gifts for lovers
The time had come for me to figure out what I’m getting Nate for christmas. Relatively new partners are tricky…these are the first gifts I would ever give to him. I wanted it to be memorable. He’s an emotionally expressive fellow, which I really appreciate. I wanted to make him swoon.
My first teenage love (well, he was in university while I was in high school) was James Mercer (from The Shins and Broken Bells). He gave me a heart shaped necklace for christmas. I don’t remember what I gave him. The necklace wasn’t expensive or anything, but it was very special to me. I wore it every day until we split apart after over a year when I left for university. I had planned to give it back to him. A better idea came to me. I had created this beautiful scrapbook of high school that I brought with me to show him the day we said goodbye. When we got to the last page I had left a special place to keep the necklace safe next to an adorable photo of James and I kissing. He removed the clasp ceremoniously despite us both being blubbering messes. I opened up the page and enshrined my first love.
My second significant partner and love, Gregg Gillis, disappointed me on christmas. Our relationship was the on and off sort. Maybe he already knew we were on the outs, since we finally broke up for good about a month later. My gift: his parents were crazy and it was difficult for us to spend the night together when we were both at home, so he told them he was arriving a day later than actuality. I picked him up from the airport and took him to a hotel that I booked for the night. This was our long distance reunion after four months. We had sex four times over on the king bed, in the bathtub, on the chair…it was back and forth, animal desire-driven, with a peppering of sentimentality for good measure all night long. On the way home we went and bought my first pair of handcuffs from the slightly seedy sex shop by the airport (the only store I know exists there). On Christmas, he gave me the Serenity graphic novel, which was a great gift, but compared to the time and energy I spent on him, felt half baked.
Now for Nate Ruess, who is sleeping adorably in my bed as I write this. Last night we exchanged gifts. His parents gave me a lovely candle that smelled delicious while he sunk himself into me later on. I gave him an Ignite Me Massage Candle from Good Vibrations in the Morning Dew scent. I give him full body erotic massages when he’s had a rough day at work, so this will be perfect for adding a new dimension to touching his body.
He gave me two graphic novels, one which is about post-the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I haven’t actually seen all of Buffy, which he assumed I had, so now we’re going to watch it all (yes, I know, quite a goal) and then I can read my present! The other one was recommended by this cute girl at the comic store we go to, I can’t look up the title right now since it’s dark and I don’t want to wake him up. My nerdy return gift was sparked from Violet Blue’s post “Offbeat Holiday Gifts for Geeks.” Serenity and Firefly Travel posters? Done. Nate moved a couple of months ago and still has nothing on his walls. Perfect. He loved them.
Now, the geekiest gift of all. He gave me my own RPG dice set! I’ve been borrowing his extra ones when we play role playing games with his friends (for those who have no idea what I’m talking about…like multi-sided dice you use for Dungeons and Dragons, etc.) So he got me my own turquoise bundle in a beautiful cloth bag. It felt like a true gift out of love, respect, and a desire for me to be a big part of his life. I would love to make these a part of bedroom play somehow.
Speaking of bedroom play…the final gift. 25 feet of Bound to Please Bondage Rope plus “Bondage for Sex, Vol 1” by Chanta Rose, all from Good Vibrations. He was in total awe and excitement. Back in August we had a huge party at my house where my roommate’s rope came out. Nate enjoyed tying up my now-roommate, playing with knots, and trying different things out on her. I filed that one away back then and we are so excited to experiment with bondage and each other. He’s definitely kink-open, but doesn’t have much experience with kink. I figured what better gift to give than the tools to allow him to learn and enjoy himself in this realm?
Merry christmas, Happy Hanukkah (to Nate & all other Jewish readers), and Happy Holidays! If you have work off, have sex with yourself, a friend, or your lover!