Whumptober 2022 Oneshots + Alt List Oneshots

Prompt 4.5 : Whimpering

Fandom : A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 : Dream Warriors (1987)
Pairing : Phillip & Taryn
Chronology : Pre-canon
Headcanons : Taryn has Tourette's syndrome, FTM!Phillip

Phillip sleepwalked fairly regularly. It was something that the doctors had freaked out about when he'd first gotten admitted. They tried all sorts of things to stop it, but those were all only temporary fixes at best and they eventually accepted defeat, just alerting all night shift employees that one of the patients sleepwalked so they didn't freak out.

One night, he was walking, blissfully unaware that he was doing as such when he suddenly awoke, standing outside Taryn's room. It threw him for a loop very briefly, processing that he was, in fact, not in bed, but then his attention quickly shifted to what it was that most likely woke him up- The distinct sound of panicked whimpering coming from Taryn's room.

He ran in to find that she was asleep, stuck in a nightmare as her body writhed around. The noise was coming from her, and she seemed to be fighting for her life. Fearing the worst, Phillip ran to her side, shaking her violent. "Taryn!" he hissed. "Wake up!"

Taryn shot awake, breathing heavily and looking around the room like a cornered animal searching for an escape. She quickly shoved Phillip away from her and stumbled off of the bed, scrambling into the corner of the room with her body flat against the wall, on her tippy toes to make herself seem bigger.

"Taryn" Phillip said in a calm voice, approaching her slowly with his hands held up where she could see them. "It's just me, Phillip" he told her gently. "See?" he asked, wiggling his fingers. "No knives"

"H-How do I know?" she asked, her neck jerking to the side slightly as a hiccup-esque noise found it's way out of her throat. Phillip hummed in thought for a second before sighing and shrugging.

"I don't know how to confirm that for you" he admitted and, oddly enough, that made Taryn relax a little bit because, if he had been Freddy, that probably would've been the moment where he revealed himself, gutting her before she could have a chance to run. "I'm not gonna hurt you"

"Okay..."

"Okay"

"O- Haha!- Sorry, yeah" she swallowed nervously.

"Can I hug you, Taryn?"

"Yeah" she confirmed, relaxing as he slowly wrapped his arms around her. She was safe. It was okay. Freddy wasn't gonna get her. Not tonight. "Thanks, Phillip" A head jerk. "Sorry"

"No need" he assured her. Her tics had never been a real bother for any of them. After all, they all had their thing. Sure, they would poke fun at each other, but it was always in good fun. "My ribs do kind of hurt, though"

"You dumbass" she chastised, quickly pulling away from him. "You slept in your- Dancing!- Bindings again, didn't you?"

"Maybe..."

"Phillip!"

"I'm sorry!" he apologized, holding his hands up in surrender. "I know it's bad, I just also sleepwalk, and not all of the employees know, and-"

"Take them off"

"Yeah, yeah" he sighed. "Can I stay in your room then?"

"Of course" she nodded. "I... Don't really- Haha!- Wanna be alone anyway"

"Was it him?"

"What do you reckon?"

"Right..." Phillip replied before cautiously taking off his shirt to reveal the crude bindings around his chest. Taryn respectfully looked away as he took them off, wincing slightly as he did so. "Well, lucky for you, Phillip Anderson is here to protect you"

"Great"