Kissing can be quite the elaborate communication/ritual and/or game.

I'm sure Dog's Lady knows this one!


The cloved orange game:

Basic Use
The most basic practice of passing the cloved orange is to offer it to someone whom you'd like to meet. They will then either rebuff your offer (a polite way to say 'not interested') or accept the cloved orange and offer a kiss (usually on the hand, cheek, or lips) in return. Another common practice is for the recipient to remove a single clove and touch themselves with the clove where they desire to be kissed. Don't EVER force more attention on someone than they are offering. Not only is this rude, but it is illegal, dangerous, and will result in your making a new enemy rather than a friend. If done properly, exchanging the cloved orange is a quick, fun, innocent way to meet people and indicate a willingness to get to know someone better.

You go to the person to whom you wish to bestow the honor, present it and give proper compliments. In return you exchange a kiss.

It may be a kiss to the hand, the cheek or upon the lips, depending on how familiar you are with the person. The usual wisdom is to let the Lady decide, but that should not oblige you to becoming more intimate than you are comfortable with.

Ask for a demonstration!

Advanced Practices
While the basic practice rarely changes much, the variations on the theme tend to become more advanced with each event or LARP you pass through. Wether it's a cloved orange, cloved grapefruit, cloved watermelon, or even a cloved onion, the ground rules remain pretty much the same: You offer the orange to someone you desire a kiss from and they remove a clove and return a kiss in the manne of their choosing.

As with any game, someone always has to change the rules, so now there are a few 'assumed' knowledges that go with the passing of the cloved orange; namely the body language that is now indicitive of the type of kiss that will be received.

* Receiver refuses cloved orange.
Receiver is not interested in participting. This is a nice way of saying "go away" or "not interested".

* Receiver removes clove with hand and holds it out palm down.
Receiver expects to return kiss on top of the hand. The most impersonal but polite form of return.

* Receiver removes clove with hand and holds it out palm up.
Receiver expects to return kiss on the wrist. This is often considered equally or more personal than a kiss on the lips.

* Receiver removes clove with mouth and then transfers clove to hand (or disposes of clove).
Receiver expects to return kiss on the cheek. This is the most common returned kiss.

* Receiver removes clove with mouth and holds clove between teeth with lips closed.
Receiver expects to return kiss on the cheek. Probably the most common form of returned kiss..

* Receiver removes clove with mouth and holds clove between teeth with lips open.
Receiver expects to return kiss on the mouth. The most common practice is for the reciever to bite down on the clove and then return it to the giver's mouth during the kiss. Kind of a medieval breath mint! While a very personal return, it still maintains an amount of decorum so don't try to force any more 'return' than the recipient is willing to give.

* Receiver removes clove with mouth and holds clove inside mouth.
Receiver expects to return exploratory kiss on the mouth (usually after biting clove and moving it to cheek). This is usually reserved for significant others or potential lovers. This usually means the cloved orange isn't getting transferred again for a few minutes (at least!).

Once the transfer of the clove is completed, the cloved orange is now the receiver's to give away, thus the practice continues until no cloves remain, but even this has special meaning in some places!

Special Situations

* Receiver accepts cloved orange and then drops it on the ground or rolls it back to the giver and turns their back (or walks away).
This is considered an insult and is the most unflattering 'accepted' response in the practice of passing the cloved orange. It is equivalent to 'laughing in the face' of the giver, telling the giver to "drop dead", or even comparable to ridicule. This is highly unflattering and shouldn't be used in practice. It is listed here simply so that, should it occur to you, you will not mistake its meaning.

* Receiver accepts cloved orange, bestows kiss of choice, and then returns orange back to giver.
This is considered a great compliment! It essentially means that the first kiss simply was not enough to satisfy the recipient or perhaps the recipient wants to put the decision into the original giver's hands if they want to attempt the 'next higher level' of cloved orange intimacy. Occasionally it's meant as an invitation to more than a cloved orange passing might indicate! In such cases it is generally better to err on the side of caution, but regardless, it is definately considered a sign of romantic interest if the cloved orange is immediatly returned to you after having received your kiss.

* Giver presents receiver with an orange with only one clove remaining.
After having made the rounds for an evening, an orange with a single remaining clove is considered an offer of sex. Consent is generally made by consuming the orange (either taking a bite out of it rind and all, or the more romantic option of peeling it and sharing it between the two participants in the privacy of one's tent or 'special place').