"Look at me, Patrick," Andy demands from where he sits across from him, Andy in Joe's bunk and Patrick in Pete's. Pete was gone when they arrived.

Patrick squeezes his eyes shut, head still lowered and guilt tugging at every little bit of matter in him. He shouldn't have done it and while Andy isn't even his dominant, he still feels submissive, still feels guilty for breaking the rules. He should have thought about it. Shouldn't have just done it without permission.

"Patrick," Andy warns, "I know I'm just a temporary caregiver but I will bend you over my lap if I have to."

Patrick takes a deep breath and finally, finally raises his head, still slumped and submissive but his eyes meet Andy's and that's all the dom wants.

"I'm not mad at you, Patrick," he starts, "But you did break one of the rules we had set up. And I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to do about it. I don't know if..." he trails off, then continues after a moment of hesitation, "I know there should be a punishment of some sort. But I don't know what you'd be comfortable with."

Patrick takes a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut again. He hates being the one who has to make decisions for punishments and such. But he does know he needs to learn. If he doesn't, he'll do it all over again and he doesn't want to disappoint Andy.

"Belt me, and make it hurt," He replies, avoiding Andy's eyes again, "But it really has to hurt. No pleasure."

"I..." Andy bites his lip, "I don't want to hurt you bad, Trick. I don't..."

"It'll be fine," Patrick replies sincerely.

"I'm not doing it," Andy argues.

"Andy, seriously just—"

Patrick gasps when the man darts forward and grabs his hair, moaning slightly at the dominance.

"I'm not going to fucking beat you, Jesus fucking Christ, Patrick. Just... give me a bit, okay?" Andy snaps.

Patrick nods, slumping to his knees in front of Andy and lowering his head, pressing his hands behind his back, "Yes, Sir. I'm sorry, Sir."

"Don't call me 'Sir,'" Andy sighs, "I'm not above you. We're friends and you know damn well I'm just your caregiver. Just... kneel the in the corner for an hour. I don't want a word from you. Afterwards, we can talk about how the week went so far and then... and then subspace? Would that be okay?"

"Yeah," Patrick nods, "That's okay. Thank you."

Andy sighs, dropping to his knees in front of Patrick and pressing his lips to the sub's forehead, "Okay, go kneel. I'll talk to you in an hour."

Patrick nods, rising to his feet and heading to the side of the bunk between the bed and the kitchen. He sinks back down to his knees and pushes his forehead into Pete's unmade bed while Andy works behind him to make some more tea.

God, it seems like there's never enough tea.

***

"Patrick, Bud, your time's up."

He blinks away the darkness of Pete's comforter, wincing against the bright lights of their bus. Andy has his hand on Patrick's back, stroking the space between his shoulders and feeling the tense muscles slowly relax again. It doesn't take Andy long to find a few knots in that area alone.

"Hey, And," he croaks, slowly making his way up and off of sore knees. Andy gives him a soft smile, leading him to Joe's bunk and handing over a cup of green tea (Patrick tastes honey for what seems to be the hundredth time this week.)

Andy turns Patrick so he's facing away toward the door and begins pressing his fingers into Patrick's back, working through the tension and the knots and feeling Patrick slowly unclench and loosen in front of him.

"So, how did the week go?" Andy asks, "Was everything okay?"

Patrick nods, "Yeah. Brendon was good, Jon was good, Travie was fucking amazing. I think Ray and I are gonna go a few more times in the future if that's okay..."

Andy nods, "Of course. What about Travie? Has he talked about doing it again?"

"Yeah, with Will and Gabe," Patrick nods.

"Did you have to use your safeword at all?"

"No."

"What about Pete?"

Patrick swallows, wincing as Andy reaches his lower back and hips, "I... I mean it's Pete? I don't know. I suggested he talk to you, he said he might. He was kinda weirded out about the whole thing but he said he wouldn't judge."

Andy nods, "I last told you that Frank, Mikey, and Dallon talked to me, right?"

"Yeah, 'cause I asked."

"Right, so Gerard came up to me today, too. Said he's never really dommed with a guy before and Lindsey said it was fine," Andy says, "And I've also been meaning to ask you about Frank."

"What about him?"

"He said he's into bloodplay, and needleplay, and edging? You know just blood in general and he wanted to make sure that wasn't a hard limit for you or anything. He said he is pretty hardcore and strict and stuff. Worse than shit you'll find in porn, y'know? Even Gerard came up to me to make sure I talked to you about it. And I checked, buys new needles after every scene and cleanses and sterilizes his knives."

"That's fine," Patrick nods, "I've got my safeword if I need."

Andy finishes up, digging his fingers into Patrick's lower back, "Awesome. I'll tell Frank."

Patrick smiles, turning to look back at Andy who's leaning back on his hands, "Subspace?"

"Yeah," Patrick replies, turning and bending over Andy's lap.

"Safeword if you need and I'll stop. Count them, too, so I know how far you are."

Patrick begins sliding down his jeans, and Andy immediately makes a noise of disgust, "Can't we do it through your jeans?"

"Nope."

"Your boxers at least?" Andy whines.

"Oh my god, Hurley, don't act like you've never seen my bare ass before. Much less like you don't check it out," Patrick laughs.

Andy rolls his eyes, chuckling, "Whatever. Just count them out."

"Yes, Daddy."

"Stop."