FIC: Tactile Men

A challenge on The Den brought William and Reed out to play.

Title: Tactile Men
Characters: Reed/William


William shifted the cane in his hand so he could unlock the door without dropping everything.  He let out a frustrated sigh when he felt his iPad start to slip out of his hand.  Finally he set everything down on the floor, took a deep breath and unlocked the door.

After folding his cane, he gathered everything he'd set on the floor, and walked into the empty apartment.  Reed wouldn't be home for another hour, which gave William time to compose himself.

He loved his job at the bank's head office.  He got the opportunity to play with new and developing technologies that would help people with disabilities access their accounts.  He was even able to work at home some days.  But today he'd gone into his office to test a new app that was supposed to help people with limited mobility access their financial records through head movements.  William had been deeply involved with the task when Dwayne, a fellow employee came into his office.

"Here, let me take that!  You can't even see what's going on!" Dwayne had said.

Holding tightly to the device, William had said as confidently as he could, "No thank you, Dwayne. I've got the tablet hooked to my braille display, I can read where I'm at."

It'd taken William several minutes to convince the man that he could do the job.  By the time, Dwayne had left, William was angry.  Angry at people who felt he couldn't do what he was hired to do; at people who sounded more condescending than helpful.  He could feel the snarls growling up from his chest and decided his best shot of getting this app reviewed would be to take it home so he could work on it without interruptions.

He rode the bus only half way home, deciding the exercise and the fresh autumn air would soothe his temper.  The rest of the way he walked home listening to the rhythmic tap of his cane on the sidewalk.

William knew the walk had done the trick when he tried to unlock the door but with one hand full of his tablet, his braille display, and his briefcase, and his other hand holding the cane.  He couldn't get the key turned just right so he'd laid all his things on the floor.  He didn't throw them or drop them, he placed them.  And that in his mind deserved major brownie points in his favor.

Thinking of brownie points, William remembered that Reed had made cookies the night before. He took his stuff to the desk that was off to one side of the living room.  He'd once mentioned to Reed that it'd be nice to find an apartment with another bedroom that could be converted into an office for when William worked from home.  But when Reed had told him that work hours wouldn't be extended just because he had a home office, William had decided the effort it took to look for a new apartment and to move all their belongings, just wasn't worth it.

Once all his things were settled securely on the desk, William walked into the kitchen, poured himself a glass of milk and then found the cookie jar.  He sat down at the table and decided to have snack as a reward for not snarling at Dwayne.

Just as he was reaching in for his third cookie, William heard the front door open.

"Hey.  I thought you said you were staying at the office all day?" Reed said as he came in.

"And I thought you had a full day today," William answered back before taking a bite of the cookie.

"Flu season started early this year.  The client I was supposed to work with canceled.  Now, your turn.  Not that I'm not happy to see you, but why are you home?"

Swallowing the bite of cookie, William replied, "Dwayne, the dick, came in and I decided that I'd get more done at home than there."

William felt his lover come up behind him.  When Reed reached over him, William felt a quick kiss on his cheek.

"I hope you didn't call him that," Reed said sternly.

"No, no. You know I'd never do something like that," William assured him.

"I know you wouldn't do it intentionally, but you always call him the dick at home. It'd be all too easy to say it at the office, without even realizing it.  I just want you to be cautious."

Yeah, William thought.  He understood what Reed was saying. But he had done the right thing in deciding to work from home when Dwayne started in on him.  Dwayne was an ass, but William didn't have to be. The first time William had a run in with Dwayne, he'd come home snarling and took his anger out on Reed.  Reed hadn't been happy to be on the receiving end of William's tirade and had given him lines to write to help him learn to control his temper.  A few more instances of William growling and losing his temper had resulted in more lines and even corner time. The last time William had gotten into an argument with the overly helpful co-worker, he'd come home snarling and growling again.  Finally, William's lover and top had taken him over his knee. William had learned that lesson and didn't want it repeated.

"You've a funny look on your face. What are you thinking?" Reed asked.

Laughing, William replied, "I was thinking of the last time you sp..span...took me over your knee. You know I'm a tactile person. So, I guess you sp...span....applying your hand to my butt does work best, because when I started to get angry today and wanted to give him hell, my butt got all tingly and clenched.  My brain may not have remembered but my ass sure did! That's when I decided to work the rest of the day at home."

William felt himself being swept up into Reeds arms and swung over his shoulder.

"ACK!  What are you doing?" William screeched.  Then he yelped when Reed swatted his rear end playfully.

"Well, since you are a tactile man, I thought I'd take you our bed and show you with my hands how much I love you."

William laughed all the way to the bedroom.  That sounded like a good idea to him.  And he'd just bet that Reed was just as tactile as he was.

End