Strength

Tommy-

The normally-thrumming music of Leather was nearly silent as Tommy stepped through its doors. The place was busy. Most of the chairs and couches spread about were already full of Dominants, their submissives either on their laps or glued to their sides if they weren't getting drinks from the bar.

There were very few unclaimed, and the ones that were weren't people Tommy liked to associate with. He didn't miss the suggestive looks they gave him, though, or the heavier hungry ones from the doms. Both sides knew he was a switch, even if he was dressed as a dominant for the evening.

Making his way to the bar, he managed to snag a seat that had just been vacated.

"Same as always, Tom?" The bartender asked, even as he began making the drink.

Tommy just nodded and took the glass when the bartender slid it over to him. The alcohol burned going down, but it also helped wash away some of the stress he'd been holding in the past several weeks.

Dealing with Jana is exhausting. He thought.

He wasn't upset at the man for making his job harder. It was honestly a relief when he was assigned a 'unmanageable' inmate. He loved challenges, but when he saw that Jana wasn't so much a challenge as someone that simply needed looked after, it became something more. To him, at least, they were somewhat friends.

Sure he'd been on the receiving end of a few punches and more than a couple perverted innuendos, but Jana wasn't a bad guy at heart. He'd just had his heart torn apart when he was younger and couldn't put it back together by himself. He'd seen such damage before, though he had never been able to actually find the person underneath all of the scars.

You didn't. Domino did.

The thought was souring to his already poor mood. He'd tried so hard to befriend the man. Then, when he realized that it was likely impossible, he did his best to take away some of the stresses of prison life on him. Jana had done a little better without handcuffs or a weapon pointed at him all the time, but he hadn't really changed.

"Excuse me."

Before he could even lift his eyes to the person suddenly beside him, Tommy felt his backside being nudged slightly off the seat. The barstools were decently big, but he still would have preferred to have the whole seat and not have to put some of his weight on his left foot, where it was forced to rest on one of the step bars of the stool.

He looked up to glare at the man, eyes narrowed, when he immediately closed his mouth. His lips clamped together into a straight line, making Christopher give a deep chuckle.

"Glad to see me, hm?" He joked as he caught a glass that the bartender slid over to him.

Christopher was a regular, too, but they had never really interacted. Tommy watched him at random times, and felt his eyes on him on rare occasions, but that was the extent of their meetings in the club. It wasn't a surprise to see that Christopher was dressed in a pair of snug black pants and a partial shirt made out of leather and netting. Normally subs were the only ones who could pull off netting, in his opinion, but he couldn't say it didn't look amazing on the man. He held himself in such a way that it was impossible to see Christopher as a submissive to anyone.

Not even the super burly doms would dare try to make him submit to them.

"I didn't know you knew Christopher..."

Turning his attention to the bartender, Tommy frowned, then looked back toward Christopher. Only, the man wasn't there. He looked back to the bartender, who's name was Mick, and shrugged. "New guy at my work."

He was about to tell him that Christopher came in to replace his little brother, but that wasn't something he should be telling people. If Christopher wanted Mick to know, then he could tell him himself.

"Ah. That's gotta be interesting. Still crushing on him?" Mick asked with a wink as he worked on someone else's drink.

Tommy felt his cheeks warm, but he wasn't nearly as affected as he used to be by Chris. He also didn't want to be a submissive again for awhile. He wanted to be the dominant his heart yearned to be.

"Not really." He finally replied, having realized that he hadn't answered yet.

The bartender slid the drink he'd made down to his patron, then turned back to face him with a small smile. "That's too bad."

Tommy raised a brow. "Why?" He asked, not really understanding what the man meant.

"You work with him now. You could get to know him a lot better, and faster, than anyone else here." The man said, then paused and grinned, leaning over onto his arms. "Or you could sell whatever information you get about him."

Not a chance. Tommy thought. He knew that people sold information about their favorite sub or dom. People wanted a better chance at certain ones, and Christopher was one of the hottest ticket items. Too bad for everyone who wanted him, though, because there was no information to sell. The guy never opened up to anyone. Sure he'd play once in a long while, but he usually just relaxed around the bar and paid very few patrons any mind.

"I wouldn't do that to him. If he wants to tell someone something, he can do it with his own mouth." Tommy said, remembering his previous thoughts about the man's brother. He would get a good deal of money out of that tidbit of information, but he couldn't see himself sinking so low. Not even if Christopher continued to piss him off with how he handled Jana.

"He's looking at you, you know." The bartender said before winking and turning to address a new customer who very clearly needed some liquid courage in their veins.

Speaking of courage, Tommy had known for several seconds that he had eyes on him. He hadn't wanted to admit to himself that they could be Christopher's, but after working with the man, even for such a short time, he knew the pressure of his gaze.

Sighing, he turned around on the stool, resituating himself in the middle again as he leaned his back against the bar. His eyes found Christopher easily where he sat at the far end of a sofa about thirty feet away. Their eyes met and Tommy had to hold back a flinch.

He looks angry. I didn't do anything, though. He thought as he went through his previously short conversation with the man.

Well, he hadn't answered the one sentence their conversation had consisted of. Perhaps that made him upset. He was a dominant, after all. They hated being ignored when speaking to someone. His submissive side told him to go apologize and offer to get him a drink, while his dominant one wanted him to roll his eyes and ignore him completely.

"Too bad you don't know how to ignore him." He growled to himself as he slid from the stool in one languid motion and made his way toward the man, leaving his empty drink glass behind.

Liquid courage. Hah.

Instead of asking for the empty spot right beside Christopher, Tommy slid in without a word. He saw the submissive that had been slowly scooting closer to Christopher glare at him, but chose to ignore it. With a quiet sigh, Tommy leaned his head back and closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the cushion against his head. He was also glad that the evening's music was turned down, along with the lights, saving him from a possible headache.

I shouldn't have bothered coming out tonight. Have to go into work early tomorrow and get Jana's paperwork ready for his release. He thought to himself quietly. He knew that the man would be free soon. He had done exceptionally well with his schooling, and while he likely wouldn't be able to teach children due to his history, he might eventually land a job at a college or laboratory. He doubted that Jana would mind much as long as it dealt with his favorite subject.

A pressure on his left leg brought Tommy out of his mind and forced him to open his eyes. Moving his head forward, he looked down and to see Rufus staring up at him. The submissive was one of the few that he enjoyed being around. He was a pain submissive, though, and Tommy wasn't really into that type of dominance. He preferred strictly command dominance. The bedroom, to him, was for pleasure, not pain.

"Hello, Rufus. How are you this evening?" He asked after the young man gave him a beautiful smile.

"Good, Master! You seem tired, is everything alright?" Rufus asked as he shifted a little more onto his knee, then leaned back when Tommy gave him a slight nod.

When Rufus was settled, his messy soft blond hair pressed up against Tommy's black shirt as he stared up at him, Tommy wrapped his arms around the man's waist and returned his smile. "Just tired. Work has been pretty busy recently."

Rufus tilted his head so that his right cheek rested against Tommy's chest, then smiled wider before speaking. "How is that inmate you're always talking about? Jana, I think his name was? And that doctor. He seemed really nice but you never tell me much about him."

Tommy inwardly winced, forcing himself not to glance to his right and see Christopher's reaction to the question about his little brother. Trying to ignore the doctor subject, Tommy licked his suddenly-dry lips and replied, "Jana is doing very well. Hopefully he will be getting paroled tomorrow."

"That's great! I can't wait to meet him. And how is that doctor?"

Dammit. Tommy thought as he took a deep, calming breath. He didn't like lying to people, and especially not someone who didn't deserve it.

He was my coworker. Sure he was Christopher's brother, too, but that doesn't change the fact that he was in my life for a long time too. I just won't say that they're brothers.

Pursing his lips, Tommy swallowed around the lump in his throat and offered a sad smile. "He passed away recently."

He felt the sofa lift slightly beneath his right leg as Rufus said something consoling. He knew the man would want some attention or at least expected a response, but Tommy couldn't keep from turning his attention to Christopher's back as he disappeared around a corner.

Shit. Stupid liquid courage!

"I'm sorry, Rufus, I need to go." He hurried to say as he removed the man from his lap and jumped up.

He didn't want to draw any attention so he forced himself to walk slowly, even though he wanted to run. When he got to the restroom, which was the only thing down the hallway Christopher had gone that wasn't off-limits to patrons, he slipped inside.

There was no sound inside the bathroom that told him someone was there, but he could sense the dark atmosphere as soon as he past the threshold. Two stall doors were open, but the handicap one was closed.

Taking a steady breath, he walked toward the door and, instead of knocking, ducked under the small space beneath the door with a bit of effort. He knew that Christopher wouldn't open it. The man was strong, and wanted to appear as such. He never showed emotion unless it was exactly what he wanted to express... and he wouldn't want to express sadness to anyone, ever.

Once he was able to straighten back up, Tommy found himself staring at a silent Christopher from behind. The man's head was tilted back, gaze locked on the ceiling as he took slow, calm breaths. He didn't react to Tommy being there at all, but he didn't need to.

Stepping forward, Tommy moved to Christopher's side, then knelt on one knee and leaned himself against the man's leg gently. His hair gently brushed Christopher's fingers as he settled his right cheek against Christopher's thigh. It wasn't until several silent seconds passed that Tommy felt Christopher gently settle his hand atop his head.

He did nothing else, but Tommy knew that he would deal with his sadness the way he chose... he just hoped that he could lend the man some strength. Even if he never seemed to need it.