Page 17 of Culture and Curiosities (Blue Ridge Charm #1)

Toman

Team Binkie members were fascinating.

No fears or worries about exploring another world.

Lots of fears and worries about not finding a caretaker.

They were very strong individuals, but I had to agree with the diner men that they were difficult to manage.

“Klynn never showed any hesitation about joining this expedition.” Truly, having more words was the second best feeling ever…

only second to finding my mate. “He was…insistent. At the time I assumed it was about what you would see as political growth or wanting praise, but now I’m wondering if his mate is here. ”

It was the only logical reason I could find for his contradictory behavior.

“Did you always know you were going to come through the portal, Daddy?” Wren was still feeling something close to drunk as I kept him filled with my love and emotions. He was completely relaxed and barely moving as his body molded itself to mine.

“Yes.” There had been no question in my mind since the first time I’d seen the open portal. “I knew I would be going and was not surprised at all when the plan was put into place.”

Motion.

“When the plan was put into motion.”

Wren giggled softly. “That made everything slosh around.”

His bathtub imagery was creative and gave a good indication of his headspace. “His mate may be here and if Klynn feels the distance that may be why he is…disagreeable.”

A pain in the butt as my mate called it.

Barely nodding against me, Wren sighed. “He’s not going to find his mate just sitting by the portal. What if he’s the costume guy or the woman who was wandering around the bookstore. I don’t know what she was either but she seemed nice.”

Yes, she had not been someone I would classify as human, but I was not of Earth, so I may have been wrong.

“The fates always look out for mates, my Wren.” Not wanting him to worry, I pushed more feelings back into the bond, filling him up again as he giggled at my accidental rhyming.

“Once there were mates who both took to the skies on opposite sides of our world and it took them years to find each other but they did.”

“Mates…mates always find each other.” His soft, relaxed tone was much better than his stressed one from earlier.

“I heard…I heard a story of one mate being pushed to keep ordering takeout every meal. Even when he didn’t want to eat it.

After six months…after six months his mate showed up delivering sushi.

Neither of them liked sushi but they found each other. ”

Bonds worked in mysterious ways.

“His mate will find him.” Easing back on the bond again, I slowly lowered what Wren was imagining as water in a bathtub as I stroked his back, giving him just enough to keep the water in his mind rocking. “Just as you found me. Mates of Earth are amazing.”

Discussions would need to be had to understand how the closing of the portal between our worlds had changed the magic on Earth, but there was nothing to be done about it now. What had seemed to be a continually open portal had proven to be more dangerous than we had thought.

“We’re…we’re fun too.” Wren was not tired enough to yawn, but I could feel something similar in him, an emotional tired that I needed to prevent going forward. “You’re…you’re going to like being mated. I’m going to make you happy.”

“You already do, my mate.” Swelling the water again, I slowly lowered it to mentally rock him with my emotions. “Right now, what would make me happy is playing and then exploring.”

He was relaxed enough that it felt like I could bring the toys up again. “I was able to research and plan using the computer you left for me.”

Klynn’s Daddy was going to need to punish him for lying when he finally found his mate.

“I’m glad…I’m glad it wasn’t hard to use.” Wren was still calm and unworried as his thoughts turned to the interesting adult toys in his small bag. “Figuring out…figuring out what to bring was hard.”

“Because part of your mind knew your trip would be long, my mate.” I had seen images of his wilderness adventures and I knew he could do what humans called packing light, but some part of him had understood he was leaving his home for a different kind of adventure.

“You needed your favorite toys and special things to make traveling to my world pleasant.”

Littles did not travel light…which might have been part of the problem for Klynn.

Had he left all his toys at home?

“It’s going to be fun.” Easing back the emotions made his ability to speak easier, but it did not seem to negatively affect his feelings. “I like going.”

“We are going to have a wonderful time exploring and then we will make decisions about our future.” Reinforcing our deal had happiness shining in our bond.

Wren had easily agreed to the slightly vague plan and his excitement was clear.

“I am enjoying your Earth and you will love all the different parts of my world.”

Ah.

“But to understand what we must bring for your happiness, my mate, you must show me all your toys.” Yes.

That logic would be appreciated by both the other Daddies and the diner men.

Quiet giggles even came through our bond.

“Computer research alone will not help me, my sweet boy. I need a cute squirrel or a naughty sub to do what is called hands-on research.”

Otherwise I would need to discuss borrowing Klynn’s reading device and he had already stated I could pry it out of his cold dead hands .

His Daddy needed to monitor his reading material as well.

More happy sounds radiated from my mate and he gave another wiggle that always indicated excitement of some sort.

“Readers are kind of scary sometimes. I like books but not that much.” Wren imagined a light bulb going off over his head, which I understood from a previous explanation. “Daddy? What is his hoard?”

Oh.

“I don’t think I ever asked.” That wasn’t private in the way some human topics were considered not for public, but it was not something we discussed. “It may be related to reading or books in some way, my mate. That is an issue I had not considered.”

It would explain the threats of violence, however.

“I’ll ask. He’ll just think I’m being a bit too human.” When I mentally wondered about Klynn’s response, he shrugged. “He can tell me he doesn’t want to talk about it or safeword, but he won’t be mean. Besides, it would help us make him happy if we understood the situation more.”

That was correct.

“Should this not be a Daddy problem?” I wasn’t always sure when to take control but protecting him from a grumpy little seemed like a Daddy situation.

Wren giggled.

“Nope. Can’t always save me from cranky people.” Sitting up, he shook his head as he smiled. “There are probably going to be a lot of people on the other side of the gate that won’t like me for a variety of reasons, and you can’t protect me from all of them.”

“I can try.” The sparkly dragon was very confident that human forms were crunchy and easily digested. “You are my mate.”

Kissing my cheek, he nodded. “But we can’t eat people.”

I wasn’t sure I agreed with that, so a distraction seemed to be in order. “Let’s see if a squirrel is dangerous enough to eat cranky people.”

Giggling, Wren sucked in a breath when I lifted him up and set him on the bed. “ Daddy .”

“ Squirrel .” That got more happy sounds from my mate and no more questions about my ability to protect him. “What should we play first?”

That was a question we could both approve of.

“I have cars and books and dolls.” Starting to climb off the bed, I trapped my mate getting more giggles from him. “They’re little. I have to show you.”

“I have to get you ready first.” Stripping off his shirt shifted his mindset immediately and he collapsed back onto the bed, trying to roll away from me. “Got you.”

“I’m a wiggly worm.” His side-to-side movements were adorable but I was faster.

And unwilling to figure out how to manage a worm.

“I have a squirrel not a silly monkey pretending to be a worm.” I still wasn’t sure why monkeys or geese were silly but they were. “You’ll get eaten.”

Pretending to chomp on his stomach got more laughter from my silly boy, but when I stopped, he went boneless and I won. I did not gloat, however, and changed his clothes quickly.

He was a wonderfully happy squirrel, running around the bed on all fours in what his brain described as a scurry. The word was odd and seemed more like a sound, but I trusted his knowledge of English as he made a variety of noises I didn’t think would actually come from a squirrel.

Somehow my disbelief seemed to delight him, however, and quickly shifted into what was probably called silliness.

“Moo.”

He made a variety of sounds including the bark that I already knew matched the small four-legged companion animals most humans seemed to bring into their homes.

“Oh no. I lost my squirrel and found a dog.” My acting needed work but my ability to be a silly Daddy was impressive. “Where is my sweet squirrel?”

Earth mates were interesting creatures.

“Woof.” Making the dog sound between periods of laughter, Wren was running on all fours around the room as fast as he could.

Yes, he would need to be leashed outside.

His enjoyment of the outside and physical activity in general meant he was in impressive shape, which meant fast and agile.

I was what Earth people called a desk jockey.

I gave my squirrel the mental image of being outside in his costume with the human leash called a harness wrapped around him.

It was unexpected.

Oops.

He crashed into the bed, laughter spilling out into the room and through our bond as he rolled onto his back. “ Daddy …”

“My squirrel has crashed.” Sitting down beside him, I pretended to be worried and started patting him down, not tickling but earning more laughter as I searched his body. “Where are you hurt?”

I was not as funny as his laughter indicated, but his youthful mindset made everything more enjoyable.

“Oh no. I got a booboo and need kisses.” His expression indicated innocent fun that had transitioned into naughty fun, which required a different form of playing. “I’m broked, Daddy.”

That was not the word that should be used, but I nodded and ignored the youthful expression. “You need kisses.”

Sprinkling them over his face and head, I kept my expression serious as I straightened. “Did that fix your booboo?”

That word was strange.

Another sound-like word that should not describe an injury.

“No. Try again.” Wren shrugged like there was nothing he could do about it. “Sorry, Daddy.”

“You can’t help it.” Imitating his shrug, I frowned again and kissed over his shoulders and down one arm. “We’ll find the booboos.”

No, that word was not getting any better.

It was either strange English or a word they had adopted and tortured, and I planned on making Wren share the information with me when his brain was less distracted with imaginary injuries, cake, and the contents of his small grown-up toy bag.

“Not there, Daddy.” He was thoroughly enjoying the game, making quiet laughing sounds as he wiggled for more kisses. “Keep trying. You’ll find it.”

“I’m not sure that image is an appropriate way to search a squirrel.” My flat-sounding response had him shaking with physical representations of his humor as he tried to continue the game. “It was naughty, my squirrel.”

“I…” He fought to get enough air as I frowned and shook my head. “I’m your boy, Daddy. I’m not a squirrel.”

“I don’t know.” Attempting the human expression of looking skeptical, I sighed. “How do I know you’re my boy?”

My mate had a devious but distractable mind. “Oh…I…”

Looking down at himself, he frowned. “Well, I’m kind of a squirrel but I like grown-up things too, so I can’t just be a squirrel.”

Interesting logic.

“What kinds of grown-up things?” Hoping I sounded casual and relaxed, I aimed to have a confused expression on my face that always had the diner men giving me random information.

It worked on mates, too.

“I know. Let me show you.” Scrambling onto all fours again, Wren nudged his head against my chest. “Follow that squirrel, Daddy.”

“You’re the squirrel, silly boy.” I pretended to be even more confused. “Or should that be silly squirrel? Silly goose?”

His laughter was back as he ran around the bed, but his mind was filling the bond with images that were not supposed to bring out those kinds of sounds.

“See? I have grown-up things. I’m not just a squirrel.” Sitting up, Wren dumped out the contents of his bag on the floor and smiled. “See?”

“Yes, you might be right.” I needed to keep him talking, however, so he could see I was not worried about his interesting collection. “But this one might be for a squirrel.”

Holding up the toy that was called a ball gag, I shrugged. “It keeps squirrels from using their human voices. It’s for squirrels.”

He laughed so hard he tipped over.

“No, Daddy.” Shaking his head as he flopped like a fish, he sighed like I was the silly one. “It’s to make subs be very quiet and so they have to stop talking.”

Ah, he could not do that on his own so he wanted help occasionally.

“I don’t know.” I reached for another toy called a plug. “This has to be for a squirrel. What would a sub do with this?”

My act of innocent confusion was hilarious to my mate, but instead of wiggling on the floor, he chose to wiggle on me.

When he was sitting on my lap, making sure his bottom was pressed against my cock to give me an erection, he smiled sweetly. “It goes in my bottom, Daddy. It’s…it’s a decoration for when we cuddle or you spank me.”

A decoration?

The men online had not seen it as a decoration.

He managed not to laugh out loud, but he was shaking and making a squeaky sound like he was barely holding himself back. After a few seconds, he got himself under control and tried again. “Do you want to see my decoration?”

The answer was clearly supposed to be yes, but before I could respond appropriately, we were both distracted.

“Wren?” My mate’s name coming through the walls had us both turning our heads and listening for Wren’s cousin. “I need candles or something romantic.”

Wren’s hunting instincts had been engaged.

Sitting up, my mate focused on his task without distraction and scrambled to stand. “Wren to the rescue.”

Hurrying around the room, he quickly dug through every bag he’d packed and several of the small ones filled with his new purchases.

My mate was prepared for any and all disasters, as well as the interesting situations the people of Earth always seemed to find themselves in. “I’ll be right back, Daddy. I’m gonna hurry and save Pierce and then we can play with my toys.”

He was so efficient, my mate was out the door before I could ask if squirrel play was appropriate around family members.

Another discussion on human social norms was going to be necessary.