A Fight or Flight Response
Title: A Fight or Flight Response
Author: whuffle
Rating: PG
Word Count: 304
Character(s): Major Christian Sayer & Sergeant Tash Novotny, RAMC
Author's Note: Another sketch in the series about Tash & Sayer. Tash is feeling fragile and Sayer just wants to help.
Prompt 14: Charity
“I’m not some fucking charity project. If that’s what you want,” she hissed, “you can go somewhere else.”
In almost any other situation, Christian would have laughed. It was the height of irony that someone else was accusing him of treating them as a charity case. Also ironic was the fact that looking at the tightly coiled tension in Tash’s stance left him aching in sympathy.
Deliberately making plenty of noise, he rolled up behind her, close enough to touch, but not yet doing so. Her shoulders were shaking and the only thing he wanted in that moment was to pull her close and give her a safe place to let it all out.
“You don’t have anything to prove to me. I’m not doing this because I feel bad for you. I’m doing this because I care, and it causes me pain to see you hurting this badly. I’m an open book and you’re an empath. Come see for yourself.”
He didn’t move, sitting quietly right behind her, doing his best to wait patiently. It wasn’t easy, but he was finally learning that the one thing he couldn’t do with Tash was push. Perhaps some day he’d be able to, once he’d earned her trust. But for now, being aggressive would only frighten her off. He’d known enough soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorders to have a healthy respect for the fight or flight response.
But all the patience in the world couldn’t stop him from exhaling sharply as he felt the distinct feather light touch inside his mind that he now recognized to be hers. Relaxing, he smiled widely and did his best to make the inside of his head a warm and welcoming place for her, one to which she would hopefully want to return.
Author: whuffle
Rating: PG
Word Count: 304
Character(s): Major Christian Sayer & Sergeant Tash Novotny, RAMC
Author's Note: Another sketch in the series about Tash & Sayer. Tash is feeling fragile and Sayer just wants to help.
Prompt 14: Charity
“I’m not some fucking charity project. If that’s what you want,” she hissed, “you can go somewhere else.”
In almost any other situation, Christian would have laughed. It was the height of irony that someone else was accusing him of treating them as a charity case. Also ironic was the fact that looking at the tightly coiled tension in Tash’s stance left him aching in sympathy.
Deliberately making plenty of noise, he rolled up behind her, close enough to touch, but not yet doing so. Her shoulders were shaking and the only thing he wanted in that moment was to pull her close and give her a safe place to let it all out.
“You don’t have anything to prove to me. I’m not doing this because I feel bad for you. I’m doing this because I care, and it causes me pain to see you hurting this badly. I’m an open book and you’re an empath. Come see for yourself.”
He didn’t move, sitting quietly right behind her, doing his best to wait patiently. It wasn’t easy, but he was finally learning that the one thing he couldn’t do with Tash was push. Perhaps some day he’d be able to, once he’d earned her trust. But for now, being aggressive would only frighten her off. He’d known enough soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorders to have a healthy respect for the fight or flight response.
But all the patience in the world couldn’t stop him from exhaling sharply as he felt the distinct feather light touch inside his mind that he now recognized to be hers. Relaxing, he smiled widely and did his best to make the inside of his head a warm and welcoming place for her, one to which she would hopefully want to return.