Work Text:
Hunter had been getting himself worked up for a while.
See, he'd had a lot of new Palisman orders coming in and, worse, he'd not given himself time for any sorts of breaks. Even with all the time that had passed, he couldn't rid himself of the mindset that breaks were a show of weakness and would result in punishment.
Of course, Belos was gone now, and there was no one else who would punish him over such a basic thing, but trauma like that doesn't magically go away just because you want it to, or even just because you're aware of it.
Willow knew something was really wrong when she came home to find him not hunched over his workbench as she expected, but pacing back in forth, wildly waving around the knife in his hand.
"Hey, woah" she said, slowly and carefully removing the knife from his hand, eliciting a whine from the blonde. "You know better than this"
"I'm sorry" Hunter breathed. His eyes were wide, almost manic, but there was a fear in them. "I just, I have to finish it"
"All you need to be doing is getting rest" Willow told him firmly. He shook his head.
"No, no, you don't understand" he shook his head and, oh, he was crying. "I have to finish everything. It has to be perfect. If it's not perfect, then people won't come to me for their Palismen anymore, and then everyone will lose respect for me, and I'll let down Dell, and then all of the Clawthornes and, by extension, Luz, will hate me, and then you'll hate me, and then I'll be alone, and then-"
"Hunter, Hunter, hey" Willow cut him off, taking his hands in her own. "Breathe in" she instructed. It took a moment, but he complied. "And out... In... And out... One more time, in... And out..." she finished. He was a bit calmer now, but clearly still stressed out. "None of that is gonna happen just from you taking a break"
"How do you know?"
"Because people aren't like that" Willow told him flatly. "You wouldn't lose many customers, if any at all, and the only ones who would leave are the ones who never truly valued your work to begin with. Dell would be proud that you took care of yourself, and none of your friends or family would abandon you, and I wouldn't either, okay?" she asked. He nodded timidly. "Can you take a break, please?"
"...Okay"
"Good, good. I'm proud of you"