Chapter Text
Johnny and Kenshi weren't necessarily busy people.
. . . Okay, that was a flat out lie.
But they tried to make sure they all kept in touch! Regular calls, regular Skypes, anything they all could to stay in touch.
And it wasn't like Tomas wasn't busy.
WIth the Lin Kuei, and the Shirai Ryu, and new trainees, and helping Hanzo out, and this and that and-
He really shouldn't be overthinking like this again. It was Valentine's Day. He really needed to stop. Maybe talk to his friends about how he feels like they're all too busy for him.
. . . . Eeeeeeeeh, maybe next year though.
"Dinner was amazing," Tomas smiled, kissing Johnny and then Kenshi. "That food was so yummy! It tasted delicious."
"Well I'm glad," Johnny chuckled, ruffling Tomas's hair. "But the day's not over yet. Kenshi and I got a little gift for you."
"Don't spoil it, Cage," Kenshi laughed as Tomas looked confused. "Come on, let's go hang while Johnny gets the gifts."
Johnny sputtered and whined as Kenshi began to drag Tomas to the living room. Although they were too far and eventually Johnny sulked and pouted and walked to where the gift were hiding. . . Okay it was actually more than one gift, but don't tell Tomas that!!
Tomas was nervous. Crap, he didn't get them an extra gift!! Kenshi quickly got Sento from it's normal place holder in the house for when he was gone. He kissed Tomas's cheek as they sat on the couch, holding his hand.
"You're worrying," he pointed out. Kenshi was always good at reading the room.
"Am not," Tomas pouted. "What'd you get me anyhow?"
"It's a surprise," Kenshi shrugged.
"You hate surprises," Tomas tried to argue. It was true, Kenshi did hate surprises. He's rather know ahead of time what he was getting and if something was being thrown for him. It was easier to not feel stress or worried or weird about what was going or not going to come. "So I think you should tell me."
Kenshi did an act that resembled rolling his eyes, "And you love surprises."
Well it wasn't a lie. . .
But Tomas wanted to know now!!
And luckily, it was as if Johnny heard his calls as he walked back into the room, "I've got them!"
"Them?" Tomas looked at the boxes in Johnny's hands. "That's not just one gift."
"Did we say one gift? I don't remember hearing us say just one gift, do you Ken?" Johnny asked, acting as though he was thinking.
Kenshi smirked and shook his head, "I don't think so."
It wasn't just one thing, it was so many things!!
An extremely soft grey blanket, for one. It was so soft and fuzzy. And big enough to wrap entirely around Tomas, making him feel cozy and small.
And a one of those small baby stuffie blankets. Where the head was a rabbit and the body was a small blanket. Tomas adored it, it was also so soft! He liked soft things.
And there was a chewy ring too!! With a handle so Tomas wouldn't, probably, drop it.
They even got him a pack, or three, of his favorite cookies: Oreos.
Tomas loved each and every item but . . . how much had this all cost?
None of it had to be cheap.
And why had they even gotten him regression related items? That didn't make sense. Sure, Johnny's been known to buy himself and Kenshi some things, but Tomas was always so conscious of owning anything. A fear he picked up from Bi-Han, who completely freaked out the first time Tomas got a plushie. And almost had a meltdown when Kuai Liang got a set of blocks.
Toys and little things were often, extremely well, hidden in the Lin Kuei. . . And a little nonexcistant, The Shiari Ryu was a bit more lenient, no one went into Harumi's room. No one really went into Bi-Han's either, now the he was Grandmaster. But he could still never chance it. So Tomas couldn't chance it.
Johnny and Kenshi tried to looked for Tomas's reactions. It was . . . difficult.
Tomas was a very expressive person. Johnny loved capturing his facial reactions, and Kenshi was happy when he was able to see them.
So they could see how his face would brighten at each surprise. But they could also see how his smile seemed almost forced afterwards.
"Do you like them?" Kenshi asked, feeling unsure of the gifts now. Perhaps they should have warned Tomas that they were little gifts and not big kid gifts.
"Mhm," Tomas nodded, holding his new stuffie. "Love them!"
But Tomas's voice was off. A hint of distress in his tone. He also sounded small, very small.
Johnny and Kenshi had noticed that Tomas hadn't been regressing as often around them. They concluded that perhaps he was struggling to regress. Especially from being away from his Dada and Daddy for so long. Long distance was never easy on any of them when they were small.
But that wasn't exactly the truth. In truth, Tomas just began regressing alone. He realized how busy everyone was getting. Johnny with all his new gigs, Kenshi helping his clan, Kuai Liang and the Shiari Ryu, Bi-Han with the Lin Kuei, Syzoth being an ambassador- The list went on and on.
He wanted to spend more time with his friends and family. But it was difficult, they were all busy. And he didn't want to bother them from their important work just because he was small.
"Well I'm glad," Johnny smiled, ruffling Tomas's hair. "Kenny and I here realized that our little guy wasn't regressing very much. So we thought maybe this'd help a bit. And maybe we could have a little night?"
"But it's Valentine's Day," Tomas frowned. "Should be a big night."
"That doesn't mean anything," Kenshi said. "We could still have a small night on Valentine's Day. It's just make it more fun than anything."
"Sweetheart, we can already tell that someone's feeling small right now," Johnny chuckled, Tomas looked at the ground. "A-And there's nothing wrong with that!! We just- We miss our little guy. It's like he's hiding from us. Why don't you tell him to come out, huh?"
". . . No," Tomas whispered, shaking his head.
Johnny sputtered, "N-No?"
"No!" Tomas insisted. "It's Valentine's Day, we rarely get to see each other. Plus I don't wanna waste your time by being small."
"Do you . . Do you think you waste our time by being small?" Kenshi frowned.
". . . . No."
"Sounds like someone has a new favorite word," Johnny began, grabbing Tomas's hand. "And doesn't know how to use it properly. Come on, Sugar, how about you actually tell us what the problem is."
"It's just . . everyone got really busy," Tomas frowned, looking anywhere but them. "Don't wanna bothers other by being small when I can barely see them normally! Distracts them from their big kid work."
It was obvious Tomas was slipping, most likely trying to push his regression back. Kenshi shook his head, cupping Tomas's cheek, "You could never bother any of us. Kuai, Bi, Rai, we all like hanging out with you. When your big-"
"Am big," Tomas huffed.
"Well, bigger, we're going to have a very big kid conversation about communication," Kenshi patted his cheek. "Otherwise we can feel sad again and get all these negative emotions."
"Yeah, it's not like we can read your mind, sweets," Johnny chuckled, kissing Tomas's cheek.
"Nuh-uh, he can," Tomas pointed to Kenshi.
Kenshi held back a laugh as Johnny pouted, "Well, Dada over there doesn't count. He shouldn't be using those abilities unless we ask him to anyways."
"Yeah, something like that," Kenshi brushed Johnny off, knowing he's done exactly not that some times. For the greater good!! He swears!! "What Daddy's trying to say is that we'd love to hang out with our baby. But we can't see him if he doesn't let us see him. You could never bother us or your friends with this. I think we should talk with Kuai and Bi a little after this, shouldn't we?"
". . . No-"
"Tomas," Kenshi warned. Tomas pouted. "I know confrontation can seem scary-"
"Am not scared!" Tomas pouted harder. "There's nuffing wrong though!"
"Nothing wrong?" Johnny looked confused. "Of course there's something wrong!"
Tomas huffed, "Bi would tell me I'm being silly, so I being silly."
Johnny and Kenshi loved Bi-Han.
But sometimes . . .
Sometimes, man . . .
"Then it sounds like Dada and I gotta talk to Bi-Han for you," Kenshi suggested. "Or Kuai talks to Bi. If need be, we could get 'Reena."
"'Reena would get upset if she learnt any of dat," Tomas said worriedly. He didn't wanna get Bi-Han in trouble! He didn't do nuffing wrong, Tomas was just being silly and overthinking again.
"Which makes it what?"
"Not right," Tomas grumbled. "Don't tell 'Reena, Dada! Bi-Bi gonna get in trouble."
"Alright, I promise I won't tell Sareena," Kenshi sighed. "But-"
"But this can be a problem settled for later," Johnny butted in. "How about right now we all relax and cuddle? We've got some fun movies we could watch."
"Like Mamma Mia?" Tomas looked hopeful. He liked Mamma Mia, but Johnny loved Mamma Mia!! And he got to hear his Daddy ramble about how amazing the movie was, and he got to sing with Daddy during the songs, and sometimes Daddy would force Dada to dance with him to make Tomas giggle.
Johnny smiled widely, "Like Mamma Mia! Kenshi, get Netflix on."
". . . I hate Mamma Mia," Kenshi grumbled, absolutely lying. He adored watching the movie, especially when either Tomas or Johnny was small.
"Hey Tommy, have you ever been swaddled?" Johnny asked, tapping Tomas's new (favorite) blanket. "I'm sure I could make you a little burrito."
"I get to be a burrito!!" Tomas gasped.
Tomas did not want to be swaddled swaddled. Perhaps if he was smaller or felt a little less icky then usual, maybe next time. But right now, he wanted to cuddle Dada and Daddy!! It had been so long since he had been small with him. Even if it was his decision, he missed them.
Johnny wrapped Tomas in his new blankie, making sure Tomas had enough wiggle room. The small boy crashed into Kenshi when he sat on the couch, cuddling up to him.
"I thought Johnny was a wiggle worm," Kenshi laughed as he bear hugged a squirming Tomas. He poked his hand out of his blanket cocoon, blindly searching for the oreos on the table. "You was snackies now, Hun?"
"Mhm!" Tomas smiled, finally grabbing them and handing them to Johnny. "Open pease!"
"Such good manners you've got there," Johnny praised, opening the packet. Before he could steal one, Tomas quickly snatched it back, giggling quietly. "I- Now hold on a minute!"
"Can you share some with Dada?" Kenshi asked. Tomas thought about it and nodded, handing an oreo to Kenshi. Giggling as Kenshi ruffled his hair. "Thanks, Sweetheart."
Johnny pouted, "I want one too!!"