"Hi Mr. Anderson!" A cheery voice greeted Blaine as he entered the school.
"Hi, Ethan. How are you this morning?" Blaine said as he pulled out his classroom keys.
"Good. Not ready for my math test, but what can you do." Ethan commented with a shrug.
"I'm sure you'll do fine." Blaine assured as he shuffled into his classroom.
"Thanks Mr. Anderson. See you later!" Ethan said as he bounded down the hallway to meet up with a few friends.
Blaine had a great rapport with a lot of his students, connecting with the students was his favorite part of his job.
Blaine quickly set his satchel underneath his desk and began to write the day's schedule on the whiteboard. As he began to write there was a knock on the door.
"Blaine?" Sam Evans, the school's guidance counselor and one of Blaine's closest friends, stood in the doorway. Sam was a switch, an uncommon orientation but not unheard of. Sam was the only Switch Blaine was close with, he had heard of a few people from high school being given Switch licenses but he hadn't talked to them in years.
"Hey Sam, what can I help you with?" Blaine asked as he continued to write.
"Did you hear about what happened on the subway this morning?" Sam asked as he jumped to sit on top of one of the desks.
"Do you mean the orientation checking? Yeah, I got caught in a line on my way in. Do you know what it was all about?"
"I heard rumors, but nothing for sure. I was just wondering what happened after you had your licensed checked." Sam asked. His voice have a strange tone to it.
Blaine turned around and shook his head. "Nothing, they just checked it and let me through. Why? Did you see other things happening?"
Sam cast his eyes to the floor and bit his lip. "It's probably nothing. Just forget I asked." Sam said as he jumped off the desk.
"Sam, wait. Just tell me." Blaine said stopping Sam from leaving.
"Well...on my train I saw a few Dom's mistreating the subs." Sam said quietly.
Blaine stepped closer to Sam, "What do you mean mistreating?"
Sam shook his head, "Nothing major, just trying to give orders and trying to push them around. I'm sure it wasn't more than people getting riled up about the election."
Blaine blinked and stepped back. He had completely forgotten about the upcoming election. Every four years a new presiding officer was elected to be in charge of all governmental affairs. Blaine never really paid attention because as a sub he wasn't allowed to vote until he turned 22, and only if his Dom allowed him to. Blaine was now 23 but this was the first election he was allowed to have a say in.
Sam must have noticed Blaines confusion, "Did you forget about the election?"
Blaine nodded.
Sam bit his lip and looked at the clock. "Listen, I have to run before the bell rings. But I would ask Kurt to talk about the election with you. You need to be informed, especially now."
Blaine was about to ask Sam what he met but the sharp ring of the bell interrupted him.
Sam said a hurried goodbye as students began to file into Blaine's classroom. Blaine turned towards the board and let out a sigh. He wasn't sure what Sam was talking about but he knew it wasn't good.
The rest of the day went pretty quickly and by the end bell Blaine was more than ready to head home. As Blaine packed up his things his phone buzzed with a text from Kurt.
"I miss you".
Blaine let out a smile as he typed a reply. "I miss you more."
"What time will you be home?" Kurt's text pinged through.
"Around four." Blaine typed back.
"I'll be home around five. Be ready."
Blaine's stomach did a swoop as he read the last text. He hurried to pack the rest of his things. He loved how two words could make him feel so right.
Blaine had his head down, typing on his phone, as he made his way down to the subway. As he texted he didn't notice a man take up stride besides him. Blaine's head was still down as he began to take the stairs towards the platform as he walked he was pushed to his left by the crowds and into the person beside him Blaine made a move to apologize but instead he felt a strong push back. Blaine tried to catch himself but his foot missed the stair and he went flying to the ground.
"Watch where you're going, bottom!" A harsh voice sneered as Blaine landed on the hard concrete.
Blaine let out a small cry of pain as the ground cut into his hands and knees, he tried to ignore the pain as he stood up and brushed off his pants. There was a rip in one of the knees and he could see blood on his skin. Blaine looked around but no one seemed to notice or care. The person who pushed him was long gone and Blaine could hear his train approaching. He shook his head and hurried onto the platform.
By the time Blaine made it home his hands were a mess of red and the blood from his knee ran down his leg. He hobbled into the townhouse and hurried to the bathroom. It was nearing 4:30 and Kurt wanted him to be ready by 5. Blaine quickly stripped off his clothes, he mourned the hole in his favorite pair of pants but hid them away to try to fix later. He turned on the faucet to wash off his hands, Blaine hissed as the cold water hit his wounds but he bit his lip and continued to clean out the dirt and gravel from his cuts. Once his hands were clean from excess blood Blaine cleaned off his knee and put on a bandage. After making himself look as normal as possible he hurried to their bedroom and took his place on the floor, it was nearing 5 and Kurt would be walking in any minute. Blaine checked the clock once more before kneeling slowly on the carpet and bowing his head, trying to clear his thoughts and focus on Kurt coming home.
Blaine wasn't sure how much time passed but he didn't notice Kurt was home until he felt a soft hand card through his hair.
"Hello baby." A soft but firm voice cooed.
"Hello, Sir." Blaine replied, his voice low.
Kurt walked closer to Blaine causing the sub to shiver with anticipation. "Have you been waiting long baby?"
Blaine shook his head, keeping his eyes on the floor.
"Hmm." Kurt said as his hand left Blaine's hair and Blaine heard him move away.
Blaine could hear Kurt moving around their bedroom but stayed in the same position, waiting to be told what to do. His injured knee ached which made it hard for him to focus on Kurt's presence but he stayed still waiting like a good sub always does.
A few minutes later Kurt's hand was on Blaine's chin. "Can you stand up for me baby?" Kurt asked.
Blaine nodded and stood up, wincing a bit as a flash of pain shot up his leg.
"Blaine?"
Blaine stilled at Kurt's use of his name, usually during play they stuck with the names of baby and Sir, respectfully.
Blaine was brought back again by Kurt grabbing for his hands. "Blaine, what happened?"
Blaine looked up, Kurt's eyes were full of concern as he examined the torn skin on his hand.
"It's nothing, just a few scrapes." Blaine said pulling his hands from Kurt's.
Kurt made an impatient noise and looked up at Blaine. "Sit." He said giving Blaine a slight push until he sat on the edge of their bed.
"Kurt..." Blaine began to speak but Kurt put a finger to his lips and he knelt down and carefully began to remove the bandage from Blaine's knee.
Blaine blushed deep when the bandage was removed to reveal an angry red scar.
"Blaine, tell me what happened." Kurt's tone was unmistakable.
"I fell down the steps going down to the subway." Blaine answered.
"Blaine." Kurt prompted, he was always able to tell when Blaine wasn't telling the whole truth.
Blaine sighed and looked away from Kurt's gaze. "I was texting and I accidently ran into someone, they said something and pushed back."
"What did they say?" Kurt asked as he inspected Blaine's hands.
"They umm...they said 'watch where you're going bottom.'" Blaine said, his voice trailing off at the end.
Blaine swallowed hard as Kurt let out a gasp as he stood up. "They called you a bottom!"
Blaine stood grabbing Kurt's hands with his own. "Kurt, please don't be mad. I'm fine."
Kurt didn't seem to hear Blaine's protests, but instead stormed out of their bedroom. Blaine stood up from the bed and hurried after. "Kurt, wait where are you going?"
Kurt didn't answer instead he reached for his bag and pulled out his cell phone.
"Kurt, who are you calling?" Blaine asked stepping closer to his Dom.
"The DDSR." Kurt said putting the phone up to his ear.
"The Department of Dom/sub Relations?!" Blaine nearly shouted. "Kurt, I don't even know who pushed me how are they going to help?"
Kurt's face fell and he clicked the end button on the call. He sighed and fell into one of the kitchen chairs.
Blaine quickly stepped forward and sunk slowly to his knees. He gently placed his head in Kurt's lap. It took a minute but soon Kurt's hand was carding through Blaine's loose curls.
"I'm sorry I overreacted baby, I just..."
Blaine picked up his head and looked up at his Dom. Kurt's brow was furrowed and a look of worry clouded his eyes.
"Kurt?" Blaine asked quietly.
Kurt shook his head, "I just didn't think things would get to this point so fast."
"I don't understand, sir." Blaine said.
Kurt stood up, clasping Blaine's hands and bringing him with him.
"Blaine, I want to talk about some things. But not as Dom and sub. Just as Blaine and Kurt. Is that ok?"
Blaine nodded.
"Ok, go put some clothes on and then we will talk." Kurt said his voice different from anything Blaine was used to.
Blaine hurried to the bedroom and threw on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. When he returned to the living room Kurt was sitting on the couch two cups of tea were sitting in front of him on the coffee table.
Kurt patted the cushion beside him and Blaine shuffled over.
"Are you sure you're ok with us talking like this, we haven't done this in awhile." Kurt asked.
Blaine nodded, it was true him and Kurt hadn't talked as "equals" in a while but the change in Kurt's voice and the worry in his eyes forced Blaine to accept that whatever was going on was serious.
*****
"Blaine, have you heard of Gabriel Jordan?"
Blaine took a second to think. He nodded, "Yeah, I've seen his name on a few political ads on the subway, but I haven't paid much attention to them."
Kurt pursed his lips and nodded in acknowledgement, "He's the Dominant Candidate running for President."
"What about him? What is this even about? Sam mentioned the election this morning too," Blaine said, "He told me I should ask you about it."
"Well, Sam was right about having you come and ask me. But I want to know what Sam told you before we talk more." Kurt said patiently.
"Sam said that this morning a few Doms were mistreating some subs. He thought it was just tension due to the election."
Kurt looked at Blaine in alarm, "What do you mean? How did people know others' orientations?"
"This morning they were taking a survey or orientations, we had to show our licenses before going onto the platform." Blaine said, not aware of the rage boiling underneath Kurt's skin.
"Is that why that Dom pushed you?" Kurt seethed.
"I don't think so, they checked licenses in the morning. It...it happened on my way home." Blaine said looking at the ground. He didn't want to have Kurt get angry over this again.
Kurt took a deep breath in. "Ok, well for starters Sam was right. People are getting riled up about the election."
"And by people you mean Doms," Blaine added.
"Yes, Doms." Kurt said through clenched teeth.
Blaine was acutely aware of the tension rolling off of Kurt's body. He desperately wanted to make his Dom feel better but right now Kurt wasn't Sir, he was Kurt and until this conversation was over Blaine had to keep his submissive urges at bay.
"Why are the Dom's acting this way?" Blaine asked, wanting to get the conversation over with as soon as possible.
"This election is different from previous ones," Kurt said with a sigh, "Normally there is both a Dominant and submissive, but it's not quite that simple."
"And they're not this year," Blaine confirmed.
"No, Gabriel Jordan is an extremist," Kurt paused briefly, "He believes Doms are the better orientation, that they hold a higher rank in society and submissives have no place in the presidential office."
Blaine's mouth pulled into a frown, "That doesn't make sense, all orientations have their merit and there have been a ton of submissive presidents."
"I know, I agree, subs and Doms are equally important, but unfortunately more and more Doms are siding with his ideals."
"What happens if he wins?" Blaine asked.
"I'm not sure. But some of the things he is proposing seem to be riling up the more...aggressive doms."
Blaine nodded. He still didn't quite understand who this Gabriel Jordan was and why things were going so crazy because of him but he wanted to find out.
"Would it be ok if I did some research of my own about the election?" He asked.
Kurt quickly nodded, "Blaine you don't have to ask now, we aren't Dom and sub right now."
Blaine blushed slightly. "I know, I just feel better asking."
Kurt laughed softly. "Well then, of course you can baby."
Blaine's heart fluttered as he and Kurt slipped seamlessly back into their roles.
"Do you want to look tonight or would you rather watch TV?" Kurt asked scooting back against the couch.
Blaine thought for a moment before settling back against Kurt's chest and clicking the remote for the TV.
Kurt hummed contentedly as Blaine handing him the remote. As Kurt picked what show to watch Blaine tried to settle in but the thoughts about the election still ran around his head.