Love, trust, communication, humour, honesty and respect.

If I didn't respect my Dom, and he likewise, it wouldn't have survived the two years it has.

My Dom is the only person (apart from one or two family members) that I trust with my life.

We have to communicate, more so than r/l perhaps because it's online / long distance.

We have to be honest with each other. If we're not honest, like in any relationship, problems crop up. Telling each other how we feel, think and react to things, is a major part of this for us.

And you gotta have a laugh. lol.

All this, to me, should be expected in any relationship, kinky or vanilla.