Chapter Text
Tired. That was something Alton always hated hearing. He was mostly energetic and eccentric about his work as the land acquisition guy, but lately things have felt..off for him.
The cog in question was tapping a simple pen against his desk, having a hard time doing any paperwork at the moment. He was deathly bored and tired, and it made him feel unusual as of late.
Even as a young cog, he always felt like he had to be the big man and do his damn best to appease the chairman as much as possible, which is why it confused him as to why he hadn't felt like himself as of late. His pen tapping soon stopped as he heard the elevator shaft whirr and click.
He prayed to the holy cogs that it wasn't any dumb toons ready to ruin his off day even more. He sighed a breath of relief when he saw a familiar, oil-stained face.
"Oh, uh..it's just you William.." Alton uttered, his voice ached of fatigue and stress.
William stepped his way into Alton's workspace, seeing all the cluttered boxes and stacks of paperwork all in just somehow a single corner of where the desk was.
"Yea, it's me. I had nothing better to do so I thought I'd just..drop by." William commented, his tone of voice was as slick as oil..and yet low and soft that it almost comforted Alton. Alton quickly shrugged the sudden thought of comfort, he needed to do his paperwork.
As he picked up the pen, he began to work on his paperwork as William simply looked around the place, soon finding an empty spot of a wall the was within the perfect eyesight for William to observe Alton's work.
The silence between the two of them was deafening.
Minutes had only nearly passed by and Alton kept going on his deadlined works. Even when his grip on the pen grew tighter and his hand ached, he had to control himself. He couldn't be vulnerable, what would anyone think of him if he had let himself unravel into an emotional hunk of metal? More importantly..how would William feel about it?
Alton's thoughts raced against him, his mind starting to wander off into a space he had never felt before. It felt..soft? Safe? Whatever it was, he yearned for it. And just before you knew it, his grip on the pen lessened as he began to just doodle on the paperwork like it was his own canvas. Not even thinking about William watching him, he quietly giggled as he drew little stick figures that were meant to look like him and William on one of the pieces of paperwork.
"Alton? What the hell are you doing?" That was all it finally took to snap Alton out of his mental safe space so quickly. He whipped his head to look at William, whom was watching him draw the whole time.
Alton felt his circuits grow warm with embarrassment, he felt so silly and foolish. Why was this happening? Why did he feel like this? Why out of all days did it have to happen with William around?
It was finally too much to bear for him.
It started off with faltering breathing. It wasn’t noticeable at first, but it wouldn't take long for him to start sniffling to then tiny little hiccups between his attempt at holding back tears. William watched in sudden concern at the taller cog, seeing the failing attempts at hiding this much more vulnerable side of them. He slowly approached Alton as if he was handling a scared puppy (not like has ever seen a puppy or anything).
"Hey, uh...what's going on with you right now?" Alton tried to hide his flustered and teary eyed face from William, his embarrassment hurt him deeply so much. He curled himself up on his chair, holding his legs against his chest as he tried to muffle his now apparent crying. William wasn't sure how to handle something like this, especially with someone like Alton.
He was confused by Alton's upsetting and irrational behavior, almost like he was behaving like someone much younger than their own age. Not a kid at most but more of a.. Baby? Toddler? Whatever it was, it finally all clicked in Williams' head. He had remembered the term for this no thanks to rain. 'Age regression' was what it was called. A form of coping that helped almost anyone with their own personal troubles. To William, it felt like it was nothing more than an escape from being busy and on their feet.
But as he looked at the curled up cog he started to really understand what was going on. He swore he remembered rain mentioning something about some regressors having caregivers? He had a terrible memory, but he knew it was sometimes an Important thing for most regressors. With this in mind, William quietly approached Alton, kneeling down to his eye level.
"Hey buddy." William spoke in a soft tone, trying to not seem scary to the taller, upset cog. Alton shivered, the sound of William's voice almost made him start to melt. He whined, still holding his legs together against his chest in fear of letting himself just give in to this regression of his. He didn't wanna be soft or upset, he didn't want to be seen like this by William. He didn't wanna be a baby. William took a deep, slow breath and exhaled.
"Alton, listen. I'm not mad or upset. I just didn't expect you to be that kind of cog.." Alton lifted his head up a bit, peeking at the oil-stained cog, the scent of the oil was strong. As much as he hated to admit it, the smell of oil always made him feel so warm and safe. Just being able to find comfort in such a menial thing felt so unusual for him.
"Listen, I know you're scared. But I promise you're safe. Nobody but you and I will know."
Alton lifted his head more, he let his legs slowly slide away from his chest, soon his legs felt heavy as he gripped the chair he almost slid out of with his own two hands.
His legs were so wobbly and tired that eventually he gave out and slowly slumped onto the floor. William looked at the taller cog that sat before him. The once eccentric and loud cog was nothing more than a quiet, tired little baby. Alton rubbed his eyes, he didn't realize he was so tired from all the crying he had done. He whined as he yearned for a sense of security and comfort.
Looking at William, he reached his arms out forwards and made gentle grabby hands at him, trying to explain what he wanted. William seemed to have understood the gesture, as he sat down on his lap and gestured for Alton to come over to him. Alton, knowing he wouldn't be able to walk, carefully crawled his way over and slowly laid his head on William's lap. He curled himself into a semi-fetal position, gently clutching the fabric of the pants on one side of William's legs.
William placed a gentle hand onto Alton's head, gently (and admittedly attempting) stroking it to comfort the tall cog. They both remained silent for a little while longer, William was still petting Alton for minutes now until he heard the faint, tiny noise of snoring. Alton had fallen asleep.
William sighed and (with careful precision) gently pulled Alton fully on his lap. He held the cog close as Alton gently buried his face against William's chest, a soft yet content whine coming out of him as he continued to sleep.
William himself soon felt the pang of exhaustion. As he kept holding Alton close, he himself started to doze off, the sound of Alton's soft snoring lulled him into a much needed sleep. William wasn't sure what would happen next whenever they both woke up, but that would have to be dealt with later.
For now, he and Alton were safe. For now.