Work Text:
The white clad demon strolled into the lab of his brilliant scientist, even after a full day of work he still had a smile on his face and a pep in his step, although, both were tamer than usual. "Good evening Slug!"
Said scientist was boredly tinkering with some sort of gadget at his work bench when he noticed his boss' presence. He glanced up from his work to acknowledge the cheery man before continuing his tinkering. "What do you need Sir?" He mumbled. If boss had disturbed him because of another spider, he was going to be really upset.
"You know how I hate to disturb you when you're working but..." His smile faltered just for a moment. "I'm afraid I'll be needing your assistance tonight." The doctor's movements ceased. He looked up at his boss's face. "Are you sure?"
White Hat nodded solemnly. "I'm afraid so."
Dr. Slug sighed. "I'll be there as soon as I finish this."
White Hat clapped his hands together. "Excellent! I'll see you then." With that, the cheery demon turned and left the scientist to finish his work.
Slug set down the invention he had no intention of finishing. He buried his head in his hands and let out a deep sigh. Sitting up he checked the clock on his wall, he watched the time tick by for about half an hour before making his way to his boss' chambers.
He opened the door to find White Hat sitting on his bed, having already removed his long coat, but still wearing that stupid smile. White Hat noticed him immediately, and gave a little wave. "There you are Doctor, I was beginning to think you forgot about me."
"As if I ever could..." Slug mumbled under his breath. "Lets just get this over with." He stalked up to White Hat's desk and opened one of the drawers. "What number?" He asked, digging through the drawer.
White Hat answered quickly. "Oh, number two please."
Slug nodded and pulled out a leather strap. He approached the demon until he stood less than a foot away, looming over the eldritch horror. He watched as he cowered under his gaze for just a second. "How many?"
White Hat thought for a moment. "Twenty should be fine."
"Whatever you say sir." Slug sat down next to his boss and watched as he climbed over his lap without any instruction. He grabbed his slim waist and repositioned him for an easier target. "What about your pants?"
"Um, whichever you think."
Slug decided to keep them up. "They're fine, you ready?"
White Hat nodded.
"Okay." Slug breathed deeply. Just rip the band-aid off quickly, he thought.
SLAP! The strap struck its target swiftly, causing White Hat to jump. "Ah!" SLAP!
SLAP! The scientist moved quickly, barely taking time to count. Why did White Hat make him do this? Well, that's a lie, he knew if he refused White Hat wouldn't force him to do it. But that didn't change how much he hated it.
He could feel his frustration showing through his strokes. SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! He grimaced at every slap, yet White Hat stayed annoyingly still and quiet, save for the occasional flinch, whimper and grunt.
His mind drifted away from reality and got lost in the rhythm. His arm switching to autopilot as he disconnected.
Somewhere in between his breaks from reality he asked White what happened, he mentioned something about Black Hat's latest scheme and how he'd failed to protect everyone.
The explanation of tonight's session made him angrier, more force was put behind every blow. They came faster and harder until he was snapped out of his daze by a gloved hand griping harshly at his leg.
He opened his eyes, when did he close them? And looked down to see White on the verge of tears. He gripped the scientist's leg with one hand and was currently using the other to cover his mouth. Slug could feel the eldritch shaking and it finally clicked as to what he had done.
Shame immediately washed over him. "Oh... Sir I'm so sorry, I went way over the line didn't I? I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention, I got so lost in thought I just... are you okay? Why didn't you use the safeword?" He asked tentatively, reaching out to massage White's shoulder blades.
White Hat's voice came out in just above a whisper. "... I-l did..."
He felt terrible, White had trusted him to do this and he'd betrayed that trust. He'd broken the rules and didn't stick to the procedure. "I'm...so sorry."
"It's okay, I d-deserved it."
With that one statement, all the guilt was washed away and replaced with the same boiling anger from earlier.
He brought the strap down fast and hard, earning a frightened yelp from White Hat. "Slug! What are you-?" SLAP!
The strap came down again. "Shut up!" Slug shouted. "Just shut up. You stupid demon. The only thing I want to hear is how you could have possibly done anything more for all those people."
"B-but..."
"Exactly!" Slug exclaimed, dropping the strap onto the floor. "So stop beating yourself up about it and making me punish you for wrongs you didn't commit!" He buried his face in his hands again and felt tears build up in his eyes.
Meanwhile, White climbed off Slug's lap and sat next to him. "What? Slug, I had no idea you felt that way." He squeezed Slug's shoulder. "I'm sorr-"
"Stop apologizing," Slug snapped. He dropped his hands to look White in the eye. "You have nothing to apologize for. Everyday you risk your life to keep everyone safe and you never ask for a thing in return."
White Hat remained quiet as his scientist spoke his mind. He wrapped an arm around his shoulders in a silent urge to keep going.
"You're the most selfless living thing I've ever seen. You care about everyone and do so much and all you can do is think about what more you could be done. That's not fair."
The bag-wearing man wrapped his arms around the eldritch horror in a full on hug. "This world doesn't deserve you. They don't deserve you." He felt tears fall down his face, the demon embracing him soon following suit.