Safe and Sane

Sunday morning. Lin had given Carl a few days, but seemed like maybe Carl hadn't managed to contact Gale, or Gale didn't want to call him. Only one way to find out for sure.

Coffee pot on, he shuffled around the kitchen barefoot to find his cellphone, and dialed Gale's number.

It had been one hell of a long month. One without enough chance to call Carl, or Sara, though Sara didn't pick up so often. That night, though, Lin didn't give a shit for time difference or what the hell else might be going on. He needed to talk to someone. He needed to talk to Carl.

Swinging up into the cab of his truck, he stared at his cellphone for long moments, then punched in Carl's number, waiting for him to pick up.

Bag was packed, guitar detuned and in her case. Most things set, piled neatly by the door. Lin took one last look around, nodded, and sat down, waiting for Carl to get back.

Lin hadn't called in advance - just taking a chance that John might be in. He pulled the truck up in John's driveway, unannounced, slid out of the cab with his guitar slung over his shoulder, went to the door, knocked a sharp rhythm on the wood, and waited to see if John was there.

It was mid-afternoon by the time Jason woke up enough to even consider going out. He'd picked up a few extra shifts over the past week and was looking forward to a few days off. There wasn't a lot that needed to be done, thanks to twenty-four hour grocery stores, so when he decided to get out of the apartment, he headed over to the club.

He was surprised when he walked in and heard music. Grinning, he headed to the common room. "Hey," he said, smiling to the guy on the guitar. Not Carl, but he could still appreciate it. "I'm grabbing something to drink. Get you anything?"

Someone in the cafe definitely had a resource of obscure holidays. This Wednesday fell on National Aviation Day, and one of the members of staff had obviously decided it was a good idea to mark it, but hadn't been quite sure how. Several model airplanes sat on top the counter and were suspended from the ceiling, swaying gently in the draft from the AC vents, with no explanation at all.

The original opening of Strokes had been a relatively public affair, open to all. The expansion, opening the store downstairs, was more private. Considering the space available, it had to be - the store was considerably smaller than the cafe upstairs, and there were stricter age restrictions on access. An invitation had gone out to all members of the club, and Beth had also left the details with Danielle in case she was generous enough to invite any of her customers.

The cafe upstairs was still open, of course, and Beth had left Dotty in charge up there after a frenzy of baking to ensure that they'd have enough to feed everyone. Downstairs, Beth held sway.

Counters along the center of the room had glass tops to display various sex toys, and the shelves below held neatly stacked boxes of the same toys displayed above. Should anyone want a closer look - or feel - Beth had prudently kept two of each behind her counter for testing purposes, and a small curtained off area next to the counter for privacy while testing. On top of the counter was a display case holding jewellery and some of the more expensive collars and restraints.

Shelves against one wall held a small selection of books, cards, and novelties along with the more practical supplies - lubes, hygiene, condoms, dams, etc - and a small case on the opposite wall held the library selection, available for people to peruse at their leisure. Tacked on the door was a small poster politely detailing expected behaviour - D/s behavious was, of course, more than acceptable, but no public nudity and no actual sex was to be permitted, or she'd lose her license.

Candles lit the tables upstairs, low electrical lighting set the mood downstairs. Now all she needed was guests, and potential customers.

Saturday night, and the club was open to all members. None of the rooms were reserved, for that one night. Light food and drinks were laid out in the common room, the demo rooms were set up with small stage areas free for anyone's use, and the lounges were set aside, dim lights and blankets available for anyone who needed an escape.

Two of the larger rooms had been opened together to form a dance floor, and the garden was open to make the most of the light remaining as the long summer evening faded to darkness.

Took a while to wrangle a time Lin and Carl could both get a few days clear of Sal's, but it wasn't impossible. Tuesday night gig, end of shift, and they were clear until Friday night, which meant that Wednesday found Lin at the club, room reserved, waiting on Carl to join him.

Thursday night meant neither of them were on shift at the bar. Meant a chance to get out of the city. Lin loaded the truck up with beer, Jack, a couple blankets, a couple guitars, and Carl, and took them out into the land. Nearby canyon, country park, warden who regularly drank in Sal's and who Lin had delivered back a couple times after a few too many beers.

All of which gave them a quiet night to themselves overlooking the canyon, truck bed facing out, clear skies and bright stars above.

Lin cracked open a couple beers, offered one across, and leaned back against the cab, legs stretched out in front of him. "Good to get out for a while, huh?"

Juneteenth was still a couple days away, but the cafe had embraced the notion wholeheartedly. A barbecue was running among the tables out front, the closest thing they had to a garden, and pitchers of non-alcoholic fruit cocktails available at the counter as an alternative to coffee. Bowls of fruit salad sat alongside the sandwiches in the chiller cabinet.

Wednesday again, and another munch night. The cafe was increasingly quiet as layoffs took effect on household finances, and the board behind the counter was scattered with offers.

Quite why anyone would want to buy two coffees and get a third free, or whether it was a good idea for the majority of munch attendees, was anyone's guess.

Backdated a lot... after this.

They lay together for a long time, letting Beth drink water and cuddle and come back to herself slowly, and Sara gave everything she could to the aftercare to make up for both her early stumble with the corset and also the fact that Lin was on her mind. She couldn't help it. She didn't rush or skimp though, paying gentle attentions and not letting Beth go until she was sure Beth was okay, and with a promise from Beth to call if there was a problem.

After that Sara needed a few minutes of her own decompression time, not easing out of dom-space as smoothly as usual and having something of a stumble herself. She was angry at herself for messing up with Beth and embarrassed that she'd done it with Lin watching. So she took a couple of minutes to collect her own things together and tidy up while the whirling in her mind slowed somewhat.

Finally more settled she stepped out in the hall and walked into the observation room, smiling in genuine warmth when she saw Lin still waiting there for her. "Hi."

It had been a few days now since Lin had called to let him know he wasn't coming home. And Carl was worried sick. The call was the only thing remotely comforting about any of it. He spent whatever time he had either covering Lin's shift or writing music. And waiting for his phone to ring or the door to open.

He was settled on the couch when it finally did.

John was back in town.

John was also face down on the sofa in the lounge, out cold. He wasn't just drowzing, he was *snoring*.

Until he sensed someone looking at him, and woke himself up with a snort. He lifted his head and looked at them, bleary and apparently completely uncomprehending. "Huh?"

Best he could do.

A near constant stream of muttered curses was the soundtrack as Gale entered the club and they became louder when he dropped his helmet. Rather than pick it up, he kicked it hard enough to send it skittering across the floor.

Stupid motherfucking soccer moms driving fucking tanks without a shitting clue of anything over three inches past their glazed, vacant eyes and whatever twat's chattering away in their ear. Fucking cunt. Should've taken that bluetooth and shoved it up her...

Forcing a deep breath, he stifled the cursing rant and focused on the person at the bar, managing politely, "Would you mind grabbing one of the first aid kits?" In the meantime, he'd try to figure out how to get out of his jacket without the use of a knife.

Wednesday. Munch night at the cafe. Coffee, cakes, and kinksters gathered together.

It took a few days for Carl to work up the nerve to actually talk to Lin about the things he'd talked with Beth about - or at least, try to without actually running the fuck away from all forms of conversation. The fact that it was still pretty hard to catch Lin alone when neither of them were dead on their feet just helped him there.

But it was Sunday and there really was no excuse for putting it off any longer.

Carl grabbed himself a beer and settled next to Lin comfortably. "How're you healin'?"

Mardi Gras might have been the day before, but the cafe had declared Shrove Week rather than Shrove Tuesday. A rather harried looking member of staff had been declared official pancake tosser, and pancakes were being sold with a number of imaginative fillings.

When Sara showed up to pick him up her hair was already loose around her shoulders. Her clothing never changed too much, but she had picked out an outfit on the blacker end of the scale. Nothing specific was different, but something about the combination she'd chosen was less 'play with me' than ususal. She helped him carefully into her car and drove as smoothly as possible to the club, trying to make the trip as easy as possible for him.

Once there, she took him slowly to the back and into one of the viewing rooms where she'd already prepared a couch for him with a ton of pillows to support his body. The other side of the one-way mirror Beth was sitting in a dress and heels, waiting for Sara. She knew about Lin and his injuries, so they'd agreed Beth would wait in the room (with the 'in use' sign up) until Sara was ready to start.