A Night at The Stead

After the lecture about the history of Paramount Records last Friday, I zipped over to The Dulcinea's place to fetch her. When I walked in the door, she was readying herself for our night out. She takes our visits to The Stead very seriously as as evidenced by the make-up she applies for those occasions but she rarely wears it otherwise. It was a full moon as we jumped into my car and made our way to a "play party" at The Stead. It was, I guess, our second time, though this one was to be more free-form than the last. Whereas our previous venture centered around a group of us watching a couple shibari DVDs, last week was billed as just getting together and having fun however you may please.

We arrived at 9 or thereabouts only to find GD in media res of dominating a young woman. There were a few new faces there - Q, N, and B. I'd brought some Polish beer that I'd got in Chicago as well as a stray Sprecher that had been sitting in the back of our refrigerator. N noticed the Sprecher and took to it like a junkie to the needle. N is slender fellow probably in his mid-20s. We began chatting a bit and discovered that he's a homebrewer. This proved an icebreaker as it immediately gave us something to talk about. After a while, I returned to The Dulcinea and he to his partner, B. It had been a pretty busy week and, with beer in hand, I relayed to The D some of things that had happened in the past few days. One of them was to help out a woman here at work, A, who had been a man only a few months ago. While I never really knew A when she was a man, I'd been to lunch with him once and chatted a couple times. He was in his early 20s and had a very youthful, active demeanor. Having changed gender, the new A was quite a study in contrast. She was very calm and mellow. His slightly reckless youthful vigor and been transmogrified into an air of calm maturity. B overheard our conversation and joined in. Just as N and I found common ground with beer, The D and B got along very well from the get-go.

As the four of us got acquainted, GD was plying his trade. He had the woman bent over a table propping herself up a bit on her forearms. With her top having slipped down, her breasts hung free. She was very beautiful with her pale skin and long dark hair. Her chest shuddered as he pulled her arms back in position for tying. She had an extraordinary look on her face - half pain, half pleasure. Curiously enough, I found that she looked familiar to me. Perhaps she had been a barista at a coffeehouse I used to frequent or a clerk at a store where I occasionally shopped.

The four of us took to the living room with our drinks. The D and I chatted with N and B while J and another gentleman whose name I cannot recall talked amongst themselves. N and B had recently become parents so that became a topic of conversation as well as their identification as being poly. Meanwhile, R and Q, a woman whom I hadn't met previously, took to the play room. Going to the bathroom means traversing it and trying to stay out of the way of the folks having fun. On my first run to the head, GD was continuing his domination of the unnamed woman while R was shaving Q's legs. I felt a bit like Bill Harford in the orgy scene in Eyes Wide Shut. Granted, it was a different scenario but, being a big Kubrick fan, my mind tries to connect my experiences with his films.

On my second trip to the loo, GD had the woman pressed up against a column with her arms tied to a bar above her. R had apparently finished shaving and was lovingly applying lotion to Q's legs. I asked if I could take a seat and was given permission. It was nice because Q was very friendly and open. She had just finished getting her degree and was in the process of regaining a social life. Coming to the play party and having her legs shaved and massaged was the first step. Another reason for me to like Q was that she liked my argyle socks. I've had a thing for argyle since high school and she said that they're making a comeback. I guess fashion truly is cyclical.

Back in the living room, I found that Ikenie fujin (Wife to be Sacrificed) was playing. It was a nice letterboxed version. This poor woman suffered scene after scene of abuse. The one that sticks out in my mind now is the one where this seedy-looking guy pours candlewax on her naughty bits. Yikes! During this time, GD and his playmate finished and then joined us. GD looked a bit disheveled while the woman looked exhausted. I'm not surprised.

Then it was our turn. I grabbed The Dulcinea's hand and led her to a bed which was in the corner of the play room. She had been a bad girl earlier in the week and her behavior required punishment...