Chapter Text
He hadn't been in this room for weeks. Swinging his legs from where he was sitting on Doc's bed, he watched the door, limbs growing warm under the thick sweats. Part of him wished he was looking at the tiles on the practise floor right now. Would've been better than the waiting. Anticipation bloomed as the front door opened and closed with an ominous click. Eyes on the cherrywood, he brushed the ends of his toes across the surface and looked at the bedroom door as Doc opened it. Comforted to see, just like always, there was no anger or disappointment or any of it, Lightning felt some of the tension lift. Some, not all, because Doc was still going to spank him and it was going to leave a sting like nothing else, aloe vera be damned.
"Hey, kiddo." Doc sat beside him, his arm around Lightning's shoulder. "You know I want you to grow into a responsible young man, right?"
"Yeah." Even if being responsible sucked sometimes, he knew it was important, so you didn't end up doing stuff like screwing with someone's livelihood.
"Good kid. Now, I want you to remember that this doesn't change how much I love you, kiddo."
"I know." He did, too. He'd pretty much lived on Doc's lap after the switching. Resting his head on Doc's shoulder, he breathed out a deep sigh, like the old man often did. And had a lot in recent weeks 'cause he was so sure it'd be too mean to punish him.
"You took advantage just lately, didn't you? I wasn't dealing with things properly, so it was obviously a wonderful opportunity to cause chaos in your town." Doc stroked his hair.
"Maybe." Lightning tried to reach the floor again with his feet, not liking to hear he'd taken advantage. It might've been true, sure, but it sounded so slimy. "I wasn't trying to be a jerk, Dad. Just thought it was funny."
"Pranks are fine, just so long as it doesn't impact someone negatively. You could've stuck post-its over the screen and Ramone would've laughed it off, but he uses that thing for work and if he can't get into it to accept business, he'll lose that." Doc brought him in for another hug, like Ramone had less than an hour ago. Lightning would keep it a secret forever, but his mentor's hugs were the best. Anyone else made him happy, but Doc made him feel safe, cocooned all secure and warm in those arms. "It's been going on a little too long, kiddo."
"So, why...why?"
"You don't immediately haul your kid across your knee after you switch him, Lightning. No way I could deal with your mayhem like I usually would've after that. It just got a little harder as time went on." Doc let go, sliding his hands to find Lightning's, giving them a light squeeze. "I kinda think you've been trying to send a message the past couple days. Like "look at this, I'm doing all kinds of mischief because you won't do anything". And now, look. Flo won't let anyone use her seasonings without watchin' like a hawk and Fillmore's been driving 'round here with an almighty pair of balls hanging from his van."
Lightning couldn't help snickering. "I can't be sorry for Fillmore's one. I'll get 'em off his mirrors and in the spirit of being a responsible young man, I'll tell him it was me and apologize for the trouble. But, seriously, I almost die every time I see his van..."
"And what about Flo?"
Lightning stopped, the guilt like a sharp brake. He started playing with the button on Doc's shirt sleeve, not wanting to look into those clear blue eyes. "I am sorry for that. Flo's so sweet and I shouldn't have pulled a prank on her. I'm pretty sure she knows it was me." He finally looked up, that tranquil gaze never leaving his own. "Do you think she'll forgive me?"
"Yes. And so will Fillmore, and so will Ramone." Doc hesitated and then exhaled a short, deep sigh. "Okay, kiddo. We better get this over with."
His mentor's hand was unyielding against the small of his back as it guided Lightning forward, a careful hand braced under his elbow to help with balance. Supporting just like always, even if he was minutes away from smacking his ass. Tilting him forward, Doc slid him so his body rested on the mattress, legs over his own Lightning's toes barely reaching the floor. It was times like this he really wished he was taller.
Doc took a moment to rub his back, moving circles around over tense muscles until the anticipation lessened. While a spanking was what the doctor ordered for the recent pranks, at least he didn't act like a jerk about it. He was letting him keep his sweats on, which hadn't happened the last time Lightning had been in position. Ending the circles, he rested his hand on the small of Lightning's back and lifted his hand.
The swat was sharper than Lightning thought it would be. Gritting his teeth as the others fell, Lightning looked straight ahead, trying to think of the positives. It wasn't on his bare ass. And...that was it. And that could change. And, holy sh*t, how could a man his age have such a hard hand? It even hurt through his sweats, the heat building up to a maddening intensity already. "Ow, ow!"
"I know it hurts, kiddo." Doc's voice was nothing but kind, even as he continued smacking across the seat of the young racer's sweats. "You're being really brave. I'm so proud of you for taking your punishment so well."
Lightning gripped the comforter, squeezing his eyes shut. "No, I'm not." His breath hitched. "I'm not."
"Yeah, you are. You're facing up to the consequences and taking responsibility like that takes courage."
Sniffing, he let the words sink in. Doc wanted him to be responsible and he was being responsible. Maybe he wasn't taking it so bad after all. Keeping his eyes on the comforter, he tried to look at the bars which were moving up and down again as each swat briefly moved him forward, every new one bringing a new sting, even with the sweats on. The sound of them filled the air like steady rainfall and his tears filled his eyes and he rubbed them away on the back of his hand, letting little sobs escape. "Dad..."
Doc stopped, though the hand rested on his heated backside warned that things weren't finished yet. "We're nearly done, son." He started stroking Lightning's hair, the motion of it so soothing that the tears stopped before any more could roll. "Your sweats need lowering, but nothin' else. You've been so strong and it's okay to cry when you're having your hide tanned. I'm so proud of you. I really am."
The idea of his sweats being taken down wasn't one he liked, but it sure was better than everything going down. Now the swats had taken a break, he was more aware of the solid thighs he was lying across, the soreness that had spread across his rear end. And Doc, being so soft as he smoothed Lightning's hair like it was almost too precious to touch. The weight of his mentor's hand left his lightly burning backside and the older man's hands pulled the sweats up and away from Lightning's boxers before pulling them down to his knees. The left leg was carefully pulled up, the color of his spanked backside looked over before the leg was pulled back over to cover him up for the last part of the punishment.
"Okay, kiddo. If you need to hold my hand, let me know."
Lightning gasped sharply at the first smack, fire rippling across his skin. "Ow!!" The next one was no better and he found that the tears wasted no time in returning, dripping onto the comforter, darkening the blue. "Ow! Dad! I'm sorry!" He kicked, his toes barely missing the floor and then Doc locked his legs so he couldn't do that any more. "Dad!" He could hear the sound of the smacks as they landed, the intense sting worse now he only had a thin layer to protect his backside.
Doc only amped up the swats in response. It meant that he was close to finalizing the spanking, but Lightning wasn't really in a place to appreciate this wonderful fact. To make things worse, he was aiming at the sit-spots which were protesting as hard as Lightning was, even if they were quieter about it. Finishing up with two hard slaps that made Lightning howl into the mattress, he started rubbing his mentee's back as he cried into the comforter he'd soaked a patch of tears into.
It was just as hard to hear his cries after a spanking as it'd been after the switching, the force of it juddering his slight frame. He did calm down a lot faster, and then Doc helped him sit on his lap, giving plenty of space to his freshly punished rear end. Lightning held on to him with all his strength and Doc held him just as tight, trying to pour as much love into the hug as possible while Lightning buried his face into the nook of his shoulder. "My boy..." The words calmed him down a bit, so Doc kept it up, reminding him that he was a good kid, that he'd been responsible, that Doc was proud of him, that he was so loved in this town by everyone in it regardless of what had been going on. Finally, Lightning sniffed and turned his head to put his ear against Doc's heart, his normal favorite thing to do after he'd been punished. "It hurts, Dad." he said after a little time listening to the steady thumping of his heart, voice still a little quiet.
"I know it does, kiddo." Doc kissed the side of his head. "It's all over now." One thing else he was proud of - Lightning wasn't offering up an apology after answering for what he'd been doing. He'd finally got it that he didn't need to apologize after.
Lightning accidentally interrupted him before he could offer the goddamn aloe vera. "I bet Ramone doesn't have such a hard hand."
"Prank Flo again and I'm sure you'll find out."
"No!" Lightning's protest was out of love for Flo and Doc knew it. "I need to apologize to her."
"And Ramone."
"Yeah, I know."
"And Fillmore."
"I was thinking about that and if he hasn't even noticed-"
"Monty."
"... And Fillmore." Lightning winced. "I don't wanna get up."
"I know, kiddo. I don't mind sitting with you, if it helps you feel better." Naturally, sitting with Doc meant sitting on his lap, but neither of them had ever really debated it. Or wanted to. He didn't mind one bit holding his midlife surprise in his arms. God knew Lightning hadn't gotten it much growing up. The way Doc saw it, was that there was a lot of making up to do. "Get up when you feel like it."
Lightning took this advise, relaxing against Doc's chest, the top of his head perfectly settled under Doc's chin. Lightning's arms circled around his waist, his hands gripping the back of his work shirt like they'd held the comforter. He brushed away some tears and smoothed his kid's hair until energy returned to the young man on his lap and he started wriggling. "Easy, kiddo, easy." Supporting him to stand, he pulled up the sweats, covering up the reddened edges around the boxer shorts, not missing the flinch. "You need aloe?"
"Can I have it later? I wanna get the other stuff out of the way."
"Sure, you can." Watching Lightning leave, rubbing at the seat of his sweats, Doc smiled. His midlife surprise really was getting so responsible.
