Hunting From The Rear (with kitten)

[gutterpupper]

He didn’t like what was just thrown at him, the demands growled at him from the hunter chewing on the burger. He wasn’t a child. Yeah he might be something like a student to the hunter but he didn’t have to lecture him the way he did. But he bit his lip and reluctantly agreed. “Fine,” he huffed. “But I’ll tell her before we go. It’d be better instead of sitting around waiting and having to deal with that,” he said as looked back over to Melissa, thinking for a brief moment of what he might say. Turning back though to face Alistair though he spoke through gritted teeth. “But I am not your lap dog. I’ll listen to your orders. But if I’m really to learn then I need to have some breathing room. If you think you can bark orders at me and have me jumping over pits of Hell and through fire hoops then you’re setting yourself up to by a crap teacher already,” he said as he pushed the chair forward against the table, shaking the furniture only slightly as he stormed off to the back end of the room and up the stairs to where the rooms were.

Once inside the room given to him he slammed the door closed, clenching his fists angrily before punching at the mattress to let the frustration out. Who did Alistair think he was? Matthew wasn’t a child. He was a grown man for Christ sake! A man who knew of the creatures that went bump in the night. A man who had experienced enough to know how dangerous hunting was. A man who was prepared to take the risks that came with the job description. Yet Alistair found it fit to lecture him, to practically put a collar on him and treat him like some obedient dog!

A few seconds later, he let out a heavy sigh before he let himself fall onto the mattress in exhaustion. He had over reacted to that question. He hadn’t thought it through. As his breathing slowed, he realised the meaning behind his words. Alistair effectively became responsible for Matthew. Anything the young hunter-to-be did, Alistair had to take the blame. So if he fucked up and something happened, something bad happened, the finger would get pointed at Alistair.

“Matthew you’re a stupid stubborn dick,” he grumbled, laying still on the mattress and closing his eyes. He’d go down and apologise to the blond man in a second once he had gathered his thoughts together and allowed the other to perhaps finish his meal in peace.

[Kitten]

Alastair stopped himself from jumping up and going after the young man. He wanted to pin him down and teach the other some respect, keep him from making more rash and dangerous decisions. The blonde had already decided how this first lesson in obedience was going to go, however, so he instead stay to finish his meal. It was good after all, and he was hungry.

Mattie had no idea what it was like to lose someone that you could have saved. No idea about the dangers he'd be facing and what his mind and body were going to be expected to do. That helped with the hot anger the blonde Hunter was feeling, dulling it to a low burn in his stomach. He was confident that once they were out on the road the other would warm up to what he was trying to say. And if he didn't, then the two of them were going to be having a lot of conversations that involved Alastair's hand and Mattie's backside.

The younger man had tacitly agreed to come with him, and that planted the other firmly in the blonde's mind as someone who was now his responsibility. It was still early in the night and he wanted to be out early to head home and resupply. He had to keep some things at home, there was no way that he could carry all of his supplies in a bag or in his car. With the knowledge that he had a long and possibly rough night ahead of himself the Hunter finished his food and pushed back from the table.

He was a good Hunter after all and it shouldn't be too hard to seek the young man out, if Matthew wasn't on his was back out to see him first. He could be mad, but the other didn't seem the type to back down easily. With that thought the grey eyed man headed for the back where he'd seen the other disappear to.

[gutterpupper]

It was time to get up. Alistair didn’t have much of his meal left when he stormed off, so the man should have had enough time to comfortably finish his meal without Matthew raging about the room. Pushing himself up of the bed he took a deep breath and opened the door, only to step out and see Alistair was approaching him from down the hall.

“Hey, uh, about what happened about five minutes ago? I’m sorry about that. I realise that if you take me on as a student, pupil or whatever, I become your responsivity. Any crap that happens due to me messin’ up is on your head. I get it. I shouldn’t have stormed off like that,” Matthew admitted. “I can go talk to Melissa now if you want? If you’re done with food and that?”

[Kitten]

Alastair was glad that the other had come out before he had to barge into his room. His mood was punitive but softened somewhat when the smaller man apologized. His face was no less stern however, and he crossed his arms over his chest. "Thank you for apologizing. Make sure you bring anything you need with you. We're going to be leaving early in the morning."

They were also going to have a long talk about why Alastair was angry. Matthew had been almost correct in his apology, anything that happened would be on the blonde, but there was more to it and he wanted the other to be very clear about his feelings on the matter. That could be discussed in the privacy of his hotel room however, so he stepped aside to let the other pass him.

[gutterpupper]

Matthew nodded before slipping past Alistair and making his way to the bar to deliver the bad news to Melissa. He had to be a man and he owed her the truth. He didn’t know if he’d return, let alone when. She didn’t take it well but that was to be expected.

He had retired to his room after that to do as instructed and gather his things together. He didn’t have many material items; mostly it was clothes and books. The books would be left behind and he only packed as many clothes he could carry, enough for two or three outfits. Nothing heavy or thick. He grabbed his journal from his beside, the thick leather packing a number of pages held closed my a rope tie. The little book held all he knew about hunting thus far and was sure to come in hand as he would fill it in the Alistair’s teachings.

Another hour passed and he was washed and ready for bed. A pair of boxer shorts and a vest was the usual attire. He stepped out of the shower room and made his way towards his bedroom again passing by the room that was given to Alistair. The door was slightly ajar so he knocked at the door gently, careful not to push it open in case he was intruding to let him know the wash room was free.

[Kitten]

Alastair was smoking by the window as he made his notes about the hunt in his laptop. A big part of hunting was writing down things you'd noticed or things that varied from monster to monster. When the rougarou that had once been the man Shane was running at him, it had made the conscious decision to by pass the blonde and head for Matthew, a less armed target. It belied an intelligence he wasn't familiar with in beasts such as these and he was interested to say the least.

The man had changed into his sleeping pants and shirt, stretched out his sore muscles, and was deciding whether or not to shower that night when he heard the light rapping.

"Mattie, come in." He called, assuming it was the younger man. There was something he wanted to get off his chest with the other and was glad he didn't have to chase Matthew down to do it. "Did you say good bye to your friend?" He asked politely, willing to listen if things had gone badly and the other needed to talk.

[gutterpupper]

"No" Matthew answered straight out. "But I expected it to be honest," he shrugged as he stepped inside, pushing the door over till it was slightly ajar. "I knew it would upset her, but you were right. It's only fair she knows." He didn't really want to go into it detail but he ended up ranting anyway about there discussion between the two of them, about how he wanted to go out and hunt and find the demon that murdered his family, about wanting to help others and fight to protect people. "I never wanted to make her cry," he added at the end, sulking. "But what's done is done. I've made up my mind."

[Kitten]

Alastair stood up from his uhm... totally magic laptop! Yeah super magic! He put an arm around the others shoulders comfortingly. "Well I'm sure it wasn't easy, but now when you come back She might be more okay with it." He murmured and sat down beside the other, sighing and putting a hand through his hair.

"There's one more thing we need to discuss before tomorrow. It was my last condition but someone stormed off before I could make it clear." He snorted a little but crossed his arms and looked at the other with one grey eye. "And this is the real clincher. So if you're unsure after this... well then I guess we won't be heading out together after all."

He cleared his throat, wanting to get it all out in the open. "I gave you very clear instructions before we headed after that rougaro. You elected not to obey them and almost ended up really hurt because of it. If you want to be reckless then that's fine. It's your life after all. But what you do has consequences and any apprentice of mine has to deal with my consequences as well." Alastair stood up, looking the other over to decide if Mattie was as set on this as he had been.

"Anytime you go against my wishes during a hunt, or put yourself in danger that could have been avoided. You're going to get a spanking. Do you understand Matthew?"

[gutterpupper]

You're going to get a spanking.

Spanking. Spank. To strike someone on their buttocks as form of discipline. Did he really hear that right? Did Alastair really just threaten him with a form of physical punishment? What had he disobeyed?

Alastair must have been speaking about him taking off with the knife. Back in the cabin when Matthew saw Shane’s backpack, grabbed the silver knife and chased off after the beast. That what Alistair was referring to. It was a stupid idea and even he had to admit that. But he couldn’t think straight. The feeling of anger that raged through his emotions at that point, blinding his sense and pushed him to chase after the wild creature was overpowering. But that was a natural reaction to such a traumatic event, right?

Do you understand Matthew?

Understand what? That if he ever screwed up, he’d have his bum smacked like some sort of disobedient child? Pants down, over the knee? That was ridiculous. The blond was surely just messing with him.

“You’re pulling my leg, right?” At least he hoped so. But with the way Alastair was standing over him, the tone of his voice as he had asked that question worried him that the man was deadly serious.

[Kitten]

Alastair frowned from his position standing over the other, he wanted to smile because of course it sounded absurd. He had a method however, and it was all about establishing trust. "No Matthew," he said softly, shaking his blonde head. "I'm not kidding. What you did today was reckless and dangerous. I specifically told you not to reengage the beast after I'd gone in after it. If you had trusted me then we could have taken a defensive position in the shack and made our attack safely."

He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "If we're going to be partners then the trust has to go both ways. You can trust that any time you make a rash, fool hardy decision, you'll be punished. We also don't have time to hold grudges in this line of work. You screw up, you'll be punished, and then we'll put it behind us. No harm, no foul."

The man began to roll up the sleeves of his flannel shirt. "If you don't think you can commit to that then I'm afraid we can't be partners. It's simply the way I operate."