Waif and Stray - 2. Zack

Zack lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, his mind wandering. Since his parents had taken early retirement and moved their family out to the country to be closer to his aging grandparents he'd been constantly bored out of his mind. Family stuff was OK, but in three whole months at his new school he'd managed to make precisely zero friends. It wasn't exactly surprising; he hadn't had many friends before he'd moved but there had been at least a few. The new school was far smaller - which meant there were far fewer teens his age he had any inclination to spend time with. In fact, the only kid in his class who wasn't obsessed with sport or pointless social climbing seemed quite clearly disinterested in being friends with him too, which was predictably typical for his luck.

He stopped himself from following that train of thought immediately. It always led to the same memory, from a month before they had broken up for the Midwinter holidays, and he was done torturing himself.

He rolled over onto his side, looking around the room for something to do. A thousand comic books and a hundred fantasy novels lined the walls, all read until he could quote them line for line. There was little opportunity to get new ones in the small town, and his dad was unlikely to order him more this close to Midwinter, when he'd be getting some as presents anyway. Telling his parents he was bored would be a stupid idea; they'd find some work for him to do and he'd done nothing but help out around the old farmhouse for days, to the point the muscles in his arms and legs ached. He supposed he should be lucky he had parents; poor Finn was an orphan, and lived in a home in the next valley over with his twin sister and a bunch of older foster siblings. He couldn't imagine losing everything like that, no wonder the messy haired kid was quiet.

STOP. THINKING. ABOUT. FINN!

He could go and see his cousin; she was only eight years older than he was and kept a beautiful little lupo boy that was an absolute joy to play with, but on balance of probability she'd be at work in the shelter right now. The news this morning had been all about an illegal pup and kit farm being busted and they were likely up to their eyeballs in cat/wolfboys and girls. Zack happily admitted a minor obsession with lupo; he wished his parents would shift on letting him get a pup but knew it was unlikely. When he was older though, he'd get at least one himself - probably more, they happily formed packs. He wondered if it was lupo or neko that Finn preferred.

Dear gods, talk about an obsession with lupo - he was obsessed his damn classmate. He gave in and dived into the memory like so many, many times before.

"RIGHT! That's it, the lot of you on your feet!"

The teacher was furious. He'd been telling the class to keep quiet all lesson and had finally snapped. The shout had startled Zack, who'd been quietly working the whole time. He wasn't the only one; Finn, the floppy haired boy with hazel eyes sitting in front of him almost jumped out of his skin. Other than himself, the frankly stunningly pretty lad seemed to be the only one in the class that had been behaving himself.

"All of you have pushed me far enough. You can't say you weren't warned. Three strokes each, I want your backsides bare and all of you over your desks in ten seconds or it'll be six!"

Zack's heart sank. His dad would be informed and he'd probably get a spanking tonight before bed as well. He hadn't even done anything! He was in the back row too; he'd be over the desk ages before Mr Grey got to him. He dropped his trousers and underwear, then bent over with his stomach pressed against his exercise book and gripped the far side of the desk, glancing up to be greeted with the most glorious sight he'd ever seen in his entire life.

If Finn's face was beautiful, his bottom was the absolute vision of perfection. The curve of it, two immaculate bubbles, parting slightly to give occasional glimpses of... oh Perdition - try as he might, Zack couldn't detect a single hair anywhere on the bare skin in front of him. The guy had to shave it, and he had done a spectacular job. His legs were too close together, Zacks eyeline too high to give any view of Finn's privates, but it really, really didn't matter. Thwacks, gasps and sobs had started from the front of the class, and he willed Mr Grey to take his damned time so he could etch this on his memory forever.

For some reason an important step in what was coming had eluded him. He knew he was about to suffer a caning, and he knew this perfect sight would end, but remembered being so surprised and appalled when Grey reached Finn. He couldn't! It was a damned crime! If he'd thought it would save the dark blond angel he'd have thrown himself bodily in the way, taken both sets of three strokes and then some. Instead, he watched impotently as the vile rattan cane cut three slices into the poor defenceless rump, watched the violently red lines blossom on Finn's fair skin...

Sighing in defeat, Zack slipped a hand down to unbutton front of his trousers and grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on his bedside table for the third time that day.