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[floozyfacade]

It's only a few weeks into the school term and, if Olive were sensible, she'd be studying. Today's a light day, meaning she has plenty of time to do so, if she just buckles down, and it's not like she isn't a focused, disciplined student when she wants to be. Even without these grades contributing to the college applications she won't be writing

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[pointzerothree]

"What can only end in tears?" Eduardo asks as he approaches, having had a similar idea and heading instinctively in Olive's direction when he sees her out on the beach, just in time to catch the end of what she says. He doesn't, however, wait for a response before he takes a seat at her side and glances at the magazine, and then he wishes he hadn't, cringing at the words he sees on the page. Why she would be reading something like this, he doesn't have the first idea; he's just glad he knows her well enough by now to be about ninety-nine point nine percent certain that she'd never try anything like this. He got more than enough of those supposedly useful magazine tips when he was with Christy. "Yeah, no, okay, that's - I don't think there were actually any tears, but it was a pretty close call."

[floozyfacade]

Olive sets the magazine down abruptly, brow raising as she looks up at him for where she's lying on her stomach. While she's perfectly aware he's slept with other girls before her, there's a vast difference between knowing that - and she's certainly never minded his having more experience, except out of jealousy before they got together - and having some kind of an idea of what exactly that involved. There are things she just doesn't need to hear about. She really has to hope he's talking about a different tip, one of the big boldly printed ones, because this one sounds especially painful, but given that his last girlfriend was a lunatic, she's not holding her breath.

"Well," she says. "I'm glad you survived that intact, that sounds... Wow. Was setting your bed on fire not enough?"

[pointzerothree]

"Not even remotely," Eduardo says, entirely serious as he shakes his head. Really, that one particular trick - and who the fuck ever thought it would be a good idea, he doesn't know and doesn't want to - doesn't even begin to cover what things were like with Christy, and while he suspects that a good deal more of her favored tactics might also make this list, he has no intention of going into any further detail about what she liked to do. There's no point, for one, when she isn't here and it would be irrelevant even if she were, but more than that, he wouldn't want Olive to have to think about him like that. He can't help it that Christy was psychotic, though, and anyway, the sex was pretty great for a while, before she got increasingly crazy. "I don't know who writes these things, but they've got to be completely insane, too."

[floozyfacade]

It doesn't even remotely surprise her she hit the nail right on the head, guessing which of the girls in his past tried that. Christy's the only one Olive really knows about. She gets the impression she's the only one there's much to know about. And that she was completely fucking insane. She could take a lot of comfort in that, how favorably she must compare, if she were less secure in their relationship. Mostly it's just kind of annoying to think of him with someone like that.

"I don't know, number thirty doesn't sound so off," she jokes, reaching out to pat the sand next to her for him to sit. "'Anytime he does something you like, dig your nails into his back. It lets him know you love it.'" She's pretty sure they came up with about ten things that made sense and scattered them through the rest to make them look reasonable, but if that was the idea, they failed.

[pointzerothree]

"'Dig'? Is that really the word to use?" Eduardo asks, intentionally avoiding the point she's clearly trying to make, though the color that rises to his cheeks is completely genuine. Even that, he thinks, sounds more daunting than it ought to, but then, he really is no stranger to that word applying to sex. With Olive, it's never been like that - or it has, but in a completely different way. He much prefers it like this. Sitting beside her, he shakes his head, more at the magazine itself than anything else. "I don't know, that sounds a little... excessive to me."

[floozyfacade]

"Dig," Olive says, nodding solemnly. "Really just get 'em in there. 'Scratch' is probably a better word, I'm thinking." She leans over to press a quick kiss to his cheek, grinning. The way she sees it, teasing him's part of the relationship, and it's not like she's saying she dislikes doing that. The tiny things might be poorly worded in here, but they're harmless compared to some of the tips.

"Twenty-eight: 'Try role-playing,'" she reads out, suppressing another laugh. "'Every guy has a teacher/student fantasy, so grab a ruler and make him call you Miss.' Every guy? Really? Do they have polling data I'm unaware of? Are you secretly dying to call me Miss? You can tell me these things, it's okay, I believe in complete honesty between us."

[pointzerothree]

"Jesus, a ruler?" Eduardo asks, pulling a face. Even being able to see the appeal in the dynamic at its most basic - which he is, probably mostly because of aforementioned crazy girlfriend - he doesn't understand the role-playing aspect, and certainly not taking it that far. He's not even sure what the purpose of the ruler would be in the situation, though if it has one, he doesn't think he'd want to have confirmation, mostly because he can come up with a guess or two. Really, the whole thing is a little alarming, if only for the way they present it as straight fact, utterly typical. "No, I, uh, I could definitely live without calling you Miss, that would actually be kind of weird. Though I don't know what that says about me, if every guy has that fantasy."

[floozyfacade]

"That I'm a lesbian," Olive quips. She nearly pushes farther on the subject of that one, since, while the ruler doesn't sound like the best of ideas in this instance, the rest of it doesn't sound so bad. Except then she realizes how public the location is and, furthermore, that she'd probably just wind up on the floor cracking up if she tried to play that kind of game with him. "I really want to know why it suggests 'gently binding' his hands with 'a silky tie,' but a girl's supposed to ask for him to use her underwear. Please never use my underwear to tie me u- that's not a sentence I ever thought I'd say."

Focusing, now he's caught her at this, on the tips that sound ridiculous is just kinder than mentioning the few that don't, given his not being allowed to have sex right now.

[pointzerothree]

"That's... not a sentence I ever thought I'd hear," Eduardo says, eyebrows raised, expression dubious. He fails to see anything remotely hot - or, for that matter, convenient - about that particular suggestion, but then, given what else he's seen of this magazine so far, that isn't surprising. Hell, if anything, it actually sounds kind of gross, but to say so like that would sound far too immature. Mostly he's just glad they're in agreement on the matter; it isn't that he'd have expected them not to be, but Cosmo is incredibly popular, even if he fails to see why. "No, don't worry, even if you did ask me to, I'm not sure I could." He pauses for a moment, frowns and looks away, then adds almost under his breath, "First half of that's not a terrible idea, though. I mean."

He probably shouldn't even be thinking about any of this seriously - it's not technically sunset yet, but he still wouldn't want to start anything, not the type to push the limits - but it's a little late for that now, the subject unavoidable.

[floozyfacade]

Olive hesitates a moment, not bothered so much as surprised, if curious. That's light stuff, the way she figures. Everyone plays around with that at some point, right? It's not like BDSM or something crazy like that - she really doesn't see the appeal, but to each their own - although she's not sure she expected it to come up anytime soon either.

"What, the tie?" she asks, not bothering to hide her interest. She can't exactly argue when he's right, it's not terrible either. Actually, she kind of likes the idea the more she thinks about it, which she doesn't think she should be doing right now, since there's nothing they can do now. Good idea or bad, it's against the rules for now. Although try telling that to her mouth. "For you or for me?"

[pointzerothree]

She might not be trying to hide any interest, but Eduardo is suddenly aware that this is not a conversation he wants to be having, probably at least in part because he's never had to have it before. Christy did what she wanted - and for a while, that was great, too - and apart from that, there's never really been much other than semi-drunken hookups at parties and the standard sex that follows. With Olive, yes, there's been a little more detail, but that's because of her inexperience. This is something completely different, and almost certainly unnecessary, given what brought the subject up in the first place. If Cosmo printed it, then it isn't something that should even be up for consideration

[floozyfacade]

"No, I know," Olive says, brow furrowing. "I wouldn't - I don't want to hurt you. Ever. That's not even up for negotiation, and... I didn't say I want to, just... asking what you meant. You know you're allowed to suggest things, too. Just because we aren't gonna run off and try something now doesn't mean you can't talk about it." It's not like she's going to push for anything he's uncomfortable with, no matter what he says about her being able to try anything she wants, and today's off limits anyway. Which means that she didn't mean to start this discussion either, but if they're on the topic, they might as well. She suspects, given his reaction, he'd never bring it up on his own.

[pointzerothree]

It's less a matter of being uncomfortable with it and more a matter of being uncomfortable with the idea of being comfortable with it. How he would even begin to explain that, though, Eduardo doesn't have a clue, and he isn't sure that's really what's important. She's right, they should be able to talk about it; he just fails to see how it isn't awkward, so much less straightforward on these matters than she is. Still, he has to try, if only so she doesn't get the wrong idea. "I... All I meant was that I wouldn't be opposed," he starts, trying to imply as best he can that what he really means is stronger than just a lack of opposition, "if you ever wanted to... do that to..." Trailing off, he shakes his head. "I really have no idea how you manage to talk about these things so easily."

[floozyfacade]

"I grew up in a very open household," Olive deadpans. Setting the magazine aside, she sits up, edging over to kneel beside him, dropping a kiss to his shoulder. "I just... don't see any reason to be embarrassed. Not really. I mean, I'm not gonna run around talking to everyone like it's the weather, but it's... you know, it's part of our lives. It's something we do. And besides, I trust you. You're not gonna judge me if I tell you what I want or what I dislike." She reaches over for his hand, careful. Open communication is incredibly important to her, but sometimes that means treading with caution, too. "And I won't judge you. And I won't feel pressured or, or obligated."

[pointzerothree]

When she puts it like that, Eduardo isn't entirely sure what the problem is. He believes her, of course, would never really have expected anything else to be true, but there's a difference between knowing something and feeling like it, and when it comes to a subject like this, the latter is difficult to say the least. Maybe it doesn't make sense, when he could easily say all of those things back to her and would mean it entirely, but somehow, in talking about it, it's not quite the same. "Jesus, that makes it sound so serious," he says with a short laugh, just this side of strained. His fingers curl around hers, though, and he shrugs a moment later, something like rueful when he looks back over at her. "But yeah, I know. It's not a big deal or anything. Just... when you mentioned it, it... didn't sound half-bad. Is all."

[floozyfacade]

Olive smiles, mostly relieved to have made him laugh, even like that. It's a step. All this can be embarrassing for him, she knows, and she finds it kind of funny herself, that he should be the one to turn red when it comes up while she's the inexperienced one. It's not like she isn't a little self-conscious at times, but it's something so natural, not to mention something they do regularly. Edging around it simply doesn't make sense to her.

Leaning in to kiss him, she squeezes his hand. "Okay, then," she says, voice dropping slightly. "Then we'll have to try that sometime. It didn't sound bad to me either." She trusts him enough to cede control, and she's comfortable enough taking the lead now, too, that it mostly just sounds like it could be fun. "But see, that's what I mean. You can tell me things like that. We don't have to wait for a cue from, from Cosmo. I'd prefer we didn't, actually, that's just kind of weird."