Chapter Text
Stephanie was too excited for this. Too energetic, too enthusiastic, almost too much.
While on a usual day Cassandra loved to bounce that energy back and reciprocate all that joy to the best of her own abilities,
Cassandra was not her usual self. She was regressed, hence why Stephanie was ecstatic.
Cassandra doesn’t know what Stephanie had expected when she offered to watch over Cass next time she was little, but obviously by the waning, souring energy on Steph’s side, it was not this.
Cassandra sat simply on the floor of the main room— living room, dining room, little bit of the kitchen. Open concept apartments left a lot of vague boundaries for where rooms end and start—
rocking back and forth. Perfectly content with just that.
Stephanie had been trying to insist upon other activities for the last half hour, each time her offers got shot down or ignored.
“Do youu…. want to… color?” They didn’t necessarily have coloring books on hand, but Steph is pretty sure there’s a printer somewhere in Bab’s office, and if not; Stephanie is fully capable of sketching up a lil somethin’ somethin’ for Cass to color if need-be.
“No.” Cassandra said simply, her tone neutral but still eliciting a small frown from the other.
“Wanna watch something then? I’m sure there’s a cartoon channel on this thing.” Stephanie eyed the square thing she once doubted to actually be a television. (At times, she still doubted it.)
A hum that declined the offer. Steph sunk into the couch a bit, defeated at her inability to entertain her best friend.
She huffed, reacting more childishly than the regressor.
When she got up from the couch, it was after 10 minutes of marinating in silence. The same silence that Stephanie felt was uncomfortable, Cassandra was unbothered by. Enjoying it's familiarity.
"You'll be okay, right?" Stephanie asks, more as a formality than a true question. She could've predicted the nod and hum Cassandra responded with. Though hesitant to leave, she slithered away to the bedroom. Compunction swelling from leaving Cassandra alone.
Stephanie tried to wallow in the quiet that was much louder now that she was alone.
But to do so, she'd need to be alone and...
Cassandra's presence as a blockade to that.
Stephanie doesn't piece it together immediately, but after a moment of staring down at Cassandra from the top bunk, the conclusion is clear;
Cassandra doesn't need much more than company. This is her regression, simple as it seems.
"Stephanie." There is no tilt to her voice, no lisp or stutter. It easily summons Stephanie away from her thoughts and to Cass. She is standing in the middle of the room, closer to the bunk than not. Looking up at Stephanie's high position on the top bunk, swaying from her heels to the tips of her feet.
"Yeess?" She makes it a point to reply with a fun, sing-songy tone.
"Kitchen?" The way she asks is almost shy. The way she words her request leaves much information to be desired.
"Of course," Stephanie climbs down from the bed, a certain pep in her step with her energy regained. Realizing Cassandra was just a low maintenance little was a relief.
She follows her to the kitchen, taking notice of how Cassandra walks carefully on her toes.
Just as Stephanie is about to ask why theyre there, a mango is put into her hands.
"Cut this?" Cassandra supplicates, innocuous in all manners.
Stephanie holds the fruit with sincere chary. She loudly hums in thought, a clear exaggeration.
"Only if there's another one I can have." She says it like she wasn't already planning on cutting it whether there was or wasn't another, but she's delighted when Cassandra does a quick spin to retrieve another mango from the fruit bowl.