"Brad? Are you going to come out and help set up for the cookout?"
"Do I have to?" Brad asked poking his head out of the study. "I have to make it
through the final draft of this article for the journal before Wednesday and I
have way too much left to do. I promise to come out for dinner. But if I could
just work until then, I should have most of it revised today leaving two days
for checking all of my citations."
"Wow. This must be an important article. You are passing up a chance to make
fire, brat!" Toby teased while coming over to give his lover a kiss. "I'm fine
setting up this afternoon and getting the fire started. But, I will hold you to
that promise of dinner. I expect you outside in three hours ready and willing
to participate in the cookout." Toby said.
"I promise." Brad agreed, leaning in for another kiss. Toby could tell that
Brad's mind was already back on the intricacies of the federal statute he was
writing about and so Toby went ahead and set the alarm clock to remind his brat
about what time to leave the study.
Two hours later, Toby leaned into the house through the kitchen door and called
out a bit sheepishly. "Brad? Can you come here please?"
When no one answered, Toby called again a bit louder. "Brad?? I need you to
come here please."
Toby could hear the complaints drifting down the hall ahead of his lover. "Come
on, man, I've got a whole `nother hour before I have to go out and face them. I
was almost done with that section. I thought we had a …. What the hell happened
to you?" Brad exclaimed seeing Toby standing covered in charcoal dust almost
from head to foot.
"The charcoal bricks, the left over ash, and I had a bit of a row while trying
to start that damn fire!" Toby explained. "I can't get this thing started. I
know I promised to let you study, but PLEASE. Can you please tell me what I am
doing wrong in trying to start this fire?"
Brad started laughing at Toby's first words and had to finally sit down to get
himself back under control. "You are hopeless, you know that? You should have
emptied the old ash out of the grill bottom before starting the new fire and
then put the charcoal in the chimney starter. Give me a few minutes to save
this draft and I'll come clean it out and get it started for you."
"No, I can do this. Go back to work. Thanks for the tips. The chimney starter
is that round metal thingy, right?"
"You are not inspiring my confidence in your fire starting skills, sweetie,"
Brad said. "Yes, the 'round metal thingy' next to the grill pit is the chimney
starter. I can do it for you."
"I have this." Toby said, heading back out the door.
Brad shook his head, and went to start shutting down his work, knowing that he
would need to head back out to help in just a few minutes. "Toby may laugh at
my pyro tendencies, but when it's time to grill, he always appreciates it." Brad
thought to himself.
Less than ten minutes later, Brad heard his name screamed from the back yard and
he went running, knowing something had gone wrong. As he ran through the
kitchen to get to the back door, Brad could already smell smoke and fire, and so
he took an extra two seconds to grab the fire extinguisher they kept under the
sink.
Brad instantly noticed that there was a huge fire billowing out of the metal
trash can. Toby was about five steps away from the fire staring at it as if he
had no clue how it had started. The water hose was on and in his hand, but it
was clear to Brad that the shock of the fire had Toby forgetting to use the
hose.
Brad expertly used the extinguisher to put out the fire and turned to Toby.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm not even singed. I'm fine."
Brad rushed over and grabbed Toby in a tight hug. "Thank God. I saw that fire
and how close you were and was sure you were burned."
"I'm fine. I was an idiot but I'm fine. I was trying to dump the ashes into
the trash can to clean them out and didn't realize that they were a bit hot from
my attempting to start the fire before. They caught the newspapers in there on
fire."
As Brad's heart rate slowed back down to normal and knowing that no one and no
thing was hurt, he started seeing the humor in the situation.
Brad swatted Toby on the butt. "How many times have you lectured me on fire
safety, Mr. Top?" Brad demanded, trying valiantly to hide his smirk. "You must
develop a relationship with fire. Trust it. Know it. Understand it. Love it.
It's like playing on Friday nights. Safe. Sane. Consensual." Despite his best
efforts, Brad could not contain his laughter.
"Brat!" Toby dug his fingers into his lover's side and Brad instantly doubled
over in laughter at the tickling.
"Toby!!!! Where's your top card? I'm almost positive that there is a 1-800
number printed on the card that I am suppose to call to report such untop like
behavior. You may have to even turn it in!"
Toby slid his hands around Brad's body and grabbed and pinned his arms to his
side. No matter how much Brad wiggled and squirmed, Toby didn't budge. "You
are so right, my little pyro. I promise to self report to the Top Authority
Board, but that means that you have to be the top when the guys come for the
cookout." Toby teased with a perfectly straight face.
"Wait, I don't think I want to do THAT! I was happy to be in my room studying.
How did this turn into me hosting and socializing today?" Brad stopped his
struggling.
"I'm good that way." Toby said with a grin and one last dig of fingers into
Brad's ribs.
With Brad not fighting him, Toby relaxed his hold. Brad used the lightened hold
to slip out of Toby's grasp. Brad grabbed up the hose and turned it onto Toby.
"Pest." Toby shouted, as he tried to grab either the hose or his lover.
Brad dropped the hose and took off across the yard with Toby fast on his heels.
Brad felt himself lifted off his feet just as he crossed the threshold into the
house. Toby had just flipped Brad over to carry him off into the bedroom when
the front door bell rang.
"Saved by the bell, my brat." Toby said, swatting Brad on the backside. "I'm
gonna go change clothes and dry off. You, go answer the door and be nice to Mike
and the guys."
By the time Toby was dry and back outside, Brad had the charcoal bricks aflame
and everyone laughing at his retelling of the `fire incident'.
"Hey, no stories and no laughing at me!" Toby called out. "Or I will withhold
all beer."
Mike quickly held up his hands in surrender. "Promise, no laughing, as long as
you leave the fire to the pyro!"
Toby passed out beers to everyone, discretely nudging his lover in the butt as
he walked by, resigned to being teased.
Brad continued laughing and teasing Toby throughout the afternoon as they
grilled up the barbeque chicken on Brad's perfect fire.
As the day faded to night, Brad decided to start up a fire in their fire pit.
Feeling brave with multiple beers in him and friends spread out in the back
yard, Brad looked at Toby and in his best impression of a top voice said, "Toby,
please go stand on the other side of the patio while I start this fire. I don't
want you to hurt yourself."
Toby just grinned back at Brad, shooting him a look that Brad took to mean `wait
until everyone leaves, little boy, just wait.' Brad grinned back happy and
content as he watched the twigs and logs come to life with red orange flames.
Toby couldn't help loving how relaxed Brad was. Not worried about school or the
crowd in the yard or much of anything. While he wouldn't want to repeat the
fire, he was glad it helped Brad survive the party.
After making and eating s'mores, and enjoying each other's company for another
hour or so, Brad's and Toby's guests decided it was time to head home just as
the fire was starting to die down.
As he was walking out the front door, Mike called out to Toby, "Don't go
starting any more fires, Toby." The sentiment was teasingly passed on from the
others as they walked out also.
Toby took all the ribbing for the good natured fun joking that he and his
buddies always had with each other. As he waved goodbye, he dropped his arm
around Brad.
"I'm very proud of you tonight, Brad." Toby said with all the seriousness he
could muster. "You were amazing and wonderful tonight. You stayed and hung out
and built some amazing fires!" Brad started blushing and ducked his head at the
praise. "However, I am not going to listen to Mike. I do plan to start another
fire tonight."
As Toby grabbed for his lover, Brad slipped out from under his arm and headed to
the other side of the room, laughing like a loon.
Toby just grinned. He loved seeing Brad laughing, teasing, and joking, with the
stress of school and deadlines forgotten. To keep that laughter, Toby obliged
his lover by chasing him down the hall and back outside calling "Come back here
pyro-brat! We need to discuss how to respect your top in the presence of
company."
"NO way," Brad shrieked and lunged through the back door into the living room.
"I know exactly how to treat you! You were the one who set fire to the
backyard!"
"Brat! Come here this instant," Toby hollered, clearly having trouble carrying
off a stern top voice while laughing so hard. He thundered up the stairs, close
on Brad's heels, his fingers almost nabbing the back of Brad's t-shirt.
Looking back, Brad couldn't tell whether he slowed down or whether Toby had an
extra burst of energy, all Brad knew was that as he cleared the top of the
stairs, he was spun around and swept up and over Toby's shoulder into a
fireman's carry. With a swat or two to Brad's upturned backside, Toby carried
him into the bedroom.
As he reached the bed, Toby gave Brad one last swat, which was more noise than
sting, and slid him down his body without releasing him. Toby sat down on the
edge of the bed and man handled Brad over his knee.
With Brad putting up only a token protest, Toby began alternately swatting and
caressing his Brat's backside through his shorts. Once a nice heat had risen
under his hand, and something else had risen on Brad's other side, Toby slowed
his swats and stood Brad back up.
"I guess I can set a fire better than you thought, my little pyro. Let's get
these shorts off of you before they catch fire."
Toby slipped his hands into Brad's shorts and boxers and slip both down quickly
while following them down onto his knees in perfect position in front of his
lover. Without another word, Toby leaned forward and engulfed his lover.
It wasn't long before Brad's knees could no longer support him and Toby pulled
back with a Cheshire grin. Brad pushed Toby back onto the bed and joined him
keeping the fire burning between them.
Thanksgiving At Brad and Toby's
With exams a week away, Brad knew he wouldn't have been able to travel anywhere
for Thanksgiving meal. So Toby, in his infinite wisdom, had invited both of
their families to share the holiday with them at their home.
By nine that morning, with the Macy's Parade starting coverage in the background
and the turkey in the oven, Brad was already bouncing off the walls with nervous
energy. Brad's oldest brother was scheduled to arrive at 1:00 with his wife and
two kids. All of the rest of his family were arriving by 1:30 that afternoon.
Toby's family would also be there in time for the first joint Thanksgiving.
"Hey, Tigger, you have got to stop bouncing. How much coffee did you have
today?" Toby questioned.
"None. But we have to finish cleaning the house. And set the table. And
finish cooking. And I have to get a bit of studying in today. What if there's
not enough food. Maybe we should have made a green bean casserole and we should
…."
Toby gently grabbed his lover's hands and stilled his mouth with a sweet kiss.
"Breathe, Tigger. Breathe. It's going to be fine. The moms are both bringing
some sides. Your brothers are bringing bread, veggies and salad. Mine are
bringing deserts and wine. All we had to do was the turkey and it is in the
oven already."
Brad took a deep breath and leaned into the hug from Toby. "I still say we
should have deep fried the turkey when my brothers got here."
"No way in hell am I letting you and your brothers near that deep fryer. You
lot would throw the frozen turkey in just to see the `pretty fire'" Toby said
landing a swat on Brad's backside as he released him. "It's going to be fine
today, sweetheart. I promise."
"What if the parents don't get along? What if they hate each other? What if the
food doesn't work out or we don't have enough?"
"What if the world exploded?" Brad hated it when Toby used reason. "You need
to calm down. I'll finish up here; you need to go to our room, please."
"But Toby …" Brad whined while looking around at the kitchen and dining room.
"Now. The laptop is open and on. Go calm down and stop your hysteria."
"But Toby …" Brad's voice had a decidedly different tone as he looked at his
lover with a grin.
"Now, please. Would you prefer I come and help?"
"Toby, I am not a 19th century woman. But, yes, please." Brad said grinning.
Toby checked the oven one last time, took Brad's hand, and led him back to the
bedroom.
++++++++++++++
Half an hour later and decidedly calmer, Brad sat in the family room watching
the floats and leaning into Toby.
"I should go get some studying done before the hoards descend." Brad said with
a half-hearted effort to rise from the overstuffed coach.
Toby tightened his arms around his lover "First, we need to talk about today."
Toby pressed the mute button on the TV remote.
"We are about to be invaded by 16 people. I know you, Bradley. This is well
beyond what I expect you to deal well with, especially with exams coming next
week. However, you need to be here and present when your family arrives. And
you need to be here until the meal is over."
"I'm here and not going anywhere, Toby."
"No, here and present. Not in your head and disappearing into yourself like you
do sometimes when too many friends come over."
"The whole time?"
"Yes. I promise to get you through this if you promise to stay calm and try."
"I promise."
+++++++++++++
As it got closer to the D-day invasion, Brad was jumping at every sound or
noise.
When Toby walked up behind Brad and wrapped his arms around him, Brad jumped a
mile high. "Breathe"
"I am."
"Your brother and his family get here in 10 minutes. We can try the 19th
century method again, but they might get here early. It's up to you. Your
brother is very understanding and accepting, but that may be too much
information for even him." Brad laughed at Toby and could tell by the answering
grin that that had been Toby's intent.
"Thanks for the offer. Maybe between courses." Brad teased leaning back and
wiggling his hips as they heard a car in the gravel drive. "Here we go."
+++++++++++++++++++
As more and more family on both sides started to arrive, Brad tried his hardest
to be an attentive and generous host. Filling wine grasses, flitting around the
small groups of talking in-laws and never still for more than a minute or two.
More than once Toby passed by his lover as Brad was moving about and brushed his
hand over Brad's butt. Once, as they passed in the doorway leading from the
living room to the kitchen, Toby pushed Brad against the doorframe and kissed
him until Brad couldn't focus on anything but his lover.
As it was closing in on time for the big Thanksgiving meal, Brad could feel
Toby's eyes on him from across the room. Brad clearly needed a respite from the
masses. "Brad, we are short some chairs for the table. Could you please go get
the ones out of the back of the storage room upstairs?"
Brad's oldest brother, James, started to get up to help his little brother, but
Toby discretely grabbed his arm and pulled him back down onto the couch. "Brad
doesn't need any help, he can do this alone." Toby said, with a slight emphasis
on the word "alone"
James, knowing and loving his little brother, relaxed back into his seat and
smiled at Toby, recognizing the chair ploy for the break that Brad so
desperately needed.
The twenty minutes that it took to find, wipe down and bring out the chairs was
the perfect break in the hectic day. By the time Brad returned, he was calmer
and ready to face the meal.
+++++++++++++
Hours later, as both sets of family drove off after hugs, a few motherly tears
and discussions of plans for Christmas, Brad and Toby stood on their front porch
waving goodbye.
"Thanks, Toby. That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought." Brad said, as Toby led
him inside and locked the front door.
"You did an amazing job staying calm and with us today. I am so proud of you
sweetheart."
"You helped. You and your 19th century calming methods. No wonder women were
in hysterics all the time, if that is the prescription they get. "
"Where do you learn these things?"
"Well, that history major must have been worth something." Brad said, grinning.
"It was always hilarious to hear Professor Edwards talking so calmly about the
different methods of `stimulating' women and the invention of vibrators.
Edwards was like 80 when he taught 19th Century History."
"Well, no matter how you know it. It worked on you. I can help calm you again,
anytime you like."
"I think I am starting to feel anxious about Christmas. I think I may need some
help calming down again."
Grinning like the Cheshire Cat, Toby led Brad back toward their bedroom to help
ease the new onset `hysteria'.
for Thanksgiving meal. So Toby, in his infinite wisdom, had invited both of
their families to share the holiday with them at their home.
By nine that morning, with the Macy's Parade starting coverage in the background
and the turkey in the oven, Brad was already bouncing off the walls with nervous
energy. Brad's oldest brother was scheduled to arrive at 1:00 with his wife and
two kids. All of the rest of his family were arriving by 1:30 that afternoon.
Toby's family would also be there in time for the first joint Thanksgiving.
"Hey, Tigger, you have got to stop bouncing. How much coffee did you have
today?" Toby questioned.
"None. But we have to finish cleaning the house. And set the table. And
finish cooking. And I have to get a bit of studying in today. What if there's
not enough food. Maybe we should have made a green bean casserole and we should
…."
Toby gently grabbed his lover's hands and stilled his mouth with a sweet kiss.
"Breathe, Tigger. Breathe. It's going to be fine. The moms are both bringing
some sides. Your brothers are bringing bread, veggies and salad. Mine are
bringing deserts and wine. All we had to do was the turkey and it is in the
oven already."
Brad took a deep breath and leaned into the hug from Toby. "I still say we
should have deep fried the turkey when my brothers got here."
"No way in hell am I letting you and your brothers near that deep fryer. You
lot would throw the frozen turkey in just to see the `pretty fire'" Toby said
landing a swat on Brad's backside as he released him. "It's going to be fine
today, sweetheart. I promise."
"What if the parents don't get along? What if they hate each other? What if the
food doesn't work out or we don't have enough?"
"What if the world exploded?" Brad hated it when Toby used reason. "You need
to calm down. I'll finish up here; you need to go to our room, please."
"But Toby …" Brad whined while looking around at the kitchen and dining room.
"Now. The laptop is open and on. Go calm down and stop your hysteria."
"But Toby …" Brad's voice had a decidedly different tone as he looked at his
lover with a grin.
"Now, please. Would you prefer I come and help?"
"Toby, I am not a 19th century woman. But, yes, please." Brad said grinning.
Toby checked the oven one last time, took Brad's hand, and led him back to the
bedroom.
++++++++++++++
Half an hour later and decidedly calmer, Brad sat in the family room watching
the floats and leaning into Toby.
"I should go get some studying done before the hoards descend." Brad said with
a half-hearted effort to rise from the overstuffed coach.
Toby tightened his arms around his lover "First, we need to talk about today."
Toby pressed the mute button on the TV remote.
"We are about to be invaded by 16 people. I know you, Bradley. This is well
beyond what I expect you to deal well with, especially with exams coming next
week. However, you need to be here and present when your family arrives. And
you need to be here until the meal is over."
"I'm here and not going anywhere, Toby."
"No, here and present. Not in your head and disappearing into yourself like you
do sometimes when too many friends come over."
"The whole time?"
"Yes. I promise to get you through this if you promise to stay calm and try."
"I promise."
+++++++++++++
As it got closer to the D-day invasion, Brad was jumping at every sound or
noise.
When Toby walked up behind Brad and wrapped his arms around him, Brad jumped a
mile high. "Breathe"
"I am."
"Your brother and his family get here in 10 minutes. We can try the 19th
century method again, but they might get here early. It's up to you. Your
brother is very understanding and accepting, but that may be too much
information for even him." Brad laughed at Toby and could tell by the answering
grin that that had been Toby's intent.
"Thanks for the offer. Maybe between courses." Brad teased leaning back and
wiggling his hips as they heard a car in the gravel drive. "Here we go."
+++++++++++++++++++
As more and more family on both sides started to arrive, Brad tried his hardest
to be an attentive and generous host. Filling wine grasses, flitting around the
small groups of talking in-laws and never still for more than a minute or two.
More than once Toby passed by his lover as Brad was moving about and brushed his
hand over Brad's butt. Once, as they passed in the doorway leading from the
living room to the kitchen, Toby pushed Brad against the doorframe and kissed
him until Brad couldn't focus on anything but his lover.
As it was closing in on time for the big Thanksgiving meal, Brad could feel
Toby's eyes on him from across the room. Brad clearly needed a respite from the
masses. "Brad, we are short some chairs for the table. Could you please go get
the ones out of the back of the storage room upstairs?"
Brad's oldest brother, James, started to get up to help his little brother, but
Toby discretely grabbed his arm and pulled him back down onto the couch. "Brad
doesn't need any help, he can do this alone." Toby said, with a slight emphasis
on the word "alone"
James, knowing and loving his little brother, relaxed back into his seat and
smiled at Toby, recognizing the chair ploy for the break that Brad so
desperately needed.
The twenty minutes that it took to find, wipe down and bring out the chairs was
the perfect break in the hectic day. By the time Brad returned, he was calmer
and ready to face the meal.
+++++++++++++
Hours later, as both sets of family drove off after hugs, a few motherly tears
and discussions of plans for Christmas, Brad and Toby stood on their front porch
waving goodbye.
"Thanks, Toby. That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought." Brad said, as Toby led
him inside and locked the front door.
"You did an amazing job staying calm and with us today. I am so proud of you
sweetheart."
"You helped. You and your 19th century calming methods. No wonder women were
in hysterics all the time, if that is the prescription they get. "
"Where do you learn these things?"
"Well, that history major must have been worth something." Brad said, grinning.
"It was always hilarious to hear Professor Edwards talking so calmly about the
different methods of `stimulating' women and the invention of vibrators.
Edwards was like 80 when he taught 19th Century History."
"Well, no matter how you know it. It worked on you. I can help calm you again,
anytime you like."
"I think I am starting to feel anxious about Christmas. I think I may need some
help calming down again."
Grinning like the Cheshire Cat, Toby led Brad back toward their bedroom to help
ease the new onset `hysteria'.
Hard Surfaces
The cool linen curtains and the soft breeze did nothing to cool or soften Brad's
temperament as he sulked on the floor under the window in the study. However,
when he noticed Toby glance over at him Brad's sulk quickly turned to a defiant
one.
"Don't waste that look on me," Toby said as he turned back to his desk, ignoring
Brad's mood.
Brad growled frustratingly under his breath. This was not his first time sitting
under the window when nothing was his fault. Toby apparently loved this
"thinking spot" and said every time "You need to realize what you did wrong.
The method that works best for you is to sit under that window and think for as
long as it takes."
He hated when Toby sat him under this window and left him to think. Well, hate
was a strong word. Maybe he didn't hate it so much except when he was actually
going through it, like right now. Brad just knew that it was wrong to make a
grown man sit on the hard floor with his butt already sore and think. He was
sure that there was some federal law out there that made this punishment
illegal. This must be a violation of the 8th Amendment prohibition on cruel and
unusual punishment. Maybe when he was finally released he would do some research
and write a brief on the continuous and unreasonable violation of his rights.
He knew Toby wouldn't give in to his sulking and pouting or any other actions he
pulled, and he hated that too. Well, if he was honest with himself (which was
usually the problem), he didn't hate it. He loved the result of it. After these
window sitting sessions, Brad could breath in and out and that overwhelming
sense of guilt would be gone, but Toby, bastard that he was, would force Brad to
go through all of the motions, including sitting on the hard, unyielding ground,
on a freshly spanked bottom and think about exactly why he was in this mess.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Brad had gotten home from a trip to the store that morning and was ready to have
some fun time with his lover after a long hard week at the school and the
library. The first thing he noticed was the gate was open and that damn dog was
back in the garden. The gate needed to be oiled and would stick. The dog had,
over the past week, gotten into the garden three times because they thought the
door was shut when it really wasn't. And Brad had been promising to fix it for
over a week.
And then everything went downhill fast. At that moment, Toby walked out and
found his ruined garden. Brad would have sworn that Toby was laughing at the
damn dog's antics as he chomped his way through the carrots and carefully
avoided touching any of the squash (smart dog), but that couldn't have been
right. And then Toby had said the most damning words of the day. "So, what
happened? I thought you were going to fix the gate yesterday."
Brad opened his mouth to confess that he had worked late at the library and that
he just hadn't been able to get to it yet. In fact, he had gone that morning to
buy more supplies to fix it. But what came out of his mouth was "I did fix it.
Someone else must have left the gate open." Brad was horrified at himself for
saying that. It had been weeks since he had last blurted out a lie when there
was absolutely no reason to. He was getting better at just saying what went
wrong.
When Toby and Brad had first started dating, Brad would blurt out lies all the
time, for no apparent reason. From little social lies like "I feel fine" when he
had the headache from hell to "I tried to call but the phone was busy" when he
forgot about meeting up. Brad never lied about really big stuff, but only
"little white lies" that he grew up hearing from his parents to cover their
wandering habits. Brad grew up believing that these falsehoods weren't really
lies so much as protection for others from hard truths.
It wasn't until Toby that Brad started to realize not only was this a habit he
wasn't stopping on his own but that these lies did in fact hurt others. About a
year into dating, in a moment of insane maturity, he had discussed with Toby
that he hated that about himself and he wanted to stop doing it. When he
graduated from law school, he had a job lined up to work with the judge in town
and he knew he couldn't risk any job or career by careless stupid falsehoods.
Especially when the lies made no sense and had no reason. Toby had kissed him
and agreed to help. But that meant giving in to Toby's methods of helping which
usually resulted in a sore backside and a hard surface under the window, which
lead him back to his current predicament.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Toby," Brad growled out as he used his hands to lift his aching butt off the
hard wood floor. "This floor is hard and my butt aches. I've been here forever,
let me up."
"Yes, the floor is hard but it's a good place for you and you can continue to
sit right there until you're ready to be honest about this whole situation.
You've only been there for five minutes and judging by your tone, you need some
more time. Hands off the floor."
"This is just not fair. I don't know why you're mad at me." Brad mumbled as he
reluctantly picked his hands up and put them in his lap.
Toby turned completely around in his chair and stared down at Brad at his feet.
"Excuse me, young man?"
Brad started and shifted restlessly as he belatedly realized that he may have
been a bit louder than he thought.
Toby continued to stare. "First of all, this is your own doing. You are free to
get up from there and come back over my lap as soon as you want to start talking
honestly about what happened today." Brad gulped audibly at the threat to his
backside. "Second of all," Toby continued, "I am not mad at you, and you know
it. I am upset about your actions but I am not upset with or mad at you. Tell
me when you are ready to talk about this. It is really up to you."
Toby turned back to his desk and continued to work while Brad continued to fume.
Brad started shifting and tried not to use his hands to push himself up off the
floor to ease the hard surface. He tried to decide which was worse, the pain in
his behind or the pain of having this conversation with the man he loved.
Within ten minutes of shifting and thinking, Brad looked at Toby and attempted
to work up the courage to say what he needed to say.
"Toby?" Brad said softly, not knowing whether he hoped to get Toby's attention
or whether he hoped not to get it.
"Yes, Brad"
"Ummmm, nothing."
"Take your time. When you are ready, tell me." Brad could hear the
understanding, patience and love in Toby's voice even with Toby's back still to
him.
Another five minutes passed before Brad tried again. "I'm sorry the vegetable
garden was ruined." He choked out.
"I know you are sweetie" Toby said as he continued to face his desk.
Three more minutes of silence followed during which Brad felt nothing but the
hard surface under him and the guilt of the upcoming confession. Brad wanted to
again push up on his fingers to ease his aching bottom. The small spanking Toby
had started with had been enough to ignite his backside, especially after
sitting on the hard floor in nothing but his boxers, but it hadn't been enough
to deal with his guilt.
It was obvious that Toby knew everything, but his guilt over having to confess
it still consumed Brad. He didn't always understand why he did what he did, but
Toby was wonderfully patient and kind and was working on it with him.
"Toby?"
"Yes, Brad."
"Um, I didn't get a chance to work on the gate yet and Jack got out and dug up
the garden."
Toby turned around in his chair. "Thank you for telling me that, Brad. That was
brave of you to tell me the truth about what happened. Why don't you get up,
come here and let's settle this and get it behind us." Brad grabbed on to
Toby's outstretched hand to help him stand, holding on to it like the lifeline
that it was.
Brad stood before Toby in his white boxers and fidgeted from foot to foot while
rubbing his already sore bottom with his free hand. He knew that now that he was
up off his butt, it wasn't over, but he was finally ready to face Toby.
"I don't know why I lie about things like this. It was a stupid thing to do."
"You are getting better Brad, and I'm proud of you for telling me the truth."
Brad heard Toby say as he allowed himself to be guided over Toby's lap and felt
his boxers pushed down past his knees. "This spanking is only for lying. If
you had told me the truth when I first asked about the garden, there would have
been no punishment except maybe helping me clean up the garden this afternoon.
But you knew when you lied about what happened that you would be held
accountable. Those earlier spanks, the time spent on the hard floor and your
being over my lap now are all a result of you lying to me again."
Brad grasped Toby's leg when he felt Toby's hand rest on his bare backside.
"What is this for?" Toby asked.
"Lying to you." Brad said as he felt Toby's hand start to connect with his naked
bottom. He started to quietly cry both because of the renewed pain in his bottom
and because he knew better than to lie about anything, much less something that
wouldn't have been an issue at all.
After a few moments, quiet was no longer an option and Brad began sobbing out
"sorry, sorry, sorry" over and over again as he felt the heat and sting building
on his backside . As always, in the instant he knew that one more spank would
be too many, he was suddenly being pulled upright and settled onto Toby's lap.
"It's alright now." Toby said. "This is behind us. Let's move forward and work
on not being here again."
Brad immediately started wiggling "Owwww. Your thighs are as hard as that floor
was." Brad said, causing Toby to laugh and to lift him over onto his side to
ease the ache. Brad snuggled in to the best part of a spanking from Toby, the
long luxurious cuddle afterward.
Brad fit just perfectly on Toby's lap. His head, with just the least little bit
of bending, fit into that perfect notch between Toby's chin and his shoulder.
Having tired himself with emotions and crying, he loved to just fall into that
perfect spot and be held and loved and know that he was forgiven.
temperament as he sulked on the floor under the window in the study. However,
when he noticed Toby glance over at him Brad's sulk quickly turned to a defiant
one.
"Don't waste that look on me," Toby said as he turned back to his desk, ignoring
Brad's mood.
Brad growled frustratingly under his breath. This was not his first time sitting
under the window when nothing was his fault. Toby apparently loved this
"thinking spot" and said every time "You need to realize what you did wrong.
The method that works best for you is to sit under that window and think for as
long as it takes."
He hated when Toby sat him under this window and left him to think. Well, hate
was a strong word. Maybe he didn't hate it so much except when he was actually
going through it, like right now. Brad just knew that it was wrong to make a
grown man sit on the hard floor with his butt already sore and think. He was
sure that there was some federal law out there that made this punishment
illegal. This must be a violation of the 8th Amendment prohibition on cruel and
unusual punishment. Maybe when he was finally released he would do some research
and write a brief on the continuous and unreasonable violation of his rights.
He knew Toby wouldn't give in to his sulking and pouting or any other actions he
pulled, and he hated that too. Well, if he was honest with himself (which was
usually the problem), he didn't hate it. He loved the result of it. After these
window sitting sessions, Brad could breath in and out and that overwhelming
sense of guilt would be gone, but Toby, bastard that he was, would force Brad to
go through all of the motions, including sitting on the hard, unyielding ground,
on a freshly spanked bottom and think about exactly why he was in this mess.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Brad had gotten home from a trip to the store that morning and was ready to have
some fun time with his lover after a long hard week at the school and the
library. The first thing he noticed was the gate was open and that damn dog was
back in the garden. The gate needed to be oiled and would stick. The dog had,
over the past week, gotten into the garden three times because they thought the
door was shut when it really wasn't. And Brad had been promising to fix it for
over a week.
And then everything went downhill fast. At that moment, Toby walked out and
found his ruined garden. Brad would have sworn that Toby was laughing at the
damn dog's antics as he chomped his way through the carrots and carefully
avoided touching any of the squash (smart dog), but that couldn't have been
right. And then Toby had said the most damning words of the day. "So, what
happened? I thought you were going to fix the gate yesterday."
Brad opened his mouth to confess that he had worked late at the library and that
he just hadn't been able to get to it yet. In fact, he had gone that morning to
buy more supplies to fix it. But what came out of his mouth was "I did fix it.
Someone else must have left the gate open." Brad was horrified at himself for
saying that. It had been weeks since he had last blurted out a lie when there
was absolutely no reason to. He was getting better at just saying what went
wrong.
When Toby and Brad had first started dating, Brad would blurt out lies all the
time, for no apparent reason. From little social lies like "I feel fine" when he
had the headache from hell to "I tried to call but the phone was busy" when he
forgot about meeting up. Brad never lied about really big stuff, but only
"little white lies" that he grew up hearing from his parents to cover their
wandering habits. Brad grew up believing that these falsehoods weren't really
lies so much as protection for others from hard truths.
It wasn't until Toby that Brad started to realize not only was this a habit he
wasn't stopping on his own but that these lies did in fact hurt others. About a
year into dating, in a moment of insane maturity, he had discussed with Toby
that he hated that about himself and he wanted to stop doing it. When he
graduated from law school, he had a job lined up to work with the judge in town
and he knew he couldn't risk any job or career by careless stupid falsehoods.
Especially when the lies made no sense and had no reason. Toby had kissed him
and agreed to help. But that meant giving in to Toby's methods of helping which
usually resulted in a sore backside and a hard surface under the window, which
lead him back to his current predicament.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Toby," Brad growled out as he used his hands to lift his aching butt off the
hard wood floor. "This floor is hard and my butt aches. I've been here forever,
let me up."
"Yes, the floor is hard but it's a good place for you and you can continue to
sit right there until you're ready to be honest about this whole situation.
You've only been there for five minutes and judging by your tone, you need some
more time. Hands off the floor."
"This is just not fair. I don't know why you're mad at me." Brad mumbled as he
reluctantly picked his hands up and put them in his lap.
Toby turned completely around in his chair and stared down at Brad at his feet.
"Excuse me, young man?"
Brad started and shifted restlessly as he belatedly realized that he may have
been a bit louder than he thought.
Toby continued to stare. "First of all, this is your own doing. You are free to
get up from there and come back over my lap as soon as you want to start talking
honestly about what happened today." Brad gulped audibly at the threat to his
backside. "Second of all," Toby continued, "I am not mad at you, and you know
it. I am upset about your actions but I am not upset with or mad at you. Tell
me when you are ready to talk about this. It is really up to you."
Toby turned back to his desk and continued to work while Brad continued to fume.
Brad started shifting and tried not to use his hands to push himself up off the
floor to ease the hard surface. He tried to decide which was worse, the pain in
his behind or the pain of having this conversation with the man he loved.
Within ten minutes of shifting and thinking, Brad looked at Toby and attempted
to work up the courage to say what he needed to say.
"Toby?" Brad said softly, not knowing whether he hoped to get Toby's attention
or whether he hoped not to get it.
"Yes, Brad"
"Ummmm, nothing."
"Take your time. When you are ready, tell me." Brad could hear the
understanding, patience and love in Toby's voice even with Toby's back still to
him.
Another five minutes passed before Brad tried again. "I'm sorry the vegetable
garden was ruined." He choked out.
"I know you are sweetie" Toby said as he continued to face his desk.
Three more minutes of silence followed during which Brad felt nothing but the
hard surface under him and the guilt of the upcoming confession. Brad wanted to
again push up on his fingers to ease his aching bottom. The small spanking Toby
had started with had been enough to ignite his backside, especially after
sitting on the hard floor in nothing but his boxers, but it hadn't been enough
to deal with his guilt.
It was obvious that Toby knew everything, but his guilt over having to confess
it still consumed Brad. He didn't always understand why he did what he did, but
Toby was wonderfully patient and kind and was working on it with him.
"Toby?"
"Yes, Brad."
"Um, I didn't get a chance to work on the gate yet and Jack got out and dug up
the garden."
Toby turned around in his chair. "Thank you for telling me that, Brad. That was
brave of you to tell me the truth about what happened. Why don't you get up,
come here and let's settle this and get it behind us." Brad grabbed on to
Toby's outstretched hand to help him stand, holding on to it like the lifeline
that it was.
Brad stood before Toby in his white boxers and fidgeted from foot to foot while
rubbing his already sore bottom with his free hand. He knew that now that he was
up off his butt, it wasn't over, but he was finally ready to face Toby.
"I don't know why I lie about things like this. It was a stupid thing to do."
"You are getting better Brad, and I'm proud of you for telling me the truth."
Brad heard Toby say as he allowed himself to be guided over Toby's lap and felt
his boxers pushed down past his knees. "This spanking is only for lying. If
you had told me the truth when I first asked about the garden, there would have
been no punishment except maybe helping me clean up the garden this afternoon.
But you knew when you lied about what happened that you would be held
accountable. Those earlier spanks, the time spent on the hard floor and your
being over my lap now are all a result of you lying to me again."
Brad grasped Toby's leg when he felt Toby's hand rest on his bare backside.
"What is this for?" Toby asked.
"Lying to you." Brad said as he felt Toby's hand start to connect with his naked
bottom. He started to quietly cry both because of the renewed pain in his bottom
and because he knew better than to lie about anything, much less something that
wouldn't have been an issue at all.
After a few moments, quiet was no longer an option and Brad began sobbing out
"sorry, sorry, sorry" over and over again as he felt the heat and sting building
on his backside . As always, in the instant he knew that one more spank would
be too many, he was suddenly being pulled upright and settled onto Toby's lap.
"It's alright now." Toby said. "This is behind us. Let's move forward and work
on not being here again."
Brad immediately started wiggling "Owwww. Your thighs are as hard as that floor
was." Brad said, causing Toby to laugh and to lift him over onto his side to
ease the ache. Brad snuggled in to the best part of a spanking from Toby, the
long luxurious cuddle afterward.
Brad fit just perfectly on Toby's lap. His head, with just the least little bit
of bending, fit into that perfect notch between Toby's chin and his shoulder.
Having tired himself with emotions and crying, he loved to just fall into that
perfect spot and be held and loved and know that he was forgiven.
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