“Wristband?” The woman behind the desk was friendly but a line was forming. The doors had just opened and lots of people wanted to get checked into the event.

Sofia closed her eyes and said,”Yellow. Yellow, please.” She felt like she had just jumped in at the deep end of the pool. She watched the woman fasten the bracelet around her left wrist, wondering if she had made a huge mistake.

But too late to worry. Lori was moving forward and Sofia followed. They had already talked about whether or not they would stay together, agreeing that they would start out together and check with each other before wandering off. If they did separate, they’d touch base at midnight. Cell phones weren’t allowed in the play area, so they would have to identify a physical place to be at 12:00.

The lighting was dim. Music playing, appropriate dungeon music. Sofia almost giggled, wondering if you could find playlists for dungeons on google. She was a bit overwhelmed by the equipment, and the people in all kinds of clothing. Leather, corsets, and tutus, and some nakedness. Trying to orient herself, she started making a mental list of the things she noticed.

• A St Andrews cross
• Several spanking benches
• A chair – oh, what did they call those chairs? It was clearly designed to restrain and open… no, she couldn’t remember. But she’d always been curious about them.
• A couple of padded platforms

And that was just the things that she recognized. Oh! There were posts with whips and floggers and such hanging from them. And off to the left, a large raised area, like a stage. Sofia stood with her back to the wall as more people entered, just watching and trying to absorb it all.

Lori, standing next to her, sighed loudly. “It’s been a helluva long time,” she said. “It all looks strange and a little bit scary.”

Sofia nodded. “Look,” she said, “There’s some chairs over there, by the stage. Maybe we should sit down for a minute?” The two women joined a few other people seating themselves.

Sofia spotted Diane with Henry over to one side. Diane was taking her robe off – beneath it, she wore stockings and a garter belt. Sofia was almost shocked for a second, but then she smiled. Diane had the body of a middle-aged woman, but Henry seemed as pleased with her as if she were in her 20s. “I had forgotten how much I loved that,” Sofia thought. “That simple acceptance of bodies as they are.”

In another area, she saw a couple looking at the equipment on a post. They talked for a minute before the man took the crop in hand and gestured for the woman to mount the spanking bench. Sofia shivered, she loved spanking scenes so much, she had to turn away. She was more aroused already than she had been in a long time.

On the stage in front of them, a woman stepped up. “This is the stage for demos, and I’m Karyn, submissive to Sir Jake, ” she said loudly “First, I want to remind you that we have Dungeon Monitors for a reason. If you see something going on that worries you, don’t hesitate to grab one and ask for help. They’re wearing red armbands so you can identify them. Also, if they tell you to do something, please do what they’re asking, even if you want to complain about it later. They are here for your safety. Will our dungeon monitors stand up and wave please?”

Looking around the room, Sofia saw a number of people waving, all wearing red armbands.

“Now, my lovelies,” Karyn continued, “If you’re planning on doing a demo, make sure you’re signed up over there -” pointing to a table off to one side. A man seated behind the table looked up and waved. Some people began moving toward the table.

“If you want to volunteer to participate in the demo – perhaps you’re eager to try a caning from Mistress Molly or see how you look in a rope halter by Master Lucas – this is your chance. Sign ups are happening now. Later this evening,” Karyn went on, “We’ll have some needle play with Nurse Donna and wax play with Sir Mark.”

But Sofia had quit listening. A rope halter. That brought back some wonderful memories. Before she could get lost in those memories, Lori nudged her. “Hey, she said, “I’m going to walk around. Want to come or you staying here?”

Bringing her attention back quickly, Sofia said, “Oh! Oh, I don’t know! Wait, yes, I’m coming too.” Mistress Molly was taking the stage, cane in hand, and Sofia jumped up to follow Lori. In her hurry, she stumbled on a cord that was taped to the floor, and would have fallen, but fell into someone instead. Looking up she realized, of course, it was Lucas.

“Steady, easy there,” he said, catching her and helping her straighten up again. She was shaking – with shock or embarrassment or from the warmth and strength of his hands, she didn’t know which. Lori had stopped and was looking back at her questioningly. Sofia shook her head at her, it was fine, she’d catch up with her in a minute.

Lucas looked at the floor, at the cord that was not taped down as well as it should have been. He called over a monitor and asked him to make sure the cord was fixed more securely. Sofia watched, feeling protected in a way she had not been for a long time.

As the dungeon monitor went for tape, Lucas turned his attention back to Sofia. “Where are you headed so quickly?” he asked, and then, answering his own question, “Oh, I bet you were going somewhere with Lori. Looks like she’s gone ahead.” Sofia nodded, wondering how Lori had disappeared so quickly.

“Would you like me to go with you to find her? I’ve got a little time before my demo starts.” Lucas was standing very close to her and it made her nervous, but the idea of walking around looking for Lori by herself made her nervous too.

“Yes, thank you,” she said, “If you’re sure you have time, that would be nice.”

“I do,” he assured her. “Mistress Molly will be caning people for close to an hour, and there’s a break before I start. Is this your first time here?” He laughed, “That sounds like a bad pick-up line, doesn’t it? But you said you’d been out of the scene for a while, is that right?”

Sofia laughed too, “Yes, I did say that, and yes, it’s my first time here. And it’s not the worst pick-up line I ever heard!”

Lucas began walking, commenting, “Well, I’m glad it’s not the worst one you’ve heard!” As they walked, he pointed out different people around them. Sofia felt herself blushing even though that was silly. They were at a play party for goodness sake, she knew people would be getting naked and doing all of these things! But she’d hadn’t imagined watching it unfold with Lucas next to her.

At last they spotted Lori. She was with seven or eight other people watching a woman on a St. Andrews cross being flogged. The woman was moaning – in pleasure or pain or both. Lucas said, “Look, there’s your friend. That’s Amelia on the cross. She loves the flogger, and Marcus loves flogging her, so that works out.”

They stood quietly watching for a minute, and Sofia felt even more aroused. Her nipples tingled and she was hypersensitive to Lucas next to her. She could feel his warmth, and an almost electrical charge between them. He leaned closer. “There are lots of questions I’d like to ask you. I want to know what you like and don’t like. I want to know why you chose a yellow bracelet. I want to know who you are. Not right now though. If you’re ok, I’ll leave you with your friend for now.”