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Tin had given Can plenty of warnings; he had no one to blame for this but himself.
It'd all started when the mobile fighting game that Can played religiously opened up a new leveling area at the same time Can had an important exam coming up.
"Can, put the phone down and come study," Tin said from the couch where he was working on an assignment on his laptop.
"Don't want to," Can whined, fingers flying over the screen as the red health bar over the boss' head slowly depleted.
Tin had shaken his head, but not pushed the matter that day. He and Can had been together for nearly a year, and if anyone knew how stubborn the boy was, it was himself.
The next day was the same story; Tin had come home late from his part-time internship and found Can splayed on the bed, his attention so focused on the game he didn't even notice Tin had entered the room.
Exasperated, Tin had sat down behind Can and rested his chin on the smaller boy's shoulder, watching the screen for a while to try and understand why Can was so infatuated. Can had reached up and absently patted Tin's head before returning his attention to the game without a word.
Irritated at being mostly ignored in favor of what appeared to be a boring, repetitive game that hooked players with colorful drop rewards and a punishing grind that promised better stats and equipment after every meaningless level gained, Tin started to move away.
"Don't leave me," Can pouted, leaning back into Tin's embrace as he played.
Helpless to resist, Tin wrapped his arms around Can against his better judgment. He'd had a long day of classes followed by hours at the marketing firm he was interning with and he just wanted to unwind. The feeling of Can in his arms was better than any glass of wine or hot shower when it came to melting the tension from his shoulders.
"Did you study today?" Tin's words sounded doubtful; Can looked like a lazy kitten that hadn't moved from the bed since he'd flopped onto it, and with his backpack discarded in the living room it was unlikely he'd even opened it, let alone read anything inside.
Can squirmed in place until Tin's hands started obligingly stroking his sides, and the corner of Can's lips curved upward slightly, content once he'd achieved his goal. "I'll study tomorrow," he promised so sweetly that Tin simply let it go once more.
The studying, of course, didn't happen the next day; Can and his friends had linked up in the game in order to do a dungeon raid for even more spectacular in-game rewards.
Tin, who was answering work emails on his phone well into the evening, gave Can an unimpressed look. "Don't think I'll let you off easy if you don't pass," he warned.
Can scowled up at Tin from where he was lying with his head in Tin's lap. "I'm not scared of you, Ai'Asshole! Who died and made you the boss of me," he sulked while eagerly queueing up for the dungeon fight, eyes squinting into happy little crescents as Tin stroked his hair with one hand.
The following day was the last night before the exam. Can wanted to do another dungeon raid; the game was having a 4-hours long double-XP event! Unfortunately, all of his friends were busy cramming for the exam and couldn't play with him.
Without a full party, Can couldn't do the dungeon and resigned himself to studying as well. He wasn't staying at the apartment Tin had rented near the school for them on this evening; his mother wanted him to stay at home some nights so she could reassure herself that Can was eating and taking care of himself.
If only she knew that Can was eating like a king living with Tin, and that the older boy basically waited on Can hand and foot. Whether it was ordering his favorite foods, making sure Can took his vitamins in the morning, or comforting Can in the middle of the night when he woke up from nightmares, Tin was there, a dotingly devoted lover.
But since he was staying in his family home tonight, there was no one to keep on top of Can and after only an hour, the allure of double-XP won out over continuing to study and he pounced on his phone, staying up far too late grinding XP against regular overland monsters.
Can's last thought before finally falling asleep was how smug he'd get to feel tomorrow when he was levels ahead of all his friends in-game.
***
Can was like the ghost of a hanged man after classes were over on Friday.
Pale and listless with eyes dark as a moonless night, Can dragged himself to practice, none of his usual energy and enthusiasm present.
"Sheesh, there are no zombies on this team; I think you're in the wrong place, the cemetary is that way," Techno pointed off the field, his expression one of amused distaste.
Suddenly, Techno's arm was gripped in a fierce hold by the 'zombie' and Techno shouted in alarm. "What the hell?!"
"I'm so tired," Can groaned, whining pitifully as he clung to the team captain, begging for mercy. "Please let me sleep? Please, please?" he asked, shaking Techno's arm so hard the other boy panicked, thinking it might come off.
"Sleep to death!" Techno shouted, pulling away from Can and stumbling back into Type, who caught him easily.
Grateful, Can scampered off to the bench, where he curled up under the shade and promptly fell asleep. He'd stayed up way too late last night; forget about yawning his way through his classes, he'd even dozed off during the exam! He'd hurriedly guessed at some answers to try to score a few points before time ran out, but it was hopeless, he could feel it.
Sure enough, when he woke at the end of practice, Can had an email informing him that the exam grades were available. Rushing off the field to go take a look along with the crowd of other students, Can pushed toward the front, looking for his name. His heart sinking further with every name he passed on the way down to his own, he finally saw it right near the bottom.
He hadn't just failed, he'd failed so badly that the only people with lower grades than his were the default zeros next to the names of students that were absent or had already transferred out of the class mid-semester.
"Oooi!" Can shouted at the sky, arms flailing as he whined at the top of his lungs. "That Ai'Asshole is going to kill me!"
Sure enough, when Can got home, Tin was waiting for him, sitting on the couch still dressed in the suit he wore to the firm that day. He hadn't even loosened his tie; projecting the aura of an overbearing young master as his dark, knowing gaze bore into Can while he asked directly, "How did the exam go?"
Briefly, Can considered lying.
He immediately discarded the idea; somehow Can could never get away with lying to Tin, he'd always be found out no matter how small the lie. This was even how they'd wound up together; no matter how vehemently Can denied he had feelings for Tin, the older boy had seen through him and with a combination of free food and pampering attention, he'd won his boyfriend to his side.
"I'll do better next time?"
Tin beckoned Can over with a crook of his finger and Can cursed in his heart even as he shuffled over reluctantly. 'Who told this guy to be so fucking scary?!' Despite his reluctance, his heart still thudded in anticipation. Out from under the thrall of his video game now, Can could distinctly remember the threat Tin had made, and he chewed his bottom lip slightly as he wondered just what Tin would do now.
"Get over my lap." Tin's expression didn't change; he wasn't laughing, he wasn't frowning, he wasn't... anything. The expression was so serious it was as if he were discussing stock prices or market shares, and it left Can with little room for argument, but that wasn't going to stop him from trying!
"Ai'Tin! What are you talking about? Y-you're overreacting," Can claimed, taking a minuscule step back.
The fierce look he got from Tin came so swiftly that Can's eyes widened in alarm, and he quickly stepped back into the place where he'd been before, though he still failed to obey the order. Can wasn't stupid; he'd realized from Tin's words that his boyfriend's intention was to actually spank him. The idea was so embarrassing that Can couldn't even bring himself to grasp the implications. He was a man! An adult! Much too old to be getting spanked!
Tin's expression was no longer fierce, in fact it was pretty calm, almost relaxed as he next spoke. "Am I overreacting?" he wondered, and it was clearly rhetorical considering the fact that he continued to speak without giving Can a chance to interject.
"Who was it that decided to play video games like a child instead of studying?"
"Who was it that whined like a child when reminded to study, all week long?"
"Who was it that looked me in the eye and promised to study, then forgot like a child?"
"Who cursed me for trying to help, then actually went and fell asleep during the exam like a child?"
"If you want to act like a child, you'll get treated like one. Now get over my lap, I won't say it again."
Can had been feeling rebellious at first, but as Tin had listed out his sins one by one, Can started to feel terrible. He had done all those things; there was no way to plead his innocence. Tin had spent so much time trying to save him from himself, in the end he had no one else to blame. Though how the hell did Tin know about him falling asleep? Was he a spy or something?!
'It's just a spanking,' Can finally thought, steeling himself as he moved slowly to bend over Tin's lap, his ears red as flame with embarrassment as he got into position. 'A few smacks and its all over,' he mentally reassured himself.
Tin waited, unmoving until Can was splayed over his lap with his head hanging down and his toes barely on the floor. While Can was busy convincing himself that this wouldn't be a big deal, Tin sent those thoughts flying out of the window by decisively pulling Can's pants down to his knees. It wasn't just his pants either, Can's boxers were sent down along with them, leaving his athletically-toned rear exposed to Tin's view.
Can's mind went blank for a moment, before rioting.
"Ai'Pervert!" he shouted, struggling in an effort to get up. "You're going too far!"
Tin laid one hand against Can's lower back, and just that was enough to keep Can from getting the purchase required to move. With his pants around his knees he was at a further disadvantage, and before he could continue to struggle, Tin's hand landed a blow so vicious against the smooth skin of his rear that Can gasped, breathless, the fight going out of him instantly. "That was for not studying," Tin informed him calmly.
Can's butt was blossoming red under Tin's hand; it was a breathtaking sight really. Though Tin sounded calm on the outside, it was a struggle. He was feeling so many conflicting emotions; regret at having obviously caused Can pain, a thrill of power at rendering his boyfriend helpless, guilty for finding this so damn hot, and also grateful - Can could have put his foot down, could have scoffed at him and refused to indulge in this power-play, could have laughed at him for wanting to do this, could have gotten angry at the very suggestion. Instead, he'd blushed and complained the way he always did, but he'd willingly put himself here, in Tin's hands, tacitly agreeing to this scenario, placing his trust in Tin.
Naturally, he had to uphold that trust, to prove to Can that Tin did, in fact, know what was best for him.
The next smack was as hard as the first; Can jerked at the ear-ringing sound before the renewed sting even registered, but when it did, he audibly hissed in a breath, his heart beating frantically as he clutched at the leg of Tin's pants, teeth clenched tightly to avoid accidentally saying something he might regret. "That was for talking back," Tin continued in the same calm tone.
The hand on Can's back held him in place firmly, a grounding presence that kept Can from struggling too much. When Can felt it exert more pressure, he clenched his eyes shut, realizing that it meant the next strike would be harder than the first two, and this time when his ass was impacted it felt like his skin was on fire and he couldn't stop himself from crying out, his body wiggling like a fish out of water as he tried to run away from the pain. "Ai'Tin!"
What Can couldn't see was how affected Tin was by this as well, the way Tin's eyes were riveted on the proprietary-looking handprint on Can's bottom. It was as if he'd branded him, marked him as his own property. The sight was mesmerizing and made all the more erotic by how much Can was squirming around. Tin was a healthy, red-blooded male, so of course, this friction on his lap caused a reaction, his erection swelling beneath Can's hip.
"That was for breaking your promise."
"That was for falling asleep in class."
"That was for failing your exam."
"That was for not taking your studies seriously."
Smack. Smack. Smack. Each blow hurt more than the last, and eventually, the pain all seemed to blur together. Can didn't even realize he was crying until his vision was so blurred he couldn't see anymore, his choking sobs making his shoulders tremble weakly as Tin's hand rained down over and over again, until his ass was a mess of angry red handprints gone white around the edges and Can was sobbing with the sensation, overstimulated and gasping and crying and...
Hard as fuck.
Even as tears fell from his eyes and choked sobs spilled from his lips, his hips ground down against Tin's thigh, mindlessly chasing the friction and heat pooling in his lower belly as Tin made his ass glow. The intensity was almost too much for him; he desperately wanted to reach down and touch himself, but he was too weak. He couldn't have moved off Tin's lap even if he wanted to, let alone lifted himself up to get a hand beneath his hips, so all he could do was continue frantically rutting against Tin's lap, hating how good it felt while loving how good it felt. He was so close, so close...
"And this one is for getting a hard-on while being punished, you filthy little boy."
Can's back arched as the combination of the stinging smack, the friction on his dick, and Tin's dirty words sent him hurtling over the edge, and he jerked once, twice, three times as his cock spent, drooling cum onto Tin's pants beneath him. Can was seeing stars; he hadn't cum so hard since the first time Tin had tongue-fucked him.
While Can was catching his breath down below, Tin was doing the same up above. His pupils had been blown wide as he watched Can react to the spanking, and he'd almost released in his own pants when he realized that Can was about to come from nothing more than his hand on his ass and the sound of his voice. He'd added that last spank gratuitously; he'd actually finished punishing Can with the one prior but seeing him straining and so close, Tin had added one more to push him over the edge.
"I'm going to take a shower," Tin announced, lifting the boneless boy from his lap and sitting him on the couch. Tin's erection twitched in his pants as he saw the sticky string of cum connecting Can to the stain on his pants stretch and finally snap, dribbling down the side of Can's pretty little cock, which was as limp as its owner.
Can looked up at Tin, still dazed, and looking vaguely distressed by the fact that Tin was leaving even if he himself didn't know why.
"I want your homework done by the time I get back," Tin instructed, picking up Can's backpack and sitting it beside him on the couch. "And," he added, looking down at Can with an expression that expected full obedience. "I want your pants to stay right where they are until I say otherwise."
Instructions given, Tin turned and escaped into the bathroom, quickly relieving himself with his right hand under the hot spray. He couldn't let Can see how much the punishment had affected him or it'd ruin the effectiveness, but even after a release so strong it had his legs shaking, Tin was still hard.
It wound up being a long shower.
When he returned to the living room, he was pleased to see Can's homework done and left on the coffee table, but even more pleased to see that Can was sitting properly upright with his pants and underwear still around his knees. What worried him was the look on Can's face. Despite being blissed out during the act, he looked miserable now for some reason.
Tin's heart lurched, and he immediately regretted everything.
Wordlessly, he picked Can up in his arms and carried him into the bathroom. Running a bubble bath for Can, he didn't make the water too hot in consideration for his no-doubt sore rear. He undressed the smaller boy carefully, settling him in the water. He washed each of Can's limbs reverently, rubbing his skin in slow, firm circles until he was clean and pink. Tin was repentant; he might be the mature, level-headed one in their relationship, but never let it be said he was anything but wrapped around Can's little finger.
So with Can acting so far out of character, not whining, complaining, or sulking, but instead silently disengaged, Tin couldn't do anything but panic in his heart. Had he pushed too far? Had he taken advantage of Can's trust in him? He really didn't know. He'd never cared so much about what someone thought of him, never put much thought into making anyone else happy. Realizing that Can was definitely not-happy with him right now had Tin tied up in knots, but he didn't have the experience to know what words to use to express his anxiety, so all he could do was pour his contrition into petting and pampering Can until he was sure he was forgiven.
Tin washed Can's hair, massaging his scalp, and was finally rewarded with a pleased little sigh from Can, the first acknowledgment of his efforts.
"I'm turning into a prune, is this a bath or are you making a soup?" Can asked, and it was obvious he was making an effort to sound like his usual complaining self, despite the dry, hoarseness of his voice, no doubt worn-out from crying.
Tin fetched a towel immediately, offering it to Can, who didn't take it from his hands. Instead, Can stood up in the tub and waited.
He didn't have to wait long; Tin immediately wrapped Can in the towel and picked him up again, carrying him into their bedroom.
He dried Can off, gently petting him all over. He applied a cooling lotion to Can's red-bruised rear, and even with his hands all over Can's perfect bottom, he didn't allow himself even a single selfish moment of arousal. Dressing Can in comfortable, loose-fitting pajamas, he tucked Can into bed before climbing in as well and turning off the light.
When Can tucked himself in against Tin's side, Tin released a breath he hadn't even been aware he was holding. Wrapping his arms around Can from behind, he was surprised when Can squirmed around to face him, and even more surprised when Can reached up to wrap his arms around Tin's neck, determinedly pressing their lips together.
Cautiously, Tin took it slow, moving his lips against Can's as he rubbed the younger boy's back. Can made a small sound of impatience, his blunt fingernails pressing into the back of Tin's neck, causing Tin to open his mouth, intending to ask Can what was wrong. He didn't get the chance to speak, instead, Can's tongue invaded immediately, soft little kitten licks against Tin's own tongue that had his blood flowing south immediately.
Tin responded without thinking, deepening the kiss, and Can reciprocated with an almost alarming ferocity. Soon the slow, easy kiss was a furious make-out session, their bodies warm and pressed flush together. Their lips and tongues battled, mingled saliva wetting their chins as the kiss grew desperate, dirty. Tin resisted the urge to roll on top of Can and take him, because despite Can's seductive behavior, Tin quickly realized that Can wasn't hard, not at all.
"Baby," Tin whispered against Can's lips, pulling back enough to put words if not space between them. "Talk to me. I can't fix it if you don't tell me what's wrong."
Can looked up at Tin, and to his boyfriend's growing alarm, Can's eyes swam with tears.
"Can?" Tin asked, moving to sit up, but once again Can pulled him close, trembling against him, and once again Tin was helpless to do anything but hold Can close. He lay there, stroking Can in the dark until the trembling stopped, and eventually Can had gone so still that Tin thought he'd fallen asleep. Heartsick, Tin lay there, wide awake and confused, and when Can finally spoke, it took a moment for Tin to realize it; his voice was so tiny and quiet it didn't sound anything like Can's typical tone.
"Are you still mad, Ai'Tin?"
Tin froze, frowned. "When was I mad?"
"You...left me. After," Can struggled to explain.
Analytically minded, Tin wasn't going to make this harder on Can than it needed to be, so he thought before speaking, trying to figure out what Can meant. "After the spanking?" he finally guessed.
Blushing in the darkness, Can nodded. "I felt so disconnected, after. I thought for sure you'd fix it, but instead you left," he accused in that same tiny voice.
Tin's heart, which he'd thought was already as battered and bruised as it could get, took another blow.
Of course.
He wasn't some kinky fetish expert, delving into the BDSM scene or with a rack of whips in the back of his closet, but he also wasn't some ignorant innocent. He was well aware of the concept of Aftercare, it just hadn't ever been relevant to him since up until now his and Can's budding sex life had been pretty strictly vanilla.
Though he hadn't explicitly intended for the spanking to become sexual, it had. When one considered the newness of the act, Can's strong and surely unexpected reaction, and how intense it had all become, it was no wonder Can might have felt disoriented afterward, and Tin recalled the distressed look on his face as he'd been leaving. He'd assumed it was the embarrassment of getting off to being spanked and hadn't given it much thought. Tin winced inwardly, holding Can closer. He'd ignored Can's body language, something he never usually did. The reason he was always so able to tell when Can was lying was that he'd obsessively studied his little lover, knew all his tells when he was being less than forthright.
Who knew that when it really mattered, he'd have completely overlooked physical signs of Can's honest needs and feelings? That he'd completely miss the signs that Can needed to be held and reassured and reminded that he was loved, that the punishment didn't mean Tin was mad at him? Instead he'd gone off and left Can alone in his fragile state, had even punished him further, and Tin immediately thought of what he'd missed, of Can sitting on the couch, scared and uncertain, pants around his knees as he forced himself to concentrate on his homework, not sure if Tin would be even angrier if his homework wasn't done this time, or if he would be in trouble for covering himself up despite no longer feeling comfortable in such a blatantly sexual state?
"Can," Tin whispered, full of regret, his voice choked up as he kissed Can's forehead gently. "Baby, I'm so sorry," he apologized. "It was a mistake. I'm so stupid, I wasn't thinking." He kissed each of Can's eyelids gently, tasting the salty tears clinging to his dark lashes. "I love you so much, can you forgive me?"
Can pressed himself up against Tin, relief flooding through him as he cuddled closer as if he were trying to crawl under Tin's skin to stay for good. "Of course, I forgive you. I'll be good, Tin," he said through a small yawn, exhaustion etched into the dark panda circles under his eyes.
Tin stroked Can's hair gently. "Even if you're not good, you're still mine and I still love you," he promised lovingly as Can drifted off to sleep in his arms.
"I'll never let you go."