ASK TEAL ~ Dubious Advice to Goreans
Picture: The HoY company trading in Port Bazi
ASK TEAL ~ Dubious Advice to Goreans
By Teal Razor, slave of Captain Siri Emerald Jr., Olni
This week, I am going to finish answering the free woman who asked this question last week. I wanted to give the lady a complete guide to getting and keeping a man in the dating stage of the courtship. I repeat here her question to me:
DEAR TEAL:
I am a free woman who is desperate to find a companion. I see free men everywhere in my city, they are either with companions or walking with a retinue of slaves behind them. In other words, they are most unapproachable. I have been courted by some five men in the past but after a few weeks, they disappear from my life and if I see them in the commons or the market place, they turn the other way or cross to the other side of the street to avoid me. Will I ever find one? Where are all the men? Please advise.
DEAR FLYING SOLO:
In the last Voice of Gor, I addressed but a few of the forewarnings to watch for when you submit to a free man’s courting. I have now a few more things to impart on your dress and deportment that you might want to incorporate into your body of knowledge.
I will start this week by saying NEVER keep a man waiting who calls on you at your place of residence. If he invites you to the commons or the tea room for snacks, show up at the appointed hour. Try to arrive an ehn or two after he does. The point being that the shorter time he awaits you, the more he will understand that you do not take his attentions lightly.
When I have served the free in the commons, I witnessed free men sitting by themselves, ordering some libation. They sat for the longest time, alone. I always wondered why they did so. They would order a couple of tankards or bowls of alcohol, stand up, stretch, and go about their business. Most of them wandered off either sighing or shaking their heads. About thirty or forty ehns after they left, a free woman would invariably step into the commons, look around while walking through, and exit the commons without sitting down. Putting two and two together, I can safely say, those free women were late to a date. I doubt whether those free women were asked out again or if they were, the free man’s faculties were set on high gear. He would, from there on out, watch for any more red flags that could appear on the horizon. These warning banners can accumulate until the free man finally sees the proverbial “handwriting on the wall” and rejects the free woman totally.
Now, here is another piece of territory I must cover. Part of not keeping the free man waiting is to arrive in front of him fully dressed. I am not suggesting that you would show up half naked to your date. Free woman are required to conceal themselves in robes named for such use. But, to arrive hooking all your veils in place, adjusting your stockings or pulling on your gloves will have you appear to not be organized. This can kill your allure faster than the peasant bow can fell a verr. Dress and adjust yourself in the privacy of your boudoir. And, for the sake of sanitation, comb your locks in private.
Just two weeks ago, a free woman took out a comb in the commons and started pulling at her hair with it. There was much hair on the comb when she finished. She removed the hair from the comb and threw it under the table where she was sitting. I was not the only witness to this disgusting practice. Two other slaves looked at me in horror with their mouths open. At least we saw it and I was able to sweep up the offending garbage from the eating area once she left. I feared to do it while she sat at the table since I speculated that I might be beaten for my insolence.
Oh, and while I am at it, NEVER borrow his rep cloth from his place setting on the table to wipe your cosmetics from your face. You should request a slave bring you a damp rep cloth to discreetly wipe the bits from your mouth or to remove your lip wax.
Lets talk next about a certain physical attribute of women. Female slaves and free women all have breasts. Granted some of us have more bounteous gifts than others. Those free women, whose abundance is evident under the robes of concealment, should make sure to wear uplifting corsets. You never want your courting man to chase you through a field of Sa-Tarna on a late day in En-Var which would cause your ample assets to bounce up and smack you in the face. Restraint, on your part, could lead to a companionship with one of the opposite sex. Which is why you asked your question in the first place.
Regarding the wearing of a supporting corset, I wish that some female slaves had access to such engineering feats in the form of cloth. I saw a female slave not many moons back who was jumping up and down on a table in the commons. A Master had commanded her to do so for his own entertainment. It was evident that the Master was an aficionado of slaves doing jumping jarl’s. The enormous heft and girth of her breasts caused them to fly up in her face. They hit her with such velocity that it knocked her out cold. It was hard for me to fetch a pan of water to throw on her face to rouse her because I was shaking from laughter.
Speaking of other cautions, you should not be familiar with your escort by caressing him in public. You would be exhibiting slave behavior and it might get you collared on the spot. Leave the caressing and cooing over the Master the domain of the slaves. You, on the other hand, are a lady. This fact is supported every time you are called “lady” by other free persons.
One would also hope that you refrain from talking about the latest robes of concealment from the dressmaker or boots at the cobblers. Talk about things the man would be interested in. You could describe a shipment that arrived recently on the docks. It would be good to note down facts to parade before him. You could make a mental picture of the types of goods being rolled out onto the wharves. Describe in detail, appropriate to a male’s curiosity, the colors and scents you perceived while there. Give him a count of the barrels that were taken off and relate any funny incidents like a slave colliding with a barrel of wine and being thrown off into the river. It might be more exciting if a water sleen were to attack the hapless slave. This might set off response in your date. You want to keep him talking. So your conversation should be scintillating and informative at the same time. It could dazzle the free man you are seeking.
While we are on the art of conversation, I want to give you another warning. NEVER talk to another free man in front of the free man who is courting you. Your courting free man should not be regaled with the exploits of your other “friend” when you talk to this other man in front of him. Acknowledge a “friend” who shows up by nodding and giving a courteous greeting. Don’t greet the person as if you would slap him on the back in a “hail fellow well met” gesture. Free women should behave like ladies, demure, accepting, feminine, correct, soft, and empathetic.
Some time back I exited my Master’s house in the direction of the market. As I walked past many residences in Olni Var, a free woman, who I always perceived as a bit of a “Tom boy”, (translating into the Gorean, a Tom-boy, on earth is a woman who adapts the mannerisms of a man) was talking out the side of her mouth like she was a dock worker. The other person, a free male that I recognized, was hit by the free woman’s language, which was saltier than Thassa. I even saw her slap him on the back a few times. The male was not her brother so I speculated that he had been her “friend” at one point and forsook her for someone else. The appalled look on his face told me he dropped courting this free woman, in part, because of her same behavior in the past.
Lastly, a free man deserves and desires your entire attention. If you look through this little compendium of advice I think you might find which areas need the most attention in your dating arsenal. I hope that you write me back and tell me of any success you might have by following these folios.
From the NEW VOICE OF GOR v.4 Issue 169