Subverted Expectations, Part 12 (by jimmyhopkins)

You spend most of the afternoon watching TV and observing the fluffies playing. Against all odds, Lucas has integrated into playtime far better than you could have imagined. Granted, you imagined it working out after a little while, but he played nice with everyone from the start! Sure, he was a little shy, and didn’t talk as much, but it’s still amazing.

Johnny set up a tea party for everyone using blocks, little plates of kibble, and stuffy toys, which may have been the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen. Watching them sit around the table, and talk about different fluffy things was adorable. Lucas was a little shy at first, but he ended up talking about all sorts of things with them. “Fwuffies know why daddeh hab not-fwuff on weggies?” says Johnny. Oh. Oh they’re talking about your socks. Magnum laughs. “Magum tink daddeh wook mowe wike a mummah!” Well that’s embarrassing. “Wucas eben heaw nice mistuh say ‘niceash, bu’ daddeh nu teww Wucas what dat mean!” You just rub your hand over your face. “Nebuwa tink daddeh wook pwetty! Wub not-fwuffy weggies!” Well, at least Nebula likes the outfit.

After that, Nebula, Johnny, and Lucas played dress up, while Magnum rolled over to you to watch TV. (“Magum wike Muww bestest.”) They don’t really have “clothes” to play dress up with, mostly just colorful sheets of cloth for them to wiggle into, some with logos, but you also put in some hats and shoes and stuff that you got from action figures and dolls. Nebula and Lucas walk up to you. “Wook daddeh! Nebuwa am supew-hewo!” She has a cape on, and a little domino mask. “An Wucas am, uh, what Nebuwa say Wucas am?” Nebula laughs. “Wucas am Twain Conductow!” He has the little conductors hat on, and a little red neckerchief.

Then Lucas spots it. The train tracks. “C-can Wucas pway wif dat?” he says, eyes sparkling at the sight. “Yeah, I’ll help you out little buddy. I love wooden trains, even now.” You all build a train track, everyone taking turns telling you where you should place track and different destinations, and before long you have a positively sprawling railroad! You reach into the box and pull out a few cars that you modified yourself. They’re basically just slightly larger flatbeds that can accommodate a foal of average size, with a velcro strap to hold them in and make sure they don’t fall out. “Anyone wanna take a ride?” Everyone starts cheering and talking, and you get everyone situated in their own little car. “Magum wub widing twain.”

You all spent the next few hours riding the rails, all the way up to bedtime. Everyone is exhausted after a day of playing, Lucas especially. You tuck them all in, and promise that tomorrow you’ll make them home made spaghetti. You decide that this time you don’t mean Chef Boyardee, because frankly you want some spaghetti too.

Magnum parks his car, Johnny gets out of his wheels and snuggles with Mr. Teddy, Nebula buries herself in a mound of blankets with her face poking out, and Lucas just walks up to you. “Daddeh, hewp Wucas fine pwace to go sweepies?” You pick him up. “Sure thing little buddy! Wanna sleep with a stuffy friend, like Johnny?” He smiles. “Yus, Wucas wan sweep wif stuffy fwien! Can Wucas sweep in big piwe of bwankies?” You laugh a little. “Sure thing little guy!”

You place him down in a blanket pile between Johnny and Nebula, and give him a little stuffed teddy bear. He nuzzles himself into the blankets, holds his teddy friend tight and smiles. “Wucas wub yu daddeh, tank yu fo sabe Wucas.” He looks up out of his blanket pile. “An’ tank yu fo wet Wucas be fwiens an’ pway! Wucas wub Nebuwa, an’ Johnny, an’ Magum!” They all smile, and say that they love him too, and that they love you too, except Magnum, who is already dozing lightly and just mumbles “Wub Wucas, wub daddeh.” under his breath. You’re feeling pretty tired as well, so you decide to turn in for the night as well.

You had been having a pleasant dream about attempting parkour in a construction site. You ended up getting arrested, but the month in minimum security prison was nice. Around the time of the community kickball game, you were woken up by a screaming and crying. “DADDEH! HEWP WUCAS! NU WET MUNSTAH MISTUH GET WUCAS!” Shaking your head to clear the fog of sleep from your mind, you run over to the saferoom.

“It’s okay Lucas, it’s okay, I’m here.” The other fluffies were still half asleep, but the half that was awake showed concern. “W-Wucas otay?” Magnum said, groggily. “D-don’t worry everyone, I’ll tell you about it tomorrow.” Johnny lets out a little yawn. “Otay daddeh, Johnny wub yu Wucas” he says, probably still dreaming. “Nebuwa sowwy fo scawies, Wucas.”

You pick Lucas up, and take the blankets Lucas was sleeping in and wash them off. Lucas had crapped himself slightly in his moment of terror. You take him over to the bathroom, get one of the baby wipes you got for the fluffies, and clean his backside. He hangs his head, sad about the entire thing. “Huu huu, W-Wucas sowwy fo’ bad poopies. N-nu mean tu…” You give him a little scratch behind his ear. “Don’t worry, Lucas, I understand. It was just a bad dream. You’re safe, and everything is alright.” He nuzzles into your hand, hugging it. “D-daddeh wub Wucas?”

“Of course I love you, Lucas!” you say, giving him more scratches and little hugs. “Do you wanna talk about your dream while you can remember it? It might help you feel better.” Lucas wipes the tears out of his eyes, and nods. “Otay, Wucas teww daddeh about bad sweepie pictchuh.”

“Wucas was at pawk wif daddeh and bwuddahs and sissy, an was su happy! Wucas was wunning an’ pwaying, but den Wucas bump into someting! Wucas wook up, and meanie mistuh was dewe!” He stops to take a breath. “Meanie munstah mistuh pick Wucas up an’ put Wucas inside widdow see twow boxie, an’ mummah was dewe! Wucas twy say ‘Daddeh! Hewp Wucas an’ mummah!’ bu’ daddeh nu heaw. Den boxie get smawwew and smawwew, an Wucas nu could bweafe. Wucas twy stop boxie wif weggies, bu’ boxie jus’ gib weggies wowstest owwies an’ huwties, an’ Wucas smeww booboo juice.” He takes another moment to catch his breath.

“B-but Wucas could heaw mummah singing to Wucas, an’ she say she awways wub babbeh, an say sowwy. Huu huu huu…” Jesus Christ. Your fluffies had bad dreams sometimes, came with the territory of having gone through what they went through, but none had dreams as vivid as this. Johnny had had dreams early on about losing his other legs, Magnum had dreamt that the man who did what he did had come back and taken his wheels, and Nebula had had dreams that the same man had come back and taken her, (and of course they all had the occasional monster dream) but this one was terrible!

“Oh, Lucas, I’m so sorry little buddy. It was only a bad dream, and even if it was real, daddy wouldn’t let that mean monster hurt you.” Lucas wipes his eyes. “D-daddeh pwomise?” You give him a little hug, best as you can considering how small he is. “I swear on the very universe itself.” He just looks up at you, a little confused. “Wucas nu kno what dat mean, bu’ sound vewy big.” You laugh a little.

“It’s about as big as anything could be, little buddy. I promise that I will protect you my little friend. If you ever get an owwie, or a booboo, I’ll be there to help you feel better. If you ever get scared, I’ll be there to help you not be scared. Your brothers and sister will be here for you, too. We’re all here for you little buddy. We’re a family, and that means we help eachother whenever the going gets tough. We all love you Lucas.”

Lucas looks down. “M-miss mummah…” You let out a little sigh. “And your mother is here for you too. You might not be able to see her, but she’s watching over you. And I think she would be proud of how brave you’ve been.” Lucas looks up at you. “W-weawwy? Mummah watch Wucas?”

“Yeah, she’s watching over you, and she’ll protect you. She’s family just like the rest of us.” Lucas smiles and hugs your finger. “T-tank yu daddeh. Wucas wub yu.” He looks over to the little balcony near your bed that the fluffies use to talk to you while you’re in your room. It’s got little blankets for when they feel like sleeping closer to you, like in cases where they have bad dreams. The fluffies usually sleep there when you stay up late. “C-can Wucas sweep hewe? Jus’ in case of scawies?”

You smile. “Of course you can, little buddy! You can sleep there whenever you like.” Now it’s Lucas’s turn to smile. “Wucas might, bu’ Wucas awso wub sweep neaw bwuddahs an’ sissy. Wucas wub bwuddahs an’ sissy.” You give him a scratch behind the ear, and put him on the little balcony. “Get comfortable, little buddy, I’m gonna go get your teddy for you.”

“Tank yu daddeh. Wub Mistew Teddy.” You come back, put the teddy bear next to him, and give him a little pat on the head. “Goodnight little buddy, I love you.” He grabs the teddy bear, snuggles into the blankets, and smiles. “Goonight daddeh, Wucas wub yu.” He holds the teddy bear up. “‘An’ Mistew Teddy wub daddeh tu!'” You chuckle. “Goodnight Mister Teddy, I love you too.” You get into bed, snuggle into the covers, and close your eyes. “Daddeh?” You open one eye. “Yeah?”

“Can daddeh sing song fo’ Wucas?” You think for a second. “I’m not exactly that good at singing, but I can play you a song.” You grab your phone, turn it down a good bit so that it isn’t too loud for him, and play ‘And You and I’ by Yes. “Pwetty songie, Wucas wub!” You close your eyes listening to the song with Lucas.

“Daddeh? Why daddeh weaw big not fwuff weggies tu bed?” he says, half asleep. You laugh a little.

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Lucas’s nightmare sounds like a Cannibal Corpse song waiting to be written.

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i need ideas for what to do next, im stuck

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