched Alice's. She kissed her sub once more, this time on the lips. She very much wanted to fall asleep right now, but neither of them would be grateful to her tomorrow morning if they did so without cleaning up a bit first.
"We have to shower," she murmured to Alice, who nodded her silent assent but made no move to get up. Dawn grudgingly pulled herself up to a sitting position and stretched.
"Alice," she said.
"Mm?"
"Come with me. We're showering."
Alice nodded and followed her. Dawn led her into the tiny bathroom, ran the shower until it was warm, and stripped. When she turned to pull Alice in with her she was surprised to find the other woman standing with her eyes closed.
"Still green, Alice?"
Alice nodded. "M - g-green, Miss."
Dawn tugged Alice gently into the shower, savoring the way her own heart fluttered. Alice had called her Miss! She told her brain to try to freeze this moment in amber somehow so that she'd remember it forever. Dawn kissed her again gently.
"Are the lights too bright for you?"
Alice shook her head. "Not - not supposed to see Miss naked," she said, as Dawn gently guided her under the stream of hot water.
Oh! Dawn had forgotten entirely that she'd said that to Alice earlier. She hadn't intended it as a rule outside of that scene, but Alice had apparently taken it as one. It was extremely cute and more than a little bit arousing. Dawn grinned, rubbing soap on her own hands and starting to clean Alice's skin.
"Good remembering," she said. "You're so good for me, Alice."
Dawn saw the tiny shiver run through Alice's body. "Th - thank you Miss."
"Arms up for me," Dawn said, "and hold onto your collar again. I'll get both of us cleaned up and then we can go to sleep."
Alice nodded, obeying like someone in a dream, leaning ever so slightly into Dawn's touch. Dawn cleaned her thoroughly, then had her wait in the shower while she cleaned herself too, then gave Alice her spare towel and had her dry off. Once they were both clean and dry, Dawn took her by the hand and led her back to her bedroom. She pulled on an old pair of pyjamas (not often worn, since she usually slept naked when she was alone), gathered Alice into bed with her, and let herself drift to sleep, mind and body both immersed in the wonderful feeling of having her sub, safe and contented, close to hand.
Dawn slept better than she could ever remember having before. She woke slowly, emerging from a very pleasant dream, to find herself curled around a still-sleeping Alice. Dawn laid still, savoring the feeling of holding her submissive. The morning light leaking around her curtains gave Alice's messy blonde hair an etheral glow that Dawn found stunningly pretty. She squeezed Alice gently, enjoying the feel of soft bare skin under her hands, immersing herself in how peaceful and safe Alice obviously felt to be sleeping so soundly.
Alice slowly stirred, and Dawn, while she was still half-asleep, turned the other woman to face her. She tucked Alice's head into her chest and kissed the top of her head.
"Morning hon," she said.
Alice slowly opened her eyes and murmured happily. "Morning ma'am."
"Breakfast? I'm told I do pretty good french toast."
Alice nuzzled against her. "Mmm, yes ma'am. Isn't the sub supposed to make breakfast though?"
Dawn giggled. "That, like most everything else, is up to us and I've decided that I'm making it today."
Alice yawned. "Yes ma'am."
"You can take your time getting up, and once you're awake, get dressed and come find me in the living room slash kitchen thing."
"Will do, ma'am," Alice said, stretching.
Alice emerged, hair still in utter disarray but otherwise looking mostly put together, right as Dawn was plating the first two slices of french toast. She laid the plate on the table and gestured with the spatula for Alice to sit.
"That's some, uh, just-got-fucked hair you have there," she said, turning back to her stovetop. She couldn't see, but she knew Alice would be blushing.
"I was, um, going to ask you if you wanted to brush it, ma'am."
"You liked that last time I did it?"
"Very much, ma'am."
"Then yeah, definitely. After we eat, though - for now you'll just have to look like a ragamuffin for a bit."
"'Ragamuffin'? Are you like fifty years old, ma'am?"
Dawn turned, brandishing the spatula. "I'll have you know I am at *least* five years your senior and therefore can freely act like an old woman whenever I want to, young lady."
Alice grinned at her, cutting into the french toast. "Understood, ma'am."
Dawn turned back to the pan on the stove, carefully turned both pieces of toast.
"I had an amazing time last night, ma'am," Alice said, mouth obviously half-full of toast.
"I'm really glad," Dawn replied, looking down as she worked. "Me too."
"That - um. That thing you do where you grab my hair and move me around or hold me by it. I really like that, ma'am."
Dawn laughed. "I could tell. What do you like about it?"
There was a thoughtful pause. "I... I'll do whatever you tell me to do, ma'am, of course, but I kind of like when you make it so that - so that it doesn't matter whether I want to obey you or not."
Dawn turned her head and flashed Alice a grin. "Noted for later." She dished another two pieces onto a second plate and put it on the table opposite Alice, along with a mug of fresh coffee for each of them. Surprisingly, Alice had already eaten almost all of her toast.
"Do you want more, hon?"
Alice shrugged. "Saturday is usually when I do my long run for the week, so extra energy's always good. I can eat something else though, it's not a big deal."
"Well, I'll be damned if a sub leaves my house under-nourished," Dawn said, grabbing another two slices of bread.
Alice explained that she needed to do some studying and then run, so Dawn sadly had to let her go home. As soon as she'd left Dawn's tiny apartment felt strangely, horribly empty, even though it now had exactly the normal number of people in it. Dawn did some cleaning to try to distract herself from the hollow feeling, but it didn't help much; her body had latched onto Alice as hers and was missing the sub's presence.
Dawn sighed at herself, picking up her clothes from last night, when her phone buzzed. She dug it out of her pocket and her heart warmed instantly when she saw a text from Alice.
Dawn smiled, and the empty feeling she had retreated just a little.
Dawn had just started to put her phone back away to finish cleaning when it buzzed again.
This time, she did manage to put her phone away and resume cleaning. It was a couple of minutes before her phone vibrated yet again:
Dawn stared at the text, surprised that apparently Alice had been feeling the same thing she had. She didn't want to leave Alice's text read with no reply, but she didn't know what to say, so she sent back:
Dawn finished her bedroom, made her bed, and started to get ready to go out - she needed groceries - before she figured out what to say.
There was a pause, and then:
She slipped her phone into her purse and left her apartment.
Dawn arrived early for work, shrugged off her jacket, and changed into her uniform. Viv was out in the dining area, dashing between tables, and very much looked like she could use some help handling an unusually busy weekend lunch. Dawn, once she was ready for work, logged into the POS system, silently caught Viv's eye and gave her a nod, and took over some of the tables from her.
It was almost an hour before there was enough of a lull for them to exchange any actual words. Dawn joined Viv in the service area back by the kitchen and touched her very gently on the shoulder to get her attention. Viv gave her a broad smile and whispered:
"You have date energy again!"
"It's actually uncanny that you can tell. Can subs all do that?"
Viv giggled. "I just know you really well - although it's a bit easier when you mention having another date with Alice coming up like thirty times a shift, ma'am."
"Guilty. What can I say? She's great, it's easy to be excited about seeing her."
Viv's smile softened a little. "I do have some good news of my own to share," she said.
"Found your Mister Right?"
"No, it's - my mom. Her cancer's in remission."
"Oh! Oh, that's amazing, hon." Dawn stepped forward and took Viv in a tight embrace, instinctively tucked the other woman's head into her chest. Viv murmured happily. Dawn held her for a moment, then let go, stepped back, and smoothed her uniform a little.
"Yeah," Viv said, sighing.
Dawn peeked out into the dining area - mostly just people finishing their meals left, although there were two familiar-looking teenage girls standing by the door.
"Customers," Dawn mouthed. "Back to work."
She hustled over to the hostess stand, summoning the girls' names to memory. It was the domme girl from the other day who'd come in with the three subs her age. She'd never gotten the domme's name, but the other girl she remembered as Kate. Ah, yes - she was the one who'd come in without a collar but worn one while inside, wasn't she? Dawn's curiosity was piqued a little bit by the girl's still-bare neck.
"Welcome back!", she said. "Two?"
The domme girl nodded. "Please."
"This way," Dawn said, but as she was turning to lead them towards a corner table, out of the corner of her eye she saw the domme girl take Kate's hand in her own.
Dawn got them seated and took their drink orders, checked in on all her other tables, then went to the barista station to start making their drinks: a skim latte again for the domme girl and a hot chocolate for Kate. As she worked she watched the two teenagers, and sure enough, the domme pulled from her purse the same plain blue unclaimed collar she'd had last time and slipped it around Kate's neck. The sub's obvious and instant relaxation warmed Dawn's heart - as did the way she leaned slightly into the other girl immediately afterward.
She carried both drinks back to the table, took their food orders, and gave Kate directions to the bathroom when she asked. She watched the domme girl's face as she went and saw the kind of wistful fondness she'd been expecting. Hmm.
Dawn decided to break the silence: "You were in here a few days ago, weren't you?"
"Oh," the girl said, as if suddenly realizing she'd been staring towards the bathrooms. "Yeah, with a couple of our friends and - and her."
"Glad you're back, then. I'm Dawn, by the way."
"Jess," the girl said in reply.
"And she's Kate, right?"
Jess looked up at her. "Great memory."
"Job skill," Dawn explained. "People like being remembered. It makes them feel like - like they have a place here, kinda."
"Yeah," Jess said, sighing. Dawn gave her a sympathetic look but didn't say anything. The young domme bit her lip, then said:
"It's her parents - her mom, really. They're really... I don't know, her mom has this whole thing in her head about how subs aren't as smart or as capable or whatever, so she doesn't think her little girl can be - well, yeah."
"That must be pretty tough," Dawn said. "I'm guessing her mom is a domme?"
"Yeah."
"Yeah, having your parent who's a domme trying to push you into being one thing when you know you're really something else... well, I bet that sucks."
"It really does," Jess said. "I'm trying to help but I'm - you know, I'm just a teenager too, I can't really take..."
She trailed off, as though having an inner realization, then said:
"I can't really take care of her like I want to."
Dawn gave the girl a small smile. "You two are together?"
"Eh, sort of. We can't be too obvious about it because of her mom but... well, if we could, we would."
"Word of advice, then, from an old lady."
"You don't look that old," Jess said, interrupting with a smile.
"Hush," Dawn said, "and listen to your elders." She grinned at Jess to accent her joking tone, and went on:
"Subs can bear almost anything if they have their dominants with them. Really. They'll... they'll amaze you with what they can do, how tough they can be, how brave, if they're doing it for you."
Jess swallowed, nodded. "Yeah," she said. "I - I'm not really sure what to do about the whole situation with her parents, but whenever I talk to her about it she says that me just being around helps a whole lot. It feels really bad, you know? I really want to - to *do* something, but I just can't, and she's... ugh."
Dawn gave her another sympathetic look. "One of the worst feelings in the world," she said, "is when a sub's in trouble and you can't help. One of the absolute worst. I'm sorry you're going through that."
Jess sighed again. She looked up suddenly, past Dawn, and her face broke into a wide smile. Dawn half-turned and saw Kate returning from the bathroom, nerves obvious in the tension of her body but affection plain on her face. Dawn stepped aside to let the other girl take her seat by Jess's side.
"Kate, right?"
The other girl looked surprised. "Yes, ma'am," she said, saying the honorific carefully, precisely, as though it was unfamiliar to her.
"I was just getting to know Jess here a little bit," Dawn explained. "I gotta go check on my other tables now, but - I'll see you two around, okay?"
Jess nodded. "I'm sure you will."
Some weeks passed. Dawn saw Alice as often as they could both make it work, which turned out to be every three days or so, almost always at Dawn's apartment since that didn't mean inconveniencing Rae. Dawn had watched with great pleasure as things of Alice's started to migrate, in an incidental way, to her apartment.
On their fifth date - or maybe sixth? -, Alice had put her discarded clothes neatly Dawn's laundry hamper and apparently forgotten about them, so Dawn had set aside a little area of her dresser for them and kept them there. It had made her smile, at the time, that Alice felt that the space was hers enough to do that. Over time, another change of clothes had been left and apparently forgotten, then a set of workout gear, then two more sets of underwear and socks, and then finally a hoodie. All the while, Dawn had kept neatly folding Alice's clothes and storing them in her dresser next to her own. Sometimes, after Alice left after a date, Dawn would open that drawer and stare at the small pile of clothes to remind herself that Alice wasn't leaving for good.
It hadn't just been clothes, either - Alice now had a toothbrush in Dawn's bathroom, a laptop charger that lived underneath her kitchen table, a spare pair of running shoes were normally lined up neatly next to Dawn's. Looking at them gave Dawn a complicated mess of happy feelings, especially because of how they'd come to be there in the first place.
Alice had deliberately brought them over on a date night so that she could run early the next morning and come back to Dawn's afterwards, rather than needing to go home. She'd obviously been a bit nervous about presuming to extend the date a bit further than Dawn had initially invited her for but Dawn had been overjoyed to have her stay longer.
Dawn smiled wistfully to herself. At this very moment, Alice was out on one of her long runs. She'd been periodically looking at her phone to see how far away the sub was, partly, she told herself, so she could plan when to start making breakfast but mostly because she liked thinking about Alice coming back. Sure enough, she saw Alice's little pin on the map reach the park that was her usual turn-around point, circle around it, and start its journey back towards Dawn's apartment.
That gave Dawn about half an hour until Alice returned. Maybe ten minutes after that for her to shower, so forty minutes of prep time... Dawn looked down at her box of recipes, handwritten on index cards, then pulled one out and got to work.
"You're still an incredible cook, Miss," said Alice, swallowing another mouthful of biscuit. Pleasure curled in Dawn's chest, only in small part because Alice liked her cooking. They hadn't really had a... proper conversation about it, yet, but Alice had switched to calling her "Miss" even when they weren't playing, which made Dawn's heart glow.
Dawn, in between bites of her own biscuit, replied:
"You probably think that because you just ran like eight miles."
Alice grinned. "I've had your biscuits when it wasn't a run day, too, Miss. They're just good."
Dawn felt herself blush. "Well, thanks. They're worth the kitchen cleanup."
"Is today a housework day, Miss?"
Dawn nodded. "Yeah. Saturday usually is, or the first day I have off after Saturday."
Alice gave Dawn an affectionate look. "I'd - I'd like to participate."
"It's my apartment and you're my guest," Dawn pointed out, well aware that many dominants would not have considered that a reason for Alice not to.
Alice looked down at her lap. "Oh," she said.
"Oh?"
Alice blushed. "I... I don't want to be a guest, Miss."
"What do you want to be?"
"I want to - to live here, with you, Miss."
Oh.
Shocked, Dawn said: "You do?"
"I - of course? Miss, you're my - I know we didn't have the Talk about it yet or anything, but it feels like you're my - my dominant, already. I want to be with you basically all the time, Miss."
Dawn was stunned, speechless that Alice - wonderful, brilliant, driven Alice - wanted to live here, with her. Dawn was almost afraid to speak in case she broke whatever spell was affecting the moment, but she managed to hold her voice steady while she said:
"I'd like that too."
Months went by, summer slowly faded into autumn and then winter, and Dawn's happiness - which usually fled with the end of the long days - simply... didn't, this year. She still had her rough days, especially when she had to drag herself away from her sleeping sub on a frigid winter morning to get to work, but life was by and large just good. Even the things that would normally have driven her mood downward, like the seemingly endless winter nights, weren't as bad as they usually were.
She pulled on her winter boots and stepped out into a chill breeze. She grimaced and quickly made the brief walk to the Short Stack, thinking all the while about Alice. Her sub would be up for her morning run soon, and while Dawn really didn't like the idea of Alice running alone in the pre-dawn darkness, her not liking that was less important to her than Alice's goals, so at first she'd bitten her tongue and said nothing. That had turned out to be a source of constant anxiety for her, and when she'd finally broken down and talked to Alice about it, her sub had instantly offered to stop running in the morning. That had been the opposite of what Dawn had wanted, and she'd felt bad for starting the conversation, but Alice had understood and volunteered to start carrying her phone with her so Dawn would always know where she was. Dawn had very mixed feelings about that - she didn't want to be overbearing, but it really did make her feel better to be able to look at her phone and know where Alice was.
She let herself into the Short Stack and started preparing for the day's shift, waving hello to both the cooks, who were already busy with their prep tasks. The front of house was still just her and Viv on usually separate shifts, but that suited her just fine. The place had been lively lately, which Viv attributed to Dawn's "devastating charm", whatever that was, but Dawn thought might be related to serving huge pancake stacks and unlimited coffee in the dead of winter. They'd picked up a few new regulars, too, which Dawn was always in favor of. It made her feel good at her job to remember them and their orders, and to be able to read their moods and learn their personalities a bit.
Vanessa and her submissive, whose name Dawn still somehow didn't have after months, came by at least once a week, usually for a weekend breakfast but occasionally for dinner. Her submissive still did virtually all the talking for her, which Dawn still didn't understand the reason for, but whatever was going on seemed to work very well for them so Dawn didn't judge. Vanessa had certainly warmed up to Dawn a bit, and now seemed to feel comfortable talking to her directly at least a bit, and that felt like a victory.
As for Jess and Kate... well, Dawn hoped they were doing well. She'd seen the two girls a couple more times since Jess had introduced herself. The last time she'd seen them, Kate had been wearing a brand-new unclaimed collar and Jess had looked unspeakably proud of her. They'd both been manifestly incredibly nervous, but they'd done their best to have a nice breakfast anyway, chatting animatedly with Dawn whenever she stopped by their table. She hadn't seen either of them since that day, although she thought of them often.
She finished her morning prep work, opened the doors at 5am on the dot, and waited. It wasn't long before the first few customers showed up, and she got them seated and started the service. She felt herself falling into the easy rhythm of her workday, taking orders, running food, and chatting with guests as she had the time. She took a moment to peek at her phone and smiled at the usual morning text from Alice:
She sent her usual reply, then checked the map to see where Alice was. It looked like she was most of the way through her usual route, probably only minutes from home. Dawn didn't think she'd ever get tired of watching Alice's little icon heading back to the apartment they shared.
She looked up as the doors opened again, feet already moving toward the entrance, and gasped in sudden recognition.
"You two!"
Standing at the entrance were Jess and Kate, holding hands and smiling.
"Oh my god," Dawn said. "Come on, let's get you seated and caffeinated and stuff, and then I really want to hear where you've been."
Jess gave her a shy smile. "Sure thing," she said, gesturing for Dawn to lead the way. Dawn got them a booth together, took both their food and drink orders from Jess, did another check of all her other tables, then swung back to their booth with their drinks.
"So," she said, setting the drinks down. "Everything - you know, alright?"
"Mm," Jess said, looking at Kate. "You want to tell it, babe?"
Kate blushed, nervously touched her unclaimed collar. "Sure, ma'am."
She took a sip of her coffee and swallowed, collecting herself.
"I, um, after last time we were here I'd planned to... to tell my parents, about me and Jess, and to tell them I knew I was a - a sub," she said. "So we - well, it went pretty badly. My mom said I could never see her again, and she, um, she ripped my collar off and threw it away and tried to sign me up for this... this weird class."
Jess reached across the table and took one of Kate's trembling hands in her own, giving her an encouraging smile.
"It was - it was really awful," Kate went on. "The only thing that kept me going was getting to see you at school," she said, looking shyly up at Jess. The domme grinned at her, squeezed her hand.
"Anyway, we, um - I turned 16 a little while ago, which is old enough for, you know, getting s-separated from your parents, so I... so Jess helped me do that, and her family took me in. Um. And now I live with them."
"Wow," Dawn said, impressed by Kate and awed by Jess. "That's - wow. I'm glad stuff worked out that way and I hope your mom comes around."
Kate shrugged, but Dawn could tell from her expression that the thought pained her. "I hope so," she said, "but I'm not - not counting on it."
Dawn gave her a sad smile. "I know how that can be," she said. "I'm just glad you two are okay - after you disappeared, I worried about you both."
"Well," Jess said, "we're... okay enough. It sucks, but... you know. Sometimes that's just how things are, and we have each other."
Dawn smiled. "Yeah," she said. She heard the front door open, looked over, and was surprised to see Alice standing there in her running gear. She hustled to the front door.
"Hon? Are you alright?"
Alice was smiling. Dawn looked down and saw that she held a letter in both hands. She offered it to Dawn, who took it, and she felt her heart skip a beat when she saw the return address: City University, Department of Admissions.
With shaking hands, she carefully opened the letter, pulled out the single folded sheet of paper inside.
"Ms. Dawn Williams," it began. "It is with great pleasure that we formally invite you to attend the College of Psychology and Social Sciences at City University, starting..."
Dawn's vision was suddenly blurry - oh, she realized, she was crying. She looked up at Alice, who looked like she might be crying as well. She threw her arms around Alice instantly, squeezing her tight, and Alice squeezed her in return.
"I told you you could do it, Miss," Alice said, quietly. Dawn nodded, overcome with emotion.
"I... thank you," Dawn said. "For believing in me."
Alice grinned and kissed Dawn, in full view of all the other customers.
"Always will, Miss."
End