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Sarah hadn’t shut the curtains that night and they woke up to the bright sunlight streaming in. It wasn’t long until the next wave of the storm darkened the sky once again. They spent the day doing what you do in a snowstorm; eating worm food, playing card games, and reading books. They made out for a while and took an afternoon nap. This time they started spooning.

It was their second night snowed-in together. They had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. She had made the meatballs from scratch and frozen them and he was totally impressed. His provisions had included a bottle of vodka, a bottle of tequila, and a few mixers. For dessert he made her a very tasty mixed drink. So she had another.

And another.

And so did he.

After a while they started ‘playing’ 20 questions. Sarah decided to film it, having heard the idea from somewhere, she couldn’t remember where. That way they could watch it the next day when sober. The rules, well they were more like guideless than actual rules, were that they would take turns asking questions but they would both answer them. They called it 20 questions, but they wouldn’t actually be counting how many they asked. They’d stop when they couldn’t really think anymore. Sarah started.

“So, I know I’ve been engaged, married, and divorced once each, all with the same person. What about you?”

“Engaged once, got the ring back. It was my grandmothers’ and it turns out she wasn’t a complete bitch; about that anyway. Married zero so divorced zero. What is your full name? Did you change it when you got married?”

“Sarah Beth Milligan, and yes. Changed it back when we got divorced. Not gonna do that again. Did you want your ex to take your name?”

“Ian Alexander Dean. She was going to but I didn’t really care. Have you ever dyed your hair a non-natural color? And not like a spray in for Halloween or something”

“Yes. Dark Blue.”

It took a moment for Ian to answer. He had asked the question but he didn’t seem to want to answer it. “Yes, pure white tipped with purple and worn spiked.”

She tried not to laugh and ended up snorting. He gave her a dirty look.

“Have you ever wanted to have anything other than your ears pierced? And where?”

“Yes, my nipples.” He grinned at her in a naughty way, wondering how adventurous she had gone.

“Yes.” She took a big gulp of her drink. “Thought about having my clit pierced but decided not to and that I never would.”

“How old were you when you lost your virginity?”

“17, to George.” She raised her glass to the photo of them in a small toast.

“15, but I didn’t have sex a second time till I was 18.”

“Ouch. That bad?”

“It was ok. We did it cuse she was moving away and she was all romantic about having a connection and what not. Never wanted to with any other girlfriends till the one I had when I was 18.”

“Ah, ok. How many sexual partners have you had?”

“Well, I’ve never really counted.” Ian was trying to remember, and add, while drunk. The strain was showing on his face. “More than 20 less than 30.”

She also took a moment for her slightly pickled brain to remember. “Also more than 20, less than 30.”

“Cat’s, dogs, or reptiles?”

“All things fluffy. And no, that doesn’t include spiders.”

“No spiders for me either.” He gave a slight shutter. “I prefer dogs, but I’m not against almost any animal. Except insects. But I don’t think they are classified as animals.”

“Have you ever lied about your age, weight, or size?”

“Yes, never been asked, and no”

“Yes, to get into a bar, no one has ever asked about my weight, except the dr and they weigh you, and the only people who have asked about my size were like people at clothing stores when I was looking for something.”

“Favorite genre of movie?”

“Action/Adventure followed closely by Disney/Pixar.”

He approved. “Horror, followed by action/adventure.”

She cringed at his mention of horror. “A movie trilogy or series you would watch over and over?”

“Saw.”

“Any of the Avengers movies, both group ones and individual hero ones.” She paused for a moment. “Or maybe Rush Hour. Or Indiana Jones. The trilogy. There is no 4th movie.”

He smiled broadly and nodded in the way you only can when drunk at her mention of Indiana Jones. “Have you ever been involved in a sex experience with more than one person?”

“No.”

He waited but she said nothing else. “Yes. Two girls, three guys and once two girls and me.”

“Have you ever cheated on your girlfriend?”

“Well, since she was one of the girls each time, I’m gonna say no.”

“Kind of, but since George knew and consented, we were separated at that point working on the divorce, those things take for-bloody-ever, so I’m also gonna say no.”

“If you could sleep with any celebrity, who?”

“Chris Hemsworth. But would you let your partner do so if the opportunity presented itself?” She added to the question. “Probably.”

“Jennifer Lawerance and Maybe.”

He looked a little surprised at her ‘probably’ and she at his ‘maybe’. Each was more open to the idea than the other though.

“What place have you had sex in that you weren’t supposed to? Ever been caught?” Ian continued, “back seat of a car, and yes”

“The bed of a truck, and no. What was the last show you binged?”

“Breaking Bad.”

“Queer Eye.”

“Owning and using guns?”

“Owning, iffy. Using for target practice, yes and hunting for food yes. Just don’t ask me to go hunting.”

“Yes to all, but only if you know what you’re doing and use them for practical purposes, like hunting.”

“Have you ever gone hunting or shooting? Like at a range or something.”

“Hunting once. For ducks. I didn’t get anything. Been target shooting out at my Aunt’s place in the country. She’s actually a championship shooter.”

“Nice. Hunting and probably wouldn’t. Been to a range a few times and I don’t suck. It’s ok.”

“I’ll have to take you to my Aunts sometime. You’ll like shooting after. Type of music you love and type you hate?”

“Love Rock & Roll. Hate Country”

“Love Rap. Hate Country.”

They high-fived each other for their shared dislike of Country music.

“What’s something you love to do but suck at? You know, something you'd like to be good at.”

“Architecture. Like designing houses and such.”

“Singing like a rockstar. I thought you worked construction or something?”

“General handyman, so kind of, but not designing them. You like karaoke?”

“Yep.”

“Nope”

“Dancing?”

“Depends on the type of dancing.”

“Same.”

“What job would you never do?”

“Stripping or bartending.”

“Customer service, like the customer service booth or phone center kind of thing.”

“With your preferred partner, what sex act or scenario is an absolutely no go?”

“Guy on guy, like when in a thresome. Oh, and watersports.”

“Oh, water sports for me too. And probably anal too.”

“What sex fantasy would you like to try?”

She took a moment. She blushed slightly answering “Some light BDSM type stuff, as the sub. Nothing like whips or tying up or those electric shot things though.”

“The dom to your sub, but with a little harder stuff. But that can be worked up to.” He smiled mischievously at her.

It took a moment before she asked the next question, deciding to completely change the subject.

“Have you ever, or would you ever join the military?” She asked.

“I haven’t and I won’t. If drafted I wouldn’t desert or anything. I love my country, but the military just isn’t for me.”

“No, and no.”

“Should women be included in any future drafts?”

“Sure. I’m glad I’ll probably be aged out by the time it happens though.”

“Same.”

They kept going and at some point they noticed they were laying down, then their eyes closed, and they were asleep. Throughout the night they didn’t roll over once. When they woke up it wasn’t the worst hangover in history, but neither of them wanted to move.

Eventually Ian got up and got crackers and water. Sarah grudgingly got up and went to the bathroom. She plopped back down onto the bed, grateful for the provisions. For a little while they sat there munching on crackers. It wasn’t long before they needed more water. This time Sarah got up to get it and Ian went to use the bathroom. Before getting back under the covers Sarah turned her emergency radio on.

The news channel was reporting about how the storm, which had seemed to be easing up, was going to be hitting the city again for a second wave later that day. The only power being worked on was that going to hospitals, fire houses, and the like. They both agreed that while they wanted power back, with the storm not over the city had their priorities in the right place.

They turned the radio off after listening a little bit about other current events, not wanting to use up the battery, nice as it was to have on. With the snow outside acting as a sound dampener it was quiet in the house. So they started talking.

They just talked. Not about anything really. The kind of conversations that you remember being ‘the best’ but you can’t remember anything that was actually said. It wasn’t long before Sarah remembered what they had done the night before and that there was a video of it. Part of her wanted to rewatch it, part of her wanted to leave that drunken haze of a memory right where it was.

“So, do you want to watch the video of last night?” She asked. Her phone was still on its little tripod from the previous night.

“Oh yeah,” Ian answered. “I almost forgot about that. Yeah, pull it up. Should I make popcorn?”

She gave him a look as she reached for the phone, settled back next to him and hit play. They hit pause a few times to dig further into some answer that had been given as they went.

“Why were you so hesitant to say you had dyed your hair like that?” Sarah asked.

Ian hesitated again. “‘Cuse it looked awful, and I thought it looked so cool. It was such a shitty dye job.”

“Hey, I said I dyed my hair. I didn’t say it looked good.” Sarah replied, giving him a little confidence boost. “Everyone’s got that look that they tried that just didn’t work, even though we probably thought it did at the time. And we all hope that no photo’s still exist of it.”

The next time they hit pause it was Sarah. “Why did you want to get your nipples pierced?”

“It was the same time as the hair. I thought it would be cool. God I’m glad I didn’t.” He hit play again.

And then he hit pause when they came to the part about their respective body counts. “So do you actually not know exactly how many partners you’ve had?”

She gave him a dirty look, “Do you?”

He paused for a few moments, doing a little walk down memory lane. “Ok, so I believe it’s 27.”

“You believe?”

“Yeah, there were some one night stands that may have slipped my mind and I may have double counted one or two. It’s not like I wrote them down.”

“Ok that’s fair.” This time she took a few moments. “Huh, it’s more than I thought now that I actually think about it. 35.”

Ian was actually a little impressed, mostly at the fact that she could remember all of them. He hit play again. They watched through the parts about their movie and music taste, making small comments as each topic came up. The next pause was when the group sex topic came up. This time Sarah hit the pause button.

“So when there are several people does everyone actually have a good time? Seems like someone would get left out at some point.”

Ian looked at her with a little confusion. “With as many partners as you’ve had you’ve never done anything in a group?”

Sarah shook her head.

“Well, no. At least in my experience everyone was involved the whole time. Someone is always getting blown, or fucked, or kissed, or rubbed on, or something.”

Sarah shrugged and hit play again. Then a little while later she hit pause.

“Your aunt is a championship shooter?”

“Yep,” Ian answered. “Even went to the Olympics twice. Got one bronze medal I think. Now she teaches it.”

“I’ve done a little shooting, but I’ve never had anyone teach me. It would be fun to go out to her place and do some shooting.” Sarah did like shooting, and she didn’t suck at it either.

“It’s definitely better with a few tips from someone who knows what they’re doing.”

They paused briefly a few other times, laughing about what songs they would sing at karaoke, and how drunk they might need to be to do it in the first palace. They both decided that their favorite type of dance was one that involved a partner. Neither of them had really done much in the way of formal classes, but they liked going somewhere with a dance floor and just having fun. The next pause was after the question about sexual fantasies. Ian had hit pause and looked at Sarah. She was blushing slightly.

“So,” he asked. “Why do you want to do some bdsm submissive stuff?”

“Well, I’ve dabbled in a little of it.” She was trying to figure out how to put what was in her head into words. “I guess it’s like letting go, letting someone else take the lead. Giving yourself to them, giving your trust to someone. I think it’s the same reason I like to get drunk sometimes. You don’t have to think, you just feel. That and the rougher sex can be fun sometimes, and so combining the two always intrigued me.”

Ian nodded thoughtfully. “What’s your safe word?”

“I’ve never had one,” Sarah responded. “I mean I know what they are but it’s never come up. I don’t know what I would use.”

“Well you should always have a safeword, even if you just dabble.” Ian always believed in establishing safewords and boundaries beforehand. It was important to him to build that true trust. “Personally I like the stop light one. Red Yellow Green.”

“Stop, slow, and go?”

“Yeah, pretty much. Green is you have no problems and you want everything going on to continue as it is, or to go further. Yellow is ‘slow down, go easy, pause cuse you’re on my hair’, that kind of thing. And Red is ‘stop everything immediately’. That can be because something is wrong, something hurts, or you’re just uncomfortable and need a break. If someone doesn’t feel comfortable using all three then they shouldn’t be doing that kind of stuff in the first place. Because trust is such a big part of it the communication has to be that much stronger.”

“I can see that.” Sarah agreed. “So what draws you to it?”

“Well, being given that trust is part of it; being given control to try things. Previously agreed upon things, but still. It’s like how I asked about leaving marks. There’s a primal part that wants to lay claim to someone, and to know that they let me lay claim to them. And then on the sex side, figuring out all the different sensations that can be explored to induce all sorts of pleasure responses.”

“So to you it’s about all the sexual things you can do that aren’t directly sex?” Sarah pondered.

“I mean I want the sex too, but yeah.” Ian answered, glad she didn’t seem to be scared off by what he said. “I mean it doesn’t always have to be all that. Sometimes just making love is nice too.”

That made her smile. She snuggled into him as he put his arm around her. “You know, this is the first time I’ve talked about sex like this with someone I just met. I mean I’ve had sex after knowing someone this short a time, but never actually discussing it like this.”

“Is that a good thing?” Ian was pretty sure he knew the answer but wanted to confirm.

“Yeah, it is.”

He gave her a squeeze and kissed the top of her head and she smiled. At that point they both knew there was something more between them. Whether it would outlast this storm was unclear, but at that moment neither of them cared. They snuggled in to each other for another day of nothing.

Eventually they got up to make lunch. Soup and grilled cheese again. Their stomachs had settled but they still didn’t want to do anything complicated. They decided to sit at the dinner table so they wouldn’t end up with soup all over their bed. They sat there trading snow stories from when they were kids. Sarah told Ian about her first time driving on snow in a two wheel drive minivan. Ian told Sarah about taking sleds up to the top of a really steep hill and hoping they didn’t hit any cars parked at the bottom.

As they were cleaning up from lunch Ian asked, “Hey, have you cleared the snow from your gas meter outside?”

“No. It’s under the overhang. Why?” Sarah was a little puzzled.

“Cuse you can get freezing problems withs natural gas lines and one of them is if there is snow accumulated around the meter.”

Sarah looked out the window a little concerned. “Well, if it should be done I should probably go do it now before the storm picks up again.”

“I can do it.” Ian offered.

“You don’t have to do that. It’s my house.”

“And you’re putting me up in it. The least I can do is make sure we still have heat.”

She couldn’t really argue with that. So they both bundled up and went outside. While clearing all the snow away Ian lost his footing and fell back into the snow making them both laugh. In trying to help him up Sarah went down, face planting in the snow. It took a few tries but they eventually managed to right themselves and clear the snow away from the meter.

Fortunately, where the meter had been placed snow wasn’t able to build up around it very much. They would only need to clear it every other day or so. Already being bundled up and out in it they decided to take advantage of the brief respite of the storm and play around a little.

When they went back in, Ian took a look around her gas lines in the garage to make sure they were in good shape. When he came back into the living room he asked, “You bought this place already renovated?”

“Yep.”

“Well, whoever did it did a bang up job on gas lines.” Ian had been impressed. He didn’t know a lot about it but he knew enough to know quality work when he saw it.

“Good to know.” Sarah responded. She had gotten the inspection on the palace when she purchased it, but didn’t really read too far into the report beyond the results and recommendations.

“If you could have renovated it what would you have done differently?” Ian asked.

Sarah thought for a moment. “Little things mostly. Like choosing a different backsplash for the kitchen and putting in heated floors in the bathroom. Or going with linoleum in the bathroom rather than actual tile.”

They spend the rest of the afternoon talking about their dream homes. They both agreed that quartz countertops were absolutely the best and that a cozy modern aesthetic was what they wanted to live in. They made chicken piccata over pasta for dinner and skipped dessert. All Sarah had was ice cream and neither wanted a cocktail after the previous night.

Ian was fine with that; she was dessert enough for him.