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Grian was barely conscious.
He was currently laying on the couch, attempting to keep his eyes from slipping shut.
His head was cloudy, but not in the way it usually was. Usually the clouds in his mind made everything feel softer and nicer, but right now they just made everything feel… yucky.
His mind felt thick and his face felt hot, his tummy felt weird, but he wouldn't say it hurt necessarily, it just felt wrong.
His mouth felt thick and dry, he wished he had his dummy.
Taurtis and Sam were at school, leaving Grian at home alone all day.
He had slept through most of it, the others should be on their way home soon.
If he weren't drowning in fog, he might've been able to get up and take some medicine, but right now Grian doubted his ability to do something as simple as sitting upright.
It was all he could do to shove his thumb in his mouth and clutch his baby blanket to his chest.
His thumb wasn't able to provide much comfort, sadly. It was nothing compared to his dummy, and it tasted of sick. He was probably just putting more germs into his body.
He lay there in silence, his hair wet with sweat as he waited for his friends to return home. They couldn't magically make him better, but maybe one of them would be willing to get him a glass of water or something.
Grian nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a weight pressing on his legs. Where did Sam come from?
"Did you sleep all day?" Grian squinted at Sam, who was sitting on his legs with a big grin on his face.
Grian whined softly, pulling his blanket over his head.
"Dude, I knew you were sick, but are you okay?"
Grian shook his head, wincing at how the movement made his head throb.
Sam stared for a minute, then quickly stood up. "I'm gonna go get Taurtis."
He dashed out of the room, leaving Grian alone again.
A few minutes later Taurtis was standing over Grian with a concerned look on his face.
"Why didn't you call me? I would have come home to take care of you."
Grian couldn't tell if the heat in his cheeks was from the fever or the embarrassment of Taurtis crouching down and placing his hand on Grian's forehead.
"You have a bit of a fever, but it doesn't seem too bad. I'm gonna get some stuff. Sam, help him sit up and get some water into him." Taurtis quickly dealt out orders to Sam before running upstairs.
Sam groaned, but obliged. He didn't want to help but he didn't want to be on the receiving end of a frazzled, angry Taurtis.
He pulled Grian into a sitting position on the couch, ignoring the whine the other let out.
Crouching down in front of him, Sam looked at Grian.
"How old do you think you are? I don't need you spilling water all over yourself."
Grian tried to come up with an answer, but couldn't. He simply shook his head.
"I… What? I'm just gonna go with… really little, then." Sam let out a sigh when Grian nodded, running off to the kitchen.
He returned a few minutes later with a sippy cup filled with cold water. At first he tried handing it to Grian, groaning when Grian didn't move to take it.
"Okay, hold on."
Grian didn't even know they owned a baby bottle.
Apparently they did, seeing as Sam had Grian laying with his head in his lap while he held a bottle for him.
The cold water felt nice and the bottle only increased the fuzz in his head.
Grian was never good at pinpointing his age when he regressed, but right now he was sure that this was the smallest he'd ever been.
Taurtis was finally back. He made no comment about Grian laying in Sam's lap, as doing so would probably result in Sam smacking him.
Grian whined when the bottle was removed from his mouth, but he quieted when it was quickly replaced with a pacifier.
"Can he get off my lap now?"
"No." Taurtis pushed back Grian's hair with his hand, pressing an electric thermometer to his forehead.
He shushed the little, stroking his hair softly. "You'll be alright, bud. I'm just using my robot checker!"
Sam snorted at that, quieting when Taurtis shot him a glare.
"This little scanner is gonna check if you're a robot or not!"
Grian quieted at that, trying to look up at his forehead. Robot checker? He didn't even know that was a thing. He stayed as still as he could, eager to know if he had suddenly turned into a robot while he napped.
A small beep came from the scanner, reading a fever of 100. Not bad enough for a doctor's visit, some tylenol should help.
"You stay here with Sam, I'll only be a second."
Sam was going to complain, but another glare from Taurtis shut him up quickly.
He sighed, leaning back on the couch and stroking Grian's hair quietly.
Grian hummed softly around his dummy. He still felt horrible, but the rhythmic petting felt nice.
"Sit him up."
Sam was quick to do so, wanting his sick friend off of him as soon as possible.
"I've got some applesauce for you, G."
Taurtis knew Grian would have fought him if he tried to give him medicine directly, so he had the foresight to mix it into some applesauce.
"I know you're not feeling good, but you need something in your tummy." Taurtis gently pulled the pacifier out of Grian's mouth, replacing it with a spoonful of applesauce.
The cold applesauce tasted good and felt nice, so Grian allowed Taurtis to feed him.
Once finished, he laid back down on Sam's lap, much to his protest.
The small bit of moving had made Grian quite tired. He opened his mouth and whined, smiling when Taurtis gave him his dummy back.
Grian let his eyes slip closed as the rhythmic sucking of the dummy soothed him, Sam and Taurtis's voice washing over him.
"The medicine should cool his fever down a bit." Taurtis moved Grian's legs onto his lap, joining the others on the couch.
"Why does he have to be on my lap?" Sam grimaced at the sleeping child on his lap.
"Because you're there, and I'm not moving a sleeping baby."
"Do you think he's really a baby right now?" Sam looked down, Grian was acting differently than he usually did when regressed.
"He seems really small. Please, just let him sleep."
"Fine. But you owe me."
"Owe you what?"
"I dunno." Sam shrugged. "Buy me some candy or something.
Taurtis groaned. "Fine. Just let him rest."
Sam grinned, grabbing the remote. "Will do!"