⌚ New Experiences

17. Mixed Blessings

This chapter is dedicated to Santoro, with thanks again for supporting me.

Spanky couldn't bring himself to answer. He was practically trembling now. He could see from the corner of his eye, the two girls had gone over to inspect the cupboard he pointed to. There was a parcel in there, in a grey waterproof wrap, sealed with packing tape. Lulu had certainly seen it on his desk before, and he was pretty sure Paper had too, even if they didn't know what was inside. He'd also carefully re-sealed it after the first time Master introduced him to being a cub again. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he'd hoped that if one of the women in his life was shocked by what was inside he could feign ignorance. Maybe tell them that he didn't know what Master had sent him, and that wasn't his kind of thing at all.

He could make out a couple of his girlfriends' words, through the blood pumping in his ears. They looked at a sealed package, and decided this was something to ask him about when his mouth wasn't occupied by a pacifier with dreams of being a ball gag. Or something to ask Master about... and that thought made Spanky's blood run cold. Because he knew that if they asked Master Metamorpheus, they'd know that he sealed the package again himself. Would that count as lying? Maybe, but he'd done it without real intent to deceive, more to keep it from anyone else who might happen to be in his room. There was no way he could even tell them.

"Don't worry," Paper purred, scritching at the back of his neck, "We'll ask you about that later. We don't want to–"

"No," Lulu cut her off, "He lied to us, even if it's just because he was scared. He needs to be punished."

"Oh, I guess so. Bad boy."

Spanky's whole body tensed up automatically at the words. He had no idea what to expect. Spanking on his bare bottom, or claws, or teasing until he couldn't stand it any more?

He heard the snick of Lulu's claws sliding out. Of course, Paper's didn't make that noise. There was nobody with hearing good enough to recognise claws moving against skin. But the fine layer of lacquer on Lulu's nails squeaked enough to be perceptible when she brought them out to play. She loved to let her 'victim' hear that little hint, and know something was going to hurt very soon.

Still, there was no way he could tell if this was going to mean drawing blood, or just a teasing scratch to get him more excited for was yet to come. But then he heard the sound of tearing paper, and packing tape reluctantly coming free of the layer beneath. Lulu's claws cut effortlessly through the packaging, and Spanky realised there was a second or less before two of the most important people in his life saw the most shameful of the things Master had sent him.

"Nnnffffh!" he screamed, the yell barely more than a squeak, and even if they could understand him, there was no sign that Lulu was going to pay any attention to what he wanted right now. She was going to see it, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Wow," Lulu chuckled, and she didn't seem to be as shocked as Spanky might have thought. She didn't even seem particularly upset, for which he had to breathe a sigh of relief. "Seems this cub's little enough to need diapers."

Paper's face was a picture, but only for a moment. She might not be that shocked but she was certainly surprised, and didn't know what to say.

"Well," she muttered after a moment, "We shouldn't be opening someone else's presents, should we? Maybe they aren't even for him, maybe we're making completely the wrong guess."

"Good point. He can't really tell us, though. How about we try it and see? I mean, these look like they might be just the right size to fit that butt wiggling in the air there, and it'd probably be a better idea than leaving it bare so anyone can see. What do you think?"

Spanky did his best to get away, or to keep himself out of their reach, but he was just as helpless as he might have thought. He could kick a little, but the belt holding his calves together gave very little opportunity to move, and with his chin held high enough that he needed the pillows under his knees so that he wouldn't strain his back, it really left nowhere he could move to. He felt Lulu fumble a little and slacken the belt, giving him slightly more ability to resist, and then he could feel the thick padding of a diaper pushed between his legs. He waved his brush in one direction, and kicked out on the other side in an attempt to stop the ultimate humiliation, and much to his surprise Lulu actually released her grip.

Had he managed to get her to accept a 'no' for the first time he could remember? Or had he just made her angry past the point of yelling? There was no way he could know, and he found himself starting to tremble until she spoke again.

"Paper, be a dear and help me would you? I believe that the common practice when changing a baby's diaper is to use something brightly coloured to catch his attention and keep him from squirming too much. It's fine if he's grabbing at a mobile with his hands, as that keeps him from moving his hind quarters around quite so vigorously."

A mobile? Spanky didn't think there'd been room in the package for something like that, and there certainly weren't any hooks to hang one on. He couldn't turn his head far enough to see what was being passed from one girl to the other over his head, but he could look up far enough to see as it came into sight, a spinning piece of yellow plastic printed with a complex spiral design. It went down, and up, and down, and up again before he realised that he had no idea just how many times he'd watched it, and no idea how long he'd been staring at it. But the yo-yo didn't keep spinning too long. Soon enough it was stopped in a white-furred hand, and when it was still it became quite easy to count the spirals, and see that it was nothing but an ordinary toy.

Spanky was embarrassed to find that he could already feel the crinkling bulk of a diaper around his waist; probably printed with dinosaurs and sheep, if it came from the same pack as the first one he'd worn for Master. The stiff material was bunched around the tops of his legs, and itched slightly there, but it was still a little loose at the back until Lulu closed the tail-hole and pulled the last tab closed around the back of his waist. Then he could feel how tight it was all around the edges, and he knew there was already no way he'd be able to get out of it on his own.

"See, how does that feel?" Lulu asked, "Comfy padding for a little cub's bum?"

Paper laughed, quickly clapping a hand over her own mouth in order to keep quiet. Spanky couldn't even guess what had amused her quite that much. He tried not to think about it, and just to focus on answering Lulu instead. He could tell her that it felt pretty comfortable, a little scratchy maybe where the outer plastic layer rubbed against his thighs. He could say it wasn't as bad as he'd expected, which would be true. Or he could point out that he didn't really need one, which of course they were already aware of. He could remind them that this wasn't something that actually excited him, it was just that he liked being so helpless he didn't get the choice, but that seemed pretty redundant anyway. He wouldn't persuade them to stop whatever he said, so eventually he settled on a simple shrug, and whatever mumbles the words 'It's okay, I guess' would turn into when passing through the pacifier.

"D's mmk–" he started, and then his eyes went wide as a sudden tingling hit him in the tummy, with all the power and suddenness of a punch, but none of the pain that would normally imply. He couldn't even tell what the strange sensation was, it didn't remind him of anything he'd ever felt before. It quickly faded, to be replaced by a happy wave of relief until he noticed the warmth spreading around his crotch. Then everything made sense again: he was wetting his diaper, he realised, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He didn't even know how to get in touch with whatever muscles might be involved.