"Master?" Raven called from her bedroom, where she was lying on her bed writing that evening's lines. Her ass was thumping in time with her heartbeat, courtesy of the new nemesis in her life, aka the black paddle with holes in it, which Eeth had chosen to use on her thanks to her inability to tolerate Professor Kogan and to her general shitty attitude of late.
She shoved the tri-styli that had been Flynt's brilliant idea under her pillow as Eeth entered. "Please, I think you left blisters," she said. He had not, of course, but she wanted to make him feel guilty for being so harsh with her.
"I have not," Eeth said sternly. "And you know it."
Raven didn't argue as he took her datapad. "May I have some healing now?" she asked.
"Whether I will provide healing now, later or not at all is at my discretion," said Eeth, accepting her datapad and glancing at the lines Raven had written. They were all there, and the count seemed to be correct, but something was odd about them that he could not quite put his finger on. Thus, rather than deleting them as he usually did, he studied them closely for quite a while, slowly scrolling up and down the datapad.
Raven pretended not to notice the unusual amount of time Eeth spent scrutinising her work. "You may keep those if you like them," she said, a touch of apprehension making the joke a bit clunkier than she meant. The surface sting left from her spanking had mostly faded, and now she was left with a dull ache and burn that would probably not go for hours if Eeth didn't heal her.
Unfortunately for his padawans, Eeth tended to be extremely perceptive, a trait that had been enhanced by decades of mission experience where he had learned to care about details. He was also good at sensing when something was not quite as it should be. There was something off about his padawan's casual demeanour, just as there was something off about her lines.
"Just a moment, padawan," he said calmly, checking them over once again. It was Raven's handwriting alright, but there was something peculiar about it. He went over the lines one more time, comparing the shapes of the letter "g", and that was when he finally realised what had caught his attention all along.
"Padawan, why are there sets of three that look identical?" he asked, holding the pad out for her to see.
Raven gave him her best 'Are you serious?' expression. "Maybe because you make me write lines so often that my handwriting is becoming uncannily precise." She held her hand out for the datapad, eager to erase it. "I did the work. Must you analyse everything?"
"Yes, that would be my job," Eeth said, unfazed. He scrutinised her for a moment longer, his mind working furiously. Then he suddenly remembered that, when he had started writing a memo fifteen minutes ago, he had been unable to find a stylus in the common room; both his own and the one by the comm unit had gone missing and he had had to fetch one from his desk. He had meant to ask Raven about it, but now that he thought about it, he did not think he had to.
"Alright, padawan," he said, the expression on his face darkening. "Let me make an educated guess. You used three styli to write these lines, did you not? How did you make this work? Did you glue them together?"
Raven just looked at him, her mouth slightly agape. Did he miss nothing?! "Uh. I. If. Well, hypothetically, if I happened to have done that, would you be impressed by the ingenuity or displeased by the subterfuge?"
The dark expression on Eeth's face turned into an outright glare. "Padawan, I asked you a direct question," he snapped, and Raven straightened. "Answer it. Now."
"Yes, master. I did." There was no point lying to Eeth, it was simply doomed to failure when you shared a training bond.
"This is unacceptable, and you know it," Eeth said coldly. "When I punish you, I do so for a reason. You are meant to accept your punishment and learn from it, not to look for ingenious ways to lessen it. Fetch the styli, all three of them, and give two of them back to me. You will use the third one to rewrite your fifty lines while I am watching, and you will sit while you are doing so. Your bottom will not leave the chair for as much as a second before I release you. Is that clear?"
Raven didn't know what was worse, the fact that she had to rewrite the lot or that Eeth felt it necessary to supervise her. "Yes, master," she replied quickly and promptly retrieved the offending tri-styli, tearing off the tape before handing two over. The one she kept still had some glue residue, making it tacky to the touch, but Raven didn't think it would take long to wear off if she had to write another fifty lines. This did, however, gave her an idea. "Given I already wrote seventeen, would you consider allowing me to write only the remaining thirty-three?" she asked. Her ass hurt, and she did not relish the idea of sitting on it again.
"You," Eeth snapped, "will write fifty all over again. And add ten for arguing. And I will keep adding to your punishments until you understand that this is the only thing you can ever hope to achieve by your attempts to get out of them."
Raven sat, quickly, cupped her right ass cheek with her left hand, took the stylus in her right and got to work, making it her best handwriting. She wasn't going to risk making it worse.
"Put both your hands on the table and sit properly," Eeth ordered. "You need not point out that this is uncomfortable. I know it is. That is precisely the point."
Raven did as she was told, albeit reluctantly. It hurt, and the way she squirmed about on the chair would have made that clear to Eeth who was keeping an eye on her from the common room. When Raven eventually finished, she had a cramp in her hand and was one very sorry padawan. "Master!" she called, wanting his attention so she could show him her work and finally get off her ass.
Eeth scanned the lines briefly, nodded and set Raven's datapad aside.
"Come here, padawan," he said gently, opening his arms for a hug which Raven accepted readily. She sniffled into his shoulder, allowing the frustration of this punishment to flow through their bond without censure. "Will you forgive me?" she asked. She knew he would, but it would make her feel better to hear it, even if he was still displeased with her.
"I will," Eeth said softly. "I will also perform some healing on your bottom in just a moment."
He absent-mindedly brushed a tear from her cheek with a gentle finger, deep in thought. He needed to find a way to help Raven deal with her temper or history would repeat itself every other day. Contrary to his reputation, he had no desire to be a professional disciplinarian. When he had taken on Lakhri, he had thought that that was part of his job description but he had long since realised that he had been wrong.
"Alright," he finally said, releasing Raven from his hug. "Bare your bottom and lie down on the bed. I will be with you shortly." He knew that the black paddle imparted an impressive sting, and it was not of the sort that faded fast. Eeth intended to heal as much of the damage as he could, for which he would need bacta. Raven's bottom would be as good as new by the next morning.
Raven lay on her bed and hugged her pillow tightly. Her ass ached, and for a moment she wondered how it was for padawans whose masters did not subscribe to Eeth's 'nothing to be gained from sleeping on a sore ass' policy.
As Eeth went to fetch a jar of bacta, he resolved to talk to Raven about her meditation schedule during their healing session. It might be a good thing that she was lying down for that talk, he mused; she was unlikely to take it well, necessary though it was.
When Eeth entered Raven's room, she removed her face from her pillow and looked back at Eeth as the light flicked on. She hadn't had a good look at her ass yet, but she was pretty sure it was bright red, or at the very least, pink by this stage.
Eeth sat next to her bed, opened the jar and started working the salve into the punished skin of her bottom, letting a steady flow of healing energy run from his fingertips.
"Padawan, you are currently being irritable, unbalanced and volatile," he said calmly while he worked. "A lot of it might have to do with being a teenager, but that does not excuse your temper."
That Eeth had an understanding of adolescence and the clusterfuck it dragged along with it came as somewhat of a surprise to Raven. Of course, Eeth was diligent when it came to her species, but the hormonal, emotional issues of a teenage girl? No, that didn't seem like Eeth's forte. She remained silent, though, curious to where he was going with this.
"Unless we do something about this," Eeth continued, ignoring the surprise he sensed from his padawan, "you will find yourself in trouble again and again. I would rather avoid that. Therefore, I think that some changes to your meditation schedule are in order. From now on, I will try to make our morning and evening meditations joint meditations always, and we will focus on helping you release your emotions into the Force during them. Moreover, we will perform an additional joint meditation after lunch. I will make a point of taking the time to do these meditations with you. The objective is to help you deal with your frustrations in a way that will prevent you from venting them at others."
Raven twisted at the waist to look at him. "I'm sorry, master, really I am. I don't mean to cause you trouble but it feels like everyone is out to get me, and adding more meditations to my already busy schedule?" Her expression turned desperate. "You are replacing more of my very limited free time with yet more responsibilities." A lack of personal free time had been a source of much contention between master and apprentice of late, after all.
"I know, and I am not doing so lightly," said Eeth. "Everything seems to rouse your temper these days. The fact that you ended up over my knee before I had even started administering your punishment for talking back to Professor Kogan is a case in point. I am trying to help you avoid such situations. Maybe, by releasing your frustration into the Force more frequently, you will manage to avoid being in trouble constantly. If you had rather I spanked you morning, noon and night in order to remind you of your duties, you need only say so."
Raven clicked her tongue at Eeth's suggestion, giving him a put-upon look. This boiled down to Raven wanting more free time and Eeth taking it off her. He might be doing so because it was instrumental to the likelihood of her reaching knighthood, she didn't care about that right now. No, right now Raven was fourteen years old, hormonal and chafing at the lack of control she had over her own life even though she knew that this was par for the course.
"I enjoy having free time," she said. "I hardly ever get to play holo games, and the only time I have to socialise without responsibilities attached is for an hour in the evening, and that's only if you say I can go. It's not like I don't like meditating with you, master, I do. I don't want to do it three times a day. Even Master Yoda doesn't have to meditate that much."
"Master Yoda," said Eeth coolly, "does not 'have to' meditate at all. He does, however, meditate a lot more than I am making you do. For good reason. My priority here is to help you keep out of trouble, not the amount of free time that you have. You need to bring some balance to your feelings and your temper or you will find yourself across my knee thrice a day. That is what your new meditation schedule is meant to help you avoid. It is not a punishment."
"It might not be meant as a punishment, but it is," Raven told him honestly. "I do enjoy spending time with you, but I also want to spend some of that time doing …" Raven paused, trying to think of a synonym for 'fun.' "Interesting things," she settled on. "Let's enhance my tracking skills in the lower levels, go on missions and explore new planets or even work out, but MORE meditation?" Raven looked at him, her expression flat.
Eeth rose abruptly. "I can assure you that more meditation is better than the alternative. Just so you know: if I do not have your full cooperation and compliance during any of the meditations I plan on performing with you, I will immediately cut it short and spank you instead. Going through the day with a sore bottom might not help you deal with your negative emotions, but if you refuse to accept such help, a sore bottom will at least remind you of what awaits you when you keep up the attitude you have been displaying lately. Is that clear?"
"Yes, master, clear." Raven didn't want to pick a fight, she just wasn't happy with Eeth's decision. She did trust him, though, which was why she said no more.
Eeth looked down on her for a long moment, pondering what to say or do to make her understand his concern for her.
"Padawan," he finally said, "adolescence is a rough ride for many humanoids. I am not blaming you for that. Still, the expectations I have of you have not changed and you will be punished for disrespect, disobedience or rule-breaking all the same. Additional meditations will help you avoid that, nothing more. That said, they will detract from your free time, yes. But the normal state of affairs for a padawan your age is to have little free time, if any. Just accept this. If you keep waiting for your meditations to finally be over with so you can socialise or play hologames, you will not benefit from them as much as you could and you will only make yourself unhappy."
Raven rolled onto her side, fanning her ass so the bacta didn't stick to her clothing. "I know," she said. "I'm not blaming you, not really. I trust you, master, even if I don't like it."
"Thank you," said Eeth quietly. "Come on out to the balcony, please. We will meditate there."
Eeth led her to their balcony where he sat down in an unusually casual position, leaning back against the wall, and beckoned for Raven to sit next to him. He put an arm around her and said softly, "Link with me."
His nonchalant posture took Raven by surprise because Eeth rarely looked this, well, relaxed. However, she didn't mention it and closed her eyes. It was easy and comfortable to connect with Eeth across their bond, so when he started helping her to release her aggressions and frustration into the Force, Raven did not resist or try to hide the feeling from him.
He then had them focus on their bond. This was something he enjoyed a lot, and he took care to show it to his padawan. He also showed her his love and his unfailing support, which was something that he rarely expressed verbally. When he finally signalled for her to resurface from her trance, he was silent for a while. Then he asked softly, "Was that so bad, padawan? Is this really a chore for you, something that you would want to avoid at any cost?"
"No, master," she replied. "I didn't say it was a chore or that it was something that I'd want to avoid at all costs." Raven rose up onto her knees so as to be at eye level with him. "I don't mean to imply that I don't enjoy meditating with you, because I do. And if you want me to meditate because you think it's what I need, then I trust you." Raven had been touched by Eeth's reassurances as they had meditated, and wanted to offer him some reassurance also, even if it was not necessary.
"You should," Eeth replied quietly. "For one thing, unless you manage to get a handle on your emotions, you will end up being in so much trouble that your free time will be taken from you anyway. You have already earned yourself a vast amount of additional homework in the past weeks. If the additional meditations mean you will not earn punishments from your teachers every other day, you might end up with more free time than before. More importantly, though, your connection with the Force is who you are and what you want to be. Between all your everyday worries, you seem to be losing your focus on it. I am trying to help you regain it."
Raven smiled at him, attempting to bring back her equilibrium. "I know. But there is one thing that is still bugging me. Were you even a little impressed by the tri-styli? It was pretty cool and you did call it 'ingenious'."
Eeth raised his eyebrows. "No," he said. "I was not particularly impressed with your idea to save yourself two thirds of the work I told you to do. After all, there was a reason I wanted you to do it."
"You might not agree with the motive, but you have to admit it was pretty clever." And Raven was going to pass that on to Flynt next time she saw him. Sure, it had backfired, but hey, they were taught to think their way around problems and Flynt had done that well.
"You should apply your clever thinking to your homework, rather than your attempts to get out of punishment," Eeth said drily. He gave her a brief hug and told her, "Now get ready for bed. I will be with you shortly."
Privately, he decided to call Lakhri when Raven was in bed. His former padawan would be good to talk to; he had been through similar rough spots, and Eeth had doubtlessly not been very sensitive over it. Maybe Lakhri would be able to tell him whether he was approaching Raven's current problems the right way. It was rare for Eeth to have such doubts, and he certainly did not let on to it when he had, but right now, he was honestly wondering whether strictness was what Raven needed or whether he was completely off the mark.
When Raven was asleep and Eeth considered it likely that the same was true for Flynt, he went to the comm and called Lakhri.
"Are you free?" he asked.
"Sure," Lakhri replied. "Flynt was asleep almost as soon as he hit the mattress. I took him to the obstacle course today."
Eeth nodded in understanding. He knew that this was exhausting for Flynt due to his weak arm, but it was all the more important for him to learn to overcome his physiological limits.
"I wanted to talk to you about Raven," he told Lakhri. "She has been volatile, easily offended, and sometimes outright aggressive lately. I am trying to help her as best I can, both by putting a stop to unacceptable behaviour and by working with her on her negative emotions, but this just seems to frustrate her even more. She keeps blaming me for robbing her of all her free time. I don't see what I could have done differently, but I am still wondering whether I am going about this the right way."
He proceeded to explain to Lakhri what had happened today, also elaborating the background story of Raven's deteriorating relationship with Professor Kogan and the threat he had made about continuing to enrol Raven in the woman's classes until the end of her padawanhood.
Lakhri laughed at that.
"That's so like you," he said, chuckling. "And I believe you would do it, too. Well, so does Raven, I suppose. It's a threat that should fulfil its purpose, then. Anyway, I don't really think you are doing anything wrong. You're trying to help her. Taking the time to meditate with her is great AND helpful. And the fact that you consistently punish her for misbehaviour… Well, it's what she expects from you, isn't it? If you didn't do it, she would feel as if you're letting her down. Honestly, she's neither the first nor the last teenager who feels bad about herself and her life. I remember what it was like to be fourteen. And it wasn't pretty."
"And I wasn't very good at dealing with it," Eeth remarked drily.
"True," Lakhri agreed. "You are making a real effort with Raven, though. And I'm sure she knows it, even if she cannot really appreciate it right now. It will blow over … eventually. The new meditation schedule is actually a good idea. A great idea even. Don't feel bad about it. Raven doesn't actually have less free time than other padawans her age – well, unless she misbehaves and gets saddled with additional chores, but that's her own lookout. You might be stricter than the average master, but I don't feel you're unfair in your expectations. She'll just have to get over it."
"Thank you for giving me your honest opinion," Eeth replied with a small smile. "I appreciate it."
He knew Lakhri and he knew that his former padawan had voiced his thoughts, instead of trying to flatter him. And he did feel better after this talk.
"Oh! No, no, wait. Stop, don't fall!" Raven tried to cushion the man who was about to fall from his mount before his head smashed open, but for ridiculous reasons only valid in a nightmare, she was unable to move. Besides, she had caused this. She had spooked the man's animal and he had fallen because of her. There was nothing she could do now, her ability to access the Force was being repressed. She couldn't control anything and it was all happening in slow motion.
Raven sat bolt upright, her shields immediately at full force as she swiped a sleeve across her forehead. She was sweating and felt nauseous. Her lightsaber rattled on in her desk drawer at the weak aftershock of trying to summon it, the Force, anything!, in her sleep.
The door to her room swished open and Eeth appeared in the room, dressed only in the tunic he typically wore to sleep.
"What is it, padawan?" he asked in concern.
"Sindal," she told him, swiping at her face with a hand. It had been quite a while since Raven had killed the security guard during their mission to Sindal, and although the strong emotions she had felt over this had long since dissipated thanks to Eeth and her soul healer, it had been the first time Raven had ever taken a life.
Eeth nodded and went to fetch a damp washcloth.
"You have not had one of these nightmares in a while," he said quietly. He sat on the edge of her bed and gently wiped her sweaty face, letting some calming energy flow through their bond.
Raven closed her eyes, grateful for Eeth's attention and presence. "I know. I don't know why. Were you asleep?"
"Do not worry about me," said Eeth who, at one in the morning, had indeed been asleep. "Maybe this is an effect of the emotional turmoil you seem to be experiencing. I hope the additional meditations will help with this, too."
At this point, half asleep and still reeling from the nightmare, Raven wholeheartedly agreed with him. She tried to relax as Eeth gently patted the sweat from her face and arms. "Would you help me sleep?" she asked him sheepishly. She didn't want any more dreams tonight.
"I will," said Eeth softly. He helped her lie back down, covered her in her blanket and sent her a strong sleep compulsion through the Force. A few minutes later, she was sound asleep. Eeth gently brushed her cheek and quietly left the room.
The next few days passed by without incident. In fact, it would appear that the new meditation schedule Eeth had 'imposed' upon her was doing wonders for Raven's attitude; the extra time to release her frustrations into the Force seemed to be precisely what was needed, not that she would ever admit such a thing. No, Raven would much prefer crediting her newfound patience to the unpleasant repercussions of behaviour to the contrary.
By Friday afternoon, Raven was feeling far less volatile. The day had run smoothly unless one counted the few times Professor Kogan had gotten on her nerves, but she had not let it get to her. "Master," Raven said as she entered their quarters, greeting Eeth in the usual manner. "I don't think we need to do extra meditation anymore. I'm cured."
Eeth raised his eyebrows. "That is good to hear," he said. "You will leave it to me to decide when and how to change your meditation schedule, though. Wash your hands, lunch is almost ready."
Raven inclined her head slightly and did as told. Less than a minute later, she appeared in their kitchen, giving Eeth a sideways look as she leant into the wall and played with her fingernail, attempting nonchalonce. "It's not that I think you don't know when to change the meditation schedule. It's more a case of you not being around to see how well I'm doing all the time, is all," Raven persisted, picking up a handful of cutlery and two plates.
"If you are doing that well, it just goes to show how much the meditations help," Eeth replied. "That would be all the more reason to continue them. End of discussion."
He bent down and carefully lifted a steaming vegetable casserole from the oven.
Lunch was eaten without further debate about their schedule, and funnily enough, after their meditation, Raven didn't feel much like complaining anyway. She rolled to her feet, stretched tall and yawned. "I can't wait for Sunday, it's going to be so awesome," she said. Eeth would have sensed her elation centred on their trip to tree world this Sunday so the comment would not have seemed odd to him.
Eeth smiled at her enthusiasm. "I am fairly confident that the Antar crisis will not require my presence this time," he told her. "A one-week truce has been called. The rebels consented to negotiations, but those will not start until Monday. And our undercover team will not be able to communicate with us for the moment. So we should be safe on that count."
The grin on Raven's face said it all. Of course, she understood that the situation on Antar was of great importance and far outweighed any trip to Tree World. That said, she was fourteen years old. A part of her just wanted Eeth to herself, and the rest of the universe could go to hell. It was a sentiment that, much to her embarrassment, had surfaced quite frequently during their meditations lately. Despite Eeth's unconditional acceptance of everything that popped up during these sessions, she thought this feeling was particularly unJedilike.
The next morning, Eeth had just gotten dressed and woken up his padawan when his comm unit beeped.
"Eeth," Mace Windu greeted him. "We have received notice that Knight Ba'tar has been kidnapped on Nar Shaddaa, in the Dunslag sector. You know the place. Could you give Master Fantsheny and her padawan a mission briefing? They are due to leave ninety minutes from now."
"Alright," Eeth said curtly. "I will be there in ten minutes." He ended the call, suppressing a sigh.
"Padawan," he said, opening the door to Raven's room. "I will have to leave for an hour and a half. I'm afraid I will have to ask you to have breakfast by yourself. Please do not forget your meditation. I will meet you in the dining hall after your class."
"Yes, master," Raven replied, but given she had just stepped out of the shower and did not want to lose her towel, she inclined her head in place of the customary bow.
Without Eeth there cracking the whip, Raven didn't realise she was starting to run behind schedule until she sat to eat breakfast and her watch buzzed, signalling that it was time to leave. Groaning, Raven wolfed down a few spoons of cereal, dribbling cream and milk across the table and down the front of her tunic in the process, grabbed a mancala fruit from the bench and took off out the door, the morning's meditation completely forgotten in her haste.
"Padawan Raven, it's nice of you to join us," Healer Brenton, better known as 'Mathew' to his students and patients, said. He gestured with his chin that she take a seat.
"Sorry, Mathew, it won't happen again," Raven said sheepishly, sitting quickly and trying to blend in. Raven knew her teacher from a stay in the Healers' Wing after both she and Eeth had contracted a near-fatal Neimoidian virus at the hyperspace frequencies conference on Borleias. That had been years ago, and it was good to know that he had not lost his tolerant demeanour.
Unfortunately, the day did not improve, and after failing to complete the assigned dissection a third time, Raven lost her temper, slamming the instrument down onto the desk. She had completed a similar dissection twice last week, TWICE, and without issue, yet today it would appear her fingers were all thumbs and everything was going wrong.
Mathew sensed the spike of frustration from his youngest student. He leant down so as not to be overheard by the others and placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "This one is trickier than it looks. You really need to concentrate, to be calm."
Raven closed her eyes and started to release her emotions into the Force as Eeth had taught her. They had meditated at length on this very technique lately, although for reasons she could not explain, it was proving more difficult today than it had all week. Mathew remained with her, offering some gentle guidance until she opened her eyes again.
"Try it again?" he suggested.
Raven smiled. "I will." And she did, not once, not twice or even three times but seven times she painstakingly made the same incision and failed. Granted, many others in the classroom were also struggling to get this procedure right, but damn it, Raven was usually good at this, and constantly messing it up was pissing her off!
Determined not to let this get the better of her, the padawan picked up the scalpel and glared at the virtual dissection with determination. She made the first cut perfectly, followed by another two. However, the screen went red at the fourth and most critical incision, and the message 'patient will suffer permanent paralysis' scrolled across her work in big block letters. AGAIN! Raven was good at this and couldn't believe she'd nicked the spinal cord. Despite the fact that several students in the class were frowning at the very same message, she felt as if the universe was out to get her. Tears sprang to her eyes, and she stabbed the scalpel into her desk, embedding it into the plastic table, dagger style.
Fuck! thought Raven because that went in deeper than she had expected! Before she could try wrenching it out, a large hand covered the blade and deftly removed it. "Ooof!" she gasped, looking up as Mathew pulled her upright by her collar.
"This is an advanced medical class. You do not lose your temper, and you certainly do not vent your frustration while holding a scalpel," Mathew said quietly as he marched her into the side office, the act eliciting a few titters from the students still working on their projects. Once inside, he led her to a stool and, none too gently, sat her on it. "Explain." The order was curt, yet not nearly as chilling as it might have been if it were Eeth.
"I can't. I just lost my temper. I didn't mean for the scalpel to go into the table like that," Raven said honestly, looking guilty.
This answer was not good enough for Mathew, and he gripped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing her to look at him. "My primary concern here is not the gouge in your desk, although deliberate destruction of Temple property is not something I condone. If your hand had slipped, you would have lost a few fingers at the very least."
Raven expected to be in trouble for both. That he was focusing on her wellbeing came as a relief. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean it."
He released her, squatting to be at eye level. "Sweetheart, you must learn to control your temper. I understand you are going through a difficult time right now, which is the only reason I am allowing you to continue with my class. Do something like this again, and you will be out the door so fast your head will spin. Got it?"
"Yes, Mathew, I won't ever, I promise. Eeth has been making me do extra meditations to help, I swear," she replied, shifting uncomfortably as she met his sincere expression with her own, piteous and sombre.
"A sound strategy," the young man approved as he stood. He knew he had to punish her but rarely did he feel the need to administer more than a couple of swats with his hand. After all, his students were usually older than Raven, and his patients? Well, he found it difficult to truly give a sick child 'what for'. He walked to a line of cupboards that, upon opening, Raven noticed concealed several drawers of different medical equipment. When he produced a wooden lab stirrer, Raven stood but remained silent.
"Come here." Mathew ordered, and Raven obeyed, her eyes a bit glassy.
He summoned a short stool from the other side of the room, propped his foot on a rung at the height he needed and patted his thigh.
Raven groaned, unclipping the fastenings on her trousers.
"You may leave them up this time," he said, and a second later, he had her lying face down over his thigh. "However," he continued, flipping up the back of her tunic. "If you ever LOSE your TEMPER, in my CLASS AGAIN, I will personally request that your master TANS your backside until you are as SORRY as a padawan CAN possibly BE," he scolded, punctuating each emphasised word with a stinging snap of the wooden stirrer that had Raven yelping, kicking and flailing. Given that the position left her dangling, there was absolutely nowhere for hands or feet to gain purchase, though! It was a position that the padawan decided there and then that she did not like for that very reason.
Mathew stung her with that horrid thing until she stopped fighting him, and then he added a couple more for good measure before pulling her up to stand.
"Owwwww! I won't be able to sit still enough to finish my dissection now!" Raven complained quietly, hopping around on the spot, rubbing her ass with both hands. Sure, Eeth had given her a whole lot worse, and she doubted it would hurt for more than a few hours, but it was going to make focusing, not to mention sitting, most uncomfortable for the next couple of hours.
"You won't be doing that today," Mathew said matter-of-factly. "You will stay in my office for the remainder of today's class and run through the meditations your master has assigned. I do not care if you sit, lie on your belly or stand on your head, as long as you meditate. You can make up for the work you have missed in your free time, as long as it is completed by the time you take your finals, alright?"
"Yes, Mathew," Raven replied. As he tossed the stirrer back into the drawer, she had a terrible thought. "Are you going to tell Eeth about this?"
"The standard message will be sent to your master," Mathew said, not without sympathy. When Raven stiffened, he put a hand on her shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. "Take it from one who has been there and done that: Tell him as soon as you see him. Masters prefer hearing about such things from their padawans, as opposed to a comm message."
Raven nodded as he exited the small room, and although there were still two hours of class left and her ass stung, she did as he had said.