Page 7 of BJ’s Lost Crayons (Found by Daddy #13)

BJ

I didn’t have a lot of little friends, and that was on me. Aside from hitting up a few munches when I first moved into town and checking out a couple of little-only events at Chained, I hadn’t played much outside of my own space. Little days gave me an opportunity to let go around others like me.

That was one of the many things I loved about the little-only events at Chained.

They were for members, sure, but they also opened them to people with day passes, making them accessible to people like me who couldn’t really afford to get a full membership.

A few activities were invite-only for people who’d been to a specific one in the past, and I didn’t even need a day pass for those.

They were doubly fun because everyone there had already met.

Derek was one of my only little friends here.

I’d met him at a munch at a local coffee shop my first month in the city.

I didn’t love the munch. It was fine, but if I wanted to hang out with people who had similar interests to me, I’d prefer doing so in a onesie or my pajamas and not while sipping coffee.

But meeting Derek there had made it worth it.

We didn’t play a ton, but I’d been to his place and he’d been to mine quite a few times to be little together.

We’d also been to a couple of craft days at Chained.

Mostly, though, when we got together, we just grabbed something to eat or caught a movie—or, on quite a few occasions, played Pokémon Go, his favorite pastime.

But tonight, we were going to do something different. Something I’d never done before. We were going to go to Chained for one of their fundraisers.

I wasn’t opposed to going to fundraisers.

I thought it was great the way they gave back to their community.

But fundraisers weren’t just about littles—heck, they weren’t even about littles and daddies.

They were filled with people who liked all sorts of different kinks.

There might be some who were as vanilla as the ice cream in my freezer, too. I didn’t know.

But one thing was for sure—there were going to be a lot of people at tonight’s event.

A lot of people in a space where everyone knew exactly why you came there—or at least they would know why I was there.

It wasn’t like I was going to wear my business suit, although I guess I could.

It wasn’t like I was planning on playing, although it wasn’t off the table. It just wasn’t my reason to attend.

The big draw was that this was an auction.

And when I looked at all of the items they posted online, unsurprisingly, most of them didn’t interest me.

There were multiple vacations or rental places, car detailings, a gift certificate for ballroom dancing, some very specific furniture for people who were into things that I wasn’t into—some of which I didn’t even understand how you would use them.

Not that it mattered. They weren’t for me.

And the people they were there for were going to be thrilled to bid on them.

There was a crib, and that interested me…if I had space, I might even consider bidding on them. But also—was it really worth it? What was the point in having a crib if you had no one to tuck you in at night?

But all of that aside, someone had hand made a display case.

It was carved out of wood but had elements of stained glass built into it.

It was absolutely stunning. Based on the dimensions, I had a feeling that I would be able to display my different collectibles related to my crayons—the specialty boxes, the random “perfect-looking” retired ones, and even the little kids’ meal toys from a couple of years back.

It was everything I didn’t know I needed, and I’d become a little too obsessed with it.

When Derek called, I knew instantly he wasn’t going to be able to come. He sounded absolutely dreadful.

“I’m so sorry,” he said between coughs. And not little I can fight them off coughs—these were the kind that I wondered if he should be i getting some sort of inhaler or breathing treatment for.

“Why don’t I come and take you to urgent care?” I’d feel triply awful if he backed out and I left him on his own, only to find out that he didn’t get the care he needed because I wanted a stupid display case.

“My sister’s already on her way.” More coughing, more hacking.

“How about you leave me on speaker until she gets there?”

“Yes, Daddy.” If we’d been on video chat, I was sure his tongue would be sticking out.

“Don’t even try it,” I laughed.

“You know what happens.” This time, I envisioned him rolling his eyes.

One time, we thought it would be a good idea that I would go to a playdate at his house and be the daddy.

And then, the next time, we’d do the same thing in reverse.

It did not work. Neither of us had it in us to be a daddy.

Both times, we just ended up being little together. And now, it was a running joke.

His sister, Martha, came by only minutes later, and before he told her I was on the phone, I heard her scolding him, letting him know how worried she was.

“Hey—make sure to let me know he’s okay,” I called out.

“He is. This is just him waiting too long to get a breathing treatment.”

And then she started chastising him, and I hung up. Let them have their family business without my listening ears. I often wondered if Derek and I got along because we both came from parent-less families. In his case, his sister became his mom figure and still kept that role all these years later.

Unlike me, who ended up alone.

For a few minutes, I contemplated staying home, hanging out with Stu. He was decent company, never even talked back. But then I decided to risk it. I was going to go to Chained. What was the worst that could happen?

Chained protected their guests, and if I asked for someone to walk me to the car, they would. Not that I’d ever felt the need, but again, this was a different crowd. It was nice to know the fail-safe was there.

And besides, I wasn’t going to be drinking.

I never drank at the club. I wanted to know everything that was going on.

And littles don’t drink. Mostly. I was sure some did, but when I was in that little space, I didn’t need to be confused by how much alcohol I’d drunk.

I saved my drinking for my big times. Being sober had an element of safety to it.

The only things I had to worry about was whether the display case was as beautiful in person as it was online—and if it was, if I could afford it.

Moving took a lot more out of my savings than I had planned. A lot more.

Please don’t let this landlord sell too. I don’t think I can afford it twice.

Before I could change my mind, I grabbed my backpack with my change of clothes and headed to Chained. If all went well, I’d be coming home with a beautiful display case. And if they went amazingly, I might even get to play with a hot daddy.

The image of Glenn flickered through my mind. I knew better than to have crushes on straight daddies. But knowing better and being able to turn it off didn’t always go together. Oh well. It wasn’t like he was going to be there, anyway.