Chapter 9: Second First Date

It’s weird how close this is to their normal routine. They’ve gotten burgers and shakes at this local restaurant plenty of times, but this time is different because it’s Officially A Date. Olivia worries that maybe this isn’t romantic enough, that maybe she should have chosen something more unique for their date. Alison doesn’t seem to mind it, but Olivia doesn’t fully trust herself to notice if she did.

They walk there from their apartment, like they have dozens of times before, but this time Alison grabs her hand. They chit-chat about classes and their impressions of professors from syllabus week, just like every new semester, but this time Olivia is distracted by thinking about where this night might lead. Olivia steals one of Alison’s fries while Alison is finishing off her milkshake, and this time Alison retaliates by hand-feeding her another one. ‘Is that a romantic gesture?’ Olivia asks herself.

‘Don’t ask me. I only know what you know,’ her brain answers back at her. ‘I’m still nervous, but now that we’re with her again I think everything will be okay. You’ve got this.’

‘Thanks?’ Olivia internally replies. She starts to wonder about what it means when her inner dialogue refers to herself in the second person, but she pushes those thoughts away to focus on the pretty girl in front of her.

“So, I want this,” Alison tells her, “but I don’t really know what this is yet, y’know?”

“I know what you mean. We’re jumping over the relationship escalator all out-of-order, right? We went out and then broke up and then moved in together and now we’re going out again. We’re totally outside of the conventional relationship script, but that means we get to make up our own script, right? This is whatever we both want it to be.”

“I spent so long trying not to be in love with you, and now I have to let myself feel those feelings again.”

Olivia nods. “I’m still getting used to how I feel now too. As soon as I had the option to be attracted to girls I was attracted to you, but it’s different from when I thought you were a boy.”

“Tell me more.”

“I don’t know… I guess part of it’s just that we’re older and we’re not in high school anymore. But also, this time there’s more of a physical component? The first time around I wasn’t into you for your looks, no offense.”

“And what about now?”

Olivia looks away out of embarrassment, but she doesn’t let that stop her from telling the truth. “Now you’re very pretty and I find it very distracting…”

“Awww,” Alison coos, and then boops Olivia on the nose. “You’re pretty!”

They agree to table the more serious negotiation of their relationship until they get home, but as they finish their food they quickly establish that it involves boops, and headpats, and Alison saying “meow!”

Afterwards, as they approach home, Alison says “I think that was a nice date. What about you?”

“Um, yes, you’re adorable.”

“You know, I don’t think I’ve gotten that compliment from you before. Was I not adorable the first time you dated me?” Alison asks jokingly.

“You’re way more adorable now that you’re yourself. And I can evaluate these things objectively. Because I’m bisexual, you see.”

“Hmm, I can’t fault that logic.” Alison pauses outside the door to their apartment. “So you know that romance cliche about walking someone home after a date?”

“I guess so. Like in the old-fashioned straight social script, the cliche is that the man walks the woman home and they have this moment where she decides whether she wants to kiss him, and whether she wants to invite him in, right?”

“It’s kind of funny.”

“Because in this case we’re both women, and we’ve both been walked home.”

Alison’s smile is beautiful. “Delightfully symmetrical, isn’t it?”

“So, in the lesbian social script, how do you decide who kisses who?”

“Like this.”

The kiss is different from how Olivia remembers. Alison is more confident, grabbing her waist and pulling her close. They stay there for a minute before they both disengage, deciding that the hallway isn’t the best place to be right now.

As soon as they’re inside the privacy of their own apartment, though, Alison changes the subject. “If it’s alright with you, I want to talk about your kink.”

Olivia sighs and flops onto the couch. “Yeah, I guess we should. Are you, like, okay with it?”

Alison joins her on the couch and pulls her into a hug. “No matter what, I’m not going to judge you for it. You can’t necessarily control what you’re into. Only I can do that,” she jokes. “But yeah, I’ve been reading about hypnosis or mind-control kink, a little nonfiction and a little erotica, just to get some reference frame for what you might be into. But I wanna know what you specifically want out of it.”

“I mean, first I don’t want to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

“I know, and we’ll figure that out. But start by telling me what an ideal dynamic looks like for you, and then I’ll try to figure out whether I can give you something like that.”

“Well, if I’m leaning fully into my probably-unrealistic fantasies, I want you to remake me. Turn me into your perfect partner.”

“I already think you’re perfect,” Alison tells her before kissing her cheek.

“No, come on. Surely there are ways I could be better optimized to your preferences. I know even with lots of negotiation and consent beforehand, that’s still something no sane person would offer to someone they just started dating. But I’ve known you and trusted you for years, and I want to belong to you, in whatever way you want most. What about you, what are you into?”

“Huh, well, unfortunately I’m not a domme. I’m an obligate sub; the one positive thing that came out of dating Kelsey was learning how much of a masochist I am. If you were into it, I’d want you to hurt me. Impact, scratches, bites, tickle-torture. Anything that gives a strong sensation without involving my underwear region.”

Olivia considers this for a moment and smiles. “Yeah, I can do that. Right now there’s not a dommy or sadistic bone in my body, but you can change that if if you want.”

“I guess I can. If that’s what you want too.”

“Yes please.”

For someone who claims to be exclusively submissive, Alison can look wonderfully predatory.