A post in which we quell a near riot, and I get a surprise offer

I woke up before everyone else, as usual, and moseyed on over to the lodge for some coffee and a smoke. Usually breakfast is pretty lean for me at the camp out, but Babbette had very thoughtfully prepared some veggie gravy for me. I had a capital repast of biscuits, gravy, eggs, and juice. Super!

We talked and visited until the vending opened at 11. Gene had brought paddles, and there was a great paddle that matched my set, which I immediately laid claim to. Gene made me a great price on it. He’s such a nice guy. I know part of that was my “carrot cake discount”, which was fine with me.

There was a flogging class that Archer was teaching about 6-count flogging. It was interesting. I kind of wanted to learn, but I didn’t feel comfortable asking for the loan of floggers, even though they were freely offered. A good matched set of floggers can easily run $300-$500, and I just didn’t want the responsibility of possibly damaging something like that. Rob was in the class. Rob already does Florentine (two-handed) flogging, but he does 4-count, which is less complicated. He was hitting one of the crosses, so I offered to be demo for him. After a bit of a rough beginning (which is only to be expected) he seemed to settle into the rhythm and be getting it.

There was one guy in the class though, that was getting on my nerves so badly I had to leave after Rob was done with me. He was standing there whirling his floggers in 4-count flogging, basically showing off and showing how fast he could go, without even trying to learn what Archer was teaching. I didn’t know why he was in the class, but he was wearing me out. Archer is very experienced, and you can learn a lot from him. It’s a great opportunity to learn from someone like Archer, who was doing this to give back to the community. The way this guy was acting seemed very disrespectful to me. This is the same guy who was learning 4-count at spring. He spent a lot of time that weekend whacking the pads on the crosses, over and over, by himself. At one point I had asked him if he wanted to hit a person (hitting hard things with floggers can damage them), but he declined. I found out later he’s very homophobic, and will only play with girls (although I have yet to see a woman take him up on it). I was just going to demo for him - I wasn't asking the guy to marry me. But anyway, that’s his life.

We ate some lunch (they made veggie chili for me – yay!), and visited for a while, and I went on a little stroll with Russ. When we got back to the cabin, I decided to try to get a nap in before dinner. I can almost never sleep at the camp out. There is so much energy flying around that the atmosphere is just charged. I did manage to doze off for 45 minutes or so, but people were coming and going, and I didn’t really sleep.

We got ready in time to go over to the banquet for dinner. I did the dessert run-down during the announcements, and that was the first real inkling I had that there was a problem brewing. I of all people should not at this point be surprised by the extreme visceral response provoked by certain dishes. When I announced that I had made a homemade carrot cake, people started calling dibs on slices. I had made the cake for Gene, so I decreed that Gene had to have a piece. I then went in to start slicing desserts, to find that my second chocolate chess pie hadn’t set either! Like one of the easiest pies ever and I somehow screwed up two of them this week! I was over it. I couldn’t not serve it because I had already announced that it was being served. Plus it was one of my two chocolate desserts this time. I always try to take care of my chocolate people. There was nothing to do but put it on out. I was very embarrassed and pretty upset, but I knew it had to be served.

After dinner I went in to serve dessert. Usually we wait until dessert is announced to begin serving. Otherwise some things will get gone before they are served; people will be hoarding desserts, etc. Everyone started yelling about the carrot cake – we had a situation. I was afraid people were going to start fighting over this cake! One Domme offered me $200 for it on the spot (of course it wasn't mine to sell, it belonged to LOCK). Russ stepped in to preserve order. He assigned each table a number, and drew numbers at random for the tables to go up one at a time. I went ahead and got a piece of carrot cake for Gene, served it to him at his table, and went outside to have a smoke and a little break.

When I went back in things seemed to be going smoothly. I accepted compliments (which I live for – the LOCK group are the most appreciative people I cook for), and went up to the table to see how things were going. We were between tables being called. I noticed that a very shy submissive was up there getting a piece of the carrot cake. Thinking that she may have been outside when the numbers system was announced, I went up and explained to her that she shouldn’t be up there before her table. She was clearly upset. Her Domme had told her not to come back to the table without a piece of that cake. If it had been anyone else, I would have said something to Russ, but have a soft place for this girl and didn’t want to get her in trouble. I let her go ahead and take it. The breach of etiquette was really on her Domme’s part anyway. She wasn’t more important than any of the other Dommes there, and what was to stop them all from sending their subs to the table? I was a bit put out over that.

Everything was scarfed up except for the pumpkin squares, a few of which made it through to breakfast the next day. It was too close to Thanksgiving, and not that many people are crazy about pumpkin. That was a risk I consciously took, because pumpkin fit in with my ‘fall bounty’ theme. The people that like pumpkin were very enthusiastic about them (Dee loved them, so I was glad I made them for that reason alone), but they weren’t all eaten. I won’t do any more pumpkin stuff for the camp out. Even the half-set chocolate pie was devoured – I should have known my chocolate people would eat it. I did have a bite off of Joanne’s piece, and it did taste great; it just looked kind of goopy. I had a bite of the apple pie too, and my crust was not tough, as I had feared. Mikah particularly enjoyed it. I had a bite of pound cake also, and it turned out good – that is a great recipe. There was one little sliver left when I went up there, and I just cut a bit off of it.

Gene later told me that mine was the best carrot cake he had ever eaten - including his grandmother's. I took that as high praise indeed since that is his favorite dessert. His wife later told me that they were talking about it, and he had mentioned that he wanted me to make one just for him because he only got one piece of this one. They live up in North Carolina. "Would you come all the way down here just to get a cake?" She asked him. "If he made me a cake like that every weekend, I'd marry him." he replied. I fucking live for that shit.

Then it was time to clear up and get ready for play time. Also, there was a cabin-decorating contest. Only two cabins had been decorated, but I wanted to see what they had done. I tagged along behind the judges. Carmina and Adder were rooming with Dee and his lovely new girlfriend Meg. They had decorated inside and out, had a fog machine, lights, etc. When we went inside, they had Meg tied to the bed and were doing a needle-play scene on her. Dee and Carmina were dressed up like demented doctors. It was way cool. The second cabin was a new group of folks. They hadn’t done the inside, but had one of the girls in saran-wrap mummification on a massage table on the front porch. Also cool.

After the judging we headed back to the dungeon. Russ had a heavy evening planned – two erotic shavings and some sound play he was going to set up and demo for another Domme. But there was a problem. A group of new folks in on a day pass had set up a scene in the dungeon. That wasn’t the issue. It’s a communal play space and everyone can play – that’s part of what you pay for. They were doing a spanking scene that just went on and on and on. That wasn’t the problem. There is a certain courtesy involved in not tying up a piece of equipment all evening when people are waiting to play, but the LOCK group is generally pretty good about that kind of thing. They don’t set up a ‘max time’ or anything like that. Scenes tend to be fairly organic, and sometimes you have to go where they take you. The problem was that the girl being spanked was SCREAMING HER HEAD OFF for about an hour and a half straight.

‘OWIEOWIEOWIEOWIEOWIEOWIEOUCHOUCHOUCHITHURTSITHURTSITHURTS!!!’ On and on and on – in a LOUD, shrill, grating, high-pitched little-girl voice. To make it more annoying, he didn't seem to be really doing that much to her - her ass was still as white as cream cheese (and after this week I know that color, frankly), and her back was barely pink (she did have a few marks on her back by the end of the scene). Russ was doing the shaving and sound play scene at the time that I wanted to see, but the din was so awful and distracting that I just couldn’t enjoy it. I had to go outside. The guy Russ was playing with lost his headspace and wasn’t enjoying the scene. To top things off, they started doing some kind of chasing thing through the dungeon and bumped Russ’s station twice – while he was working with a straight razor on this guy's crotch. He was so disgusted he ended the scene and left the dungeon. He canceled his other stuff was pretty pissed off about it. Carmina and Adder were doing a very intense cutting scene, but as into each other as they were they couldn’t maintain headspace in such an atmosphere. There was another group of people sitting near them, having a conversation that got louder and louder as ‘Screaming Meme’ ramped up. When they entered Carmina’s space while she was wielding a scalpel, she was so pissed she threw a chair at them. Carmina is not to be fucked with, which is one of the reasons I adore her. She and Adder left the dungeon too.

Since play was out, a little disgruntled knot of us kind of conglomerated in front of the lodge and went up the hill to smoke. Russ was in high dudgeon, and not unjustifiably. The Saturday night banquet and play party is the heart of the camp out. To have it spoiled in such a way was very disappointing. This is the problem with a public group like LOCK. LOCK fosters new people. It’s an entryway into the community. That’s a noble thing and service to the community. But because of that you have to put up with new people who haven’t come up through the ranks in the old way. They haven’t been taught protocol, respect, or manners. The majority of new people come from the internet where they have been playing virtually online and think they know everything already. The internet can be a valuable tool, and you can learn a lot there, but as with most things you have to actually do it to know about it. Learning BDSM online is the equivalent of being home-schooled. When you finally get out into the real world, there are some social adjustments you’re going to have to make.

After a vigorous gripe session on the hill, we drifted back down to the lodge. There was a guy there named Russ (another Russ), that I had spent some time with this weekend. I had met him and his wife at other events and they’re always very nice to me, but she couldn’t come this time. He had mentioned wanting to play, but at this point I had just written it off. I was pretty bummed because it looked like I wasn’t going to get to play this weekend. It was getting late, and I felt like I was too tired to do a scene.

We sat talking as people started drifting to bed. The banshee scene was finally over and other people had moved through and played finally, but it was late. Rob walked up and started talking to us, and asked if I wanted to play. I said sure, but didn’t really think it would happen. Rob is straight, and although he plays with Mikah, I didn’t think he would really be that into playing with me. Plus I was a little unsure of what the energy would be like. I am sexually attracted to Rob, and I didn’t know how comfortable he would be with that, and how it would affect the energy between us. We haven’t played before. I figured he was just trying to be nice. He is a hell of a nice guy. So I just kind of let it lie, and continued sitting and talking.

But he was serious. Eventually, he walked over, reached down, and said “Come on. Get up. We’re going to do this.” OK. I wasn’t going to say no. I went in and we talked a bit. Rob has seen me play before. He knows what I like, and approximately what my limits are. Rob isn’t a Dom – which is sometimes just fine. Sometimes I find protocol a distraction, because sometimes you just want a whoopin. I told him that I might need a bit more warm-up than usual. K had hit me with my new paddle this afternoon, and a bit harder than I had thought she would. I was feeling a bit bruisy.

Rob spent a long time warming me up. Which can be a good thing. By the time he was really ready to go, I was ready to beg for it. I really needed this. This was the first time we had played, and he really didn’t push my limits, but he did a good job of establishing head space. I didn’t really have to work at it, it was just there. He was also a lot more comfortable playing with a guy than I expected. He wasn’t afraid to get up close, touch, and be tender when he was giving me a break. That was really nice. He didn’t spend as much time on my ass as I like – I really like my ass beat – but that’s because he’s used to playing with Joanne, and she can’t take a lot on her ass. She does like to be flogged on her lower back though, oddly. That’s an area you usually avoid. I knew he couldn’t really hurt me with a flogger, but eventually it got to the point that it was interfering with my headspace. I had to say something. That’s a lot easier with a top than it is with a Dom, and another reason why it’s good to play with a top sometimes, but I hate to stop a scene. I waited until I really didn’t have a choice. He did warm up to hitting me on my shoulders though. That’s another area Joanne has problems with, but I really love to be worked there. Eventually, he put two floggers in one hand and just went at it with deep thuds. That was great!

He also surprised me, which I love. Usually a top will throw a few false throws, to keep you on your toes, and to rest a bit. They throw the flogger at your back but don’t make contact. Rob had this thing where he did that repeatedly, enough that it kind of set up a wind going by me. Almost instantly, my headspace became that I was a dry leaf skittering over a frozen pond – wheeeeee. I was off to the races. That was really cool.

He didn’t give me all I wanted, but then I tend to ask for more than I can take so that was good. He knew when I was done. We both were I think. We had been at it for a while, and he had worked up a sweat. When I got down off the cross, I got down on my knees in preparation for kissing his feet. It’s my ‘thank you’ thing. It feels right to me and properly respectful. But Rob isn’t used to that, because Joanne isn’t submissive at all. When I got down on my knees, Rob got down on his knees with me. It was so sweet. I was touched.

So it ended up being a lovely evening, and I got to dance at the ball after all. We sat out on the porch for a while. I wanted to enjoy that lovely, drifty, post-scene feeling. We eventually wandered over to the cabin. I went to bed quite content, my back buzzing pleasantly. Ah, the camp out. Good times.