Blaine smiled as he looked out the window of their townhouse. It was full on summer in NYC and the city was alive. Blaine liked the laziness of summer. Kurt still worked in the summer, unlike Blaine, but was usually home just after lunch. Blaine missed Kurt in the mornings but he did love the serenity that came with an empty house. As Blaine sat in the bay window he flipped through the new hit young adult novel that he saw at the bookstore. He liked using the excuse that he was reading them for his job but they were also a deep guilty pleasure for him.

Blaine was so lost in the words of his novel he hardly noticed the ringing of their doorbell. Blaine quickly finished the last line of the paragraph before jumping up to answer the door.

He smiled when he saw Mike standing on their stoop.

"Mike!" Blaine greeted.

"Hey Blainers, long time no see." Mike said as he pulled Blaine into a hug.

"I know, where have been?" Blaine asked gesturing for Mike to come inside.

"I'm one of the monkeys for new production of Wicked. Rehearsals have been kicking my butt."

"Wait, the same Wicked that Rachel is cast in?" Blaine asked.

Mike nodded. "She is Nessarose as well as understudying for Elphaba."

Blaine blanched; "That is amazing, for both of you!"

"Thanks bro!" Mike said; "But listen Tina called and wanted us to meet her and Kurt in the city for lunch."

"Really? When?" Blaine asked, checking his watch.

"Umm in about 20 minutes, so we better leave. Mistress doesn't like when I'm late." Mike answered.

Blaine nodded and reached for his keys. "Sir is the same way."

Mike let out a small laugh before following Blaine out the door.
They hurried to the train that would take them to midtown. Talking and catching up the entire way.

It took only a little while to reach the restaurant where Tina and Kurt already sat waiting.

The restaurant was a little tiny place that Kurt and Blaine frequented. The came so much that most of the staff knew them by name. They even had a favorite waiter, John, a middle-aged sub who moved from Canada to make it big in New York.

"Hey baby." Kurt greeted, standing up to give Blaine a kiss.

"Hello Sir." Blaine replied sitting down next to Kurt.

Tina and Mike sat down next to each other, Mike immediately leaned into his Mistress's side. Blaine smiled at the small sign of affection.

"Are you two hungry?" Kurt asked.

Blaine nodded as he looked over at the menu Kurt was holding.

"Starving, I had early rehearsal this morning and I have to go back later tonight." Mike said.

"You have to go back tonight?" Tina pouted.

Mike nodded, "Yeah but it will be an early night so I should be home by 9."

"Good, I need my good boy tonight." Tina whispered as she began to nibble on Mike's ear.

"Alright, alright. No playtime at the table." Kurt chastised causing Blaine to laugh.

"Fine." Tina said pulling back from Mike. "What do you want to eat baby?"

The couples spent a few minutes browsing the menu before their waiter came over.

Kurt looked up with a smile but it fell when he saw it wasn't John.

"Hi, I'm Pepper." The waitress greeted. "I'll be your server today."

"Hello, Pepper. I don't mean to be rude but is John working? He usually serves us." Kurt said with a smile.

Pepper's own smile fell; "Um..let me get my manager."

Kurt began to speak up but the waitress scurried away.

"Kurt, why did you do that?" Tina accused.

"I didn't mean to be rude, I was just curious." Kurt rationalized.

Blaine shrugged when Kurt looked over at him for reassurance. He wasn't sure what had happened, he didn't think his Dom's question was something to get the manager over.

A few moments later the manager, Kyle came out. He offered the group a small smile.

"Hey guys, long time no see." Kyle said.

"Kyle, I swear. I wasn't being rude to that new waitress, I just wanted to know where John was." Kurt blurted.

Kyle put up his hands to stop Kurt; "I know you weren't Kurt, Pepper was just worried."

"Why?" Blaine asked.

"John quit about a week after Jordan was elected." Kyle answered.

"Did he finally find a Broadway gig?" Tina asked, knowing John was hoping to land a role in one of the new shows.

Kyle shook his head; "No, he was planning on moving back to Canada."

"Why?" The table of four asked in unison.

"I...think he was nervous after the election results. He didn't want to stay in the states after seeing Jordan's new legislations."

The whole table sobered up at the mention of Jordan and his new laws. The stress of the election had been forgotten in favor of the lazy summer days. Nothing new had come from Jordan's camp since his first speech and his official inauguration wasn't until late August.

"Does he really think it would get that bad?" Mike asked.

Kyle shrugged. "I don't think so, but who knows. A lot of people are talking and I think Pepper is just shaken up from yesterday."

"What happened yesterday?" Blaine asked.

Kyle ran a hand over his face before pulling up a chair and sitting down next to Kurt. "Listen, I normally wouldn't share this with customers but I trust you guys."

The group nodded urging Kyle to go on.

"A few representatives from the DDSR stopped by yesterday. They wanted to take a census of how many people we had on staff as well as their orientations."

"Is that even allowed?" Tina balked.

"I guess, I mean they were from the DDSR. I mean a few months back they were doing the same thing on the subway." Kyle answered.

"Oh yeah, Blaine didn't that happen to you?" Tina asked, turning to Blaine.
Blaine felt his heart speed up and blood rush to his cheeks. He remembered that day, he remembered the confusion of having to show his license, he remembered Sam mentioning the election, he remembered being pushed and being called a bottom on his way home. He felt an involuntary shiver run down his spine as he thought.

"Tina!" Kurt hissed.

Tina started to give Kurt a look but then saw Blaine who was slowly shrinking in on himself.

"Oh, Blaine. I'm sorry. I just..." Tina started.

"Tina stop." Kurt cut in. "Yes that happened to Blaine a few months ago." Kurt stated, the tone in his voice effectively ending that part of the conversation.

Kyle awkwardly cleared his throat and continued. "Yeah, well I figured they were connected so I let them talk to the people working and gave them a list of all the employees. Some of the staff were shaken up by it. The guy wasn't very nice."

"The man from the DDSR?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, he was just super creepy. I've never dealt with the DDSR before, except to get my Dom license, but if that guy was anything like the rest of the department is I want to stay far away." Kyle replied.

"So is that why the waitress came to get you? She was worried we were looking for John?" Kurt asked.

"I guess, Pepper is a new server and an unclaimed sub. I think she is just super nervous about all this stuff with Jordan." Kyle sighed.

"I would be too if I was in her shoes." Blaine piped up.

Kyle gave Blaine a small smile before looking down at his watch. "Shit, I have to get back to work. I'll let Pepper know you are safe to serve."

"Thanks Kyle, good luck with everything." Kurt waved as Kyle ducked back into the restaurant.

The rest of the meal passed without incident, nobody noticed the chill coming off Kurt besides his sub. So when they were finally alone in the back car of the subway Blaine turned to Kurt.

"Are you ok, Sir?"

Kurt shook his head. "They are taking a census of all the working Doms and subs."

Blaine gave him a confused look. "What does that mean?"

Kurt sighed and pulled Blaine close to his side. "It means that Jordan's changes may be coming sooner than we thought."