Page 4

Merritt

Nosy. Nosy. Nosy.

Hmm.

Nosy magey looked…confused?

Had to be nice to the other confused Daddies.

Sooo many new Daddies and Doms and somethings that all kept frowning at the naughty behavior.

He wasn’t giggling, so he wasn’t little or one of the pony subs or anything like that.

“My little helper, will you pop your bubble so we can help this gentleman? He seems…new.” Daddy didn’t want to say confused but the man was confused.

“Okay, Daddy, but you talk.” I’d talk to the men at the diner or the bakery or the post office or with the lady who sold books or the crystal people…oh, the man. Had to pop the bubble.

Poke.

“Did it, Daddy.” I was so helpful and bubbles were so much fun to pop. Gum bubbles. Soapy bubbles. Magic bubbles.

“Hello.” Daddy stuck out his hand and was pretending I hadn’t popped the magic bubble but everyone seemed to know about magic, so I wasn’t worried. “Pierce. We’re not from around here and it looks like neither are you.”

The man nodded and tried to look relaxed but he seemed glad we weren’t local.

That made Daddy like him better and he stopped being frustrated that the nosy man had come up to talk to us. “It is very nice to meet you.”

Looking at Daddy’s hand, the tall man stretched out his arm like he was one of my no-touching friends. Daddy seemed to know there were no-touching friends too because he went very still but the new man carefully shook his hand before stepping back.

He was a Daddy who was very proud of himself, but he stood straighter and tried not to show that. “I’m not local either but I am here to help facilitate fixing the…issues that have recently occurred.”

A helper Daddy.

That was nice.

“I’m from Texas and here about the issues as well.” Daddy shook his head and looked around the area, frowning again. “I’m concerned at the lack of supervision of it, but that’s something we can easily remedy.”

The new man went very still before nodding slowly. “I was surprised by the lack of attention as well.”

Bad surprised, right?

“We were talking about hiring someone to monitor it full time. Is that something you think your community would support?” Daddy gestured toward me but he didn’t make me talk. He just kept going. “We’ll have to divide out the finances that will be needed. It wouldn’t be fair to make them support that here, and I think it will give everyone more standing to question what’s going on.”

Daddy managed not to roll his eyes but it was hard. They liked going round and round. It made Daddy happy to show everyone how frustrated he was too.

The man was trying not to smile but it was hard. “They like questions but not about topics that would be pertinent to the situation. They’re more…curious.”

Daddy sighed.

The man liked that and actually chuckled.

“They’re insane and incredibly nosy. From what Merritt’s told me, they’ve been trained to respond to safewords.” Daddy waved his hand toward me and smiled before shaking his head. As I giggled, the man frowned and cocked his head.

Oh, he was a very new Daddy.

My Daddy paused for a moment and then sounded a tiny bit nicer. “Words that will stop a situation or conversation that aren’t the word no. Sometimes people need extra clarity that you really mean for them to stop. So in this case, just tell them red to stop the conversation and yellow to get them to change the topic or back off.”

“Fascinating.” The man nodded and got a thinky face. “I will remember that and it does explain a few curious instructions I was given.”

He needed another second to think, so I was good and let him be thinky. But Daddy didn’t need to think, so I reached out my legs and trapped his, wiggling it to get attention. I liked attention and I knew Daddy was going to be the best attentioner.

Daddy was so funny. He looked over at me and his mouth twitched but he kept his straight face and pretended to ignore me.

So I had to keep doing it.

That was just how it worked.

Wiggle. Wiggle. Wiggle.

As I tried to decide what he’d do if I took off my shoe and wiggled my toes on him, the man stopped thinking about safewords and got curious again.

He looked under the table.

Oops.

Daddy cocked his head and focused on the man, who didn’t look mad or like he was going to say naughty words but was very curious.

The man wasn’t local but he was diner curious.

I stopped being silly, and the man frowned as he straightened. “I apologize if this is an inappropriate topic of conversation. I am from a very small town and social norms are hard to understand here.”

He knew just how to make Daddy like him.

Daddy scoffed and almost smiled. “You’re not kidding. Not much internet access, huh? I know some areas are still much further behind than the average American on either coast seems to understand. Let me know if you need information on satellite internet. We had to install that out at the ranch.”

Oh, horsies?

Cows?

Daddy was a cowboy?

The man was still confused and maybe embarrassed too, but he nodded. “Yes. It’s prevented me from educating myself on…on topics that are considered appropriate here.”

I giggled.

Oops.

Daddy chuckled. “I don’t know how much you’ve traveled, but I promise the locals are not a good example of reasonable or appropriate. But in this case, please ask your question and I will let you know if it’s too personal for me to answer.”

What would Daddy find personal?

I liked learning new things about Daddy.

He had a name and a ranch and a job and patience when people didn’t make him crazy.

“Thank you for your understanding.” The man talked like his mother always made him use big words to talk to her. “I have noticed a significant number of relationships that I think are unconventional.”

No giggles.

No giggles.

The men at the diner got him too.

Daddy managed to be good and didn’t roll his eyes or anything. “Yes, you’re seeing a lot of nontraditional relationships around town. I don’t know why but people around here are more open than other areas. It’s probably the number of dragons. We don’t always make…well, let’s say we don’t always think before we act.”

The man chuckled, nodding and smiling at Daddy and me. “I’ve seen that as well.”

Dragons were just dragons everywhere.

“But as far as Merritt and I go, we’re just getting to know one another because he’s my mate and I met him about ten minutes ago.” Daddy thought that was funny but the man smiled so big I thought his mouth would just keep going. “So we’re still figuring out our relationship, but I’m what’s called a caretaker Dom and in most cases I’d be called a Daddy. The title is about caretaking and not about pretending we’re related.”

“Caretaking.” The man looked at Daddy and then me and then back to Daddy and then back to me. Then he nodded. “The caretaking role in a relationship can be met with other labels? I was asked about wanting a pony earlier in the week?”

“The men at the diner have no common sense.” Eventually, Daddy was going to tell them they were naughty. “Use the safewords on them and they’ll leave you alone. You can always ignore them. If you’re curious, though, I would suggest finding information online. They’re…they’re confused sometimes.”

Looking relieved, the man seemed glad it was the men being confusing and not him. “Thank you for explaining that. Our conversation was…difficult to follow.”

“I can imagine.” Daddy was back to his frowny face and was thinking about fussing at the men. “But find us again if you have questions. We’ll be here for at least the next week while we’re meeting about the portal.”

Oh, Daddy frowned again but he looked at me that time. “I just realized we have a lot more to discuss.”

Lots and lots.

Nodding, I decided to stop pretending to be big since the man didn’t seem to mind and he’d already guessed we were fun and not boring. “Lots and lots, Daddy. But can we play first?”

That was more fun and I liked fun.

“That sounds like a very good plan.” Daddy smiled at me then looked back up at the man. “Let us know if you have questions, but aside from the men in the diner, most of the town is very friendly and has a lot more common sense.”

Maybe a little bit.

The man didn’t look like he believed that and it made Daddy chuckle. “The human at the sheriff’s department is married to one of the local dragons and has an abundance of common sense. The dragon who’s married to the librarian as well. Oh, and the local mechanic is mated to a little dragon that’s truly insane, but the mechanic is reasonable and so is their other mate. I only met him once, though.”

Daddy knew almost as much as me.

“Thank you for the advice.” The man waved, stepping back before walking away.

After a few seconds, Daddy frowned. “Did he say where he was from?”

“No.” He was confusing. “Do you know his name, Daddy?”

“No.” He frowned as he watched the man turn and walk down the side of the building. “I thought you might have met him before? Do you think he’s foreign? I assumed he meant he was from the Midwest but now I think he might be Canadian? Or somewhere else? His accent is so neutral it was hard to pin down.”

“He sounds like the men on the news.” Sitting straighter, I looked serious at Daddy. “ In today’s news, we have aliens descending and new chaos in Congress .”

Daddy snorted and laughed like he thought I was so funny he couldn’t breathe.

Ha.

I made Daddy laugh.

When he caught his breath, he sighed and leaned against the table, smiling at me. “You’re right. He sounded like a broadcaster and you’re very funny.”

Giggling, I nodded. “I made you laugh, Daddy.”

“You did.” Daddy reached over and squeezed my hand. “You’re going to make me laugh a lot.”

Yay.

Daddy needed more laughs and smiles and giggles.

“And to start all that laughter, we’re going to go play.” Daddy looked around and pretended to frown. “Before someone else wants to come say hi. They’re starting to circle.”

Like the big birds that ate stuff and were scary…but the scary birds here were dragons and they were nosy.

“I have toys, Daddy.” I brought all my toys because I just knew I had to. “We can go play with my toys.”

Daddy gave me a big smile that made some of the nosy dragons smile too. “Toys and playing and privacy.”

Before I could tell him how smart he was, he gave me his Daddy glare that made me want to giggle. “Then we’re going to put real food in your tummy.”

What kind of food?

“Like a sandwich? I have sandwich stuff.” I liked sandwiches. “Or date food?”

I made Daddy laugh by trying to be sneaky. “Well, if you want a sandwich, I won’t say no, but how does date food sound?”

“Fun.” I liked nuggets too and I didn’t have those. “But playtime first.”

That was good fun too.

“That’s right.” Daddy’s happy smile turned into a pleased mate smile. “I’m looking forward to both.”

Because he was a good Daddy and my mate…and having both in one person was so exciting.