EMS

"Eli! Eli, help!" Flynn shouted. "Help me, help!"

Eli poked his head out the door, not overly concerned. Flynn shouting was seldom cause for alarm. Many things made Flynn shout; it was simply Flynn's way of expressing himself. Eli was used to it.

Except that the extension ladder Flynn had been using now lay flat on the grass. Eli's heart stopped.

"Up here!" Flynn called from the roof.

"Are you trying to kill me, Flynn?" Eli groused. He raised the ladder, carried it to the house. "No, Flynn! Let me set it up before you climb down," Eli said, "Let go please." Eli carefully tugged the base of the ladder out from the house, settling its feet in the grass. "Okay, come on down."

Flynn returned to earth.

"It fell over, Eli," Flynn said, understanding Eli's quizzical glance.

"Flynn."

"It did! I bumped into the top and it fell," Flynn said blithely.

"Uh huh. How far was the base from the wall of the house, Flynn?" Eli asked.

"Eli. I'm a city boy. I forgot," Flynn said.

"You climbed the ladder while it was flat against the house. Again." Eli shook his head. "Flynn, what am I going to do with you?"

"Make mad passionate love?" Flynn winked at Eli.

"Nice try. We talked about this when you cleaned the gutters. We talked about this when you got the kite off the roof. Now we're going to have a little more impressive discussion," Eli said cheerfully.

"Eli…" Flynn whined.

"Inside. Living room, please." Eli turned Flynn towards the door and swatted him lightly.

Flynn moved forward with alacrity.

"Ack, wipe your feet!" Eli cried, cringing at the trail of mud Flynn left across the hall floor. "Take off your boots!"

"Sorry," Flynn said unrepentantly, toeing them off. "I forgot."

"Your muddy feet I can live with. Your cracked skull, I can't. You know what to do," Eli said sternly, trailing Flynn into the living room.

Reluctantly Flynn undid his jeans. Stepped out of them, folded them in half and draped them over an armchair. His face falling in mutinous lines, he hesitated.

"Want to take your underwear off yourself or want me to do it for you, Flynn?" Eli inquired. "Either way, decide."

"Neither. Eli, please, I forgot, I won't do it again…" Flynn hung back.

Eli took Flynn's arm and leading him to the couch, drew Flynn carefully down across his lap. Took a moment to be sure Flynn's upper body was firmly on the cushions, that his head was cradled comfortably in his arms.

"You're getting a spanking for being careless. Ladders are dangerous, Flynn. Heights are dangerous. You take proper precautions. You think about what you're doing." Lecture over, Eli tugged Flynn's underwear down despite Flynn's feeble protest.

Eli ran his hand gently over Flynn's exposed backside, steeling himself. Brought his palm down across the center of one shapely cheek, leaving a pink splotch. Repeated the gesture, reddening the other cheek.

Each swat made Flynn jump a little. They were meant to sting and they did. Flynn's carelessness worried Eli and he was determined to make this spanking severe enough that Flynn would think twice next time.

Smack!

"Ow!" Flynn yelped. "I'll remember, I promise!"

Smack! Smack! Sm—

Eli paused in mid air.

"Keep still, Flynn, you deserve this," Eli admonished his squirming partner, tucking Flynn firmly against his stomach.

Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!

Flynn began to cry. Eli forced himself to continue. A sore bottom was a lot less painful than a broken bone, and that was what Flynn was risking every time he tried this stunt.

"I'll be careful! I'll be careful!" Flynn sobbed. "I'll be careful, Eli!"

"That's my good boy," Eli murmured, running his aching palm over the scarlet bottom across his lap. "You won't forget again, will you?"

"Never! I promise!" A chastened, tear-stained Flynn eased himself back onto his knees and clambered into his lover's arms. "I'll be so careful. I promise, Eli, I promise."

"I just don't want to see you hurt, Flynn," Eli said, rubbing Flynn's back gently. Sniffling, Flynn subsided.

"Is starvation part of my sentence, Eli?" Flynn asked plaintively. He wiped his wet cheeks with the back of his hand, looking much younger than his actual age. "I'm hungry."

"No, babe, we're done here. Are you saying you want lunch?" Eli asked, shaking his head at Flynn's pout.

"Yep." Flynn batted his eyelashes hopefully. "First."

"I love you, Flynn. I want you alive; that was the point of this exercise. Starving you would kind of defeat the purpose." Eli ran his thumb over Flynn's lips.

"Come in the kitchen and I'll feed you." Eli kissed Flynn tenderly. "First."