Work Text:
The plan they made together had been a fast one, thought over with more emotion coated in sleep deprivation than actual rational thought like it should've been.
It'd been a late night, all the boys hanging out together after previously being broken up into different streaming groups, them originally doing their own things. They all ended up conjugating together on Karl's alt stream, playing Jackbox until far too late into the morning.
Dream and Karl hadn't realized how foolish of an idea it really was until they woke up the next afternoon, two little babies clinging onto their sides.
As much as they wanted to shut down the idea and cancel the plan, it broke their hearts to think about hurting their babies. So, instead, they had a conversation with them about the trip, about Punz, and about their regressions and how it all blended together.
Both of them said they were fine with Punz knowing, but Karl and Dream aren't stupid. They noticed the small anxious fidgets the boys' made, their eyes down casted as if they looked a little scared.
They don't have to be mind readers to know what they were actually thinking about. They knew both of them worried about Punz actually finding out, that he'd hate them forever or think they're weird. They worried for the lost of their friendship.
In all honestly, they worried about all the same things. Worried about them both big and little; when big, they know they'll be pushed away with faux okay-ness, but while little they'll end up sobbing their hearts out with worsening abandonment issues. They didn't want to see either of them hurt, big or little.
Yet, at the same time it's only a week and something both boys want.
It would be a week comprised of time that the boys' would be free to regress if they needed too, but their little things would be kept solely in their nurseries.
They'll just have to play the week by ear, sometimes they can go weeks without needing regressions, sometimes they can only go days or hours. Whatever the case was for the week, neither man wanted the boys to push their headspace away.
If Punz stumbled upon them, then they'd explain everything there would need to be explained, otherwise it would be a secret kept just between them.
Which leads to why Sapnap and Karl are now standing anxiously in an airport waiting for Punz.
They look at their phone screens; they know his flight landed not too long ago, the man already texting them all as much, but they're shoes still tap against the tile, only muffled by the sound of passing people.
The airport is completely chaotic, people bustling pass them as they head towards their flight gate or head towards the exit.
The hot Florida sun had been beating down on them outside, now they stand huddled close together with chills running up their arms as they talk as quietly as the loud airport can allow them.
Sneakers squeak, people's voices boom as a fresh wave of disembarked passengers cross in front of them, too engrossed in themselves to move out of the way of others.
Sapnap bounces on the heels of his feet trying to peer up over the crowd, finding himself too short to see over the tops of most of the passengers heads.
A smile tugs at the corner of Karl's face, hand tugging the others sleeve to grab his attention. Sap scrunches his face in confusion as he looks up at the other, Karl just points.
Suddenly, he's engulfed in a pair of arms, head meeting the shoulder of the blonde they'd been waiting on. He squeezes the other tight, gaining the same back as he tries to push a distinctly fuzzy feeling away from himself.
Not right now, Bug.
Hot tears prickle his eyes as he refused to ease up on the other, not wanting him to let go just yet.
They give each other a few more seconds before reluctantly pulling way, wiping their eyes with the back of their sleeves as they do.
Karl and Punz do a quick hug, a much shorter one than himself and Punz had.
Sapnap felt himself shying up, a million things he wants to talk about but the feeling of his regressing becoming overbearing. He bites his tongue, taking in a deep breath as they all pushed their way out of the airport.
It's very uncomfortable outside, their skin starts to feel sticky from the humidity in a matter of seconds. The heat from the sun is beginning to form a pounding headache in the back of his skull as they keep pushing themselves towards the car.
He can already tell he'll end up being small by the end of the night, that fate already being set on him.
Karl's eyes flicker over to him, not used to how quiet he's behaving as he talks with Punz instead.
He picks up on the small fidget of his hands, catching the others eyes as he starts to sign towards him. He brought his open palms towards the center of his body, shoulders pulling in a little to sign 'small?'
He can tell the boy isn't quiet there yet, but that he's leaning heavily towards that space.
Sap nods his head a little sadly, feeling like he's already going to ruin the trip, eyes falling to meet with the asphalt under their feet.
Karl helps Punz put his stuff in the car, motioning for Sap to get inside of it. He crawls into the backseat, leaving the front open for the other two as he pressed his head against the warm glass of the car.
It comes as a surprise when Punz slides into the seat beside him, giving a small smile as he does.
Sap's head pulls away from the glass as Punz starts a conversation about nothing important, but a conversation where he just wanted to speak to his best friend.
The longer they talk, the bigger he starts to feel, smile growing a little wider on his face.
It went like that for the rest of their car ride home.
They just spent the day together, leaving it to be a rather lazy one, all of them just hanging out together rather than thinking about work or streaming. It's just them bonding and growing closer as friends.
Sapnap and Punz play Valorant for a while, the man feeling much bigger as they both scream at their own stupidity. Both are rowdy on the couches as they jumped on each other, fighting, pushing, and shoving.
Dream shook his head at their behaviour, monitoring Sapnap closely to make sure he didn't actually slip and have Punz take something too far on accident.
Karl informed him about what happened earlier at the airport, his chest growing tight for the boy as his protectiveness stood strong. Even if it didn't seem like he would slip, Dream wanted the comfort of knowing nothing was gonna go wrong, making sure his boy is safe.
They moved on to a different game after that, being deemed too rowdy to keep playing in the living room; a fuzzy block still hooked into Sapnap's brain. He also knew if the yelling lasted for much longer, then he'd be a sobbing mess crumbled up into his Papa's arms; he didn't want that.
They switched over to Minecraft, Punz running around and chasing after Bee's, while he rode horses, pretending to be a real cowboy. He was even pretending to round up animals as he pushed them around, with his horse, into a pen.
They played until their stomachs started to grumble, Dream offering to order Pizza.
They pushed themselves back on the couch as they all piled together on them.
Sapnap, Karl, and Punz sat on one couch, while Dream and George sat on the smaller one.
A few pizza boxes laid out in front of them and fizzy drinks in their hands as they watched a movie.
Sapnap pressed himself up against Karl's side as a disney movie played, his brain only getting fuzzier from the bright flashing colors and high-pitched singing voices. His tiny hand tugged on the sleeve of Baba's sweater, pulling his eyes to meet his own.
He sighed 'small', swinging the man right into action.
He helped him up from the couch, watching Punz and making sure they didn't have following eyes as they headed towards Bug's nursery.
The baby fell to the floor once inside, looking up at his Baba with wide sleepy eyes. It is a bit later than it normally would be for the baby to go to bed.
Bug rubbed his eyes, making grabby fist up at the man. Karl scooped him up, feeling the curl of little hands in his sweater, and took him over to the table to get changed.
It originally came as no surprise that Bug was more willing to let Karl change him than Dream, hardly ever squirming for the man.
When Dream saw that the first time, he called him a little shit, before tickling him.
Karl swatted him away so he could finish changing the baby's clothes first, while also scolding the man about cussing in front of either of the babies.
Dream claimed that it'd be okay, but Bug wanted to prove just how much of a little shit he truly was by repeating the word. Karl gave Dream a look of 'I told you so,' before trying to get the baby to stop saying it, but that backfired.
Bug spent the rest of the day only saying the word shit, smiling proudly to himself because he knew exactly what he was doing. He was also getting Dream into more trouble with Karl every time he said it, proving his point to be exactly true.
Dream got in extra trouble that night, it didn't involve any yelling, but Karl did give him a scolding. However, he hasn't sworn in front of the babies since then, so Karl counts it as a win.
Bug gives Karl doe eyes as he's picked up again from his changing table, now wearing cute cowboy pajama's. The bar of his crib are lowered down, Karl gently placing him onto his back and watching as the little's eyes close before he can even turn his mobile on.
"Night baby," he whispered, pressing a kiss against his cheek, smiling down lovingly, and raising the side back up.
He pulls out a pacifier for the boy, pressing it between his lips before turning on the jiggling sheep mobile. His thumb rubs against his soft face before he's leaving the room, watching as the little drifted off to sleep.
When Karl gets back into the living room everyone's gone off on their own, more than ready for bed themselves.
Punz sits blearily on the air mattress they blew up for him, in Dream's office, rubbing at his tired eyes.
He just stares blankly at the wall in confusion, completely unable to sleep even after he tried for the past two hours.
The only thing on his mind is Sapnap, keeping him from drifting off as he thinks about the man.
He really misses Sapnap. Where did he even go?
Dream had dismissed Sapnap and Karl walking down that strange hallway together, saying they were just grabbing something out of a storage room then would be heading up to bed. Yet, Punz waited to hear Sapnap come down the hallway and go into his bedroom, but he never did. He knows that his door squeaks, yet it never happened.
He heard the footsteps of Karl coming down the hallway; he watched both George and Dream go into their rooms, but that last pair of footsteps had been completely missing. He even heard the little patter of Patches' feet as she bounded into Dream's room, her bell ringing as it did.
Now, he wouldn't say he's incredibly nosey man, never been one for poking around in other people's business's that he most definitely shouldn't be in, but he grows curious as his brain needs answers, wanting to know where exactly his Sappy is.
He messily pushed the blankets away from his waist, shivering as the cool air touched his skin and swirled around him, but he pushed out of the room, nonetheless.
He walked with quiet feet, taking tiny steps as he made it down the hallway. A nightlight illuminates the staircase, offering him comfort and the freedom he needs to move down it without stumbling.
Once down the stairs and on completely flat land again, he takes a left into the hallway he saw them go down. He takes cautious steps, coming up to a few different doors. One door has a Care Bear painted on it, while the other has a ladybug.
He pushes open the one with a ladybug, remembering how they went into one on the right of the hallway.
His head feels all weird as he steps inside, eyes growing wide in the dim lighting at the sight of baby items. Bug's sheep mobile still jiggles as he steps father into the room, hands running over soft objects he passes.
He stops at the side of a crib, the bars of it keeping him from the person he really wants to see: Sappy. The others fingers poke through the holes of it, him sleeping soundly curled around a soft grey cat.
He knelt by his side, looking over at him with wide eyes, watching as a pacifier bobbed in his mouth before tapping against his hand.
The baby began to stir, looking up at him with wide eyes but not yet processing it was Punz in front of him.
"What you doing?" he asked looking down on him, head cocking to the side in confusion.
"'m wittle," he muttered from behind the pacifier as gentle tears flooded his eyes.
He didn't want him to know, now he hates him.
His chest rose and fell heavily as sobs threatened to rake through him, watching as the other stood up but didn't seem weirded out or taken aback by any of it.
Punz still felt a little weird as he stood up again, wanting nothing more than to just be with the other boy.
Without knowing that the crib has latches, he put one foot up on the edge of the bed, mostly swinging his other over as he managed to somehow crawl over the side of it and drop down at Sapnap's feet.
Sapnap still looks at him with wide eyes, confused.
"Wat doing?" He asked still keeping himself from crying.
"I seep with you?" he asked softly.
Sapnap eyebrows scrunch up as he looks confused before nodding his head happily.
Punz no hate him.
Punz drops down to lay by his side, eyes slipping shut already as he falls into that weird feeling.
Sapnap sits himself up on his knees, reaching over the bar railings and into his pacifier bag. He pulls out one of his extra ones, falling back down again and handing it over to the other before curling up under his chin and wrapping his shirt into his fingers.
Punz eyes the pacifier curiously in his hands, sizing the thing up and down as he twisted it around. He could feel Sap sucking easily on his as the motion hit him repeatedly back and forth on his chest.
Through all the commotion he had made, Dream woke up, eyes landing on the baby monitor to see if Sapnap woke up big in his crib.
He doesn't see that however, watching as Punz sits up on his knees before laying down beside Bug. He also watches as Bug ever so nicely hands him a pacifier out of his bag before curling up against his chest.
His very sweet baby.
He doesn't expect Punz to do much with it, maybe throw it across the room in distaste, or just drop it onto the bed.
The picture is very grainy with the night camera quality, his strained eyes not helping any, but he watches as Punz slips it into his mouth.
It's hard to make out his sucking on it with a confused, unsure face, but he watches how the boy melts back into Bug once it starts to have a rhythmic speed.
He smiles to himself tiredly, letting the monitor rest on his nightstand once more; he'll talk with the boy about it in the morning, him being in Bug's crib won't hurt anything.
Punz feels all warm and safe as he clings tighter onto the sleeping form in front of himself, ignoring the reason he woke up as he rubs his face into the shirt and starts to drift off to sleep again.
His face scrunches up in confusion as a finger pokes his cheek, his eye peaking open to find Sapnap looking down at him with his pacifier still between his lips as he sucks on it.
Punz's eyebrows folded together at the sight of it, brain taking a long time to recognize the silicone between his own lips.
He spat the pacifier out, head beginning to pound with a horrible headache as pressure builds up behind his ears, left over from his flight from the day prior.
His hands drop from Sapnap's shirt as he turns onto his back to look up at him more clearly.
"What're you doing Sapnap?" he mumbled sleepily, rubbing his fist against his eye.
"'m not Nap," he pouted from behind the pacifier, Punz's eyes catching the sight of something white above his head.
"What are you then?" he joked, staring up at sheep hanging down from a mobile.
Huh.
"'m wittle," he mumbled, rolling the hem of his shirt together between his fingertips as the smallest of tears form in his eyes.
Punz eyes him curiously for a second before noticing the bars of the crib behind him, hand reaching out to touch the smooth wood of. He lets his surroundings sink in fully as Sapnap keeps pouting down towards him.
He doesn't even really remember coming down here last night, most of it a fog in the back of his mind that he can't make out.
Why's everything kid-like, but not?
The reason runs ramped in the back of his mind; he pushes it from the back of his mind.
His mouth opens up to speak, but the sound of the door opening interrupted him.
"Papa! Baba!" Sapnap called out in a small voice, reaching his arms out towards Karl and Dream.
Papa?
Baba?
He is so utterly lost; what is even happening anymore?
"Good morning Bug!" they cheered in unison.
Bug?
Dream lowered the bars of the crib, Karl wrapping the boy up in his arms before walking them out of the room. Dream sat down beside him, just giving him a look, he didn't understand all that well.
"Morning Punz."
"Morning..." he slurred slightly from the sleep still lingering in his mind.
Dream lets out a light chuckle, canines poking out of the edge of his mouth, "You seem a little confused at the moment." He asked with a type of caution he couldn't understand.
"Sorta..." he trailed off pushing himself up, back pressing against the bars of the crib as his eyebrows scrunched up, "Do you know how I got in here? I remember some parts of it, but it feels a little hazy now."
Dream's eyes lit up in an unfamiliar way, moving closer to be boy as he took in a deep breath.
"Do you know what age regression is?"
"Yes," he snaps a little too quickly, eyes flickering down to his fidgeting hands.
He stumbled on the term a few years back to figure out why he'd get so fuzzy brained, even on days he hadn't been drinking.
The thought of age regression for himself makes his skin crawl; he couldn't be small, not in the way that the people online were, that couldn't be him.
He's fine when others do it, but never himself.
He can't be that vulnerable.
He learnt ways to push the feeling away, never letting himself drive very deep into it without feeling guilty for it.
He doesn't need to be taken care of.
His head feels like cotton as Dream starts talking again, eyes zoning out into nothing.
A warm hand touches his knee to pull up his attention, eyes growing wide with tears.
"Oh, Punz, it's okay buddy," the word broke him, opening up a floodgate as he pushed himself into Dream's arms.
His fingers curled into the back of Dream's collar, hiding his face in his shoulder as Dream just held him, large hand running up and down his back.
"Shh, it's all going to be okay," he whispered, beginning to rock their bodies back and forth. "Everything's going to be okay."
Punz isn't all that sure, but he leans into the comfort and cries, breaking down in the arms of one of his best friends.
"It'll be okay," he tried again.
And, maybe it would.