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When your friends invited you to movie night, you didn't know it would end up making you regress.
And yet here you are, surrounded by pillows and blankets, bowls of popcorn, and your closest group of friends, in the headspace of a toddler.
You're sitting on the floor, in front of the couch, with Gwen sitting behind you. Gwen has taken the opportunity to play with your hair, making small braids with the strands. Miles is sitting next to her, watching the screen intently. Pavitr is taking up the last spot on the actual couch, with Hobie sitting on the armrest with his legs laid over Pavitr’s. Miles was nice enough to set up the whole hang-out, as his parents left him in charge of the apartment for the weekend.
The movie that everyone settled on putting on was called ‘ Storks ’, which you had initially protested watching. You ended out being outnumbered, four to one, so the movie was put onto the TV anyway. You started off watching the movie fine, but by about three minutes in you could feel your headspace starting to shift. You couldn't help the small giggles you let out, no matter how hard you tried to keep them in. The others hadn't seemed to notice - save for Hobie, who gave you an amused glance. You mustered up your best glare back at him.
Now, you have been sitting here for about thirty minutes, and have been fully regressed for about twenty. Gwen braiding your hair hasn't helped one bit. You have resorted to stuffing your face with popcorn, in hopes of keeping attention off of yourself. Everyone is quietly watching the movie, but you can’t shake the feeling that they must know something is up . You feel like someone is staring at you, but every time you look over your shoulder, everyone else is looking at the screen, and Gwen tells you to stop moving your head.
On the TV, two wolves are happily talking about how they love a baby, or something along those lines. You aren't quite able to follow the plot, but you like the movie anyway. You giggle when one of the characters starts to smack the other, and then you shove more popcorn in your mouth. You are momentarily distracted by the movie, and before you realize it, you are full-on laughing.
By the time you realize what's happening, you notice that Pavitr and Gwen have started laughing along too, along with Miles and Hobie chuckling as well. You look down at the half-empty bowl of popcorn, stopping your laughing. You feel embarrassed, even though your friends seem to have not minded.
After a few minutes, the laughing dies down. Hobie shifts and stands up, turning to you and the rest of the group. “I'm a bit thirsty, I'm gonna go get a drink. Any of you want something?”
Everyone replies with various drinks that they want, but you can't manage to speak. You feel like your throat is clogged and won't let you form words. You look up at Hobie and notice he is looking at you expectantly.
“What about you, mate?” He asks. You simply shrug in response, looking back at the bowl of popcorn in your lap.
“Water it is then,” Hobie says, turning around and moving to go into the kitchen and grab everyone's drinks. You let out a sigh of relief, feeling glad that Hobie had chosen your drink for you. You're never really good at choosing things, and that gets especially hard when your brain is all fuzzy and small.
A few moments later, Hobie comes back with his arms full of drinks. He hands them out, and you realize that the one he handed you has a lid and straw. You are momentarily confused, as the others have normal cups, but you greatly appreciate it as you are not trying to spill your water all over the place. As Hobie walks past you, he ruffles your hair and shoots you a smile, much to the dismay of Gwen - who is still messing with your hair. You giggle softly, before taking a sip of water.
As Hobie sits back down, you hear Pavitr start speaking. “Hey, Hobie, why do they get a straw?” He asks, sounding mildly disappointed. “I like straws.” He adds.
“I dont trust ‘em to not spill it all over the place,” Hobie replies with a shrug. “You see the popcorn all over the floor? That's from them.” He says with a small chuckle.
“No fair. You're giving them special treatment.” Pavitr says, giving Hobie a glare.
“So what if I am?” Hobie shoots back, raising his eyebrows at the other boy.
You watch the interaction with amusement, and you can't help but giggle at the two. They glance back at you, and you notice slight confusion on Pavitr’s face, while Hobie just smiles back. You shift your attention back to the TV, sipping some more of your water. You can't help but chew on the straw as well, absentmindedly.
The rest of the movie goes past, and you can't help the single tear that falls down your face at the end. It was just too sweet! You quickly wipe it away, hoping that none of the others had noticed.
“What should we watch next?” Miles asks, grabbing the controller and getting ready to search through various streaming platforms for something to watch. He scrolls through, and one of the movies catches your eye.
“Home!” You blurt, pointing at the movie on the screen. You absolutely adore this movie, not that you’ve ever told anyone about that.
“Home?” Miles asks, moving the cursor over the movie. “You guys down?”
“Aw, I wanted to watch Up. ” Pavitr says. “That movie is so…” He trails off, making a gesture with both of his hands as if to show what he meant, but you dont fully understand.
“ Up is so sad, though!” Gwen says. “I wanna watch something scary, how about Lights Out ?” She suggests, smiling.
“As much as I would love to watch a horror movie right now,” Hobie starts. “I'm with them on this one.” Hobie continues, pointing to you. You smile brightly back at him, glad someone agrees with you. “I say we watch Home .”
“Again with the special treatment!” Pavitr says, a hand on his chest as if he were absolutely appalled at Hobie’s decision. “You told me you love Up !” He continues, nudging Hobie on the shoulder. “I thought you would be on my side.”
“I never said that,” Hobie says. “Besides, It's obvious we shouldn't watch something too scary or emotional, innit? I mean look at them.” He says, gesturing to you. You freeze as the others look at you.
Again, you can't speak. You look between your friends, and they stare back at you. You look away, instead moving to shove another handful of popcorn in your mouth, a few falling to the floor in the process.
“What do you mean by that, dude?” Miles asks, his brow furrowed as he looks back to Hobie.
“What, I'm not daft,” Hobie starts, looking at the rest of the group. “It's obvious they're regressed.” He says, and you look back over at him in shock.
You hadn't told anyone about your regression, especially not your friends. I mean, you figured they wouldn't care that much, but it's still scary to tell people something that you hold so close to your heart. You look at Hobie, bewildered at how he had figured it all out. Honestly, thinking back, it does make sense. The small acknowledging glance he gave you when you giggled, the cup with the lid, the hair ruffle…
Oh my gosh you should have known he had figured it out. It was obvious.
“... They're what?” Miles asks in response as Pavitr lets out a small ‘Ohhh’ at the realization.
“They're age regressed,” Hobie repeats as if it was the most casual thing in the world. “When your brain goes into this state where your headspace is like a kid, or toddler, depends on the person. Usually a coping mechanism.” He explains, and you hear Miles and Gwen also make an ‘Ohh’ sound.
Pavitr moves from his seat and onto the floor sitting next to you. “Why didn't you tell us sooner!?” he says, smiling at you. “This makes so much more sense now!” he says, giving you a pat on the head.
You shrug in response, not really knowing how else to respond since your voice won't work.
“You nonverbal?” Hobie asks, shifting to the seat that Pavitr has left empty. You nod in response.
You can feel Gwen using her fingers to brush out all the small braids she had put in your hair. “I agree with Pav, you should have told us.” She says, and you can hear the small smile in her voice.
Miles is quiet, seeming to be processing, and you dont really blame him. It still makes you a little nervous, but he doesn't seem to be taking it badly so that's good.
“Hey Miles,” You hear Gwen say softly. “You should totally go get them some paper and crayons, or something.” She says, just loud enough to hear. You perk up, looking at the two, hoping that Miles will do as Gwen suggested.
“Uh, sure. I can do that.” He says, smiling somewhat awkwardly. “Be right back.” He says, standing up and moving into some other part of the apartment before coming back with a box of crayons and a stack of paper, setting it on the table. Miles then sits back down, grabbing the controller for the TV, and putting on the movie you had suggested.
You happily reach for the items, grabbing your favorite color crayon and starting to draw right away.
“Can i draw too?” Pavitr asks beside you, smiling brightly at you and already reaching for the crayons. You nod happily, smiling right back at him.
You end up filling up a few pages of paper with your drawings, happily showing them off to Pavitr and the others. They give you warm smiles and tons of compliments on your doodles, making you giggle happily. You dont know why you were so scared of telling them, as this has ended up being one of the best evenings you have had in a while.
By the time you are all ready to sleep, you end up in the middle of a cuddle pile on the floor. You and Pavitr are resting your heads on each of Hobie’s shoulders, with Gwen and Miles halfway on top of everyone. There are too many pillows and blankets, forming a makeshift bed for the 5 of you. You have no problem falling asleep, happy to be here with your closest friends.