Chapter Text
A well known fact amongst the Olympian Gods and Goddesses is that Zeus and Poseidon don't get along very well. With how much the two bicker during counsel meetings and are at odds with each other outside of Olympus, this fact was always rather apparent. Most of the time, fights between the two brothers remained verbal. However, there were certain times like now that it became physical.
At this point, Poseidon wasn't even sure what they had been fighting over. A counsel meeting had just ended and something that one of them had said when the others had left had started a fight. It started off verbal as it usually did, but quickly devolved into the physical altercation that was currently happening. Poseidon groaned as another strike of lightning hit his arm. They'd been at this for a few minutes now and the sea God was becoming weary. He'd already suffered multiple strikes to his chest and stomach before now and he was really feeling it. As much as he wanted to use water to make a shield, he couldn't. The water he could readily summon was salt water, which was a natural conductor of electricity. Not exactly something he could utilize as a shield in a fight against his lightning wielding brother.
He cried out as he was hit with a strike from above, just barely blocking his head with his arms from it. He didn't even have time to assess the damage before his brother came with another onslaught of attacks. Poseidon did his best to evade and throw in a few attacks of his own, but despite his best efforts, Zeus was simply stronger. By the time he conceded his defeat, he was definitely in need of a trip to the infirmary. Golden ichor dripped from various cuts, as well as from his nose, mouth, and a gash on his head. He could feel his headspace creeping in on his mind, but did his best to shake it off. He just needed to get through the trip to Apollo's infirmary, get healed, and then he was free to regress.
Usually, Poseidon regressed in response to the changing of the ocean's behavior and the same happened vice versa depending on the circumstances of his regression. This time would seem to be the latter. He could sense the waves nearby becoming choppy and unsafe for travel in response to his approaching headspace.
Clutching a particularly bloody cut on his side, Poseidon quickly made his way to Apollo's Infirmary. The entire time, he felt the fog of his little headspace start to take over and he whimpered, tears rolling down his cheeks in response to the pain he felt all over his body. He didn't want Apollo to know about his regression. Still, he needed his wounds to be tended to, so he had no choice. Once he arrived, he nervously opened the door with his non-bloodied hand. " 'Pollo?" He said softly, hoping he was in. He usually was after counsel meetings. Barely a moment later, he heard the sound of sandals on stone and the Healer turned the corner to look at him. "Hello ther-" The God cut himself off, taking in the sight before him. Poseidon was stood before him rather timidly, almost seeming to try and make himself smaller. He could see a light tremble shaking his lean frame. But what surprised him most was the ichor streaking his skin and the tears rolling down his cheeks. "Poseidon?" He asked, hesitantly taking a step closer. "You alright?" Under normal circumstances, the Sea God would've insulted him or scowled at him for treating him in such a way. But that didn't happen this time. Instead, the man shook his head and Apollo could see more tears brimming his eyes as the Sea God bit back sobs. Not knowing quite what else to do, Apollo just did what felt right. "Hey, hey, hey, it's alright. No need to cry. I can get you fixed up. Can you sit on this bed for me?" He asked gently. It seemed that talking softly, like Apollo would to a child seemed to be helping, so he kept it up.
Poseidon nodded and did as he was told, sitting on the bed that Apollo pointed to. "Alright, can you get your shirt off for me so I can heal you?" Poseidon started to try and get the tightly fitted shirt off, but quickly found that it wasn't something he could get off while little. Helplessly, he turned to Apollo, crocodile tears spilling down his face. Added on to the pain and the overall bad day he'd already had, this really was the last straw for him. "Can't do it..." He mumbled, his breath hitching on sobs that quickly started up.
Apollo stared at Poseidon for a second, still very shocked at this new version of the God that he'd never seen before. Not wanting the man to work himself up too much, he did his best to calm him. "It's ok. It's ok." He placated, grasping at straws to figure out what to do or say before he finally landed on, "Would you like some help?" He gently asked, earning a small nod from the crying God. "Alright, can you put your arms up for me?" He asked, praising the man when he did so. He made quick work of getting the tight shirt off and setting it aside to clean in a moment. Once he could actually see what he was working with, he wiped away the streaks of ichor and did his best to heal Poseidon. Of course, since it was Zeus's lightning that hurt him, there were a few hiccups in the healing process, but ultimately, the God was only left with light scarring. "There we go. All better." Apollo said with a smile, wiping away Poseidon's remaining tears with a spare cloth.
Poseidon nodded mutely, tired after everything that had happened. He yawned softly, rubbing his eyes with one hand while the other slowly came to his mouth. Apollo smiled knowingly, "Are you sleepy, fishy?" The sea God didn't answer, instead slipping his thumb in his mouth and curling up on the infirmary bed. Apollo simply chuckled, saying nothing and allowing the man to take a nap. They would definitely need to have an actual conversation about what exactly that was when he woke up, but he didn't mind waiting.
In Poseidon's opinion, he woke up too early. He really didn't want to have this discussion with Apollo, but he knew he needed to, given he was decidedly not in his little headspace anymore. He groaned softly as he opened his sleep blurred eyes, glancing around the room. When he registered the feeling of his thumb in his mouth, he woke up much faster, yanking it out with a dark flush on his cheeks. It was at this point that Apollo noticed he was awake.
"Good Evening, Sleepyhead." He greeted. When he earned a half hearted glare from Poseidon, he knew the God was back to his usual self and he knew that they had to talk. Dropping what he was doing, he made his way over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it while Poseidon sat up against the headboard. "I assume you know that we need to talk about what happened." Apollo started, ignoring the slight growl of annoyance from the God next to him.
"I don't see why you need to know-" Poseidon cut himself off when he saw the look of disapproval on the healer's face. "Fine..." He muttered. Apollo smiled again, "Good. Now, to start I'm curious as to why exactly you were acting like that earlier. You were practically a child and I've never seen you act like that before." The flush on Poseidon's face only deepened when he heard how he was behaving. He somewhat knew what he did while little, just not very clearly. It was just embarrassing to hear it said by someone else.
Poseidon took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts before finally speaking. "Sometimes I feel small or as you would put it 'childlike.' For a few hours or even a few days at a time, my mind goes back to that of a child. It's been a part of me for as long as I can remember and I've never told anyone because I don't need them hanging it over my head or thinking that I'm weak." He explained. Apollo nodded in understanding, "Is there a particular age you tend to regress to?"
"Typically anywhere between 1 and 4. Though, I have dropped below 1 once before. But because I don't have anyone to care for me while I'm in that state, I have to force myself to go no lower than 4. Even if I actually need to be 1 or 2." Apollo frowned a little. Well that wasn't good. It seemed as though Poseidon's regression served to help regulate his temperament and emotions, along with perhaps the behavior of his domain if he guessed correctly. If he wasn't regressing to the age he needed, the results wouldn't be what they should. "This may seem forward and you have every right to decline, but what if I were to care for you? As it stands, it's not healthy for you to keep going on like this and it would probably be nice to have someone care for you so you can relax in your headspace like you're meant to."
At first, Poseidon didn't know whether to feel offended or grateful. He wanted to scream and shout at Apollo for even daring to propose such a thing. But at the same time, he was happy that the God didn't seem judgemental and even seemed genuine in his offer. "Can we try it out first and just see if I'm comfortable with it first? I've never regressed around anyone other than you up until now and I don't know how it feels to be cared for like that." Apollo seemed absolutely overjoyed, "Of course. We can go at your pace and if you don't like it, I'll never bring it up again. Alright?" Poseidon nodded, "Ok. I'm not feeling little now, but I'll come to you when I am. For now, I need to tend to my duties." He snapped his fingers to clean the ichor from his shirt before getting it back on and heading towards the door. Before he left, he paused at the door.
"And Apollo?"
"Hm?"
"Thank you."