Chapter Text
It had been rainy all day, storms and wind. Something with the pressure seemed to make everyones animatronic bones ache, some sort of "bodies hold onto trauma" type thing. Luckily, it was a weekend, so the family was free to relax and enjoy their array of hobbies.
Moon and Sun had been fixated on a variety of different video games and movies, the games being mostly CotL and Stardew. Sun may have forced Moon to play a few horror games as well, resulting in occasional screeching from the theater, while Earth spent most of her day with Monty, watching movies, playing board and card games, ecetra down in the daycare and lobby.
Solar, Lunar, Jack, and Dazzle had all stayed at the house, all of them either busy playing, or just not willing to move far from their bed or couch with how to weather hurt their joints. The whole "holding onto trauma" thing seemed to affect Solar and Lunar more than the others, or at least, they had a lower tolerance to the pain.
Jack and Dazzle could be heard upstairs playing all sorts of games, from tag and hide-and-seek, to superheros and Barbies, while Solar was currently in the kitchen, scouring the cabinets and fridge for a snack. Maybe poptarts or something sweet. Solar was lost in thought until Lunar padded in, dragging their glow-in-the-dark, starry blanket behind them.
"Oh, hey Lu," Solar acknowledged them, snagging a pack of chocolate fudge poptarts from the cabinet next to the microwave. Lunar hummed in reply, making their way to the fridge to grab their Nutella.
Solar barely glanced over at them, about to drag himself back onto the couch, but damn, Lunar looked miserable. He couldn't tell exactly why, besides the obvious dragging of their limbs and a subtle look in their eyes, but Solar could tell that they weren't doing great.
Solar tilted his head at Lunar, tearing open his pack of poptarts. "You okay?" He questioned, leaning against the kitchen island instead of continuing to fully stand.
Lunar nodded silently, struggling to reach the fridge shelf that the Nutella was on, as Sun moved it earlier in an attempt to deter them from eating the whole tub. Normally, Lunar would just get a chair or stool, but this time, they turned to Solar with a pleading look.
Solar didn't believe the hesitant nod for a *second*, and was about to inquire further, until he paused, seeing Lunar stare up at him, silently requesting help. Solar titled his head curiously as Lunar pointed at the beloved Nutella, just out of their reach.
"You want that?" Solar questioned, setting his snack down on the counter, grabbing the tub and handing it to Lunar when they nodded once more.
Lunar was just about to scamper off again, when Solar stopped them, offering them to come sit on the couch with him instead of trudging all the way back downstairs. Lunar accepted, following close behind Solar for the few steps the couch was away.
To Solar's suprise, Lunar plopped down right next to him, despite their usual pick being to sit on the chaise.
"Clingy much?" Solar asked with a teasing tone in his voice, to which Lunar began to scooch away. Solar wrapped an arm around their shoulder, allowing them to stay. "It's fine. I don't mind. Just poking fun, that's all," He reassured Lunar, the smaller settling back down against him.
Lunar didn't say anything, they just hummed, sticking a spoonful of Nutella in their mouth. They and Solar sat there like that, quietly munching on their snacks for a bit. The episode of some adult cartoon Lunar didn't recognize finished on the TV, and Solar, with a bit of struggle, stood, and offered to take out their leftover snacks.
Lunar whined a little bit when Solar stood, and he cocked an eyebrow at it, but opted not to say anything. He returned soon and flopped back down on the couch, on the chaise this time, rather than by Lunar where he was sitting before, without much thought about it.
Solar was surprised once again when Lunar crawled right next to him, still dragging their blanket behind them. Okay, Lunar was acting a lot different than usual. Not that Solar minded of course, but it was odd to see them so clingy.
"You okay, Lu?" Solar asked carefully, gently placing a hand on Lunars back as they laid down right on top of him. Lunar hummed in approval. Solar still didn't exactly believe them, but still, it wasn't hurting anyone how Lunar was acting.
Solar hummed in acknowledgement, flipping between different streaming platforms on the TV, before eventually deciding on "The Boogeyman" in spirit of the upcoming Halloween.
Lunar only half-watched the movie in silence. There were a few parts where they buried themself into Solars shirt, but when he offered to switch the movie, they said no.
It was at a particularly scary scene, the one where the entity attacked Sawyer from behind the couch with a jump scare. Lunar let out a small shriek and buried their face into the crook on Solars shoulder. Solar rubbed their back, reassuring them calmly that "it's just a movie", and was simply about to let it continue to play, until he realized that Lunar was really crying.
Lunar quietly sobbed into Solars shirt, shaking as they hugged onto him like a koala. Solar was confused. Lunar had never acted like this before, that he knew of anyway. They normally loved scary movies, not to mention that they had obviously already seen The Boogeyman.
Solar paused the movie, shifting the entirety of his attention to Lunar, who was beginning to... chew on their thumb?
"Hey, hey. Lunar, it's okay. 'S just a movie," Solar murmured, soothingly rubbing their back. After a few moments like this, Jack emerged from the stairwell, peeking his head into the room.
"Binky?" He questioned towards Lunar, tilting his head like a curious puppy. Lunar softly nodded, not even looking up from where his face was burrowed.
Jack immediately dashed off to Fazbear knows where. Solar cocked an eyebrow at the small interaction.
"Binky?" He inquired down at Lunar. Lunar only responded with a small hum. Solar only just now realized thay Lunar was chewing on their fingers.
Downstairs, Jack scouered around for the small comfort object, quickly locating it, knowing its usual places, grabbed Spigot as well, and dashed back upstairs. Silently, he appeared behind the couch, making Solar jump.
Jack wordlessly offered the pacifer and plush to Lunar, who glanced between the objects and Solar. When they saw no anger or judgement on his face, they stuffed the binky into their mouth and took Spigot, quickly giving the plush a squeeze.
Jack sat down on the far end of the couch, watching and waiting intensely as Lunar calmed down. Solar looked over at the shorter, "So, you know something about this?" Solar asked, no edge in his voice.
"Yes," Jack responded blankly, gaze focused on Lunar, who was slowly settling and had began fiddling with Solars shirt.
Solar moved his hand from Lunar's back to make a "continue..." gesture, which elicited a whine from the small blue figure on his lap. Solar returned to rubbing Lunar's back upon hearing the squeak from them.
Jack blinked at Solar, taking a moment to comprehend the nonverbal communication, but after a moment, he continued. "They are a regressor." He acknowledged simply.
Solar tilted his head. "And... What does that mean?"
"They regress."
Solar sighed, and would've massaged his temples if the lack of back rubs for Lunar would be allowed. "Elaborate. I mean, what does 'regress' mean?"
"They regress to a younger or smaller headspace," Jack answered, readjusting himself so he could kick his feet a bit, a silly stim he had picked up from the rest of the family.
"I... That makes sense. Actually, I think I might've heard of it before," Solar paused, "It's a trauma response thing, right?"
"Correct," Jack responded.
"...Yeah, that checks. But wait, how'd you know about this before me anyways?" Solar tilted his head at Jack.
"Protect Lunar!" Jack answered proudly.
Solar glanced down at Lunar, who briefly made eye contact with him. Solar couldn't help himself from adoring their little face. He looked back up towards Jack.
"So... They're just a kiddo right now?"
"They are baby."
Solar cocked an eyebrow, silently inquiring further.
"They are one or two," Jack elaborated.
Solar looked back down at the tiny Lunar in his lap. "You're just tiny, huh?" Lunar gave a coo in response, which made Solars heart absolutely melt.
"So, this jus–" Solar began. "Okay, you're gone now-" he finished, seeing as how Jack scampered off to go play with Dazzle again.
Solar looked back down at Lunar, the smaller animatronic already staring up at him.
"What ?" Solar questioned lightly as he tilted his head at Lunar. They cooed back at him. They really were *tiny*, weren't they? Solar chuckled at the silly babbles.
"You wanna watch something that's not so spooky, bud?" Solar asked softly, reaching for the remote. Lunar obviously nodded, finally looking up at the TV from where their face was buried once they were sure the scary was all gone. Solar finally got a good look at Lunar, and gosh were they cute.
Lunars binky bobbed in and out of their mouth as they looked back at Solar with wide, innocent eyes and rubbed old tears away from their cheeks.
"Ahwww, tiny thing," Solar babied as Lunar cooed at him. Also, did they just call him bubba?!
"Yeah, I'm bubba," Solar crooned, back, nuzzling their faces together, eliciting a happy squeal from the smaller. "Yeah, now, watcha wanna watch buddy?" Solar questioned the happily stimming baby in his lap.
"Wil' Kwatts!" Lunar slurred exitedly.
"Wild Kratts it is," Solar chuckled lightly at the way Lunar slurred their words around the binky.
The next hour was filled with the sounds of various Wild Kratts episodes and happy coos and gurgles from Lunar, who exitedly pointed at the screen anytime they saw a cool animal they liked. Solar learned that they loved sea creatures, especially turtles.
It was approching 9pm when Sun and Moon returned, poking fun at each other for how bad they were at certain games. Neither of them batted much of an eye seeing Lunar with a binky an babbling about, so Solar assumed they already knew about this "regression" thing.
Solar's suspicion was confirmed when Sun popped into the room, offering Lunar a warm bottle, his own bowl of popcorn it the other hand. Lunar gratefully accepted the bottle, and Sun made his way back to his room.
Moon poked their head in about 5 minutes later. "Bedtime's at 10:30," he spoke, giving Lunar a look, before glancing back at Solar. "Beware, they're a clingy little thing. Good luck having a bed to yourself tonight!" He called, dashing off upstairs, leaving Solar with a tiny Lunar, still flapping their hands.
The next hour and a half was spent the same as before, with Lunar babbling nonsensically at the show, and Solar simply agreeing with occasional nods, "Mhm"s, and "oh really?"s.
By 10:20, Lunar was, thankfully, all tuckered out, humming quietly as they fiddled with Solars rays.
"I think it's bedtime, little bugger," Solar spoke with a soft laugh. Lunars whine of protest was interupted by a yawn.
Solar chuckled, "Yep, definitely sleepytime, bug."
Despite a bit of struggle, Solar got Lunar hoisted up into his arms and was making his way downstairs. There, he settled Lunar down in the bed, make sure they hand their blankets, plushies, and binky before he was just about to leave the room.
Just as Solar was about to shut the door behind him, there was a small hiccupped cry from Lunar, who had sat themself back up and was reaching out for Solar, tears already running down their cheeks.
"Bubba..." Lunar whined out as they made grabby hands towards the older sibling. With a sigh, Solar caved in and sat back down on the bed, taking Lunar onto his lap once more.
"Yeah,, bubba's here, bug. Bubba's here," Solar soothed, gently scratching Lunars back, something he knew they loved, baby-brained or not. That, and some soft reassurances that Solar wasn't going anywhere, was enough to settle Lunar down.
Lunar clung tight to Solar, little fingers clutching tight to the back of Solars shirt. Solar continued to scratch their back, and after only a few minutes like this, Lunar was out cold. The only issue was, they were still laying on top of Solar.
Sighing, Solar pulled a blanket over the both of them, resigning to the fact that he likely wouldn't have a bed to himself tonight, just like Moon said.
With a final, long, exasperated sigh, Solar placed a gentle hand on Lunars back and drifted off alongside them. Also, damn, this bed was comfy.