Work Text:
It was the first time Tommy had been home alone in a while, granted it wasn’t his home, it was Philza’s and Technoblade’s home! Tommy was here to petsit and… birdsit Techno’s and Phil’s plethora of pets. Cause oh boy did they have many, Tommy didn’t know how the two kept this secret to the landlord, then again the birds didn’t really live here.. That’s a story for another time.
Technoblade and Philza left Tommy in charge of watching the animals and the house while the two took an extended spring break to go camping, minus the largest dog Steve as he was Techno’s support animal and went with them. Tommy didn’t mind as the two both lived closer to the school, much closer than Tommy, so he just had to walk to class during the weekdays. After just a couple of days, Tommy was starting to understand why the two seniors lived alone together, it was quite peaceful and gave Tommy a sense of “Hey I could totally survive on my own later down the road.” which he was proud of, he kept the place clean, was on time to class, had free range of the fridge to make his own meals and not only took care of himself but also Techno’s canine and feline companions.
He could also be as loud or as quiet as he wanted, enjoying the silence of two large dogs, Baba and Ed, taking afternoon naps as he finished up homework or thriving in the chaos of the voice chats with his friends even though the cats, Blitz, Ryan and Aura wish he wouldn’t. By the time Friday night hit, Tommy realized he could also do something else with this temporary freedom.
Tommy could age regress without the worry of a brother barging in, a parent calling for chores, or a friend’s impromptu sleepover. Tommy was his own caregiver anyways so he knew he could do it himself, a special little alone time, a little night in.
He was excited, he hopped off the couch he was residing on and already felt himself slipping as he flapped his hands into the kitchen ready to make a meal that’d make almost any little happy, chicken nuggets! Spotting the bag and following the instructions on the back he also found some yogurt and thought that a nice fruit bowl would do well too.
Tommy went to cooking happily, having that mature for his age type of mindset even in littlespace so he could care for himself came with the part about not having a caregiver, only Tubbo knew about this side of Tommy after a slip up at one of Tubbo’s impromptu sleepovers where Tubbo walked in on Tommy just starting to slip while hugging a plushie and watching a Disney movie, Tommy quickly shot out of littlespace to stumbling over words as he explained everything to his very confused best friend, not because said best friend didn’t understand that it’s healthy for Tommy but because the big man didn’t invite Tubbo to watch movies with him, Tubbo didn’t wanna possibly interfere with Tommy’s coping mechanism so instead of being a care-r he was more like a big brother which Tommy was appreciative of, he can do this himself.
Like how he’s now pushing the cooked nuggets onto a paper plate (cause even though he trusts his abilities to hold a ceramic plate he still understands the risk of dropping it within littlespace) and serving himself a plastic bowl of fruit and a cup of juice, both dogs following his steps back and forth in hopes of some human food treats.
He was very proud after walking back to the couch and setting his food on the living room table, letting the dogs know they weren’t allowed to eat his meal while he then located his suitcase he’s been living out of for the past few days. Upon findings, he snatched up a red-ish orange pacifier Tubbo helped him purchase without his household’s acknowledgment, that Tubbo eventually stuck a bee sticker on the front of. He packed it just in case he did slip and also grabbed a cow plushie, a comfort item that was small enough to take anywhere.
The little sat down, munching on his food in happy chirps and babbles to himself, deeply regressing to around the age of 4, sometimes putting a nugget to the cow’s face as a way of sharing before Tommy himself took a bite and pretended it was the cow who bit it.
Once Tommy’s belly was full and the dishes were dealt with (placed in the sink for big Tommy to handle) he popped his pacifier in his mouth with a happy hum, taking a mental note to fix the deflated nub when he was big and searched for the remote to the tv.
He turned the channel to a kids network and submerged himself in the extra blankets Phil supplied him, Phil’s one true complaint about living with Techno, Techno ran hot and was in charge of the A/C bill, leaving the house in freezing temperatures. Tommy wrapped his cow up with him and swayed to some of the songs of the shows, some of the pets came to lay at his feet snoozing softly to the boy’s comfort. The lazy sounds tired the little so he followed the pets’ ideas, laying out on the couch and cuddling himself to sleep, ending the best night of the week with happy dreams.