Fic: Issues of Consent
Oct. 3rd, 2012 10:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meridian_roseTitle: Issues of Consent
Fandom: Original
'Verse/Series: Call Me Mistress
Pairing/Characters: General series
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1148
Summary: Amy discusses what Etienne's trial might be, and Jack reassures her that consent is one of the fundamental rules of the House.
Warnings: No standard warnings apply. There is some discussion around consent, rape and assault, including the theme of non-consensual roleplay
After Etienne had left, Amy made tea and cornered Jack in his office, where he was skimming through, and signing, even more paperwork. Apparently the House generated a lot of it. "Tell me about the trial or whatever it is."
As she'd expected, Jack explained that the trial had an erotic element, and could be designed to see if the potential companion would abide by the ethos of the House. It could be almost anything he told her. "If the previous Mistress was in a good mood –"
"What was her name?" Amy interrupted. Jack paused. "You always call her 'the previous Mistress'. What was her name?"
Jack considered for a moment and then said, "Sherrilyn."
Amy nodded. "All right. So if Sherrilyn was in a good mood, what?"
"She might choose a trial that the potential would particularly enjoy, even if she only found it acceptable rather than exciting. She once shaved a man's body hair. All of it."
Amy raised her eyebrows. Jack sipped at his tea, nonchalant.
"As I said, the trial can be whatever you want, within reason, and whatever he will agree to. If he won't agree, you can refuse him entry to the House. It's considered bad form to choose something a potential companion will likely refuse, but there's no actual rule forbidding it."
Amy shook her head. She didn't want to scare Etienne away. "I don't know what he'd like!"
Apparently thinking she lacked imagination rather than insight, Jack said, "I gave you those web addresses. The first one was a list of kinks."
Her brows drew together. "Yes. There were a lot of them." She knew that Rule 34, mentioned all over the Internet, said that if something existed, there was porn relating to it. Even so, the list had included a few things that surprised her.
"No one expects you to be amenable to all of them." Jack pushed his glasses back onto his nose and regarded her thoughtfully. "You've read a lot of erotica. I think you understand a lot more about kinks and things like erotic punishments than you pretend to."
Amy flushed in embarrassment. "How do you know?"
"I know lots of things. The point is, you're not as naïve as you'd like me to think. I'm sure you can think of some things to do to Etienne. You could make him wash the car in his underwear, for example. You could make him give you a massage. You could blindfold him and explore his body. You could role play with him."
Amy perked up at that. "Dressing up?"
"If you wanted to."
This had caught her attention. "What sort of role play?"
Jack shrugged. "He might like authority figures; teacher and student, for example. Or maybe something connected to his legal background."
"Like judge and D.A.?"
Jack tilted his head. "You watch a lot of American TV, don't you?"
Amy nodded solemnly. "Yes. Could I send him down to the shops? Tell him to go and get me a jam doughnut? Would that count as a trial?"
"It's not very difficult or erotic," Jack said. "Though that largely depends on how you feel about jam doughnuts, I suppose."
Amy stood and paced the room. "The list. There were some things on there…I don't like to judge what turns people on but…" There were limits to what she'd do.
Jack waited for her to face him. "There's something in particular." It was a statement, not a question. She nodded, took a deep breath.
"What about rape?" There was no mistaking her fear as her voice trembled. Just saying it aloud made her feel cold and vulnerable.
"You worry about that?"
She nodded, tucked her hair behind her ears. "That's one of the reason's Kai is here, isn't it?" To protect her. Therefore she must need protection. Therefore there must be threats to her safety.
Jack regarded her for a moment. "Anyone who lays so much as an unwanted finger on you will be banished from the House at best. Believe me when I say I've never heard of a companion getting what happens 'at worst'. The House is built around negotiated consensual acts."
Amy nodded. Consent. He said that a lot.
"I carry out background checks on potential companions. You know this. We take precautions." Jack sighed. "Of course, rape is a fantasy for some. A kink, if you will. But within that fantasy is the knowledge that it is just that. The fantasy of being forced to submit, or of making someone submit to you. If someone wanted to roleplay a dubiously or non-consensual act of any kind, they should first lay down the ground rules with someone they trusted."
Amy looked at him askance. "I know about taking precautions. I read up on the whole Risk Aware Consensual Kink idea. But what if someone gets carried away? What if they say it's just a fantasy but they really do want to cause harm?"
Jack took off his glasses and sat forward, his gaze intense. "Let me assure you that any man who can only get his thrills by abusing a woman would never fit in here, and would never get companionship status. That's one of the reasons for things like the trial."
She picked up a paperweight from his desk, rubbing one thumb over the smooth surface of the granite rock. She was somewhat reassured and decided to move back to safer territory. "So, other kinks. How could I find out what Etienne would like? What gets him excited?"
"You'd have to ask." Jack leaned back in his chair. "Give him a safe and non-judgemental space to talk about it. It might be as simple as red lingerie or as complex as a role-play where he's arrested on suspicion of drug possession, questioned, and strip searched. The House caters for all sorts of fantasies. But you only have to participate in those you choose to."
He stood. "I think it's time we had the full tour of the houses. Slip a coat on, I don't put the heating on when they're empty." He picked up a bunch of keys and raised his eyebrows at her.
Amy finished her tea and went to find a jacket, as excited and fearful as Etienne had been earlier. It wasn't terror though, she thought. More like the anticipation of queuing for a roller coaster, or the thrill of watching a horror movie. Fear within acceptable boundaries. Consensual fear.
Still, on impulse, she knocked on Kai's door. "We're going to see the house next door. Both of them, I think. You should come too."
Two minutes later they were standing outside number 16. Jack unlocked the door and went in, switching on the lights. Amy gestured for Kai to go next, and then, with a shiver of excitement, she followed them, her low heels echoing on the parquet floor.
Rule 34: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/rule-34
"Judge and DA": Functions similar to those performed by a District Attorney are carried out at the local level in other jurisdictions by officers named the Commonwealth's Attorney, State's Attorney, County Attorney, or County Prosecutor. In the United Kingdom, positions equivalent to a District Attorney are the Chief Crown Prosecutors (or Crown Prosecutors in the case of Deputy or Assistant District Attorneys) of the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales, the Procurator Fiscal in Scotland, and the Director of Public Prosecutions in Northern Ireland.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_attorney
RACK: Risk-aware consensual kink (RACK, also risk-accepted consensual kink) is an acronym used by some of the BDSM community to describe a philosophical view that is generally permissive of certain risky sexual behaviors, as long as the participants are fully aware of the risks. This is often viewed in contrast to Safe, Sane, and Consensual which generally holds that only activities that are considered safe, sane, and consensual are permitted.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk-aware_consensual_kink
Fandom: Original
'Verse/Series: Call Me Mistress
Pairing/Characters: General series
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1148
Summary: Amy discusses what Etienne's trial might be, and Jack reassures her that consent is one of the fundamental rules of the House.
Warnings: No standard warnings apply. There is some discussion around consent, rape and assault, including the theme of non-consensual roleplay
After Etienne had left, Amy made tea and cornered Jack in his office, where he was skimming through, and signing, even more paperwork. Apparently the House generated a lot of it. "Tell me about the trial or whatever it is."
As she'd expected, Jack explained that the trial had an erotic element, and could be designed to see if the potential companion would abide by the ethos of the House. It could be almost anything he told her. "If the previous Mistress was in a good mood –"
"What was her name?" Amy interrupted. Jack paused. "You always call her 'the previous Mistress'. What was her name?"
Jack considered for a moment and then said, "Sherrilyn."
Amy nodded. "All right. So if Sherrilyn was in a good mood, what?"
"She might choose a trial that the potential would particularly enjoy, even if she only found it acceptable rather than exciting. She once shaved a man's body hair. All of it."
Amy raised her eyebrows. Jack sipped at his tea, nonchalant.
"As I said, the trial can be whatever you want, within reason, and whatever he will agree to. If he won't agree, you can refuse him entry to the House. It's considered bad form to choose something a potential companion will likely refuse, but there's no actual rule forbidding it."
Amy shook her head. She didn't want to scare Etienne away. "I don't know what he'd like!"
Apparently thinking she lacked imagination rather than insight, Jack said, "I gave you those web addresses. The first one was a list of kinks."
Her brows drew together. "Yes. There were a lot of them." She knew that Rule 34, mentioned all over the Internet, said that if something existed, there was porn relating to it. Even so, the list had included a few things that surprised her.
"No one expects you to be amenable to all of them." Jack pushed his glasses back onto his nose and regarded her thoughtfully. "You've read a lot of erotica. I think you understand a lot more about kinks and things like erotic punishments than you pretend to."
Amy flushed in embarrassment. "How do you know?"
"I know lots of things. The point is, you're not as naïve as you'd like me to think. I'm sure you can think of some things to do to Etienne. You could make him wash the car in his underwear, for example. You could make him give you a massage. You could blindfold him and explore his body. You could role play with him."
Amy perked up at that. "Dressing up?"
"If you wanted to."
This had caught her attention. "What sort of role play?"
Jack shrugged. "He might like authority figures; teacher and student, for example. Or maybe something connected to his legal background."
"Like judge and D.A.?"
Jack tilted his head. "You watch a lot of American TV, don't you?"
Amy nodded solemnly. "Yes. Could I send him down to the shops? Tell him to go and get me a jam doughnut? Would that count as a trial?"
"It's not very difficult or erotic," Jack said. "Though that largely depends on how you feel about jam doughnuts, I suppose."
Amy stood and paced the room. "The list. There were some things on there…I don't like to judge what turns people on but…" There were limits to what she'd do.
Jack waited for her to face him. "There's something in particular." It was a statement, not a question. She nodded, took a deep breath.
"What about rape?" There was no mistaking her fear as her voice trembled. Just saying it aloud made her feel cold and vulnerable.
"You worry about that?"
She nodded, tucked her hair behind her ears. "That's one of the reason's Kai is here, isn't it?" To protect her. Therefore she must need protection. Therefore there must be threats to her safety.
Jack regarded her for a moment. "Anyone who lays so much as an unwanted finger on you will be banished from the House at best. Believe me when I say I've never heard of a companion getting what happens 'at worst'. The House is built around negotiated consensual acts."
Amy nodded. Consent. He said that a lot.
"I carry out background checks on potential companions. You know this. We take precautions." Jack sighed. "Of course, rape is a fantasy for some. A kink, if you will. But within that fantasy is the knowledge that it is just that. The fantasy of being forced to submit, or of making someone submit to you. If someone wanted to roleplay a dubiously or non-consensual act of any kind, they should first lay down the ground rules with someone they trusted."
Amy looked at him askance. "I know about taking precautions. I read up on the whole Risk Aware Consensual Kink idea. But what if someone gets carried away? What if they say it's just a fantasy but they really do want to cause harm?"
Jack took off his glasses and sat forward, his gaze intense. "Let me assure you that any man who can only get his thrills by abusing a woman would never fit in here, and would never get companionship status. That's one of the reasons for things like the trial."
She picked up a paperweight from his desk, rubbing one thumb over the smooth surface of the granite rock. She was somewhat reassured and decided to move back to safer territory. "So, other kinks. How could I find out what Etienne would like? What gets him excited?"
"You'd have to ask." Jack leaned back in his chair. "Give him a safe and non-judgemental space to talk about it. It might be as simple as red lingerie or as complex as a role-play where he's arrested on suspicion of drug possession, questioned, and strip searched. The House caters for all sorts of fantasies. But you only have to participate in those you choose to."
He stood. "I think it's time we had the full tour of the houses. Slip a coat on, I don't put the heating on when they're empty." He picked up a bunch of keys and raised his eyebrows at her.
Amy finished her tea and went to find a jacket, as excited and fearful as Etienne had been earlier. It wasn't terror though, she thought. More like the anticipation of queuing for a roller coaster, or the thrill of watching a horror movie. Fear within acceptable boundaries. Consensual fear.
Still, on impulse, she knocked on Kai's door. "We're going to see the house next door. Both of them, I think. You should come too."
Two minutes later they were standing outside number 16. Jack unlocked the door and went in, switching on the lights. Amy gestured for Kai to go next, and then, with a shiver of excitement, she followed them, her low heels echoing on the parquet floor.
Rule 34: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/rule-34
"Judge and DA": Functions similar to those performed by a District Attorney are carried out at the local level in other jurisdictions by officers named the Commonwealth's Attorney, State's Attorney, County Attorney, or County Prosecutor. In the United Kingdom, positions equivalent to a District Attorney are the Chief Crown Prosecutors (or Crown Prosecutors in the case of Deputy or Assistant District Attorneys) of the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales, the Procurator Fiscal in Scotland, and the Director of Public Prosecutions in Northern Ireland.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_attorney
RACK: Risk-aware consensual kink (RACK, also risk-accepted consensual kink) is an acronym used by some of the BDSM community to describe a philosophical view that is generally permissive of certain risky sexual behaviors, as long as the participants are fully aware of the risks. This is often viewed in contrast to Safe, Sane, and Consensual which generally holds that only activities that are considered safe, sane, and consensual are permitted.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk-aware_consensual_kink
