Joking

"Tharlarion," I told her,..."show little susceptibility to pain"
"yes, Master," she said
"in this," I said, "they closely resemble female slaves."
"Oh, no, Master!" she cried. "No!"
"No?" I said
"No," she said.."we are terribly susceptible to pain, truly!"
"Doubtless you were as a free woman," I said, "but now you are a slave."
"I am even more susceptible to pain now," she said.....
"Ah," she said, chagrined, putting down her lovely head, "Master teases his girl."
"Perhaps," I said

Mercenaries of Gor, pp 34, 35

Something John Norman touches on very briefly is the idea of Masters joking with their slaves. As far as shayla can tell, the above is one of the only passages in all 26 books that show a Master and slave joking. And even then, the jest is very one-sided. Oddly, it is something that shayla's never seen mentioned in any of the discussion groups she has been in or seen.

Master and shayla were talking as he was working on the computer today. She was kneeling at his feet, head in his lap while he worked, occasionally handing him something or taking a note or two. The conversation ranged from a slave friend of shayla's, her lack of expertise with his computer (or any other computer, for that matter), to the cat's latest quirks. And during this time we were joking with each other. An easy, relaxed exchange, with shayla causing him to laugh almost as much as he was her. The whole time, there was no dilution of his Mastery, no subtle insubordination on shayla's. Simply Master and his slut working on a task, joking as they enjoyed the time spent with each other.

So much of what is to be found about being Gorean is very serious. With good reason. So often people mis-understand what being Gorean is all about. Shayla has come across a number of stories in which great harm has been done by a 'Gorean'. Being Gorean means you have a set of standards other than the norm. The Goreans that shayla knows are proud of what they are, and do not take the dilution of their beliefs lightly.

But to shayla, this doesn't mean that being Gorean is all seriousness and formality. Master and shayla are very serious about the life they lead. He is extremely serious about his ownership and direction of her, as she is of her service and subjugation to him. But we have fun with each other as well. And as time goes by shayla improves on joking with him while remaining in the bounds of his will. We laugh about an occurance at shayla's work, a misspelled sign on a truck on the free-way, something funny that happened to him at his job. There is a great deal of laughter in this household. We are able to relax with each other.

Serious? Both of us are. But we are able to be serious even as we are able to laugh about other things.

shayla