it means they can also try and diffuse situations -- and if not diffuse, at least they're prepared. if they notice the twitch of whumper's fingers that always shows itself before they choke whumpee, they can take a deep breath before fingers close around their neck.

but what happens when whumpee's rescued? they're safe now. they have nothing to fear. except they're more paranoid than ever. after learning to survive on whumper's predictability, the unfamiliarity of the rest of the world is terrifying. every time anyone makes a gesture that's a little too much like whumper, or their body language changes in a way that used to spell trouble for whumpee, whumpee panics. they're constantly trying to predict everyone's needs but they are terrified by the fact they cant read everyone's body language. of course, they know that nobody wants to hurt them anymore -- these people aren't like whumper.