A/N: This is another setup chapter, with Ren's first session happening in the next. Bear in mind that Kyoko is in character (a more grownup, brother-less Setsu) but she will appear as herself later in the fic. This will probably be written predominantly from Ren's POV.
He sat in his car, the phone charger in his hand, wondering what the hell he was thinking. It wasn't courtesy that brought him here, the charger not being worth very much, but after two weeks of waiting, his curiosity could no longer be ignored. Would she be annoyed to see him back, her remark about returning only a tease? What if she was busy entertaining a client? He should just go back home, turn the key in the ignition, drive away, and forget all about this.
"Speak," commanded the voice on the intercom, making his pulse spike.
"I wanted to return the charger."
It wasn't entirely a lie, he thought, tensing up but relieved when the buzzer sounded. What was he doing? This was stupid, he thought, pressing the number four in the elevator. He wasn't even all that interested in sex, and he could find that easily if he wanted anyway, so why did he come here? Shaking his head and letting out a deep breath, he raised his hand, hesitating before knocking on the familiar black door. When it finally opened, she smirked up at him with bright pink lips.
"Very thoughtful of you to come all this way," she joked, leading him inside.
"It felt rude not to, after you helped me in my time of need."
She smiled at him knowingly, raising an eyebrow.
"Would you like to sit down?" she asked, tilting her head to the side and looking up at him with those intense, feline eyes.
This was a mistake. What did he hope to achieve by coming here? Still, he followed her to the same cushioned velvet chair, where she once again perched on the arm beside him, and for a fleeting moment he wanted to reach out and touch her. Where the impulse came from, he didn't know, but it was easily silenced.
"Why don't we start with your name?"
"My name." He wondered if he should make something up and lie, but then wouldn't he be lying no matter what he said? "I'm Ren."
"Ren," she repeated, her voice like silk. "We can do first names if you would like, and I of course, am Setsu. Mistress Setsu, during sessions."
Should he say that it was nice to meet her? He wasn't really aware of the protocol in these situations.
"It's alright if you don't know what you want, we can always figure that out together. Unless you have a particular fantasy in your head already, of course."
"I haven't really thought about it," he admitted, a little awkward.
"You're safe here," she promised, setting her hand on his and squeezing gently. "There's no judgment in this space. If you want to be tied or chained or caged, gagged and beaten, or to clean the dirty bottoms of my boots with your tongue. I'll think no less of you, and it will never leave this room."
What did he want? He was drawn back here for a reason, drawn back to her, but none of what she said sounded particularly appealing. Rough sex wasn't something new to him, but then he'd never been the one getting tied up. Handing over complete control to someone like that, could he really do it? Did he actually want to? Trusting people wasn't exactly his strong suit, or something he was normally anywhere near the realm of comfortable with.
"Do you have any medical conditions we'll need to accommodate, such as high blood pressure or diabetes? Back or knee injuries? Allergies, particularly to latex?"
"No, nothing."
"And what about psychological triggers?"
His body tensed instinctively, his eyes darting to the shackle on his wrist. He closed his eyes for just a second, and let a silent breath out his nose.
Hesitation was normal, but this was different. His eyes changed, reflexively seeking his watch, and giving her a glimpse beneath his mask. Being successful and safe in her line of work was all about intuition and the ability to read people. This man, who was charming and polite and friendly on the outside, was hiding a dark secret beneath the surface. She almost let go of his hand when his body stiffened to the point of being rigid, but she wasn't ready to dismiss him just yet.
"I need to know if certain kinds of play will be too traumatic for you," she clarified. "Having these kinds of triggers is completely normal, and play is usually easily adapted."
"I… don't think so."
His face was impassive, revealing nothing to her. Whether or not he was aware, she couldn't say, but she would find out soon enough either way. She could tell already that he was going to be a difficult one, but she did enjoy a challenge, and it would be that much better when he finally submitted to her fully. He would be fun to break, she could tell.
"Do you have any hard limits? Things you absolutely won't do? What about marks, do you want me to leave them or not? And if so, where?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure. I don't have a lot of experience with this. Marks don't matter, if they won't be seen."
He really wasn't good at opening up, the was for certain. Difficult summed it up perfectly, but she could still work with this, probably. Think of the challenge, she told herself, beginning to wonder if this would turn out to be a waste of her time. Even if the first session was bad, at least she'd still get paid, and if he never came back, then it wouldn't be a huge loss anyway. Despite everything though, she had a feeling about him, and those instincts were rarely ever wrong.
"Now," she began, standing up and taking his hand, "shall we take the tour?"
He rose to his feet, despite his ambivalence, if only for the sake of manners. Should he compensate her for wasting her time, apologize, and leave? It felt so strange, being here and talking about this, his hand held by a woman he was meant to pay to abuse him. Was he really so twisted? His stomach turned at the thought of Kuon, locked away inside him. He knew well the depths of his own depravity, but that only meant this was an even worse idea.
She lead him first to a table, arranged with a considerable assortment of various, what he assumed were, torture devices. Some things he recognized easily enough, but others he'd never seen before.
"During your first session, we can experiment with any of these implements that interest you. BDSM is all about the sensory experience, and we'll discover which sensations work for you, and which ones don't."
"Here, we have the St. Andrews Cross and the Catherine Wheel. Both are used for restraining purposes, the latter able to rotate, so you can hang upside down."
To demonstrate this, she bent down, her ass sticking out intentionally, and spun the wheel.
"Next, we have the cage, which is self-explanatory, and the suspension winch, which creates a different sensation from being restrained to a surface. Then, the wooden stocks and the steel yoke..."
Most of the devices she showed him were straightforward, but a few of them were outright baffling. He still didn't know that he necessarily wanted to experience any of them firsthand, or if he even planned to come back after the consultation was over. It was only an idle interest anyway, and one that could most likely be ignored. Having returned, and being taken more or less through the process, he hoped that his previous curiosity was now fully sated, and he could put this behind him.
With the tour over, he was meant to be signing a contract. That admittedly made him extremely uncomfortable, until he realized that it was mostly just a non-disclosure agreement, dressed up with some BDSM specific sections, that were meant to be added to as the relationship progressed. What surprised him though, was one of the rules. Clients were not allowed in any way to touch her without express permission, which wasn't so odd, but sexual contact was expressly forbidden.
He'd assumed that, especially for the considerable fee of fifty thousand yen per hour, sex was involved. Somehow that made him feel more curious. Did the people who came to see her enjoy getting tied up and whipped that much, and couldn't they find someone willing to do it for free? Sessions ran two hours on average, she told him, so was there something special she did that made her worth one hundred thousand yen? Now, more than ever, he wanted to find out.
A/N: The *good* stuff is beginning next chapter, finally! But, bear in mind that it is non-sexual for now, and it's going to take him a while to really get comfortable with being dominated.
Still here for any ideas you have! What kind of humiliating/insulting lines do you think Ren would want to hear? What kind of tortures do you think he'd be most into?
So far people have suggested ceo and world class surgeon, for his occupation. All I know right now is he's some kind of executive, and works for Lory. Obviously a rising star in his field and well respected/admired, but he still has things to learn.