Enlightenment Through BDSM

Rules. I’d lived life by them, hadn’t particularly enjoyed it. But in this context, it sounded nice. My mind was racing with possibilities as Kalia raised her hand, lifting a single finger. 

“Rule number one: whenever you want or need me to stop doing something, say the word ‘Orlando.’”

At first I thought I’d misheard, or that maybe she was joking, but the dead-serious look on her face seemed to suggest otherwise. “What?”

“Orlando is your safeword, if that’s fine with you,” she said, leaning back and taking another swig of water. “If you don’t use that word, I’ll assume any protestations are just you being playfully disobedient. And punish you accordingly, of course. Why, where you expecting some other kind of rule?”

“N— no…” I wasn’t sure why I was pretending. We both knew that’s what she’d been implying, and that I’d taken the bait. I’d heard of safewords before, though they didn’t really feature too much in the stories I’d read. I knew they were important in the real world, but I didn’t think it was going to be rule number one. “What else? What’re the other rules?”

Kalia shrugged. “We’ll have to figure that out together. I need to learn what your buttons are, how hard to push them.” The sly half-grin she was giving me was certainly one of the buttons, and she was already pushing it hard. I was pretty sure she knew that, too. “So, seriously, why do you know about this sort of stuff? Have you done it before, or just researched?”

“Well, it’s…” That question seemed somehow too personal, but I guess it was a little late to be thinking things like that, at least after what I’d just agreed to. “I used to read about it. Not research really, just stories online.”

I felt a sense of dread as she raised a single eyebrow. “What type of stories?”

“Just— You know, stories.”

“Can’t say I do, I’m afraid. Most of my experience is of the practical variety.”

“Ugh…” This wasn’t fun, not even in a “oh no please stop butnotreally” type of way. Still, I could tell she was being serious, not just trying to mess with me. “I read some historic novels, then some historic romance novels. Kind of accidentally found one with a servant and her mistress that were… closer than they should have been. Then I looked up similar stuff online, girls with mistresses in modern day, girls on— on leashes…”

“Well, sounds like a dog’s body might have made more sense for you.” I let out a squeak at that, watching as she stood up and walked over to me once more, standing above me this time as I was frozen below. “But no, your demeanor is pretty cat-like. And besides, I knew some owners put leashes on their cats and take them out for walks, if they’re behaved that is. Will you behave, kitty?”

That word sent my mind reeling, and I leaned back as she towered over me, feeling the pressure increasing as I leaned up against my tailbone, preventing me from just laying back any more. “D— don’t call me that,” I said, voice quivering.

“Kitty? If you really don’t want me to call you that, there’s a simple word you can say, and I’ll stop.” 

I bit my lip, arms shaking as they held me up from falling. I couldn’t tell if she could see my blushing, but I hoped not, hoped she didn’t see just how much of an effect on me she had. I’d imagined being called a pet before, being called a puppy even, but “kitty”? Somehow that was even more humiliating, more demeaning, more girly…

“Well, kitty, I’ll just carry on like normal then. I do have another question though. Clothes, ‘girl clothes,’ how experienced are you with them?”

The pressure on my tail was starting to pinch, becoming too uncomfortable, so I rolled, half laying, half sitting on my side. “I, uhm, ordered a skirt online once… and some long socks.”

“Well, that checks out. Makes sense you wouldn’t be able to dress yourself or pick out clothes, since you’re just a pet.” She smiled again as she raised two fingers, the smile I was starting to realize would strike delicious fear in me each time I saw it, the indication she’d just had what she considered to be a brilliant idea. “Rule number two: you don’t get to own clothes. I’ll buy and keep all your outfits, and you’ll only wear what I allow you to, when I allow, understand?”

My heart was pounding with possibilities again, and I replied instinctively. “Yes, Lady Kalia.”

“Hmph! And here I thought I was about to get away with punishing you for addressing me incorrectly.” She held a hand out, pulling me up back to my feet as my heart skipped. “Let’s get to sleep though. As a reward, I’ll let you sleep in my bedroll tonight.”

My eyes glanced towards her hand as she led me, towards her chest, her pants, and finally her face. “Are we— Do you mean…”

She threw her head back and laughed, an honest laugh, not one for play or show. As intimidating as she could be when she turned it on, when she wasn’t playing anything up, her face was just beautiful. I couldn’t even be bothered to be embarrassed at being laughed at in the moment, not while I could see that type of pure joy on her face. 

“No, but it’s cold, and I only have one blanket.” she said, wiping at her face. “We’ve still only just met, and we’ve both had a long day. We’ll keep playing for a while, and work our way forward from there. Honestly, we’re moving a little quicker than I’d usually consider already.”

She stopped outside of the tent, dropping her voice to a whisper as she glanced at the slumbering lump on the other side, then back at me. For the first time since I’d met her, she actually looked unsure of herself. “There’s just, something about you, though… I mean, I obviously can’t leave you out here with nothing to your name and no directions to civilization, but even aside from that and the fact that our Jobs seem to match up, you just seem like someone I’d like to be with for a while, to get to know better, you know? ”

It felt like she was asking for permission more than advice. I couldn’t say I was honestly certain of what was happening, certain of my own feelings, or even certain this wasn’t just a weird dream, but there was something there, a comfort around her that I hadn’t felt around anyone before. There weren’t any obligations to keep us together other than the ones we’d make to each other, but for some reason I still felt like I wouldn’t ever want to leave. “Yeah, I do.”

“Good,” she said, pulling her blanket up and patting the small, unrolled mattress underneath. “Now go ahead and lay down, kitty.”

Something about her tone made it more bearable this time, and I just chuckled as I rolled my eyes and layed down, making a conscious effort to curl may tail up into my cloak, instead of up from underneath it. I felt her tight embrace shortly after as she slid in, pressing up against me so we’d both fit on the bedroll. “Try to sleep. I know it’s hard the first night here, but it gets better.”

I could see where she’d be coming from. There were still so many questions I had, so many worries. I had no idea what a town here would even be, what type of strange people would be there, what dangers awaited me. Despite all of those thoughts that should’ve been running through my mind though, my head was empty, cozy as the blanket fell over me, as her arm fell over me with it.

Saving the world could wait for tomorrow.