Sage Monroe (turnitup) wrote in shadows_rpg, @ 2021-09-29 21:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | #june 2018, jacob, jacob x sage, sage |
Who: Sage and Jacob
Where: Jacob & Connor's place
When: Late-morning, Tuesday, June 19
Status: Complete, Part 2
"When I first got into it I didn't really give a shit," Jacob admitted, watching Sage handle the rope with a faint smile. "I just... I guess I just wanted someone to fuck me up." He huffed softly, knowing full well how crazy that was. "Then I got to know Erin and learned all about good and bad BDSM etiquette. Which really bored me at first but then you think about it and it's like... Yeah, I'd like my dom to have safety scissors handy in case something goes wrong!"
It did sound crazy, yet Sage knew exactly what Jacob meant. He’d been there himself, not with the ropes, but in a relationship that he eventually realized wasn’t right for him. It was why he’d initially worried so much about Jacob, because letting someone fuck you up could be a dangerous thing, one that wasn’t always healthy. Yet Jacob seemed to have gotten it right. “I don’t usually like rules, but I can see how they would be a good thing. Especially if they keep you safe. Safety scissors, they’re like, the ones that aren’t sharp on the end?”
"Yeah," Jacob replied. "Strong enough to cut through most ropes but doesn't cut you. Now I'm all about that and safewords and shit." He'd never used his safeword but it was there like a safety net in case something went wrong. Jacob glanced at Sage's phone and just barely resisted the urge to ask what he'd written. Sage was probably anxious enough about it without prompting. "I think a lot of people get hurt doing BDSM because they don't know what they're doing, like safe ways to tie people up and stuff. I don't even know half of it, I just know it's possible to tie someone up and give them permanent damage."
“You could probably… wrench your shoulder out. Or break a rib. If you thought you were being creative and did it wrong,” Sage said. Experimenting was fun, but he wouldn’t want someone inexperienced tying him up. He could easily see himself fighting it and somehow hurting himself. “How do you know… “ He started, then stopped, running the rope through his fingers. “How do you know if you’d like it? I mean, I wouldn’t want to get all tied up and then freak out.” Just because Jacob had safety scissors didn’t mean he wanted to use them and ruin his rope. He could understand why it would be helpful to go with his friend Erin now, where the situation was different, the energy less charged and distracting.
"You never got tied up as a kid?" Jacob asked with a knowing grin. "I always knew I liked it, I got this really nice fuzzy warm feeling in my stomach when we'd play villain captures hero kinda shit." He tittered, the memory seeming so juvenile now but the feeling remained the same, only more intense and more sexual. "Just don't get handcuffed in an isolated cabin somewhere like in Gerald's Game," he added with a little wince. "God that freaked me out." As an afterthought he glanced at Sage again and cocked a brow. "Wait, why? You think you might like it?"
“I had two older brothers. There was no way in hell I was going to let them tie me up,” Sage said, feeling like that would have been a different, possibly traumatizing, experience. They’d been a rowdy crew, the sort who might decide to jump him on their bikes while he was tied up, not lead him around like a damsel in distress. And he didn’t have to read Gerald’s Game to know he’d never want to be handcuffed for fun. The question made his skin flush and he looked away, embarrassed to have such a physical reaction. “I dunno. Maybe. It’s not something you can just ask someone to do.”
"Yeah it is," Jacob replied with an amused little laugh and pulled the ropes out of Sage's hands. "Erin tied me up all the time, just for practice and because she knew I liked it. That's what workshops are for, and classes." He gave the rope some slack and tossed it over Sage's head so it dropped behind him, then pulled it around his arms playfully, not restricting him so much as giving him a little ropey hug. "I don't think you'd like it," he mused. "You'd probably feel trapped."
“Okay, well, I don’t have any other friends who are into bondage,” Sage pointed out. “My bandmates would probably tie me up for shits and giggles, but I’d never hear the end of it.” His eyes widened slightly as Jacob looped the rope around him, then smiled as he looked down at it, worrying his lip as he did so. “You’re probably right, but… I dunno,” he shrugged, his thoughts somewhat conflicted on the matter. He knew what his mind said, that his immediate response would be to find a way to break out, but his body said something different. His heart sped up, but it wasn’t fear. Sage was familiar with fear. Was it excitement? Anticipation? Curiosity for sure. “Is that what I’m supposed to feel?”
"You're not supposed to feel anything," Jacob said with an amicable roll of his eyes and slipped the rope away from Sage again, idly rolling it up around his own hand. "Either you like it or you don't, maybe you like feeling trapped, or maybe it makes you feel safe - like a hug." He shrugged and looked Sage over before holding his hand out, palm up. "Give me your hand." There was no need to tie him up in intricate and scary ways, a lot of people enjoyed even having one hand bound, feeling that tightness against their skin.
Sage’s brows drew together as he held his hand out to Jacob, trying to reason out something in his head that he doubted was completely logical. He didn’t like feeling trapped, but he associated that with real life experiences, like being stuck in a run down house for six months, hiding from monsters. This wasn’t there, the fear wasn’t constant, and Jacob was someone he trusted, but once his mind began to travel it was hard to stop it. He was quiet for a moment as he let Jacob work, then spoke softly, his eyes far away. “Hiding made me feel safe. Over there. Like, between a couch and the wall. Or under a bed. In a closet. It’s weird sleeping in a bed now. It feels… too exposed, you know?”
Jacob furrowed his brows and glanced up at Sage's face with a sympathetic smile. "That makes sense to me," he said quietly. He didn't know much about where Sage had been, but he knew it had been traumatizing and he sometimes needed that closed space feeling himself. "This is more like a bracelet than bondage," he said as he looped another round of rope around Sage's arm, the knots now trailing up his forearm a few inches from his wrist. "But I like the way it feels." He wasn't often the one doing the tying up so he was pretty happy he remembered those basic knots.
It reminded Sage a little bit of one of the leather bands he had, that wrapped around his wrist and tied off, except this was far more more elegant in his opinion. And functional. There was an inherit strength to it, being actual rope, and watching Jacob knot it all together was kind of soothing in itself. “It’s kinda nice,” he said softly. It was just rope, but it felt a little like armor, or something that might protect him, which didn’t make a lot of sense, but he was beyond trying to understand how his mind worked. His lips ticked up as a thought occurred to him. “I used to associate learning knots with boy scouts. Or sailors.”
"You'd be amazed at how many people in the scene used to be scouts," Jacob said with an amused grin. "I kinda wished I had been, then I'd already know a lot of knots and survival stuff. If I'd known it tied into kink I'd have been more interested, I'm sure." He tightened the rope a little, just to see Sage's reaction to the kind that would leave marks, not tying it off just yet. "Still feel kinda nice?" he asked and it wasn't like this was restricting, he wasn't tying Sage to anything or tying his hands together, it was just a taste.
“You would’ve made a cute little boy scout,” Sage said, though he was picturing Jacob in his late teens, not earlier. Or even now, just with the khaki shirt and green shorts. “You could get badges for all kinds of fun kinks.” And the survival bit would’ve been a nice add on. Sage kind of wished he’d had some of that himself, instead of learning it the hard way, but had a hard time imagining himself in a uniform of any sort. His eyes widened just slightly when Jacob tightened rope, and he gave a little nod, swallowing before he spoke. “Yeah… that’s nice.” It reminded him of being held tight, like big hands around his wrists and forearm. It was a turn on in the right situation, but right now it was kind of calming, like a weighted blanket.
"It leaves pretty marks," Jacob said with a fond smile and he liked the way Sage's voice sounded, kind of awed, kind of quiet. He couldn't sense what he was feeling but he could imagine it and if it was anything like how Jacob felt about ropes, it was something very nice. "The knots I'm using are really easy to undo, they come off fast so if you don't like it anymore just say so and I'll get these off in a second." He tied the knot, keeping the rope taut since Sage seemed to like it. "I don't think I could do this with a whole body, so many areas that you can't use rope on and I haven't learned all that yet. But I know your forearm is safe."
Sage really appreciated the fact that Jacob wasn’t pressing him for more because he wasn’t sure he could have explained it. He liked the way it made him feel, and the idea of little marks on his skin was appealing on its own. He knew they wouldn’t stay, but he had a thing about little remembrances left behind, even just for five minutes. He’d always been one to poke a bruise or pick at a scab, to create a scar, or just draw one on himself. He liked the feel of it, the memory it evoked, like a temporary tattoo. “I’ll let you know,” he said with a little smile, kind of pleased that Jacob was willing to let it remain on for a moment. He made a fist, watching his skin strain against the bond. “A whole body would probably be too much. I dunno. It’s a fine line, isn’t it?”
"A whole body is awesome," Jacob murmured with a cheeky smile. "But I haven't tried much of it. I'd love to try suspension, it seems really cool." Hot more like it, especially if sex was involved, but he was sure his smile said as much. "I just wouldn't want to be doing the tying. Way too much responsibility - and less fun, for me at least." Though at this point he wasn't so sure. He did enjoy watching bondage scenes and there was something beautiful in the way Sage's arm flexed under the rope - in the kind of way that made him want to draw it.
“I feel like you’d have to really know what you’re doing before you hang someone from the ceiling,” Sage said, glancing up as he tried to figure out the logistics. You couldn’t hang someone up just anywhere. But the sensation it would create, where you had only the ropes to support you, seemed fascinating. “Maybe you can try a hammock,” he teased. “Not the same, I know. But less tying.” Though that was the point, being tied up. It made his brain spin, trying to make it work. “Maybe you could be tied up on a hammock. Which I guess is a swing.” He was rambling, aware he was way out of his league now, and hoped he didn’t sound like an uneducated idiot.
"Swings are probably fun," Jacob replied and he wasn't thinking about the playground kind either. "I'd love one of those." Just thinking about it gave him a pleasant flutter in his stomach and he bit his lip and tried to focus on the rope. "My mind is way darker than Connor's, I think. I go dark places in my head, not really something I want to have really happen to me but... Sometimes the line is really faint and easy to cross."
“It’s really cool that you’ve got someone that allows you to enjoy even half of ‘em,” Sage said. “I’ve never known how to even broach a subject like that, especially the darker ones.” It felt like a selfish indulgence, something he couldn’t ask of another person, not without absolute trust, and even then he worried about sounding like some kind of sexual deviant. And he’d never really tried any of it. His sex life had never been bad, but it hadn’t been all that great either, and Jacob would probably consider it downright boring. The only reason Sage knew about some of his interests was due to porn, which wasn’t a good gauge of what was possible in real life.
Jacob felt like it was far more than half, without crossing that line he sometimes wanted to cross against his better knowledge. He gave Sage a somewhat curious look. "How come I don't know what dark stuff you're into?" he asked, feigning mild insult. "If you can tell anyone, it's me." He always assumed everyone around him was vanilla unless they told him otherwise, but then even 'vanilla' people had some dark fantasies sometimes. The difference was in the way they dealt with them and whether they ever made it out of their heads.
“I’ve never told anyone, so don’t take it personally,” Sage said with a quiet laugh before falling silent for a moment. He looked down at his arm, opening and closing his hand to watch his skin strain against the rope. When Jacob had said it could make him feel safe, he hadn’t understood, but now that he’d had a taste of it, he thought he might. “You ever…” he started, then stopped, pinching at his lip as he tried to collect his thoughts and summon the courage to proceed. Jacob was right—if he could tell anyone, it was probably him. If he balked, then at least Sage knew not to voice such thoughts ever again. “You ever want someone to—to take advantage of you? Not, like, for real, but, like, hold you down and—I dunno,” he said, not sure he could continue on even though he did know. He could tell his face was hot, his ears and his neck as well, and there was a knot of nerves in his stomach that reminded him of fear, making him want to run.
"Yeah," Jacob replied without making a fuss about it. He was surprised and yet not, it was such a common fantasy, that helplessness while still knowing it was safe. "We have a safeword for a reason," he added and that should tell Sage something about what he was into but leaving things vague wasn't always practical. "I like saying 'no' and 'wait', I don't know why, it just - guess I'm just messed up and those things get me going." He hesitated, narrowing his eyes as he stared at the knots. "I shouldn't be turned on by it, it almost happened to me once. Like not... I was drugged at a club, the bartender knew me and Erin so he called her to pick me up and she took me to the hospital. I don't remember any of it. I still don't know if someone was going to actually hurt me or if drugging people at a club was a power trip. People do that, apparently. It's so messed up. So yeah, it should disgust me but... Afterwards, now that I'm safe to do so, it kinda..." He shrugged and let out an awkward little laugh. "Yeah. So I guess I'm a mess."
It was reassuring to Sage that it wasn’t just him who had these kinds of fantasies, even though he’d always known that on some level. There’d always been anonymous people on the internet, but Jacob was a real, semi-normal person, and that was far more comforting than knowing that there were other weirdos somewhere out there in the abyss. Sage held his breath as Jacob relayed his close call with actual non-con and only breathed a sigh of relief when Jacob finished. “Shit, Jacob. That’s fuckin’ terrifying,” he said, letting that sit for a second before he continued softly. “I get it though. The appeal. Which I know is fucked up because if it really happened, I’d be a mess.” He gave Jacob a little smile and poked him in the knee. “We’re both a mess. Like, all I could think about last night was how much I would’ve liked it if Marsh had actually punished me. I even threatened to break in and steal some more shit.”
Jacob let out a little titter at that and nodded knowingly. "Been there, done that," he murmured and a faint blush colored his cheeks at the admission. He tugged gently on Sage's rope, lifting his arm with the ends of it to let him feel the pressure. "A lot of people fantasize about it, I thought I was a freak for years and then I found out it's really common, go figure. If you actually want to do it, it's harder, finding someone who's into it and not creepy and not taken and not a jerk... I mean, dating is hard enough already but having something very specific in mind makes it even harder."
The color in Jacob’s cheeks made Sage smile softly, glad he wasn’t the only one effected by admitting such things, even if he wasn’t sure it was embarrassment. Then his eyes shut as Jacob tugged on the rope and he allowed himself to feel the way his body strained against it. He could see why Jacob liked it and thought he probably would too. “I don’t feel like I have to have it, but… I dunno. It’s kind of why I gave up on girls. I like ‘em, I’m attracted to ‘em, but the sex is kinda, I dunno, bland? And I’m pretty sure it’s my fault.” He’d been with girls who were plenty enthusiastic, but the chemistry wasn’t quite right. He had better luck with guys and he knew some of that was the dynamic—he topped with girls and he bottomed with boys. “It’s really nice to know I’m not a freak. Or, at least, if I am, there’s a lot of us.”
"There are some seriously awesome dominant girls out there," Jacob said with a little shrug. "If Erin wasn't gay and I wasn't gay-" he laughed and shrugged again, amused by how sometimes he toed the line of bisexuality - but not quite. "Probably rare though, but I know some. In Portland and online. Girls tend to be sadistic in a way I'm not into though, like they're better at inflicting pain somehow. Like a pinch instead of a smack? I don't know if it makes sense."
“For some reason my mental image of dominant girls is black latex with bitch boots and a whip,” Sage snickered. “Which is a hot mental image, but not really my thing. But I also realize that’s probably not accurate either.” It was so evident at times like these that he hadn’t been out in the world the way Jacob had. His exposure to anything out of the ordinary was limited to Point Pleasant’s weirdness, not anything fun or even slightly kinky. “I don’t know how to explain why some pain sounds fun while others just sound painful, but that kind of sums it up. There are very few places I’d enjoy being pinched.”
"Yeah that's kind of a big thing," Jacob admitted. "And not my kink either, obviously. It doesn't feel as mandatory now, people just do it if they enjoy it. It's not like you have to dress and act a certain way just because you're at a fetish party. I've seen a really hot dominant girl who was just wearing like... jeans and a t-shirt. All black, sure, but no leather or latex or stilettos. Those kinda girls always make me feel a tiny bit bi." He tittered and tried not to think about where Sage would like to be pinched.
“I’m sure they would happily experiment on you if you wanted to find out,” Sage snickered, then smiled, his teeth digging into his bottom lip. “What happens at a fetish party?” It wasn’t something he’d normally ask, but Jacob had mentioned one and he was curious. He thought of movies he’d seen that featured something that might fit that bill, but there was no telling what real life was like. It was kind of wild to realize this was something Jacob would know, at least compared to the quiet, somewhat awkward kid he’d been in high school.
"Who says they haven't," Jacob retorted with a little wink. It wasn't entirely true, but he had let Erin tie him up and it had been incredibly pleasant, but he was pretty sure his attraction to girls didn't reach all the way to his sexual pleasure zones. "I haven't been to any real fetish parties," he admitted. "Like there are some crazy ones in big cities, I'm sure. I've only been to a small one. It was kinda nice, actually. Just some ropework, people chatting, someone getting hit in the corner." He laughed, knowing that sounded awful without context. "It was a no-sex party so it was pretty tame."
“And yet, it’s still more interesting than any of the parties I’ve ever been to. Even the ones with sex,” Sage said with a roll of his eyes. Not that he’d been the one having any, but there were a couple wild times that stood out over the years, more due to booze than anything kinky. Sage examined the ropes again, able to see how it was going to imprint in his skin, a pretty little pattern. “Has Connor ever hit you?” he asked, then immediately backtracked, “Or, I guess, have you ever wanted to be hit?” The first sounded like battery and that wasn’t what he was getting at. Even though he knew Jacob would understand, he felt like he needed to clarify.
"Yeah," Jacob said with a little smile. "Not really hard or anything, but sometimes I like being smacked around a little. He's really good at checking in with me, about how far I wanna go - without really making me talk about it. It's hard to explain. But we talk too, he's never crossed a line - even when I've wanted him to. Which yeah, I know is stupid but that's me, being stupid, he's never crossed a line. I think a lot of this stuff is more common than people admit, you know? At least ours is talked about and consentual, no stupid mindgames - only fun ones."
“He seems like a good fit for you,” Sage said with a little smile. “I know I was skeptical in the beginning. It seemed fast, but…you’re lucky to have found each other.” It was so hard to find just a normal boyfriend or girlfriend, let alone one that meshed so well with what you wanted out of a relationship. While Jacob and Connor’s sounded a little bit complicated, it worked for them and Jacob seemed happy. That was what mattered. “You’re not stupid, by the way. I like hearing that he hasn’t crossed a line, but… you know what I’m trying to say. Or I hope you do.”
"If I'm stupid then you're stupid because we both apparently have that darkness in us," Jacob agreed with a relenting nod. "So I'm not stupid. I'm just self destructive and I'm working on not being like that anymore." He lightly rubbed his fingers against the rope on Sage's arm. "I wish I'd known, when we were younger. I wish we'd talked back then. I'd have felt less crazy and alone. Portland pretty much saved what was left of my sanity, you know? Meeting people like me."
“Me too,” Sage said, smiling softly as little tingles sparked up his arm where Jacob rubbed the rope. “I didn’t know what I wanted back then. Fuck, I don’t know what I want now. I mean, I have thoughts… theories. Fantasies. I feel like they’ve gotten worse as I’ve gotten older, like… why can’t I be satisfied with what I’ve got?” He huffed and shook his head, the question meaningless when he didn’t actually have anyone at the moment. It wasn’t a question posed against Marsh, but just in general. “I would’ve given anything to get with Joce in high school,” he grinned. “I think I would’ve disappointed both of us.”
"I'm glad you didn't," Jacob said honestly because he wasn't so sure their little friends group would have survived it. The odds were in their favor of course, but sex could do weird things to people and absolutely trash whatever they had going before that. "You're not happy with what you got now because you don't have a lot now," he pointed out. "But maybe you'll get a hot date, some hot sex, a free meal-" he tittered and shrugged. "I hope things start looking good for you and whatever goes down, I'm here for you."
“Yeah, me too,” Sage said. He knew himself better now and was glad he hadn’t done anything stupid that would put their friendship at risk. He’d never said anything to Jocelyn, but he was sure she knew he’d had a crush on her, and that was sometimes bad enough. “Thanks,” he said with a small smile. “That’s the hope, at least. If he texts me back.” Because Jacob was right about him not having a lot at the moment and that extended way beyond his sex life. His lack of job had morphed into a lack of focus, even a lack of purpose, and it was messing with his head. He knew he needed to help himself, yet he couldn’t even figure out where to start. Getting a job made the most sense, but his motivation was shit. Maybe a date with Marsh would jump start his drive to get things back to where they needed to be.
"If he doesn't," Jacob started, a little bit of worry gnawing at him as he looked Sage over. "Don't let that stop you. You're gonna be okay, Sage. You've still got me and Joss, we'll be there for you no matter what." His fretting was interrupted by Sage's phone. "Nevermind then!" he tittered but he felt a fraction of that familiar anxiety he'd felt with Connor when they were first getting together, worried Marsh had changed his mind, that he'd be left to pick up the pieces as Sage got rejected and hurt. He leaned over to see when Sage opened it, unaware he was holding his breath.
You look good for a trainwreck ;) Marsh wrote back. Thursday, Dino's, 7?
Sage wished it was as simple as telling himself he was going to be okay, picking himself up, and making it happen. But he felt like, if it was that easy, he would have done it by now. Something felt wrong with him that went deeper than he knew how to explain and moving beyond that was fucking hard, no matter how much he wanted it. Jacob’s words still gave him hope though, and it jumped up another notch when his phone dinged. He bit his lip, grinning around it as he read Marsh’s reply, his excitement almost palpable. “I’ve got a date,” he laughed. “He must be crazy.” He shook his head, typing back a quick reply. I’ll be there 😘
"Maybe crazy is exactly what you need," Jacob tittered and he'd thought the same of Connor when they first started meeting - that he had to be insane for staying with him despite of all the issues Jacob had. "As long as it's a good kinda crazy and not secret-psychopath hiding behind a pretty smile." He tugged on the rope, sure it was leaving a nice pattern below though that wouldn't last very long. “You ready to get this off?" Maybe he'd take a picture for Sage to keep as a memento, he might never do this again after all.
“I’m not getting the secret psychopath vibe, but fingers crossed, just in case,” Sage smiled. He wouldn’t mind some of the good kind of crazy in his life. It was the bad kind that he’d had more than his fill of and wanted to avoid. He hummed when Jacob pulled on the rope, giving him a little nod. It was too bad he didn’t have anyone itching to tie him up because he could probably get into that if given the chance. “Yeah,” he said, holding his arm out for Jacob. “You ever wanna practice a little, give me a call. We’ll get you that badge in knot tying.”
"Does that mean you like it?" Jacob asked him without any sense of teasing. He knew better than to make a joke of something like that, glancing at Sage with a look he hoped conveyed understanding and positive things before he started undoing the knots. "I could use the practice. I mean, I could tie knots on my own arm for hours but that's just an arm, there are way cooler things you can do with the body." He was right too, the rope was leaving pretty marks on Sage's skin and as he untied more knots, he lightly stroked the indentations with a pleased smile.
“Yeah,” Sage answered with a small smile, a touch self-conscious about the admission, but not embarrassed. Not with Jacob, who owned the ropes specifically for that purpose. With all that he’d been struggling with as of late, it was nice to have someone he could relate to, who accepted and understood some of the thoughts and feelings he’d never been able to put words to. “An arm would eventually get boring. Maybe you can even teach me,” he snickered softly as Jacob ran his fingers over the marks the rope left behind. That was a cool feeling, almost as nice as being all tied up.
"I wish they had rope classes here," Jacob said. "It's really nice, like a real sense of community. I only really went there to be a subject but now I think I'd like learning more." It was hard to find events even in Portland and Point Pleasant was far too small a town to offer anything kink related. It was a damn shame, but Jacob thought maybe he could sweet talk Connor into taking him out of town sometime for the weekend for a little vacation. "I can teach you a little bit," he added with a smile. "But I don't know a whole lot. Just this, really."
“Yeah, well, I can tie my shoes and that’s about it, so you’ve got one up on me,” Sage smiled. “Maybe we’ll road trip one weekend, make an adventure of it. I’m sure there’s stuff online, but that doesn’t sound near as fun.” He didn’t have a clue where they would go to find bondage classes, but he suspected that Jacob did. The fact that he was thinking of things he wanted to do, and places he wanted to go, even if imagined, was something new, something better than before, and he didn’t want to let that thought go. It was like the date, something to look forward to, and it filled him with a hope that had been missing since his return.
Jacob didn't miss that little change and he felt a tug of hope too, blooming in his chest. Sage had been so sad for so long, it was nice to see him perk up a little and make plans. "Let's do that," he agreed with a grin. "I'll keep my eyes open for something fun going on." He almost thought about inviting Jocelyn but he highly doubted she'd be interested in this kind of thing and he didn't want to make things weird. "I can teach you the basic knot now, if you wanna tie up your date," he added cheekily as he loosened the rest of the rope and pulled it off Sage's arm, then fished his phone out of his pocket to take a picture of the marks.
Even if Jacob wasn’t serious about it, Sage liked the idea of future plans. He hadn’t had any in so long, his only objective being to survive the day, but that had all started to change in the last few days, his initial meeting with Marsh being the trigger. It felt a little like kismet, which made him nervous, but he tried to tell himself that not all fate resulted in torture. There had to be some good, some balance, if only he could survive long enough. “Sure,” Sage snickered. “Gotta find some way to keep him, right?” Tying March up wasn’t so much his thing, but now that the panic had died, this was a pleasant enough distraction, so why not?
"Safe, sane and consensual," Jacob droned and wagged a finger at him before texting the picture he'd just taken to Sage's phone. "You won't have to tie him down, you just give him that cute smile and bat those pretty lashes." He smirked at Sage and leaned back, pulling the rope closer to start bundling it up. "But seriously, just have fun." There was a part of him that was terrified this would all end up in tears because Sage had been through too much shit for more drama in his life, but he couldn't be pessimistic to Sage right now, just supportive.
“Yes, sir,” Sage snickered, giving Jacob a playful salute. “I think I can handle that.” It sounded so easy, but he’d never been great at dating even before he’d been loaded down with all the baggage he now carried. Sometimes he could ignore it, pretend like it wasn’t there, but he knew Marsh had questions that he’d promised to answer. Maybe he could avoid them, but he doubted it. This was going to be a date with someone who’d already seen some of his worst behavior and was still willing to take a chance on him. He owed it to Marsh to be honest with him if he really wanted it to go somewhere.