Chapter Text
When Lyney asked Traveler to help him with something personal regarding him and his siblings, they weren't sure what they were expecting. But it certainly wasn't this.
Currently, what was before the Traveler was a rather.. Peculiar sight, albeit wholesome. Lynette and Freminet were both curled up and leaning against Lyney, the youngest of the three looking half asleep as he clutched his penguin plushie to his chest. Lynette, on the other hand, was very much awake, but was instead focused on what looked to be a Rubik's cube- her tail swaying back and forth in concentration. Both younger siblings were dressed in a much softer fashion than their usual attire, and Lynette had her hair down. Lyney, meanwhile, carded his fingers absentmindedly through Freminet's hair as he watched his sister fidget and try to solve the cube with a soft expression on his face.
Lynette's ears twitch in their direction, blinking lazily up at Traveler and Paimon.
"Ney..." She tugs on her older brother's sleeve, pointing at their guests.
"Oh? What is— oh.." Lyney blinks at them, then looks back down to his sister with a gentle smile, "Don't worry, Lynette; I invited them here. Why don't you look after our little brother while I go and talk to them, alright? It'll only be for a second." He ruffles her hair before getting up, gently maneuvering Freminet's body to lean comfortably against Lynette's before walking over to greet the guests.
"Greetings, dear Traveler. You as well, Paimon." Lines gives them his usual bow, albeit more tame than what's normal.
"Um.. Can Paimon know what's going on? 'Cause... Paimon thinks she missed some, uh, key information.." The smallest of the three laughs sheepishly.
Lyney quickly puts a finger to his mouth, shushing her, "Keep your voice down, would you? Wouldn't want to scare the babies~"
"BABIES!?" Paimon shouts, to which Traveler immediately clasps their hand over her mouth.
In the background, Lynette's ears twitch and her tail thumps against the ground in annoyance while Freminet makes a small whine.
"Yes, babies." Lyney huffs, exasperated, "Allow me to-"
"Ney." Lynette is suddenly at Lyney's side, tugging at his sleeve again.
"...explain." The eldest sighs, then turns to his sister with a gentle expression, "What is it, Lynette?" He smiles softly at her.
She points over to Freminet, who was currently chewing on his penguin plush, "Hungry."
Lyney blinks at the sight, but quickly shakes his head, a sheepish laugh escaping his lips, "I don't think Fremi is hungry, Lyn... Though, I do think we should go find his paci, hm?"
"PA—!?" Paimon is yet again cut off by a very exhausted looking Traveler.
Lynette thinks it over for a moment, then nods, going off to search for the item in question. Lyney hums in satisfaction, motioning for the other two to follow him as he walks over and sits next to Freminet, who immediately snuggles up to the new source of warmth. The Traveler and Paimon reluctantly sit as well, both holding rather perplexed expressions.
Lyney sighs, placing his hat on the coffee table, "Now, I suppose I should explain."
"Please do." Traveler glanced at the youngest sibling, who was curled up snugly into Lyney's side.
"You see, my siblings have this coping mechanism called age regression. It's where their brains go back to a.. Let's say, simpler time, when they were kids." He explains, hoisting Freminet gently onto his lap.
"Ohh! Paimon gets it! So it's like.. They're kids trapped in adult bodies?" Paimon holds her chin in thought, flying over to the youngest sibling and staring at him intensely.
"Um... Sorta." Lyney chuckles, "Though, I definitely wouldn't word it like that. The way you say it makes it sound like this is a bad thing. It's something their brains naturally do to deal with stress- I'm certainly okay with it. Just look at how cute little Fremi is~" the blond coos, squishing Freminet's cheeks as he does so.
Freminet whines, weakly pushing his brother's hands away in protest.
"...So what you're saying is... That Paimon was right." Paimon deadpans.
"Whatever makes you understand easier, I suppose. I won't fret over the details." Lyney exhales quietly, giving Freminet a gentle squeeze, "But we were talking, and we thought you should know, in case..." He trails off momentarily, then shakes off whatever he was thinking, "In case it ever happens when I'm not around."
Paimon opens her mouth to speak, but the Traveler nudges her gently, shaking their head. They remain silent in thought for a moment, then nod, "As long as they said it's alright for us to know..."
Lynette comes rushing back in the room, presenting a pastel blue pacifier to Lyney, "Ney, found."
The eldest takes the pacifier with a gentle smile, giving his sister a gentle pat on the head, "Thank you, Lynette."
Freminet's eyes light up at the sight, reaching out to grab the paci. Lyney smirks, moving his hand to give it to him before maneuvering his fingers around it. Just like that, the pacifier disappears, vanishing into thin air. The diver gasps, his gaze darting between Lyney and his hand.
Lyney chuckles, squishing Freminet's cheeks playfully, "No need to worry, little one. It's not gone. It's simply a matter of..." He pauses, reaching his hand behind the younger's ear, then pulling away to reveal the pacifier in his palm, "...misdirection."
Freminet makes a happy squeak, shoving the paci in his mouth. Traveler looks over to Paimon, a small smile on their face, "Well.. You have to admit, it is cute."
Lynette blinks at them, shuffling closer so she was directly in front of them.
Paimon gawked at her, kicking her legs in confusion, "Um.. Can we help you?"
"Stay?" The feline hybrid tilted her head, her tail swishing in anticipation.
"Stay?" Paimon shares glances with Traveler, then looks back to Lynette, "..Is she asking us to stay?"
"It seems so!" Lyney suddenly stands, spinning around with Freminet snugly in his grasp, "What do you say, Fremi? Do you think the Traveler and Paimon should stay?" Upon receiving a giggly nod, he abruptly stops spinning, turning to their vistors, "And what about you? It wouldn't be any fun if our guests didn't agree to it as well."
The Traveler's ambers drift between each sibling- Lyney, to Freminet, to Lynette- then finally to Paimon. They hum in thought, "I'm fine with it. There's no harm in staying a bit longer, is there?" They shrug.
"Well... If the Traveler's okay with it, then Paimon's okay with it too." The sprite floats over to Lynette, poking her cheek, "Besides, it's not that different from taking care of real kids, right? Paimon's sure we can handle a couple of toddlers."
The eldest glances at the clock, then shoves Freminet into the Traveler's arms without warning before promptly running off.
"Wha-!? Hey! Get back here!" Paimon kicked her legs in frustration, obviously annoyed by the blond's antics.
Lynette looks towards the Traveler, motioning for them to follow, "Ney makes food."
"Ah? I guess it is about dinnertime, isn't it?" They wonder aloud, bouncing the diver in their arms absentmindedly as they walk, "It's not often we get to eat someone else's cooking.. Most of the time, I cook."
Lynette sits down at the table, her tail swaying betraying her aloof attitude, "Mm, Ney's okay."
Traveler chuckles knowingly, sitting down next to her with Freminet in their lap.
It took some time, but Lyney finally finished what he was making! The blond smiled in some pride, happy that he was able to cook even with the strange underlying fuzzy feeling. It had started when he was practicing some tricks and slipped up on a part he normally wouldn't. He just couldn't place what it was...
Still, he placed a plate down for everyone, smiling fondly when Lynette immediately dug in without a word. Her tail flicked back and forth in appreciation, and honestly? That's all he needed.
The magician sits down at his respective seat, observing as the Traveler blew lightly on their spoon before offering it to Freminet. The diver opened his mouth without a second thought, luckily not having many reservations about receiving help from others in his regressed mindset. As he watched them, Lyney absentmindedly brought his own spoon to his lips, hissing in pain when the hot metal touched his skin.
"Lyney? Are you alright?" Traveler asks, holding a very hungry Paimon by the scruff of her shirt as she tries to sneak bites off of Lynette's plate.
"Yes, I'm fine. Just burnt my tongue is all." He waves her off, taking a drink of water to soothe his burning tongue.
Traveler gives a small nod, continuing on with their routine of blowing Freminet's food for him. Lyney feels a sudden sting in the back of his mind, and he vaguely hears the sound of his nails scraping against the table. What was it...? The blond abruptly shakes the thought away, continuing to eat like nothing happened.
However, he was entirely unaware of the watchful violet hues glued onto him.
After everyone finished eating, it wasn't long before Lynette finally grew bored of solving the Rubik's cube and began mewling persistently for a new toy.
"Meow..." The assistant's tail swished back and forth, her chin resting on Lyney's knee.
"Wah! Lynette, what's wrong?" Paimon hovered nearby, her hands behind her back.
"Meowww..." She whined more, nuzzling her brother's knee.
Lyney hummed and held his chin in thought, picking up the puzzle the girl discarded to the side, "Is it this, I wonder?" He dangled it in front of her face, to which she batted at in annoyance. The eldest laughs to himself, shouting in surprise when his sister manages to knock the cube from his fingers. He blinks, a sheepish smile creeping up his face, "...I suppose you want something else to play with."
"Meow." Lynette blinks up at him, batting her eyelids (what she thinks is) discreetly.
The eldest sighs, lifting his sister gingerly for a moment so her chin would be off his knees, "Come on, then.."
The walk back to Lynette's bed was uneventful, the only highlight being the assistant's vocal stimmimg. As Lyney reached under the bed and slid out the box of items, he felt the fuzziness in the back of his brain tug at his consciousness. He only observed as his sister rummaged through the box, but a small part of him wanted something too. He pushed that train of thought deep down the moment it entered his head.
No, no, nope, nah, never. He isn't a kid.
They soon reemerge with a Simon says toy- the kind that has buttons to press and light up. Lynette places the mechanism on the ground, plopping down in front of it as her ears twitch in its direction with every beep it makes. Freminet blinks sleepily at her, tumbling off the Traveler's lap and onto the floor next to his sister.
The magician and guests watch in amusement as Freminet touches the wrong button, causing Lynette's combo to come to an abrupt end. Her ears flatten against her head, her tail's fur standing visibly on end as she emits a cat-like growl. After a few seconds of annoyed staring, Lynette goes back to her game.
Then it happens again.
Freminet makes a surprised whine when the older's tail purposefully whacks him. Lyney barks out a laugh, to which only seems to spur Lynette on further. Before things can escalate, the eldest pulls his twin close so she can't whack Freminet anymore and combs her hair with his fingers gingerly.
"Now now, dear sister." He chuckles when her tail decides to whack against him instead, "Wha- hey! I know I pulled you back, but that was uncalled for!"
Lynette only makes an annoyed mew in response.
"Anyway..." He sighs, "Our little Fremi here is just a baby, remember? He doesn't mean to make you upset."
The feline hybrid blinks up at Lyney, then back at Freminet, who's sitting idly, "..Baby?"
Lyney's lips twitch into a smile, and he nods, "Yes! That's right!"
Freminet crawls over, stumbling over nothing and falling onto Lynette. The youngest makes a little yawn, burying his face in her abdomen and promptly closing his eyes.
"...And I think baby is ready for his naptime." He laughs fondly, scooping his little brother into his arms with a swoop and holding him on his hip, "I'll go put him to bed; you two can keep playing without me."
Lyney only leaves after he makes sure the other three are all okay, and he makes his way to where Freminet sleeps. A majority of the house was dark now, enveloped in ink-like shadows. The blond mentally kicked himself in the foot, cursing silently for not turning on the lights earlier. He couldn't remember for the life of him where the light switches were, so he braved it out- not even wanting to dwell on why he was so afraid in the first place.
He just didn't want Freminet to be scared, that's all.
Lynette continued to play the game without a second thought, focusing all her attention on the lights and sounds.
Red. Red, blue. Red, blue, red. Red, blue, red, green. Red, blue, red, green, yellow—
And then, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. She mentally apologized to her game before looking over to see what it was, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Baby...!" She squeaks softly, scrambling over to pick up Freminet's lost penguin plush.
"Oh? What is it, Lynette?" The Traveler leans over, careful not to disturb the sleeping Paimon curled up to their side.
"Baby!" She repeats with a swish of her tail, holding up the stuffed animal for Traveler to see.
As soon as their eyes land on the penguin, they frown, "Oh no... That's Freminet's, isn't it?" After receiving an affirmative nod from the other, they continue, "How about we go surprise your brothers, hm? We'll both go to Freminet's room and give it back to him together. Does that sound okay?" They smile gently.
The assistant nods, standing up before tugging on the Traveler's wrist persistently. They relinquish quickly with a fond chuckle, holding Paimon in their arms as they walk.
Luckily for Lynette, her genes allow her to see better in the dark! Because of that, she doesn't even notice how dark it is in the hallway. Instead of stopping to question Traveler's nervous hums, she continues onwards, only stopping in her tracks when she sees a familiar silhouette curled up on the ground.
"Ney...?" Her ears twitch curiously, subconsciously reeling back upon hearing sad whimpers. A part of her expected it to be coming from Freminet, but it wasn't high pitched enough to be him... Lynette immediately detached herself from Traveler, causing them to make a startled squawk.
"Lynette!?" They whisper-shout, stretching out a hand to hurriedly grab the regressed girl, but it was no use.
Lynette rushes to Lyney's side, her violet hues darting between her whimpering twin and their equally distressed brother. Freminet is continuously tugging on his brother's shirt in concern, but he doesn't respond. He just grips onto the younger tighter, biting his lip until droplets of blood began to dribble out.
"Ney." She said in the sternest voice she could muster at the moment.
Lyney's eyes widened, and he turned in the direction of his sister's voice, "...Lynette?" His voice was quiet, meek, and undeniably small.
The girl huffed knowingly, "Baby." She rolls her eyes, even despite her brothers not being able to see it.
"No!" His voice comes out much louder than what was probably intended, causing Lynette's ears to flatten defensively, "'M not a baby!"
It was not convincing.
Still, she had a duty as a big sister, and right now, that was to guide her brothers to safety.
"What's wrong?" She asks gently, giving Freminet his stuffed animal while she pets Lyney's head with her free hand- like she remembers him doing to her when they were kids.
"Mnh.. It's..." The eldest gulped, biting his lip again before speaking, "It's dark."
"Dark?" She blinks, scanning the area around them. Traveler is using the wall to slowly but surely make their way towards them, their eyes moving similar to hers. Oh. Maybe it is. She tries to offer a comforting smile, "..It's okay. I'll..." She swallows, the words feeling foreign coming from her mouth and not his, "I'll protect."
"Protect?" Lyney scuffs, though, he shuffles closer.
"Mn..." Freminet hums, drawing the twins attention to the youngest. He barely ever made noise besides whining while little... "Help?" His voice was small and shaky from the strain it took to speak, but he didn't seem too bothered. He takes his penguin plush and pushes it into Lyney's chest, blinking up at him innocently.
"H..Help...?" Lyney takes the plush delicately, squishing the soft fabric under his fingertips. He looks at his brother, awe in his eyes, "For- For me??"
"Little bit... Helps when I- I'm... When scared." He squeezed his fingers nervously, his gaze towards the floor.
The eldest opens his mouth, then closes it, remaining silent. After a few moments, he opens it again, "Thank you."
The Traveler finally reaches them, making their appearance obvious when they place their hand atop Lynette's head for good measure, "This is all well and good and all- but can you please lead us to where we need to go, Lynette?"
The girl nods, taking Traveler with one hand, then Lyney with the other. She guided both slowly, being sure neither tripped or stumbled. Unfortunately, she had to let go momentarily to turn on the light to Freminet's room. She could feel her brother's body immediately untense upon the light turning on. Lyney tugs his hand free, lying his brother on his bed and, albeit hesitantly, giving the stuffed penguin back.
Freminet makes a happy squeal, to which Lyney smiles at, "..Thanks. You're right. He helps lots..."
Lyney moves to help Freminet get ready for bed, but is stopped by Traveler's hand to his chest, "Don't worry, I'll put him to sleep. Besides, I think Lynette has some words for you." They chuckle, tilting their head in his sister's direction.
The Traveler moved around the room for the preparations, and Lyney blinked back over to Lynette.
She huffs softly, pointing an accusing finger to his chest, "Baby." She puffs her cheeks out in annoyance, much to Lyney's amusement.
"I'm not a baby!" He says with equal amount of conviction.
"Prove it. Tell me how old." Her tail swishes back and forth.
Lyney opens his mouth to speak, but quickly realizes he doesn't have an answer. Or rather, the conclusion he comes to isn't right. It shouldn't be right. He looks at his hands, counting his age on his fingers.
One, two, three, four, five, six– no. No, that's not right. One, two, three four– no, no, no. One, two, three– one, two– one...
Lyney timidly looks back up at his sister, who is wearing a rare, smug smile.
That little...
"Baby." She hums victoriously.
"Not- not a baby! Six isn't a baby!" He stomps his foot, giving up entirely on trying to act like an adult.
"Baby. You're younger than me.." Lynette's tail flicks to the side in a small sense of pride.
"I'm not a baby!" He doesn't cry- he doesn't want to- but.. Hot tears bubble up and begin to drip, and he lets out an embarrassed whimper.
"Hey..."
Lyney looks up, seeing the Traveler with a gentle expression.
No... Don't look at me like that... Don't pity me-
"It's okay, buddy.." They pull him in for a hug, to which he subconsciously melts into.
Stop being so nice-
"Sorry." Lynette's ears are flattened against her head as she discreetly joins the hug, "But... It's okay to be baby."
"Your sister's right. You don't have to be strong all the time." Traveler soothes, "It's okay to feel weak, y'know."
Lyney glances over to Freminet's sleeping form.
"It's okay to... It's.. Thank you." He finally lets himself relax, burying his face into Traveler's chest. It's as if a wave if exhaustion washed over him all at once...
"Baby needs sleep." Lynette comments, poking at Lyney's cheek and sighing when he doesn't react.
"...I think I agree."
It isn't long before they're all settled somewhere on Freminet's bed, fast asleep.