{Characters}
Flip!Tommy, Flip!Tubbo, and NewCg!Ranboo
(Pre- Dream getting out of prison)
Tw: Bad thoughts, panic, crying, missing an old cg (if there's more tell me)
Also I'm not very good at writing yet, but these are all going to be practice!
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Tommy wasn't quite feeling like himself today, he fell asleep the previous night mid-panic attack, and upon waking up, bad feelings were definitely present. Regression began tugging at the edges of his mind, the coping mechanism he relied on so much. Sometimes he just needed the escape, along with getting back the childhood he never truly had.
He sat up, registering being awake for a minute, and knew quickly he couldn't be alone right then. He just, really wasn't okay at that moment, and he couldn't handle it on his own.
The issue was, the only people who knew about his coping mechanism were Tubbo and Wilbur.
Tommy's first thought was to go to Tubbo, but remembered he was going to visit L'Manburg (or what it used to be). He figured that wouldn't be good on his mental health currently, so he thought about going to Wilbur- but Wilbur was still gone. He did get revived, but..
Anyways, he was stuck. He couldn't go to either people who knew about his regression while he was on the edge of it, but he also couldn't be alone for much longer.
He thought for a minute, then remembered-
...Ranboo
Maybe he could go to Ranboo.. he was a good friend now, they had their issues in the beginning, but he was honestly such a great person. Tommy had hung out with Ranboo while he wasn't feeling well before, so it wouldn't be that big of a deal.
Except for his headspace threatening to cave down.
..He would just have to stay big.
It wasn't like Tommy hadn't pushed it away many times before, he just had to do it again.
(Though, maybe he did count the fact the Ranboo most likely would be okay with it.. just in case)
He didn't give it much more thought before getting out of bed, Ranboo was safe enough, and honestly, he needed someone now.
So now he was making his way to-
Wait- where is Ranboo?
Tommy realizes he had no idea where Ranboo was going to be today- there goes that plan of spontaneously showing up.
He pulls out his communicator and types out his message, not bothering to fix any typing mistakes,
"You whisper to Ranboo: OI WHETE YPU AT?"
Waiting impatiently for a few moments, he watches the chat move up a few messages
"Ranboo whispers to you: near the main portal"
"Ranboo whispers to you: why"
Tommy pauses, his emotions starting to become a bit too much, before shakily typing out,
"You whisper to Ranboo: stau pls"
"You whisper to Ranboo: cpmibg"
"Ranboo whispers to you: ok"
"Ranboo whispers to you: you alright?"
Tommy decidedly ignores the messages to make his way to where Ranboo was, trying to gain composure.
He succeeds mostly, walking up the steps to the portal. He sees Ranboo, leaning against the side of it, organizing their inventory. He isn't sure how to get their attention, now realizing speaking sounds a bit too overwhelming, but thankfully they notice him first.
"Oh- hey Tommy!" They say a bit quieter than they normally would, definitely knowing Tommy wasn't feeling well.
Tommy awkwardly stands there for a moment, then looks at the ground, opening his arms to ask for a hug.
Ranboo smiles sympathetically, then, needing to lean down a bit due to his height, engulfs him in a much needed embrace.
They both stay like that for a while, Tommy beginning to feel a bit better already (though the slight feeling of regression never leaving). He felt good enough to speak again, not as loud or flamboyant as usual, but that was okay.
He leans back from Ranboo, signifying he wanted the hug to end,
"Sorry- I'm not feelin' real great today" he winced slightly at his weak sounding voice.
"You're all good, I figured, do you want to do something to- distract from it, or just hang out?"
Tommy hesitated, his smaller headspace tugging at him a bit more.
God- why did Ranboo have to be so comforting?
And so- tall.. Tommy being fairly tall himself, he wasn't used to being shorter than people, so being outdone in height- and to this extent, did not help his plan to stay big.
"Uh.. what were you doin' before?"
"Just going around doing and collecting random stuff, I was just about to go over to Eret's castle- she said she had some stuff in a chest, just some items I let her borrow- do you want to come along?"
Tommy simply nodded, getting pushed just a bit more into littlespace again by Ranboo's patient smile.
"Alright! Let's go then"
They began walking down to Eret's, Tommy trying to stay as big as he can (and sort of definitely failing).
At some point during the walk he grabbed onto Ranboo's arm, not saying a word.
Ranboo gathered everything from the chest that was left for him, and started to walk back out, they were walking for a good while before realizing where they were going.
"Oh- uh, Tommy?"
Tommy looked up, indicating that he was listening.
"I was planning to go to- um- to see how Tubbo was doing, do you want to come along for that too, or do you wait at the path up ahead?" Ranboo spoke carefully, not wanting to make Tommy any more upset by mentioning L'Manburg's ruins.
Tommy wavered for a moment, focusing on how he was going to say his words,
"I- um, I think 'm jus' ..gonna wait"
He felt relieved that Ranboo didn't seem to pick up on how strange his voice sounded, and let go of their arm to sit on the path.
"Alright- I won't be long, see you in a minute"
Then with that, Tommy was left to his own steadily shrinking mind.
A few moments passed and he started to let his guard down, figuring Ranboo wouldn't be back too soon. At one point his thumb mindlessly made its way into his mouth.
Eventually, he got lost in his own random train of thought, not paying attention to his surroundings anymore.
Which meant he didn't hear the footsteps coming back his way.
"Hey, I'm back, Tubbo's just finishing cleaning up some- ..uh- Tommy?"
Ranboo was confused- were they seeing Tommy.. sucking on his thumb?
Tommy turned around upon hearing his name, looking over at Ranboo, who had a strange look on their face.
It took him a moment to register why.
His eyes widened and he quickly took the thumb out of his mouth, suddenly being swarmed with self conscious thoughts,
Was Ranboo going to think he was weird? Not want to be his friend anymore? ..Use this to his advantage?
[Not like that hasn't happened before...]
He couldn't handle all of it, and started to panic and tear up. He didn't realize he was hyperventilating until he was being held by Ranboo, who kept saying to follow their breathing. He struggled at first, but after a little while his sobs and ragged gasps turned into light crying and sniffles.
They both settled down for a bit longer, before Ranboo started to speak,
"Tommy? Are you.. doing alright now?"
Tommy nodded, not looking at them, still very nervous about being seen like that.
"Could you, possibly, explain.. what was happening there..?" Ranboo was hesitant, but they needed to know how to help their friend.
"I.." Tommy began, struggling to find the words with him now solidly in a 4 year old's mindset. He was trying to remember how he told Tubbo and Wilbur.. but he was big when he told them, words were so much harder when he was regressed!
He started to get frustrated, whining and burying his face into Ranboo's chest.
He decided on simply saying the only thing he knew that could explain,
"...feel small"
This, of course, just made Ranboo more confused.
"What do you mean?"
Tommy wanted to whine again, getting upset that he couldn't find the right words, when he realized he had written in a book explaining, in case something like his happened.
He perked up suddenly, standing and motioning for Ranboo to follow him.
They followed Tommy back to his house, where he reached into a hidden chest (which was behind his normal two) and nervously handed Ranboo the book he had written. He sat on the floor of his home, anxiously fiddling with the ends of his sleeves, waiting for the taller to finish reading.
After a few minutes, Ranboo handed Tommy the book back, and saw how worried he seemed, his bottom lip trembling.
"Hey," they sat down in front of him, "I'm not gonna judge you for this, if that's what you're thinking"
He relaxed mostly after hearing that, exhaling deeply and leaning against the stacked chests.
"Is there anything I can help with? Or, anything you want to do?"
Tommy thought for a moment, then shyly said
"Can- can p'ay ..wif me?"
"Sure" Ranboo nodded, "what do you want to play?"
Tommy got excited, pulling out three old-looking wooden dinosaur figures from the chest he got the book out of, handing one to Ranboo. He kept one for himself, and put the third one to the side.
"Dis one's name's Clem-C'emtine, bu' Clem for short!" He said as he held up the dinosaur in his hand, then pointing at the one in Ranboo's,
"Da' one's name's Beebo"
Tommy giggled and added, "Tub name' da' one"
"Oh! Does Tubbo know about this?" They asked.
"Mhm! Tub da firs' ta kno'" Tommy smiled at Ranboo, having many fond memories with Tubbo, both big and small.
"Does anyone else know?"
Tommy paused at that question, looking sadly to the dinosaur at the side of him.
"..on'y ovfer per'sn who know 's.. Wilby."
"Oh.. I see.." Ranboo paused, "did he name that dinosaur?"
"Mhm.. named 'em Daisy.." Tommy started to tear up for a moment, "I p'ayed witf him all th' time.."
Tommy's bottom lip started to tremble once more, though trying his best to keep it in.
But that plan failed as soon as Ranboo pulled him into their lap, holding him gently.
That was enough to let the bigger dam break, Tommy sobbing into Ranboo's shirt once more, a few warbled words of how much he misses one of his caregivers, one of his best friends, his brothers. All while Ranboo was rocking him, saying simple, hopefully comforting words (maybe crying a little himself, burning his cheeks slightly- but Tommy didn't need to know).
The loud wailing very quickly drew the attention of Tubbo, who was walking by, trying to find Tommy and Ranboo.
He burst in through the door to see Tommy on Ranboo's lap, being gently rocked while he cried.
He was surprised, seeing Tommy clearly little, in front of the other. Though he didn't dwell on it long, much more concerned about the fact he was crying.
Tubbo sat down, gaining the attention of Ranboo, who shifted slightly so he could softly rub the young boy's back.
They all stayed like that until Tommy's cries died down enough for him to notice Tubbo was the one rubbing his back, making grabby hands for his caregiver, who pulled him into his own lap (ik the height difference and everything but buffbo do what buffbo do, o k ?- anyways-).
Tommy sniffled into Tubbo's shoulder, saying, "miss 'm.. miss Wilby, 'Bubo"
Tubbo sighed sadly, and responded, "I know, Toms, I do too, it'll be okay,"
He looked up at Ranboo, adjusting Tommy so he's facing the same way, "plus, I think we have someone new, hm?"
Tommy rubbed his eyes, smiling a bit, "yea"
Tubbo then went back to looking a bit concerned, looking back at him, and asked, "So, what all happened in the first place, Toms?"
The boy in question sniffled again and started explaining, "wasn' feelin' good dis mornin' an I di'n wanna be alone, bu' I knew you was-um.. you was busy, so I wen' ta 'Boo, an den I s'ipped an came back here to giv' em da book, an.. I got sad abou' Wilby, an den you came"
Tubbo nodded, "Are you feeling alright now, bubs?" Tommy nodded,
"Can p'ay now?" He asked, looking at Ranboo.
"Of course" They smiled as Tommy slid off Tubbo's lap, grabbing stuffed animals out of the chest, not wanting to be reminded of Wilbur again.
The three played with the stuffed toys for a while until Tubbo started to get a bit quiet. He was hoping Tommy wouldn't notice, but he always did.
"'Bubo small too?" He asked, then realizing Ranboo most likely didn't know, he put his hand over his mouth, a muffled "oops.." could be heard.
Tubbo's cheeks immediately went bright pink, as he looked in the opposite direction of where Ranboo was on the floor.
After a moment of silence, Ranboo overcame their second shock of the day, "Tubbo?" They coaxed.
Tubbo fully turned and buried his face in his knees, putting his arms around his head.
"no! no small! 'm big!" He lied.
Tommy walked across the floor on his knees to where Tubbo was and wrapped his arms around him.
"m' sory 'Bubo.. bu' you can be small if you wanna, we can p'ay more t'gevfer!"
Tubbo looked up at Tommy, revealing teary eyes.
"'Bubo don cry! is okay, p'omise!"
Tommy sloppily wiped away the other's tears.
He sniffled and responded,
"m'kay.."
He then turned to look at Ranboo, who held their arms out, which Tubbo quickly climbed into.
"'m sory i didn, tell you sooner, 'Boo, was jus sca'ed.."
"It's alright Tubbs" They soothed.
"Is it okay if I ask you something, though?"
He nodded,
"So, Tubbo, you take care of Tommy while he's.. small, but you regress too?"
"yah.. um- I take care of Toms whil' he's small, an he tak's care of me whil' 'm small, bu' somtime we both small, an' den Wil..-" Tubbo hesitated for a moment, "Wilby woul' norm'ly.. take care 'f us"
Tommy and Tubbo looked at each other, now wondering what they would do.
"I'll have to talk to you about this again when you're- uh, big again, but would you two want me to take care of you as well? I know I'm new to all this, but I'd love to help."
Ranboo smiled once again at them, and they both agreed in unison, making him laugh, "alright, alright, do you want to get back to playing?"
Neither of them even responded as they rushed back to the stuffed toys that were previously discarded, picking up where they left off.
"mr.mo'key wan's da blu c'ayon!"
Tubbo shouted as they continued to play-argue.
"well, mr. mo'key shouda tought 'bout dat b'fore he hogged da pu'ple an red!"
About an hour later, the playing started to slow, and the two boys showed signs of tiredness.
Tommy mindlessly put his thumb in his mouth once again, as Tubbo's eyes drooped.
"Hey, Tommy, I'm not sure that's the best thing to do, your hands are probably dirty from playing on the floor" Ranboo gently pulled Tommy's thumb out of his mouth. He pouted, wanting the comfort.
"'Boo" Tubbo called the mentally older's name.
"Yeah, Tubbo?"
"paci.. in da ches'"
Ranboo opened the chest and found two adult sized pacifiers sitting on top of a few blankets. They realized all of Tubbo's regression stuff must've been here, and got a bit sad at the fact that he didn't have very good access to his comfort items. Though they pushed it aside for a moment, need to make sure to write that down in my book..
He turned back to the boys, and gave the red pacifier to Tommy, who happily took it, and asked Tubbo if he wanted his. Tubbo went a bit red again, but said yes.
They both were getting more and more sleepy, hardly being able to keep their eyes open as they leaned against each other.
Ranboo picked them up, laying them down on the bed, while he pulled up a chair and started humming some tune he had stuck in his head.
The two boys fell asleep, having had a well needed regression day, and gaining a new caregiver in the process.
꧁The end꧂
I literally stayed up all night to write this I hope someone out there enjoys it