Techie trembled, helpless, inexplicably missing the warmth of her hands. “I’m sorry,” he says, voice small. “I d-don’t know how to, er, turn it off. The f-fear… Some days it’s b-b-better than others.”
It’s so easy for his thoughts to run wild, especially considering the nasty PTSD he’s accumulated from years of utter hell. Techie relaxed into the mattress, trying to trust that Nao wouldn’t hurt him. Hopefully not, after all the kindness he was showing her. Were she discovered, Techie would be killed.
She clenched her fists, tensing her whole body up and then relaxed. It left her feeling calm. She turned to look at him once he mentioned fear. Not A fear. A particular type of fear. It resonated with her deeply. “… you mean like the fear that randomly comes back all the time?” She asked, a small part of herself hoping he was talking about the same thing she was thinking of.
She tried to ignore the weight of her words against him. It was uncalled for but it wasn’t like she could say sorry. She could never say sorry. Not to him, not to anyone.
His eyes lit up with understanding. They were more alike than he’d thought. “Yeah, th-that fear… The r-really bad one. Nightmares, and the weight on your chest. It’s h-horrible!” Techie, without realizing it, cuddles a fraction of an inch closer to Nao.
“So you too,” he muses, sad. No matter how silly an idea it was, Techie had hoped he was the only person who ever felt like this; as if he could have enough of the terror to spare everyone else. “N-nobody should have to feel like we do.”
TechieHux 