[Synopsis: Astraphobia-a morbid fear of thunder and lighting. Captain just so happens to suffer from such an affliction, but it didn't make itself known to Dum until the two started living under the same roof. Particularly on a night of heavy rain and angry skies...]

[Location: Captain's house(Oh, and it looks a lot better now that it did in the Christmas episode, trust me.)]

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Dum was woken from her slumber by a flash of light blaring into the bedroom from the window, and she slowly blinked her eyes open and sat up in bed...The first thing she registered was the constant sound of the downpour cascading onto the ground from above, followed by the wind blowing the rain to and fro as it fell.

She took a peek at the alarm clock to her right; the screen was black. And the lamp on the night table proved to be worthless too when she flicked its switch.

The power must have gone out... she surmised, taking another look out the window. The moment she turned her attention towards the sky, a garish white flash of cloud-to-cloud lightning branched out across the sky, brightening the room like daylight. Even against the cloak of rain that it flashed behind, the lightning's shape was still clear. Dum's eyes lit up, and a tiny smile inched across her face; there was something about thunderstorms that just mesmerized her. Dangerous, but beautiful. Loud, but somehow soothing...She loved weather like this.

The thunder from the bolt sounded off soon afterward; a low, growling rumble that crackled a bit when it first started.

Man...Places like Polus don't have this. Guess we're lucky here on Earth.

Another sound caught her attention, just barely audible under the sound of the storm outside. It sounded like it was coming from under the blankets off to her left...where Captain was sleeping.

Is that...crying...?

She lifted up the covers a little bit and took a gander at her precious marshmallow...Captain was curled up into himself, shaking violently and suppressing a long squeal in the back of his throat.

"...Captain?" Dum whispered, immediately concerned by the state of her boyfriend. When she got no response, she shook him lightly. "Captain, are you okay...?"

That time, he slowly lifted his head and turned it up a bit.

"D...d-dum? Is th-that you?"

His voice was weak and choked up. Dum felt her heart crack a bit at the sound of it.

"Yeah, it's me...What's the matter?"

"I...I'm f-fine, Dum," he whimpered, obviously fibbing. "N-nothing t-to worry ab-bout..."

"Captain...If you were fine, you wouldn't be crying and shaking like this."

"C-crying and...How'd you know I was...?"

"I could tell by your voice," she whispered even more softly than before, reaching her hand out and gently resting it on his side in an attempt to comfort him. "...Did you have a nightmare?"

"I...I don't know, Dum. If I did, I'm probably still having it."

"Why, what's wrong?"

Another bolt of lightning illuminated their surroundings from outside, flickering for a moment before the bedroom was shrouded in darkness again. Dum felt Captain flinch as the room lit up, and she heard his breath stop short.

"...Th...th-that's what's wrong," he squeaked.

"The lightning?"

"M-hm...A-and the th-thunder..."

"...Are you scared of it?"

Before he could respond, a roaring crash of thunder sounded off from directly above the house; the loudest one yet.

Captain hid his face in his pillow to suppress the scream that escaped him, hiding himself under the covers again.

"Make it go away...!" he begged, voice muffled behind the pillow. "Make it stop, PLEASE MAKE IT STOP...!"

He couldn't take it anymore. He started to bawl, clinging to the pillow and bedsheets as though his life depended on it...Dum was beside herself with heartache. She couldn't stop the storm. What could she do?

"Captain..." she addressed softly, sitting up in the bed and hovering over him. "Captain, please look at me."

He didn't want to leave his protective cocoon; it was the only thing that separated him from the awful flashes and booms. But still, he complied, turning over and facing up to look up at her, though he continued to cry.

"...Oh, my poor marshmallow..." Dum cooed sympathetically, distraught by the sight of him. His precious face was all scrunched up and miserable-looking, and it was just as soaked with tears as his pillow. His howling cries began to quiet down ever so slightly when he saw her face, but his tears still fell, flowing out of the far corners of his eyes and dripping down onto the mattress from where he lay.

She gently picked his head up and positioned it on her lap, then pulled the covers back over him and started to stroke the top of his head, quietly shushing him all the while.

"I...I'm s-s-scared, Dum...*sob* I d-don't kn-know why, I j-just...I-it's h-horrible, Dum...*sob* I feel s-so h-helpless..."

"It's going to be okay, Captain...You'll be okay. Both of us are gonna be fine, alright...?"

"I know...I-I know it can't get to us, but it-*sob*-It's scary a-and loud, and I can't h-help it Dum, I'm sorry, I don't know why I can't..."

He continued to cry and shake, though he managed to lift himself up a bit so he could hold onto her. Dum kept petting his head, using her other hand to wipe away some of the tears flowing down his face...She wasn't really sure what else she could do to help him but that, but it didn't seem to be working much.

"...Captain?"

He hummed in response to her, still a tearful, sobbing mess.

"If it'll help at all, I...I think I might have a pair of ear muffs somewhere. The ones I got for when we go to Polus? They might help."

"You...*sniff*...Y-you think so?"

"It's worth a try, isn't it?" she smiled. "I'll go see if I can find-"

Just as she started to inch closer to the bedside, Captain held her tighter, and she felt him shudder.

"Don't go...please..."

"But I have to get up if you want me to get them for you," she said softly. "...Do you want to come with me?"

The white crewmate sniffled again and wiped his eyes...There hadn't been any particularly loud crashes of thunder in the past few minutes, so he'd calmed down a little bit.

"Okay..." he squeaked, hanging onto Dum as the two of them got up out of bed and stood up on the floor. The pink crewmate grabbed her cellphone off of her night table and turned on its flashlight, then lead him along towards the closet and started to rummage around for the ear muffs, shining her light down into the bins to search for them.

Just when she located them and pulled them out from a box of gloves and hats, she saw the rest of their bedroom outside the closet light up again, and she saw the flash of lightning outside their window, even from the closet where she stood.

Another thunder crash was on its way.

"Here, Captain. Hurry and put them on."

He nodded, reaching out with his still shaking hands to grab the muffs and put them over his ears...Another loud, crackling boom of thunder sounded off just as he put them on, and he jumped and curled back in on himself where he stood.

...He slowly pried his eyes open again when he realized just how muffled the sound of the crash was now that he had his ears blocked.

"Was...was that it?"

"Yeah, that was it," Dum nodded, smiling as she took him by the hand. "That makes it better, doesn't it, Captain?"

He nodded back at her, gently pulling her in towards him and hugging her close for some extra comfort.

"...Th-thank you, Dum."

"You're welcome," she chirped, pressing a soft kiss against his cheek and gently squeezing him back. "...You ready to go back to bed now?"

"I...I-I don't know," he admitted, not sounding very tired. "I've been k-kinda woken up...What time is it?"

Dum took a peek at her phone before answering him.

"It's barely three in the morning," she responded, making sure her voice was loud enough for him to hear her from beneath his ear muffs. "I understand if you don't feel tired, but we should probably at least get some more rest."

"Hmm...How about I make us each a cup 'o tea?" Captain suggested. "That might help wind us back down."

"I'd love that, Captain, but...the power's gone out. We won't be able to work the stovetop."

"Oh...Well, c-could I fetch us some water, at least?"

"That should be fine. But do you want me to get it instead? You still seem a little shaken up."

"No, no, Dum. Thank you, though," he replied, puffing his chest out to display his bravery as best he could. "I can do this...I'm going out there, and I'm going to brave the storm. You stick around here. I'll be right back."

He marched out of their bedroom, and only a few seconds after he shut the door, another flash of lightning illuminated the house. At first, Captain flinched, but once he saw the dark house become lit up, he was able to find a few bearings in the maze ahead, so he was glad that the lightning had at least provided him something useful.

He heard another rumble of thunder and flinched, bracing himself for something louder...but if anything else did sound off, he was unable to hear it.

...I'm probably never going to be able to thank Dum enough for this idea, he said to himself. Normally, in the event of a thunderstorm, especially before he and Dum had gotten together, he was so paralyzed with fear that he couldn't even leave his bed. All he did was bury himself in a pile of his stuffed animals and cry, frightened, helpless and all alone.

Heh...Now look at me. I'm going all the way out into the kitchen!

He managed to locate the cupboard where the cups were kept without the need for any more lightning to brighten the room, and he made his way to the fridge to fill them up with cold water from the ice maker.

Just when he was done filling the second up, he heard a crackle, and another crash of thunder followed, loud enough to pierce the shields his ear muffs served as...It took everything he had in him to not panic, spill the cups and crumble to the ground in fear.

Deep breath...Dep breath, Captain, you can do this, he said to himself, quickly heading over to the counter to put the cups down so he could rest his hands against his heart to try and slow its rapid beating. ...Do it for Dum.

When he finally regained the ability to stand up straight, he grabbed the cups again and made his way back down the hallway towards the bedroom as quickly as he could. His eyes had since adjusted a bit to the darkness, so he was able to make out the silhouettes of furniture in the darkness, and therefore avoid colliding with them.

The bedroom door had been left open, so he walked right in. Dum was sitting on the bed waiting for him, and her face lit up when she saw him return.

"Everything go okay out there?"

"Pretty good. I got spooked a couple o' times, but I ended up handling it okay," he told her as he handed her one of the cups. "...Thanks again for thinking of that, Dum."

"Oh, it's no problem, Cappy."

"No, I mean...Really," he emphasized, both of them sitting down on the edge of the bed beside one another. "And it's not just what you did now, it's...everything. I-I used to be so helpless in times like this before you came along, and...I felt so alone."

"Ohh, Captain..." Dum cooed sympathetically, stroking the top of his head again.

"...But then you came along," he continued. "A-and it feels like so much has turned upside-down since then, w-with my loneliness, and insecurities...I'll never be able to thank you enough just for being in my life, Dum."

"You don't have to," she said to him. "...You being in mine is more than enough."

She nuzzled into him from the side, and he gently held her close and pressed a kiss against her forehead, fighting the urge to weep again.

"...I love you, Dum," he squeaked, his voice creaking. "So much...so, so much..."

"I love you too, Marshmallow..."

Captain giggled a bit at the pet name, and he hugged her a bit tighter...After a minute or so, Dum reluctantly pulled away, giving him one more loving pat on the head as she did so.

"Come on," she said to him, lifting up the cup of water he'd given her. "Let's go ahead and drink up."

He nodded lightly, and they each tapped their cups together before taking a swig. The water was still ice-cold, and it felt cool and refreshing running down their throats, quenching their thirst and sending chills up their spines...By the time they were both done, they felt quite a bit colder, and Captain especially was ready to duck back underneath the blankets...At least, that was the message Dum was getting from the massive yawn he'd just emitted.

"You ready to go back to sleep now, Captain?"

"Yeah...I think so," he slurred, now sufficiently drowsy.

"Huh...You know something, Captain?"

"Hm...?"

"I just realized that I haven't heard any thunder or seen any lighting in a little while," she told him. "...You think the storm might be almost over?"

"Maybe...Can I still keep the ear muffs, though...?"

"Aw, of course you can," she smiled as they both nestled underneath the warm bed covers again. "Hey, and by morning, everything might be cleared up."

"You think so...?"

"M-hm. And if the power's back on, I can make us some blueberry pancakes. Would you like that?"

"Hm...You remembered my favorite..."

"I couldn't ever forget, Cappy."

He yawned again and scooched in closer to his girlfriend, wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling his visor up against hers.

"...Can we sleep in, though?"

"Sure thing. It's Saturday, so there's no rush."

He hummed contently, snuggling closer to her and trying to give her another kiss, but his mind was too fogged over with sleepiness at that point for him to do it properly.

"...'Night, Dumdum."

"Sweet dreams, Cappy."

She gave him another kiss on the forehead before settling down herself. It wasn't much longer after Captain had fallen sound asleep that Dum joined him, and not long after that, the silver rays of the moon began to shine through the parting clouds, and the stars shone at their brightest.

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Good gosh, I love these two. X3