Work Text:
Dream buries his face in his hands. He has so much work to do this week! Two videos that need to be finished, and a decent amount of streams, as well as having to leave for Vidcon in four days. It’s just… overwhelming.
He takes a deep, shaky breath, and goes back to going through his business email. A lot of spam, a few fan emails that he responds to in as thoughtful a way as he can manage, and some work emails.
One of which is about a four hour long meeting on the Dream Team plushies, happening the next day. That’s the only day Dream has off this whole week, that’s his regression day before Vidcon, that’s the day when he’s going to hang out with George and Sapnap and let them take care of him. But no, the plushie company just had to go and ruin that. Some part of Dream knows he’s being unfair, the company doesn’t know that he has a regression day planned, but he can’t help but be angry and upset and-
Without thinking about it, Dream hurls his keyboard across the room. It crunched against his wall, falling to the floor with its insides on the outside. He grabs his notebook next, flinging that against the wall, as well. Item after item after item after item flies towards the wall, and Dream knows he shouldn’t be throwing things, but he can’t help it right now.
“Dream?”
Dream whips around in his chair to face the door, seeing that it’s been opened, and George is standing there, looking worried.
“Sap and I were-” George starts, but then he’s cut off by Dream, who still can’t think straight thanks to being so angry and frustrated and ugh, throwing the nearest object at him.
George closes the door quickly. The thick book of Sherlock Holmes stories, one Dream is trying to get through in his nonexistent free time, thunks against the closed door. Dream hears George’s footsteps quickly receding and suddenly realizes what he just did.
“Wait,” he calls, hopping up and opening the door to see George already halfway down the hall. “Wait!”
But George turns the corner into the kitchen. Dream sobs breathlessly, hurrying down the hall.
“Wait!” Dream calls desperately, even though it’s too late for George to wait. So Dream just has to go to him.
He rounds the corner into the kitchen to find Sapnap sat on the counter, George in front of him, the pair talking softly. Sapnap’s eyes instantly flicker to Dream when he comes in the room, and, of course, George turns around to see what distracted Sapnap.
“Wait,” Dream mumbles uselessly, scraping the heel of his palm across his face towards his ear in an attempt to wipe away the tears he knows are falling.
“Do you want something?” George asks gently, too gently, in the voice he uses for Baby Dream.
Dream doesn’t notice in the moment, though, just says, “S’ay.”
George tilts his head. “You wanted me to stay?”
Dream nods, distracted briefly when Sapnap slides off the counter to stand next to George.
“We don’t throw things at people we want to stay,” Sapnap says softly, and Dream nods again.
“‘M sorry,” he whispers. “Wasn’ t’inkin’.”
“I know you weren’t, darling. I’m not mad,” George says, but Dream is too busy focusing in on the nickname to hear the last few words.
Is he baby? George only uses that nickname when Dream’s baby, and he’s not baby, is he? Just a bit frustrated by his work, and overreacting. He’s not small. Because when he regresses impurely like this, he can’t pull himself out of it no matter what. And he has so much work he needs to do!
“Not baby,” Dream tells the two of them, and they exchange a glance that Dream can’t quite decipher.
“I think you are,” George says.
Dream shakes his head. “Got work. No baby.”
“You can be baby today, sweetheart,” Sapnap says. “Work can wait until tomorrow.”
Dream hesitates. He really would like to just let himself relax, regress for a bit, watch The Muppets with his Daddy and Papa. Even if he does technically have work to do…
Finally, he gives in. “Otay,” he whispers, squeezing his hands together tightly against his chest. “I be baby.”
His caregivers smile at him. George comes over and takes Dream’s hand, starting to lead him to the living room.
“How old are you, sunshine?” Sapnap asks, and Dream holds up four fingers. Sapnap nods, leaving to go down the hall, probably to Dream’s room so he can get littlegear for the toddler.
George brings Dream into the living room, getting the two of them settled on the couch and pulling up Disney+, because he knows that Dream really really really likes The Muppets. The first thing they see when they open Disney+ is the featured shows at the top - and the first one is a new Muppets show, Muppets Mayhem!
Dream gasps, tugging at George’s sleeve. “Muppets! Muppets!”
George laughs, opening the show. “Yeah, darling. Muppets. You want to wait for Papa, or start it now?”
“Wait,” Dream says magnanimously (oh, that’s a fun word - he didn’t know he knew that word). So George sets the controller down and just cuddles Dream for a bit.
“I’ve got your things!” Sapnap calls, skidding into the living room on his socks. Dream cooes, holding his arms out for his favorite green paci and his frog stuffie.
Sapnap hands over the littlegear, popping the paci into Dream’s mouth for him as Dream eagerly grabs the frog, named Kermit, of course.
“Oh, haven’t seen this one before,” Sapnap notes when he sees the banner for Muppets Mayhem.
George nods. “It’s new. Was on the featured banner on the homescreen.”
“Go, go,” Dream urges, pushing lightly at the controller in George’s hands.
George laughs. “Alright, love. Going.”
He starts the first episode of the show, and Dream is instantly enthralled by the bright characters and flashy movements. Even if he doesn’t quite get the plot, he still enjoys the show.
Dream loves The Muppets.