'Tis confusion!

cornfield punishment

Q and I joined the others in the living room. Everyone was gathered in a  circle, watching something on Q's laptop. "This is probably one of my favorite punishments," I heard Barbara exclaim. I looked at what was happening onscreen. Sal could be heard on the laptop screen, crying out "You lied! It's a haunted maze!" The real Sal was sitting next to Barbara, laughing...until it got to the part with the little girl. He groaned. "Guys, that little girl was scary as hell!" He told us all. "Like, I was seriously thinking 'Sal, it's a little girl...a little, creepy, probably possessed little girl.' And I just couldn't pass her." We were all dying of laughter at his reactions. The screen faded to black momentarily and then Q appeared on it. I recognized this bit as the labor simulation, and a glance over at Q's bright red face told me he was remembering the event all too well. "Oh man, look at your face!" Murr exclaimed. "This looked so painful, man."

"It was," Q grimaced. "Almost as painful as having to deal with you clowns every day." Everyone laughed. Q grabbed the laptop and fast-forwarded on the video. "What's this, just a compilation of punishments?" Sal nodded. Q continued to fast forward until he got to a new segment. "Ah, here we go. Laugh at this one, Murray, ya jerk." This clip was in fact a Murr punishment- the nude art model. I leaned over and whispered in Q's ear  "This is one of my favorites. I especially love your reaction. I can't believe you laughed so hard you puked." Q grinned sheepishly. Murr shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I'm gonna use the bathroom. Em, do you need anything while I'm up?"

Q and Sal exchanged a glance again. I really needed to ask what was going on with that. Before I could, however, Q had plopped down in Murr's vacated seat, and motioned me over. I walked over, and he grabbed my hand and pulled me onto his lap. "best seat in the house, babe," he told me. "Guaranteed." I laughed. "Best seat for me, but I don't know that everyone shares that sentiment. When's the last time you had Joe sit on your lap?" Joe bit into a doughnut. "Never." He informed me. "And it's not like I don't ask, because I do. At least once a month." We all laughed. I noticed Sal was sitting super close to Barbara, whispering something in her ear. She had a look of intense concentration on her face, and was nodding. I felt Q's hand run up and down my back. He whispered in my ear, "What say you and I disappear for a minute?" I shifted to face him and whispered back  "I'd like that." Q nodded, and I got up from his lap and offered him my hand. He grabbed it and stood from the chair. "We'll be back. Gonna go check on Benjamin."  The rest of the group nodded and turned back to the laptop. Q and I headed towards the back to his bedroom.