#I need some icons that aren't male savants that speak with an insultingly robotic tone okay fight me

[tuhbanbuv]

Bathtime (MRL Oneshot)

Bathtime

Madrat has some things to get used to in his new life as a pet.

Can’t get more cliché than a bath fanfiction. If just being held made him break down, I don’t expect bathtime to be that fun for Madrat. Also, I’ve been wanting to do some more stuff with Caroline being autistic cuz she’s my neurodivergent comfort character. Did you know that autism in women is commonly misdiagnosed or overlooked? Food for thought…

TW: Death mention, paranoia, panic attack, drug mention, depression, bullying, swearing, zalgo text.

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It had been raining nonstop for the past week, and cabin fever had set in by the second day.

Alice had locked the cat doors, which Heart could’ve cared less for, but that simple gesture made Madrat silently furious. By the third day, he had already chewed up the bottom corner of the door until he was no longer allowed to be in the living room unless he was in his playpen.

He chewed a hole through one of the walls out of spite.

Eventually, on the eighth day, it was bright and sunny. Madrat pawed at the door with excitement as Alice unlocked the cat door.

“Fucking finally. What was taking you so long, woman?” He snarked.

“Don’t be rude-!” Heart hissed, smacking Madrat with his declawed paw.

“Hey-!”

His focus shifted as the lock clicked, opening the cat door.

“Be careful, Caroline. It’s really slick out there with all the mud—”

“Freedom-!” Madrat squealed with joy as he bolted out the door.

“Madrat, wait up!” Caroline giggled, running after him with Heart at her side. Madrat scurried along the back porch, claws scraping at the wooden planks as he excitedly ran towards the yard.

That was, until he fell off the back steps, and into a puddle of mud.

“ACK—”

With a swift splat, he disappeared into a thick pile of mud.

“Madrat—” Heart ran after him, slowing down as he walked down the steps, watching as the rat slowly emerged out of the mud. Once he saw his eyes open, looking up at him, his fear was flushed away with loud, bellowing laughter.

“Quiet, you.” He hissed. “Pleugh—what is this?!”

“Aw, Madrat!” Caroline sighed. “You got all muddy!” She threw her hands up and down with enough force that Madrat was surprised she didn’t lose her balance. “You’re gonna need a bath now!”

“…bath?”

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Caroline closed the door behind her.

“Uh, what are you doing?”

“I’m gonna give you a bath!” Caroline replied.

“I’m gonna need a little bit more context, kid.” Madrat growled. He looked over as Caroline set him in the sink. Caroline pulled a stepping stool in front of the sink, stepping up until she was tall enough to see above the counter. She pushed down the metal piece in the middle, blocking the drain.

Caroline reached over to the bath, pulling a tub of shampoo onto the sink counter.

“Uncle Van says that rats can clean themselves with their tongues!” Caroline explained. “But if mom won’t let me eat mud, I don’t think she wants you to eat mud, so I’m gonna wash it all off!”

Caroline turned on the faucet. As the water level slowly rose, Madrat felt his heart pound harder and harder. He felt tense. What was she planning? It was rising quicker now, almost past his legs.

Why was it rising? Why wasn’t Caroline pulling the drain? W̵a̶s̸ ̵s̸h̶e̶ ̴g̶o̶i̷n̷g̸ ̷t̶o̵ ̵d̵r̵o̶w̴n̷ ̸h̸i̵m̵?̷

“No…no…” Madrat began to claw at the walls of the sink, struggling to climb out. His paws could barely reach the edge. No. He was going to d̵̗̉ḭ̷̑ė̸͓. He was going to drown and the w̶a̴t̵e̴r̴ ̸l̴e̶v̸e̷l̸s̵ ̵w̴e̷r̴e̶ ̸g̸e̸t̸t̶i̴n̷g̵ ̷t̶o̴o̸ ̸h̴i̶g̶h̶ w̸̰̓h̴͔̊y̷̬͗ ̴̻͊ḭ̴̏s̴̰̀ ̴̯̿C̵̣͠a̴̙͒r̷͉̉ő̴̤l̶͖̓í̴̥n̵̘͒ė̵̻ ̶̘̂ẅ̸͕ȧ̷͚t̴̯͋c̷̞͛ḥ̴͊ȉ̵͈n̶̹͒g̶͕͌ w̸͔͒̿h̸̯̦͝y̸͇͐̆ ̷̜̏͂ḯ̴͙̋s̶̰͆͘ṅ̷̹͜’̷̛͎́t̸͚͉̋̈ ̶̗̅͑s̴͕̣̀̈́h̶͈̏ȇ̶̘̾—̴͇̎̐

She turned the faucet off, the water flow stopping instantly. It was still too high, it was around his waist now. He wanted out of the sink. He wanted out. His vision was growing blurry, his heart pounding in his ears.

“Caroline…Caroline—” He whimpered. He felt something wet grazing against his side, startling him. He flinched, nearly falling down into the water. He scrambled frantically as Caroline caught him.

“Don’t be scared, Madrat!” Caroline giggled. “It’s just a bath!” Madrat tightly clung to her hand, digging his claws into her fingers. He felt out of breath, shaking violently. Why wasn’t she hurting him? She could easily drown him, why wasn’t she doing it already?

He felt one of the hands go away for a few seconds, only for something cold and wet to fall on his back. He opened his eyes, looking up as Caroline poured something onto him. She began to stroke his fur, brushing her fingers along her back as she rubbed the shampoo into his fur. Madrat stared up, looking up at her with a look of absolute fear in his eyes. He shook violently, even if the water was warm. He could feel his heart beating like a machine gun against the palms of her hands.

“It’s okay, Madrat!” Caroline said. “I hate baths, too. Mommy gets the soap in my eyes and it hurts really, really bad, but I’m gonna try not to get the soap in your eyes so it won’t hurt.”

“Mmh…” He was too scared to speak, only being able to let out murmurs and whimpers. He flinched as he felt a sponge pressing against his side. She gently began to stroke his back, brushing it along his back over and over. As time went by, the chance that she’d hurt him went down significantly. He could trust her.

Madrat felt so weak after panicking so much. He couldn’t stop trembling, even if his anxiety was going down. He laid in her hands, looking up at her with resignation in his eyes.

He was going to be okay.

The more Caroline stroked his fur, the more he wanted her to pet him. He was gravitated towards her, almost magnetized towards her hand. He brushed his head along her palm, leaning into her hand.

In between every faint whimper, he began to chatter, weakly bruxing. Caroline giggled in response, stroking his fur some more.

“Hfff…tchtchtch…hhf…” He bruxed, trying to crawl up her arms.

“All done!” Caroline giggled, gently grabbing Madrat. She pulled him out of the sink, resting him on a towel she set on the counter before draining the sink.

She came back to him, pulling the corners of the towel up around him. She brushed the towel around him, rubbing it against his fur. It felt so warm and soft. She was so gentle with him, hardly pulling on his fur. He felt so tired, more relaxed. He looked up at her. She was smiling so happily.

Madrat felt his eyelids growing heavier and heavier.

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“Caroline?” Ben asked, opening the door to the bathroom. He saw his daughter, standing on a stool peering over a slightly muddy sink drenched in bubbles, holding one of her pet rats in a towel. “What are you doing, sweetie? You going for a world record for hand washing?”

“No!” Caroline puffed up her cheeks in frustration. “I had to give Madrat a bath because he got really muddy outside, see?” Ben looked down, peering over her shoulder as he looked at the rat wrapped in the towel. It was Madrat, his eyes closed as he sleepily pawed at the towel.

“Oh, that’s precious.” He muttered, gently petting his head with his thumb. “Little guy looks tuckered out. You must’ve had to chase him around the bathroom, can’t imagine getting him in the bath was easy.”

“No, he stayed really still!” Caroline replied. “He got really scared at first, but I helped him feel unscared!” Ben smiled, patting his daughter on the head. “He was bruxing, but when I dried him off he fell asleep!”

“He must really trust you, then.” He chuckled. He continued to scratch Madrat behind his ear, causing the gray rex to brux in his sleep. He smiled, stroking him on the head. He almost felt his eyes well up with tears. He couldn’t remember a day before they adopted Madrat and Heart where she was happy for so long. Most days began and ended with a meltdown, having to be pulled out of class almost daily. Seeing her cry almost every day broke his heart, the Mondays she struggled to find the courage to get out of bed destroyed him.

“You ready for tomorrow, sweetie?”

“No…” She muttered. “I don’t wanna get a shot…”

“No, sweetie.” Ben shook his head. “You’re not getting a shot. This is a different kind of doctor.”

“But doctors always give you shots!” Caroline exclaimed. “You’re not making any sense, daddy…” She whimpered.

“It’s okay. The doctor will just wanna talk to you and see how you’re doing. It’ll be just like writing in your diary, but talking out loud.” She bit her lip, looking down as she cradled Madrat in her arms. “This doctor will make you feel better by talking to you, no needles.”

“Or yucky medicine?”

“Maybe. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure it’s the right medicine this time. Medicine that isn’t yucky.”

“Okay, daddy…”