Some of the frustration and defensiveness leaked out of Luke. He didn’t even really know why he’d been feeling it. “That’s close enough… I guess. I just… there were things I didn’t really think I’d enjoy that I’m really enjoying. But liking them doesn’t really fit in with how I saw myself. Not that liking them is bad…”

He felt like he was tripping over his words, trying to explain without insulting someone else who probably liked the same thing he was working very hard not to explicitly say.

Unlike him, however, Freddy had no shame.

“Yeah, I actually didn’t need the subbie talk until after the first time I was pegged,” he said casually, making Luke turn bright red as the blonde submissive returned with their drinks right as Freddy made the statement. Neither she nor Freddy looked perturbed though. She grinned and winked at him.

“I needed mine the first time I did pet play,” she said with a giggle and another wink, this time for Luke, before bouncing away.

“So… this is like a thing?” Luke asked, feeling both a little relieved and maybe a little let down. Not that he wanted to be entirely unique without anyone who understood what he was going through, but for some reason it was strange to realize it was completely normal. He downed his shot of whiskey,

“Here it is,” Freddy said, taking a sip from the rum and coke he’d ordered. “Some people work through it on their own, but since this is a pretty supportive community with lots of people who have been through the same process, we all try to look out for each other. This is only the second full on class of submissives that we’ve had, and the last one only consisted of two women, but almost everyone needed some kind of talk either after their Introduction Scene or their first full-on scene when in a relationship. Sometimes both, since the Intro Scenes don’t cover everything.”

“You had doubts about being a submissive too? This is just, totally normal?” Luke asked. Relief was definitely taking over as the dominant emotion. The burn of alcohol through his chest seemed to also burn away some of his uncertainties.

“Oh, tons,” Freddy said cheerfully. “Especially because I prefer women to men. I like both, but there are less men whom I’m drawn to than women. I sometimes wish it was the other way around. For some reason it’s more ‘socially acceptable’ to submit to another man than it is to a woman. Not here, of course, but out there.” He waved his hand to indicate the world in general outside of Stronghold.