Disclaimer: I don't own TBLT.
Toaster had awoken from yet another dreadful junkyard themed nightmare in the middle of the night. The sound of thunder booming outside the kitchen window. Even though he had survived and was successfully repaired by Rob after his great sacrifice, the gruesome images of the appliance graveyard and his mangled body still haunted his dreams.
Luckily, the rest of his new household companions were deeply asleep, and hadn't been disturbed by either the lightning storm or the sound of a sudden little voice sobbing in the darkness. He quietly peeked over the counter top to see a frightened Blanky curled up inside the laundry basket that was laid on the floor.
"Blanky, are you okay?"
Blanky yelped in surprise, then looked up to see the little toaster staring directly at him with a look of concern.
"T-Toaster, what are you doing up in the middle of the night? Did you have a bad dream?"
"Well, actually the thunder woke me up. I thought I heard you crying just now. What's wrong?"
As if to answer his question, a bright flash of light lit up the darkened room. Blanky jumped and cowered in fear. Toaster carefully landed on the floor, then jumped inside the laundry basket, wrapping a handle around the little blanket, while drying his fallen tears with the other.
"It's the storm. It brought back a horrible memory from our journey to find the master. It was so scary just like the part shop and the junkyard." His little friend sobbed again as the brutal memories came flooding back to his young mind.
"I-I didn't think I would ever see you again the night that I was blown up into the trees."
Toaster remained silent as he let the blanket's words sink in. It was perfectly clear that Blanky still hadn't forgotten about their dangerous adventure on the way to the city of light, and he was sure that Lampy, Radio, and even Kirby hadn't either. In fact, he still secretly blamed himself for ever bringing up the whole idea in the first place, and also regretted every bad thing that happened to his friends on their trip.
Well, Toaster, you scared him for life. None of those things would have happened if you'd just listened to Kirby and stayed put at the cottage. But you just had to go out there and risk everybody's lives in order to find the Master. It was your fault that they all could of been killed, just like it was with the waterfall.
Shaking away his negative thoughts, the little toaster carefully pulled him closer towards his body as he continued with the comfort.
"There there, Blanky. Don't cry, it's okay. There's no need to worry about any of that now because we're all safe and reunited with the Master. He won't let anything bad ever happen to us again, and neither will I."
"I bet Lampy's afraid of lightning after our adventure to the city. You and Kirby freak out whenever you're around water. Radio even mentioned that he doesn't like spiders, so I guess I'm not the only one who's afraid of something."
"Everyone has fears. Even when they say they don't. I'm sure Ratso had been afraid of humans since he never trusted them, but he was just too proud to admit that."
"That's true. I'm very glad that you were able to save us from the junkyard. You're our hero, Toaster. And we love you."
The little toaster gave him a warm smile in return. "That's very kind of you, Blanky. I love you guys too. I didn't care what happened to me; I just wanted you guys and the Master to be safe from harm."
"How did it feel?"
"The pain was pretty intense, but at the same time I knew it was the right thing to do." Toaster answered kindly not wanting to go too far with the details as he didn't want to upset Blanky any further.
"Sometimes you just have to make a sacrifice in order to save someone else's life."
"Like what Radio had done for Wittgenstein and the animals."
"Exactly. And don't you worry, I promise to stay right here beside you all night if it helps clear your mind of both the storm, and those unpleasant memories."
Blanky sniffed and wiped at his nose. "Y-you promise?"
"Cross my heart."
Sure enough as soon as Blanky snuggled into his reflective friend his sudden fears and past memories of the storm had dissipated. His frown was now replaced by a little smile.
"Feel any better now?"
"Uh-huh. Good night, Toaster."
Glancing at his little friend, Toaster gave him a gentle pat on the head before he spoke again.
"Good night, Blanky. Pleasant dreams."
"Psst! Hey, Slots. Is everything okay in here?"
Toaster turned his attention away from Blanky to see Radio and Lampy standing there in the doorway of the kitchen.
"We thought we heard you talking to Blanky just a few minutes ago. So what's going on?" Lampy asked with a slight quiver.
"Blankly was afraid of the storm, and it brought back some painful memories from our journey to find the Master. So I figured that he needed some comfort." Toaster quietly explained careful not to wake the now sleeping blanket beside him.
"Poor kid, he's not the only one who's been frightened by the storm. Why, I was just trying to comfort Lampy here over his fear of lightning." Radio teased as he playfully tapped at the lamps shade with his antenna.
"Hey, cut that out! I wasn't frightened." Lampy hissed, holding his cord up in defense. "It just caught me off guard, Loudmouth!"
"Sure it did, pal. Admit it, you're a big old scaredy cat who's probably even afraid of his own shadow. And you thought Blanky was acting like such a baby before."
Lampy opened his mouth to protest but was quickly shot down after he received a glare from Toaster and because Radio had stolen his chance to say anything else.
"Anyway, since we never got to say this to you before, thanks for saving us from the junkyard, Toaster. We all would have been surly doomed if it wasn't for your heroic sacrifice. I'm sure I would have done the same thing if I were you. You're a brave little toaster alright. A true hero that we couldn't do without."
Toaster smiled at the radio's rather heartfelt words as he kept one handle carefully wrapped around Blanky.
"No problem, Radio. That's what friends are for."
"Well, we'll see ya in the morning. Good night, Slots."
The little toaster chuckled softly as he heard them arguing once they left the room followed by a grumble from Kirby.
Even though they had all finally learned to get along with each other over their past adventures, they still had their disagreements every now and then.
"Good night, guys."
