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Dream could tell his friend had been pushing down his regression for a while. Granted, this week they were super fucking busy, streams, video recordings, editing, meetings about merch, asking George about his visa again. Very busy week. And by the end of the day, all the two wanted to do was sleep, they didn’t even hang out normally, too tired to even try. So, of course, regression wasn’t something that happened.
But, they got a break this Thursday. No meetings, no streams planned, sure they could continue editing, but they both knew they needed a break from that. Hearing their own voices over and over again can get annoying. But that didn’t mean Dream was taking a break from his computer.
No, he was currently scrolling through Amazon.
He’d found some things he’d like to get his little friend. Like some panda pajamas, Dream had suddenly remembered that he’d stored Sapnap panda Halloween costume in his room so he could fish that out, some more cups, pacifiers. He was scrolling through toys when he heard his door creak.
He glanced over, pulling his headset down over his neck, he turned as Sapnap stood in between the crack of his door and door frame. He kept fiddling with his fingers, and Dream knew something was up.
“Bubs?” Dream asked, and Sapnap huffed slightly.
“Can’d… can’t slip-”
“Strugglin? C’mere, lemme see if I can help,” Dream offered, raising his arms to motion Sapnap to sit on his lap.
Sapnap did, holding his Panda. Sapnap’s legs straddled his, Pandie sat in between their stomachs, Sapnap’s arms wrapping around Dream’s body just under his armpits. Dream wrapped an around Sapnap’s shoulder, while his other hand rubbed his back. And, of course, to help the process. He started humming Sofia The First ’s theme song softly.
“Dweamie,” Sapnap mumbled after a few minutes of being held. He sounds very small, and Dream smiled.
“Well hello, my Bubba. Do you know how old you are?” Dream asked, keeping the reassuring back rubs happening.
He felt three taps on his back. “Three? Aweh, so little Bubba.”
Sapnap nustled his face more into Dream’s breathing deeply in. “Hey, Bubba,” Dream whispered, getting the little to hum. “I bet these clothes are really uncomfy, huh?”
Sapnap nodded against him, “I found something I think you might like to wear instead. Can I set you on the bed so I can grab it?” Dream asked.
“Wap af’er?”
“Of course, you can sit on my lap after,” Dream agreed. Sapnap hummed his agreement, and Dream carefully stood with his boy in his arms, setting him down on the bed softly and letting the little one lay down.
Dream stepped over to his closet, digging into the back to grab the onesie. He found it eventually and held it up for Sapnap to see. The little’s face immediately lit up.
“F’r mes?” Sapnap mumbled, and Dream nodded with a small smile.
“Yeah, bud. It’s all yours. You wanna get out of those icky clothes?” Dream asked, and Sapnap nodded.
Sapnap immediately started tugging at his shirt, but wasn’t quite sure how to pull it off. He got half of it up, but the fabric bunched at the neckline, and he hadn’t taken the sleeves off yet.
Dream was already there to help.
“Dweamie dwess mes,” Sapnap pouted, “pwease,” he tacked on, just to be cute.
“Are you sure, bud?” Dream asked, they hadn’t really talked about boundaries or really anything about this since that small conversation in the kitchen. But, little Sapnap nodded. “Alright, lift your hips so we can get your pants off.”
Sapnap followed the instructions. Piece by piece, Dream got the onesie on him. Legs first, each foot went in with Dream’s instruction. Then, Dream had him stand. The little did easily, holding Dream’s hand as he swayed back and forth slightly. Dream pulled his arms through. Sapnap seemed happy and fuzzy as Dream zipped up the hoodie.
“Wap nows?” Sapnap requested, and Dream chuckled, sitting back on his chair and welcoming Sapnap back into his lap.
“Here, Bubba. Why don’t you watch Sofia while I get some work done, okay?” Dream said, pulling up Netflix on one of his monitors, placing the wireless headset on Sapnap’s head, letting the little adjust it to his needs. He started playing from whatever episode Sapnap had left off on, before turning back to amazon on his other monitor.
Dream always had a hand on Sapnap’s back, even if typing was more difficult. He noticed Sapnap had slipped his thumb into his mouth at one point, having forgotten his pacifier, and Dream pulled it out of his mouth. In return, he got a very unhappy whine.
“Bubba,” Dream spoke softly, “thumb is icky, and it hurts,” Dream whispered. “Do you want me to get your paci?”
“Pwease…” Sapnap whispered, “Ons ‘able,”
“Okay, Bubba. Stay here with Sophia,” Dream whispered, standing and setting Sapnap down in the chair again. Sapnap curled up, head leaned back against the chair, daze captivated right back into the show.
Dream got upstairs, and into Sapnap’s room. He saw the pacifier almost immediately, and he snagged it. There was a ding in the air, and he noticed Sapnap’s phone went off. Normally, he wouldn’t have looked, merely glanced and left it alone. But there were dozens of missed messages. Dream became worried.
He lifted Sapnap’s phone, finding unopened messages in his notifications from his parents. Dream scoffed, rolling his eyes as he scrolled through their usual shit. He then noticed a message from George. A couple, actually.
George
That’s why you’re a bitch baby
George
Hello? You okay?
George
Dude, I was joking. Why’re you ignoring me?
George
Sapnap
George
Alright fine, see if I care
Time had passed, before Sapnap’s phone dinged in his hand with another message from George.
George
Dude, seriously? Look I’m sorry for saying you’re a bitch but just answer the phone
Dream sighed. He couldn’t answer for Sapnap, no matter how badly he wanted to. He set the phone on the charger and slowly walked back downstairs to his room. As soon as he got there, George’s contact disrupted Sapnap’s show, causing the little to wail.
“Shh, hey it’s okay. Here,” Dream cooed, answering on his phone and allowing the computer to play again. Dream popped the pacifier into Sapnap’s mouth as well, lifting the boy with a grunt back into his lap and sitting down.
“Hello? Did you hear anything I said?”
“No, sorry. Dealin’ with something, what’s up?” Dream asked, rubbing Sapnap’s back once again.
“Can you tell Sapnap to stop ignoring me?” George complained.
“Um, he’s not home right now,” Dream lied, looking down at the little in his lap.
“Did he not take his phone?” George asked.
“I dunno, man. Maybe he just has it silenced? I’m sure he’s not ignoring you, he’s probably dealing with some other things,” Dream said, hoping to sound reassuring. “Unless you said something worth ignoring.”
“I didn’t! We were talking about some video games, and ones we have or haven’t played, and some we’ve seen played, and where we’d put them on a scale. Then… he got, I dunno, his reponses kept getting shorter and shorter, and then suddenly he disappeared!”
“He went out for a bit, I’m sure it’s fine,” Dream reassured, quietly shushing Sapnap when the little became restless in his lap.
“Who’re you shushing?” George complained, “I didn’t even say anything.”
“Not- well clearly not you,” Dream scoffed.
“Dweamie,” Sapnap whined through the pacifier, Dream hummed with another shush, pushing the phone away from his and Sapnap’s voices. “Hun’gy…”
“Okay, Bubba, hold on,” Dream whispered, patting his back. “George, I gotta go,” He said into the phone.
“Whose there? I heard a voice,” George said, being nosy again.
“My TV is on. I’ll call you back later,” Dream promised as Sapnap started getting restless, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, a pout clear on his face even with the pacifier.
“Dream-” George started, but Dream just hung up on him, sending a quick ‘sorry’ in chat before setting his phone aside.
“Alright, bud. Hungry? I got some apple sauce,” Dream said, ignoring the buzz of his phone. Sapnap lit up, nodding happily at the idea of apple sauce.
“Y’us pw’ase,” Sapnap said through the paci.
“Alright, Bubba. Hold on tight,” Dream said, holstering the boy up and holding him tight as he walked through the house to the kitchen. He placed Sapnap up on the counter, and Sapnap giggled lightly as he played with a curl of Dream’s hair.
“Do you want apple cinnamon? Or just regular apple?” Dream asked, opening a cupboard and grabbing out a pouch.
“Sim’mo’in!” Sapnap giggled, reaching for the pouch. Dream chuckled softly, cracking it open for him and handing it over. Sapnap took the pacifier out and handed it to Dream, who accepted it with another chuckle.
“Fank you,” Sapnap mumbled, before sucking down the pouch.
“Bubba, have you grown? How old are you now?” Dream asked. Sapnap seemed to think about it for a moment, before holding up 4 fingers, raising up to 5, before dropping back down to four.
“Awe, my boy’s growin,” Dream chuckled, taking the now empty pouch to throw away. “Do you want anything else, Bub?”
“Sippy?” Sapnap mumbled, “Pwease?” he added and Dream nodded with a small smile, setting the pacifier down on the couter and grabbing his cup from the cupboard. Dream had put it up there after washing it, just so Dream could have easy access to it if needed, Sapnap had agreed.
“Juice, milk, or water, Bub?” He asked, opening the fridge.
“Ju’ce!” Sapnap giggled, wiggling on his seat.
“Ice or no?” Dream asked.
“No fanks,” Sapnap mumbled, shaking his head.
Dream chuckled, pouring his cup and sealing the top, handing it over.
“There you go,” Dream chuckled, getting another hyper ‘Fank you!’ before Sapnap started to suck down the juice. Dream grabbed some crackers for himself, getting himself some water.
“Hey Bub,” Dream said after a moment of thinking, catching the little’s attention. “Do you want some toys? And maybe some plushie friends for Pandie?”
Sapnap lit up like a light, wiggling happily and nodding quickly. “Yus pwease!”
Dream chuckled, “Alright, will you help me pick out some stuff? Now that you’re a bit older now?” Dream asked, and Sapnap nodded. “Thank you Bud. Do you want me to carry you back to the room or do you wanna walk?”
“Wak,” Sapnap decided after a moment of thinking. “Hw’lp ‘owns?” He asked, wiggling his legs.
Dream nodded, muttering a quick “of course” and helping Sapnap off the counter and onto his feet. Sippy cup attached to his lips in one hand, Sapnap took Dream’s other one, barely giving the blond time to grab his pacifier to lead them back to Dream’s room. Dream chuckled quietly to himself.
Back in Dream’s room, Dream leaned down and picked up Pandie from the floor, where he’d fallen at some point in their movements, and sat back down, opening his lap for Sapnap. Sapnap sat with his back against Dream, and Dream placed his chin on Sapnap’s shoulder. Dream showed Sapnap the stuff he’d already had in cart. Sapnap seemed happy with all of it, really excited for some of the pajamas Dream wanted to get him.
Looking at toys was also fun. Sapnap didn’t point at every little thing, like Dream had slightly expected him to, but he found some blocks that he liked, some coloring books(Dream added crayons and colored pencils to the cart later), toys that helped learn shapes, stuff like that. Dream ordered everything when Sapnap insisted he was done, which was another shock, but Sapnap just curled up and grabbed his paci from the table. Dream chuckled, kissing his head softly as he confirmed their order.
Then it was naptime.
When Sapnap woke up again, he was warm. He noticed right away that he wasn’t in his own room. The pacifier was half out of his mouth, and he grimiced, spitting it out completely. He felt the weight of Dream’s arm over him, and he glanced over to see the blond still sleeping. It was nice, being held while big.
It’d been a struggle slipping earlier, and he didn’t know why. The haze started when he and George stared talking about horror games. He’d never like horror, he’s stated that repeatedly, but it only got worse when his parents started trying to contact him again. But it was like he couldn’t slip. He decided to seek out Dream before he started crying.
Which, led us here. Sapnap recognized the panda onesie, and he smiled. He forgot they owned this, he was sure little him loved it. The haze wasn’t so much there anymore, but part of his brain was still clouded with the need to be taken care of. Dream’s phone rang, making them both jump. Sapnap sat up, leaning over to grab it for the blond.
“It’s George,” Sapnap mumbled.
“You big?” Dream mumbled tiredly. Sapnap hummed in confirmation. “You answer it,” He groaned, tugging himself closer to Sapnap. Clearly still out of it.
Sapnap decided he could this one.
“Dream! I can’t believe you hung up on me and then ignore me for the rest of the day!” George sounded like he was pouting.
“Dream’s not here right now, please try again later,” Sapnap said teasingly, getting a pinch from the asshole next to him. “Ow, you bitch,” Sapnap complained.
“And I finally hear back from you! Look, man, sorry about what I said, but disappearing? Dream said you left last night!” George huffed.
“Yeah, sorry,” Sapnap mumbled, looking down at Dream. Dream peaked up at him. “What was your excuse for me?” Sapnap mouthed.
Dream shrugged, “I panicked, I dunno! Said you’d left and just had your phone off,” Dream whispered, finally waking up more.
“Yeah, I just… sorry. I got distracted, um,” Sapnap mumbled, rubbing his hand against his face.
“Whatever, man, just. If I hit a nerve, I’m sorry,” George said, sounding more genuine.
“Nah, man you’re fine,” Sapnap reassured. “Here, I’ll give you to your boyfriend now. He keep poking me.”
“You’re such a liar,” Dream mumbled, taking the phone. Sapnap chuckled, crawling out of Dream’s bed. He picked up the pacifier, fallen sippy cup, and his Panda. Dream pointed to a pile of Sapnap’s clothes on the floor when he noticed Sapnap looking down at the onesie as he spoke something to his british friend.
“Thanks,” Sapnap mouthed, grabbing his clothes before creeping out of the room.
Once he was redressed in big clothes, he met Dream in the kitchen as the blond was making dinner, still on the phone with George.
“I’m starting to think you two are hiding things from me,” George complained, now on speaker phone, as Sapnap sat down.
“Why?” Sapnap asked, glancing up at Dream, who shrugged.
“A gut feeling,” George hummed, and Sapnap chuckled with a head shake, running a hand through his hair.
“Yeah, okay,” Sapnap mumbled, putting his head against the counter.
Dream seemed to freeze for a second, before whispering a quiet ‘fuck’ to himself. Sapnap glanced up, “Hold on George,” Dream said, before muting his side of the call. “I need to change my amazon password or we need to come up with a lie,” Dream mumbled.
“Why?” Sapnap asked.
“I bought little you a ton of shit a couple hours ago. George has access to my amazon account, and checks it regularly to try and send me shit with my own money,” Dream groaned.
“Is that why there so much stupid shit in this house?” Sapnap asked.
“Most of it’s in his room,” Dream said, and Sapnap snorted lightly. “But yeah. He’s why.”
“You have baby cousin’s right?” Sapnap asked, and Dream shook his head.
“Not anymore. If they’re having kids I sure as hell don’t know about it.”
“Right, but George doesn’t know that,” Sapnap offered.
“Exept for he does, he knows I don’t talk to distant family anymore, and then suddenly buying over 400 dollars worth of children toys is gonna seem odd to him.”
“Over- pause. Over 400 fucking dollar?! ” Sapnap’s jaw dropped. “Dream I said you could get some stuff, not everything you put your eyes on!”
“Little Sapnap helped out!” Dream tried defending himself, “Amazon’s expensive! And I wasn’t getting shitty quality. It’s just some toys, clothes, and other stuff.”
“ Other stuff?” Sapnap questioned.
“More pacifiers… and sippy cups… and baby plates and silverware,” Dream mumbled, and Sapnap groaned. “Look, I’m just trying to be prepared!”
“Don’t tell me you got bottles too,” Sapnap said, and Dream chewed his bottle lip. “I’m not drinking out of a fucking bottle, Dream.”
“Maybe you won’t, but you slipped down to 2 when you came to ask me for help, Sapnap,” Dream reasoned. “Look, I’m not gonna force you to do anything. You don’t even gotta look at them. But what happens if you slip furthar than your used to? We need to be prepared.”
“Don’t tell you bought diapers too,” Sapnap groaned.
“I didn’t do that,” Dream shook his head. “The thought did cross my mind, but even I felt like that was pushing it. It’s just four bottles. I’ll put ‘em all in my room if you really want.”
Sapnap sighed, “No, no. I know you’re right. I need to be prepared. It’s just… embarrassing to think about.”
“I know,” Dream nodded, “But your needs are… your needs. And I don’t want you to become uncomfortable or stress or struggle because we’re under prepared. And who knows, you may not even need them.”
“I’m sure if I still need the fucking pacifier, I’m gonna use the bottle at one point,” Sapnap mumbled.
“And that’s fine , Sapnap,” Dream reassured. “I just want to make you comfortable, both big and little.”
Sapnap nodded, scratching the side of his head softly. “George doesn’t know much about my family, just say you bought all that shit for like, my cousins or something.”
“And the adult pajamas?” Dream asked.
“Gag gift,” Sapnap suggested. “You were looking at toys, saw the adult pajamas, thought it would’ve been funny to give em to me.”
Dream nodded, before unmuting them. “We’re back.”
“You two are being very sus,” George teased.
“Yeah? How so?” Dream asked, chuckling softly.
“You just are,” George finalized.
“Mhm, okay Gogy,” Sapnap teased, getting an annoyed huff in return.
(-8-)
When everything arrived at the house, Sapnap almost freaked out again. Dream assured him, for the third time, that it was okay as they put everything into a basket that could be hidden away in the hallway closet if needed. Sippy cups were put in the cup cupboard in the kitchen, kid’s plates went with the plates, etc. Dream put the comfy clothes in the hallway closet, as well as in his own and in Sapnap’s. In the back of his mind, he wanted to make one of the extra rooms into a playroom. Maybe the room that was meant to be Sapnap’s office, but he never really used.
Sapnap took the packages of baby bottles, he put them in the kitchen himself, despite the pout on his face, as Dream tore down the amazon boxes. “Like I said, Sap, you may not even need them.”
“It’d probably be easier to use at younger ages,” Sapnap shrugged, “I dunno, I guess… I guess now it just feels more real with everything.Before I was able to kinda just brush it off.”
“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Dream started.
“No, no,” Sapnap cut him off, “You’re doing good. Very good, and I do appreciate the help. And I know little me does too. It’s good, it’s really good. I need to start… need to start accepting it more. Thank you.”
Dream smiled, and Sapnap returned it. They moved on the rest of the day, finished putting everything that had arrived away, before going back to their originally scheduled day of work.
By night fall, Dream knew neither one of them had eaten, so he stepped out into the darkened living room and into the kitchen. He half expected to see Sapnap eating, since he usually would come down to find something if Dream hadn’t made or ordered dinner yet. To his surprise, he found no one.
Something was odd. Dream would’ve ignored it, but the house was almost too quiet. Usually, Dream could hear at least Sapmap playing video games, or watching TV, but the house was quiet. Did he leave without saying goodbye?
Dream decided to check. He went upstair quickly, noticing his friend still had the light on in his room. He listened carefully through the door, soft noises. Had Sapnap slipped? He knocked, but got nothing but the same soft babbling. He opened the door, Sapnap was on the floor, looking up at the ceiling, holding his Pandie.
It was clear he was very small.
“Bubba?” Dream questioned, and Sapnap turned to look at him, brightening up instantly, holding his hands out for Dream. “Hey, little guy. Why’re you on the floor?”
He got nothing but babbles in return. Nonverbal, okay. Dream lifted him off the floor and into his arms, laying him down on the bed. Sapnap giggled, curling up on the bed around Pandie, and Dream smiled. “Be good, I’m gonna shut down everything, okay?” He mumbled, and Sapnap just babbled.
Dream looked at Sapnap’s computer, checking though taps to make sure he didn’t need to save everything. He noticed facebook messenger opened in one of the tabs, silly, but Dream found himself nosey when he read one of the names as Sapnap’s parents. Back at it with their shit it seemed. Quick and short. Sapnap blocked them on normal texting, they resorted to belittling him in facebook messages. Dream rolled his eyes, closing the tab, and glancing back at his boy. Maybe that caused the slip.
Once he was sure everything was safe, he shut the computer down and turned off the monitor. Turning back to his boy, who was content at just babbling to his Panda, he ran a hand through the little’s hair. “Hey, Bubba. Are you hungry?”
Sapnap just babbled in response.
“Alright, c’mon,” Dream mumbled, lifting Sapnap to koala him and carry him down stairs. Once they were safely in the living room, he set Sapnap down on the couch. Sapnap’s head fell to the side, and Dream was quick to catch him, laying him down slowly. “Baby, do you know how old you are?” Dream asked.
Sapnap paused for a moment, lifting his hand in a closed fist, pointer finger went up, then closed fist again. Dream cooed, “Oh, you’re a little boy. No wonder you can’t hold your head up,” Dream whispered. “Okay, good thing I got those bottles huh? Yeah.”
Dream stood, kissing Sapnap’s head before moving to go make said bottle. He grabbed some milk, filling the bottle a third of the way, warming it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Once Dream deemed it the perfect temp, he warmed it a little longer when the milk was at an awkward warm/cold state, he slipped the top on and moved back to the little still babbling away in the living room.
He lifted Sapnap onto his lap, curling the boy gently, and slipped the nub of the bottle into his mouth, holding the bottle as Sapnap immediately started drinking. Dream cooed softly, watching the boy suck down the bottle. It was gone quickly, and Sapnap then became fussy when Dream removed the bottle.
“Hold on, Bubba, I’m gonna get you a paci,” Dream whispered as Sapnap started to whine softly, popping his mouth to get something in it. Dream laid him down, quickly going to the hallway closet to grab a spare paci since he didn’t want Sapnap to wait any longer than he had to, and slip the paci in the boy’s mouth.
“T’ank, Dada,” Sapnap mumbled, having grown it seemed. Dream’s heart swelled at the name, and he smiled.
“Of course bubs, how old are you now?” Dream mumbled softly. Sapnap lifted one finger. Just a little, but it was enough. “Still so little, Bub. Let’s get you into some jammies and down to sleep, yeah?” He mumbled.
Sapnap mumbled behind the paci, and Dream lifted him. He put Sapnap in his own room, knowing the little one liked to sleep in there. He got Sapnap changed into one of the new pajamas set Dream bought him. Dream paused, thinking about the chances of Sapnap having an accident.
He decided he could take the risk, not like he could judge and he didn’t have any reasoning like little space. He laid down with Sapnap, letting the baby curl up and be lulled to sleep by Dream’s soft humming of his favorite show again, soft snore coming from the boy.
Dream was able to sneak out and get something to eat, thankfully, but it was small since he wanted to be with Sapnap. Patches climbed up with him as Dream got back into bed, curling up beside her boys and drifting off, Dream staring at Sapnap’s sleeping, snoring form.
He kissed the littles head. “Love you, Bubba,” he mumbled, before slowly drifting off himself.
In the morning, luckily there were no accidents, Sapnap groaned as he sat up. Dream was awake, sitting at his computer and typing. He glanced over when he noticed movement.
“Morning sleepy,” Dream teased.
“Hi,” Sapnap groaned, “Ow, how far did I slip? I don’t remember jackshit,” He mumbled, rubbing his head.
“Babyspace,” Dream responded, “I think you were around infant age when I found you, and then you came up to about one before I put you to bed. So, the bottles were definitely a good buy.”
“Yeah…” Sapnap mumbled, rubbing his head.
“Did you mean to slip that far?” Dream asked.
“No, I hadn’t even realize I was slipping,” Sapnap mumbled, “Was talking to mom and dad for a bit, they were pissing me off as always. Guess I had some bad memories and… started getting fuzzy.”
“Mm, yeah I noticed the messages when I shut down your computer last night. I didn’t read ‘em, but I knew something had to be off if you’d slipped that far,” Dream mumbled. “But, I mean… you were pretty easy. For the first time at that age. Just played with your Panda a lot. Had a bottle, and went to bed.”
“I was exhausted yesterday,” Sapnap nodded. “Thanks,” He mumbled.
“Of course,” Dream smiled, “I’m here to take care of you, as long as you want or need.”
“So… official then, huh?” Sapnap asked.
Dream chuckled, “You did call my Dada last night so… yeah, I’m thinkin it’s official,” Dream said, laughing at how red Sapnap’s cheeks got.
“Oh fuck, no I didn’t,” He whined, putting his face in his hands.
“You did, in fact,” Dream laughed. “Oh, c’mon, it was cute!”
“That’s so fucking embarrassing!” Sapnap said, though he laughed through it.
He and Dream shared an adoring gaze for a moment before Sapnap sighed. “I’m going to go put real clothes on, and then get something to eat. And piss.”
“Yeah, go, go,” Dream chuckled. “George wants me to call him, I was just waiting for you to wake up so we could talk.”
“Hm, kicking me out for George?” Sapnap pretended to complain.
“Unless you want him to see you in those cute panda jammies,” Dream teased, “By all means, stay here for a while.”
“Nah, I’m gonna go change. Bye,” Sapnap laughed, grabbing the stuffed Panda, leaving the pacifier, and slipping out of Dream’s room as the blond laughed.
Sapnap smiled as he slipped into his own room, chuckling to himself for a moment, shaking his head as he went to get dressed and start the day.