Security Breach Adventures

Look Into My Eyes

In which Eclipse is having a very bad day, and Moon decides to tap into an old function to help his little brother calm down. (SAMS short, CW: use of hypnosis.)

-----

"He's in here, sugarcube," Chica murmurs, guiding me to the door leading to the maintenance area of her green room. "I don't know what happened, I jus' came back an' he was in there, but he won't talk to me. He's panickin' real bad an' he jus' doesn't seem to hear me."

"Mmph," I grunt softly, feeling my servos tighten with worry.

"I don't know what to do," She admits, looking to me with a deep frown. I nod, taking a deep breath and tapping onto the computer built in my arm, double-checking my programs.

"I've got an idea, at least. Hopefully it will work..."

"Good luck, Moon, an' call me if you need help."

With that, I slip into the darkness of the backroom and hear the painfully familiar sound of Eclipse's sobbing, all while his parts rattle from how hard he's shaking. I tiptoe deeper in, spotting him in the same place as last time- the darkest corner, hunched up in a ball and clutching his head-plate in his hands as he gasps desperately for breath between sobs.

"Eclipse?" I call out softly, trying not to startle him by appearing too suddenly. He doesn't even react to me, unsurprisingly. I kneel in front of him and call again a bit louder, "Eclipse? Eclipse, I'm here for you."

Still nothing. He's so trapped in his own thoughts that he just can't hear me.

So, I have to be a bit more forceful in getting his attention and I lay my hand on his forearm, cringing when I startle him. His gaze snaps to me, eyes wide. "Hey, hey, it's just me," I say softly, trying to console him as his shaking gets even worse. I have to ignore how my servos ache seeing him like this. "It's just me, brother, I'm here for you. C- can you tell me what's wrong?"

He shakes his head, hunching in further on himself and crying even harder. I almost start to press him again, but I know without really trying that I can't use my usual tactics right now. I haven't seen him having a panic attack this bad in months, stepping lightly won't work here.

I close my eyes, activating an old program and praying this works. Then I open my eyes, casting a red glow over my brother as I grip his shoulders. "Eclipse, look at me," I order, keeping my voice calm so I don't scare him. Reluctantly, he lifts his head and his eyes flit to meet mine...

Then he perks up, confused and captivated by the white, hypnotic swirls my in my eyes.

"That's it, that's it. You're going to be okay, it's all okay," I tell him, offering what I hope is a comforting smile. "Just look into my eyes." I shift my hands to gently hold his face-plate, making sure he doesn't break eye-contact. I need to keep eye-contact until he's completely hypnotized. "I need you to breathe for me, okay? In and out, nice and slow." He shifts a bit in my grip, trying to pull back- he doesn't want to breathe, he's overwhelmed and can't focus on anything but his anxiety. I tighten my hold on him. "Shhh, shhh. I know it's hard, but you need to do this. Be good for me, brother. Be good."

"Hff... " He finally begins to listen a bit, his breaths stuttering at first before gradually evening out. And as he breathes, I keep talking to him, keep him looking in my eyes.

"There you go. Good, that's good," I praise, stroking my thumb across his cheek. He hiccups a bit, his breaths stuttering again as his calm starts to crumble and give way to more panic. "Hey, hey, breathe! It's okay, Eclipse, just breathe!" Damn it. It's not okay, that's the problem. I can tell him to breathe all I like, that doesn't mean he'll stay calm! I hate to do this, but... "C'mon, it's okay. You're okay, you just feel a bit... Soft. Everything around you is all calm and- and fuzzy. Fluffy."