Chapter 25

Dean

These were not the kind of toys I thought we'd be picking out online.

"Look. Look." Joel made it impossible to do anything else as he wiggled closer and nearly ended up on my lap. "See?"

His sentences had gotten shorter and shorter once he didn't have to think about reading any longer, but his excitement and drama hadn't changed at all. "Look."

"I'm looking, but I can't see when you're on my lap." I must've sounded ridiculous because he giggled and flopped over me like a blanket. "Umpf. I didn't ask for a Joel blanket."

That set off the giggles again and he jerked around like a dead fish for a few more seconds before sitting back up. I knew I needed to watch out when he gave me an adorable smile and did his best to look bashful. " Baby boy blanket…Daddy. Not Joel."

Ah.

That was fine as far as manipulation went, so I nodded and gave him a quick kiss on his nose. "Yes, you're my baby boy."

He looked very pleased with himself, but I had a feeling it wasn't about winning. There was some kind of reasoning in his head that said Joel and baby boy were very different, so I was going to do my best to remember that.

"My baby boy who wants a mouse tail." Groaning dramatically, I covered my face as I leaned back. "It's so weird looking."

Thankfully, I was pretty sure he was bouncing between curious and fucking with me about the mouse tail. It didn't seem to turn him on or make him want to pretend to be a mouse, so I played up my reaction to it without worrying.

"Aww. Safe, Daddy." Joel patted my cheek before giving me a quick peck. "Fluff tail. No scary ones."

Thank God.

Peeking one eye open, I made sure to look nervous and skeptical since that seemed to be a big part of the game. "Not the skinny one? A pretty, fluffy one?"

It was the weirdest negotiation ever but anything was better than the mouse tail.

"Yes." Kissing his cheek as he nearly tackled me to give me a hug, I laughed. "My baby boy needs a very pretty and fluffy tail for when he plays pup."

"Wiggles? Barks? Pets?" Joel seemed to love not having to use full sentences and had thrown himself into being little, so the question didn't surprise me and I could translate it fairly well.

"Yep." I saw Tate come to the door out of the corner of my eye. "Our pup is going to wiggle and run around. He's going to bark and play and get lots of pets."

"Our pup, huh?" Tate, seeming to have finally finished the last-minute group project that'd gone slightly off the rails, stepped into my bedroom and shook his head. "I thought he was going to be a cute little mouse?"

Ugh.

Joel scrunched up his face and nearly crossed his eyes trying to wiggle his nose. "Cute."

"No." That was not cute. Not even the hot model they'd got to wear the outfit could make it cute. "But wouldn't he look adorable wagging a fluffy puppy tail?"

I was arguing about what tail Joel needed.

How had my life come to this in just a week?

"I guess if it's a cute inside tail." Tate had obviously decided that it was his turn to manipulate me, but anything was better than Joel pretending to be a mouse. "He needs to be able to wag and an inside tail would probably be easier."

Bullshit.

The snickers spilling out of Joel said he knew that too.

"I think that sounds reasonable." Yep, and better than him being a mouse or anything like that. "He's going to look very good with a fluffy inside tail."

And I wouldn't complain about it either.

Joel wiggled off me and onto all fours on the bed, wagging his imaginary tail as he giggled. The fact that he was in adorably mismatched pajamas made it cute, but I had a feeling it would be something else completely when he was fully dressed as a pup.

I wasn't sure if Joel could imagine that part, and the innocently sweet smile he aimed in my direction didn't make that any clearer. "Cute, Daddy?"

"Yes." Was there a way to explain to a little that Daddy thought the tail would be confusingly sexy? "You're going to look very cute, baby boy."

Tate's dirty snicker said he'd guessed some of what was going through my head, but Joel just threw himself at me again. "Yay."

Yeah, I was going to have to figure out how to bring that up at some point, but the questions got pushed to the back of my head as Joel started wiggling his imaginary tail again and aimed his smile at Tate. "Cute?"

Tate's laughter was wicked and made Joel giggle. "Oh yes. You're going to be a very cute pup."

Coming over to the bed, he sat down on the inch of free space beside me and leaned over to give Joel a quick kiss. "And you're going to be a happy one. Do you think your pup would like to wear a cage too?"

Weirdest fucking conversation ever.

"Oh." Joel's eyes got wide and he looked like he'd never thought of something so perfect. "Wiggles and wags and tugs ."

Whipping his head around to look at me again, he flopped down and aimed his best give me what I want face at me. "Daddy? Tugs too?"

For fuck's sake.

Okay, I was his Daddy and Daddies answered questions their littles asked...no matter how weird they were. It'd literally been in the Daddy Instructions website I'd found. I could do it.

"Yes, I think you'd like the tugs your cage gives you. It's probably going to bounce when you run around and play." Based on how his body would be positioned, that seemed logical, but I was glad when Tate's nod backed me up. "You like tugs."

He liked them a lot.

Wiggling over us, he was doing his best to look adorable so he could get his way. "Tugs and wags and barks and playing."

"We'll find lots of games for our pup to play and you'll have lots of fun wagging and barking." Between tugs and wagging, I had a feeling he'd have lots of fun.

"Lots." Tate snickered and waggled his eyebrows which made Joel start laughing again.

"How do you make that sound dirty?" I shouldn't have asked but it just popped out.

"It's a gift." Looking proud of himself, he leaned over Joel and started tickling him. "One your baby boy really likes."

"So does your naughty boy." My comeback got more giggles from Joel and as Tate finally stopped tickling him, Joel flopped down over me and wiggled his bottom.

"Naughties." Giggling again, Joel buried his head in Tate's lap.

I couldn't decide if he was being naughty or just hiding his face against the first soft surface he found, but no matter how it started, it turned interesting when Tate moaned. "Yep, that's naughty but it's really nice too."

Joel snickered then moved his face higher and wiggled it right over Tate's groin. "Naughty and nice."

Tate couldn't seem to decide if he was going to moan or laugh, and ended up doing both. "Cheeky boy."

But he rewarded the cheeky boy by reaching down and giving his pajama-clad bottom a pop. "Don't distract me. I came in to ask what movie you guys wanted to watch now that I'm done."

Popping up, Joel pressed his hands right over Tate's erection and pretended not to notice. "All done? Bad people all done?"

The charitable way to describe what had happened was that there was a misunderstanding about who was supposed to finish a paper that was part of a group project.

Tate had not been very charitable about any of it.

"Some people are just stupid." Tate shook his head as he frowned. "And bad liars. God."

Nodding slowly, Joel sighed. "Tate gets a reward."

Probably for not killing anyone.

He might've looked like a frat boy, but he was slightly obsessive about his grades. But at the moment, he was using all those smarts to read right through Joel's innocent routine. "Do you think I deserve a reward? I was very polite when I ignored the bullshit he was spewing and the paper is better now that I finished it."

He was so modest.

Joel giggled but I had a feeling Tate's confidence was something he loved best about Tate. "Yes. Big rewards."

Giving Tate an innocent-looking thinking face, Joel started wagging his ass like he had a tail and then moving his hands back and forth in an opposite rhythm.

Still right over Tate's cock, though.

Tate managed not to moan, but it was a close call. Joel was still pretending to ignore it as he hummed and smiled. "Cookies. Movie time. Snuggles and kisses."

Making another exaggerated thinking sound, Joel continued to wag his ass back and forth. "Tate be Master Tate?"

Yep, I knew something like that had been in the works.

Tate looked thoughtful and barely moaned as Joel continued his strategic wiggles. "I could ask for cookies?"

Giggles escaped Joel but he played along and tried to get them under control. "Yep. Master Tate good boy."

They were both having a wonderful time but I couldn't help wondering how long they were going to drag out the teasing. It felt like I was the one being edged, and I didn't appreciate it. I also didn't know where the game was going. I thought I did…but they liked surprising me.

"And I could ask to pick the movie?" Tate was enough of a control freak that I thought his enjoyment of his reward was genuine.

"Big special reward." Joel continued his wiggles but punctuated his words with a cheek kiss. "Big."

"Yes, I can see it's a big reward." Tate barely cut back a moan as he returned Joel's cheek kiss. "Thank you."

"Welcome." Wearing a beaming smile, Joel seemed to be in no hurry to move and it was starting to make me wonder if Tate's pain tolerance was higher than I'd realized.

"Snuggles and kisses are good too, but I think I get those just because." Narrowing his eyes at Joel as the brat giggled, Tate huffed. "You can't claim those as rewards."

I wasn't sure what Joel was thinking, but he found something hilarious and could barely get his response out. "Big big reward."

Rolling his eyes, Tate gave him a very well-delivered you're crazy look. "No. That's my regular reward for being Master Tate."

And he'd smoothly shifted the reward debate.

Amazing.

Joel appreciated it too based on the pitch his giggles got to. "Hmm… Special Master Tate?"

He was trying to be subtle but the laugher and grins weren't helping. Tate was a very good Master, or something, and made a thinking sound as he pretended to consider what Joel was saying. "I guess my reward could be a special Master Tate kind of reward, but only if you think that's fair."

So giving him an out or just teasing him?

Both?

"Oh…" Joel pretended to think about it and shrugged after a few seconds of exaggerated frowning. "Yes. Tate gets a reward. Oh well."

So subtle.

Tate was nearly snickering but he managed to hold it back as he nodded. "Thank you for being so understanding. I just hope you understand when I tell you that I think I want my reward to be spanking your bottom."

Good grief.

"Oh well." Joel shrugged again and managed to stop giggling long enough to deliver his lines. "Promised."

So clearly, there was nothing he could do about it.

Somehow the scene or whatever we were calling little time had gotten completely out of hand, but they were both beyond excited with the way it'd gone. I was slightly confused. Not because Joel had managed to talk his way into a spanking… no, he'd been frustrated enough today and had wanted it long enough that the spanking itself made a lot of practical sense.

But he was still little.

Was that a thing?

I had a feeling I'd stuck to the more vanilla side of the Daddy and boy internet because the explanations I'd found online hadn't included spanking playtime.

Fuck.

I was going to have to talk to the neighbors if my fascinating partners kept trying to expand the definition of age play.