One of those, peculiar to the SCA, is the cloved fruit. It is a game played at large events where someone takes a fruit, often an orange, and studs it with whole cloves. They give the fruit to someone, and that person can either refuse, or they can take a clove out of the fruit and then kiss, or allow themselves to be kissed by the giver.
This was my first introduction to flirting, and the ways and small negotiations of flirting with someone with whom you probably never intend to have a relationship. Now, a lot of those people were actually sleeping together, having mix and match and switcheroo relationships that would even impress the kink community, with less jealousy than you might expect. It was an attitude far more like free love than the middle ages, at least in our town. I wasn't aware of all that at first, though, just the kissing.
It was not always male-female-male with the cloved fruit giving, if that is what you are thinking. Oh no. There was some female-female and also occasionally male-male. One of those events was probably the first time I saw two men deep kiss.
As to the ways of giving a cloved fruit, the most seductive and also most common way to remove the clove was with ones teeth. This enabled you to chew the clove, which freshens breath and gives your whole mouth a numb and tingly feel. If you are not feeling so flirty, then you could just take one out with your fingers.
Then there was the decision about where to accept your kiss.
The most proper (non seductive) way to receive a kiss was to offer your hand. This was always acceptable, and the gentleman or lady was supposed to hold it and chastely kiss the back of the hand offered to them. Another fairly proper way was to offer a cheek.
If you wanted a little more risque, you could offer the back of the hand, but allow kissing all the way up the arm. A very intimate hand kiss was on the palm or inside of the wrist. That can be very erotic, mm hmm.
If you are daring, or really into the person giving you the fruit, you can go all out with the deep French kissing, of course. These were the most fun to watch, and generally resulted in cheers and shouting from the the on lookers.
After the kiss, you must choose someone to offer the fruit to. Setting it aside or keeping it was not acceptable. The game kept going all night until all the cloves were removed.
I played the game quite a bit, and probably kissed or was kissed by hundreds of people. Very seldom did I choose to deep kiss, though, mostly just with my Master, who was also in the SCA and went to events with me sometimes. We lived in different cities at that point, so I went alone even more.
I remember being jealous only a few times, when my Master would deeply kiss someone that I knew he really had a thing for. I knew about all his crushes, and he knew mine as well.
Aww! I never joined the SCA but we have plenty of friends who are members! Loved reading about the cloved fruit and your experiences :-)
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. I'd probably be less oblivious about flirting if it was done like this. I'd also probably panic and run away from the fruit. I've always kind of wanted to join the SCA, but I've never really had the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteAvoiding the fruit is always an option, or just say no thanks. I first started belly dancing in the SCA.
DeleteI love this idea of the cloved fruit, it seems so playful and sexy
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a wonderful thing to participate in, so playful and yet to seductive too.
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