Juvenalas Penitatas
Lesson 10 – An Unexpected Reunion

Talek was stuck in a sulking rut that no amount of days off could shift. The green-scaled lizard boy had been unable to enjoy himself when Lusu visited, settling for pouting in the corner with his snout in a book as the two-tone, cookie-splotched visitor played happily with his sister. “I'm so happy for you I could kiss you!” the girl had squealed when Rilka revealed her downgraded punitive status and that they'd be sharing a class from now on.
Rilka had laughed off the offer, settling for a day of more conventional fun instead. She invited Talek to join more than once, but he made a point of refusing.
The Karrian boy's dour outlook continued to the next day, which began like so many before it.
“How are you feeling this morning, Talcum?” his mother asked. She had taken up using the nickname Rilka gave him when she wanted to come across as playful or friendly, but this time it just made the boy more angry.
“I'm fine,” he replied, though the blunt, defensive tone said otherwise.
Liki chose not to press the issue, and before long both rejuves were clean and dressed smartly and warmly for the long walk to school. Talek's green scales were kept snug by black trousers and a thick blue coat, while Rilka wore pinks and yellows. Their mother ushered them out into the crisp morning, choosing not to hold their hands as a simple, subtle way to show she trusted them to behave. The sun was low but bright; layers and the gentle exercise of walking ensured they didn't feel cold, but the chill made their ear-slits sting after a few minutes.
As they made their way to the long path to school, Rilka trotting merrily at her mother side, Talek trailing behind them, the boy's downcast eyes caught something small and pink on the pavement; a worm, still and stretched out on the moist footpath. No sooner had the boy recognised it did he see another in the corner of his eye, and as he gazed down the road he realised that dozens, maybe hundreds of worms lay in the open, basking in the morning sun.
A long, childish 'eeew!' slipped from Rilka's lips as she caught sight of them, her merry step halted sharply as she tried to tip-toe over and around the glistening little creatures. Liki couldn't help but chuckle in response, "they're not going to jump at you, cream-cake! Just step over them and leave them be."
A mischievous grin spread across Talek's snout. Rilka had been bubbling over with glee ever since their shared humiliation, and now he had the perfect chance to take her down a peg! He scanned the worms as he walked until he spied an especially large, slimy specimen; well over six inches long and almost as thick as his finger. With a brief glance toward his mother to confirm he was safe to act, Talek scooped up the worm in his claw and quickly hurried up behind his sister. In a swift motion he gripped her collar and pulled, forming a gap into which he dropped the slippery worm.
Rilka's shriek rolled across the countryside, the little lizard girl bounding about and squirming madly in a frantic effort to dislodge the slimy invader. A childish cackle spilled from Talek's lips as the girl wriggled and whined, pulling at her clothes as Liki tried to understand what was wrong with the suddenly frantic child. By the time the fat worm flopped free, landing on the top of her tail on the way out before being violently hurled into the grass, Talek had doubled over in uncontrollable hysterics. The girl snapped around, fixing Talek with a furious snarl. “What the hell was that for?” she barked, and was immediately yanked back into line by Liki.
Yet as the boy wiped a tear of laughter from his eye a shadow loomed over him. He looked up into the dark, furious scowl on his mother's snout, and all joy vanished instantly. “What were you thinking, putting a worm down Rilka's back!” she barked, paws balled into fists and thrust firmly against her hips.
The boy flinched at the question, for he knew in his gut he had no good answer – he tried desperately to think of something, but his timid pause just made Liki's anger boil up even worse. “Rilka's always having fun at my expense!” he blurted out at last. “I wanted to get my own back!”
“Well, now I will have some fun at your expense!” his mother retorted, grabbing his wrist and dragging him up the road towards a lonely little bench about a hundred metres ahead. Deaf to her son's pleading, the blue-green scaled Karrian sat down and immediately reached for the boy's waistband, forcefully yanking his pants down without any word of warning. “What you did deserves far more than a hand-spanking, but rest assured I'll have a paddle waiting when you get home!”
“Momma, no!” Talek wailed, both at the prospect of being punished later and being made bare there and then. He at least remembered to keep his paws up and not conceal himself, for what little extra mercy that earned him.
“Over my lap!” Liki barked, half-dragging the boy into position. “Rilka, hold his tail out of the way, please.” Her claw came down on his green-scaled rear with no more warning than that, the slap echoing across the fields and bouncing off the houses behind them. Talek grit his teeth against the sting, eyes scrunching as his mother's hand slapped down over and over, fast and forceful. But the whimpers, then tears were inevitable. Liki had decided how many swats he had earned, but Talek had no way of knowing – nor did he know the 'official' count didn't start until he was already sobbing.
“Mo-mma!” the boy wailed as his resolve broke. “Ow! Please stop! Owowow!”
“I won't be stopping any time soon!” she barked in return, slapping her claw against his reddening cheeks just a little harder to make the point hit home. After a few minutes, the little lizard boy was bawling openly, spluttering and hiccuping through the last few painful smacks before being allowed up onto his feet.
Despite the stern look on her snout, Liki knelt down and pulled the boy close for a gentle hug. “It's okay, take some time to calm down now,” she whispered, rubbing his back softly as he cried out his pain.
“Mom?” Rilka's shy little voice spoiled the moment.
“Don't fret, cream-cake. I will be walking you both into class to explain things,” she broke the hug and stood up, wiping her damp knees ineffectually before taking Talek firmly by the paw. “There had better not be any more mischief from either of you! Rilka, take my hand. You can walk on my left.”

The trek to school, which was long at the best of times, stretched into a miserable eternity for Talek. His pants felt like sandpaper against his well-smacked behind, and the discomfort did little to distract him from his own boiling thoughts. Rilka had gotten away with it – again! Why did she always get to make him miserable, but when he does something it backfires? I am never speaking to her again!
He was still feeling bitter when the pair reached school. Late because of the spanking, the front of the school was empty and the gates had been closed. The security guard let them in without a word, and Liki walked the two inside. Rilka's new classroom was upstairs in the main building, and that was their first destination. The little girl looked absolutely terrified as Liki shuffled her through the door, one hand still clutching Talek's paw tightly. Every pair of eyes in the room turned to stare at the cream-scaled lizard girl. “I'm so sorry for her tardiness,” Liki said to the teacher. “It my fault, not hers.”
The teacher accepted the answer with a nod. “Take your seat,” he said, and Rilka hurried to her place with barely a glance back to her mother.
“One down, one to go,” Liki said as the door sighed closed.
It was Talek's turn soon enough. The eyes of a dozen penitatas, all different species turned to watch as the shy six year old was led inside. Miss Bassel looked up from her desk, raising an eyebrow at his late arrival. Liki released Talek's paw and the boy hovered nervously, waiting for her to explain his tardiness. When no explanation came he turned and slowly walked towards his desk.
“Not so fast, young man!” the Karrian teacher called out. Talek turned around as her attention returned to Liki. “May I ask the reason for his late arrival?”
“Bad behaviour, I'm afraid,” Liki replied. Miss Bassel accepted the answer with a nod.
“Well, we know how to deal with bad behaviour. Come to the front please, Talek.”
“What?” The boy's jaw dropped. “B-but I got spanked already!”
“Boys who are late to class without an excuse get spanked for tardiness,” the teacher replied as Liki left the classroom. “Come on, up front!”
A sob escaped Talek's snout before the teacher lay a finger on him. His pitiful whimper of “it's not fair!” went unheeded as the teacher selected a proper implement for his wrongdoing. She settled on a tried and trusted ruler.
“Brace yourself on my desk, that's a good lad,” Miss Bassel told him, carefully lowering his pants and lifting his tail. The whole class got a good look at his reddened backside as she lined up the ruler.
The first thwack echoed across the classroom. A dozen young faces grimaced in sympathy as the wooden ruler left a white hot impact mark over the boy's already reddened bottom, drawing the line clear over his puckered tailhole. Talek jumped at the strike, throwing his head back and howling in agony as the pale streak turned back to pinkish-green in time for the follow up stroke.
CRACK! The blow came after a long pause. The audience got to see the bruise forming in real time, a hot red band drawn horizontally across the nine year old's bottom. THWACK! It came again, near perfect in aim.
“No Mo-o-ore!” Talek howled in a manner that would have been completely unacceptable from any other penitatas his age. Miss Bassel let it slide on account of his unusual status, content to slowly, painfully apply the ruler in a drawn out fashion.
“I think that will do,” she announced as the tenth stroke faded into the burning bruise on Talek's punished rear. “Go and stand in the corner, please. You can cry it out for a little while before returning to your work.”

The hours ticked by slowly that morning. Talek was relieved when the class was finally dismissed for lunch. He followed his little circle of peers, dismissing their enquiries with short, dismissive replies. From the serving area came a variety of mouth-watering scents, sweet-and-sour being the strongest. Talek even managed to smile as he studied the sauce laden meat. “I'd like the sweet and sour, please,” Ki'reth requested from the head of the queue.
Talek saw the server step away, fetching the meat and sauce from a tray behind her rather than the front facing heater. The only difference that Talek could see was that this alternative sauce was orange instead of red. Bubbles and Isabelle were likewise served from the special tray. Kost would have been, but he chose to challenge it. “I'd like the regular stuff, please,” he said.
The server gestured to the red sauce. “That's got a hard metal content. It might not be safe for you.”
Kost grinned like a shark at the comment. “Kyyreni are near impossible to poison. I'll be fine.”
After a bit of hesitation, she relented and gave Kost the same food as the Karrian rejuves. Proud of his victory, the blond-furred boy was nevertheless subject to a scolding from Bubbles. “What did you do that for? What if you make yourself sick?”
The Kyyreni boy laughed at the question. In a mocking tone he answered, “Oh no! How awful it would be to get sick and not be able to do any school work!”
The five found one of the long tables and settled down. Jugs of ice water, some with fruit slices in sat at the end for the students, along with baskets of fresh fruit they could eat as dessert. As Talek filled his glass, Rilka claimed the seat opposite him. “Hey you!” she called to get his attention.
“What?” he asked, sour-faced and unwelcoming in tone.
Rilka was briefly taken aback. She glanced first at Lusu, who was settling down beside her, then to the others at the table. All were pretending to ignore them, while clearly listening closely. “You know, I'd have probably found that stunt with the worm hilarious if I wasn't on the receiving end,” she said while stabbing at her food.
“What stunt?” Lusu asked eagerly.
“Do you want to tell them, or should I?”
With a huff, Talek accepted. “I dropped a worm down the back of her shirt this morning.”
“Why would you do something like that?” Isabelle asked, but Rilka waved a finger at the white-furred Aspatrian girl.
“Ah! We're talking!” she returned her focus to Talek. “Did I do something to upset you?”
“No more than usual,” he muttered.
“Then what's going on? You've been off ever since I got my status downgraded.”
“You were-” Isabelle began but caught herself, realising she was butting in. The girl filled her mouth with rice and meat instead.
“Come on, Talcum, talk to me!” Rilka pleaded, and the boy shot her a disgusted look.
“Stop calling me that!” he barked. “You've been making fun of me ever since we first met! Even mom and dad have started doing it because of you!”
“I hope those aren't raised voices I hear!” said a stern voice from behind. Talek flinched, timidly craning his neck to see the face of Mr Hachi. He gave the teacher a wordless, puppy-dog pleading look as the rest of the table became intently interested in their food. With a quiet huff, the teacher moved on.
“This stuff tastes funny,” Kost said, seemingly only to break the awkward silence. He gestured to Bubbles' plate “Can I try yours?”
“Sure.”
“Mmm... yeah. Should have had the 'gentle stomach' meal.”
“You always have to be difficult,” Bubbles scolded gently. “Why do you act like you've got something to prove? Why not just be normal about what you eat?”
“Says the vegetarian eating meat,” the Kyyreni boy shot back.
Bubbles studied the morsel skewered on her fork. “This isn't meat... is it?”
“It's chicken.”
“Oh. I thought it was fish.”
“Fish is a kind of meat!”
“No, fish is fish!”
Kost leaned back in his chair, shaking his head in disbelief. “Your brain got utterly scrambled by the rejuvenation!”
The pair's antics drew a few chuckles, but did little to lift Talek's mood. He finished his meal as quickly as he could, and made excuses to be anywhere else.

Home time brought little relief for the unhappy reptile. He dragged his heavy, green tail behind him in grim anticipation for what his mother had in store when the got home. To the boy's surprise, upon creeping sheepishly over to her, Liki gestured to the racks of Watchdog automated drones. “Your father would like you to join him in town, dear,” she explained. “You're logged into the system. Go on over.”
He joined the queue of penitatas waiting for their mechanical escort. Each of them paused at an elongated screen next to the docking rack, which scanned their face and deployed a machine. When it was Talek's turn the egg-shaved hovering device slid out from the top rack and bobbed down toward him. A soft male voice greeted him. “Identity confirmed. Good afternoon, Talek. I will be walking you to punitive park. Please present your wrists for restraining.”
“Where?” Talek whimpered, frozen in shock. An older boy behind him snapped irritably for him to get out of the way, and so with great reluctance he raised his arms and allowed the machine to leash him. Liki and Rilka watched him leave, taking unfamiliar paths into town. It was a short walk from school to 'punitive park', a courtyard dominated by perhaps the most infamous of all disciplinary tools in Northrock: the Penny-Go-Round.
Shon was sat nearby, watching the machine. It looked like a fairground attraction, with brightly coloured animals both mundane and mystical for a child to ride. What made them exceptional was the elaborate system of arms extending spider-like from beneath each creature. Every limb ended in some form of paddle, strap, cane or crop; the riding child would be bound to their mount in such a way as to leave their bare backside utterly exposed to the automated tools of discipline, not to mention any onlookers.
Talek arrived at the drop-off point as another family led their daughter over to the hateful ride. He watched as the honey-coloured Karrian girl was made bare and lifted over the saddle of a pink unicorn, crying openly even before the carousel began to spin. When the parents were safely clear the operation began, and for several nightmarish minutes a pair of leather belts cracked and thwapped against her cheeks in time with a jaunty carnival tune.
Shon took custody of his son after the ride began, leading him back to the bench. “I hear you've had quite a rough day,” he said. Talek merely nodded, his focus entirely on the ride and his mind obsessing over how awful it was going to be when it was his turn. With a sigh, his father added, “You know, Talek, an important part of being a penitatas is learning to accept your punishments. We expect you to make mistakes, and the punishments we hand out are to help you learn not to make them again. When a Penny accepts that, they can begin to grow and improve as a person. If they don't accept their justly earned punishment, then that can be a problem. It can fester, you see? It turns bitter inside of them, making them angry, or frustrated. They start to lash out, and that just lands them in even more trouble. Do you understand what I'm telling you?”
Bitterly, the boy replied, “Yeah. That I should shut up and learn to like being spanked!”
Shon shook his head in dismay. “I wanted to help you, but there is no helping you so long as you cling to that attitude! Come on,” he pulled on the boy's wrist, dragging him toward the Penny-Go-Round.
“No!” Talek shrieked. “I'm sorry! I'm really sorry, dad! Please!”
“You can tell me you're sorry when you're finished with the ride,” Shon's tone remained cold and stern, offering no sympathy whatsoever. He shot the boy a hard glare and followed with a barbed threat. “If you don't cooperate then you'll be going round three times for good measure!”
The words made Talek sick. He wanted to scream, or to throw a punch, or even to turn and run. Being made to strip down and accept his beating was more than he could stand! But, thankfully, Shon accepted his lack of resistance. Silent tears flowed down Talek's face as he was yet again left in bare scale, clad only in shoes and socks as he was led up amongst the terrible mounts.
“I think the sea fox is fitting, don't you agree?” Shon asked, guiding his son past the girl still bound and bawling over the unicorn's saddle. The next animal was an oliphant, then a serpentine dragon. The sea fox was on the far side of the ride from the girl, a tropical blue animal with an orange 'saddle' ready and waiting for him. He lay over the mount's back, his rear raised by the slope of the animal. Wrists and ankles were fastened so he was effectively forced to cuddle the beast.
The music began, and with it the arms of the spanking machine built into his mount swung into life.  Four sudden, fierce slaps of a thin rod smacked against his helpless rear, landing in perfect synchonisation with the rising jingle of the song blaring from the speakers above. Talek's maw fell open in a yelp of pain, which grew to a long, miserable howl as a heavy, rounded paddle began to smack time against his tush.
As a cheery flute began to dance up and down the scale, the evil of the Penny-Go-Round unleashed itself upon the helpless little boy. With every single note a cruel implement would strike him – a whippy length of hard leather stung his cheek opposite the time-keeping paddle, then a rapid set of biting belt-strokes danced up the same cheek just in time for the heavy paddle to land on top of these fresh, deep stings and hammer home their fire. Then more bites into the other cheek, low notes striking close to the thigh, high notes just under the tail.
Knowing where and when they would come was of no comfort at all. The pace of punishment was relentless. He had no chance to properly catch is breath as the whipping, stinging and smacking poured into his rear. His loud, desperate howls for mercy were drowned out by the merry jig blaring around him. The speed, precision, and complexity of the spanking was beyond anything a flesh-and-blood disciplinarian could ever administer, and in his helpless agony the boy found himself wishing he was over his father's lap instead. Anything Shon would have given out would surely be more bearable than this!
“D-d-da-d-deee!” the boy squealed, fighting for every utterance as a chord sequence delivered triple-pronged stings into the well-reddened scales of his bottom. “Ple-e-ease ma-a-ake it st-ooop!”
No-one seemed to hear his howls. There was nothing Talek could do but squeeze his mount tight and drop his snout, bawling loudly and shamelessly as the machine continued it's inventive dance of suffering.

It felt like an eternity before the song stopped playing and the spanking arms retracted. Shon came to his son's side and gently released his limbs. Hoisting the boy with care, he walked him slowly toward the nearby benches. The other Karrian family had the same idea; Shon sat down and lifted Talek up to kneel over his lap in a pose that let him rest against Shon's chest, but let his well-spanked rear exposed for all the world to see. A pair of tender paws massaged his back. “It's okay, Talek, you cry it all out,” Shon soothed.
The boy did cry, but not because he was told to. In truth, he found it hard to take comfort from his father's embrace, seeing as he was the one who'd put him through that hellish 'ride' for no good reason! Bitter tears stained his cheeks and he blubbed and spluttered, shivering from both the cold and the fading adrenalin.
Out of the corner of his eye, Talek saw the girl was staring at him. He turned his head toward her and noted her gaze was aimed towards his crotch, making him wince and squirm. Realising she'd been caught, the youth flicked her eyes up to meet his angry stare. She looked to be around eight years old, with green scales similar to his own and a head of dark brown hair. “You're name is Talek?” she asked, her voice tired from two goes round on the carousel.
“Yes,” he mumbled back.
Once more her eyes flicked down at his crotch. The girl's nervous paw played with a long strand of thick black hair dangling by her left eye. “Do you... have a birthmark? Like... little white dots on your stomach?”
“Yeah,” Talek replied, and to his surprise the girl gave a shuddering gasp, eyes watering for reasons that had nothing to do with her spanking.
“But you... you can't be here! You're still just a boy!”
All three parents were now looking at the girl with quiet curiosity. Her mother made no effort to restrain her as she shifted to better face Talek. “Talek, it's me! It's mom!”
Talek's jaw dropped. He wanted to protest, but the girl's mother cut in. “Jalia, it's probably-”
Jalia! The name sliced through his heart like a knife. His mother's name. “Mom!” he gasped.

The two penitatas were placed back on their feet, and Jalia threw herself at her son immediately. “Oh, my baby! My poor, poor baby! What happened to you? How did you end up here?”
A thousand possible answers came to mind, none of which he felt confident in. The boy gave a weak, non-committal huff. “I screwed up.”
“But you're only... how old?”
“Sixteen, mom.” The question was a knife in the gut. “You've been gone four years, remember?”
“You can't be a penitatas at sixteen!”
“Well these say different!” he spat back, showing her his 'JP' letters. “They made me a Penny to scare me straight!”
Jalia hugged him again, but much like with Shon the contact gave him little comfort. “What about your father?”
“Since when do you care what happened to him?” The cruel words made Jalia retreat. Though no adult said a word, Talek could feel Shon's eyes boring into him. He felt as if the ground were opening up beneath him, and faced with an imminent plunge to Hell, Talek let loose. “You want to know what I did? I listened to you! Remember that, mom? How whenever I wanted something and dad said no you'd undermine him? How you always told me not to listen to him and that I could have whatever I wanted? How you used to encourage me to break 'stupid' rules? Guess how I ended up here, mom! Guess! I did exactly what you taught me to do! I ignored dad, I stole from people, I broke into places because I wanted to be there! I did everything you taught me to do!”
With a timid shake of her head, Jalia tried to protest. “I never taught you to steal, Talek.”
Pure rage boiled up inside of the boy. “You used to shove candy bars in my pocket and scold me if we got caught!”
“Oh that's not stealing, Talek! That's just-”
Now the parents cut in. “That most certainly is stealing, young lady! I am mortified at what I've just heard!”
“It might be best if we let the two work things out a little longer,” Shon suggested calmly.
The interruption had broken Talek's flow, and it had taken only a brief pause for his rage to burn down into pained confusion. “Why did you do it, mom?” he asked bitterly. “Why did you abandon us?”
“Honey, I was trying to do right by you, both of you...” she flashed an anxious look at her parents, and Shon was quick to catch it.
“I think that these two would be much happier if they could have their reunion somewhere more private, and when fully dressed.”
Jalia's parents recognised the hint. “We live nearby. You and your son are welcome to visit any time.”
Both the young Karrians were helped back into their clothes before Julia was led away, casting longing stares back at Talek, who refused to meet her gaze. The parents exchanged contact details and Shon waited for Jalia and her family to leave his sight before addressing Talek. He spoke softly, “We'll arrange the visit when you've had time to settle down. I know that must have been hard for you?”
“Did you do this on purpose?” Talek asked, his tone venomous.
“No I did not.” Shon replied firmly. “Liki and I had no idea Jalia was here in Northrock. If we'd known we would have arranged a proper meeting long ago.”
“It feels like you did it on purpose,” the boy answered back, though he struggled to keep his voice from breaking.
Shon reached for Talek, wishing to put a claw upon the boy's shoulder. He flinched away. “Talek, you keep digging yourself into a deeper and deeper hole here. Turning inwards when you're hurting just leads to more hurt. Come on now. Talk to me.”
The Karrian boy stayed silent, his green-scaled snout turned deliberately away, his tail heavy and limp behind him. Shon let the boy pout in silence for long enough that it became decidedly uncomfortable. The Penny-parent's mind turned to a conversation he'd had not too long ago. “Have you ever wanted to play ball in the back garden?”
“No,” Talek replied, glancing over to his father with an anxious look in his eye, clearly unable to guess where this new topic was leading.
“I didn't think so,” Shon chuckled. “Then what are you interested in? If you could do what you wanted, what would you do?”
The nine year old shrugged. “I dunno. Play videogames?”
“Which games?”
Another shrug. “The usual ones.” He winced at the soft grunt of frustration his father made at the non-committal answer. He quickly added, “There was one I put a lot of time into. Conquerors of the Under-Kingdom. It was an action-RPG.”
“You like role-playing?”
“Well, I liked that one.”
Shon smiled to himself as he took his personal PADD out of his pocket and tapped in a quick search. His grin grew ever wider as a nostalgic sigh escaped his lips. “Oh! It's part of the Dungeons of Doomdark series! I must have put a thousand hours into Terror of the Arachnospiders back in the day!”
The PADD vanished back into Shon's pocket, and Talek was once more the centre of his father's attention. “You know, it is customary to buy children presents for New Year's. Maybe we should pick one or two out now? Do you think having something to look forward to would make things easier?”
“I guess,” Talek replied, still reluctant to engage. The prospect of presents was tempting though. He took his father's hand without protest, winning a pleased nod for himself at the simple act of good behaviour.

The ever-welcome sight of the toy store was perhaps the first thing that had truly lifted Talek's spirits. He was kept on a short leash, at least until Shon had made his enquiries and located the items he wanted the boy to consider. He was handed a box with bold gold-and-silver letters adorning it. Dungeons of Doomdark: Heroes of the Heroic Guild. He turned it over and read the back blurb. “Once sealed forever behind unbreakable seals and inescapable spells, The Lichworm 'Doomworm' has been unsealed and escaped into the Doomdark! If allowed to un-live, Doomworm will spread the Doom of Doomdark through the entire Under-world and Over-world. Are there any heroes willing to take up the heroic quest to save the realms? Yes there are – the Heroic Guild!” The boy's eyes shone with the awe that only a die-hard fan of the franchise would ever understand, and with a desire to share that awe that only the most patient or foolish would knowingly unleash upon themselves. “No way! They actually unleashed the Lichworm!?”
Shon was trying his best not to engage. Inwardly, his thirteen year old self was dying for the chance to face off against the darkest nemesis of his kindernhood once more. “I take it you're interested?”
“Yeah!” The boy almost tore at the protecting seal in his urgent need to see what was inside, catching himself at the very last moment. He turned hungrily to his father. “Am I allowed this?”
“You're certainly not opening it here!” Shon scolded, though he grinned as he did so. “I need to have a discussion with your mother when we get home. Your worst case scenario is that box gets hidden away until New Year's is over.”
His father took the prize from him and looked about the nearby shelves. “We should find for Rilka as well. Why don't you pick something to give to her from you? I know she'd love that.”
Talek set about his task, feeling better now he was confident this trip wasn't some cruel ploy to make him miserable. He quickly caught sight of what seemed to him like the perfect gift. “I bet she'd love this!” The boy pointed to a Karrian hatchling doll.
“I'm not so sure,” Shon replied. His son snickered and tapped the description on the side. “Oh. She's a wetting hatchling! Even so, let's try something else?”
In the end, Talek chose a 'Penny Painting' set for his sister. Shon asked for both the items to be gift-wrapped, which left his son feeling a little disappointed, but Talek was allowed to carry his present as they began the walk home; a walk that was made all the more tiring by the dull ache in his rear and how his pants rubbed constantly against his tender under-tail scale.
“Are you jealous of Rilka?” Shon asked out of the blue.
“Jealous how?”
He shrugged. “She got her sentence lightened while yours must seem like it's only getting harder. I think I'd be jealous under those circumstances.”
“I'm not jealous,” the boy answered, some of his prior pout creeping back into his voice.
“Then what prompted your behaviour this morning? What were you trying to do?”
“I don't know!” Talek gripped the present in his paws tight as if expecting it to be snatched from him.
Shon let the boy walk in silence a little way before speaking again. “Is that something Jalia would have let you get away with?”
The boy's teeth bared reflexively. “Don't talk about her like that!”
The bark made Shon halt in surprise. He looked down at his Penny son as the flare of anger faded and was replaced with heart-felt terror at what he'd just done. “You're protective of her,” Shon said calmly to try and diffuse the situation.
“I'm sorry!” Talek whimpered, redoubling his protective hold of the gift.
“You were furious with Jalia when you met, and now you're defending her honour. You care about her, don't you?”
“She's my mom,” the boy answered, now on the verge of tears again.
“But she's not the mom you wanted, is she?” That anger flared up again, but was kept in check. Shon knelt down to eye level with his son. “Did you have any idea what she was doing back then? Were you aware of her criminal behaviour?”
The Juvenalas boy teared up rather than answer, so Shon pressed on. “Here's what I think: You probably had no idea about the really bad stuff, but Jalia might have dragged you into some of her lesser crimes. You said she stole sweets and let you take the fall. Did she use you in other ways?” The question drew a nod from the boy and a fresh bout of blubbing. “Do you feel up to telling me about it?”
Every word came slowly and with considerable reluctance. “S-s-she made me s-steal... m-made me lie about s-stuff. S-she'd always say it was my idea to take stuff! But it never was!”
A caring paw caressed his cheek. “It's okay, Talek. This... this is all something we should have known about before. It's not your fault we didn't know! Don't you dare blame yourself, okay? Probably feel like we've been manipulating you the way Jalia used you, right?”
The boy nodded. Shon opened his arms to offer a hug, which was gratefully accepted. “I'm glad you were able to tell me this. I'll have a talk with your mother when we get home to make sure you don't get that paddling she promised. We're going to have a lot to talk about over the next few days, but if you'd rather talk with a teacher at school, or a counsellor, we can arrange that as well.”
As promised, Shon was there to protect him from Liki's scolding. The tired, well-punished boy was invited to stretch out on the big furry rug in front of the fire, which Shon rekindled for him. The primal comfort that brought soon had him nodding in and out of sleep, though he was stirred by an unexpected snuggling from behind. “We're good, right?”
Rilka snickered at the question. “Your not worth getting spanked over,” she replied before nuzzling ever more tightly against him.
“Looks like you two have made up,” Liki observed from the kitchen archway.
Both children sat upright at her call. Talek glanced to his sister and, now that parents were watching, made a point to properly apologise. “I'm sorry I was such a dick to you.”
“I'll try not to get under your skin so much,” Rilka answered with a smile.
Sister placated, he turned now to his mother. “I'm sorry.”
“For?”
“F-for being mean to my sister! And... and being rude to dad.” He lowered his snout in submission, hoping that would be enough.
The parents both joined their Penny children on the rug. Shon took his paw and gave it a comforting squeeze. “We won't rush you into meeting Jalia again. We want it to happen, but we understand you need time. It's something we'll talk about in the new year, okay?”
“Okay,” Talek replied.
The older reptile grinned a little wider. “I'll sit with you as long as you need me to,” he said, squeezing Talek's paw again for emphasis, “but I would like to make a few calls. I need to find out which of your friends might be interested in playing Dungeons of Doomdark over the New Year break. Yes, Rilka! You can play too!” He added, seeing the girl's face light up.
“But that's for the new year, not tonight!” Liki cut in, feeling the need to reinforce the expectations of her charges. “It's also contingent on you two behaving for the rest of the year.”
“We will!” the pair squeaked together.
“Then you can prove it by heading upstairs and playing quietly.” Shon ushered the pair away, waiting until they were both at the foot of the stairs before adding, “And there's a hand-spanking due at bed time for both of you.”
The siblings in suffering shared a glance, which Rilka broke with a shrug and a forced smile. “Isn't there a saying about this? 'We always hurt the ones we love'?”
“I wouldn't mind if they 'loved us' a little less,” Talek answered, which drew a genuine giggle from Rilka. The sound drove away any fears of the future, and the pair hurried to play as fast as they dared.