Page 44 of Fibre and Ink

Aster was the spark I needed to step outside of the farm, to try new things and to reconnect with my community. Not just at Christmas when I went into town to sell Christmas trees.

I finished eating and set the tray aside, reaching for Aster’s hand.

He curled up against my side, riveted to the movie. “This is really good,” he whispered, as if worried he’d disturb someone else in the ‘cinema’.

“I’m glad you like it.” I slipped my arm around him and we relaxed, enjoying the movie, laughing and I maybe even shed a tear.

When the credits rolled over a happy dance hall of couples waltzing, Aster turned his face up to kiss me.

“I loved it.”

I pulled him closer and kissed him again. “Good.”

“How about I get the alpaca settled for the night while you pack this up?” Aster’s offer surprised me. He’d seen me do it enough times that I was confident he’d know what to do.

“Sounds great.” I let go of him reluctantly, contented, but a little nervous about what would come next. We’d had one celebration, but in the bedroom, things had the potential to get complicated.

I focused on packing down the electronics into my father’s box, and tried my best not to worry.

Aster

I was horny, of course I was, but I had no expectations at all. We switched the lights off together, and I followed Mickey upstairs, hoping he wasn’t too worried.

This was uncharted territory, even if we had played around together the other night.

My heart was full. Mickey’s surprise had been mind-blowingly lovely. The fact that he’d put that all together for me, just because he remembered a throwaway statement I’d made days ago was everything. He’d remembered because he cared, because he listened to what I had to say.

I was determined to listen to him as well. We would talk about everything before we did anything. Full communication, full consent.

Hell, I wasn’t even going to assume he wanted me to follow him to bed. I’d let him make that invitation.

Mickey paused at the top of the stairs and turned back to me.

“You coming to bed with me, or what?”

I grinned. “I’d love to. Just let me... grab a couple things from my room?”

“Thank you for not saying ‘slip into something more comfortable’.” Mickey kissed my cheek. “I’m gonna brush my teeth.”

I went to my room and grabbed the bag of my sexy time items, just in case.

I brushed my teeth as well. Instead of ignoring the butterflies in my stomach, I leaned into the feeling. It was okay to be excited, it was okay to be a bit nervous too. I loved Mickey, I wanted him, he wanted me, and he loved me.

I was nervous. He’d confessed that being demisexual had gone badly for him in the past, and I didn’t want to pressure him in anyway.

What I wanted was to make him feel good, and attractive and sexy, because he was.

I rinsed my mouth and headed to his room, wearing the same clothes I’d worn all day and carrying my little bag.

Mickey hadn’t changed clothes either, he was just coming back into the bedroom when I entered.

We stared at each other for a moment, the awkwardness suddenly ratcheted up to a thousand.

I cleared my throat. “I’m um, I want you to feel comfortable, so I won’t like, instigate sex or anything unless you ask me to.”

Mickey bit his lip. “Okay well, I’m asking. But as you know, I’ve never had a trans partner before you so, I don’t want to accidentally be offensive or take anything for granted about what you like.”

“Let’s talk it through then.” I sat on the bed, setting the bag down beside me and patting my other side. “C’mere.”