Just as Artie finished reading Elliot’s text, he turned to see the very same walking towards him. Smiling, Artie turned himself to face the other. “Hello Sir. Thank you for coming. I thought I’d respond to your last text verbally, since you’re here, if that’s okay. Thank you for wanting to hold my hand. That means a lot to me. You’re…Saying a lot of things Sir. A lot of things. I don’t mind it. I don’t dislike it either. It’s just a lot of things I’ve never heard before. Or thought about. I’m used to just kind of being…Here. I’m just here. I don’t want to say too much. I don’t want to make it seem like I’m not grateful. I’m grateful for any offer of service. It’s hard for submissives here to get recognized if they don’t have a close relationship with a Dominant or a Switch. And it’s…It’s even harder. For me.” Artie’s head dropped as he shrugged, chewing his lip for a moment. “Really, it’s more that I thought I was invited to the dinner. But…That wasn’t the case. And I figured it wouldn’t be. So I offered service, I didn’t want to look completely stupid. I knew what would happen. It’s my fault. If I hadn’t responded, Sir Hunter would have left me alone. I shouldn’t be tired, this is who I am. It’s what I’m meant to do. My mark says so. And if being exhausted means I’m interacting and having opportunities to serve…It just- It was hard enough getting claimed the first time around. I’m sorry Sir. I don’t want to upset you. I don’t want to overstep either, I know how hard everything is. I’m struggling to find a balance. I’ve never believed in a balance, but I also want to give you what you do need. I…I’m just sorry.” Artie’s voice was quiet, barely above a whisper, his eyes downcast.
When Artie came into view, Elliot smiled and waved, looking at the other man with warmth and just a little bit of concern. When Artie spoke, he listened closely, intently, moving to the other man’s front to be near and participate. When Artie was done, Elliot nodded and bent at the waist to reach forward to touch the other man’s cheek, his shoulder, and then his hand. “I’m going to move your legs for a moment,” he warned, then gently nudged the foot rests on Artie’s wheelchair so that there was a few feet of distance in between the man’s feet, spreading his legs and making it so that there was room between his legs. Elliot took that space that he made and knelt in it, right between Artie’s knees, and reached forward to take his hands. This wasn’t a submissive gesture, it was an intimate one, he wasn’t on his knees he was just closer to Artie’s level. Face to face, not hovering or bending at the waist in a way that could be seen as condescending. “You’re a good boy, sweetness. I told you that you don’t have to apologize, and I’m just as confused now as I was the last time you apologized for no reason. Thank you for trusting me with all of that. I want you to know that you can do that. You can talk to me, openly and honestly. You can tell me anything. You’re not upsetting me. I’m more likely to worry if you don’t talk to me. It’s not something you owe me, you’re not obligated to tell me how you feel, I want you to know that, but when it’s you holding back because you feel like you have to... I’m going to call you out, to remind you. Because I want to help, I want to be here for you. You’re allowed to be upset because you thought you were being invited to attend, and even if replying to offer service is probably why you ended up serving instead of attending or not showing up, you don’t have to be complacent. If you want to say no, you can say no. And either way, you can be upset with me about not being at the table. I get it, like I told you. You don’t want anyone that only wants you because you’re pushing yourself to be something you’re not anyway. You don’t want to be held to a standard you don’t want to keep up. If you dress up as a furry because you think it’ll get you attention and then it does, then you’re going to feel like you have to dress like a furry forever. Is it worth it to be with someone if you have to be a furry forever? You’re acting like what your old Master would have wanted and we both know that is not at all what you want. Being single, or instead... sticking with me... sounds preferable to that if you ask me. It looks like things are picking up with people being social and finding partners anyway, but that doesn’t need to dictate anything. Nobody else needs to dictate anything for you. I think it would be best if we spent some time in the safe space, where none of this matters. I think it would be a good idea if we had safe space hours regularly too, outside of the actual safe space. So we can relax in private. You’re saying all kinds of things that you know now don’t make any sense, and anything I do is going to be both a little helpful and feeding into it a little because you’re so used to people deciding for you and ordering you around that you need to find independence and freedom outside of that, but the only way I can help you to that is to decide for you and order you around, which is counterproductive.” Deep breaths, Elliot nodded, the look in his eyes saying that there was about a thousand and one different thoughts speeding by. “We’ll figure it out. Are you ready for that walk? It’s nice out today.”