I agree 100% with the two ladies - it's best to tell Him what you want (He's not likely to be psychic), in fact He may actually be waiting for you to do exactly that.

If for whatever reason you don't want to be so direct (maybe it's not in your character, or it just "wouldn't feel right" at the moment), why not try the not-so subtle approach: here are a couple of ideas. Please note that I base these on the fact that my sub training is to be proactive and try to anticipate my Mistress' needs rather than be completely dumb-slave-like and wait for an order before doing anything - I know there may be some Dom[me]s who would consider being proactive as "topping from the bottom", but there is nothing you can realistically do but wait if you are in that situation anyway imho.

If you want to experience a good whupping, my advice is that misbehaving for attention is NOT a good idea until you know your Master well enough - some don't mind, but a lot find it tiresome/annoying/etc. - I've found that out the HARD way (nearly losing my Mistress). Why not tell Him you're kneeling with buttocks bared, and you've left out a belt, or paddle, or whatever you think you can stand - then wait around to see if He gets the hint - you can always *wiggle butt* while waiting as an extra pointer. If He doesn't get the hint maybe He's a Master that doesn't enjoy giving pain? In that case you'll have to find a compromise I'm afraid.

If you want tasks, it may be that He hasn't got the time at the moment to set them, for example. Maybe you could look around (the tasking society possibly) and find one or two that you think your Master would like you to do. Then you could "find" a book of tasks and pass that to Him asking if He wanted you to do any of those to demonstrate your devotion to Him. At least that would "broach" the subject of tasks.

Hope this helps a little.

VV