Chapter Text
Sapnap's sitting on the couch, George on the floor, the coffee table pulled between them as they argue over chess. How they can argue over something where all you have to do is move pieces is beyond Dream, but he doesn’t say anything as he lurks in the hallway.
‘Dream?’ Haven pipes up from his spot next to Dream in front, tail swishing along the floor as he fiddles with a tangle.
Dream sighs. Sapnap and George don’t hear, too preoccupied with beating each other up as Sapnap lunges across the table and wrestles George to the floor.
Dream feels Haven shrink back a little as the two tumble across the living room floor, narrowly avoiding knocking into the TV stand.
‘It’s okay,’ Dream hums, eyes not leaving the pair. ‘What did you need, kiddo?’
Haven shakes off, ears flopping. Dream smiles a little. ‘Will you tell them now? So I can play too?’
Dream sighs again but accidentally does it out loud this time. Sapnap looks over and smiles sheepishly, getting up from where he’s straddling George.
“Hey!”
“Hey. Can we talk?”
George frowns, cocking his head to the side, still sprawled out on the floor. “Is something wrong?”
Haven whines a little, standing to pace, and Dream sends a wave of comfort over, begging him to settle and not take front before he’s done talking.
“Nothing– nothing’s wrong,” Dream says, unconvincingly, and George frowns even more but doesn’t say anything.
Sapnap pads over, taking Dream’s hand. Haven giggles a little, and Dream sends another wave of oh my gosh please I just need to talk.
“C’mon,” Sapnap encourages when Dream freezes up and doesn’t make any move to go closer. Suddenly it all feels too daunting. What if they think he’s a freak? Haven wouldn’t have any friends outside the system. What if they laugh him out of his own house? Haven would be crushed. Haven would hate him forever.
Slowly, as if wading through syrup, Dream finds himself moving to take a seat at the edge of the couch, hugging a pillow to his stomach. Haven whines some more, surely feeling Dream’s stress bleed over, and wraps his little arms around Dream’s waist.
‘’S okay,’ Haven mumbles, and Dream smiles.
“Whatcha smiling about?” Sapnap asks, gentle, and Dream shrugs.
Nothing, he thinks, quite insane. Just listening to the kid in my head.
He feels a pressure behind his eyes as Clay pops into front.
‘Good?’ He asks, and he feels Clay nod tensely before disappearing again.
It was a major point of contention, even just the idea of bringing up age regression. Not the system, not DID, just age regression and letting someone other than Dream or Clay front. Even now, Clay only fronts when it’s needed– when they’re scared or hurt or during sex.
George, who Dream realizes, has gotten up, waves a hand in front of Dream’s face. He flinches back, and George retreats.
“Sorry,” George says matter-of-factly. “You zoned out.”
“Sorry,” Dream says automatically, not quite sure what he’s apologizing for. “Can we talk?”
“You already said that,” George says, not mean, and Sapnap shoots him a glare. George sticks his tongue out.
“Sorry,” Dream says again. “Sorry. Uh, yeah.” Better to just rip the bandaid off. “Do you know what age regression is?”
George wrinkles his nose, thinking. “When someone is like, a kid again?”
Sapnap, from his perch on the armrest, rolls his eyes. “No, dumbass, it’s like when someone feels like a kid again.”
“That’s the same thing!”
“Skill issue.”
“That doesn’t even make sense. You’re a skill issue.”
“You’re an issue.”
“You’re–”
“Guys,” Dream interrupts, shrinking back into the couch as they bicker. Both sets of eyes turn onto him and he cringes, regretting every single decision he’s ever made.
“It’s, uh– yeah. When you feel like a kid again.” He’d had a whole speech prepared, but it’s just flown out the window and abandoned him. He looks around, avoiding eye contact and resisting the urge to shake his hands out or get up and hop in place. “It’s a coping mechanism. It’s not– it’s not, like, sexual or anything.”
“We know,” Sapnap soothes, and Dream smiles weakly at him. He can feel Haven pushing front now that the worst of it is over, and he’s starting to panic. He can’t let Haven out, not now, not when George probably thinks it’s weird and Sapnap’s still wrapping his head around the idea.
“Uh, yeah. That’s– that’s it. And… andI’mkindafeelinglittlerightnow,” he blurts out, sending a wave of stay to Haven. Haven pauses in his pushing, but still waits impatiently.
Sapnap blinks. “Sorry?”
Dream takes a deep breath. “I’m feeling little right now,” he says slowly, looking down at his hands as he picks at his cuticles.
“Oh,” George says, quite dumbly.
“I can go,” Dream says quickly, “if you guys don’t wanna deal with me.” Inside, Haven squawks.
“Shit,” Dream says out loud, and then Haven smacks him out of front.
“Hi!” Haven says, smiling brightly. George’s eyebrows shoot up into his hairline.
“Hi,” Sapnap says gently, cautiously, and Haven beams, wiggling his butt. He frowns then, twisting, and stares at the area where his tail should be. He wiggles his butt again. He can feel his tail, but it’s not there.
“Where’d it go?” Haven asks.
“Your voice is different,” George says, staring at him, completely disregarding his question.
Haven giggles, already moving on from the case of his missing tail. “‘Course it is! Can we play?”
“Of course,” Sapnap coos, standing with a groan. Haven shrinks back a little as Sapnap looms over him, but then he stands too, and oh! He’s taller than Sapnap!
“Taller than you!” Haven chirps, unsure whether to be thrilled or unnerved.
Sapnap laughs. “That, you are, kiddo,” he says. Haven thrums in absolute delight. He can feel Clay enter front next to him but doesn’t pay any attention, too busy marveling over his new friends. Not one new friend, but two!
“Can we play?” He asks again, forgetting that Sapnap already said yes. “I wanna play fetch.”
George laughs, but Haven doesn’t care. “Fetch?”
“Fetch!”
“We can play fetch, kiddo,” Sapnap says, offering a hand down to Haven. He takes it gratefully, standing on wobbly legs. He hasn’t had much time to front, and this body is so different. The legs are all too long and everything too big and he feels unstable on his feet. He should just be a little kid.
“C’mon,” Sapnap says, “let’s go to the garage. We can find a tennis ball there.”
“Okay!” Haven chirps. He takes one step after Sapnap, faceplants into the ground, and then bursts out into tears.