I thought something had happened! But, once he had talked about it and we cuddled a bit, he seemed to feel better. Well, for that matter, so did I!

For the fire play demo, Tom had put me in leather bra and panties, and had also put a leather hood on my head to cover my hair. He had me put on leather gloves, explaining that my nail polish could catch on fire. What I didn't like was he had me remove my collar. But he explained that metal could absorb the heat, burning me. We stood in the wings and listened to the class progress while we waited for my cue to come onstage.

"My personal favorites are techniques where I, as top, have the fire on me a lot. This helps me gage the heat, and share the fun. I almost always put out the flames with my bare hand.

Typical burn times are 1 - 3 seconds, but vary greatly by fuel, body part, individual, and technique. Longer burns are possible if the flame moves around the body, never staying on one part.
I am going to tell you about some fire-related techniques you may see or learn. Each has special issues not covered here. The first four are most common. Most scenes use only 1-3 of these.
● Torch: A wand/torch/baton with fueled wick is passed around the body, perhaps rubbed or bounced.
● Hand torch: The same, with top's hand serving as the torch.
● Wipe and light: Apply a streak of fuel, then light it. Put it out (hand or flogger) as it goes.
● Binaca blast / “flame thrower”: Ignite a brief aerosol blast of fuel.
● Flash cotton. Ignited on/above skin. Tricky and dangerous.
● Exotic metals. Add color and sparkle to the flame. Tricky and dangerous.
● Fire mitt. Lighting a kevlar glove on the top's hand.
● Fire pin. Branding with a red hot needle piercing. Usually intended to be temporary.
● Fire cupping: Igniting fuel inside a cup, quickly applied to skin. Cooling produces suction.
● Candles: Candle flame is too hot for skin. Dripping warm wax is part of Wax Play.
● Fire spinning: Juggling or spinning fire poi near the bottom.
● Fire flogging: Using a lit kevlar flogger on skin. Very problematic.
● Fire breathing: Using the top's mouth as a flame thrower. Very problematic.

I am going to demonstrate for you using three techniques; hand torch, wipe and light, and fire cupping. All safe fire scenes have three people; Top, bottom and spotter. Luckily, we have an experience spotter on hand. Can everyone please give a warm welcome to Tom!"

I smiled at Tom as he gave me a wink and went onstage. He held a folded damp cloth in his hand along with a spray/misting bottle full of water. He acted silly when he walked out, with sweeping bows and waving his water bottle around like it was a scepter. The audience chuckled. Most of them knew Tom well.

"And now, for our bottom; Stella, will you please join me on stage?"

I took a deep breath and on trembling legs, walked out onstage and joined Master X.

For his demo, a large post had been positioned in the middle of the stage. He had me turn sideways to the audience and reach out, leaning forward slightly and grip the post with both hands. He rubbed my arm and whispered a few words to me, soothing my nerves. Tom stood beside me. Master X was closest to the audience, with me between him and Tom, who was closer to the rear of the stage. This way, Tom could take one step forward and help if something got out of control, but he would not be in the way of the audience's viewpoint.

First he demonstrated "hand torch", lighting the fuel in his bare hand and swiping it across my skin. I felt a flare of warmth and then his other hand would swipe across it and literally wipe away the flame. He worked his way across my back and along the backs of my thighs. My skin tingled with warmth. I began to completely relax. I saw him smile out of the corner of my eye and knew he saw the muscles in my arms ease up. I had been gripping the post like it was a lifeline.

The next thing he did was the "wipe and light". This time he wiped the fuel on with his hand, lit it and put it out with a leather flogger. He didn't strike me hard enough to do much except put out the fire and it was almost like getting a massage. I could feel the heat build on my skin's surface, and Tom would sometimes step forward and wipe off excess fuel.

"Fire Cupping" was the last demo, and he lit a small bit of cloth and trapped it against my skin under the cups. It was a unique sensation to feel the flash of heat, then feel the suction as my skin was pulled into the cups. He made a line of cups down each side of my backbone. The other odd sensation was when he took the cups off my skin. My skin immediately felt cool after each cup was removed. As Master X worked his way down my body removing the cups, Tom would follow behind him with the spray bottle, soothing my heated skin.

Once all the cups were removed, Master X had me turn my back to the crowd so they could see my back. There was applause and then he sent me offstage. Tom pulled me into the dressing room and started to spray an aloe spray over my back. I protested a bit, telling him I was fine, I didn't get burnt. "Stella, Chuck will have my head if anything happens to you. Please be still and allow me to do this."

I stood and let him put the aloe all over my back and thighs. The first thing I did before I changed was put my collar back on. I then put my hostess outfit back on and made my way out and down the hall so I could slip back into the room at the back of the audience. The seminar was winding down and the kitchen staff had put out a nice buffet in the room opposite with large table rounds for everyone to sit and mingle while they ate. This was going to be their opportunity to talk directly with Midori and Master X.

Master X wound down his class: "I teach beginning and advanced hands-on fire, and a spotter training class, including handing lots of live fire, and drills for noticing and putting out bad fire.

Remember: 'There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old, bold pilots.' Successful fire players behave cautiously at all times."

With much applause Master X bowed to the audience and exited the stage as Chuck walked onstage, clapping.