Eloise, the Technician Ch. 01

She'd forgotten to offer Meredith a blindfold before she got in position and debated what to do. It wasn't just a kindness to the girl, it also made it more like she held still and some people got more calm. Meredith was calm already, Eloise thought, but she probably owed it to her, "Would you like a blindfold?"

Meredith paused a moment and shook her head, her ponytail shaking, "No, let's just do it."

Eloise smiled sadly as she heard the girl's answer. Her voice was shaky and resigned and there was always a little bit of guilt as Eloise prepared to carry out the punishment. Rules were rules and all that but this, her roommate making Jell-O shots in a shared fridge, wasn't really what the code was for but Eloise was still going to cane her ass.

As a professional, Eloise had to do her job, and, as a professional, she was always proud when she could get her subject to be so calm as she waited for her punishment. This was much better than back at the Punishment Center. At Ridgefield, she got to talk to girls like Meredith and understand what happened and moderate her punishment to something that seemed more fitting than the strict rules of the Punishment Code. Girls like Meredith definitely didn't deserve to be strapped down on hard benches and hit twenty times as if she were at the Center.

Eloise snapped herself out of her daze as she stepped to the bed where she'd stacked her supplies while Meredith had undressed. She moved quickly to don her vinyl gloves trying to avoid the telltale snap that usually scared offenders and began to unfold the cane. With a cord inside a metal tube covered in rubber, the cane went together like poles in a collapsible tent. It was half an inch thick and had significant give, the pain coming from more from the speed of the strike than by the rigidness of the cane. The flexibility it offered was definitely another benefit, in Eloise's eyes.

The technician took another deep breath and walked to stand at Meredith's left hip. Meredith glanced up, only her eyes moving, but Eloise could tell as soon as the girl saw the technician get into position, she turned her head slightly to her right to avoid the sight of her punisher.

As Meredith looked away, Eloise's eyes moved down her body. Supported on her elbows, her conical breasts pointed down, not quite reaching the pillow meant to make it more comfortable, her nipples still pointy. To her credit, she was breathing slowly with each intake of breath making her ribs more visible as her flat belly became concave and her hip bones stretched her skin. Many girls panicked, though Eloise credited the softer touch of Ridgefield's policies making it less likely.

Then finally Eloise's eyes got down to Meredith's bottom, in front of her in profile. There was a reason so many artists studied feminine nudes: they looked different from every angle and each woman was unique. Her cheeks were white, just slightly paler than her lower back but much paler than her thighs, which must see sun when she was out in shorts. From where Eloise stood, her cheeks stood out and curved down, a padded target for the cane, whose snowy whiteness would soon be marked by five red streaks. Her eyes didn't stop on Meredith's butt though. They descended all the way to the floor over the girl's toned legs and her red painted toenails, slightly scrunched up in the fuzzy rug one of the roommates must have brought from home.

Eloise took a deep breath and took in the visage in front of her. Obviously, and her boyfriend admitted it, many technicians see it as a perk of the profession to have naked women like this in front of them. She couldn't blame them but liked to think she could avoid the allure, but she would never deny Meredith was beautiful bent over in front of her. It was a privilege to be trusted to be in this position, Eloise thought.

It was, however, time to deliver the punishment. It was only going to be five strokes. Policies limited her to no more than 20 and Eloise had, on her own, made five her minimum. Meredith wasn't really at fault for the violation of school rules and she'd been compliant the entire process so that's what she was getting. They'd be hard strikes but not her hardest. Certainly, there would be streaks but hopefully they would be gone by tomorrow.

Holding the cane in her right hand, she shook it vertically out to the side to get used to the weight. "Do you want me to count before each stroke?"

"Uhhh," Meredith hesitated still looking away.

"It's to give you a warning," Eloise explained.

The girl thought for a couple seconds, Eloise giving her time to think, before answering, "Y-yes, please."

"Ok," Eloise said in a soothing tone, "I'm about to start. It will be over quickly. Please hold still."

"Mmm," Meredith hummed, which Eloise took as acknowledgment.

Eloise held the cane up, so it hovered an inch behind Meredith and stepped half a foot length forward to get to the right distance. This was always the instant of most doubt for Eloise. She was about to hurt this poor girl and there was always some guilt in this moment that only some people could push through. She inhaled through her nose, "On three... One..."

Meredith held her breath as Eloise counted. Her stomach sucked in, and her muscles tensed in readiness, her legs and butt looking much tighter, which Eloise knew made the pain worse.

"Two... Three." There was a whoosh as Eloise swung the cane in one hand. She could feel the vibration of the cane in her hand as it impacted Meredith's flesh which indented and rebounded, ripples visible.

To Eloise there always seemed like there was a delay. The cane strike was complete, the implement bouncing back from the blow before the scream ever started. The technician winced as the wordless shriek hit her ear drums. Meredith's butt dropped as her knees buckled but she kept herself up on her elbows. Her brown ponytail was shaking as the girl shook her head no like she was rejecting reality.

It wasn't Eloise's hardest blow, and she didn't plan on it getting any worse. Four more, exactly the same, and it would be over in less than a minute, but Meredith had to let her continue. "The first one is the worst," Eloise assured her, "Legs straight again."

It took a few seconds, but Meredith complied, her weight shifting from one foot to the other as she loosened her muscles. Tenseness always made them cramp, but there was no way to convince offenders that it was better to relax. Even if they accepted that fact, it was impossible.

Eloise put the cane back into position, this time aiming the width of a cane higher than the first. "One," she started as Meredith held her breath again. The girl was shaking slightly now but gamely held position, "Two... Three."

Meredith twitched as the second blow struck, jerking slightly to her right, but it wasn't a problem for the practiced technician. She screamed again, high pitched and whiny, and Eloise wondered what her neighbors must think. No way the walls were thick enough. After her roommate, this would have been the second day in a row that yelps emanated from their room.

Eloise looked at Meredith who was continuing to shake her head, no, no, no, as she bravely stayed bent over. Her ponytail was flying, and her face was read as the technician applauded her. "You're doing great. Three more."

"Oh, oh," the girl huffed, sounding like she wanted to beg for it to be over. She was lucky it wasn't twenty.

"You've got this," Eloise continued, "Keep holding still... One."

"Oh," Meredith repeated the word disappearing quickly into a gulp as she held her breath again.

"Two... Three."

Another whoosh and the cane struck below the first two, making a third red strike in the center of the girl's cheeks, across her crack. Meredith had held herself still, but her shriek was becoming hoarse and her face was bright red as blood rushed to her cheeks. Her knees bent again, and she held herself up on her palms instead of her elbows, making herself stand taller than she had been before.

"Meredith..." Eloise started, putting some warning in her voice, "You can't stand up." The technician wasn't worried about Meredith causing any problems, she was just arching her back from the pain, but Eloise's training and instincts made her weary of an offender moving during a punishment. It was insecure, but Eloise knew she shouldn't be mad. It was just instinct. She took a deep breath as Meredith was now rubbing her butt, a palm on each cheek.

Eloise never could have let this happen at her old job but was it really that bad? It was just self soothing, and she chided herself for her previously severe tone, as she tried to inject sympathy back into her requests, "Come on, you're almost done."

Then she used a tactic that always seemed to work, she switched the cane to her left hand reached out with her right to gently take Meredith's wrist. Meredith looked at her with wet eyes as Eloise moved down from her wrist and held her hand, squeezing gently. "You're doing great. Go back down and we will be done in thirty seconds."

Meredith was clearly unable to talk but she gasped, and Eloise could tell it was agreement. She continued to hold her hand gently and guided it back toward the desk. Meredith mumbled something, perhaps an apology, as she went back to position, holding herself on her elbows again, and the technician let go of her hand and patted her back gently. "Thank you, Meredith. Almost done."

Eloise took the cane back in her good hand and congratulated herself for handling that situation. It made her feel accomplished to be kind while still getting the punishment done. She held the cane behind the three streaks, growing redder as time went on, and aimed for the meatiest part of her bottom. "Alright, one...," she started softly, "Two... Three."

Meredith's held breath erupted into another rattling shriek, louder than the last one, after having more time to catch her breath after the third. Her knees buckled again but this time she fought her habit of dropping, even as she hung her head lower than she had before, her ponytail falling toward the top of her head. For the first time, Eloise saw tears on the girl's cheek and had to push down more guilt welling up in her.

Eloise bit her lower lip, subconsciously revealing her discomfort as she got ready for the last strike. "This is the last one, Meredith, just hold still for me," she said, as the girl whimpered, "One... Two..."

Meredith shuddered and wheezed her eyes closed as Eloise finished the count. The sound of the cane filled the room and the blow, the weakest of the five Eloise would have to admit, still made her knees fail. This time the technician didn't stop the teenager from falling to her knees and rubbing her marred ass.

Eloise's heart was beating fast as her task was completed. She stepped back and looked away from the girl, who deserved her privacy after her ordeal. Soft sobs filled her ears as she slowly collapsed the cane and removed her gloves. Eloise went back to her tablet, laying on the bed, near her bag and started to pull up the necessary forms to upload to the university server and email to Meredith.

As she worked, she paid attention to Meredith. She still awkwardly sat on her knees rubbing her bottom, now streaked with five red, parallel lines that she knew stung and burned. She focused more closely making sure no skin had been broken and was satisfied that the "safe" cane had done its job.

"Meredith," she started, hesitating until she saw the girl tilt her ear back over her shoulder, "You did great. Here put the robe on."

The teen's eyes went to her bed and Eloise grabbed the pink robe that lay there they'd prepared for this moment. The technician held it up behind Meredith, "Come on. Let's get covered up and then I can leave you alone and it will be all over."

Meredith nodded, wiping her eyes and the standing to let Eloise help her into the robe, which ended above her knees and closed with a belt that she knotted, loosely. She obviously didn't want to sit down, but she leaned back on her bed, the surface safely touching only her lower back. She looked down at the floor, her lips still trembling.

Eloise had seen enough offenders to know she was still processing what had just happened and best practice dictated not prolonging her traumatic experience by staying longer than necessary. "Hey," Eloise said, trying to get her to look up, "Listen to me... You did great. You're going to be ok. I can tell I won't have to come back."

Eloise liked tacking that last bit on for the girls who didn't deserve what came to them. She thought it would make her feel better if the positions were reversed, at least. "I know this is hard," she continued as Meredith finally spoke real words for the first time since she bent over the desk.

"Y-yeah, th-thanks," the teenager answered, barely making eye contact.

Eloise picked up her tablet. "I've signed the certificate of completion," she explained, "And you're going to get a copy in your email."

She watched Meredith for acknowledgment and the teenager nodded so Eloise kept going. She reached into her bag and pulled out a folded pamphlet. "Here is information for talking to a therapist. There are ones on campus and ones off campus if you need them and I think it's a good idea. Also, you should put ice on your bottom for pain. Ibuprofen is good too. I don't think it will bruise but if it does, keep icing, ok?"

Meredith nodded, muttering, "Ok."

The parting was always a bit awkward. It would be fine if the girl hated her guts forever but in her experience that usually wasn't how it worked. There could be anger at the system but usually not at the individual. Eloise took a deep breath and said, "I'm going now. Any questions?"

Meredith pressed her lips together and shook her head.

Eloise nodded, smiling at the poor girl, she reached out and touched her shoulder gently, before grabbing her bag and walking out the door.

As she got to the van, Eloise checked her phone. She was in and out in 30 minutes and now had an hour until the next punishment. Appointments like this one always drained her but she was a believer. These punishments were just a fact of life now, and she thought that there had to be people like her, empathetic and kind, to carry them out, otherwise there would only be the worst in her profession. Still, as she turned the vehicle on and decided to get coffee, she hoped the next offender deserved it.