Page 12 of Designation: Null

“I suppose that’s true. The people do,” Robert says.

Logan shrugs. The resulting pause is awkward.

“You have to let me thank you for saving my life. What are you doing? You want to grab lunch? You know I have to buy. In perpetuity, really. A lifetime of free tuna sandwiches is yours for the taking.”

“Oh. I was going to medical,” Logan says. “And I… I don’tdateor anything. I’m not—”

Robert holds out a hand, eyes wide with surprise. “No! Sorry! I wasn’t hitting on you, I swear. I have a partner; it’d just be as friends.” He winces. “Well, in the spirit of full disclosure, I don’t actually know if I have a partner still. I did. He’s currently deep undercover and I’m not even sure he knows I’m back… or alive. But I think I might still have one,” he says, rubbing at his jaw. “This is strictly a friendly overture.”

“Then sure, that’d be great,” he responds as they head toward the elevators. “I can go to medical later.” Of course it’s friendly! Logan is such an idiot. His first thought was that Robert would want some sort of reward for helping Logan back on the jet because that’s how Dominants are!

But Robert wasn’t hitting on him. Robert doesn’t want to hurt him, use him, and/or discard him. He just wants to be friends. Which has Logan bubbling with pleasure, the urge to laugh at nothing so strong he bites the inside of his cheek and curls his fingernails into his palms to calm down.

Rapid mood swings make submissives chemically imbalanced and lead to drops, and because Logan doesn’t have a good way of fixing things when he’s uneven, he typically winds up with a full-on hormonal crash that takes ages to recover from. The last one took five days.

This is his first day back in the building.

“I can go chat with people if you need to go to medical first?”

“No, it’s fine. They just want blood. They always want blood,” Logan says.

“Right, because you’ve got the good stuff.”

“Yeah, exactly,” he replies, smiling, taking it as a light-hearted comment. Everyone is very curious about his designation. Being null is rare as hell. It’s hard work to hit the range he does consistently. Most nulls eventually become submissive.

But not Logan. Though they aren’t motivated like he is. Fear is a great motivator.

They make it to the lobby and someone calls Robert’s name. The submissive is smiling widely as he rushes up to Robert and gives him a hug. Robert introduces Logan to Craig and somehow, they all wind up having lunch together and it’s amazing. Craig is a submissive, so he doesn’t ruffle Logan at all. Plus, he’s a nice guy, and easy to talk to.

They both are.

Robert takes them to a deli a few blocks over and has somehow gotten them a table, ordered for them, and claimed the seat where his back is against the wall so he can see everything, and Logan doesn’t feel managed at all.

If he’s used his dominance to make any of it happen, it’s very, very subtle.

Logan’s shoulders relax in relief and he can’t help but look at Robert again, studying him and how much healthier he looks. The strangest part, Logan suddenly realizes, is that Robert still feelsgoodto be around.

When they’d gotten off the plane, Logan had actually felt okay. He’d slept hard in the seat across from Robert, and when he’d woken up it was to find the front of his underwear soaked. He’d released in his sleep.

Because Robert was there.

It was mortifying and if he hadn’t felt so fucking light, he’d have been more upset about it. He’d managed to get off the plane without anyone noticing.

Logan had gone straight home, showered, and—miracle of all miracles—he’d gotten hard. Not just a little hard, half hard, or hard with a cock ring on. He’d been hard enough that he’d wanted to take a fucking picture as proof. (He did. Then he deleted it because it wasn’t like he had anyone to send it to, plus it was a depressing reminder about the usual way things go.)

He’d wanted to come, had enjoyed contemplating jerking off or not jerking off. Options! He’d sat down, naked on his couch, legs spread, pleased at just how fucking normal he was. Just a guy with an erection thinking about jerking off while sitting on his couch.

Normal.

Logan had touched himself idly over the next few hours, the intensity of the discomfort growing as he stayed hard. He went from a pretty pink color to a dark, almost angry-looking red. He’d gotten into bed carefully, forced his hands down and lain there, throbbing until he fell asleep.

He’d woken up during the night just as the orgasm rolled through him.

Being near Robert had made him come.

He’d woken up in the morning with a hand on his cock, desperate to get hard again, and of course it didn’t happen.

And then he’d started to crash and his mood went from happy to miserable.

---