Welcome to the 2026 Whumperless Whump Event, where we celebrate all kinds of situational, accidental and environmental whump! If this is your first time, welcome in--if you've been here before, thanks for coming back!
FAQ and text version under the cut!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Where can I find the prompts list?
A: @whumperless-whump-event on Tumblr.
Q: How are the prompts divided?
A: Each day has a "title" or a vague theme, followed by two tropes and one dialogue prompt.
Q: Can I use the title as a prompt?
A: Absolutely.
Q: Do I have to use all of the prompts?
A: Not at all.
Q: Can I use all the prompts?
A: Absolutely.
Q: If I'm writing a chronological story, can I swap days to fit the timeline?
A: Yes, just make sure you tag your days and prompts appropriately. If you're writing for day 6, but you post it on day 12, tag day 6, not day 12.
Q: Can I have early or late entries?
A: Yes. This is a very laid back event, and meant mainly to inspire lots of whumperless whump. It's not a strict writing challenge.
Q: Is there an Ao3 collection?
A: Yes! This year's collection is linked here. The parent collection also includes 2024 and 2025--make sure you select 2026.
Q: Can I write [insert anything here]?
A: Yes. However, this blog will not reblog certain topics (ex. nsfw or suicide), so please tag your works appropriately, so anyone can filter out anything they don't want to see.
Q: Can I use AI?
A: No.
Q: Can a whumper be included in the prompt fill?
A: The short answer is no. The long answer is that you cannot have the role of whumper in your prompt fill (aka: no whumper-on-whumpee); however, if the character you want to be a whumpee or a caretaker happens to be a whumper, then as long as they are not fulfilling the role of whumper, it's fine. Also, if there is a whumper, it must be totally impersonal and faceless. Here are some examples for clarification:
A character's drink is spiked at a party.
OKAY: The whumper who spiked the drink is never mentioned and is completely faceless, and the story is directly about whumpee recovering.
NOT WHUMPERLESS: The whumper who spiked the drink kidnaps the whumpee.
A character is left alone in a storm.
OKAY: The character is stranded or lost.
NOT WHUMPERLESS: Whumper tied them to a post and left them in the storm.
A character is mugged on the street.
OKAY: The whumper is a stranger, faceless, and the focus is on Whumpee.
NOT WHUMPERLESS: The whumper is a stalker and there to kidnap Whumpee.
All in all, if your goal is to fulfill the event, then try to avoid a whumper. If you're using the prompts elsewhere, then ignore this, but in the spirit of the event, no whumper roles please.
Q: How do I tag my posts?
A: Tag with #whumperless whump event, #wwevent 2026 and #wwevent day [x](Don't just tag wwe, that's wresting.) Make sure to tag the fill type (art, fic, music, etc) with #fic, #art, #et cetera. Then, tag triggers and content warnings. Please put these first in the tag order! It just makes it easier to reblog.
Q: How do I get reblogged?
A: Mention this blog in your post! It's the easiest way for me to find you. Otherwise, I won't reblog it. (This also means if you do not want your post reblogged to the event, just don't mention the blog, and it'll stay private.)
Q: I disagree with something/have an issue with a prompt/want to address a problem. How should I do it?
A: Send me an ask and we can fix it. I am more than willing to work through any problems--I am human, and not without fault.
I think that's about it. That's a lot, so if you've got any other questions that aren't on the list, feel free to shoot me an ask. I'm happy to help!
Plain Text:
Like a Baby Seal to Water: Fishtailing / Near drowning / "I thought I was going to die."
Somebody's Gotta Do It: Unexpected caretaker / Touch starvation / "You don't have to hide from me."
A Lull in the Chaos: Bedside vigil / Checking vitals / "Can you… sing? Until I fall asleep?"
How Are You So Oblivious: Unknowingly feverish / Falling asleep at work / "Can you drink some water for me?"
Wilderness Experts: Poisoned / Caught in a trap / "I don't know where we are."
Down The Wrong Pipe: Choking / Seizures / "Call an ambulance, tell 'em they're not breathing."
Wrong Place, Wrong Time: Panic attack / Overstimulated / "Get me out of here."
Are You Sure This Is Normal: Natural disasters / Scared of thunder / "We're safe in here, okay? I think."
Dropping Like Flies: Multiple whumpees / Caretaking while sick or injured / "I'll get some rest soon, I promise."
A Warm Welcome: Coming home from the hospital / Cuddle piles / "You scared me so badly…"
Bodily Betrayal: Stomach sick / Carried to bed / "…Yeah. I can call in sick for you."
You Make Me Lose My Breath: Wheezing / Altitude sickness / "You're not making sense."
Waking In A Cold Sweat: Midnight hospital visit / Allergic reaction / "I thought you were getting better."
The Final Straw: Grief / Mental breakdown / "You don't need to be okay right now."
Genre: Fanfiction
Fandom: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Rating: T
Warning: Panic attack
Pairing: None
Description: Ghost and Soap discover Jamie having a panic attack.
Day 7.2;
@whumperless-whump-event; panic attack
Ao3 or under the cut
“She needs time, but she can’t relax when far from him,” Alejandro tells Alex, Farah, Gaz, Ghost, Layla, Nikolai, and Soap.
“We can’t assume she won’t recover yet,” Soap argues.
“It’s difficult. Recovery from such trauma can take years,” Farah reminds the others. “We can’t compare her to Layla’s recovery from her trauma.”
Jamie lies on the bed, struggling to sleep. Her mind replays the torture she endured. Her chest tightens, and she struggles to breathe.
“It’s complicated. I’m thinking we need to —”
Soap stops mid sentence as he hears Jamie scream from her room. He and Ghost rush to her room.
They open the door slowly to not to scare Jamie until they hear her struggling to breathe. As they rush to the bed, they recognize the signs.
“Panic attack,” Ghost says.
He’s careful as he moves Jamie onto his lap. Jamie tries to pull away, feeling being hugged is making it harder to breathe.
“Stop, you’re ok,” Ghost assures her. “You’re safe.”
Soap sits on the bed and takes Jamie’s hand.
The two work together the get Jamie’s breathing under control. Both breathing in sync. Through the nose and out the mouth to help Jamie calm her own. They see the beads of sweat on her forehead. Jamie feels dizzy and rests her head on Ghost.
As Jamie’s breathing calms, Soap gets up to get her water bottle and gives it to her. Ghost encourages her to drink. The two see how tired she is.
“She was trying to sleep, but her mind…,” Soap trails off.
Ghost nods. He lies on the bed with Jamie. It’s too soon for a sleep aid. He’s hoping his company will help. Soap understands Ghost’s plan and leaves the room. Closing the door behind him. Ghost rubs Jamie’s back, hoping to relax her. He’s relieved watching Jamie falls asleep.
~~~ Author comment:
I have the feeling this prompts are getting harder and harder.
I am writing for myself, because I have to practice my english, but I sometimes I would really love to get a reaction.
Thanks for the people liking <3
They were in a cave to recover something. Leader didn’t tell them what, only that they had to fetch it. So they were attentive to the surroundings, because one could never know what to expect in a cave.
What nobody expected was the earthquake. It started slowly. As the ground beneath their feed began to shake, they were in their typical formation: Youngest as the strongest fighter at the front, Leader in the last position to protect their back and Medic as the most vulnerable between them.
For a moment they all froze. Leader was the first to react: “Let’s better get out of here.” With that he turned and started to jog the fastest way out of the cave. Trusting his team to keep up.
Youngest and Medic turned too and made their way upwards. It was in that moment, that the earth shock anew with even more force. Medic stumbled going down to one knee. Youngest was instantly at his side, helping him up.
Then it happened. The earthquake dislodged a large boulder from the ceiling, with it came a lot of small boulders and a lot of dirt. And all of it was coming direct in their direction. Youngest pushed Medic out of the way, and tried to move afterwards, but he was a little too slow.
One small stone caught Youngest at the temple hitting him unconscious. And a larger boulder landed on his left leg. Dust filled the whole cave. Medic needed a minute to get up from where he had fallen after being pushed. To check the situation, he had to wait till the dust cleared.
Afterwards he could see clearly, that the rockslide blocked them from the exit of the cave. Youngest was down, and Leader was nowhere to be seen. Medic had to cough a few times to clear the dust from his lungs.
Afterwards he quickly moved to Youngest side and checked his vitals. He sighed in relief that he found the pulse to be strong and steady. His eyes then scanned for Leader and he shouted: “Leader?!”
It took a moment, but after a few seconds he heard Leaders voice very faintly from the other side of the rockslide: “Medic? Youngest?”
"We're here! We might need some help! Are you okay?” Medic tried to ask back, no knowing if the was loud enough to be heard. After a short while Leader assured him, that he wasn’t hurt: “I am fine. Are you hurt? Where is Youngest?”
Medic shouted back: “I am fine. Youngest is hurt, but not critically. Can you get us out of here?”
He got an affirmation from Leader, but it would take some time, so he switched his attention back to Youngest. First he moved the boulder from his leg, which took a lot of strength and the he assessed the damage to Youngest’s leg, which appeared to be broken, but luckily it wasn’t a compound fracture.
As Medic poked around the fracture to assess the damage, Youngest began to stir. “Ugh.. M-Medic?”, came the confused question.
The addressed quickly moved to Youngest head and cupped Youngest cheek, while answering him: “I am here, don’t try to move.” “m’ leg hurts”, came the faint answer.
Medic brushed the hair out of Youngest’s face and spoke fondly: “I know, it is probably broken. Leader is on his way for help… What were you thinking, pushing me out of the way and not saving yourself?”
Youngest forced a goofy smile on his lips and said: “Oh, that’s easy. You are really good at fixing me... I could do shit for you, so it’s better this way around.”
Medic tried to smile back, while his eyes got a little wet. This boy was really kind of special.
simon “ghost” riley x barista reader (gn), divider by @uzmacchiato, @whumperless-whump-event day 17: injury while cooking
Every morning, Simon goes to the same coffeeshop. It’s cozy. Definitely a place he would avoid usually, but he lives right next door. Also, before 7am they have a general discount, so he started getting a coffee every morning after his run.
The shop only has a handful if employees; one of them being you. You always open the shop and when he happens to be home for the day, he sometimes spots you leaving around noon.
You’re… good. A steady presence. Not overly cheerful, not nearly as grumpy as he is. Just… a nice person who never asks dumb questions about the scars on his face.
Of course, there’s a reason nice people are rare. Because apparently the world does all it can to try and force them to become as bitter as everyone else. It isonly a matter of time, really.
The wind has been freezing all morning, as heavy clouds have promised rain for later in the day. Simon is ready for his daily tradition of warming up with a cup of coffee and watching you work. He goes to open the door to the coffeeshop but finds it closed. He pauses and checks his watch: 6.54am. Usually the shop is open at 6 on the dot.
Before he can spend too much time wondering, a wheezing, “Sorry!” reaches him. You sweep past him and unlock the door quickly.
You’re a mess of being half dressed and already pulling your jacket off, tossing it aside as switches are flicked and the shop slowly comes to life. Only now he sees your face. You’re flushed and your eyes are faintly red. Did you oversleep? He has to swallow a smirk. That’s almost cute.
“Sorry, Simon!” you repeat as the coffee machine turns on. “Just give me a moment, I just…”
Simon sits at the bar and gives a tiny nod. “Try not to get a heartattack,” he comments. “I got time.”
He watches you try to prepare all stations at the same time. Your coworkers won’t be in until 7.30am for the morning rush, so you’re on your own for now.
When you finally turn, placing his coffee order before him, he already knows what is about to happen but can’t stop it, as you come in with way too much speed. Scalding coffee spills onto your hand.
In a heartbeat you’re several steps away, clutching your hand, eyes wide before squeezing shut, biting your lip to swallow either a scream or a string of curses. Simon stands and rounds the counter quickly.
“Let me see.” You don’t move and he carefully grabs your wrist. It’s bad, though not as bad as it could have been. It all went on the back of your hand. Still bad, but not as nasty as the palm.
He makes quick work of the rings on your fingers before your hand can swell as he guides you to the sink. “That’s gonna hurt,” he mutters. “Sorry.”
The water is cool, slightly below room temperature. When he holds your hand under it, your legs nearly give out. His grip on your wrist tightens and he moves behind you, gently pinning you to the counter with his own body so you’ll stop pulling and aggravating your hand.
“Ssh…”
Tears drop from your eyes and like a dam that broke, you lean forward, bury your face in the crook of your elbow and cry. Such a shitty day.
Simon stays behind you. When other customers try to enter, he glares until they leave, guving you the privacy you need to break down. He keeps your hand under the water for 20 minutes, longer than you needed to calm yourself. About 15 minutes in, your coworkers had come and ushered you and Simon to the breakroom, promising to handle things alone today.
Now, Simon is examining your hand, which is slightly numb but still at the same time hurting like hell. He is telling you how to take care of the burn, but your eyes are far away, until Simon says your name, snapping you out of it.
“What?”
Simon stares, then slowly lays your hand on the table. “You alright?”
“Yeah. Just a shitty continuation to an already shitty morning.”
“Mhm. I can imagine.” He watches you for a moment longer. “Can I buy you a coffee?”
Your eyes widen dramatically and you straighten up. Gaze flickering over his form, you nod slowly before shaking out of it. “Iced?”
Genre: Fanfiction
Fandom: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Rating: G
Warning: None
Pairing: None
Description: Jamie is trapped in a fire. Soap rescues her., Both suffer from smoke inhalation
Day 6.2;
@whumperless-whump-event; choking
Ao3 or under the cut
Jamie runs through the burning warehouse, trying to find the others. Her radio is damaged. Jamie refuses to leave without searching every inch of the place. Jamie ignores the burning in her lungs.
This isn’t your first time in a burning building. She tells herself.
She coughs from smoke inhalation.
“Jamie! Where are you?!” Soap yells.
A burning beam falls in front of him.
“We need to evacuate!” Price yells.
Soap runs forward. Displeased, Price orders Gaz and Ghost to evacuate with him.
The three wait outside. Flames engulf the warehouse. The trio doubts Jamie and Soap will survive.
Five minutes pass. Price doesn’t want to assume the worst. Gaz, Ghost and Price see a figure running from the fire. As the figure gets closer, they see its Soap carrying Jamie who is unconscious. They hear the Scotsman coughing.
“I’m fine,” he croaks as he lays Jamie on the ground.
“Are you daft? You have smoke inhalation,” Ghost argues.
“It’s nothing compared to hers.”
Price radios for medevac. Urging for oxygen on the helicopter. Soap continues to cough, which Gaz, Ghost and Price know is a good thing. Price rolls Jamie onto her side and checks her pulse. Jamie is ok for now, but the four know she can decline.
Ten minutes feels like ten hours. Gaz, Ghost, Price, and Soap hear an approaching helicopter. By now, Soap has stopped coughing.
The helicopter lands one hundred feet from them. Two medics disembark with a stretcher. Medical equipment and bags on it.
“Help her first,” Soap insists.
The medics do as he says, knowing Jamie has been unconscious for too long. They move Jamie onto the stretcher and check her vitals.
“Twenty percent oxygen,” one medic says as they put a mask over Jamie’s mouth and nose.
The medics load Jamie onto the stretcher. Everyone boards the helicopter.
Onboard, Soap is given an oxygen mask with a small amount of oxygen to clear his lungs. He wants to refuse. To argue Jamie is the priority, but he knows he can’t ignore any amount of smoke inhalation. He puts the mask on. Gaz, Ghost, Price, and Soap worry about the complications Jamie will have. Will this have a significant impact on her life?
Franz pushed the cannon into place, grunting with effort. "There." He let out a sigh, stretching his back as he stood back up. Turning to Hanna, he slapped the cannon. "These bad boys should keep those nasty titans away! Even that strange big one that appeared five years ago. I'm sure he won't show his face again with this updated design!"
Hanna nodded, before grabbing Bertholdt and showing him the new cannons they had installed. "Check these out! They're much more powerful than the ones before! It'll help keep us all safe, don't you think?"
Bertholdt looked at the cannon, but his face didn't change at all. "If they can blast wholes through the titan's napes, you shouldn't have a problem-" He suddenly stilled. "Did you feel that?"
"Feel what-?" The ground suddenly began to shake violently.
Franz looked down, long, deep cracks formed in the stone below them. "Hanna, look out-" He grabbed her and attempted to fly away, but the force of the shaking threw off his anchors, and before he knew it, they were both falling. He shielded her best he could with his body, and braced for impact-
x~x
Slowly, Hanna came to. She couldn't move, her back and legs were pinned by debris. All she could feel in her lower body was a faint burning sensation. Something hot and wet dripped onto her face, wiping it away as best she could, she realized it was blood.
Franz lay on top of her, he wasn't moving, and blood soaked his hair, dripping down his face.
"Franz!" She screamed, struggling to grab him. "Franz! Wake up!" But he remained unresponsive. Tears gathered in her eyes, she couldn't tell if he was still breathing or not. With what little mobility she had, Hanna grabbed onto Franz, embracing him. "Please… don't die on me." She begged.
Suddenly, there was movement. The debris shifted, and faint moonlight shone through a small opening. Someone must've been searching for them!
"We're here! Help!" Hanna cried, desperate to get their attention. She froze when a giant, cat-like eye focused on her. Gritting her teeth, she braced as a hand pressed through the debris and lifted her out. However, instead of being placed inside a mouth, her fellow soldiers attended to her and Franz. She looked over, the large, burly titan wasn't even paying attention to her. Hannes was standing on its shoulder, and directing it on where to dig.
"Are you okay?" Mikasa was kneeling by her, she noticed where Hanna was looking and looked a tad sheepish. "That's just Dad. He wouldn't hurt a mouse."
The menacing grimace suggested otherwise. But, anyway- That was Doctor Jaeger? What? How? Never mind, she didn't want to know.
"Is Franz okay?"
Mikasa rested a hand on her shoulder. "They managed to stop the bleeding, but he has a very high fever. He's alive, and should be able to recover."
Hanna felt tears gather in her eyes. "Oh… thank Maria…"
Hardison hadn’t been claustrophobic until he’d been buried alive, but these things happen…
“Mama, why do they happen to me?!”
One minute Eliot and Hardison are checking out a security van hidden in a shipping container, the next Hardison’s on the floor and Eliot’s unconscious.
And bleeding.
And they’re in the van.
And it’s moving.
He can’t breathe.
Hardison can’t get any air, it’s running out, and Eliot’s dead, and no one can hear him…He bangs on the walls, shouting.
‘We’re here! Help! In here! Please…’
Comms are down.
No one is listening.
No one is coming.
Fandom: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse)
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Leon S. Kennedy/Ada Wong
Leon is grievously injured on a mission all by himself and goes into a cabin to take stock of the situation. Unsure if he can survive, Ada appears and helps keep him company.
Whumperless Whump Event 2026 (@whumperless-whump-event):
Day 3: A Lull in the Chaos, Bedside Vigil, Checking Vitals
+ Alt D: That's a lot of Blood, Hypovolemic Shock
Ben thought the little cave would make a good place to take shelter. The hail that was falling was the biggest he’d ever seen and he didn’t really feel like getting hit in the head with it. So he crawled into the little cave to wait.
It was a tight fit, the rock scrapped his back and he could barely take a full breath. At first he managed but as the storm continued he felt like the cave was getting smaller. His heart was pounding against his chest, against the rock. Was it, was it getting tighter in there?
Lighting struck nearby and he twitched and suddenly he was stuck.
He couldn’t breath, couldn’t move, couldn’t get out.
Stuck, stuck, stuck!
He wriggled against the stone, hands clawing at it, feet pushing. He couldn’t breathe, it felt like his heart might burst from his chest.
Then all of a sudden he was free and rolled out onto the wet ground. Luckily the hail had stopped. He lay there in the rain for quite some time trying to catch his breath and stop shaking.
Genre: Fanfiction
Fandom: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Rating: G
Warning: None
Pairing: None
Description: Lack of electricity in a safe house and a discovery.
Day 2;
@fluffyjuly: Candlelight | “You kept this?”
@whumperless-whump-event: "You don't have to hide from me."
Ao3 or under the cut
A recon mission is supposed to be simple, so Price goes alone. His plan backfires, resulting in him trekking through the dense forest for an hour before reaching a safe house. Four hours later, Nikolai shows up. Bad news accompanies his arrival. The enemy is searching the forest for Price. Their return to Nikolai’s helicopter is impossible while the enemy is searching for them.
The first thing the Russian asks Price if he’s injured. Knowing the captain would lie to not worry his team, Nikolai pulls the tactical vest up. Price sighs, accepting defeat, and helps the Russian. Soon the captain sits shirtless on a chair. Nikolai doesn’t find any injuries. Price sighs as he’s told to pull down his pants. Once Nikolai confirms Price’s legs are fine, Price pulls his pants back up.
The sun sets. Learning the safe house has no electricity displeases them both.
“Really?” Price comments, annoyed.
“We should gather the candles.”
Nikolai finds five candles under the counter. He gets his lighter from his jacket pocket. The five candles are lit and arranged on the coffee table. The two sit on the couch. They aren’t used to sitting and doing nothing for hours during a mission. They listen for any suspicious sound, anything that could mean the enemy is close. The five candles provide little light to read anything. While there’s not much to do, both agree to not move out until morning.
The smaller candles don’t last long.
“Stupid cheap candles,” Nikolai complains.
Price watches Nik get his lighter. Something falls to the floor as he gets the lighter from his pocket. Price picks up the item.
“You kept this?"
“Yes, it’s a nice lighter, why throw it out?”
“You don’t have to hide from me.”
“I… I’m not.”
Even with two candles providing light, Price is certain Nikolai is blushing from embarrassment, but he won’t press further.
Genre: Fanfiction
Fandom: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Rating: T
Warning: None
Pairing: None
Description: Price is both impatient and struggling with guilt. Alejandro and Rodolfo aim to help jamie by taking her into town. Ch. 36.
Day 1;
@fluffyjuly: "You will be ok."
@whumperless-whump-event: "I thought I was going to die."
Ao3 or under the cut
“I’ll never stop!” Price argues. “Not until she’s not terrified of Ghost and me.”
“You’re going about this all wrong,” Gaz argues. “She’s terrified; she thinks you’ll have Ghost torture her again. She needs space.”
“I’m not sitting around hoping for a miracle!”
Alejandro, Alex, Farah, Ghost, Layla, Nikolai, Kate, Rodolfo, and Soap hear the argument and the frustration in Price’s voice. They all hate this situation, but they know he struggles with the guilt more than Ghost—specifically the fact that he ordered Ghost to torture Jamie. He shows no inclination for caution or patience. He wants a quick fix, even though he knows it’s not possible.
“Trust me, Price, she needs time,” Farah says. “It’s been nineteen days. Recovery will require considerable time. She needs more time to feel safe.”
“Then we work on trust,” Nikolai says.
“Layla can help,” Kate adds.
“I want to,” Layla argues before Soap can argue. She knows the Scotsman is not a fan of Layla volunteering to be a therapy dog.
“She wants to. It’s only a problem if she feels forced,” Kate assures Soap.
“Like someone trying to force Jamie to get over her trauma,” Ghost bluntly says.
“Alright, he gets it,” Kate warns.
Price leaves the common room and heads to his office.
Price sits at his desk and stares out the window. He’s tired of the constant guilt and self-blame. Doubt also occupies his mind. Eighteen days with no progress. He struggles to accept that Farah is right. After what he and Ghost did, it could be eighteen months before Jamie trusts them again.
Alejandro and Rodolfo take Jamie out of the base. Riding in the rear seat of the black SUV, Jamie gazes outside.
“Lunch is a good idea,” Rodolfo agrees. “Following that, we’ll go to the bakery.”
“Something as a minor distraction,” Alejandro says.
They both realize this offers a brief respite from the difficult situation back at base.
Jamie is quiet during lunch. Alejandro and Rodolfo are used to this. It’s often difficult to get Jamie to talk about anything outside of discussing missions. They worry about what she’s thinking about even if she seems relaxed. This isn’t reassuring to either knowing Jamie can act fine for a while.
The plan changes once the trio finishes lunch. Alejandro and Rudy agree to take Jamie to the park close by.
The walk to the park is quiet. Alejandro leads his friends to a bench where the three sit. It’s quiet until Jamie speaks.
“I thought I was going to die,” Jamie sobs as she holds onto Alejandro.
Alejandro and Rodolfo thought this is what Jamie is thinking.Everyone knows that while it’s been twenty days, the incident is still fresh in her mind. Jamie struggles with nightmares.
“You’ll be ok,” Alejandro assures her. “You’re safe.”
Alejandro and Rodolfo want to tell Jamie Ghost and Price regret what they did, but they know it won’t help. This will take time. Everyone understands why Price is impatient, but his impatience is going to delay any chance Jamie has of moving past this, or destroy it.
verse: heartbreak mountain
characters: Daniel, Lukas, minor characters
word count: 3.3k
contents/warnings: vomiting, motion sickness, multiple whumpees
oh look, it's actually an intro fic to these characters~
@whumperless-whump-event day 18: motion sickness
--
Daniel checked the time again. His flight had been delayed and then he'd had to wait for his luggage for what felt like an unreasonable amount of time, though he tried to tell himself it just felt that way because he was anxious about being late. Now he was finally on his way to the meeting point, however, with almost half an hour to spare.
He'd hoped to have enough time to grab lunch, but he could survive on a takeaway sandwich and coffee if he had to.
He identified the meeting point by the other people gathered around before he even saw the bored-looking middle-aged woman with the sign. They were standing around or sitting on the floor, some lying down with a jacket or a scarf bundled up for a pillow, some leaning on their suitcases in ways that could not be comfortable now or afterwards. Mostly looking to be in their twenties, speaking a range of languages, some of which Daniel could identify and understand, others not so much.
He found himself smiling as he approached the group. There was something familiar and oddly reassuring about finding 'his people', or the people he'd be spending the winter season working with, even if he'd never met a single one of them before.
"Eyyy," a young man greeted him with a grin and a wave. "Name and phone number, bitte," he went on. "We're making a WhatsApp group," he added in way of explanation. "Joining is strictly optional, of course, but we'll talk about you behind your back if you don't."
Daniel gave his name and number and watched the other man tap them into his phone. He was shorter than Daniel himself, practically radiating a chaotic energy that was matched by his chaotic hair style with the sides shaved and the top dyed a vibrant purple.
"Daniel… how the fuck do you spell your last name?" he asked, looking up with a frown. "What was it, Surströmming??"
"Nyström," Daniel corrected, rolling his eyes. "Why's that the one thing people always know about Sweden…"
"Well, I know IKEA, too?" the man offered with a disarming smile that lit up his brown eyes in a way that Daniel could already see being dangerous after a few drinks.
"IKEA, sure," Daniel muttered, amused despite himself.
"Ahhh, perfect, much easier to spell," the man exclaimed, and Daniel could see him typing 'Daniel Ikea' as his name. Figuring it for a lost cause, Daniel didn't try to correct him again. "I'm Lukas, by the way," the man continued once he was done. "Ski instructor. And you're a, what, a bodyguard?" He eyed Daniel with an openly appraising look that made Daniel suddenly realize how close he was standing; not uncomfortably close, but certainly closer than what Daniel would consider socially appropriate.
Definitely dangerous.
But Daniel was no blushing maiden and wasn't so easily unbalanced. "Alas, I'm just a lowly instructor like yourself," he replied with a slightly lopsided smile. He placed his hand briefly on Lukas's shoulder, watching the other man's reaction closely and gratified to see his eyes widen a little. "But nice to meet you, Lukas."
Forty minutes, one sad deli sandwich and two cups of mediocre coffee later, Daniel was sitting near the back of a bus that was quickly filling up with people and noise. Lukas sat next to him, headphones on and occasionally bobbing his head along to whatever he was listening to. The girl sitting in front of them was complaining to her friend about having to sit so far back, and a faint but distinct scent of weed was coming from somewhere nearby but Daniel couldn't pinpoint where.
He tried to get as comfortable as possible—which wasn't very comfortable for someone his size—and began to scroll through Reddit on his phone.
He must have dozed odd because suddenly he startled awake, nearly dropping his phone. He blinked and looked around, getting his bearings, a little bemused to find Lukas snoring against his shoulder. The violet hair smelled faintly of some generic conditioner and Daniel had to suppress the urge to ruffle it.
Then he caught the shift in the mood around him, the loud and energetic chatter had become more quiet and tense. He frowned, trying to locate the source of the tension, and saw that one of the girls sitting in front of him and Lukas had left her seat and was going around, clearly looking for something.
Daniel gently detached himself from Lukas and leaned forward a little, trying to catch the other girl's attention through the gap between the seats. "Yo, what's going on?"
The nature of the problem became evident as soon as the girl turned her head to glance at him and Daniel saw the faint greenish hue of her face and the way her lips were pressed into a thin line. "I don't f-feel too good," she replied, a little redundantly, then snapped her eyes forward again with a muted groan.
Daniel suddenly remembered how she'd been complaining about having to sit in the back. "Right, okay," he said quickly, automatically switching into damage control mode. "So do you have, like, a bag or something? Just in case?"
The girl gave the tiniest shake of her head. "That's what Riina went to—" She cut off and swallowed audibly.
"Okay," Daniel said again, "well let's hope she finds something. Just focus on breathing."
Next to him, Lukas yawned and blinked his eyes open. "Are we there yet?" he asked, his voice slightly slurred from sleep and his accent considerably more prominent than when he was properly awake. It was kind of cute, even though Daniel didn't have the mental bandwidth to fully appreciate it right now.
"Alas, no," he replied. "Don't suppose you got, like, a plastic bag or something going spare?"
"Oh, sure, I always carry—" Lukas suddenly cut off, his eyes finally focusing as he looked at Daniel with a slight frown. "…What for, pray tell?"
Daniel shook his head with an exasperated sigh. "Not for me."
But that's when the other girl—Riina—finally returned, with a stash of empty plastic bags and a stack of paper towels. She took one look at the sick girl and dumped the hoard onto the seat. "I'm just gonna go… sit over there," she mumbled, looking away. "I can't. You know."
"Wow, dick move," Lukas muttered, staring after the girl fleeing the scene.
Daniel agreed, kind of, but he wasn't interested in judging right now. "Move," he said, nudging Lukas gently. "I'm gonna sit with her, see if she needs any help."
Lukas moved out of the way and Daniel got out of his seat, with some effort, and then carefully moved to sit in the seat vacated by Riina. The sick girl glanced at him briefly, then resumed staring straight ahead with slightly glazed eyes, her breath coming quick and shallow. Daniel sorted through the bags, picking one and stuffing the rest into the seatback pocket in front of him.
"I'm Daniel," he said, his voice calm and steady. "Didn't catch your name."
The girl glanced at him again. "India," she replied in a shaky voice.
"Okay, India," Daniel went on with a small smile, "nice to meet you." He thought he heard Lukas snort somewhere behind him, but he didn't pay him any mind, instead focusing on India. "Do you usually get carsick?"
India nodded slightly. "Not— not this bad, though," she said, her words interrupted by a queasy hiccup. She hunched forward with a thin, panicked whine. "Gonna need that bag," she gasped, then clasped a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening and breath hitching.
Daniel was already moving, working the bag open and holding it towards her. As she gripped it with shaking hands, Daniel kept one hand near hers to hold the bag steady if needed, and put his other hand on her back. "Right, it's okay," he said, "just let your body do what it needs to."
India's body lurched forward with the first, unproductive retch. Daniel was aware of the awkward, anticipatory silence in their section of the bus, but he kept his attention on India, who barely had a chance to draw a breath before she nearly doubled over with another heave. This time, with an unpleasant, gurgling sound, her body forced up a stream of vomit splattering into the plastic bag. Several people around them made disgusted noises, and someone nearby got up and walked towards the front of the bus like Riina had done.
"Oh, God," India gasped faintly, then spat into the bag again. A string of saliva got caught dangling from her lips, and Daniel took one of the paper towels to gently wipe it away. "So-sorry about this," India went on, sounding utterly mortified and miserable.
"Don't worry about it," Daniel replied immediately. "It's not your fault. Just breathe. Do you think you're done?"
India drew a breath and opened her mouth to speak. Then, with a strangled moan, she ducked her head over the bag again as her stomach heaved once, twice, sending another wave of what sounded like thick, chunky vomit surging up her throat and into the bag. She coughed and spat, her breathing ragged and erratic.
Daniel kept running his hand up and down her back, murmuring reassuring words that he wasn't sure she could hear. Not all the people around reacted with horror and disgust; some were clearly sympathetic, and after a while someone brought a bottle of water, and another person brought a pack of wet wipes, and a third one just came by to ask if there was anything she could do to help. Of Riina, the girl who'd been sitting with India, there was no sign, and Daniel wondered if they knew each other or if the seating arrangement had been an unfortunate coincidence.
Finally the bout of sickness seemed to taper off, leaving India pale and shivering, her head falling to rest against the back of the seat in front of her. Daniel gently pried the bag of sick from her hands and tied it off the best he could. He looked around for a bin but couldn't see one, so he just put it in the biggest of the bags in the stash and hoped it was tight enough not to leak.
"Water?" he offered, holding the bottle towards India. "Just a small sip, to rinse your mouth."
India took the bottle with a shaking hand and gave Daniel a faint smile. "Thanks," she said. "You didn't have to do any of this. But… thanks."
Daniel wasn't in the habit of letting people suffer alone if he could help it, but he couldn't think of a way to say that without making it sound like some kind of Superman shit, so he just waved the comment off. "Don't worry about it," he said again. He took the bottle again when India was done with it. "Are you feeling any better?"
She made a sound that was half a chuckle, half a groan. "Well, I'm not actively puking, so that's something," she muttered. She leaned to the side, her head against the window. "Could you get my jacket from the overhead shelf? The green one," she added as Daniel got up and reached for it, "yes, that one." She smiled as Daniel handed the coat to her and bundled it up for a pillow. "Thanks. Again. I think I'm gonna try to pass out for a bit…"
"Sure," Daniel replied. He began to sit back down, then hesitated. "Do you want me to go back, or..?" He nodded towards the seat next to Lukas.
India gave a tiny shrug. "I don't mind," she said. Then, after a beat, "I mean, if you really don't mind staying… I guess I'd feel better knowing I've got someone who's not gonna freak out on me if I puke again."
Daniel smiled and took his seat next to her. "Sure," he replied, "no trouble at all."
India did manage to fall asleep. Lukas, behind them, also seemed to be continuing his nap, now sprawled across the two seats as nobody had claimed Daniel's place. For the next half an hour or so things were quiet.
Daniel was killing time solving word puzzles on his phone when India stirred again. "Hey," he said when she looked around blinking blearily. "How are you feeling?"
"Mmmm, not great," she mumbled.
Daniel put his phone away, immediately shifting gears into crisis management mode. "Not great as in could use a drink of water, or not great as in need a new bag?" he asked.
India hummed softly under her breath, visibly taking stock of her body. "Not… sure," she finally replied. "Please tell me we're almost there…"
"Half an hour, ish," Daniel said. "Maybe a bit more."
India leaned her head against the window with a faint groan. "Okay," she said. "Okay. Gonna need… Probably gonna need another bag. But not yet, I don't think."
"Hellooo," an exaggeratedly cheerful voice said behind them, and Daniel glanced back to see Lukas perched on the edge of his seat, leaning forward to peer at them through the gap between the backs of the two seats. "You guys okay up there? …Please tell me you're okay."
Daniel was still trying to figure out what to say when India replied for herself, "For a given value of 'okay'."
"I see." Lukas slumped back into his seat, putting his headphones on again, and began to fiddle with his phone.
It seemed like a bit of an odd response, but it's not like Daniel knew the guy so he didn't think too much of it until his phone buzzed. He picked it up and saw a message from an unfamiliar number; 'yo if she starts puking again im gna need a bag too' the message said, followed by a green-faced emoji just in case the message wasn't clear enough. The three dots indicating that the other person was typing showed up, and then another message, 'barely made it thru the last round…'
Well, shit. Daniel typed back a 'gotcha' and saved the number in his contacts; before he'd finished doing that, there was another message saying 'my hero' with a sparkling heart and a laughing-crying emoji. Daniel rolled his eyes—which Lukas obviously couldn't see—and put his phone away again.
And then it was a waiting game until something happened. He tried to keep up light conversation with India, both to potentially distract her from her nausea and to gauge where she was on the scale of imminent vomiting. And so, when her replies began to get shorter, her voice more strained, he was already mentally preparing for the inevitable before it happened.
India trailed off mid sentence, her eyes glazed over and what little color there was draining from her face. "Okay," she whispered, "I'll take that bag now."
Daniel was already on it. "Alright, here," he said, keeping his voice calm as he opened a plastic bag and placed it in front of her. When he was sure she had it, he turned to glance back at Lukas. He was seemingly immersed in whatever he was looking at on his phone screen, but there was a tension to the way he held himself very still that wasn't very reassuring. Daniel suppressed a sigh and fished another bag from the stash and held it out to him. Lukas accepted it with a wry smile and a mock salute, then went back to ignoring everything.
And then Daniel's attention was drawn back to India, who suddenly bent forward with a strangled moan. Breathing fast and shallow, she gripped the bag with shaking hands as she held it close to her mouth. Daniel put his hand on her back again, hoping to steady her a little. "Easy," he said softly, "just let it happen if it's gonna. No use fighting it."
Before he'd even finished speaking, a shallow gag shook her body, and then she barely managed to draw a breath before her stomach heaved, sending its contents surging up her throat again. A deep, growling retch brought a wave of vomit splattering into the bag. She made a sound that was half a gasp, half a moan, and then she was heaving again, repeatedly, each time bringing up more of her stomach contents.
He was so focused on India that Daniel didn't immediately recognize the sound coming from behind him. And then he did, and remembered Lukas. He looked back and saw Lukas leaning forward, pale as a sheet, elbows on his knees, hunched over the plastic bag. As Daniel watched, a shudder ran through Lukas's body, and then he gagged again, a thin trickle of fluid dripping from his mouth into the bag.
For a second Daniel was torn, his instincts telling him he should find some way to help both, but then Lukas looked up and flashed a wry grin. "All good here, bro," he gasped, the cheer obviously forced, "don't worry about me." The fact that he immediately ducked his head over the bag again with a sickly belch took some of the credibility from his words, but all things considered, Daniel made the call to take it at face value and stay with India.
The rest of the trip felt longer than it had any right to be. India seemed to be empty after the second round of vomiting, which did not mean that she was feeling any better, only that the risk of making a mess was considerably reduced. Lukas kept gagging intermittently without seeming to bring up much, and insisting that he was fine whenever Daniel checked on him.
Finally, however, they reached their destination. The bus stopped and the chaos of people gathering their belongings, looking for missing gloves or phone chargers or—in at least one case—shoes, began to unfold, and then slowly spill out into the quickly darkening late afternoon. A group of young women took charge of India, and Daniel was relieved to step aside, though he noted that there was still no sign of Riina.
He gathered his backpack and was standing at the fringes of the crowd bustling around the luggage compartment waiting for their bags to be unloaded when he saw Lukas again. The purple-haired man looked decidedly unsteady on his feet as he climbed down from the bus and staggered off to the side, away from the group.
Daniel reached him just as he doubled over, vomiting into the snowbank at the edge of the parking lot. He wavered on his feet as another heave shook him, and Daniel quickly put an arm around him to steady him. "Easy," Daniel murmured, "you're okay."
Lukas, gasping for breath between heaves, managed half a laugh before it turned into another retch and a stream of vomit painted the snow at their feet a sickly brownish orange. "Yeah," Lukas managed, more a groan than a word, "just peachy."
Daniel fished a half-full water bottle from the side pocket of his backpack and held it out to Lukas when it seemed like the other man was done. Lukas accepted it with slightly shaking hands, took a swig to rinse his mouth and spat the water into the snow, then drank greedily, for a moment making Daniel worry the water would just come right back up.
But it stayed down. Lukas slumped against Daniel, his head falling onto Daniel's shoulder with an audible thump. "I could kiss you, Ikea," he mumbled.
"Brush your teeth first," Daniel replied breezily and adjusted his arm around Lukas to better support him.
"Fair enough," Lukas said. Still leaning heavily on Daniel, he looked up and their eyes met, and Daniel could tell they were both trying to assess how much the other was joking or not. The slow smile that spread across Lukas's still-pale face told Daniel that the other man had reached a conclusion and liked what he saw. "Fair enough," Lukas said again.
"Fair enough," Daniel repeated, returning the smile. Then he broke eye contact and nudged Lukas towards where the crowd around the bus was already considerably thinner. "Let's go before they haul our luggage back to Zürich."
Vee was aware that one of her clients wasn’t doing well. The woman would look being them like she was expecting something to be following her. She didn’t sleep much and she always jumped at the slightest noise.
“Honey, what is going on?” Vee asked.
The woman looked behind them, “I…I left him…he’s going to kill me!”
Oh.
One of those.
The woman burst into tears and started to shake.
Vee wrapped her arms around the woman and pulled her close.
“It’s alright love, he’s not going to find you.”
“But…but…”
“He won’t, I know it, but even if he did he wouldn’t be the first one I’ve dealt with,” Vee said.
The woman sniffled and pulled back a little, “Dealt with?”
Vee looked around, luckily everyone was giving them space, “Lots of places to disappear in the woods, lots can go wrong.”
“Oh…oh.”
“You’re safe with me, he won’t be.”
*****
“She slept better the rest of the trip, bastard never came for her.”
Just then the door opened with a bang and Cara and the rest of the guides looked over. She expected it to perhaps be Old Needle who was always late and liked to make an entrance but as a puff of snow came in she realized it was only the wind.
@whumperless-whump-event Day 14: The Final Straw: Grief / "You don't need to be okay right now."
Thunderbirds, Jeff & Scott Tracy
Part One: 200 words, Double Drabble
Part Two: 200 words, Double Drabble
~
‘And give my regards to your lovely wife.’
It had been kindly meant by a semi-regular customer but to Jeff it was the final straw.
All the walls he’d erected around his heart and his grief crumbled like a cookie dipped too long in milk.
He shattered.
Jeff drove home on autopilot, abandoned the car haphazardly in the driveway and locked himself in his study.
And he opened the whisky.
Scott stopped at the sight of the car. Alan, sitting on his shoulders, protested the sudden stop by tugging on his hair, but Scott ignored him and rushed inside, depositing the toddler in the playpen in the kitchen.
A gut wrenching howl had Scott running for the study and he banged on the door. When his dad didn’t answer Scott fetched the spare key and opened the door.
Jeff was sitting on the floor, the room in disarray and he was crying.
Scott immediately folded him into a hug, holding him tightly.
‘I’m sorry. I’m no good for any of you.’
‘You don’t have to be okay right now, Dad. You’re grieving.’
‘But…’
‘It’s okay. I’ve got them. I’ve got you.’
And Jeff cried himself to sleep in his son’s arms.
~~~~~
‘You don’t have to be okay right now, Son.’
Scott looked blankly at him. Jeff so wanted to fold his son into a hug, just as his boy had done for him all those years ago, but he couldn’t…
It was a miracle Scott had been found alive at all.
Jeff had grieved his death.
And then celebrated Scott’s rescue.
But the man in the bed was a Scott Jeff did not know, and a part of him grieved anew at the horrors his beautiful boy had been put through.
A door banged somewhere and Scott violently flinched. It triggered…something…and Scott began to scream, tearing at his bandages and IVs.
Jeff froze, then Scott was on him and he was being backed into the corner. The blows didn’t hurt but Jeff was worried Scott would reinjure himself. He kept speaking softly, trying to reach him.
The same could not be said of the nurses that rushed in. They grabbed Scott. He became more aggressive until he was restrained and a sedative administered.
Jeff held him carefully as the meds worked.
Their treatment was the final straw. As soon as he was settled Jeff started planning on getting them both home.
