A/N: here's a couple of chapters that are hopefully fun and are dedicated to @kayzholic

Loki had seen Kaiya sitting at the bar as soon as he'd walked in with Laurent. He'd been smiling, face open and relaxed in a way it rarely was when Loki was with him, so he'd been loath to interrupt regardless of how much he wanted to approach. He wouldn't allow himself to be bothered about the difference in mood – he knew from the little Kaiya had been comfortable to reveal that his last Dom had crushed every ounce of trust the boy might once have had.

Loki had once had a boyfriend who was a sub, many years earlier and not for long – he'd wanted things Loki wasn't able to give, not and stay true to himself. It had left him bitten, uncertain whether to trust pretty words couched as honest claims. But there was no artifice about Kaiya. Sometimes, Loki hated how cynical just one bad relationship had left him – ignoring his own needs so as to not get caught up by another person taking more than he was willing to give. It was the justification he always gave himself for fucking Laurent, who never pretended what they had was anything more than it was. But when Loki was with Kaiya, he wanted to risk it.

"Why are you still sitting here?" Laurent asked with a lazy flick of his hand. "Go to your boy. We both know you want to."

"I don't know if he wants me to, here."

Loki half expected Laurent to scoff – to suggest it wasn't up to the sub to decide, or to claim Loki was blind to the obvious – because one thing Laurent was good at was being an asshole, even if he didn't truly believe his own words, but instead he gave a look of such understanding Loki felt a lump rise in his throat.

"Thanks," he managed to mutter.

Laurent give his sardonic laugh, softness apparently forgotten. "Look at us, hey, finally growing up."

"Speak for yourself. I've always been able to care about other people."

"For which I've often been thankful. This time, though..." Laurent's eyes narrowed, and he pursed his lips. "I actually think pushing forward might be the right move."

He gestured, and Loki looked to Kaiya again. The boy had a flush high on his cheeks and Loki could see the tears in his eyes from across the room. He searched the room as the burning need to protect rose, wanting to know where Kaiya's gaze was settled – what was giving him that pained reaction. It wasn't that busy yet, so he didn't struggle to hone in on what was bothering his boy.

The only thing that was surprising was the averageness of the man, who he instantly knew was the ex-Dom who'd fucked Kaiya over.

He wasn't particularly tall, nor especially muscular. Not ugly but not handsome either. Not that any of that really mattered. He could have had the dynamism of François and it wouldn't have changed Loki's bone-deep belief that the man didn't deserve someone like Kaiya. The man – John, Loki remembered – hadn't seen Kaiya yet, too busy reprimanding the younger man he was with, who had a look of petulant disinterest on his smooth, handsome face and a thick bejeweled collar around his neck.

The young man dropped his eyes to the side. It was a clever move that looked submissive, but Loki could still see the annoyance in his face. Not a great look on a sub, and it gave him unseemly pleasure that it meant John was not doing a good job. That schadenfreude disappeared when the boy bobbed his head in apology and disappeared through the door that led to the locker rooms, leaving John to cast his eyes around the room.

Loki didn't know the other Doms in the room, but he noticed some of them were avoiding eye contact with John, and the ones that did greet him were half-hearted about it. Loki guessed that François' anger at how John had treated Kaiya hadn't been kept out of the club.

John began to look embarrassed, and Loki could almost feel sorry about the humiliation he must be feeling, except then the man saw Kaiya and his face lit up with angry delight.

Gabe had protectively put an arm around Kaiya, and they were facing the bar, talking with the cute barman, who kept glancing across at John – so Loki could guess what the topic of conversation was. But John's face twisted, his lip curling and determination furrowing his brow before he strode toward them.

"Don't overthink," Laurent whispered, standing and pulling his wrist.

Loki followed, still not sure if he should be getting involved. He and Kaiya were becoming something, but he hadn't done much that could be construed as domming, and jumping in now would cross that line. He wanted to be welcome to do it, but equally didn't want to discover it pushed Kaiya away by accident.

"What are you doing here?" John's voice was strident, easily carrying to where the two of them were still moving across the room.

Loki was proud of Kaiya for not jumping at the voice – the barman had obviously warned him – but he did lean hard against Gabe, who looked more annoyed than anything as he turned to glare at John.

Gabe opened his mouth to reply, but Kaiya grasped his arm and gave a tiny shake of his head as his jaw set.

"I'm allowed to be here."

"We'll see about that!"

"No. It isn't up to you." Kaiya's voice was shaking, but he lifted his chin defiantly and Loki ached to pull him close and protect him.

"You should be gone already, back to where you came from," John hissed.

Kaiya straightened his shoulders, still holding onto Gabe. "I'm not as easy to get rid of as you thought."

"I'll call immigration."

"You can't! I'm allowed!" Kaiya's voice went high with panic, and Loki had heard enough.

He stepped forward, ignoring John and his outraged huff, holding his hands out in offering. Kaiya looked up at him with wide, watery eyes for a moment, before leaping forward with a whimper, burrowing his face in Loki's broad chest. He felt so right there, curved sweetly against his body, the top of his soft, spice-scented hair close enough to kiss.

Loki could hear John angrily demanding to know what was going on, but he ignored it in favor of muttering comforting words to his boy. He did notice that Laurent stepped closer to Gabe, but not close enough to touch, which he found amusing – for all his confident words about Loki taking the next step, it was apparent he was terrified of being rejected himself.

In the commotion, Loki hadn't noticed François arriving, tugged along by Ellis, with a scowl on his face. He tensed. François was an unknown quantity, for all that Gray had said he was a good Dom. Ellis seemed to be able to get away with a lot, but that meant nothing for what the man would be like in his own club. Loki had been to clubs in his younger years where the subs had been treated as little more than breathing fleshlights.

John opened his mouth, letting out a tirade that Loki didn't bother listening to, knowing it would only make him furious. John seemed unaware of his steadily increasing audience, and Loki saw Gray and Owen come to stand to the side of François, as well as the muscled, dark, bouncer he'd seen on the few times he and Laurent had ventured into the club.

"Have you finished?" François asked, eventually.

"What are you going to do about it, François?" John demanded.

"That's Master François to you, John. And I'm glad you're here today and you've brought it to my attention, because I've been wanting to speak to you about your membership of the club, and your need for additional training."

John spluttered, finally looking to see all the disapproving eyes on him.

"I don't need training-,"

"I think you do. No one treats any member of our club the way you've treated Kaiya, and you clearly need to be reminded of the agreement you made on joining the club."

"But he's not even allowed to be here," John whined. "I canceled his visa."

"Yes," François said sternly, "I heard about that. But you don't need to worry about him being left high and dry, because I arranged a new visa for him that you have no say in. Now, my office."

John gaped, glancing furtively around looking for support, but there was none there, each person glaring back at him. His eyes lit on his sub, who'd returned and was red-faced and reluctant to make eye contact.

"Ty, meet me in the room I booked."

"Um, I don't think so, John. I didn't sign up for this. And you never told me you'd tried to have Kaiya kicked out of the country. That sucks." He reached up and unclipped the gaudy collar, handing it to John with a disdainful moue before turning on his heel.

John stared after him, his face passing quickly through angry and into something far more resigned before he followed François to his office.

"Sir?" Kaiya pressed one small hand against Loki's chest, looking up hopefully.

"Yes, Kaiya?"

"Will you take me home?"

"Of course, ku-uipo, come."

A/N: another chapter following straight away :-)