Whump concept I’ve been keeping in my head for a while. Hope you like it~ Also happy holidays and Merry Christmas!
CW// conditioning, pet whump, dehumanization, non-human Whumpee, Not realizing they’re saved situation, mentioned lab whump, captivity, dubcon touching (non sexual), begging and self loathing.
Whumpee followed Caretaker behind dutifully. Struggling to keep their just healed legs moving to walk next to them. Eyes darting up every once in a while to take in their surroundings. Steam came out of the dark alleys, bathed in a dirty yellow from the street lights, made the shadows look sinister when you looked again and there was no shadow anymore.
However scared they were, Whumpee knew better than expressing it. Being scared wasn’t acceptable. They were supposed to be bright and collected. Those where rules surely Caretaker left unspoken to test their obedience. Being a cheap second hand, they had to prove their worth twice as hard. If following them meant they wouldn’t get hurt and keep them on their good side, Whumpee would walk next to them and not behind, try to reply to every question with something more thoughtful than the yes and no followed with the honorifics they were taught were the only possible answers, told them they were fine and smiled whenever they asked, never saying how the nightmares from the night before drove them to tears and bit the pillow to stop the screams bubbling on their chest.
Caretaker was never mean with them as the one before. Gratefulness is shown in good behavior and they would excel at it if it meant no more pain. They would let them hold their hand and squeeze back whenever Caretaker did with a small smile that didn’t reach the eyes.
They were being good, but like the old Master said, they would eventually fail.
“Here it is” Caretaker said finally halting to a stop in front of a building with scattered tables on the outside. Whumpee lifted their eyes and forgot how to breathe.
The restaurant that stood before them was a new angle to a place they knew by heart. They remembered the yellow umbrella and the plastic chair, and the promotional that always covered the moon except for a single moment at night when a string of light would go through the barred window on floor level to be their only company on the basement. When boxes or the trash didn’t block their view. Whumpee remembered the smell of delicious food slipping through filling the room and making them salivate after days of hunger. Whumpee remembered perfectly well how cold the little room with the metal frame bed where his Master coiled the chain connecting to the manacle on their ankle was. How well hidden behind the refrigerator, behind one of the shelves, the room they called home since they were out of the lab was.
Forgotten, hidden and always aching inside those walls. Just like Master had said failures like them should be kept.
“This is where the meat dumplings you love are from” Whumpee would never admit how much they hated them exactly because they were reminded of there. It was against the rules. “Money is a bit tight, but today’s special. You have made so much progress this last few weeks. So! Here it is! I’ve wanted to show you this place for-“ They got cut off by the sheer surprise of Whumpee brusquely slipping out of their grip and bumping into a wall so hard, Caretaker winced in sympathy.
They blinked perplexed at Whumpee cowering far from them.
“Whumpee?” They softly called the person trying to merge with the wall behind them. The expression on their face sent a shiver down Caretaker’s spine, tightening a knot on their stomach. Whumpee was frozen and had wide open eyes locked on the door “Honey, What’s wrong? You don’t wanna go in?” They asked again in a low voice, taking a careful step forward, that only made them jump in a low whine. “Honey, it’s me. I won’t hurt you, ok? You just need to tell me what’s wrong. What are you afraid of, hun?” They asked, looking back at the inoffensive building behind them as Whumpee’s breathing became shallower.
They had been ordered to speak but...their legs shook so violently and they couldn’t breathe, but they would be just a worthless mutt if they didn’t obey but they were just so scared, Whumpee’s eyes welled looking at the door, barely aware of Caretaker getting close.
Whumpee broke the rules for the first time. With their limited vocabulary, with the little words they remembered from Caretaker’s lessons, when they had the patience of the world to hear their sorry attempts at reading, they begged.
“Please, no. No, no here. No here” their slightly gutural voice gave out how they weren’t Caretaker’s “honey”, but their old Master’s worthless “Lab Rat”. The sounds from their throat were a factory defect their old Master always complained about with the lab on the phone. What usually got them an extra session of “Master fixes” time.
“What are you talking about, Whumpee?”
Lab Rat took a ragged breath when they allowed Caretaker to get closer. Put a hand on their cheek despite the flinching, noticing it wet too late and adding to the shame of breaking so many rules at once. “No good? Was no good, I? Sorry. I am sorry. Forgive, Master, please...” Caretaker’s expression became pure concern when they collapsed on their knees and instinctively they moved to collect them on their arms. Heart skipping a beat when shaky fingers clinged to their jeans, Caretaker felt sick to their stomach when a broken sob came out of Whumpee “Forgive me, Master. Please, punish different...Please! but no here...please no bring me back”