little ghost boy || [JATP Agere/CGLRE] “How Things Work” (Chapter 9)
A/N: Sorry there was a longer wait between chapters! I'm currently working on an original agere work, and midterms are coming up so I have quite a bit going on! I decided to take some time before bed to finish up this chapter and release it! It's kinda short, and is mostly there to advance the plot, but the next chapter should be longer.
I hope you like it!
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"Alex, I have something to tell you..." Reggie trailed off, internally panicking but trying to keep it together.
"What is it, Reg?"
Alex realized that whatever this was was serious and important to him. He went over to sit on Julie's stool, next to the bed that Julie, Luke, and Reggie sat at. Reggie took a few deep
"I'm something called a little, I think like a little kid sometimes, when I get stressed or anxious or sad. Sometimes it happens when I get to happy, too, just depends." Reggie stopped there, looking at Alex's face and trying to gage his reaction to it as the blonde processed his words.
"Really?" Alex finally replied, "I knew it."
"You knew it?" Luke questioned.
"Willie told me that he didn't care if I said anything if you were also a little," Alex thought aloud, mumbling under his breath, "Willie's a little too, and I thought that you might be one but I didn't know for sure."
"Oh." Reggie stated simply. "You knew, I panicked over nothing, great." he mumbled, running his fingers through his hair. Alex softened his face,
"Even if I didn't already have suspicions, I would've supported you. How long have you been a regressor?" Alex questioned, trying to start a casual conversation to make him more comfortable.
Reggie went to open his mouth, but Luke interrupted. "So we're just gonna completely skip over the fact that Willie's a little? Is that why you're always with him? Are you his caregiver?"
"I'll let him tell you guys about his littlespace when he wants to, and yeah, that's why I'm with him a lot. I'm his caregiver," Alex confirmed. "Are you Reggie's?"
"Uh, no? Kinda?" Luke seemed hesitant, not quite sure.
"We haven't talked about it," Reggie clarified. Alex nodded slowly, his eyes suspiciously flicking between the two of them.
"Is Julie?" Alex asked, looking at the girl who had been remaining silent.
"I haven't talked to her either. And I've been regressing in private since we were alive, maybe since I was 14-ish, but I didn't know there was a name for it until a few months ago." Reggie shifted the topic of the conversation.
"How long has Luke and Julie known?"
"Luke found me regressed around a month ago, and Julie did the same thing about two weeks ago. You're the only person I've willingly told," he admitted, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
"I'm glad you told me, Reggie. If there's ever anything I can do to help, let me know. Is there anything else you wanna tell me?"
"Is there anything else you wanna know?" Reggie challenged. He knew that talking about his headspace could very easily trigger it, but he could avoid that if he tried hard enough.
"Do you want me and Julie to stay, or would you rather us go?" Luke interrupted again. They didn't really play a role in this conversation, and Reggie seemed a lot more comfortable now that he knew Alex wasn't going to judge him.
"You can go, if you want. Wait in the studio for us?"
Luke nodded, standing up. Julie did too, the two of them moving to exit the room. "Why didn't you tell me before? I'm assuming you do it for anxiety, you know I deal with the same thing, I would've understood."
"And trauma." he corrected, before continuing. "And I know, I was just scared, I guess. But with Luke and Julie reassuring me, I felt a lot safer. So I told you."
Alex hummed, "And how old are you when you're small? Willie is 4 to 8 most of the time."
"I'm between a tiny baby and around five," Reggie admitted, blushing deeply. "I don't know how Luke and Julie deal with me." he added.
Alex chuckled, "I don't know if I could take care of a toddler, so I couldn't tell you. Are they good at taking care of you?"
Reggie nodded quickly, "Mhm! I was little earlier, we made a blanket fort and cuddled and watched-" Reggie cut himself off, realizing he was talking in his little voice again. He felt little so much more often now, when he knew he had people to take care of him. He spent a lot of time in his headspace.
Not an unhealthy amount, he still managed his band responsibilities and such, but those were his only responsibilities. Besides the band, practices and song writing, he just sat around. And filling his free time with being a kid was kinda fun.
Plus, he was being asked about two of his favorite people in the whole world! The bestest Mama and...Luke, in the world. How could he not slip when talking about them in that sense? They made him feel safe.
"What did you watch?" Alex asked curiously, smirking a bit when he realized what was happening.
"Winnie the Pooh." Reggie answered quietly. "D-do you have any more questions?" Reggie bit on his lip, fiddling with his hands in his lap. He didn't need to be little right now. But he did really, really want to.
Well, maybe he did need more little time. He had just done a really brave and scary thing, and now that everything was okay, some more relaxing time seemed nice. No, no, no. He was fine. He could be big, he was a teenager.
"I can't think of any now, but I'm sure they'll come up....oh, do you wanna hang out with Willie or something? It can be like a playdate thing, or just some time to talk about everything together now that you have something in common," Alex offered. "You don't have too, I know you're not close to him-"
"I'd love to. Meeting another little sounds nice," Reggie interrupted. "Just take me with you when you go to see him."
"I think that's it for now. We can talk more later," Alex said, Reggie nodding in agreement immediately. "For now, do you wanna go to the studio to be with Luke and Julie?"
Reggie nodded a bit. Alex stood up, Reggie following his actions. They poofed into the studio, seeing Julie and Luke on the couch. "Can- can we play cars, please?" Reggie stumbled over his words, his voice falling into a childlike one as he ran over to where they were sitting.
Luke glanced at Julie, who looked to Alex. They all seemed to make a silent agreement. Tonight was a little night. A chance for Alex to meet Little Reggie, and for Reggie to try regressing around him willingly.
He wasn't completely little yet, but he could be. The smallest thing could push him into his headspace right now. That wasn't a bad thing, though. He was feeling small because he felt safe. And feeling safe means more baby time.
That's simply how it worked.
Luke and Julie take care of Reggie, because they're good with kids and don't mind babysitting. That's just how it worked.
Reggie regressed a lot, because it helped him. That's how it works.
Alex is supportive of his friends, because he cares about them. Fortunately for Reggie, that's how things worked.
Right now, things were working pretty well overall. All three of his closest friends were supportive of him, setting him up for a life where he can regress fairly openly. Plus, he'd get to talk to another little. He was pretty happy with the situation.
Let's just hope things stay that way. Let's hope that things continue going well and everyone stays happy.
But is that how things work?
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A/N: Haha spooky onimous endings are funny, especially when used in a fic genre that usually doesn't focus on plot/suspense. Have fun theorizing as I work on the next chapter.