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Ever since they found out Grian regressed, they had been so nice and caring. They had done their own research about it if Grian were to ever regress nearby them. It would be awkward if a young child was nearby and they didn’t have a clue about anything. So, Stress typed out a long paper all about age regression for the other hemits. Some of them already had a clue on what age regression was, some of them had never heard about it once. So to those hermits, it was quite a shock to even hear that people could do that.
And that was exactly how Scar reacted seeing the paper from Stress. It truly was new to him, he’s never seen or heard anything like this before. He wasn’t being judgemental, in fact he was being quite the opposite. He was so interested in it that he asked around the hermits for his own age regression items. Scar used the excuse of him being a caregiver, but it was more like a just in case item if he did ever regress. So, wherever he went he carried a shulker full of little gear as people liked to call it.
He’s never regressed before, at least not in any way he would know. The paper was very helpful, but not in a way to tell if he’s regressed before. It’s never been that popular in his life until now, which was completely fine. He just wished there was an easier way to tell if he had regressed or not. But hey! At least he’s aware of it now, or as aware of it as he could be. Sometimes when he had nothing better to do, he would research more about age regression. It took up most of his time now.
Age regression wasn’t necessarily on his mind 24/7, but it was up in his mind a lot of the time. Had his best friend really been doing this without anyone knowing? How long? That was what worried him the most. It hurt Scar that no one was there for Grian. Scar would’ve happily taken care of Grian if he asked, but he doesn’t really get why he didn’t ask. Sure, Grian wasn’t as open as Scar, but they’ve been there for each other since the beginning. Did it hurt a little bit? Yeah, but he was okay. There wasn’t much he could do now except tell Grian that he was always there for him now.
Scar hasn’t seen anyone else regress yet, only Grian. Or well, he hasn’t even seen Grian regress in front of him yet. He’s been told that he’s been too shy to regress in front of anyone but Xisuma so far. Was little grian just really shy? Scar really wanted to meet little Grian, but he didn’t want to force anything to happen. It would be the worst if Grian hated him in any sort of way. So, he would patiently wait. That seemed fine, right?
Except it wasn’t! Scar was so bored and he wanted to hang out with the regressor! But Grian hadn’t regressed in a while and everyone told him that not even they had seen him small. Even Xisuma told him that Grian was too shy to regress again, which is a fair point, but come on! This was starting to become unfair. All he wanted to do was take care of him and play with him. He’s even voiced his concerns to Grian himself, but all he got in return was a shrug and a “I don’t know how to help here.”
So he sighed to himself as he looked at the paper once again, he had it memorised by now. It was also worn out, the paper all wrinkled out. It’s not like he had anything better to do, or did he? Scar tried to think about it and he gasped out loud. “Oh god, I forgot about Pearl!” Scar grabbed all of his items he usually carried and ran out of his doors to go to Pearl’s.
Over at Pearl’s everything seemed to be going smoothly, they were having a nice cup of tea and discussing many things. Such s builds and how their lives were going. It was nice to finally relax after so long, and Pearl’s special recipe of tea was definitely the best way to relax. Plus, apparently she built a small outside garden to her build! The weather was pleasing too, and it did everything to make him feel all better.
“So, I was testing out a new recipe.” Pearl motioned to her tea and took a sip from her own cup. “It involves rosemary, and I was wondering if you liked it?” She watched as Scar took another sip of his tea and he nodded. “I was thinking about selling it, along with my other teas? I could make my own shop for it.”
Scar took a moment to think about it, that did seem like a great idea. “I think you should for sure sell it! I bet all the hermits would go wild for it, especially me.” He tapped his chin and examined the drink more, as if he was trying to figure out why he was going crazy for it. “It’s really good.” He took another sip. “Speaking of shops, I’m thinking about making a new one! I don’t know what of yet, but I think it’s a good idea.”
Pearl nodded in agreement, but took a moment to respond. As if she was thinking about what to say. “I think so too, but I also have no ideas uhm–..” She paused before her whole appearance brightened up. “What if we co-owned the tea shop together! Your builds are really great, I’ve seen them in the life series. They always impress me, after that clock you built I was like WOW!” She continued to ramble on about how good Scar’s builds were, but all Scar could do was sit there.
The life series was an on and off topic for him, sometimes he liked to think about it, but sometimes it would lead to moments like this. Where his heart would panic and his brain would completely freeze. His chest would burn and he didn’t know how to properly react. This was the worst time for this to happen, he didn’t want to have a panic attack in front of Pearl! Pearl never reacted how he did, he knew this because everyone would be questioned and she always said she was fine. But Scar would say that too. (read: It was a lie.)
Suddenly he found it harder to think than it was normally in a panic attack, his head went blank, no. Fuzzy. The word he was searching for was fuzzy. As if there were clouds in his head. It made him feel calmer? But at the same time it didn’t help at all, instead it stressed him out more. Scar couldn’t figure out what was happening to him, and Pearl was watching this all happen– and oh god Pearl was here. Scar had completely forgotten that Pearl was still here.
How was he meant to explain what was happening to him to Pearl? Would she even understand? His brain wasn't working fast enough to explain all of these questions for himself. So he sat there with inconsistent breathing, unaware that Pearl was trying to get his attention. It was all too much for him. He wanted Grian, but he wasn’t anywhere near. Pearl was nice too, but–
Pearl gently shook Scar and motioned to herself and her breathing to him, she was speaking but Scar couldn’t process it. So, he followed her breathing and what seemed like forever, his panic stopped. Or well, most of it, he still didn’t know why he was so.. small.
“I am so so sorry, Scar, I shouldn’t have mentioned that without asking!” She panickally got out. Pearl was terrified to realise she caused Scar to have a panic attack, that was something she never wanted to do. “Are you doing better? I can leave if you want.” She would prefer not to leave Scar alone after a panic attack, but if that was what he wanted, she would do that.
Scar reached out to Pearl and gripped onto her sweater with the biggest frown that he could give. He didn’t want to be alone right now, especially not with this weird brain fog. That was the scariest thought as of right now. “Don’ go.” Scar whispered, and then blinked at how strange his voice sounded currently. Was it meant to sound like that? Usually he sounded bigger than that..
Pearl stared back at Scar with a look that he couldn’t explain what it was. Her eyebrows were pushed together and her lips were pursed as if she was thinking what to do. “Scar.. This is going to sound wild but.” She nervously laughed as she tried to get the next part of her sentence out. If she was nervous then Scar was nervous too. “Are you regressed?”
And Scar had to stay silent for a minute after that question. Was he? He’s never experienced something like this before, and he didn’t want to be wrong, but what if he wasn’t wrong? Scar didn’t feel big, his body felt too big for him and he felt way too tiny. Is that what it means to be regressed? To want to play with toys and have little kid snacks and be held all the time? He looked around anxiously and gave a shrug. “Dunno…”
“Well,” Pearl started, having a hard time thinking on how to react to this. She’s never been around someone that’s regressed and she definitely didn’t want to mess up on this. Scaring Scar or making him uncomfortable was the worst idea ever and Pearl would hate to make that happen. “To me… it seems like you are regressed?” That was more of a question than a statement and Scar knew that. “I- I just don’t know what I’m meant to do. I mean we’ve only heard about regression before.”
Scar had been sitting there silently, he didn’t want to ruin the moment. They were having such a nice time with tea and now he had regressed. What a way to ruin their perfect day. As Pearl was rambling to Scar about whatever (He stopped listening, his little brain couldn't process everything that she was saying anymore.), he pulled out his shulker of little things and started grabbing things that he thought he could use. A pacifier, a small soft toy (it looked like Jellie), and another toy. But this time it’s a crinkle toy that people usually give to their babies. He isn’t a baby though, is he?
By the time Pearl had stopped rambling, she noticed the items in Scar’s hands and she breathed out a sigh, running a hand through her hair. “Those are really cool, Scar.” The way she was speaking, it was soft and kind. It sounded natural. Maybe because it was natural? A part of Scar’s brain wanted to argue. “Did you get those for yourself?”
Scar shrugged as he put the pacifier in his mouth. It was a pale green, closer to being white than it was to being green. “Jus’in case…” His voice was being even more slurred by the pacifier, but it felt right. Yeah, Scar could get used to regressing. It made him feel all soft and happy. As if no harm could happen. Plus, Pearl was with him! She’s great at being strong.
“Well! We have all day if you want to do anything?” Pearl started to clean up the tea cups and everything else that was on the table. The tea had chilled a lot since they hadn't touched it, but she still didn’t want anything to spill. “How about we play out here for a while?”
And that’s what they did. She brought out chalk and bubbles, and many other outside activities. Scar was happy with practically anything, his regressed mind was entertained by so many of these activities. Eventually Scar got tired and the both of them took a nap up in Pearl’s bedroom, when he had woken up, he thanked Pearl for all her help.