sickfictropes

[sickfictropes]

Trapped

CW: claustrophobia, fainting

A and B waited for the doors to open. As the sliding doors divided, a few people stepped out, emptying the elevator. B put their hand on the small of A’s back and gently guided them into the small room. They turned around to face the doors as they automatically closed.

“You did great, honey,” B whispered as they adjusted A’s scarf. The elevator started moving, slowly taking them to the ground floor. “Now let’s get you home.”

A let out a small, shaky sigh of relief.

Then suddenly with a great CLANG, the elevator ground to a halt.

They were both accelerating downwards by the sudden stop. B reflexively locked their knees to avoid falling to the floor. In their weakened state, A reacted more slowly and almost fell over, but B quickly caught hold of them.

“Oh no,” B thought.

They knew that A was extremely claustrophobic. And being in their current state probably wouldn’t help matters.

“No… no no no no,” A began in a weak voice. B could see the terror building in A’s eyes as they looked around helplessly. A was breathing faster now.

“Shhh,” hushed B soothingly, rubbing A’s back. “It’s alright, probably just a small hiccup in the system. We’ll be moving again in no-time,” continued B, trying to remain calm for the both of them.

A rushed up to the doors and started banging on them. “Help! HEEELP!”

The banging echoed terribly and A stumbled backwards just as B caught up to them to try and calm them down again. A was wide-eyed and breathing even faster now.

“Sssh, love, breathe,” B said, taking exaggerated deep breaths to demonstrate. “In through the nose,” inhale “out through the mouth” exhale.

A swallowed hard. Tears were starting to form in their eyes. They gulped and made an attempt at taking a deep breath. It was shaky at best and was interrupted halfway through.

“I can’t,” A coughed. “I can’t, there’s no air!”

A was breathing fast again. Their hands shot up to their neck, pulling desperately at their scarf and jacket. “No air, no air,” they whispered between shallow breaths.

B reached out and helped ease the scarf off and pull the zipper down on A’s jacket. A calmed down a little bit but was still very stressed.

With the scarf in hand, B rubbed A’s arm soothingly. “There, is that better?” A gave a small nod. B gently nudged A to move, walking them to the side of the elevator so A could hold on to the handrail for stability.

“Alright, let’s get some help,” B said, turning to look at the panel on the wall. Next to the numbered floor buttons there was an alarm button. B moved closer and pressed the button to sound the alarm.

As B pressed, a loud ringing noise was heard, and soon after a prerecorded voice came through a speaker in the ceiling. The voice explained that help was on the way, to please remain calm, and that everyone should stay still and not try to force their way out as that could cause them to get stuck further or hurt themselves.

As the voice was still speaking, B heard something and turned back to A. A had started breathing faster again, almost to the point of hyperventilating.

“Hey hey hey, it’s alright,” B said, hurrying over to A. But by the time B’s outstretched arm reached A’s shoulder, A’s eyes glazed over and their body went limp.

“A!” B exclaimed as they leapt forward, stopping A from falling to the floor for the second time in only a few minutes. B eased A’s limp body gently to the floor. Doing so they got confirmation to what they had been sure of recently; that A had lost a considerable amount of weight.

When A came to, their head was pounding. They wondered what had happened. Had they fallen and hit their head? They felt slightly nauseous. They weren’t sure where they were, but they felt uncomfortable. They were laying on something hard and cold. Maybe the floor? But why?

Opening their eyes slowly, they tried to understand their surroundings. They saw bright lights from the ceiling. They heard a voice. Who was that? It sounded familiar. B!

A opened their eyes wider and started looking around. They saw B, who was facing a corner and talking on the phone.

Suddenly it all came flooding back. They were in an elevator, and they were stuck.

A tried to sit up quickly, but was unsuccessful. They gasped and groaned in quick succession, landing on their back on the floor again.

B turned around quickly with a concerned look and hurried over to A. “Okay, yes thank you very much,” they said, simultaneously crouching down and ending the call. “Hey, love,” B said in a soft voice, stroking A’s arm. “I’ve just heard that they’ll be here in less than five minutes.”

A looked at B and gave a small nod of confirmation, and then closed their eyes.

“That’s right, love,” said B, continuing to stroke A’s arm. “Just keep those eyes closed and breathe.”

“One, two, three, four,” B counted as A inhaled. B leant over A. The makeshift pillow they’d made out of the scarf had moved away when A tried sitting up, so B gently slid one hand in under A’s head and carefully lifted, sliding the scarf back under A’s head with the other.

“One, two, three, four,” B continued as A exhaled. B pulled their jacked back over A, which had also moved as A tried sitting up.

“You’re doing so well, sweetheart,” said B empathetically, reaching over to stroke A’s cheek with the back of their fingers. B frowned at the heat they felt there. But there wasn’t much to be done about it right now.

They just wanted to get A home so they could rest. They’d needed it badly before this, but even more so after this ordeal.

B continued rubbing slow, soothing patterns on A’s arm and shoulder, letting them know they were right there. They had managed to continue the cycle of counting and breathing for a few rounds when A suddenly spoke.

“Could I… do we have any water?”

“Hmm?” asked B, leaning closer, not hearing at first. “Oh, yes I have a bottle in my backpack,” continued B when they realised what A had said.

A’s eyes were screwed shut as B found the bottle, and B understood that they were in pain. B opened the bottle and slid their hand under A’s head again, this time propping them up a but more. They then put the bottle to A’s slightly chapped lips and tilted it slowly so they could drink.

With their hand on the back of A’s neck, B could again feel the their heated skin and frowned with concern.

Once A had finished drinking, B let their head down gently on the makeshift pillow. But before putting the cap back on the bottle, B pulled out another, thinner scarf from their backpack.

They then poured some water on the scarf, nearly soaking one end of it, and gently wiped A’s face before folding it and placing it over A’s eyes and forehead. A let out a small noise of appreciation.

“Oh, love…” B thought out loud.

Once the rescue party arrived the doors were pried open in no-time. They were all concerned about A, but B assured them it was not all related to the elevator incident, and that they just wanted to get them home so A could rest. They had just been for a checkup after all, it didn’t seem necessary to waste valuable rest time on suffering through another one just after.

No, B thought it best to get A back to their own bed as soon as possible so they could get that most important and healing medicine they most required at the moment: sleep.

[sickfictropes]

hey i'm curious

why do you like people stuck in elevators so much?? like why specifically that

i just think it's fun! there are all kinds of relationship dynamics you can play with when you have people literally trapped together, and with my very strong affinity for strained relationships, i think i just find it really cool to play around with how characters react to being forced to interact in close quarters. any small space will do though! cars, a jail/dungeon cell, whatever! :)

[sickfictropes]

when whumpee's temp gets so intense she goes right to the other end. fevered or suffering from heat stroke and suddenly everything around her feels miserably cold and she's shaking and maybe even asking for a blanket and the others don't even know how to respond. absolutely freezing, fingers and toes completely numb, but she starts feeling warm and now she's complaining that she's fine, she's not even shivering any more, it's so hot...

seriously this is so good

God I LOVE this trope. Consider:

1. Caretaker doesn’t take her seriously at first. They’re all hot and miserable. It’s hot out and they’re working hard. Caretaker is crabby, so she just gets annoyed by the complaints until whumpee collapses. Caretaker is like okay let’s get you water and shade, but she starts to get up. “Stay lying down.” “Just getting my coat.” (They wear a uniform and have discarded coats long ago.) “you don’t need that right now.” “But I’m cold.” Caretaker freezes, no pun intended. “Cold?”

2. Whumpee has been sick for a few days and caretaker thinks she’s on the mend or maybe even that she’s being dramatic. Until she starts having bone-rattling, teeth-chattering chills. Caretaker might not be a doctor, but she knows trouble when she sees it, and all of a sudden whumpee’s cold isn’t so innocuous anymore.

3. Because I’m obsessed, trapped in an elevator or other such small space. It quickly gets hot and stifling, but suddenly, whumpee starts shivering. And there’s not a thing caretaker can do about it.

[sickfictropes]

i saw the ask about mentor caretaker and student whumpee and my brain goes "hey, why dont we flip that?" so... mentor whumpee and student caretaker would be quite an interesting dynamic

i used to write a lot of this! here are some thoughts:

mentor is late. mentor is never late. maybe student even shows up to the lab/shop/restaurant/training/whatever they do and mentor is like "oh shit i forgot to tell you i'm not coming today" but doesn't reveal why. either way, student is going to find out.

mentor is snappish with student. maybe mentor can be bitchy with colleagues, but they're never like that with their protege.

mentor trying to ream student out for shit work that wasted resources, but mentor is sick, and the effort of getting worked up is too much for them (take that how you will).

mentor makes a mistake because they're feverish and then blows it way out of proportion, leaving student to wonder why they're suddenly so affected by something they'd normally shake off.

mentor gets hurt during training because they're slow and weak from fever or injury. student is excited for approximately 1 second about besting them before realizing they're hurt and panicking.

speaking of, we love a panicky student!!

[sickfictropes]

when the first sign that whumpee isn't feeling well is distancing themselves from their friends/team/family/partner :)

[sickfictropes]

omgggg i love this addition!

carewhumpee with their hand to whumpee's forehead, exhausted, relieved: "I think your fever broke."

whumpee who is still very much running a fever, worried, upset that carewhumpee has been running themselves into the ground while they're sick just to care for them: "I think you're just burning up."

[sickfictropes]

carewhumpee with their hand to whumpee's forehead, exhausted, relieved: "I think your fever broke."

whumpee who is still very much running a fever, worried, upset that carewhumpee has been running themselves into the ground while they're sick just to care for them: "I think you're just burning up."

[sickfictropes]

Doing a craft day with bestie so I dressed up. face reveal I guess 😂

Ren faire plans cancelled so I’m going to make crafts with my girlie!! Here’s a selfie I took bc I thought we were going to the faire lol

[sickfictropes]

purely tangential to whump but i like definitive statements. caretaker who is blunt and confident, immediately showing that they dont know everything. maybe they're even harsh or disbelieving. here are some dialogue prompts so you can see my vision.

"Come on, wake up. I know you can hear me."

"Woah, easy. I didn't sneak up."

"You don't even have allergies. you're sick and you know it."

"I don't need a thermometer to know you're running a fever"

"A doctor already cleared you. You're not getting out of this mission that easy."

"You're lucky you survived that fall. You have a concussion. We're going to the hospital."

"You're never sacrificing yourself for me again. I mean that. If I catch you throwing yourself between me and a weapon, I'll scruff you like a cat and drag you out of here myself."

"This tincture is the cure. You'll be fine, as long as you take the whole thing." (they're wrong)

"Yeah, yeah. I did those stitches myself. I know they're secure." (they're not)

"You're hiding something, and you're going to tell me what it is."

[sickfictropes]

when the team android is used to power something and it so obviously hurts them but it's not safe to stop so everyone just has to hope for the best. this happened to Zane Ninjago once and it was the best whump of my life

I like this but the second sentence made me laugh out loud in my break room at work

[sickfictropes]

okay but!! the premise for my next fic is that a cold is going around and the MC finally gets sick, but the team doesn't put it together that he was around someone with the flu and that's what he caught. so they're expecting him to push through the discomfort like they all did, but he can't, not with a high fever and severe body aches. he can't sleep because it bothers his lungs. has no appetite and skips all 3 meals. he is struggling to keep himself awake.

eventually he collapses, but everyone blames the heat and exhaustion from being up all night coughing. they keep finding him asleep sitting down and start to get irritated that he's being lazy.

upon finding him sleeping in an odd place again, his friend gives him a little teasing about it, but he replies earnestly that he can't stand because he's too dizzy and he can't sit because he falls asleep. that's when the group realizes that he's NOT being dramatic about a cold, but is underplaying being seriously ill. then comfort >:)

[sickfictropes]

wait wait wait everyone wait i have an idea

you know the trope of a character who always calls people by their full name or their surname or an honorific using just their first name or a nickname in a moment of crisis? the reverse of that

two characters who ALWAYS call each other by nicknames --- or at least, one of them always calls the other by a nickname. and then in a stressful situation where they're worried about their friend, all that affection and familiarity falls away in favor of cold hard determination and they use their entire name

like just a random example, i don't actually have any ocs by this name, but like "Maddy" with Madeline or something and usually it's like "hi Maddy" "follow me Maddy" "hey Maddy I bet you can't climb that tree" etc etc but then the whump happens and it's

"it's fine. i can handle-"

"Madeline don't you dare tell me it's fine"

what are we thinking

i love this trope! playing with how characters address one another is so fun for me. it can affect tone so much to use a tender nickname or to refer to someone with their name rather than their title or honorific, but the reverse is true as well--elongating a name or using a title instead can be so interesting. let them know you mean business.

[sickfictropes]

Very specific dynamic if you're still doing that game: immortal whumpee and the apprentice necromancer caretaker who accidentally made them immortal

- @pigeonwhumps

"Breathe through it. You're going to have to learn to breathe through it."

"Remember, you're stronger than this. You're going to be okay."

"You have to be strong. I'm sorry."

sorry these aren't great, but the prompt was fantastic! :)

[sickfictropes]

not sure if you’re still doing the whump dynamic thing, but one that has been living in my head rent free is with a slightly stoic mentor caretaker (who does really care about the whumpee student, just doesn’t really know them well) and student whumpee who’s kind of intimidated by the mentor

mentor’s gotta take care of student in a potentially life or death situation and student is pretty out of it

sorry if this is too specific!

the more specific the better, babe, i like a challenge!

"Kid, come here." She places her hand on her forehead. "You're running a pretty high fever. No wonder you've been acting so weird today."

“I was like you, once, you know.”

“Oh?” 

“I thought I could get ahead by breaking myself.” 

‘But it worked.”

"Yes, for a while. Then it didn't. Don't be like me."

"You're everything I want to be."

"I promise that's not true."

(that one was stolen from this OC fic i wrote lol)

3. "i'm strict, but I'm not heartless. If you're sick, you need to rest, not force yourself to push your body to its limit."

[sickfictropes]

for the relationships ask game if you're still doing that, how about siblings?

i absolutely am, ad i love sibling relationships! Let's go!

"When were you going to tell me about this [illness or injury]?" "I didn't want you to worry." "Well, you didn't do a good job."

"You've always done this shit, this hiding from your feelings thing. It's not going to work this time."

"I know. No one ever took care of us, so of course you don't know what to do. Just let me help."

[sickfictropes]

(For the dynamic game thing) one of my personal faves is overworked whumpee who struggles to ask for help x caretaker who is absolutely NOT having it lol (sorry if that's too specific lol)

oh you can never be too specific for me! i love specificity!

"When were you going to tell me you were this exhausted? Was the plan just to go until you collapsed? Because it worked."

2. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on, and you need help."

3. "I feel terrible. I had no idea I was putting so much pressure on you." "I just wanted to make you proud." "I am proud. But I'm also terrified, and fear is louder. What if we can't win?"

[sickfictropes]

When a character has very worrying symptoms that are so strange that even the doctor doesn’t know what’s going on. They can only stumble around with the knowledge they do have and make an educated guess at how they might treat it, while hoping it doesn’t get worse.

this screams star trek to me!!

"That fever just keeps climbing. It's going to start popping neurons like popcorn if I can't figure this out."

"I can't just keep throwing this against the wall to see what sticks. I'm worried I'll make it worse."

"I can't sleep until I've figured this out. If we lost you because I was taking a nap... I could never forgive myself."