Whumpees soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts and into reality, where Whumpee was peeking around the corner to the office.
“Yes? Need something?” He tried to make his voice light, friendly, but noticed all too late the tear tracks down Whumpee’s face.
“May- May I ask for an indulgence, sir?”
“Of course,” he turned fully, now laser focused, a yes already waiting on his lips, “What would you like?”
“If-if you please, may I request a- an hour of-of-“ their voice faltered, tears starting again.
“It’s okay, sweet, it’s okay, you’re not going to be in trouble,” he coaxed, desperate for them to finish their request, “Take a deep breath, and just ask for whatever you like.”
They swallowed, nodding, and tried again.
“Master, may I request 1 hour without punishment?”
He had never punished Whumpee, ever. What did they mean?
“I-I know that you have been merciful- you have not punished me yet- I- I am sorry, I should not have asked, I am sorry Master, please forgive me-“
“You’re okay, hey, you’re fine, I just want to know what’s going on, alright?” he soothed, “So, you want a set time, without punishment? But- Whumpee, did something happen? Something that you think deserves to be punished?”
Whumpee frantically shook their head, crying harder now.
“Please, speak. You won’t be in trouble, I just want to understand, okay?”
“I-I know that- that I will fail you. I will always strive to meet your standards, but I know I will fall short and need to be punished,” Whumpee took a deep, shuddering breath, “But I haven’t yet learned all your rules, preferences, and standards… I- I have not been able to sleep for days, Master.”
He could tell that their courage was failing, and he couldn’t imagine how brave they were being to face him now… He was so proud of them…
“Oh…” it all made sense now, “You just want some time where you don’t have to watch your every move, right?”
Whumpee nodded, crying too hard to speak, and now he could see the deep circles under their eyes.
“Of course, sweet, of course…” he wasn’t going to punish Whumpee at all, he’d told them that already, but clearly they had a hard time believing that, “How about this? You go take a nap, and you’ll have no obligations or expectations till tomorrow at 10 am. No punishment, no worries, nothing. Just make sure you eat something, anything, for dinner and drink plenty of water, and get some sleep, okay? That’s all that I ask.”
He watched their face, hoping to have hit all the right notes, and for a sickening moment, they only sobbed harder.
“Th-thank you Master, thank you, yes sir, thank you-“ they managed, bowing deeply, their shoulders slumping in relief like a puppet with its strings cut.
“Okay,” he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, “Good. And thank you for coming to ask me, I’m very proud of you. You did a good job.”
Following the conditioning was also not ideal, but clearly ideal wasn’t an option at the moment.
Whumpee seemed to light up at the praise, a few breathless thank yous escaping but then they were gone, dashing away hopefully in search of food and water before a well deserved night of peaceful sleep.
After all, that was all they were asking for. A night of peace…
He sunk into his chair and let his head rest on the desk for a few minutes, before pulling himself together and writing down every detail of their exchange.
This might be the way to help them.
