Fuzzy Blue Socks

Sage waited. He sat on the bed and tried to dry his hair with the friction of the towel. Jaylen returned.
“Find any?” he asked as he pulled the towel off his head. Little did Sage know that his hair now stood straight out in every imaginable direction.
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I smacked a hand over my mouth to stop from laughing. A giggle slipped out.
“Yes. Im pretty sure they’ll fit.”
As he dressed I stretched and crashed onto the bed. Nap time.
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“Hey Jaylen…” Sage said as he raked his fingers through his locks. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
Being a therapist he had heard every tragedy in the book, but what Jaylen’s response would be frightened him with its mystery.
“Can you tell me about your life?”
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I blinked in surprise.
Well, I knew about his past didn’t i?
“Yeah, its kind of a long story thought.”
“We have time.” Sage stated, laying besides me. My heart beat a little faster. I couldn’t tell if it was from his proximity on the full sized bed or in dread to the tale ahead. Maybe it was both.
“Well, where to begin? What do you want to know? I grew up in Jersey with my mom. We didn’t have much but we got by. I dropped out at 16 to get a job at my Uncles shop working on cars. Then at 18 I moved here and met Wes and Mama Pepper. Been here since.” I shrugged, looking at the ceiling.
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Sage sighed and rolled his eyes.
“That was incredibly vague.” He stated flatly.
“Why did you come here? How did you meet Wes and…. Mama Pepper? How did you become gay?”

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I stared at him.
Become gay?
“People don’t just ‘become’ gay Sage!” I cried. “And… I left because.” I had to take a deep breath, to calm myself before continuing. “I left because when I told my mother, about me and how I was, she refused to speak to me. I was 15 then. She didn’t yell, or tell me to get out; she just looked away, and never looked at me again. So, after 3 years of my mom pretending I didn’t exist I left to come here. I had met Wes a year before when his car had broken down and my uncle fixed it. Somehow I guess he figured it out, so he gave me his number, telling me if I ever needed a place to go I should call him.”

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Sage curled up onto his side as he listened. He found that he liked the sound of Jaylen’s voice. The way he pronounced his words. He felt sorrow for Jaylen that his mothers rejection had left such a deep wound. He also felt sorry for the stupid woman who refused to find out what a good kid Jaylen turned out to be. She was truly going to regret it one of these days.
Sahe wrapped his arms around Jaylen and pulled him close.
“And then you met me.” Sage said with a smile. He nuzzled his head against Jaylen’s neck before contently drifting off to sleep.

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“And then I met you…” I muttered even though I was sure Sage had drifted off to sleep. I smiled, perfectly warm in his strong arms. He smiled like my shampoo, and the starchy detergent that Wes used.
I wondered briefly how well he would fair at the bar tonight. Probably be hit on by the majority of everyone down there…
A flare of possessiveness flared through my and I frowned. Well now that just wouldn’t do… I would have to find a way to prevent this.
I closed my eyes and drifted off into probably the best nap of my life.
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“JAYLEN!”
Sage jumped into a sitting position, his mind lethargic with sleep.
“Eh?” Was what slipped from his lips.
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The wrench of Sage’s body from mine jerked me awake. I sat up sharply.
“Huh? What? Wait…. Huh?” blurry eyes opened to reveal Wes, standing in my doorway with a with smile on his face and a soft look in his eyes.
I rubbed my eyes.
“Oh hey. Is it time for work already?” I yawned.
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“Yes Sir.” Wes said in his forced high pitched voice. “Your public is waiting hun.”
Sage’s ears would have flinched is they could. This person’s voice hurt his ears. It was hard to tell if it was a woman or a man. It wasn’t as smooth or as high as a female, but wasn’t as low or gruff as a male.
Who was this person?
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I smiled.
“M’kay, be down in a sec.”
Instead of leaving We’s dark brown eyes flicked towards Sage, and then back at me pointedly.
“Oh! Wes this is Sage, Sage this is Wes.”
“Pleased to meet you.” Sage held out a hand in the basic direction of where Wes stood.
Wes’s penciled eye brows shot up into his hairline.
“Oh no, the pleasure is defiantly all mine.” He said taking Sage’s offered hand. He looked at me and mouthed ‘HOT!’ and fanned himself, pretending to swoon. I threw a pillow at him, pointing to the door.
‘OUT!’ I mouthed and Wes laughed.
“I’m going I’m going. If I was you, I’d want to be alone with him to.” He winked and my face flamed. Thankfully, I heard the front door shut moments later.
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“So… that’s Wes…” Sage muttered. He pressed his palm to his forehead as he laid back down. He was still tired.
With some caffeine he would feel better. Wes’s last comment bewildered him.
“I need a coke.” He announced. “Maybe a coke with vodka… yum.”

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I jumped up.
“Comin’ right up! It is, after all, what I do.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the living room.
“But first, protection.”
“Protection?” Sage asked confused, following him.
I grabbed something off the counter and wrapped it around his neck. With a click the collar fastened.
“Yes, protection. If I let you go down there with nothing they’d eat you up faster than parana’s in a blood bath.”

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He laughed ad he traced the thing that circled his neck. A dog collar.
“What’s up with you and collars? A fetish?”
When Jaylen had said ‘Protection’ Sage had immediately thought about condoms for some reason…. Not collars.
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“Oh yeah baby.” I tugged on the collar and laughed. “But no, it’s the one I usually wear when I work. Hopefully, if people see it they might recognize it and know to leave you alone.”
“Aww, I can’t talk to anyone?” Sage asked, feigning disappointment. “Aren’t you controlling.” He mumbled.
“No no its not that!” I felt my eyes go wide. “ I just thought, you know, you wouldn’t want people to bother you – and they can get pretty crazy down there – but that doesn’t mean you can’t talk to anyone. It’s not like I OWN you or anything… you can take it off.” I inhaled sharply, panicking.

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“Jaylen.” Sage said as he put a hand on his shoulder. “ Calm down, I was kidding.”
“Oh…” The boy mumbled.
Sage smiled and patted Jaylen’s head. He was so cute.
“I promise to be a good little puppy… is you make me a club soda.”
Jaylen laughed. “Okay.”