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They really should have thought about the fact that Simon had a very limited amount of sugar in his lifetime. Eden didn’t have anything with sugar in it, natural or otherwise, and the COI only fed him bland oats when in prison. When he lived on the Hail Mary he only had the nutrition sludge due to being unable to stomach food after so long of none of it.
By the time they reach Erid Ryland had managed to sprout various fruit plants, small apple and orange trees, and little bushes of different berries. Once the bio dome was set up and functional they planted them in the ground. Now a year later they had fresh fruit.
And Simon has a sugar high while in little space.
Adrian had been the one to make the call to head down to the beach. Simon needed to get some of his energy out before they even attempted a nap. It was foggy out so they needed to bundle up.
Simon was bouncing in place as he let Adrian help put his coat on. Simon was staring out the window at the beach, ready to go already.
“Pebble Simon need boots on statement.” Adrian trilled after his coat was on all the way.
“I got my slippers on already.” Simon half whined as he lifted his foot up as if to say “see”.
“We are going down near the water, pebble Simon need boots on statement.” Adrian repeated and Simon groaned.
“Pebble Grace has boots on no problem, pebble Simon be like pebble Grace question?” Rocky asked from across the room where he was helping Grace with his coat.
“Not fair, you put his boots on cause he’s too little.” Simon whined as he crossed his arms. Ryland didn't even seem to catch the stray comment, he was in fact quite little already. Simon more often then not was the older of the two, right now he felt around five years old versus Ryland’s one year old mindset.
“Adrian help pebble Simon with boots, no more problem.” Adrian dismissed. Simon huffed but went to get hit boots, returning and allowing Adrian to help get his boots on. Rocky decided Ryland needed a clip for his pacifier so he wouldn’t drop it and left to collect that, returning and attaching it.
They left the house shortly after. Simon was running down the stairs as fast he could, Rocky running after him. Adrian was carrying Ryland on top of them since he didn’t wanna walk the whole way.
Once on the beach Simon began running up and down the shoreline, laughing as Rocky chased him around. He splashed in the water and watched as Rocky jumped and spun around with him.
Adrian and Ryland had settled further up on shore. Ryland was very content sitting in the crook of Adrian’s arms, feeling their warmth, and watching the waves come in and out. He didn’t pay too much attention to what Simon was doing, but Adrian was glad to see both the pebbles so happy.
Eventually the two made their way over to Adrian and Ryland, Simon still full of energy. By the time they reached them Simon was wanting to crawl all over Adrian, he often used them like climbing equipment when little.
“Hold on pebble Simon, must move pebble Grace before you play.” Adrian said as they gently moved Ryland towards Rocky. Ryland whined at being moved, he was so comfy, but Rocky just trilled slightly once Ryland was next to him and Ryland leaned against him.
“Ry! Come play!” Simon shouted at Ryland as he began to climb on top of Adrian. Ryland shook his head, still leaning against Rocky.
“Pebble Grace is too young statement.” Rocky pointed out.
“But I wanna play!” Simon shouted with a pout as he crossed his arms. Sure playing with Rocky, and on Adrian, was fun but Simon wanted to play with Ryland.
“Pebble Simon can play with pebble Grace when pebble Grace bigger.” Rocky informed but Simon didn’t like this. He climbed down from Adrian and ran towards Ryland and Rocky.
Before anyone could fully comprehend what was happening Simon was running out with his arms reaching for Ryland. He managed to knock Ryland over and they began wrestling on the ground. Rocky wanted to try and separate the two but with how quickly they were moving it was hard to tell who’s body part was who’s.
Ryland was whining behind the pacifier, unhappy with what was happening right now. It went from bad to worse when Simon managed to flip Ryland onto his stomach, pinning him down.
The whines turned to full on wails as Ryland suddenly began to have a panic attack, the position Simon put him in all too similar to how he was forced onto the Hail Mary. Simon scrambled off Ryland as he began to shake and scream, his pacifier dropping but thankfully not going far.
“I didn’t mean to!” Simon shouted at once as both caregivers scrambled over. Rocky was the one to gently reach for Ryland while Adrian grabbed Simon’s hand gently, leading him away to give Ryland space. “Adrian I didn’t mean to!” Simon repeated.
“I know pebble Simon, pebble Grace too overwhelmed by energy and remembering bad bad bad humans. We give pebble Grace and Rocky moment to calm down, then pebble Simon say sorry.” Adrian instructed.
Simon looked over to Ryland. Rocky was currently half holding Ryland, but also leaving him space to move if he wanted to, trying to avoid that trapped feeling. Ryland was still shaking and crying, not as bad as a moment before but still bad. Simon sniffed a few times before he began crying himself.
“Pebble Simon leaky leaky leaky, why pebble Simon sad?” Adrian asked as they reached their arms around Simon, bringing him into a hug. Simon attempted to reach his arms around Adrian, though they were way too large to do so.
“I didn’t wanna make Ry sad but I did!” Simon sobs out as he’s wracked with guilt. Adrian ran a claw up and down his back in soothing motion. Simon whined lightly at the gentle feeling.
“Not pebble Simon’s fault, both pebbles too little to think, both pebbles tired and need nap.” Adrian reassured, and Simon didn’t even fight the mention of a nap like he normally does. He just leaned more into Adrian’s warmth as he cried.
Rocky was thankfully pretty good at being able to calm down Ryland at this point. He had managed to calm the panic attack to nothing more than a few loose tears with an occasional whine behind his pacifier. Rocky was thankful he had clipped it before they left so it stayed clean.
While Ryland was calmed down, Simon was still crying. He felt so guilty for making Ryland upset, especially triggering him the way he did. By the time Ryland and Rocky moved towards the other two Simon was getting younger and younger by the minute.
“Why pebble Simon leaky question?” Rocky asked as he sat himself next to Simon. Simon turned from hugging Adrian and moved to hugging Rocky, he preferred being able to put his arms all the way around in a hug, and Rocky was a decent size to do that.
“I make Ry sad!” Simon sobbed. Ryland made his way to Simon’s other side and poked his back. Simon looked around at Ryland, who was giving him a small smile behind his pacifier as to say “I’m okay now”, because at this point Ryland was fully nonverbal.
Simon just leaned out and hugged Ryland, which Ryland reciprocated. Simon cried into Ryland’s shoulder for a few moments before Adrian scooped the both of them up. They all began going back towards the house, comfort and naps needed.
Inside the house Adrian helped the boys take all of their rain gear off while Rocky went to prep the nest. Once the boys were in their comfy clothes they made their way to the second bedroom.
The first bedroom was their normal bed that had space for Rocky and Adrian to settle next to so they could watch them sleep. The second bedroom however was the nest room, where instead of a typical bed there was a large pad covering the floor. Blankets and pillows covered it, forming into a nest. This is where they spent the most time when they were little.
“Pebble Simon want bed time story or lullabies question?” Rocky asked as he reached for the laptop. Adrian settled in the nest, Simon and Ryland settling next to them.
“Lulla-lullaby.” Simon stuttered out, words becoming harder now that he was more towards Ryland’s age. Adrian trilled and reached for a pacifier, handing it to Simon. With a small blush Simon put the pacifier in his mouth, still slightly embarrassed at having to use it.
Ryland sat up a bit before he crawled over towards Rocky and the laptop. Rocky let him take the laptop.
“Pebble Grace have idea question?” Rocky asked and Ryland just nodded. He struggled to control the laptop for a second but he found what he was looking for and showed Rocky. “Pebble Grace find old Korean lullaby translated to English so Pebble Simon can understand.”
Rocky and Ryland moved back towards Adrian and Simon as the song began, both cuddling with the other two. Adrian pulled a blanket over the two small boys, knowing they were both exhausted from being so emotional at this point.
“In a small white boat, in the blue sky, are a cinnamon tree and a rabbit. Without sail and without oar, yet gliding, gliding smoothly to a western shore. Sailing across the Milky Way, to the land of clouds. Where does it journey, beyond the land of clouds? Towards the sparkling reflection, so far away, to the beacon light of a new dawn. Now child, find a road.”
Simon giggled lightly as the song ended, clearly having enjoyed it. It started again on a loop as the two slowly began to drift off. In the end things were alright, even if they hadn’t gone as planned.
Now they knew not to give little Simon sugar.