Arachnophobia – Sonny Quinn

Sonny was unsuccessful at hiding his cringes and grimaces as he made his way through the tunnel with the rest of Bravo as they made their way to EXFIL slowly. They had been on an information gathering mission which had been successful as they had what they needed and would await further instructions but for now Sonny was just glad to be getting out of these tunnels that were home to every goddamn spider imaginable. He'd lost count of how many spiders he had seen since they had first descended into the darkened tunnel and he felt as if his skin was constantly crawling, silently he admitted to himself that he was bugging out over it while his brothers found constant amusement in it especially when they could make the Texan just about jump out of his skin by brushing anything they could find over a piece of his exposed skin, and the longer they were in the tunnels the worse his uneasiness got.

Sonny jumped about a foot back and just about knocked Clay backwards as Ray disturbed yet another spider's nest with his booted foot and sent the creepy crawly creatures scattering every which way along the ground in front of him and up the walls that surrounded them. "Dammit Ray! Watch where you're steppin' would ya'!" The Texan drawled with a sharp growl as more snickers echoed around the walls of the tunnels from his brothers who would finding his fear amusing just as they always did.

"Sorry brother." Ray apologised as it was unintentional and he could see how on edge the man was although it was said with a jovial tone. He had worked with Sonny for a number of years and had almost never seen the man so on edge simply due to his fear of spiders; he had seen him on edge a number of times over the years but for nothing as simple as this as he usually was a lot more stoic.

"Easy Sonny… We're almost out of here." Clay murmured quietly as he reached his hand out and rested it on Sonny's shoulder once he had regained his own balance, taking the opportunity to squeeze it a few times in silent reassurance knowing that they were over half way to their EXFIL. He could see that his brother's nerves were frayed and could feel how tense he was, and wondered if there was more than he was letting on.

Sonny inhaled deeply before he slowly exhaled as he internally berated himself for letting his fear of spiders get the better of him but there was just so many in this confined tunnel and they did not need to be disturbed if at all possible. Sonny had never wanted a shower as much as he did in that moment or to burn every single item of clothing that he had on for fear of being infested by any spider's eggs that had ended up on his clothing. Sonny grimaced yet again as he looked down at the spiders that were crawling around on the ground in front of him and resisted the urge to squish as many of them as he could with his heavy boots.

"Lets keep moving brother." Clay quietly suggested sensing the hesitation within him to make the rest of the walk out of the tunnel and foremost over the spider's path. "Sooner we move, the sooner we get out of here and back home." He tried to make Sonny realise that staying idle was not an option or a solution especially given they only had one EXFIL option and this was it without saying it explicitly. He had learned a long time ago that it was easier to make the Texan see reason and get him to do it on his own than force him to do the very thing that he needed to do.

"Yeah." Sonny grumbled feeling Clay squeeze his shoulder again before he pushed forward knowing that the quicker he moved then the quicker he would be free and away from the hundreds if not thousands of spiders that were housed within the confines of this old derelict tunnel.

Clay was relieved that Sonny was moving again on his own two feet but he made no effort to remove his hand from the Texan's shoulder as they moved through the tunnel following after their teammates, nor was the contact shaken off although he did feel every single time the man tensed as another spider crossed their path or he spotted one near them.

SEAL TEAM

Sonny had scrubbed himself twice over and then once more as he could not be cautious enough as he made sure every last speck of dirt and dust was off of him as well as any remnants that may have been left from a spider as it had crawled over his skin and there had been many that had before he finally made his way out of the showers and got dressed warmly especially after spending an extended amount of time in the cold and damp tunnel. He was the last one out of the showers and to return to their quarters but when he walked in the only other person in the room was Clay who was laid on top of his bunk on his side with his eyes half closed and his hands curled up under his head but clearly still awake. Sonny knew that the kid hadn't slept all that well in the days and nights leading up to them heading out on their information gathering mission and was exhausted especially as he had only racked out for a few minutes here and there whilst on the mission despite being told to take a few hours as the others watched on. Yet as exhausted as he was he was still at Sonny's side being as supportive as he could while deciphering the type of support that he would and would not accept.

"Feel better?" Clay asked without moving from his comfortable position on top of his bunk with the blanket draped and twisted around his legs as he undertook a visual assessment of the stoic Texan who had been jumpier than he had ever seen him.

Sonny looked up at Clay before he let out a sigh and pulled his cowboy hat on as he took a seat on the only chair in their cramped quarters. "Yeah pretty boy." He answered rather dismissively as he relaxed down into the chair and put his feet up on the edge of the table.

"Why do you hate spiders Sonny?" Clay knew that broaching the subject could go one of two ways but he figured he had to ask so that he could try and understand what went through his brother's head when they encountered them especially in the large quantities that they had within this tunnel; although he made sure to use the word 'hate' instead of 'fear' as he was sure his brother would not take kindly to the implication of the word. Sure it could be amusing and entertaining at times but not when it took the steadfast Texan off his game and made him jumpier than he had ever seen him before.

Sonny glanced up at the kid again as he decided the motive behind the question but all he could see was sincerity and concern in his eyes. Sonny wanted to play it off but he was too exhausted and his nerves were too shot to do anything of the sort. "Don't really remember when I really started to hate them but getting tortured as a kid with them ain't too helpful." He paused as he pulled his hat over his eyes hating how his own words made him sound but he really could not recall the exact moment he realised he hated them, to him it was something that he had always dealt with. "Can handle one or two of them but there were way too many down in that tunnel." A shiver ran up his spine as he recalled all of the nests and how many different types of spiders there had been crawling around and over them as they laid waiting and watching.

"We all hate things Sonny, no shame in it." Clay stated plainly as if it was the simplest thing in the world, and to him it was because they all had things that they hated and feared even as Seals. Clay saw Sonny raise his hand and pull his hat from his head and look up at him with a discernible look that said more than words could say.

"Thanks. Now get some sleep." Sonny shoved a toothpick in between his teeth grateful that Clay did not push for more answers or ask any more questions. He knew he would still need a few more hours to settle before he could even think about sleeping but for now he was content to sit where he was in the near silence of their home away from home and let his nerves settle.