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Pav had been excited at the idea of having Noir watch over him regressed. He enjoyed the older spiderman’s company and while he preferred one of his closer friends, he understood that sometimes there were other things that got in the way.
He didn’t expect Noir to play with him, not like Gwen or Miles would have. After all, the black and white spider wasn’t either of his friends so it would be foolish to believe he would have the same type of manner when babysitting him.
Still, Pav isn’t dumb. He can tell that Noir isn’t doing the best. His caregiver seems, simply put, soggy, lying on the living room’s couch, staring up at nothing. Sure, Noir’s still his usual self, and Pav doubts that he would have taken up Hobie’s request at babysitting if he truly wasn’t doing alright. That doesn’t change the fact that something seems off about him. Noir seemed almost detached from the world around him.
Pav doesn’t get it completely. Maybe if he was in a normal headspace he would, but currently he’s five, confused, and wishing that one of his friends were here to help him figure out how to make the bad, nagging feeling go away.
The caregiver only hoists himself to a sitting position when the regressor comes over to him and stares for a very long moment. “Hey bud, what’s the matter?” Noir asks as Pavitr approaches him, stuffed bear in hand.
“You otay?” Pav asks. “Something hurt?”
Noir makes a sound of confusion at the seemingly random question. “I’m not hurt.” He defends himself, trying to figure out where this sudden line of questioning came from. Up until a moment ago Pavitr was happily playing by himself. At least, Noir’s pretty certain that he was. He did let his thoughts wander for quite some time…
“Sure? You seem soggy.”
“What made you think that?”
“Cause you’re laying there all ‘bleh!’” Pav sticks his tongue out in an over exaggerated re-enactment of the older spider.
Noir chuckles and the little’s dramatics. “That’s because I don’t have the endless amounts of energy that you have kiddo.” He ruffle’s Pavitr’s hair.
“Nooo, that’s not it. You feel bad, I can tell.” He gasps suddenly. “Oh no! You has the big sad don’t you?!”
Noir can’t help but laugh at this declaration. “The what now?”
“You know! Deh-dell-deep-depur-” Pav pouts at a momentary loss of words. Curse his fuzzy brain for not working right.
“Depression?” Noir supplies after listening to a full minute of the little trying and struggling to find the correct word.
“Yes! The big sad! See you do to know it!”
Noir chuckles, though Pav hears him curse under his breath. “I’ve been informed. You’re too young to be inconvenienced about such matters like this anyways. Everything is fine. Don’t worry about it.”
He ruffles Pav’s hair once again, while the regressor frowns. ‘Everything’s fine’ and ‘Don’t worry about it’ are two very different answers.
While it might be true that nothing did hurt on the outside, he’s sure that the hurt is on the inside, and that just might be worse. Pavitr doesn’t know how to fix either one. He’s not sure that he would even if he wasn’t regressed. That’s not going to stop him from attempting to anyhow.
“Can I do somethins?” He asks, just in case there is an easy solution.
“I’m doing just fine, you don’t have to do anything for me.” Noir tries to again convince the regressor that nothing is wrong. It’s obvious that Pav is not going to stop asking if, he finally tells the regressor a half truth. “Just a bit tired right now.”
He does look tired. Pavitr’s frown only deepens. He can’t help but feel a bit bad for being small and taking up the other’s precious time. Remembering that Noir had insisted that he could watch over him doesn’t help all that much in making him feel better.
“Need nap time?” The regressed spider asks. Usually, he can’t stand when any of his friends insists that he needs a nap, always wound up with too much energy. He’s willing to sleep if it will make Noir feel better.
The mentally older shakes his head no. “I don’t need a nap; I doubt you want one either.”
This time Pav shakes his head in agreement alongside the other.
“Besides, I should probably make you something to eat.”
“Not hungry.” He protests, not wanting the subject to be changed. He’s going to get to the bottom of how to help he swears.
“Kid...” Noir does sound tired. He sighs, again. “Fine. I’m not going to force you, that would be plain hypocritical. Something to drink then?”
The two make there way into the kitchen where Pav promptly takes a seat at the table. Drumming his fingers along the smooth wood as he watches his caregiver rummage around for a cup.
He’s given a sippy cup full of orange juice, which Pav happily sips from along with being handed a box of colored crayons and some sheets of blank paper. “Thought you’d like to color.” Noir says, taking a seat across from the little.
Pav beams, suddenly struck with inspiration. He’s going to make a drawing to give to Noir that will be so amazing his caregiver won’t be able to do anything other than cheer up!
The two sit drawing together. Enjoying one another’s presence.
“Can you grab me a blue crayon kiddo?”
Pavitr nods, selecting a navy blue from the box and handing it over the older spider man. Noir frowns.
“I asked for a blue one silly, not red.”
Pav giggles. “Dat is blue.”
“No. No I’m sure that it’s not.”
“Yeah it is.”
“No this one’s blue.” Noir grabs a green crayon, causing Pav to start laughing all over again.
He grabs ahold of Noir’s arm in order to take back the incorrect crayon and replace it with the right color when he notices something odd.
Dark lines scattered across the other’s skin. Some more faded ones run along Noir’s wrists, hidden beneath the sleeves of the older spider’s shirt, other’s that take on a silvery grey against the monotone skin.
Pav sees the scars and gasps. “You are hurt!” Pav exclaims. He feels like crying, whether from the betrayal or from the familiar implication of what scars like that mean, he doesn’t know.
“No sunshine. These are from a long, long time ago.” Noir insists.
His words fall on deaf ears as Pav leaps from his seat, running out of the room.
“Pav?!” Noir curses once more and gets up to follow Pav.
He comes to the bathroom, the door isn’t closed, and Pav is sitting on the floor struggling with something in his hands. Noir is about to apologize for upsetting him when the mentally younger looks up at him and holds out what looks to be a small slip of paper.
“Stupid-” Pav seems frustrated, shaking one of the items in his grasp. “Open?” he holds it out toward his caregiver.
Noir takes the item confused.
Pavitr, doesn’t offer any type of explanation, hands quickly occupied with trying to get the paper off another one. This time he manages to get it opened.
“Noir! Look!” The regressor exclaims, placing the band-aid over already healed scars. It’s bright blue. The color is shockingly vibrant against Noir’s skin.
Pav grabs the one Noir was opening, places it on his caregiver’s other hand.
Then another, this one wrapped around one of his fingers. There’s one soon after that is placed on his palm.
The regressor gets to the fifth bandage before Noir finally finds his voice.
“What are you doing?”
Pav notes that he sounds baffled. Which is silly, because it’s should be clean what he’s doing. “Hobie does when I get ouchie. Makes all better.”
“Oh darling… That’s sweet bu-” he doesn’t get to finish.
“Oh! I ‘most forgot.” Pav grabs Noir’s now colorfully bandages hands and drags the caregiver back towards the kitchen.
He retrieves the drawing that he had been working on during his lunch. “Tada! Is for you.” He holds up the drawing.
A very childlike doodle of what appears to be the Pav and Noir standing together outside with a bunch of flowers. The regressor seemed to use every bright, neon color, that was available in the box of crayons in order to color in the background.
Noir isn’t sure what to say. Pav’s no artist, even less of one in headspace, yet Noir can’t recall the last time he had gotten something so sweet. He ruffles the boy’s hair, genuinely smiling as he takes the paper from the boy’s hands. “It’s gorgeous. You did a wonderful job.”
“Wan’ to make you happy.”
“Oh kid, you already make me happy.”