(Archiver's note minor edits have been made to make this story more readable.)
If Noa could wear a ball gag every second of every day, they would. She really, truly would.
Noa loved the feeling of her jaw wrenched wide, unable to close even her lips. The taste and the pressure of the rubber between her teeth and pressing against her tongue, large and heavy and impossible to escape. The comforting fullness of having something substantial in her mouth, something to clench her teeth around, something to shift with her tongue, something to rub with her lips. Even the risk of drooling, the careful way she had to swallow and move her lips and stay upright, lest saliva build up and spill over her chin lukewarm and slick, sending a shiver down her spine. Even the fact that Noa always lost the battle eventually and ended up a pathetic drooling mess and making a soggy disgrace of herself. Even that. Noa loved all of it.
And most of all, Noa loved the way a ball gag made Conner look at her. Conner was Noa’s lover and dominant, and had been for so many years that it had become little more than a normal part of Noa’s life. But every time Conner turned his dark and hungry eyes on Noa’s wide wet lips, every time he grabbed at Noa’s soggy shirt and smirked, every time he leaned in to plant an excruciatingly slow and gentle kiss on the big red ball between Noa’s teeth… it was like falling in love all over again. Like being young and horny and desperate and insecure and falling in love. Every time, Conner looked at Noa like he was falling in love for the first time all over again. And every time, Noa felt like sher was falling in love all over again too.
Noa wished with all her heart that sher could lock the largest ball gag sher could get her hands on tight around her skull and throw the key into the deepest ocean and never take it off again. And Noa knew, without him needing to say it, that Conner wished for the same thing. But of course, the world would never accept that. And so every morning before work Conner helped Noa unbuckle her gag, gave her jaw a lovingly painful massage, and sent her off to work naked. Because that’s how Noa felt without a gag between her teeth- absolutely, frustratingly naked.
But what could she do?
Noa’s ball gag rested damp and cold against her collar, but for once she hardly missed it. Noa took another slow, savoring bite of chocolate cake.
“Oh my god,” She moaned, licking every bit of frosting from the fork tangs and savoring the sinful richness. “This is the best cake I have ever had in my life.”
Conner leaned in close to grab another kiss. “How’s this birthday ranking up so far?” He teased.
“Top five, for sure.” Noa said fervently. She took another bite of cake and nodded approvingly. “No, make it top three.”
“The cake’s that good?” Conner raised an eyebrow.
“If you can even ask that, you have no taste.” Noa declared.
Conner chuckled and leaned back in his chair. Noa took her time finishing the slice of cake (her second slice, in fact). She wasin’t lying- it really was the best cake she’d ever eaten. And it was an added bonus that Conner was watching her enjoy the cake like Noa herself was the most delicious treat. Conner might be Noa’s dom, but he had always been a wonderfully doting and affectionate one. It made Noa happy to be restrained, and so Conner loved nothing more than to restrain her. And if it made Noa happy to eat cake, Noa knew Conner would bring them the best cake in the world.
When Noa was finished with her second piece they leaned back in their chair, wonderfully stuffed.
“Third best.” Noa decided firmly. The ranking was no insult, not when Conner had been carefully working on his birthday game for a decade and a half now.
Conner raised an eyebrow and pulled his lips into a sly smile. It was the sort of anticipatory, dark smile that got Noa’s hackles up. It was the look of a man who had gotten Noa something he knew she would love, but knew she wouldn’t want to accept.
“I wouldn’t lock in that ranking quite yet.” Conner said. “Not when you haven’t opened your presents.”
Noa frowned uncertainly. “You got us VIP tickets to the ballet.”
“That was an activity.” Conner corrected. “These are your presents.” And her lover reached under the table to reveal a stack of small boxes wrapped in gold paper. He shoved aside the dishes and stacked them all in front of Noa, creating a little shining tower of gifts.
Could it be jewelry? The boxes were the right size for rings or bracelets, but there were so many of them. And really, from the mischievous smugness in Conner’s eyes, Noa could only imagine the gifts were related to her extracurricular activities. But even thin lingerie took up more space than could fit in these boxes, and bondage equipment took up much more space than that. A new collar? Perhaps, but last time Conner had given them a new one, it had been an anniversary gift…
“Go on,” Conner prompted in the snappier, deeper voice Noa called his dom voice. “Open the top one.”
So Noa took the top box, peeled off the shiny paper, and cracked it open.
“What?” Noa blurted.
The small box contained dozens of tiny silver… bits. Noa took one in her fingers and turned it around. It looked almost like the bracket you might set a stone in, if it were a very tiny stone.
“Put that back in the box and put the box down.” Noa’s dom told her, and so she did just that. “Now go brush your teeth and then come back.”
Noa went and brushed her teeth, confused but excited about it the entire time. She had absolutely no idea what Conner could be getting at. It was only once Noa had returned to the dining room and sat back down in front of her gifts and that strange little box that it occurred to them.
“Are those braces?” She asked, aghast.
“Quiet.” Conner said simply. “Sit down and stay still.”
Noa sat down and stayed still. But with her eyes they searched every inch of the room for answers.
Conner had cleared away the food and dessert, leaving a clean tabletop. Several new objects had appeared alongside her presents. Most prominently was a strange, hairdryer-looking device.
“Open your mouth.” Conner instructed, and Noa opened wide. Conner reached for a plastic lip-spreader and positioned it over her lips. When he pulled away his fingers Noa was left with lips spread obscenely wide, wider even than any gag Noa had ever worn. It was a strange sensation for the ‘gag’ to pull at Noa’s lips but not their teeth, leaving her mouth open only because they lips kept them from closing it.
Conner picked up a small plastic bottle and, tooth by tooth, squeezed a small glob of what must be glue onto them. It was hard to tell exactly what he was doing, but Noa could feel the odd coolness of the thick gel-like glue on her teeth. Then, one by one, Conner used tweezers to pick up the small silver brackets and place them on Noa’s teeth.
He’s really doing it, Noa marveled. Conner’s giving me braces.
Noa had never worn braces as a child, and neither had Conner. And more importantly, neither of them had any kind of fetish for braces- not unless Conner had been holding out on Noa, which she highly doubted. Conner had confessed much stranger kinks to her over the years. Noa couldn't think of any reason for Conner to do this, and less reason for him to think this would make today the best birthday Noa had ever had.
Was this Conner’s attempt to toy with ‘publicly acceptable’ bdsm? He couldn’t gag Noa, so he’d mark her in another way?
Noa was still a bit baffled, but was admittedly intrigued. It might be fun to have some permanent metal installation of Conner’s in her mouth. To be able to run her tongue along the brackets whenever she liked and be able to feel him.
After all the brackets were in place Conner used the strange hairdryer- a blue light, it turned out- to set the glue in place.
Noa had all but forgotten the tower of other boxes, what with the odd and lengthy procedure, and the titillating drool that had started to run down their chin. But when Conner finished with the brackets, he didn’t remove the spacer from her mouth. Instead he nodded towards the stack and said, “Open the next one.”
The next box contained two lengths of wire and a set of colorful plastic bands.
Oh yeah.
Conner threaded the wire through the brackets, curving it along the arches of Noa’s teeth. Then, with all the tiny rubber bands, he secured the wires within the channels of the brackets. Conner had arranged the brackets carefully and picked a lightweight wire, clearly trying to minimize any actual change in the placement of Noa’s teeth. But there was still a very slight sense of pressure, of Noa’s teeth being pulled out of their place and into a strict new order, that nestled strangely but satisfyingly in their mouth. Noa had felt nothing before quite like it, like the subtlest sort of bondage, but it was surprisingly enjoyable.
Noa ran her tongue across her teeth, feeling out the braces. The edges of the brackets weren’t sharp, but they dug into her tongue a little. She tried to touch every part of her teeth that they could, but even many parts that weren’t covered in bracket were unreachable as Noa’s tongue struggled to get around the protrusions and the wires now trapped in her mouth.
“Stop that.” Conner chided, and reluctantly Noa put their tongue back behind her teeth. “Open the next one.”
What could possibly come next?
Noa opened the box to discover something she did recognize, though she’d never had one herself. Her older sister had worn one for several years, or something quite like it.
It was a retainer. An oddly-shaped piece of translucent pink plastic, thick in the middle and thinning out at the sides, curled along one side to rest against the back of the teeth. Where Noa’s sisters’ retainer had had wires to hug against her teeth and keep it from falling out as she slept, this retainer had several small wire pieces that seemed made to interface with brackets.
Conner took the retainer and carefully pressed it into the top of Noa’s mouth. Noa had to pull her jaw wider to fit both the retainer and Conner’s fingers in her mouth. She felt the slight stream of saliva down her chin begin to flow heavier as Conner’s fingers stretched her lips.
After fiddling for a minute to secure the retainer, Conner removed his fingers and sat back to let Noa acquaint herself with the new piece.
Noa could hardly believe how large the tiny piece of plastic was in her mouth. It had certainly looked thicker than her sister’s had been, but this was ridiculous. Where before the roof of her mouth had arched up to create a hollow space, now the top of her "mouth" was nearly flush with her gums, close behind the teeth and bulging out in the center. Noa couldn’t even imagine how huge it would feel when she was allowed to close her mouth. It seemed large enough as it was.
“Open the next one,” Conner instructed, even as Noa was still struggling to get acquainted with the newest invader in her mouth.
It was the second to last box, but Noa could hardly imagine what else could fit in her mouth without becoming so absurd Noa wouldn’t be able to wear it outside.
It was another retainer.
This one Conner secured into place along her lower jaw, hugging against her teeth and curving to avoid the base of her tongue. This retainer took up far less space than the bulky upper retainer, but it felt very strange in Noa’s mouth. It was thick along her gums, eating into the hollow space where her tongue usually rested.
“Open the last one,” Conner told her, and was Noa imagining it or was he rushing them more than he had at first? Was he as excited to see the final results as Noa was becoming?
The final box had in it two knobby rubber chains. Strips of translucent rubber as long as a finger, with small holes and channels punched all along it.
Conner took the first strip and began pressing it firmly over the upper band of Noa’s braces, securing it bracket by bracket. While Noa had somewhat recognized the previous pieces, she had never seen something quite like this before, but she could imagine it’s purpose easily enough. For somebody with especially sensitive cheeks or lips, these rubber strips probably protected them from rubbing on the brackets and wires all day. Conner only gave Noa a few seconds to get a feel for the top piece before reaching in to install the bottom one, but like with every other piece he’d put in her mouth, Noa found it felt so much larger than it had looked like it should.
Finally Conner finished pressing the rubber bumper into place and sat back with a deep, satisfied sound. And finally, gently, he placed one hand on Noa’s cheek and used the other to remove the drippy lip spacer.
“How does it feel?” Conner asked.
Noa stretched her jaw open and shut a few times to let out the tension, and then slowly closed her mouth.
Even now, thinking Noa knew what to expect, it was astonishingly claustrophobic. With her jaw completely closed there was barely enough room for their tongue. The upper retainer pressed down mercilessly, shoving Noa’s tongue down and further back in her mouth, while the lower retainer kept her tongue from settling flat. Her tongue bunched up in the back of her mouth, wedged out of the way by the plastic that now took up the majority of the space in Noa’s mouth.
Meanwhile the braces themselves, completely covered and bulked out by the strips of gummy rubber, pressed outward against Noa’s lips. Noa had no idea what they looked like, but it felt embarrassing and foolish the way that Noa could feel her lips bowing out to make space for the giant hardware. If Noa relaxed her lips completely they parted slightly at the middle. It was only with effort that Noa could close that slight gap and hide her teeth completely.
Noa opened and shut her mouth several times, imagining having to eat like this. Even aside from the nightmare of having to brush her teeth, she would have to pick the foods carefully and take small bites. With barely enough room for her tongue behind her teeth, it would be impossible to bite down on something like a sandwich.
“Thith ith fery wee-udh,” Noa said as carefully as she could, tongue tripping and slipping over the new shapes of their mouth. But even with effort, her words came out lisping and hissing, taking an unrecognizable shape. “Thith- thithhhhsss- thizzzth-“ Noa stuttered over the simple word, struggling to form it. Spittle sprayed a little from her lips, and Noa had to wipe the saliva from her wet bottom lip.
Conner, who had always loved to watch Noa try and speak through a ballgag, was unsurprisingly delighted by the new speech impediment.
“What was that?” He teased Noa.
“Fugck. Yyyou.” Noa said painstakingly, savoring the mostly-accurate words.
Conner might have spanked Noa for disrespect if this were an actual scene, but as it was Conner just grinned smugly.
“You need to see what you look like,” Conner said to Noa, “You really do.”
Conner took Noa by the hand and led her to the bathroom. Noa followed without paying the slightest bit of attention, still stretching her jaw and tonguing every new crevice in her mouth. It was bizarre but undeniably compelling, the way it was all attached to her very teeth. No straps or buckles to rub at Noa’s neck, no uncomfortable pinching at the crook of her lips where the strap dug in. Such a complex contraption, and all of it hidden inside Noa’s mouth, glued into place.
“Just look at you,” Conner murmured appreciatively, pushing her in front of the mirror.
Noa looked.
The strangest thing was that, for a moment, Noa thought nothing at all had changed. For just a moment, Noa looked into the mirror and thought, that certainly is me, and that was that.
Then Noa noticed the slight bulge of her lips, more prominent when she turned her head in profile. If one was looking for it, it was clear that Noa either had serious braces or a severe bite misalignment. But considering how obscene it felt from inside Noa’s mouth, it was amazing to think it might be missed by the casual observer.
Noa spread her lips wide and saw the wires of the braces, obscured slightly within their rubber protectors. Even with the extra wires for securing the retainers in place, it was a mouth that looked no different from thousands of teenagers' mouths right now. If Noa leaned her head far back and stared down her nose they could make out the bulge of the upper retainer. But the translucent pink color nearly disappeared in her mouth, and if Noa had glimpsed it in the mouth of a stranger on the street she wouldn’t have given it a second thought.
It seemed impossible, but the bulging, slick, wired, claustrophobic monster trapped between Noa’s teeth was nearly invisible from the outside.
“You know,” Conner murmured into her ear, laying himself across her shoulders and dragging his fingertips across Noa’s protruding lower lip, “I’ve heard a lot of adults are getting braces these days.”
Noa swallowed thickly, heat spilling down her throat and into her stomach, and out from there to ever finger and toe.
“Oh Connuh,” Noa slurred blissfully, “It’th fff-ffp-perfect.”