Work Text:
“Gangle, hun,” Zooble whispered, poking her forehead. “I hear the theme song, we need to get up.”
Gangle whined, pushing the younger’s hand away, “No… let’s stay here.”
…well shit.
Zooble sighs, allowing one of Gangle’s ribbons to work itself around her partner’s right arm, not too tight, but tight enough.
“Gangle,” Zooble droned, taking a gentle hand and using it to grace the other’s back. Gangle whined again, nuzzling the other’s chest.
“Don’ wanna get up.”
Zooble flinched, their eyes widening a bit. They sat up, trying to ignore Gangle’s tearful whining. Her ribbons twisting themselves together on their shared bed.
“Here, I’ll go get you a bottle and—”
“Sippy!” Gangle pouted.
“A sippy, and then I’ll make sure we can skip the activity today, alright? We can sit her and play, nice and safe,” Zooble whispered, leaning in to kiss Gangle on the forehead, “and quiet.”
The little giggled, ignoring the way her heart stung as she watched her leave the room. Fighting back another whine.
Gangle tried to distract herself, though, grabbing her sketchbook and a few crayons, flipping a few pages forward.
“Me… n’ Zoo-Zoo… Zoo-Boo…” She muttered, “Zoo-Boo! Haha!”
She continued to scribble a bit, using Zooble’s main colors the most: pink, yellow, and orange. The regressor doing her best to curate some sort of… theme.
Throughout the coloring, Gangle struggled with her coordination, eventually losing strength in her right ribbon, fussing when she slipped up. She squirmed in her seat, bringing her face close to the paper.
“Hey baby, I’m back…” Zooble hummed, carrying a full Disney Princess themed sippy cup in her hand, and a pink, empty bottle in the other.
Upon seeing her caregiver, Gangle lit up, “Ah ba!”
Zooble giggled, setting the sippy cup down and unscrewing the lid, making quick work of pouring the milk from the cup into the bottle.
“You’re lucky I know you so well,” They said, taking the little in their arms. “You regress fast while you’re alone, hm?”
Gangle giggled, latching onto the bottle and guzzling the milk down, her eyes fixed on the other. Zooble patted her back, (the best they could, anyway,) and rocked her slowly. The smaller cooed, wrapping her ribbons around the bottle. The caregiver tried not to react as well, a fluffy, warm feeling filling up in their heart.
She was just so damn—
“Wah!” Gangle sputtered out, before coughing a bit, as Zooble began patting their backside gently. Gangle shuffled in Zooble’s arms, suckling on the now empty bottle.
Zooble tutted, “No, no, baby, all gone.”
Gangle whined as Zooble took the bottle away, watching as they reached below the bed and grabbed a familiar box - shuffling inside it for a bit.
“Here it is,” Zooble cooed, offering Gangle her pacifier. The little quickly took the comforter into her mouth, suckling on it.
Zooble hummed, “There you go, good girl,” they said. “Now, let’s pick something out to watch, hm? Wanna watch a movie?”
Gangle squealed, hugging Zooble close. Sure, Zooble wasn’t the usual recripricant for touching, they enjoyed this kind.
It was Gangle, so it was different.
Gangle cooed, gently wrapping a ribbon around Zooble’s left limb, nuzzling the caregiver. Zooble laid back in the bed, pulling a blanket over both of them. Gangle giggles, hiding under the covers.
“Silly girl, hm?” Zooble questioned.
Gangle just smiled and peeked her head out of the covers, “I know, I silly.”
Zooble kissed her head, grabbing Gangle’s cat plush and bringing it to her, “Look, Gangle.”
Gangle beamed, snatching the stuffed animal and squealing, shaking it in front of Zooble. Ranting and raving about the adventures they would go on, the talking about how she drew them in her pictures, and then—
“After your nap, yes? I’m sure you can go play.”
Gangle huffed. This was no fair!
“I promise, you can even cuddle with Kitty, that’s fun too… right?”
Gangle hummed. Maybe?
“O’tay… I sleep!”
Zooble sighed, scooting closer to Gangle, muttering a soft ‘Goodnight,’ before hugging the regressor.
Gangle babbled sleepily.
Maybe staying in would be okay.