Work Text:
Razzle and Dazzle tumbled their way down to the kitchen, tip toeing and eyeing the fridge. It was always a nightmare to get anywhere with one of them regressed, but when one’s basically a baby and the other has the mind of a 7 year old, it was even more hellish. Dazzle was the main one in control, hungry for food after a stressful ichor run that only they ended up living till the end for, while Razzle was in a very young state after running away from the twisteds again and again. They both were very upset, Razzle especially so, but this wasn’t their first ichor run and it wouldn’t be their last, so they had to be thankful they just got out of one without needing to respawn.
Dazzle used Razzle’s arm to hold balance on the kitchen counter as he used his own arm to open the fridge, looking up and down for whatever he could reasonably eat. He eyed some leftovers from today’s dinner, and breathed a sigh of relief. It was a small container of cold pasta, just enough for him to eat, and hopefully for Razzle to get a few bites too. When you end up being alone on an ichor run during dinner time, it’s not always a given there will be any good leftovers, so Dazzle was glad he didn’t need to deal with the stove while he was small, it was dangerous!
As Dazzle took the container out of the fridge, he also eyed the carton of milk on the top shelf. His brother is so… baby right now, would he even try and eat the pasta? To settle the mask’s worries, he also took the milk out of the fridge. Dazzle would just eat for the two of them today, they did share a stomach after all.
Dazzle focused on the milk first, he wanted to keep Razzle preoccupied as he reheated, no baby fingers in his food or the microwave! Dazzle looked in the cabinets, trying to find some sort of sippy cup for Razzle, only to no avail. He had to settle for a small cup with a bendy straw in it, hoping Razzle didn’t somehow spill it everywhere, he hates- no, that’s a mean word… he didn’t like cleaning up messes!
He slid the cup of milk to his brother, saying “(No shake, Razzy…)” softly to him as he did so. Razzle just giggled at the nickname Dazzle gave him for when he was small and took the cup with no complaints, keeping it on the table as he took sips. Milk done, time to get to the pasta.
Dazzle focused on the pasta, putting the remaining sauce and pasta in a bowl that could safety be put in the microwave (he heard something about certain plastic melting from Sprout once, that sounds gross…), and slid it into the microwave. Dazzle absentmindedly watched the bowl in the microwave spin… and spin… and spi-
A loud shatter could be heard beside him. Dazzle quickly looked over to his other side, only to see a broken glass on the floor and a distraught looking Razzle looking down at his mistake. Very quickly Razzle started to cry, which only made Dazzle more panicked.
“(Nononono Razzy… don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry… Dazzle’s here…)” Dazzle tried to reassure his baby brother as he kneeled down to collect the broken pieces of glass. He just sighed, he was an idiot for thinking someone as young as his brother could hold up a cup reliably. He picked up a few of the shards, mumbling assurances to his brother as he did so, when-
BEEP, BEEP. The microwave started beeping, indicating it was done heating up the food. The beep was loud, but it was especially loud to Dazzle, jumping up as he heard it. It continued to beep and beep, with Razzle loud crying all over again and Dazzle tearing up himself over being so overwhelmed. His hand hurts from the glass, it’s so loud, his brother is weeping, why can’t he and his brother just be big boys like they’re supposed to be?! Before Dazzle could start fully crying, a voice from above the two could be heard.
“Please go sit down, I can clean this up.” Dazzle looked up with his blurry eyes to see Mr. Rodger himself looking above them. Oh, this is so humiliating! He and his brother look like total idiots! Despite the large amount of embarrassment from being caught regressing, Dazzle was too overwhelmed to ignore the detective’s orders. He picked the two of them up and tip toed them to a nearby table, wobbly as ever.
Both Razzle and Dazzle sat in shame, looking at the ground beneath them, quietly listening to Rodger cleaning up their mess. Right before Dazzle was about to say something, he tilted his head up to see the reheated pasta in front of him.
“Please, feel free to eat.” Rodger’s tone was firm, feeling like both reassurance and a command. Dazzle took a few bites of the pasta (Sprout’s cooking continues to be fantastic) before speaking up.
“(Why did you help us…?)”
“Why wouldn’t I? You two looked upset, so I took action.”
“(But… but it was his- our mess…)”
“It was a mess you made, yes, but… admittedly, one look at you tells me that you both aren’t in the best headspace right now, especially him.”
Dazzle tilted his head towards his brother, who was just absentmindedly staring off into space. “(… I’m sorry Mr. Rodger…)”
“There’s no need to be sorry. You already took responsibility for the mess, as well as your baby brother, and that’s very brave of you.” Dazzle slightly flinched at Rodger referring to his brother as a baby, was it that obvious? Dazzle took a few more bites of his pasta before continuing.
“(… Mr. Rodger, please don’t tell anyone…)” Dazzle sniffed, feeling some tears in his eyes come back. “(I-I don’t want them to make fun of us… I don’t want them to make fun of him-)”
“I will not be telling anyone, Dazzle, please don’t worry.”
Dazzle just nodded, staying silent as he finished the last of the food. Before standing up, Rodger spoke once more.
“Dazzle, could I ask you a few questions? Please don’t worry, I will try not to probe into anything personal.”
“(Sure…)”
“Firstly, are you okay with me checking up on you two every now and then to see if you’re like… this? I believe it may be dangerous if you two are left alone to deal with this, and I can’t just ignore this.”
“(… Yes.)” Dazzle Dazzy is so embarrassed. He could feel himself slipping deeper and deeper, younger and younger, hugging his brother’s side of the body. Still older than Razzy, only now by a bit.
“Wonderful. Is it okay for me to look out for any toys and tools I think could help you two? I can try and find a bottle for Razzle first.” Dazzle just nodded.
“Great. Lastly…” He got up to put his hand on one of their shoulders. “Are you two brave boys ready for bed?”
Razzle giggled and Dazzle looked up at him with soft, tired eyes, both nodding their heads. They got up from their chair and took a hand that Rodger was offering them, walking the two to their room.
Once they got there, Rodger broke the silence.
“Would you both like me to tuck you in?” Quick nods from both of them. “Well come on in then!”
The two of them quickly hopped to their bed, already putting themselves under the covers. Rodger tucked them into bed, pulling the covers over their body. He patted their heads before taking steps back, looking at the two darlings in front of him.
Rodger wasn’t expecting his kid count to go from 1 to 3, but there’s always something new in store for everyone, right? Besides, I think the both of them are grateful for someone to lean on when they aren’t feeling the biggest.