#dave strider mommy issues
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
leminhjuice · 1 year ago
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Mama’s Boy comic from TikTok
1K notes · View notes
conceptofjoy · 6 months ago
Note
I WOULD SPECIFICALLY LIKE TO ADD to a previous ask i sent mentioning davepeta being sort of a dave lalonde, that isnt like, discounting that davepeta also gets the benefits of sorta skipping doing a character arc (in a way that i think works well but thats not the topic rn) so it isnt like. im not saying dave raised by roxy would be all smiles great childhood happy kid . if we DO think more about that i think dave lalonde would have some real "i need to Be Better so mommy doesnt feel like she has to drink so much" type issues . also hed feel like shit about it but hed be practiced in sssorta "emotionally manipulating" her to get shit that he wants (puts sorta the wrong connotations on it but i guess thats how hed feel about it). hed be a fucked up kid still but he wouldnt be like, fucked in the ways dave strider is fucked or exactly the same ways rose lalonde is fucked. he would have unique dave lalonde problems
ohh ok. yeah i like the idea of her being bubbly but it being a front for a more self centered persona. cool kid -> mommy's perfect girl. mom lalonde probably has a ton memories of dave "acting out" growing up but becoming way milder as the years progresses but thats only bc she hides it.
dave in the comic goes out of his way to make the people he cares comfortable, but if something like that gets taken advantage of too many times, a person'll def get colder. i dont think her selflessness would go away completely, it's still there but she'd be way more reluctant/less trusting to actually bring it out.
she'd probably be in online (ton of blogs) a lotttt to make up for her loneliness and has a ton of "friends" she keeps at arm's length, rose teases her asking if they know if she's a total bitch and they go back and forth.
52 notes · View notes
dave2olkat · 1 year ago
Text
Do you ship Davesolkat? Do you like ridiculous long fics? Then check out my fanfic I do the dumbest things for you! It's a 2010's Humanstuck Highschool Fake Dating AU that includes and is not limited to:
Trans Guy and Autistic Sollux who's trying to take over his school
Mexican Karkat who's dealing with OCD and a bad case of severe mommy issues
Golden Boy Dave Strider who climbs up through Karkat's window so he can escape from his abusive guardian
Each chapter is named after a song from Karkat's emo playlist
Dave, Kat and Sol being best friends since they were 9
They made a pinkie promise that they wouldn't fuck eachother's moms
Dave is in love with Sollux, who's in love with Karkat, who's in love with Dave oh my
The pining is ridiculous but they get together pretty quickly, or do they?
Sollux is certain they've all been dating for over a year? Karkat has two boyfriends. Dave is still unsure of Sollux likes him or not lol
The miscommunication is realistic and it's just them being idiots and Sollux being autistic
Found Family AU! Disciple and Signless are Karkat's parents and they adopt the Maryams. Psi is Sollux's cool single dad and he adopts Dave
Most HS characters make an appearance and I've been told I wrote a likable Vriska.
There's so many shenanigans: An illegal car race, blackmail, Halloween costumes, making out at parties, Karkat starting beef with Feferi because she wants to steal his man, Dave just trying to hold a part time job, Sollux being a sexy bastard, an all quadrant romance that would be illegal if this wasn't a Humanstuck fic
It's currently at 137k+ words and I update it regularly
Come give it a read!
28 notes · View notes
proshiphomestuckconfessions · 7 months ago
Note
strider/lalonde incest is way more interesting & intriguing to me than egbert/english/harley/crocker ships, I think very much due to the fact of daves complicated incestuous upbringing, rose's mommy issues, dirk's idolization of dave, roxy being roxy. the dynamics are hotter to me, there's more taboo to play with, and there's canonical backing... rose's infatuation with the taboo & the canonical rosedirk... daves intrusive fixation on incest. I think the strilondes should all have sloppy makeouts together, there's not a strilonde incest pairing I dislike
.
2 notes · View notes
goeticgalaxy · 1 year ago
Text
Tumblr media
(this was asked on @daily-joey-claire but i have too much to say about this to talk about it there)
i am so normal about this au btw so yeah
to your 1st question- since dæmons are like extensions of the soul, and byers/the lusii have like different places in the plot already, they’re pretty much the same. i think twins (like the soleils) would share a dæmon tho
ok! onto which dæmons everyone has!!!!!
BETA KIDS/TROLLS
Tumblr media
since dæmons settling is used as analogous for growing up/sort of also puberty? june’s dæmon wouldn’t settle until dadbert dies. dave and jade’s both would already be settled when they start the game, and rose’s would settle once she started communing with the horrorterrors. also when it came to naming them, i wanted their dæmons to have like. normal names ig. since the beta kids are the normalist homestuck characters.
since there are fifty billion beta trolls ill speed through the thought processes i had. karkat’s dæmon settles last bc hes in a state of arrested development. like act 6 last. aradia doesn’t have a dæmon anymore bc she died before entering the game :( (ALSO IT IS NOT THANOS AS IN THE MARVEL CHARACTER) uhhh pretend kanaya’s dæmon says f, tavros is so newfoundland dæmon coded, gamzee is a badger bc they are really unassuming looking but are like a genuine threat, etc etc
oh also vriska is a hyena bc she is *so* hyena coded, id say more than she is spider coded. spiders are associated often with like. manipulation, and vriska just… isn’t that manipulative. she’s pretty straight-forward actually. it’s like that one post about orc stealth. she gets ppl to do what she wants bc she’s like genuinely physically stronger and also has mind control. mind control on its own doesn’t really count as manipulation. the only really spiderlike things about her are her thing with eights and her mom. sure she’s clever, but not in a manipulative way. really, she’s mostly an opportunist. hyenas often symbolize treachery, and in some arab folklore they can hypnotize humans. anyways hyena vriska truther.
ALPHA KIDS
Tumblr media
jane has specifically an aesculapius snake, bc of their associations w/ healing. she hangs out on janes spoon/forkkind to mimic the rod of asclepius and also sort of the caduceus. she def settled last. idk what to say w/ jake, hes just very much a guy who’d have a spider monkey dæmon. dirk is a borzoi bc he is shaped like one (fig 1) and cain bc bro strider and also how he views his splinters and even the other alphas and auoohj yeah. anyways roxy is so lion. and his name is bc void is very much about creation and bc it’s parallel is light they both have such strong associations with knowledge!!!! they’re so!!!!
HIVESWAP
Tumblr media
ok ok ok so ik in the post i said joey’s dæmon is nike but kore just fits her better i think esp bc of her mommy issues. uhh i think joey would be sort of upset that her dæmon is a brown bear and not like a swan or something, but she represents like joey’s defensive streak i think. also mommy issues. jude is an eagle bc of their associations with knowledge and also bc of the myth of prometheus (jude is sosososososososo prometheus coded btw) xefros is a sloth. i don’t need to say more. dammek is a tomcat, probably a tuxedo.
ANYWAYS I HOPE THIS ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION @opalescent-apples AND TY FOR ASKING IT!!!!!
bonus alphas and their dæmons:
Tumblr media
6 notes · View notes
garrulousgeologist · 2 years ago
Text
> Begin Again
I skipped to the trolls.
Haha just kidding, but could you imagine?
I love a good data structure crash course.
Tumblr media
I’ve always been someone who struggles with comprehension when I don’t have all the context.
When my friends (s/o to snipey and cam) first pitched the webcomic to me, they gave the option that many people prefer to skip to act 5 where you are introduced to “the grey kids with the candy corn horns”, as anyone on tumblr in 2011- regardless of fandom affiliation- could have recognized.
This suggestion was due to the first couple acts of Homestuck generally being seen by young audiences at the time as dense and irrelevant to the plot, and while I admit I barely followed what was going on tutorial-wise at the time, getting to know each beta kid was and is profoundly important. From page 1 there are themes and symbols echoed to the very end with enormous ripples of influence along the way.
Yesterday on 4/13/23 I read through the first 214 pages, right up to the introduction of Rose, which felt like a good stopping point.*
Tumblr media
I am thrilled to declare I could follow nearly everything this time, as I wouldn’t dare claim I catch every single bit of information given out in any given page. That being said every 10 pages or so I had the recurring thought that I am thrilled to be revisiting this as an adult with so much more experience reading all sorts of documents and being exposed to a wide range of fields of study. Hussie is clearly well-learned, far beyond what my 14yo brain could absorb.
"The moon's an arrant thief, and her pale fire she snatches from the sun." -Mark Twain
You are almost certain Mark Twain said that.
[William Shakespeare said that]
Also, Broblerone?! It was there from the beginning…
I’m interested to see how my opinion of John evolves as I remember hating him for a large portion of the years I spent reading updates as they came out. I honestly can’t say what I think of him anymore, but from the introduction alone he’s just a kid and life is a nightmare. So, no harm no foul, yet.
Tumblr media
Dave Strider I was an enormous fan of from the get-go back in 2011 and to this very day I ride or die that kid. He’s marred deeply enough in irony that he thinks he can get away with just being real and saying how he really feels and no one can tell.
He loops right back around and ends up being a hilarious, startlingly talented, complex, compassionate and cool genuine individual. It just takes him time to figure that out himself. He also reminds me of someone possessing all those traits as well…someone admittedly more ornery from the compassion he extends…someone who is constantly fighting for his life from infancy as well…someone with the exact same demonizing eye color…hm, guess it’ll come up later.
I can tell, Dave. We can all tell.
"Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire." -Walt Whitman
Yes, you are certain Walt Whitman said that. One hundred percent positive.
[Francois de La Rochefoucauld said that]
Rose Lalonde was my favorite character by far back in the day. I am also interested to see where that goes nowadays. I’m one of those people who came out of the 2020 quarantine as a completely different gender/person. It’s a little uncomfortable for me to look back at how I was forcing myself to identify in high school, but I don’t necessarily think it’ll taint my view of Rose. She is badass as all hell, and over-intellectualizes everything she hears, thinks and feels just like me <3. Let’s not talk about my mommy issues.
"When two great forces oppose each other, the victory will go to the one that knows how to yield." -Oscar Wilde
Wise words by a man who likely could resist everything but temptation.
[Lao Tzu said that]
Tl;dr
No strong opinions yet other than I am so excited to be getting started again and to see what I inevitably missed. And the music!!! I missed it SO MUCH!!
*(a/n: bare with me on my timing with posts on this blog, I am an adult now with a 40hr/week big kid job and it sucks the energy right out of me, be impressed I mustered up the life force to make a post on a fucking friday)
4 notes · View notes
cheapcigarbunnies · 2 years ago
Text
Plenty of people have pointed this out before but I am Once Again thinking about how in fan content rosemary so often gets delegated the role of "emotionally competent established relationship" to contrast against and serve as wizened romance oracles for ~uwu disaster boys~ davekat
If we're being generous I might say there's a certain sweetness to them being written as like, a shining gay lighthouse for other ships to navigate by—that they're so obviously meant to be together it's a foregone conclusion. There's a degree of power fantasy behind two queer teens being very confidently in love! But it also completely flattens out their dynamic, and Rose and Kanaya's individual characters as they're actually portrayed. It also takes the mutualism that should be present in Rose & Dave and Kanaya & Karkat's friendships and sweeps it under the rug.
I mean, just look at this A6I3 scene.
Tumblr media
The meteor crew has been living together for 2 years(!), and Rose and Kanaya have been coyly unsubtly-yet-shyly dancing around their feelings the whole time. And it culminates in this goddamn disaster.
Tumblr media
If the person in the room with the most social acumen is Dave then things have gone pear-shaped. Which is not to say he doesn't have his moments—I'm reminded of a snippet from a much earlier conversation he has with John about John's maybe-crush on Vriska:
Tumblr media
which is then mirrored to a degree waaaaay later during one of the post-retcon lilypad chats about John's maybe-crush on Roxy:
Tumblr media
These are just genuinely sweet, earnest (if teasing) emotional inquiries. And while Dave is definitely more inclined to shoot straight with John than with Rose, I can't help but think some similar exchanges would have happened at some point in the two years prior to the frustration of the A6I3 scene.
Meanwhile we have Karkat "I heard you were talking about quadrants, so I decided to pause my tantrum" Vantas, who in no uncertain terms would be fucking honored to listen to any and all of Kanaya's romantic woes. That really doesn't require any screenshot evidence, but I found this one and it's too damn cute to not include (a lilypad convo where Kanaya had just given an insightful analysis of Vriska's...issues):
Tumblr media
All this is to say—my ideal rosemary-davekat dynamic is such: in this corner we have Rose "mommy issues" Lalonde and Kanaya "chronic friendzone" Maryam, they've been flirting since the day they met, and yet neither one can actually quite believe the other likes them Like That. And in this corner we have Dave "internalized homophobia" Strider and Karkat "flavored blasted self-loathing" Vantas, who are in all ways but physical playing shopping cart bumper-cars in a Wendy’s parking lot. Everyone is doing the spiderman pointing meme.
369 notes · View notes
kinkmom · 3 years ago
Note
Hello! I don't know if you've answered a question like this before, but do you have any headcanons on which of the Strilondes are doms/subs/switches?
Hmm, I probably have answered something like this before but it has been a long time ago. I don't really headcanon all that rigid dom/sub dynamics to keep things flexible, just as I do with everyone defaulting to bi. But let's go for my opinions on what position they'd enjoy the most.
Dave is a sub, especially a slut for femdom and eager to please. Dirk is a switch, as we all know he does like his control, but also when that control is taken away from him, preferably by force. Enjoys physical restraining and overpowering, which Alpha Dave is very much willing to indulge. Rose is a dom, a tease looking for full obedience and goddess-like worship. Roxy is a vers, she can do mommy dom but she also likes submitting to get lavished with love and care and black lipstick marks.
Alpha Dave is still a femdom loving sub with mommy issues, no getting that out of a man. Eats pussy like a king. But is also a deepthroat legend. Bro is a dom, with perhaps an exception for Rose from time to time. He's so beefy the overpowering barely works any more and he's such a control freak that it probably doesn't even feel good any more. Alpha Rose is still just as dom as ever, just with added MILF. Mom Lalonde is the ultimate mommy dom, who shows how it's done. 😎
And the genderbent Striders follow their male counterparts' designations, with Lady Alpha Dave having a bit more of that dommy mommy energy to her. :']
25 notes · View notes
astronomy-is-cute · 4 years ago
Text
Tumblr media
woah pinned post pog :0
other names n pronouns for the day (sam, wynn, or mayven or dave r always good tho): victor or bean, he/it
dni + about below the cut
Tumblr media
dni
don't interact if u are or support:
racism, sexism, any kind of lgbtqphobe, exclusionists, ableists
transphobes, anti mogai, anti neopronouns, transmeds, terfs
anti kin or anti self diagnosis
pro shippers/ anti antis, or pedophilia or incest shipping in any way
if you're a blog who only allows interaction from 18+ or if ur an nsfw blog (i don't care if u support these blogs but i'm a minor so it makes me uncomfy)
if ur an endeavor (from bnha) stan or if u think endeavor is redeemable or you're an endeavor apologist.
MAPs, PEARs, pedophiles, or whatever the fuck else y'all call yourselves these days
u support d*nald tr*mp, all lives matter, or blue lives matter
you're against blm and acab
you're a neonazi, a nazi sympathizer, or antisemetic
u follow/support tumblr user @/biggest-gaudiest-patronuses
any other dni criteria i may have forgotten
Tumblr media
about
hey hi howdy i'm sam! i'm 15 and queer, greyromantic, aceflux, and polyamorous!
i have four partners, only two of which have tumblr!!! they're @/thecatboyfriend and @/fancyfroggiebee!!!!!!! :3!!!!
i'm diagnosed with depression and anxiety but i'm self diagnosed autistic and/or adhd dnfhshdh
Tumblr media
interests
homestuck
dream smp
undertale and delta rune
bnha
ddlc
the owl house
spop
fnaf
steven universe
atla and lok
glitch techs
heathers
hunter x hunter
warrior cats
furries
kipo and the age of wonderbeasts
Tumblr media
kin list
janus sanders (sanders sides)
mai (atla)
zuko (atla)
himiko toga (bnha)
denki kaminari (bnha)
shinsou hitoshi (bnha)
todoroki shouto (bnha)
jirou kyoka (bnha)
uraraka ochaco (bnha)
bakugou katsuki (bnha)
kirishima eijirou (bnha)
lapis lazuli (su)
spinel (su)
can u tell i have mommy issues, daddy issues, and abandonment issues yet
natsuki (ddlc)
monika (ddlc)
frisk (undertale)
werewolves
vampires
foxes
bunnies
cats
demons
angels
moths
miko (glitch techs)
bunnies
amity blight (the owl house)
connie (steven universe)
and theres definitely more im forgetting abt here lol
rose lalonde (hs)
dave strider (hs)
jade harley (hs)
Tumblr media
my other blogs
@wynn-does-witchcraft-0w0 - my witchcraft blog
@samssecretselfshipblog-xx - my self ship blog
@mowogaii - my mogai blog
@letelwynneatglitter2k21 - my chaos fam blog
@the-cin-sys - system blog
Tumblr media
16 notes · View notes
adam-is-suffering · 5 years ago
Text
What I know about the "Beta Kids”
Tumblr media
JOHN EGBERT 
- He kins blue, or basically has a theme of blue as I can see from his tracksuit
- He doesnt like his dad?? I don’t think??? So he has daddy issues??
- I think there’s a trans thing about him which is real dope, saw something on Twitter about it
- The game makes him have wind powers so he’s essentially Aang
- Big Nerd, likes games, computers and mullets since I think he grows one in the future or smth
- His uncle is Obama
Tumblr media
ROSE LALONDE
- She has the most fanart from what I’ve seen so I am guessing she is a favourite to either draw or in general and I support
- Ah yes, kins the colour purple
- H.P Lovecraft enthusiast, I am just waiting for her to summon some demons in Homestuck and every one of her friends goes through the trials and defeats of their own inner minds that they cannot escape nor control. And yes I am referring to Inception. Because wouldnt that be dope?
- She’s either preppy or goth and everything is pointing to both at the same time
- A probable lesbian with the other lesbian character
- Also mommy issues, I’m pretty sure
- Alcoholism? oh shit is that alcohol? Isn’t she supposed to be like 12?
- In conclusion, she’s Stella from Winx Club, idk same vibes not that I’m suggesting Stella from Winx Club is an alcoholic lesbian with mommy issues tho
Tumblr media
DAVE STRIDER
- Oh god its him, its the one everyone fucking loves
- I feel if I don’t end up liking him, I’ll be shunned by the fandom and sacrificed for fun
- Man, I just tried looking up some images of ONLY dave but apparently his page differs from everybody else because he’s made into fanart with…. wait let me count
- 5 people, Jesus christ, he’s shipped with 5 people? He gets around, ig
- If he’s not at least bisexual, I’m not sure what the author is doing with themselves
- Giving me douche vibes but I’m pretty sure he’s just chill
- So he also kins a colour since I don’t see one image where he DOESNT have some sort of red on him which is valid, red is cool
- I’m pretty sure I ironically bought a shirt with that symbol on it without realizing it could have most certainly been a Homestuck shirt
Tumblr media
JADE HARLEY
- She’s a furry
- She’s like a ray of sunshine, I don’t think I’ve seen one picture in which she is either frowning or angry…. this is concerning, is she okay? Or is she genuinely happy 24/7? Because let me tell you, nobody is and this is Homestuck which I heard has death at some point I think, so RIP Jade Harley I bet you she just snaps and becomes this badass who doesn’t think anything is funny anymore whilst being a furry.
- Wait, scratch that, I found one frown and she’s talking to a 69 now that’s also an issue who wants to willingly choose 69 as a symbol on their shirt, I say, as I scribble my first fan-kid into typing only using 69′s in place of binary.
- She likes to wield guns and overall fight people, you know what I respect this furry, she is cool
- Okay so while looking at pics I found an MLP Homestuck character and I’m not too sure I’m in the right section anymore
- So she’s also a witch, wow, she has a lot of hobbies, oh god thats a lot are those puppets?
- Okay so her infobox has Big game trophies, mummies, rude trolls for things she hates and that is.. such an odd thing out of context. Like I’m sure I’ll understand it one day but goddamn. Mummies? Honestly hun, same tho.
71 notes · View notes
themockingcrows · 5 years ago
Text
The Esteemed Guest Switch
Now that reveals happened and I’m leeching a wifi signal for a few minutes... time to crosspost this! Written for Polyswap 2019! Also available on my AO3 under the same name.
Ship: Rose/Dirk/Dave in all configurations.
This fic is VERY NSFW.
tags: Praise Kink, Pegging, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Oral Sex, Dom/sub, Polyamory, Threesome - F/M/M, Light Mommy Kink, Scratching, Spanking, Dirty Talk, Rope Bondage, Power Play, Trust, Rough Kissing, Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, Established Relationship, Incest, Spitroasting, Breathplay, Femdom
While all three are in love, normally Rose and Dirk share Dave and keep interactions between themselves on more even ground. Both Strider and LaLonde love to be in charge and the idea of yielding isn't one that's come up between them thanks to Dave being the happiest sub in the world between their combined affections. Yet is it possible that Dirk could like more than he knows? Perhaps he and Dave aren't so different after all, at least with Rose calling the shots.
                                               - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
     Separately was how Dave was used to dealing with Rose and Dirk romantically. They were each a larger than life personality, and each wanted a certain amount of control that he was more than happy to give, especially behind closed doors where each of them wanted his undivided attention and focus. It hadn’t taken long for them to agree on the setup of spending plenty of time together as a group but dividing up the romantic side. Dave had more than enough affection to give in a lot of directions and needed just as much attention back to feel fulfilled and happy, sometimes far more than a single person would be capable of giving especially if they were busy or distracted with other important things. Between their schedules and the tides of their own needs and wants, the schedules just sort of formed naturally between the three of them. Dave was a planet traveling in a circle between Dirk’s star and Rose’s silvery moon.
    Maybe the fact that Rose and Dirk were so alike was what helped the trio function so well, one person leaving just as the next came over wanting someone to lay on and cuddle while they had their hair played with. Even in the bedroom they exuded similar methods, albeit with very different energies guiding their actions. They each had a firm hand and high expectations of him, each had similar desires though not always in a conventional sense. Rose was usually a solid presence who alternated between sweet and tender and putting Dave through his paces before giving a reward that tended to veer towards being allowed to eat her out or to actually fuck her, or getting to pick what she would be pegging him senseless with. Dirk was a little harder to nail down. The methods were there, but the energy was different. He couldn’t seem to make up his mind on what he wanted out of some of their encounters from the feel of the directions. The stern hand softened in the heat of the moment, and many times he wound up putting Dave through his paces as a service top or with any other number of rewards. The treats were easier to obtain: Dirk was never as rough as Rose was.
    Dave, being Dave, couldn’t help but bring it up by accident when they were all sprawled out on the sofa together half paying attention to a terrible movie that nobody had enough opinion about to summon the energy of pulling out the remote to click away from. He lay sprawled across both their laps like an overgrown cat, head on Rose’s thighs and legs resting over Dirk’s legs so one gloved hand rested leisurely on the curve of his hip and ass. A yarn ball gently twitched against the small of his back as Rose clacked her knitting needles steadily, eyes trained on the screen and fingers moving without much more than a second thought to where she was on the line numerically. It was too easy to fuck something this calm up, especially for someone with as much raw chaotic energy as Dave. One second he’d been chattering about the villain being a dumbass, then he’d made Top Energy joke, then a dom joke, and then just to fully stuff his foot into his mouth he just had to look back at Rose specifically to ask her if it was familiar.
    Not both of them.
    Not Dirk.
    Rose first and foremost. Rose alone.
    “Excuse me?” said Dirk, leaning forward and resting his folded arms on Dave’s legs with enough pressure to indicate it was meant to be a pinning maneuver, tipping his head to show that he was trying to meet his eye behind the dual layers of shades. Oh, no, there was no escaping from him now. “Think my name got dropped by accident back there, Dave.”
    “You may need to get your ears checked, Dirk, he wasn’t talking about you at all,” Rose offered with a helpful smirk, setting the knitting project to the back of the sofa safely before using both hands to stroke at Dave’s upper back and hair affectionately. “Dave was talking about tops and doms, an aficionado would be best to ask for verification.”
    Dave felt heat rising on his face and a chill run down his back at the tone of her voice. Dirk had bristled almost immediately, although it’d be hard for anyone to tell just from looking at him. He’d twitched briefly, tensed his jaw and relaxed it like a horse chewing at a bit while he contemplated just what angle to attack from. A challenge that blatant couldn’t be ignored, not from his own flesh and blood especially.
    This could not stand.
    “My ears are fine after all then. Though I wonder as to Dave’s taste and sense of refinement if he considers whatever you do to be the sign of a better dom.” His gloved hand slid to Dave’s thigh and kneaded like a steady massage, the squeeze possessive and the downward press continuing to cement the idea that Dave was meant to stay where he was.  It was familiar, the same heavier touch that would grasp his ass and hoist him up into position against a wall or pin him down on a mattress. It felt rougher now, purposeful without the tinge of lust that usually accompanied it, and entirely directed at Rose despite not being placed upon her body.
    “Whatever I do..?” she asked. Perfectly applied lipstick only served to accentuate the tug upwards at the edges of her mouth, lips full and pretty and absolutely petty in the moment. A cat with the biggest bowl of cream all for herself. They were playing hard ball already, and since Dirk was the opponent in the play fight Rose knew not to hold a single punch. Going for the throat was what would make it most fun. “Why Dirk, I guess it makes sense you wouldn’t understand what I do. A bottom desperately playing the part of a top can only do so much. After all, it’s all a front on your end isn’t it?”
    The room was silent enough that Dave was concerned that his family could hear his thoughts, or at least the pitch at which he was screaming them in his head. A long, unending stream of “ Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ” between his ears that neither rose nor fell, nor was affected by breath or the lack thereof. Jesus fucking tapdancing Christ this was why he never brought up bedroom bullshit when they were all in the same room. Well. Not entirely why. Mostly he never brought it up because aside from both already enjoying their power trips, they were both competitive to a fault and he didn’t want to deal with being stuck in the middle of their bullshit. It was so much easier for Dave to just be the happy sponge and savor the private time in each direction to the fullest rather than let the two of them puff up and posture at each other.
    There was love there, so much love, but it definitely had a mean streak to it. Honestly if they could just make out or fuck each other and get over it already it’d be for the better in Dave’s eyes. Cut through building tension in the quickest way possible, get to the core of the issue, and wake up on the other side in a tangled heap with a clearer head. Sometimes you just needed to fuck it out. However the same problem would no doubt arise, because of fucking course it would: who would top. Who would lead. Two doms enter a room, one walks out, and Dave already knew in his heart it’d be Rose doing the walking.
    At some point during his registering his internal monologue of toneless screams, both Dirk and Rose had begun staring at him, hoping for some kind of answer to a question he’d apparently missed. Fuck. Shit. Dave cleared his throat and curled himself a little tighter, knees lifting towards his stomach and gaze stubbornly shifting to the television screen once more.
    “Come again? Sorry, I wasn’t listenin’.”
    “Obviously,” Dirk said. “I don’t blame you though, most of it was bullshit.”
    “Spoken like a true bottom,” Rose crooned at him wickedly, savoring how he was actually frowning at her now instead of keeping a perfect poker face. He was showing the faintest of cracks, giving her directions on precisely how to tease him in ways that affected him, and Dave could already read the writing on the wall. He felt a cool hand slip beneath his shirt and stroke along the side of his ribs before reaching up towards his throat, clasping and applying just enough pressure to make him go entirely still for her out of habit. Dave felt his pulse grow hot against the expanse of her fingertips. “We were asking for your opinion on each of us, given your predisposition. If Dirk and I can’t agree about our roles, we can at least all agree with yours. You respond so well to both of us... But do you have a preference?”
    “Oh, fuck no, you are not pinnin’ that kinda pressure on me. If ya’ll wanna have beef with each other you can have as much Grade A premium as you want without draggin’ me into the thick of it,” Dave insisted as he decided to make a break for it, hands upon him or not. He shifted his weight and rolled off of his lovers legs like a log, thumping on the floor unevenly once Rose retracted her hand and scooting backwards on his ass to gain a bit of distance. The terrible movie droned on behind his head till he turned to click the damn thing off, wanting to be able to hear himself think more than he wanted to hear a half assed villain monologuing.
    “Easy, easy, we weren’t going to put you on the spot that seriously,” Dirk insisted as he stood up, dusting at his pants and the bottom edge of his shirt out of habit. Rose stood up at the same time and moved her knitting from the back of the couch to the side of it on the floor to keep it out of potential harm’s way. No sense in losing stitches after all. “It was more of a casual question.”
    “Man if you’re so curious what each other’s like in bed why not just do the routine?” Dave asked, bumping his fists together with a frustrated frown for emphasis. “Like. I can vouch if you really want me to, ya’ll are both fantastic. You’re just..”
    “Just what?” Dirk pressed.
    “..Different,” he explained. “Like. I can eat the same meal with the same recipe from two different places and it’ll be familiar but still different ‘cause it’s made by different people? Sometimes there’s extra touches and stuff thrown in on top of the familiar but that ain’t the point. My view’s gonna be pretty predictable and won’t make much of a difference ‘cause I ain’t choosin’ between you two even if you fuckin’ paid me to. Why not just cut out the middleman and just experience it.”
    Rose pursed her lips as if seriously considering the option, but Dirk seemed frustrated all over again.
    “That’ll defeat the entire point, Dave. You’re the one with experience of the both of us, if we dove in and did the top swap bullshit it’d prove nothing.”
    “You sound pretty sure of yourself,” Rose said suddenly. “Why not just do it then? I mean, what is there to lose? I love you and Dave equally, and I’d like to show you what I mean. It’d be an experience and then we’d be able to swap and see if there’s any other preferences. Perhaps even just pick up extra tricks we each could use. Think... sexy business meeting with our experienced sub and guest switch.”
    Dave flicked his gaze between Rose and Dirk several times, but he already knew what was happening without needing to see. She was so calm, so certain, prepared with logic and explanations aplenty even as Dirk was prepared to cross them with twenty more. They were staring each other down then, Rose smiling softly and Dirk stiff as a board with arguments on his lips unable to come out, playing a game of chess without needing to make a single movement. If he backed down or tried to insist she go first there were ways to argue it that would either circle back around or which would be logically sound and stand there only to make him sound like a bitch if he backed down. Dirk had dug the beginning of his own grave with his love of debate and choosing to go against the offspring that could give as good as she gave.
    The staredown finally ended as Dirk slowly exhaled and relaxed his posture, slipping his hands into his pockets to signal the dance had ended and he was relenting.
    “Fine. Example sub with guest switch. Ladies first?”
    “Oh, hardly,” Rose said as she closed the gap between them to press her fingertips against Dirk’s chest, smoothing the fabric upwards when she leaned closer to press her lips to his cheek. “I’d rather give you time to consider your counter examples. I’ve nothing to hide and I’m prepared, so I may as well take the riskier position since I brought the idea up in the first place. You know. So you could maybe stand a chance of impressing me, I mean.”
    Dirk lifted his chin subtly, ignoring the faint ghost of shadow left behind from the black coating Rose’s lips that now graced his skin. He wasn’t used to being challenged like this, not directly. Not on this level. He flicked his eyes away from Rose’s to look at Dave as he slowly stood up off the floor and dusted at his thighs out of habit, standing by at the ready without even needing to be told.
    ...Fuck, maybe this was actually going to be more of a challenge than anticipated.
    “Dave. Are you ready?” Rose asked as she pulled her hands free of Dirk’s body and turned open armed towards her brother, grin bright and cheerful as a Rose LaLonde smile could be. Dave, used to fucking a predator by this point in his life, nodded and moved to take his shirt off. “Ah ah. Nope. Not out here, I’m not interested in messing up the sofa or needing to pause to get supplies. My room instead. Shoo, both of you. And shades off once you get in there!”
    Stretching without a care in the world, Dave left their cluster and sauntered off for Rose’s room with Dirk bringing up the rear once he realized Rose wasn’t going to be walking at the same pace at all. She’d headed to the kitchen instead to rummage around for something or other that was supposedly important for this example session and would presumably be turning up shortly after them both.
    Rose’s room was painted a soft grayish lavender, more somber than pastel and well matched with the dark colored trappings and coverings she’d collected over the years. Her room was a mishmash of gothic aesthetics and geek chic with a pile of clean laundry adorning her floordrobe and a bra slung over her laptop which guarded several empty cans that ranged from coffee to energy drink to an orange soda she’d filched from Dirk days before and a few mugs that needed washing. The bed was made at least, and the floor more than clear enough to work with. Dave casually scooted a few stray things out of the floor just in case, kicking a few plushies and toeing shoes under the edge of her bed so the carpet was more inviting.
    “This is so stupid.. Is she doing this on purpose?” Dirk asked.
    “Doin’ what.”
    “Half assing presentation,” Dirk said. “This just feels sloppy. I mean, the room isn’t even clean.”
    “As if yours ever is.”
    “...That’s not the point, it’d be spotless if it was for proving something.”
    “Spite fuels you cleanin’ your shit up, huh?” Dave asked as he took a seat on Rose’s bed and flopped backwards. He took his shades off and folded them to tuck on the bedside table before lifting a brow at Dirk. “How much spite would it take to fill the dishwasher once in a while.”
    “Dave.”
    “Or vacuum or somethin’?”
    “Dave.”
    “If Rose shoves enough spite up your lubed ass will you suddenly go all ‘50s housewife with the pearls and the heels and the casserole dishes? I dunno man it could be a look, borrow some shit from Jane, get a manicure, stop bein’ a fuckin’ gremlin for ten whole seconds-”
    “Is this just a game to you??”
    “No and yeah.”
    “You don’t get both, which is it.”
    Dave sighed and pressed his hands to his face before slipping one off so he could pat the mattress beside himself as a signal for Dirk to sit down and join him.
    “Look. I’m poking fun at you because you’re bein’ a dick about this. It’s sex. It’s supposed to be fun. If you go in fighting you’re gonna have a shit time and act like it’ll prove your point when really all it proves is you’re a bitch who can’t let people have nice things.” Dave frowned at him when Dirk opened his mouth to retort. “Hey. No. No, right off the bat. I’d be sayin’ this to Rose too if she was gonna turn up to your turn being a bitch too. Just give it a fair shot, okay? Fair as you’d want anyone to give you.”
    “I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to do the puppy dog eyes when you’re trying to convince me to be a good little boy in this weird ass scenario, Dave. I wouldn’t even be doing this if not for you,” he said as he took off his shades, setting them by Dave’s with a sigh.
    “Yeah?”
    “Yep. I’m not expecting to be impressed. Rose is every bit myself as I’m her in some ways, so I’m expecting something I suppose, but one thing I’m sure is you were telling the truth before about enjoying yourself with both of us.” He smirked. “I’ll get to see you getting wrecked without having to lift a single finger.”
    “Voyeurism. Lazy voyeurism.”
    “Said as if you’re surprised. Dave, how well do you know me?” Dirk asked as he reached an arm out to catch Dave’s torso, tugging him closer for a squeeze.
    Dave hummed, stone faced as he was hugged, apparently lost in thought. “Y’know I thought I knew you really well but I just realized I dunno how a cuck joke in its natural habitat’d fly with you, so I guess we’re good as strangers.”
    Dirk snorted a soft laugh near his ear that made his chest warm, and it hit home just how they were positioned. Close together, holding on like climbing vines to one another on a soft topped bed with what promised to be great sex on the horizon. Dave held still for a moment, another heartbeat, a third, before lifting his chin up to kiss him square on the mouth. Their lips parted before rejoining a second time, but by the third it was growing hungrier. Dirk slipped his hand up beneath Dave’s shirt and shifted to roll him to his back as Dave slicked his fingers up into Dirk’s hair and tugged gently. They parted and came together in the heat of the moment several times more, unheeding of their feminine surroundings ‘til the room’s owner joined them in the room quietly to watch.
    Rose smiled at the tangle of lanky limbs on her bed and quietly walked over to her desk to pull out the computer chair, spinning it so it faced the bed. A wine glass was settled on the closed laptop lid rather than risk making noise by disturbing any of the debris she kept putting off cleaning up, bra deposited on the floor out of the way. Sinking down into the chair she adjusted her grip on the chilled bottle she held and slipped a corkscrew into the stopper, gently swirling it down into the pithy cork till it was firmly stuck in place. Another turn of her wrist and the bottle was slipped easily against her side, steadying her grip with the arms of the corkscrew before giving it a hard yank to free the cork with a pop. The way the boys scrambled in surprise and sat up looking around like two teens whose parents just opened the front door an hour early was absolutely precious.
    “Eager, huh? The way you were talking just a bit ago made me wonder how interested you really were in following through with this,” she said as she poured a bit of the soft pink liquid into the glass. The bottle was set beneath the desk where it wouldn’t potentially be overturned by mistake before she swirled her cup. “Dave, go tidy yourself up and get ready real quick. Dirk can go after you’re done.”
    “All off or..?” Dave asked as he rested on his elbows, waiting for Dirk to crawl off of him the rest of the way before rising to his feet. The way he had to adjust his jeans to relieve the pressure was as attractive as the flush that had settled onto his cheeks.
    “All off this time,” said Rose as she took a sip. “Thank you for asking. Run along now.”
    Dirk steadily knee walked backwards till Dave could slip free, leaving him to sit on his feet in silence on the mattress once he and Rose were alone. No music. No sound but breathing and the occasional sounds from the bathroom as Dave did as he’d been told. Orange eyes glanced over to stare for a few moments, waiting for some kind of a clue, some sign he wasn’t picking up on. Rose gave him nothing but burning eyes beneath relaxed lids and the gentle curve of her lips.
    “So. You’ve got this all planned?”
    “Mhmm. I admit I thought you two might last a little longer before nearly fucking on my bed, but with how much tension there was in the air just before this it’s my own fault for not assuming you’d do just that.” She took another sip of her drink before humming. “Was it just a moment of passion, or were you subtly snubbing me by doing that before I could even begin?���
    “Moment of passion brought on by a cuck joke,” he said with a straight face. The laugh he got in reply was a nice reminder that Rose was human, was still herself, was still playful underneath the flashes of dark flirting she’d done just earlier. “So. What are the ground rules here, for what’s going to happen.”
    “Straight forward, the same rules I use for Dave. I expect you to follow them, including the rule about tapping out if you need to,” she said, gesturing with her free hand as she spoke. “Traffic signals work best with us so that’s what I think would be best to stick with. Familiar, clear cut. The safe word is Puppets.”
    “....Puppets,” Dirk repeated. “Why the fuck is that the safe word.”
    “Because unlike you, at least from what I can gather based on your surprise, Dave isn’t the type to be waxing poetic about plush puppet ass while getting hammered by something large enough to make English an even more difficult language to grasp.”
    Dirk glowered like a wet cat and he felt the air spark between them again, acutely aware of the shifting pawn between them in play and just how much was weighing it down. There wasn’t much to really lose here. It wasn’t like a true gamble, they’d all be winning. It’d just be his pride that was bruised if Rose proved all the points he was becoming more and more certain she was wanting to not only prove but polish and place on the mantle for future generations to admire after it’d been cast in bronze.
    LaLondes.
    “Right,” he allowed. “What else, then. Give me the run down.”
    “Once Dave gets back you’ll be going to do the same thing he’s doing right now. Clean out, clean up, leave the clothes behind. We’ll hop right into it once you get back and we’re on the same page as far as preparations go. Dave’s example sub, and you’ll be following suit: namely by following instructions. ...At least to start with.”
    “How long do I need to follow instructions till the free will kicks in.”
    “Oh there’ll be wiggle room, relax,” she said as she took another sip. “Would you like some of this now? Or after you’re naked. Dave’ll have some too. I’d hate for you to be the odd one out because of a miscommunication simple as ‘hey do you want some of this sweet booze I’ve got or nah’.”
    “Do you normally drink when you do this?” Dirk asked, resting back on his hands to strike what he was fairly certain was a casual pose. “Considering how often we swap around that’d make for a lot more alcohol than I thought was ever in the house at the same time, or a lot of stealth liquor store runs.”
    “Hah. No, I don’t normally drink before sex. This is more of a special occasion than anything,” she explained. The glass was mostly empty now. Rose took a breath before tipping her head back and finishing the last few sips worth, then sat the glass back atop her laptop. She didn’t refill it right away, instead crossing her legs and settling her hands almost primly in her lap as if waiting for another question to float her way.
    Dirk watched the smooth lines of her legs intertwine, watched how her body curled to itself. It was a bit different than earlier when she was looking ready to eat him alive, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Was it the alcohol? No, she’d literally just drank it, there was no way it’d be affecting anything yet. It wasn’t enough to be hesitancy like fear. The uncertainty was almost enough to piss him off all over again, being given a rubix cube of bullshit when he was already dealing with the task at hand, but there wasn’t a chance to fret over it much. He heard the sound of the bathroom door clicking open down the hall and the creak of the floor as Dave made his way back.
    Practiced, poised looking steps took effect as soon as Dave crossed the threshold of Rose’s room, chin lifted and shoulders back instead of the usual slouch he relaxed into. This was a fairly practiced routine, or at least a habit that had been encouraged enough that it was second nature. He didn’t go to sit on the bed with Dirk once more, though it was pretty clear Dirk wanted to get his hands back on him, especially now that the clothes were out of the way and the half hard bit of dick was just sitting there like a present in full view. Dave headed towards the desk and the chair Rose was settled in, slipped down to his knees in front of hers, and leaned forward to rest his head on her lap like the overgrown lap dog he was at heart. She rewarded him with a few gentle strokes at his hair and down his back before looking up at Dirk, fonder, softer. She always loved the beginning, especially when Dave remembered things without even needing to be reminded.
    He worked so hard to do things right and to make her happy, to impress her. How could she not love that? Love him?
    “Your turn, Dirk. Same as we discussed,” she said before looking back down towards Dave, smile remaining soft as he tipped his head to chase the pressure of her fingers and nails so she’d keep stroking and scratching and petting in the best feeling spots. “We’ll be right here waiting for you to get back.”
    Dirk felt a little better for having seen that tenderness. Rose was gorgeous when she was all thorns and wit coming for his throat, but the gentler side was mesmerizing. The realization that there was a higher than zero percent chance that he’d wind up with her softly cooing and stroking at his hair same as she was to Dave right now made something flip in his stomach that, frankly, needed to fuck off. This wasn’t how bets were won and points were made. There was always time for being coddled and rewarded and praised in the future, when his pride wasn’t on the line. Fuck being a good little boy. He needed to be a good little switch, no matter how brief of a time he was meant to be one to prove this point.
    Tidying himself up was simple and straightforward once he reached the bathroom, no stranger to this kind of prep before play. Leaving behind the clothes to do the walk of shame to the bedroom instead of being able to saunter in with a plan in mind and the full attention of a really attractive man on his bed was a hell of a change though. He spent more than a little time looking into the mirror and fussing with hair that didn’t need fussing with, blowing time before finally giving in to fate and heading back to the hallway. Well. At least he’d gone flacci-
    ...Traitor.
    Fucking traitor of a dick.
    Of all the times to beg to be flaccid, why did it have to be now that he was pretty sure he was rolling from a halfie into an erection that would let him fuck a building. Maybe nobody’d point it out if he didn’t, give him the benefit of that.
    “I was starting to wonder if you’d chickened out,” Rose said the second he’d entered the room, making him stop and slouch before he caught himself. “Or gotten lost at least. Is that for both of us or just me?” she asked as she gestured for him to come over as well. Dave scooted an inch or two to the side before returning his head lazily to where it had been before to avoid missing a thing.
    “Both I guess. Take it as proof of my investment in this situation as opposed to any hint of me trying to sabotage anything,” Dirk said as he knelt down beside Dave and warily rested his chin on Rose’s lap.
    She wasted no time in laying a hand on him, gently stroking his hair back several times before applying more pressure with her fingertips at pressure points alongside his jaw and temple. It was like a one handed massage ranging from his head to his neck, and the longer it lasted the more Dirk was understanding why Dave seemed so happy to drop down and get his own. Every stroke was accompanied with soft murmuring in Rose’s warm voice. Gentle. Loving. Familiar but maternal in a way Dirk was unfamiliar with. Though tense at first there was no way to resist for long, not with Rose’s soothing movements and the warmth of Dave’s bare flesh against his side and his breath near his cheek.
    The soporific effects of a good petting were nearly enough to lul Dirk to a doze despite sitting seiza, leaving him to languidly lift his head when soft fingers beneath his chin lifted upwards. Rose smiled at both of them and nodded.
    “Good. You’re both doing amazing.. Are you ready to really start?”
    Dave hummed and stretched in place before nodding, eyes half closed. Dirk just watched her quietly, wondering how things would proceed. This was already extremely different from how he did things. ...If this was the intro, what was the aftercare like? Would they go hard enough to need aftercare? No, that was a stupid question, aftercare was important and he knew Rose was more than qualified to know something that basic.
    “Great. Dave, go get on the foot of the bed for me. Dirk, stand to the side and keep your hands to yourself,” she said in a sterner voice than the soft murmurings of moments before. When both had risen to do her bidding, Rose stood and rummaged beneath her bed for a flat storage box and slid the lid off. Along essential tools like lube and some massage oil rested handcuffs and a fairly new looking gag, a few lengths of silky black rope in neatly coiled loops, a well maintained strapon rig and several covered sizes and shapes of toys that would attach and several that would not. Dirk eyed the box closely for a moment before deciding the more interesting feature in the room was Dave settled on the bed spread with his gangly legs parted and a cocky grin on his face the second he caught him staring, a hand snaking down to grasp his dick and give it a playful jiggle.
    “Hands off yourself, Dave,” Rose said without even looking up. Her tone was sharp, stern, not to be argued with as she picked up one of the lengths of rope and settled a second one like an overly large bracelet on her wrist. Instantly Dave pulled his hand back and sighed.
    “Yes’m.”
    Rope in hand, Rose rounded on Dirk and lifted the first loop in display as she unfurled the end of it, wanting him to be aware of what was coming his direction. “Turn around and cross your wrists. You’ll be that way for a while, so pick a comfortable position. Traffic lights like we said before. If it’s really intense red suddenly and you need out immediately, I’ve got scissors.”
    No sooner had Dirk sighed and turned around, Rose had begun to slide the rope around his wrists and criss crossed up his arms. The silky cord slipped over the front of his throat before easing back down like a spiders web to cross his upper arms and chest. He hated to admit it, but her interlacing knot work was intricate and functionally attractive on top of being quickly applied. How often was Dave tied up for her to be this quick with it? He bent occasionally without needing to be asked so she could reach easier, straightening at the right times to ensure the ropes weren’t tight at an improper angle.
    “They feel a lil loose,” Dirk said when she’d begun unlooping and feeding in the second cord set, wiggling his arms for emphasis. “Not like it’ll fall off but.. I mean, if you want me to just keep my arms still it’ll work just fine. Could stand to be tighter and be plenty comfortable.”
    “I didn’t ask your opinion on my work, but it’s good to know you’re comfortable. Planning on fighting me?” she asked playfully as she tied a few knots, playing over the lacing along his back and sides. “Get on your knees.”
    Another twitch of his dick kept the early erection from flagging, though Dirk wasn’t sure if it was from the tone of Rose’s voice or the way Dave was biting his lip while staring at him. Dirk sank down to his knees on the carpet, tantalizingly close to Dave’s parted legs as it was before he felt something shift behind him. Rose pressed her foot squarely in the center of Dirk’s back and pulled the rope sharply, forcing him forward against Dave’s cock as the intertwined ropes cinched more firmly in place. He grunted and wiggled his fingers before testing the rest of his arms. No luck, he was stuck tight but fairly comfortably in place.
    “Hands gonna go numb?” she asked. “I can loosen if it’s too tight.”
    Dirk grunted and lifted his head up, though Dave didn’t budge an inch, practically glued in place once a soft cheek was against his junk. It was a good look for Dirk, tied up and in prime position to get his mouth busy at the barest word. He turned his head unprompted to nuzzle Dave’s length while he was there, loving being the cause of the twitch in his muscles and the shaky inhale of breath. Same as he would when spending a night with him. Christ he was responsive, already keyed up and ready to go, eager as—
    Slim fingers threaded into his hair and tugged to force his head back far enough to look clearly into the soft purple of Rose’s eyes set deep in the crisp black eyeliner. She tucked a strand of hair behind her own ear before doing the same motion to Dirk’s bangs, fingers stroking along the flesh of his jaw and throat afterwards in a clearly possessive gesture that was the same maternal petting from earlier with the horny switch cranked to high. He caught himself wanting… more. He wanted her to dig her fingernails into his throat, wanted her to look at him with those same calculating eyes and step on him. It was a peculiar sensation considering normally those thoughts only crept into his mind further along in the heat of the moment with a partner.
    “I’d like an answer, Dirk. Are the ropes too tight. We can’t really go ahead with anything if you’re keeping secrets from me so early.. I might need to just make you watch instead,” she said, giving a harder yank to his hair when he started to frown at her. “I’ll give you a few more chances to be a good boy for me.”
    “Yeah, they’re fine. Sorry,” Dirk said before the apology really registered. Rose grinned impishly and leaned down further, keeping his head firmly in place before kissing him. He could feel the soft squidge of lipstick, and knew that no doubt he was wearing another ghost on his mouth. The warmth of her tongue probed at his lips briefly before she pulled away and licked her lips appreciatively.
    “Good. We’re back on the right track then,” she said as she released him and headed back to the desk. Rose pulled the bottle up from the ground and poured another glass of the pink wine before replacing it down out of kick range. Before taking her seat again she removed her top, revealing the black lace that covered each breast when she turned around proper once more and crossed her legs in front of herself. “You were on the right track before that interruption. I want you to get Dave plenty warmed up. Don’t get him off, but get him close. No hands obviously... There’s a nice reward for doing well.”
    Lifting a brow Dirk glanced over to Dave who had briefly closed his knees before looking back to Rose. She took a small sip of the wine and smiled, keeping the glass in hand before giving a cheers gesture.
    Well. No time like the present then. Giving as much of a shrug as he could while trussed up like a feisty piece of wild game, Dirk shuffled on his knees to line up again. Dave was a familiar taste on his tongue, a welcome string of an increasingly staccato heartbeat between his lips, soft skin and salt and the faintest smell of that weird body wash he used that reeked like overly sweet apple candy took a dip in some Red Hots. It was almost sweet on the back of his tongue as he sank down low, taking as much as he could, brushing pubes with his nose before pulling back to get some kind of a rhythm going.
    His plan was a simple but efficient one: go in fast and hard, then pull away and tease him half to death before diving back on him again. Barring any interruptions from Rose he should be an absolute fucking mess in short enough order. It may not be his turn to lead the show but this was a thing he’d done plenty of times in the past. Making Dave squirm was a favored past time in this house and he was honored that Rose had the foresight to let him keep this piece of it.
    Dirk was messy as he bobbed in place, saliva slicking along the surface of Dave’s cock as he rose and fell, making it all the easier for him to get real suction once he started to suckle. He heard a moan and felt another shudder, knees tensing at his shoulders and the ache of his own dick firmly rising to attention. Plenty of stimuli to let Dirk’s mind slip into a relaxed haze of hormones when it was tangled in with the reminder that they weren’t alone. The inability to reach up and fondle his balls or stroke Dave’s thigh was frustrating, as was fighting the angle of his dick a few times when suction broke or he wanted to lower down and taste him from another side, getting whapped on the nose with wet cock more than once. They were small stumbling blocks but far from enough to deter him from giving this his all.
    The softest squeak came from the chair as Rose moved behind him, but he couldn’t bother focusing on her at all, not when he was this invested in making Dave shiver. He wanted a moan, really. As many as he could get. The louder he could make Dave react the better he knew he was doing and the more invested Dave was since he wasn’t filtering noise by then. Another shuffle of cloth from out of sight, and Rose was suddenly making the bed dip as she sat at Dave’s side, only her underthings remaining on and in place now.
    Though he strained his ears to listen, Dirk couldn’t make out whatever was being whispered into Dave’s ear aside from it being several sentences that made him finally moan again and start to softly pant. Rose stroked at the flat expanse of Dave’s chest while she talked him through something before again giving the possessive gesture over his throat to tip his head back. When she offered the wine he drank, steady sips till the glass was nearly half gone and she was pulling it back again. When she spoke again it was loud enough for Dirk to hear as well.
    “I need to video you sometime, Dave. Both of you. You’d need to see this to appreciate it properly. You have this flush on you and you keep biting your lips and squirming every time his head goes down. Dirk,” she said with a grin, as she gently turned her body to face him more directly, ”you’re as good with a dick in your mouth as I knew you’d be... it’s quite fetching.”
    A leg unfurled from where it was resting with the other as she guided a bare foot towards his groin, pressing the ball of it flat against his shaft till it pressed firm against his stomach. The temperature difference alone almost made Dirk moan, but she didn’t let that fully sink in before starting to gently move in a rubbing gesture. It was pressure but not enough to be effective. It was a tease, and a damn good one considering any time Dirk opened his eyes to look up towards Dave, Rose was there in his view instead. Watching. Waiting. Judging his every reaction.
    Rose pressed down harder then, hard enough to hurt and make Dirk flinch and pull off Dave’s cock with a wet popping sound.
    “ Shit , knock it off.”
    She remained firmly in place and smiled, unimpressed.
    “Red? Yellow?”
    “ Green ,” he insisted with a grumble, diving back down onto Dave’s dick with renewed gusto as Rose started to move her leg up and down with the same intense pressing. It was a blend of painful and pleasurable, just enough to keep him on edge before she was gently easing off.
    “So stubborn. Well, if it’s too much I’ll stop once you say the word, but I admit I’m glad we’re continuing. Tapping out so early would skip the most fun parts and I’d not be able to keep looking at your eyes this clearly.”
    The second the discomfort stopped and he’d relaxed, Rose pressed her foot down firmly once more, grin turning to a smirk when Dirk flinched hard again. It wasn’t as if she’d stomped on him, but it was hard and sudden enough that he—
    He moaned.
    Christ a moan slipped out and Rose looked absolutely wicked as she held her pose, still as a statue before raising her leg higher to press against his chest, forcing Dirk off of where he’d been so intently suckling. To his surprise she came forward with the wine glass and offered him the remaining half.
    “So well behaved,” she cooed as she tipped the glass, sweet wine slipping into his mouth with just enough of an alcoholic burn to clear the savory taste from his mouth.
    Dave looked fit to burst already, fingers fisting in the sheets as he squirmed on his own time. No hands. No touching. He needed to wait and be patient but Jesus fucking Christ was it hard considering there was a guy he was severely attracted to that he wanted to jump on in one position or another at his feet and a woman he couldn’t stop gawking at in underwear that hugged her curves like a coastline pressing against him. He was too bi for this. Way. Way too bi for this. It wasn’t fucking fair .
    Rose retreated from the bed when the wine was drained, setting the glass atop her closed laptop once more before selecting another needed item. The familiar shape of a lube container, albeit a different brand than Dirk usually preferred, graced Rose’s hands when he could next see them.
    “Time to switch things up a bit. Dirk, I’m sure your knees could use a break. Come up here where Dave is and lay back,” she instructed. Dave shuffled to give up his position, before going to help brace Dirk as he rose as gracefully as someone this burdened by a boner could stand while bound with ropes. Which is to say as gracefully as a tranquilized cow till he caught his center of balance on his own past a certain height with Dave’s assistance. She was right, it was nice to get off his knees and restore circulation to his feet that he hadn’t quite been aware was slipping away by the minute while he worked Dave over. Even better was to stretch his back out on the soft mattress, carefully folding his hands instead of clenching into fists, taking a steady breath in and exhaling. A fingertip pressed at the underside of his dick, gently bobbling it in place till he glanced down as far as he could.
    “Dave. Straddle his middle and get to work on this for me, mm? Hips up so I can work,” she said with a smile. “Try to think ahead to what you’d like from the box afterwards.”
    Dave eyed the lube in her hand for about a half second before he was on Dirk’s waist, nearly a blur from how little convincing he needed. He braced himself on one bent arm before leaning down to take Dirk into his mouth, bumping the back of his own throat a few times before easing into it. His hips remained up as Rose instructed, dick remaining downwards to leave a cooling trail of precome in its wake from where the head briefly touched Dirk’s abdomen.
    Forget trying to be quiet, after the earlier teasing and the waiting, suddenly having eager warmth on him was more than welcome. Dirk dropped his head back and groaned low and heady, brows furrowing. He only opened his eyes again when the bed gave another well timed dip, Rose settling on her knees beside his head to fiddle with the lube. It seemed to be a new container judging from how she uncapped it and tore off the small amount of guard plastic over the opening with the tips of those sharp nails that Dirk wanted back on his neck again. When the cap was snapped back in place she reached an empty hand out to stroke the side of Dave’s hip.
    “You know, I’d originally intended for you to do this part of the job for me with your mouth, or at least the majority of it,” she said. The stroke turned rough, nails turning to leave a trail of stinging red behind, making Dave’s muscles tense and his muffled whine to appear over the sounds of soft wet slurps. “I don’t think you’d have minded. He’s quite a treat when he’s like this. I’m sure you know already, of course.. Can bend him to whatever whims you have and he folds like paper best he can.”
    The scratch ended near the middle of the back edge of Dave’s thigh before Rose stroked the roughed up line with the back of her knuckles. An unexpected pang of jealousy shot through Dirk as he watched those red welts appear.
    “I love him for how hard he works to make me happy. ...You though. You still need to impress me.”
    “What do you want to prove with this. If I’m bad at it, it just proves I’m not cut out to be a bottom. Like I said,” Dirk challenged.
    Rose pursed her lips as if frustrated he were missing an unstated point, then shook her head.
    “I don’t think that’s quite right. I’m not asking for you to be a god of sex, Dirk. I’m asking the same of you as I ask of Dave: compliance. The attempt. If you try your best and give your all, if you’re good for me, it shines through. If you half ass something or try to be spiteful, it shows through as well.”
    She stroked beneath his chin then before drawing her hand back down and trailing upwards again, dragging the edge of her fingernail up over his collarbone, up over his Adam’s apple, stopping right at the tip of his chin.
    “I like honesty too.. I want everyone happy as I make Dave,” she said. “If someone’s working hard to make me happy, then it’s my job to make sure they get satisfied as well. This is a two way street, remember?”
    “You’re preaching t-ahh… To the choir, Rose. I know all this already, this is normally my job remember?”
    Rose’s eyes narrowed just enough to make him question if they’d changed at all. The predator look was back with her smile, and when presented in tandem with Dave’s continued eager actions over his dick it was getting harder and harder to not respond just how she wanted to keep things happening.
    “Alright then. When you feel like talking later you can tell me everything,” she said. “No doubt you’ll be eager to talk again by the time you’re done.”
    “Done with what, just last? I can’t do much like…” Dirk trailed off as Rose sank back and hooked her thumbs into the edges of her panties, working them down and off before slinging a leg over Dirk’s face. She peered down at him and winked.
    “I’ve got some work to do now, but keep that thought in mind for later,” she urged as she scooted further down his face to line herself up. “Eat up for now. If you do well you’ll be getting what Dave gets afterward. I’d hate for you to wind up unsatisfied.”
    So that’s how she was going to be. She had to know. She knew and was doing this on purpose, stringing him along while knowing precisely what he wanted and choosing to ignore it. ...Or. Or she didn’t know? Which was it? Rose said she was going to prove she was the better dom somehow, but so far she was just proving how frustrating she could be. So be it then. Grunting, Dirk strained upwards a fraction to reach her easier, tracing his tongue along her clit a few times to tease and adjust to the new task.
    Eating pussy was fundamentally different from sucking a dick, especially at this angle. Rose did something that made Dave hum and breathe heavier around his cock again, knees shaking where they were pressed at his sides, making Dirk wish he could see more than Rose’s ass above him. She had to be opening him up, there’s nothing else she could be doing, prep work wasn’t anything mysterious or new when dicks had been mentioned and an ass was going to take something. However for some reason being unable to see yet being able to feel the progress, while being expected to keep his tongue and lips moving over Rose’s lower lips was a true test. Two bodies, two people he cared for, loved even, were resting atop him as if in their own world despite the distinct connection between the three of them. They were a mechanically functional ourboros of sex, and Dirk couldn’t give two shits that his shoulders felt like they were cramping a bit.
    Experimentally Dirk probed hard with his tongue before finding a good spot to suckle at, repeating the sucking the same as he had to Dave’s dick earlier over her clit, focusing with his tongue and lips as if he were drinking a thick milkshake through a boba straw. Rose tensed over him and rocked her hips, grinding against his face, forcing the back of his head down into the mattress. He had to time his breathing to avoid feeling claustrophobic beneath the warm mass of ass and thigh, but this was doable, especially once he started to get reactions like that out of her. Any reaction was good, but the ones he could feel twice as much were appealing; every time he made Rose feel good she seemed to get more intense with prepping Dave, who in turn went to town on his cock as if it were a quickly melting ice cream cone in the center of a heat wave.
    “Three fingers already? You’re such a slut,” Dirk heard through the thigh earmuffs he was wearing, and with it came the sharper sound of a hard slap. Dave flinched and jammed himself down so far on his cock that Dirk saw stars and stopped licking to gasp, though the reprieve was limited as Rose ground down on him again to make him re-start. “Three fingers for Dave and a reprimand for my previously well behaved chair if he doesn’t finish his dinner. Wow, I think you’d be able to take Asmodeus quite easily this time...”
    Asmodeus?
    Jesus fucking Christ, did Rose name her dicks?
    Another sharp slap sound, another moment of Dave swallowing around his dick, and Dirk could only think one thing in the haze of trying not to come too soon: a reprimand. That was intriguing. Would she even follow through on that threat? She didn’t seem unwilling to raise her hand now and then, and from the noise it had been strong enough to potentially leave some marks wherever the strike had connected with Dave’s body. Would he get any of that? Or was she not that type of dom.
    Wait, why the fuck was he wondering that. Even if she was, who cared? Why did he give two shits? He was just following Dave’s lead so she could prove her point and then he could prove his point in the near future as a love letter to just how incorrect she was about him.
    ...Though. It would be a bit of a waste to not experience everything Rose had to offer in such circumstances. Before he could reconsider the nagging sense of curiosity, Dirk probed as efficiently as he could and went still once more. He felt the nudge, the rutting against his nose and mouth, but the hopeful response of being threatened didn’t happen. Instead Rose suddenly lifted off his face and to the side, giving Dirk a deep breath of fresh air for the first time in a while. It felt cold on his face and down his throat, and the light of the room felt too bright.
    “Good, I’m glad you’re okay,” Rose said as she watched him. Her clean hand touched his face gently as it had before, stroking down his cheek and jaw. It was startling just how much it relaxed him, how soothed and comforted he felt. This was okay. This was nice, actually. He actually closed his eyes while she pet and stroked at his face, leaning subtly into her touch. “Do you have anything else to tell me before we move on?” she asked softly. “Dave’s pretty wound up now and I hate to keep him waiting for too long.”
    “Can I go ahead and pick one out?” Dave asked on cue, needing to keep his mind on absolutely anything but reaching down to rub one out. He could be patient. He could wait. But when he didn’t absolutely have to wait, when he could be a little whiny and get away with it? Why not take advantage of that. Rose only let him do it when she felt like letting him do it, and when she didn’t feel like it he still won anyway when being punished.
    Always winning made for a prettying freeing experience with Rose. It was easy to win with Dirk as well, but the feeling was just so different. Rose alternated the softness with the intensity purposefully, interweaving them as she pleased. Dirk aimed for hard and faltered, softening at occasionally crucial moments. Were it anyone but him would he do that? Or was this softness a Dave specific reaction for Dirk?
    “Yes, pick whichever one you want,” Rose said without looking up as Dave slid off the bed excited as a kid at Christmas to rifle through the options. “You’re picking for Dirk as well, so keep that in mind. Don’t challenge him too hard, I don’t feel like doing swaps between the two of you, I’d rather just stick with one. You’re the example today but you’re also really used to thi—.”
    “I’m not a fucking baby, Rose, it’s not like I’m a stranger to this kinda thing,” he interjected sharply enough that she slowed her hand to a halt and retracted it. Well shit, cuddle time over then. “Pick whichever you like best Dave. I can handle it.”
    Those purple eyes watched him, unblinking, studying him close enough that Dirk felt like they were probing into the side of his face. It was hard to blink, to look away. If he didn’t make eye contact in too long was he hiding? Was she waiting for a question? No, she was waiting for an answer to a question she’d asked twice now. What did he want?
    What did he want?
    Could she give him what he wanted, did he even know what he wanted?
    There’d been enough curve balls so far that it was confusing him and his own end goals. He’d be impressed if it wasn’t entirely frustrating. Maybe once they reached the climax of this entire affair it would feel more worthwhile.
    Dave rummaged and rustled till he whipped out a black bag with a white cord and slid it open to reveal the well made silicone toy it contained. ...Okay, maybe that was a little intimidating. He’d need some prep for sure if he was supposed to take it as well, but it wouldn’t be impossible, he’d taken larger before. The gentle curve cast in a deep gray was appealing and the way Rose grasped it with practiced ease was even more appealing, slipping it into place on the harness.
    “How are your arms,” she asked, pulling Dirk out of his head as she worked, Dave heeled at her side to kiss along her thigh and occasionally bite with gentle presses of those teeth he loved so much.
    “Kind of sore from laying on them,” he said. “Not numb of severe pain but.. Discomfort.”
    “Would you like up? Or untied?”
    “I can handle being tied longer,” Dirk insisted, not wanting to show weakness. Rose eyed him immediately to call his bluff, and he could tell she was trying to decide if this was a time to override his insistence that all was well or to roll with what he said. Apparently she rolled with it because she kept quiet as he continued to talk. “But I’d like up, yeah.”
    “Dave? Go ahead and play with Dirk for a second while I get this ready. You already know how to make him happy, have some free range while he gets upright,” she said with a wave of her hand before focusing on the harness and toy as if the mostly attached unit needed far more work than it appeared. This was an engineering issue. Did she want it in tandem with another toy? Something to rub against her clit or vibrate? Did she want to buzz Dave and Dirk while fucking them? She intended to fuck both of them, not just the one.
    Warm, familiar lips covered Dirk’s own within a few seconds as Dave bounced up atop him from the floor, holding either side of his face still to kiss him deeply, wet, open mouthed kisses that blended together and blurred their edges. Dirk could taste traces of himself on Dave’s tongue, and he knew for damn certain Dave could taste Rose. Somehow that just made it all the more delicious as they started to rock their bodies together, caught in the moment and bit of fencing till they heard Rose clear her throat.
    Ah, fuck. Right. His hands. That was what they were meant to be doing, getting pressure off of his hands and stopping the sense of trapped blood in his arms that had just begun. Dave pulled himself up and off just enough to scoot further back on Dirk’s legs before tugging him upwards by the ropes for another kiss as he settled on his lap. No complaints from Rose meant more heady kisses, more of Dave’s fingers in his hair and his teeth at his neck, more pressing their chests together like they wanted to crawl into each other’s skin somehow rather than be potentially pulled apart again. Every time Dave’s cock brushed his own it felt like lightning in his veins, and the sense of whiplash only grew ever stronger when he noticed Rose was pulling the harness on and into place to add the healthy sized appendage to herself firmly as she could. He saw a patch on her inner thigh catch a flash of light and couldn’t be bothered to feel a sense of smugness.
    Of course she was turned on. Everyone in this room was hot and bothered, but you wouldn’t know it from her features. She looked serene and unaffected safe for a telltale flush to her features and the wet spot that would no doubt get more noticeable once she put that dick to good use. Dave turned in his lap to eye her with interest, and it made Dirk’s heart ache that he clung tight to keep kissing him for longer instead of immediately dancing off of him at the promise of getting wrecked.
    The flavors had blended enough on their lips that it stopped being noticeable, started to become an average, mellowed tang in the air that reeked of sex. Dirk wanted to tug Dave’s hair, wanted to pin him down and put his fingers in his mouth, wanted to bend him in half and rest his legs up on his own shoulders and plow into him till he screamed.
    … Yet he also wanted Rose to pet him again.
    He wanted Rose’s soft, soothing voice and gentle petting, sweet touches and praise over and over as the bar was set incredibly low despite it being set for him. He wanted that almost as much as he wanted her to choke him while calling him a whore and the stark differences just made his dick hurt even more when Dave finally crawled off his lap. Where was it coming from? She’d asked him what he wanted, but now that he even knew what he wanted he could never admit it.
    Fuck, would she not do it if he didn’t say it? Would he just wind up getting cock teased the entire time and left to blueball it out while she did the example sub bullshit with Dave? Would Dave be the one to finish him off or would it be the photo finish jerkoff session with partly numb hands the second he was untied when it was too much to keep dealing with? Would Rose ride him and leave him squirming, or would she milk him dry while hammering his prostate? Lust ate at him in a way that Dirk wasn’t entirely comfortable with, not used to this degree of wanting someone, of wanting something he could only half understand and explain beyond a gut feeling and a concept of desire. It felt like powerlessness.
    “Dirk, go up to the head of the bed and sit quiet for me. Dave? On your knees. Get close as you’d like to Dirk up there, but keep off his dick or I’ll slap you senseless.”
    Dirk groaned under his breath at the casual threat and watched his lover like a hawk as he scooted backwards to the head of the bed and Dave slipped to the center. Once he was on all fours he splayed his knees and sank down a bit, knowing there wasn’t much in the way of a height discrepancy between he and Rose as it was. Just enough lowering to let her work, to get the best possible angles and speed comfortably. They made a cute pair as she climbed up behind him and took off her bra, lush breasts drooping comfortably against the front of her chest and swaying as she leaned to get some spare lube for the silicone beast she sported, a pair of nearly identical opposites. Dave rested on his elbows tantalizingly close to Dirk’s dick and kept glancing upwards at him from beneath his bangs with a hungry look in his eyes, trying to fuck him with vision alone so provocatively that Dirk could practically feel him riding on his lap in some close encounter with a separate reality brushing against their own at a thinned point in the veil.
    Rose bent forwards once she’d slicked her dick up, kissing a line up Dave’s spine as reverently, tenderly, leaving a pale ash of her lipstick in a tree along the vertebrae. He rose up onto his palms again and arched his back to let her kiss further, all the way to the side of his neck where she bit him a few times. Dave moaned aloud as she took him by the back of the head and shoved him down into the mattress as hard as she could, easing up enough to let him turn his head as she lined up with his hole and began to ease in.
    “That’s right, take all of it for me Dave. You’ve had bigger from me you greedy bitch, just let it in nice and easy like you always do,” she crooned, living for how Dave responded beneath her with micro-movements and twitches, panted breaths and the barely there hints of a moan. Rose wasn’t usually much for dirty talk, but she’d picked up the habit specifically for Dave in small doses, rolling with what felt natural at the time instead of trying to force something. When they’d patiently slipped about half the toy in, Rose rocked her hips back and withdrew a few inches before rolling them forward once more to sink even further inside. She traced her hand from Dave’s upper body to his narrow hips, bracing him carefully as they continued to do the back and forth dance of making him take every inch of what he’d selected as his own fate.
    As Dirk’s fate too, he remembered once he noticed Rose had started to stare at him. Smirk at him. The challenge was there loud and clear: is this what you want? Do you want more? Will you ask? Can you ask? Dirk didn’t know for sure if he could ask or not, but the incentive was nice. Unable to touch himself he clenched his fists behind his back and watched his lover adjust and relax in waves of sensitivity till at last Rose’s hips were flush with his ass. She cooed softly and rubbed the sides of his thighs and hips, his lower back, then around front to the barely there bulge of his abdomen.
    “So pretty. Doing such a good job for me, Dave, such a good boy doing so well. Are you ready? Let me know. Do you want it like usual?”
    Dave nodded into the bedding before he found his voice, clearing his throat a few times before croaking out a shaky “Yeah” loud enough that they could both hear it. Dirk glanced to Rose’s eyes again and found her already looking at him again, smirking. Knowing.
    “Okay then,” she said as she gave an appreciative squeeze to his thighs and straightened up again to start moving.
    The pace was far gentler than what Dirk was expecting. It caught him by surprise just how tenderly they moved together, far more making love than just quick and rough sex. Rose rocked at a decent pace and occasionally flicked her hips to change the inner pressure against Dave’s insides, and Dave clung to the bedding to keep himself from moving beneath her thrusts. They both made breathy sounds and loving murmurs, though Dave’s were already far less coherent when she eventually picked up speed. Skin hitting skin rang out and Dirk was surprised to see just how efficiently Rose was keeping up with the physical demands, barely breaking a sweat.
    Made sense. Couldn’t top two men in a row if you weren’t physically prepared to do a lot of fucking.
    Dave cried out suddenly and stole Dirk’s attention again, made him unconsciously try to reach for his dick to stroke himself as Rose found the best angle to hammer along his prostate at and went to town. He sank down further, straining to keep upright as she continued to rough him up from behind, occasionally slapping a side of his ass hard enough it left finger and palm prints and Dave melting in place with bliss. Rose leaned forward over Dave’s back possessively to snake a hand beneath his hips to catch his cock was a lovely sight, nipples dragging either side of his spine before being pressed flat between their bodies as she slowed just a fraction. Her hand needed some of her effort now, working his length hard and thorough.
    “Come for me, Dave. You’re doing so good, you did such a good job. Come for me now,” she panted, grin breaking wide when he tensed and cried out again, clawing at the bedding before bowing his back. He came hard from the look of things, the top of the bedding streaked with white before even more leaked out to form a small puddle beneath him. Rose milked him through his orgasm ‘til the most intense part had passed and he became overly sensitive beneath her, shivering as Rose removed her hand and held him close to her chest. She carefully pulled out and let Dave roll to his side to catch his breath, dazed and finally satisfied.
    Dirk envied him for about ten solid seconds before Rose was crawling forward on her knees towards him, silicone dick swaying generously in the harness as she planted her palms on either of his thighs to get right up in his face.
    “Last chance,” she said. “Talk to me.”
    Dirk’s heart hammered in his chest as he weighed his options. Take whatever option came with not talking, not telling, or talk and do as she says and ostensibly have a better time for it. Give and take, but it felt like giving a hell of a lot for what he could only hope would be taking a good amount back. Wetting his lips, Dirk lifted his chin.
    “I’ll take whatever you want to dish out.”
    “That all?” Rose asked. He could feel her nails turning to bite into his flesh, testing him and his limits. “I’m all ears, Dirk, but not for long.”
    “Whatever it is, I can handle it,” Dirk said. Then after a moment’s hesitation, he glanced to the side. “...I can probably handle the rest, too.”
    The biting nails stayed where they were, hard enough he wondered if he’d just have crescents in his skin or small traces of papercut thin lines of blood. Was that not clear enough? Was that not what she wanted? He glanced back onto to see Rose staring at him flatly, unimpressed.
    “What? Wrong answer?”
    Rose lunged forward like a dog preparing to bite his face so suddenly that honest on God he flinched back to avoid her running into his nose at top speed. She frowned and narrowed her eyes at him.
    “Is this what you really want, Dirk? Tame answers, promises I’ll fuck you senseless as rough as I can and cuddle you to my tits afterwards, or are you wanting to actually work for what you want?” The frown gave way to a curled smile. “Dave’s earned what he gets plenty of times over. He’s a good boy. I’ve seen you try to be a good boy for me, but I’m pretty unconvinced. I think you’re still the same self important prick you always are, wanting to have his cake and eat it too.”
    “What do you mean?” he asked, dick fit to burst on his lap. If he came now he’d never live it the fuck down, hold on just a bit longer, Jesus fuck.
    “I mean I think you still want to prove your point, because it’s a very Dirk thing to do, and you’re not subtle about it. Same as you’re not subtle at all about being thirsty for what I can do. As you are right now I’m unconvinced you won’t just take my best then twist it into not being enough so you can rebound with your own example on a higher step.”
    He frowned. “How do I convince you then? I don’t want to do that, I’m willing to approach this on even territory for now.”
    “Beg for it,” Rose said without missing a beat. When Dirk immediately leaned further back she pursued till Dirk was plastered against the headboard proper and Rose was riding over his lap, silicone dick digging into his abdomen stubbornly between them.
    “Beg for what , for what I already admitted I could handle?”
    “No. I want you to beg for what you want, Dirk. I won’t be doing a damn thing till you beg for you like a good little bitch and admit I’m the one calling all of the shots well enough that you’re reduced to begging for it instead of it just being delivered to you on a silver platter.”
    “I worked on Dave!”
    “Working on Dave is easy when it’s what you did, though I’m sure he appreciated every second of it.”
    “I also ate you out! Doesn’t that count for good work done?”
    “You stopped early enough I worried you’d passed out.”
    “Yeah, well, I didn’t. I was tired.”
    “And I’ve had better, funny how that works out,” she snipped before covering Dirk’s mouth in a kiss that ranged from gentle leading in to nearly teeth clicking intensity before they pulled apart to catch their breath. “Beg for me and I’ll follow through as good as I’ve been given. Tell me things to avoid.”
    “Don’t suddenly take a dump on my chest and we’re good,” Dirk grunted. “But I was being genuine before: I can take whatever you can dish out. The rest too.”
    Rose slipped off his lap and adjusted herself before grabbing the ropes that held Dirk’s arms in place behind him, physically throwing him to the side so he landed on his back with his long legs dangling over the edge of the bed as he looked up at her, startled. Her hair had fluffed up a bit wilder, a few strands hanging in her face as she planted her hands on her hips and stared down at him. The predatory look had returned, and intensified as she crawled up his thighs, up over his waist, to perch right ahead of his dick. He could feel a streak of precome rub against one of her ass cheeks and cool on impact, the bit of pressure tantalizing as it was before he realized she was sinking down to align his length with the crack of her ass. A few steady, pressure filled rubs and he was nearly gone.
    Her hands snaked up to his throat then, thumbs placing pressure directly over where his air supply passed on either side, and pressed down steadily. While Dirk could still breathe it was being impaired significantly beneath Rose’s solid grip, and his eyes widened when realization kicked in. She was choking him based on his earlier explanations, something that he hadn’t entirely realized he was into till Rose did it. Something about her soothing concern and caution mingling with the getting in his face and beneath his skin was intermingling nicely in his brain. He was at risk, this was something that if done in another way could hurt his throat, but Rose knew what she was doing. He trusted Rose. He trusted her to not hurt him worse than he said he could handle. He trusted Rose to only hurt him in the best ways, and then to maybe even kiss that pain away.
    Dave to their sides had rolled to his other side to watch them and was lazily reaching out to stroke at Dirk’s hair in the same petting gesture Rose had been doing before. Soothing and soft was mingling with being choked out, and Dirk twitched as he came against Rose’s ass harder than he could remember coming in quite some time.
    She seemed surprised at first, but slowly reduced the pressure bit by bit till he was breathing normally. Assuming they were done, Dirk sighed and opened his mouth to thank her for the new discovery, but was cut off.
    “Ready to come, then?”
    “I uh. ...I just did.”
    “Yes. Once,” Rose said with a smirk. “I’d hardly call that done. Especially since I didn’t give you permission to, and off you shot like a rocket just from a bit of breathplay and a nice ass.” She pressed a kiss to Dirk’s cheek before murmuring up by his ear. “Predictable. Weak move... Are you ready to beg for me, Dirk?”
    Boy was he fucking ready. Shit already felt great and there was one more round to go, he had to see it through for all it could be instead of half assing a second of it. Dirk sang like a canary as Dave grinned and pet him in the hazy afterglow of what he’d already experienced, leisurely coming down while Dirk was still ramping up for one last rodeo with the remnants of his previous erection.
    “Let me have it, Rose. Fuck me up. Knock the shit outta me, I don’t care,” Dirk said. “Just kiss it better afterward. Pet me like Dave. I want all of it.”
    Rose and Dave shared a look, surprised he actually complied but very pleased nonetheless. When Dave stopped petting him, Rose gave him another tender kiss and hummed as she pulled away, swinging her leg up over his body to climb off and to her feet at the side of the bed. She slipped up between Dirk’s parted thighs and tugged him closer to the edge of the bed before he got the idea and lifted his legs on his own to leave himself exposed for her. The erection still hadn’t gone down, apparently ready and raring for the next round as he was verbally, orange eyes expectantly watching Rose as he rode on the discomfort of his arms. Pain, but not more than he could take. Not more than he kind of enjoyed as his fingertips tingled behind him in the mattress.
    She cupped Dirk’s hips before teasing at his entrance with the toy’s head, humming still as if in thought.
    “Dirk.. Do you think you can take this without extra prep..? Plenty of lube of course. But it’s quite a lot,” she said.
    It’d sting. It wouldn’t destroy him, Dirk knew what to do and he trusted Rose to be patient and not just jam it in at the first opportunity. They were both experienced adults. He nodded and bent his knees a little more, letting his knees part.
    “Yeah.”
    Right answer apparently. Rose beamed at him and Dave handed over the lube before returning to rest on his side, toying with Dirk’s hair while they waited instead of petting him, sleepy expression of satisfaction still playing over his face. The lubricant was applied liberally on the toy, and more was added at his entrance, Rose curling her fingers to probe him briefly the same way she’d prepped Dave. Same method but different speeds, she withdrew her hand and rested them at Dirk’s hips after lining up once more and slowly beginning to push inside.
    He exhaled and tried to keep his muscles as loose as possible, relaxing with all his might as Rose entered. ...And entered. ...And kept entering. He’d forgotten just how long the toy really was when it was being shoved inside of a man’s body, observing had shown him the bulge Dave got and yet somehow Dirk was still surprised at just how much there was to take. It just seemed to keep coming at him in more and more intimidating pushes till at long last they were flush together and he was panting his air, sweat slicking his brow.
    Rose loomed over him like a pleased goddess, stroking along the new bump in his abdomen and up the flat planes of his stomach. She tweaked a nipple so hard it stung before repositioning her nails over the top of his ribs, sinking them in a bit before dragging them downwards as if she were a bear marking a tree. Dirk hissed air between his teeth before groaning in satisfaction, savoring every inch she dragged downwards and doing it all over again when she did it to the other side, crossing the very ends of the patterns she’d drawn in the hair below his navel. His skin felt like it was on fire but there was no mistaking the surge of endorphin in his blood.
    “Dave, be a darling and keep his mouth busy for me. Be attentive, though. Don’t choke him, he’ll be moving and it’d be hard to signal like that. Just keep good and close so he can go at his own pace,” Rose instructed before she straightened, grabbed his hips and drew back, slamming home so hard and suddenly that his teeth clicked before he could cry out.
    Jesus Christ, right at the nerves, her aim was goddamn good she stroked it right on the first thrust. The bed sank around Dirk’s shoulders as Dave carefully straddled his head from behind, then seemed to think better of it and settled for scooting close enough to rest flaccid, dribbling dick to the side of his lips and his own hands on the headboard for balance. It was a strange setup but it worked well enough, Dirk opening his mouth to accept Dave and suckle gently as he could once Dave hissed with sensitivity. Gentle, gentle...
    Rose was the opposite of gentle as she set a heavy pace, jostling him this way and that as she used the bed for leverage, putting her back and hips into following through on what Dirk had asked of her. Could she be rougher? Of course she could. She was already thinking of different toys and tools to use next time she could talk Dirk into playing with her and Dave, or even just her if Dave wanted some time to himself one night or another. She wanted to see just how much Dirk really could take without breaking, and what he was like when he did break. It’d take more than one session to really see that out properly though.
    She had a feeling he’d be eager enough for this that the earlier bet might potentially be put on pause, at least for a while. Something something more research needed before a proper ownage could occur something something. Dirk was predictable in some ways and that was just his charm.
    With Dave crooning at him, Rose hammering away at him till his toes curled, and alternating smacking the backs of his thighs and the sides of his hips hard as she could, Dirk was losing a battle he’d only just begun to fight. When he felt that warm hand wrap around his dick and squeeze, doing the same milking gesture in tandem with the staccato of her hips against his ass, Dirk saw white and seized briefly, spilling thinned, barely there semen over Rose’s knuckles. Not enough time had passed to be very effective, but the release had been achieved and he was swimming on cloud nine.
    She let him enjoy it for a few moments, resting her weight on his torso and petting the side of his face, kissing his cheek, his lips, the tip of his nose after Dave pulled back to give him air. Dave stroked his hair and scratched his scalp in gentle motions as he rested curled on his side like a human halo around Dirk’s head. They were all a mess, they were all exhausted by now. Rose grunted when she got up off of Dirk and pulled the toy gently free. On unsteady legs she stood and removed the harness, setting it and the toy aside for proper cleaning afterwards before reaching down and carefully pulling Dirk up by his ropes.
    Dave was the one who untied him, familiar enough with the knots that he could recognize which places held the most tension and support, which ones he could pull to loosen the entire structure quickest to free him. Dirk’s skin was depressed and red where the ropes had bit into him, repeating the intricate knots and lattice work as brightly on his skin as the scratches stood out on his chest. The palm prints from where he’d been slapped were still red, and from how warm they still felt they’d be leaving some kind of bruise behind as well in time. He felt light headed when he could move his arms properly, stretching them to the front to pop his shoulders and move his numbed fingers to get the life back in them. Rose took one arm and Dave took the other, gently massaging the blood back where it needed to go, keeping the ache of return from growing too intense.
    All the while Rose talked in that same soft voice Dirk had grown addicted to, gentle praises and comforting phrases as the backdrop to the new silence in the air now that the sex and moaning had stopped. Dirk could hear the gentle pour of rain outside, pitter patters against the covered glass of the window and the distant sound of cars forming the perfect soundtrack with Rose’s voice.
    He wasn’t sure when Rose moved him again, when Dave shifted them all to the side, but he was glad he went whenever it was. Rose was in the center of the bed on her back in a comfortable position, with Dave cuddled up beside one breast and himself by the other side, free to kiss or touch wherever they pleased. Her hands were on their shoulders and kept straying up to their heads in lazy strokes and pets as she continued to soft speak barely there words like poetry to his soul. They slept well like that for some time, tension having risen to a fever pitch in the moment only to be cuddled away, to the sound of a steady rain storm.
    Dirk didn’t offer Rose a reverse challenge for several weeks. Instead, he made sure to catch her more often when Dave did on the couch, making certain Rose sat in the center so they both could rest a head on her leg. Both eager to be stroked and told just how good they were. How wonderful. How sweet. How loved.
20 notes · View notes
utopianparadoxist · 8 years ago
Text
As You Wish
[Author’s Note: This is a repost of Love, Faith and Fantasy–my piece on Jake and Dirk’s character arcs and the relevance of Knights and Pages in understanding them. I thought breaking it up into chunks would make the content more accessible, and give me room to flesh out each argument. Thus there will be some updates to the content. Hopefully this will mean more people can easily approach it!] [Pt. 1 - Knights/Pages - Service and Ownage] [Pt. 2 - Faith and Fear] [Pt. 3 - Fearful Heart]  [Pt. 4 - Nobility] 
Tumblr media
A disclaimer before we get started:
 I think reading Jake as aromantic is copacetic with the canon. Obviously I don’t share this reading--I see him as Bi and romantic--but all I’m going to argue here is that Jake deeply, truly, profoundly loves Dirk. I’m going to explain how and why he loves him, too. But whether that love is romantic or platonic is up to interpretation, I think. You can read them as lovers or best friends or whatever shade of grey between is most pleasing to you, in my humble opinion. All I’m arguing is that the love is there. That out of the way, let’s begin.
I don’t feel the need to deconstruct Jake’s every line to determine why he didn’t mean each and every one that could suggest a lack of romantic interest. You can pretty much put almost all of them down in one of four categories:
He worries about other people’s perceptions and discomfort with queerness, a byproduct of internalized homophobia... His later discomfort with feeling unsafe and sexually threatened/objectified, a byproduct of his traumatic experiences with Hal, Jane and Aranea... His lack of surety regarding the nature of Dirk’s feelings for him...., a byproduct of his willful ignorance and his desire to avoid talking about the possibility he may have hurt Dirk’s feelings growing up.
And then there’s the one moment I actually want to talk about.
Tumblr media
Jake says this in response to Roxy talking about feeling like it hurts to let Dirk down. The thing is, Roxy--like Dave--is a Passive player, who is predominantly motivated by the perceptions and needs of others. Of course failing someone she cares about is going to sting for her more than it would for Jake.
Tumblr media
That has nothing to do with Jake’s capacity for love, it has to do with the fact that Jake is selfish. It has to do with him regretting his self-absorption. Jake does love, and he loves intensely--he loves enough to die for it, which is pretty much as intense as it gets. He’s just deeply, deeply selfish about it.
And I love that selfishness about Jake. Because it turns all doubts about whether Jake loves Dirk back to ash in one fell swoop, in one single, brilliant, shining moment. 
In this moment all of Jake’s plot threads come together--his sexual abuse and lack of agency, his growing fear, his certainty none of his friends wants him anymore, his selfishness and fantasy indulgence AND Dirk’s desire to live up to Dave’s image and be helpul to Jake are all built up into this one single, spectacular moment.
A cinematic moment. A moment with deep philosophical implications.
Tumblr media
Everything about Jake and Dirk’s narratives builds up to this. Dirk’s desire to live up to Dave and Jake’s inherent selfishness are complementary, symbiotic forces. I mentioned earlier that when Dirk’s lamp and Heart Light up and overflow he performs incredible, unbelievable acts whilst rushing to Jake’s side.
Tumblr media
And when Jake is Lit up by Aranea, removing his agency as a person COMPLETELY while also making him the brightest object in the sky, Jake manages to find a way to turn his power against her. And what he chooses to create reveals everything about his character. 
Because what he chooses to do is call Dirk to his side, to protect him and keep him safe from his perceived threat.
Both of the boys literally LIGHT UP with their feelings for each other, in a comic where the concept of Light is explicitly linked to relevance, importance, understanding, and the concept of reaching Enlightenment or Nirvana. (Stay tuned, I’ll flesh this out more in my next three videos.)
I’ve gone over the inherent romance in Jake choosing to create Dirk over literally any other option imaginable. But with the new context of Jake explicitly looking to serve himself through Hope, it takes on an added edge. What Jake wants more than anything else in the world is Dirk, but not at all to make Dirk happy or because it’s what Dirk would want. No.
Jake wants Dirk because he’s selfish. Because he wants life to be happy and easy and adventurous but carefree, and he believes he can always rely on Dirk to take care of things or bail him out when things get too intense for him to handle. Jake wants Dirk as a best friend, a bodyguard, a partner, a rival and a servant all rolled into one.
Jake’s feelings for all of his friends have nothing to do with them and everything to do with himself. He’d rather die than live in a word without Jane, and that’s why he saves her--not because he thinks he owes it to her for past slights. The same is true of the way he wants to be with Dirk.
All of this is textual by implication. Dirk’s line:
”I am Brain Ghost Dirk. You kissed my boyfriend. Prepare to Die.”
Is indicative of the Dirk that Jake wants and believes in in his head. This line is a movie reference to The Princess Bride, a romantic fantasy adventure comedy with a very curious dynamic between the romantic leads. 
No shortage of people have pointed out how Jake seems to see himself as or end up in the positions of sexualized and marginalized female protagonists, but I think there’s a cause to be made Jake’s “arc” draws from this specific one--Buttercup--above all others. Buttercup’s romantic dynamic with Westley is simple: She issues requests to him, and he responds “As you Wish.” 
This As you Wish is an explicit I love you, and the power of love is put forth as the source of Westley’s power and endless competence and ability throughout the entire story. It doesn’t matter what needs to happen, Westley finds a way to do it. And he does it because he believes in their love.
Buttercup, however, struggles to hold on to her faith that love can overcome all things possible and wavers in her commitment to living for it, ending up nearly trapped in an unwanted marriage. Buttercups’ arc is resolved when she chooses to believe in love even at risk of dying, promising never again to hide what she truly desires--Westley.
Jake perceives Dirk as his Prince Charming, an idea that could also be described as a Knight in Shining Armor. 
This is the essence of Jake’s fantasy, and we know that’s what it is--a fantasy-- because when Caliborn threatens to kill Dirk in the Masterpiece (which the Credits suggest we’ll soon see once again), Jake responds by shifting his and Dirk’s fundamental power dynamic--once again Lighting Up with love to save Dirk by delivering Caliborn his destined serving.
Tumblr media
Jake’s victory ends up giving Hope to all those opposing Lord English, but Jake himself doesn’t give a shit about that. 
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Jake’s stated motivation for trouncing Caliborn is one thing and one thing only: Saving Dirk. Serving his own desire to see Dirk safe. Caliborn is hurting his friend, and Jake is mad about it. His motivation is essentially identical to his desire to save Jane--he doesn’t want to live without Dirk.
And on Dirk’s side, this dynamic ultimately validates the idea that he became everything he wanted to become by emulating Dave through a bit of understated environmental storytelling. 
What’s more, this bit of environmental storytelling also prompts us to consider looking back towards the early Acts with the Beta Guardians with a bit more of a serious eye--the darkness of Mom’s House and Bro damaging the symbol of Dave’s Self begin to take on heavier tones, for example. 
What’s more, it gives us more reason to be excited for Hiveswap, through virtue of the fact that it demonstrates Hiveswap’s care and attention to detail with regards to Homestuck as a whole. 
I already argued in favor of Grandpa being able to on some level remember his relationship to the Alphas, so click here to see full version of that argument.   
The shortform is this: Grandpa’s manor has three rooms, each lit by one of the Alpha’s colors and filled with items linked to them, and the Distinguished Houseguests in his Grand Foyer each link to one of the Alphas as well. 
Here are the rooms in sequence:
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Take a look at the fireplace--it’s got Derse colors on one side, and Prospit colors on the other. On the Prospit side, you’ve got a Blue Lady--matching Jane, who Jake liked to trade posters of blue people with-- and an alien species with horns on it’s head, also wearing a suit--matching Calliope. 
On the Derse side you’ve got a Mummy, matching Roxy both by sharing both Jake and Roxy’s interests in bodily preservation, and through the fact that Roxy’s planet includes Pyramids. There’s also the wordplay between the words Mummy and Mommy, if you’ll allow me to stretch a little.
And then we have a Knight, representing Dirk. This dynamic answers a question that didn’t even need asking--why the Knight sitting on the Derse side of Grandpa’s house wears a suit suspiciously similar to one of Dave’s most well-known ones.
Tumblr media
It suggests an explicit linkage of the idea of Knighthood and the idea of Dave, and suggests that this is the imagery that comes to Grandpa’s mind when thinking of Dirk. In one way, you could view this as Dirk managing to destroy his own thematic legacy in Bro and succeeding at living up to Dave’s thematic image instead, at least in Grandpa’s mind--a sort of ultimate implementation of his Prince of Heart role.
This existentially validates Dirk, setting him apart from his Splinters and rendering him unique in the context of the Dirk Strider ultimate self--at least in the eyes of the boy he loves. And, well. Fuck? That’s beautiful to me.
And just for the record, this is a connection that has held true across not only the entirety of the Homestuck, but through Hiveswap as well, with a Knight standing right in front of a smuppet in Grandpa’s garage:
Tumblr media
Which suggests to me that WP has approached Grandpa’s memories and the Alpha’s arcs with the same attention to detail the comic itself gave them, and makes me extremely confident in what’s to come. Hopefully now you are too. Hiveswap’s attention to detail speaks to the quality of the story they’ve crafted, and we should all be excited beyond reasonable belief, in my humble opinion.
Conclude.
So that’s it. That’s pretty much all my evidence for this reading of Dirk, Jake, Dave, and the wider story surrounding them. I look forward to hearing your responses. Personally, putting this together was revelatory for me. 
I hope it was for you, too. If it wasn’t quite, I hope you want to talk about it and keep track of the ongoing conversation I hope takes place here as a result.
This series has been a passion project, but also a side project to my youtube series aimed at welcoming and explaining Homestuck to new, incoming Hiveswap fans. If you find yourself trying to make it easier for a Hiveswap fan to understand what Homestuck is about and how it connects to the game, I hope you think of me.
If you like my writing and have a buck to spare, you could also really help me out by enabling me to focus on putting more of this content out there through pledging on Patreon. Doing so will also give you access to my private community of enthusiasts trying to advance new and interesting readings of this wonderful property.
See you again soon, everyone. Until then,
Keep rising.
93 notes · View notes
ao3feed-rosekan · 7 years ago
Text
It Takes a Cantown to Raise a Grub
read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2FlwLFs
by twilitalks
Rose Lalonde was perfectly fine and happy being married to the woman of her dreams. Just them. A peaceful, calm, quiet life.
So why was the house so lonely? Why did Kanaya's motherly charm suddenly squeeze at her heart?
Alternatively: In which Flighty Broad A, who's flushed for Flighty Broad B, learns that despite being married to her matesprit and living in a beautiful and peaceful house that counteracts the chaotic adventure they have long since finished, she feels herself yearning for something indescribable and incomprehensible only to eventually discover its the human instinct to want children with their matesprits when the condition is favorable but she has heavy baggage concerning motherhood and has a crisis, but with the help of Flighty Broad B and her other family members, she learns to overcome them and grow as they dive into a weird alien mix of raising a child.
Words: 6238, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English
Fandoms: Homestuck
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Categories: F/F, M/M
Characters: Rose Lalonde, Kanaya Maryam, Dave Strider, Karkat Vantas, Roxy Lalonde, Calliope (Homestuck), Other Character Tags to Be Added
Relationships: Rose Lalonde/Kanaya Maryam, Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas, Kanaya Maryam & Karkat Vantas
Additional Tags: Humor, Romance, Fluff, Light Angst, happy lesbian wives get a happy family, rose is a mess with mommy issues but kanaya loves her anyways, Children, Adopted Children, Ectobiology, Earth C (Homestuck), i would tag canon compliant but hs is so vast im bound to mess up sorry, Post-Canon, overcoming childhood issues, Motherhood
read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2FlwLFs
3 notes · View notes