#whumper and caretaker

[shattermind-8]

In the Moment

Cw: Manipulation, Non-con kissing, heartbreak

"What's talking them so long?" Caretaker was nervously looking at the time on their phone. They were starting to get worried. Whumpee should have arrived at the party by now.

"Waiting for someone?" Whumper had approached Caretaker from behind without them noticing.

Caretaker turned around and looked at Whumper with wide eyes, speechlessly. They knew Whumper. Not well, but they knew Whumpee didn't like them. Knew what they did to their friend.

Before Caretaker could respond Whumper reacted to the music changing in the background with a smile. "Oh, isn't that Whumpees favorite song? A shame they they're not here yet."

Caretaker assumed the worst. "What did you do to them?"

"Nothing... yet. How about we dance to pass the time while we wait?"

Before Caretaker had the chance to react Whumper had already grabbed them by the wrist and started dragging them towards the dance floor. "Let me go!" They tried to pull away.

Whumper only pulled them closer. "Play along now. We don't want anyone to get hurt, now do we?"

Whumper started moving along to the sound of the music dragging Caretaker along with them who was too afraid to fight back afraid of what Whumper might do to them if they tried or worse what they might do to Whumpee. As the two of them kept dancing along to the music they drew more and attention to themselves until pretty much everyone at the party was looking at them.

As the song started to get to an end Whumper decided on a move for the grand finale. They pulled Caretaker in close and in awe of everyone present forced a long drawn out kiss on Caretakers lips.

Whumpee had just arrived at the party. Their bike had broken down on the way there and they had to walk the rest of the way. They were worried Caretaker would be mad at them for being late so they hurried to find them. As they moved past the other party attendees they could make out murmurs about Caretakers activities on the dance floor with..

..Whumper!?

What was going on? Whumpee rushed to the dance floor as fast as they could. Only to arrive just in time to see Caretaker, their best friend who was there for them in their darkest times and whomst they would blindly trust with their life, embracing and 'passionately' making out with Whumper, their worst nightmare who had tormented them for all those years. Whumpee could barely hold back their tears. How could Caretaker do this to them? Why would Caretaker do this to them?

When Whumper finally let go of Caretaker Whumpee had already left.

[gotta-whump-them-all]

Random Whump Idea

I had this semi-odd whump idea that I want to share.

{Whumpee in physical therapy}

Like just think of this, Whumpee went through severe physical harm from whumper. The type of harm to their body that makes it damn near impossible to do some things.

Using their fine motor skills, using some of their gross motor skills, not properly walking, etc.

So now that whumpee escaped from whumper and they were found by caretaker. After a couple of days, caretaker is like "Um, are you okay whumpee? You've been walking weirdly for the last few days,"

Then caretaker finds out of all the physical torture that whumpee went through and the only thing that caretaker can think of doing to help is to put whumpee into physical therapy.

[pigeonwhumps]

The vet

Sanctuary masterlist

Taglist: @littlespacecastle @whumpymirages @flowersarefreetherapy

Lea gets appendicitis and has a horrible trip to the vet for emergency medical care (including a nasty surprise).

Set about three months after Lea comes to live with Anita. Well before the Diwali celebrations.

8k

CWs: appendicitis, emeto, reproductive health discussion, talk of past forced sterilisation, medical whump, medical setting, surgery, electric shocks, restraints, muzzle, leash, BBU, pet whump, dehumanisation, it/its for dehumanising (brief), fear of death, fear of abandonment, forced clothes change and stripping (non-sexual), discussion of killing in the form of putting down, conditioning, implied/referenced non-con, fear of punishment

Anita's not sure what wakes her at first.

Her room's as dark as it ever gets with the streetlight shining directly towards her window, filtered by the old not-so-blackout-anymore blind, and it seems quiet.

A tiny whimper draws her attention. Then there's a small groan, coming from the direction of the wardrobe. Anita pushes herself out of bed and heads over there – it's probably Lea, and it sounds like she's having a nightmare. Anita can't just leave her.

Her wardrobe is open a crack and she nudges it, opening it further to let in the light.

Wide, scared, pained eyes stare up at her from a ball in the clothes. This isn't a nightmare. Anita crouches down in front of her.

"Lea? Sweetheart? What's wrong?"

"Hurts," moans Lea, curling up more and clutching her stomach, "hurts, Mistress, please."

"How much? Can you move?"

Lea tries and only ends up turning over, spewing bile over the clean clothes, arms shaking as she pushes herself onto her elbows. Anita catches her before she can collapse into the pile of vomit. This isn't looking good.

"Easy, sweetheart, easy. We need to get you to some medical help, can you lean on me while I call a cab?"

Lea does so, breathing heavily, Anita's arm wrapped around her, and Anita calls the first taxi company she has saved.

"Sam's Taxis, how can I help?"

"I'd like a taxi to pick us up from Crescent Building, Park Close as soon as possible. Pet-friendly. It's an emergency. My name's Anita Ranjit."

"We'll have one out to you in a few minutes."

"Right. Thanks." She hangs up and turns to Lea. "Okay. Someone's coming. I'm taking you to the vet I'm afraid, there's no-one else this time of night. We need to get your coat and harness on, hold onto me." Lea does, grip weak, and Anita carries her out to the hallway. It's the first time she's been glad the woman's still so light. When they reach the hall Anita helps her put her coat, scarf and boots on, manoeuvring her arms into the light blue harness too. Lea whimpers.

"I'm sorry sweetheart. It's the law, I can't take you out without a leash."

"Lea?" whispers a terrified voice. Anita looks up to see Theo standing there, hands clapped to his mouth to stop himself speaking again.

"I'm taking Lea to the vets," she says clearly, and he looks even more scared. "She's coming back, she'll be okay. But she's ill. You stay here with paati, alright sweetheart?" Theo nods, still looking scared, and Anita pulls a post-it note off the noticeboard and scribbles the situation down in Tamil. "Here. Give this to Indira and ask her to read it to you." Theo nods. "Good. Come on Lea, let's get you outside."

She carries Lea down the lift (faster, why can't it move faster?), and by the time they get out to the street there's already an unfamiliar car there. The driver pokes his head out the window.

"Anita Ranjit?"

"Yeah, that's me." She hurried over to him and he steps out, opening the back door.

"That your pet? She's a cute one, isn't she?"

"Don't touch her," warns Anita as the man reaches out.

"Fine, fine." He holds up his hands and sits back in the driver's seat as Anita settles herself and Lea in the back, trying to make Lea as comfortable as possible. "Where to?"

"Blue Light Pet Hospital."

"Right."

It doesn't take long to get there, and Anita calls on the way to make sure they're ready for her. When they reach the hospital she pays and rushes inside to the reception, Lea in her arms.

"Anita Ranjit, I just called?"

"Just through there, ma'am."

Anita follows the receptionist's pointing and enters a small bright consultation room, sitting Lea carefully on the bed, an arm behind her back to help her stay upright. The fresh air seems to have helped a little but she's still weak and shaky.

"I'm Dr Rachel Archer," says the bespectacled vet, hair tied in a bun, "what seems to be the problem?"

"Lea's in pain," replies Anita, sharper than she means to.

"I need details, Miss Ranjit. Where? What sort of pain? Lea, can you tell me?"

Lea gestures weakly to her abdomen.

"Sharp. It... it was– was better but it got worse." She bends forward and dry heaves over the bed. Anita rubs her back, wondering just how bad it's been, and how long she's been hurting. She hasn't said a word.

"Hmm. I'm going to get an ultrasound room prepped." She types something in on her computer. "I need to access her medical records. Hold out your arm." Lea does so and the vet scans the barcode tattooed on it. "Right. If you just remove her coat and put the harness back on." Anita does so, seeing Lea's goosebumps as her skin's exposed to the cool air of the consultation room. "You can take your pet through there now, and then we can discuss payment methods."

Anita picks up Lea and heads out to a corridor beyond, where a woman is waiting. They follow her into a room with a bed and an ultrasound scanner. There's leather restraints on the bed.

"Just put it down here."

Anita lays Lea down on the bed and squeezes her hand. "Please, don't use the restraints unless it's absolutely necessary."

"We won't. Now if you'd like to head back to Dr Archer and we'll return your pet once we're finished."

Anita nods. "I'll see you soon, sweetheart." And she forces herself to walk out of the room.

_

Lea whimpers as the door shuts behind Mistress Anita. She's in pain, so much so that Mistress Anita noticed and brought her here, and she's going to be in so much trouble for inconveniencing her owner. And Mistress Anita says she'll be back but will she? When? Lea knows she should believe her owner but... this place... it's scary.

The woman Mistress Anita spoke to hooks her leash to the wall and starts strapping her arms and legs to the bed.

"Just a precaution. I assume you won't misbehave, but if you do, I have this." She holds up a thin black baton. "It delivers mild electric shocks, and I'll use it on your palm if you misbehave. You understand?"

Lea nods vigorously, making her head spin.

"Good. Now stay still." The woman pushes up Lea's nightdress and spreads a cold cream on her abdomen.

Lea yelps.

"Come on, stop being such a baby, it's only cream." But she can't help it. The texture is just wrong, and normally she could control her reaction to that but it hurts so much, the woman's pressing lightly on her abdomen to apply the cream and it just makes it worse. "I told you to shut up and stay still." Lea can't, she can't, it's too much, she tries but she didn't even realise she was moving, she doesn't know how to stop, and she feels a sharp, hot shock to her hand that makes her gasp. She turns to the side and throws up.

"Are you done with your little tantrum now?" Lea nods. "Good. Now I can get on with the ultrasound." As she brings over an electronic device attached to a white lead and starts running it over the cream-covered area, she mutters, "Bet you're a Romantic. Manipulating me into thinking you're well-behaved and then doing this. Wasting my time. You Romantics are always selfish like that."

But... but it wasn't deliberate. She didn't mean to waste time.

That doesn't matter though, she's still badly behaved.

Will the woman tell Mistress Anita? What if Mistress Anita decides that this means she's too much trouble to keep?

Lea fights to stay still as the woman draws the device across her abdomen and then washes off the cream.

"Right, we're done." She presses a button, then unstraps Lea and unhooks her leash. "Get up."

Lea rises as fast as she can, feeling a little dizzy. Her hand hurts now, in addition to her stomach, and she's not sure she can stand but she manages it just about, keeping her hand on the bed to steady herself.

A man in a white coat walks in and the woman hands Lea's leash to him. "You can go back now. Go with the orderly and be quick about it."

"Yes, ma'am," whispers Lea, and she follows the man out of the room as fast as she can – which isn't very fast with all the pain, and he rolls his eyes, giving her an impatient look.

_

When Mistress and Lea have left, Theo heads towards Miss Indira's room, stomach tied in knots. What's happening to Lea?

Halfway down the hallway he bumps into Miss Indira, looking tired but alert.

"Theo? I heard a commotion, what happened?"

Theo hands her the note and links his fingers behind his back, trembling. What if... what if something bad's happened to Lea? Something worse than the vets.

She ushers Theo into the front room, where he kneels on the soft rug as she turns the kettle on in the adjoining kitchen. Then she comes back to join him, sitting on the sofa.

She reads Mistress' note and then looks directly at Theo, putting the post-it down to free her hands.

"Anita says that she's taken Lea to the vet, because she's in a lot of pain, she can barely move, and she's being sick. She'll call as soon as there's an update."

Theo trembles. The vets are horrible. He's only gone once and he still has nightmares. And his old master told him that sometimes pets don't come back.

He can't lose Lea again.

What if she doesn't come back? What if Mistress comes back with her dead body? What if– what if she loses her memory again or comes back different, with bits missing or– or–

He jumps as something lands on his shoulders. What's– oh.

Oh.

It's a dressing gown. Soft and fluffy and pink. He pulls it around himself.

"Any better?" He nods. "Lea will be back, Theo. Alive and well. Promise."

Theo nods. He's not sure he believes Miss Indira, but he can't tell her that.

Miss Indira crosses the room and takes a box off the bookshelf, placing it on the coffee table where there's two mugs.

When did they appear?

Oh, he's getting so much worse than he used to be. So much more badly behaved. He didn't even notice Miss Indira bring in the mugs! He didn't thank her (she doesn't drink hot chocolate, so surely that one's his, right?). In his old home that would've been a beating offence.

"The hot chocolate's yours."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"You're welcome. Jigsaw while we wait?"

Theo opens the box obediently and tips the pieces onto the table, sifting through them to make sure they're all the right way up. It's a big one, and it should draw his attention but it doesn't, his mind keeps wandering.

What's happening to Lea? Will she be alright? Will she be back? He can't stop himself from thinking about her. She's in trouble and he can't do anything to help.

_

"So I have your contact details here, from Lea's barcode. If you could just tell me your credit card number so we can charge you if you leave without paying, that would be great."

Anita nods and pulls it out of her pocket, rattling off the numbers. "How long until she comes back?"

"Should be very soon now, an ultrasound doesn't take long. Now, I know it's an unpleasant topic, but we need to discuss what you want to do if it turns out to be something serious."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, considering the cost and complexity of treatment for most serious ailments, many pet owners choose to have their pet put down. It's often–"

"No," says Anita firmly. "That's never going to happen."

"Are you sure? It's often kinder, given the pain, and if it's a burst appendix as I suspect, then–"

"You would kill Lea over appendicitis?" she asks, horrified. "That's easily treatable!"

"Peritonitis possibly, by this stage. And most owners... prefer not to. With the course of antibiotics needed it's a lot of work. It's company policy to offer it, I'm just doing my job."

"Just because it's your job doesn't mean you have to offer it. You're killing them when they could still have a fulfilling life. Don't ever bring the option up to me again, are we clear?"

"Of course, Miss Ranjit."

Just then the door opens, and a male orderly enters, leading Lea in by the leash. She looks like she can barely stand, tears in her eyes and hand held awkwardly, and Anita rushes forwards, snatching the leash and wrapping the woman's coat around her. Then she scoops her up, carrying her over to the bed.

"Lea, sweetheart, are you okay?"

Lea nods, settling against Anita's arm. Dr Archer clears her throat.

Anita looks up, trying to hide her anger. That's the last thing Lea needs to see, the last thing she should be showing if she doesn't want to be suspected as pet lib, but... they forced Lea to walk, even though she barely can, she's in tears from the pain, and she was definitely restrained in there, Anita can see the strap marks. But she can't think about that now or she'll explode.

"Yes?"

"The radiographer has sent the initial results in, and it's as I feared. Her appendix has burst."

"What's the treatment then?"

"She'll need an open appendectomy right away, which will take a couple of hours. The surgeon will remove the appendix and clean the abdominal area. I'm guessing, judging by her description of the pain earlier, that it was only a few hours, so I don't think we'll have too much infection to worry about, but I'll prescribe a course of antibiotics just in case. Make sure you give her the whole course if you don't want her infection to return."

"Will she be given anaesthetic?"

"Only spinal, so the surgery can be done safely. We don't stock general anesthetic here regularly, as owners rarely want to pay for it."

"Fine. Can I observe the operation?"

"We have an observation room, yes, for your peace of mind. It costs extra though."

"I will pay whatever's necessary for Lea to be taken care of."

"Well, if you agree to the procedure, I'll go and make sure there's an operating room ready."

Anita nods curtly and Dr Archer leaves the room. When they're alone, Anita turns to Lea.

"Did you understand what they're going to do?" Lea nods. "You'll be awake during the operation, but the spinal anaesthetic means you shouldn't feel any pain. Only a few hours and then we'll be able to leave. You're doing so well, sweetheart." She squeezes Lea's hand. "There is a question I want to ask you though, if you're up for it?"

Lea nods again, more apprehensively if that's possible. Anita takes a deep breath.

"Why didn't you tell me you were in pain? You must've been hurting for days. You're not in trouble, don't worry, I just... I'd like to know why you didn't say anything."

Lea swallows and speaks hoarsely. "I– I'm a pet, mistress. I can– I can take pain that people can't, and I didn't think– think there was anything that could– could be done. Pets can't– can't take most painkillers."

"Sweetheart, you can. I know you've been taught otherwise, but you can take them. If you're in pain in the future, I want you to tell me, okay? I don't want you to power through it when you're hurting."

"Yes, mistress. I'm– I'm sorry for thinking, I know it's– it's bad and I– I accept your punishment for it."

"There's nothing wrong with thinking, sweetheart. It's good to think. Just don't ignore what your body needs."

Lea frowns, but nods. "Yes, mistress."

Dr Archer pokes her head in the room. "They're ready to prep Lea now. If you both want to follow me."

Anita squeezes Lea's hand and picks her up bridal-style, following the vet out of the room and through the corridors. They stop just before reaching a set of doors leading to an operating theatre.

"I'll be here when you get out, sweetheart," Anita murmurs, releasing Lea reluctantly into the hands of another orderly, who takes her leash and leads her slowly inside, hand on her back.

"I'll show you to the observation room," says Dr Archer. Anita nods, wrenching her eyes away from the room Lea's disappeared into.

It's not far to the observation room, which is decorated like a hospital waiting room – a few informational posters regarding pet illnesses, treatment and payment plans, some old gossip magazines on a coffee table, and a couple of fabric chairs.

"One-way glass. This room's soundproof, and so's the theatre."

"Right." She watches as Lea's sat down on the bed. "What does the surgery prep involve?"

"They'll change her into a hospital gown and insert IVs for fluids. Usually we'd do a pregnancy test as well before deciding to do surgery, but since she's had a hysterectomy–"

"What do you mean, she's had a hysterectomy?!"

"It's in her medical records, and the ultrasound confirmed it. WRU performed it before her first contract. I assumed you were aware."

"I've never requested her medical records. It's her body. We did have an appointment next week with... someone else about her missed periods, although I guess that won't be necessary now."

"Mm. Well, I need you to sign these consent forms before we can go ahead."

Anita scans them. There doesn't seem to be anything dodgy in there, so she signs and hands back the clipboard. Then she spots the muzzle being put on Lea, and the tight restraints on her arms, legs, forehead and chest.

"Why all the restraints?"

"The radiologist reported that she misbehaved earlier. Better safe than sorry."

"Misbe– maybe her apparent 'misbehaviour' has something to do with being strapped down, with no explanation as to what's happening and no consideration of the fact that she's in tremendous pain and has sensitivity issues which you didn't even think to ask about!" She can hear her voice rising but she's past caring.

Dr Archer stiffens and her mouth thins. "Miss Ranjit. I understand you're upset and emotional over the condition of your pet, but we do have a dedicated complaints department and I would request that you email or telephone them instead of shouting at me about it. If you continue I will have to ask you to wait outside the building."

"Fine," snaps Anita. "Is there anything else?"

"Not for now. I'll send a prescription of antibiotics for you to pick up at the front desk, and once the surgery's finished you can leave with Lea as soon as you're ready."

"Painkillers?"

"We don't prescribe them here, sorry." She doesn't look remotely apologetic. "You can buy over-the-counter medicine at the front desk, if you really want something."

"Fine."

"Goodbye then."

"Yes. Goodbye."

Dr Archer leaves the room. Anita paces, practicing her breathing exercises. She hasn't had so much trouble with her anger for a while, but... god. The way people treat pets is abhorrent. Animals are often treated better. At least they get pain relief.

She swipes at her eyes. Fuck. She needs to call paati but it's too much. She needs to calm down first.

Once she's somewhat calm, she pulls her phone out of her pocket and dials home, switching to Tamil.

"Hello?"

"Paati? It's Anita."

"Anita! What's wrong? How's Lea?"

"I'm okay. Just a bit angry. She's... okay. She has a burst appendix but they're doing surgery now. There's more but it's not life threatening, don't worry, I just... I can't tell you it. Lea doesn't even know yet, I was told when she wasn't in the room. It's her medical details and they just... told me. Without her consent. And I know pets can't consent but it's just... I don't... yeah."

"Is that why you're upset? You sound upset, chotu."

"I mean, there's a lot of things, but... yeah. But also they... the vet gave me the option of putting Lea down. Said it would be cheaper and possibly better. She tried to persuade me to kill Lea over appendicitis, paati! And they don't prescribe painkillers either. I just... how? How can people know they treat other people like this and just accept it?"

"They don't always know," says paati tightly. "Which doesn't make it right, I know. And some of the people who do are cruel."

"Like Lea and Theo's previous owners. And their handlers."

"Mm. When will you be home, do you think?"

"Well the surgery's a couple of hours, and then I have to collect a prescription and talk to Lea about something so... sometime early morning? Tell Theo Lea's going to be okay." Anita really hopes that's true mentally as well as physically. "Oh, and can you do me a favour and clean out my wardrobe? Lea was sick in it."

"I will. Take care of yourself, and don't go punching someone."

"I won't, paati. It's been years since I did that. See you later."

"Goodbye."

Indira cuts off, and Anita pulls up her email, sending a message to the pet lib doctor who was going to see Lea next week cancelling the appointment and requesting appendectomy-level painkillers. Hopefully he'll reply soon.

Then there's nothing to distract her anymore. She watches Lea for a bit, but it feels wrong, this operation should be private, and Lea's open, terrified eyes are too much to watch without being able to go to her.

It occurs to Anita then that if Lea's appendix had burst at almost any other point after her arrival at WRU she would be dead now. From what she can gather from Theo their previous owners were the type to get their pet put down rather than pay for medical care, and there's no way WRU would've operated so thoroughly on a refurb boxie without even a prospective owner.

She sinks to the floor and buries her head in her arms. Oh, gods, Lea could've died. Anita would never have met her, Theo and her would never have reunited, her warm presence and the books scattered around the place as she determinedly learns to read would be gone. And yes, they've had problems, and they certainly would've had to buy less replacement mugs without her, but she wouldn't trade Lea for anything.

She knows for certain that Lea would be dead if she wasn't with her. And Doctor Archer offered to kill her, tried to persuade Anita to let her die, as if that wouldn't break them all entirely. As if it's not a gross violation of human rights (human rights, because despite what most of society says Lea is a person).

As if Lea hasn't already had her rights violated by the hysterectomy. God. And she doesn't even know about it. How barbaric do you have to be to want to perform that operation on someone without their consent? How can anyone do that? It's not like she doesn't know about the history of what seems like the whole damn world, but still...

How's she supposed to explain it to Lea and stay calm? How's she supposed to tell her that she can't have children? Sure, she can childmind and babysit, but even there there's stigma against Romantics. And as a pet she can't adopt.

If Lea ever wants to have children... well, maybe Anita can adopt on her behalf, when she's older, but having a Romantic in the house wouldn't make approval easy. She can only hope Lea doesn't want kids. Maybe that'll make the near-impossibility of having kids easier to stomach.

Or maybe not.

God. They cut Lea open and extracted bits of her without her even knowing. It's sick. And– and if Anita hadn't bought her, if this had happened while she was at WRU, or with her previous owners, she wouldn't even be here now.

Anita almost never knew her.

And as that sinks in, freezing her at the thought, she just cries. Great, heaving sobs that she can't seem to stop. It's all just too much.

_

Lea's not entirely sure what's happening. She has the explanation from the vet and Mistress Anita, but as soon as they started restraining her she retreated into her mind. She knows what people do when pets have restraints on, especially when there's so many. And the muzzle... a muzzle usually means they don't want to hear her scream.

She yelps when something hits her hand, a burning shock. She pulls it away quickly – wait, she can pull away? She can yelp?

"Come on, on your feet, you stupid mutt, I don't have all day."

Maybe she retreated too far, if she missed orders. She stands and waits as the man puts her harness on, yanking her arms around harshly to do so.

"Right. Come on. It's time to go back to your owner."

He leads her out of the room at a fast pace that she stumbles at, unable to keep up. He tuts impatiently but slows.

Then, just before turning into a what looks like a waiting area, with windows into the operating theatre, he puts a hand on her back and smiles, turning suddenly gentle. Why is he... oh. He opens the door and Mistress Anita's there, eyes red-rimmed.

Was she watching? Did she see Lea misbehave again? What'll she do to her for that? Surely she'll find out now. Will she return her? Please, no, anything but that.

"Here's your pet's clothes." The man hands Lea's clothes and boots to Mistress Anita, along with the end of her leash. "You can pick up your medicines at the front desk."

"That's it?" asks Mistress Anita, sounding stuffy. "You're not going to monitor her or anything?"

The man shrugs. "I'm sure you can take care of her fine, unless you'd prefer she stayed here for a few days."

Lea's eyes widen. No, no she can't do that! Please, don't make her do that.

"No. Thank you. I'll take her home. Any aftercare instructions?"

"They'll be in with her antibiotics, but no heavy lifting for at least two weeks. She can go back to her normal activities in three weeks, less if you're not too strenuous with her use. If you catch my drift."

"I'll be doubling that, then," spits Mistress Anita. "Thank you."

"Make sure you leave as promptly as possible. If you're here over 15 minutes we'll start charging."

"Of course. You might have to charge then."

The man nods and walks out. When they're alone Mistress Anita turns to her, helping her sit down. "Do you want help changing into your clothes, sweetheart?"

Lea shivers and nods. She's feeling very weak right now.

"Okay. Come on, let's get you into something warmer." She helps Lea out of the thin, itchy hospital gown and into her nightdress, coat, scarf and boots, averting her eyes from Lea's naked body when the time comes. Mistress Anita is gentle with her, patient, as she helps her manoeuvre her arms into her harness.

"Is that better sweetheart?" Lea nods, snuggling into the padded coat. "How do you feel?"

"Warm, mistress." And then, knowing now that Mistress Anita would prefer honesty, she adds, "It's– it's weird. I can't– can't feel anything below the– below the waist."

"That's the anaesthetic, it'll wear off soon. What happened to your hand?"

Anita gulps. "I– I misbehaved, mistress."

"No, I mean what did they do to you?"

"Sorry. It was– was an electric shock. It's okay, it– it didn't harm me. I'll be– be fine."

"It's not okay, they hurt you. That's not okay."

"Discipline is a– a necessary and humane event ensuring– ensuring the– the continued obedience and– and wellbeing of a pet," whispers Lea, and Mistress Anita pulls her into a careful hug, slow enough that she could get away if she wanted to. She won't though, this is her owner, and besides, it's... it's kind of nice.

"What they taught you... that doesn't make your treatment here okay." Lea sniffs. "Are you in pain at all?"

"My– my hand feels like I have– have pins and– and needles, mistress, but I can't– can't feel anything below– below my waist."

"Okay. We're getting painkillers on the way out anyway. There's, um, something I need to talk to you about. Something the vet mentioned while you were in the operating theatre."

Lea looks at Mistress Anita, who pulls away slightly but keeps Lea's hands gently in hers, stopping her from sliding off the chair and onto her knees. It's wrong. These chairs are for people, not pets, especially when she's done nothing to earn such comfort.

"When you were first with WRU, they performed a hysterectomy on you. Do you know what that is?" Lea shakes her head, wary of Mistress Anita's tone. "It's an operation to remove your uterus. It stops you having children. It also stops your periods which is why you haven't been getting them, so at least we can cancel that appointment, but... you won't be able to have kids, Lea. Not by giving birth, anyway."

Oh. Lea feels... numb. It's so sudden. She didn't even know they'd done that – maybe she doesn't need to know, though, she's only a stupid pet, it's not worth telling her, but Mistress Anita thinks she should know or she wouldn't tell her. Part of her strange emphasis on it being Lea's body, she supposes, an emphasis she still doesn't understand. Lea doesn't know what to feel. She's never really thought about having kids before but now she can't, now there's no option whatsoever of her having them, she's at a loss. It feels like she's lost something, something else she no longer has a choice in.

For a moment she feels intense hatred towards WRU, and she gasps, slamming a door shut on the feeling. No. No, that's not right, she doesn't hate them. They made her perfect for Mistress Anita, they trained her, she would be nothing without them. She couldn't even survive on her own.

She's grateful towards WRU, she doesn't hate them.

Tears prick at Lea's eyes and she lifts her arm to wipe at them before Mistress Anita sees. She's a good little Romantic, she doesn't cry unless her owner wants her to, if she's better off not being able to have children then that's fine.

Fine.

It's not her decision, it never has been, and it shouldn't be.

But she still can't help more tears pooling in her eyes and spilling down her cheeks.

"Lea, sweetheart, do you want a hug?"

Lea nods despite knowing what she should do, and Mistress Anita pulls her into her arms. She shouldn't cry but she does, sobbing into her owner's warm embrace.

"It's okay to cry, sweetheart, it's okay. You're allowed to be hurt and upset, if you need my permission." Lea buries her head in Mistress Anita's shoulder, shaking, and Mistress Anita rubs her back soothingly. "If you want to look after children, we can try childminding or babysitting. I know there's stigma against Romantics but we can find something. Although I'm not sure that's what you're upset about, and I know it's not the same. I'm so sorry sweetheart."

"I– I– I don't know why– why I'm upset, mistress," Lea sobs. "I'm– I'm sorry, I'm sorry– sorry, I'm sorry, I–"

"Shh. You have nothing to apologise for. It's okay that you don't know why. You just let it out, yeah? Just let it all out."

Lea nods. She can do that. It might not be useful but she can do it.

Eventually she manages to swallow her sobs and Mistress Anita wipes away her tears. "Shall we go home?"

"Please."

"Okay. Let me collect your prescription and pay, and then we'll go. Shall I carry you? You look a bit worn out."

Lea nods shakily and Mistress Anita lifts her into her arms. They walk out to reception, where Mistress Anita sets her down. Lea gets on her knees automatically.

"I've come to collect a prescription, and pay for Lea's treatment."

"What's your name, ma'am?"

"Anita Ranjit."

There's a sound of typing. "I'll just fetch the medicine for you, ma'am." Lea hears her footsteps moving away from the desk and then rustling. She jolts – the gait, the voice, that's another pet. Mistress Anita crouches down in front of her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, mistress."

"Okay. Good. We'll be going home soon."

"Yes, mistress."

Anita places a gentle hand on her shoulder and straightens up. A few seconds later, the receptionist speaks again.

"Anything else, ma'am?"

"The strongest painkillers you have."

"Ibuprofen, ma'am." She pauses, and says hesitantly, "I, um, I was told to give you this number by– a visitor. If you seemed trustworthy and you want something stronger. Ma'am."

"Thanks. We can definitely get some from them?"

"Yes, ma'am. I did."

"Thank you. You're a good girl." And Lea knows she's talking to the receptionist, but her voice is so soft, she can pretend it's for her – Mistress Anita is soft with her, too, but this feels different somehow. Maybe she is greedy, like her handler said, wanting even more praise and gentleness that she doesn't deserve. "Here's my number, in case you ever need help."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"I'll take two boxes of ibuprofen while I'm here though."

"Yes, ma'am. Anything else?"

"No– wait, yes, actually. Do you have anything for burns? Particularly if it's not a cream."

Lea hears the pet scurry off, and return a minute later. "These plasters work well on electricity burns, ma'am."

"Thank you."

"Is that everything?"

"Yes. Yes, that's all."

There's a pause. "That will be £4265.66, ma'am. How will you be paying?"

"Card. Does anyone even carry that amount of cash around with them?"

"Yes, ma'am. But I was asking if you have a payment plan, begging your forgiveness for the correction."

"Oh. Right. No, I'll pay for it now. I can pay off the credit card later."

"Yes, ma'am." There's some beeping, and then the reception pet says, "Here's your receipt. Have a good day, ma'am."

"And you, I guess. As good as you can get anyway."

"Thank you, ma'am."

It's only on their way out, Lea in Mistress Anita's arms, that Lea notices the screens in the other pet's room, one showing the room she met Mistress Anita in earlier.

Lea drifts in Mistress Anita's arms for a bit. She's confused. She doesn't know what that number meant, but it sounded like a lot of money. What did Mistress Anita mean by "pay it back later"? That means other money, right? She won't have to pay by some... other means. She can't, that wouldn't be fair. Lea's a trained Romantic, a pet, and it's her fault Mistress Anita has paid all that money, she should do it.

She should pay Mistress Anita back anyway. Thank her.

Lea jumps as she feels herself moving. She's in a car, head on Mistress Anita's lap while Mistress Anita herself reads a piece of paper.

When did that happen?

Her mouth is dry and she gulps. "Mistress– Mistress Anita?"

Mistress Anita moves her paper away and looks at Lea. "You're back! What is it, sweetheart?"

"Thank– thank you for getting me medical– medical care, mistress. Please allow me to– to thank you properly and pay you– you back for– for helping me so well." She's weak but she bats her eyes invitingly. Come on, please, let her thank Mistress Anita.

But she just looks sad.

"No, Lea. You don't have to do that. I don't need payment for taking care of you. I've told you, it's your body, I'm not going to take advantage of it. I didn't want you in pain or dead, that's why I did it. You alive is payment enough."

"Then what– what use am I, if– if you won't ever use me?" Lea bursts out, inhibitions disappearing after the day she's had, before she claps a hand to her mouth. No, she didn't mean to speak, no no no, and she didn't even address Mistress Anita properly, and now Mistress Anita will probably use her painfully just to prove a point. She's Mistress Anita's property, she shouldn't be saying things like that.

"Hey. Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you. You know, when we were in the hospital, the vet asked if I wanted you put down. I objected. Vehemently. I think she hates me now. I'd miss you terribly if you weren't here, Lea. Theo and Indira would too of course, but... our flat just wouldn't be the same without you. It wouldn't be our home, not without your books and scarves and your habit of watching horror films from behind Theo. I'm not sure I could stand the place without your presence. Theo certainly couldn't. As a pet, your primary aim is to make us happy, right? Lea, your companionship is more than enough to do that. You don't have to be used for anything else to justify your place with us. Okay, sweetheart?"

Lea nods, squeezing her eyes shut as tears trickle down her cheeks. Mistress Anita chose her. She could've gotten rid of her, no-one would've blamed her, she's a bit of a useless pet, but she didn't. She chose to keep her, despite all the alternatives.

Mistress Anita wants her.

"Oh, sweetheart. It's okay. You're okay."

"Thank– thank you, mistress," she croaks.

Mistress Anita strokes her shoulder. "It's not a problem." She pauses. "Are you going to tell Theo about the sterilisation? The hysterectomy."

Lea thinks for a minute, then nods. Theo's so nice to her, and he'll worry otherwise. She doesn't want to hide things, doesn't want to hurt him again.

"Okay. I think that's good, Theo will appreciate it. Do you mind if Indira knows? I need to contact some people about medical things and I'll need her help."

_

"No, ma'am." And she finds that she really, truly doesn't.

By the time the key turns in the lock, Theo's ready. Him and Miss Indira have cleaned Mistress' wardrobe and found some clean clothes for Lea to change into (her favourite unicorn-patterned nightdress and fluffy dressing gown) along with her favourite stuffed toy spider, Hugo II. Dal is simmering in a pot on the hob if she's hungry, the tea's out, and– and now there's nothing else useful to do. Theo's left staring at the front room door, willing it to open, dreading the state Lea could be in – Miss Indira reported from Mistress that she was going to be okay, but he can't quite believe it. Not unless he actually sees her with his own eyes. No pet comes back from the vet unscathed. That's what his old master said.

When Miss Indira signs to him that Mistress and Lea are out there, calling, Theo stiffens, preparing for the worst. She could have any number of injuries that would make her okay in most owners' books.

Or... or she could be not too bad, leaning heavily on Mistress, eyes red-rimmed and drooping, looking upset and weak with an inflamed palm but not too bad. She smiles weakly at the site of Theo, and he wants to run to her but he holds himself back, vibrating, he hasn't been given permission.

Miss Indira draws his attention and jerks her head towards Mistress and Lea, and Theo stands, crossing the room towards her and pulling her into a gentle hug (the vet probably hurt her, he doesn't want to make things worse). She hugs him back, one hand stroking his hair, head resting on his shoulder. He feels his pyjama top dampen. She's upset but– but she's home, and that's what matters. He feels his heartrate start to calm for the first time since Lea left.

Eventually Lea pulls away and takes his hand, crossing to sit under the reading lamp, where her face is lit up well. She opens her mouth, then closes it, looking away.

Theo squeezes her hand.

"I'm– I'm okay, Theo, but... when– when we were training together, years– years ago, they did an operation to– to stop me having children. I can't– can't ever have– have children."

Theo growls and hugs her gently. How dare they take yet another thing from her? Was her memory not enough?

"We made dal, if you want some. And there's clean clothes too." It's all he can offer in terms of comfort, he has no idea what to say. Lea nods.

"Clean clothes– clothes first?"

Theo nods, and with a look at Miss Indira for permission he walks with Lea slowly into her room.

She brightens slightly when she sees Hugo II sitting next to the nightdress. Her other spider and bug plushies are in a nest up by her pillow, but Theo picked this one out for her.

"Thank you."

He smiles and helps her change, since she's still a bit too weak and wobbly to do it by herself. She seems better in clean clothes, and he takes her hand and squeezes it as they head out to the kitchen.

There's four steaming bowls of dal and mugs of tea on the table, where Mistress and Miss Indira are hovering.

Mistress smiles at them both. "Take a bowl each. You can eat where you like."

Lea steps forward and picks one up, settling on the floor to eat it, and Theo follows. He doesn't want her to feel alone.

_

Lea leans tiredly on Theo as she eats her dal. It's warm and filling and it smells of home, and it's just what she needs after the vet. As she takes a sip of tea she realises Theo's pyjama top is stained with tears but he doesn't seem to mind, nudging her shoulder companionably and eating his food with quick, nervous bites, keeping his eyes on their owners constantly as he does so.

Once they're all finished eating, Mistress Anita stands. "Lea, do you want to try putting a plaster on your hand now?"

Lea nods. "Yes, mistress." She stands and washes her hands carefully at the sink, before Mistress Anita hands her the packet of plasters. She sinks down to the floor again, struggling to open the packet. Theo looks like he's aching to help but she needs to do this alone. She has to do something for herself, prove that she's not entirely useless.

The plaster itself is cool and soothing against the itch of the burn. The outside feels weird but she can cope with that. It's not as bad as a fabric plaster.

"Does it feel okay, sweetheart?"

"Yes, mistress."

"That's good. You're a good girl, Lea, and very brave. And you look exhausted. Theo, too. It's been a long night. Do you want to get some sleep?"

She doesn't want to, she doesn't want the nightmares that are sure to come, but she needs to. Her eyes are barely staying open.

Suddenly she feels a jolt of pain in her stomach and doubles over, gasping. The usual pain in her head she gets around Theo has come back too. She whimpers.

"The anaesthetic must've worn off. Theo, pass me that box. Cheers. Lea, take these for me, sweetheart." Lea reaches out blindly and takes the proffered pills, swallowing them. "That's it. Easy, sweetheart, they'll take a few minutes to work. Hopefully we'll have something stronger for you soon."

Lea nods, waiting. The pain soon ebbs slightly, but it's still there. Is there something wrong again?

"There's nothing wrong, sweetheart. Surgery hurts, that's all. The vet just wouldn't prescribe any strong painkillers, like they would for people who aren't pets. You don't need to go in again."

Oh. Did she speak out loud?

"Come on. Let's get you to bed. Shall I carry you again?"

Lea nods and Mistress Anita picks her up, a small hand finding its way back into hers – Theo's, it must be. She squeezes it.

Mistress Anita lays her down on her bed, head on the squishy pillow, and she looks up to see Theo hovering uncertainly. She signs a sloppy "Stay," that luckily he understands, climbing in and curling against her side, closing his eyes.

Mistress Anita picks up a book. "Do you want me to distract you while you fall asleep?"

Lea nods, and she sits down, placing a hand on Lea's arm for a moment. Theo seems to be falling asleep already, breaths evening out.

"Okay. Once upon a time, there was a small village called Rembewa."

Lea knows this story and she likes it, but she just can't keep her eyes open, and soon, despite the pain and the gaping pit of worry inside her, she drifts off.

_

When Anita's sure that both Theo and Lea are asleep, she sets down the book and creeps out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Her paati's waiting in the living room and Anita joins her, sipping at the offered cup of tea.

"Thanks."

"How are they?"

"Sleeping. They'll be okay, it was just... traumatic. Especially for Lea."

"You don't look too good either," says Indira, concerned.

Anita shrugs helplessly. "It's a lot of responsibility and I didn't realise just how much. It's up to me whether they live or die. I could've had Lea killed today and the vet probably would've praised me for the decision. No-one should have that power over another person. And yet."

"Half of the things you've told me they did at the hospital were illegal."

"I know. Who's going to object, though? Who's going to risk being labelled a member of pet lib, make themself a target if their identity's discovered and not just from WRU?"

Indira looks at her thoughtfully over her tea. "You are."

"I'm– I'm not." Anita wipes her eyes, schooling her expression with difficulty. "What makes you think that?"

"You've lived with me since you were three, chotu. Don't you remember that fundraiser you did to help 'people pets' when you were ten?"

Anita chokes out something that's a strange cross between a laugh and a sob. "Of course I do. You pretended not to understand anything at all when people tried to complain, even though you definitely got the gist. You remember it?"

"Your tatta and I were very proud of you. And you have the same fire in your expression as you did then."

"Okay, I am planning to help more. I just– I can't just leave it, paati. It's horrible, the way Lea was treated, I can't just let it go on for her and others like her. It's not right. Do you, um, think Marjorie will be awake?"

"Marjorie can wait a few minutes, chotu, come here."

Anita crumples, then, folding herself into her paati's arms.

"It's so much. It's just all... so much. I– oh, god, I– it's–"

"Let it go. You held everything together for Lea, but she's asleep now, you can let go. Give yourself a break."

And Anita does just that. She falls apart. It's been a long, hard day, and she hasn't been able to process any of it. She curls up in her paati's arms, clutching one tightly, and cries, the tangled knot of emotions pouring out of her.

When she manages to stop and sits up, she's exhausted. She scrubs her face with one hand.

"I think... I'm going to call Marjorie now. And then check on the instructions for Lea's antibiotics, and look up the recovery for an appendectomy because I bet those instructions are seriously damaging. And maybe we'll have a reply from that doctor about painkillers soon too." She glanced out the window at the sun finally peeking up fully over the rooftops. "Will Marjorie be awake, do you think?"

"Yes, she gets up early, and she always takes pet lib related calls. Breathe. One thing at a time."

Anita nods. "One thing at a time. I know." She breathes deeply and picks up her phone.

Marjorie's number rings once, twice, three times before someone picks up.

"Hello?"

"Marjorie? It's Anita."

"Anita? Are you okay? It's very early."

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just, you said to give you a call if I ever wanted to become more involved with the pet lib movement. Well, this is the call. What can I do to help?"

[casekek]

some whump tropes that i enjoy immensely

- whumpee being overstimulated by sensory stimuli - bright lights, loud/repetitive sounds, being touched, certain smells - and wincing or shrinking down to get away from it

- unresponsive whumpee who doesn’t give a crap anymore. theyd let someone push them over and theyd just topple to the side and lay there. they don’t respond to goodwill attempts to help, like having a bowl of warm food placed in front of them. they’ve checked out.

- familiar/casual whumpees - whumpees who are familiar with being treated a certain way so they don’t put up much of a fuss to being spit on or kicked. Just groan and move on with your day (could work rly well with ‘living weapon’ i feel)

- whumpees with collars!!!! it’s too dang good. especially if it’s a shock collar and they’re afraid to speak for fear of getting zapped. Bottom line is, you are property.

- whumpee being treated like a child and getting really pissed about it. bonus if the whumper has to resort to some atypical child behavior remedies to keep whumpee in their ‘role’ - such as chains, drugs, etc

- whumpee who refuses to part with an object, such as a mask, and freaks out if anyone so much as touches it.

- caretaker removing masks or collars when the time is right - only to catch whumpee wearing it again in fear or for comfort

- whumpees hands shaking so badly they can’t write or pick things up, and breaking things because their fine motor control is so horribly shot

- whumpee’s injuries being discovered by a group of caretaker friends; whumpee attempts to minimize and de escalate the damage they endured, while friend group is getting bent out of shape in horror over what was done to whumpee, and falling over each other to begin taking care of them

- whumpee being resuscitated and immediately leaping back into action without a thought to the fact that they just DIED; caretaker friend trying to get them to slow down and rest for one freaking second

- ANY kind of retrograde amnesia is soooo tasty. Especially when they don’t remember people they love and just stare at them with a blankly polite smile - OR whumpees who become aggressive with fear over not remembering anything!!

- whumpee seeing/hearing things and freaking out about it while caretaker tries to calm them down

[crimsons-whump-pile]

painful resurrections. give me a whumpee who thought their suffering was finally over when they died, who now has of feel agony in every cell of their body because they are not meant to be alive. it could be caretaker who revived them, or it could be whumper, but the end result is the same — whumpee just wants the pain to stop again, and they know that they’ll never be allowed to end it themself. even if they do, it’s obvious now that death is no true escape at all. not for them.

[jordanstrophe]

Weaponized whumpee who people are terrified of.

Feared by their friends, their team; even whumper.

They were dangerous no matter how hard whumpee tried to control it. They were surrounded by their team who argued amongst each other over what to do with them.

Were they safe to be around? What if they lost control? It's only a matter of time, right?

Whumpee kept their eyes low. Their hands balled into fists, but they felt themselves squeezing another hand.

"Hey. Are you good?" Caretaker asked, wrapping an arm around them to block some of the shouting.

"I'm calm." Whumpee whispered back, worried to give anything but a positive response. They didn't want to scare caretaker too...

"Okay, why don't we go somewhere quiet for a bit." Caretaker didn't wait and had already pulled them to their feet. Their team didn't notice the departure; they were deep in argument over if they should hand whumpee to a lab to "de-weaponize them" or kill them outright.

The second the door shut, caretaker wrapped whumpee in their arms. They could feel whumpee shaking; they were just as terrified of the team as they were of them. 

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

[whumppromptoftheday]

caretaker complaining to whumper about whumpee. when whumpee goes missing, whumper asks a lot more questions about whumpee's behavior.

"i fixed them for you," whumper says, dumping whumpee on caretaker's porch a few months later

[whump-bunny]

Whumper overestimates how much torture Whumpee can take. The once-defiant Whumpee is broken and catatonic, not speaking or reacting to anything anymore. And Whumper isn't happy about it. Though they loathe to admit it, they liked Whumpee's defiance. It was entertaining. Whumpee was entertaining. With them not speaking anymore, Whumper realizes that they miss the sound of Whumpee's voice. The snarky little comments, the sarcastic jokes, the curses screamed in rage.

Now Whumper is desperate to get the old Whumpee back. They're being extra "nice," giving Whumpee medical treatment and food, anything to make them go back to how they were before. Anything to fix their favorite toy.

Because like it or not, Whumper doesn't have anyone else.

[martyr-inthedark]

Misplaced guilt.

They should have done something (in a situation where they couldn't).

They should have known (there was no reality where they could have known).

They should've been better (they were so young).

They have to apologize in every possible moment (they shouldn't apologize for anything).

They deserve to be punished for their mistakes (they had no choice in making them).

Just. Guilt complexes. Yes please.

[goforro]

thinking about a whumpee that just…doesn’t cry.

- their friends haven’t ever seen them display sadness, disappointment, or anything like that. anger, maybe, but never tears.

- whumpee who doesn’t cry when they’re rescued. Maybe they’re staring blankly, maybe they’re biting their rescuers, maybe they’re just quietly appreciative. whatever it is, they don’t cry.

- whumpee who actively avoids conversations that might trigger them. they’ll get up and leave the room if whumper’s name is even whispered. does caretaker follow them? how do they find them?

- whumper *finally* breaking whumpee. maybe they taunt caretaker while whumpee’s still in captivity. maybe it’s while they’re being carried away in handcuffs.

- “I won, Caretaker. Your little firecracker cried for me.”

- caretaker being in shock. denial, even. whumpee *cried*? maybe they don’t believe whumper at first, until they look over at a hysterical whumpee.

just. UGHHH. best trope hands down

[whumperoni-and-wheeze]

Whumpees who can't breathe from the pain the whumper inflicts, eventually going into shock 💞

Whumpees whose mental faculties are strained from the sleeplessness of their torture 💞💞

Whumpees who can't even look at themselves after the damage has been done 💞💞💞

Whumpees who have to sit with a mirror in front of them while they're being tortured, the mental anguish of seeing their own form becomes suffocating 💞💞💞💞

Whumpees who, when rescued, can't even bring themselves to emote. They are completely numb. The whumper did their job, they are a husk. 💞💞💞💞💞

[valcaira]

Attention Whump Community!

Clogging disability tags is a massive problem that we need to address. Many tags, especially those surrounding permanent injuries, paralysis, vision loss and certain illnesses have become unusable due to being flooded with unrelated things. Yes, that includes your writing. Those tags are not for you. It's isolating, frustrating and depressing to try finding a community and other people who share your issues but all that comes up is whump, fandom shit, gifs, headcanons, etc.

I'm newly paralyzed. I have looked at many tags surrounding paralysis, trying to find support, a community, anything of people struggling with the same thing. Nothing. There's barely anything for us in the general disabilty tags. I am BEGGING you to understand and recognize how AWFUL it is.

So, I have a proposition. A tag you can and should use exclusively for disability content in whump writing. Not any other tag surrounding disability, lest you'll clog it up.

#disabled whumpee

It's tempting to use more specific tags, I get it. Due to being in the whump community myself I know #medical whump is already a tag. You have those tags. Use them. Don't use the disability tags. Don't clog up the few spaces us disabled people have.

[gotta-whump-them-all]

Does anyone have any Whump prompts they would like for me to write? I'm bored.

[mj-iza-writer]

"Whumpee can I see your teddy", Caretaker reached out for it, "it needs to be cleaned, I'll give it right back when it's done."

"No, no please", Whumpee squeezed it tighter, and shook their head.

"I'm sorry Whumpee, but you were very sick last week. I'm pretty sure you have puked on it", Caretaker knelt down beside Whumpee, "I know it's your comfort item, but how about we find something else for a few hours while I take care of Teddy."

"Nuh-uh", Whumpee squirmed away.

"Whumpee, do you want to help me clean it, or we could make cookies while Teddy gets washed", Caretaker rubbed Whumpee's back comfortingly, "I promise Teddy will come right back to you."

A friend of Caretaker's was listening in.

"If I were you I'd take it from them, they're to old to be acting like that. Honestly to old to have a stuffed toy", the friend frowned.

Caretaker watched Whumpee's eyes squeeze shut as tears streamed down their face.

"I think you need to stop freaken talking", Caretaker growled at their friend, "you have no idea what is going on here. Just mind your business, and let me do my job."

Finally, after a few more tears and bartering Caretaker was given Teddy.

Caretaker had promised to make Teddy smell really good, and Whumpee now walked around the house wrapped in giant soft blanket.

Lastly, Caretaker handed Whumpee a bowl of ice cream.

"I still think it would have been easier to take it away, and let them get over it", the friend frowned as Whumpee walked past with the ice cream.

Whumpee stopped and looked at Caretaker.

"Don't worry about them, go eat your ice cream. I started a movie for you", Caretaker slapped their friend in the back of the head.

"Oww", the friend complained.

"Are you dumb?", Caretaker gritted their teeth.

"No, I just...", the friend started.

"Whumpee came here with that toy. The person who hurt them gave it to them to signify that they were done hurting Whumpee", Caretaker sighed, "if they had the teddy bear, they wouldn't be hurt. They were safe. If it was pulled out of their hands, torture was starting. It wouldn't end until the toy was given back to them."

"Do you see what kind of issues could have happened if I just pulled that away from them. What kind of trauma response I would have to deal with for the next several hours", Caretaker looked at the friend, "it does take more time, I'm aware of that. I had to have some losses to get the win of getting that from them."

"You told them it needed to be cleaned and it had puke on it", the friend pointed out, "you knew what was best, and they didn't listen to you."

"You should have seen how bad it was when it first came here", Caretaker sighed, "covered in blood, and probably several other body fluids. It was dirty and absolutely disgusting. They still clung to it. To them, it means safety. It's familiar to them."

The friend still frowned.

"You smoke right? Do you have your box and lighter?", Caretaker stood.

"Feeling like a smoke Caretaker?", the friend chuckled as they pulled out the box and lighter.

Caretaker quickly grabbed the box and lighter and walked away.

The friend followed, "where are you going? You don't smoke."

"I know, just proving a point", Caretaker went into his office and closed the door behind him.

The door was locked before the friend could grab the door knob.

The friend gulped when he heard the heavy safe door slam shut. Caretaker came out soon after.

"Where's my smokes", the friend went into the office and pulled on the safe door, "Caretaker?"

"I figured I knew what was best, so I took them away. You won't like it for a little while, but I'm sure you'll get over it", Caretaker grinned as their friend tried to guess the combination, "you're acting like a child you know, aren't you to old to have a crutch like cigarettes."

"Okay, okay, you've made your point. I'm sorry", the friend frowned, "can I have my smokes back now?"

Caretaker grinned as he pulled the cigarettes and lighter from his back pocket.

"That's cold", the friend frowned as they grabbed their things back."

"What's cold is telling a trauma survivor, one who has been through so much more than what we will ever know about, that they need to grow up", Caretaker frowned, "have some sympathy."

Caretaker heard the timer for the teddy's wash go off.

"You could have easily went out and bought another pack and lighter. You would have soon forgotten I had those", Caretaker sighed, "Whumpee doesn't get that luxury."

Whumpee rounded the corner, "is Teddy done?"

"Not quite Whumpee, I just need to dry him", Caretaker held up a few scent capsules, "which smell do you like?"

Whumpee smelt every capsule twice until they picked one.

"Good choice Whumpee", Caretaker smiled, "I promise thirty minutes you will have Teddy back."

Whumpee nodded and sat beside the dryer.

"Can I wait here?", Whumpee's lip quivered.

"Yes, you can. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me", the friend followed Caretaker.

"So what did we learn here?", Caretaker looked at his friend.

"That I shouldn't judge. And, that you have a harder job than what I realized", the friend sighed.

"I think you owe Whumpee am apology", Caretaker frowned, "that was quite mean of you to act like that when you didn't know the whole story."

"Caretaker?", the friend frowned.

"No, no", Caretaker waved in disgust, "you know I am protective of my patients that stay with me, if you can not make yourself safe to be around, you will not be welcomed in my house when I have patients here."

"Okay, okay", the friend sighed, then turned to walk back to Whumpee.

They rounded the corner in time to see Whumpee wiping away a tear.

Whumpee looked at them nervously.

"I'm sorry for being mean earlier, Caretaker explained the importance of that bear. I'm sorry if I caused you any flashbacks", the friend tried to make a comforting smile.

Whumpee nodded, "thankyou", they whispered.

The dryer dinged, causing Caretaker to quickly walk in.

"Alright let's see", Caretaker opened the dryer.

They carefully pulled Teddy out and handed it to Whumpee, "I made sure to use the gentlest wash and dry cycles."

"Careful Whumpee, we have another hole to patch", Caretaker frowned as they looked into the dryer to see clumps of cotton.

"Another hole?", Caretaker's friend eyed Whumpee.

"Yes Teddy is well loved, they need some patching every once in a while", Caretaker sighed, "Whumpee do you want to fix it now or later."

Whumpee gently cuddled their face into the toy, they took in the warmth and scent.

Whumpee's body shook, "what if... what if there is a time Teddy can't be fixed? What do I do then?"

"We will have to figure something else out then", Caretaker frowned, "I'll try my best to make sure that doesn't happen. Here come help me, you can hold Teddy's hand while I sew."

The next day Caretaker's friend called.

"Hey I have an idea, do you think Whumpee could go to the mall", the friend asked.

"They can, though they are having a hard day, so they will need their wheelchair", Caretaker smiled, "what are you thinking?"

"It's a surprise, can you meet me their with Whumpee", the friend asked.

"Yeah, I can do that. Whumpee probably wouldn't mind getting out, they've been distraught because of Teddy", Caretaker stood, "see you soon."

Caretaker pushed Whumpee through the mall until they found their friend.

"Hey Whumpee", the friend knelt down to eye level with Whumpee and smiled, "Caretaker", they then looked up.

"Hello", Whumpee whispered.

"Whumpee is being extra brave right now. They decided to let Teddy stay at home to rest", Caretaker gently rubbed Whumpee's shoulder.

"That is very brave.... I know that now", the friend smiled and patted Whumpee's leg.

"So we are both curious. What brings us to the mall?", Caretaker smiled.

"I had this thought last night while I was looking at online pictures of my niece and nephew celebrating their birthdays", the friend stood.

"There is a store here where you pick a stuffed toy and they stuff it for you", the friend smiled, "I was hoping you would allow me to buy one for you. You could pick whatever you like. There are even some cute outfits to dress the stuffie in."

"But what about Teddy?", Whumpee whispered.

"This will not replace Teddy at all, but maybe give them a little break", the friend smiled, "you're also trauma bonded to Teddy, maybe you are holding onto a lot of bad memories. Maybe a new stuffie will help you move forward in your healing, and you can make new memories."

"B-but Teddy deserves to heal with me also. They went through everything I went through, then helped me", Whumpee let out a small sob, "I don't want Teddy to be forgotten."

"We will never forget Teddy" Caretaker quickly came around, "I promise Teddy will never be forgotten. Can you take a deep breath for me."

Whumpee nodded and took a shaky breath.

"How about this", Caretaker smiled, "we can set up a place for Teddy. A place of honor. Teddy will be able to watch over you, and you will be able to get them at all times."

"We can even pick out a stuffie for Teddy to cuddle, and they can start healing as well", the friend smiled.

Whumpee thought for a second before nodding, "I-I think Teddy might like that."

"Yeah?", the friend smiled.

Whumpee nodded with a weak smile.

The friend looked up at Caretaker and smiled.

Caretaker smiled back and nodded, "you might have it in you to be a caregiver yourself."

"I don't know about that", the friend started to wall and Caretaker followed pushing the wheelchair with Whumpee, "I don't think I would be able to do what you do. I'm sorry I just now figured that out."

"That's alright", Caretaker winked.

Whumpee shook as they walked toward the different stuffie options the store had.

Caretaker helped hold them up as they looked.

"You said they were having a hard day today... I didn't realize", their friend followed with the wheelchair.

"Yes, Whumpee has good days when they can get around just fine. Days like today, their body just doesn't have enough strength", Caretaker continued supporting Whumpee, "their captors did a lot of bad things to them. Their body had to hold up to a lot of abuse, and it's broken."

Caretaker watched Whumpee, "are you doing alright? Do you want to sit down?"

"I-I think I should", Whumpee wobbled forward, but Caretaker held them up.

"Do you see any you like?", the friend held the chair still while Whumpee sat down.

Whumpee nodded, "uhm, I keep looking at that tan bear. It kind of looks like Teddy."

"It does?" the friend went back to look. They thought about the old bear.

"Well I guess what Teddy used to look like", Whumpee was pushed closer.

"This one?", the friend held it up.

"Yes, but are you sure about this?", Whumpee whispered, "you don't have to."

"No, I would absolutely love to get this for you", the friend smiled as they handed the bear to Whumpee, "I was very mean to you yesterday, and I feel bad that Teddy is falling apart on you. Are you sure this is the one you like though?"

Whumpee looked it over, then nodded, "yes... please."

Whumpee helped push the peddle to stuff the bear, and followed the instructions on the heart.

"Give it a big squeeze to see if you like it", Caretaker smiled.

Whumpee squeezed it tightly.

"How does it feel?", the friend watched.

They both watched as Whumpee began to cry.

"Good", Whumpee whispered, "really good, thankyou so much."

Whumpee didn't pick out any clothes until the friend pulled down a shirt that said °Emotional Support Bear°

Whumpee giggled lightly and then nodded.

Caretaker had just covered Whumpee with a blanket when they heard their phone vibrate.

"How are they doing?", their friend had texted, "did the bear work out?"

Caretaker grinned as they sat down across from Whumpee.

They looked up and watched Whumpee's chest rise and fall. They were deep asleep now. The new bear cuddled tightly in their arms.

They snapped a picture and sent it to their friend.

"I can't tell how much this meant to them", Caretaker wiped a tear away from their eye, "you helped them take a big step forward in their recovery. As their caregiver and your friend, thankyou so much for helping heal them."

"You're welcome, I'm glad I was able to do that for them and for you", the friend replied, "have a good night."

"You too", Caretaker stood and retrieved Teddy.

"Alright my dear friend", Caretaker gently carried Teddy to a shelf Whumpee had agreed on.

This shelf overlooked Whumpee's bed, and they would have easy access if they ever needed extra comfort from Teddy.

Caretaker sat Teddy in a weaved basket chair. They rested Teddy's head on a pillow. Lastly, they pulled out the stuffed toy Whumpee had picked for Teddy, and cuddled the arms around the toy.

"Rest well Teddy, you did a good job protecting them. It's my turn now", Caretaker poked the bears faded nose, "I promise they will heal."

Taglist. As always please let me know if you want to be added or taken off of the list. It's not a problem at all.

@villainsandheroes @the-beasts-have-arrived @sacredwrath @porschethemermaid @monarchthefirst

@generic-whumperz @bloodyandfrightened @freefallingup13 @notpeppermint @cyborg0109

@idontreallyexistyet @painfulplots @whumpbump @everythingsscary @skittles-the-whumpee

@expressionless-fr @theforeverdyingperson @legendarydelusiongoatee @candleshopmenace @whumpanthems

@lavndvrr @ivymyers @starfields08000 @a-living-canvas @lumpofsand

@watermeezer @indigoviolet311 @whumpy-mountains @3-2-whump @risk606

@electrons2006 @paperprinxe @whumprince @kaz-of-crows

[tss-whumper]

i don’t think caretaker trauma is talked about enough

of course whumpees are going through horrible things and deserve care and love and all that. they’re the whumpees, they’re traumatized to an extreme degree.

but being the person who cares for the whumpee, the one who has to see this shell of a person over and over, the one who the whumpee flinches away from when they’re just trying to make sure whumpee eats. the one who is running on no sleep because making sure the whumpee gets rest is more important than sleeping themselves. the one who had to watch the ransom videos. the one who was just sitting, helpless, or the one frantically searching to no avail. the one who blames themselves for not being able to rescue whumpee sooner.

the caretaker deserves some love and care and comfort too.

[crimsons-whump-pile]

whumpees who collapse. whumpees who crumple to a sad little pile on the floor for whumper to kick when they don’t immediately jump to their feet again. whumpees whose bodies just can’t take it anymore and give out without warning. collapsing in front of whumper? now they’re even madder! collapsing in front of caretaker? they’re devastated! they want to help so badly but they don’t even know what’s wrong!