Ashley was pleased by the dual implication rather than chastened. It included the option that Scarecrow would have been sorry not to please Ashley, and a little bit of a stern threat. As spoiled and bossy as Ashley could be, he would have been disappointed if Scarecrow had quailed entirely to Ashley's imperiousness.

He climbed into Scarecrow's lap like a demanding cat, lounging and playing with a lock of his own hair. "Do you know anything about sexual torture? I'm thinking exhaustion and overstimulation mostly. I don't want to do anything that hurts. Well, not hurts more than a fierce spanking, anyway."