Chapter Text
Wemmbu was so, so embarrassed.
He'd age regressed in front of not just Jaden, but Flame too.
And somehow, for reasons he still couldn't wrap his head around, Flame had his old pacifier. His pacifier. The one from when Mane had been mentoring him.
Sure, Mane and Flame were related, but... why would Flame have it? Mane would've thrown that stuff away. Right?
...That wasn't the point.
The point was that he had a class project to finish.
With Flame.
The same Flame who'd watched him cry, cling to Jaden, and curl up against him like an actual toddler.
Wemmbu stood on the front porch, staring at the door. He silently begged whatever higher power was listening that they wouldn't bring up yesterday.
He rang the doorbell.
A few seconds later, the door swung open.
“...Wemmbu?”
Wemmbu froze.
Right.
He'd been so busy dreading seeing Flame that he'd completely forgotten Mane lived here too.
Fuck fuck fuck.
Mane frowned, looking him over.
“Uh...Hello?”
“Uhm... hi.” Wemmbu rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact. “I'm here for a project. With... Flame.”
Mane stared for a second before giving a small nod.
“He's upstairs.”
“...Thanks.”
Mane stepped aside, letting him in.
Wemmbu hurried past him before the conversation could become any more awkward.
He made his way upstairs and knocked on Flame's bedroom door.
A moment later it opened.
Flame blinked.
“Oh. Uh... hey, bro.” He scratched the back of his head. “I kinda forgot we were doing the project today. Come in.”
Wemmbu nodded and stepped inside.
For the next half hour, they worked in near silence.
They talked about the assignment. Compared notes. Argued over formatting.
Anything except that.
It almost started to feel normal.
Then Flame sighed.
“Dude...”
Wemmbu kept typing.
“So... yesterday.”
Silence.
“In the bathroom.” Flame glanced over at him. “What exactly happened?”
Wemmbu didn't answer.
“I mean...” Flame rubbed the back of his neck. “I get the general idea, but I don't really get it.”
Another few seconds passed.
“You... age regressed or something?”
“...Yeah.”
His voice came out quiet.
“I was stressed.”
Flame looked at him.
“Stressed because of what?”
Wemmbu's fingers stopped moving over the keyboard.
“...None of your business.”
Flame held up his hands.
“Alright. Whatever, dude.”
The room went quiet again.
Neither of them looked at the other.
_______________
By the time they finished, Wemmbu felt like his brain had been wrung dry. He let out a long groan and slumped forward, resting his forehead against the table. “I'm never doing another project again.” he muttered into the wooden table. His eyes drifted shut for just a second, enjoying the silence after hours of staring at a screen.
Then he felt fingers comb gently through his hair.
His body went still.
The slow, absent-minded strokes were almost identical to yesterday.
Flame.
Wemmbu should've pulled away. He should've told him to knock it off, shoved his hand away, done something.
Instead...
A tiny, involuntary sound escaped him.
"...Mmh."
His tail twitched.
Then it started swaying.
Heat flooded his face so fast it made him dizzy, creeping over his cheeks and all the way to the tips of his ears. He could already feel them burning pink. His eyes slipped shut without him meaning to, leaning just a little harder into the touch.
And then came the worst part.
A low, rumbling purr vibrated in his chest.
Oh, you've got to be kidding me.
He was purring.
Actually purring.
Every scratch behind one ear only made it louder.
“This is humiliating...” he mumbled, though it came out weak and slurred together.
Flame only cooed in his face.
His fingers scratched behind Wemmbu's ear a little more deliberately.
“There we go.”
Wemmbu let out another helpless sigh, his tail wagging faster against the chair. His skin felt unbearably warm, like he'd been sitting too close to a fire, and every bit of common sense telling him to stop had started fading into the background. He hated how good it felt.
Flame chuckled quietly.
“Yesterday. Was it because of Manepear, buddy?”
“...Mmph...”
“Yeah? He upset you real bad, hm?”
Wemmbu gave the tiniest nod.
“Poor puppy.”
His tail sped up immediately, thumping against the chair with enough force that Flame laughed under his breath.
“Oh, wow.”
Wemmbu buried his face against his folded arms, mortified.
He couldn't stop purring.
His tail couldn't stop wagging.
He couldn't even think straight anymore.
The scratching continued, slow and steady, until every ounce of tension had melted out of him. His thoughts felt fuzzy, distant, and warm, slipping farther away every time Flame praised him or rubbed behind his ears.
The bedroom door opened.
Strong arms slipped beneath Wemmbu before he had time to react, lifting him effortlessly off the chair.
He barely startled.
Instead, a soft whine escaped him as he instinctively leaned back into the person holding him.
“Hi, puppy.”
Mane.
Some distant part of Wemmbu's mind knew he should probably be embarrassed all over again.
It didn't matter.
Not anymore.
His thoughts had already drifted somewhere much younger, somewhere simple. The moment he recognized Mane's voice, every instinct in him settled. Safe.
Mane was safe.
Always.
He relaxed completely against his chest, ears giving a tiny flick as another quiet whine slipped out.
Mane smiled.
He carried Wemmbu across the room and gently set him down on Flame's bed.
“Hang on just a second, baby.”
Mane walked over to one of the drawers beside the desk, opened it, and rummaged around for a moment before pulling out the same pacifier they'd tucked away after yesterday.
He came back over, crouched beside the bed, and smiled.
“There we go.”
Wemmbu opened his mouth without thinking.
Mane slipped the pacifier into place.
The familiar weight settled against his lips, and he instinctively began to suck on it, his shoulders relaxing even further.
“Good boy,” Mane said softly, smoothing down his hair.
Wemmbu's ears twitched.
“Such a good boy.”
Another gentle stroke through his hair.
“So well behaved.”
Wemmbu blinked up at him slowly, his eyes glassy with exhaustion and quiet affection. Every word of praise settled warmly in his chest, chasing away the last scraps of anxiety he'd been carrying all day.
His tail gave another lazy wag across the blankets.
He looked at Mane with complete trust, the kind that only existed when his mind had drifted this far.
Nothing guarded remained in his expression.
Just soft, sleepy eyes filled with quiet love.
Maybe it'd be okay.
Maybe it wouldn't be.
But that was future Wemmbu's problem. Present Wemmbu will enjoy whatever he gets.