#febwhumpday6

[wrencatte]

Febwhump Day 6: Forced to Stay Awake Post Survivor. Merrin POV there's very little "forced to stay awake" but intention is there

master post

The Mantis is quiet. Not like the dead, though she wishes that were so. The dead sing, they scream, they whisper. This is too much like nothing at all.

Merrin leans against the wall, her hand buried in Cal’s hair where he lays next to her, arms wrapped around her leg, face pressed to her thigh as another tremor wracks his body and pulls a whine from his lips. She soothes him the best she can with what she can, carding her fingers through his hair, careful to avoid the head wound. It doesn’t do much. His body is painfully tense, his teeth clenched so hard her own jaw aches in sympathy.

Eventually the worst fades and he lets out a sigh. One eye peeks open, bright with fever and pain as he looks up at her through the dim.

“You don’t have to stay,” he slurs even as his arm tightens around her leg. Merrin shakes her head.

“I do not have to,” she agrees. “I want to.”

Cal closes his eyes again, breaths hitching.

She feels when the next wave of pain comes before she sees it. The way his fingers dig into her trousers, the overlay of bruises from where he’s gripping her too hard. Merrin hasn’t said a word about it. Hasn’t flinched. Hasn’t blamed him in the slightest for the pain. Not when he’s gasping and then choking on it, his feet kicking feebly as pain engulfs him again like clockwork.

Merrin hunches over him, shushing and murmuring words of comfort in tandem. Nothing they’ve done has helped. No drugs, no magick, no Force will take his pain and let him sleep. If he could sleep, this would be easier. Sleep through the worst of it. Sleep through this living nightmare. But the cocktail of drugs in his system keeps him awake and aware, keeps him feeling every single moment of pain.

They had wanted to torture him. Make him pliant to their questions. They received no answers because Cal is strong and stubborn and instead got a pissed off Nightsister and Jedi Master tearing their base apart. Now they can only wait for the drugs to leave his system naturally. Now, they can only watch as he suffers.

When this bout of suffering eases, Cal goes limp. For a moment, there’s hope that he’s finally passed out, but when Merrin tilts his face, she’s met with hooded, red-rimmed eyes that plead for her to make it all stop. His miserable expression brings tears to her own eyes. She would give anything to help him. She traces the contours of his face, thumbing away tears. He closes his eyes with a sigh.

The door whooshes open to let Cere in. She doesn’t bother asking for an update. The Force tells her all she needs to know. Instead, she sits on Cal’s other side, untucks the warmed cool pack from under his shirt and replaces it with a fresh one. Cal murmurs something under his breath too quiet to hear, and he unspools a little more. Cere settles a grounding hand on his arm as the knots retighten and he whines, gripping onto Merrin once more.

“I can stay with him,” Cere says quietly. Merrin shakes her head. She strokes his temple where sweat slides down to mix with tears, brushing it away before it starts pooling. “You need to sleep, Merrin.”

It seems unfair to sleep when Cal cannot. “A little longer,” Merrin murmurs.

Cere doesn’t sigh. She also doesn’t leave.

[dragonsarecool]

Febwhump Day 6 - Forced to Stay Awake

Day 6 - Forced to Stay Awake

A/N: Julian finds himself overwhelmed on the Teplan homeworld. Set during 'The Quickening'.

He was tired.

He was so tired.

He hadn't been this tired since his first year of medical school, where late nights and early morning beverages had been his constant companions.

Julian finished the third cup of his ration-pack coffee, staring wearily around the room. Much to his surprise, moonlight was still peeking through the gaps in the dirt layering the windows. Seriously? Feels like it's been days in here…

He pushed the closest one open and took in a fresh breath of the night air, relieved to be able to step away from Ekoria's labour for a moment. None of the local midwives or physicians had offered to lend their assistance, and despite going out into the streets and pleading with the villagers a few hours' prior, Julian remained Ekoria's sole support and care provider.

But eighteen hours of non-stop labour care was beginning to take its toll on both the doctor and his patient. Despite Ekoria's repeated insistences that he take the time to sleep properly, Julian refused to abandon her.

Yawning so hard he thought his jaw would dislocate, Julian rubbed his eyes furiously as Ekoria roared with another contraction. By his calculations and limited knowledge of the planet's rotation, it was roughly just after four in the morning.

He took a moment to admire the stars, glittering like billions of sequins across the horizon. It'd been a long time since he'd seen them this brilliantly from a planet; the Earth had far too much light pollution these days, and those from the station were usually dimmed by Bajor's rotation.

"GAHHHH! JULIAN!"

The young man was startled out of his sleepy daze. The change in pitch of Ekoria's cry was a promising sign, and he prayed it was indicating that their trial was nearly at an end. He closed the window and rushed back to her side. "I'm here."

Ekoria heaved herself onto her elbows, raising her sweaty hair from the equally drenched pillowcase. She gritted her teeth as she grunted, pulling on the sheets beneath her. "Julian!"

"Talk to me, Ekoria," Julian grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently. "What are you feeling?"

Her only answer was a mix between a scream and a grunt, but it contained all the information he needed. "Are you feeling lots of pressure?"

Muted with pain, Ekoria nodded hysterically.

Excellent. Looks like active second stage is about to commence. "This is good, Ekoria. This is good!"

Without hesitation, Julian sprinted to the kitchen and began filling a bowl with hot water. Hopefully this won't take as long as I think it will.

****

"Push!" Julian ordered, adjusting his hands as a greater portion of the baby's head came into view. "I can see his head, Ekoria. Push! Keep pushing!"

Ekoria only groaned in reply, pulling the bedsheets beneath her into the palms of her hands. She arched her head back, scrunching her eyes closed as she obeyed Julian and pushed. "Gahh!"

He'd barely opened his mouth to coach her through the next push when the baby's head suddenly fully emerged, cringing as he saw Ekoria's flesh distort and tear around the child. He had to dodge to avoid receiving a fateful of blood and amniotic fluid. Ekoria caught her breath before giving another involuntary push, and Julian managed to catch the child before he was spurted out onto the floor.

For a moment, all he could do was stare.

His flesh!…

A weak cry gurgled in the baby's throat. Julian grabbed the nearest cloth and began drying the infant, refusing to stop until the whimper reached a satisfactory volume. The baby began to turn pink, flapping his arms around so much that Julian had to tighten his grip to stop him from falling.

His eyes widened as he took in the child's pristine skin. Taking an edge of the towel, he tried to wipe away the remaining patches of vernix, his eyes scouring every inch of flesh for any signs of the Blight.

"My God!…" Julian could barely contain his joy. He held the spotless child out to Ekoria, giggling with tears in his eyes. "It all makes sense now! That's why there's no antigen in your system. It's all been absorbed through the placenta!"

Struggling to sit up, Ekoria gave him a confused look. The fatigue was obvious in her face, and she panted wheezily for breath.

"Ekoria, he doesn't have any lesions," Julian reiterated tearfully. "He doesn't have the Blight!"

It took a moment for Ekoria to process the news. A few tears escaped her eyes as she ran a trembling finger across the baby's forehead. Her breath rattled in an eerily familiar manner; a cold sweat came over him as Ekoria slumped into the mattress, her eyes fluttering closed.

No…

"Ekoria?!" Julian's voice began to tremble. "No, Ekoria, don't…not now!"

He rubbed her sternum viciously and ignored the disgusting cracks coming from her brittle bones, praying for some sort of response. "Ekoria!"

Pressing against her jugular, his heart sank as the artery remained still beneath his fingertips. He watched her lifeless diaphragm for the longest ten seconds of his life, finally accepting the reality he'd been presented with.

The baby cooed in his arms, and he found his eyes drawn to him. A warm tear ran down his cheek and onto his forehead. Julian hurried to wipe it away, stroking the child's face tenderly.

"Oh, little one," Julian whispered, his voice cracking. "I'm so sorry…"

A tiny hand clutched around his finger, accompanied by a wide pair of innocent blue eyes.

The baby wailed, and he too began to sob.

[crowleychild]

DAY 6: FORCED TO STAY AWAKE

Fandom: Star Wars

Rating: T

Warnings: Slavery, physical and mental torture, visions, mention of violence, slowly going insane.

It's funny how being trapped in a live or death situation really kicks in your instincts. Obi-Wan knew there were planets where people had to fight to survive, and he had been on some of them, but at the end of the day, he lived in Coruscat. He had always lived there, and even though sometimes he felt guilty, he wasn't prepared for Kadavo.

The first night there, he couldn’t sleep. He didn’t want to. He was too afraid of something happening to the Togrutas. Even when his eyes started to close, too tired to keep them open, a whisper, a cough or a metallic sound would wake him up again. He had to be alert, he was the only one who could help them.

He guesses now that he should have slept that night, because you never know when your next chance of sleeping will be.

After that night, the slavers started punishing innocent people if he helped anyone.

He could get them killed if he didn't learn how to act against his code.

Still, each lash a togruta received, he felt it on his own flesh, each time someone was beat up, he felt the pain on his bones.

Each night, the guilt didn’t let him sleep. He will hear distant wails and cries, people shivering, fighting against the fever or internal bleeding, knowing he couldn’t do anything. Only listen to them, feel their helplessness and pain while staying quiet himself, or else someone will be punished again. But he couldn’t sleep because each sound reminded him of how useless he was, and his heart would ache even more.

When the short periods of rest were over, he was put to work again, doing as he was told, without looking at what was happening near him.

He had always been fit, his training at the Jedi Temple had made sure of that, but as each sleepless night passed, he began to feel dizzy, his muscles started to fail and any simple task felt as impossible, his concentration skills completely gone. He could only look straight ahead, move whatever heavy load he had been ordered to carry, and repeat the whole process over and over again until they were allowed to stop.

But even that began to be too difficult, so his slowness called the guards attention and they started to have fun with him too. They would kick his plate, throw all of his food everywhere, and then laugh. They would wake him up at night when unconsciousness finally found him, when rather than falling asleep he fainted. And they would laugh.

One night, he dreamed that Anakin and his battalion came to rescue them. He could hear the voices of the men, he saw Anakin smirk, that smile that never left his face, he could feel a pair of hands lifting him and carrying him to somewhere safer.

When the vision ended he realized he was still in the mines.

He dreamed of that every night. He didn’t even have to close his eyes, or sleep, they would just appear when everything was still, to give him a little bit of hope, just to disappear when he heard a cry of pain somewhere, and the guilt, the pain and the dizziness would return.

It was just the same, every day (or at least what they thought a day was in that place with no sun). He could only look straight ahead, move whatever heavy load he had been ordered to carry, and repeat the whole process over and over again until they were allowed to stop.

Then he would see how they were rescued, he would see Anakin saving him, now angry because this slave scum had had him for far too much time, and that he would kill them all. Then Obi-Wan would feel scared, because he could not say if those thoughts were his or Anakin´s, and it is not correct for a Jedi to think like that.

But at the end of the day, he supposed he was not a Jedi anymore.

A sudden light or a guard hitting him would wake him up again, if he had even slept, and the guilt, the pain and the dizziness would return.

He would only look straight ahead, move whatever heavy load he had been ordered to carry, and repeat the whole process over and over again until they were allowed to stop.

Over and over and over and over…

link to my ao3 work:

tags: @febuwhump

p.s: today is my birthday!!

[linecrosser]

Febwhump 2023 - No.6 - Secret Revealed

Dreeki who show the markings of the Taint tend to hide them. It is a heavy stigma. Recha managed to cover hers up for a while, but it did not last.

Then there are those who don't give a rat's ass about the Taint

[sisters-sideblog]

Day 6: Hypothermia (Legend)

Snap.

Legend managed to stop his head from going under, the sound of breaking ice echoing in his ears, but for one shattering moment he still couldn’t breathe. Every muscle seized, cold burning like fire. Legend stared at his hands, forearms splayed across a surface covered in spiderweb cracks. Breathe. Breathe!

He fought past the initial shock. His first gasp in sounded like that of a drowning man.

One ring in particular glinted back at him, mocking.

No sliding on ice.

Fat lot of good that did him, came the slightly hysterical thought, when the ice simply shattered beneath him.