⌚ New Experiences

21. Another Game

This chapter is dedicated to anon, with all my thanks for helping me to keep on writing these stories.

Spanky's flat was comfortable and spacious, larger than most of the students on his course could manage. But there was a difference between a place that was large for student lodgings, and a place large enough for four people to lounge in comfort. Spanky went to the desk chair automatically when they arrived, and got a casual scratch behind the ear from Lulu's claws to urge him back to his feet. For all the lacquer she used to emphasize them, and her insistence on honing them to a razor edge, she could be quite gentle with those claws..

Lulu took the chair, and directed Paper to sit at her feet with just a glance. Paper averted her eyes, the tiger tamed, and Dawn sat down nervously on the corner of the bed.

"Good girl," Lulu gave a sound halfway between a laugh and a purr. "Now, Spanky. You're going to get out all the things we need, and then you're going to lie back on the bed beside Dawn and wait for my attention. Understand?"

He nodded, and knelt to unlock one of the cupboards under his desk. He'd gotten more organised since the last time he'd been a cub for his girlfriends, and all the presents Master had sent were now stowed in a single cupboard, secured with a combination lock. And as a reminder that he really didn't have any choice in the matter, he had no idea what the combination was. He could open it, but only when someone else told him to. And he was pretty sure that if it was necessary, he'd learn that Lulu had been the one to choose the number. She always seemed to know exactly what was going on.

He didn't know which of the presents he would need. He had a large scoop bib, which had anchor points for various ribbons that could turn it into an adorably cute instrument of bondage. He wouldn't be surprised if that was going to be used today. Then there was a yellow yo-yo with spirals painted on both sides. He knew that as soon as it started spinning, his eyes would follow it up and down so intently that he didn't notice anything else going on around him. The wonders of a post-hypnotic suggestion, and one that Paper and Lulu both loved to play with. He dropped it into the bib's tray, knowing he'd be reprimanded if he forgot that. He wanted more than anything to postpone its use today; to be able to discuss what they were going to do to him first. But he was sure that wouldn't be an option, and he wasn't about to risk his girlfriends' wrath.

And then there were a dozen vaguely fist-sized balls; some of them union of cloudy and coloured pieces of clear plastic such as you might get from a vending machine with mystery toys in, while the items that wouldn't fit into those balls were wrapped in a dozen layers of tape and bubble wrap instead. He had no idea what was inside them, but he was sure every one would give him a different compulsion when he opened them. The yo-yo had been one of them, and the pacifier too. The pacifier that he couldn't stop sucking once it was placed in his mouth, as his muscles started to refuse orders from his brain.

He picked up four of the unidentified balls, and put them in the bib too. At least that would prevent him dropping anything. He left the pacifier where it was for now. He hooked the bib over his shoulder to free up his hands, and then added a small bottle of baby powder to the scoop. He didn't remember buying that, but if it was there then someone must intend him to have it. Next he picked up his clothes. He had a pair of cotton shortalls, with a print that looked almost like denim. Presumably they were easier to clean, or something. Under those he had expected to be wearing the same striped T-shirt as last time, but there was a different top there waiting for him.

It seemed that today he would be wearing a lavender T-shirt bearing an overly cute painting, a pastel-shaded reproduction of a very famous war photograph, with just enough eccentricity in the lines to give the impression of a cub's drawing with crayons. The image famously showed eleven Lapine Liberation Army guerillas marching in formation, but in this child-friendly version they had flowers protruding from the tips of rifles that were clearly supposed to be water guns. It was a very famous photograph, and Spanky was amused to see the tone completely reversed like that. He would be willing to swear he had never seen anything like this before, but his signature in the bottom corner would have called him a liar.