[ tseng doesn't press the topic. it's clear from the way alan starts, then stops, starts again, and then continues on a different tack that he's either not entirely sure how to describe their relationship, or he's underselling it on purpose; whatever his reasons for either, it doesn't seem like tseng's place to pry unless alan offers more. ]
Unfortunately, no. "Tseng" isn't even my real name, actually.
[ so not only does he not have titles or names to spare, he doesn't even really have a name of his own! ]
You could pick a safe word. A word or phrase that you think would never naturally come up during sex, so I know if I hear it that you need me to stop.
No, I thought not. Be a bit contrived if you were secret royalty, wouldn't it?
Something that wouldn't come up naturally during sex. Well, there's "God save the king." [ He chuckles. ] Or "The Lord be with you." "Et cum spíritu tuo."? Can't be the Hail Mary, if I'm lucky you'll have me praying for mercy.
[ All his Catholic jokes are so goddamn wasted here. Also, all of these are probably too long, he knows. ]
[ it really is a shame the catholic jokes are wasted because tseng would probably find them funny if he understood,,, alas, most of what he can pick up is that these would be comical comments were he the kind of person who knew anything about catholics. ]
Mmm, it could be. I would just hate to stop on a word that sounded too much like "red" but isn't, or even worse, to ignore it because I mistook it for something else.
[ tseng doesn't really think that would happen—he's too fastidious and alan would probably kick him in the nuts—but his philosophy has always been to remove all avenues for doubt. still... ]
It's your safe word, though. If you're confident in "red" we can go with red. [ a pause, and then, ] Mine is "juniper." For the record.
"Juniper." [ He raises his eyebrows, amused. ] Like gin.
I wouldn't like you to be worrying about it when you could be thinking about how to fuck me. What about "rowan", then? Or is that too close to things like "own"?
[ and like the juniper trees that grew everywhere in the village where he was born, but they're not quite at the point of talking about their childhoods yet.
tseng considers the question, then says, ] I think "rowan" would be fine.
[ there are words that sound like it, sure, but tseng can't imagine any of them being said outside a context where he could guess what alan actually meant. e.g. "you don't own me," which he can certainly imagine alan spitting at him venomously, but which tseng would also be able to tell isn't meant as an invocation of the safeword. ]
In my experience, part of the appeal of this sort of play is that you might not necessarily know exactly when it's coming, [ tseng adds. ] I'd like to discuss your preferences ahead of time. How you'll know when the scene starts and ends, anything you particularly want or don't want... Ways for me to tell when is a good time to begin, that sort of thing. Would you rather talk about that now or later?
[ And frankly, doesn't that sound like a fun thing to spit or have spat at one? ]
Later, [ Alan decides, after a moment's thought. ] I want some time to think about it.
[ And maybe put on some clothes to have the conversation. Even if he suspects that having the conversation will make him want to get those clothes off with a quickness. You never know, though, maybe that will be part of it, in the end. ]
You're a damned interesting man, Tseng, [ he adds, a little abruptly but smiling. ] Do you know that?
[ tseng trusts that alan will bring it up when he's ready, and is content to lay the subject aside for now. he is not, however, expecting the way alan follows up, and it makes tseng blink once before he laughs, a little bemused. ]
Thank you, [ he says. it's a little funny to hear, for a guy who has been trained at length on how to be the least noticeable person in any given space, but he finds alan breathlessly fascinating, so he takes it as a compliment. ] I'm glad you think so.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Unfortunately, no. "Tseng" isn't even my real name, actually.
[ so not only does he not have titles or names to spare, he doesn't even really have a name of his own! ]
You could pick a safe word. A word or phrase that you think would never naturally come up during sex, so I know if I hear it that you need me to stop.
no subject
[ Tseng ..... that is, nameless buddy ...... ]
No, I thought not. Be a bit contrived if you were secret royalty, wouldn't it?
Something that wouldn't come up naturally during sex. Well, there's "God save the king." [ He chuckles. ] Or "The Lord be with you." "Et cum spíritu tuo."? Can't be the Hail Mary, if I'm lucky you'll have me praying for mercy.
[ All his Catholic jokes are so goddamn wasted here. Also, all of these are probably too long, he knows. ]
Wouldn't "red" be enough?
no subject
Mmm, it could be. I would just hate to stop on a word that sounded too much like "red" but isn't, or even worse, to ignore it because I mistook it for something else.
[ tseng doesn't really think that would happen—he's too fastidious and alan would probably kick him in the nuts—but his philosophy has always been to remove all avenues for doubt. still... ]
It's your safe word, though. If you're confident in "red" we can go with red. [ a pause, and then, ] Mine is "juniper." For the record.
no subject
I wouldn't like you to be worrying about it when you could be thinking about how to fuck me. What about "rowan", then? Or is that too close to things like "own"?
no subject
[ and like the juniper trees that grew everywhere in the village where he was born, but they're not quite at the point of talking about their childhoods yet.
tseng considers the question, then says, ] I think "rowan" would be fine.
[ there are words that sound like it, sure, but tseng can't imagine any of them being said outside a context where he could guess what alan actually meant. e.g. "you don't own me," which he can certainly imagine alan spitting at him venomously, but which tseng would also be able to tell isn't meant as an invocation of the safeword. ]
In my experience, part of the appeal of this sort of play is that you might not necessarily know exactly when it's coming, [ tseng adds. ] I'd like to discuss your preferences ahead of time. How you'll know when the scene starts and ends, anything you particularly want or don't want... Ways for me to tell when is a good time to begin, that sort of thing. Would you rather talk about that now or later?
no subject
Later, [ Alan decides, after a moment's thought. ] I want some time to think about it.
[ And maybe put on some clothes to have the conversation. Even if he suspects that having the conversation will make him want to get those clothes off with a quickness. You never know, though, maybe that will be part of it, in the end. ]
You're a damned interesting man, Tseng, [ he adds, a little abruptly but smiling. ] Do you know that?
no subject
[ tseng trusts that alan will bring it up when he's ready, and is content to lay the subject aside for now. he is not, however, expecting the way alan follows up, and it makes tseng blink once before he laughs, a little bemused. ]
Thank you, [ he says. it's a little funny to hear, for a guy who has been trained at length on how to be the least noticeable person in any given space, but he finds alan breathlessly fascinating, so he takes it as a compliment. ] I'm glad you think so.