Meeting the Association

"I'm going to prep you a bit," Kate says. "First and foremost, no one HAS to play in these scenes, and if either of you feel uncomfortable with anything, you always have the right to say no." She's brought them to a small office in the very back of the place marked SECURITY. There's a large bank of monitors showing the various common areas and public spaces. Seated at the desk in front of them is a tall muscular dark-haired girl, tanned skin and serious cutting eyes. She looks up when they enter, then back to the monitors. "Good evening, Elizabeth," Kate greets her, pulling a file out of the desk drawer. "You ready for the evening's festivities?"

"I am," the woman answers without taking her eyes form the cameras. Aden scans her top to bottom, an off-the-rack security uniform, a tonfa in a loop on her Sam Browne belt, taser and pepper spray. He also catches the full emergency trauma kit at the side of the desk, the radio turned up just enough to hear the other employees chatter, and the rough calloused surface of her knuckles. The patient waiting, the full scale preparation, the absolute concentration.

"These are my guests tonight," Kate mentions as she holds the folder out to Aden.

"Tara mentioned it. Their badges are with the waivers." Without turning her head at all, Elizabeth reaches over and picks up two clipboards, passing them back to Kate.

When Aden doesn't take the folder from Kate, Tommy awkwardly reaches out and takes it. "Guess I'm Nicki's designated reader," she quips, flipping the slim file open and beginning to read. Kate forces a clipboard into Aden's hand, and taps it with her fingertip.

"Fill out and sign, stud," she sighs. "Required if you want to be here tonight during Playtime."

Aden nods, his eyes still inspecting the screens and the security guard. "Military, ex-cop, or emergency services?" he asks quietly.

"All three," Elizabeth grunts. "Medic in the Rangers, then private contractor."

"Iraq or Afghanistan?"

She spares him a brief glance, looking him over. "Afghanistan, mostly," she responds, looking back toward the screens. "You?"

"Same." He moves over and starts filling out the forms, standard non-disclosure agreements, waivers of liability, and facility rules. It's all pretty familiar until he gets to a section marked COLOUR CODE. "What's this?" he asks Kate.

She smiles. "Everything in the Cambridge is colour-coded. Doors, rooms, clothing, gear. Even the monitors Elizabeth is monitoring."

Aden notices small tape tags on each monitor. "What do they mean?"

"White is for public areas where no play is allowed. Green is for official staff spaces only, places only the owners and staff are allowed. Red is private for guests and members, where you can play but might still be seen."

"When you say 'play' what does that mean?" Tommy asks, still flipping through the folder.

Kate smiles indulgently, and Elizabeth actually turns around to stare at them. "Tell me you've seen BDSM stuff before."

"I have," Aden answers, not mentioning anything more. It's not his place to out Kate's past relationships. He looks over to Tommy, who is, as usual, flushed beet-red.

"I'm open-minded?" she says, embarrassed. She shuffles the papers and touches Aden's arm. "This runs down the owners and their details, as far as Kate knows. Do you wanna hear it now?" When he nods, Tommy launches into a quick rundown of the file.

"Kurt Steiner, 38, straight male, owns a chain of businesses. Unmarried. Master Kurt inside the building. He's a dom, into domination more than causing pain. Considers himself a 'loving dominant.' Provisionally okay with selling, but he has some undisclosed concerns.

"Lazlo Gonzalez, 42, gay male, has a high-placed job in the Mayor's office and is very careful about keeping his public life away from the lifestyle. In a committed relationship with his bottom, Freddy. Master Lazlo when he's here. Refuses to talk about the sale or explain why he won't say what he thinks.

"Mae-lin Chen, 44, pansexual female, the only full-time dominatrix in the owners. She operates out of her home, and comes here to unwind. She's had a string of lovers, but no one special. Mistress May, of course. Says she's willing to sell if everyone else is, but wants to have some input on who buys and what happens to the club. It also says she likes to play mind-games some times, so don't necessarily trust what she says.

"Graham Twoeagles, 56, straight male, widower. He's the club's rigger." Tommy stops and looks over to Kate, curious.

Elizabeth answers. "A rigger is the person who preps and designs all the heavy duty equipment. Ropes, chains, furniture. He's responsible for the safety and health of everyone in the building."

"Huh." Aden can see Tommy's struggling to fit all the pieces together, but she plunges ahead anyway. "This says he's not actually into the scenes, beyond the design and production part. Call him Graham. Absolutely dedicated to the Cambridge, and will only agree to sell if he's sure it's in the best interest of the club.

"Michael Donnelly, 25, straight male, trust-fund baby. Single and dating furiously outside the lifestyle, and keeps his dates away from the place. Bought into ownership on a whim, but turns out to be a natural rope master." This time, Tommy doesn't bother to ask. "Master Michael in the club. Sensitive about his age, and defers to the older members of the Association whenever there's decisions. He will do whatever the rest of the board tells him to.

"Rebecca Naylor, 33, bisexual female, popular writer of erotic fiction. Divorced three times, currently single. Dominant and mild sadist. She likes to cause consensual pain. Mistress Anne, and she doesn't talk about her writing when she's here. She's a question mark, because she's very strong normally, but caves whenever King Rick has an opinion. May be in love with him.

"Richard Benning, 42, straight male, divorced. I have to work a little to shorten this up; Kate's pretty strong about how much she hates this guy."

Kate sighs, and Elizabeth nods. "He's an absolute waste of human life," Elizabeth says. "He calls himself King Rick, and expects everyone to acknowledge him as the main dom in the group. I don't curse, but if I did I'd call him a self-important prick." She looks over to Aden, and frowns. "Think of the worst cherry know-it-all junior officer you ever met, and make him a total sadist into humiliating women."

Kate agrees. "To make matters worse, I'm pretty sure he's homophobic as well. And he makes his bottoms sign contracts that say he has the right to run their entire lives. He's a piece of shit. Why Becky likes him, I have no idea."

The office door opens, a short heavy-set older gentleman in jeans and a button-up flannel enters. The man pauses when he sees Kate and her guests. "Bad time?" he asks, his voice gravelly and low.

"Never a bad time for you, Graham," Kates laughs. "These are friends of mine. They'll be guesting tonight."

"Make 'em sign the waivers," Graham grunts. "Lizzie, I need the bag."

"Right here, old man," Elizabeth says, pushing the emergency bag toward him with her foot. Their lack of urgency tells Aden there's nothing serious happening. He must be pre-staging it. As soon as the man picks it up, he's gone without another word, closing the door softly behind him.

"Any questions?" Kate asks.

"Oh, so many questions," Tommy moans. "What's a top? Or a bottom? Or a ropemaster? Or-"

"Shush, honey," Kate says, soothingly, placing her finger over Tommy's lips to stop her talking. "I meant about the board, dear. You can learn all the rest of that stuff later. IF you want to." Kate takes the file from her and places it back in the desk drawer. "People are starting to arrive, so we need to get moving. Tommy, sign your forms, and both of you put on these badges. Notice the red stripe? That means you can go anywhere you want that isn't colored black."

"What's black?" Tommy asks.

"Full contact, anything goes." Kate smiles wickedly. "It's where you go to see or do the hard stuff. Let's go to dinner."