It was a Friday night, Noah was at work and Julius and Smokey were at their dorm, relaxing after a big test that day. “Man, that was scary. I hope I pass the test or else my dads will kill me. I can’t be held back.” Julius said, sitting on his beanbag. “My Mom said as long as I do my best, she’s alright with a not-so-good grade. As long as it’s 60% or above. She also said if I ever cheated on a test or any assignment, she’d tear me a new one, regardless of what grade I got. That’s why I rarely do.” Smokey said, lying on his own beanbag. “Yeah.” “It sucks that Noah has to work after class,” Smokey said, rubbing his belly. “Not really. It means we have a few hours to relax before he starts bitching at us.” Juilius said jokingly. Smokey seems bothered by Julius’ comment but doesn’t say anything. “Well, I’m kinda hungry and I’m too tired to get zooted tonight.” He said, trying to change the topic. “I could get us some take-out,” Julius said, getting up. “Oh wait, shit. Noah has my wallet and he’s not gonna be home for a few hours.” He said. “Damn. Wait, isn’t there some kind of program or something that provides free meal packs for students on campus?” Smokey said. “Huh? Oh yeah, that. They had a whole assembly about it too.” Julius said. “Can we go see if they’re still available?” Smokey said, his stomach rumbling. “Yeah, let’s go and see what they have,” Julius said. Julius and Smokey then went down to the college building to check out the meal pack program on campus. “What kind of stuff do you think they'll have?” Smokey asked, skipping happily. “I dunno. I really hope they have something sugary.” Julius said, rubbing his belly. “I hope they have something quick and easy to make,” Smokey said, rubbing his belly. They both laughed and went into the building, excited to see what the college had to offer. When they got there, they were greeted by the campus security guard, a Pangoro named Luis Harris. “Hello, boys. What are you doing here?” He asked with a curious tone. “We wanted to check out the Meal Pack Program since we were hungry and Noah has my wallet,” Julius said. “I see. And Noah is at work, correct?” Luis asked. “Yes, he is.” “I see, so you two have no money for food?” Luis asked. “No, sir. As Julius said, Noah has his wallet, and I’ve been having trouble finding a job.” Smokey said, his ears folded against his head. “Then let me show you the Meal Pack Program. I'm sure it will come in handy.” Luis said with a smile. “Thank you, sir,” Julius said. Luis took them into the cafeteria. Where there were a few tables with tons of little packages of tinfoil. “Ooh, what’s this?” Smokey asked, licking his lips as a reaction to the delectable aroma. “This is where we keep all the meal packs. You’re welcome to take as many as you can carry. We have plenty to go around for a while. “ said Luis. Julius and Smokey were both excited and grabbed as many packs as they could. They thanked Luis and hurried back to their dorm. When they got back, they set the pack on the living room table and opened one, which had a variety of snacks and juice boxes. “Oh, cool. They have stuff for cookies.” Julius said, pleased with the sugary addition. “Oh cool, they put my favorite type of ramen in here too,” Smokey said, picking up a couple of packs of shrimp, beef, and chicken ramen. Julius took his pack to his room while Smokey took a couple of packs into the kitchen and prepared to make ramen, cleaning out a pot, a bowl, and a fork, boiling water, and everything. But what he didn’t realize was that the small washcloth they used was extremely close to the stove, so when Smokey turned it on to boil the water, the washcloth caught fire. Smokey, unaware of the fire, went to his room to work on an upcoming assignment before relaxing. A little while later, Julius smelled smoke. “Huh? What is that smell?” He asked, thinking the other students were burning something as a prank. But then, the smoke alarm went off and he realized the fire was inside the dorm. He ran out of his room and through every room until he reached the kitchen, where he saw a huge fire on the floor. Smokey quickly ran into the kitchen as well, wondering what was happening, and saw the fire, causing him to freeze from shock. Luckily, Julius realized there was a fire extinguisher on every floor, so he bolted out of the dorm and quickly spotted it. He grabbed it and ran back to the kitchen and put the fire out and it was dead quiet for a while. “Phew, that was close.” Smokey said a few minutes later. Julius, still too stunned to speak, just nodded. “Wait a minute…” Julius walked over to where the fire was. “Is this… the washcloth?” He looked at it closely. “It is. How the heck did-” He suddenly realized the stove was on. Smokey walked over and as if by coincidence, they realized what happened. “Did you turn the stove on?” Julius asked. “Umm… yes. Yes, I did. I was making ramen because I was hungry and I didn’t realize the washcloth was so close to the stove.” Smokey said, slightly panicking. Julius sighed and shook his head. “Alright, let's get this mess cleaned up before anything else happens.” He and Smokey got to work, cleaning up the mess. When the mess was completely clean, Julius pulled Smokey into the other room. “Look, I’m not mad about what happened, but I’m not happy about it either.” He said. Smokey tried to speak but didn’t know what to say. Julius sighed again and said, “We need to talk about this.” Smokey nodded and Julius continued, “We need to come up with a way to prevent this from happening again.” “Am I in trouble? Smokey asked, his voice squeaking from fear. “Well…” Julius said, scratching his head. “Yes and no. I know that it was an accident, but you could’ve caused some serious damage if it weren’t for the smoke detectors going off like that.” Julius said. “I know and I’m really, really, really sorry, Jules.” Smokey said, fighting back tears. Julius sighed and shook his head. "It's alright, Smokey. Accidents happen, but I want you to remember that you need to be careful next time." he said, patting Smokey on the back. “Are you going to punish me?” Smokey asked, his heart beating heavily and his ears turning hot. “Do you think you need to be punished?” Julius asked, crossing his arms. “Do I really have the option?” Smokey asked. “I asked you, didn’t I?” Julius asked. Smokey felt guilty for almost burning the house down. With a sad sigh, he said, “I think I do.” “You think you do what?” Juilius asked. “I think I do need to be punished. What I did was really dangerous. Plus, if Noah finds out, he’s gonna be really mad at me.” Smokey asked. “Well, what do you think we should do?” Julius asked. Smokey looked around the room and spotted the paddle on the wall, which sent shivers down his spine. Julius followed his gaze and spotted the paddle as well. “Why are you looking at the paddle?” He asked. “Well… I’m thinking.” Smokey said. He then grabbed it and handed it to Julius. “Here.” He said. “Why are you- oh… are you saying…” Smokey nodded. “Are you sure?” “Yes. I want you to do it since Noah always takes it too seriously.” Julius sighed and grabbed Smokey’s wrist, bringing him into his room. “Lay down on your back and lift your legs.” He instructed. Smokey did as he was told. He also grabbed his alligator stuffy for comfort, knowing what was about to come wasn’t going to be pleasant. Julius felt bad for his friend but Smokey was the one who chose this, so he raised the paddle high enough to cause an impact Smokey would feel but not enough to leave any bruises and took a swing. *WHAP* The paddle connected with Smokey's behind. Smokey yelped in surprise, but Julius knew it was only out of surprise and not pain. He felt relieved that Smokey was alright. He raised it again and brought it down again. *WHAP* Smokey squeezed his alligator tightly. He also grabbed a tiger plush that was nearby and hugged it too. “How many do you think is enough?” Julius said. “I dunno.” Smokey said, squeezing his stuffies. Let’s do 20.” Julius said. “Fine, whatever, just please make it quick.” Smokey said, trying to stay calm. “Your butt is already turning pink.” Julius said. He raised the paddle again and took a few more swings. *WHAP* *WHAP* *WHAP* Smokey began to tear up but tried to hold it in. Julius kept going, not being too lenient but not too harsh. *WHAP* *WHAP* *WHAP* *WHAP* *WHAP* Smokey tearfully whimpered into his tiger plush. “Hey, it’s okay, buddy. We’re halfway there.” Julius said. Smokey wiped his eyes with his alligator and said, “Please… can we just stop here? It hurts.” Julius shook his head. “That’s not an option anymore, I’m sorry. Remember, you chose this and it’s too late to change your mind.” He said, raising the paddle. *WHAP* *WHAP* *WHAP* *WHAP* *WHAP* Smokey started kicking his feet and knocked the paddle out of Julius’ paws. “I’m sorry. I… I can’t handle this. I thought I could, but I can’t.” He whimpered. Julius calmly picked the paddle up and walked over. “Just stay calm, okay? Just ten more left.” Julius said. “What? But I counted 15. That means I only need five more,” Smokey said, disappointed. “Yes, that would’ve been 20, but you started kicking and knocked the paddle out of my paws. Therefore, you’ve earned an extra ten swats.” He said with a gentle firmness. Smokey quietly protested, angry at himself and Julius, but he knew he was in no position to argue. “Okay, fine. Just get it over with, please.” He whimpered. “I want you to count these last ten, okay?” Smokey nodded. “Okay, here we go.” *WHAP* “Ouch, one…” *WHAP* “T-two…” *WHAP* “Mfh… three” *WHAP* *WHAP* “Four, f-five...” *WHAP* “Owie, six…” *WHAP* “Grr… s-seven. Ow…” *WHAP* “Eight…” *WHAP* “Nine, ni-” Smokey’s voice got caught in his throat. Finally, for the last time, Julius raised the paddle and brought it down on Smokey’s behind much harder than the previous times. *WHAP* “FUCK!!! T-ten… goddamnit” Smokey whimpered. Julius helped Smokey sit up and hugged him tightly. “There, there, buddy. It’s over now.” Julius said, rubbing Smokey’s tender bottom. “*sniff* R-really? I’m done?” He asked. Julius nodded “Yep. You did great. I’m proud of you, dude.” He said, hugging the teary-eyed Floragato. “It hurts so much… I wish I’d never tried to make that stupid ramen.” Smokey said, angrily sobbing into his tiger plush. “Hey, it’s not your fault. It was an accident, buddy. It could’ve happened to anyone, even me and Noah.” Julius said, rubbing Smokey’s back. “But what is Noah gonna do when he finds out?” “He can’t do anything because we already took care of everything. I put the fire out, we cleaned the mess up, and I already punished you for being aloof and destroying the washcloth, which I can replace.” Julius said. “It’s not just that…” Smokey said. Julius did his best to cheer Smokey up and help him feel better until they heard the sound of a key turning. “Oh shit, Noah’s home.” Julius said. “Great. I need to tell him what happened. It’ll help if I don’t hold onto it forever.” Julius and Smokey went into the living room where Noah opened the door, looking exhausted and angry. Smokey hid behind Julius in fear that something bad was about to happen. “Fuck me… Oh, hey guys.” Noah said, stretching. “Guess who gave his shitty boss the double bird on his last day of work.” “Umm… what?” Julius said. “Me, dude. It was me. Fucking prick thinks he can talk to me like I’m worthless or something. In that case, have fun being understaffed with only 2 people who do their fucking jobs. Well, now it’s none because of me and the other person who did quit.” He said, cheerfully. He then sniffed the air. “What the hell? Is something burning?” He asked. “N-not anymore, no.” Smokey said. “Not anymore? What happened?” Smokey went to the kitchen and grabbed the charred remains of the washcloth and showed it to Noah. “Eww, what the fuck is that? Wait, is that… my mother’s washcloth?” He said. Smokey tearfully nodded. “I know how special it was to you, but while I was trying to make ramen, it caught fire and… and…” Smokey broke down again. Julius felt nervous because he had no idea what to say or do. But to his and Smokey’s surprise, Noah walked over and hugged Smokey. “It’s okay, bud. It’s just a stupid washcloth. It wasn’t special to me or my mom.” He said. “Wait, what?” “It was a useless piece of crap my Mom gave me because she didn’t want it. I don’t care that you destroyed it.” Noah said, hugging Smokey. He rubbed his back and went lower until… “Wait a minute. Turn around.” Noah said. Smokey did so. “Aww, your butt is red.” He said, carefully rubbing it. “Ow…” “Smokey felt guilty and asked me to spank him with the paddle. I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted.” “And I regret it now.” Smokey said. “Well, why don’t you take it easy, Smokey? And Julius, good job on helping Smokey.” Noah said. “Yeah, yeah.” Julius said. They then went through the Meal Packs and made food for the night. After that, Noah and Julius played video games and Smokey went to bed since he was tired and his bottom was very sore. He was thankful that Noah wasn’t mad but something about the spanking he had received felt good and bad to him. He realized he hated the actual punishment but he enjoyed the aftercare. Either way, it was over and he was free to rest his mind and body.
