⌚ New Experiences

27. The Other Trickster

In the bathroom, Spanky helped Dawn to wash her paws. He had ideas in his mind that he knew were very naughty, if not downright evil. But he was still her big sister, and he wanted to make sure she was clean before dinner. Then he could get a little reward for being a good girl, and maybe even end his punishment. The way to impress Mommy, he was sure, was to do good things when they were looking, and make sure that all his naughtiness was in things they wouldn't blame him for.

He held her hands, and probably used way too much soap from the little squirty bottle, but at least he was sure they both had clean paws. And clean arms and faces, too. After wrapping his sister's arms up in a loop of towel with which he dragged her giggling in a little circle around the bathroom, he finally decided it was time to try an experiment.

"Hey, Dawnie," he called, stepping behind her for a moment to fumble something out of his pocket. "What do you think of this?"

She turned around to see a blue yo-yo, decorated with fancy stars that hinted of mystery and magic, right in front of her face. He'd seen it fall earlier, when Paper dropped it. But he'd also seen it roll out from under the fridge and lie invitingly on the carpet, where he might just be able to grab it without Mommy seeing. Of course he'd taken the chance, doing his best to get it in the moment Paper had been looking at Dawn again. Here was his chance to show everyone that Dawn was more of a baby than he was.

"Ohh," Dawn barely had time to gasp. Her gaze immediately fixed on the pattern of blue stars, and she knew how helpless it could make her. She nodded automatically as her eyes followed it down, not even wondering what Spanky was going to do, or to say. All that mattered now was counting the stars on that yo-yo, keeping her eyes fixed on it as it moved down and–

The yo-yo bounced with a dull 'thunk' sound on the bathroom's cushion floor, and rolled away into a corner.

"Ahh!" Spanky spluttered, and immediately dropped to his knees and scrabbled for the little piece of plastic as it escaped. "I wasn't gonna... It was just a joke, right? Don't tell Mommy, please, I'll do anything, I can't get in trouble for this. Please, don't..."

A hand over his muzzle finally returned him to silence, and Dawn picked up the little blue thing between her toes, passing it up to her other hand. She looked down at it for a moment. Not fixated, as she had been before, but actually seeing the pattern of stars as she slowly turned it.

"Shhh," she said quietly, "You don't want Mommy to hear you making a fuss do you? Either of them."

"No, but I was going to... I mean, I wasn't going to..."

"I know. You were upset because I made you into a baby, right? I can make you do so many things like a baby, and you want to get me back for that. You've got an urge to get even, right?" She explained it slowly and patiently, like a good mother talking to her cubs. Spanky could only nod, feeling guiltier and more embarrassed than he had over any of the babyish things.

Dawn carefully unspooled the string from the yo-yo, turning it around and around in her hands, and then let it dangle. It spun horizontally, then slowed, and spun back the other way. Each time it moved a little less before it finally came to rest. Then she slowly started to wind it again, coiling the now-untwisted string around the plastic body of the toy. She counted the stars as she turned it, and found the task so much easier when it wasn't spinning. Spanky watched her in nervous silence, and then finally she spoke again: "I feel competitive, wanting to prove I'm bigger than you, and I don't know why. But when you try to get revenge... Seeing who can be the bigger baby. I want to see what you can do. But Mommy might get upset if we play with her toys, so you need to hide it better. And be more careful. A yo-yo doesn't work just by dropping it, you know. You can't just grab a bundle of tangled string and hope it will work."

"Oh. Uhh... I don't remember how," he mumbled.

"I'll show you, then," Dawn mumbled, sliding it back into his pocket. "When we got more time to play."

"Hey, you're going to do that to me? No fair! How did you get it anyway, I thought Mommy–"

"Shhh," she pressed a finger across his lips, and he realised that his voice was getting louder again. "No, I haven't got your one. It's only special if somebody else is holding it, so I can play with this one enough to show you how."

"You said you could make me do things?"

"Yes. Because of your little punishment, you have to do whatever I do. I can make you suck your thumb in the middle of talking, remember?"

"That's okay then. I know you can only make me do things you'd do yourself. So that's not too bad."

"You're not very smart, for the big sister," Dawn giggled, "Maybe you need to make me a bit dumber. You have to do anything I do, right? And it doesn't matter if it's something they made me do, or something babyish I just decided on. Like... I think you managed to keep your diaper dry. But how long do you think it'll stay that way?"

"Uhh..." he mumbled, "Until we get changed again. If I'm still getting punished then. I only can't hold it when you do. Don't. Whichever."

"Yeah, but every time I think about if I need to go, it makes me... oops, I'm gonna..." she did a little dance on the spot, bobbing from one foot to the other and then back again. She pressed a hand against the diaper between her legs, as if that would make any difference. Spanky almost immediately found himself making little jumps, trying to hold it. He suddenly needed to pee so bad. Even if it was only Dawn who was a baby, he felt it as soon as she did. She sighed, giving up her struggle before she got halfway to the toilet, and Spanky felt a small spurt of pee starting to swell hs diaper. It was so embarrassing, his face was crimson. The only thing to calm him down was that he wasn't the only one. Dawn was just as wet as he was, and nobody else needed to know.

"You..." he muttered, "Some babies we are. Go into the bathroom to clean up, and we both wet our diapers? It's kinda funny when you think like that."

"No, my big sister wet his diaper," Dawn whispered. "I was pretending."

Spanky glared. He couldn't believe she'd tricked him so easily. That wasn't what this punishment was supposed to be for! Then he started to laugh. She was his sister, alright. They'd both found ways to get around Mommy and pick on each other.

"Okay, okay," he shook his head, "You won that time. But you're already wet, so that's a draw really. And you can't do it again, because it doesn't make any difference. There's not that many things you can make me do."

"Sure," Dawn giggled as she opened the door. And then seeing Lulu and Paper standing there in the main room, with three pizza boxes on the table, the cubs knew there was only time for one more whispered comment before their privacy ended. "You know, I think I'll need to poop soon, just think how embarrassing that might be?"