Work Text:
If anyone asked either Raiden or Kung Lao, there technically was a responsible adult in the room.
Who was the responsible adult? . . . Well he wasn't currently an adult, but Kung Lao was big enough to watch the both of them! He was in a big kid headspace, so he could easily watch himself and Raiden, who was tiny tiny right now.
Now, big kid headspace did kinda mean 4-5, but that wasn't the matter. He could still watch a baby, he did before!
. . . Plus if Liu Kang knew, he'd lecture them! Not meanly or rudely, more out of concern. He knew that if both boys were stressed enough, they both regressed incredibly tiny. Like, really tiny. . . . And maybe some crying.
Neither boys wanted scolding, but Liu Kang was just so busy and they didn't wanna bother him!! And he was training Johnny and Kenshi, so they couldn't call them either. And Madam Bo was all the way back in Fengjian.
Kung Lao eyed Raiden, who was laying beside him.
Although unlike Kung Lao, Raiden seemed so sleepy!! His eyes kept drooping and he kept jumping himself awake.
Why? 'Cause they were playing with Kung Lao's awesome train set!
Or, Kung Lao was playing with his trainset. Raiden was snuggling up with a blanket, halfway falling asleep.
Kung Lao didn't like the fact that his friend was trying to stay up when he was clearly sleepy. Bigger him would be able to coax him into a nap. But he wasn't exactly big . . . But as the bigger regressor, he had to do something about it!
Kung Lao rolled onto his back, closer to Raiden, "Psssh, Ray, you wanna go ni ni?"
"Hm?" Raiden hummed, looking at him. "No tanks."
"But you look sleepy!" Kung Lao argued, his paci falling out of his mouth and onto the floor. He frowned, but didn't grab it. Liu Kang said not to touch them if they fell. Right now he was focusing on Raiden! "You should go nap on the bed!"
Raiden whined, laying his head on the ground. His body felt heavy, he didn't wanna get up! He wanted his Dada to come over and pick him up. He usually did when he was feeling sleepy. But Liu wasn't here, he was helping Johnny and Kenshi with silly, silly training.
Kung Lao looked confused, "Why not, Ray?"
"Sleepy," Raiden shrugged.
"Then you should to go bed!" Kung Lao encouraged.
"No!" Raiden fussed. "Paying!"
Oh, he wanted to play with Kung lao more! And his awesome train set. Kung Lao understood, he wanted to play more too.
But Raiden was littler than her, and he should take a nap. Dada would tell him to take a nap.
But how could he get Raiden to the bedroom while still playing?
Hmm . . .
"Choo choo sleep train!" Kung Lao smiled, trying to roll Raiden. He was going to roll Raiden to the bedroom! A perfect plan! "We gonna go to the bedroom!"
Raiden giggled a bit, but rolled away so Kung Lao couldn't move him.
"I- Ray!" Kung Lao pouted. That was a brilliant idea! And Raiden just ruined it! "Don't move, gonna bring you to the room."
"No wanna," Raiden mumbled, hiding his face into the blanket.
"No's my favorite word, Ray," Kung Lao huffed. "You can't take it from me."
". . . No," Raiden smiled secretly.
"You're such a pain, Ray-!"
Suddenly, there was a knock at their dorm room door. Raiden had made sure to lock it before regressing. Who could it be?
"Kung Lao? Raiden?" Liu Kang called for them. "Are you in there?"
"We gotta hide!" Kung Lao gasped, throwing the blanket over Raiden's head. Best hiding spot there was! Who was going to check under a blanket? "Dada's gonna lecture us, Ray!"
"Kung Lao? I hear you in there," Liu Kang called again. "Can I come in please?"
"Nuh-uh!" Kung Lao called back. "I not here!"
Raiden whispered, "Busted."
Kung Lao shot him a glare. Not that Raiden could see it through the blanket, but he giggled nevertheless.
"Are you sure?" Liu Kang crossed his arms. "Is this a tape recording or are you lying?"
Kung Lao grumbled. He totally was busted! He didn't want to lie and he that he wasn't here. But he didn't want to get scolded at either. Liu Kang was being mean, pulling that card on him.
"You stay shh, I'll deal with Dada," Kung Lao patted the blanket, that nodded in response. Kung Lao fixed the blanket so it was covering all of Raiden before hopping up.
Kung Lao opened the door, looking a bit sheepish as Liu Kang's arm cross. But Liu Kang's expression was soft . . Maybe they could get away with no scolding?
"Hi Dada!" Kung Lao smiled. ". . . Bye Dada!"
Kung Lao tried to close the door, but Liu Kang's foot stopped it, earning a pout from the boy as Liu Kang walked inside.
"Do we slam doors in people's faces?" Liu Kang asked, receiving a very quick headshake. "Well then hello to you too," Liu Kang smiled. "You did a very good job locking the door."
"Ray did it!" Kung Lao said, going to point at the blanket but instead crossing his arms. Liu Kang didn't miss the motion. ". . . Sorry for slamming the door on you."
"It's alright. Where is Raiden?"
"He's hiding!" Kung Lao said with pride. He put Raiden in a great hiding position!
Liu Kang looked at the giggly blanket bundle on the floor. It was so, so obvious. But he didn't want to make Kung Lao or Raiden sad . . .
Liu Kang gave Kung Lao a soft smile, "Well he's hiding very well, could you lead me to him?"
". . . I don't know where he's hiding?" Kung Lao tried to lie, which quickly got met with an unimpressed eyebrow raised. He looked at the floor defeated, pointing to the blanket. He knew if he kept this up he'd probably get a timeout. "He's under there."
Liu Kang knelt beside Raiden, moving the blanket back so reveal his head. Raiden smiled behind his paci, seeming to be caught. Liu Kang smiled as well, kissing Raiden's head. Raiden wiggled happily before resting his head on the blanket.
"You look tired, Little One," Liu Kang said, scratching Raiden's hair.
"I told him to take a nap, Dada!" Kung Lao said, leaning over Liu Kang's shoulder. "He didn't listen!"
"No," Raiden huffed, shaking his head.
"And he stole my favorite word!" Kung Lao pouted.
"You don't own the word, Lao," Liu Kang patted Kung Lao's head, receiving a huff. "How about I get this one down for a nap and we can have some playtime?"
"Pay!" Raiden gasped, sitting up and pointing to himself. "Wan'!"
"He wanted to stay up to play wif the choo choo, Dada," Kung Lao informed Liu Kang.
"Oh, I see," Liu Kang, put his hand on his chin, as if thinking. "What a predicament we have here."
Raiden whined, making grabby hands for Liu Kang. The God quickly got the message, picking Raiden up. Raiden rested his head on Liu Kang's shoulder, struggling to keep his eyes open.
"So we can all play together?" Kung Lao asked Liu Kang exciednly. Maybe Raiden wasn't thaaaat sleepy!
"No, Raiden here is going down for a nap," Liu Kang said, receiving another whine. "I know, but we're going to play some baby games before bed."
Kung Lao frowned, he didn't wanna play baby games! He was too big for that! Couldn't Liu Kang see that?
Liu Kang winked as Kung Lao before walking out of the room, Raiden fussing the entire way about how he didn't wanna sleep and wanted to play more. Kung Lao quickly understood that baby games meant that he was going to brush Raiden's hair, read him a story, and lul him to sleep until Raiden physically couldn't stay up anymore.
He assumed Raiden was just getting cranky anyways, 'cause it was past naptime.
Kung Lao happily laid back on the floor with his train set. Him and Liu Kang were going to have big kid playtime! Maybe they could go outside and play tag? Or have a small picnic?
It wasn't long before Liu Kang came back into the room. Kung Lao looked up at him, Raiden wasn't with him, "Rai okay?"
"A bit of a hissy fit, but he's asleep now," Liu Kang said before stopping. ". . . Kung Lao, why is there crayon on the wall?"
Kung Lao looked behind him. Oh . . . He forgot about that. Kung Lao couldn't find any paper, but he had crayons! And the wall looked so empty! So of course he had to give it some color!
". . . Ray did it!" Kung Lao quickly pointed to the room Raiden was sleeping in.
Liu Kang crossed his arms, giving a look that looked unamused and unimpressed.
". . . He helped," Kung Lao shrugged, looking at the floor.
That wasn't a lie, Raiden saw Kung Lao drawing and he did help out.
"Great, then you can help me clean it off," Liu Kang said, going to grab some babywipes or a wet cloth.
"What?! Dada no!" Kung Lao began to fuss. "Couldn't find any paper and the wall looked so sad and-"
"Should we do a small timeout for lying about, what was it . . . three? Four times?" Liu Kang asked, putting his hands on his hips. "How long would you say?"
Kung Lao grimaced, now he was just being mean. The smile on Liu Kang's face seemed evil. The timeout wouldn't be long, maybe seven minutes most. But he didn't just want to sit there either.
". . . I wanna clean Raiden's stuff," Kung Lao said, standing up.
Raiden didn't press the crayon as hard on the wall. So it should come off easier . . . hopefully.
He went to grab his paci-
"Ah!" Liu Kang motioned him over. "Hand it."
"Wasn't gonna use it!" Kung Lao whined, waddling over. Liu Kang kissed his temple, grabbing the pacifier to go wash it off. Kung Lao grumbled behind him, "Being all mean today!"