Chapter 230 - What do you consider Lucy’s weakness? - Lack of Control

Lucy had always sought out independence ever since she left for college and got out from under John’s thumb and now that she was back home where she had to conform to Mary’s rules, she wasn’t taking it too well. Lucy was right in that she was now an adult who could make her own decisions but even you could see that some of the outbursts she had were rather childish.

From what you gathered, these outbursts stemmed from a lack of control when she was faced off against Mary and was told to act a certain way or do something she didn’t want to do, both on display after her comments about Rebecca and her inability to apologise for her words.

The punishments themselves that you hoped to use this ‘lack of control’ with, still eluded you but you hoped for a chance to brainstorm some ideas now that dinner was starting to wrap up.

You had nearly finished off your food after the distraction of a new rule and everyone else seemed to be ahead of you, with you being the last to put your cutlery down once your plate was empty. Lucy was the first to actually get up from her chair and headed for the stairs without saying a word. You could see that Mary didn’t look pleased about the situation but she didn’t say anything further to Lucy, letting her go off on her own while the rest of you stayed seated.

“...So about Miss Ryan, is there a day that's better for you Mary?” Sarah asked, hoping she could get some answers now that Lucy had left.

“Mary can’t do tomorrow because she's at the gym and I’m away over the weekend. Monday or Tuesday next week is what I’d personally prefer. Ah wait not Monday, I’m working at the Gym that day” you replied, chipping in before Mary could make her decision and realising how much of your time was already planned out for the next few days.

“Hmm well if it’s Tuesday… I can do that. Can either of you let her know before then?” Mary asked you both.

“Yeah sure!” Sarah responded with a smile, getting up from her chair as she grabbed her plate and cutler to take over to the kitchen.

“I can have a word with her as well” you added, knowing you would be spending at least some of your time with your teacher before Tuesday, most likely tomorrow unless something came up around lunch.

With Sarah getting up, both Mary and you did the same. You picked up your plate alongside what Lucy had left behind and were the last to head into the kitchen as you needed to start doing the dishes. Sarah was already on the way out as you passed her in the doorway but Mary had stayed behind to have a word with you, leaning with her back against the counter at the side of the sink so you could still face each other as you did your chores.

“So, I know we just voted on this but are you sure you're okay with me giving out punishments?” you asked as you moved all the dishes into the sink and ran the tap to fill it up.

“I didn’t want to have to resort to that but Lucy was making it pretty hard for me to do otherwise. You’ve changed a little… well a lot over this past week and I now I think you deserve a little more authority at home” Mary replied, standing firm on her decision.

“Any idea on what you think I should do? Or anything you want me to avoid even with the new ‘authority’?” you questioned, still not sure how to exactly get Lucy to not hate you after you tried to punish her.

“Nothing I’ve done has worked so far so I don’t think my advice will do you any good” Mary said with a forced smile, making you think she was annoyed at herself for how she had handled things so far.

“Just… I know you’ve said you're interested in Lucy and Sarah but if you do anything sinister with this then you’ll be getting a much harsher punishment than Lucy would ever get. I’m not saying you would ever do that but…” Mary warned.

“I know. I know. We’re under your roof and you love all of us. I know there's a difference between… let’s say what we’ve been doing where there's some tension and literally forcing yourself on someone. And I definitely don’t want that” you reassured, seeing Mary’s stern expression loosen at your response.

You had a feeling both Mary and Sarah wouldn’t actually mind if you were more forceful given their kinks but some of the pleasure you got out of it was because they were your equal or in Mary’s case, she had higher authority. You couldn’t quite get the feeling into words but having the power dynamic shift from Mary being higher up than you to then lower herself when you were sexual with her was gratifying in your mind.

Lucy however was still not willing to differentiate the two and seemed to be denying her own kink instead of embracing it like the others. She was bound to break eventually but would she be happy with you when the end result came?

“Actually I do think I can warn you about one thing” Mary said, breaking you out of your thoughts as she continued.

“We both know that Lucy isn’t too fond of John and while she has her reasons… I think that she has some trust issues when it comes to men. I might be wrong but… when you do punish her, don’t lie to her about it. I’d be upfront with her about what you are planning to do. Again, my methods haven’t worked but that's my advice” Mary explained, giving you more to think about.

With Mary saying her piece, she stopped leaning on the counter and went to leave, giving you a quick peck on the cheek as she walked past.

Mary’s advice had given you another thing to consider with Lucy’s punishment to now consider. Don’t mess with her lack of trust but focus on her lack of control. Maybe make it sexual for her to accept her kink but don’t push her too far with your new authority. Don’t be too harsh and make her hate you but also being not harsh enough defeats the point of the punishment.

You let out a sigh as your brain tried to come up with the perfect solution and you let your hands mindlessly wash the dishes as the activity wasn’t interesting enough to keep you distracted from the punishment you needed to plan. Your other subject matters were also there in the back of your mind as well, knowing your focus could easily be pulled from one to the other if you let it.

Sarah wanting you to find her a career, getting Mary to come out of her shell with the gym, making Rebecca a more core member of the group, helping Grace explore her kink safely and then having enough time for Emma to make sure your girlfriend didn’t feel excluded while you worked on the other subjects.

And that's just one thing from each of them, not even counting your own problems with John or your goals after high school that every person your age would normally have to deal with.

Another long sigh left your lips and your hands started moving again as you placed another dish on the rack to dry before trying to not focus on the negatives when it came to harem management. The positives were rather appealing after all.