hiii ik I’ve already sent in some requests for hbh agere so I hope you don’t mind me sending another — could you write a fic about little!quinni & little!spider being taken care of by caregiver!cash & caregiver!harper? or any of those characters paired up if four characters is too much <3
ofc no pressure, ik you’ve got a bit to work on already!
Title: Crayon
Word count: 958
Little! Quinni + Spider
Cg! Cash + Harper
Warnings: impure regression, sensory overload
Plot: When Spider regresses during SLT'S, it sets off a domino effect
The SLT's slowly filter in after recess. Ms Obae is standing at the front of the class with a set of pencils, pens and paints in front of her.
The class slowly sits down and she takes the role before starting the class.
"OK everyone. We're going to try some art therapy today. I want you to pick which ever medium speaks to you and tell me a story though your art."
Spider borderline stomps to the front of the class and grabs the first jar he sees.
"Miss! Spiders gone with mental illness gray" Missy teases, grabbing a jar for herself and walking back to her seat.
Spider just sticks his tounge out at her and stomps back to his seat, muttering under his breath. He grumpily sits down next to Harper, still muttering.
Meanwhile, Quinni is sinking further into her seat. She glances around the room, taking note of all her possible escape routes.
"Hey" Cash says, gently nudging her. "You good?"
Quinni just nods and starts to draw on the paper. Cash gives her another concerned glance before giving the class a quick once over.
He does a double take when he sees spider scribbling on his piece of paper and silent tears streaming down his cheek.
Cash elbows Harper rather harshly to get her attention, not wanting to scare Quinni.
"Ow! What?" Harper hisses, rubbing her side where Cash elbowed her. She goes very quiet, with a small, "oh" when she's sees the tears slowly dripping off of spiders face.
"Spider? Hun?" Harper asks softly before placing a hand on his shoulder, trying not to spook him.
As she gets closer, she can hear what he's been muttering under his breath. "This is so cringe. Why are we even doing this?"
"Oi. Cut it out." Harper says sternly. It's mostly to tell him off but it's also to test his mental age and to assess whether or not he's regressed.
"Why are we doing this?" Spider says louder, meeting her eyes in a very clear challenge. His eyes flicker over to quinni and his expression softens for a moment when she covers her ears at his noise. But then he glances over at Darren and it's like a fires been lit in his chest.
"Why is this a more valid way of expressing my emotions then just telling you that this class sucks? How is this crayon going to fix it? How is this crayon going to fix me?" He's standing now, facing the class as he rants.
His voice breaks into a sob on the last word and he raises his hand to his face, alarmed when it comes back wet. When did he start crying?
Harper doesn't even say anything to him, she just stands up and drags him out of the class by his shirt.
It's only once their out of SLT's and she's sat him down in an empty classroom that she turns to look at him. He flinches, expecting yelling and hitting and anger.
She surprises him instead by kneeling down at his level and just holding eye contact. Her face tells him that she's not impressed and he physically feels his heart break in two at the thought of disappointing her.
"What's going on Spec?" Harper asks gently, still holding eye contact.
He goes to talk but all that comes out is a garbled sob. He stammers as he tries to find a way to express the complicated mix of anger, hurt, upset and overwhelm that's swirling around inside him.
Oh. He's regressed. That's why he lashed out and why everything was too much all of a sudden.
"Too loud. Lights too bright. Dusty gone. Ant hurt" he stammers, breaking eye contact to look at the floor, tears still flowing freely down his cheek. "I'm sorry" he says, barely above a whisper.
"Hey. Spider. Can you look at me for a sec?" Harper says, gently lifting his chin to meet his gaze. "You never ever have to apologise for being small. You're allowed to be overwhelmed but you are not allowed to take that out on other people. Especially Ms Obea"
Spider just nods and drops his gaze again. "I don't feel as little as normal. I kinda feel like a pre-teen? If that makes sense? Like I feel all stompy and grumpy" He says after a moment of figuring out how to articulate what he is feeling.
"Oh, that's all good. Tell you what? How about we meet up with Quinni and Cash and we go back to the apartment and we play some video games?" Harper offers, making sure to lower her voice to a more appropriate level.
In the room directly next to them, Quinni was happily telling Cash all about the different types of ducks and what makes them different.
Quinni was on the verge of a meltdown but Cash, knowing Quinni and her regression, pulled her out of the class and into an empty classroom not long after spider and Harper left.
They did some deep breaths, then Cash pulled out a colouring book from his backpack and they decided to colour together until the period was over, then they'd go back to the apartment.
A ping on Cash's phone grabs his attention and he glances down at it. It's a text from Harper reading "Spiders middle regressed. Going to apartment. Wanna grab others and come and turn it into a gathero?"
He quickly texts her back "Quinnis regressed too. I reckon we just bring the two and chill there. Less chance of meltdowns."
Harper texts him a thumbs up and both caregivers quickly gather up the gear spread on the floor before getting in their respective cars and driving to the apartment.
Warnings: spoilers for season 2 hbh, autistic meltdown
Plot: Quinni regresses at the zoo and doesn't want to let Darren or Harper help.
"I don't want to be a burden but I'm never given any time or warning to prepare" Quinni says through unskilled tears.
Cash's eyes widen with sympathy and understanding. He doesn't say anything yet though, choosing instead to let her speak.
By the expression on her face and the words, it's clear she's been feeling like this for a long time and she needs to let it out.
"And then I find this thing. This one thing that I can control, that I can share with you all and participate in, that I'd be useful for, and I'm told that I'm doing that wrong too!" Quinni is crying by this point, her tears mixing with the green of her makeup.
"It's just not fair!" Quinni sobs, the higher pitch of her voice making it clear that she's slipping. Cash just stands still, trying to figure out what to do.
Darren runs off after Quinni, thrusting the cake into his hands. Cash just stands there in shock, still processing what just happened.
Darren returns after a few minutes, head hanging low. "She's not talking to me. Someone else try." They mumble, eyes watery.
"I'll go" Harper replys quickly, running off in the direction Quinni went. She returns almost immediately though. "They don't want me either. I don't know what to do." Harper says, eyes wide.
"I think... I think I want to try" Cash finally speaks up. He can quickly feel 3 sets of eyes turn his way but he pointedly looks at the floor. He doesn't give them a chance to talk him out of it and instead starts walking over to Quinni.
He finds her quickly. She's in a corner between two fences. She's sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up and her head hidden in her knees. As Cash approaches, he can hear her crying softly.
He gets low onto her level, squatting just in front of her. He doesn't say anything for a moment, not wanting to make her panic or freak out any more then she already is.
Once he's sure that she knows he's there, he speaks up. "Hey Quinni, it's Cash. Can I sit down next to you?" He says softly, careful to keep his voice low.
She doesn't respond but he does get the tiniest head nod.
He sits down next to her, lowering himself down against the fence. Again, he just sits in silence for a moment, giving her a moment to adjust. "I'm going to ask a couple of question. You don't have to speak, but do you think you can tap my hand once for yes and twice for no?" He asks, still hyperaware of the volume of his voice. Again, he doesn't get a response, instead getting a gentle shake of her head.
He stays silent for a moment, trying to think of a way to communicate with her in a way she's comfortable with. "What about the floor? Can you tap the floor once for yes and twice for no?" Quinni doesn't respond for a moment, then she gently knocks her knuckles against the floor once.
Cash smiles a little, happy at the progress. Again, he gives her a moment to rest before asking another question. "Is it OK that I'm here?" He asks. Quinni doesn't even pause, knocking the floor once as soon as the question leaves his mouth.
He stops for a moment, then asks, "are you feeling small?" This time, there's a long pause, then a single quiet knock. When she knocks on the floor, she lifts her head slightly. She peeks over her knees at Cash before quickly ducking her head back down.
"Awe that's all good kiddo. I'm guessing you don't want Darren or Harper to watch you huh?" He asks, already pulling out his back up regression kit out of his backpack. As he's pulling it out, he hears two knocks on the floor.
"How about this? Why don't we go back to yours, just us two, and I'll watch you?" He asks. She pulls her head up and looks at Cash wearily. He doesn't say anything, just hands her the regression kit. She pulls out a paci and a small marble fidget before mumbling, "not a caregiver".
Cash just chuckles at that. He packs up the regression kit and puts it back in his bag before responding. "Yeah I am little one. I just haven't been one very long that's all. Do you wanna come with me or do you have someone else I can call?" He asks gently, happy that she's talking now.
"Come with you" she mumbles, popping the paci into her mouth. Cash nods and stands up with her. Quinni grabs his hand once she's up.
Cash leads her out and into his car. He buckles her up and hands her an apple puree before getting in. He sends a quick text to the rest of the group to let them know that Quinni's ok and with him. He then starts the car and drives them to her place. He keeps the windows down and the radio off.
As they drive, Quinni get progressively happier. She points out different animals as they drive through the suburbs and by the time that Cash pulls into her driveway, she's giggling and tapping her hands to her chest lightly.
"Ok Froggy, let's go inside" Cash says. Quinnk just giggles at him, but frowns when the seatbelt won't come undone. Cash quickly swoops in and undoes the seatbelt.
Quinni grabs her bag and skips into her house. She excitedly pulls Cash into her room and pulls out her box of regression gear.
Cash plays with her for a solid 2 hours before she finally crashes into a nap. He tucks her into bed and settles down on the floor, texting Darren.
