## Preface

Denim
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/34712371.

Rating:
  Explicit
Archive Warning:
  No Archive Warnings Apply
Category:
  M/M
Fandom:
  Critical Role (Web Series)
Relationship:
  Shaun Gilmore/Vax'ildan
Characters:
  Shaun Gilmore, Vax'ildan (Critical Role)
Additional Tags:
  Kinktober 2021, Spanking, Tickling, BDSM, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Kink Negotiation, Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, Praise Kink, Light-Hearted
Language:
  English
Series:
  Part 4 of A Mini Critical Role Kinktober 2021, Part 8 of Fabric
Stats:
  Published: 2021-10-25 Words: 3,480 Chapters: 1/1

# Denim

by the_deep_magic

Summary

> Week Four: spanking/tickling

> “Explain spanking to me.”

> Gilmore raises his eyebrows playfully. “I know you’re new to this, little bird, but—”

> “I mean, not literally,” Vax elaborates, taking a seat on one of the cushions. “I know the basic mechanics, but can you explain the appeal? I know it’s a popular thing, but I just… don’t get it, and I wondered if I’m missing something.”

Notes

> Since this is where it all got started, I just couldn’t let Kinktober pass by without adding to the Fabric!verse. This fic is a flashback of sorts, set much earlier in the series (between “Velvet” and “Silk”) and in their relationship.

> This fic is only posted on time because Zjofierose kindly went to fetch the food after I accidentally ordered pickup instead of delivery. You may thank Zjo for your timely smut this week. She’s not in CR fandom (despite my best efforts), but she has written some excellent fic in Trek, Teen Wolf, Voltron, Yuri on Ice, etc., so go leave her some love!

## Denim

“Explain spanking to me.”

Gilmore raises his eyebrows playfully. “I know you’re new to this, little bird, but—”

“I mean, not literally,” Vax elaborates, taking a seat on one of the cushions. “I know the basic mechanics, but can you explain the appeal? I know it’s a popular thing, but I just… don’t get it, and I wondered if I’m missing something.”

As he pulls up his own cushion, Shaun grins – even if Vax weren’t by far the most intriguing prospect currently in his little black book, Shaun always appreciates a sub who wants to learn more. “It’s popular, yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s appealing to everyone.”

“So is it mainly a pain thing?”

“It can be. It’s a good introduction to impact play, if that’s something you’re curious about.”

Vax clears his throat and shifts his weight awkwardly. “’Impact’ as in… hitting me?”

Keeping his expression carefully neutral, Shaun nods. “With your full, enthusiastic consent, yes.”

Vax seems to take a moment to digest this. “So I assume it hurts less than things like, I don’t know, whips and chains.”

“Yes, it can be a relatively mild form of painplay. But spanking also brings up a lot of connotations that other types of impact play might not. Obviously, many people associate it with childhood misbehavior, which means it pairs well with certain forms of humiliation and ageplay and daddy kink.”

“Nope, no,” Vax says quickly, shaking his head and glancing away. “That’s gonna be a ‘no’ on the daddy stuff. Sorry, I know it’s a thing, and I’m not shaming anyone, but—”

“No need to apologize for setting a boundary,” Shaun says, and he reaches out to take Vax’s hand in a loose clasp. “We’re here to find out what makes you feel good. Sometimes that’s playing around with taboos; other times it’s avoiding them. That’s the point of talking things out beforehand, so we minimize the chance of running across something that takes you out of the moment.”

“But,” Vax says, almost timidly, “Do you like it?”

“If it’s something you’re definitely not interested in, how I feel is immaterial, especially this early in our…” Shaun nearly says our relationship, but that feels a bit like wishful thinking at the moment. “…our time playing together. I want to start with the things that you already think might excite you. In no way am I trying to talk you into anything you have mixed feelings about. That would be a different conversation about pushing boundaries, if you wanted to have it.”

“But spanking,” Vax says, firmly redirecting the conversation. “I think I might like to try it. I mean, I don’t think I’d be into it for the pain, but there’s something…” He pauses, furrowing his brow like he’s trying to find the right words. “It’s like… black licorice, maybe? Lots of people hate it, but the people that love it really love it. So I should probably try it once in my life, and when I do, I should try the good, high-quality stuff.”

Shaun lets out a chuckle, his chest warming at the implication in Vax’s words. “I would wager to say that there are more people out there who love spanking than eating black licorice, but the analogy seems like a good one. My only caution is that there’s nothing you ‘should’ try in this context. To continue your metaphor, impact play – and painplay in general – isn’t like eating your vegetables to get to dessert. It’s all dessert, all the time here, my darling.”

This time, Vax grins. “I still want to try. Just to see.”

“My apologies, I haven’t got any black licorice,” Shaun teases, just to see Vax roll his eyes. He also appreciates subs he can gently tease, who aren’t asking for serious domination 100% of the time. Oh, that has its appeal, too, but he gets the sense that isn’t what Vax wants, and it makes him feel more confident that Vax will continue to assert his boundaries even if Gilmore should slip up.

“So should I take off my pants or what?”

“If you ask me, beautiful boy, the answer to that question will always be yes,” Shaun sighs longingly, eyes raking over Vax. Even fully dressed, even sitting cross-legged and hunched over a bit, he’s still a vision in tight cotton and denim. “But as always, it’s really up to you. What kind of mood seems appealing to you? What kind of scene had you imagined?”

Vax bites his lip – another vulnerable and devastatingly attractive look on him. “I don’t know that I’d really imagined it? I thought you might have some suggestions.”

Shaun knows to tread carefully, to do his best to keep from projecting his own fantasies onto Vax if that’s not what’s called for – and he’s already had one or two (or more) that involve his hands and Vax’s bare ass. “Let’s start with the obvious, shall we? Spanking is often used as a punishment. I could call you a naughty boy – or better yet, make you tell me all the ways you’ve been naughty – and then punish you for them.”

“Uh,” Vax says hesitantly as he shifts uncomfortably on his cushion. “Let’s call that a maybe?”

“We need to be honest with each other, little bird,” Shaun says, sitting forward. “You said ‘maybe,’ but your body language is giving off a ‘no.’ Let me be clear: when we’re negotiating, you never have to agree with something just to please me. I made a suggestion, one possibility among many. If that’s not the right one, we’ll find something else – there are always more options to make a scene work. But just as your ‘no’ always means ‘no,’ I need to be able to trust that your ‘yes’ means ‘yes.’ Do you understand?”

Vax looks a little chastened, but he nods firmly. “Yes, I understand. And no, I don’t want punishment to be a part of it.”

Shaun has to hold back from pulling Vax into his lap and kissing him square on the lips – there’s more talking to be done first. “Wonderful. You’re learning quickly. I get the sense that humiliation is similarly unappealing to you. Am I correct?”

“Yeah,” Vax says quickly. “I don’t… Getting humiliated doesn’t really turn me on.”

“Entirely fair, lovely boy,” Shaun says, and watches as Vax’s lips start to curl up in a smile, though he quickly tries to smother it. Shaun leans in, brushing fingers across Vax’s cheekbone and dropping his voice to a softer, more intimate tone. “My gorgeous one, my brave little bird – how about the opposite of humiliation? How would you like it if I praised you to the heavens?”

Oh, that makes Vax blush up to his ears, and he nearly squirms where he sits on the cushion. “You could do that while you’re spanking me?”

It makes something predatory in Gilmore’s gut perk up hungrily. “Oh yes, you sweet, dirty thing. I can tell you exactly how well you’re doing, how beautiful you look when you’re taking it.”

Now Vax can’t keep the grin off his face, though he can’t meet Shaun’s eyes, either. He also hasn’t given an answer, but Gilmore can wait.

After a long moment of silence in which Shaun can practically hear the gears turning in Vax’s head, the younger man blurts out, “And that’s something you’d like, too?”

Shaun reaches out again, taking Vax’s chin until he has no choice but to look him in the eyes, and Shaun lets every ounce of hunger he’s feeling show on his face. “My ‘yes’ always means ‘yes,’ too.”

After that, Shaun can practically feel Vax’s excitement thickening the air between them, as they land on a more sensual, gentle approach as an introduction to spanking. Vax will pull his pants down to his knees but otherwise remain clothed and lay across Gilmore’s lap. They’ll start with five strokes, and Vax will confirm that he’s ready for each one.

“Have you thought of a word, my dear?” Shaun asks. “One you’ll only say deliberately to call a halt to our play?”

Vax nods. “Raven, I think. Is that okay?”

“As long as it’s something you can remember and use, then it’s perfect.” Gilmore can’t help but smile. “And perfect for my little bird.”

After kneeling next to Shaun’s outstretched legs, Vax shuffles his pants and underwear down and drapes himself over Shaun’s lap. Gilmore lets out a soft sound of appreciation at the sight, at the warm pressure of Vax settling over his thighs.

“Such a lovely sight,” Shaun sighs, stroking a hand first down Vax’s back, and then over the swell of his ass. He does it several more times, feeling the tension in Vax’s body diminish a little more with each stroke. “There you are. I’m not going to surprise you, beautiful boy. I’m going to wait until you’re good and ready.”

“Not sure what ‘ready to be spanked’ feels like,” Vax says, a slight tremor in his voice. “But I think this is as ready as I’m going to get.”

“Just breathe a few times for me,” Shaun says, keeping his voice warm and soothing. And if his hand just happens to rest on Vax’s ass, committing the shape of it to memory, all the luckier for him. “That’s it. So good for me.” It’s entirely possible Shaun is drawing this moment out for his own gratification, for the sweet anticipation of the first strike, but it’s hard to feel guilty for it when Vax is resting so trustingly in his lap.

After a final breath, Vax says, “I’m ready.”

Without further delay, Shaun pulls his hand up and then brings it back down with a resounding smack, open palm against the fullest part of Vax’s ass. Vax is facing away from him, but Shaun hears him let out a noise that sounds like meep. “How did that feel?”

“Uh…” Vax says, voice slightly muffled by the cushion on which his head is resting on. “Spanky? I don’t know. It didn’t hurt as much as I thought.”

It wasn’t a hard hit, but Shaun’s hand is still tingling deliciously. “Tell me when you’re ready for another.”

“Yeah, okay. I’m ready.”

Another smack, the same spot on his other cheek, and Vax jumps a little and makes an indescribable sound. “Such a good boy,” Shaun murmurs, rubbing the small of Vax’s back and watching as the skin on his ass starts to turn pink. Shaun’s own body is responding quickly, his cock hardening. “You’re doing so well.”

“I…” Vax tries, but whatever he’s trying to say doesn’t quite come out.

“Can you turn your head to face me, sweet one?”

“Uh,” Vax says, his voice now coming out at a noticeably higher pitch. “No? Because otherwise I’ll— Can you just do it again?”

It gives Shaun pause – something’s definitely up, but without seeing Vax’s face, he can’t quite tell what. “Would you like me to stop?”

“No, not yet,” Vax says quickly. “Try it again. Please. Maybe give me the next three right in a row? We’ll see if that… Can you try that?”

“Of course,” Shaun says, though he has to think quickly about whether he actually will. But they agreed to five, and while Vax is a little tense and squirmy in his lap, he isn’t safewording, and he did ask for more. Shaun wants to show he’s willing to take Vax at his word, particularly in a lower-stakes situation like this one.

So he delivers the last three, pausing between each one only to murmur “Very good” or “Gorgeous.” After the last one, he sees Vax turn his head down farther into the pillow, smothering whatever noise he makes, and now Shaun really does need to check in with him. “You did it, my dear. You were perfect, exactly what—”

Suddenly, Vax lets out a burst of sound, and it takes Shaun a moment to place it for what it is – a laugh. Followed by another giggle that Vax tries and fails to hold in. When he turns over in Shaun's lap, Shaun sees Vax’s face pinched with poorly-suppressed laughter. “I’m sorry!” Vax yelps, hands coming up to cover his mouth. “I’m sorry, I tried. I really did, but it’s just… it’s so ridiculous, you slapping me on the ass like I’m five and won’t go to bed.” He nearly gets himself under control, but when Shaun raises his eyebrows, Vax loses it again in a fit of giggles. “It—It kind of hurt, but mostly it was just… Shaun, it’s so silly, how do you even… I’m sorry!”

He’s still in Shaun’s lap, curling in on himself as he shakes with badly-suppressed laughter, and Shaun sees the choice laid out before him. He has to admit to feeling a certain amount of disappointment at realizing this particular fantasy of his own, lovely as it would be – Vax’s ass turning redder and redder under his hand, Vax’s cock getting harder against his thigh, Vax squirming with an intoxicating combination of pain and pleasure – is unlikely to come to life.

But, on the other hand, Vax is still wriggling in Shaun’s lap, pants around his knees, failing utterly to subdue his own amusement, and the undignified, vulnerable reality of it is better than any self-serving fantasy Shaun could cook up. He would be an utter fool to give this beautiful man up, or even to let a hint of his slight disappointment show.

There’s no choice to be made, really.

“So I’m silly, am I?” Gilmore says, letting his voice grow loud and resonant even as he can’t help but chuckle at the sight before him. “Shall I show you silly?”

And he pushes his hands beneath Vax’s shirt to drag them lightly over his ribs.

Vax shrieks with laughter, writhing and twisting in Shaun’s lap as he’s tickled.

“I’ll show you ridiculous!” Shaun roars, grinning and redoubling his efforts.

Vax nearly goes into convulsions, body contorting as he tries to get away from Shaun’s probing fingers. “No! No! Stop!”

At that, Shaun pulls his hands back, letting Vax catch his breath and right himself.

But Vax just reaches up, grabs the collar of Gilmore’s robe, and looks him square in the eye. “Shaun,” he says through a gasp. “I didn’t say ‘raven.’”

Somehow, Shaun’s grin gets wider. “No, little bird. You didn’t.”

What follows is one of the less dignified scenes that Gilmore’s played out, but it’s also one of the most fun. Vax doesn’t really try to get away, but he wriggles like a landed fish in Shaun’s grip, rolling off of his lap and on to another of the cushions. Shaun attacks Vax with everything he’s got, finding every ticklish spot between his armpits and knees. In fact, there’s a place on the small of Vax’s back that makes him groan, and Shaun doesn’t miss how his hips grind into the cushion beneath him whenever Shaun drags his fingers over it.

He flips Vax back over, looking down to see that Vax is now visibly aroused. His chest is heaving, breath still breaking into giggles, and when Shaun meets his eyes, Vax reaches up and tugs him the rest of the way down into a messy, gasping kiss.

By now, the skin on Vax’s torso is so sensitized to Shaun’s touch that even when he glides a hand firmly down Vax’s side, it makes his whole body jerk and twitch. Vax lets out something between and a moan and a laugh against Shaun’s mouth, his hands fisting in Shaun's robe, the loss of control clearly turning him on in a way the spanking hadn’t. Vax is completely unable to keep from reacting to the teasing touch of Shaun’s hands against his body, and that reaction is making him flushed and, yes, undeniably aroused.

Vax is still giggling and twitching when Shaun takes him in hand, favoring his cock with slow, tight strokes. At the same time, Gilmore lets his other hand continue to play over Vax’s ribs, his firm stomach, never letting his body settle completely. The result is remarkable, Vax twisting and thrusting and spasming in Shaun’s hands, too overloaded with tactile sensations to get too deep in his own head. Perfect.

And then Vax curls in on himself, squealing and shaking as he comes. Shaun stops with the tickling then, letting Vax focus only on pleasure as he spurts over Shaun’s hand. Even after his orgasm ebbs, Vax doesn’t stop twitching for a long time, his breath coming out in short, sharp exhalations that still have the flavor of laughter.

He comes back to himself slowly, and Shaun backs off a moment, waving a hand in the air to summon a hand towel. Vax pushes up on his hands, his shirt still rucked up to his armpits and his trousers now around his ankles, and lets Gilmore clean him, even though it sets off another round of trembling in his muscles. “Shaun, what the fuck was that?” he groans, still breathless and beaming.

“That was a tremendous amount of fun,” Shaun says, taking an extra swipe at Vax’s belly just to watch his abdominal muscles contract one more time. “You did so beautifully.”

“Oh, this isn’t over yet,” Vax says, tugging his shirt back down but leaving his pants where they are as he rolls up to his knees.

Shaun’s own desire, allowed to simmer gently for most of the evening, is now close to boiling over. “It isn’t?” he asks credulously.

“Absolutely not. I haven’t been able to get my mouth on you yet, and that needs to change right now.”

“So you’re the one giving orders now?”

“Oh,” Vax says, his eyes going wide. “I’m sorry, I didn’t—”

Shaun silences him with two fingers against his lips. “No apologies necessary, beautiful one. I enjoy teasing you, but you’re always free to ask for what you want.” Vax’s lips turn back up into a smirk, and Gilmore moves his fingers until the pads are pressing between them, pushing gently into Vax’s mouth to rest on his tongue. “Now suck.”

Vax does, dark eyes locking with Shaun’s. He looks particularly devastating like this, flushed with exertion but with an easygoing, blissed-out sort of confidence that looks particularly good on him. Not to mention the way his cheeks hollow and his tongue flutters against the pads of Shaun’s fingers. It briefly robs Shaun of his silver tongue, of even his ability to think past the obvious, and for a moment Shaun feels like nothing more than a deep, low throb of want.

Somehow, though, he manages to get himself to his feet as Vax kneels up on one of the cushions, grabbing impatiently at Gilmore’s robe until he can get it open and tug his trousers down. Vax makes a soft, pleased sound at the reveal of Shaun's cock, and it makes Shaun feel ten feet tall. Vax doesn’t tease, exactly, but he takes his time licking and kissing his way around Shaun’s cock before finally taking it into his mouth.

Vax’s skill and enthusiasm for the task becomes immediately obvious, and the long, loud groan Shaun lets out is entirely unembellished. “Oh yes, my bird. My beautiful boy. How talented you are. How absolutely flawless.”

He weaves a hand through Vax’s hair, giving him a bit of gentle direction, and Vax hums happily, eyes flicking up to meet Shaun's. “Yes,” Shaun murmurs in a softer, more intimate tone. “Such a rare and precious boy. I’ll take such good care of you, my perfect little bird.”

At that, Vax’s eyes dip in gentle embarrassment at the praise, and for a moment, Shaun wonders if he’s gone too far, too soon. He hasn’t realized until just now just how deep he could fall if he let himself. He’s not there yet, but oh, he could be, so quickly and so easily. It’s too soon – Vax is too new to this, still in the process of learning what he wants – but the possibility is there, and even the thought of it is magnificent.

And then Shaun can’t think anymore, because Vax is bobbing his head faster, tongue working around the head of Shaun's cock, and Shaun shuts out everything that isn’t Vax’s talented mouth, Vax’s silky hair, Vax’s look of devotion.

He refuses to pull off, even after Shaun warns him, and Shaun comes down Vax’s throat with a soft cry and long, drawn-out shudder. Vax nuzzles close afterward, pressing his face to the softness of Shaun’s belly.

“My gorgeous one,” Shaun whispers. “My Vax…” He trails off, chuckling to himself. “You know, I haven’t asked you – is Vax short for something?”

“Mm-hmm,” Vax says. When he speaks, his voice is appealing rough. “Vax’ildan.”

“My Vax’ildan,” Shaun repeats, tenderly tracing his fingers over Vax’s cheekbone. “I think we’re going to have a lot of fun together.”

## Afterword

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