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Grian groaned softly at the sound of his alarm blaring in his ears.
He sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Sucking idly on his pacifier, he turned off the alarm.
He had regressed fairly small last night, and as a result had fallen asleep with his pacifier.
Taurtis must have put a clip on it at some point, because normally it would have been lost in his bedsheets by morning.
After getting dressed and brushing his teeth, Grian was ready for the day. He still had his pacifier, having put it back in his mouth after brushing his teeth.
His brain was still hanging on to the remnants of fuzz from last night, so the thought of not having his soother was too jarring to handle right now. So, he kept the pacifier.
He could always put it up before heading to school, he'd be fine.
He trudged downstairs, still half asleep.
Taurtis and Sam were already there, Taurtis shoveling cereal in his mouth while Sam cheered him on.
"Hey Grian!" Sam called out, waving.
Grian waved back slowly, swaying slightly as he stood.
"What're you doin?" His voice was muffled by the pacifier, but he didn't care. His friends were well versed enough in pacifier-ese by now to understand him.
"Seeing how fast Taurtis can eat a whole bowl of cereal!"
"Done!" Taurtis shoved the bowl away, lifting his arms in the air with a loud "whoop!"
Grian asked why, but was met with a shrug and an explanation of "why not?"
He was too tired to question more, so he stopped pressing, sitting down in the empty chair and laying his head on the table.
"Aren't you gonna eat something?" Taurtis was giving Grian a concerned look, though Grian was unaware.
Grian shook his head. He was tired, and didn't feel like eating.
Taurtis gave Grian's head a light pat before standing up. "We gotta head to school soon, Gri."
"I think Rowan might kick our ass if we're late to Okami's class again. You should've seen the look he gave me yesterday." Sam stood up, walking around the room as he spoke. Where was his backpack?
Grian looked up at Taurtis, pouting slightly.
He did not want to go to school.
"We have to, Grian."
After a few minutes of back and forth, the trio was on their way out the door.
Taurtis insisted on holding Grian's hand, which confused the other.
He complained that he was big, but Taurtis begged him to let him hold his hand, for his own peace of mind.
Grian obliged. If it made Taurtis happy, he'd deal with a bit of coddling.
-
Okami waved at Grian when he walked in the classroom, a big smile on her face. She was usually quite welcoming and cheery in the mornings, but she seemed extra cheery today. Normally Grian would have questioned it, but he was too tired. He was just going through the motions today.
Grian suckled idly on his pacifier as he filled out the worksheet Okami had passed out.
The problems were simple enough, yet they seemed particularly difficult today, for some reason.
He huffed, erasing his answer for the 5th time. He just couldn't seem to get this one right.
Eventually, the bell rang, dismissing everyone for lunch.
Grian stayed in his chair, still trying to finish his assignment.
He ignored Taurtis's hand on his back, shrugging it off as he scribbled on his paper. Math usually came easily to him, why was it so hard today?
A hand was placed over his paper, making him look up.
Okami was standing over him, a concerned look on her face.
Grian blinked away unshed tears, wiping his face, which was stained red with embarrassment.
"Do you want to take this home, Grian? I can give you some extra time."
Grian's lip wobbled, but he nodded, putting the paper in his backpack.
"Go to lunch, Grian. It's alright."
It seemed the longer he was at school, the heavier the fuzz in his head became.
On the walk to school it was barely noticeable, just a nudge at the back of his mind. Easy to ignore.
Class had taken it out of him, a combination of the tiredness and the fuzz growing stronger. He couldn't even finish a simple math problem.
Taurtis led him to the lunch room, rubbing his back and telling him it was alright.
The words went over Grian's head, he wasn't listening. Grian was on autopilot until he sat down.
"Grian. Open your mouth."
Grian blinked, eyes focusing on Taurtis, who was sitting across from him with a concerned look on his face.
"You didn't eat breakfast. I need you to eat something. It's just applesauce, you like applesauce."
Grian opened his mouth, letting the pacifier drop out. The clip did its job, the pacifier left hanging from Grian's shirt.
Somehow, he wasn't embarrassed by Taurtis feeding him in front of everyone. His head was cloudy enough that he only cared about the growling coming from his tummy.
A few minutes later, Taurtis decided Grian had eaten a decent amount. He set his spoon down, looking at Grian for a moment.
"Grian?"
Grian had his head on the table, his pacifier back in his mouth. He hummed, letting Taurtis know he was listening.
"Do we need to go home?"
Grian sat up, shaking his head furiously.
"Are you sure? You seem… really out of it."
Grian's eyes were wide. He couldn't miss out on school, he'd get in trouble.
"Big. Can do it."
"You're not a very good liar."
Grian turned to his left, seeing Sam sitting next to him, a smug look on his face.
Grian hadn't even realized Sam was there. He pouted, shooting Sam a glare.
"Staying."
Taurtis was about to argue, but he was interrupted by the bell ringing.
Grian stood up, practically running to the gym.
Taurtis sighed, grabbing the backpack Grian left behind.
Grian was the first one in the gym, which was unusual.
Rowan was staring him down, making Grian suck anxiously on his paci.
The rest of the class was filing into the room, filling Grian with an urge to disappear in the crowd.
Maybe he could hide behind Taurtis. Rowan couldn't be mad at him if he couldn't find him.
He turned to run, yelping when he was met face-to-face with Rowan's glare.
Grian didn't know how he got there so fast, but his head was so cloudy and his heart was beating and he was so scared.
All he wanted was to curl up at home with his blankie and stuffie. He wanted to run, but his legs felt like they were frozen in place.
"I teach high schoolers. Not babies." Rowan crossed his arms, raising his eyebrow at Grian, who shook slightly in fear.
Grian's voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke. "Notta baby…"
Rowan rolled his eyes, raising his hand.
Grian flinched, closing his eyes tight and whimpering softly, preparing himself for whatever Rowan was about to do.
He felt a tap on the button of his pacifier, which made him open his eyes, albeit hesitantly.
"This tells me otherwise."
Grian's face heated up. He wanted to spit out the pacifier, stomp on it and throw it away. Prove to Rowan that he was a big ki- that he wasn't a baby.
But he couldn't. The thought of losing his paci made his eyes water, brimming with tears.
Rowan sighed. "I may be cruel, but I'm not that cruel."
Grian stared at the ground, his face burning and his eyes watering.
Rowan turned to the rest of the class, who were whispering to each other, sneaking looks at Rowan.
"Listen up, Maggots! I have some business to take care of! Busy yourselves with stretches!"
Rowan took Grian's hand, ignoring the shriek that came from the boy.
He led Grian out of the gym, shushing him.
"I will pick you up if I have to, son. I'm not going to hurt you."
Rowan's voice was uncharacteristically soft as he led Grian through the halls.
Grian quieted his cries to a whimper, not completely silent, but nowhere near the screeching he was capable of.
"Okami will keep an eye on you until school is over. You'll be alright."
Grian looked up from where he was staring at the floor. Okami was looking at him with a comforting smile on her face.
"Come here, I have some coloring books if you'd like!" Okami opened her arms for a hug, which Grian ran into, quiet sobs wracking his body.
"He'll be alright Rowan, go teach your class."
Rowan left after lightly ruffling Grian's hair, muttering something about "be good."
Okami rubbed Grian's back, whispering calming words to him. He eventually stopped crying, backing up and looking at Okami with watery eyes.
"How about a nap?"
Grian followed Okami as she led him to the back of the room. The beanbags hadn't been used in a few years, but she still held onto them in case she needed them.
Grian practically collapsed onto them, yawning as he buried his face into the soft fabric.
"I'll be at my desk grading papers if you need anything."
-
Grian whined softly as he was shaken awake.
"Come on, Grian! I wanna go play GameCrab!"
Grian blinked, eyes focusing on Sam, who was standing over him.
"Naps over! Let's go!"
Sitting up, Grian took in his surroundings.
Sam had an annoyed look on his face. He was itching to get home, bouncing impatiently.
Taurtis was at the front of the room, talking to Rowan and Okami. From what Grian could hear, he was thanking them.
Grian stood up, pushing past Sam and walking over to Taurtis and taking his hand.
"Oh! Hi, Grian! How'd you sleep?"
Grian didn't answer, simply looking up at Rowan, sucking anxiously on his pacifier.
He was deep in headspace now, no words were coming to his head. Mostly just emotions, feelings of want.
He wanted to go home, and he wanted to cuddle with Taurtis. He also wanted to not be so scared of Rowan.
"I'm not mad at you kid. I'm just no babysitter. You're alright."
Grian looked down, moving to hug Taurtis.
Taurtis was a bit surprised, but accepted the hug, rubbing Grian's back.
"Sam? Let's go."
Sam complained the whole way home, whining about how long it was taking, and how he just wanted to play GameCrab.
He quieted when Taurtis threatened to shut him up with one of Grian's spare pacifiers.
Once they got inside their apartment, Grian ran to grab his blankie and teddy. After retrieving his comfort items, he waddled to the living room.
Taurtis and Sam were on the couch, with Taurtis listening as Sam ranted about which character he wanted to pick in smash.
Grian shoved himself between the two of them, resting his head on Taurtis's shoulder.
Taurtis sighed, petting his hair.
"No more paci at school, okay bud? I don't mind baby time, but you didn't seem too happy today."
Grian hummed, Taurtis's words barely registering in his mind.
His head was so cloudy. He just wanted to snuggle, and Taurtis was so warm. His blanket was so soft, it was lovely.
He'd figure out whatever Taurtis was talking about later, closing his eyes and letting out a quiet breath of air.
Taurtis and Sam's conversation washed over him, a pleasant background noise of words bouncing around the clouds in his mind.
His day started sleepy and fussy, but he couldn't care less about that right now.
He was comfortable and content, that's all that mattered.