Chapter Text
Truth be told, Brady had been slightly weirded out by everything.
Walking in on one of your best friends crying out babbling nonsense, a panda plushie flush to his chest, and chewing on a pacifier, is truly an absurd sight. But after Dream jumped in to hush the little and explain the situation to him, it made a little more sense.
Brady still found it a bit weird at the beginning, not fully understanding the meaning of “slipping”, and first just thinking that Sapnap was pretending to be a toddler. But he did a lot of online research and sat down to talk with the other once he was big again, and the next time Sapnap regressed, he found himself melting into the caregiver role.
The other explained his little age could range from 3 all the way to 7 years old, and on rare days he could slip down to 1-2 years. And when Brady found out Punz was a little as well, regressing to about 4-5 years old, he accepted the other fully and started to join the group in their playdates.
Dream was almost always there when either of the two regressed, being able to handle the littles the best and having the most experience living with Sapnap for so long. Bad was there a lot of the time too, helping out where he could and doing some more of the chore-like activities, like cooking or washing the dirty clothes. George just enjoyed playing with the two littles, playing games, or sitting with them watching a child show. Karl sometimes came to chill out too, for the most part as a caregiver, but sometimes, when he was having a particularly bad day, he manually let himself slip into a little as well. Quackity had only been over a handful of times, completely accepting of the coping mechanism, but completely blundering when it came to taking care of the two, never knowing what to do and deciding to just hang out with them when they were big.
And Brady showed up from time to time too, mostly just hanging out and helping out whenever he could.
And it was nice, relaxing. There was something heartwarming about the fact that someone trusted you enough to help them in their most vulnerable state.
But there was something more.
Sometimes, Brady felt an ache in his stomach whenever he saw the little ones get cared for. Like… envy, almost. As if they were getting a present from Santa while he got nothing.
He doesn’t know why that is. Maybe it’s the fact that the two always seem so… calm. As if there isn’t any evil in the world and there is nothing to worry about. And they don’t, they always have someone to look after them.
And well, he just got curious.
He’s asked both of them what it felt like to regress and how they managed to slip properly into headspace. And of course, with those questions, there also came the question shot back at him if he wanted to try it out as well.
He denied it at first, exclaiming that he was just as happy as a caregiver, but then let it slip out that it did seem like a lot of fun, and all of the others quickly jumped in that they’d be happy to help him regress. But Brady shot down the offer multiple times.
The truth was, Brady wasn’t sure if he could regress. He’s tried it a couple times, when he was alone, getting himself comfortable and putting on one of his favorite tv-shows from his childhood, but each time he tried to enjoy the simple plot of the episode, there was this screaming voice in his head that told him he looked like an idiot.
He guesses that is sorta true. He did look like an idiot. If anyone outside of their friend group would see him like that they’d think he was mentally ill.
After about the third or fourth time he tried, he gave up, the voice coming back each time he tried and kept making him feel worse and worse about himself.
He kept silent about his experience, figuring that regressing just wasn’t possible for him.
Until Dream showed him that it was possible.
One time, on a day when Sapnap had been particularly fussy and Punz kept getting upset because of it, all three of them, him, Dream, and George, were absolutely exhausted and completely through with it. It had taken tears, shushing, and lots of patience, but finally, at nearly 1 AM, Dream had managed to calm Sapnap down, getting him to sink down to about one to two years old by endless cradling him and singing softly.
At that, Punz also calmed down and quickly fell asleep, but Sapnap needed a lot more cuddles and kisses.
At some point, George had gone upstairs with Punz, and he and Dream were in the kitchen taking turns hugging Sapnap. One would hold Sapnap in a koala hug, holding his face against their chest with his backside on the kitchen counter so they didn’t have to hold all the weight, and the other would try and speedrun some naps on the kitchen table.
It was Dream’s turn to hug, and Brady had his arms crossed on the table and laid his head on top, looking up with tired eyes at the cuddling pair. Dream was humming gently, and Sapnap had a tight grip on his hoodie, babbling out nonsense behind a pacifier with exhausted, and still red and puffed-out eyes from crying.
Brady found himself listening to the humming, allowing it to soothe him as it was soothing Sapnap. His eyes started drooping down, and his face melted more into the sleeves of his hoodie, and a pleasant fuzzy feeling started forming in his stomach.
If he had more energy, he might have questioned what the hell that feeling was, but he was far too tired to fight it and allowed it to wash over him, letting it travel up to his brain to block out his thoughts.
He wondered for a moment what it would be like to be in Sapnap’s position right now. To be hugged and loved and have so few worries. He could almost feel it: the innocence, the bliss of Dream’s warm arms, the security.
Almost.
“Alright, your turn.” Dream whispered, and Brady vaguely realized that Dream was looking at him expectantly, but couldn’t make himself understand what the other meant.
Something in Dream’s expression changed, and it went a lot softer.
“Brady?”
Something in his brain suddenly snapped him back to reality, and he shook his head lightly as if to wave the fuzziness away, quickly getting up from the chair before the feeling could take over again.
He walked up to the two, but Dream hadn’t stepped away, and so Brady rose an eyebrow.
“What?”
Dream seemed to hesitate for a moment, staring at him with slightly troubled eyes, but then shook his head.
“Let’s take him to the couch, maybe if he lays down he’ll be able to fall asleep.”
Brady nodded. “Good idea, I can carry him if you want.”
But Dream shook his head. “It’s alright, I got it.”
They got Sapnap up on the couch, and right as predicted, the little guy quickly dozed off. Dream offered to sleep on the chair nearby to keep an eye on him, so Brady could sleep upstairs in a real bed, which Brady quickly accepted as he was about to fall asleep on the floor anyway.
The next day both of the littles were back to their normal age, and the three caregivers decided that they all deserved to sleep in.
The next evening Sapnap cooked. He insisted after hearing how much trouble he gave them last night, despite him and Dream reassuring that it was fine. Dream offers to clean up, and asks him if he can help, to which Brady of course says yes to.
He might have hesitated if he knew what Dream was going to ask.
“Hey Brady,” Dream asks while he’s scrubbing some of the blackened spots of sauce on the pan underneath the sink.
“Hm?”
“I know we’ve asked before, but have you ever thought about regressing yourself?”
Brady immediately stops drying the plate he was cleaning and glances over at the other, who stares back at him slightly hesitantly.
“No?” He answers, raising an eyebrow. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, yesterday when we were taking care of Sapnap, I thought…” The other trails off, and Brady just keeps staring at him.
“What?”
“Well,” Dream looks at the ground for a second before back up at him. “It-It seemed for a sec that you regressed as well.”
“What?” He scoffs slightly but quickly turns serious again. “Why- Why would you think that?”
“I could see it in your eyes, they were hazy, I’ve never seen them like that.”
Brady blankly stared at him for a moment, thinking back to last night and remembering the warm, fuzzy feeling he had gotten in his stomach.
He shrugs. “I guess I felt… a bit fuzzy? I dunno, I can’t really describe it, but I don’t think it was regressing.”
The other nods. “Alright,”
The conversation falls quiet for a second, but Dream coughs softly and speaks up again.
“You know, if you ever wanted to regress, this house will be a safe space for you.”
“Yeah, I know,” Brady says but then chuckles. “You’ve only mentioned that like a million times.”
“Well, I’m serious.” Dream looks back up at him. “I know I’ve said it before, but I think you’ll really benefit from regressing.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well, you can really just… push yourself too far, sometimes. And it worries me a little.”
Brady now looked up as well, melting in the tender eyes of the other.
“Really?”
“Yeah, of course. I care about you, man.” Dream says sincerely, and Brady stares softly at him, his heart warming at the kind words. There’s something different this time, different from all the other times Dream offered a safe space for him.
Maybe because… when he thinks back to the moment Dream was referring to, he did feel really… just, safe.
He felt small. That’s the only way he can describe it. That’s never happened before
Suddenly he decides to tell the other the truth.
“I- Ugh-“ He turns his eyes back over the sink, his cheeks flushing slightly red in embarrassment. “I-I tried it a couple times, but I don’t… I don’t think it works for me.”
Dream’s posture immediately softens, and he tilts his head to the side. “Why do you think that?”
“I just-“ He sighs, and shakes his head. “I get this voice, like, all the way back in my head, and it tells me that I look like an idiot, that I’m weird for pretending to be a child.”
“-I don’t have that with Sapnap and Punz, of course!” He adds quickly, not wanting to make Dream think he thinks the other two are weird. “Just when I do it myself.”
Dream nods thoughtfully. “I see, what did you do alone?”
“Just put on my favorite show and tried to relax, make myself feel little, but it never worked properly.”
“You think it would help if we were there to help you?” Dream suggests. “Like, talk to you as if you were little and put you in children’s clothes?”
Brady pursues his lips. That thought seems… honestly quite awkward. For Sapnap and Punz that would work of course, since they would easily slip in little space, but Brady doesn’t know if he’d slip too, and then he literally just be an adult in toddler clothes and the voice in his head would probably be even worse.
But at the same time, Brady would really like for it to work, and Dream’s right about the fact he’s never tried to regress with other people helping him, so he doesn’t know whether or not he’d actually slip.
And if he doesn’t try it, he’ll probably never know.
“I-I guess…” He stammers, still a bit unsure. “I mean, we can always try, right?”
Dream lights up.
“Great! Sapnap said he was still feeling a bit spacey, so we could even try it tonight!”
Brady gets taken aback by that, his eyes widening.
“No! No, I can’t do it tonight, that’s too soon, I need… I need to prepare.”
Dream slumps down slightly, but quickly recovers and shrugs. “I get that, I’m sorry, I got too enthusiastic.”
The other then chuckles.
“I’ve been dying to know what you’ll be like as a little, and especially what age you’d be.” He raises a hand to scratch the back of his neck and adds a bit sheepishly: “We’ve actually been speculating about it, and, y’know, guess how old you’d be…”
Brady deadpans. “You did what?”
Dream lets out a slight wheeze and grabs onto his sleeve. “Come on, let’s tell the others.”
“You’ve been guessing how old-“
Brady doesn’t get further as he gets yanked into the living room, and all the others glance up at their entrance.
Sapnap, Punz, and George were all on the couch, and Bad, who apparently must’ve waltzed in the house at some point, was on the chair nearby.
Dream was wearing a smile from ear to ear.
“Brady’s finally gonna try regressing!”
As if a light switch was flicked on, the entire room lit up and awed in excitement.
“Ye-hes!” Bad cheered. “Another little! Ooh, this is gonna be so much fun!”
Sapnap and Punz high-fived each other. “We’re finally gonna have a brother!”
“It’s about time…” George chuckled smugly.
Brady hit his face in his palms to hide his blush.
“Oh my god,” He groaned. “You guys were literally anticipating this…”
“Of course,” George said, “It was so clear you wanted to try it out.”
Brady went even redder.
“Aw, come on, Brady,” Dream quickly said, slinging an arm over his shoulder. “It’s gonna be fine! We’ll do everything at your pace and always make sure you’re comfortable.”
“Yeah, of course,” Bad jumped in. “We won’t do anything you’re not cool with.”
Brady still blushed but removed his hands, glancing hesitantly at the rest of them but then letting out a sign.
“I didn’t, um, want to do it tonight, but- but maybe tomor- or, uh, somewhere next week? Like Friday or Saturday?” He stammered out. “I know that if I’d wait too long I’d get too anxious, so… yeah.”
And that was true. He was already a nervous ball of energy right now, and if he waited much longer he wouldn’t have the courage to try it at all anymore.
The others smiled gently at him, which only made him turn a shade redder, but it also reassured him a bit.
Dream squeezed their shoulders together for a short side-hug. “Sounds fine. Sapnap and Punz could regress as well and we could set up a proper playdate, right?”
Both named men nodded, and Sapnap spoke up: “We could even invite Karl, I bet he’d love to be there. I’ll try not to be as fussy as yesterday, then.”
“It’d be so cute to see you three interact,”
“Yeah, especially if he’s a little older, don’t you think? They could really play and brabble together.”
“Oh my god, you’re so right. Imagine how chatty he’d be, that’d be so adorable!”
There was a chorus of all sorts of cute predictions. Brady, meanwhile, was blushing even harder than he had before, his face actually feeling like it was mere inches away from the sun.
“Aw, don’t worry, Brady,” Punz quickly said after he noticed his embarrassment. “We’re just teasing, it’s gonna be fine.”
“We’re gonna see what age you’ll turn into.” Dream added.
Brady sighed, shaking his head slightly.
“Yeah, I guess we’ll see…”