"That's my biology results!" Raven announced excitedly. Why they always came through when she was in the middle of a meal was a mystery, but they seemed to on a regular basis lately.
"Possibly," said Eeth calmly, helping himself to the hot sauce and seasoning his grains.
Given that Raven had been on her absolute best behaviour today, she did not risk ruining her streak by asking Eeth to excuse her to check the results. Instead, she kept eating, showing no signs that she was dying on the inside to get up and check! Raven had not even allowed Professor Kogan to get to her during class, and then, much to her teacher's surprise, she had been the first to arrive for their biology exam and amongst the last to leave. Considering her recent spate of mischief, surviving a day without pissing anyone off, earning punishment from a teacher or, Force help her, from Eeth, was a commendable feat. If she could only keep it up for another six days, she might survive. If she didn't, well, Eeth could make her life very unpleasant, not that he hadn't already put his foot down. Raven was on a tight leash with little room to move, and she knew it.
Once she had emptied her plate, Eeth took pity on her and motioned for her to go to the comm unit. He had not failed to notice the effort she had made to be patient about this.
"Go and have a look," he said. "And then help me clear the table."
Unlike her reaction to the arrival of the astrophysics results last week, this time Raven didn't hesitate. She had studied hard, done well on the test and was feeling confident. In fact, the only thing that could let her down here was her behaviour; 5% of her grade rested on class participation and conduct. Still, the padawan opened the file without hesitation and let out a woot. "YES! I got an A!" she squealed, bouncing around their common room for a second before turning back to the terminal in search of a grade breakdown. She skimmed through the file, her smile growing bigger at seeing the near-perfect score on her project and the positive comments written by her teacher regarding the work she had put in. There was one negative comment regarding her attitude of late, but apart from that, she had aced that unit. Raven returned to help clean up, looking very pleased with herself.
"Congratulations, padawan," Eeth said with a small smile. "You deserve it for your hard work." He rose and motioned for her to help him clear the table.
After they had washed the dishes, he read through the breakdown of Raven's results and frowned a little at the remark about her attitude. It could not have been bad enough to warrant repercussions; if it had, he would have heard about it before. Still, it was not something Raven should be encouraged to indulge.
"Padawan, what does your teacher mean when he writes that your attitude left something to be desired lately?" he asked.
Raven had been about to ask him if, thanks to her stellar grade, he would consider letting her off the nightly spanking she had earned after yesterday's debacle. However, this thought poofed quickly upon hearing his query. "He keeps saying I'm argumentative," she said. "I'm not." Raven failed to recognise the irony in that statement. She shrugged it off and wiped over the bench.
"I think," said Eeth, "that if your teacher sees fit to mention this in your report, you should consider a change of attitude, rather than brushing off his comment."
"What does it matter?" asked Raven "I owned that unit, I almost had100%. You can't complain about that."
"I am not complaining about your performance in the exam nor your knowledge of the subject or the effort you made to master it," Eeth said sternly. "In fact, I distinctly remember that I congratulated you a few minutes ago. I still think your attitude matters. After all, this is not the first teacher who has complained about it recently. This should give you reason to think about your behaviour, rather than reject their complaints as unfounded. I will not make an issue out of this right now. But if I receive another note from one of your teachers because you got into an argument with them, I will not be pleased."
Given that Eeth was currently spanking her every night, courtesy of her unauthorised trip to the laser light exhibition, Raven thought better of continuing this discussion. She ended it with a contrite "Yes, master," and turned to head to her room, intending to work on her dissection project that was coming up in the advanced healing class with Mathew.
At this moment, their terminal buzzed an incoming message. "I'll get it!" she yelled, hoping it was Lakhri or one of her friends, but that did not turn out to be the case.
"Master Windu," the padawan said and bowed respectfully. She did not need to hear the man's reason for calling. "I will get him for you," she told him and turned, only to collide face-first with the solid wall that was her master. "It's umm, well," she said, gesturing towards the small blue figure of Mace Windu.
Eeth rested a hand on Raven's shoulder and bowed to Mace Windu. "Antar, I suppose?" he asked.
"Yes," Mace replied. "The rescue team have met up with the deployment from Antar I. They developed a plan and have asked to confer with the Council, and especially with you. I told them I would try to get you here in ten minutes."
"I will be there," Eeth promised curtly and ended the connection.
"Padawan, I will have to go," he told Raven, who was giving him a resigned look. "I really am sorry, but there is nothing I can do about it. Please do your homework and take part in the intermediate open sparring session at four. If you feel you need more exercise, go and have a swim afterwards. I hope I will be back by dinnertime. If I am lucky enough to finish sooner than that, I will catch up with you, so take your comlink with you."
"Yes, master," Raven replied and pocketed her unit as he left. She didn't mind working on her healing project. It was a subject that Raven had a great deal of interest in and that barely counted as work for her. But, here she was again, alone, while Eeth was off saving the galaxy without her.
Saving the galaxy, in this case, meant an afternoon full of long and complex discussions. When Eeth was finally able to leave, it was only half an hour before dinnertime. He pulled out his comlink and dialed his padawan's code. There was no time left for him to prepare dinner, so he thought the most sensible option would be to meet her at the dining hall. He was pleasantly surprised to hear that his padawan had other ideas, however.
"I made us a concoction from our leftovers. Roasted meat and tubers with beans and spinach for you, and lentil patties with soy sauce, grains and roasted tubers for me," she told him proudly. Raven wasn't the best cook, but she was Eeth's apprentice which meant she knew how to put a meal together.
"Thank you, padawan, that was very thoughtful of you," Eeth replied. "I will be with you in two minutes, then."
True to his word, exactly one hundred twenty seconds later he entered their quarters.
"Good evening, padawan," he said, hanging up his cloak. "How was your afternoon?"
"Uneventful," she replied. Raven was happy that he was home, but at the same time, regretful. On the one hand, it meant she would get to spend the evening with him; on the other hand, it meant he was home with enough time to follow through with punishment. "Dinner's almost done," she said, pulling some plates from their cupboard.
"Thank you, padawan," Eeth said, pulling off his boots. "This smells good. I appreciate it." He went to the kitchen sink to wash his hands. "How was the sparring session?" he asked.
"Boring," Raven replied honestly whilst placing the plates and cutlery on their table. "It wasn't nearly as fun… uh, I mean … educational as our usual sparring sessions. What happened with the Antar crisis?"
"Our team is about to arrive," Eeth replied. "During their journey, the knights we sent made plans they needed to discuss with me. Two of them have taken up negotiations with the rebels, while the other two remain hidden and will start a rescue attempt. We developed a strategy that will allow them to infiltrate the rebel forces. It will be very, very hazardous and many lives depend on it. There will most likely be no opportunity to communicate with the rescue team after their arrival, so we had to cover all eventualities now."
The two continued to speak about Antar and the possibilities while they ate. This crisis was truly living up to its name, and there was no easy solution in sight.
Unfortunately, and much to her displeasure, Raven was unable to dissuade Eeth from the spanking he had promised her. Thus, and well before she was ready, Raven found herself begging, pleading, wailing and eventually crying, which resulted in a very sad and sorry padawan who sat sniffling on an aching ass to write that evening's lines.
The few days that followed were much the same, except that, by the third night, Raven dispensed with begging and accepted that Eeth was going to spank her regardless. Even though she had made a conscious effort to reign in her temper, he still disciplined her as promised.
Alas, this perfect streak of excellent behaviour did not last. By day four, Raven lost her temper with Professor Kogan, yet again.
"I can't go home," she told Lakhri, on whose doorstep she had appeared after the afternoon's chores were done. "Eeth's going to kill me. Can't I hide out here, pleeeeease?" Lakhri and Flynt had returned from Borleias the previous day and she hadn't caught up with them yet. Now was as good a time as any to fill them in on the latest gossip, including how she'd managed to earn herself a week of Eeth's most dire displeasure.
"Are you crazy?" Flynt scoffed. "I don't want him coming over here to fetch you. What if he decides we are co-conspirators and hands me my ass, too?" He was joking—kind of.
"Yes, that's a very real possibility," Lakhri remarked, giving Raven a sympathetic smile. "Besides, he is going to punish you anyway. If you try to hide from him or stall, he's just gonna punish you worse. Believe me, I've been there. We could accompany you home and invite ourselves for dinner, though. That might at least take your mind off things and postpone the inevitable a little."
"I know, but you know what Eeth is like when you screw up the same thing and he's still not through with the mean and evil treatment from the last time?!"
"A crapshoot of epic proportions?" Flynt guessed, and Raven nodded.
"To say that he's going to be exceedingly displeased is a gross understatement. Plus, he'll make it hurt ten times more."
"If you're lucky, just five times more," said Lakhri. "And there's no way I can save you from that. Sorry. The best we can do is make the evening enjoyable until it happens."
Raven took a moment to process that. "Maybe if you hang around until well past my bedtime discussing 'important masterly things', he will just send me to bed," she suggested, thinking aloud now.
"Yeah right," said Flynt. "This is Eeth we are talking about. He'd just pause the conversation, take you to your room, beat your ass, and then resume the conversation where he left off as if nothing happened." He pulled his cloak from the hook and tossed Lakhri his.
Raven frowned but had to agree Flynt had a point. "You might have tried to reassure me instead," she told him, giving him a playful kick in the butt.
Flynt gave her a look of mock indignation. "Lakhri, did you see that? Violence towards a fellow padawan. Totally unacceptable behaviour."
Lakhri just rolled his eyes at their antics and closed the door behind them.
"If it's violence you want to see, I can accommodate," said Raven. "We haven't sparred in a while. It's about time I kicked you all over the gym." Raven was becoming a little arrogant when it came to her fighting abilities of late; she was good and knew it.
"Now you're just being antagonistic," Lakhri said mildly. "Stop it. It's not going to make things any better."
"Antagonistic? Me? He started it," Raven scoffed, referencing what she considered a complete lack of sympathy towards her plight.
"He didn't," said Lakhri, more firmly. "It's neither Flynt's fault nor mine that you got in trouble with your teacher."
Raven looked at Lakhri with a frustrated expression. "Great, so now you're on my case, too. That's just perfect. Does anyone else want a piece of me while the offering is up?" The latter was said to those passing by in a slightly raised voice.
Flynt glanced sideways at his master and then raised an eyebrow at his Jedi aunt. Lakhri was pretty easy-going, but Raven was pushing it.
Lakhri was tempted to roll his eyes again. Instead, he said, "If this is the way you want it to be, I'll take you up on your offer." He grabbed Raven by the scruff of her neck and delivered a sharp swat to the seat of her pants. It was sure to be less impressive than what she was used to from Eeth, given that he had a lot less leverage, but it was probably enough to get her attention, which was all he wanted.
"Now will you stop it?" he demanded to know.
Flynt let out a low whistle of appreciation as he watched that showdown unfold. He didn't think he'd ever seen Lakhri let fly in a Temple corridor before, but then, he'd never given him cause.
"Oww. Come on, don't be like that," Raven said, her tone now considerably more contrite than before. That had stung. "Yes, I'll stop it, but I was just venting, is all. I'm sorry."
"Alright, then let's get going," Lakhri said, sounding like his normal cheerful self again. He released his hold on Raven and clapped her on the back.
Eeth, in the meanwhile, had come home from a rather long Council session to find a message from his padawan, stating that she was with Lakhri (which was fine), and a message from Professor Kogan, stating that his padawan would be suspended from her class if there was any further trouble (which was not). When the door swished open half an hour later, he turned a most displeased look in its direction, only to rearrange his features when he realised that it was Lakhri who was entering, with Raven and Flynt in tow.
"Lakhri, Flynt," he said in greeting. "Welcome back. Padawan. I have started preparing dinner, but there is not enough for all of us. Especially not for Lakhri. We will have to order in from the dining hall."
Flynt entered behind Lakhri and gave a slight bow. "Hello, grandmaster. I see you have yet to eat your one padawan for the day so I bought you a sacrifice to ensure you are appeased." He nudged Raven forward with his hip.
Even Raven had to smile at that. "Master," she said, offering him a bow in greeting.
Eeth could not quite suppress a small smile either. "I see you survived your mission, then," he replied. "And judging from your tan, you even found the time to go to the beach. Let me just order some food, then you can tell me about it. I will have to ask you to leave after dinner, though. Raven and I need to discuss a few things."
"No we don't," Raven assured him as he went to order, shooting Lakhri an expression that clearly said 'SAVE ME.' Not that she actually thought he could.
"Oh, yes, we do," Eeth said severely. Lakhri just shrugged and threw Raven an apologetic look. Raven lowered her gaze. She wasn't about to argue the point with Eeth.
Wanting to detract attention from the tense atmosphere growing between Eeth and Raven, Flynt flicked on the holo.
"Flynt, switch it off," said Eeth sternly. "Where are your manners?"
Lakhri chortled. Apparently, he was surrounded by suicidal padawans. As long as it wasn't him, he could appreciate the humour of the situation.
"Why?" Flynt asked, honestly baffled as to what his grandmaster had against the holo.
Lakhri sat down next to Flynt.
"First of all, you might have asked," he told Flynt. "Second, we've got company. Switching on the holo the moment you enter gives the impression that you have no interest in talking to them. Third, Eeth thinks watching the holo is a waste of time."
"With very few exceptions, it is," Eeth said crisply, sending his order and coming over to join them. "And that includes the news channel. Today, they reported for thirty seconds on the Antar crisis, showed a brief excerpt of the Chancellor's speech and for the remaining eight minutes brought coverage of sports events and a concert by someone called Zatny Zawatny."
Lakhri laughed. "Come on, Eeth, you must have heard of Zatny," he said. "She's all the rage! People have been trampled to death trying to get access to her concerts."
"All the more reason not to go, then," Eeth replied.
Raven rolled her eyes, but Flynt found Eeth's comment amusing. "I can think of worse ways to go out."
"Being trampled to death is not as pleasant as you seem to assume," said Eeth severely.
"Yes, especially if it happens before you have listened to the concert and not after," said Lakhri. Both Flynt and Raven chuckled at this.
Eeth pointed a disapproving look at him. Lakhri grinned and raised his hands.
"Peace," he said. "I just wanted to get a rise out of you. I know it was silly."
"How was Borleias?" asked Eeth, deciding that it was time to change the subject.
"The conference was okay for the most part," Flynt answered. "The beach was the highlight. Lakhri found us some great stuff to eat in the jungle, too. Who knew that the ass end of some ants tastes sweeter than sugar?" he added, recalling the feast they'd had on the second day. He'd been so full it had been hard to walk back.
Raven scrunched up her nose. "I'm now convinced that you two will eat absolutely anything. We did miss out on the jungle, though, which was a shame. Ant asses notwithstanding."
"I see I will have to register us for the next hyperspace communications frequencies conference after all, so we can take the jungle trip that we were forced to postpone," Eeth said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"I'm sure there must be more interesting occasions that would justify going to Borleias," Lakhri said. "Taking your padawan to that conference a second time would be cruel, even for you."
Eeth raised his eyebrows. "I am aware of that," he replied. "I was not serious, of course. Now that Raven has passed her exams, we are up on the mission roster again, on mission level three which, thankfully, makes us eligible for more interesting missions than the hyperspace communications frequencies conference. We will see where our next assignment takes us."
Dinner arrived shortly afterwards, and the four dug in. Eeth and Raven ate the dish Eeth had prepared whilst Lakhri and Flynt were presented with an enormous amount of food from the dining hall. Eeth knew their appetites, after all, and had placed his order accordingly. Flynt devoured two enormous meat and salad burgers. He was growing at a ridiculous rate, and he struggled to keep enough weight on at the moment. He was tall, lithe and gangly-looking, the exact antithesis of Lakhri, who was short and built like he was made of stone.
As usual, Raven was still picking at her meal long after the others had finished, only this time she was doing it on purpose; she didn't want Lakhri and Flynt to go and kept the conversation running as best she could. "Are we still on for Tree World this weekend?" Raven asked and then looked at Eeth. "If it doesn't get cancelled. Again."
Eeth and Lakhri exchanged a look, and Lakhri nodded.
"Yes, we are," Eeth said. "If something prevents me from coming, Lakhri can still take you, but I very much hope that this will not be the case. Padawan, stop toying with your food. Either finish your plate now or I will put it into the cooler and serve it to you for breakfast."
Eeth had made good on that before and so Raven sped up her efforts. The idea of having to eat reheated vegetable stir fry for breakfast did not appeal. All the vegetables would be mushy and the noodles slimy and gross.
"I think," Lakhri said politely, "we'd better get going soon. You need to get settled in for school, Flynt. Thanks for the hospitality, Eeth. We'll help you clean up and then we'll leave."
"Thank you," Eeth replied and rose to start clearing away the dishes.
Raven was loading their steriliser when Flynt entered with an armful of plates. "Don't leave me here," she said quietly, accepting the plates. Raven knew that there was nothing her Jedi nephew could do to get her out of it, but it felt cathartic to vent a little.
"I wish I didn't have to. I hope we managed to buy you some time at least," Flynt said, putting some bottles into the cupboard
"You did. If only you could come up with a way out of writing lines."
There was a pregnant pause, and then Flynt gave her a knowing smile. "I might be able to help you out there…"
A few minutes later, both padawans returned to the common room area where Eeth and Lakhri were waiting for them.
Lakhri said goodbye to Eeth, gave Raven a sympathetic smile and shooed Flynt out the door.
"Alright," Eeth said as soon as the two had left. "What did you do to antagonise Professor Kogan this time?"
"Why does it matter? You're going to wallop me anyway so you may as well just go ahead and get it over with," Raven said tersely. She noisily yanked a chair from the table and began unfastening her trousers.
Eeth's eyes narrowed. He had about had it with his padawan's attitude.
"Alright, if you want it that way," he said in a deceptively mild voice. "Maybe after I have 'wallopped' you, you will feel ready to talk to me respectfully. After which we can return to the issue of your actual punishment."
He sat down and unceremoniously yanked Raven over his lap.
"What?! No! Wait! I'm being respectful AND Lakhri already tagged me in the hallway and it hurt!" The latter really was lame, but she was pulling out all the stops now.
Without dignifying this with a response, Eeth pulled her pants all the way down and started swatting her bottom with his hand hard, fast and often.
"OWW! Mast-ter! I-I'm, OWW! S-sorry, STOP!" Raven wailed, and much to her horror started crying. Sure, it hurt plenty bad enough, but the tears weren't from unbearable pain, they were more about frustration and the fact that, once again, she had been unable to pull herself together without Eeth's 'help'.
Eeth did not stop immediately, but meted out about a dozen more hard swats, painting his padawan's bottom a deep shade of pink. He did not know what had gotten into her (although he suspected that hormones played a huge part in it), but he was determined to put a stop to it.
Finally, just when she thought it was never going to end, that he was planning to spank her right up until bedtime, he decided that he had made his point – for now.
"Alright, padawan, let us try this again," he said sternly.
He helped her up, handed her the habitual handkerchief, but did not give her much, if any, time to regain her composure.
Fixing her with a severe gaze, he said, "I asked you what you did to antagonise Professor Kogan. I am still waiting for an answer."
"I. Dis-o-beyed, and was. Dis-respect-ful," Raven stammered between cries while furiously trying to rub out the sting. Raven had lost count of how many swats Eeth had dealt out but it had to be a lot. Her ass burned!
"Yes, undoubtedly so," Eeth said mercilessly. "I would like specifics, though."
"Sh-she told me off for t-talking AND said that since I liked t-to talk so much, I could add another half-page of translations to my homework, a-and read them to the class." Raven stopped to blow her nose and made a half-assed effort at fixing her pants. She was starting to pull herself together, no easy feat while making such a confession. "I argued that my conversation was relative to the classwork we were doing, but s-she said there was time to talk about the work when she was finished talking. I asked if she enjoyed being such a mean old cow, and she—she nailed me with the whiteboard pointer and KICKED me out. Again!" Kogan had also instructed Raven to inform Eeth that she requested he deal with her behaviour personally, but she was hesitant to add that part on for obvious reasons. Instead, she released a long shuddering breath into the handkerchief, relieved.
Eeth could sense that his padawan was still withholding something from him, and he could just about guess what that might be. His eyes narrowed. "And?" he asked pointedly.
"And…" Raven hesitated but when the look on Eeth's face darkened even further, she continued talking, her eyes anywhere but on Eeth. "Professor Kogan, she— she told me I was to inform you that she wanted you to address this personally." The words were awkward, to say the least, but the message itself was even worse.
"Yes, I suspected as much," Eeth said, stony-faced. "I seem to remember that I specifically told you to refrain from insulting your teachers. Apparently, you need a reminder. But first, let me tell you this. If there is any further trouble with Professor Kogan, unless you manage to convince me of your complete innocence, I will come to the conclusion that you need a lot more practice at controlling your temper than you have had so far, and I will enrol you in her classes until the end of your padawanhood. Now, go and fetch me the black paddle with the holes."
The paddle he had mentioned was the largest one that could conveniently be used for an over-the-knee-spanking; Eeth owned others that were quite a bit larger. This one, however, was rather thick and had holes drilled through it that made the experience of being paddled with it very unpleasant. He had not used it on Raven so far but he thought it might be appropriate to the occasion.
If the threat of repeating Kogan's class for the rest of her apprenticeship failed to deter Raven, hearing his choice of implement certainly did the trick. Eeth had not used that particular paddle on her before, and Raven didn't know what to expect. Sure, it was going to hurt, but how much?
Unwilling to compound her problems by arguing, Raven retrieved the nasty-looking thing and dragged her feet back to where Eeth was waiting. "P-pleeeease, master, can't I at least keep my trousers up for this?" she tried, holding the paddle out for him to take. "My ass already hurts. I-I won't ever sit down again if you use that on me." Raven really hoped he would reconsider because the paddle he now took from her was large, solid and looked indestructible. Her ass was none of these.
"Maybe you should have thought of that before you left the Temple without permission and then exacerbated your punishment by insulting your teacher and pulling an attitude," Eeth said stoically. "You know better than to talk in class and you definitely know better than to say offensive things to teachers. Especially this particular teacher, after you have been warned and punished for getting into trouble with her before. This is the third time you could not keep your thoughts to yourself around Professor Kogan in as many weeks. Your punishment will reflect that. Bare your bottom and get back over my knee."
Raven started sniffling again. That paddle looked horrifying. "Can't I even make a plea for leniency?" she sniffled while pulling her trousers and underwear down with one hand, the result being, as before, that they came all the way down on one side, baring one cheek and most of the other. She put her hands on his left thigh, bending over but not yet lying down; she was stalling for an answer to her question.
Wordlessly, Eeth pulled down her pants and underwear properly and tipped her forward to give him full access to her bottom. That he felt it necessary to bodily position her for a second time set alarm bells ringing for Raven; he was rarely this terse in his handling of her, which meant her lack of compliance had run its course. And indeed, Eeth was running out of patience with her. As soon as Raven was in position, he raised the paddle and brought it down onto said bottom smartly, but with considerable restraint. This paddle was guaranteed to leave an impression; it did not need much force behind the impact.
When he landed that first swat, Raven let out a wail, a loud wail! Unlike Eeth's cane, this paddle didn't need time to register. No, this just hurt like a mother fucker right off the bat.
"AhhOWWWch! N-NOooo!" Raven panicked, far sooner than she typically would, twisting at the waist and struggling to free herself. Her entire ass was set ablaze at every swat, both cheeks at once, and in some instances, the very tops of her thighs were copping it too. Her hands flailed desperately in a futile effort to stop the next swat. It didn't work. Eeth merely caught both and pinned them to the small of her back, all the while paddling her at a slow, steady pace. He was seriously displeased with his padawan's insistence on antagonising a teacher she did not like. Of course, Raven would insist that the woman "had it in for her"; but asking his padawan to stop talking in class was hardly outrageously unjust behaviour on Professor Kogan's part and definitely did not give Raven the right to mouth off to her. For the third time. And while she was still being punished for major disobedience. No, Eeth was not going to stop before Raven was as sorry for her behaviour as she could possibly be.
To Raven, each swat felt blisteringly hard and completely flattened her ass. "Ahh!AHHANO!" Raven cried, loudly enough to be heard on the other side of the Temple. Her legs curled back to take over from where her hands had failed, but it wasn't making any difference. "I'mmsoOreeyyyy! I-IT won't h-appen AGAIN!" she wailed.
Unperturbed by her cries, Eeth completed the dozen and he took his time about it. He just hoped that the lesson would sink in this time because he was serious about his threat: if it had to be repeated, he would personally make sure to procure Professor Kogan a ten-year contract and to enrol his padawan in every single class the Zabrak teacher offered. He knew that Raven's choice of career would require her to frequently work with people she did not like, as well as people who were openly hostile to her, and she needed to learn to control herself in such situations.
Right now, of course, the only thing Raven was thinking about was her ass, how much it hurt, and making it stop! She couldn't, so finally she broke, falling limp and screeching at a pitch that might just crack glass.
Eeth had, as usual, used the Force to soundproof the room. He was, however, tempted to cover his ears. He had not used this paddle in quite a while; maybe he should have, he mused. It certainly seemed to be effective. With Lakhri, switches had become his preferred implement for the more serious punishments because Lakhri hated them so much. With Raven, he had mostly improvised so far , but he had the impression that this paddle was something that would work wonders at deterring her from repeating some of her graver mistakes.
For now, he laid it onto the table and waited for his padawan to regain her composure.
Raven couldn't stop crying. Her hands were still trapped so she did not try to push herself up. "S-sorry," she managed between hitching breaths; she was feeling very sad and sorry for herself.
"Apology accepted," Eeth said. He helped her up, handed her another handkerchief and, after a moment's hesitation, offered her a hug.
Still sniffling, the padawan leant into his chest in an uncharacteristic need for reassurance. Raven rarely needed, nor wanted, excessive comfort after being punished. However, this time she did. "I shouldn't h-have lost my temper. Please, no more spank-ing," she stammered.
"You will not be spanked any more – for this," Eeth replied, patting her back gently. "However," he added in a slightly firmer tone of voice, "I will not cut short the punishment for your illegal outing. And if I ever hear that you insulted a teacher again, rest assured that this paddle will make an appearance."
No amount of personal satisfaction was worth a rehash of that, in Raven's opinion. NOTHING! Still sniffling, Raven pushed away from Eeth's chest, swiped her face with the handkerchief and stepped from the bunched mass of clothing that was now at her ankles. Nothing at all was touching her ass, not even cotton. She crumpled them into a bundle and stuffed them under an armpit. "Can I just go to bed? please?" Raven sniffled. Her ass hurt like never before, and there was no way she wanted to sit down.
"Not before you have written your lines," Eeth said stoically. "Write them standing or kneeling if you must, but you will write them. How about… 'I will not put my personal feelings before my duty.' Fifty times."
He had actually meant to say "a hundred", but for some reason that he could not fathom, he had not.
Raven gave him a sulky look and left, somewhat stiffly, to her bedroom. There was no way she would sit down, so she grabbed her datapad and flopped onto her bed. It was then that Raven remembered Flynt's pearls of wisdom from earlier on! Eeth was in the bathroom, which allowed her to remove the stylus from Eeth's datapad and the one that sat by their comm unit without him noticing. She closed the door behind herself, reached into her drawer, pulled out some tape and taped the three styli together. Flynt was a fucking genius!