Have I done this before? I feel like I've done this before.
(...searches blog...)
Nope! Apparently not? Huh. Well, I guess I'm doing it now.
(Also, I'm back! Even if I shouldn't be.)
So. Without further ado. How the various MCs of Verräter would handle being accosted by a cockroach!
Johannes: 9.5/10
He's an urbanite, born and raised. A mere cockroach will not best him. The hardest part of this is either deciding what paper to besmirch with roach guts, or accepting that, neuropathy be damned, he has to stomp his foot to rid himself of the creature's presence. Or maybe Jaeger will eat it if he waits long enough?
...If it starts flying, though, this can only end in him swatting at it like a one-sided cat fight, until it falls back down at least.
Luckily, the German cockroach is not a strong flyer. But if this is a foreign cockroach... no one in the entirety of the Reichskanzlei will ever, ever hear the end of the time he was rudely, suddenly, and viciously assailed by a foreign cockroach. A FOREIGN ONE!
(...No one tell him German cockroaches aren't actually German.)
Otto: 0/10
The question is not whether Otto has the physical capacity to end the cockroach. It's whether he can bring himself to be soiled by such a foul, vulgar creature. It might've been in the trash! How utterly abhorrent! He can't touch that! And what if it crawls up his pants when he tries to stomp it?!
No. It is now WAR CRIME TIME™.
He, his wife, and his children are spending the next several nights at a luxury hotel until an exterminator can carpet-bomb his house to the ninth ring of Hell and back. He will not consider the possibility that this may be a slight overreaction.
Ernst: -∞/10
What. Is. THAT?!
Ernst isn't entirely certain, but it was crawling in his kitchen. He does not like crawling things in his kitchen. He especially does not like things resembling crawling fecal smears in his kitchen.
Unfortunately, Ernst is not particularly well-versed in the art of insect battle. Hopefully the walls are thick, or his neighbors aren't home, or at the very least his neighbors better not be trying to sleep, because he's now hammering on the wall, or counter, or whatever the cockroach had the audacity to exist on, with the first hard and sturdy object he could find. He will miss several times, and even once he does hit it, he's going to apply at least another ten hits to make sure it stays dead.
...This is, of course, assuming he actually DOES hit it before it hides again. He very well may not. In which case, he's now moving all his furniture, no matter how ill-advised this may be, in his hunt for the cursed creature. It will end up on him. He will hit a note that makes the sopranos of the world envious. And despite this all... he may still fail to kill it.
Theodor: 6/10
Like Johannes, Theodor is a native urbanite. Unlike Johannes, Theodor is not yet entirely assured of his inherent combat superiority over the cockroach. There will be a good deal of feinting and re-rolling the newspaper and realigning his foot with the thing before he manages to convince himself this will work.
He also knows exactly why he likens dissidents to cockroaches... for once, he and Otto agree on something. Even if it is just WAR CRIME TIME™ being a good response to finding one, singular cockroach. But at least he won't insist on evacuating unless the exterminator recommends that.
Hans: WTF/10
The cockroach will die. That much is assured.
What remains undetermined, however, is the manner in which the cockroach will perish. For Hans, it won't do to deign this vermin a swift death. No no no. The cockroach will pay for its insolence.
He is exactly the sort of man to capture the cockroach, then pinch it by its abdomen and slowly, slowly, burn its antennae off... then its legs... all while being as careful as possible to ensure the survival of the cockroach. Then its wings will be removed and burned in front of it. Only then will he dip its head into the flame.
He will then find a pin or the likes to leave the cockroach as a warning for any other vermin who dare entire his domain.
(His wife Everyone has concerns.)
--
No, I didn't post this without remembering to tag people! I would never do such a thing. Nope. Of course not.
So. People to tag. Hmm... I've been gone a while... but let's see.
@ashen-crest, @sleepyowlwrites, @adaparkwrites, @cactusprincewrites, @hannesflo, @ @lova-writes, @nightly-writer, @onedayiwillwritestuff, @thedisguisedwriter, @thejostenator, @whither-wander-whump, @whumpninja, and anyone else who feels like it! No pressure to anyone, just throwing names out there to pretend I still know what's going on here on our hellsite.... 😅
OC vs cockroach
Stealing an open tag(/taglist tag?) from @oh-no-another-idea bc yours was pure gold🤣👌
Rules: rate your OCs on how well they'd fare against a cockroach
Davina: ?/10 (it depends on your perspective) -- She'd spot a cockroach and go "FRIEND!!!😍😍😍" and pick it up. Then she'd invite it over for her tea party and enjoy biscuits together while she listens to the cockroach's life's story.
Helix: 8/10 -- If he saw a cockroach, he'd go very still and politely ask it to please leave his home. After it's packed its bags and left, he'd do a full-body shiver and resume his day. He doesn't know who created those monstrosities, but it wasn't him.
Amar: 10/10 -- He actually likes most bugs bc they play an important role in the cleaning up the dead and returning life to the earth. But he'd pick it up and set it outside bc he knows Helix isn't a fan.
Nova: 0/10 -- *SCREAMS* "A creepy crawly!" *jumps into Nerezza's arms* "Nene, kill it! Kill it before it lays eggs!" Nova would never ever kill anyone in his life. All life is precious. Except for bugs' lives. They can go die🤺
Nerezza: 10/10 -- She'd go, "Nova, calm down. I can't kill it if I'm carrying you in my arms." Then she'd set him on a chair so the cockroach can't go near his feet. Normally, she'd just pick it up and put it outside, but because Nova insists... oh well. *stomps foot*
Hedwig & Lysandra: -12/10 -- Believe it or not, the brave Lysandra has one fear, and that is cockroaches. So she'd very casually convince Hedwig to kill it for her -- her hands are full or sth like that. Hedwig just plainly admits to her that he thinks they're gross and he's not going anywhere near it. Lys: "Hedwig, be a man and just squash it with your boot." Hedwig, who never switches to his female form: *changes to female form*, "🧍♀️You be a man." Then the cockroach suddenly starts flying! (For the record, Lys absolutely did NOT scream.) They start running around like a bunch of headless chickens. Hedwig thinks it's a good idea to take it down with a lighter and deodorant. Their house is on fire now. Nene must swoop in and save the day.
Leaving an open tag! I'd love to see how your OCs would react🤩
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Y’all do not understand how long I have been waiting for this chapter.
Also, just a note- I’m now only active on this blog for story updates like this one! I have a new blog for general hanging out in the whump community- if you’d like to join me there, message me and I’ll give you the details!
Find the rest of the story here!
Warnings: lab whump, medical whump, this chapter gets a bit gory!, self-harm (ripping out stitches) blood
Taglist: @hold-him-down @darkthingshappen @whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump @whumperfultime @caspia-writes @pretty-little-whump @ziptiesnfries @kawhump @kixngiggles @blood-is-compulsory @whump-cravings @pumpkin-spice-whump @hisunspokenwords @annablogsposts @whump-me-all-night-long @catnykit
Endurance: Come Clean
Jesse didn’t know what, exactly, had gone wrong.
But something obviously had.
Dr. Shaw had come home from work every night that week looking more and more upset. When Jesse tried to ask if he was okay, Dr. Shaw just waved him off. Last night he had snapped at his son to stop bothering him, and Jesse, hurt, had hid in his room. He hadn’t even come down for dinner- and his dad hadn’t even noticed.
The strangest thing, though, was that Jesse had barely even had to beg Dr. Shaw to let him come along to the lab on Saturday. He’d asked, and Dr. Shaw had just shrugged. “Why not?” he’d said heavily. “What does it matter now?”
So Jesse sat awkwardly in the car, looking out the window and trying to ignore the way his dad’s eyes were hooded and tired and defeated.
Everyone in the lab was the same way. Steve the security guard barely managed a smile for Jesse. Miss Joni seemed even more grumpy than she had been the last time Jesse visited. Even Mandy only gave Jesse a wave and a half-hearted attempt at her happy grin, and there wasn’t any chocolate sitting on her desk.
Dr. Shaw pulled on his lab coat, and this time he didn’t seem proud of it or show it off. He put it on like it was a chore and he was tired of it, like someone had told him to do it the way he often told Jesse to clean his messy room. “I’m going to be analyzing test results most of the day,” he told Jesse, and he already sounded exhausted. “I don’t care what you do.”
“Can I talk to Chris?”
Dr. Shaw shrugged. “Go ahead. Won’t hurt anything now.”
Jesse thought about that as one of the team members he hadn’t met- she seemed really stressed out, and he had to ask twice before she told him her name was Claire- escorted him to the hallway where Chris was and unlocked it. She didn’t stay, just unlocked the door and went away muttering about negligence and misunderstandings and other words Jesse didn’t understand.
It didn’t take long for him to find Chris’ room. Chris sat right next to the glass, his back against the wall, and Jesse spotted him easily. Chris looked startled when Jesse plopped down on the other side of the glass, but unlike most of the science people, Chris brightened up when Jesse appeared. “Hello, Jesse,” he said warmly.
“Hi, Chris,” Jesse answered. “Is- everything okay?”
Chris sighed, and his hand moved to hover over his stomach like it was hurting him. “So you’ve seen the way the atmosphere has changed in this place.”
“Well, yeah. Dad’s been super upset, and everyone else is acting sad too.”
“I am not sure how much I’m allowed to tell you,” Chris said. “But- I have lost something, something very important to me and to everyone here. Your father especially. I- we don’t know if I can get it back, and if I cannot get it back, then there is no way forward. This…project is over. And no one knows what happens next.” He leaned his head back against the wall. “Especially not me.”
Jesse mulled that over for a bit. “And you can’t fix it?”
Chris laughed a little. “No, Jesse. I cannot fix it. That is part of the problem.”
“Oh.” Jesse fumbled for something else to say. “Did you figure out math?”
Chris smiled. “Not entirely, yet. You will have to show me more concepts. But I have been experimenting with the numbers. It is a very good way to pass the time.”
Jesse scooted closer to the glass wall. “I can show you fractions! I’m not very good at them but they’re kinda fun.”
“Fractions?”
“It’s when you have a piece of a number instead of the whole number. Like…our teacher keeps explaining it using pizza and it makes me hungry. But whatever. If you have a pizza, that’s one, right? And if you eat a slice of the pizza, you have seven slices left, and it’s seven-eighths. If you eat two slices of the pizza…”
“Six-eighths.”
“Yeah! But you can’t call it that for some reason, it has to be three-fourths. I don’t know why you can’t say six-eighths, you just can’t and it’s stupid.”
Chris’ eyes were shining. “Tell me more,” he said.
So Jesse did. Chris listened intently to every word, and asked a lot of questions- really smart questions that Jesse had to think about before he answered, if he could answer them at all. Chris didn’t make him feel bad when he couldn’t answer, either, just pointed out that there were things they both needed to learn.
“This is the first time I’ve ever had fun with math,” Jesse remarked. “You’re really good at it, aren’t you?”
Chris’ face turned pink. “It- it makes sense to me,” he said. “I can read the numbers like you read your alphabet.”
“Our alphabet?” Jesse asked curiously. “Do you have a different one where you come from?”
Chris nodded. “I’ve tried to figure out yours, but letters don’t work the same way for me as numbers do. I’m much better with spoken languages.”
“You’re really good at English,” Jesse said.
Chris smiled faintly. “I have had a long time to practice.”
“Where did you live before you came here?” Jesse asked. “Was it really far away?”
Chris sighed, running his hands through his golden-brown hair. “Farther away than you can imagine, Jesse Shaw.”
“Do you miss it?”
“Very much.”
“Maybe if you asked my dad, he would send you back for vacation,” Jesse suggested eagerly. “Even though he never takes vacations. But he might let you, if you tell him how much you miss it!”
Chris smiled a thin, sad kind of smile. “I don’t believe so. But it’s a nice thought.”
“What’s it like where you’re from?” Jesse asked. “Is it nice?”
Chris sighed. “I do not know how much I am allowed to tell you, but I will tell you that it is beautiful. I still hear the sounds of the sea in my dreams.”
“You lived by the ocean!” Jesse said excitedly. “I love the ocean! Did you go swimming a lot? Did you see sharks and turtles and- and- Chris?”
Chris had sat up very straight. His face had turned white, and his hand strayed to his stomach again.
“Chris?” Jesse asked, hesitantly. “Are you okay?”
Chris nodded, but Jesse could see the strain on his face. “I will be all right,” he said faintly. “It’s only-“
With a gasp of pain, Chris slumped to the floor, clutching his stomach.
Jesse stood stunned, terrified and confused in equal parts. What do I do?!
Chris twisted his head around to meet Jesse’s eyes. “Get your father, Jesse,” he gasped. “Now.”
Jesse needed nothing else. “Dad!” he screamed at the top of his lungs. “Dad! Help!”
Chris groaned, curling in on himself. His face had turned from white to gray, and beads of sweat lined his forehead. Jesse slammed his hands against the glass, wishing he could break it, wishing he could help somehow.
And then Dr. Shaw was there, ripping a walkie-talkie out of his pocket and bellowing orders into it. “Jesse, what happened?” he demanded.
“I don’t know, Dad! He’s not okay!”
“Chris?” Dr. Shaw put a hand on the glass just like Jesse had.
Chris’s blue eyes opened wide, and he threw a glance up at them, his eyes moving from Dr. Shaw to Jesse. He pushed himself up on one elbow, gasping. “Jesse,” he breathed.
Jesse swallowed hard. “Y-yeah?”
Chris dragged in another breath, his shaking hands moving to the edge of his shirt. “Don’t look.”
“What?” Jesse whirled around to Dr. Shaw. “Dad, what-“
He turned back just in time to see Chris tear something out of his stomach, his back arching and a hoarse scream ripping itself out of his mouth. Blood sprayed the glass wall. Dr. Shaw grabbed Jesse and turned him around, pressing his son’s face into his chest. Jesse clung to him, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Dad,” he sobbed. “Dad, what’s happening?”
Dr. Shaw didn’t give him an answer. Jesse got the feeling that he had none.
Finally Dr. Shaw let him go, still holding tight to Jesse’s hand. Jesse squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to look. But he couldn’t help himself, and he opened them again, gripping Dr. Shaw’s hand.
Chris lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, breathing hard. His lips moved, but Jesse couldn’t hear what he was saying. His hands were covered in blood. Jesse felt sick.
Dr. Shaw raised a fist and banged it against the glass. Chris looked at him, startled, like he’d forgotten they were there.
Chris sat up slowly, getting on his feet carefully, one hand still on his stomach.
“What happened?” Dr. Shaw demanded. “What happened, Chris?”
Chris seemed confused, his brow furrowing as he looked around like he was trying to figure out where he was.
“Answer me!” Dr. Shaw’s voice cracked as he spoke- with anger or worry, Jesse couldn’t tell.
Chris blinked, seeming to realize that they were standing there. “It’s back,” he said quietly, and then whispered a few words in a language that Jesse couldn’t understand. He pulled his shirt up again, and Jesse grabbed for his father’s hand, not wanting to see where Chris had ripped something out-
There was a wound, but it was a small one. Jesse frowned. He was ten, but he knew that Chris should have been a lot more hurt than that. The injury looked barely worse than something Jesse might get on the playground at school.
And…and it was getting better.
It was healing. Jesse was watching it heal. The edges of the wound were sealing themselves up, slowly, but quickly enough that Jesse could see it happening.
Oh my gosh, Chris has superpowers, Jesse thought blankly. He’d always thought that if he ever met a superhero in real life, he’d be full of questions. But all he could do was stare.
“It was healing around the stitches,” Chris said. “I think it was…interfering. I had to get them out.” He frowned, tilting his head. “Doctor? Is everything all right?”
Dr. Shaw didn’t answer. He just turned and looked at Jesse.
Jesse, who was hearing and seeing everything.
Chris’ eyes went wide. “Oh,” he said softly.
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