Summary: "Love this:-)♥️ Can I please request secret regressor Remus (0-3) where no one is aware that he does it? Please and thanks 😊"
Request by gamblerezra (on AO3), hope I did your request justice! And sorry it took me so long to get it out ^^'
Warnings: Mentions of accidents/bedwetting, auditorial hallucinations, a meltdown scene, brief mention of blood (very, very brief, not graphic at all), skin injury/rash
A/N: …So remember how I said I'd try to be more consistent with my writing? Well, as it turns out, writer's block and executive dysfunction disagreed! I am still updating this tho, so yeah! I promise you guys, I really am trying! Time just goes by so darn fast! But I'm always open for requests!
Remus woke up small and wet. It wasn't unusual, it had been happening for a while now. Usually he just went back to sleep, and dealt with it later, when he was bigger again. He didn't know what it was or why it was happening, but he knew he couldn't go to the others. They'd think he's gross. They wouldn't like it. They wouldn't like him. They'd think he was doing it to annoy or disturb them. But he wasn't! He wasn't doing it on purpose, he didn't even know what it was!
Remus sat up, he didn't want to sleep anymore. But he had to. He was wet, and he couldn't do anything about it like this. But Remus wasn't sleepy! He huffed to himself, not knowing what to do. Why was he like this? He tried to reach out to Thomas, to have him do something, anything that could help. But nothing happened. He tried again, still nothing. He huffed, laying back down. Guess there was no other choice.
Thomas woke up to an unusual feeling. He shifted lightly, before freezing like a deer in headlights. He sat up, heart beating in his chest like a mini drum. He peeled back the covers, his face flushing bright red once they were fully off of him. No. No, he hadn't. There was no way, he couldn't have! He's an adult goddamnit, this just doesn't happen!
"Care to explain why I'm up at—" Virgil grumbled, words drying on his tongue as he processed what was going on.
"I—" Thomas started, feeling so embarrassed that tears were threatening to form in his eyes.
"You wet the bed??" Roman rose up. Thomas could only nod meekly, rapidly trying to blink away the stubborn tears in his eyes.
"I didn't mean to!" he squeaked.
"Aw, kiddo, it's okay! Accidents happen, even to adults! Let's get this cleaned up, okay?" Patton rose up as well. Thomas nodded, taking a few deep breaths and wiping his eyes.
"You— You're right. Sorry," he breathed out.
"Nothing to apologise for hun," Patton soothed.
"Yeah. Sorry. I mean— Y'know."
Right as Thomas got out of bed, it was Logan's turn to rise up.
"First step; strip the bed," he reminded.
"I know, Logan, thank you," Thomas smiled weakly.
"After you're done with that, you're taking a bubble bath," Janus appeared to give his two cents.
"Sure, Jan. Thanks," Thomas attempted to smile again. As he went on about stripping his bed, the Sides all sunk down one by one. No one noticed that one of them hadn't popped up at all.
Back in the Mind Palace, Remus had woken up, only to discover that he was still small. He didn't understand, he was supposed to be back to his big self by now! And he really, really didn't want to sleep anymore! He huffed, deciding to get out of bed. Maybe he could find something to do while he waited? He could just stay in his room all day, it's not like the others would notice anyway. His bed would have to wait, but Remus didn't mind too much, he'd just clean it before going to sleep. Maybe.
Remus looked around his room, trying to find something to do. He wanted to colour! Or draw! But all the art supplies were in Roman's room. Hm. Remus flicked his wrist, attempting to summon himself some crayons and a colouring book, but nothing happened. Remus growled quietly, scratching at his inner thighs. Why were they burning and scratchy? And now Remus' tummy growled, too! There was no way he could sneak in the kitchen without getting caught. They'd yell at him. Usually, he didn't mind, but today, he really didn't want to be yelled at. He just wanted... Well, he didn't even know what he wanted. Remus' tummy felt rotten, and not in the way he liked, either!
"They don't like you," a voice said.
"I know," Remus replied. This wasn't the first time he heard voices, it happened a lot. Usually it didn't bother him, but today was different.
"They'd be better off without you."
"You sound like the Emo," Remus shot back. The voice chuckled coldly.
"You really don't get it, do you?"
"You want them. You want them to want you. But they won't. They never will, will they?" the voice taunted.
"Go 'way!" Remus stomped his foot for good measure. He hated the way his bottom lip wobbled, and how his vision blurred as salty tears welled in his eyes. He hated feeling weak.
"They left you. They're not coming back. They have a new family now. Without you."
"They don't need you anymore. *He* doesn't need you anymore. He hates you," the voice kept going, mercilessly jabbing at Remus' sensitive spots. Remus saw two strips of colour take form. Yellow and purple. Janus and Virgil. They stared down at the duke, disgust shining in their eyes. They wouldn't speak, only staring menacingly.
"Stop!" Remus closed his eyes and covered his ears, firmly pressing his hands on them in a desperate attempt to silence the voice. He fell on his knees, curling up to be as small as possible.
In the meanwhile, Thomas was trying to work on songwriting, but something kept gnawing at him. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. It bothered him. He had gone to the bathroom before going to sleep, like he always did. He hadn't drunk too much water, or anything else for that matter, and his dream wasn't particularly scary. So why had he wet the bed? What was wrong with him?
"You're not making any progress, Thomas," Logan pointed out after rising up.
"I… I know. Sorry. Just…" Thomas trailed off.
"Just… Ah, you know, nevermind. It doesn't matter," Thomas shook his head a bit.
"If it bothers you, it does matter," Logan stated.
"Is there something wrong with me?" Thomas bit his lip. He looked up from his notebook, but avoided Logan's eyes.
"Why would you think that?"
"I mean…" Thomas didn't finish his sentence. He bit his lip, his gaze wandering uncertainly.
"I just…" his voice wavered, and he swallowed thickly as he felt a lump growing in his throat. He rapidly blinked his eyes, not wanting Logan to see him cry. He didn't even know why his tear ducts were threatening to betray him, there was no reason to cry. It was… illogical. Thomas let out a shaky sigh, hiding his face in his hands.
"Hey…" Logan sat across his host, unsure what to do.
In the Mind Palace, Remus was getting closer and closer to meltdown territory. It was getting harder to breathe, the voice was getting louder, and the burning and itching of his tighs was getting to be unbearable. He hated this. He hated this, he hated this, he hated this! Remus let out a scream, fiercely ripping his pants off before aggressively scratching at his inner thighs. Angry tears burned in his eyes as he reached for the first object he could reach, before throwing it at the general direction of the taunting voice.
"SHUT UP!" Remus shrieked, clawing at his ears for a moment before throwing himself on the ground, shrieking incoherently as his thighs demanded to be scratched again. There was a knock at Remus' door, causing his hands to fly from his thighs right back to his ears as the sound pounded at his eardrums.
"NO!" he screamed, throwing whatever object he could get his hands on toward the door.
"Ow!" Patton yelped, getting hit in the face with an empty deodorant container. He rubbed at the tip of his nose, processing what was happening. He flinched as he realised the state the still shrieking little duke was in.
"Hey…" he entered the room, and sat on the floor, making sure to give Remus some space. He reached out to the red-faced boy, carefully stroking his hand once. When Remus didn't protest, Patton continued, slowly but effectively getting the toddler to calm down.
"There ya go, Dad's here buddy, Dad's gotcha…" he coo'd gently. By now Remus had completely stopped screaming, but silent tears were still running down his face, his anger melting down to sadness. He reached his little hands out, choking back sobs, a quiet whine escaping his throat.
"Aww, you want Dad to pick you up?" Remus didn't answer verbally, instead just clenching his fists in the 'grabby hands' motion. Patton took the cue, and gently picked the boy up. Remus winced as his thighs pressed against the fabric of Patton's clothes. He had scratched them so vigorously that they were now completely raw, dried up blood covering his fingernails.
"You poor thing! Dad thinks you need a bath, hun. And then, once you're all squeaky clean, we'll put some lotion on your thighs so the hurt will go away. That sound good?" Patton murmured softly upon inspecting Remus' thighs closer. The boy nodded, rubbing his eyes, exhausted from his meltdown.
"What got you so itchy in the first place?" the fatherly Side asked. Remus just shrugged, not quite sure himself. Patton looked around, only now noticing the pants on the floor.
"…Oh," he understood now, the lingering smell in the room making more sense. Truthfully, he had not paid much attention to it at first. It was Remus' room, it was subject to strange smells, and generally, it was better to not ask questions. By now the other Sides had learned to tune it out. Now, however, was not the time to dwell on that.
"Well," Patton said, "let's get you cleaned up!"
Some time later, as Patton had finally gotten the freshly-bathed toddler in a pull-up and t-shirt, and the washing machine running, he felt the ever-so-familiar tug of someone, likely Thomas, summoning him. So, Remus on his hip, he sank down.
"Oh! Logan! Did you need me for something?" Patton asked, surprised to see that it hadn't been Thomas who summoned him.
"I…" Logan started, his words drying on his tongue as he processed the fact that Patton was holding what appeared to be a toddler.
"Is that… Is that Remus?"
"No clue! So what's up?" Patton asked.
"Right, well, Thomas is experiencing a sort of… emotional crisis, and that's not exactly my area of expertise. I figured you would be able to help," Logan explained, gesturing to the host, still hunched over the desk, hiding behind his hands.
"Huh, okay," Patton frowned a little before walking to Thomas.
"Hey, buddy…" he started, gently laying a hand on his host's back. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing, just…" Thomas trailed off, taking a breath and rubbing his face before turning to look at Patton. His eyes were a little shiny, and he seemed exhausted. His brows furrowed in confusion once his brain registered the toddler Patton was holding.
"Remus," Patton explained.
"I don't know either, I just found him like this."
…How small is he?" Logan asked, furrowing his brows as well as he thought.
"Can't be older than two, I don't think. Poor guy had wet the bed, so we had a bit of a bath, and got some lotion on that nasty rash," Patton explained, gently moving Remus' legs a little so the other two could see how red and raw they were.
"Is… Is that why I…" Thomas trailed off, too embarrassed to say it outloud.
"Of course!" Logan suddenly explained, smacking his forehead as the realisation dawned on him.
"Remus' regression must've had a side effect in affecting you, Thomas!"
"A *Side* effect? Eh?" Patton grinned.
"…Yes? I'm not sure what you're implying here, Patton."
"It's- It's a pun, just ignore it," Thomas shook his head a bit.
"…Anyway, we can't leave a two-year-old on his own. I trust you'd be willing to care for him until we figure out a way to get him back to his adult self, Patton?" Logan said, raising his eyebrow slightly.
"Oh! Uh… Of course!" Patton tried his best to conceal his surprise, quickly regaining his composure and giving Logan a grin. Taking care of Remus couldn't be *that* hard!
