Conflicted Bliss in Code and Candles

I'm a software engineer who's been working long hours on a major project. I also have this DDLG relationship with my Dom, Alex, where I take on the role of a little for him. He’s always supportive of me in both aspects, work and play, but last week threw everything off balance. I was deep into debugging some stubborn code when Alex texted to ask if I could come over after work because he wanted to do something special tonight. I didn't know what it would be, but being his little meant that anticipation alone gave me butterflies and made me practically bounce in my seat at the thought of it. After finally finishing up for the day around 8 PM, I rushed home to get ready as Alex had requested, short pajamas with a plush toy in hand. As soon as he opened the door, his eyes lit up seeing how prepared I was. He led me into another room where everything looked set up like a small play space complete with a little chair and table decorated with stuffed animals. There was also a collection of candles placed carefully around our setup, giving off an intimate glow that made the whole scene feel extra special and private. We cuddled for a while in front of this cozy tableau, both of us basking in each other's presence without words needing to be said. It felt like there couldn't possibly be anything better than this moment. But then Alex mentioned he wanted to give me some time-outs as his little today. This wasn't the norm for our play and it threw me a bit off guard, but I trusted him completely, so I let myself go with whatever direction this night would take us. For each time-out, there was a candle we had to blow out before we resumed playing together. It created a rhythm of breaking away from one another then coming back again. After the second time-out though, as Alex set me down for my little corner chair and pulled away, it hit me hard that this felt less like fun playtime and more like punishment for something. I didn't know what I had done wrong or if I even had done anything at all, just that he seemed distant after blowing out the second candle. It left me feeling confused, wondering whether there was an unspoken rule I'd broken somewhere along the way or just overthinking things too much in my head. The next few time-outs felt more forced than enjoyable for both of us. Eventually, we switched gears to cuddle again and wrapped up the evening with a movie together. Since then, I've been trying to figure out if it was me projecting adult worries onto our play or if maybe there's something beneath Alex’s surface that needs addressing too. Either way, it left me questioning whether this dynamic truly serves both of us equally well in all situations.