Fists Unravelling, Glass Unshattering
Whumptober2025 Day 9: Touch, Flashbacks, Scalding
Day 29: Broken Dishes
Felix gets burnt and has a flashback. Warnings for physical and verbal abuse of a minor (via flashback)
Felix didn't spend much time alone in the kitchen these days.
It used to be his quiet little sanctuary, his room that no one could enter without his permission. But now Nine generally slept in the corner in their basket, and Cricket ran in and out all day.
He enjoyed the company and would never want to begrudge either of them their time, but sometimes it was nice to have the space to himself again.
He'd been the chef at the Inn for years now, since very shortly after Spruce found him. They'd worried that he was trying to force himself into a position of duty in a misguided attempt to earn his keep, and he'd insisted, emphatically, that that wasn't true. He enjoyed cooking. He loved how happy it made everyone. And he was good at it, everyone said so.
And… he had the skills anyway. He shouldn't waste them, right?
He'd been cooking here for longer than he'd been there. Thoughts of there rarely even surfaced anymore.
He lifted a large pot of simmering apple cider off the stove and turned to set it to the side, humming to himself all the while.
Then, one of the handles snapped.
He did not made a sound when the hot, simmering cider splashed all over his arm.
He and the pot both clattered to the ground, and he was vividly reminded that rarely is not never.
"Useless, stupid boy," her voice hissed.
He knew how to treat burns, he tried to stand, but when he tried to pull himself up his hand brushed the still-hot pot, and he felt the hot cider seeping into his clothes, and he was forced back through time.
And he was once again the little kitchen boy who could never do anything right.
His body backed itself into a corner, hands over his head protectively, as the onslaught of memories rushed in.
A furious-looking elvish woman stood over him, golden eyes narrowed in disgust.
"I take you in. I feed you, I clothe you, I give you everything you could possibly need, and you still manage to screw up a simple souffle!"
He hadn't screwed it up, he knew that. She had walked in and opened, then slammed the oven door, causing them to collapse. It wasn't his fault.
But he couldn't say that. He had to stand, statue still at attention, and show no emotion. Hands behind his back. Chin up. Shoulders squared.
She smacked him sharply across the face with a spatula— she always carried that damn spatula— and he could feel the burn in his cheek as the mark grew red.
"Step forward."
He did.
"Again."
He did.
"Hands out."
His heart began to race, but he complied as she opened the oven door.
"Step forward." Her tone was becoming impatient. It would be worse if he begged.
He stepped forward.
And she slammed the oven door on his hands and held it shut.
He gritted his teeth, bit his tongue, anything to keep from flinching away.
A single tear ran down his cheek, in spite of himself, and she slapped him so hard he fell back. Back into the corner.
It was too late for bravado. He held out his burnt hands and cried as she raised the spatula again.
He flinched when there was a touch on his shoulder and looked up, shaking, his face streaked with tears.
"Oh Felix, sweetheart. Come here."
Katy held out her arms and he crawled into her embrace and sobbed as she rubbed his back.
"I— I messed it up," he mumbled, sounding more like a little kid than the grown satyr they were now. Katy loved cider, and he'd messed it up.
"The pot broke. That's not your fault."
He shook his head. "No, I should have paid more attention, I should have noticed, I—"
She shushed him gently.
No excuses. No, that wasn't Katy. She wouldn't say that.
"Felix, things break. It's okay. You are way more important to me, to everyone, than some spilled cider."
He sniffled, trying to regain his composure.
"Let's go downstairs so I can take care of that burn. It looks painful."
He shrugged. It was already blistering. He was used to it.
"Hold on, I need to clean up first." He stood and started to walk away to grab a mop, but Katy caught his uninjured arm gently.
"You wouldn't make Cricket clean up a mess first."
"That's different, they're—"
His words died in his throat at Katy's look. Because they both knew the only way to finish that phrase honestly would be to say "not me."
So downstairs they went.
"Have you been having these flashbacks often?" Her cool, gentle hands cleaned his arm as she spoke.
He shook his head.
"Did the burn trigger it, then?"
He nodded. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, embarrassed.
"Why?"
"For making a mess, for breaking a pot, for crying, for—"
She cut him off when she realized this was still a scripted fragment of his flashback.
"Felix. You have nothing to apologize for. You've done nothing wrong." She wrapped his arm carefully in clean gauze, then rested it back in his lap when she realized how checked-out he was.
The last thing either of them needed right now was for his burnt hand to hit something because she let go too fast.
"I'm taking you off kitchen duty for a week."
His eyes grew wide and he stared at her like she'd grown two heads. "What? No! Who will cook? What will I do?"
Good for nothing boy, you're worthless if you can't cook. I'll have to sell you again if you aren't worth my time.
"Let Spruce and I deal with that. You are going to rest, and heal, and take some time off to remember that we all want you here because we care about you, not because you cook."
"But, but the kitchen…"
She leaned forward and cupped his face in her hands, gentle but firm.
"You are safe, Felix. Your room is safe. The Inn is safe. And the kitchen is still safe, if you need it." The tension in his shoulders lessened slightly at the reminder that he wasn't being kicked out of the kitchen.
"But this isn't healthy. This isn't healing. You are worth more to all of us here than your skills as a chef."
He nodded hesitantly. It wasn't as if he could argue with her.
"We will reassess in a week, okay?"
He nodded again, feeling a bit numb about it all.
"Is it okay if I talk to Aspen about this?"
He hesitated. Aspen was his best friend, and they spent most nights snuggled together with Cricket to keep the nightmares at bay. If he was having flashbacks, nightmares were a logical follow-up, and she deserved to be warned.
He didn't want her to worry.
"I'll, uh. I'll talk to her. Thanks, Katy."
Character List
Felix- A satyr, a chef
Katy- A vampire and a doctor, co-owns the Inn where they all live
Aspen- A centaur and Felix's best friend
Cricket- A young Kenku who sees Felix and Aspen as their surrogate parents
Nine- A pillbug-kitten creature who fell from space and now sleeps in the kitchen
Masterlist
Whumptober 2025 Masterlist
Taglist: @wolfeyedwitch @littlebookworm69
