Five sighed softly as he walked towards the workshop. The previous night the one-eyed Stitchpunk had gotten next to no sleep, and the little sleep he had gotten had been filled with terrible nightmares. The lack of sleep made the usually cheerful Stitchpunk rather irritable, but he hid it quickly behind a façade as he walked into the workshop.
"Good morning, Five," Two greeted turning around to smile at the younger Stitchpunk.
"Morning, Two," Five said in a falsely cheery voice, quickly walking over to his own area and keeping his back to Two; Five could never stand to lie to the elder Stitchpunk's face. It made him feel guilty.
"Everything okay, Five?" Two asked after a moment's silence.
"Huh? Oh, yeah! Just a bit tired."
"Ah. You need to go sleep some more?" Two asked, sounding concerned.
"I'll be fine, Two," Five replied, feeling a bit annoyed at his mentor's concern.
There was silence as both Stitchpunks turned their attention to their own separate projects. Because he was so tired, Five found himself unable to use his fingers properly and kept dropping parts or making mistakes and having to back up several steps to fix them. Two noticed his apprentice's state and frowned. It wasn't like Five to be that clumsy. The older Stitchpunk stood up and walked over to Five.
"Do you need a little help with that, my boy?" he asked kindly.
"No!" Five snapped, trying to plug a wire into the wrong socket for the third time.
"Here," Two said, grabbing Five's hand and guiding the wire to the right socket.
"I don't need your help!" Five snarled, jerking away from his mentor's hand.
Two was startled and shuttered his optics in surprise. "Well…alright," he said finally and backed up, but kept watching Five.
Five worked in silence for about ten minutes, still struggling with his project. He tried to screw in a part the wrong way for the tenth time when he finally snapped. He cried out in frustration and slammed the part down on the desk as hard as he could, his optic dilated in anger. Two placed a gentle hand on Five's shoulder.
"I think you'd better go and rest."
"I don't need to rest!" Five shouted and spun around, glaring angrily at his mentor.
"Five listen to yourself! You don't know what you're saying!"
"I know exactly what I'm saying! I'm saying I don't need to rest and I don't need your help!"
"Please, just go rest."
"I told you I don't need to! You don't know what's best for me!"
"My boy, I've known you for a long time! I at least know what you need, and right now you need sleep."
Five felt anger such as he had never experienced before. It surged through him and washed away all thought and reason. He suddenly hated every bit of his mentor, from his concerned, love-filled optics to the gentle hands that were reaching for him. Five struck the hands away from him and his face twisted in anger.
"Get away from me!"
"Five! I just want to help!" Two exclaimed.
"You can take your damn help and shove it up your ass you no good fucking son of a bitch!"
The room was flooded with silence as Two stared at his apprentice, horrified and shocked by what had come out of the normally kind Stitchpunk's mouth. A few weeks after Five had lost his eye, he'd come to Two to ask about some words he'd read about in a book. Two had calmly explained to the younger Stitchpunk that those were curse words and that they weren't acceptable to say and that they were mean and hurtful. Five had smiled at him and nodded his understanding before hugging the elder Stitchpunk and asking about a project he'd been working on at the time.
Five's anger suddenly disappeared as realization crashed over him. His hands shot up to cover his mouth and heat flooded his soul as what he'd just said to the kind, loving, understanding Stitchpunk that always listened to him registered in his mind. Five stood there looking at his mentor for about a minute in horrified silence before turning and running away. He nearly bowled over Six in his rush to get away from Two and what he'd just said.
He jumped into the lift and started it up, heading for the watchtower. When the lift clicked home, Five scrambled from it and collapsed on the floor, sobbing in horror and shame at what he'd just done. He allowed himself to sink into his sorrow so thoroughly that he didn't even notice when the lift began to descend or when it came back up. Five jerked his head up when Two placed a tender hand on his shoulder, but couldn't meet the elder's optics with his own. The silence was thick, broken only by Five's soft sobbing, which he couldn't seem to stop. After a few seconds, Two knelt down and wrapped his arms around the young Stitchpunk and started murmuring in his audio receptor.
"Hush now, my boy. It's alright. Just let it all out."
When Five had no sobs left in him, he pulled away from his mentor and hung his head, still overwhelmed with shame. Two silently watched his apprentice, noting just how ashamed he seemed to be at his outburst. Finally he sighed softly and solidified his resolve.
"Five. What you just said was very wrong."
"I-I know, Two. I-I didn't mean it. I was just so angry because of my lack of sleep."
"That doesn't change the fact that you did something I explicitly told you that you shouldn't do."
"I'm sorry," Five whispered softly, nervously twiddling his hands.
Two sighed and thought for a moment. "Would you say that you deserve to be punished?"
Five nodded after a moment's silence. "I know I deserve it. I never should have said that. I should have listened to you."
"Well…go to your room for right now. I need to think of a proper punishment for you. I'll be there in a little while."
Five stood, and they descended into Sanctuary together. The younger Stitchpunk went straight for his room and lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as he mulled over what had transpired. Each time he thought of one of the four curse words, he felt a bubble of shame burst inside of him, but he couldn't stop thinking of them, going over the events again and again. He fell into a fitful sleep after ten minutes.
He awoke several hours later feeling better, but he was still tired. Two was sitting on the bed rubbing his foot lightly. When he shifted, Two looked up. There was no smile in greeting this time.
"Feel better?"
Five nodded, looking away as he remembered his foolish words. He turned over and curled up, covering his face as if to hide himself. Two sighed.
"Tell me, my boy, how do you feel?"
"You know how I feel," Five muttered.
"Tell me."
Five whimpered. "It burns. It's tearing me apart, Two. I can't stand it. I'm so sorry. I really am. I deserve anything you decide to give me. Just make this feeling stop."
"What feeling, Five?"
Five peeked through his fingers before covering his optic again. "Shame, I think. Embarrassment for sure. Worthlessness. Self-loathing. Regret. Humili—"
"That's enough. I get the picture. Do you like how you feel?"
"No, Two. I don't. It's terrible."
"I want you to remember these feelings. That way you will not do it again."
"Yes, Two. I will."
"Now, as for your punishment. For a human child, cursing would be punished with soap. We have no soap. Another punishment is a spanking. You do know what that is, correct?"
"Yes, Two."
"Do you agree to it?"
"Yes. I deserve to be switched, honestly."
"Let's not get carried away. I'm going to spank you for your language. One and I have discussed it and decided that that is a fit punishment."
Five nodded and sat up. "How will we do it?"
"Go and brace yourself on your inventing table.
Five did so, shaking slightly. He knew this would hurt. But it was Two. He trusted that his mentor wouldn't abuse this. Two gripped his arm in one hand and settled his other on his posterior.
"Ready?"
"Yes, Two."
"You are getting this spanking because you cursed at me. I was only trying to be helpful and I don't think I deserved it."
"You didn't, Two," Five whispered.
Two nodded and took a deep breath. The first strike made Five arch away in shock. But Two didn't stop with just one. He rained down a flurry of blows to Five's backside that made the Stitchpunk arch and wriggle and writhe, but the younger didn't dare make a noise. He deserved this and worse. A sob finally escaped his lips and Two ceased the spanking. He embraced his protégé, hushing him gently. Five's next words shocked Two.
"N-no! It's n-not enough! K-keep going!"
Two pulled back. "No, Five. You've had enough. You won't be able to sit right for several days. I'd say that's enough."
"N-no! It isn't. I still feel bad!"
Two guided Five over to the bed and lay him down, shushing him and stroking his eyepatch lovingly. He kissed him tenderly again and again, ignoring the younger's attempts to tell him that he just deserved more. Five eventually lay still in his mentor's grasp. He hesitantly cuddled close, and felt relieved when Two wrapped an arm around him to pull him closer.
"Forgive me, Two," Five whispered.
"Of course. Now, let's have a nap. You still look tired."
Five yawned. "I am. I kept having nightmares last night."
"Well, next time you have nightmares, come to my room. I'll help chase them away. And Five? The next time you're tired, just say so. You're not required to come and work with me every day. I'm not complaining, you're usually pleasant company, but I love you. Your wellbeing comes before any pleasantries. Understand?"
"Yes, Two."
"Good. Now relax…"
They cuddled together and fell into a deep sleep. One came in an hour later and couldn't help but smile at the sight. He was glad they made up. The leader covered them up with the blanket, kissing each head tenderly. He loved his little Stitchpunks. It was never good when any of the fought. But Two and Five? Never. And that was the way it should be.