It took Kurt a long time to fall asleep. Blaine had only woken for a short time when Kurt had cleaned him up, then gone right back to sleep, and Kurt hadn't had the heart to wake him. So he had, once again, found himself with Blaine in his bed, in the playroom no less, instead of on the pallet on his bedroom floor where he had his subs usually sleep unless they earned their place in his bed.

He had to admit he liked it, though, holding Blaine in his arms when he fell asleep, and he could always establish the rule later.

Now, however, he found himself listening to Blaine's quiet breathing, completely awake. It had been a long, intense day that had turned out much better than the rather awful morning had suggested. Blaine had been in a good head space for most of the day, and all the teasing had been delicious in a way he had seldom experienced before. It made him hope they could establish a real connection before too long.

That was the root of what occupied his thoughts at the moment to the point where he couldn't sleep.

To do that, to really find that connection and that trust he wanted, they had to do something, and he couldn't decide if the best time for that would be tomorrow or at a much later point in their relationship. To do it this early could break them, but they couldn't really progress until they had gotten it out of the way.

Finally, he decided it had to be before the end of their trial period, and since they could only do this on a weekend, that left only tomorrow, next weekend or the one after. They needed at least one weekend of pure fun and indulgence after that, and there was no point putting it off, so tomorrow it would be. It would be intense, but if they did it early in the day, both of them would have enough time to recover.

Having made that decision, and although he was anxious towards tomorrow, he was able to finally will himself to sleep.

When he woke up the next morning, Blaine was still sleeping, but just when Kurt started contemplating whether to rise or snuggle up to his boy some more, Blaine slowly opened his eyes.

Kurt smiled at him. "Good morning, sweetheart. How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling...wonderful, Sir."

It sounded sleepy and somewhat surprised.

…...

It was true, Blaine realized once he was awake enough. He'd probably have answered with 'fine' in any case, because that was how he was – though he was beginning to understand that that was an act he wouldn't be allowed to hold up with Kurt, and he wouldn't deny that it frightened him a little.

For the moment, though, he really felt wonderful. He had slept as long and as good as he hadn't in ages – that was probably what passing out after an exceptional orgasm would do to you – and right now, he was completely content. He could lie here forever and look at Kurt's face in a sleepy haze, he thought, when he heard his stomach rumble and decided that maybe getting up to make breakfast wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Kurt laughed; he had heard it too. "Go make breakfast, pet. I'll join you shortly."

Blaine stood up and put on some pants, then hesitated and asked,

"Sir? May I try scrambled eggs again? I'll try not to burn them again.""

"If there are any eggs left, you may. And if you do burn them – well, you know what you'll get."

Kurt playfully smacked Blaine's jeans-clad ass in passing, then disappeared in the bathroom.

The eggs turned out fine – not exactly great, but edible. They ate for a while, talking and laughing over their coffees, but Blaine found himself more and more nervous about what the day would bring. Kurt had been clear about wanting him to stay the night; he had said something about 'giving him time to recover', and although Blaine had nothing against a little pain and never thought that Kurt would really hurt him, the comment made him rather apprehensive. He wasn't scared, but he felt a little jittery and found himself simultaneously looking forward to and dreading whatever his Dom had planned.

After breakfast, Kurt said,

"Go take a shower. Don't bother to get dressed afterwards, but clean up breakfast. Take all the time you need, then come into the playroom."

Blaine took his time with the shower, and with the cleaning up. He tried to relax; he knew Kurt probably wanted him to do his chores naked because that had worked so well yesterday. Then, it had rendered him calm and centered, on the edge of subspace, but today, it was no use. He was too wired up, too on edge with nerves and anticipation.

He took a deep breath before opening the door to the playroom. There was nothing like a good scene to calm one's nerves, was there?

…...

"Lie down over the spanking bench, please," Kurt said. He was completely calm now, his nerves left at the door together with his everyday attitude when he entered the playroom. There were three ways this could go, and each of them was good in its own way. Even the worst outcome could help them, could teach them something for their relationship.

He knelt down in front of Blaine, who had obediently lain across the bench, and kissed him, lovingly and thoroughly. Then he cuffed his wrists and ankles to the bench.

"Tell me your words, pet."

"Yellow and red, Sir."

"Good boy. I want you to use them if you need to, alright?"

"Yes, Sir."

Kurt rose and got a flogger out of a cabinet. It wasn't the heavy kind Blaine seemed to favor, but a light one with thin tails that would leave more of a sting. He showed it to Blaine, letting the tails run through his fingers and then smacking it against his own thigh once. He watched Blaine close his eyes and swallow and told him,

"I can make you fly, if you let me."

He knew he could; he had done it before, to other subs, skillfully whipped them until they 'flew', until they reached that sublime state of complete serenity that sometimes, so he was told, even surpassed subspace. He had even, in a weaker form, experienced it himself, when he had subbed for Elliot during his training.

Making Blaine fly would be the best possible outcome of today's scene, but Kurt doubted they could achieve that. He could see from Blaine's posture that he was not as relaxed as he had hoped, and while it was no requirement, it would have helped considerably. It didn't matter much, though, he thought as he began slowly trailing the tails of the flogger across Blaine's body. It would have been beautiful, but they could always do that another time. They would achieve something in any case.

He flicked the flogger in tiny kitten-lick strokes over Blaine's body, warming him up for the main event. Blaine relaxed slightly, and Kurt noticed him shifting slightly to accommodate his stiffening cock on the bench, as much as his bonds would allow.

He gradually increased the intensity of his strokes until Blaine panted and he was covered with a light sheen of sweat. His voice was strained when he begged,

"Talk to me, Sir? Please?"

Kurt's voice was soft. "What do you want me to say, sweetheart? That you look beautiful like this? That you're doing great? Your skin is slowly turning red, you practically glow. You look so lovely."

Blaine spoke through ragged breaths. "No – no, Sir, I just – I needed to hear your voice. I – I needed to know you're here."

"I'll always be here when you need me, sweetheart."

While he continued flogging him, Kurt looked at Blaine. There would definitely be no flying today. Tension was visible in his whole body. Blaine's hands were clenched in fists, and though he couldn't see his face very well, he would bet his eyes were squeezed shut and his teeth clenched.

"Please. Sir – please..."

"What is it, sweetheart?"

Blaine didn't answer, but he exhaled in a muffled sob. And Kurt realized he had miscalculated. Not necessarily Blaine's reaction – he had known it might be like this – but his own. In all his reasoning that this was important, that they needed this, one way or another, he had forgotten just how much he hated doing that. And it was pretty clear by now that what he was waiting for wasn't going to happen. Blaine was sobbing constantly now and would occasionally beg without saying for what, but apart from that, he wasn't speaking."

He looked at his hands and saw that they were trembling, and it wasn't from the exertion. He would have liked to throw the flogger away, but he didn't want to let Blaine drop too fast. He decreased the intensity of his strokes, probably faster than he should, then dropped the flogger and briefly pressed his palms against his burning eyes before he knelt at his sub's side and quickly uncuffed him before carefully pulling him into his arms.

Blaine's sobs wrenched at his body and at Kurt's heart. He felt himself in danger of starting to cry, too, so he quickly buried his face in Blaine's hair, breathing in his scent and telling himself over and over again that everything would be alright.

After a while, Blaine calmed enough for Kurt to softly ask,

"What do you need, sweetheart?"

"Just – this. You."

Kurt nearly sobbed in relief. Blaine didn't want to pull away, to run. Kurt would have let him – what other choice was there – but to not have to, for Blaine to actively seek company and comfort in him even after this made him hope they could get through this, make it out on the other side stronger than before.

So he made himself as comfortable as he could on the floor, sitting down and leaning against the bed, and pulled Blaine into his lap, stroking his hair and his back and whispering soothing things for a long time.

He had cared for Blaine's back, double-checking he had not physically harmed him, and rubbing cooling cream into the heated skin. Blaine sat beside him now, still seeking his touch, but sitting upright and looking fine, if a little tired and sad.

"How is your back?" Kurt asked for what must be the fifth or sixth time.

Blaine smiled a little. "It's fine, Sir. It pulls and burns a little, but it isn't so bad."

"Okay. I want you to get dressed. Comfortable clothes, if you want to forgo the shirt, that's fine. Then come into the living room so we can talk."

Kurt made tea for the both of them, his go-to drink for difficult conversations. Blaine came into the room, dressed in sweatpants and a soft shirt, his expression unreadable, and knelt beside the couch.

Kurt put the steaming cups on the table, sat down and patted the couch, indicating for Blaine to sit down, too. He wanted to be able to easily touch Blaine and also felt that the submissive position was inappropriate for the kind of discussion they had to have.

Blaine sat down beside him, facing Kurt, but looking at his feet.

"I'm sorry, Sir."

Kurt nodded thoughtfully. "What are you sorry for?"

Blaine swallowed, looking confused. "I-I couldn't take it, Sir. I'm sorry, I just couldn't -"

"No. No, that is not what you should be sorry for," Kurt interrupted firmly. "That's on me. I am responsible for seeing what you can take and what not. I pushed you on purpose, and although I'm sorry for causing you pain, I believe that it was necessary. Because I was waiting for something from you, Blaine."

Blaine was quiet for some time, shaking his head a little, then inhaling sharply and burying his head in his hands. "My safeword," he whispered, finally looking at Kurt. "You were waiting for me to safeword."