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Everything was blurry. Eret stepped out into the blistering brightness of the desert, gaunt arms rising with thin hands to shield their eyes from the sun as they meandered down the great pathways Foolish had laid down with his bare hands.
Steeped in grief and shock as they were, Eret barely seen the towering buildings that made up Foolish’s small empire, though their eyes looked and a small part of them felt innately at peace. Usually setting foot outside their chilled castle brought pain or nightmarish daydreams of people shunning them, a rush of anxiety following such sights that whispered about those horrors and said those dreaded events would happen....
But when they passed through Foolish’s large portal and smelt the dry, humid air of the sandy domain he called home, something inside them soothed all the fears that had gathered inside, welling up with more pressure than a natural spring shunting against a rockface, stronger than a tsunami rearing down upon a beach and ravaging it. The destroyed beach with broken deckchairs and wooden splinters speared into sand was often the state they were left in at the prospect of doing anything outside their castle’s cold stone, yet at some point, somehow, they had grown so accustomed to the desert that they felt safe here.
(Or maybe it was Foolish’s presence. Did the fact alone that the god was here make them feel better than they had in the past seven years they’d been on this server?)
However, this time Eret wasn’t much in the right mindset to stand in the sweltering heat and bask in the soft feeling of relief. Today, in fact, was perhaps one of the worst days they’d ever had.
The Red Banquet had ended barely an hour prior and red it had been.
The freakish sight of gold spilling down stone slabs replayed in their fuzzy mind, Eret choking on a sob cough as their shaking hands fell down to their chest, arms wrapping around themself in some belated hug.
Foolish had— He’d—
“Any last words?” A taunting cackle followed the words.
The ground shifted under them. Eret tumbled forwards as their legs lost the power that had been keeping them standing.
They fell, knees grinding against packed sand painfully as their hands shot out and met the same harsh fate. For minutes after, they knelt there, frame rattled from the rough impact, everything numb.
Making to get up, the pain hit and Eret lost their grip on their headspace, dropping straight into little space with loud wails. Flopping onto their side to cradle their aching palms to their chest, the gold of Foolish’s hand-built city shone through their tears. Reminded of the gold, gold everywhere, gold on the floor, seeping towards them, dress hem bleached yellow Eret choked on their cries and fell onto their back.
The blue sky beamed down at them. It was night time in the rest of the server, cold and dark and scary, but the desert held a sense of timelessness that Eret liked, still warm and sunny.
“Fwahhh,” they hiccupped, cries calming down to silent tears and a mean sniffle. They wanted Foolish, knew they were looking for him, but there was something wrong, because when they thought of the pretty golden skinned man their tears got worse and they cried so heavily that their throat started to hurt, chest burning.
Bottom lip quivering, they shoved their thumb into their mouth and spluttered in surprise at the sand that came with it. Bolting upright to spit out the small grimy bits from their mouth, Eret saw their scratched knees – red and puffy, with a few beads of blood welling up – and forgot about the sand as they wailed at the remembered pain of their knees.
Losing balance, even though they were only sitting on their butt, Eret tipped backwards. Instead of the soft bedding that always met them when they did such in their bedroom, they thumped their head off the packed, unrelenting sand below them. As their skull felt like it was being split in two, Eret wailed loud enough to give themself an even worse headache.
“Baba,” they mewled piteously, little arms reaching for a man who wasn’t there. “Baba, wheereee yooou?”
An oink startled them. Opening bleary eyes, they blinked at the upside down face of a zombie piglin.
“Piggy!” They gasped, tiny hand pointing up at the piglin. He was likely one of Foolish’s guards, as the man had a penchant for letting the wandering piglins stay with him, though in their regressed state Eret wasn’t thinking clearly.
The piglin snorted at them, the funny sniick sound that they giggled at being the noise of him putting away his sword. Eret had made a few previous visits to Foolish’s summer home, so it wasn’t incredulous that the guard recognised them.
Little them wiggled a bit, hiccupping. Whining at their dry, sore throat, the shadow that the piglin had cast over them vanished, the babe looking over to see the guard heading back to the open doors of the pyramid home that Foolish lived in.
“Wah!” They squeaked, not wanting to be left outside all alone. Getting to their feet was difficult and a few tears rolled down their cheeks as their palms smarted, scuffed skin stinging as their skin moved and stretched. If getting to their feet was difficult, standing was an even harder task and walking felt near impossible.
The fear of falling again kept them somewhat stable, shaky legs carrying to them to doors but not without a few dangerous wobbles first. The zombie piglin was standing by the opened doors, waiting for them.
He oinked at them when they stepped in and closed the doors behind them. Hiccupping again, in a nervous tic, they blankly eyeballed the large hallway and the various doors.
“Where Foosh?” They managed, chirping inquisitively at the piggy man.
The piglin pointed towards the end of the hall.
“Tankie,” they slurred, mental space no more stable than a swing swaying in the breeze as they fluctuated between extremely young baby and toddler age.
The first step was sore. Their knees didn’t like all the walking they were doing.
“Is okie,” they spoke to themself in an upbeat tone, attempting to give themself a pep talk. “C’mon leggies, gotta see baba.”
On the second step, they teetered alarmingly to the left. Squeaking, Eret nearly fell again, if not for the wall saving them. Patting it gently with the tips of their fingers – the only part of their hands they could move without them hurting – Eret babbled some nonsense and continued on, swaying and toddling about as though drunk.
Finally, they made it to Foolish’s bedroom, nearly falling into the heavy wooden door as they giggled quietly. The god was lying in bed, chest slowly rising and falling with comfy looking blankets over him.
Grinning uncontrollably, Eret teetered into the room, bumping into a rough tweed chair and sort of collapsing into it.
“Made it,” they huffed, worn out after such an expedition. Curling up in the chair, they blew air softly over their achy knees, kissing the broken skin around them. That was meant to make the ouchies go away but it didn’t do anything.
Frowning, Eret wondered if they needed Foolish to kiss them better. Maybe it only worked when baba did it?
Their eyes drooped. They’d make baba kiss their ouchies away later, Eret decided.
“Ni ni,” they yawned to the sleeping god, eyes slipping shut as they dozed off.
Respawn was a painless process. Even if someone had been viciously attacked before, when respawning they would be fine; painless and ache-free.
Foolish woke as though XD had soccer punched him in the gut, jolting upright to a dark room. Stomach twisting with a dreadful feeling that was definitely not hunger, he gave his room a once over and found himself staring at the figure curled up on his chair.
Eret made for a meek sight when they were curled up as tight as they were, head pillowed by boney knees... knees that were smattered with bruises, dried blood smeared down their skin from a patch of puffy scratches. Their sunglasses were nowhere to be seen.
Startled, Foolish rocked to the side of his bed and peered at them closer, noting the fragile way they held their hands around their legs, entire body scrunched into themself as though trying to take up less room on the large chair.
She couldn’t be comfortable. Foolish himself had fallen asleep in awkward positions too many times over the years and chair sleeping was the least comfortable when the chair was tweed. The only reason he had the chair in the first place was because it matched with his room’s aesthetic, not because it was any good or comfortable. An oversight on his part – he needed to invest in a better one if Eret was going to make a habit of sleeping in it.
“Eret?” He breathed, every noise seeming booming compared to Eret’s hushed breaths.
The realisation that maybe he should let them sleep after such a long day –don’t think about it, stop, don’t think – came only when their eyelids fluttered and a soft white light blossomed in their room.
“Baba?” They yawned, voice soft and quiet. Their eyes slipped shut again, though they did make a valiant effort to open them again, arms unwinding from their stiff position around their legs and reaching out for him. The grabby motion, coupled with the other obvious signs, were too childlike to do anything else other than confirm Foolish’s suspicion.
“Heya, baby girl,” he hummed, getting to his feet and crouching in front of them. Their little hands, rough with the smattered sand that covered them like a second skin, grabbed at his skin. Only now realising he wasn’t wearing a shirt, dark tattoos on full display, Foolish quickly looked down and sighed in relief when he found a pair of shorts staring up at him.
At least he hadn’t traumatised the kid yet.
“How old are we feeling today?” He cooed, wrapping up their tiny fragile hand in his and rubbing the soft back of their hand. Their palms were scratched too, likely the prospect of a harsh tumble. Maybe it was what had sent them over the edge, though from the previous events he doubted it was just a tumble that had made them regress.
“Baba,” Eret repeated, beautiful eyes opening as their other hand lifted. She gestured more forcefully, fingers curling where she did her best to not move her palms. “Ups!”
“You wanna be tall?” He smirked, raising an eyebrow as he stared down at them.
“Yush,” they slurred through their words, cheerful attitude stunted by the wide yawn they gave.
“Hmm,” he pulled it out, watching the wide childish eyes that beamed up at him. “Alright.”
“Yay!” Eret grinned, brighter than a star. Their arms shook. “Baba, baba, uppy, uppy.”
“But only if you tell me how old you are, kiddo.”
They blanked out on him, staring at him as though he was the least interesting thing ever.
“Baba no uppy?” They pouted. His legs felt weak.
“Okay, baby girl, come here,” he gave in, bending to pull them up onto his hip. When they moved their scraped knees, they whimpered, dried blood having made the skin stiff, the cuts still sore. “What happened to your knees, sweetie?”
“Erie fell,” she hiccupped, hand coiling in a familiar motion. Foolish caught her hand before her thumb made its way into her mouth.
“Nuh-uh, that’s dirty, baby girl. I’ve got a paci somewhere, if you wanna wait ‘til I find it?”
“Paci?” Her eyes lit up despite being denied a soothing method. “I wan, I wan!”
Stepping over with them secure on his hip, he rifled through the ender chest he kept in a corner of his room. “What do good babies say?”
“Imma good baby?” They asked.
“Roger Dodger,” he grinned, unearthing the old pacifier. It was more than a few years old – a remnant of a past he hadn’t been able to forget whilst Eret seemed all too happy to. The baby made grabby hands at the soother, though were quickly hushed. He clicked his fingers and the pacifier vanished, a little dash of magic dropping it into a pot of boiling water. “Baba’s gotta clean it, baby.”
“Clean?” They parroted, tongue lisping over the word to make it sound more like ‘queen’. They were the cutest thing ever, even as their head thunked against his shoulder and their fluttering eyelashes tickled his skin. “Baba clean, baba clean for baby!”
“That’s right,” he chuckled, assured in his guess that they were sifting through baby and toddler years. Eret had never been consistent in her headspace when she’d regressed those years ago, though the common factor was that when the regression was involuntary or stress induced, she would be a lot younger than normal.
The sad thing was, Foolish knew exactly what had made them regress so young. The feeling that knowledge spawned inside of him was one so hopeless yet infuriated that he wanted nothing more than to hold Eret close and never let them go.
How dare the Eggpire do this to them. What right did those sick people have to do this?
“You’re all sandy, baby,” he prompted. “You want a bath just like your paci?”
“Splash-splash time?” Their jaw creaked on a particularly wide yawn, and although they giggled and blinked brightly afterwards, Foolish knew they were tired.
“Splash-splash time,” he echoed in agreement, easily carrying them into his en suite. Getting the bath running was easy, the large porcelain tub filling with water quickly. Eret mimicked the sounds of the water, their weightless form attached to him like a limpet. She’d lifted her head from his shoulder, glancing around the room with a wide eyed look of wonder.
It had been a while since they’d done this. Years since he’d last seen them, even longer since they’d regressed in front of him. When they were back to their big self, he needed to make sure to assure them. The first time Eret had regressed with him had left her feeling emotionally unsure for weeks after and she’d refused to talk to him for nearly a month due to her embarrassment; he didn’t want a repeat of that when it could be avoided.
“Does my little baby want bubbles in her bath?” He questioned, unable to stop the pet name from slipping out.
Eret, much to his amusement, didn’t make a fuss. She blinked innocent eyes up at him, not quite done taking in his bathroom like it was some glistening monument as her gaze quickly strayed down to the filling bath. The water sparkled with the natural light that shone in through the large window, his little baby’s face reflected in the sheen. “Baba bubbles?”
“Baba bubbles,” he laughed, taking that rhyme as an affirmative and digging some bubblebath out of the cupboard to pour generously into the water. He was thankful he’d kept all this stuff, whether through sentimental reasons or not. Checking the water, he scooped up a wad of bubbles and bopped Eret’s nose with it. She giggled, clumsy hands waving at his hand and making the clump of bubbles float away. Waving at it again, it fell into the bath and rejoined its brethren as the little hiccupped.
“You have to be brave now, baby girl,” he cooed, shuffling them on his hip to get them ready for the transfer down into the water. “Your knees might sting a little, but once you’re in the water baba will protect you.”
“Baba kiss ouchie better?” They chirped.
“Anything for my little baby,” he promised.
Eret dazzled him with a bright smile. “Okie! Splash-splash time with baba!”
Deciding that using a little magic to keep them happy was no big deal, Foolish snapped his fingers and magicked away their clothes just as he eased them into the water. There was nothing he hadn’t seen before, with similar encounters such as this, though he wasn’t too sure whether or not they’d be pleased to hear about the bath when they were big, so he’d play it safe.
True to his warning, when their knees, and hands, made contact with the water they whined and whimpered. “Baba!” They wailed, cheeks wet as their eyes sparkled with tears. “Baba, it hurty!”
“Aw, I’m sorry baby,” he soothed, reaching down with his big hand to splash water over them. It seemed to work, the kid calming down as the water eased their scrapes and the bubbles caught their eye. “Is that better?”
“Mhm!” They hiccupped again, a nervous tic that had them full-body jerking. Keeping a close eye on them to make sure they didn’t hurt themself, Foolish worked on shampooing their hair. If he was bathing them, he might as well go all the way and make sure they were clean.
Eret babbled as they splashed around, clumsy hands grabbing at bubbles to mould them into some sort of mass. They looked tiny in the bathtub, which was no surprise considering it had been crafted for a large totem god such as himself, though with them acting so carefree, it was hard for Foolish to not fawn over how adorable they were being.
“Baba?” Asked his baby, tone curious.
“Yes, sugarpie?” Foolish hummed, cupping their forehead with his hand to make sure no soap got into their eyes as he picked up a few handfuls of water and rinsed their pretty hair down.
“Why you stay out here?”
Pausing for a moment, Foolish pondered what they meant. “Why do I live out in the desert? Well, baby, it’s nice and warm, for starters.”
“Nuh,” they shook their head, the sole fact that Foolish hadn’t dumped the next handful of water onto them yet being the only thing that saved them from a sudden drowning. “I remembers when baba was in big place.”
Blinking, he questioned. “What big place, baby girl?”
“Lots and lots of fire,” they chirruped, little fingers dancing in the water. The small splashing sounds provided a dull background noise as Foolish frowned.
Fire could only mean the Nether. Foolish had never taken Eret to the Nether with him on this server—
He froze, hand stopping halfway in his ministrations with the water. Eret had never regressed with him before on this server, and the fact they were bringing this mysterious ‘place’ up now probably meant they’d been tiny when there. Years ago, Foolish had been forced to do a run through the Nether, desperately needing quartz, and he’d taken Eret with him, because he’d refused to leave the regressed three year old at home.
“I thought you had a bad memory, baby?” He noted softly, trying to tempt them into answering without their feelings being hurt. Little or big, Eret had always been oddly sensitive. “When did you remember this?”
“Just now, baba!” They squirmed, squeaking as Foolish poured a renewed handful of water over their head. He finished up their hair, taking a small fluffy towel and quickly but gently towelling their long mane. “An’ is big me who no remember nothing! Baby good at remember stuff!”
“Is that so? Have you ever been tiny like this here, baby girl?”
“Only once,” they smiled, knocking down their bubble mass with a cheer. “Was rweally dark and scary.”
“Awe, baby,” he soothed, kissing her forehead. “Do you know when that was?”
“You no here,” Eret mumbled. “Wilby meanie.”
Surprised, he questioned, “Wilbur?”
Eret burst into tears, loud wails filling the room. Jumping to action, Foolish clicked his fingers and had the bath empty, scooping the babe up in a large fluffy towel. Holding them to his chest, he took up a jerky rocking motion, swaying from side to side as he pressed kisses along their hair.
“It’s alright, baby girl, baba’s here.” He promised, “Baba isn’t ever going to leave you.”
A few minutes of shaking and heart-wrenching sobs later, Foolish decided waiting around wasn’t going to do much. Drying off Eret as he pushed back into his bedroom, the totem made a quick assessment and directed himself towards the enderchest, pulling out a onesie he’d put in there carelessly a while ago.
Their sobs died down as he eased them onto their back on the large bed, working the space-themed onesie onto their upper half. Fishing a pullup out, still extremely thankful he’d inadvertently held onto these things, Foolish went through the process of putting that on and finished buttoning up the onesie.
“There we go,” he cooed, blowing a raspberry against their stomach. The babe breathed a giggle, exhausted after their long teary session. “Who’s the fanciest looking baby around here?”
“Who?” Slurred Eret.
Running his fingers along their sides, he made them sleepily squeal, lightly tickling them. “You are, baby girl. So pretty and perfect.”
“Baba?” She whined.
“Yes, baby?”
“Sleepy,” they murmured, fingers curling. Their thumb rose towards their mouth but Foolish quickly intercepted it with the cleaned paci he summoned with another little click of his fingers. She made a relieved sound and sagged boneless against the sheets, eyes slipping shut. Eret was out within a minute.
“Sleep well, baby,” he prayed, laying down by their side and smiling at the force with which they sucked on the pacifier.