Image courtesy ArtToday.com

That First Serve

(or Do the knees ever stop knocking?)

(At the very start of this article, a girl must explain that she has phrased some of her comments in a rather "tongue-in-cheek" manner, in an effort to increase the readability of a long article. Speaking very seriously, the focus of a slave's serve should be on the One she is serving, and not on herself. her main goal is to be pleasing, not to attract attention or to derive pleasure for herself. Now, although a slave's needs and desires should not be foremost, they DO exist. It is very normal for a slave to wish to be owned, and to take steps to ensure that she attracts the attention of a Master whom she can serve with love. she should NOT, however, make that her entire focus.)

So, you've learned some of the basic slave positions. You have written a nadu that knocks the socks off of every Master in the room when you enter. (Oh, yeah, Masters don't wear socks!) You know how to enter a room with grace and style, and can tell the Masters from the Free Women without a cheat sheet. You've made yourself a home-away-from-home in a Gorean tavern, and have knelt there every evening for the last two weeks paying close attention to everything that goes on.

Then, all of a sudden, Master X looks in your direction. Uh oh, you think, and you find a very interesting spot on the floor to study. But, here it comes. "Slave, paga, hot." you look around in a panic; you're not ready for this!

you stammer, "This girl has never served before, Master."

But, instead of saying, "Oh, well then, never mind," like you had prayed He would, Master X says, "Then there's a first time for everything, slave. Now, har-ta!" (you quickly look in your Gorean dictionary and see that har-ta means fast.) Now your hands start shaking and your knees start knocking, but you get up from the furs and hesitantly make your way toward the servery. Hopefully, you've prepared yourself for this moment.

As you knelt there in that tavern, night after night, and watched the other slaves serve their little fannies off, you undoubtedly noticed that each serve had a certain pattern to it. Even though different drinks were served by different slaves, they all had a similar rhythm to them.

The basic steps that are common to many Gorean serves (or that should be) are as follows:

1. Approach the Master and offer service (Of course, since Master X called out to you and told you what He wanted, you can pretty well skip this step.) But, often, a Master wll simply state that He wants you to serve Him, and it's up to you to approach Him and find out what He wants. Or, He's looked around and hinted that He's thirsty, or possibly asked who is available to serve? Or, you think He's just awfully gosh-darn sexy, and you'd give anything to kneel at His feet for a few minutes. Or, you don't want to appear lazy by kneeling around with nothing to do, so you jump to your feet and offer service like the good little kajira you are.

2. Leave the Master and approach the servery--Oh, here's another chance to show the Master how beautiful you are, how your little derrierre wiggles invitingly as you walk away from Him, how the light from the torches dances on your smooth silken flesh. It also shows you've been paying attention and know where the servery is, and where things are stored. And, what's most important, most Masters just plain enjoy watching the show. (Speaking seriously now -- you should have paid attention to what kind of serve the Master found pleasing...a short and to-the-point serve, or a long and detailed one. Because, in the end, it's His pleasure that counts, not your pride.)

3. Locate the appropriate drinking vessel, clean it, and test it--Once again, here's a chance to show that you've been carefully studying the layout of the tavern and know where the different serving vessels are stored. you also can demonstrate that you know ka-la-na is served in a goblet, and mead in a bosk horn, and so on.

So, you find a nice bowl to serve Master X His paga in. Hopefully, the slave who put it away washed it first. But it is now your task to show the Master that you're not satisfied, that you want to be sure that the bowl is spotless for Him. you can clean the bowl in any number of ways--use a clean rep cloth that always seems to be handy just when you need it most, or use the hem of your garment (if you're fortunate enough to be allowed clothing), or you can use what nature gave you--your hair. Yes, those long silky golden locks that you washed so carefully before you entered the tavern. Now, be sure that the bowl is absolutely spotless.

After this, comes the job of inspecting the bowl to make sure that there aren't any splinters, nicks, or chips that might harm Master X's mouth when He drinks. Yes, you're sure that the Owner of this fine establishment would never own anything that was less than perfect. But it is still up to you to check it. Now, how do you do that? Well, that depends a lot on how much you're trying to impress Master X. (Or, what you've observed that He likes.) Nature gave you lots of interesting places to test the rim of the bowl. Try your cheek, your neck (a good time to point out that there isn't any collar there yet), your wrist, your belly (how appropriate, since it is burning so hotly right about now). Or, if you're really daring, you can use your inner thigh, or even your bare breast. Part of what you're trying to show here is that you're willing to risk bodily harm in order to save the Master any possible discomfort.

4. Get the drink--Since you've been diligent and paid careful attention to the room for the past two weeks, you know instinctively that the hot paga is in a kettle on the fire. Be as descriptive as you can be in approaching the hearth and kneeling before the fire, opening the kettle and stirring the paga around before you dip it into the bowl. That paga is pretty potent; the aroma is not at all hard to detect as you uncover the kettle.

5. Return to the Master--Once again, here's your chance to show Master X just how tantalizing you are. Maybe he'll even keep you at his feet for a while, and speak to you, or pay some special attention to you. When you get to His furs, kneel before Him in all your glory. Show Him how his very presence makes your heart go all a-flutter.

6. Offer Him the drink. (Don't assume that He wants it tested, always ask first.) -- A slave should always offer to taste the drink for possible poison, or to see if this week's batch of paga is just plain unfit for human consumption. If the Master says that He wants the drink tasted, then bring it to your lips and take just the tiniest portion of the drink into your mouth. However, don't touch your lips to the vessel, lap at it with your tongue, or pour a drop into your mouth or your hand.

7. Swallow it and wait for three heartbeats (remembering that three is our magic number on Gor -- because of Gor's three moons), and then bow your head and extend your arms to Him to offer him the drink. Remember that Master X may be deep in a vital conversation with Master Y, and you may have to wait a bit before He notices you kneeling before Him with His drink.

8. Be sure to thank Him for allowing you to serve. After the Master takes the drink, resume your kneel before Him and wait for Him to speak, either to praise you for your service or to release you to return to the serving furs. ALWAYS thank the Master for giving you the opportunity to do what a slave yearns most to do, to serve. Because this is what it all boils down to. We are not here to play with the other slaves, or to sit around and look pretty. We are here to be pleasing, in whatever way the Master wishes.

A few additional points need to be made. After you complete your serve, and are kneeling before Master X, you are to stay there until he tells you that you may return to the serving furs. If He is very pleased with you, He may allow you to remain by Him for a time. He may be interested in you, and may wish to check you out a bit, either by speaking to you, or by watching how you respond to any attention (or lack of attention) that He may show you. If you're very lucky, He may call you onto His lap, or take you to an alcove for more intimate pleasures. Or, as sometimes happens, He may simply forget that He hasn't released you from His service. In that case, it's up to you to remind Him with subtle movements and gestures. (Without making yourself the center of attention.)

While you are serving, you are not to speak to anyone but the One you are in service to. This includes the time that you are kneeling before Him, once the serve has been completed, and greeting or responding to someone else's greeting during that time. It is not uncommon for a slave to ask the Master if she may greet, once the serve is completed. If someone enters the room while you are serving, then wait until you are finished and then greet Him.

You will undoubtedly come face to face with a rather interesting concept--that of "sweetening" the drink. This is something that is perceived differently by different people. It is a product of the chat rooms, and does not appear in any of the Gor books. Some rooms do not allow it, while others encourage it. Some Masters enjoy having their drink sweetened, and others are offended. Free Women, almost without exception, are offended by it.

What is "sweetening?" Well, to put it bluntly, this involves the slave bringing the rim of the serving vessel to her bare sex, and coating it with her love juices. Yes, when this one first heard of such a thing, she was shocked also. But, it is a part of life in many Gorean rooms. Typically, sweetening is offered at the same time as tasting the drink. If it bothers you, then don't offer it. However, if the Master orders it, then you're pretty well stuck. Swallow that lump in your throat and do the best you can.

There are many elements of the serve described above that are not part of what you will read in the books. They are things that have been invented by the cyber-Gorean community for various reasons. Some taverns, and some Masters, prefer a much more stream-lined service. you need to keep a record of this in your little book, and modify your serves accordingly.

this one will say a bit more about providing "further services." (Translated as cyber-sex.) she is sure that you've noticed by now that a lot of on-line Gor is about sex. Hey, having naked or half-naked slave girls flouncing around all over the room is bound to have a logical effect on the Men. Sooner or later, one of them is going to want to try out those pleasures that you've so willingly offered to Him. arani is going to stick her slender neck out and say something very clearly--if you're not collared, you don't have to.

Now, wait a minute, you say. Didn't you just tell this girl, in a previous article, that she had to do whatever she was ordered to do? Yes, you do. But, this is a computer. No one can force you to do anything that you don't want to do, or are not ready for. Cyber-sex is a serious business. Taking a collar is even more serious. DO NOT DO EITHER ONE UNTIL YOU ARE VERY SURE THAT YOU ARE READY.

Okay, you say, how does a girl get out of providing a service she is not ready to provide? Come on, girls, arani is sure that you can think up any number of excuses. you have to leave for work, you have to pick up the kids at soccer practice, you have to go and stop your dog from fighting with the neighbor's cat. You have a sudden attack of malaria. Or, all of a sudden, you look up and see that little "x" in the upper right-hand corner of your screen. Oops, you just got booted off line. (Darn!)

a girl is making light of the situation. But, she is serious here. This lifestyle is tough enough, without making it harder on yourself by jumping into something you're not ready for. Now, this does NOT mean that every time a Master who gives you the heebie-jeebies calls on you to serve Him, you boot yourself out of the room. this one has found that she gets a great deal of satisfaction out of making herself pleasing to a Master who might be one of her least favorite people. A slave is to be pleasing to All, right? But, you also need to use a little common sense.

It goes without saying that a slave should be knowledgeable about all of the various foods and drinks that she may be asked to serve, as well as how they are to be served. you don't have to try to memorize all of them at first. Keep a little notebook next to you, with some guidelines to help you out. The more you serve, the more natural it will become, and one day you will find yourself getting rid of your "cheat sheet," or at least referring to it very seldom.

You may be tempted one day, while watching suzie_slave serve in the room, to "borrow" her elaborately detailed serve. It's easy to do, just cut and paste what she has written, and then later use it yourself. Well, sister, that is what is commonly known as "stealing." suzie worked very hard perfecting her style, figuring out just the right words to use, typing them all in as fast as she could. What right do you have to take that, and call it your own? That's just plain lazy.

As you serve more and more often, you will find that certain Masters like certain things when they are served. Master X likes His paga sweetened. Free Woman Z likes to have three ramberries placed in her ka-la-na. If you can keep this information in your little notebook, and do these things without being told, the Person you are serving will undoubtedly be very pleased that You have remembered.

Again, one of the best ways to learn to serve is by watching your fellow slaves. Don't copy their serves, but observe how each one does what she does. And, if you don't know something, don't be afraid to send a private message to another slave, appealing for help. arani wishes you wonderful serves.

© arani_CsA, 8/26/2000
revised 3/4/2003

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