Chapter 20

Tate

At some point I was going to have to figure out when I could laugh at Joel's antics and when I had to treat them seriously. But in my defense, he made it really hard to decipher on my own and Dean wasn't any help either. He just looked perpetually baffled.

"He's going to be a tiny rocket ship." Joel didn't help Dean's confusion any as he looked up and gave me a beaming smile. He was incredibly proud of himself for figuring out what his dick wanted to do…and somehow seemed to have started sliding back into little territory again.

With a cage on his dick.

But his Daddy had put the cage on so maybe that had something to do with it?

Dean had done a badass job of remembering the instructions Derek had given us and he'd looked confident as he'd worked it over Joel's dick. I'd thought there would be more drama involved, but Dean seemed to have talked himself up before he'd come in.

His heart had probably been pounding a thousand miles an hour, but he hadn't shown it. Dean was going to need hugs and cuddles later for being so brave, but for the time being, I had to pretend not to notice that part.

Being the all-the-time Dom was harder than I'd expected.

But I was doing a badass job too, so I nodded to the cheeky little. "We've got a plan. I'm glad he knows what he wants."

My ridiculous reply got a giggle from Joel and an eyeroll from Dean, but both responses were well within their normal ranges, so I knew we were all good for the time being. And Joel proved that by flopping back on the bed. "I'm so cute."

And dramatic.

The excitable description had Dean shaking his head. "Yes, you are, and you did a very good job of being relaxed when it went on. I'm very proud of you."

We'd kept his brain fairly distracted so that probably helped, but Joel nodded and beamed up at his Daddy. "I kept it tiny. I kept telling him he had to stay little and be good. I didn't even come."

Daddy.

There was definitely an unspoken Daddy at the end of that sentence, even though I couldn't decide if Joel knew how it'd sounded or not. But the way Dean was handling everything so easily said he hadn't figured it out.

He'd have worried more if he had.

"You were very good and I'm proud of you and your penis for working so hard for him to stay soft." There was a sparkle in Dean's eyes as he delivered the praise, but he didn't laugh and sounded entirely serious.

Was he actually proud of Joel's penis?

Was he proud of Joel but had just included his penis to be nice and that'd made it come across as sincere?

I had questions, but I had to put a rocket ship on a caged penis first.

"I'm proud of us all for having a plan." Joel had already started giggling, but he squealed when I grabbed his ankles and gave them a quick tug to bring him closer to the end of the bed. "Gotcha."

Before Dean could say anything, I looked over at him. "I was careful and couldn't have hurt his penis doing that."

Bingo.

All the worrier could do was sigh.

So I leaned over Joel and pretended to whisper conspiratorially. "We've given him something else to worry about."

That got more laughter from the little who was loving all the attention and it got a dramatic huff from Dean…which just made Joel find the situation even funnier.

"My penis is fine." When he finally stopped laughing, Joel smiled at Dean and reached down to pat his cage. "It's snug as a bug in a rug."

Dean rolled his eyes. "It's snug as a worm in a cage."

And the giggles were back.

I was having a hard time keeping my laughter under control too because that'd been funny even if Dean had made the comeback without thinking. "Your worm is all safe."

Joel was shaking, he thought the whole thing was so funny, and it made catching his legs difficult, but by the time he calmed down, I had his lower half covered. "Alright, rocket ship in place. Now it's time to sit up and then we can go play."

Nearly bouncing up, he was so excited, Joel was wide-eyed and nowhere near an adult as I dangled playing in front of him. He even put his hands up like he knew I was supposed to finish dressing him. "Which one? Can I have juice? I need more chocolate chips. Can we have nuggets and noodles for dinner?"

Slipping the shirt over his head didn't stop his brain at all. "Can I have juice and water? Can I go potty in my cage? Can we try to give me tingles later? Do you think it will stop me from making a mess?"

Huh?

Assuming by mess that he meant an orgasm with cum, I shrugged. "We'll have to see, but I have no doubt that you'll be able to get your tingles."

Had he read that online?

Heard it from one of the people he'd met?

"I'll be patient." The look of excited greed on his face made me doubt that. "And relaxed and…and…and good. That will help too."

Maybe?

"I'm sure it will." Dean leaned over and kissed Joel's head. "But let's figure out what we're going to play first and then maybe we watch a movie while I make nuggets and spaghetti for dinner?"

"Oh, the animal movie again." Joel nearly climbed on Dean's lap in an attempt to look cute and get his way. "You liked the animal movie."

Which one?

In the past month, he'd made us watch nearly every animal movie on a streaming service. We'd even watched the original Doctor Doolittle movie as well as some movie about owning a zoo that I'd mostly slept through.

"That sounds like fun." Dean's answer said that he wasn't going to worry about the details until he had to. "Let's go play."

It turned out to be harder than it sounded because all it took was a few wiggles for Joel to look down at his dick again. "That's weird. Be good."

Playtime was going to be interesting.

****

Easy games during little time turned out to be the best plan ever.

"I did it." Doing what was basically a touchdown dance for winning all the jewels, Joel wiggled in his seat and threw up his arms. "I won."

And he was such a good winner too…especially since he'd won twice in a row.

But making bad decisions in the game wasn't hard, so it'd been easy to make sure he'd come out on top. Joel wasn't in the right headspace to realize I'd set the game up but Dean was, and I wasn't sure he knew what to make of it. His side-glances said he couldn't decide if I was cute or ridiculous, but he hadn't tattled and his smile said he liked seeing his boy happy.

So win-win for everyone.

Or was that win-win-win for everyone?

"What do I get?" Greed flashed in his eyes again as he looked down at his treasures. "What do I get this time? I got kisses before."

So it had to be bigger for a second win?

Just different than before?

"Do you want a special dessert?" Dean's idea sounded genuine but something felt slightly sneaky to me.

I wasn't sure if Joel noticed because he was still doing his happy dance, but I wasn't surprised when his face scrunched up. "No. I already get dessert for being good."

Joel was so confident about that fact, even Dean didn't know what to say. "What…what about you pick the next game?"

Sighing, Joel shook his head. "I'm cute. I get to pick."

Duh.

The little always got to pick the game…even I knew that.

"You're right." Dean cocked his head and looked thoughtful for a few seconds before his expression got very neutral. "How about you win, so you get to decide who gets kisses this time?"

Interesting.

"Everybody." Joel's answer came without hesitation and he bounced up from his chair. "I know. I know."

He had a plan.

And the way Dean's eyes got wide said it made him nervous…because he was smart.

"We…we have to pick up the game first." Dean's delaying tactic was just to give himself time to think but it was good to establish a routine for little time that included Joel picking up his shit. "Then we'll do kisses."

"Special kisses from the cutest boy with a cutie." Joel's happy dance was now very wiggly and he was humming what seemed to have turned into the special kisses song over and over. "Hmm…with a cutie."

Some parts were coming in clearer than others but it was a fascinating distraction as we picked up the pieces, and it even seemed to make Dean more confident about the whole situation. I wasn't sure why, but my best guess was that Joel was making it clear how much he wanted whatever it was that he wanted.

The song wasn't completely clear about that, but I was guessing it was something naughty by how quickly he'd known what his prize would be.

Fuck it all.

We'd been set up.

He'd been the one to claim kisses as his prize for winning the first round and he'd said we got to pick what kind of kisses that time. His logic had been something to do with winning and being special and goddamn it. He was really good at that when he was little.

We were going to have to watch out for sneaky shit in the future.

"All done." Throwing his arms out, Joel's smile looked slightly wicked. "Kisses time. My turn to pick."

Because he'd let us pick last time and we'd picked cheek kisses.

He was little and I was pretty sure that meant sweet kisses, but it seemed like no one had told Joel that rule…or told him about that assumption? Whatever it was, we hadn't been operating from the same playbook.

"That's right." Dean looked relaxed in one breath and nervous in the next, but he wasn't radiating panic yet. "You get to pick because you won and it's your turn to pick the kisses."

His slow tone as he repeated what we already knew said he realized he was walking into a trap of some sort. But he liked giving Joel what he wanted, so maybe it'd been deliberate? Dean wasn't an idiot even though he liked the way Joel manipulated him, so maybe he'd wanted to see what Joel would do?

Giving Joel the room to explain what kind of reward he really wanted seemed like something a good Daddy would do. I wasn't a Daddy, so I didn't feel the least bit bad about wanting to control the entire scene, but I was, however, a good friend and let it play out without being a pain in the ass.

"Yes." Joel was nearly rubbing his hands together like a bad Disney villain. "And because I was a good boy, I get dessert."

He wasn't going to forget that, so I wasn't surprised when Dean nodded without arguing with him. "That's right."

Yeah, the more I watched the interaction, the more I started to realize that it was some kind of BDSM science experiment. Dean had mentally proposed a hypothesis and he'd designed a test for it. Did Joel know that?

Hmm…a better question might be, would he care?

No.

Joel was only concerned with winning.

His mischievous smirk and the way he was still wiggling made that very clear. "I'm ready."

Yep, nothing to be suspicious about there.

"Where would you like us to sit for our kisses?" My question had Dean raising an eyebrow, probably wondering if I knew what he was doing, but Joel beamed at me.

"You're a good boy, too." Bouncing around the table—literally, because it seemed like littles with rocket pants had to blast off—Joel took my hand and then dragged me around so he could get Dean's. "The couch."

His head was bopping side to side and he was still going up and down, so I had to look away so he wouldn't make me seasick. "Alright."

"Can…" Dean swallowed hard but stood straighter and let his breath out slowly. "Can I ask what kind of kisses you want or is it a surprise?"

The wicked giggle that escaped our naughty boy just made Dean sigh.

It seemed like he'd figured out a way to prove his hypothesis.