diversified | Blessed by light and burden of shadows. [ closed ]

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Blessed by light and burden of shadows. [ closed ]

WHO Shannon Vaughn (

privatematter), Eli Delacroix (

aspectional).
WHAT Eli is an idiot; Shannon is curious. How exactly does D/s go down when you're not to the Having Sex stage in the relationship yet?
WHEN Late 1990. Seven months after Jumpscapades.
WHERE Shannon's place.

Shannon was anxious. Not in a bad way, but the anticipatory way that everyone got when something new and exciting was going up and there was no way it could go badly, but predicting the end outcome was almost impossible. It was a great feeling, but one that left Shannon feeling like a teen heading out to prom instead of a grown man getting ready to have fun with his boyfriend and potentially make some hilariously heartfelt gestures to express his trust in Eli. That was probably something he didn't do enough in general, actually.

Breakfast had been something simple. Pancakes, fresh cut fruit and sausage. Eli had come over pretty early to get ready, talking over the generalities of what they were going to do while the specifics were to wait for after they were done. Well, now they were done and sitting on the couch, and Shannon's leg was jiggling even under the hand he had placed on his knee to keep himself still. Lacey had wandered off after breakfast, stomach filled with her own food and presumably was napping on the foot of the bed in Shannon's room. Probably for the better, really.

"So," he said, ignoring the obvious tell he was giving off. If Eli took it for misapprehension, then Shannon was going to definitely lean over and smack him. "Where do we start?"

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It was one of those things that seemed obvious in hindsight, but never really mentioned at the time and Eli was the one wearing a confused expression even though Shannon couldn't see it. "Huh, I've never really mentioned it to you, have I? Anything artistic and I'll dabble in it. Drawing, painting, sculpting. You name it and I've probably done it at some point. I incorporate it into my sessions, though usually by using my sub as a canvas instead of sketching him."

He reached over and petted his hair for a moment while smiling. "I'm glad to hear that. I'll make sure this is something you enjoy as well."

It probably was obvious to anyone else who knew Eli, but Shannon had never gained that sort of input from Eli's hobbies. One of those things that was understood without being spoken about except for those who couldn't see the hobby in the first place. It was intriguing, especially the idea of becoming a full-body canvas for Eli to create upon. He could understand why they were just using paper and pencil this time, however. That sounded advanced, at the least.

Shannon gratefully tipped his head into the hand at his hair, enjoying the sensation running through him from the attention. His shoulders relaxed and his hands automatically attempted to come up to pull Eli closer to him. When the binding merely jingled and kept his hands close, he huffed in frustration and instead let them drop to his lap where he let his hands flex with the motion. "Already enjoying," he murmured softly. Not that Eli could draw one-handed like this, but Shannon was definitely falling into this moment.

His artistic abilities were pretty obvious to someone who could see, as most of the times Shannon thought Eli was writing away with a pencil was him merely sketching things and people around him out of boredom or merely to improve himself. It had never dawned on him to tell Shannon about this specific hobby, though he will definitely make sure not to repeat that mistake in the future.

While Eli could draw with his right hand occupied, it definitely wasn't ideal,but he wouldn't pull away just yet. Letting out a soft huff of laughter, he rested his forehead on Shannon's shoulder while his hand moved out of his hair and onto his neck. He then started scratching lightly down his neck and spine with a finger all the way down to his underwear and stopped. "Of course you are. I was petting your hair." There was definite amusement in his voice as he spoke. "Now answer a question for me: why do you think I'm making you kneel for me?"

As the hand shifted out of his hair, Shannon leaned the side of his head against Eli's. He exhaled softly and let the sensation echo down his spine, shuddering just slightly. It was good; even if he couldn't reciprocate with his hands bound, he wanted to make sure he didn't repress his responses.

There was a noticeable pause when Eli asked his question. Was there more to it than tradition? Definitely could be. Eli had a way with ignoring tradition if it meant doing something that made more sense over it. "Part of it's a lesson," he mused slowly. His thoughts weren't coming as quick as he'd like. "But... do you like it? Or... height difference is a good way to maintain power."

"Close, but you're not quite there yet," he said, his voice light and still carrying that air of amusement. It was a right answer and even with his brain fuzzy from headpetting, he was still getting the idea. The Dom part of Eli was definitely pleased with that. "Being on your knees is a sign of submission. Height difference is a part of it, but another part is how unprotected you are in that position."

Pulling back from Shannon, Eli moved to his feet and bent down so that he could move his chin up, exposing his neck for him. He placed a finger against his carotid artery like it was a knife. "I could hurt you right now, but I wouldn't and you know that. While you're in an exposed position like this, it's my job to keep you safe." This entire time, his voice is gentle and soothing, finally moving his fingers away to push his chin down so that he would be facing the floor. "Body language is important to us. If you hold your head up high, it can be taken as a sign of defiance, while if you keep your head down, it's a sign of acceptance and obedience."

So it was still all about kneeling being a lesson. Only Eli was adding layers to it that Shannon had not at all considered previously, the importance of what it meant for someone to willingly place themselves in a defenseless position for the empowerment of the Dom. It was about trust, which Shannon already knew, and it was about maintaining the status quo to facilitate instinct. Not that his actual thoughts were nearly so coherent, but he was getting the general idea as Eli demonstrated what he could, but would not, do to his sub.

"Body language isn't my strong point," he said. That was an understatement. He could read voices and understand the state of a muscle under his hand if he were that close to someone, but the tale told in someone's minute movements were lost on him. He could never make use of them, although he had learned how to make some of the more common gestures when appropriate to better get his own points across. As if it needed to be said, as if he needed to make sure Eli knew despite the understanding and comforting tone of voice he was using, Shannon added, "I can't read yours."

"I know that this is something of a weakness for you," he answered, his tone still understanding and comforting because he was aware of this before. It was something he had to plan around and hoping he was doing so successfully. "I can teach you how the body language you need to express and I will learn another way to convey mine to you."

He tilted Shannon's head back up to kiss his forehead gently and pet the side of his face affectionately. Positive reinforcement was definitely something that would work with him in the long run and was enjoyable for the both of them. It was better that punishing him over every mistake when he could achieve the same result painlessly. Well, somewhat painlessly. "I wouldn't bring something up if I didn't believe you were capable."

For the lack of condemnation, Shannon smiled. Under Eli's attentions, he did feel safe. Most of his hesitation came from worry of not knowing what to do. It was a learning process, one meant for those with all of their senses in order to know how to react to any one situation. Having most of his control taken away meant that his common avenues for deducing what people wanted of him took a nosedive; his autonomy was a major part of his perception, the ability to move and feel and take things in from different angles until he could put it all together. That Eli was aware of what they needed to work around gave Shannon enough reassurance to keep going until they could find their balancing point.

He hummed softly at the affection, raising himself off his heels just enough to press closer to Eli. It was a precarious placement, but he needed to learn how to manage such balance, right? "Keep my head down. And kneel. Don't speak?"

At Shannon's smile, Eli couldn't help but smile back. Theirs was definitely a work of progress, but if they went through it together, they would be able to figure out something that worked for them. Both were stubborn enough to make it work if that was what they truly wanted.

"You are allowed to speak," he responded with slight amusement. That wasn't one of the rules at the beginning of this session, but instead the one previous. It wasn't a surprise that it had resonated with Shannon the strongest, knowing how verbal he could be. "The rule not to was only for the first session since I was trying to remove all of your control."

"That's not the norm?" he asked. By the relieved slump of his shoulders, it was obvious Shannon had expected his verbosity to get him in trouble over the course of their future scenes. There were a lot of things Shannon could do and learn, but keeping quiet when he had something to say was going to be the most difficult among them. If Eli wasn't expecting him to hold his tongue, then he could relax more easily and give a bit more thought to his tone instead.

His head tilted as he considered that. "You're not doing that now," he noted. They had certainly gone a bit too far last time, but if the idea wasn't to pull Shannon back under like that, then... they were just going to be like this for a while?

"It's not," he answered. If it was, there would definitely be a lot more issues in the community than there were. "Being in a D/s relationship involves a lot of communication and if you cut that off, then misunderstandings can happen. Besides, I like your voice. Why would I want to make you not talk when we're like this?"

That made him laugh softly, amused by what he said. "Do I really need to? I have you right where I want you."

"Rest your ears?" Shannon suggested impishly. It was a good point that Eli made, which was why he didn't give a serious response. Being able to speak was definitely a plus. It meant he could ask questions or express opinions on whatever Eli was doing. It meant he could tease.

Shannon grinned to that. If this was how Eli wanted the afternoon to go, then he wasn't going to complain. Especially since the pressure on his knees was being mitigated by the cushion and he could probably stay as he was for quite a while to come. "Bound up on the floor in my living room, wearing nothing but my boxers?"

"I know plenty of ways to keep you quiet that don't involved ordering you into silence," Eli said teasingly as he sat down in front of him, grabbing his pencil and sketchpad once again so that he could start drawing.

There was a moment of silence, almost as if he was seriously thinking about this. He really wasn't and started to draw almost absentmindedly. "Mmhm. You're mine and thats how I like to see you. I think you look wonderful like this."

When Eli began to draw, Shannon shifted as if to get in a better position to listen to the pencil against the paper. It was the closest thing he could do to watching the progress as lead turned into lines turned into image. He wondered if Eli was good at it, if it was a hobby or a talent. He wondered if Eli was the type to show his creations off or simply keep them to himself as something accomplished and nothing more. "You've had practice," he remarked somewhat belatedly.

"If you say so," he agreed. It seemed a little ridiculous when looked at objectively, but how was he supposed to know what the appearance really meant to someone? On the other hand, he recalled what Eli said earlier. "But I'd look better in leather."

It was a natural talent more than anything he learned. Where Alexis had been into music, Eli went towards the visual arts instead. He glanced up at Shannon and frowned. "Don't move. I need you to be still while I'm doing this."

There was a soft hum of agreement as he listened to Shannon's response and drew, the pencil strokes being definitely audible for him. "Leather would be good on you. The best would be your body bound up by rope and suspending you from the ceiling. Or you covered in paint or wax as I turn your body into my canvas."

Shannon stiffened for a moment, then let himself relax into the most natural pose he could find and knew that he could hold. It was all new to him, but once he settled, he was sure he could stay there for a decent amount of time. Hopefully Eli wouldn't take excruciatingly long or anything. "Sorry, sir."

"Hanging from the ceiling?" asked Shannon, clearly baffled. How was that even supposed to work? It just sounded completely foreign and bizarre. His mind turned to what else Eli said, and he had to remind himself not to move in order to not share an amused look with Eli. "Wax? Like candle wax?"

"Much better. Stay relaxed like that. It'll be easier on you in the long run," stated Eli distractedly. He knew Shannon wasn't the most patient of people and that he'd have to give him a distraction. Well, that wouldn't be too hard.

"Yes, with the only things keeping you from falling are the ropes I put on you and me holding the rigging," he answered with a soft smile like he was imagining Shannon in it in his head. It was definitely something Eli wanted to try in the future. "Softer wax than a candle's because lower melting temperature, but that's the concept. Not only can you make patterns with the wax itself, but when you remove it, the skin is highly sensitized."

Not hard at all. The images Eli provided with his idea of artistic expressions via Shannon Vaughn's body definitely got his mind working in different directions than how he was currently sitting. He thought about it, hanging from some elaborate contraption, ropes biting into his clothes and skin with no sense of height or direction. Literally hanging on Eli's word. It was strangely soothing of a thought, not the same as being lost in the middle of his own home, allowing himself to be manipulated until Eli was satisfied with the presentation.

"Sensitized," he repeated, mulling that one over, too. Heat never bothered Shannon, although he hadn't realized the extent of why or how far it could go until a few years ago, but the idea of hot wax cooling on his skin and letting it create something that even Shannon could experience was somewhat intoxicating. That sounded fantastic. "Can we do that?"

He may have sounded distracted, but he was definitely still keeping himself focused on Shannon completely, even when he was looking away from him to sketch him. So he noticed that there was a slight difference in Shannon when he stopped thinking about what they were doing and instead started thinking about what they were discussing. It was enough to make Eli smile, definitely pleased that the distraction was working.

"That's right. Just imagine how leather would feel after that." He tilted his head and studied him to see how he would respond to that. Hopefully that was the right thing to distract him well enough. "Not this time, but in the future yes. I didn't bring any wax with me to use on you."

Ghosts of physical sensation rolled through his mind as Shannon tried to synthesize the experience with nothing but his imagination. Even that facsimile was enough to inspire a small shudder through Shannon's frame and he took a deep breath in response. Yes, he definitely liked the sound of that. It seemed positively electric in response to what they were doing now, simply sitting and talking as nothing actually happened between them in the growing moments. Part of him wondered if that was the point, using words to entice without actually engaging in order to see how well Shannon reacted without the chance of such a reaction as the week before.

"Do they come in scents?" If not, Shannon considered donating his own candles and incense to cause. Although he was sparing with it, use of smell in proper doses tended to calm him and helped him get over particularly nasty headaches. They were a good way to fill his head when he couldn't stand his thoughts getting in the way. Speaking of which, he was still going over the other option presented. How would that work out? "Or... what's this about ropes?"

At seeing Shannon shudder at the thought of leather against sensitized skin, Eli felt the urge to reach out and touch his skin, to feel the muscles twitch and relax underneath his touch. It was a small sign that Eli was getting to Shannon and he wanted to see more of that come out. He kept himself restrained, knowing that if he got too greedy, he could push things too far again and he didn't want that.

"I imagine they do, but the ones I have aren't scented," he answered easily, thinking back to his own supplies at home. Scent was a big thing for Eli thanks to his Aspect memories, but he never truly brought it into play since most humans didn't really pay attention. He'd have to remind himself yet again that Shannon wasn't most people and that he'd need to pay attention to all of his other senses during these scenes. "The ropes? Oh, I practice something called shibari, which is Japanese suspension bondage. It's not really a thing here yet, but I imagine it will be eventually."

Despite the thoughts still swirling around in his head, yet to come to rest as they rarely did, Shannon did seem to be relaxing. His body was falling into a lull as he remained still and in a position that it rarely held, hands useless in his lap and no reason to follow any other activity. There was nothing else aside from the two of them. There was almost some kind of bubble forming around them in his mind, something filled with a quiet contentment in the space between them.

"We could use my candles," he suggested. Scenes would be a rare enough occasion that they wouldn't lose their shine, but still found more of a use than he currently had for them. Maybe they could pick something out they both liked later on. "Shibari... Is that like Aibou?" Some kind of pun? He couldn't help it; now when Eli spoke of Japanese anything, he wondered as possible wordplay in the language he couldn't comprehend.

That was definitely a good thing, Shannon relaxing. It made Eli's job as a Dom easier in the long run if he was calm and willing and since Shannon was already one, the other happening would definitely be an improvement for the scene.

"Since your Aspect is fire, I imagine we'd have less issues with burns from the higher temperature the wax would have to be to melt," Eli said thoughtfully, truly thinking on it. He wasn't even sure at this point if Shannon could actually burn from heat. "Not really. It's merely the word that means "to bind" or "to tie" in Japanese. There's no sort of wordplay to it."

That earned Eli some genuine consideration. "Don't think I've ever burned," he said slowly. It wasn't as if he had gone out and tried, but for all the cautiousness that he lived his life in, there was a distinct lack of heat-related accidents at all. It should have been suspicious before, when he'd thought himself just a regular guy, but he had always been just a bit beyond regular when it came to heat-related matters, anyway. His lips twitched into a smile, mind wandering back to those hypothetical sensations. "Does that mean we could try?"

Humming in clear amusement, he said, "That sounds awkward. How do you work that into a sentence without sounding like you're hitting on somebody?" Either he was missing something to the Japanese language (likely) or they were simply immune to innuendo of any sort. He wanted to believe no language was completely immune, really. It made life better that way.

"Yes, that means we can try it, but not today. Right now we're working on patience and kneeling," he said with some amusement. Without even looking up from his sketchpad, he reached out with his powers to make it feel like to Shannon that Eli had placed both hands onto his shoulders and slid them up to cup the sides of his face gently.

With a soft laugh, Eli shook his head and glanced up at him. "Japanese is a language that relies on context, so while the word may have a sexual connotation in one conversation, it can be relatively mundane in another. It's not as common in English, but we have it as well."

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