Shibari Practice

Fatima stood in front of Dan’s workshop, tail swaying slightly as she took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
The door opened halfway, Dan peeked through the crack before opening it fully.
“Good afternoon Dan. Uhm, is Shibani awake?” She asks, holding up a rope.
Dan chuckled softly, “Shibani, Fatima’s here! Just head towards the back of the workshop. He should still be awake unless he goes back to sleep. If you two need anything I’ll be outside in the back. Don’t hesitate to call me.”
“I won’t.” She waves, watching as the Dango Maker heads towards the backdoor, a white figure appearing from around the corner, wearing a pastel colored rope harness.

“Good afternoon Shibani. I didn’t wake you up did I?”
“No. I’ve been awake for a few minutes already. I was expecting you after all.” His eyes land on the rope she’s holding.
“I see you brought your own rope.”
“Yeah. I figured that it would be better to bring my own instead of using one of yours.” She rubbed her arm gently, following, as he led her into his room.
“I hope you don’t mind all of the pillows.” He says, holding his hand out for the rope.
“I don’t mind.” Fatima flops onto one of the pillows and watches as Shibani unwinds the rope, giving it a few tugs and inspecting it thoroughly.
“So tell me, what made you want to try out rope art?”
Fatima scrunched and wiggled her nose.
“Well, I never really heard about it until a few weeks ago. You see, one of my uhm… clients took me on a private date to one of the kink clubs down here and I saw someone who was wearing what you’ve got on. They told me it’s called Shibari and then suggested that maybe it’ll help with my predicament.”
“And that is?”
“I miss my Master and I can’t really go back home now. My client said that Shibari could be used as… a substitute for hugs?” Fatima’s cheeks warmed up as a blush formed, her eyes darting to her lap.

Shibani stared at her for a moment, his tail flicking slightly.
“Well your friend isn’t wrong. Rope harnesses are pretty snuggly. Why do you think I wear them?” He chuckled softly, making his way over to her and sitting down.
“Before we begin I have two things to ask you.”
Fatima tilted her head at him curiously.
“Question one, do you know how to tie and untie rope knots?”
Fatima shook her head.
“Next question, do you have anyone to help you with this in case you want to do this full-time?”
“Not really. I suppose I could go to a kink club or ask one of my friends though.”
“Alright then, the first thing I’m going to have to do is teach you how to tie and untie a knot.” Shibani looked around the room before a thought came to mind.
“Ah~ I have an idea.” He hands the rope back to her and smiles.
“Since you’re a beginner I can’t really make anything intricate and you did mention that there’s no one to help you at the moment so, let’s start by practicing on yourself by doing a criss cross lattice.” Shibani suggested, standing up and moving towards one of his shelves, grabbing one of the ropes he had.
“Is it alright if I touch your leg?”
“Oh! I don’t mind.” For some reason, she didn’t expect him to ask that but she was grateful for it.

“Thanks. So, the criss cross lattice goes something like this. You can try to follow along with me if you want. Actually, I encourage you to.”
“Right!” Fatima nodded firmly and watched closely as Shibani demonstrated, hanging onto his every word as he explained, watching every single action taken to make sure she got it right. Or at least, right enough for a first timer.
“Now, once you have it set up correctly, you’re going to want to tie a knot into it, then tug on the rope to make sure it isn’t too tight. If it’s too tight it’ll cut off blood circulation and that’s indicated of course by your leg probably falling asleep.”
“How do I make sure it’s not too tight?”
“You slip two fingers under the rope. If you can’t then, it’s too tight so we’ll have to loosen it. Like this,” Shibani explained, sliding two fingers under the rope.
Fatima nodded a few times then did the same thing.

Shibani laughed softly. “You’re not bad for a beginner. Now, about that knot. You tie it like this. It can be a perfectly normal knot but some experts like to make what you call a sailor’s knot. I suggest never, ever doing that with Shibari ropes. It ends up being too tight since those knots are used to tie down boats.”
“Never use a sailor’s knot. Gotcha.” Fatima committed that to memory.
“Right. A simple and tight knot is the best kind to use for rope art in case there's some kind of emergency like- someone’s allergic to the material of the rope or… they’re having some sort of panic attack.”
“Simple and tight knots only.” Fatima parroted, making sure to remember that as well.
Shibani smiled. “Since you know all of that, there is something else I have to explain but first, would you like me to tie you up? You know, to see if you actually like it?”
Fatima’s eyes lit up as she beamed at him nodding.
“Yes please! I think I’m ready!”
Shibani laughed softly.
“Okay then, I’ll do an easy but pretty one.” He gently took Fatima’s hand, helping her stand as he moved her into the middle of the room, putting his rope back and grabbing the one she brought.
“This one is called the diamond. I’ll make a knot in front so you can untie it once you’re ready to remove it. Now then, please don’t move and make sure you tell me if it’s too tight or uncomfortable, since the pressure against your body is different than a single body part.”

At Fatima’s confirmation, Shibani got to work, making sure to ask if the ropes were too tight or if she was uncomfortable the whole way through, stepping back a few times to inspect his work and the progress in case he had to start over at all.
Once he was done, Shibani stepped back then made his way over to a closet, opening it to reveal a full body mirror on the inside of the door.
“So, how does it look?”
Fatima stood in front of the mirror, looking herself over as her tail swayed listlessly behind her. The rope art looked perfect, or at least she thought it was perfect. Shibani had indeed created a diamond shape that showed off her stomach and somehow slightly enhanced her chest.
“Wow~” Her eyes shone brightly as she ran her hands over the ropes, turning around to get a glimpse of her back where there was another diamond design.
“I like it!” She turned to Shibani and smiled widely.
“Glad to hear it. How does it feel? It’s not cutting into your skin or anything, is it?”
Fatima shook her head, then lightly tugged on the rope, giggling a little.
“It feels really comfortable. Like, a snuggly hug. Thank you Shibani. I really appreciate you doing this for me.”
“Don’t mention it. I don’t mind helping people once in a while. Besides, I need the practice myself. Oh and, I almost forgot.” Shibani grabbed a bottle from the closet and handed it to her.
“If you plan on practicing rope art for the long-term, you’re going to need this. It’s rope oil. Use it every time you wash your ropes or they start to make dust when you tie them.”
“Oh. Thank you. I’ll be sure to remember that.”
“Happy to help. Come on, I’ll walk you to the door.”

“Thanks again for the lesson in rope art, Shibani.”
“Don’t mention it. It was fun teaching you about it.” He winks at her then chuckles.
Fatima giggled softly.
“I hope you have a nice rest of the day. Tell Dan I said thank you for letting me come over and that I said goodbye.”
“I will. Thanks for coming over.”
“Thanks for having me.” Fatima curtsies to him and waves, before heading out the door and making her way back home, humming softly to herself as she occasionally continues to run her hands over the ropes, giggling softly.