From a prompt asking for Roschach developing and reacting to a fear of dogs after the Roche case,
The dog hadn't barked. They hadn't known it was there until it lunged. Once its teeth were in his arm it had growled and thrashed, the flashlight had been dropped and the beam had gone wild, highlighting the dog's eyes and flashing teeth. Panicked shadows made it seem as big as a bear and Nite Owl had been treated to the utterly new and unnatural sound of his partner screaming.
Now, back in Archie he was trying to reassure Rorschach over his own fear. He had never had anyone go to pieces like that, much less Rorschach. It had him spooked, and the fact that it was Rorschach babbling hysterically only made it worse. What could be that bad? What had he missed that he wasn't this terrified too?
"It's going to be ok," he said for the fifteenth time. "I checked his tags. He had his shots, so you won't have to. All we're dealing with is some punctures. You'll be fine." The dog would've been able to tell he was lying. Whatever was wrong with Rorschach had nothing to do with the bite wound he was trying to bandage.
Rorschach was rocking against the back of his chair, his breath hissing through the mask in uneven gasps. Sometimes his fingers would clench as if he expected there to be a weapon there, which was weird by itself since he didn't really carry weapons. There were whispers slipping through the crazed breathing, stuttering and sputtering without ever forming a whole sentence.
"Hey," Dan said, daring to pull his jaw around to what he assumed was eye contact. "Hey... It's ok. It's over. You're all right."
"Not over," Rorschach ground out, jerking forward to glare back. Dan blinked, but didn't flinch. "Never over."
"What are you talking about?" Dan asked softly. He kept the eye contact, as if Rorschach would have to tell him if he didn't look away like one of those old leprechaun stories. For a minute or two, he watched Rorschach try to tell him, hyperventilating with the need to spit out his fear like a bad taste.
He crumbled before he could put it to words, clutching his bleeding arm tight to his chest like a child. Dan went back to trying to bandage it around the shaking and gasping. Just as he was almost done, he heard a whisper from under the mask.
"What big teeth you have," Rorschach breathed. Dan waited for the second part, the wolf's answer, waited for it to be made into a joke. Rorschach didn't seem to be able to say that out loud either. He made a sound almost like a stricken dog himself and curled around the bitten arm. He shook with what looked like choked back sobs.
Horrified, Dan felt his own eyes well up. Confusion and frustration burned off into painful sympathy. He leaned forward to wrap his arms around the shaking shoulders.
"It's ok," he said one more time. "I can help. Let me help."
"Can't be helped," moaned Rorschach, but he rested his head on Dan's chest and let himself be held.