Chapter 7 – Practice Makes Perfect.
The girls had watched the documentary on the Saturday morning as Nate had headed into the workshop. He had shown them the spanking implements just after breakfast, Nate watching with interest as the items were handled with a certain amount of reverence by the girls. The wooden spoon looking huge in Curies tiny hands.
Of the items Nate had collected, the hairbrush looked the least intimidating. An ebony oval shaped back, about as wide as Nate's palm with a long handle, it belied the impact it had when used on the girls the day before. The horse crop was light and whippy, a black handle with lattice pattern of white and red working it's way down the shaft and a small leather flap on the end. Of all the implements, it was the wooden spoon that looked the most frightening. it was an oversized spoon around 30cm/ 11inches in length with a thick handle. Nate imagined it was used for large scale catering as it was most definitely larger than the spoons they had in the kitchens at Home Plate. And it wasn't just its size that was intimidating but it's weight. Nate would never tell the girls but he gave his open palm a whack to test it out when Percy had first showed it to him, and it bloody hurt! This would have to be something only used on special occasions when the girls had really messed up.
The girls having finished the documentary came to find Nate in the workshop whilst he was working on the school paddle.
"Hey Blue, how's the torture device going?" Piper asked trying to be jovial but with wide eyes when Nate lifted the newly formed paddle to examine it. Nate had chosen to go with a board design cut from around a third inch thick wood. The length of the blade was close to that of the wooden spoon and was around eleven inches long and three and a half inches wide with a handle another seven inches long. Nate had favoured a slightly thinner paddle as he was looking for a sting rather than a thud.
"I have always enjoyed working with wood." Nate placed the new paddle on the bench and began to sand the surface. "I think I have the right shape now, but now comes the long bit as I sand it smooth with different grades of paper and add the polish." He was talking to Cait mainly as she had moved to Nate's side and begun to run her fingers over the smooth surface of the paddle.
"Why different grades?" she asked.
"You start off with a rough grain," Nate held up the course sandpaper, and then slowly make your way down to this," and he handed Cait a paper with barely a texture to it. "You can hardly feel anything," she said in surprise. Cait then handed the paper to Curie.
"That will give it a perfect finish and a very smooth feel, wouldn't want any splinters or rough edges." Nate commented bringing the paddle up to his face once more and blowing off the sawdust. "You can have a feel when I'm done as you will notice the difference." Nate offered the paddle to Curie, smiling when she took an instinctive step back. "I mean with your hands." He did love Curie and her naivety sometimes, it was so cute.
Curie blushed "oh, yes please" she responded as she took the paddle and ran her fingers across the surface.
"So, how are we all today?" Nate asked, looking at Cait.
"Fine, once I learnt to sleep on my side," she responded with a little grimace.
"Any marks?" Nate asked, wondering just how much long-term bruising they were going to have. Piper, who was stood at the opposite end of the workbench and was cradling a cup of coffee nearly spat a mouthful of it all over the middle of the bench.
"Any marks! yesterday I was red and purple, today I am black and blue…Blue!" She sneered at Nate in a not very convincing manner.
"Really!" Exclaimed Nate, "that I would like to see" he nodded. And as quick as a flash Piper had spun around and was peeling down her leggings.
"Oh absolutely, see what you have done to my poor bottom and feel bad!" and she stuck her now bared cheeks out a little to show them off. She was wearing a thong but her cheeks were on full display. She was most definitely correct about her bum swelling after the spanking as it was clearly still a little rounder than normal. The whole of each cheek was still red with a large circle of light blue and a few splotches of black bruising on each sit spot. On top of that, on the surface of the middle of each circular bruise was a disk of almost pure white, as if someone had dusted the spot with some chalk.
"Wow!" Nate blew out a breath, "that's impressive!" He thought feeling very pleased with his work from the day before. He had wanted their first spanking to be memorable and this was certainly going to be the case. "May I?" Nate asked as he moved up to examine his work.
"Yes, but it is still sore," Piper pleaded obviously feeling a little vulnerable in the position she was holding.
"I bet it is," remarked Nate, truly awed by the state of her bottom. He touched the surface gently and could feel the leathery texture to the skin and the heat still emanating from it. "Can you sit on it yet?" Nate was honestly intrigued. Here is a chance to get some feedback from his first ever punishment spanking and he wasn't going to give that opportunity up.
"No, not really, although the cushion helped, oh and the sofa is fine as long as I keep still."
Nate was transfixed by the sight and a little guilty at just how bruised Pipers backside was.
"Thank you," Nate said to Piper, taking his hand off her rump. "You guys the same?" He asked in a sympathetic tone looking at Curie and Cait.
"Mais Oui!" Curie exclaimed enthusiastically and began moving round to Nate's side of the bench already slipping her tracksuit pants down. Coming round to Nate's side of the bench she looked at the lighting and, realising no one would get a good view if she copied Piper, she chose, instead, to lay herself over the bench, resting her upper body flat on the work surface, her tracksuit pants sliding down to her ankles. From Nate's viewpoint he could see that Curie didn't have any underwear on, not that this seemed to bother her. Nate assumed that now he had seen them all naked and spanked them all naked, they were no longer as shy at being undressed around him, not that they really were before.
In her current position, Curie was bent at nearly a 90 degree angle the bench high enough that she had to stand on tiptoes to be able to fully bend over it. As she was forced on to her tiptoes, this accentuated the muscles in the back of her legs and stretched her bottom to perfect pertness. This was, Nate realised, an ideal position to administer some well-deserved punishment in the future and stored that little gem away for another day.
Curies bottom was, if anything, a little worse than Pipers as the bruised section was bigger and in a much larger 'O' shape than Pipers. There were red marks round the side of each cheek where Nate had landed a few smacks but the main part of Curies backside was the same light blue like her companions. Alongside the great new spanking position Nate also made a mental note to talk to the girls about this first punishment once the marks had completely gone, as there was a pang of guilt as to just how black and blue his girls were.
"Uh-uh, you are not getting to see my arse," Cait was wagging her finger, "the last time you did it didn't go well for me." Cait joked but Nate wasn't going to push. "It's just as multi coloured as the other girls, I can assure you at that." Again, Cait sounding almost complimentary about it. Nate reminded himself that he should go see Dr McClintock over at the Bleachers to see if he could get anything for the bruises. That would be an interesting conversation.
"So what did you think of the documentary?" Nate asked moving the subject away from their bruises and allowing Curie to get up, "thank you" she said as he helped her to her feet. She quickly pulled her pants back up and jumped in with…
"Fascinating, it was so amazing to see the world before the war." She answered, "but also fascinating to listen to the women and their stories. Not really something that could happen now though?" Although Curie posed it as a question it was fairly rhetorical as life was not the same as it was before the bombs fell.
"Well, we sort of have some of it now," Piper replied, "we have given ourselves to you during training and combat situations," she reasoned, "you aren't head of the household but you are head of the unit, I guess."
"Yes, but remember that is normal in the military anyway," Nate continued to sand the paddle he had made.
"Not the spanking bit though," Cait pointed out correctly but with no anger or resentment in her voice.
"You are right on that, and there is the idea of the forgiveness that comes straight after a punishment." Nate looked up at Cait, "still worth it to keep the team together?" Nate probed. If anyone was going to be brutally honest about it, she was.
"Absolutely no doubt in my mind," she answered very quickly, looking at the others for backup.
"Absolument!" Curie declared, sounding every bit as convinced as Cait.
"Completely worth it," smiled Piper "we have the team, we have a plan for the future and we have a way of keeping the team together. What's not to like."
"Erm, this," Cait exclaimed tipping her head towards the paddle that Nate was still sanding. "Right, I am off to be useful. I'll shout when lunch is ready." She smiled as she swept out of the room.
"I'll get on with my latest article" Piper excused herself but Curie remained, watching Nate work.
"Everything ok?" Nate asked looking at Curie.
"Oui monsieur, I am just interested in your work, may I watch you?" Curie requested.
"Of course" Nate agreed, feeling a frisson of love come over him towards these three girls. This was the second time that powerful emotion had come over him, the first being just after he had been asked to spank them. He wondered if this was the new normal and if he would always feel this strength of love and protection towards his companions.
As Nate sanded the paddle, he couldn't help but reflect on the last few days. If he was being honest, he was still in a bit of a spin from the speed and intensity of it all.
Although the girls were all around ten years younger than Nate, since teaming up, the one thing he had tried not to become was too overbearing and get all father figure on them. They were all grown women who were strong enough to look after themselves, something they had done reasonably well before meeting him. And yet, here he was having been asked by each of these women to use discipline as a tool to keep the team together, beginning with having each girl over his knee for a bare bottom spanking.
Apart from the obvious shock at being asked, Nate had been filled with a whole slew of emotions since. An immense love and deep respect for these women, who obviously have found their home and were willing to do anything to keep it. He was in awe of their courage, trusting that he would respect their wishes whilst not abusing his new found position of power. He was overwhelmed by the strength of that trust, which was put to the test pretty much straight away by them all getting a pretty severe hiding. And then there was the fact that even though he had well and truly bruised their bottoms, Nate wasn't treated any differently the day after. He had worried that once he had actually punished them he would be painted as a pariah, but from the actions of the girls so far, that didn't seem the case.
Aside from all of those positive feelings there were also ones of guilt. Having seen the state of Piper and Curies backsides just now, he was now wondering if he hadn't gone too hard on his first punishment session. Each smack he landed on the girls backsides had been the hardest he could have given with the brush, no warm up, no taking it easy. Thankfully, the girls didn't seem to be the worse for it. From a sensible viewpoint he could see the benefits of having set the bar high, as this would act as a strong guide to the girls during their training. He also knew that this first session would have been a test of his commitment to this new agreement and by the looks of things he had passed. So they were the positives, however, the guilt soon returned when he thought of his own baser feelings. He had enjoyed and been turned on by what he had done the day before. He had enjoyed seeing three beautiful young women naked in front of him, lining up for a spanking. He had enjoyed the feel of each of them as they had laid themselves over his knees and most especially he had really enjoyed their reactions to his spanking. Their toned bodies writhing and bucking as he saw their alabaster skin turn red under his administrations. The heat, their reactions, feeling their punished bottoms afterwards and witnessing their tears, all creating incredibly powerful sensations in him. Nate had been in heaven and was now feeling uneasy, as he wasn't sure that was supposed to be how he should be feeling. However, he reasoned with himself, he was a hot blooded male and had been asked by his three closest female friends to give them each a good hiding, what were they expecting?
Having used all but the last grain, he handed the paddle to Curie and let her finish the task. Once she was done Nate introduced her to the polishing process he was going to use.
"Have you heard of French Polishing, Curie?"
"Using shellac and a fine cloth, you mean?" She answered excitedly. "It is a process I know well but I have never had a chance to practice it." Nate assumed it was one of the skills Collins had upgraded her with. A strange choice but no doubt Collins had his reasons.
He had to smile at Curies reaction, here she was getting excited about helping Nate make and finish a punishment paddle of all things. One that he was sure would be across her bare backside at sometime in the future. To Curie, however, the future intended use of Nate's implement was immaterial, she was excited and began reeling off all she knew about the polishing process.
Nate went to one of the storage lockers that was spread around the armoury and removed a wooden box, about the size of an old doctors bag from the Victorian era or a case of 6 bottles of wine. Placing the box on its end, Nate undid the clips on the side of the box and swung it open. Fully broken in half the box contained small pads, boxes of wax and bottles of polish. Selecting three of the bottles and a pad he handed them to Curie. "If you would like to have a go, I would love to watch you work."
"Oh, I would love to!" Curie gave a little clap of her hands and took the items offered to her. Nate then stood back to watch a real expert at work. She laid out the polishes and the cloth and went back to the box for what looked like a small amount of steel wool. She then set to work, painting on the first layer, rubbing it dry, scrubbing and polishing once it had dried.
Nate enjoyed watching her and the silence that came between them, not awkward or stifling, but instead very peaceful. Although Curie had never done this process before the programming was perfect as she worked deftly to bring a beautiful shine on the blade and handle of the paddle.
"That is some fantastic work Curie," complimented Nate, as he examined the paddle. "We shall have to call this Curies paddle."
"A collaboration, Monsieur, I could not take all the credit." Curie said bashfully.
"Shall we go show it to the girls?" Nate asked handing it to Curie.
"I am sure they will get to see it soon enough, and I am happy it will get put away for the moment." She responded, smiling at Nate and handing it back.
Nate tucked the paddle away in the same cupboard as he kept the other items he had bought from Percy and he and Curie headed downstairs to see what was for lunch.
As soon as they had eaten, Cait having made them some fantastic chowder with the leftover Mirelurk, Nate took a wander over to the Bleachers to visit with Dr McClintock. The Bleachers was a district of Diamond City that occupied the space under the old Bleachers seating. Bleachers seats at Fenway Park were a collection of sections located in right field and right-center field and were at the cheaper end of the ticket pricing. The gem in this little area was the left field diner, owned by an eccentric gent who called himself Dr Pepper.
When Nate arrived he was greeted by Lily who was having a smoke by the entrance.
"Hey Mr! Haven't seen you here for a while, what gives?" Lily asked giving Nate a huge hug.
"Busy training, I am afraid, all pretty boring stuff." Nate lied quite well.
"Well head on in and don't be a stranger." Lily winked as she opened the door for Nate. He smiled and thanked her, an outrageous flirt but head over heals in love with Zeke over at the Atom Cats garage, so Nate knew it was harmless.
Wandering through the diner, Nate said his hellos and headed through the far door and into the street behind. Making his way to the greenhouse that Barbara called home, he knocked and entered.
He loved visiting Dr Barbara McClintocks home as it was as if he had just wandered into a rain forest. Assaulted by smells and sounds, the plants and the insects, it was abuzz with life and colour, a direct contrast to much of the wasteland.
Treading carefully through the planters and other organic obstacles, Nate heard a soft singing voice coming from above. He looked up and could see Barbara up a ladder pruning a vine tree hanging from the ceiling. The vast majority of that ceiling was glass and afforded some amazing views of the city.
"Hey Doc" Waved Nate, "sorry to disturb you."
"Oh, no need for apologies, you are just the man I was looking for." She smiled and began climbing down the ladder. Without thinking Nate held onto the bottom of the ladder and helped her down.
"Thank you." Barbara said, jumping the last step and brushing the dust off her hands. "I have something I would like you to look for the next time you are on one of your wanders."
"Sure, what do you need." Nate enquired.
"No I need to remember my manners, you are obviously here for something." She berated herself, "I shall bend your ear afterwards."
"Erm, ok, got anything for bruises?" Nate asked, sounding nervous.
"Yes, but that does depend on the bruise, how big, what colour etc? Is it for you?" Barbara asked.
"Er, no, it's for Piper." Nate couldn't have made this simple question more weird if he tried. "She has one on her thigh," he continued and then explained what her bruise on her butt looked like.
"And you say this is on her thigh?" Asked the Dr. Looking a little puzzled. "What you describe sounds more like Intramuscular whereas the injury you say she received should have given her nothing more than a subcutaneous bruise. Not that the difference is huge, a bruise is a bruise after all, right?" Nate was starting to feel a little hot under the collar at this stage. "Want me to take a look?" Barbara offered, "least I can do if you are helping me out."
"No, we should be fine thanks. And when I said thigh, it's more like ass, if I am being honest and she doesn't know I am asking." Nate was trying a different tack, trying the close to the truth approach.
"Oh, I see," Barbara raised her eye brows, looking at Nate with a half smile.
"Yes, she landed on her ass after slipping in the shower, thankfully not hitting her head or doing any other damage, so a silver lining." Nate continued to lie well.
"Ouch!" Barbara exclaimed "Bet she isn't seeing the silver lining when she tries to sit down," laughed the doctor.
"You have no idea." Nate said quietly, under his breath.
"Well, get her to rub some of this." And she went over to a medicine cabinet and started to have a rummage around. "Here it is, this." And she presented a decent sized pot of cream to Nate. "It's arnica and fabulous on bruises, it will help. Also get some more vitamin C into the girl, by the sounds of how often your team gets battered about out there, vitamin C and D help heal all types of bumps and bruises quicker." Barbara went back to the medicine cabinet and grabbed a tube with a lid on it. "Soluble vitamin tablets, Dr Pepper was creating some to have people be able to make soft drinks at home, didn't really work but I now make them full of vitamins."
"These were popular before the war," Nate remembering a brand he used to use. "Sign me up for a regular supply." Nate handed the doc a few caps, "this ok?"
"Well, I was going to say free as you are about to agree to do me a favour. The regular vitamins will be 10 caps a month." She pocketed the caps Nate had already handed to her.
"Great, let's have four lots starting from whenever you can." Nate tucked the tube into a pocket. "So what's the job?"
Nate had already done a few find and fetch missions for the doc, the pay was rubbish but he knew a real life doctor and not a quack would be a valuable friend to have in his line of work.
"I am looking for a batch of particular seeds which I believe were on a shipment to Cambridge Polymer Labs but never got there. It was last seen with a caravan near Taffington Boathouse." Barbara explained.
"Oh great, I'll take the Red Wave up there and take a look." Nate smiled, it will be great to get back on the water again. "Anything else?" He asked.
"Nope, that will be all. The seeds are in one of these." And the doctor went to her desk and brought over a shoe box sized metal container. Look out for this symbol." She finished pointing to the badge of the institute. Nate knew that badge very well.
"Alrighty then, if there is nothing else?" Nate tossed and caught the pot of cream, "I'll be off. Oh, and thanks."
The doc smiled "no worries." came the response with a rye smile. Did she know anything or was she smiling because Nate had been a bit weird? He decided not to hang around and worry about it and headed back to home plate.
Coming home was a real treat. The rain had been incessant all day and coming through the door, greeted by warmth, an amazing smell from the kitchen and a smile from Cait as she wandered past, made his day.
"Hey to you too." He smiled back.
"Watcha got there?" Cait was craning to see what Nate had in his hands as he hung his coat up.
"Here," he tossed the cream to Cait, "Doc McClintock says it's great for bruises." Nate wiped his feet and headed for the stairs, this food was smelling sooo good.
"What do you mean she said it was good for bruises?!" Cait enquired, in a serious tone.
"Hold your horses, I didn't give anything away. Please I have a little more sense than that." Nate squirmed a little knowing he had made a hash of asking the lovely doctor.
"Oh, ok then, in that case I'll not bite your head off and instead say thanks." Cait responded, softening her tone.
"That smells amazing, whatever it is." Nate spoke over his shoulder as he headed down to the kitchen. Dinner was amazing and afterwards he had explained his visit and his new acquisitions. He instructed the girls that they were to have a pint glass of water each morning with the soluble tablet and to use the cream at least twice a day. They seemed to be happy to oblige but Nate sensed a lack of enthusiasm for the tablets, having become something of an expert at the signs the girls gave off before their new agreement.
"Oh and failure to take your vitamins will earn you a punishment. The first and most important bit of kit a soldier is expected to look after is themselves. Clear?"
All three nodded whilst Cait and Piper shared a smile, Piper then asked.
"How did you know?" She looked at Nate with a sheepish grin.
"Oh nearly a year of practice." Nate gave Piper the unimpressed look.
"We weren't that bad, were we?" Asked Cait with genuine concern.
Nate shrugged and Curie jumped in, "bad enough for Nate to want to split the team." She responded flatly.
"I'm serious, these little tablets contain all the vitamins and minerals you need, and we can't always guarantee we will be eating as healthy and as well as we do here." Nate enthused.
"Yes Boss." Cait rolled her eyes.
"I'm serious young lady," Nate looked at her sternly, "Your health and well-being is as important to me as your weapons drills and field craft. Fatigue is as much a killer as sloppy tactics."
"Tiredness doesn't kill you, Blue." Piper jumped in to defend Cait. Nate loved that, as loyalty amongst the girls was also very important to him.
"If someone falls asleep on stag it is." Nate turned the stern look on Piper.
"Oh, yes, there is that," Piper accepted gracefully.
"So, these vitamins actually give you more energy?" Cait enquired sincerely.
"Vitamin C & D helps repair broken blood vessels, especially capillaries on the surface. Your bruising and marking on your bottoms will clear up quicker. It is also a great antioxidant as well as a fabulous help in absorbing vital nutrients for the blood like iron. Listen, it's great and you guys will love it, you will take it every day and I won't have to spank you, ok?"
Piper laughed, "Well if you put it like that, how can a girl refuse." She batted her eye lashes at Nate.
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