Note: These are similar to my “ask me anything” posts, except that the group asks questions for any of our characters to answer. Therefore, not all characters answer all questions.
Q: Do you ever borrow your partner’s clothes?
Zain: Seb says his clothes are too tight on me. Personally, I don’t see why that’s a problem. He doesn’t like me stretching them out, though, so I stopped borrowing them. His loose yoga pants could probably fit me, but I love the way those look on him way too much to take them for myself.
Theo: Quint has this one ancient Harvard sweatshirt that’s all torn at the cuffs and bleach-stained, and I refuse to let him throw it out because it’s the only thing I like wearing when I’m sick. I’m not sure it could be called his anymore. I’m the only one who wears it.
Q: How do you entertain yourselves on a rainy day?
Quint: Theo rehearses, composes new songs, or plays with Jagger. I usually watch him and read.
Theo: Lies. Last time we had a major rainstorm, he decided it was a good opportunity to do a deep-clean of the whole apartment.
*
Zain: *waggles his eyebrows*
Seb: ZAIN!
Zain: Well, we do! Or Disney movies. Sometimes both, but not at the same time, because that’s just weird.
Q: Who handles spiders?
Zain: Me, with Seb right behind me going, “Don’t hurt it!”
Theo: I actually cannot remember ever seeing a spider in our apartment. They’re probably afraid of Quint’s broom. I don’t mind them, but he’d get rid of any, to prevent cobwebs.
Q: Describe caring for your partner they are injured or sick.
Seb: I’d really rather we not answer this one.
Zain: What about that time I tried to climb up onto the roof after you, and I embedded that wooden spike in my palm, and you had to take it out?
Seb: Oh my god, I forgot that. You are such a baby about splinters. Big, strong Marine, my ass.
Zain: It was the size of a RAIL TIE.
*
Quint: Theo doesn’t get sick often, but when he does, it hits fast and hard. Sometimes I know when he’s coming down with something because he starts wanting to be very close to me, constantly, before the symptoms even start. I take his temperature if there’s no other explanation for the clinginess. It’s nice now that I can work from home. I can have him in the office sleeping on the guest bed while I do other things. Before, I’d have to call out to stay with him. He’s usually over the worst of it in a few days, and starts getting less clingy and more antsy. That’s when the real trouble can start, if I don’t nip it in the bud.
Theo: What he means is, he goes into Super Top Mode, combined with Doctor Mode, and it sucks. I hate being sick.
Q: What have you given up for each other?
Seb: A life not dictated by the whims of the United States government. I don’t resent him for being in the military; it’s just who he is, and I would never want to take that from him. But I do sometimes wish we could decide where to live on our own.
Theo: My dream of being a world-famous Celtic rock star. Except not really, because I’ve learned that dream wouldn’t fit me. I’m happy with my career as it is now.
Q: Does anyone of your family or friends know that you use discipline in your relationship?
Theo: Zeggy actually knew about me being a Brat before Quint did. I had just discovered the idea of discipline relationships, and I knew it was what I wanted, but I was really nervous about bringing it up with him. I thought he’d dump me or call me a freak. And part of me also feared it was abuse, and there was something seriously wrong with me for wanting it.
So, I talked to Zeg. I rag on her for being a shrink, but really, she’s an excellent one. She listened to me totally without judgement and then read some of the websites I showed her and said, “Sweetie, I think this would be good for you. Quint loves you. I know he’ll hear you out and try to understand, and if he’s got any concerns about it, he can talk to me, too, alright?”
(I think Quint did wind up talking to her, though I’ve never asked either of them how that conversation went.)
What about Ike? Well, for the longest time, I suspected he knew, too (through figuring it out on his own; Zeg would never tell him without my permission). It was hard to be sure until an incident about two months ago.
We were over there for a poker game in their backyard. The kids were with their grandfather, so it was just the four of us, and Quint and I were planning to spend the night. I really didn’t see what the big deal was about me drinking a third beer. Yeah, Quint has had a two-drink limit for me for years now, but there was no way I was going to find any homophobes to get into a fight with, so what harm could one more do?
I followed Quint into the kitchen after my second one and started arguing with him about it while he refilled the snack bowl. He didn’t let me get very far before saying, “Theodore, you can drop this now, or you can go stand in that corner there. Which would you prefer?”
I said, “Neither,” which, as it turned out, was not an option. He spun me towards the corner and swatted my butt to encourage me to get moving, and that’s when we both realized Ike was standing about three feet away. The dude is silent. Zeggy really needs to get him a bell to wear or something.
Anyway, he walked past us into the bathroom, like nothing unusual was going on and my face wasn’t flaming red. After the door closed behind him, Quint said, quite calmly, “One more time. Would you like to drop this, or would you like to stand in that corner?”
I dropped it.
Q: What are your favorite bath time toys?
Zain: Seb loves baths. He loves those scented bath bomb things that fizz and turn the water different colors. He loves bath salts and bubbles, too. He even likes the brush, when it’s being used the way the manufacturer intended. Taking a nice, long soak relaxes him, so it’s all good in my book. When I join him, though, he doesn’t use any of that stuff. Not because I mind, but because most of the water usually winds up on the floor, and he says it’s a waste of expensive products.
Oh, and this is my favorite bathtime toy. 😉
Q: Name a movie you’ve watched over five times that you’re still entertained by.
Theo: Mean Girls. Yeah, it’s a teen chick flick, but it’s really funny, okay? Zeggy and I quote it at each other all the time.
Quint: 2001: A Space Odyssey
Theo: NERD
*
Seb: Chocolat
Zain: You all KNOW my favorite movies.
Q: Is there a discipline technique or implement that you would not use?
Zain: Try putting leather anywhere near Seb’s skin and see how far you get. I dare you. 🙂 As for forms of discipline, I can’t imagine a situation where I’d stand him in a corner, but never say never.
Theo: Back when Quint and I were first starting, he wanted to use hot sauce instead of soap when I got mouthy or lied to him, because he was worried over toxins, but I told him about a time when a school bully made me eat a red jalapeno pepper, and he changed his mind. Now he just buys super gentle, non-toxic, all-natural soap, which tastes AWFUL for something that is supposedly 98% water.
Q: Have you and your partner ever laughed during discipline?
Quint: I have come extremely close to laughing at Theo’s snarky remarks a few times when I knew I shouldn’t. There was also a period early on when he started wearing novelty boxers, so any time I took his pants down for a spanking, I was confronted with things like a cartoon porcupine with the words “Pain in the Rear” on his bottom. I hid my smiles quite well, I think, except for once.
That day, he was in a very bad mood from lack of sleep, and cornertime wasn’t doing much to improve it. I decided to spank him instead, so I could get him settled for a nap quicker. When I sat on the couch and ordered him to come to me, he said, “Fine!” and stomped over, spitefully undoing his jeans on the way.
He shoved them down a bit too vigorously, though. His legs got tangled, and then he tripped and landed across my lap. I looked down and saw he was wearing new boxers. Several ducks were drawn on the seat of them, all with their heads under water and their tails in the air, and printed above that, it said “Bottoms up!” Before I knew it, I was laughing. Theo became indignant, until he realized it was because of the boxers, not his fall. Then he confessed he’d been trying to get me to laugh with them for weeks.
Seb: Zain once started a tickle fight in the middle of a spanking. Yes, in the middle, as in, he finished the spanking afterward. He said it was because I was taking it too seriously. He is a terrible, horrible, no good Top, and I hate him.
Q: Have you ever been disciplined while on vacation, like, say, in a hotel room?
Theo: I tagged along with Quint to a medical conference a couple of years ago in Philadelphia. One day, he had some free time, so we went to see the Liberty Bell together. It was great. Except I kinda… wandered off after, while he was in the restroom? And it kinda made him late for a panel he was supposed to be on? Look, I just wanted to find a cheesesteak!
Anyway, he tracked me down eventually, and dropped me off back at our hotel room with strict orders not to leave it. When he returned, we had a ‘discussion’ that could definitely be overheard. I’m certain of this because the doctor in the room next door (who wasn’t one of Quint’s colleagues, thank God), gave me a really knowing look when we bumped into each other by the ice machine the next day. I think he thought we were into something kinky.
Seb: Yes, several times. It’s a hazard of being in a long-distance relationship. When we get together, we’re usually in a hotel room, and Zain will spank me pretty much anywhere.
Q: Have you ever had discipline interrupted? For example, you are in the middle of a spanking and someone knocks on the door?
Zain: In general, blood sugar levels go up in response to pain, so when we were first starting out, I kinda assumed that’s what would happen during a spanking. But Seb, for some reason, usually has the opposite reaction to that particular kind of pain. We found out the hard way. I was using the hairbrush for the first time and he started to go low. He can’t talk when he’s over my knee, so he pushed himself onto the floor and sobbed “juice.” I felt terrible about it and didn’t finish the spanking after he’d stabilized. Which was a mistake, but that’s another story.
Q: What does the Top do about pouting?
Theo: Ignores it. Quint is the master of a game called “I don’t notice you being grumpy at me.”
Seb: It’s the Top who does the pouting in my relationship. And then he pouts harder, until I laugh or hit him, usually.
How fun, Zillah! I love the discipline questions! Quint trying not to laugh at Theo’s snark makes ME laugh. Of course you know how much I love Quint!