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---(winter)---
Rey hated coffee houses--except for this one. She hated the pretentious college students, hopeless artists, obnoxious businessmen, and loud old folks. She hated the fancy coffees and lattes. Maybe it was because Rey hated coffee as a whole.
Though to be fair she used to hate this coffee house too, back in college anyway. That was when it was run by a bald guy named Rick who was a total twat.
Now it was owned by her ex, Armitage. He totally rebranded the place, renamed it “Triskele”, opened it up for pub nights on the weekends, which the new celtic theming certainly encouraged.
Rey liked this particular coffee house that wasn’t just a coffee house, because it made her feel a bit closer to home here. That was part of her initial appeal to Armie as well: Someone to complain about the dreary weather of England they escaped from. But it turns out he liked rain, and so did she. She liked the imported teas he kept in stock-- even long after they broke up. Armitage was far too practical to end a friendship just because a relationship wasn’t working out. He had laid out his reasons like a winning move in a chess game; they were all part of a close knit group of friends and families. Why divide the group potentially because of pettiness? His queen to her king on the third move.
Armitage was a chess champion though, and won every serious game against her in moments. She never stood a chance.
---
Rey sat hiding behind her laptop with her cup of steaming tea, waiting for it to cool. It was her favorite: breaktime brew from Yorkshire Tea with a spot of milk in it. Armie had made it for her, even as busy as he was. Ben always put far too much milk in.
She peered over her screen to see Jac and Kim whispering as they looked over at the dark-haired man behind the counter, who was very clearly unhappy to be there. Poor Ben was never supposed to the work the register, but everyone else had taken off and Armie was mostly stuck in the kitchen.
“I saw them snogging in the storage room in the back when I was passing through,” Jac said. Kim raised an eyebrow languidly at him.
“Armitage would never do something so racy in his own establishment,” she said insistently. Rey ducked back behind her screen, her face turning red. She knew that to be a vicious lie. Armie and her had done quite a few things after closing hours. Jac slowly closed her screen.
“From Rey’s expression we both know I am not lying,” he said with a note of triumph in his voice. Rey glared at Jac and he immediately broke eye contact, choosing to look at his girlfriend who also stared him down. At 6’3” and with a body only the military could create, it was easy to do.
“Dopheld, how rude,” she sniffed taking a long sip of her coffee. The man glared into his fruit tea at hearing his first name. Kim sent Rey an affirmative nod, the slightest trace of a smile at the corner of her lips before going back to her usual mask of disinterest. That was how it always had been for them two.
“I wasn’t lying, Kimball,” he muttered before taking a long sip. Kim rolled her eyes and Rey held back a grin. Dopheld and Kimball had originally gotten talking on account of the unusual names they were ‘cursed’ with, as they put it.
“Who did you catch with Armie?” Rey asked quietly, unable to help herself.
“Ben,” he said, trying very hard to not look back at the man. Rey gulped louder then she ever intended, her eyes flickering towards the man at the counter. Their eyes met and his gaze was as smoldering as she remembered.
Ben and her had been a short lived affair in her freshman year. Short, but like a match, they burned bright and went out quick. Compared to Armie who was more like the slow drag of a cigarette, something she knew was bad for her even as she took deep inhales of him. They burned out much slower. She imagined a match lighting the cigarette, and could see the twin trails of smoke curl around each other. Then reality came back.
Her two exes had gotten together. And they had made out in the storage room.
--(Spring)--
She wished she could hate them--Really, she did. But they always had fun. Between Ben’s terrible flirting and Armie’s generous courtesy she ended up sprawled on their pull-out couch more often then in her own bed. There was life here, in the boy’s shared apartment that she just so well preferred to her own pathetic hole in the wall.
This particular morning, Rey found her legs trapped under Ben’s and Armitage’s arms wrapped around her waist. Were they on the couch? Her brain felt fuzzy as she tried to detangle herself. There was no way this was the couch, they would never be able to fit. No--this was the California King Armie bought Ben for his last birthday. As Armie put it, “There is simply no other bed I can tie him spread eagle to comfortably,” He had said it as if talking about the firmness of the mattress or the sturdiness of a box frame. But Armie always certainly had known his way around rope.
Rey’s eyes adjusted to the glaring light from the window, trying to remember when she had fallen asleep. She hazily tried to remember--she didn’t feel sick so she hadn’t drunk anything the night before. But they had stayed up binge-watching “Lucifer” on Netflix. That had been her idea. Then they ended up talking to at least 3 in the morning, like kids at a sleepover. She leaned up just enough to see that is was nearly noon now, on Sunday. Sunday, right? Her eyes focused in the smaller set of numbers on the digital clock confirming it before she had a minor panic attack.
She managed to slide her legs out from Ben’s, now able to more clearly see his bared chest and his wrist pulled in front of him, bound in multiple wraps of Jute rope, a line of it loosely tied to the metal headboard. Rey vaguely remembered jokingly saying the only way she’d sleep in the boy’s bed was if Armie could keep Ben under control for the night. She thought was an impossible feat, only to be quickly resolved with a 20 ft length of rope before they passed out. Typical Armitage.
“You know, you should just move in,” Ben whispered without even opening his eyes, causing Rey to jump. He grinned and moved to grasp Rey’s hand that was just within reach of his bound hands. Her hand disappeared into his as he peeked open an eye at her. She raised an eyebrow at him, as if to show how ridiculous he was being.
“You always have the cutest snore too,” came an expressionless tone from behind her. She found herself jumping again and reached behind her sleepily hitting at the redhead behind her.
Thwack! She managed to hit his shoulder with his arms still pulled around her waist. When her attention came back to Ben, he was pouting puffing out his lush bottom lip.
“She never hits me like that anymore. It’s not fair,” Ben complained. Rey felt Armie adjust behind her, releasing her waist and lightly hitting Ben’s shoulder.
“There. Better now?” Armie responded, badly pretending to be unamused. But then he reached over Rey entirely, pinning her under him as he grabbed at the thin chain around Ben’s neck and pulled him into a bruising kiss. Rey made an exaggerated noise of disgust.
“Oh. My. God. PDA boys! You’re both terrible!” she exclaimed. They both turned to her with expressions of disbelief,
“You would know, “ they answered in near unison before looking at each other mischievously and leaned in, each kissing her on a cheek. Hux still pinned her, so she couldn’t get away. She tried really hard to not grin at the attention. Rey shoved them both off, huffing as she waded through the discarded pile of blankets at the base of the bed. She made sure to thoroughly glare at the pair of them as they both sat up in bed. How Ben was able to be bound and still smile so smugly was a mystery to her, while Armitage had to slightest hint of satisfaction tucked into the corner of his lip.
The redhead tugged his hair back, as if he could possibly tame his bedhead without gel. Ben licked his lips and looking back at his dominant, who was just in reach of his hands. He moved in and ruffled Armie’s hair back to dissarey only to be met with another grab at the chain collar around his neck. The hand slowly forced him to lie down again. Armitage didn’t take his eyes off her. Perhaps he never had.
“He’s right about you moving in, you know. Our lease is up this month,” Armitage said.
Even from his position of head now half buried in a pillow, Ben managed to chime in,“Then we can listen to that cute snore every night.”
Armie rolled his eyes and quickly added,“By that, Ben means he can listen from the floor where he’ll be sleeping if he keeps this up.” Ben managed to pull the pillow he was using over his head to hide from both their gazes. Rey sighed, formulating a response as she leaned against the door frame.
“And listen to you two rut at night? Pass,” she said with some level of confidence. Armie pulled the pillow away from Ben and started massaging his neck as he addressed her,
“You say this as if you would have no part in it,” his voice having only a twinge of humor in his voice.
Rey gasped, placing spread fingers over her chest as if scandalized, “My dear Mr. Hux, are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” Armie no longer tried to hide his self satisfaction. Ben laid his head on the redhead’s leg and Armie ran his hands through Ben’s hair.
“We both talked about it extensively. I think it would be mutually beneficial. And Millicent always gets grumpy when you aren’t around.”
“Oh yes, I wouldn’t want to be the cause of upset for your cat,” Rey shot back. She didn’t want to think about this. Things were fine as they were, surely. There were so many unsaid things she just didn’t want to say.
But Armie saw through her. He always had.
--(fall)--
It was pub night at ‘Triskele’ and it was packed. Rey had been conscripted to help serve drinks with the boys. She almost regretted the loss of her Friday night, but Armie was paying her and had promised “proper compensation” later. He told her with a straight face, with only the slightest hint of mischief.
Jac and Kim came strolling up the bar,
“Looks like the liquor licence is paying off nicely,” Jac started.
“And don’t you feel special being the only good cocktail waitress for miles around?” Kim quickly added. Armitage popped his head out of the kitchen.
“I do take personal offense. I am clearly the best cocktail waitress in the county,” Armie said before disappearing back into the kitchen. It happened so quickly it felt like whiplash and the three who heard the statement were left in momentary shock. Rey’s head immediately processed the idea by seeing Armie in a short black dress and she was reduced to giggles. She caught sight of Ben at the other end of the bar. He was in charge of wine and beer for the night.
Rey pursed her lips tightly, trying her damndest to not break out into full laughter and took a few deep breaths as Ben turned and noticed her staring. He looked at her with a clear expression of “What the fuck, Rey?”she merely waved him off ,
“Tell you later,” she said just loud enough for him to hear over the crowd. Ben shook his head and went back to the mug he was filling, trying to hide his amusement. Jac and Kim watched the small exchange looking entertained at the least.
“What was that about?” Kim said quietly leaning in over the bar. Jac and Rey leaned in as well,
“Imagine Ben in a dress-- just for a moment,” Rey whispered. Jac visibly flinched, a look of disgust taking over his face while Kim looked over appraisingly at Ben, a twinge of curiosity coming over her.
Jac’s hands came forward crossing in an X in front of him, saying quickly, “No way--He was my commander a few years ago, like--just no.” Kim ran a hand through her short hair as if in disbelief looking down at Jac.
“You need to be more open-minded. You don’t know what these three get up to at their place,” Kim said in a disappointed tone. Jac just put his hands over his ears and walked back to the table. Kim shook her head and turned back to Rey,
“You actually gonna order anything?” Rey asked quickly.
“You should tell that to Armitage. I’m sure it could be arranged,” Kim started, causing Rey to shake her head.
“Hard limit, I would bet 20 bucks on it.”
“Bet on. And I’ll order two screwdrivers please.”
Later that night, Kim lost another bet and she ended up helping clean up in the kitchen with Jac after ‘Triskele’ closed. Rey was sitting down at her usual table relieved to be off her feet for a bit.
Armie came out with her ‘breaktime brew’ and handed it to her, pressing a chaste kiss to her head, something he only did when no one else was around.
“You’re the best,” she said before taking a sip. She sighed deeply, her body curling in over the cup as the citrusy flavor took over her her senses.
“You were very popular tonight. If only I could pay you enough to pull you away from that boring engineering firm,” Armie said moving to stand behind her, his hands gently resting on her shoulders. Rey took a long sip, unable to tell if he was joking or not.
“Nothing and no one could convince me to work here full time. I do hate coffee houses-- in case you forgot.”
“Every one except this one,” he quickly amended.
“Thank you for the tea. You always make it just right,” she said.Armie’s expression was one of victory at her not denying his claim. She sighed, taking another sip.
“Ben made it. He’s been doing it for months now,” He sat beside her on the plush couch, His hands wrapped around her neck, fingers slipping under the collar of her shirt to grasp the hidden chain there; more delicate than the collar Ben wore but no less meaningful. Rey’s mouth went agape. She turned toward the kitchen and Rey looked to see Ben leaning against the wall watching the exchange.
“Thank you, Ben,” she called over. He smiled and saluted before disappearing back into the kitchen.
“He’s been trying very hard to work things out for you,” Armie said, his fingers running over the lines of her collarbones.
“I know.”
--(winter)--
Rey woke to the room being unbearably light even with her eyes closed.She pulled herself closer to the wall of darkness in front of her. Her arms were pressed against it, the hard planes of a chest. She leaned her head against the warmth of it, feeling Ben’s long hair tickle her neck. He was fast asleep, based on the slow rise and fall of his chest. As usual, she was wrapped up in the tangle of his arms and legs.
Rey tried to nudge her way out of the cage of his arms, swearing as his grip tightened slightly. She squinted open her eyes, scrutinizing Ben’s face. She heard the slightest hitch in his breath, a twinge of a smile at the corner of his mouth. Her hand snaked up and tugged at his hair, and she was released.
Ben peeked an eye open at her, sighing. She pinched his nipple and sat up, glaring down at him.
“Knew you were awake,” she grumbled, turning her attention instead to the ball of orange fur curled up at the end of the bed. Millicent picked her head up as Rey moved to pet her. She looked back to see Ben pouting, his arms covering his chest. Millicent purred languidly under her touch.
“Half-awake,” he mumbled. He put his hands sleepily together in apology. Rey grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards her rubbing the sore area. It was then she noticed Armie wasn’t in bed with them. She heard Vivaldi playing and the smell of pancakes coming from the kitchen.
"Formal collars. Nothing else. And breakfast is ready,” Armitage called from the kitchen. The two looked at each other knowingly. Millicent’s ears perked at the sound of her master’s voice and she quickly jumped off the bed, heading towards the kitchen.
“I forgot today was a formal day,” Rey said excitedly. Ben groaned obnoxiously and sat up stretching.
“It’s too cold to not wear anything all day,” he complained, unable to hide the nerves in his voice even as he tried ever so hard to act cool. It had been at least a week since they were able to get a day like this together with Armie.
Rey moved in to kiss Ben quickly before jumping out of bed. She went to the storage closet to get their collars, looking back to see Ben dragging himself out of bed and starting to stretch his legs. She turned to the wooden case they were kept in and opened it, loving the smell of the leather and seeing the polished red and black leather staring back at her. A rush of warmth went through her as she grabbed the collars, feeling the smooth texture beneath her fingers.
She took off the slip of a nightgown she had been wearing. She walked over to Ben, who rid himself of the the boxers he had been wearing. She placed his collar in his hand before walking towards the kitchen. She heard him quickly following behind.
The tiled floor of the kitchen could never feel warm this far into winter no matter how much heat they pumped into the apartment and Rey found herself on her toes to avoid it’s chilly touch. At least until it was time to kneel. Then there was no avoiding it. She looked to the side. Ben was biting his lip looking down at the collar in his hand intently. He always got a bit anxious at the start of these days. Rey understood the feeling.
She grasped his hand as they knelt side by side glancing at each other as Armitage cooked as if unaware of their presence. He hummed along to the music occasionally looking back at the two submissives shifting every so often, from what Rey could tell when he met her glance. Millicent passed by them, rubbing up along Rey and Ben’s legs as she made her way to the living room, which seemed enough to ease the tension on Ben’s face.
After a few minutes he finished, placing a plate on the table before kneeling down in front of Rey first. He pulled her into a kiss, unlocking the delicate chain from her neck and replacing it with the thick leather collar. As the lock clicked into place Rey felt a tingling run down her spine all the way to her toes. Ben’s hand tightened around hers ever so slightly and she squeezed back.
The chain collar was placed on the the table before Armitage moved to Ben next not fully kneeling down as he did with Rey, but bending down slightly and leaning in to twist his hands in Ben’s hair. The dominant forcefully pushed Kylo into a kiss and held him there for a moment before switching his collar as well. Ben’s grip on her hand never loosened but he looked slightly less nervous after Armitage stood again and went back to preparing breakfast.
They quietly did what was expected, Rey setting the table and Ben washing the dishes. Armie noticed Rey dancing a bit on the floor.
“You may both choose one item of clothing while we eat,” he said, sending Rey off into the bedroom. She grabbed one of Ben’s long sleeve shirts from his drawer and something for him as well. Ben came in and she handed him a pair of socks, grinning up at him. He accepted the offering and ruffled her hair.
“Thank you,” Ben said in a gentle tone that didn’t belong with his stiff body. He sat on the bed again, pulled the socks on, and then sat for a moment. One of his hands ran over the leather band around his neck as if he was touching a flower’s petal. Rey heard the swell of Vivaldi’s Winter Concerto from the kitchen and bobbed along to it, swinging the sleeves like a conductor in front of Ben. He managed to smile up at her.
“I promise I’ll give it back to you in one piece,” she says continuing to swing the sleeves around. Ben’s nostrils flare as he suppressed a laugh. He took her hand once more and they moved back to the kitchen. Rey moved to sit down cross legged in one of the chairs, pulling the shirt over her legs. Ben sat down next to her, trying to look annoyed.
“What happened to leaving it in one piece? You’re gonna stretch it out.”
“I’ll buy you a new one,” she offered.
“I like that one,” Ben huffed. The stiffness in his body was finally starting to leave him with a bit of their normal banter.
“But it looks cuter on me,” Rey said. Armitage sat down.
“Everything looks cuter on you, Rey. It’s hardly fair.” Armie cut in. Ben shook his head, throwing up his hands in mild exasperation.
“You two are terrible,” Ben stated grabbing a set of pancakes. The other two followed suit.
“You wanted Rey to move in,” Armie said as he got up and walked around behind Ben, wrapping his arms around the submissive’s neck. The dominant’s hand played with the ring at the front of the collar and Ben melted. Ben gasped, leaning into the touch, his arms wrapping around Armitage’s and just holding him there for a moment. Rey watched on as she started dousing her pancakes in butter and syrup, enjoying watching the boys.
Ben’s eyes closed looking at peace,and Rey found the picture of him beautiful; the way his face relaxed, his hand entwined with Armie’s hand, the dark color of the collar contrasting the paleness of his skin. Armie gave her a knowing smile before motioning forward with his head, noting his desire for Rey to join them. She gave a sad look to her untouched pancakes to which Armie gave her a quick look of disapproval.
She got up and sat on Ben’s lap, taking his free hand in hers. Armie leaned over and kissed her head and then Ben’s. The man between them made a low rumble of contentment that Rey could feel as she leaned against his chest. The world seemed to cease to exist outside their small warm huddle in the kitchen, for just that moment.