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When Austin woke up with his alarm he felt fine. He looked at the set of bandages and brace Thatcher had left and rolled his eyes, he didn’t need them, his knee was fine. He climbed out of bed and as soon as he put weight on his knee, it buckled. If he hadn’t caught himself on his bed he would have hit the floor hard. Shit. Maybe he did need the bandages at least, though he wasn’t going to wear the stupid brace. Just barely holding back a string of curses, he grabbed the roll of bandages and set to wrapping up his knee, this was going to be annoying.
Wriggling out of his sleep pants had Austin losing the battle against holding back his cursing and he let out a ream of them that, if he’d still been a teen, would have had him getting his mouth washed out – hell he wouldn’t put it past Hank to wash his mouth out now if he’d heard it. The bandages were looking more and more like a necessity, maybe even the brace as well. It was awkward, having to wrap the bandage around his knee himself, the angle he needed to be at and keep his knee straight was uncomfortable, but he managed to get it done. He was a little more cautious with testing his ability to weight bare on his knee this time, but he could withstand the jolt of pain without needing to swear about it or having to immediately sit down.
Glaring at the brace like it had personally offended him, Austin snatched it up and sat back down, strapping the stiff uncomfortable thing onto his knee. Standing was a little harder now, since he couldn’t bend his leg, but he was nothing if not determined and he got to his feet. It still hurt to stand on, but not as bad, it was almost even bearable. Walking hobbled was a pain, but it wasn’t like he had any other choice. He limped across the room, grabbing a clean pair of jeans, trying not to think too hard on how much of a pain they were going to be to get on and a fresh set of boxers. He groaned before he reluctantly grabbed a pair of socks, how the hell was he supposed to put on a sock without being able to bend his damn leg? He should have done the socks first!
Getting dressed was just as painful and awful as Austin had thought it was going to be and he was about ready to start throwing punches over it. He should have just let Jacob and Dustin get kicked, little idiots knew better than to piss about in the stables around the horses. Stupid fucking protective instincts. At least he knew they were hurting over it, Hank had lit them up good, although they definitely weren’t hurting nearly as much as he was.
Garrett was not on shift today, but he heard the cursing coming from Austin’s room and knocked on the kid’s door. “Aus, you okay in there? Need me to get Hank or Thatcher?” He checked. The poor kid had caught a nasty kick from Skittles yesterday, the mare was so nervous and flighty, Dustin and Jacob definitely knew better than to be messing about around her like they had been.
Austin almost fell on his ass at the unexpected knock on the door, he grabbed onto the dresser to catch himself, aware he was making far too much noise. “Shit. Yeah! Yeah. I’m fine!” He called out.
The crashing and banging coming from the room had Garrett concerned so he pushed open the door, it wasn’t like he hadn’t had Austin bare-assed over his knee before, including once when he was completely buck naked. Austin and a handful of the teens he’d come through the Ranch with, including Decker, Bradley, Jacob, and Theo, had all decided to go skinny dipping in the middle of the night. Austin was staff now, even if just a junior staff member, he had a right to some privacy, but Garrett knew how stubborn the kid could be and wasn’t going to leave the kid on the floor unable to get up because he’d fallen and his pride wouldn’t let him ask for help. Garrett’s eyebrows shot up seeing Austin dressed but clinging onto his dresser. “Thought Thatch had you on bed rest today?”
Austin fixed Garrett with a glare. “I said I was fine,” he huffed.
“Sounded it,” Garrett quipped. “Look it, too. C’mon, kid, what are you doing? Go back to bed. Skit got you good and you ain’t going to do yourself no good hobbling about on that leg.”
“I’m not–” Austin bit out, but then cut himself off. He took a calming breath. “I’m fine. I can work. I’m not going to sit around on my ass all day twiddling my thumbs because I got kicked.”
Garrett raised his hands in surrender. “Suit yourself, kid. Might want to run that by Hank first though, pretty sure he’ll have a different opinion,” he pointed out.
“I’m fine. There’s no need for me to rest. I’m fine,” Austin insisted.
“Yeah, I’m convinced,” Garrett scoffed. “Good luck convincing Hank.” He tapped on Austin’s door frame then left the kid to it. If Austin was still a teen here, Garrett would have taken the kid over his knee himself, and made him go back to bed, but only Hank and Thatcher disciplined staff members when they needed it. Somehow, though Garrett didn’t think Hank would disagree with him about Austin though.
Austin pulled himself upright and glared at the door Garrett had left open. He was fine. So his leg hurt? So he couldn’t bend it? He could still do his job. It had been bad enough yesterday evening, having to just sit around with nothing to do. He shook his head. Hank would understand. There was work that needed to be done on the Ranch and he was an able-bodied worker. He was not just going to lie in bed all day, he would go stir crazy.
Getting dressed had taken longer than usual so Austin was running late as he hobbled out of his room and to the stairs. After getting down three steps he was slightly questioning his determination to work, but when the alternative was just sitting in bed and doing nothing, he knew he had to just grit his teeth and get on with it. He made it down to the next floor and had to lean against the wall to catch his breath and breathe through the pain. He closed his eyes and willed the throbbing in his knee to go down. He was fine. He could do this. He just needed more painkillers onboard.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, boy?” Hank demanded.
Austin almost jumped out of his skin, his eyes flying open at Hank’s demanding growl. “I–” he started.
“You are supposed to be resting that damn knee in bed, boy. Thatcher ordered bed rest,” Hank interrupted. Every member of staff was first aid trained, even the teens after they turned sixteen got basic first aid training, but Thatcher, Gemma, and Garrett all had advanced first aid qualifications. Gemma had originally qualified as a nurse before deciding a hospital environment wasn’t for her. Hank trusted their expertise when it came to medical decisions and advice and Thatcher had said Austin needed to rest his knee.
“I’m fine, Hank,” Austin asserted. He would not admit there was a whine in his tone.
“Boy, I am not discussing this with you. You are going back up to bed and resting that knee. Let’s go,” Hank stated. He crossed the hallway to his young protégé and got his arm around him to take most of his weight.
Austin sighed in defeat and leaned against Hank, letting him support his weight. “Hank, really, I am fine. I can work,” he pleaded.
“What you can do is get your ass in bed and keep it there, boy. If you need something to do, I’m sure you’ve got assignments and studying you can be doing, from the comfort of your bed,” Hank declared. “Don’t argue with me. Following medical advice is not optional,” he added.
Austin huffed but getting up the stairs was about a thousand times easier with Hank taking most of his weight, so it was hard to deny that he might need to rest his knee just a little bit. He tried to ease out from Hank’s hold when they got back up to the top floor but Hank’s arm just tightened around him.
“No. I’m getting you back to bed, Austin. Where you are going to stay and keep this knee elevated,” Hank instructed.
“But–” Austin protested.
“But nothing, boy. You were told to rest, so that’s what you are going to do,” Hank ordered.
There was so much Austin wanted to say. What if he needed something? What about food? Drink? What if he needed the bathroom? What if he was needed to help with the teens? Hank surely didn’t actually expect him just to stay shut up in his room on his own all day, did he?
Hank supported Austin all the way to his bedroom, easing him down to sit on his bed then crossing over to the boy’s dresser. He opened it up and pulled out a set of pajamas. “Jeans down, I’ll help you get them off,” he directed.
“Hank! I don’t need–” Austin spluttered. He was a grown man, he did not need help to get dressed or undressed.
“Boy, I am trying my best to be patient with you, but you are going the right way about earning yourself a trip over my knee. You aren’t supposed to be bending that knee. You aren’t going to rest comfortably in jeans. So get them down, or I’ll take them down for you,” Hank growled.
Austin blushed bright red. “Yes, sir,” he murmured. He pushed himself up to his feet and unbuttoned his jeans, pausing for a second when he felt Hank’s hand just above his elbow supporting him. He pushed his jeans down, leaving himself in his shirt and boxers.
Hank helped Austin lower himself back down onto the bed and set the pajama set down next to his junior staff member before getting down onto one knee and carefully working the jeans off Austin’s legs. Taking care not to cause him too much additional pain. He tutted seeing the brace and got to work unstrapping it and removing it. “You’re to use this when you need to get up and use the bathroom, not to try and get yourself downstairs for no good reason,” he scolded lightly. He shook his head seeing the wrapped bandage, although for doing it on himself, Austin had done a pretty good job. He gently unwrapped Austin’s knee and then started rewrapping it, more securely. “Not a terrible job, for doing it yourself, but not enough to give you the support your knee needs, Aus.”
Austin felt like he was fourteen again, a stupid punk ass kid that Hank had to get back on the straight and narrow. “Yes, sir,” he sighed.
“It’s Hank, Aus,” Hank corrected. He gave the freshly wrapped knee a gentle pat, then grabbed the pajama pants, getting them over Austin’s feet and most of the way up his legs. “Alright, on your feet, boy. I’ll hold you up, and you can pull them the rest of the way up,” he instructed.
Austin let out a small breath of relief at Hank correcting his ‘sir’, that meant he wasn’t in trouble anymore. Being able to pull his pajama pants up himself was at least significantly less mortifying than having Hank pull them up the rest of the way, so he nodded and let Hank take most of his weight once more. He hated to admit it, but Hank’s bandage did give his knee a lot more support than his own attempt had and he felt he could hobble his way to the bathroom without needing the brace at all. He pulled his pajama pants up and let Hank ease him back down onto his bed again.
“I will let you change your top yourself,” Hank allowed with a slight smirk. “Reckon you can handle that without needing my help,” he teased lightly. He reached down to his hip and pulled off a walkie-talkie. “If you need anything, you call out over this. Don’t care what it is, if you need it, you ask for it.”
Austin felt a small pinch of shame for not considering that Hank would already have a solution for if he needed something. “I will, Hank,” he promised. He took the walkie-talkie and set it on his bedside table.
Hank nodded approvingly. “Good boy. C’mon now, top off, so we can get you settled and comfortable,” he prompted.
Austin sighed but pulling his shirt off was a lot easier than wrestling with his jeans and didn’t involve his leg at all, so he was able to get that off quickly. He pulled on the pajama top, fighting a blush as Hank took his t-shirt and his jeans and folded them up, setting them on his desk chair. He didn’t need Hank tidying up after him like he was a toddler.
Hank grabbed Austin’s laptop from his desk and set that on his bed within reach. “Right, let’s get that knee elevated.” He helped Austin shift back on the bed, getting him mostly sitting up against the headboard then rolled up the blanket from the bottom of Austin’s bed and used that to prop under his knee. “Comfy?” He checked.
Austin really didn’t want to admit it, but this position, with his knee bandaged up by Hank and supported far better than he’d managed on his own, did feel comfy. “Yeah, thanks, Hank,” he murmured.
Hank pulled an icepack from his back pocket and set that on Austin’s knee. “One hour on, and one hour off, you need a fresh one, you call,” he ordered, pointing at the walkie-talkie.
Austin nodded in agreement, surprised at how much relief the icepack brought, apparently his knee had been in more pain than he realized.
“Anything else you need?” Hank checked. “You’ve got your laptop to study and do your assignments with.” He paused and looked around the room, grabbing the bag Austin took to college and putting that within reach. “Your college bag. The walkie-talkie to communicate. I’ll send someone up with a couple fresh bottles of water.”
“This is all good, Hank. I don’t need anything else,” Austin assured him.
“We’ll get you some painkillers with breakfast,” Hank said, ignoring Austin’s claim he didn’t need anything else. He took another look around the room, making sure there was nothing he could see that Austin might need. “You need anything, you ask.”
“I will, Hank, I promise,” Austin insisted.
Hank set a hand on Austin’s head and ruffled his hair. “Good boy. Rest up. The more you rest now, the sooner your knee will be better.” He let his hand slide down to Austin’s shoulder, giving it a squeeze before he left the room.
Austin let out a long suffering dramatic sigh when Hank left. A whole day of sitting on his ass and doing nothing, wonderful.
~o~
Austin figured he should at least try to maybe use this unexpected free time to study and maybe chip away at some of his ever growing pile of college assignments. He was horrendously behind on his assigned reading for English, his Sociology essay was already overdue, he had three sets of problems for Statistics that were also overdue, a lab report he needed to complete for his Biology Lab that he had been supposed to turn in yesterday, and he had his upcoming Biology midterm that he needed to study for. The only classes he was currently on top of were Psychology and Secondary Childhood Development, he was even a little ahead in those. As tempting as it was to pull out his psychology text book and do a little more advanced reading, he forced himself to try to make some headway in one of his set of statistics problems, because if Hank found out how far behind he was, then his ass was toast.
Working through the first set of statistics problems Austin was a little ashamed to admit that it really didn’t take that much effort. They weren’t challenging problems and he did know how to answer them all. He managed to get through all three sets of problems in just under an hour and a half, which was embarrassing considering how long he’d been putting them off. He knew he should probably work on another of his overdue assignments, but he needed to get up and do something! It wasn’t long until breakfast now and it had taken him a long time to get down just the single flight of stairs that he had managed on his own, there was no reason he shouldn’t start making his way downstairs now. Going now meant he could take his time, take it easy, and not rush himself to get down there.
Decision made, Austin grabbed the brace and pulled up his pajama pants to awkwardly strap it on. At least with his knee fully supported now he should be able to get downstairs to the dining room without too much pain. He slid himself carefully to the edge of his bed and stood up, testing his knee with a little bounce. It was good, between Hank’s bandaging and the brace, it barely even hurt to put weight on his leg; he wasn’t ready to throw a leg over a horse yet, but he could hobble his way around a flat surface just fine. The stairs were likely to be more of a challenge, but they should be manageable now. Although he was definitely hobbling more than walking around his room as he tested his knee, at least there was minimal pain involved.
Using the wall to brace himself, Austin was able to get down the first flight of stairs a lot quicker than he had been able to earlier. It still hurt, but he didn’t have to bite back a curse at every step. He had to pause and catch his breath at the bottom, but after less than a minute he was able to move on and make his way through the hallway to the next staircase. Making his way down the next flight of stairs caused a little more pain and left his knee aching, but he only had one more set of stairs to go, he could do this. He paused at the top of the stairs, willing his knee to stop hurting, forcing himself to give himself and his knee time to recover, not wanting to push it too hard. Once the pain died down, he pushed on down the final set of stairs, leaning heavily against the wall and the bannister to support him, biting down on his tongue as he did. He still wasn’t having to bite back curses, but fuck his knee was hurting again now. Not as bad as earlier, but he’d gotten used to the lack of pain that came with his knee being bandaged up properly, propped up, and iced.
It had been the right call to start heading down when he had though, because Austin could hear everyone in the dining room already, eating breakfast. He half shuffled, half limped his way along into the dining room and almost fell on his ass when Harley nearly knocked into him. Only just managing to shift out of the way and having to bite back a string of curses when the quick movement wrenched his knee.
“Austin?” Harley asked, confused. She looked at the tray she’d almost dropped containing breakfast for Austin then over her shoulder at Hank who’d asked someone to take food up to Austin.
Hank fixed Austin with a stern look. “Harley, please could you take that tray up and set it outside Austin’s room? We’ll follow you up.” He didn’t take his eyes off Austin when he spoke and slowly crossed the dining room to his junior staff member. “With me,” he growled. Wrapping a supportive arm around Austin’s back, getting the boy to lean against him, he walked him out of the dining room and into the nearest study room, easing him down to sit on a desk.
Austin’s stomach dropped at Hank’s growled ‘with me’, but what had he even done? He’d come down for breakfast, that was all. Surely he was allowed to come down for breakfast? “Hank I–” he started.
Hank took a step back and folded his arms over his chest “What did I tell you about resting your knee, boy?” He demanded.
“I did rest it! I only came down for breakfast, Hank. I put the brace on. I was careful and went slowly. I didn’t know you were sending someone up with food,” Austin defended himself. “I wouldn’t have come down if I’d known that.”
Hank observed Austin carefully. He knew the boy well enough to know when he was lying, and right now Austin did appear to be telling the truth, or at least part of the truth, he wasn’t foolish enough to believe that Austin hadn’t come down at least partially because the boy had been bored. “Right. We’re going back upstairs and you are going to stay up there, in your room, resting that damned knee of yours. I will send someone up with lunch at lunch time and dinner at dinner time, and if you need anything else, or have any questions about what staying in your bed and resting your knee involves, you will radio to ask them. Is that clear, boy?”
Hank’s tone was just on the edge of his ‘you’re in trouble’ tone and it had Austin bristling just a little. He wasn’t a child, he’d just been kicked in the knee, he was fine. Arguing with Hank wouldn’t end well for him though, so he just sighed, “Yes, Hank.” He didn’t know why Hank was being so over-dramatic about his knee, it wasn’t like he hadn’t been kicked before. Last year The Bitch had bitten him on the arm hard enough to almost take a chunk out of him and Hank hadn’t fussed over him like this, he just hadn’t let him carry anything or lift things, but there’d been no forced bedrest.
Hank gave a nod of acceptance, “C’mon then, Austin. Let’s get you back up to bed.”
“Wait, Hank. I’m fine. I can get back up the stairs myself, I don’t need help,” Austin insisted. He was fine, his knee was only aching a little bit now, and that was from when he’d wrenched it. He had made it all the way downstairs without Hank’s help, he could get himself back upstairs.
“Did that sound like a choice to you, boy? I am taking you upstairs and putting you back in bed,” Hank stated.
Austin opened his mouth to protest.
“Can take you over my knee first, then take you upstairs if you need reminding about minding me, boy,” Hank warned.
Austin snapped his jaw shut, blushing at Hank’s threat to spank him. “No, sir. Sorry, sir,” he offered.
Hank made a ‘let’s go’ motion and stepped up to Austin, wrapping his arm around his junior staff member’s waist and taking his weight.
Austin knew there was no point fighting Hank, he would make good on his threat and having to sit in bed after getting his ass lit up would be miserable. He leaned his weight onto Hank and let the man help him up the stairs. Again, going up with Hank’s help, even having to climb three sets of stairs, was a lot easier going down them had been.
Hank moved carefully up the stairs, watching Austin for any signs of distress or pain, making sure to take as much of the boy’s weight as possible. He knew sitting around and doing nothing was hard for Austin, but it was only one damn day, kid could stand to spend one day resting his knee. Hank was sure tomorrow Thatcher would want Austin using his knee a little at least, to prevent it from stiffening up too much. Keeping a firm grip on his young protégé, they finally reached the top floor of the Ranch and Hank led him back to his room.
The tray containing his breakfast, painkillers, and a fresh icepack was set outside his door and Austin felt a twist of guilt at that. Hank never made the teens go down to meals when they were sick or hurt, always made sure food and everything they needed was brought to them. He cast Hank a small guilty look, he really should have known breakfast was going to be brought up to him. Dinner had been brought up to him yesterday evening. Deep inside a small part of him had known that, but he’d been sick of just sitting in his room and hadn’t wanted to acknowledge the thought.
Hank pushed the door open to Austin’s room and walked him inside, getting him settled on the bed once again. “Comfy?” He checked, once Austin was reclined against the headboard.
The care and concern in Hank’s voice made Austin feel even worse. “Yes, sir,” he murmured, not able to meet his mentor’s eyes.
Hank took hold of Austin’s chin and tilted his head up. “It’s just one day, Aus. If you rest properly. You keep this up and you’ll put yourself on bedrest for tomorrow too. You have been told to rest, so you will rest.”
The ‘or else’ didn’t need to be said, Austin could hear it clearly in Hank’s voice. “Yes, sir,” he agreed. It chafed something inside him, being treated like a child who didn’t know what was best for himself, his knee was fine, sure it had hurt going downstairs, but he had been kicked, his knee was going to hurt.
“Hank, Aus, it’s Hank,” Hank allowed. He dropped Austin’s chin and pushed up the leg of his pajama pants, unstrapping and removing the brace before he propped Austin’s knee up on the blanket again. “Good?”
Austin almost didn’t want to admit it, but the position was better for his knee, immediately he felt the muscles relax more and the lingering ache fade. He reluctantly nodded, even though part of him wanted to childishly deny it.
Hank stepped back out into the hall and grabbed the tray, bringing it over to Austin and setting it on his lap. “Eat, take your painkillers,” he instructed. He took the fresh icepack and set it on Austin’s knee, watching as the cool seeped in and another line of tension disappeared from Austin’s face. “You are not to come down for lunch, Austin. Someone will bring a tray up for you.”
There was a part of Austin that really wanted to protest that, but he recognized an order when he heard one and just gave a tight nod. “I won’t,” he promised. He couldn’t help the tightness in his voice and he shoved in a mouthful of sausage to stop himself from saying anything else.
Hank raised an eyebrow at the slight attitude he was getting, but decided to let it go. “Eat, rest, radio if you need anything.” He motioned pointedly to the walkie-talkie.
As much as Austin would have liked to just not respond to that, he knew he was skating on some pretty thin ice. He swallowed the mouthful of food and nodded. “Yeah, I will,” he confirmed. Not that he would need anything, well other than not being made to sit on his ass and do nothing all day, but that didn’t appear to be an option.
The attitude was skirting the line, but Austin was in bed, resting, and his damn knee was probably hurting so Hank let it go. “If you want company, you can ask, Austin. I can ask Gemma or Matt if they’d be willing to cover schooling and study time. I’m sure during his free time Max will jump at the chance to get to come hang out with you.” Since Austin had stepped up for Max, kid had definitely bonded well with Austin, still a damn handful, still couldn’t go more than a couple days without earning himself a sore ass, but he was finally settling in.
The thought of needing minding and entertaining like a damn child had Austin gritting his teeth. “I don’t- I’m not- Hank, I’m fine!” He insisted, biting back as much of the heat in his voice as he could.
Hank shot Austin a warning look. “Didn’t say you weren’t, boy. Said if you wanted company, ask,” he stated, warningly. Before Austin could talk his way into getting himself in trouble, he gave his shoulder a squeeze, then left him to it. He was tempted to take the brace with him, to make sure Austin wouldn’t use it to come downstairs again, but he wanted Austin using it when he used the bathroom, for the extra support it gave, so he left it with him.
Austin went back to his breakfast, trying to push back his irritation. He was not a toddler. He could rest just fine on his own. Didn’t need someone to sit with him and keep him entertained like he couldn’t be trusted unattended. He refused to think about the fact that when Luke had come off Oreo last year and banged his hip up, needing bedrest, and he’d admitted to not wanting to be alone, Hank had made sure Luke had company whenever he wanted it. That was different, Luke had still been a teen in Hank’s care, Austin was staff now.
~o~
After eating his breakfast and taking his painkillers Austin knew he should get on with another of his college assignments. He was not tackling his sociology essay now, that was something he needed to do on campus in the library when he had access to books and papers for research and references. He could grab his biology text book and try to study for his midterm, but that wasn’t something he could tick off. With a huff he grabbed the book he was supposed to be reading for English and opened it for the first time since getting it. He’d been getting by with just looking up the cliffnotes, but he knew he wasn’t going to be able to keep that up.
Austin stared at the page, trying to force himself to concentrate on the words. He enjoyed reading, in the hour of downtime before lights out the teens had he’d always had a book to read after his shower. Even now, if he couldn’t sleep, he’d pick up whatever book he was reading and read a chapter of it. He’d finished the book he’d been reading yesterday evening, since he’d had nothing better to do, but that left him without a book to read, unless he wanted to try and ask someone to get him a book from the library. That was not an attractive prospect, he was picky about what books he’d like to read and although Hank made sure there was a regular delivery of new books brought to the library, Austin had read a lot of the books.
Austin knew he could just grab his kindle, it was just on his desk and hobbling around his room wasn’t a crime, he had books on there he hadn’t read and he didn’t even mind occasionally re-reading a favorite book or two. He supposed he probably should ask someone to get his kindle for him, just to make sure he was following Hank’s instructions, but that seemed ridiculous, he was more than capable of getting up and getting his kindle from his desk. He didn’t want to read on his kindle though, he wanted a physical book in his hand, he preferred reading that way. It was a moot point anyway because he was supposed to be reading this book his professor assigned for English, since despite reading the chapter cliffnotes, he’d not been able to participate in the last class discussion at all and he was sure his professor had noticed that.
Forcing himself to focus, Austin shifted and re-read the page he’d been on. Then he had to go back several pages because he’d not taken in anything he’d been trying to read and was lost. He kept turning back pages because he still didn’t know what was going on until he got to the first page of the book and threw the damn thing across the room in frustration. Why did his stupid college professor have to assign such a dry, boring, and just plain shitty book? There were countless brilliant novels out there; engaging, gripping, page turning novels; deep, thought provoking novels; heart breaking novels; novels that took the reader on a journey they never forgot, but they were stuck with this thing.
Austin grabbed the brace, he could get down to the library and back without Hank noticing. He wasn’t going to ask someone to pick him a book, that was ridiculous. Was he supposed to get them to read the whole back cover for him and the first couple pages so he could pick if he liked it or not? No. That was needlessly complicated. He’d already proven he could handle a trip down stairs without too much pain and now he had the painkillers onboard, he felt fine, better than fine. He could get his ass down to the library, pick a couple new books, then get back up and it would be fine. Thatcher definitely didn’t mean for him to rest all day, Austin had some first aid training himself, he knew it was important not to baby an injury too much or it would stiffen up and that was worse for recovery. Besides, the bandage and brace provided more than enough support.
It was getting easier to strap the brace on and Austin didn’t need to test his knee this time, knowing it would be fine. Walking properly was still out of the question, but his hobble was less awkward and stiff. Knowing it worked and that it was the best way to keep the pressure off his knee, Austin leaned heavily against the wall as soon as he got to the first set of stairs, letting the wall take most of his weight. He used the handrail for a bit of extra support and cleared the first set of stairs with only mild pain and discomfort, he didn’t even need to pause at the bottom to settle anything.
After getting down the next set of stairs Austin’s knee was protesting a bit, but that was fine, he had to be a bit cautious now. The teens should all be in the study rooms as it was time for their schooling. Hank and Thatcher should be in the office, there if any of the teens gave their tutors a hard time, but at this stage, most of them knew just to buckle down and get on with it. Thatcher might be in with Max, or another member of staff, but even Max had stopped giving his tutor a hard time. It should be clear for Austin to get down to the library without being seen. The only slight risk was if one of the teens were in there, which would be awkward.
Taking his time and moving as quietly as possible, Austin made his way down the final staircase, using the wall and handrail to take the weight off his knee. Once down, he hobbled slowly, and carefully to the library, listening out for movement just in case. Hank had no reason to leave the office though, the teens all knew the consequences of causing trouble during their schooling and study hours, and that was something no one wanted. Max could be handled by whoever was in the room with him, so Austin should be clear.
Austin reached the library and slipped inside almost silently, easing the door closed behind him. The library door wasn’t often closed, but that would be less likely to get him caught than having the door be open and having someone walk by while he was in plain view. He relaxed as he shut the door and moved over to the first set of bookshelves on the side of the room that held the recreational reading books.
The Ranch was never silent, there were far too many inhabitants, but overnight when everyone was supposed to be sleeping, and during the hours the teens were supposed to be doing their schooling and studying, those were generally the quietest times. It was normal to hear a little moving around and the teens were allowed to go and fetch any book they needed from the library to help with their schooling, as well as go to the bathroom whenever they needed it. The quiet, almost missable sound of a door being very carefully shut was not a normal noise and the fact that FBI sat up from his bed and gave a soft alert of a bark confirmed that for Hank. “FBI, stay,” he ordered. Even he’d adopted the nickname Austin, Luke, and Levi had given the dog, because it had fit so well.
Hank got up and left the office, feeling like he already knew what, or rather who, he was going to find. He walked straight to the library and opened the door, unsurprised to find Austin with a book in his hands. “Austin Daniel!” He boomed. He marched over to Austin as the kid whirled around in shock and half threw the books he’d been holding across the room.
Austin had gotten a little distracted looking at the newest lot of books, most of them were books he hadn’t read before, some held no interest to him at all, but a lot of them did. He had three books in his hand and was looking over a forth when Hank’s booming voice startled him so badly he leapt about a foot in the air and the books he was holding went flying. “Hank?!” He gasped.
Hank reached Austin and turned him to the side, bringing his hand down hard in a flurry of smacks to his young junior staff member’s ass.
Austin yelped at the first swat. “Ah! Wait! Sir! I can- ah! I can explain!”
“Don’t even try it, boy,” Hank growled. He landed two dozen swats before stopping. He didn’t release Austin though, just shifted his grip on him to pin him to his side and take the weight off his knee. Rather than complying and leaning his weight on him as Austin had the previous two times Hank had to do this so far today, this time Austin was trying to pull away. “Boy, you better pack it in right now. I am taking you upstairs back to your bed and turning you over my knee, it’s up to you whether you get a warm up round down here or not.”
Austin hadn’t fought against Hank’s help earlier because there had been no point to it, but this time, he didn’t need the help, his knee was fine. He wasn’t quite stupid enough to actually fight, but he did try and pull away slightly. Hank’s threat had him freezing instantly, his breath catching in his throat. Hank couldn’t, he wouldn’t… fuck. Hank would and, well, Austin had never known Hank to threaten anything he wasn’t prepared to go through with.
Hank gave a grunt of approval when Austin stilled. “Now are you going to let me take your damn weight and get you back up to your room without throwing a fit?” He challenged.
“I- yes, sir,” Austin murmured, his face as red as it could get.
Hank nodded and started walking Austin out of the library and back up to his room.
The climb up to his room was silent and tense. Austin badly wanted to break the silence and tension, but every time he opened his mouth, Hank would give him a squeeze that was clearly a warning to shut up, and Austin wasn’t completely stupid, he could recognize a warning when it was given to him – verbal or not.
Hank got Austin to his room and set him down on the edge of his bed, stepping back and folding his arms over his chest. “Explain,” he ordered sharply. Boy said he had an explanation and for his sake, it better be a damn good one, if he truly thought it was going to spare his ass.
Austin’s explanation suddenly didn’t feel all that great and he felt all of fourteen again, FBI having caught him trying to sneak out in the middle of the night. That dog never let anything get past him, they’d only managed to get out to the lake to skinny dip because he’d been at the vets overnight due to cutting his paw, they’d never have made it out of the house if he’d been home. “I- I wanted to- well- I was- I wanted a new book to read,” he admitted sheepishly.
Hank fixed Austin with an extremely unimpressed book. “And what, boy, did I tell you to do if you needed or wanted something?” He demanded.
Austin shifted nervously under Hank’s glare. He was a grown man, a member of staff, he shouldn’t be this affected by just a look. “I couldn’t ask someone to get me a book, as I didn’t know what book I wanted. I had to go and find one myself,” he justified. “But, Ha-sir. It was fine. I was fine. My knee is fine. Thatcher can’t have meant for me to do absolutely nothing all day. Still need to use my knee a little bit to prevent it locking up. I–”
Hank was done being patient with Austin, he took hold of the boy’s forearm and hauled him up off the bed, landing another dozen swats to the seat of his pajama pants. “Boy, you tell me you were fine one more time and I will wash your damn mouth out for that and that alone,” he scolded. “Thatcher ordered bedrest, which means bedrest. You were permitted to get up and use the damn toilet with the assistance of the brace, which was more than enough exercise for your knee to keep it from stiffening up.”
Austin gasped at the swats, just barely able to stop himself from yelping. “Sorry! Sorry! I won’t- I won’t say that,” he promised.
Hank shook his head and sat himself down on Austin’s bed, tossing the boy over his knee as he did. He yanked down Austin’s pajama pants and underpants and immediately started bringing his hand down over his already blushing pink ass.
“Ah! Han-sir! Wait! I–” Austin protested before he could stop himself.
“If you’re going to act like a little boy who won’t stay in bed when he’d been told, then I’ll treat you like a little boy who won’t stay in bed when he’s told,” Hank reprimanded.
Austin could have died of embarrassment right there and then, he was eighteen years old! He hadn’t been over Hank’s lap since… well since he was seventeen! He’d been bent over every surface and fence on the Ranch, even the hood of Hank’s truck, but unless the older teens needed bringing down a peg or two, they didn’t tend to go over the knee. “Sir!” He exclaimed.
Hank shifted Austin so he was bent over one knee, not both, and trapped his legs between his so the boy couldn’t kick and cause further damage to his knee. “Don’t you ‘sir’ me, boy. I made it very, very clear what you were to do if you needed something. That was not to go downstairs and get it your damn self,” he scolded.
“But–” Austin tried.
Hank brought his hand down harder and faster. “No buts, little boy. If you wanted a damn book, but didn’t know which you should have asked for a selection to choose from!”
That left Austin speechless, he hadn’t thought of that! He’d envisioned whoever was getting him a book reading off the title and blurb to him over the walkie-talkie, which would have been annoying. “I didn’t think of that!” He blurted out. He could usually take his dues more stoically, or at least without blurting things out like a kid, but apparently being put over Hank’s knee and spanked by hand had that effect on him.
“No, boy, it’s clear you didn’t think at all. I also told you if you had any damn questions, you were to use the damn walkie-talkie to ask them,” Hank reminded. He kept bringing his hand down on Austin’s ass, covering it in hard, fast, swats, deepening the pink blush to a rosy hue. He had no intention of stopping until the ass over his knee was a deep, burning, dark red and Austin was sobbing.
Austin tried not to kick but couldn’t help squirming over Hank’s knee, although with his legs pinned and Hank’s vice-like grip on his hips, it was like squirming against concrete. “I’m sorry!”
“Oh, you will be by the time we’re through, my boy,” Hank declared ominously. He shifted his legs, lifting Austin’s ass up a little more and exposing his sit spots further before landing a flurry of blistering swats to them, sometimes alternating back and forth, sometimes staying on one and landing five swats in a row right on top of each other. He focused on Austin’s sit spots until they were a shade darker than his ass before moving down to the backs of his thighs, working from his sit spots to half way down them.
The searing swats to his sit spots had Austin wriggling his hips despite his efforts at staying still. It was just Hank’s hand! Hank’s hand should not be able to make him lose all sense of control and composure like he was. He fought back the tears welling up in his eyes, he would not cry over a hand spanking, he was eighteen years old, in college, working for Hank! He could take a hand spanking without crying like a little kid. He knew he would end up bawling like a damn toddler once Hank took off his belt, but he could keep himself from wailing until then, he could!
Hank worked his hand all over the top half of the backs of Austin’s thighs. His protégé would be wanting to rest in bed on his stomach for the rest of the day before he was done. When Austin’s thighs were the same shade of light red as his ass, Hank decided the warm up was done and went back to Austin’s ass with harder and faster swats.
Austin was holding back the tears by the skin of his teeth, but he knew, from experience, that Hank was almost done with the warm up and would be stopping to take his belt off very soon. He could hold out until then. When Hank paused, although Austin knew the belt was coming, he felt relief, surely Hank would let him up and let him bend over the bed for the belt, plus he’d managed to hold off crying like a child over just getting Hank’s hand. The sudden and unexpected smack to his warmed up ass had Austin letting out a yell of shock and surprise. “Han-Sir?!” He gasped.
“Told you, boy. You act like a little boy who won’t stay in bed when he is told, I will treat you like a little boy who won’t stay in bed when he is told. Little boys get a long, hard spanking, over the knee, with the hand, and that’s just what you are going to get, so buckle in, going to be here a while,” Hank scolded.
Austin spluttered in disbelief, he hadn’t been properly spanked just by Hank’s hand since he was sixteen, maybe even fifteen! Sure a swat here and there and a quick collection of warning swats other times, but not a full spanking just with Hank’s hand. He shook his head in denial, “Sir! You can’t!” He protested.
“Oh I can and I am, little boy,” Hank confirmed.
“But- but- I’m too old!” Austin insisted.
“Yes, you are far too old to be deliberately disobeying me over resting an injury. You know far better than that! Far too old to be trying to sneak out of your room and out of bed when you know that is where you are supposed to be. I should not be having to spank you over this, yet here we are,” Hank lectured.
Austin lost the battle with his tears and they spilled down his cheeks. “I’m sorry, sir. I’m sorry.”
This apology was a lot more sincere than the previous one, but Hank knew Austin wasn’t truly repentant yet, although he was certainly feeling sorry for himself and hopefully at least a little ashamed of his behavior. “I’m sure you are, but we’re a long way from done, boy.” He continued bringing his hand down just as hard and fast as he had been, deepening the color to a strong rosy red. Austin’s ass certainly looked hot, achy, and sore, but Hank wanted this soreness to last the boy a good long time. He dropped his focus back to Austin’s sit spots which were now a paler red than his ass and worked on painting them a shade darker than his ass once more.
Austin squirmed and drummed his feet as much as he could with his legs pinned and his ankles tethered together by his tangled pajama pants and boxer-briefs. His tears shifted to crying when Hank went back to his sit spots, his hands flailing before gripping onto Hank’s ankles. There was no way Austin was going to reach back to try to block, he might be getting hand spanked like a child, and crying over it like one too, but he was going to take this with some dignity.
After Austin’s sit spots were once more a shade darker than his ass, Hank moved down to his thighs again, spanking them just as fast and hard as he had Austin’s ass.
Austin let out an unintelligible cry when Hank started on his thighs again, unable to help trying to free his legs from Hank’s inescapable grip on them. He only just managed to bite back the urge to beg and plead for no more. He almost couldn’t believe that it was just Hank’s hand! How the man’s hand was so damn hard, Austin had no idea, but as soon as he was let up he was checking to make sure that somehow without him noticing Hank hadn’t swapped his hand out for one made of wood. He could swear the smaller handheld paddle that was often used did not hurt as badly as Hank’s damn hand!
Austin was crying hard by the time his thighs were the same rosy red as his ass, and his apologies were coming thick and fast. Hank knew they weren’t done yet though, so once more moved back to Austin’s ass for the third and final time, upping the speed and force of his swats once more.
“Nooooooo, sir!” Austin wailed before he could stop himself. His ass was already on fire! The swats coming down on his ass again after the brief break were agony! His knuckles turned white with his efforts to keep hold of Hank’s ankle and not throw them back to block.
Hank was not surprised by Austin’s loss of composure, he had chosen to take the boy over his knee and spank him by hand for a reason after all. His young protégé needed the reminder that despite his position as staff, he was still just a boy, barely a year older than the oldest teens on the ranch, and not quite a full year older than two of them. He still had a lot of growing up, maturing, and learning to do. Hank just kept bringing his hand down, just as hard, just as fast and set about deepening the red to a true ruby red, making Austin’s ass tender enough that he wouldn’t want to sit on it until bedtime at least.
Austin had absolutely no control of what came out of his mouth, he begged, pleaded, apologized, promised that he’d never do anything wrong in his whole life ever again, and carried on like one of their youngest teens. He was absolutely wailing as Hank’s hand just kept coming down and making the inferno the man had set on his ass burn impossibly hotter. He only just managed to control himself enough not to throw his hands back to try to shield his ass from the never ending assault.
When Hank finally moved on to Austin’s sit spots for the final time, his ass was red raw and Austin was certainly going to want to avoid sitting on it for the rest of the day. He worked once more to bring his sit spots back to being a shade darker than his ass. Kid would have to sit to eat lunch and dinner and Hank wanted to make sure he really felt it when he did.
Austin couldn’t help trying to twist and turn himself right off of Hank’s knee as his sit spots were attacked with a blow torch. It did absolutely no good and Hank’s hand just continued to fall relentlessly against the two extremely sensitive spots as his wails shifted to hard, shoulder shaking sobs.
Austin’s words were mostly unintelligible now, but Hank still recognized a few ‘sorry’s’ and ‘never again’s’ when he finally moved down to Austin’s thighs. He worked over his targets, spanking randomly and just working to get them just as ruby red and sore looking as Austin’s ass was.
As his thighs were turned into blistering pools of sheer white hot pain, Austin lost the ability to say anything around his sobs, sobbing just too hard and needing all the air he could take in just to sob. As Hank’s hand just continued landing blistering smack after blistering smack to his frankly tortured skin, he finally collapsed bonelessly over Hank’s knee and just sobbed.
When Austin went limp over his knee, Hank went up and down his thighs a few more times, until they matched the same ruby red as his ass before he stopped and rubbed the kid’s back. He gave Austin a minute to realize the spanking was over. “Sshhh. That’s it. Good boy. All over now. Took that so well. Proud of you. Slate’s clean,” he soothed.
It took Austin a minute to recognize that his punishment was over and Hank wasn’t spanking him anymore but was instead rubbing his back. He didn’t try to push up yet, just let himself lay over Hank’s lap and sob, knowing Hank would let him take all the time he needed. Slowly the gruff voice of his mentor, repeating words of forgiveness, praise, and assurances seeped into his awareness and he soaked up all the comfort Hank was providing. Eventually he realized his legs were free and he cautiously tried to stand, moving slowly and taking care with his knee, just in case.
Hank let Austin sob over his knee for as long as the boy needed to and just continuously rubbed soothing circles on his back and repeated the soothing nothings. When Austin started to move he spread his knees wider to give him more space to stand and reached down to pull his underpants and pajama pants back up. “Easy now,” he cautioned, reaching out to steady him.
Austin hissed as his snug boxer-briefs were pulled back up and the material chafed against his burning ass, fighting the urge to rub like a little kid.
Once Austin was steady on his feet, Hank stood himself and tugged his protégé into his arms, unsurprised when Austin’s face immediately found the crook of his neck. He held him tightly and continued rubbing his back with one hand, while the other cradled the back of Austin’s head. “Ssshh, Aus. I got you. Good boy. That’s it, let it all out. You are forgiven. Clean slate. Took it well. Know that was a hard one, but I’m proud of you,” he rumbled directly in Austin’s ear.
Austin wrapped his arms around Hank and clung to him as he sobbed into his neck. He would not have believed that just a hand spanking could have affected him so, but it had. He felt Hank shift to take more of his weight and he let him, his ass was hurting far too much for him to protest or put up any kind of fight against anything.
Hank held Austin until his sobs trailed off into just hiccups and sniffles then gently peeled him back, starting to ease him down onto the bed. “Let’s get that brace off, then we can get you settled lying on your front,” he stated.
Austin let out a small whimper at the thought of sitting, even on his soft and comfy bed but let Hank guide him down, crying out when his ass came into contact with his mattress. He’d had worse spankings, certainly, but didn’t usually have to sit within minutes of getting it.
Hank ran his fingers through Austin’s hair. “I know, Aus. I’ll be quick,” he promised. He knelt and quickly tugged up Austin’s pajama pant leg, swiftly but carefully unstrapping the brace and removing it. As soon as the brace was off, he helped Austin back up to his feet and onto his bed but face down this time. He rearranged the rolled up blanket into more of a donut shape and used that to keep Austin’s knee from resting on the bed. “Good? Any pain?” He checked.
“Other than my ass, you mean?” Austin hiccupped.
Hank smirked. “Other than that,” he agreed.
“No, no pain. Although, not sure I’d feel it even if there was, my ass is pretty much the focus of my attention right now,” Austin admitted.
Hank chuckled. “Good, maybe now you’ll stay in bed and rest,” he quipped. Gave Austin’s shoulder a squeeze and picked up the walkie-talkie from his bedside table. “Hank to Matt, please go and swap with Thatcher watching Max, so Thatch can cover the office. I will be unavailable for the rest of the day. Over.”
Austin turned to look at Hank in alarm. “Hank, I don’t–” he started.
“Not an option, boy. You can take it as me keeping you company, or as me keeping an eye on you. Up to you, but either way, you are stuck with me for the rest of the day,” Hank stated, his tone leaving no room for arguments.
There was a small part of Austin that wanted to protest that, but the bigger part of him was craving the company, specifically Hank’s company. He couldn’t deny that he admired and looked up to the man who’d taken him in when he’d been an angry fourteen-year-old foster kid with a chip on his shoulder the size of a boulder. That it was clear Hank would not be putting up with any kind of argument helped Austin push away that small part of him that wanted to protest because he felt he was too old to need this from Hank, he did not need to give Hank any excuses to swat him when his ass was already throbbing.
Hank nodded approvingly when Austin settled at that. “Good boy,” he praised. When Matt confirmed he could cover Max, he clicked the walkie-talkie again. “Hank to free staff members, there are some books on the floor of the library. Can someone bring them up and leave them outside Austin’s room? Thank you. Over.”
“I’ll get them. Over,” came Hannah’s voice over the walkie-talkie.
Austin blushed. “Hank, you didn’t have to do that,” he just held himself back from whining.
Hank raised an eyebrow. “I thought you wanted those books? Wanted them enough to trade your ability to sit for them.”
Austin groaned and dropped his head to his pillow burying his face in it.
Hank just chuckled and settled himself in Austin’s desk chair, cutting the kid some slack and asking about college.
Austin shifted to focus on Hank and happily engaged in talking about his psychology classes, and his secondary childhood development classes. He avoided mentioning his other classes too much, not wanting to risk bringing up his overdue assignments. By the time lunch was brought up to them, apart from the throbbing, burning, ache in his ass, Austin was feeling lighter than he had since he’d started college. Getting this time just with Hank, no pressure to be staff, to be perfect, to meet the expectations Hank had of him, just to relax and banter with the man, take some teasing and tease right back, it settled something in him.
Hank spent the whole day with Austin, trusting the rest of his staff to cover his absence with the teens. It was good to be able to just spend time with Austin, he knew the boy was under a lot of self imposed pressure, expected even more of himself than Hank did. Seeing Austin shed the weight of his own impossible expectations was a relief, he’d been looking far too strained lately. He would have to repeat that Austin did not have to work all weekend every weekend, and if he wanted a weekend off he was welcome to take it.
~o~
The next morning Austin did not get up at the usual time, Hank had told him not to, that he was on bed rest again until lunch time today since he’d failed at that yesterday. Thatcher had checked his knee and mobility with it and had agreed that half a day of rest wouldn’t do any harm. Austin was sure if he didn’t need to get back to college tonight, Hank would have had him on bedrest all day.
Although Austin hadn’t set his alarm, he only slept about half an hour longer than he usually would. As he promised he would, he grabbed the walkie-talkie and let Hank know he was awake, completely unsurprised when less than ten minutes later there was a knock at his door. “Come in,” he called. At least he didn’t have to keep laying on his stomach, even if there was still a slight lingering soreness from yesterday.
Hank pushed Austin’s door open and gave FBI a sharp whistle. “Go, bed,” he ordered. He pointed to Austin’s bed where Austin was sitting up against the headboard.
“Hank!” Austin protested, as the dog bounded into his room and up onto his bed, settling his head immediately in his lap. Austin’s hands moved practically of their own accord to pet the black German Shepherd, fussing with his ears the way FBI liked.
“FBI is going to keep you company, or keep an eye on you, make sure you remember you’re supposed to be on bed rest. Up to you how you choose to see it,” Hank winked.
Austin spluttered, but had to fight against the smile tugging at his lips. “Don’t think I need any more help remembering that.”
“FBI will make sure you don’t,” Hank quipped. “FBI, stay, make sure Austin doesn’t get out of bed,” he instructed.
The dog had the audacity to give a bark of acknowledgement, like he understood the instructions and crawled further up to lick at Austin’s face.
Hank made quick work of bandaging up Austin’s knee, it was badly bruised, but the swelling was manageable and he should be able to walk on it just fine, but a morning of rest would be good for Austin. That done, he left Austin laughing and wrestling lightly with his babysitter and returned to supervising the teens’ morning chores.
There were worse ways to spend a morning than with FBI, and Austin was even able to get a little of the research he needed to do for his sociology essay done, thanks to the dog’s calming presence. He barely even noticed the passing of time and startled a little at the knock at the door. “Huh? Come in,” he called. A glance at the time clued him in to the fact it must be someone with breakfast.
Max opened Austin’s door with a huge grin on his face, holding his breakfast tray. Everyone had heard what happened in the library yesterday. “Comfy?” He asked, smirking.
Austin rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright, laugh it up, kid.”
Max beamed and bounced into Austin’s room, bringing his tray over and setting it on his bedside table. “Did Hank really put you over his knee?” He couldn’t help asking.
Austin blushed at the question.
“He did!” Max gasped.
Austin narrowed his eyes. “Watch it, kid. Or I’ll put you over mine,” he threatened playfully.
“No, you won’t. You’re supposed to be on bed rest, can’t spank on bed rest,” Max chimed.
“Wanna bet?” Austin mock growled. He made a lunge for Max, giving the kid more than enough time to jump backwards and out of reach, although even if he did catch him, he wouldn’t swat him, just wrestle with him.
Max jumped out of reach laughing as he did, sticking his tongue out at Austin. “Whoops, too slow, and can’t get out of bed to get me or Hank’ll spank you again,” he teased.
Austin raised an eyebrow. “That what you think, huh? I think if I tell him you came in here laughing and teasing over someone else getting a spanking and I had to spank you about it, he’ll go ahead and turn you over his knee, not me. Now, go on, get out of here, before you do actually get yourself in trouble,” he directed fondly.
Max just grinned, unashamed, knowing Austin wasn’t actually serious right now, well not fully. He did recognize a small hint of seriousness in the suggestion he should go before he did get himself in trouble. “Yeah, yeah, fine. Should leave the infirmed to their rest,” he quipped. He paused at Austin’s door. “Are you- I mean- after lunch, you’re allowed up then, yeah?” He checked.
Austin nodded. “Yeah, I won’t be able to go riding, will still have to take it easy and not do anything too much, but I’ll be off bed rest,” he confirmed.
Max shifted and fidgeted on the spot for a second. “Would- could- um- wannaplayPlayStationwithme?” He blurted out in a rush. “And- and whoever else wants to play, for our free time, don’t have to, but I thought, maybe…”
Austin’s face softened. “Hey, Max. I’d love to play PlayStation with you,” he assured the teen.
Max’s face lit up. “Awesome! I’m going to kick your ass at F1!”
Austin laughed, “Oh, that sounds like fighting talk to me, kid. Better be ready to put your money where your mouth is. Now, go, go get yourself some breakfast, before someone has to come looking for you.”
Max rolled his eyes but he was hungry, so nodded. “Yeah, okay. Maybe I can ask Hank if I can bring you lunch too, and maybe eat mine up here with you?”
Austin smiled fondly. “‘Course, kid,” he agreed. He glanced at FBI. “Can’t be worse company than this mutt can you?”
“Hey!” Max protested, laughing.
“Go, and behave for your tutor, be hard to beat me at F1 if you’re too busy squirming,” Austin teased.
“That’s what you think! I’d still kick your ass, even then,” Max insisted. He did leave then, he was hungry and Austin’s breakfast was smelling too good.
Austin watched Max bounce out of his room. Kid was still a damn handful, and if a week went by without him ending up getting his ass beat multiple times it would be a minor miracle, but he thrived on positive attention, and it made Austin feel great getting to provide that. While Max would obey Hank and Thatcher and wasn’t as challenging for them as he was for other members of staff, and while Garrett, Travis, Gemma, and Matt could all manage Max pretty well, everyone agreed Max responded best to Austin and that felt pretty good. Austin was sure there would be a handful of other teens wanting to play PlayStation too, but he’d give Max as much positive attention as he could.