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Alex didn’t think he was kinky.
Well he hadn’t until filming the Series 7 tasks with one Rhod Gilbert. That brought everything into view fairly abruptly. He’d had to do some online research after filming finished on the first day. Turns out the term ‘subspace’ is fairly relevant to ol’ vanilla Alex.
Alex stood in the Taskmaster house library, staring unseeing down at the table in the middle of the room. The table was occupied by a trademark white envelope with a red wax seal. He thought back on earlier this morning when he had been waterboarded with coffee and mocha.
-
Rhod had been exasperated because Alex’s heart rate had dropped rather than increased. Which, unfortunately, was the opposite goal of the task ‘Excite Alex’.
“It’s like you are into it or something!” Rhod had exclaimed at Alex, throwing his arms up as Alex had blown his whistle and called time’s up. Alex had smiled at him and shrugged his shoulders from the chair he had been strapped to.
“You’re getting predictable, Rhod. I’m just not as shocked with what you come up with anymore.” Alex had responded simply. He pulled slightly at the rope wrapped around his wrists, seeing if he really could get free. They didn’t feel that tight and hadn’t cut off his blood flow but they were firm. Alex relaxed back into the chair, giving up. He gazed back up at Rhod who was watching him test the knots with interest.
“These are good.” Alex said, mind feeling calm. “I can’t get out but I’m comfortable.”
Rhod scoffed and bent to begin untying Alex’s left arm from the chair.
“I’m not some amateur, Alex. Unlike you, apparently.”
Alex watched Rhod easily undo the knots and hummed in agreement, enjoying how he was feeling. He did not, however, enjoy how cold and wet his chest and crotch were.
-
The library door opened and Alex was shaken out of his reverie.
“Bonjour.”
“Hullo Rhod.”
Rhod sat down at the table and opened the task, reading it silently and then aloud when prompted by Alex.
“You want me to be an enormous human compass?” Rhod stated, leaning back in the chair and placing his hands on either side of the table.
“Uh, okay.” Alex responded, already wondering how Rhod was going to manage to get his pants down in this circle task.
“Right, is there a map of the world, yeah?”
-
“We’re green to go.”
Alex took his hand away from his earpiece and spoke to Greg, who had been warming up the audience while they waited. Alex tried not to admire the tall man’s silhouette, emphasised by the bright stage lights shining down on him, but something about the all black suit did something for him.
Greg turned towards him with a nod and strolled over to the Taskmaster throne, settling his large frame into the chair. He turned his head towards Alex and grinned slightly.
“You say ‘green to go’ at the beginning of every episode, did you know that?” Greg looked over his black framed glasses directly into Alex’s eyes. Alex shivered a little under the stare and grinned back.
“I like the word green.” Alex shrugged.
Greg chuckled and leant back into the throne, effortlessly slipping into the Taskmaster persona as the directors begin to countdown in their earpieces. He turned back briefly to Alex.
“Green?”
“Green.” Alex repeated.
Alex smirked as Greg shook his head at him and then turned to look down the camera.
-
“I don’t like that…”
Greg tensed his shoulders up and made a motion with his hands as if he could physically push the feeling away. He didn’t know whether to laugh it off, or indulge his inner sadist.
Alex’s head felt foggy, sort of like it did during some of Rhod’s tasks. Did he really just say that out loud? Christ what was wrong with him… His parents were watching for god sake. He registered Jessica Knappett asking Greg something and the tips Alex’s ears began to redden as he heard the word ‘Daddy’ again.
“Oh no, I DON’T like that!”
Greg trailed off for a second before piping up again almost immediately, uncrossing his legs and patting his right thigh.
“Sit on here and say it.”
Alex couldn’t fault the man for his ability to ‘yes, and’ the situation but he didn’t think they were going to linger on it. Alex felt like he hesitated but still got up from his seat faster than anyone was expecting, moving to take the indicated spot.
As he perched himself on Greg’s right knee, glancing ambivalently at the camera, he put his hand down to help balance. He opened his mouth to repeat the phrase, before he realised just how close his hand was to Greg’s crotch. His head suddenly swarmed with more fog. Alex cut himself off and quickly removed his hand with a grunt, looking awkwardly down at his lap.
“I don’t know where to put it…” Alex said with a hint of trepidation.
“Put it where you like.”
Greg’s eyes were twinkling with mischief, taking a huge amount of enjoyment in unsettling Little Alex Horne. Alex tightened his fingers into a fist and then flexed them out, decided on a position and turned to face the Taskmaster.
He looked Greg right in the eye as he placed his hand just inside the larger man’s jacket. The physical contact seemed to ground his mind ever so slightly.
“Thank you, Daddy.”
Greg’s pupils seemed to dilate by a fraction and Alex felt him take in a breath. Greg then smiled widely at him and Alex felt his head begin to cloud even more. He got up off Greg’s lap to immense laughter and clapping from the audience. The contestants muttered amongst themselves and Greg adjusted how he was sitting, still grinning.
Alex had resumed his seat and distantly heard Greg turn to Rhod and ask about his prize entry. His head started to swim and the iPad blurred in front of him. He looked up to hear some protesting from James and glanced back over to Greg to try and ground himself again.
Greg was laughing at Rhod and James spitting at each other and shot a mirthful glance towards Alex, who met it with a hazy grin of his own. He gazed back over to the autocue, feeling very much like his head was moving faster than his eyes and managed to spit out the line written next to his name.
“Here is Rhod’s key!” Alex accomplished, with an exaggerated tap to his iPad.
He continued to stare down at the hand he had put inside Greg’s jacket. God, was he so touch-starved, that contact with a clothed torso was making him drop? Unfortunately the fog in his head seemed to be succeeding in pushing him even further down. Alex adjusted his trousers, wiping his palms on his thighs.
He shook his head trying to clear out the fog but his brain seemed to just slosh around. He stopped shaking his head to notice that it seemed quieter outside of his brain. He turned his neck at a glacial pace towards Greg and met his grey eyes. Grey eyes that were framed by a small, expectant frown. The lack of general outside clamour slammed into Alex with all the force of a truck.
Greg had asked him a question.
“Uhhhhhh, yello. Hello? What wazat?” He slurred. Alex was enjoying the view of Greg's face, despite being unsure why he had been graced with it.
Greg frowned harder and held his cards up to the side of his face, shielding his mouth from the camera and the contestants.
“You alright, mate?” He whispered, continuing to frown.
Alex laughed at his eyebrows in such a deep v shape and held the iPad up to cover his own mouth, mirroring Greg. Greg let out a hesitant chuckle, frown dissolving, and suddenly put his hand up to his earpiece. Voices from the gallery blasted through, urging them to continue. Greg responded quickly, still looking over at Alex’s dazed face.
“Uh, let’s take a break real quick. I think Alex needs to catch his breath for a minute.”
-
Alex watched Greg stand up and frowned. Suddenly everything came rushing back in, clearing away any remaining fog.
Shit, fuck, shit. Alex did not swear, at least not out loud, but as he realised what had just occurred, his brain decided it wanted to make up for all the time it had been quiet. Fuck fuck fuck, balls, piss, wank, shit, fuck. Okay his brain wasn’t that imaginative. Cock?
“Are you good, Alex?”
Oof . Alex heard the question through his earpiece but watched Greg mouth the words at the same time. He frowned at Greg, wondering how he did that. Greg frowned back, looking much more imposing.
“You win.” Alex smiled sheepishly up at the giant man. Greg’s frown subsided and he fixed Alex with an apprehensive look.
Alex looked away from Greg’s piercing stare, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.
“I uhh, skipped breakfast this morning. Guess the stage lights just got to me. Sorry.”
Alex met Greg’s gaze again, which was now softly intense, riddled more with concern than interrogation.
“Well don’t skip it again, alright? I’mma take a piss.” Greg clapped a hand on Alex’s shoulder as he strode off.
Alex breathed out a sigh and looked up to see a stage runner approaching him. She reached out a bottle of water to him and he nodded at her gratefully. He uncapped the bottle and swigged half of its contents in one go, looking over towards the contestants. They were all talking amongst themselves, Kerrie and Jess placating James after his spat about the icecream and Phil showing Rhod something on his phone.
Rhod glanced up from Phil’s phone, his eyes locked with Alex’s. Alex pressed his lips together and nodded at Rhod, feeling a tad remorseful for causing the interruption. Something flashed across Rhod’s face before he nodded back, returning his gaze to Phil’s phone. Alex heard the directors in his earpiece again saying they were ready to start up again if Alex was. Alex chugged the other half of the water bottle, just as Greg returned, slumping back into the Taskmaster throne.
“Good?” Greg asked again, as he picked up his stack of cards and tilted his head so he could look over his glasses at Alex.
Alex swallowed the last of the water and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, meeting Greg’s look.
“Green to go!” Alex gave him a gap toothed grin. Greg chuckled and looked away towards the autocue, straightening in his chair. Alex heard ‘ready in 3’ in his earpiece and looked down at his iPad, determined not to lose his mind again.
-
Turned out he was wrong.
“She puked because she was having sex with her own son? Oh, I thought it was cus it was Alex.” James clarified.
Alex was covering his giggles with a fist after watching the VT of Jess and Kerrie’s ‘Cul-de-sac’. He adopted an innocent, confused expression after hearing James and looked over at Greg.
“Why would he say that… why would he say that?” He asked Greg, leaning over towards him. “It’s mean, innit? Is he being mean?”
Greg frowned at James and reached his large hand over towards Alex, placing it gently on top of where Alex’s hand rested on the arm of his chair. Greg rubbed Alex’s wrist a few times and then patted his hand reassuringly.
“That is mean.” Greg stared down James, and squeezed Alex’s hand. Phil started to speak, talking about how much actual soap should be in a soap opera, and Greg turned to Alex, using his cue cards to conceal his mouth.
“Don’t worry, I’d have sex with you.”
And winked before turning back to the contestants.
Alex felt a sharp tug in his gut and stared, unseeing, at Greg. Greg heard him murmur something and glanced over just in time to see Alex’s flushed face suddenly go pale.
“... red.”
Alex dropped.
-
Greg watched as Alex’s eyes glazed over and the little half smile plastered on his face started to fade.
Oh shit.
He’d seen this before, but never would’ve picked Alex as one.
Greg lunged out of his chair just in time to catch Alex. Alex’s torso slammed into Greg’s shoulder and he quickly twisted his body to hoist Alex back up. The audience laughed nervously, unsure if it was all part of the gag or not.
Greg manoeuvred Alex so they were chest to chest and put his hands on his shoulders to hold him back so he could get a look at the smaller man’s face. The directors were in his ear, urgently asking questions and trying to get Greg to respond. Greg ignored them as a shadow fell over him where he was half kneeling on the ground, holding Alex upright.
“He’s dropped. You need to get him out of here.”
Rhod’s hushed voice found its way into Greg’s shocked brain and he looked up to see Rhod knelt down next to him, shielding Alex from the audience.
“What are you waiting for? Go!” Rhod urged him. “I’ll cover you here.”
Greg didn’t need to be told again. He drew Alex’s arm over his shoulder and hefted the smaller man up and out of his seat, half dragging, half carrying him off stage towards the dressing rooms. Behind him, he heard Rhod calling something out to the audience, and the audience laughed back.
Alex’s head lolled against his shoulder and a small bit of dribble ran out of the corner of his mouth and down his chin.
“... mmmmm, you’re quite big.” He mumbled into Greg’s shoulder.
Greg let out a dumbfounded laugh, and paused in his endeavour to readjust his grip on Alex. He decided that, ultimately, it was easier to just carry him and bent to scoop up Alex’s legs with his other arm. Greg straightened up, holding Alex in his arms like a damsel in distress. Which, he supposed, he sort of was.
“See?” Alex linked his arms around Greg’s neck and leant his head against his chest.
“Never been told that before.” Greg replied sarcastically. He continued down the hallway towards the dressing room, debating internally whether he should go to his own or Alex’s. Alex might have preferred to be in his own space, where everything is familiar, but Greg had a larger couch. He didn’t even know if Alex had a couch in his dressing room.
He strode quicker and decided on his own room, kicking the door open with his foot. The door swung open forcefully and slammed into the wall, making Alex flinch and bury his face into Greg’s chest.
“Shhh, it’s alright. Just me being big again.”
Greg lowered Alex slowly, placing him on the giant red couch. It was a mocking matching set to his Taskmaster throne, a gift from the production team after a successful first series. At least it was genuinely comfortable.
Alex clutched his neck tighter, refusing to let go. Greg knelt down in front of the couch, letting the red velvet take Alex’s weight from him.
“Hey, hey, hey, it’s alright. I’m just going to make you more comfortable.” Greg breathed gently into Alex’s temple. “D’you think you can let go, for me?”
Alex whimpered and buried his face further. Greg sighed and reached his hands up behind his neck, gently taking hold of Alex’s arms and lifting them off of him. Alex slumped backwards into the corner of the couch with a grunt and his eyes closed.
Heart racing, Greg shakily got to his feet and backed away from Alex slowly, rapidly taking stock of his room, looking around for anything that might help. He turned on the spot and paced back out the open door into the hallway, hastily making his way towards Alex’s dressing room. Once he’d kicked that door open too, he quickly grabbed Alex’s backpack and a bottle of water, turning around with a final glance around the room. He was right, Alex only had a piddly little armchair in here.
As he strode back into the hallway, hands full of supplies, he nearly took out Rhod, who had followed him down the hallway.
“Christ Rhodri.”
Rhod held his hands up in a defensive gesture.
“Sorry! I just came to check if Alex is alright?”
Rhod rose up on his tiptoes to check over Greg’s shoulder, peering past him into Alex’s dressing room.
“Did you know?” Greg demanded, beginning to crush the water bottle in his large fist. Rhod withered.
“Did you know Alex was a.... submissive?” Greg ground out the last word.
“No. I mean, yes. No, I suspected… you saw all my tasks with him! I assumed you knew! Haven’t the two of you been fucking for years??”
Greg stood nearly chest to chest with Rhod, fully appreciating the extra six inches he had over his friend. Rhod seemed to shrink away slightly, cowed by Greg’s penetrative glare.
“I was only doing all that shit to him in the tasks to mess with you!” Rhod took a step away as Greg towered over him, eyes flicking from Greg’s face to the crumpling water bottle in his hands and back again.
“... did you not know?”
Greg growled deep in his throat.
“What. Do. You. Reckon?”
He spat each word out with more venom than the previous. Rhod took another step back and bumped into the hallway wall.
“Ah.”
Greg shoved past him with a snarl and went back into his dressing room. He finds Alex unmoved from where he left him on the couch. Good. Or not. He quickly dumped his supplies on the coffee table and turned to close the door behind him.
As he swung the door closed again, he glimpsed Rhod still standing in the hallway looking back towards the stage. His back was to the door, as if on guard. Greg carefully latched the door and shook his head, trying to clear it. He’ll apologise to him later, Rhod won’t hold it against him. Hopefully.
Greg sighed and turned back to the problem at hand. He decided to shed his jacket, throwing it over the back of his make up chair and rolled up the black sleeves of his Taskmaster shirt. He toed each of his shoes off and kicked them into a corner, wincing at what costume would say to him later about it. Take it out of my pay. He thought viciously.
He returns to the couch and sits down in the opposite corner to Alex. The couch looked larger when it was just Alex in it, but not so much now that he is there in all his 6’8” glory. Greg leant forward towards Alex and placed his hand on his knee, squeezing it gently.
“Heyyyy… little Alex. Are you with me, pet?”
Greg peered at Alex’s face, which was half smushed against the back of the couch. Alex let out a wistful sigh and slowly opened his eyes, focusing on Greg’s black frames as they swam into view. His eyes were still glassy but he managed a half smirk.
“Hey you.”
Greg’s heart squeezed. He smiled gently back at Alex.
“I need you to answer me properly, pet.” His accent was emphasising all the ‘p’s.
Alex slowly closed his eyes again with a hum, but his smirk stayed. Greg glanced around the room once more before making an executive decision. He shuffled closer to Alex and managed to push one of his arms behind Alex’s back, lifting Alex’s head off the couch and onto his shoulder. Greg’s other arm went under Alex’s knees and swivelled him so Alex’s back was against Greg’s chest and he sat between Greg’s legs.
Greg tucked Alex’s head under his chin and placed his large arms around him, settling in to wait. Alex let out a happy sigh, sinking into the sudden warmth behind him, feeling a kiss being pressed into his hair. Greg hummed to himself for a second, trying to think of how to bring Alex back up from wherever his brain had sunk to. It had been a while since he’d had to do that sort of thing.
“Alex.” Greg lowered his voice as much as he could, rumbling from his chest. Alex twitched in response and his head tipped back to rest on Greg’s shoulder. Greg cleared his throat and tried again.
“I need you to come back up, love.” He lowered his head, practically growling in Alex’s ear. Alex’s eyes had drifted shut and Greg frowned. Why wasn’t this working? Had he lost his touch?
Greg leaned back against the couch once again and tried to brainstorm what else he could try. He shifted forward and bent his neck so his nose gently brushed the side of Alex’s neck. He took a deep breath and tried again, pressing his mouth against cool skin.
“You have been a very good boy, but it’s time to come back up.” He followed it up with a gentle kiss to Alex’s throat. Greg glanced up at Alex’s face and was met with glazed blue eyes, pupils blown wide.
“Do that again.” Alex whispered.
Greg smirked and tightened his grip on the smaller man, as he resumed his prior position. His lips grazed the pulsing vein at Alex’s throat, causing him to tilt his head to the side for better access. Greg channelled all of the dominant Taskmaster persona that he could and growled out a single word before he bit down on the soft skin.
“ Alex.”
-
The vibration sank straight through the haze in Alex’s brain and his eyes rolled close, as he was abruptly tugged back to the surface.
“Unghhhh.” Alex groaned and tried to sit forward, not opening his eyes. He could feel a heavy weight on his lap and was very warm all over. Did he pass out after staying up late going over the dailies again? He had really got to stop doing that. Although he didn’t remember his armchair being this comfy.
Alex froze. My armchair isn’t comfy at all.
“Took your time.”
Alex heard a deep rumble from behind him. In fact, he felt it. The warmth spoke, apparently.
-
Greg had felt Alex go still and leaned his head to the side, scanning Alex’s face. He watched as Alex turned his head slowly towards him, tips of his ears reddening again.
“Are you back with me, pet?” Greg asked, concern coloured his voice.
“Yes.” Alex replied quietly. He avoided Greg’s eyes, choosing instead to look down where Greg’s arms bracketed his. One of those arms began to move and Greg lifted his hand, gently placing a few fingers under Alex’s chin and tilted it up.
Alex’s blue eyes met Greg’s grey ones and Greg spoke softer this time.
“Why didn’t you tell me, Alex?” Greg stroked Alex’s cheek gently, but held firm to his chin so Alex was unable to look away.
“I… I didn’t know.” Alex spluttered out. Greg frowned and sighed, letting go of Alex’s chin. Alex resumed his gaze on Greg’s hands. One of his thumbs was rubbing gentle circles into Alex’s thigh. It felt pretty nice.
“What do you mean you didn’t know? The whole premise of Little Alex Horne is that he is submissive to the Taskmaster. To me. I assumed , wrongly, that you were in on the joke and were not affected.”
Greg pushed his glasses onto his forehead and massaged his eyes with one hand, pinching his brow. Alex’s timid voice rose from below him.
“... well did you know?”
Greg laughed out loud at that, letting his glasses fall back into place.
“Genuinely, if you had asked me an hour ago, I would have said no. Little Alex Horne is a character that you play right? Not anything to do with who you, Alexander Horne, is.”
Greg could feel the heat from Alex’s ears where he was positioned. “Right?”
Alex wrung his hands and took a breath before he answered.
“Well that’s how it started, all those years ago, I swear. I didn’t know any difference until about six months ago when we started filming tasks for this series… with Rhod specifically.”
All of the guilt that Greg had been feeling after shouting at Rhod evaporated. Alex continued.
“I- I did some googling after the ‘Excite Alex’ task and discovered some things about myself.”
Greg laughed loudly again, a little bit crazed this time. He removed his arms from around Alex and began to shuffle out from behind the smaller man. Alex cringed at the loss of contact and curled his legs up towards his chest, hiding his face in his knees as Greg perched on the coffee table next to the couch, facing him.
“Hey.” Greg spoke softly, as if to a frightened animal.
“There’s no shame in it. I’m sorry for accusing you. You just took me by surprise, that’s all.”
Alex peered up from his knees at the taller man, who had braced his elbows on his knees and had resumed a concerned gaze.
“I didn’t expect to lose control today, I’ve been practising keeping a level head!” Alex mumbled, words muffled by his knees. “I think it was a combination of things… and I realised too late.”
Greg sighed and leant back to adjust his shirt sleeves before slapping his palms down on his thighs, causing Alex to flinch.
“Well, we’ve all learned something today, haven’t we?” He posed the question to the air, and then looked back down at Alex, who was still peering at him uneasily. “And I think of you no differently. In fact, I’m pleased that you have realised it.” Greg added.
Alex let out a sigh he hadn’t even known he was holding. Why would he care what Greg thought? He scoffed internally. … who was he kidding, of course he bloody cared.
“You reckon you can go back out there and finish the episode?” Greg’s concern had returned.
Alex took a deep breath and straightened out his legs, swinging them over the edge of the couch so he mirrored Greg.
“I think so. I’m aware of it now, so I can better prepare rather than being caught off guard.”
“Good. And remember, if you ever need, I can pull you out. Please just ask before physically collapsing.” Greg chuckled. “I don’t think I’ve moved that fast in 20 years.”
Alex smiled shyly at him and Greg began to unroll his sleeves before getting up from the coffee table. He placed a large warm hand on Alex’s shoulder and looked down sternly at his little assistant. Alex met his gaze.
“And if you let Rhod do any of that shit to you again, I’ll check you into a mental hospital.”
Alex laughed, finally feeling like his normal self again. Greg offered him a hand and Alex took it, huffing a breath when Greg pulled him bodily from the couch into a hug. Alex hesitantly wrapped his arms around the bigger man, his head tucked under Greg’s chin.
“If you ever want… assistance… in exploring those parts of you, I would be more than happy to give you a hand. So to speak.” Greg whispered into Alex’s ear, delighted when it flushed red again. Greg released him and held Alex at arm’s distance, appreciating the blush that spread down the man’s neck and chest, disappearing under his collar.
Greg grabbed his black jacket and swung it around himself, slipped it over his shoulders and looked at himself in the mirror. As Greg adjusted his lapels he spied Alex in the reflection, staring at him. He ran a quick hand through his hair and pivoted back towards Alex. Alex stared up at him thoughtfully.
“I’ll take you up on that.” Alex said plainly. Greg felt a shiver run down his spine and pool somewhere in his lower belly. “But let’s finish this episode first, shall we?” He grinned, putting his front tooth gap on display.
Greg grinned back. “You keep talking like that, and neither of us will be able to finish the episode.”
“Oh, I fully plan on helping you finish.” Alex replied cheekily, turning to stride towards the dressing room door. Greg’s coughing fit was rudely interrupted by someone banging on the door. Alex snatched his hand back from the handle he had just grasped.
“Will you two stop flirting and get back out here!? Some of us are not being paid as much as others to be here.”
Alex tugged the door open to a red-faced Rhod, hand raised to knock again. Greg stepped up behind Alex and glared down at his friend.
“If it were up to me, some of us wouldn’t be getting paid at all.” Greg growled. Rhod lowered his fist and stuck his tongue out at Greg before turning on his heel and stomping back towards the stage. He muttered as he walked.
“... no thanks at all… don’t worry mate… anytime… no stress… forget about it.”
Rhod turned a corner and his grumbling faded. Greg looked down at Alex who had been covering his mouth with his fist to hide his giggles.
“Something funny?” Greg asked, arching an eyebrow. Alex’s mouth twitched as he began to follow Rhod’s footsteps and turned on the spot mid-walk to toss a thought back to Greg.
“Five points.” He called back.
Greg frowned as Alex continued to walk backwards away from him.
“You managed to excite Alex.”
Greg shook his head slowly as Alex disappeared around the same corner and took a deep breath. He set off down the hallway after the two idiots and braced himself as he strolled past the audience and stepped up onto the brightly lit stage.
A couple stage hands fussed over Alex who was using his iPad as a shield and tried to shoo them away, insisting that he had just needed to eat something and he was fine now. They left him doubtfully after he accepted a chocolate bar from them and waved it in the air to show everyone. The audience cheered and the contestants laughed.
Greg walked over to his throne and picked up the cue cards on his seat. As he slumped down, he glanced again over to Alex who was already looking at him, eyes twinkling. Greg smirked back.
“Ready to start?” They both heard through their earpieces.
Alex turned and nodded up at the gallery before he met Greg’s grey gaze again.
“Green to go.”