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For Tubbo it was sometimes hard to understand things, but he made the effort to understand people such as his friends and how they act. So when Tubbo barged into Tommy's room for an impromptu sleepover only to find a spooked Tommy pause his rocking back and forth, clutching a stuffed animal with a Disney movie playing in the background, he was genuinely confused.
Tommy started speaking, well, rambling, jumbling his words as he tried to push out an explanation. Tubbo knew that as much as it confused him it probably embarrassed Tommy even more so Tubbo attempted to calm down his erratic friend in hope of a better explanation in return, mainly as to why Tommy would be so scared about what Tubbo saw.
And oh boy did he get his explanation, after the blonde calmed down he explained how this is something he does as a way to relax or cope. It's called age regression and although Tubbo's never heard of it he doesn't see why it would be seen as a bad thing.
"Cuz' I act like a child and shit and it's embarrassing- not to mention there's some sick fucks out there I'll tell you what-"
Tubbo listens to Tommy, cracking a few jokes here and there to calm the air. Tubbo would most likely end up googling more about it when he gets home after their sleepover.
"Well, I don't think it's weird if that's what you're worried about, if anything I'm a little discouraged at the fact you didn't invite me to movie night," Tubbo reassured and Tommy appreciated it. They did end up having a movie night as well. Tommy half regressing like before Tubbo walked in, Tubbo not so much acting as a caregiver but more like an older brother.
And if they both started to tear up in the first 20mins of UP, much like Tommy's secret, it was just between them.
A couple of weeks passed, okay maybe more like a month, after Tubbo educated himself more on the subject, he asked if Tommy had any gear in case he slipped so Tubbo could help not harm his coping mechanism but when Tommy texted a 'not really, just some stuffed animals and that one gag gift from Dream, I don't use it tho, bad connection.' Remembering Tommy's 'gift' from his birthday left a sour taste now that he saw the distress it caused his best friend to have, Tubbo decided that just can't do so he took the matter into his own hands.
Tubbo went searching for something specific and it took a while for the gift to arrive but once it did he scheduled a less impromptu but still very important sleepover with his friend.
"I brought my switch and uh, Henry like you asked." Tommy hesitated at the mention of his comfort item, a stuffed cow, and plopped his backpack next to Tubbo's bed.
"Sweet, I can finally get those cherries I've been asking you for." Tubbo joked, he's been asking for a fruit trade for about a week now.
"As long as you've got your oranges." Tommy countered.
"Yeah, yeah I didn't sell them this time but first we're gonna get some stuff at the dollar store." It wasn't unusual for them to stack up on snacks before hanging out, especially when Tubbo lives so close to the dollar store, walking distance in fact.
"Pogchamp!" Tommy grabbed his wallet from his bag and both boys rushed down the stairs, quickly calling out to anyone who may have been home, and jumped out the door to the nearest dollar store, laughing along the way.
"What's the balance, big man," Tommy asked upon entering the small market, 35$ between two, they were still broke high school kids after all.
"Jeez man, why’d you break out the twenty?" Tommy asked as they both walked up and down the snack aisles, grabbing some of their favorites and throwing them into the hand cart Tommy latched to.
"I wanted to get some extra stuff, grab those crisps and follow me." Tommy didn't ask and did as he was told, tossing the chips in the cart and following the shorter teen down about 3 isles, closer to the cheap toys and gift wrap sections.
"Okay," Tubbo paused mid-isle, "pick out what you'd like" he turned to the boy with a kind smiled as he gestured to the small toddler's and baby's section.
Tommy eyed the colorful section and then eyed his friend, usually in stores he’d quickly averted his gaze from the isle to not seem suspicious or be drawn to it, but now his friend was offering just that and more.
"Are you sure?" Tommy asked, still hesitant, looking to his friend for any sort of warning that this was a joke.
"Yes, you said you didn't have any, and I wanted you to be comfortable, at my house or wherever, we still have the kids section if you wanna grab a coloring book too so don't spend it all in one place, we are just students," Tubbo tacked on the joke to put the younger at ease and it seemed to work as he turned his eyes to the shelf.
He watched as his friends ended up picking out a yellow sippy cup (the red was out of stock but Tubbo justified that it matches his hair) and a water-filled teether. In the next aisle Tommy got a Disney-themed coloring book purely cause it had Doug from Up on the cover, both boys were already well stocked with color pencils but a pack of crayons wouldn't hurt and a packet of stickers too ‘cause as Tubbo exclaimed, "They have bees!".
They continued shopping for snacks and drinks and Tommy almost forgot about the other items until they came up to the register and although the cashier may have been indifferent to the whole thing, Tommy still felt uncomfortable, I mean, what else would two teenage boys require a sippy cup and teether for?
Tubbo sensed this and noticed how the blonde fidgeting with his hoodie sleeve and quickly thought up an idea, "Do you think Niki will like the baby shower?"
Snapping the boy out of his thoughts, Tommy caught on quickly and mentally thanked the boy and every god for his best friend, "Yeah, I think she will."
"You're total is 16.08, would you like a bag?
"Yes please."
The two made their merry way back to Tubbo's house, bags in hand as Tommy kept insisting to pay Tubbo back, even if it was just 5 bucks.
"Don't thank me yet, I still have one more gift at my house," and that shut Tommy up, to think about what else his friend could do to rival what already took place was already quite difficult.
They get to Tubbo's house and ran up the stairs to his room 2 steps at a time, dumping out their haul onto the floor and dividing evenly between them, they booted up their switches to start the night off right. By the time they successfully traded fruit in Animal Crossing Tubbo remembered his last surprise.
"Right, so,” Tubbo plopped down his switch on the floor next to him, “ close your eyes."
Tommy gave Tubbo an odd look, "Just humor me."
Tubbo watched Tommy raised his eyebrow but close his eyes anyway, "and hold out your hands", Tubbo instructed, Tommy, did as told and Tubbo grabbed a small box from under his bed, placing said small box upon two awaiting hands.
"Okay, you're good now." Tubbo sat back to see his friend's reaction.
Tommy peered open his eyes to a small shipping box and brought it closer to himself to open it, ripping past the packing tape, the first thing that had shown was a business card, presumably from the seller with a small caricature, and red-ish orange tissue paper. Tommy unraveled it all to reveal a pacifier that color match the tissue paper and seemed to have been modified to fit an adult mouth. Tubbo read his face as a pure shock, too many emotions racing through the blonde’s face.
"I don't necessarily know how young you get really but just in case, y'know?" Tubbo smiled with a shrug, crossing his leg on the floor across from the speechless boy.
Tommy stared at the gift, he was very grateful for it but it took his brain a second to catch up, and when it did he jerked his line of sight to his friend in front of him and asked very determinedly, "Can I hug you?"
Remembering Tubbo’s comforts in a time about Tommy’s was just so, Tommy. It made Tubbo laugh as he gave a shrug "I'll allow it." jokingly, as he opened his arms and Tommy carefully placed the gift back in the box and barreled into his best friend to hug him tightly.
The rest of the night was as fun as any other sleepover and Tubbo refused to tell Tommy how much he paid for everything, Tubbo even once threatening to cover the entire thing with bee stickers (he did end up placing one sticker on it, not as a threat but just because "it looked nice”) and they finally settled down when Tubbo decided to distract from the subject with the offering of a pillow fort. Tubbo a few days later would find a random 20 dollar bill in his room, thinking it's just his lucky day. Tommy made the effort to understand how Tubbo worked as much as Tubbo did for Tommy after all.