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The three of them were having a sleepover at Pete’s place. His brother was out for the night, so they took the opportunity to have the house to themselves.
They were sitting in a circle on the living room floor playing go fish- “oh come on! Again?” Ruth whined when Pete took her last card- again. She picked up another card and sighed. Richie wasn’t paying much attention, he had decided to stop playing halfway through. He was feeling rather small but was too embarrassed to tell his friends. He knows that they know of his regression and support him, but that doesn't make it any less embarrassing.
After the game was over, Ruth began to search through the stacks of movies to find something to watch. Richie was slipping quickly and he was sure Pete could tell by now, based on the look he was giving him
“Hey, are you feelin' small, Richie?” Pete whispered to the other boy with a concerned expression. Richie wasn't feeling up for talking at the moment, so he settled on a shy nod. “That's alright bud, how about we tell Ruth and we can pick out a movie together?”
Pete walked over to Ruth who was eyeing a horror movie “Richie's little right now, do we have any kids movies in there?” Pete asked
"Yeah, there's a bunch here. What about Ratatouille?" Ruth asked, "Does that sound good Richie?" Richie perked up at that, it's always been a favorite of his. Richie hummed in approval and Ruth turned on the movie and moved to the couch, followed by the two boys.
"Don't chew on your sleeve kiddo, that's icky" Pete gently scolded Richie “Did you bring any of your little stuff?” Richie nodded and crawled over to where his bag was a few inches away, pulling out his blue pacifier and his puppy plush he affectionately named Patches. He sat back on the couch and popped the pacifier in his mouth, leaning into Pete and turning his attention to the movie playing.
By the time the movie ended, Ruth and Richie had both fallen asleep, Richie cuddled into Pete's side and clutching Patches. Pete ran his fingers through the mentally younger boy's hair, mumbling a quick "Good night" to the two before drifting off as well, comforted by the presence of his two favorite people.