Chapter 6

Joel

Being nice to people just made problems more interesting.

"I…I'm not sure how I feel about coloring. I don't have crayons." I also wasn't sure if I'd ever said I was little but that didn't seem to matter to the neighbors.

Plural.

Because there were more of them this time and Brady's Daddy was nowhere in sight.

I was pretty sure Brady had heard me walking down the stairs, so I told myself I was going to start taking the elevator more often.

"But thank you for asking." More manners might not have been the best decision but it was all I could think of to do.

Daddy wouldn't want me to be mean even if he wouldn't know what to do either…and Tate would just laugh, so he wouldn't be any help.

My Doms were great for a lot of things but not for dealing with overly nosy littles.

"Why don't you have crayons?" Brady turned to the taller guy and frowned. "Have you ever met a little who doesn't have crayons?"

Before that guy could answer, Brady's head swung around to the other guy. "Do you think he needs an intervention? Does Santa not like him? Did he get a stupid Daddy? Do they even come that way?"

What?

"Santa likes me and my Daddy is very smart." No. No. No. "I get wonderful presents and even special cookies at Christmas that Santa bakes himself because he likes my family best and my Daddy is letting me figure out being little in my own way. So if my kind of little cuddles and picks out sex toys, you can't tell me I'm doing it wrong."

Some people were just a pain in the butt.

Being little was about being cute and getting the best attention ever…he should've known that already.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a class to get to." Living in the apartments wasn't always convenient but it'd never been so insane. "Have a good day."

Brady was just gaping at me as I walked around him and headed to Dean's car. He wasn't using it and didn't like me waiting for the bus because he said I talked to too many strangers for it to be safe, so I headed over as Brady finally found his words. "Santa likes me best. He brought me a Daddy. That's better than cookies or crayons."

Bullshit.

He hadn't tasted my special Santa cookies.

Flopping down in the driver's seat, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a second. I wasn't really a peace and quiet kind of guy but sometimes it was nice.

For a few seconds.

"Okay, that's boring now." Doing my best to brush off the weird conversation, I turned on the car and headed toward campus.

I tried to think about my class but that was boring.

I tried to plan for the future but my brain didn't want to do that.

I even tried to make a grocery list in my head, but I got stuck on what kind of foods little me would like.

Giving up as I finally started walking across campus, I sighed. "Coloring might be fun but attention is better."

Yes. I wasn't wrong about that…there might be some flexibility, though.

"Okay, what do I like about being little?" Deciding that would be good information to have on hand for my next conversation with Brady, I focused on the brilliant starting point. "I like being cute and having Daddy take care of me and I like calling Dean Daddy because that's just fun."

Yes, being little didn't have anything to do with crayons…but I could try them.

"Daddy said we could get toys." We'd just focused on the grown-up kind. "So we'll try crayons since Brady is really sure every little likes them."

What kind of toys would I like that wouldn't end up with the orgasm kind of fun?

"Umpf." Oops. "Sorry."

People just seemed to jump in my way when my brain started to enjoy a project. Last week a dozen people had nearly barreled over me when I was working on a problem for one of my statistics classes.

They needed to pay more attention, but I hadn't been rude about pointing that out.

"Sorry." The wide-eyed look from the guy who kept asking me about food said I probably shouldn't tell him to pay attention, though. He might actually do it and then I'd end up with more problems than I'd started with. "I'm sorry."

Since he looked more worried than Dean on a bad day, I shook my head. "I was distracted, so it was probably my fault."

Yes, that was the polite way to handle it.

Blinking at me, he stood quietly on the steps to the building I needed to go into for several long seconds before he straightened.

Oh dear.

"It's alright. I was distracted too. I was thinking about trying the new diner that just opened off campus." When he paused and stared at me, I realized Dean and Tate had been right.

That didn't tell me how to get out of the situation, though, and he seemed stuck on making it weird. "The fried chicken is supposed to be really good."

That didn't help either.

Okay…I had to be polite. I could do that. I had to make sure he understood I was not a good fit for him for a variety of reasons. There was a list, so he needed to understand it wasn't about him. That would probably make him sad and I didn't want that.

Littles who made other subs sad probably didn't get dessert or extra orgasms.

They definitely wouldn't get crayons.

"No, but I should tell my Daddy and my Dom about that. Thanks." Good idea. Yes. "It's been a slow start getting together because I didn't understand what being demi was and it took me a while to figure out that I was a sub. But we're figuring it out."

Perfect. He knew I was taken and I'd managed to carefully work in being a sub and being demi.

Oh, he was blinking. Maybe I needed to explain what that was? "Do you know there are people who need to really get to know someone else before they can want to kiss them and do stuff like that? I always thought other people were just weird."

They still were weird but it was nice to have an explanation for it. "I'm demi. Who knew?"

Restaurant guy blinked a few times, finally understanding a big part of why we wouldn't work. "I bet…I bet that would make dating harder."

Oh yes.

Random people just kept wanting to do it.

"People are confusing. But I'm getting a handle on it now." Dean and Tate were a big help with that. "I appreciate the date idea. I think it's time for us to do more romantic things because that would make them feel special. I don't need it the same way they do—I'm already special—but it's okay that we all need different things."

They'd really liked being Olive Garden special, so I just had to make sure I kept finding other ways to make them feel that way again.

Restaurant guy needed to feel special too, though.

Hmm.

"What kind of things do the Doms you've dated do to make you feel special?" Yes…easy, subtle…not too nosy. I'd even managed to slide in the fact that he was obviously a sub. "There are a lot around campus, but sometimes it's hard to get to know them."

Oh, he was just blinking.

Oops.

Maybe he was easily startled?

Had he not found the Doms yet?

"Um, have you gone to the board game and booze night at that frat? The one with the weird letters? They seem like a nice mix of Doms even if they don't understand how intimate board games are." But they couldn't be held to the same standards if they didn't understand them.

The nice men I'd met in the grocery store that talked about religion and yard work had explained that, and it'd been something we could all agree on even if they played board games before they got to know someone really well.

I wasn't like that, though.

But waiting until I found Dean and Tate made it even more special.

"Do…I thought…" Restaurant guy swallowed and tried again. "Do you think I'd have luck with them? Dating is…hard."

It really was.

"They seem nice and I think anyone who provides booze and Candy Land understands how to provide good entertainment to most subs." Not me. But that was okay. "My Doms thought they were nice too if that helps."

It did.

He stood straighter again.

"You…you really have two?"

That wasn't the question I thought he'd have, but it wasn't a hard one, so I nodded. "My mother says I'm high maintenance, so needing two was probably to be expected."

"I…I didn't realize that was a thing." He seemed confused but polite…which made it even more obvious that he was a sub.

"Some people just need more attention than average. But everyone is different, so it's okay." He was different too if he'd thought trying to date me had been a good idea. "Once you find your difference, you'll be happy and meet your right person…or people."

He didn't seem high maintenance, but I had to admit I didn't read people very well.

Swallowing weird again, he let out a breath and nodded. "I'll…I'll look for that."

He made it sound like he'd lost it and he was going to search his dorm room for it, but I was polite and ignored how weird it was. That wouldn't be polite and I wanted to keep my good boy rewards. Having to admit that I'd been rude to weird people would not help me keep my rewards.

"That's a great idea. I'm sure you'll figure out how to be a good boy for your Dom." Wherever the guy seemed to be. "Just remember that they're hard to find sometimes, so don't give up. They wander off fairly easily until they find their sub."

Doms were kind of like squirrels according to the internet. They liked attention and chattered really loudly, but they wandered off quickly and forgot what they were doing until they found their boy.

"Um, thank you." Restaurant guy finally seemed less stressed for some reason, so I knew I could tell Dean that I'd been a good boy later. "We should probably get to class. Did…did you finish the reading?"

"That was painful." But not as bad as trying to explain to restaurant guy why I couldn't date him, so I decided not to complain too much.

It could always get worse and I wasn't going to tempt fate like that.

I was, however, ready to complain by the time I got home.

"I was really good. I was careful with the car. I didn't tell Brady he was ridiculous even though I might've told him that Santa likes me best." Oops. "I ran into the guy who asks me about restaurants and he asked me about another, but I remembered what you said this time and I was very careful when I told him he was a sub and that I already had Doms and that he should find someone to dominate him."

And I'd even gone to my classes.

"I'm all done for the day." I thought that was pretty clear but I dropped my bag on the table before I walked over and crashed into Tate's and Dean's laps just to make sure they understood. "You guys can worry about stuff later. It's time to attention me."

Tate was trying not to laugh as he patted my head but Dean huffed. "We weren't worrying."

Bullshit.

"Okay, Daddy." We could pretend that if he liked. Playing pretend was fun. "Oh, and Brady was really weird about the fact that I don't have crayons."

"You've never mentioned wanting them." Daddy's tone sounded like he had a whole new thing to worry about. "Do you want to color?"

"I don't think I have a strong opinion on it but that worried Brady." I didn't think I was being a little wrong but he'd been shocked about the whole thing.

"Did you tell him that you preferred bathtub toys and cartoons?" Tate's logic made me groan as I buried my face in the cushion.

"Why didn't you help me remember those were toys earlier?" He probably wouldn't have gotten so weird if I'd remembered that I had toys.

"Did you forget you had toys?" Daddy didn't seem like he could understand what had happened but I wasn't sure I did either.

Shrugging, I sighed and wiggled my bottom so they'd know I needed good attention. When they started rubbing more, I could finally relax. "I don't know what happened. I was walking down the stairs and then all of the sudden he and two other guys were there. I think they were his roommates but I didn't know which one was which."

I could only pick them out by their voices, but they hadn't spoken enough downstairs for me to have figured that out.

"Then he started asking me about what I liked to play when I was little and there was something about his favorite toys and then coloring and that's when things went off the rails." It'd happened so fast. "I was polite but he got weird when I said I didn't have crayons."

Hmm.

"Oh, and I might've said something like if I wanted to be little and cuddle and pick out sex toys then I could be little that way." It was honest but it made Daddy groan. "Was that something I was supposed to keep private? I didn't tell him who was my Daddy."

And up until the whole I could be little with sex toys part, I'd been very polite.

Hmm, was talking about sex toys impolite?

"I don't have to color if I don't want to, but I like my bathtub toys, so maybe we should look for people or men or something?" I could find land monsters to eat them. "There are lots of dangerous land animals."

Daddy sighed as Tate laughed, but he didn't stay dramatic and worried for very long. "Your level of imaginary violence worries me."

I wasn't.

He worried enough for all of us, so he could do it.

"Hippos are kind of cute. They're like water teddy bears who'll eat you in one big bite." It was cool. "My favorite animals are the ones that look cuddly but will chomp you in half."

"You should've told Brady that." Tate barked out a laugh as Daddy did something that sounded like smacking his head. "Hey. Every little has favorite animals and stuff. It would've been something they could talk about besides crayons."

That was a good point.

"I think I'm a doing kind of little. I do shopping and I do drowning people and I do safari accidents." Yes, I was an active little. "I don't have to color. Oh, did you know that new diner is supposed to have good fried chicken?"

I didn't really like fried chicken…but nuggets were different and so were strips and so were boneless chicken wings. Hmm. "What's for dinner?"