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rsadelleSummary: Claude doesn't treat Danny like a sub.
Warning/Enticement: D/s AU.
Story on AO3
Danny's always had to prove himself, both because he's small and because he's a sub. It was a little easier for him than for some of the other subs in the league because he was already collared when he was drafted. But now he has to learn to prove himself in a whole new way because he isn't collared anymore, not since the day he came home from a road trip to find the boys staying over at a friend's and Sylvie sitting him down to say she thought it was time she took her collar off of him.
It makes things different, now, less so on the ice, but more in the locker room. Not that anyone is doing anything overtly not okay, but he knows they're all looking at him and seeing not just their teammate, but an uncollared sub. It's a little easier with the rookies, kids who have only known him as an uncollared sub who doesn't take any shit from doms on or off the ice. It's easiest with Claude, who still looks up to him for his hockey and never looks at him like he's a sub.
Carts invites him to come hang out at the shore in the summer, after they don't win the Cup and while Danny's trying to figure out what to do with himself for the summer without a dom and with only partial custody of his kids.
Carts gets him a beer and asks how things are going. He doesn't accept Danny's assurances that things are fine and keeps asking; it's more prying than Danny expects from him.
"Would it be easier if you were on your knees?" Carts asks.
"What? No."
Carts shrugs. "If you don't talk to me, you're going to have to talk to Richie, and he will put you on your knees."
Danny glares at him.
"He won't make you," Carts says, "but it's Richie. I'd get on my knees for him if he wanted."
Danny doesn't quite share Carts' level of belief in Richie's abilities, but he does have a point about how Danny's going to have to talk to one of them. He figures Carts is the better option, so he tells him some of it, that he doesn't even know how to meet doms anymore, and he's not sure he'd be good at playing anyway since he hasn't ever with anyone but Sylvie.
Carts offers again to let Danny get on his knees, but Danny turns him down so instead Carts introduces him to a bunch of hot doms, and he spends part of his summer reacquainting himself with what it feels like to be on his knees, have someone tie him up, get told what to do (in a non-hockey context).
He feels like he's on a more even keel by the time Claude moves in in the fall. His hockey is good, he knows he can sub for people who aren't Sylvie, he knows he has the support of his captain and at least one of the As. And he sets down some ground rules for Claude.
"I'm a sub," Danny says, "but I am not your sub. In this house, I am the one who makes the rules. If there are things that don't work for you, we can talk about them, but you do not get to overrule me, and I get final say when it comes to my kids."
"Uh, yeah," Claude says. "I didn't think it was going to be anything other than that."
The way Danny relates to Claude is not how he's ever related to any other dom. Claude respects Danny's authority over himself and his family. He doesn't ever try to dom Danny, and he's very respectful about it whenever he brings anyone home. They were friends even before Claude moved in, but living together makes them closer, until Danny can't figure out what he did before. The team teases them about it, but it's all good-natured.
There are still doms out there who are interested in Danny, and he dates some of them, lets a couple of them tie him up or tell him what to do. It's not bad, and he appreciates the sex, but the dates don't work out well. Even the best of the doms never stop looking at him like he's a sub. It's not anything he doesn't get from doms all the time, but living with Claude means he's gotten used to being treated like an equal in his daily life.
Danny stays in on a rare night when they're home without the kids. He's just settling in to watch some TV with a beer when Claude joins him.
"Not going out?" Claude asks.
"No." Danny holds out his beer and clinks it against Claude's. "You?"
"Nope." Claude tips his head against the back of the couch. "Taking it easy tonight. Is it cool if I hang out with you?"
"Sure," Danny says. He flips channels aimlessly, and they end up watching half an episode of some reality show about a dom choosing from a bunch of subs.
Claude nudges Danny's ankle. "Why aren't you out there choosing from a bunch of doms?"
Danny makes a face. "I don't know. It's not working out for me right now." He laughs at the look on Claude's face. "The sex is good, but the rest of it isn't really."
"What's wrong with it?" Claude asks. It's not the kind of thing doms usually ask subs.
Danny considers not telling him, but in the end he says, "They always treat me like I'm a sub."
"Uh," Claude says.
Danny rolls his eyes. "I'm not interested in domming or non-dynamic sex. I just don't want that to be all that people see."
They're a couple of beers and an extra-long episode of some singing competition show deeper when Danny comes back to it. "You never treat me like a sub."
"Uh, I guess not," Claude says. "I mean, you're my friend and teammate."
They're enough beers deeper that Danny asks, "Do you ever think of me like a sub?"
"Um," Claude says.
Danny flashes him a grin. "It's okay. You can tell me."
Claude rubs the back of his head. "Sometimes, I guess. But, like, I know you're not my sub and this is your house and your family, and I respect that you're letting me live here."
Danny flushes and bites his lip, because, fuck, it's kinky of him, but he finds that really hot. "You could put me on my knees," he blurts out before he can think better of it.
Claude stares at him. "Uh."
"You could," Danny says, "if you want."
Claude stares at him for the length of a commercial. Then he says, "Get on your knees," and, oh, fuck, he does know what he's doing. It's nothing like he usually talks to Danny.
Danny's off the couch and on the floor almost before Claude stops speaking.
It turns out to be one of the best nights of his life. Claude is really, really good once he starts taking charge - he's going to be an amazing captain when his time comes - and even while they're hooking up, he still doesn't look at Danny like he's just a sub and nothing more. There are a couple of awkward moments - they're drunk, and things are never exactly smooth with someone new - but they laugh through them, and by the time they fall asleep in Claude's bed, Danny's mind is empty and his body feels stretched and used in all the best ways.
Danny wakes up first in the morning, used to a schedule that includes getting kids to school on time. He's not sure last night was a good idea, and he really doesn't know what this morning is going to be like, so he goes to his own room for a shower and clothes, and then downstairs to make himself a bowl of cereal and some toast.
Claude comes in while he's eating, obviously just out of bed, hair standing up and eyes still sleepy.
Danny waits to see what Claude's going to do.
Claude sighs and sits down across from him. "Is this going to make things weird?"
Danny shrugs. "I don't know."
Claude stands up again and comes around the table. He puts his hand on the back of Danny's neck to tip his head up, and leans down to kiss him. Then he lets go and gets eggs out of the fridge. "I hope it's not. I'm supposed to pick up the boys today, right?"
"Um, yes," Danny says after thinking about his schedule for a moment.
"Okay," Claude says. "Separate cars to practice then?"
"Yes."
"I think we're almost out of cheese," Claude says. "The boys and I can stop at the store on the way home."
"No," Danny says without thinking about it. He's never needed to think about that kind of thing before, but this time he stops and glances at Claude, who's paying more attention to his eggs than anything else. "You let them talk you into too much junk food. I'll go." He considers. "And pick up dinner. I won't be home until later anyway."
"Okay." Claude finishes making his eggs, and brings them over to the table. They eat in comfortable silence like any other morning.
Things keep on being just like normal. It's good, because Danny doesn't want Claude thinking he can be Danny's dom all the time, but he also keeps waiting for something else. For Claude to put him on his knees again, for Claude to mention it, for anything.
It gets frustrating enough that Danny heads over to Carts' one afternoon because he needs someone to talk to. Richie is also there, hanging out on Carts' couch.
"What's up, Danny B?" Richie asks.
Whatever he tells Carts is likely to get back to Richie anyway, but he doesn't really want to have this conversation with Richie directly. There's a good chance Carts is right and he'll end up on his knees if he does.
"I was hoping to talk to Carts," he says.
Richie and Carts have a silent conversation, and then Richie goes across the hall to his own apartment.
Carts offers Danny a bottle of water, and they sit down.
"I slept with Claude," Danny says.
Carts chokes on his water. "Is that going to fuck things up?" he asks when he recovers.
"No," Danny says. "Everything's just the same."
Carts rubs a hand over his eyes. "Do you seriously need me to help you get laid?"
Danny leans back against the couch, tipping his head up to look at the ceiling. "I don't know how to do this," he says. "He doesn't treat me like a sub."
Carts chokes again.
Danny looks at him. "Not like that. We didn't have non-dynamic sex. But he doesn't treat me like a sub the rest of the time. If he did, I'd know what I was doing."
"What happened the first time?"
"We got drunk and I asked him to put me on my knees," Danny admits.
Carts groans. "You're supposed to be the mature one around here."
Danny shrugs. He knows that as well as Carts does.
"Just ask him to do it again," Carts says, like it's as easy as that. Maybe for him it is. Doms are the ones who get to ask.
It's not as helpful as it could be.
Things continue to be normal at home. Danny thinks about getting drunk again, but he decides to take at least the being mature part of what Carts said to heart. He waits until the kids are asleep one night before he talks to Claude. He doesn't really know how to start, so he just blurts it out.
"I want you to put me on my knees again."
A smile spreads over Claude's face, and he kisses Danny before he does exactly what Danny asked for.
Danny wakes up in Claude's bed again, and this time he stays for a couple of minutes until Claude wakes up.
Claude smiles at him, and kisses him, hand tight around the back of his neck.
"It's still my house," Danny says, "and I get final say about the kids, but we could do this again. Regularly."
Claude smiles even brighter and kisses Danny hard enough that he wishes they didn't have to get up and take the boys to school.
"I'm going to take such good care of you," Claude says. He lets go of Danny and sits up. "But not in front of the kids or the team."
Danny takes the initiative and kisses him. Maybe someday he'll want a more traditional relationship like that, but for now, he likes what they have.
Warning/Enticement: D/s AU.
Story on AO3
Danny's always had to prove himself, both because he's small and because he's a sub. It was a little easier for him than for some of the other subs in the league because he was already collared when he was drafted. But now he has to learn to prove himself in a whole new way because he isn't collared anymore, not since the day he came home from a road trip to find the boys staying over at a friend's and Sylvie sitting him down to say she thought it was time she took her collar off of him.
It makes things different, now, less so on the ice, but more in the locker room. Not that anyone is doing anything overtly not okay, but he knows they're all looking at him and seeing not just their teammate, but an uncollared sub. It's a little easier with the rookies, kids who have only known him as an uncollared sub who doesn't take any shit from doms on or off the ice. It's easiest with Claude, who still looks up to him for his hockey and never looks at him like he's a sub.
Carts invites him to come hang out at the shore in the summer, after they don't win the Cup and while Danny's trying to figure out what to do with himself for the summer without a dom and with only partial custody of his kids.
Carts gets him a beer and asks how things are going. He doesn't accept Danny's assurances that things are fine and keeps asking; it's more prying than Danny expects from him.
"Would it be easier if you were on your knees?" Carts asks.
"What? No."
Carts shrugs. "If you don't talk to me, you're going to have to talk to Richie, and he will put you on your knees."
Danny glares at him.
"He won't make you," Carts says, "but it's Richie. I'd get on my knees for him if he wanted."
Danny doesn't quite share Carts' level of belief in Richie's abilities, but he does have a point about how Danny's going to have to talk to one of them. He figures Carts is the better option, so he tells him some of it, that he doesn't even know how to meet doms anymore, and he's not sure he'd be good at playing anyway since he hasn't ever with anyone but Sylvie.
Carts offers again to let Danny get on his knees, but Danny turns him down so instead Carts introduces him to a bunch of hot doms, and he spends part of his summer reacquainting himself with what it feels like to be on his knees, have someone tie him up, get told what to do (in a non-hockey context).
He feels like he's on a more even keel by the time Claude moves in in the fall. His hockey is good, he knows he can sub for people who aren't Sylvie, he knows he has the support of his captain and at least one of the As. And he sets down some ground rules for Claude.
"I'm a sub," Danny says, "but I am not your sub. In this house, I am the one who makes the rules. If there are things that don't work for you, we can talk about them, but you do not get to overrule me, and I get final say when it comes to my kids."
"Uh, yeah," Claude says. "I didn't think it was going to be anything other than that."
The way Danny relates to Claude is not how he's ever related to any other dom. Claude respects Danny's authority over himself and his family. He doesn't ever try to dom Danny, and he's very respectful about it whenever he brings anyone home. They were friends even before Claude moved in, but living together makes them closer, until Danny can't figure out what he did before. The team teases them about it, but it's all good-natured.
There are still doms out there who are interested in Danny, and he dates some of them, lets a couple of them tie him up or tell him what to do. It's not bad, and he appreciates the sex, but the dates don't work out well. Even the best of the doms never stop looking at him like he's a sub. It's not anything he doesn't get from doms all the time, but living with Claude means he's gotten used to being treated like an equal in his daily life.
Danny stays in on a rare night when they're home without the kids. He's just settling in to watch some TV with a beer when Claude joins him.
"Not going out?" Claude asks.
"No." Danny holds out his beer and clinks it against Claude's. "You?"
"Nope." Claude tips his head against the back of the couch. "Taking it easy tonight. Is it cool if I hang out with you?"
"Sure," Danny says. He flips channels aimlessly, and they end up watching half an episode of some reality show about a dom choosing from a bunch of subs.
Claude nudges Danny's ankle. "Why aren't you out there choosing from a bunch of doms?"
Danny makes a face. "I don't know. It's not working out for me right now." He laughs at the look on Claude's face. "The sex is good, but the rest of it isn't really."
"What's wrong with it?" Claude asks. It's not the kind of thing doms usually ask subs.
Danny considers not telling him, but in the end he says, "They always treat me like I'm a sub."
"Uh," Claude says.
Danny rolls his eyes. "I'm not interested in domming or non-dynamic sex. I just don't want that to be all that people see."
They're a couple of beers and an extra-long episode of some singing competition show deeper when Danny comes back to it. "You never treat me like a sub."
"Uh, I guess not," Claude says. "I mean, you're my friend and teammate."
They're enough beers deeper that Danny asks, "Do you ever think of me like a sub?"
"Um," Claude says.
Danny flashes him a grin. "It's okay. You can tell me."
Claude rubs the back of his head. "Sometimes, I guess. But, like, I know you're not my sub and this is your house and your family, and I respect that you're letting me live here."
Danny flushes and bites his lip, because, fuck, it's kinky of him, but he finds that really hot. "You could put me on my knees," he blurts out before he can think better of it.
Claude stares at him. "Uh."
"You could," Danny says, "if you want."
Claude stares at him for the length of a commercial. Then he says, "Get on your knees," and, oh, fuck, he does know what he's doing. It's nothing like he usually talks to Danny.
Danny's off the couch and on the floor almost before Claude stops speaking.
It turns out to be one of the best nights of his life. Claude is really, really good once he starts taking charge - he's going to be an amazing captain when his time comes - and even while they're hooking up, he still doesn't look at Danny like he's just a sub and nothing more. There are a couple of awkward moments - they're drunk, and things are never exactly smooth with someone new - but they laugh through them, and by the time they fall asleep in Claude's bed, Danny's mind is empty and his body feels stretched and used in all the best ways.
Danny wakes up first in the morning, used to a schedule that includes getting kids to school on time. He's not sure last night was a good idea, and he really doesn't know what this morning is going to be like, so he goes to his own room for a shower and clothes, and then downstairs to make himself a bowl of cereal and some toast.
Claude comes in while he's eating, obviously just out of bed, hair standing up and eyes still sleepy.
Danny waits to see what Claude's going to do.
Claude sighs and sits down across from him. "Is this going to make things weird?"
Danny shrugs. "I don't know."
Claude stands up again and comes around the table. He puts his hand on the back of Danny's neck to tip his head up, and leans down to kiss him. Then he lets go and gets eggs out of the fridge. "I hope it's not. I'm supposed to pick up the boys today, right?"
"Um, yes," Danny says after thinking about his schedule for a moment.
"Okay," Claude says. "Separate cars to practice then?"
"Yes."
"I think we're almost out of cheese," Claude says. "The boys and I can stop at the store on the way home."
"No," Danny says without thinking about it. He's never needed to think about that kind of thing before, but this time he stops and glances at Claude, who's paying more attention to his eggs than anything else. "You let them talk you into too much junk food. I'll go." He considers. "And pick up dinner. I won't be home until later anyway."
"Okay." Claude finishes making his eggs, and brings them over to the table. They eat in comfortable silence like any other morning.
Things keep on being just like normal. It's good, because Danny doesn't want Claude thinking he can be Danny's dom all the time, but he also keeps waiting for something else. For Claude to put him on his knees again, for Claude to mention it, for anything.
It gets frustrating enough that Danny heads over to Carts' one afternoon because he needs someone to talk to. Richie is also there, hanging out on Carts' couch.
"What's up, Danny B?" Richie asks.
Whatever he tells Carts is likely to get back to Richie anyway, but he doesn't really want to have this conversation with Richie directly. There's a good chance Carts is right and he'll end up on his knees if he does.
"I was hoping to talk to Carts," he says.
Richie and Carts have a silent conversation, and then Richie goes across the hall to his own apartment.
Carts offers Danny a bottle of water, and they sit down.
"I slept with Claude," Danny says.
Carts chokes on his water. "Is that going to fuck things up?" he asks when he recovers.
"No," Danny says. "Everything's just the same."
Carts rubs a hand over his eyes. "Do you seriously need me to help you get laid?"
Danny leans back against the couch, tipping his head up to look at the ceiling. "I don't know how to do this," he says. "He doesn't treat me like a sub."
Carts chokes again.
Danny looks at him. "Not like that. We didn't have non-dynamic sex. But he doesn't treat me like a sub the rest of the time. If he did, I'd know what I was doing."
"What happened the first time?"
"We got drunk and I asked him to put me on my knees," Danny admits.
Carts groans. "You're supposed to be the mature one around here."
Danny shrugs. He knows that as well as Carts does.
"Just ask him to do it again," Carts says, like it's as easy as that. Maybe for him it is. Doms are the ones who get to ask.
It's not as helpful as it could be.
Things continue to be normal at home. Danny thinks about getting drunk again, but he decides to take at least the being mature part of what Carts said to heart. He waits until the kids are asleep one night before he talks to Claude. He doesn't really know how to start, so he just blurts it out.
"I want you to put me on my knees again."
A smile spreads over Claude's face, and he kisses Danny before he does exactly what Danny asked for.
Danny wakes up in Claude's bed again, and this time he stays for a couple of minutes until Claude wakes up.
Claude smiles at him, and kisses him, hand tight around the back of his neck.
"It's still my house," Danny says, "and I get final say about the kids, but we could do this again. Regularly."
Claude smiles even brighter and kisses Danny hard enough that he wishes they didn't have to get up and take the boys to school.
"I'm going to take such good care of you," Claude says. He lets go of Danny and sits up. "But not in front of the kids or the team."
Danny takes the initiative and kisses him. Maybe someday he'll want a more traditional relationship like that, but for now, he likes what they have.