The Program

Chapter 6: Building with Blocks

Throughout the rest of the day Daisy did a few more activities. Some drawing and colouring, some reading, some tv. But she couldn't find the headspace again.
The next few days found Daisy doing more activities, and once or twice more entering the headspace, and she quickly noticed a pattern with them.
"Daniel?" She asked over dinner on her third day there.
"Yes?" He responded.
"Why are so many of the activities you've been offering me kinda" she trailed off, doubting her self in the middle of get sentence.
"Childish?" Daniel finished her sentence for her.
Daisy nodded, taking another bite of her chicken schnitzel.
Daniel took a deep breath, pausing to seemingly contemplate the question.
"I think that requires a bit more info on how this all works, the program that is" he explained. "Have you heard of age regression?"
Daisy shook her head no.
"Basically, it's where a person enters a headspace, often called littlespace though some prefer other terms, where they they regress to a more childlike state. That's kind of what we do here. We help people find that space and use it to relax and recover and all that."
"Is that why I had to take that test?" Daisy asked.
"Yeah, only about a quarter of the population have that headspace. Another quarter or so are what we call caregivers. They have a natural headspace where they enjoy taking care of age regressors"
Daisy thought for a moment, before her brain connected some dots that had been floating around.
"So are you a caregiver?" She asked him.
"Yeah, I am" he chuckled.
"Wait so I am here because-"
"Because you're an age regressor, yeah" he said.
Daisy sat in silence for a bit, not really sure what to think.
"I don't really know if I am" she finally said. "I mean, surely I'd know."
"Well I think you are, I've seen you fall into littlespace a few times while you've been here"
"You have?"
"Yeah, that's what all these activities are for, to help you feel comfortable enough to be little"
Daisy sat quietly again, feeling a bit overwhelmed with this new information. Unsure of what it meant for her, unsure what to do with it.

***

Dinner came to an end, and Daisy was still not sure what to make of everything.
Daniel seemed to sense this and offered Daisy a hug, which she gladly accepted.
"What's on your mind?" he asked.
"I just, don't really know what happens now? I'm not really sure what it means or how it effects me or any of that and I'm not sure what to do" she said, her words and heart getting faster.
Daniel hugged her more firmly, which helped a little.
"It's going to be okay, let's sit down okay?" he told her, not waiting for an answer as he lead her to the couch.
"So you're scared of what is going to happen? and what being a little means for you?" he asked.
Daisy nodded, her chest feeling tight and contorted.
"Well, what happens next is up to you. You don't have to, but we can explore it more in depth."
Daisy sat silently, shaking a little, as Daniel hugged her close, gently patting her head.
After 30 minutes of this, Daisy managed to calm her breathing and felt more stable. She finally spoke again to say "I think I'd maybe like to explore it? If that's okay"
Daniel squeezed her a little and responded "that's perfectly alright"

***

The next day, after a well deserved rest, Daisy got up still in her pajamas to get a glass of water. She found Daniel as usual setting things out for breakfast. He had placed a bottle of orange juice, a jug of milk, and some cereal only the table, and was in the process of making some toast to take to the table. He seemed more happy then usual this morning.
"Morning Daisy!" He greeted her cheerfully.
"Morning" Daisy responded drowsily.
"Sleep well?"
"It was okay, a few bad dreams but it was okay"
"Awh that's alright, we'll have a good day to make up for it then won't we?"
"I guess?" Daisy said, not really knowing of any plans for today.
The toast popped up, and Daniel placed it on a plate and brought it to the table that Daisy had sat at during the conversation.
"I was thinking we could do some more fun activities today, what do you think?" He asked her.
"Sounds good." She said through a mouthful of toast.
"Daisy, remember to swallow your food before you talk." Daniel said, kindly but chuckling a bit.
Daisy blushed a little at the unexpected reminder, and finished her bite of toast.
As they continued to eat, Daniel asked more questions to Daisy, her likes and dislikes, her usual day to day, how she felt, and things along those lines.
Soon, they both finished breakfast, and Daniel cleared the table.
Daisy went to get dressed, she then grabbed Otto and sat on the couch, not really sure what to do.
She soon heard a rattling sound coming from the end of the hallway, and turned to see Daniel exiting the still mysterious room, holding a large plastic box.
Immediately, she felt a sort of warm glow as she recognized the routine she had noticed, of Daniel bringing activities out of the room. She wondered what today would bring?

"Lego." Daniel said with a huff as he put the box down on the coffee table.
"Lego?" Daisy asked.
"Lego!" Daniel responded.
Daisy reached forward and opened the box to find it full of lego pieces of every different colour, shape, and size, all jumbled and unsorted in the box.
She smiled, "I haven't played with lego in ages" she said, a bit nostalgically.
"Well that changes today! What would you like to build?"
"I'm not sure" Daisy trailed off a bit.
"Hmm, how about a castle? If you'd like, you can be the princess!" Daniel said, smiling wide.
Daisy giggled a little at that idea, but quickly felt a bit embarrassed and shut down those emotions.
"Uh, how about a house instead?"
"You're the boss!" Daniel said, giving daisy's hand a squeeze.

***

The house was coming together, they had built a first floor and were just starting a second.
Daisy felt a warm glow inside her chest, she was enjoying this. She placed brick after brick, happy how her creation was coming along.
She giggled at Daniel's antics, making the minifigures talk, purposefully placing blocks in the wrong place for Daisy to call him out and teach him where to put it.
She felt happy, she held close Otto as she built.
"This room can be Otto's room!" She declared to Daniel.
She had decided at some point that this would be all of their house, Otto, Daisy, and Daniel.
"Ooo" Daniel responded, "What's his bed going to be made of?"
"A pool, silly! Otto's an otter!"
"Of course, my mistake."
The day dragged on, the two only stopping for half an hour to have some peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch.

As the sun set, their house was completed!
"All done!" exclaimed Daisy.
"It's amazing, great work!" Daniel praised her.
Daisy felt happy, but tired. Her stomach rumbled loudly.
"Hungry?" Daniel asked her.
She nodded and hugged Otto.
"Hmm, how about we order some pizza tonight? We have done a lot today and you deserve it"
"Yes please!" Daisy shouted, losing control of her volume for a moment
Daniel laughed, "Okay, what would you like?"
"The lot with hot sauce, please" She answered, time with more volume control.
"Sure thing! I'll go call now" Daniel told her, and walked off into the kitchen where his mobile was charging.
Daisy pulled herself off the floor that she had somehow ended up on during the course of the day, and curled up on the couch with Otto, letting her eyes droop a bit.

Soon, she felt Daniel shaking her, and she opened her eyes.
"Pizzas here sleepyhead" He told her gently.
She moved sleepily to get up, and found her thumb in her mouth. She quickly pulled it out, embarrassed, and wiped it off on her shirt.
Daniel made no mention of this and sat down at the table with the box of pizza, placing some slices on Daisy's plate for her.
She got herself up and to the table, plopping down into her seat.
"Did you have fun today?" He asked her.
"It was okay" She said, feeling tired and the warm glow missing from her chest, replaced by the usual knots of anxiety that she had spent so much of her life ignoring, now feeling like they sting more then usual.
"You looked like you had fun, you definitely regressed most of the day." He said, smiling.
"I did?" She asked him.
"Yeah, it took a bit but you definitely ended up small."
"It was kind of nice," she said quietly.
"You're allowed to enjoy it, that's the whole point of this place!" He explained to her.
They sat in silence for a while, eating their pizza.
Daniel spoke up after a few minutes. "I was thinking we could see Mora and Ronnie tomorrow, they are both lovely"
"Who's Ronnie?" Daisy inquired.
"Ah, that's Mora's regressor, they're very nice!"
"Oh, okay, maybe then." Daisy said, shyly.

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Authors Note

Apologies for the delay! Life got to me, updates may be slower but I'll try continue to write!
I usually have two or three writing projects going at once, and cycle between them. So hopefully I'll get a few chapters done soon!

Also: Please remember to like! I never like asking for stuff like it, but it genuinely helps me keep motivated knowing people are enjoying my story c: