Mel felt better than she had since Bekah had accidentally hypnotized her the night before. Panic attacks always left her feeling like a wrung out towel for at least a day after, but somehow kneeling on a cushion, Bekah’s strong thigh pressed against her side and her soft lips against Mel’s, she felt revitalized. Like she was a sponge, all the water squished out of her and then placed in a warm bath. Or… whatever. She wasn’t thinking all that clearly.

She’d been more than a little shocked when Bekah had taken charge, and even more so when she’d gone in for the kiss, but she certainly wasn’t complaining. It wasn’t the fairy tale slavery with her fairy tale Princess, but this thing they were figuring out together was starting to look like it had the potential to be pretty good.

At least it was until Bekah pulled away with a start. “What’s wrong?” Mel asked, a frisson of icy fear working its way down her spine. Everything had been going so well! Was it her kissing? Was she really that bad? Bekah hadn’t seemed to mind the first time, but maybe she was just being nice, but Mel was really so awful at it she couldn’t even pretend anymore. 

Bekah didn’t answer, just staring in horror at the front door where that nice Toy was greeting a lovely woman with flawless dark skin and a gorgeous little jumpsuit getup that did wonders for her legs, not that they needed it. 

Focus Mel. Fashion brain off. Lesbian brain also off. Figure out what’s wrong.

“Is she… your ex?”

That finally startled Bekah out of her deer in the headlights look. “I… she… no. No, she’s a coworker.” She whispered down to Mel, clearly trying to avoid catching the striking woman’s eye.

“Oh that’s so fun! Wait, what’s wrong? Do you two not get along?”

“No, we’re friends. Just… remember where I work?”

Oh. This was a woman from SASS, the group that hated ownership marks like hers. And here was Bekah, kissing a slave-marked girl on a cushion.

As soon as she processed the situation, Mel stood up in one graceful motion, her years of practice in front of a mirror of every “slave position” she could find online finally paying off, if in an unexpected way. She slid just as smoothly into the seat opposite from Bekah, and tucked the cushion that she’d knelt on just moments before under the table with a subtle shift of her legs. She smiled brightly at Bekah’s dumbfounded expression, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“What’s wrong, my totally equal partner in this relationship? Is something amiss?”

Bekah looked agog, mouth only closing when a voice called her name and demanded her attention.

“Bekah, is that you?” The woman trotted over with a smile on her face and went in for a hug, which Bekah returned numbly. “I haven’t seen you since the, uh…” She trailed off, and delicately gestured across her cheek.

“Hi Aliyah,” Bekah said weakly. “This is--”

“And you must be Melody! I’d say it’s lovely to meet you, but given the circumstances I suppose I should offer my condolences?”

“No need!” chirped Mel, smiling brightly. “Bekah and I are getting along really well, given the circumstances.” She turned her smile on Bekah, and something about her eyes changed, shifting from a polite “nice to meet you” smile to an expression so sincere it took Bekah’s breath away. “She’s a really good person.”

“God, she so is, isn’t she? You’re so lucky. I mean, you’re not lucky obviously. I’m so sorry about your mark. But if you had to get slave marked, you couldn’t be paired with a better person than Bekah.”

Finally catching up to the emotional whiplash that had been this conversation, Bekah offered a quick introduction. Aliyah went in for the hug, which Mel returned seemingly happily enough. It was amazing how easily she leaned into the unexpected social interaction. Bekah had known Aliyah for years and she was still reeling from the shock and fear that had filled her when she’d first spotted her across the room. If Aliyah had seen her kissing Mel on the floor… But no, she couldn’t have. If she had, the conversation would have gone very differently.

Before they could get much past polite introductory smalltalk, the waiter, the man with the clawed up chest and the Toy mark, arrived and looked expectantly at Bekah and Aliyah, ignoring Mel completely. Of course he did. It was the polite thing to do, after their first interaction. 

“Will you be needing another menu?”

Aliyah looked a little embarrassed. “I’m so sorry, I interrupted your breakfast! I just saw you two together and Bekah I know how torn up you’ve been about this, and I wanted to see how you were getting on.” She stood up and nodded at them both before turning to the waiter. “Could I get another table, actually? Don’t wanna bother the lovebirds, they’re newly marked.”

“Oh, congratulations! I didn’t realize, your marks are so intricate already, I would have guessed you had them for at least six months. Mine didn’t get that size until…” He trailed off, blushing at the memory. “Anyways, if you’ll follow me, ma’am? I’ll be back for y’alls orders in just a moment.”

As he led Aliyah off, she turned her head to meet Bekah’s gaze. “I’ll see you at the meeting later today, yeah? We’ve got a lot to discuss. You should bring Mel to a meeting too, it could do her some good.” She paused thoughtfully, and for a moment her eyes flashed cold and hard, so fast Bekah was sure she’d imagined it. “Maybe not tonight though. Next meeting.”

“See you then!”

The rest of the breakfast passed in a pleasantly uneventful haze of good food and laughter. Mel was fun to be around, when they weren’t dealing with one emotional crisis or another, and this was her favorite cafe. If their conversation was a bit stilted from the… unorthodox beginning to the breakfast, and if Bekah kept finding herself looking down at her side where the blonde woman had knelt so prettily, well, that was only to be expected with a new relationship. These things happened.

“How’s the food?” Bekah asked, her mouth stuffed full of sausage and egg. 

“It’s pretty good!” Mel replied, after taking a moment to swallow and wipe her mouth prettily with her napkin. “The scramble is nice, but the croissant is a little eh by my standards. Then again, Jed spoiled me pretty bad when it comes to pastries, sooo…”

“Jed?”

“He’s the baker at the coffee shop I work at. Worked at. Really an awesome guy, and he made the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had. Honestly, he made the best everything I’ve ever had. Plus he’s a total sweetheart, even if he’s always telling the worst jokes you’ve ever heard.”

“Aw, he sounds nice. What made you quit?

Mel gestured silently at her temple, and the tattoo marking her as Bekah’s property. Her Subject.

“Oh.”

They ate in silence for a moment, thinking.

“Do you want to go back?”

“What?”

“Do you want to go back? To work there, I mean.”

Mel looked at her dumbfounded. “I… but I’m your Subject.”

“So?” Bekah said, her mind racing with energy, new ideas pouring in faster than she could fully think them through. “We’re trying to make this work right? I’m gonna try and stop forcing you to be something you’re not, and we’re gonna see what that looks like. So what if most service marked people don’t have jobs outside their owner or their owner’s business? We aren’t most people. We don’t have to be. Besides, I’m gonna be in school or working most hours of the day, what are you gonna do, just sit at home and clean my room?”

“I-- guess I hadn’t thought about that. But, do you mean…? Could I really…?”

“If you wanna go back to work at your coffee shop, and you think they’d take you back, I’m the last person who would stand in your way. I think that’s wonderful, you doing something for yourself.”

Mel was visibly torn. “But… But I’m supposed to be yours, right?” Her voice was somewhere between heartbroken and powerful yearning.

Bekah leaned in and rested her forehead against Mel’s. She had to stand up to reach the much taller woman’s face, but it was worth it. “I don’t know what you being mine is going to look like, and neither do you. I think we can figure it out together, and if this is something you want, I want it for you too.”

For the first time in their relationship, but hopefully not the last, it was Mel’s turn to go for the kiss.

***

They walked home full of tasty food and with a spring in their step. In Mel’s case, the bouncing was so pronounced Bekah had to pull her in closer by their linked hand to stop the larger woman from pulling her off balance. She wasn’t exactly complaining.

“Hey, uh. Thank you.”

“For what?” Mel asked happily, her arms wrapped tightly around Bekah’s.

“For what you did back there, with Aliyah. I know… I know this isn’t easy for you, and I’m pushing you out of your comfort zone and I wanted to try but… Thank you, is all.”

“Hey.” Mel stopped and turned to face Bekah, her eyes serious. “I’m not the only one this isn’t easy for. It meant so much to me that you did what you did back there, and the kiss…” She flushed a bright pink. “It was wonderful. Do I wish it lasted longer? Of course. Am I upset that you don’t want to deal with sharing this part of yourself you’re still figuring out with other people on what, our second day ever together? Especially when those other people might judge you for it? Of course not.”

Bekah could barely speak, her throat tight with unshed tears. “I just don’t want you to think I’m ashamed of you, or--”

“Are you?”

“What?”

“Are you ashamed of me? I know you’re scared and you’re freaked out and you don’t really know what you want, but look me in the eye and tell me you’re ashamed of me. You can’t, can you?”

“I… no. Of course not.”

Mel smiled happily, and began pulling Bekah along by the arm again. “Then I don’t have anything to worry about! Don’t worry boss, it’s only a matter of time before I have you beating my ass in public.”

It was Bekah’s turn to flush, the color less pronounced on her slightly darker skin but highlighting her freckles in a way that previous partners had told her was adorable. “I don’t know about that, but I guess uh, we’ll see?”

Mel laughed. “Good enough for now! C’mon, lets go home. You need to show me where all the stuff is, and maybe I could have a key? So I can like, go out if I need something?”

“Right. Yes. Good call. Hey, wait a minute, don’t you have a thing about swearing? Where’d “beating my ass” come from?”

For the first time since Bekah had known her, Mel looked truly embarrassed. Not ashamed, not scared, just… embarrassed. “I think swearing is rude, and mean and degrading and you shouldn’t swear at people. But um… I kinda think it’s okay and maybe a little hot for people to be mean and degrading to me. So I don’t mind swearing if it’s about me. Um. Yeah.”

“Huh.” Bekah thought about that for a moment, digesting the idea slowly. “Okay, sure I can see that.” And in a moment of bravery, bravery that had fled as soon as she saw Aliyah walk in the door of the cafe and only now returned to her, she slapped Mel lightly on the ass. “Bitch.”

Mel squeaked. It was adorable .