hey hey hey. whumpees who had to spend years with whumper and have a trauma bond??? like if whumper was the only person they were able to see for years, the only connection to the outside world, and as much as whumpee hates it they can't imagine life without whumper.
yesss bro yess!! when they don’t even realize its a trauma bond at first.. they’re too busy learning every tiny shift in whumper’s mood because heeding to their will is the only difference between agonizing pain and gentle touch. they don’t even notice when they start to crave it.
that’s the only life whumpee knows. they learn the rules, they follow them, they get through the day. some days, its even nice being around whumper. they wish it could be like that all the time.
espp when whumpee knows whumper better than they know themselves.. every little shift in tone, their posture when they walk into a room, how long their gaze lingers over them.. they get good at reading whumper’s every move.
and the worst part is that whumper is their only constant!! years of isolation means whumpee forgets how to exist around anyone else. freedom just feels so overwhelming, like standing on the edge of something vast with nothing to hold onto. at least whumper was an anchor, no matter how terrifying.
because it’s all they’ve ever had.
whumpees who get out and miss them.. in that hollow way where their body doesn’t know what to do without the routine of fear. everything feels wrong, too new. whumpee never had to think for themselves—they just had to make it through the day alive.
they find themselves missing the routine. missing knowing exactly what the day would look like. missing being seen, even if it was only through whumper’s abuse.
and the world didn’t wait for them.
it kept moving, loud and bright and full of energy, like nothing ever happened, like they were never even gone. people expect them to just step back into life, like they weren’t frozen in place for years. like they didn’t kill a version of themselves just to survive.
and it makes something bitter settle in their chest, because where was all of this before? they were isolated from the world for so long, just barely out of reach. where was any of it when they needed it?
at least whumper was there. at least whumper noticed them. even if it was cruel, even if it hurt. at least it was something.
they try to move on, they really do. but sometimes they catch themselves hesitating. second-guessing themselves.
waiting for someone to tell them what to do.
they hate the part of themselves that still feels untethered without it.