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It had been a rough day for Mind. The day had been littered with fight after fight, each one escalating further than the last one, until eventually it came to the point where he couldn’t take it anymore. They had locked themselves away in their room, desperate to shove down their growing anxiety. The Sun just scrolled away on their laptop, looking for something to watch in order to distract them. He eventually came across some old cartoon they had used to watch as a kid. One of those old semi-educational cartoons that taught things like basic math or reading skills. Perhaps it would be nice to experience a little nostalgia. No harm in maybe watching an episode or two.
Apollo sat and stared at the screen, watching brightly colored characters speak to an imaginary audience. It was…nice. He found himself resisting the urge to excitedly yell out the obvious answers to their silly little questions. He couldn’t help but smile, despite the fact that this was clearly for kids. Unfortunately, as it usually did, the anxiety came creeping back around. He shouldn’t be enjoying this. He’s a grown ass man. He’s far too smart to be getting enjoyment out of a simple cartoon. Maybe…one more episode wouldn’t hurt though.
Mind ended up completely losing track of time, finding himself lost in floods of memories long forgotten. Memories of running around with energy never really seen again. Memories of parents that were never quite there enough to properly care for a child. Memories of growing up a little too quickly, and missing out on a vital point in life. He wished he could go back. He missed that…happy feeling he used to have. No cares, no worries, no pressure to be perfect.
They looked up from their laptop screen and spotted a doll they had sitting on one of their shelves. It was a simple crocheted doll he had gotten as a present. A nice thing to display since he was a fan of the doll’s source material. He slowly went and picked up the doll, carefully running his fingers through its hair. The hair was long enough that he could mess with it a bit…he just needed some rubber bands.
Atlas had finally finished calming Artemis down after the massive fight that had happened, now it was time to check and make sure Apollo was alright. They walked over to his door and was shocked to hear giggling coming from inside. He raised an eyebrow and opened the door slightly, poking his head in to the room. “{What the fuck…?}” Mind was sitting and playing with his doll’s hair, clearly having a blast doing so, or at least he was until he got caught. He locked eyes with Soul and any semblance of joy he had quickly faded, now replaced by shame and panic.
The Sun’s vision grew blurry, memories once again flooding back to him. Adults telling him he shouldn’t be behaving like this. Parents getting upset over trying to express emotions. Being left alone to soothe himself when it became too much. Being upset just simply was not allowed. He needed to calm down. He needed- “{APOLLO!}” The sudden loud noise made Apollo jump, and cover their ears. Too loud…it made him start to whimper slightly. The Stars’ eyes were full of concern as they looked at their sun. “{...what in the world is going on with ya mate?...}” Soul gently grabbed Mind’s hands and pulled them down, gently holding them.
“{...are you all there Sunshine?}”. The Sun didn’t know how to respond to The Stars. He…couldn’t respond. He tried desperately to say something, anything, but he just simply couldn’t speak, instead just letting out small distressed noises. “{Don’t force it. If you can’t speak right now that’s okay…can you still write?}”. Mind nodded and was quickly handed a paper and a pencil. They struggled but managed to write out a small message, which Soul read aloud. “{‘Sorry…Need to be adult’...You have absolutely nothing to apologize for ‘pollo. I don’t get what you mean by...needing to be an adult though. Are you…not feeling like one right now?}”. Apollo nodded, lowering his head in shame, only to be pulled into a gentle hug by Atlas.
“{I…don’t entirely understand what you mean but, you don’t need to feel ashamed. If…acting a little childish is how you cope then that’s alright.}” Soul carefully tucked some hair behind Mind’s ear, giving him a soft smile. Mind looked up at his host for a brief moment before burying his face in ther shirt, starting to cling to them a bit. The Stars chuckled slightly. “{Aw…did you want to keep playing with your doll? You seemed really happy doing that.}” The Sun nodded and reached over to grab the doll. They looked at it for a moment before handing it to Atlas, smiling softly. Atlas chuckled and placed the doll on Apollo’s head, watching as it almost immediately fell back to the ground. The two shared a good laugh over gravity doing its job. It was quite silly after all.
The Stars stayed and played with The Sun for a long while, laughing and just generally goofing around. Soon enough the duo had ventured out into the living room, hunting for buried treasure, or was it a handsome prince? It didn’t matter. The end result was the same; Mind and Soul on the couch, exhausted, and watching cartoons. Atlas kept an arm around Apollo, making sure he felt safe and comfortable. Mind leaned against Soul, yawning and closing his eyes a bit. He softly spoke, finally being in a clear enough headspace to do so. “[Atlas..?]. “{Yes Apollo?}. He turned his attention to the clearly tired man next to him. “[....can we…do this again sometime…?]”. The Stars smiled and held The Sun a bit closer. “{Of course we can. I actually had quite a bit of fun myself. Next time you wind up like this I’ll be here…promise.}”
Mind smiled and curled up next to Soul, pretty much just using him as a pillow. He wasn’t entirely sure what had happened tonight. They’d probably need to do more research into it in the morning. But, for now he was content with just laying on the couch, and getting some much needed rest. Maybe…being a little childish wasn’t as bad as he thought it was.