Causality (F/M, FF/M) (Part 18 Added - 30/10/23)

[Roboticrobin20]

Proud to say that I'm fully caught up to the story now though I'm really curious to learn what exactly caused the rift between the narrator and Louise. They were awesome together and I hope they can talk over their dispute.

Thank you for the feedback, glad that you're enjoying it - I'm working on the next part now, where your question will be answered.

Thank you so much, can't wait to see where this will go next!

[Donjeta_detective]

Written very professionally!

[Rtj65]

Part 18

March 2019

The long, drawn-out sound of Louise unzipping her boot fills the room, the action performed deliberately slowly. I know it is, because I’ve seen Louise take these very boots off several times, and it never takes this long. She even makes a show of slipping off the footwear, sliding the leather boot down her calf at an agonising pace. My eyes remain captivated by the sight, however.

“Is this really necessary?” I ask, given that Louise’s intent is obvious. She pulls a face at me before continuing what she is doing. I’m not even dignified with a response beyond that. Underneath the boot is a black and white striped, woollen sock that stretches up to midcalf. As with the boot, which is now carefully set to one side, Louise peels off the sock menacingly, before rolling it up in a singular motion. Resting an elbow on her knee, she holds up the sock lazily, tapping her now-bare foot on the floor impatiently.

“You know what happens next,” she says dryly and expectantly.

“I’m not sure I do – enlighten me.” I fix my gaze on hers, staring Louise down. Or up, perhaps, given our respective positions. She frowns, but there’s a definite glint in her eye.

“You’ve been getting a little cocky lately,” she says coolly. There’s no urgency about her, either in her tone of voice, or in the way that she holds onto the sock.

“Is that a problem?”

Louise seems to think about it for a moment, as though she’s not sure. “For me? I doubt it.” Having clearly run out of patience, she wastes no further time in gagging me, forcing the sock into my mouth, using her other hand to prise apart my lips against what little resistance I offer. She has a careful way of doing this; deftly using her fingers to adjust the fabric so that it neatly fills my mouth and presses down my tongue, stuffing it far enough to fully pass my lips, but no further. "Good boy, now bite down a little bit for me,” Louise commands once she is satisfied.

Although I do as I am told, reducing the gap between my lips, I tell myself that I’m doing this on my terms, as if that somehow makes it any better. While I’m doing that, Louise prepares to tape my mouth shut.

And tape it, she does. Louise wraps slowly around my head after pressing down the end of the duct tape over my mouth; the tape is wide enough to cover both of my lips, despite the slight separation between them, but that doesn’t appear to stop her from making doubly sure that the sock isn’t going anywhere. As the revolutions continue, Louise ensures that the lower half of my face is smothered by a secure sheen of silver, from just under my nose to my chin. She works silently, so that all that can be heard was the familiar rip of the tape being peeled from the roll, just as it had been when she was securing my arms. With each turn, the gag squeezes inwards, tightening its grip on my face, which Louise makes sure of by only unfurling small amounts of tape at a time. I can feel my cheeks bulging as the tape contours over the sides of my face, leaving no doubt to anyone who might see me that my mouth is stuffed. At least ten wraps must be completed by the time Louise tears the end from the roll, smoothing it down completely unnecessarily.

"There, much better. I would have just done a few strips, but that's what you get for all your backchat. Hope it's not too tight," she says, smirking.

“Mmhhmss hmmppphh yhhmm whmmmdmpffh!” I protest, knowing that she probably would have done this anyway, but it’s extra frustrating to know that this has been specifically as a result of my actions.

“Oh shush, I could have done much worse than that. Now, where was I?” Louise says, returning to her seat. As she speaks, Louise nonchalantly uses her legs to pull me closer to her and reclines back in her seat. Well, my seat. At no point has made any move to put her discarded boot back on; seeing only wearing one is something of an odd sight. “So, when I tie you up, I’d say that I make it worth your while, don’t I?”

“Mm-hmmph.” I nod my assent.

“It wasn’t quite like that with Vicky. She would make you earn everything. And sometimes, even that wouldn’t be enough.” I frown, not quite sure what Louise is getting at. She gives me a sympathetic look and elaborates. “This one time, she has me tied to a chair – not unlike this one, actually – and she tells me that if I stay quiet for half an hour, she’d let me go and have some ‘alone time’, as she put it.” Louise noticeably blushes, but not in a particularly shy way; she seems to recall things with pride. “Obviously there was a catch. There’s always a catch with Vicky. I was blindfolded, and she would randomly come in and do shit like this-“ To illustrate, Louise roughly grabs hold of my hair, and pulls my head back, and I let out a slight noise in surprise. She doesn’t let go, but softens her grip, and gently runs her hand through my hair back and forth, scratching the top of my head occasionally with her newly manicured nails. “So, after half an hour of doing everything I can to stay quiet, I was feeling rather pleased with myself. Vicky took off my blindfold and gag, and when I asked if I was going to be let go, she just laughed, and pretended not to remember. I was livid.”

Listening to Louise’s story, I’m enraptured and fascinated by the idea of Louise being in that position, though I can’t help but wonder why she would put up with that. As if reading my mind, Louise continues. “You have to understand, it’s a game to her. She would try to push me, see what she could get me to do for her. And she rigged that game more often than not. I still kept wanting to play though,” she says thoughtfully, staring off into space.
I try to shift my weight on the floor, only to feel some resistance as Louise squeezes her thighs inwards, holding me still. “Don’t worry, not all of that has rubbed off on me,” she reassures me. “As for this though,” Louise says, tapping her index finger on my tape gag, “well, Vicky really doesn’t like background noise, and that did rub off on me.”

--

July 2019

“When you first…I mean when we first did this, I was a little scared. No, scared isn’t the right word. Nervous, I guess.”

“You were a little scared.” Although the sun is in my eyeline, forcing me to squint a little, I can see Louise grin as she speaks. Now that we’re actually talking things out, I feel much better, if a little stupid. It’s becoming clear that we weren’t communicating properly with one another, and that this could have been resolved much sooner, if I hadn’t been so stubborn.

“Fine, but not in a bad way. It was only because I didn’t know what you were going to do,” I concede, thinking back to that day a year ago, tied up on Louise’s bed for the first time and waiting for her to come back… I hadn’t needed to wait for long then, and on that occasion, it had been worth the wait when she did return. “I think that’s what I liked about it, actually.”

Louise seems to contemplate this for a few moments, turning to look out across the garden. The sun reflects from her face, revealing an immaculate cheekbone, and causes her golden blonde hair to shimmer. “I thought that too,” she says finally, deep in thought. “You like me calling the shots. I was just doing it differently that time. Not that it makes it okay, I should not have left you with Rachel, or alone, for that matter.”

I nod, letting Louise know that I hear her. “It’s not even that that bothered me. It was that you broke a promise to me. And that you didn’t seem very sorry when I pointed that out to you,” I say, recalling how I felt at the time. Back then, pinned to the chair on my side, I had all the time in the world to process things, and yet instead, I allowed my anger to build. “I get that you’re the one putting the effort in, but does that mean I have to just go along with whatever you want to do?”

“Of course not. You can always say no to me,” Louise says, looking genuinely apologetic. I raise an eyebrow. “Or click your fingers, you know what I mean! I took things too far, too soon. You made it clear that you wanted the stick, and I hit too hard, right?”

“I could handle the stick if I could see it coming. I know that doesn’t make a lot of sense, when that I told you that I like not knowing…” I trail off, unsure where I’m going with this.

“It makes perfect sense.” Louise jumps in, before I can figure out how to continue my train of thought.

“Does it?”

“Of course, it does. If you’re going to the theatre to watch-“ Louise pauses suddenly as she sees the look on my face. “Okay, bad example. What about a football match? You don’t know what’s going to happen when you’re watching, but there are still rules. And it’s my responsibility to stick to them. Just because you’re agreeing to give up control, doesn’t mean you’re agreeing to everything.” The analogy sits well with me, and I nod. Louise smiles, evidently pleased with my reaction.

“When you go back on your word, it makes me feel like you don’t respect me,” I say after thinking things over. I choose my words carefully because I don’t want to be too accusatory here. After all, Louise seems to accept her share of the blame for our miscommunication, and I’m in no mood to reignite a fire that is on the verge of being put out. Having this conversation comes as a great relief to me. That relief comes accompanied with a sense of my own guilt, however, for not instigating this sooner.

“I do respect you. I did it because I thought you could handle it,” Louise says, making a slightly pained expression.

“Like I said, maybe I could, if I knew it was on the table.”

“Then we need to set out what’s on the table. If you still want to do this, that is…” Louise’s uncertainty is understandable, given my handling of this situation before today, but I still almost laugh at the implication.

“Of course, I still want to do this. I just want to know that I can trust you,” I say.

“Okay, from now on, I won’t do that to you again. Or anything else that we decide is off the table. But…I need something from you as well,” says Louise assertively. It’s a tone that I know well. “If you ever have a problem with me, you can’t just storm off and ignore me. It’s fine to need time and space, but within reason. Next time I won’t be so patient,” she says. I can tell that she means it, and the type of guilt that rises inside you, and lodges itself in your throat, emerges within me.

“It’s a deal. I’m sorry, we should have talked this out sooner.” Louise seems to accept my apology and hugs me affectionately. While I can lament the wasted time, at least things feel right again. And what does it really matter anyway? I know that I’m in this for the long haul. Once she pulls away, I ask her the final question that has been bothering me. “I have to ask though – you said you thought that I could handle it. But what was in it for you?”

“Don’t be mad, but…I almost wanted to you to not enjoy it, yet still want to come back for more. I wanted to be sure that it’s me that you want, not just what I do.”

I raise an eyebrow in surprise, but it sort of makes sense. Though I suppose it’s taken two months longer than she expected, Louise has got her answer.

--

September 2019

Lowering my back onto the bench beneath me, I simultaneously tuck my feet underneath the support bar at the far end. Slipping a pair of earphones into my ears, I take a breath and allow some music to play into my ears as motivation. Visiting the gym in the morning is my way of relaxing in times of stress, and right now definitely falls into that category. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve navigated the start of a new job, passing my driving test – which I almost failed, courtesy of a fox running in front of the car – and moving in to my new flat with Miles.

I’m not sure if doing all of these things at once makes me organised, or not.

Regardless, I push those thoughts to one side for now and proceed with my workout, quickly switching off from the outside world as I start to perform a few sit-ups. About a dozen or so reps into the exercise, I’m half-interrupted by the arrival of a young woman stood by my feet, who comes into my view as I raise my upper body to an upright posture.

During the brief amount of time in which she appears in my eyeline, I notice her attire, typical of someone in these surroundings. Dark grey leggings that come down to midcalf meet a loosely fitted sleeveless top at her waist, the colour of which matches her jet-black hair that is tied back in a messy bun. After completing the next sit-up, I notice that she’s still stood there. Staring at me.

Weird. Trying to ignore her, I continue with my routine, lowering myself back down until I’m facing the ceiling once again. I pause, then rise again, once again finding myself face to face with this girl. Her bright green eyes are locked onto mine. This time, I wait at the top of my rep to see if she reacts, and I get a good look at her for the first time. She’s slim, probably mid-twenties, and reasonably attractive, at least as far as I can tell; I’ve always thought that a smile is a person’s most attractive feature, but this girl looks bored, frankly. Her cheekbones are sharp and angular, but probably not enough to cut glass with. There’s something vaguely familiar about her, but I’m not sure what.

After momentarily engaging in a staring contest with her, she gestures for me to take out my earphones, her placid expression finally betraying some emotion in the form of irritation. “Are you waiting to use this? I only just started,” I explain, after complying with the request.

“Carry on.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I said carry on. I’m just here to watch.” Well, this is weird, I decide. For the most part, the woman’s face is expressionless, but the corner of her mouth raises ever so slightly, as though she’s suppressing a smirk. It’s at this point that I finally recognise her; in all the pictures that I’ve seen of her, her hair is let down in a wavy cascade, throwing me off until now.

“Vicky, I presume?”

“Took you long enough.”

“Well, I wasn’t expecting company. Nice to meet you though. So, is Louise with you? I’m guessing you’re staying with her.”

“Hm, not exactly.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, she’s in the boot of her car right now,” Vicky says casually, jerking a thumb over her shoulder. “Probably getting restless by now, we should get out of here.” She makes no attempt to lower her voice, and I look around the gym nervously. Her face is impassive, as it has been almost the
entire time since she accosted me.

“You’re not serious…” I reply, lowering my voice. It’s a solid two-hour drive from Louise’s flat to mine, and presumably a slightly longer one to my nearest gym. Surely Louise wouldn’t have green-lit something like that voluntarily. And yet, Vicky appears to be deadly serious.

I frown, watching her as she nods innocently. “Mhm. Why do you think I’ve got no socks on?” I glance down, and sure enough, her ankles are completely bare above the red and black Adidas trainers on her feet. Trying not to picture the image that Vicky is clearly attempting to install in my head – unsuccessfully, I might add – I consider whether she is serious or not. Given what Louise has told me about her, it’s not completely out of the question, but even so…

“And she just told you I’d be here, did she?” I ask, raising an eyebrow sceptically.

“Yep. She really didn’t want to, but I got it out of her in the end,” Vicky says, folding her arms. Her peridot green eyes remain fixed on me, unblinking. She can’t be serious, can- “You should have seen your face! Holy shit, that was good.” Vicky drops her guard all of a sudden, cackling to herself. A few other gymgoers glance in our direction, probably just as confused as I am.

“Very funny. So, where is Lou, really?” I ask, rising to my feet. Vicky remains unmoved, standing uncomfortably close to me.

“She’s at home, practically begged me to come and get you.” She drawls in a more relaxed tone now; I expected her Scottish accent to either be stronger than it is, or to have morphed into some awful amalgamation of her Edinburgh brogue and whatever American accent she might have picked up. In fact, her accent seems to have mellowed, if it was ever strong at all, so that her roots are almost disguised.

“I doubt that I’m already seeing her next weekend,” I reply, taking a slight step back. Vicky spares a glance down at my feet, either disappointed or pleased; it’s difficult to tell.

“You got me there. I just wanted to introduce myself, so I came here to find you.” She shrugs, looking me up and down. “And relax, I don’t bite. Unless you want me to. I charge extra for that though.” Confusingly, I watch as Vicky turns around and begins to walk away, apparently done with this conversation.

“Um, bye?” I say after her, making her pause. She turns back, though not fully.

“You’re supposed to follow?”

“I just got here?”

“So? I came all this way to see you,” Vicky says, making no effort to hide her irritation. “I’ll take you out to lunch...” Notwithstanding the fact that she has shown up completely unannounced like this, I can rarely turn down an offer of lunch, especially given that I have no further plans today beyond my workout. That said, she’s definitely up to something.

“Give me half an hour and I’ll meet you outside,” I say finally. Vicky pulls a face, as though she is contemplating something.

“Hmm…sure, I’ll see you there. I’ll remember that though.”

As she turns tail for the second time and heads out of the gym, I reflect on this unexpected turn of events. I’m not quite sure what to make of Vicky yet. So far, her behaviour has been confusing, unpredictable, and borderline rude. I think I like her.

[Fandango]

Really great stuff. I like how these three pieces flow together, the necessary portions of each forming building blocks for what comes as they go along.

"There, much better. I would have just done a few strips, but that's what you get for all your backchat. Hope it's not too tight," she says, smirking.

“Mmhhmss hmmppphh yhhmm whmmmdmpffh!” I protest, knowing that she probably would have done this anyway, but it’s extra frustrating to know that this has been specifically as a result of my actions.

I realize that this is still marginally earlier in their arrangement, but I'm a little surprised that the narrator isn't sure by now whether his actions caused the increased level of gag or not. I'm wondering if it's because he has lacked the intellectual curiosity to really test it and find out or whether Louise just lacks a process. It's always fun for captor to keep their bottom on tilt... but logical consistency has its benefits over a longer period of time. And if I'm a captive of somebody and see myself being their captive on the regular... I'm going to be kicking the tires on this from the jump. Having fun and doing what you want is all swell in the short term, but if you're looking to provoke desires behaviors you need to show that actions have causality.

It’s becoming clear that we weren’t communicating properly with one another, and that this could have been resolved much sooner, if I hadn’t been so stubborn.

I think in my mind I assumed that the issues facing them were bigger than they were. Louise's actions were irresponsible, but I thought that the rift was going to be caused more by the actual consequences of her decisions and not just the narrator's frustration with her duplicity. My guess is that he'd gotten injured in his struggles when she'd last left him alone and that concerns over his safety had led to him breaking things off. Barring that, I assumed that he might just be willfully cutting the lines of communication to punish her. He might be the submissive, but punishment has to be a two way street. But that only works if the other party enjoys the arrangement more than you do, or else you're just hurting yourself.

“Of course not. You can always say no to me,” Louise says, looking genuinely apologetic. I raise an eyebrow. “Or click your fingers, you know what I mean!

This strikes me as a little disingenuous. I know that she means it. But the problem here was that she was leaving him alone or with a third party. They might have signals worked out that tell her when to back down. But unless Rachel knows those signals or she has a way of receiving them when she's not in the room with him (and potentially miles away) then they're not particularly useful within the current context.

“When you go back on your word, it makes me feel like you don’t respect me,” I say after thinking things over. I choose my words carefully because I don’t want to be too accusatory here. After all, Louise seems to accept her share of the blame for our miscommunication, and I’m in no mood to reignite a fire that is on the verge of being put out.

This would have been my main concern. I really liked the delivery here. This is the thesis statement of his grievance and I like the way that he pushes it forcefully enough and without diluting it while still displaying tact and not trying to weaponize it.

“I have to ask though – you said you thought that I could handle it. But what was in it for you?”

“Don’t be mad, but…I almost wanted to you to not enjoy it, yet still want to come back for more. I wanted to be sure that it’s me that you want, not just what I do.”

I enjoyed this answer and worried about this answer. It makes total sense to me. It strikes me as entirely honest. I don't think Louise handled the means of getting her answer in a mature way, but I respect that she had something earnest that she needed to know and took steps to find out. That being said... this would give me the implication that "what she does" is done for the narrator's sake and not with her own pleasure in mind. I've tied up women who I knew enjoyed it and I've tied up women who I knew were consenting to it because they knew that I enjoyed it. The former is always preferable me. This answer strikes me as having a tinge of the latter. This seems like an honest answer to "what was in it for you?" but it wouldn't be the one that I'd want to hear. I constantly alternate between identifying with the narrator because I relate to him and being perplexed by him because in other ways I find his thoughts and actions quite foreign. But the way in which I do relate to him the most is that he seems to be constantly in his head and unsure of himself. And if this was me... this answer would mess with me.

“Vicky, I presume?”

“Took you long enough.”

The presumptiveness here is something else. Even if I've seen pictures of this women... there is no part of Occam's Razor that tells me that my domme's old roommate who now lives in America is back in town and has driven two hours to go stalk me at a gym. For her to expect things to click seems like an unreasonable expectation (something I think I'll see a lot of from Vicky). The fact that he got it without her wearing a sandwich board that reads "Hi, [Narrator]... I'm Vicky." is impressive.

“Um, bye?” I say after her, making her pause. She turns back, though not fully.

“You’re supposed to follow?”

“I just got here?”

“So? I came all this way to see you,” Vicky says, making no effort to hide her irritation. “I’ll take you out to lunch...” Notwithstanding the fact that she has shown up completely unannounced like this, I can rarely turn down an offer of lunch, especially given that I have no further plans today beyond my workout. That said, she’s definitely up to something.

“Give me half an hour and I’ll meet you outside,” I say finally. Vicky pulls a face, as though she is contemplating something.

I'm really proud of Narrator here. I think he has learned some lessons from his dealing with Louise. Vicky has driven two hours to see him. There is no reason for him to be thirsty or think that he needs to win her approval. She's already on the hook, and playing with advantage and asserting yourself and your expectations is absolutely the right play here. It sounds from Louise's recantations like Vicky was always entitled, but time in America wasn't going to help that. You have to be firm with us Americans (or Scots who have lived amongst us too long). Make her wait or she'll take a mile for every inch that you give.

“Hmm…sure, I’ll see you there. I’ll remember that though.”

As she turns tail for the second time and heads out of the gym, I reflect on this unexpected turn of events. I’m not quite sure what to make of Vicky yet. So far, her behaviour has been confusing, unpredictable, and borderline rude. I think I like her.

This is an interesting look into the narrator's psyche. I enjoyed it. I'll also be quite fascinated to see what the perceived relationship dynamic between Vicky and Narrator will be not just from each of their perspectives but also from Louise's. I tend to right about switches because I find them the most interesting. But you're exploring a dynamic that I've always wanted to take a stab at. You've got a (alleged) domme who dominates a (alleged) switch who dominates a (alleged) sub... what does that mean for the relationship between Party 1 and Party 3. I know what I think it means but I have no doubt that there are many schools of thought and I'm rivetted to see which school of thought each of these three characters had. I recently bought a book from a DA artist that addressed this same triangular dynamic and found the opinions and implications of it engrossing.

[Rtj65]

@Fandango Thanks, as always, for your detailed insight into this latest part, it's fascinating to see your takes on the characters and events. It does help me see things in a different light sometimes and look at my writing from a different perspective, which is always helpful.

I realize that this is still marginally earlier in their arrangement, but I'm a little surprised that the narrator isn't sure by now whether his actions caused the increased level of gag or not. I'm wondering if it's because he has lacked the intellectual curiosity to really test it and find out or whether Louise just lacks a process. It's always fun for captor to keep their bottom on tilt... but logical consistency has its benefits over a longer period of time. And if I'm a captive of somebody and see myself being their captive on the regular... I'm going to be kicking the tires on this from the jump. Having fun and doing what you want is all swell in the short term, but if you're looking to provoke desires behaviors you need to show that actions have causality.

At this stage, it's more a product of the narrator having not tested Louise very much, as he's been happy to go along with things. Understanding the full range of a captor's behaviour is important to determine, though he's learning this at quite a slow place - as is Louise. This kind of relates to some of your later points, but some of Louise's decision making is related to her own inexperience. She might know what she's doing, but she hasn't been in this kind of relationship before.

This strikes me as a little disingenuous. I know that she means it. But the problem here was that she was leaving him alone or with a third party. They might have signals worked out that tell her when to back down. But unless Rachel knows those signals or she has a way of receiving them when she's not in the room with him (and potentially miles away) then they're not particularly useful within the current context.

You're spot on - it was definitely irresponsible of Louise, and she's still got a few things to learn on that front. As for whether the issues were wider than the lack of communication (i.e. safety and being left with Rachel), all I'll say is that I've yet to conclude the May 2019 scene, which should go some way towards addressing that.

This would have been my main concern. I really liked the delivery here. This is the thesis statement of his grievance and I like the way that he pushes it forcefully enough and without diluting it while still displaying tact and not trying to weaponize it.

Thanks, I want the narrator to be able to stand up for himself and be strong in his own right. Given that communication has been at the heart of his issues, being more direct here and questioning Louise's respect for him was a big step forwards.

I enjoyed this answer and worried about this answer. It makes total sense to me. It strikes me as entirely honest. I don't think Louise handled the means of getting her answer in a mature way, but I respect that she had something earnest that she needed to know and took steps to find out. That being said... this would give me the implication that "what she does" is done for the narrator's sake and not with her own pleasure in mind. I've tied up women who I knew enjoyed it and I've tied up women who I knew were consenting to it because they knew that I enjoyed it. The former is always preferable me. This answer strikes me as having a tinge of the latter. This seems like an honest answer to "what was in it for you?" but it wouldn't be the one that I'd want to hear. I constantly alternate between identifying with the narrator because I relate to him and being perplexed by him because in other ways I find his thoughts and actions quite foreign. But the way in which I do relate to him the most is that he seems to be constantly in his head and unsure of himself. And if this was me... this answer would mess with me.

This insight is really interesting to me, because I hadn't looked at it that way until now. In this exchange, both the narrator and Louise are displaying some of their insecurities, and want to know that they are wanted by each other. Louise instigated this relationship, and also recognises that she's providing the narrator something that he wouldn't necessarily get from many other women. She might be the one in control but she doesn't want to be used, though I get that this doesn't exactly line up with her decision to introduce Rachel into things. Both of these people still have some maturing to do in terms of how they express their feelings for each other.

The presumptiveness here is something else. Even if I've seen pictures of this women... there is no part of Occam's Razor that tells me that my domme's old roommate who now lives in America is back in town and has driven two hours to go stalk me at a gym. For her to expect things to click seems like an unreasonable expectation (something I think I'll see a lot of from Vicky). The fact that he got it without her wearing a sandwich board that reads "Hi, [Narrator]... I'm Vicky." is impressive.

I was wondering how this introduction would go down, and you're certainly not wrong with this assessment. When writing Vicky, I wanted to create somebody with a different sort of personality to what we've seen so far. It's quite typical to make confident, extroverted characters with a high degree of competence in social situations, and vice versa, so I was interested in exploring the consequences of someone who is both confident and a bit awkward.

I'm really proud of Narrator here. I think he has learned some lessons from his dealing with Louise. Vicky has driven two hours to see him. There is no reason for him to be thirsty or think that he needs to win her approval. She's already on the hook, and playing with advantage and asserting yourself and your expectations is absolutely the right play here. It sounds from Louise's recantations like Vicky was always entitled, but time in America wasn't going to help that. You have to be firm with us Americans (or Scots who have lived amongst us too long). Make her wait or she'll take a mile for every inch that you give.

It helps that he's had some degree of warning about Vicky, but you're right, he manages this situation well. Thankfully for Vicky, she hasn't been fully yankified (yet), so it's safe to say that her level of entitlement is mostly her own at this stage.

This is an interesting look into the narrator's psyche. I enjoyed it. I'll also be quite fascinated to see what the perceived relationship dynamic between Vicky and Narrator will be not just from each of their perspectives but also from Louise's. I tend to right about switches because I find them the most interesting. But you're exploring a dynamic that I've always wanted to take a stab at. You've got a (alleged) domme who dominates a (alleged) switch who dominates a (alleged) sub... what does that mean for the relationship between Party 1 and Party 3. I know what I think it means but I have no doubt that there are many schools of thought and I'm rivetted to see which school of thought each of these three characters had. I recently bought a book from a DA artist that addressed this same triangular dynamic and found the opinions and implications of it engrossing.

I'm actually with you in that switches are the most interesting from a psychological perspective (even though I have yet to explore that properly in this story). The dynamic you describe is definitely going to become more of a focus for the story going forward, and will overlap with some of the other storylines I've been developing. With that in mind, there will be some F/F and M/F scenes ahead, they just aren't in the title because I don't want to mislead any readers about what this story is primarily about.

I'm interested to know what you think it means for the relationships between Party 1 and 3, as you describe it, because I think it depends on the personalities involved. It's something that I'll continue to explore, as I do find it very interesting myself.

[Roboticrobin20]

I finally remembered that this site wants me to constantly refresh the page before the new chapter loads in.
And boy am I glad I did it. Loved the new chapter, Louise can be really devious and I love it. If I wouldn't have work in five minutes I would restart this story from the beginning just to meet her all over again. Thank you so much for continuing this story

[Rtj65]

I finally remembered that this site wants me to constantly refresh the page before the new chapter loads in.
And boy am I glad I did it. Loved the new chapter, Louise can be really devious and I love it. If I wouldn't have work in five minutes I would restart this story from the beginning just to meet her all over again. Thank you so much for continuing this story

Thank you, I'm really pleased that you enjoyed the latest part! It's great to hear that Louise is such a memorable character, and there will be plenty more to come from her.