Arcadia 11

Forty Six

After the talk with Jinyoung and Youngjae, Mark felt better. His mind clear and stress greatly reduced. They still had a comeback to prepare for and he had promotions to attend for the Vogue shoot he was a part of, but for today he felt good. It took him by surprise.

One second he was cuddling with Yugyeom on the couch, the next he was floating in Headspace. His Little side coming out because it wanted quiet time with his Hyungs'. They'd learned that when Markie was feeling extra happy he liked to bask in the comfort of cuddle piles and movie marathons. Today seemed to be no exception.

"'Yungie, I s'ipped." Markie whispered. Snuggling closer to Yugyeom's side and relishing in the skin ship they were sharing.

"Oh, did my little puppy join us today?" Yugyeom cooed, running his hand through Markie's impossibly soft hair. "Does Markie need Baba or Appa?" He asked, knowing Markie would slip deeper if Jackson or Jaebum were near.

Shaking his head, he buried his face in the vocalists shoulder and let out a sigh. His muscles going lax as he breathed in the calming scent of Yugyeom and the groups laundry detergent. He loved his Gyeomie-hyung and melted whenever the male gave him a new pet name. It helped ease him into the regression, plus the male didn't complain when Markie was feeling extra quiet, he would just sit and snuggle with him. Sometimes Bammie-hyung joined and they would hum a song for him until he inevitably fell asleep. Cradled between his two Hyungs and feeling oh so small.

Jackson chose that second to come in though, seeing the look on Yugyeom's face, he realized that his Little One had joined them. Smiling widely he crept towards the hallway and into his shared room with Mark to grab the Little's pacifier and white tiger stuffie. When Mark felt the synthetic fur tickling his cheek he peeked out and met the black eyes of his tiger and smiled widely, his eyes seeming to sparkle as if they held an entire galaxy. When Jackson gently pressed the toy into his arms, and then produced a pacifier, Markie absolutely vibrated. 

"Oh my..." BamBam's soft voice said from the hallway, holding his chest and pretending to swoon. This brought a giggle from the Little and caused a head of freshly washed reddish brown hair to peak out of the kitchen.

"Ah, is that my little Rooster?" Jaebum joked, the group had adopted the nickname from Mark's parents and found the Little adored the name. He walked into the lounge and sat next to Yugyeom on the arm of the couch. "I didn't expect to see you today. I'm so happy you joined us." He said, knowing their baby got self conscious if he slipped without meaning to. He was rewarded with a large smile and the presentation if his tiger, causing Jaebum to gasp. "And you have Baihu!" He cooed, as he reached over and tickled the baby's chin.

BamBam moved closer to them and sat in front of Yugyeom,  crossing his arms over the younger's leg and leaning on it. "Hello my sweet thing." BamBam cooed, caressing Markie's cheek affectionately.  "How old do you feel today?" He asked, knowing they all needed that information if they were going to have a relaxing night of movies. Tilting his head and forming an unconscious pout, Markie thought about it, holding up two fingers then raising a third before putting it back down. BamBam nodded with a smile. "You're feeling in-between today?" He asked, earning a nod. "Thank you for telling us lovely."

Jackson moved from his spot in front of the Little and squished himself next his baby instead. "How does a movie night sound?" He asked brushing the hair from Markie's forehead. When he got a deep pout in response he frowned. "What would you like to do instead?" He asked, not expecting a verbal answer.

"Nammie-'yungie?" He asked, batting his eyes the way Youngjae taught him. Jackson looked to Jaebum helplessly, his eyes full on pleading.

The older rolled his eyes as he stood up, scoffing at his co-parent(?) (They really needed to talk about this soon). "You're a weak man,  Jackson Wang." Hiding the fact he was going into the kitchen to text Jimin about the other Little coming to play.

Markie giggled again and looked into the doorway when he heard the floorboards creak. "Jae-'yungie!" He called, his voice still much too soft for it to be considered yelling. Making grabby hands at the other as he gave him the wide eyed look BamBam had taught him.

Youngjae choked before scurrying to Markie, tripping over BamBam in the process. The indignant squawk he got in return went unanswered as he kissed all over the Little's face, earning giggles and breathless calls of his name. The joyous moment turned tense when Jinyoung walked in and froze, his eyes locked onto Jackson's as he took a tentative step into the room, but Markie didn't seem to notice, nor did he care, his smile growing wider as he spotted the male. "'Nyoungie!" He squealed, his smile growing even wider as the man looked at the Little in shock. Pointing to himself, he looked between Jackson and Youngjae. Youngjae simply smiled, Jackson giving a nod even if his shoulders were tense and his lips pulled into a tight line.

"Hello, um... Little One...?" He said uncertainly, delicately picking his way to the coffee table to sit facing the group. Markie frowned at that and tugged at Jackson, with a whine.

"He wants you to get closer." The older male commented, motioning to the space left between where Youngjae was squatting and he was seated.

"Oh." He replied, looking at each member cautiously before slowly getting closer. Markie smiled even wider, which they didn't know was possible, as Jinyoung knelt on the floor and took the hand Youngjae had just released. "Um... hello Mark... uh..." He looked to Youngjae for guidance but was pulled back to Mark as the male giggled.

"'Nyoungie is silly!" He whispered, looking to Yugyeom. The tension in everyone's shoulder deflated, the room as a collective letting out the breath they were holding. Presenting his tiger to Jinyoung he looked at Yugyeom expectantly. The male catching on quickly as he introduced the tiger to his Hyung. Jinyoung shook the tiger's paw and greeted the stuffie formally, feeling out of his depth, but this only seemed to make Markie like him more, getting louder giggles and whispered Silly 'Nyoungie's from the Little.

"Um... Markie... does your friend here have a... uh... favorite color?" Jinyoung asked wincingly, just now realizing this was the first time he'd interacted with the Little, but seeing the Little One's eyes light up as he nodded rapidly and quietly began babbling was worth the feelings of inadequacy. Markie was a treasure and he was so thankful to be seeing the unrestrained joy and utterly relaxed side of his Mark-hyung.