Page 47 of Oh, Sacred Dark
Here, he wasn’t a Worm, but a sub. A person. Every moment—going into subspace, being treated for his chronic Drops, being told he could have a safe word—was chipping away at that old shell, revealing whatever it was that lay underneath.
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Despite the Drop the previous night, it turned out to be a good day. They had the promised waffles, both of them eatingwaytoo much sugar and ending up giddy with it. After breakfast, Tyler surprised Roman with an invitation to his workshop.
“I thought, I don’t know. You can bring my laptop, or a book, or whatever you want, and chill while I work? And then we can go to the garden and do some of that, if you want—I know you’ve been working hard with Lenny at that. I just…I’d like to spend the day with you, if that’s okay.”
Roman felt his cheeks heat. He knew it was because he’d Dropped the night before and Tyler wanted to make sure he was okay, but it was still nice to hear. “Yeah. Okay, I’d like that.”
Roman had never been to Tyler’s workshop, even in passing. It was a wooden structure near the forest line, well insulated despite the large windows letting the late-June sunlight stream in. There were some tools on the table that spanned one of the walls, and a furnace, but mainly there was a large casting circle in the middle, used to aid and anchor magic.
There was a worn couch by the largest window covered in a threadbare green material. A coffee table stood in front of it, pockmarked by coffee rings, a book lying open on its face, pages curled with humidity in the corners.
As soon as Roman stepped inside, it felt like home. He could sense Tyler’s magic thrumming in the air—he wasn’t particularly sensitive to the feel of it, but even he could tell this was somewhere Tyler had imbued with his energy.
Something that had been rattling in Roman since his Drop settled at the feel of it. It felt as familiar as Tyler himself.
Roman settled on the couch with a cup of tea Tyler prepared for him, phone in hand but observing the Dom carefully. Tyler seemed completely unselfconscious, dragging some wood to the casting circle and sitting beside the material. He had a box on his lap which he opened and riffled through.
“I’m working on a crib and rocking chair for a nursery. I want to infuse it with calm and, you know…love. I’ve got some stuff here from the parents, some letters they wrote the baby,” Tyler explained.
Roman’s heart clenched at the fact that Tyler had thought to include him, at the fact that he was a man capable of casting such a peaceful and protective kind of magic.
No one who had sunk into Chaos Magic would be able to do that.
No one with a bad heart could fill something with love.
Roman ended up lying on the couch, eyes half-lidded and skin buzzing with Tyler’s magic as he watched the Transformations taking place.
It was…beautiful, watching the wood dance and flow. It was slow going, of course—nobody could just snap their fingers and turn one thing into another, but it was meticulously done.
They ate lunch together at midday, sandwiches and chips they had brought along. Tyler told him about the family he was completing the commission for—two Doms and a sub. The mother—one of the Doms—had gone through a tough pregnancy so far, but setting up the nursery was calming all of them, making it real.
Roman tilted his head. “That has to be hard, watching your partner go through that,” he mused.
“Yeah, I’d go crazy, not gonna lie. It’s hard enough—well.” Tyler cut himself off.
Roman made a questioning noise, surprised to see Tyler turn awkward.
“Well, you know. I want you to be happy and cared for, and I know that can’t always be the case. And it’samazinghow hard you’re working, how brave you are, and it’s gonna be more than worth it, but it’s hard knowing that your past wasn’t…good.”
Roman blinked, stunned at the sudden admission. At the comparison between worrying about a partner and how Tyler felt about him. “Oh.”
“Not to say—obviously having bad days is completely normal. I just…care.” Tyler gave him a sheepish smile.
Roman closed his eyes, having nothing to say to that, but those words—I care—dug deep within him, warming him the whole way through.
Tyler offered to go to the garden after they ate, but Roman shook his head. “I like watching you work,” he admitted.
Tyler grinned, looking genuinely pleased. “Okay.”
The afternoon slipped away just like that, with magic everywhere. Tyler was the most beautiful thing Roman had ever seen—eyes closed, sensing what was happening in front of him. There was a sheen of sweat from the effort, making his brown skin glow in the sinking light.
There were few times in Roman’s life when he felt he was exactly where he was supposed to be.
Watching Tyler work was one of the best.
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