Made To Match
A Valentines Day story for those of us alone today, about two men accidentally matched together. No sex, just kissing and mind control. If that's not you thing, then back away now.
***
Leslie had been standing outside the restaurant for almost twenty minutes now. The rabbit nervously twitched his large ear again, and touched his hand to the spikes of his gelled hair before letting it drop away. He had arrived early, but his date should be here by now. 'Guaranteed to make you a match by Valentines', the agency's tag line went, but he'd been on two dates already that hadn't gone particularly well. Trying to make sure their clients didn't get disheartened and give up, breaking the promise they had made, the third set up was for free.
He sighed. Maybe his date had miraculously met someone in the taxi, and his chance of love had wandered off.
There was another man waiting by the doors as well. A big bear, his black shirt stretched over his large frame. He looked less nervous, more bored. Leslie cleared his throat, and said, "So, er, are you sent here by the agency, too? I mean the dating agency. Moreau's Matches, that one."
The bear sniffed. "Yeah. Did they set you up with two duds, too?"
Leslie grinned nervously. "I... suppose so. We just didn't hit it off. Still, I'm hoping that I get on better with this Ashley, when she turns up."
The bear froze. "...Ashley? Is your name... Leslie?"
A feeling of inevitability crept over him. Leslie looked up at the bear, whose face was locked into a frown. "Oh no," said the rabbit. "You're Ashley, aren't you?"
"Stupid bastards! Can't they check the fucking gender preference? No offence," the bear threw up his paws in mock defence, "but you're really not my type, I like pussy."
"I'm not - I'm straight!" Leslie protested.
"Yeah, well then, they screwed us both properly."
He hunched over, drawing a mobile phone out of his trouser pocket. "I'm gonna find out what the fuck they were thinking." He stabbed at the screen. "Fuck 'em and their find someone special bullshit."
He turned away. Leslie pulled out his own mobile and stared at it for a second, but since Ashley was already shouting into his, it seemed pointless. He shrugged, and turned away from the bear. What was the accepted protocol for dealing with being set up with a guy?
"Oh, you have to be fucking kidding." The bear stabbed the screen of his phone. "She said it was an error on their system, screwed up and ignored gender and matched us."
"Huh. I guess we must have the same interests, anyway."
Ashley laughed. "Ha! I just put in a load of bollocks I figured would get me more dates. Anyway, fuck'em. They said we still get a free meal. I'm gonna go and order two of everything, bankrupt the bastards."
Leslie paused. "You want to eat... with me?"
"No, I'm gonna eat. I don't want to eat with you, you can piss off for all I care. But if you want to eat for free..."
The bear waved his hand dismissively, and walked into the restaurant. Leslie glanced around him, considering just going home. The night was a bust already, and he didn't have much food at home... but a romantic meal with a guy? The wasn't sure he would stand the embarrassment
Nonetheless, he found himself pushing open the door. Inside, the restaurant was decorated with red and dark wood, flickering candles joining discrete lights to create a close, intimate atmosphere. The décor made each of the tables seem secluded, he was glad to see, and though he could see most tables were occupied, it was difficult to make out who by. Good, that way, no-one would see him there.
Ashley was standing by the maitre-d, and turned on hearing the door. He gestured irritably at Leslie, and then pointed at the fox, who was now talking quietly into the bears' mobile. On seeing Leslie, he hung up, and passed the phone back. "I am most sorry about the mix-up, sirs, but the Moreaus' Matches have promised to cover your meals, and any wines, in full, if you still wish to eat."
"Too bloody right I do," said Ashley, though he was much calmer now, and kept his voice quiet. He seemed slightly cowed by the opulence of the place. Leslie noticed the way his trousers were slightly faded and a little threadbare around the cuffs, and guessed this wasn't the place he'd normally take a date.
The maitre-d handed them off to a waiter, a big bull in a black shirt, who led them to the back of the room. He hastily removed the vase of red roses from the table, as well as the candles flickering in the centre of the cloth. "Your menus," he said, and handed the books to Leslie and Ashley.
The bear slumped into the closer chair. After a second, he angled it away from the table, looking further out into the room, so he didn't have to look directly at Leslie, who sat in the seat without shifting it. Without the candles, the corner they sat in was rather dark, and he squinted to look at the pages in the book.
He could tell that this was a classy place - he couldn't understand half of what the menu was. Flipping through the pages, he came to the wine menu, and boggled at some of the prices there. "Woah, there's bottle of wine here for five hundred pounds!"
"What?" The bear turned to the back of the menu. "Fucking hell! Right, well, I'm never gonna get another chance at that shit -OI!"
He gestured at one of the waiters, who hurried over. "Are you ready to order?"
"Yeah, I am. I want that one," said the bear, his finger by the wine. He grinned and leaned back in his chair as the waiter hurried off to talk to the maitre-d, muttering to each other. He turned to look at Leslie, and grunted a "Heh."
The rabbit felt a little uncomfortable at this. While giving them a free meal was fair, it seemed to be taking advantage to just order the most expensive things on the menu. But Ashley looked like the kind of person who didn't care much about that.
The bottle of wine arrived at the same time as their starters. The bull cradled it in the crook of his arm and showed it to both men, although Leslie had never understood this tradition. "Yes, it's definitely a bottle of wine," he said, making Ashley snigger.
The wine was deep red, and almost black in the shade of their corner. He swirled it in his glass, and twitched his nose at the scents. It was much richer than any wine he'd drunk before, with overtones and highlights that he had no way of identifying. On his tongue, it was thick and fruity, rich and tingled on the flesh of his mouth. When he swallowed, it rippled warmth down his throat, not as much as the burn of hard liquor, but smooth and gentle despite the heavy tastes.
When it reached his stomach, the heat lingered. A ball of warmth grew in him, chills rippling over his skin. For a second, a spike of fear over the feeling rose in his mind, but then the heat washed over him, his muscles tensing and then releasing. with it, then sudden anxiousness disappeared, along with the worries he'd had earlier, and he relaxed into his chair.
It was good wine.
Ashley was smiling into his glass, seemingly feeling the same effects. "Woah," he said. "Was that- what was that?"
"I think it was worth five hundred of someone else's money!"
Ashley laughed, and picked up some of his starter, a slice of salmon on some kind of bread. "So. How come you didn't get it on with the girls they matched you with?"
Leslie sighed, although he suddenly felt more comfortable taking about it. "I don't know. They did all those tests when I went to the centre, you know, the massive questionnaire, and then that electrodes on your head thing - they do that to you, too?"
Ashley nodded. "Yeah, they showed a bunch of random pictures - not anything to do with dating, and measured my brain waves."
"I thought it'd be some way of matching us perfectly, but turns out not. The girls... We just didn't match up. I mean, I tried to do the listening to them thing, and complementing them and not going on about myself but- I guess I'm just a bit boring. That's the feedback I got, anyway, that I just wasn't interesting. Or fun to be around."
He sighed, and took another sip of his wine. Ashley snorted. "Hah! That's not what women want. They don't want some wimp who'll do whatever they want. You gotta take control more!"
"W-What? You can't just, I don't know, order women about!"
"Hey, there's a reason they're called the weaker sex." The bear spread his arms. "I'm just saying!"
"Yeah, well, look at how well that worked for you. You're on a date with a man!" Leslie shot back.
Ashley waved his hand and leant back in his chair. "Ah, they were just stuck up bitches."
"And didn't you say you lied on the likes form?" Leslie stuffed some of his salad into his mouth. "Maybe they might have matched you better with some submissive little girl if you hadn't lied."
Ashley shook his head, as Leslie continued. "Maybe someone should treat you that way, see if you like it."
Ashley stopped eating, and looked at the rabbit. His expression was unreadable, possibly surprised, or shocked, but Leslie didn't know. Thing was, it felt good to be looked at like that. The bear had been so aggressive since they'd started talking, having him stop and looking and seem a bit more respectful was a pleasant change.
Ashley blinked. He hadn't been expecting that - whatever it was. Embarrassed for a second, he shoved his started away, and waved to a waiter. "I'm done with this."
They took Leslie's salad, as well. For a few minutes, they sat in an uncomfortable silence, trying to ignore the odd moment that had passed between them.
Ashley's rare steak arrived, arranged artistically with a few green beans and new potatoes. Leslie had chosen a mushroom risotto, one of the few vegetarian things that could be found on the menu. Ashley looked at it in a slightly disparaging way. "Are you vege?"
The rabbit poked at it. Suddenly, it didn't seem so appetising. "Yeah. Well mostly. I only eat meat occasionally, I don't digest it too well."
"Huh. Maybe that's why the girls don't like you, they can tell you're not a proper meat eating male."
"WHAT."
Leslie felt a flush of anger. "What, you think I can't be a man if I don't eat meat?"
"Hey, I'm just saying, it's what a lot of people think, that men who don't eat meat are weaker. Less iron and protein and whatever."
"You mean, it's what you think."
"I'm just-"
"Yeah, you said." The rabbit settled back. "Well perhaps if you think that, I should try eating some more meat."
"What, are you gonna send that back?"
"No. Give me yours."
The bear looked up at him, a slice of beef on his fork, with that same expression on his face. Leslie felt a thrill of power at that gaze. Was Ashley really considering handing over his food? Slowly, he reached out over the table towards the bigger man's plate.
Ashley was frozen. The idea someone could just reach out and take his food, right from under his nose, was so alien that he couldn't really understand what was going on. What was happening. Why he didn't just snatch his plate away and laugh about this.
Now the rabbit's hand was on his place.
Now the rabbit was lifting the plate.
Now he was taking it away.
Now he was dumping his plate full of risotto in front of the bear. "Here. You can have this."
Ashley's heartbeat thudded in his chest, his breath suddenly coming back and his head throbbing. He couldn't quite comprehend what had just happened. Or the way his nipples had tightened, and his balls tingled. His mouth opened and closed, struggling to find the words to ask what was going on inside his mind.
Leslie smirked, and started to cut up Ashleys' steak. It felt really good to put down this man who was obviously so scummy. Just the way he talked about women made Leslie want to stop him ever getting to talk to another girl. And that was strange. He'd never been the kind of person who enjoyed putting people down, and had always felt bad over schaudenfraude, but this made him feel justified. He cut a slice of Ashley's steak and chewed it thoughtfully. That was odd, too, as red meat did have the tendency to back up his intestines, and he'd pay for this later. But the bear thought that eating meet was a symbol of dominance...
The risotto was thick and creamy, but not to Ashley's taste. He forked it into his mouth, the mushrooms squeaked between his teeth. This wasn't something he would have chosen to eat. But he hadn't chosen. It had been chosen for him/ And that fact made his stomach quiver every time he thought about it.
"Are you enjoying that?" Asked the bunny opposite him, smiling.
"Uh, yeah," he replied. "It's.. okay, I guess."
Leslie spiked a potato on his fork and waved it around. "I like that kind of thing. Besides, it's better for you."
Ashley made a noise of agreement, and continued eating.
"So, you think you should be able to order women around, do you?"
"I didn't mean that. I just meant that- well, there's always a dominant one in a relationship, isn't there?"
"I always thought relationships should be a meeting of equals," said Leslie, taking a sip of the expensive wine. "That's what I always thought. Was I wrong?"
Ashley didn't respond. His breath was catching in his throat now.
"What about if we were in a relationship? You and me?"
Ashley's head shot up, that look of fear on his face again. And now Leslie realised it was tempered with something else. A little awe.
"Who do you think would be the dominant one?"
His blood rushed though his muzzle, and he could feel his fur rising, blushing beneath the covering. He had to look away from the rabbit's forceful gaze. He had to.
"I thought so. Now eat your risotto."
He was dismissed. his gaze fell, and obediently, he loaded up his fork.
Leslie didn't quite understand this, but by the time their main courses were finished and dessert had arrived, he had stopped caring. He could tell by now that he was a different person than had walked in through the door - at least in respect to the man sitting opposite. It felt so right to give him some of his own medicine, and that he was just submitting - an hour ago, this would have been
impossible for him to think about, but now...
Ashley had ordered a chocolate cheesecake, back before wine had washed away his ability to resist. Now he poked at it listlessly, feeling as though he was waiting for something. He didn't know what.
"Are you going to eat that?" asked Leslie.
One last spark flared in Ashley. "Why, did you want it?" he said, almost mournfully.
"No. You go ahead and have it."
Ashley cut through the chocolate swirls on the top, and scooped up the crunchy base with the softer main part of the case, and realised he'd got what he needed: permission.
His head swirled. He'd been waiting for permission to eat. How could this be happening to him? The laden fork hovered before his lips. "What's happening to us?" he whispered. "I'm not... I'm not the same person I was! I shouldn't be doing this! I should-"
"Shush," said Leslie, and Ashley was instantly silenced. "Take a bite, and I'll explain everything to you."
Obediently, the bear closed his mouth around the cake. It rested on his tongue, and then, faster than he could stop him, Leslie jumped over the table and locked his lips around Ashleys'. His tongue flicked into the bears' mouth, stealing the bite of cheesecake from him, crushing the layer of biscuit between their teeth. Ashley twitched in his seat, trying to summon up the will to fight this, but failing as the sensation of the rabbit pushing into him took over his mind. He shuddered, and his eyes rolled up in his head as he sank helplessly into his chair, giving up and letting Leslie into his mind, overwriting everything he had desired before.
The smaller rabbit broke off the kiss and leant back. He'd moved to between the bears' legs, instinctively knowing that his thrall was under his control now, and placed his hand on the big, meaty chest - that would have been so unattractive to him just a few hours ago - and licked a curl of chocolate off his lips. "Here's what happens now: you do what I say. And you enjoy it."
Ashley looked up helplessly, and slowly nodded. Leslie laughed, and said, "Looks like they were right after all. We did find the person someone special, wouldn't you agree?"
And Ashley had to.