to sleep. I can either take care of that in the bathroom, or I can do it here. If I do it here, then you can help me along, or not. I'd especially appreciate it if you could talk dirty while I jerk off, but it's your decision.” Talk about low pressure! Yeah, I learned a lot from that guy. ok oe 2) Scripts and Lists. I had one brief relationship last year with a gentleman who is really, really awesome -- but we have very different approaches to S&M. We had a hard time communicating about it... honestly, if he hadn't been such an awesome guy, I would probably have given up on the relationship after a couple nights together. We were great at having extensive theoretical conversations about sexuality, but when it came down to actually having sex with each other, things got puzzling. We had difficulty predicting, understanding, and initiating with each other. I'm not sure what made it so hard. I think, mostly, we just brought really different assumptions to the table. I tend to take an "improvisational" approach to my encounters, whereas he tends to take a "scripted" approach. He's into doing stuff like rearranging the furniture, taking on specific roles (e.g. teacher and student), using costumes and props, and knowing exactly what will be said beforehand. Me, I like going free-form. I talk to my partner about hard limits (things we absolutely don't want to do); I talk to him about things we really like; and we set a safeword. I'm usually okay with diving in from there. If he wants a more structured conversation, I'm glad to have one (and sometimes, especially when I'm dominant, I'll ask for more conversation myself). But generally, I like seeing how things go based on a very loose set of guidelines, and making minor adjustments during the encounter, then evaluating the situation afterwards. One of the reasons I like doing this is that unexpected things happen. On the flip side, there's also more room for experiences that aren't very exciting. I think I'm more likely to