Work Text:
Doc may have had a potentially catastrophic lapse in judgment.
He’d just finished wrangling a warden into the Perimeter earlier that day and, relieved that he finally had finished, he gave into his exhaustion and immediately faceplanted onto his bed and took a nap.
Now, what was the lapse in judgment, you may ask?
Well, Doc hadn’t exactly mentioned this little side project to anyone beforehand, and since he’d fallen asleep immediately after setting the warden loose in the Perimeter, nobody knew it was there except for him.
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Bdubs landed in the Perimeter, shrugging off his elytra and making his way over to the elevator Doc had built. He was taking a break from working on one of his adventure builds and had realized it had been a while since he’d seen Doc, so he decided to visit.
As he was walking, something felt off. He shrugged it off, though, attributing it to the scale of the massive pit he was in. There was something unsettling about walking across bedrock and walking past the massive walls of the Perimeter, and he figured it was just that.
He was wrong.
There was still a bit of distance between him and the elevator, and suddenly everything started to dim. It took him a moment to process, but when it became pitch black, he froze. He hated the dark. Hated it. It was one of the downsides of being a glare hybrid.
He gulped, looking around, but that yielded nothing. He couldn’t see.
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Doc woke up to the sound of a Warden’s sonic shriek, followed by a loud scream, a human scream.
Fuck.
He scrambled out of bed and threw on his elytra, grabbing some rockets and forgoing the elevator, just jumping from the balcony.
Soaring over the perimeter, he spotted the warden, and near it… Bdubs. Oh no.
“Bdubs!” he called out, and the other looked around, seemingly not seeing him. The darkness effect, Doc realized, and that just made this whole thing even worse, didn’t it.
Doc realized the Warden was approaching Bdubs quickly, and unable to see, he wouldn’t be able to avoid it. He made a split-second decision and dove down.
He slammed into Bdubs and tightly wrapped an arm around him and spammed rockets, never landing.
Once he was high up enough that he could glide to one of the elevator platforms, he put away the rockets and adjusted his hold on Bdubs, who looked terrified.
“Hey, it’s me,” he said softly. “You’re okay, Bdubs. You’re safe now. I’m so sorry.”
Bdubs didn’t seem to register his words.
Doc landed on the top platform and quickly brought Bdubs inside, sitting him down on his couch and crouching in front of him, taking his hands.
“Bdubs, can you see me?” he asked gently.
Bdubs’ head jerked to the side. No, then.
“Okay. It’s Doc. You’re safe,” he told him, squeezing his hands. “I know it’s dark for you, but this room is light. It’s safe. I know that doesn’t fix it, but I need you to know that.”
“Hurts,” Bdubs managed. “ Dark. Ears ‘r loud.”
It was honestly a miracle that Bdubs could hear right now, so he wasn’t surprised to hear that his ears were ringing. He was just glad Bdubs could hear what he was saying.
“It’s dark, Doc,” he whispered after a few seconds.
“I know. It’ll fade, I promise. Shouldn’t take more than a minute,” he reassured.
Bdubs leaned forward and fell onto Doc, who pulled his hands away to catch him. Bdubs wrapped his arms around him, and Doc could feel him shaking.
“I’ve got you,” he said softly, rocking slightly and rubbing Bdubs’ back.
He felt so guilty for not telling him about the warden, but this wasn’t the time to explain, so he pushed it down. Right now, his job was to comfort his friend.
“I think I don’t like wardens,” Bdubs whispered, barely audible.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not as dark,” he said quietly.
“That’s good,” Doc said. “I’m glad. It’s wearing off.”
Bdubs, glad he could now tell it was light, turned his face into Doc’s shoulder, closing his eyes.
“Can I stay here?” he mumbled.
“You’re not going anywhere if you don’t want to,” he replied, tightening his arms around him. “I’ve got you.”