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Clay sighed as he opened the door to his and Apollo’s shared apartment. It had been a bit of a rough day of astronaut training, one that left him feeling particularly stressed. So tonight, all Clay wanted to do was snuggle with Apollo, watch movies, and eat takeout.
Clay changed out of his uniform and hung his jacket on a hook on the back of the bedroom door. He put on a comfy shirt and a pair of sweatpants with constellations all over them. It sort of reminded him of Lamiroir’s robe.
The astronaut just finished ordering takeout when the door opened, revealing Apollo. Clay slammed the landline phone back into its holder and ran at his boyfriend, eager to welcome him home.
“Hey, AJ-man!” Clay said as he tackled the other boy in a hug, lightly peppering kisses on his face. “How was work?”
Apollo shrugged as he pulled out of Clay’s hug. He didn’t say anything as he hung up his jacket and went into the bedroom to change. It seemed like Apollo wasn’t in the mood for conversation.
However, Clay thought this was a bit strange. Apollo would almost always greet him back with a smile and a kiss and ask how Clay’s day was. If he didn’t do that, he would start ranting about work, like how he caught on fire from Trucy testing her latest magic trick on him, or how Wright made him scrub the toilet again even though it was Athena’s turn. Either way, Apollo would always start up a conversation, so the fact that he wasn’t talking now seemed strange.
Clay followed Apollo into the bedroom, who was now wearing one of Clay’s oversized hoodies and pajama shorts. Upon seeing Clay, Apollo made grabby hands towards him, wrapped his arms around the other’s waist, and buried his face in Clay’s shoulder.
Clay chuckled and reciprocated the hug. He slightly swayed the two of them. Poor Apollo, he must have had a really rough day if it caused him to immediately regress.
Clay had only seen Apollo regress a handful of times, but he didn't recall Apollo being this quiet. It made Clay sad to see his boyfriend so stressed out.
He’ll make sure he’s the best caregiver ever tonight! It’s what Apollo deserves. He works so hard, after all.
“Hey, Sunshine,” Clay started. He knows little Pollo loves this particular nickname when he’s small, and he was right. He felt Apollo melt against his shoulder. “What’s up? Bad day?”
The astronaut felt Apollo nod and tighten his hug.
“I’m sorry, baby. Do you wanna cuddle with me? Will that make you feel better?” When Apollo nodded, Clay led him, or rather, carried him, to the couch.
Clay turned on the TV and sat down on the couch after placing Apollo down first. Apollo latched himself onto Clay, who wrapped a blanket around the two of them.
After a couple minutes of mindlessly watching TV, Clay felt Apollo tug at his sleeve. Clay looked at the other, but Apollo didn’t say anything, just stared at him, so he went back to watching TV. Apollo tugged his sleeve again with a huff. Clay looked at him again.
“What’s up, Sunshine? Do you need something?” Clay asked, to no answer. In truth, Apollo was trying to tell Clay he wanted his stuffie, but it’s really hard to do when he knows he’s gone non-verbal. It’s just so hard to talk. Apollo patted Clay’s arm a few times, which somehow got the message across.
“You need… a toy? Or a stuffie or something?” Apollo nodded happily when Clay said the word stuffie.
“Alright, Sunshine, lemme go get it.” Clay detangled himself from Apollo’s grasp and disappeared into the bedroom to find Apollo’s stuffie. Apollo was a bit upset that he wasn’t snuggling Clay anymore, but soon he was happily bouncing in place when he saw Clay holding his beloved brown rabbit stuffie.
“Someone’s excited,” Clay joked as he handed Apollo the bunny. Apollo immediately clutched it against his chest and went back to snuggling with Clay.
A couple more minutes passed. Apollo and Clay had eaten the takeout and were now watching a movie, still snuggled under the blanket. Apollo’s head rested on Clay’s shoulder, and he was practically dozing.
The sleeve of his sweatshirt slowly made its way into Apollo’s mouth. He chewed contentedly in a slow rhythm as he stared at the TV, not quite understanding what was going on but enjoying the moving pictures and bright colors.
Clay saw Apollo chewing on his sleeve and gently coaxed it out of his mouth. “Hey, Sunshine, let’s not chew on our clothes.”
Apollo whined and patted Clay’s arm, as if sending the message: “Well if I can’t chew my sleeve then go get me something else.”
“Lemme go get your paci, yeah? I’ll be right back.”
Apollo grumbled when Clay left again but was quickly placated when Clay put his paci in his mouth.
It was a paci that Clay customized, back when Apollo first told him about his regression. It was space themed, of course.
Apollo nursed the paci in a slow rhythm like he did with his sleeve, and his eyes slowly closed. Clay shifted their sitting positions so they were lying down, draped the blanket across their laps, and wrapped one arm around Apollo’s shoulders. Apollo happily snuggled into Clay’s side and soon enough, fell asleep.
Clay fell asleep just as fast as the other, and the two of them spent the night in each other’s embrace.
Yeah, Clay definitely was the best caregiver ever that night.