As a Dominator, Kurt is the quintessence of complete and utter control – in his commands, his actions, his planning, his ability to anticipate nearly any outcome. Those traits are some of the reasons why he's always been in high demand. Being a Dominator isn't just his job, it isn't just a lifestyle; it's who he is, bone deep. He's creative, inventive, and he has a passion for domination that goes beyond most Dom/mes in the business.

Kurt juggles his fair share of subs, with the numbers changing from month to month, but Blaine Anderson has been in Kurt's stable for almost half a year.

And he is, by far, Kurt's favorite client.

But in the presence of this one sub, Kurt sees himself change. He cares more, bends a bit more – something that he has never done before.

It happens at that point after Blaine cums for the umpteenth time, when Kurt has taxed his sub's body, pushed it past its limits. Instead of staying cool and detached, his typical Dom mask, Kurt becomes nurturing – excessively so. He unties Blaine carefully, talks gently to him. He gathers Blaine up in his arms and helps him stand, if he can. The dynamic between them shifts. They're still Dom and sub, set solidly in their roles. Kurt is still in charge, but his focus goes from trying the extent of Blaine's endurance within the given set of boundaries, to ensuring that this high Blaine has found, this buzz he gets from submission, fades into a soothing lull and doesn't drop away beneath him.

During the time after their session is done, Kurt pampers Blaine, and the thoroughness he employs has become rooted in something more and more personal.

It comes from his want, his desire for Blaine.

In Kurt's experience, aftercare varies from client to client.

Kurt caters exclusively to male clients. It's not that he has anything against female subs, it just happens to be his personal preference to take men only. Aftercare is essential in the practice of any Dom/me, but it's not always what most people think. There's a popular perception among romantics that the practice of aftercare consists entirely of massages with scented oils and bubble baths by candlelight, and it might be that way for domestic Dom/sub couples. But as a professional dealing with men (and straight men, in particular, make up about 70% of his clientele), Kurt is usually not called on to do anything like that. After making sure his subs are uninjured, showered, and in a good mental space, he sticks around for about an hour, depending on what the client wants, to ensure sub drop doesn't occur. He's had a handful of guys who've wanted him to just leave afterwards so they can get on with their lives. Some of his clients invite him out for a beer, or to watch a game on TV. Sometimes they sit around and shoot the shit; sometimes they say nothing. One man Kurt used to dominate – a chef at a restaurant downtown - followed up their sessions by making Kurt dinner. His sub enjoyed it, so Kurt let him. He said it was calming, nice to have Kurt sit with him in the kitchen and talk while he cooked, something he didn't get in the hectic atmosphere of his five star bistro.

But Blaine...Blaine's different.

Kurt doesn't know why Blaine has gotten under his skin. Blaine craves punishment, and Kurt adores that about him, but otherwise, everything about Blaine screams little. Professionally, Kurt doesn't have much call to take on subs who identify as littles since they generally seek commitment exclusively, and personally, Kurt doesn't have much patience for them. Littles need constant attention, and to be quite frank, he could never get a handle on a grown adult who wanted to suck on a pacifier or drink from a sippy cup. But Blaine - Kurt absolutely babies Blaine. He gives Blaine bubble baths and brushes his hair. He feeds him ice-cream and makes him macaroni and cheese. They watch cartoons and Disney movies together (something Kurt couldn't even stomach when he was a child).

The one thing that Blaine loves to do that really gets under Kurt's skin is coloring. Blaine loves to color. Kurt can appreciate the arts – painting, sculpture, singing, dancing. He's particularly fond of Broadway musicals, which Blaine enjoys, too, though Kurt hasn't let that information slip yet.

But coloring? To Kurt, it's tedious and dull and just plain childish.

But Blaine can't get enough of it. Kurt does it, though he's made some changes in tiny increments to suit himself so he doesn't go insane. That might seem selfish, especially for a Dom, but it's also a way of inserting himself into Blaine's life without being obvious about it.

He bought Blaine a brand new set of colored pencils and a box of 120 Crayola crayons to replace the overused and broken stubs Blaine had around his house. Kurt also brought over a few adult coloring books since Blaine only seemed to have the generic ones you can buy for a dollar at Michael's. Kurt wondered if Blaine's anxiety had anything to do with the state of his coloring books and crayons. Maybe he didn't want to get something more upscale because the cashier would ask him questions – like does he have kids, and if so how many, and do they like to color, which character is their favorite. Then Blaine might feel forced to admit the books and the crayons were for him.

Kurt changes Blaine into his pajamas and they sit together at the coffee table on the living room floor. Blaine normally keeps to himself while they color, lost to the task in front of him, particular about his color choices and ever vigilant with regard to staying within the lines. But as Kurt tries to decide between pine green or forest green for the leaves of his evergreen tree, he notices that Blaine has stopped coloring, staring at Kurt's fingers as they drum on the glass tabletop.

“What is it, baby boy?” Kurt asks, moving on to another part of his picture when he can't decide.

It takes Blaine a moment to answer. He shifts in his seat and sits up straight, going over the sentence once in his head so it sounds the way he wants it to sound.

“You know, you don't have to do this with me, Sir,” Blaine says with a modicum of hesitation.

Kurt looks up from the flower he'd begun meticulously shading and raises an eyebrow.

“How do you mean?” Kurt asks, aware of keeping his tone from coming off as too demanding.

“I mean, I know you don't like this, Sir,” Blaine answers, nervously sucking in his bottom lip. “I know you're only doing this for me.”

“You're right,” Kurt agrees, putting down his fuchsia crayon and picking up a periwinkle blue, one Blaine secretly thinks matches Kurt's eyes perfectly. “I'm doing this for you because it's what you want to do. If you want to do something else, then we'll do that. But I'm here for you.”

Blaine nods, but Kurt knows he's not done. He also knows Blaine won't speak up about whatever's bothering him unless he's told.

“Talk,” Kurt says.

“You keep making these, like, weird faces, Sir,” Blaine says. “Like you'd rather be doing something else.”

Kurt sighs. He'd tried hard not to make it evident, but…coloring!?

“Well, maybe if you'd stop stealing all the colors I need, I'd stop making faces,” Kurt says.

Blaine laughs, biting his worried lower lip, and rolls the grey crayon and the aquamarine crayon he had snagged from Kurt's side back over. Kurt retrieves them, putting them with his pile of preferred colors, and goes back to his flower, hoping that Blaine will feel content enough to go back to the business of finishing his fairy garden. Blaine picks up a lavender crayon, but he doesn't put the tip to the paper, rolling it instead between his fingers, watching it twist in his grasp.

“You know, I wasn't always like this,” Blaine says, close to a whisper. Kurt stops coloring and raises his eyes.

“I know,” Kurt says, putting down his crayon and focusing on his sub. “There's nothing wrong with the way you are, unless you're not comfortable with it.”

“I am comfortable with some of it,” Blaine admits, putting his lavender crayon with the others, lining them up in front of him in a neat row and sorting them by color, “and some of it…not so much.” He exhales, and his body caves in an inch. “But it helps me cope. It makes it easier…to breathe, easier to leave my house. I don't know if that makes sense. You probably don't get like that though, Sir.” Blaine chuckles, like that idea is patently ridiculous.

“Yes, I do, sometimes,” Kurt admits after a heavy swallow. “I just…deal with in different ways than you do.”

Blaine's eyes light up. “Like how?” Blaine asks in a rush, forgetting he might not have permission. “I-if you don't mind me asking…Sir.”

The question stops Kurt a minute. He's not a big fan of talking about his personal life, especially to his clients. But there are steps he wants to take with Blaine, a new relationship he's toying with approaching, and maybe this could be a start.

“Well, I sing,” Kurt says.

“You sing?” Blaine asks, his face glowing behind his sadness, picturing sitting at the keys of his piano and watching his beautiful Dominator sing.

“Not as much as I used to.” A smile slips onto Kurt's lips. “But yeah, I sing. And I write. I design clothes. But mostly, I work. I dominate. That's how I overcome.”

Blaine nods, looking happier, his eyes traveling back to the half-colored picture in front of him. Kurt watches him as he lifts his picture from the table and blows away a few stray crayon shavings, his mind switching back to that place where coloring pictures of flowers and watching cartoons are nothing to feel ashamed of.

“Thank you, Sir,” Blaine says, picking up his lavender crayon again, “for doing this with me.”

“You're welcome, Blaine,” Kurt says, even though there's something very different he wants to say.