Caretaker sat on their couch, bottle of bourbon in hand. Ever since Whumper took Whumpee, Caretaker hadn’t been able to motivate themself to do anything. Hadn’t been able to leave the house. Hadn’t been able to get over that their shortcomings led to Whumpee being taken. Hadn’t been able to stop imagining all the pain and suffering Whumpee was enduring at Whumper’s hand.
And so they sat and drank. Sat and cried. Sat and did nothing to get Whumpee back.
Teammate One burst through Caretaker’s door. “What are you doing? We need to get going!”
“Why? There’s nothing to be done.” Caretaker’s voice was thick with tears. They were always crying now.
“We know where Whumpee is. We have to get going now! Come on!”
A few labored shuddering breaths and then a laugh bubbles up, unbidden and full of relief.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, hurting me like I’m nothing.”
“Excuse me? You are nothing. In fact, for defying me, you’ll get this-”
Crash! Dozens of footstep thundering.
“What is this?”
A quiet, exhausted laugh.
“It’s your punishment. I told someone what was happening to me when you weren’t looking and they amassed a group to get me out and punish you. I suggest you start running if you don’t want to suffer like I did by your hand.”
A chorus of voices in unison.
“WHUMPER!” “Whumper!” “Whumper!” “WHUMPER.”
“Once I get you back, you’re dead, Whumpee.”
“Oh Whumper, I’ll never be with you again. They’ll make sure of that.”
“Fuck you.”
Sudden fast footsteps. Shatter! Glass tinkling on the floor. Soul-shaking crying that is like a flood, all pent up emotions spilling out as the slow murmur of rescue begins.
Whumpee sighed, letting their shoulders relax. For once the night was quiet and peaceful. Long gone were there screams of agony or crying pleas that rang dead into the endless void.
Shifting closer to Caregiver, they let themselves go, resting their head on their shoulder, calmly taking in the city's lights.
“Please.” The caregiver’s voice was soft and kind. Their touch; gentle. They pull the blanket over, cuddling closer to the whumpee. “Please don’t leave?”
The whumpee leans in, their eyes closed. A faint, tired hum resonates from within; the quiet reassurance Caregiver needs.
Whumpee’s world swirled around them. Their body was much heavier than before, and that was probably because of the vague memory Whumpee had of Whumper hitting them in the head with something and then everything went a little wonky.
There was a name for what Whumpee was experiencing, but the word escaped them in the swirl of everything.
Their arms were trapped behind their back, bound to their feet and they also had a gag in their mouth to keep them from talking. There was a name for it as well, but the word again escaped Whumpee.
Hogtied.
Ah, that was the word. Why couldn’t they move their arms again? Why were they so heavy? Why did their stomach hurt a lot more than it should?
Suddenly their heavy mind heard something, but it was muddled and for the life of them they couldn’t focus on what it was. What they could focus on was the hand that followed the silence.
Even in Whumpee’s state, they knew touch was bad. Touch was hurt. And Whumpee should never let someone touch them. But they couldn’t escape the touch because of a combination of their oh so heavy body and their restraints- Oh yeah, they were restrained.
Wait. The touching hands had moved and... now Whumpee could move their arms! And legs! But... Whumpee didn’t really feel up to moving them too much, they were just so heavy and tired.
That touch was back, but now it was all over Whumpee. Whumpee sluggishly tried to squirm away, but all at once Whumpee wasn’t on the ground anymore and that was scary.
As their mind drifted from one sluggish though to another, they pressed their face into something soft and warm. It made their eyelids drop almost immediately, but the sound was back and it was almost angry sounding as a hand patted Whumpee’s face.
By now, Whumpee didn’t have the strength to move away. And this insistent hand would probably be upset if they fell asleep, but Whumpee couldn’t resist the call as their mind sunk slowly into peaceful unawareness.
