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It had been a bad few days.
As many flights as Carolyn could legally fit into a week and Douglas couldn't even get really happy about the fact that their last flight of the week would take them to Finland with an almost two day layover while they waited for some cargo. It also didn't help that Herc and Carolyn kept to themselves for the whole time, never acknowledging him more than needed, talking in hushed voices in Carolyn's office or the galley, wherever there was a bit of privacy.
A hopeful part of Douglas hoped they were planning something for him, the way their gazes seemed to drift towards him at times like that. But most of him was sure they were finally fed up with him.
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“Are you sure we are doing the right thing?”
“It's not the first time we have flown for a week straight”
“You know I don't mean the flying. You don't have to sit next to him for most of that. He looks miserable”
“He is a grown adult and it hasn't been that long”
“He is still our sub!”
“I know that. This is for him if you remember. It's a one in a lifetime chance for us all to get together”
“I still think we should give him something before, but you are the boss”
“Good. Now go and do the walk round”
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When Carolyn had told them they were going to Helsinki, Douglas had hoped they would land in Rautavaara like they usually did. But when he read the flight plan he saw that they were flying their client to one of the actual international airports instead. So no chance of seeing Milo, the one spot of light in this week of hell plunged into darkness.
Douglas mood darkened further. Herc and Carolyn were still keeping their distance, no chance of running into Milo and Martin hadn't been answering his calls or texts except for a few excuses about being very busy and always in different time zones.
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Landing GERTI had been easy. The weather was for once in their favour, but the Airport itself was hell on earth and having been stressed before Douglas was ready to crawl into his bed at the hotel and sleep until they had to leave the next evening. He knew he wouldn't really be able to sleep not with how wound up he was.
Maybe he would manage to get Martin on the phone once he was in the hotel, he had always been caring and even simple tasks over the phone would calm Douglas’ mind a lot right now.
They arrived at a hotel that was far to fancy to be of Carolyn’s choosing but Douglas just blindly followed, there wasn’t much he could do. Herc held him up in the lobby engaging him in some random smalltalk that Douglas struggled to participate in and couldn’t remember much of after a minute or two, somewhere his mind was still wondering why they were in an (for OJS) upscale hotel.
Carolyn came back over towards her two pilots and handed Douglas a key-card “Your room is on the 5th floor number 584, the elevator is over there” and with just that she marched Herc over to the other side of the lobby instead of following Douglas to the elevators.
Douglas went where Carolyn, hoping that the Hotel kept up the expectations the lobby gave, the wish to just collapse on a bed and maybe call Martin back at the front of his mind. If he was honest with himself, his biggest wish right now was a Dom to quiet his mind but he suppressed that wish there was no one around and he didn’t want to bother any of them. It was very likely they all were busy. Carolyn and Herc had rushed off as soon as they could, Martin was most likely flying and Milo working too.
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Douglas arrived on the fifth floor and checked the numbers on the doors while wandering along the hallway. He finally found the room at the end of the hallway. He expected to find a broom closet like in the Excelsior a long time ago so he was surprised when he opened the door and walked into a big room, lit by the dim light of the Finnish winter. There was no bed in the room but there were 4 doors leading to other parts of what appeared to be a suite. Douglas dropped his flight bag somewhere next to the door after closing it and went in a straight like towards the sofa that was facing the door, intend on flopping down on it and just lie there for a bit, hoping whatever mix-up had occurred for him to get a suite wouldn’t be uncovered fast so he could enjoy the luxury for a bit.
He almost dove headfirst into the sofa cushions when a voice from his left stopped him “Stop. Keep standing”
For half a second he was confused why there was someone in his room until the voice registered in his head. Martin.
He stood up straighter than he had all day and clasped his hands behind his back, mimicking them being cuffed together, as if on auto-pilot. He wanted to look around to see where the voice had been coming from, it sure can’t be that Martin is really here he must be hallucinating, but his body didn’t cooperate, it was intend on following his Dom’s wishes. He had been waiting for an order like that for so long.
A few seconds later someone walked into Douglas’ field of vision and Douglas eyes focused on that person. Martin. His body might not cooperate in moving much but Douglas managed to pinch his wrist behind his back.
Martin was real. He wasn’t just dreaming him up. He almost dropped to his knees in relief at the realisation but managed to stop himself.
Martin had come around the back of the sofa, so he was separated from Douglas by it. Douglas was just out of reach, but he still couldn’t get his body to move closer to Martin.
There was a flurry of movement as Martin jumped over the back of the sofa with surprising grace now standing directly in front of Douglas. “Good boy” Martin stroked his hand through Douglas’ hair while saying this.
It was too much. Douglas’ knees buckled under him. Martin caught him, still surprisingly strong even after having given up his side job months ago. “Hey now”
Douglas arms unclasped from behind his back and instead held onto Martin, despite the height difference he managed to burrow his head into Martin’s chest. Martin let himself fall back onto the sofa no longer able to keep up Douglas’ full weight.
The door to the room opened but it didn’t really register with Douglas as more than a sound at the back of his mind. All his senses focused on Martin.
“What have you done with him?”
“What do you mean?” Carolyn’s voice was sharp in Douglas’ ears but also soothing, they hadn’t left him.
“He is almost dropping from one command!”
“See I told you we need to do something”
“Shush, Hercules. Is this how you greet your former employer?”
“It is if you neglect our sub”
“We haven’t neglected him. We were busy. Don’t blame this on us”
“Don’t be hard on them Martin, we are here for him now aren’t we?” That was an unexpected voice. Douglas had been surprised by Carolyn and Herc joining him and Martin but that was nothing on the surprise when he heard the fourth voice. It made him lift his head only getting as far as looking at Martin on whose lap he was still sprawled and making an enquiring sound.
“Yes we are all here” Was Martin’s only answer to it. Douglas burrowed back into Martin’s chest happy with the answer.
“See” Martin said gesturing with his hand as far as he could while tightly holding onto Douglas so he wouldn’t slip onto the floor.
Seconds later there was movement around Douglas, the sofa dipped on both sides of Martin and two differently sized hands landed on Douglas’ back and something warm was standing right behind him. Douglas felt save with all four Doms surrounding him and his body relaxed further, now really completely dependant on Martin holding him up.
“Douglas” Martin was talking directly to Douglas for the first time after the praise “Support yourself”
Douglas heard the order and wanted to comply but his body wouldn’t cooperate.
Martin gently let Douglas slip down onto the floor where Douglas stayed with his head leaning on Martin’s leg, Martin let him, Douglas was thankful that Martin didn’t punish him for not following orders, at least not right now. This wouldn’t be the first time, Martin delayed a punishment.
“Hello, and thank you for coming” Martin addressed the others again, so this had been Martin’s idea? “Why don’t you sit down Milo?”
There was movement behind him, the presence behind his back moving and returning. Douglas was content with not being the centre of attention right now and just revelling in the present of all of his Doms for one of the first times ever.
The Doms talked about nothing in soft voices so Douglas tuned them out all his sensed focusing on the feeling of the rough fabric of martin’s trousers, the soft carpet under his still dressed knees, until a hand started stroking through his hair, he couldn’t stop himself leaning into the touch.
After just a few strokes the hand tightened in his hair “Enough. Stand up and remove your clothes, don’t throw them across the room, there’s a wardrobe in the bed room over there. Then come back here”
Douglas did as he was told, pausing slightly to take a deep breath. He very much wanted this but having all four of them together for the first time in ages was a bit overwhelming, even more so since he had been high strung for a week without relieve.
He wandered back into the main room, the Doms hastily turning their backs from of the tables standing at the opposite wall.
“Stand in the middle of the room” This time the command came from Carolyn. He followed the order, standing feet shoulder width apart and hands clasped behind his back.
“Hold out your hands” Herc. It seemed they were now trading of the command.
Milo and Martin each grabbed something from the table behind them and walked over. Milo stayed in front of him and Martin wandered around his back. They seemed to be silently communicating and at the same time as Milo was attaching his wrist cuffs, Martin fastened something around his ankles, it felt like the same kind of cuffs he had for his wrists.
“Hands down”
“Good boy”
“Stand still”
Douglas’ head was getting clearer now that he had calmed down and knew he was safe.
The orders continued until there was nothing left in Douglas’ world than the orders, the ropes binding him and the fleeting touches of the Doms. Douglas lost his sense of time, of space, of reality. He was safe, cared for, home and that was the only thing that counted.
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It could have been hours or mere minutes since Douglas was last aware of his surroundings. Before opening his eyes he concentrated on his other senses. He was lying on something big and soft, a bed. He was no longer tightly tied up, he was still wearing the cuffs though, they were there a reminder but they didn’t seem to be attached to anything at the moment.
Slowly Douglas opened his eyes. The room was dark, the blinds weren’t drawn because scattered illumination from outside let him see the outlines of everything in the room. So he had been under for a few hours. It had still been light out when they had arrived.
Looking around he saw he was alone in the room, he could hear a low murmur form the other room, not able to discern if it was the sound of people talking or a TV. Douglas stayed on the bed a bit longer, liking the peaceful feeling that settled on him after a good scene, he hadn’t felt it in so long. Having all four Doms together like that felt like a dream. It had only ever happened once before.
Douglas thought it would all fall apart when it had come out that Douglas had other Doms, to Douglas’ surprise they worked everything out with just minor problems and everything had been going well, they just never again managed to be all in the same place. He still didn’t know WHY they had all come together like this. It had been planned he had gathered that much. But it wasn’t his birthday and nowhere near Christmas.
There was no point in over thinking this, it would only ruin the peacefulness. An explanation should wait on the other side of the door, so Douglas got up from the bed, stretching in the process. He took his time stretching every muscle on his way to the door. After stretching his full body once again he opened the door.
In the main room Carolyn and Herc sat together on the sofa both having changed out of their work clothes, Martin and Milo were taking up the two arm chairs in the room.
“Oh Douglas you are awake” Milo had looked at him, the others where turned away form him by their seating “Come here”
Douglas slowly walked over towards their circle and kept standing off to the side between Martin and Milo.
“So you are back with us”
“Yes. What time is it?”
“A little after 8” Douglas wasn’t sure but he was sure they had arrived around six so the whole thing had to have been around 2 hours.
“Wear this” Carolyn handed him a dressing gown he had mistaken as a throw blanket on the back of the sofa “And sit down on here” Carolyn and Herc moved to one side of the sofa and Douglas did as he was told. Sitting down hurt a bit but he found a comfortable position soon.
“I’ll call for dinner” Martin moved into what Douglas guessed must be the second bedroom of the suite.
What did this mean? It was clearly no longer a scene as he was allowed to sit on the sofa, but there seemed to be something they still weren’t telling him.
It took Martin a few minutes to return to the room. In that while Douglas looked at the others but he couldn’t read them. Well he could see that they were content, happy, mirroring his mood, but he couldn’t see if the nature of the unspoken had something to do with it or if it would put them in another mood.
Martin returned to his seat “They’ll be up in 30 minutes”
On the walk to his chair Martin had kept his hands behind his back but now Douglas could see he was carrying a small box, Martin placed it on his lap as he was sitting, seemingly paying no more attention to it, but Douglas couldn’t take his eyes away, trying to guess what could be in that box. It couldn’t be any toys or gear since they had made it clear this wasn’t a scene. So what could it be. The others weren’t paying much attention to it either.
“Douglas”
“Yes” Douglas looked up into Martin’s face instead if staring at the box.
“I know I wasn’t there for you a lot in the last few months” Douglas wanted to protest but Martin stopped him with just a gesture “I know what you want to say, but your actions earlier refute that argument. I know you miss me sometimes, all of us at others. You think we could leave you anytime, but I wanted to show you that we won’t. That we will be there for you as often as we can, even if we are countries apart”
Douglas was speechless now. He had tried to hide his feelings but it didn’t fell too bad having them out in the open so he nodded, hoping Martin would continue without verbal input from him.
“I talked to the others about this plan a while ago, but it took a long time to be able to get us together in one place. This is something we all need to be there for. It’s not something that can be done with one of us on the phone”
How big was this?
“I have been thinking about this for a long time, planed it endless times between then and now, and I am still at a loss of words in the moment”
Douglas realised Martin was playing with the box in his hands.
“Better to just get it out. Douglas, I want to give you something to show you our devotion that you can wear outside without shame, maybe even show off. Something that will always remind you of us all. And well. Here it is” Martin held out the box and Douglas reached out to take it. All eyes now on him.
Douglas looked at the box up close, it was lighter than he had had thought but it gave no outside clues as to what was in it.
Douglas slowly opened the lid moving it out of the way to see what was inside. But all he could see was a layer of dark velvet. It looked like something that would belong in his ex-wives’ jewellery boxes. He pulled of the cover and underneath lie 5 golden rings neatly placed on more velvet. Douglas questioningly looked up at Martin “Five rings?”
“It’s one for each of us. Yours is the one that isn’t lying beside another ring”
Douglas carefully took the ring out of the box inspecting it. It was a simple gold band, like a wedding ring. Holding it up against the light to inspect it Douglas saw that there was something engraved on the inside of the ring. He tried to decipher it, but the writing was too small for him to read without his glasses.
“It says ‘Bound forever M, C, M & H’ The other rings say ‘Binding D. Forever’”
“Wow” Douglas was still mostly speechless “Thank you so much, not just for the rings”
He tried putting the ring on his finger but fumbled for a bit almost dropping it more than once, Martin was kneeling at his feet in an instant, half down on one knee. “Let me” Douglas handed the ring over and Martin slipped the ring over his left ring finger, he then slowly pulled the box from his other hand so the others could put on their rings too.
“Thank you for accepting the rings” Martin said while slipping his ring on still sitting at Douglas’ feet. Douglas couldn’t keep still anymore. He pulled Martin up, kissing him before pulling him even closer for a tight hug. Trying to communicate how much this gift meant to him.
Sure some part of his brain told him that he had similar exchanges with all of his wives, but this was different, not only because it was the first time he was the one being surprised with a ring instead of the other way round.
Douglas let go of Martin to thank the others for participating too. But as soon as he had let go of Martin he felt Herc’s arm around his shoulders. He still looked everyone in the eyes before saying “Thank you all”
Douglas looked down at his finger, once again adorned with a ring after such a long time without one. It looked good, the new weight still felt a bit foreign but he knew it would be able to ground him in bad times.
It wasn’t long after that that their dinner arrived in their room. Just the finest of room service. Martin even had them bring up champagne and apple juice.
Their evening finished with Carolyn and Herc retreating to the second bedroom while Martin and Milo ordered him to strip again. In the end Douglas fell asleep comfortably worn out sandwiched between Martin and Milo.
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When it was time to fly back to Fitton again Douglas was surprised that Martin didn’t put on his uniform too.
“Are you staying here longer?”
“No”
“Don’t you have to work?”
“Not until the day after tomorrow. I have one more surprise”
“What?”
“I am coming back to Fitton for a day. I am on duty from London”
“Really?”
“Yeah. And Carolyn assured me you have the day of too so we can spend it together”
“That really is a surprise”
Douglas was happy and almost giddy on the way back. He had spend two days with all his Doms and now he would be able to spend another day with the person who first realised he wasn’t a Dom like everyone else thought and vowed to make him happy.