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When Risotto looked into the basement that was fully decorated and furnished to be a playroom, he found all the littles and their caregiver with the exception of Prosciutto who was probably doing work in his separate room. The sight wasn't a surprise as they usually all took one day out of the week to destress whether that be by regressing, dreaming, or watching over the others.
Formaggio was the only age dreamer but that didn't bother him. He liked playing video games and reading comic books as he sat with the littles. Melone was cuddling in between Sorbet and Gelato with his transparent purple pacifier as they watched courage the cowardly dog on the big tv they had. And since Illuso was one of the older littles regressing around the ages 8-10, he watched over Pesci and Ghiaccio like the older brother he was.
Risotto smiled fondly at them all bonding but it seemed bittersweet. Don't get him wrong, he loved his littles and how they all felt comfortable enough to regress around the gang but it hurt knowing he couldn't do that to. As the leader of the group and one of the major caregivers he never got the chance to show his little side to! Though if he ever did he felt like they would suddenly see him as inferior and not fit to be the leader of the hit-man squad. That thought stopped him from ever regressing in front of anyone no matter how much he trust them.
With one last look at his deemed family he went back to his room to calm down himself. After all, how good could a leader be when stressed out? Risotto shut his door and went to his closet quickly, he knew when he was little he wouldn't be able to change into better clothes and that'd cause him to have a tantrum. He picked out silk striped pajamas that looked similar to his everyday pants and a dark purple pacifier. When the little was done he took out his coloring tools, the few stuffies he had, and his hat he usually wore. The bells on his hat kept him entertained when he would shake his head and they would make sound. It was similar to a rattle and made him giggle. Risotto got him and his stuff situated on his king sized bed and started coloring. He laid on his stomach while his stuffies surrounded him and he talked to them in a childish manner. They needed to get caught up on what was all happening! Even if he did so happen to gossip some of the time..
He was so absorbed in his coloring and chatting that the click of the door open completely went over his head. The thing that got his attention was seeing something in the corner of his eye and the voice of his second hand man. "Hey boss.." Prosciutto's voice trailed off as he saw his leader on his bed surrounded with little items and a pacifier. He came to give the reports of the week but that would have to be set aside. The first thing Prosciutto felt was confusion. Why was Risotto regressing and when did he even start? Was it voluntary and why was he hiding it? Those questions filled his head but he pushed them aside and went to the leader and sat on the side of the bed. Risotto immediately sat up looking like a deer in headlights. He was always so careful, nobody suspected him of being a little so why was he caught now?
"Get out! Get out now!!" Risotto took his paci out and gave the other an order. His cheeks flushed red and he pushed all his stuff onto the floor. Sure it wasn't the smartest idea but it was the only thing his half big self could think of. "I'm not doing that boss, you need someone to care for you" Prosciutto set down his papers on the desk and sat on the edge of bed, a little bit away as to not scare him away. "I don't need to be taken care of. I'm the damn leader of this gang I shouldn't be acting like a baby" Risotto's words were slurred as he was only in his biggest headspace which was the ripe age of four years old. He whimpered when he saw Prosciutto almost step on his stuffie but he turned his head pretending not to care. "It doesn't matter if you're the leader or not, sometimes leaders even need breaks y'know?" The blonde tried to convince the little but he didn't seem to budge. "You're wrong! They'll think wess of me I knows it!" Risotto caught himself slipping even more at the added stress and gentle tone. "I think you're wrong, little one. Everyone here respects and cares for you no matter what. You eat cold pizza? Fine. You bring a man home? Fine. End up falling asleep outside a bar? Fine. Anything you do doesn't stop us from loving you, I can speak for everyone out in that playroom and you know it" Prosciutto may have rambled a bit but he felt it was needed.
Risotto looked up at him with hesitant eyes and slowly crawled over to him. "Yous have to pinky pwomise, okay? no wying!!" He held out his pinky with a serious look on his face. A smile came over the blonde and he hooked his pinky finger around the littles, "I promise" That was it. It was now an official promise. "Okay, how about we get you all ready and go introduce you to everyone?" Prosciutto got up from the bed and looked at the floor. "Starting with this mess" He crouched down and started picking up crayons, stuffies, and more. Risotto on the other hand went on his bed and looked around for his paci. When he found it he put it in his mouth and crawled to the edge of the bed. "I'm sowwy" He apologized as he saw the man picking up his own mess. "It's alright little one. You were upset I get that. Though next time might not slide mister" Prosciutto scolded him gently and finished up taking care of the floor. "Ready to go now?" The blonde looked down at the other. "I don't know.." Risotto mumbled still hesitant on letting the others know. He still wasn't over his fear of them not wanting him to be their leader if they found out.
"It'll be alright, Ris" Prosciutto picked the little up and set him on his hip. "You'll do just well and if you're not comfortable we can come back and color together" He smiled and made his way out of the leaders room and down to the playroom where everyone was doing their own thing. It was a long trip to Risotto but in reality on a couple minutes. He started regretting not taking one of his stuffies for the adventure. When the two entered the room together almost everyone looked over to see who it was. Usually their gazes would go back to what they were doing but at the new found image of Risotto it was hard to. "Risotto's a little??" Formaggio was the first to break the silence with his usual bluntness. "Yes, he is in fact. He is a little shy so don't bombard him, okay?" Prosciutto set him down on the carpet but Risotto only went to hide behind his legs.
"Come on Ris, go say hi" Prosciutto gently encouraged him which gave him enough confidence to peek out and look at everyone. He waved and was met with the rowdiness of all the littles coming to check him out, with the exception of Melone who was out like a light between Sorbet and Gelato. "Hey, what did Prosciutto tell you guys?" Sorbet scolded them which made them back up despite their giddiness. Even Ghiaccio was standing in the back waiting. "Thank you. Now you guys go back to playing, you'll be able to play with him later" The amount of time which was considered 'later' wasn't exactly thought through. Risotto made grabby hands towards his caregiver and was picked right back up. "What would you like to do?" Prosciutto bounced him up and down on his hip to sooth him. "tiwed" The little wanted to stay but he definitely wasn't ready to interact with anybody else yet. "That's fine with me baby, want to lay down in the crib?" There were a couple cribs laying around as there was many littles that would regress to younger headspaces. "Mm!" Risotto hummed happily and was brought to one of the bigger cribs. "I'll be here the whole time okay?" Prosciutto laid him down on the soft blankets and grabbed a stray stuffie that was around. "It'll be almost bedtime for everyone so don't worry about falling asleep" The blonde gave him a kiss of the forehead and watched the little start to relax and snooze off like the little baby he was.