![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greenportal) wrote2018-12-09 07:39 pm
Two Fears
The storm had spent the entire day looming in the distance like a gigantic beast waiting for its chance to strike the town. Dusty and Soup had watched the clouds build up along the horizon all afternoon, until it looked like a mountain range had suddenly risen across the West. Yet it was nearly midnight when the buildup finally burst, bringing a rush of heavy rain down on the wagon.
Dusty was sound asleep by then, and it wasn't the storm itself that woke him up. It was the feeling of someone slapping the side of the couch cushions, near his head, and the frightened little squeaks that came with it.
“Soup? Ughh. Go back to sleep, li’l buddy.”
Soup squeaked again in response, sounding frantic.
There was a bright flash of lightning right outside the door, bright enough to illuminate the entire wagon through the tiny window, and a loud crack of thunder overhead. The rain pounding on the hide roof was almost loud enough to drown out Soup's terrified screams as he smacked at the cushions even faster.
“Hey, hey, hey, okay, that's enough,” Dusty said as he reached one arm down to lift Soup up, “I got you, don't worry.”
Dusty hadn't realized just how frightened Soup was until he jumped right out of Dusty's hands to reach the couch faster. Dusty didn't even notice this had happened until Soup landed right where Dusty's head had been lying. He only heard half of the clang from their brands hitting before he woke up from a few seconds of being dazed.
“Ahh! Augh, Soup... why?”
The only response was an equally pained squeak.
Dusty held the proto to his chest and pulled the blanket over him. Soup backed up a little ways to hide beneath the blanket completely. He curled up under Dusty's arm, shaking and whimpering.
“A li'l rain ain't gonna hurt you, buckaroo. This ol' wagon is sturdy enough to stand up to anythin'.”
Soup made a warbling noise. It didn't seem like comforting him was working. Dusty sighed and rubbed the new sore spot on his brand. Perhaps he could come up with another strategy to calm Soup down.
“Hey buckaroo,” Dusty said, lifting the blanket slightly to get a better look at Soup, “You know, I feel a lot better now that you're here protectin' me from that storm. It ain't as scary with somebody as brave as you around.”
Soup uncurled slightly to look up at him and made a confused trilling sound. Dusty could almost see him thinking as his light shone a little brighter. He was protecting? He was brave? Soup quickly sat up as tall as he could and stomped his tiny front feet on the cushions, looking like he was ready to take on his new role protecting Dusty. He scooted forward slightly to look out from under the blankets again, and watched the ceiling closely.
Dusty put his head down again to try to fall back asleep. Whenever he heard the thunder outside he would hug Soup gently, trying to play the part and make it look like he was just as afraid. Eventually he began to notice a small, soft sound, as if someone outside was playing music.
Dusty looked up again, this time staring at a wall. There weren't any neighbors for miles, and they certainly wouldn't be out wandering the fields at this time of night in a storm. As he kept listening he noticed it getting louder, and soon realized it wasn't outside at all. It was right under his chin, coming from Soup.
He was singing Dusty a lullaby.
Dusty looked back at Soup, and watched the lights and gasses dancing beneath his membrane as his song changed pitch. Soup didn't know the words—of course, he didn't know any words—but he seemed to be very familiar with the tune. For a brief moment Dusty wondered if this was a song Aunt Nitro used to sing to him, but he couldn't imagine her being the sort to sing a baby to sleep. As the song went on it began to grow more familiar, and soon Dusty recognized it from last week's episode of Booshi the Mooshi.
Booshi was an evening radio program that Soup loved. It was intended to be a series of bedtime stories for little protos like him, and so the plots were very simple and every problem could be solved by a slow song in the honey-like voice of the farmkeeper, Miss Daisy. Dusty hated how basic and sappy the show was, but Soup was always thoroughly entertained.
The recent episode had Booshi feeling troubled over something. Dusty hadn't really been paying attention to what. Perhaps they were cleaning up the farm after a storm like this one? That sounded about right. Anyways, the song was used by Miss Daisy to cheer Booshi up and give him some encouragement, and that was the song Soup chose to sing to Dusty.
Oh times they may be tough for now,
But don't you cry, my dear, sweet cow;
'Cause you have me, and I have you,
No matter what we're goin' through;
Rest your head, and by mornin' light,
Everything's gonna be alright.
Dusty felt a bit saddened by the song. Mostly because it made him wonder how long Soup usually spent sitting in front of the radio to absorb something like that so easily. How many of Soup's memories came from things he'd heard, and how many were actual experiences he's had? Would it be better for him to go to the park more often, and was there a way for Dusty to spend more time with him? In the end, all of Dusty's questions seemed to boil down to whether he was doing a good job taking care of Soup. How would he know if he was? Or wasn't? He wished he could ask his momma for advice. Or that he could ask Soup anything. Though... perhaps he already had an answer from Soup.
Every once in a while Dusty's thought spiral would be interrupted by the small tune that Soup was still singing. He started to wonder why that song, in particular, had been the one Soup had memorized. It wasn't reused from an older episode, as far as Dusty could tell. Maybe Soup had a better understanding of speech and their current situation than Dusty had thought, and this song had resonated with him after everything he had been through. Or perhaps Soup thought that he would need a song for cheering himself up in the future, and remembered it specifically for a purpose like this. None of Dusty's guesses would be too surprising, as he now knew that Soup was clearly much smarter than he had originally thought. After all, Soup had just come up with his own, wordless method of letting Dusty know how much he really loved him.
Dusty was so lost on his train of thought that he didn't notice the song getting slower and more off-pitch. By the time he snapped out of it completely, the song had stopped. He looked down once again and saw that Soup's glow had dimmed considerably, but he could watch it slowly fading darker and brighter with each heavy breath Soup took.
Soup had sung himself to sleep.
Dusty might have started shining a bit brighter; at least that's what he assumed the warm feeling in his chest meant. He wanted to give Soup another hug, but knew better than to wake him up again. He set his head down on his pillow again and whispered, “Good job, Soup. You're a great protector.”
By the time the final thunderclap gently rumbled across the sky, both of them were too deeply asleep to notice.