Whumptober #26
Trope of the day: nightmares
A noise wakes Whumpee up. They fell asleep, finally. While their body is still aching, exhaustion took over and made them take the rest they need. At least to some extent.
The noise repeats and Whumpee is sure that it is a voice. A familiar voice.
Caretaker is talking in the other room, they sound … they sound scared. While their mind and heart race, Whumpee’s body is slow to move. They stumble into the next room, knees weak and body sweaty.
“Caretaker?,” Whumpee asks as they open the door, holding onto the frame to not fall over. The other is on their bed, tossing and turning, talking to themselves. They are dreaming … having nightmares.
Whumpee carefully comes closer, sitting down on the edge of bed because their body feels too weak to stand. But they reach out and put a hand on Caretaker’s sweaty forehead.
Their eyes snap open, Caretaker sits up in one swift movement, grabbing Whumpee by their collar, almost pushing them away.
“It’s me,” Whumpee says and puts their hands on Caretaker’s, which finally loosens around the fabric. “I won’t ask what your nightmare was about. Just let me give you some company,” they add, their eyes finally meeting, Caretaker taking a shaky breath.
Whumpee moves their hurting body to lie down next to Caretaker.