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Joel had always hated horses; this was a well-known fact and key characteristic about him. Even those who only knew of him from passing mentions by other hermits knew he absolutely despised them and would frequently go out of his way to kill them, both for fun and to add a new head to his growing collection. Bdubs learned this about Joel very early on, thanks to their time together in the Life Series. It always bothered him terribly, but he didn't let that stop him from becoming very close friends with him. They'd often visit each other’s bases and go on resource-gathering trips together whenever they both needed to get a large amount of the same material. They would also have frequent sleepovers, despite Joel's strong dislike of Bdubs’ very early bedtime.
In fact, today they had plans to spend the entire day together and have a sleepover. Bdubs even promised they could stay up a few hours late and stargaze for a little while. He was getting his things ready to go over to Joel's base, packing pajamas, snacks, and other necessities into a bag. He hadn't been to Joel's base in a while, so he was extremely excited to see what new additions had been made since his last visit. Joel's base was so exciting to him; he loved the bright, pretty colors and massive skyscrapers. It was a very pleasant change of scenery compared to his own base, full of muted, earthy colors and lots of open space.
With his bag packed, Bdubs threw the strap around his body to wear it cross-body style, then put on his moss cloak before walking outside to his nether portal. Going through the portals always made him a bit nauseous, leaving an uneasy pit in his stomach, but it was usually tolerable on its own. Besides, the excitement of getting to see Joel today made it a bit easier to handle than most days. Soon, he was at Joel’s base, stepping out of the nether portal carefully since he wasn't sure if its location had changed since last time. He took a quick look around and immediately noticed a new statue right in front of the portal! He excitedly ran to the front to take a look at it, and felt his stomach drop as he realized what he was looking at. It was a statue of Joel juggling taxidermied horse heads.
Tears started to well in his eyes, his gaze unwillingly fixed on the heads. He had issues with having extremely high empathy for animals, especially horses, which were his absolute favorite animal. His knees began to tremble, and a familiar soft fog started to seep into his head. He couldn't contain himself whatsoever, bursting into sobs before running away in a random direction, tucking himself into a small alleyway between two buildings and behind a dumpster. The panic overtaking his body made him lose function in his legs, collapsing on the ground and curling into himself. He pulls his moss cloak tight against himself, sobs wracking through his body so hard it causes him to choke and gasp for air. He's stuck like this for over an hour, shaking and inconsolable with a tight pain in his chest, obsessively thinking about those poor horses. The whole time, he can feel himself getting smaller and smaller, making everything feel ten times worse, and the nausea from the nether portals certainly wasn’t helping either.
By now, Joel was starting to get increasingly worried. He hasn’t heard anything at all from Bdubs, and it’s well past the time he said he'd be there. He threw on his elytra and started a slow sweep over his base, focusing hard in the hopes he'd find his friend. After a few minutes of searching, his ears picked up the sound of crying, and he quickly dove down to the ground to investigate. He followed the sound and quickly found a crying, clearly regressed Bdubs, rocking back and forth while curled up into a little ball. He flinched and whimpered when he realized someone was there, but immediately relaxed when he realized it was just Joel.
Joel wasn't entirely unfamiliar with age regression, but he definitely wasn't the most knowledgeable compared to some of the other hermits. They made sure to take the time to teach him, though, considering many other hermits were also age regressors; Bdubs just did it more often than some of the others. Thankfully, this was not Joel’s first time around him while he was regressed, so he at least was able to pick up on the signs; they were just little quirks he only did when he was small. Bdubs reached up for Joel, making grabby hands at him and letting out the saddest little whine. He immediately kneels and pulls Bdubs into a close hug, rubbing his back while gently shushing him.
“Woah woah, what's wrong, bud? What's got you so worked up?” His heart ached a bit at the sight of his friend sobbing on the ground.
“J-Joel… I-It was horrible… Th’ h-horsies… Their heads…” Every word fought its way through his throat past choked sobs, and Joel felt his heart stop momentarily once he realized what exactly had reduced his friend to tears. He sits down and pulls Bdubs into his lap, rocking him gently while shushing him and murmuring soft words of comfort to the little moss ball. Bdubs shakes and whines in his arms, babbling nonsense as he attempts to speak with a brain far too small and fuzzy to form clear thoughts, let alone coherent sentences. After some time holding him, Bdubs’ crying begins to subside, his breathing now slow and heavy with the occasional shake or whine. Joel slowly rises to stand up, helping Bdubs up to his feet as his legs wobble under his weight, and grabs the young one’s bag before slinging it over his shoulder.
Joel keeps Bdubs close at his side, pulling the hood of his cloak over his face to shield his gaze from the statue and keeping his face gently pressed against his side as he guides him back to his bedroom. Bdubs does his best to keep up and not fall over, clinging to Joel’s shirt and gently rubbing it between his fingers to provide a small bit of sensory input to distract his mind from the statue. Once they reach Joel’s room, Bdubs is gently hoisted up by Joel and placed onto the bed before being given a horse stuffed animal. Of course, it doesn’t belong to Joel, but he keeps it around if Bdubs ever regresses while at his base, so he has a little friend to keep him company. It’s almost immediately snatched from Joel’s hands and clung to as if it might disappear as the little one runs his fingers along its body to feel the soft fabric.
“Alright, little guy,” Joel says softly, tousling the moss ball’s hair before caressing his cheek and gently running his thumb along it. “I’m gonna go get us some snacks, you be good and don’t go anywhere, okay?” The little one nods and gives a soft hum of agreement, bringing his knees up to his chest and covering himself fully with his cloak. He looks around the room, familiar and full of art covering the walls and trinkets collected as gifts from other hermits scattered about the shelves. He quickly gets bored and undoes his cloak before standing up, wandering around the room as he grabs every little item and looks at it with unending curiosity, hoping to find something to cure his boredom. Though nothing he finds speaks to him, so he turns to the closet, rifling through Joel’s clothes. When Joel comes back, he finds Bdubs playing dress up with his clothes and pretending to be him, giggling nonstop to himself, which causes Joel to laugh as well as he sets the plates down.
“Bdubs, didn’t I tell you to stay put?” He teases affectionately, poking and tickling Bdubs in his side while Bdubs giggles and beams up at Joel. “Nuh uh! I’m not Bdubs! ‘M Joel and I’m a big meanie who makes horrible evil statues!” Joel rolls his eyes and moves the little one back over to his bed, taking his clothes back before handing Bdubs’ plate to him. It’s basically a small charcuterie board, filled with various fruits, small bites of cheese, and a few different meats. He has to make sure his little one is well fed, after all! Hold on- his little one? No, a simple slip-up, he’s not his usual caregiver, so technically he isn’t his. Not that he’d really mind, though, Joel thoroughly enjoys taking care of Bdubs; he really loves spending time with him, and him regressing so openly around him made him feel… Special. Loved and trusted. Something about it just warmed his heart, made him feel like he could be more than just “crazy, manic Joel” who kills horses and is known for his bloodlust. Maybe he could be soft and kind, someone who took care of others and protected them.
But he quickly pushed those thoughts out of his mind before he potentially spiraled, petting Bdubs as he sat down next to him. The little one instinctively leans on his shoulder, humming happily as he nibbles on strawberries and nuzzles his face against Joel before deciding this isn’t enough contact, squirming his way under his arm and humming happily. Joel feels a warmth wash over his whole body at all the affection he’s receiving, placing a very light kiss on the top of the moss ball’s head as he lies back in his bed, pulling Bdubs down with him and wrapping both his arms around him while letting out a contented sigh. Joel slowly runs his fingers through his little one’s hair, pulling the blanket over both of them when he hears his little one yawn while rubbing his eyes and snuggling up to him.
Joel holds his little moss ball close as he dozes off, softly humming a song to help lull him to sleep. He wishes he could stay like this forever, frozen in this perfect moment of calm and quiet, full of love and warmth for his best friend, his sweet little one. He’s never felt so calm and full of peace in his life. Maybe he really could be more than the image others tend to project on him, more than just a crazy horse killer or blood thirsty red name. The thought both scared and excited him, but for now, that was okay with him, as long as he got to keep taking care of Bdubs. He’s already thinking of activities they can do together when Bdubs wakes up if he’s still regressed, as well as their original plans. Slowly, he falls asleep as well, clinging to Bdubs like he might disappear if he doesn’t hold on tight enough, and in his mind, he partially believes it. He desperately never wants this to end, but he welcomes the calm embrace of sleep, dozing off alongside his moss ball.