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Nyx and Scott Summers had a dilemma on their hands.
The pale mutant in question had broken another rule while on mission - having broken off from the main group to chase a target and risked the team’s safety - and was now facing the subsequent punishment. The situation sounds simple, but the added variable of Jean being away for a couple of weeks due to an emergency with her parents severely complicated things.
Now Nyx was close with Scott - not as close as she was with Jean, but that was near impossible when the telepath had literally been inside her mind - though none of the punishments she’d endured had been doled out by him…or any of the men around the mansion, as a matter of fact. It wasn’t a secret that the girl had some lingering trauma with her father and the doctor who had ‘conditioned’ her to be a weapon, and it didn’t take much assumption to guess that would likely cause undue stress for her.
The only other option was for Nyx to wait a couple weeks with her guilt mounting and the sword of Damocles slooowly descending on her over the course of two weeks.
Of course, Nyx would prefer to endure neither…but in the moment the former seemed less distressing over all. Like Jean she trusted Scott with her life, so she assumed that it wouldn’t be that difficult for her to take a punishment from him.
…At least that’s what she had thought before actually having to go through with it, now she’s been stood on the other side of his door in awkward silence while debating her life’s choices for about fifteen minutes.
She was scared, in all honesty. More than a bit silly for an omega level mutant who can alter reality with her thoughts…but trauma does that to a person. Hell, she still felt like having a panic attack whenever Scott and Logan argued.
…But the improbability of that very fear just makes her angry. Why should she be scared? Scott and Jean have never harmed her in the ways her birth parents had. Sure, the punishments hurt and were embarrassing…but there was no screaming, no real hatred behind the scolding words. Instead of being left alone after she was held, comforted; reminded that she was loved. The reasons for punishment were fair and in all honesty without them she’d likely be in a worse mood mentally, given that they do genuinely help her recover from her guilt.
It probably wouldn’t be more mortifying than the time she accidentally called him ‘dad’ on the jet ride home after a mission, right?…Especially since the team has teased her about it for weeks afterward.
After a moment of gathering as much courage in her chest as she can she hesitantly knocks on Scott’s door with a deep breath to steel herself, slowly opening it once she hears his ever steady voice fall out ‘Come in’ from the other side.
The room is Cyclops’ personal office, a large desk with a frankly comical amount of paperwork strewn about it sits in the center.
“Nyx.” Scott greets, moving his chair to be in front of his desk and setting himself down in it. “You know what you did was wrong, right?” He gently scolds, crossing his arms. His eyes - as always - were blocked by his visor, making it impossible for her to tell if he was staring in pity or sternness.
“Yeah…” Nyx sighs quietly, fidgeting with the hem of her cloak. “…Sorry.” She adds in an even softer tone after a moment. After a moment of weighing the response he nods, seemingly judging her guilt as genuine.
“And you know the consequences for breaking a rule while on a mission, right?” He asks, noting the way the young woman visibly squirms and shifts in place, turning her gaze to the floor.
“…Yes, sir.” She mumbles, folding her hands together behind her back tightly. Things linger like that for several seconds before Scott clears his throat, patting his thigh.
“Alright, then. Let’s get this over with.” His words are firm, leaving no room for argument. Nyx hesitates for a few moments before slowly and shakily lowers herself over the team leader’s lap, shuddering slightly once she’s all the way down. Scott places a firm hand on her back, the gentle contact causing her to jolt even through her cloak. “Nyx.” He sighs, his hand entirely unmoving. “You know I would never hurt you beyond discipline, right?” Silence lingers after the question for several moments until the young woman nods, taking in a shaky breath. “I promise this won’t be any worse than what Jean has given you…but I won’t force you to go through with it if it stresses you this badly.” That gives Nyx pause, she was effectively being given an out, here; and an easy one at that. But on the other hand…she knows she screwed up. Hell, she feels guilty about it. The thought of disappointing Scott and Jean stings much worse than any physical pain she can imagine.
She truly does trust them beyond words now, and after thinking on it for nearly a minute she finally has an answer.
“…I’ll be fine.” She murmurs with a sigh, her muscles tensing in preparation of what she knows comes next. Cyclops smiles fondly at that, feeling a bit of pride in how far she’s come since her first days at the mansion.
“Okay.” He says simply, rubbing her back for a short moment before raising his hand and pushing her cloak aside, causing her to tense in anticipation of what she knows is next.
The first smack comes down and Nyx is…almost surprised despite her discomfort. It doesn’t feel good, obviously, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as she had imagined. Even as Cyclops begins to settle into a rhythm she notes that Rogue - and even Jean - hit a fair bit harder…
For once Scott holds back significantly during a punishment, how could he not, after all? Especially when this girl he’s come to know like a daughter is so pitifully afraid but still trusting of him, still enduring.
The pale mutant currently bent over his lap hisses through her sharpened teeth as the pain steadily builds, taking in a deep breath while forcing herself to stay as still as possible despite her trembling.
“You know we have field protocols for a reason.” Scott scolds, slowing his smacks to allow the lesson to sink in. “It doesn’t matter how strong any of us are, breaking them endangers the entire team.” He carefully observes the young woman’s body language, noting the way she visibly shrinks in on herself with guilt at his words.
Nyx nods along rapidly while grinding her sharpened teeth together behind her tightly closed lips. The constantly building pain on her backside combined with the chastising words are remarkably effective in corralling her, making sitting still an even harder task for her than it is normally.
“You don’t want to be benched just because you can’t follow orders, right?” He continues, punctuating the words with a pair of harsh smacks to both sides of her rear. “And you don’t want to get any of the others hurt just because you weren’t listening?”
“N-no, sir…” She mutters through grit teeth, balling her hands into fists as she does her damndest to cling to her dignity…which is easier said than done when you’re getting your bottom busted by someone and are desperately trying to stay brave through it.
“Then next time you’ll follow protocol while on mission? No more going off on your own without approval or disobeying orders?” Again he punctuates the point with hard smacks, though this time he doesn’t give any pause; continuing in a rhythm even as she answers.
“Y-yes!” She yelps, her body twisting and jolting with every other smack as the pain builds to an intolerable level far quicker than she anticipated. If Cyclops has any doubt about her response he doesn’t show it, just continuing to lay down smacks on the seat of her pants. As the punishment continues Nyx can’t help just note just how loud the spanks against her skin, wincing as her face flushes from the thought of the others hearing it. That embarrassing thought only causes the punishment to weigh even harder on her.
“Good. I think we’re almost done here.” Scott murmurs quietly, likely more for himself than Nyx…though she certainly does appreciate knowing the light at the end of the tunnel is approaching.
The pale mutant feels tears brimming in her eyes - blinking them away as she curls up as much as she can - almost as though it were a defense mechanism. After several moments of the unrelenting rhythm, pained yelps and whispers finally escape through her sharpened teeth and sealed lips.
Nyx trembles over the team leader’s lap with a shuddering whine, fighting back tears as she sniffles and shifts her position. Scott takes a moment to judge how she’s taking it so far…and after a moment he decides she’s had enough and gently pats her shoulder before speaking softly.
“It’s over, you can get up now.” She shakily nods in response, taking several moments before she can even begin to collect herself and stand on trembling legs. Her hands hesitantly reach back to her rear, gently rubbing her sore seat through her pants as she pitifully whines out a soft ‘ooowwwww…’ before sniffling once again and wiping unshed tears from her eyes.
Cyclops clears his throat - cringing at the way she jumps at the sound - giving her a moment to steady herself before speaking.
“Are you alright, Nyx?” The soft, simple question still has the pale mutant straightening up and flinching as though he snapped at her.
“Y-yes, sir.” She sniffles, wiping her eyes and turning her gaze towards the ground. “I’m fine…” The pitiful display sends a spike of guilt into his chest, causing him to sigh before attempting to offer her some comfort.
“…I’m not mad, you know?” Scott reassures softly, noting the way her shoulders relax just a bit at that. It’s both impressive and a little sad at how much a simple phrase like that could calm her, like it was a Pavlovian response. Still, even with that Nyx still looks like a kicked puppy left out alone in the rain…so with a sigh he stands (doing his damndest to ignore the small flinch she does at the motion and failing) and takes a step forward, gingerly wrapping his arms around the young mutant. “Honestly, I’m proud of you, kiddo.” He whispers, rubbing her back through her cloak. The pale mutant shudders at the praise, holding onto him even tighter. Memories of how she was often left alone by her parents after a similar punishment flooded back - sobbing in her room with her ears still ringing from being berated - the sheer contrast hitting her like a train.
That’s what makes the tears finally come out of the young woman’s unnaturally colored eyes. She holds onto Scott tightly, burying her face into his shoulder almost desperately with a distressed whine. Nyx cries softly into his shoulder, both from the memories of just how outright cruel her birth father could be but also at the sheer contrast between him and Scott. Even in a similar scenario of punishment she was shown a thousandfold more care from her team leader and adoptive father than the bastard whose name she didn’t even want to mutter anymore.
Cyclops can’t help but feel another pang in his chest at her cries, running a gloved hand through her hair as he continues to just hold her; something she would never have experienced when she was younger. He holds her close against his chest until her cries turn into soft whimpers and sniffles, still not letting go until he knows she’s alright beyond a shadow of a doubt.
“…Thanks.” Nyx mumbles after another sniffle, burying her face into his shoulder as she just barely whispers another word. “…Dad.” Cyclops can’t stop the smile forming on his face at hearing that tiny, impossibly meaningful word, holding the gaunt woman just a bit tighter.
“Attagirl.” He chuckles, ruffling her white hair and smiling wider at how she beams from the praise. “You’re free to go.” The pale mutant can’t help but giggle softly at the phrase, nodding and breaking away from the hug…only getting about three steps away before turning around and hugging Scott tightly once more before teleporting out of the room with a distortion of the light.
After recovering from the surprise he can’t help but shake his head in fond amusement, putting his chair back into its usual position at the desk as he prepares to get back to his paperwork…attempting to ignore the very slight sting in his palm as he does.
~~~~~
Once she reappears back in her room - an echoing, discordant chime bouncing off her walls to signal her popping back into reality - Nyx almost immediately flops down onto her bed. One hand bringing her pillow closer to her while the other gently massages her red rear through her pants as she lets out a soft, pained hiss.
…She may have to sleep on her stomach tonight, but the feeling of comfort and warmth in her chest has her drifting off with a smile.