Jackson is there!

Jackson looks like he may have had some sort of near death experience!

...well it's not usually that bad. He walks up to Jackson's table. "Hi?"

"H-hi."

"How're you?" he asks because "Are you okay?" is tired and used by now.

"I was like thisclose to cheating on Master and I'm scared."

...well that's potentially interesting. "With whom?"

"I went out wandering around and I met this dom watering his garden and it was laundry day I had a high necked shirt on and he hit on me and I didn't tell him and - and -"

"...and?" he invites, trying not to sound hopeful. After all, surely doms like Mason are a statistical oddity, right?

"And I had my belt on so, but, but I really wanted -"

"Him?" he hazards.

Nod.

"Did either of you get either of the other's contact information?"

"...I know where he lives..."

"Yeah, but—never mind, did you two talk about anything or was it just, cute dom flirt with you, you say thanksnothanks, you go on your merry way?"

"He wanted to know why I was wearing long sleeves and I said I had stuff in the laundry and, and he was nice but I don't even know if he was actually hitting on me, probably he wasn't, people don't -"

"People sometimes do," he murmurs, trying to keep the smile from his voice and lips.

"Well he probably wasn't but he was nice."

"Mmhm." Now how to navigate this in a way that won't result in Jackson just running back to Mason? "You could see him again," he suggests.

"I dunno what I'd say."

"I don't, either, I don't know him," he shrugs. "The basic instructions for a first interaction are typically showing interest in what a person likes and does and stuff. And for flirting there's usually eyelash batting and saying 'sir' a lot."

"I - I'm not supposed to -"

"Oh, I know, it was just a general comment on how these things are done," he shrugs. "It was a non-negligible part of how I started flirting with Isabella." Of course, he was a bit more forward than that, and he did get a crush the size of the moon on her, but still, it's the principle of the thing.

"I can't cheat on Master I don't know what he'd do."

"Chatting with a new person isn't cheating, even if that person happens to be another role," he points out.

"...but if he told me to I might."

"Hmm. But you also might not."

"...no I probably would," says Jackson.

"Why do you think so?"

"I'm not very good at not doing things people tell me to do. ...and he's nice."

"And Mason's not," he says, using a tone that could be construed as a question or as a statement.

"...no."

"What's new guy's name?"

"Brian," sighs Jackson.

"You could see Brian again," he suggests, "and see if he's really nice, and become his friend, and maybe you'll find you prefer him, maybe you won't, but this is moderate evidence that people can, in fact, be interested in you, if he was flirting."

"I dunno if he was really flirting or not."

"And if he wasn't you two might just be friends, and if he was you might find you prefer him to Mason..."

"But I can't cheat on him I don't know what he'd do."

"If you prefer Brian you could break up with Mason is what I meant," he clarifies.

"I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"I just - I can't."

"That might prove to be a problem if you ever find out you do prefer not being with Mason to being with Mason," he points out.

"...yeah."

"It's also not an actual reason."

"I don't know what Master'd do if I tried it."

"...you think he'd try to—what, attack you or something?"

"I don't know! But if he wanted rid of me he could dump me and he hasn't so he must not want rid of me and wouldn't want me to break up with him!"

"You... do remember that relationships are supposed to be wanted by all members of it, right. People can't just start relationships on their own."

"...he didn't," Jackson points out, "you were there, remember?"

"I know, but that's a condition that's supposed to last for the entirety of a relationship, not just the start."

...shrug.

Sigh. "D'you want me to talk to Brian? Subtly figure out whether he's interested so you can make an informed decision?" And whether he's an abusive dipturd, he does not say.

"...what would you say?"

"'Hi, I'm Sadde, I'm from Selene, oh you met a cute sub from there the other day, you don't say, what a coincidence, what's his name, oh, Jackson, yes, I know him, yeah he's nice, he kinda has a dom but I think they're gonna break up soon.'"

"Why do you think that?"

"I don't necessarily, but he might be enough incentive for you to want to do it anyway of your own accord so this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."

"...oh."

"I have expressed that I believe you would be happier without Mason. You disagreed. But you might agree that you'd be happier with Brian. Depending."

"...maybe. I don't know, maybe this is just what relationships with me in them look like."

"Mmmmno I don't think so, I mean, I'm pretty sure you're too subby to actually have much of an influence on Mason's side of it and from what I know Mason's side of it is somewhat unusual." To put it mildly.

"...aren't you the one always talking about how subs totally influence things all the time."

"Not all the time!" he protests. "And besides, this kind of situation's not quite what I mean when I say that."

"Maybe if I were the kind of sub who's assertive about stuff all the time like you tell me to it'd be different so it's my fault."

"Speaking as a switch, if I were the dom in a relationship I would not act that way regardless of how assertive my sub was."

"Well, you're a switch, though, not a regular dom."

"We could argue hypotheticals all day long, but in the end you have a sample size of one and I don't think you ought to be so sure of any generalizations you draw from it. From what you've described of your relationship, from my relationship with Isabella, from the relationships of other people in this school, from relationships in fiction, I believe your current one is somewhat outlying."

"Yeah," says Jackson, "but that could still be me."

"It could, but it could also be Mason."

"I guess."

"And you could find out with the nice dom who showed at least some interest in you."

"I don't think he was even really hitting on me."

"In which case you get a new friend and stay with Mason which is at least a slight improvement on the status quo. What do you have to lose?"

"But what if I cheat."

"Didn't you just say you don't think he was really hitting on you?"

"Yeah but I could be wrong or he could start."

"So I could go talk to him to see whether he's really interested," he reiterates the suggestion. "Don't know whether I'd be able to pull it off, but I'd try not to actually lead conversation that way unless it actually goes that way. Ooor you could preemptively break up with Mason on the off-chance he was in fact hitting on you."

"I don't know what he'd do if I broke up with him."

"You could... break up over the phone, if you're afraid of him? Or in a public place, where he can't get away with—much?"

"I don't have keys."

Of course he doesn't have keys. "A locksmith might be able to do it without damaging it?"

"I can't go take my pants off for a locksmith!"

"Oh right the belt too—" Pause. "Well you could, but I understand why you might not want to."

"I don't think locksmiths do that."

"Don't they? Maybe you could try picking the lock? Can you reach it?"

"Yeah but I don't know how to pick a lock."

"Is it a very complicated lock? There's probably books on it, or online tutorials."

"I don't know, I'm not supposed to be able to get out of it or I'd have a key."

"Yes but if you're breaking up, which is the hypothetical we're entertaining here, what you're 'supposed to do' in context changes, somewhat."

"I think if people are breaking up they're supposed to let their doms unlock them from stuff that locks?"

"Yes, they are, but usually they are less uncertain about the likely consequences of breaking up, or at least their uncertainty distribution isn't that heavily skewed in that direction."

"...what does that mean."

"Means that most people don't expect their doms to do something bad upon breaking up, I think."

"I don't know what he'd do."

"Yeah, but there's different kinds of not knowing. If I broke up with Isabella... I don't know whether she'd cry, but I'm pretty sure she would be very confused and hurt and would accept the collar back normally."

...wow. That's upsetting to picture. Let's not do it again.

"I don't know what to do and Brian probably wasn't even flirting with me."

"...okay, look, let's try to separate the parts of this problem. What do you want? Not want to do, just, generally, want?"

"I want somebody to love me."

Holy shit can this guy be more heartbreaking.

"Okay. Do you think Mason does?"

"No."

...sigh. "Do you... want a hug?"

Shrug.

Hug. And petting.

Jackson sags in his arms and sighs.

Yeah.

"Do you think it's likely you or Mason will come to love each other?"

"I thought I loved him..."

"Mmhm," he murmurs.

"I dunno how I'd tell, really."

"Do you typically look forward to seeing him? Other than the sex."

This question seems to confuse Jackson, but not so much that he doesn't eventually say, "No."

"That may not be a sufficient condition for being in love with someone but I'm pretty sure it's necessary."

"Oh."

"So, you don't love Mason, he doesn't love you, it's not very likely either of you will start. I personally think that would be sufficient for me to want to break up but you might prefer to remain with him for other reasons. But you unambiguously prefer being with someone who loves you and whom you love back, right?"

"...yeah."

"Now, suppose you found out right now that, one, other doms than Mason can, in fact, be interested in you, and two, Brian in particular was. Would that be enough for you to want to break up, never mind whether you'd be able to go through with it?"

"I wouldn't want to break up I just want to be broken up."

"...okay. Alright. So, you want to be broken up, and you want to be with someone else who loves you and stuff. What are the bad parts of breaking up? Like, what's keeping you from doing it?"

"It's scary and I'm not sure I'm allowed to."

"...allowed to?"

"Yeah. He never said."

"Jackson, you don't need permission from the other half of a relationship to end that relationship."

Jackson does not look as though he is prepared to take this as fact.

"Look, just like a relationship doesn't start if only one person wants it, it oughtn't go on if only one person wants it."

"You can stop telling me stuff like that like I'm stupid, you know."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply you're stupid, I don't think you are. I'm just—failing to find a way to say what I mean."

"The problem isn't that I don't know what you mean."

"Articulate why I believe what I believe, then. I guess I'm coming from the wrong place, though. Why do you?"

"Why do I what?"

"Believe what you believe."

"I just do."

He furrows his eyebrows. "I'm not sure what to do with that."

"I noticed."

The corner of his lips twitches, but he sighs. "Well. Back to what we were saying, the obstacles to breaking up are that it's scary and you're not sure you're allowed to, right?"

"If I knew I was allowed it wouldn't be scary."

"Okay. Do you know what it would look like, for you to be allowed?"

"He'd've said. Something about how if I wanted to give the collar back I could do - whatever."

"So... okay, suppose you're not allowed. Then what?"

"Then if I do it anyway he'll be mad."

"But I mean, suppose you don't do it. You're not allowed to break up, so you don't break up, what happens, do you stay with him forever against your will or, how do you see this working?"

"I-I don't know, maybe he'll dump me eventually."

"That's not a very stable situation. Anyway, now suppose you do it anyway and he's mad. What happens?"

"When he's mad he punishes me."

"Well, um. That can mean a lot of things and some of them are nice and some are not and some require you to be naked and bound which would presumably not be the case so, uh, how much power to punish you would he actually have in this situation?"

"I'm not good at not doing things people are trying to make me do!"

"...would it help if someone else was around to tell you to do other things? Would it help if I told you to break up with him?" Because honestly as creepy as that is it may be the lesser of all evils.

"...maybe."

"To which?"

"Either, both."

"If I just tell you to break up with him, will you then go on not to do it if he countermands that when I'm not around?"

"- well, if I wasn't around him he couldn't."

"Do you want me to tell you to break up with him?"

"I kinda want Brian to tell me to break up with him."

"Well... then I suppose you could go see Brian again? And try to let on that you want that?" Because if Brian does it of his own volition he's probably not much better than Mason, Sadde doesn't say.

"...maybe."

"Maybe?"

"That's what I said."

"Yeah, I'm wondering why the uncertainty."

"I just don't know if I dare."

"But you want to. And he might've been flirting with you and might want you back."

"Might."

"And if he wasn't, no harm done, just a new, cute friend."

"I'm not actually supposed to have dom friends."

"Presumably I don't count due to switchiness and slash or Isabella."

"I said 'what about Sadde' and he said you were fine."

"Well, okay, so, uh, you could talk to Brian and if it turns out he wasn't hitting on you not become his friend?"

"Maybe."

"And the uncertainty here is because...?"

"You're really annoying sometimes."

"...sorry. Is it because of the way I phrased that or should I not have inquired at all? Should I just leave you be?"

"You ask a lot of questions and you never actually understand the answers so you just ask more."

"I... can't apologize for not understanding the answers, if I had a way to do it I wouldn't ask more questions."

"It doesn't seem like you're getting any better at it or anything."

"I'm not sure how to get better at drawing meaning from an answer like 'maybe.' And also I don't really care to try to guess much, because guessing wrong is costly and not very conductive to mutual understanding."

"You could get better at taking maybe for an answer."

"...yeah, that's a thing I could do, if you prefer I do that."

"If I had a lot more detail besides maybe and I wanted you to have it I could just say it," Jackson points out.

"Yeah, but you often do actually answer when I ask you to elaborate. I figured if it was that you didn't want me to have it you wouldn't."

"But then you keep asking questions I've already answered, over and over, they're the same questions."

"Yeah, usually hoping context change or phrasing will shed light into something I don't understand. You're singularly opaque to me."

"Maybe you're just bad at asking questions."

He grins. "Maybe I am."

"Anyway. I might go back to Brian's house."

"I find this a splendid idea."

Nod.

"Tell me when you decide? ...if you want, of course."

"...why do you want to know in advance?"

"No reason, bad phrasing, I meant mostly when you actually do it. If you do."

"Okay."

"Okay! Good luck!"

This will work and Jackson will have a nice dom and be happy. Yes, and Sadde will win the lottery—which he of course does not play—tomorrow.

It is an uneventful several days and then Jackson shows up to breakfast one morning without his collar on.

...whoa. "May I go have breakfast with Jackson today, ma'am?" she asks Isabella.

Kiss. "You may."

Kiss! Detach leash! "I love you." And she walks up to him after he has grabbed his breakfast.

"Hi."

"Good morning," she says with a raised eyebrow.

"So, uh, yeah."

"Do you wanna tell me how that went?"

"Um. Brian's sister knows how to pick locks."

"So Brian was in fact hitting on you, was he."

"...probably."

She bites her tongue on a request for elaboration—he was pretty clear on his thoughts about how much information he wanted to share.

"Well, I'm happy for you. What about Mason?"

"Brian's mailing him the stuff for me."

"That's really nice of him."

Maybe this will be fine after all.

Nod nod nod nod nod.

"How'd you approach the subject?"

"I sort of mumbled a lot and he figured it out and then he said his sister was a nurse and has to lockpick stuff off people all the time and if he got the things in the mail he'd probably take the hint and I'd be safe."

"And did he ask you out?"

"...kinda?"

"Mmhm?"

"He wants me to come back this afternoon to, like, talk. I dunno if that counts."

"It definitely counts." She beams encouragingly.

"How do you know it definitely counts?"

"We-ell, at the very least he wants to talk, which is good in and of itself, but I think if he wasn't even a little interested he might not have bothered."

"Maybe he just felt sorry for me."

"That'd explain why he got his sister to pick your locks, but I don't know if he'd've asked you to come over today if that was all."

"He could be checking up on me to make sure Ma- Mason didn't come after me or something."

"He could've done that by calling you, or by calling the school. I mean, I suppose it's not that implausible, but."

"Why would he call the school?"

"If he thought someone needed to check up on you or something, or couldn't reach you, or whatever," she shrugs.

"I guess."

"He seems nicer than Mason already, though."

Nod nod. Nod nod nod nod.

"You look pretty happy."

"I do?"

"Chipper, at least."

"I guess."

"I hope it works out for you."

"Thanks."

"When did you say you were meeting him?"

"This afternoon."

"I'd like to know how it goes, if you wanna tell me," she says, somewhat purposely subbing herself up (down?).

"Yeah, I guess."

They finish eating and go enjoy their respective days, and at dinner Sadde arrives with Isabella and starts looking around for a Jackson.

He is not in attendance.

Ooh. Oooooh. This is promising. Is it promising? It might be promising. Or he might just be late. She'll keep an eye out for him during the meal.

No sign of him!

Good sign! Definitely good sign, yes?

And tomorrow morning?

There he is! Still no collar but he looks pretty well.

She asks Isabella to go have breakfast with him again.

"Okay, pet."

There she goes!

"Ssooooo."

"He took me to dinner," says Jackson in a soft disbelieving voice.

"Did he. How'd it go?"

"It, it was nice."

"Mmhmmm?"

"That's all, he didn't take me home with him after or anything..."

"I presumed so. That sounds promising."

"He did kiss me goodnight. I guess that's promising."

"That's sweet."

Nod nod. Jackson looks vaguely dreamy.

"Awwwww."

Jackson blushes.

"Aaaaaaawww!"

"What? What?"

"You're adorable," she giggles.

"What'd I do?"

"You look all crush-y and stuff."

"I like him."

"Yeah, I can see that, and it's cute!"

"He's just really nice."

"Mmhm. If it works out I'd like to meet him sometime."

"I guess. I dunno how I'd introduce you."

"D—" Nope. Not a double date. It would not work out, Isabella would definitely not like to go out with Jackson. "You could just say, hey, wanna meet a friend from school, or something."

"...and then just bring you around to his place or something?"

"Or something," she agrees. "Maybe not his place, but a park or something, I guess."

"Maybe. I dunno how that'd work but I can ask him I guess."

"Probably not right away, though. Go out on a few more dates, and such."

Nod. Nod nod.

"What's he do?"

"He's still in high school."

"Oh, he's about our age, then." Good, good sign. Probably.

"Yeah."

"Awesome. This will be good for you, I think."

Little smile.

Big smile!

And food.

Yup, food.

And that's enough to keep Sadde in a good mood all day. She doesn't see Isabella until dinner, and is still visibly pleased then.

"You look happy."

"Yyyup, I'd been trying to avoid getting too optimistic bbbuuuuttt apparently not only did Jackson get rid of his abusive dom, he found another one who seems to actually be nice." Pause. "Sorry, I know you don't like talking about Jackson much."

"I'm pretty over it, we're never going to be pals but I'm glad he's doing okay and everything."

"Mmhm, yeah. I'm hoping I can subtly influence his new dom to tell him to get back to therapy and get his life back on track. I'm also scolding the part of me that's hoping that as 'too meddlesome.'"

"So you're going to meet the dom?"

"Eventually, if they do end up together, after they're steady n' stuff."

"Maybe this one won't collar him day one, that'd be a change."

"Already hasn't, they went on a dinner date last night, part of why I'm optimistic."

"Oh good."

"Also less of an age gap, he's in high school."

"That's good too."

"Mmhm, optimistic!"

"You're cute." Scritch.

She giggles. "Thanks, ma'am." Nom nom, "so, how'd your day go?"

"Oh, uneventful school stuff. And at lunch I dropped soup on myself and had to go change, that's the most standout part of the day."

"Did you get burnt?"

"Not very, can't see it anymore."

"Okay. I'm pretty certain I can heal first-degree burns on other people now, if you want."

"How sure's pretty sure?"

"About as sure as I was that I wouldn't kill anyone when I left the wilderness four years ago."

"...uh, which is how sure, lovely."

"I dunno, like ninety nine point nine percent sure? I wouldn't have returned if I'd been any less certain, I stayed around for an extra like six months after I knew just to be really, really thoroughly sure this time."

Unspoken is the "accident" that happened at the start of it all.

"Okay; do you need to look at it?"

"I feel like I don't but I don't understand why so I want to anyway."

"Then it will have to wait until after dinner, my pant leg doesn't roll up that far."

She nods.

"Which leg is it?"

"Right, mostly."

So she can, tentatively, slowly, rub her cheek on Isabella's left one, right?

Of course she can. Scritch scritch.

Eeeee. Less tentative, then, since she's apparently not rubbing a tender spot or anything.

"You're so cute."

She giggles. "And I only try a little!"

"What would it look like if you tried a lot?"

"The cutepocalypse, of course."

"Oh no! Not the cutepocalypse!"

"Yep. The only thing standing between the world and certain destruction is me, resisting the temptation to really try to be cute."

"How would this even happen?" wonders Isabella.

"What, the cutepocalypse or me resisting the temptation?"

"The cutepocalypse."

"I would be so cute people wouldn't be able to stop looking at me and going 'aaawwww.' And they'd forget to eat and all die."

"That sounds like a localized problem. The Japanese would be unaffected."

"No, see, it would call to people. They wouldn't even know why they're doing it, but they'd all be drawn to the cuteness."

"Then it'll taper off as soon as you're buried in bodies."

"That's what the horsemen of the cutepocalypse are for, cleaning up the bodies."

"Aha. I thought they were decorative."

"Nope. It's quite the thankless job, they have a union and everything and sometimes go on strike to demand higher pay and more vacation days."

"So if they strike, or go on too long a vacation, the cutepocalypse is over!"

"No, it's just paused, they always eventually get back to work."

"Hmmm. What if the area is fenced off?"

"The cuteness is so overpowering people will keep trying to reach it even if they can't."

"But they could be thwarted and obliged to take regular snack breaks."

"Obliged by whom, though, everyone else is also trying to reach the cute."

"Robots!"

"Aha, yes, good plan. So the cutepocalypse can only happen until robots that can do that are invented, and then I don't need to resist it so much anymore."

"Well, anyone who happened to be near you when you tried too hard would be in trouble anyway."

"Hmm, yes, then I must be sure to never relax while accompanied."

"Wouldn't want me to spend too much time gazing enraptured at you and starve."

"Oh no, definitely not, who else would work with me to make everyone immortal and bring back the dead?"

"Surely your cuteness could attract your pick of options."

"Pfff, no option could be better than you."

"Good answer."

She grins and lowers her eyes. "Not to mention that if anyone here's going to be gazing enraptured at anyone else it'd be me at you."

Smooch.

Smooooch!

"I love you."

"I love you, too! Very much."

And later they go back to the dorm and Isabella takes her pants off. ...So Sadde can heal her.

Of course, whyever else?

Sadde looks at the affected areas and frowns a bit in concentration and it starts slowly healing. Or, well, not actually slowly, compared to how long it would normally have taken. The sensation is interesting, something between air and water sliding on Isabella's skin, and then it's gone.

"That was weird," Bella says. "Feels better now, thank you, pet."

"You're welcome, ma'am. Incidentally, I think I know now why I didn't think I needed to look."

"Why's that?"

"There was this... sensation. Before. When I was trying to target... um... You remember my metaphor about doing the splits?"

"Yeah?"

"So, that wouldn't really work as a subjective experience on someone else's body, except it kinda does. Like, just before I do the thing, I can kinda... feel? It? Like, it felt like your legs were, uh, my legs, too, it was really weird having four legs."

"Weird. ...Has potential if you can do it when I'm not injured."

"It does?"

"Think about it."

"Oh." She grins.

"Sensation-sharing seems borderline psionic honestly but if it does work..."

"Though I'm not sure it could do sensation-sharing, really. I'd call it proprioception except it's not that, either, it seems to be some other sense I hadn't realized I had because on myself it just gets mixed up with all the others?"

"Ah, huh. Must be interesting."

"Yeah, it kinda is. I wonder if I could learn to use that to figure stuff out about the biology of whatever."

"Divinatory magery. You'll be famous."

"I'm not sure I'd call that divination."

"Well, no, but you'll be more famous if you pretend you would call it that."

"I wonder if this isn't just normal for healers. Do they need to actually look at everything they're fixing in order to, like, fix it?"

"I think a lot of them it just sort of autohandles without feedback or having to look."

"Huh. Yeah, that makes sense, I suppose."

And she rubs her face against Isabella's pantsless leg a bit, because yes.

Isabella giggles and pets her.

"If I can do sensation, um, borrowing or something, it's not something I can do right now, at least," she says, still rubbing.

"Wouldn't expect you to have it for uninjured stuff if you're coming from a healing angle."

"It's fuzzier than that, healing's kinda pretty much the same as biokinesis for my magic. Sort of."

"One day I will be the uberpsion and I will be able to just see what you're referring to."

"My dom the uberpsion. That is so hot."

Bella giggles.

"Anyway, I meant I couldn't, like, get proper sensations, right now. There's still a not-quite-proprioception feeling if I... like... reach out."

"Weird."

"Mmhm." Rub rub rub face on Isabella's legs. "Uberpsion," she murmurs with a grin.

Giggle. Scritches. Other reasons Isabella's pants could be off come to mind.

Do they. My, Sadde wasn't even thinking about that, all this rubbing her face against her dom's bare skin was completely innocent. Especially the parts where she rubs her lips there a bit.

Sadde's innocence is temporary.

Yes, apparently it is!

Best dom ever.

It is true. So true.

So after Sadde's innocence has been thoroughly shredded, it's not yet time to sleep, so they snuggle up and think about magic.

Mmmmmcuddles.

"- oh there it goes," breathes Isabella.

"Hmm?"

"Eidetic. Going forward from when it clicked, not retroactive, but still."

"Oooh! Oh that's really cool, is it the kind where you can remember even things you weren't paying attention to at the time?"

"It's sort of hard to be sure since I've had it for thirty seconds but I think so!"