this took way longer than expected, but i hope you enjoy anyways
Too Small
//warnings: panic attacks, shrinking doll/stress regression, mentions of diaper rash and past abuse, super long and may melt your heart//
“Madelyn? Madelyn, you’re supposed to say your line. Madelyn?”
Even though the director was in front of her, although a couple feet away, Maddie could barely hear her.
She could only hear her loudly-beating heart, her blood running cold, and her unsteady, shaky breathing.
She then saw Amber walk up to her, clearly concerned, before backing away at a producer probably scolding her again.
Everything was too much.
Bright lights filled the room, with cameras and concerned eyes staring her down.
Tears made their traces down her face as she turned back, opened the door to the prop cabin, and ran, faster than she had ever been.
Maddie could barely breathe. Her chest tightened painfully as she ran, gasping for air when it was possible, and she immediately rushed towards one of the off-set trailers and slammed the door shut, blocking it with her back for a split second, just before wobbling to one of the beds.
Dark colours briefly clouded her vision as she felt as if she was on the brink of fainting.
Her head felt too heavy for her legs, but that didn’t matter for her as she bellyflopped into what she recognised as Viola’s bed, wrapping herself in the blankets to stop herself from feeling so cold.
She just felt too small.
* * *
“MADELYN!”
“Haley, don’t shout.” Tanner lightly chided, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll probably spook her even more.”
“But we don’t know how far she’s gone.” she told him.
“Haley, did you even notice the footprints she’s left behind?” Charlotte told her, gesturing towards the faint footprints in the grass.
“Oh, those.” Haley said in a normal voice, looking down at said footprints. “I never noticed those.”
“May I suggest you update your prescription?” Charlotte asked.
“Guys!” Amber interjected. “The footprints lead here.”
She then gestured to one of the off-set trailers they sleep in. “She might be in there, hiding.” she said. “Haley, Tanner, doesn’t she tend to hide when the producers put too much on her back?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Haley said. “And she seems to like sleeping on our beds. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but…”
“She looked more distressed than usual. Maybe someone should go check on her.” Tanner interjected.
“I’ll do it.” Amber said, raising her hand. “Just, don’t follow me in. We don’t want to spook her even more.”
“Good idea, Anber.” Tanner said, before realising what he just said.
“Wait, what did you just call me?” Amber asked, bewildered, yet holding back a giggle. “Never mind.”
She then walked into the trailer, gently shutting the door behind her.
“Madelyn? Are you in here?” Amber called softly, looking around the bunks for a sign of Maddie. “Everyone’s worried about you.”
Then, she saw something stirring underneath a pile of blankets on Viola’s bunk, making Amber gasp a bit.
As she made her way towards the bed, it became very obvious to her that there was something underneath the blankets, so she gently took them off to reveal the last thing she’d expected.
It was an infant.
Or more specifically, a dark-haired infant covered in a large pink hoodie, which could only mean one thing for Amber.
“Madelyn?” Amber whispered, picking up the infant to cradle her in her light tan arms. “I’m so sorry. Did the producers push you too much?”
Maddie nodded, whining as she leaned into her, clearly trying to get what little comfort she was definitely feeling.
“I’m sorry…” Amber repeated. “C’mon, we’ll get you comfortable.”
* * *
When Maddie slowly started to wake up again, she slowly began to notice her surroundings.
She felt softer now, and she didn’t feel cold anymore, but she felt something rubbery in her mouth for some reason, which was weird. Maddie also heard quiet footsteps pattering about wherever she was.
As her eyes fluttered open, she immediately realised she was still in the trailer she’d hid in, except the blinds were now closed, blocking most of the late June sun.
She also saw Viola at the kitchenette, turning on the faucet to run… something under the water. Maddie’s vision was still blurry from waking up.
As she continued to look around, blinking the sleep out of her eyes, she found out that she was lying in a small crib.
—Wait…—Maddie thought—WHAT?!—
At that point she’d finally gotten the energy to sit up and knee-walk to the edge of the crib, holding onto the bars like she was in jail.
At the same time, Viola made her way over to the crib, crouching down to look Maddie in the eyes.
“I know this is all confusing.” she told the bab quietly, but not whispering. “You had another panic attack, and now you’re… here. All we’re doing is trying to make you as comfortable as possible before it blows over.”
Viola stuck her fingers between the bars for Maddie to hold, but the bab was more interested in reaching out to try and grab her raven hair.
“Oh, uh okay then.” Viola then stuck her hand out from between the bars to pick Maddie up, holding her in the cradle position while the bab tried to grab at the young woman’s stray hairs.
“So, the reason why you’re in a crib is because it’d be unsafe for you to sleep in one of the trailer beds because you’d suffocate.” she explained. “And we have baby formula here because you barely have any teeth to chew, and also, everyone panicked because there’s suddenly a baby here.”
Maddie looked away sadly, her eyes welling up a bit.
“Hey, not that we hate you or anything.” Viola assured. “It’s not your fault you had such a bad panic attack.”
Maddie practically melted in her arms, practically forgetting about the panic she felt during that take.
Then, she felt the rubbery thing get taken out of her mouth and set down somewhere, making her open her eyes to see that Viola had now changed her hold on Maddie, and the thing in her mouth was unmistakably a binky.
She distinctively remembered one foster family she had who weaned her off those things as a toddler because they were both dentists.
—Too bad they were so busy…—thought Maddie as Viola sat down and placed the formula bottle to the infant’s mouth.
The stuff tasted like lukewarm milk, with a slight sourness to it, and a hint of pennies.
—I want my teeth back…—Maddie thought as she gummed the tip of the bottle, her eyes half-open, staring up at Viola, who currently had a small smile tugging on her lips.
Maddie then considered herself done and tried to push the bottle away with her stubby hands, prompting Viola to pull it out of her mouth.
“I can tell you’re all done, now.” she said, bouncing the bab once more. “Now, I have to go check up on your other needs, ok?”
Viola then got up from what Maddie soon realised was the creaky old armchair she occasionally saw her co-stars lucid dream in.
She then saw that Viola was heading towards the bathroom, making Maddie internally panic.
–Oh gods, oh no. Oh no no no. She’s probably gonna have to see me naked. Oh Jesus, oh no no no no no–Maddie thought while fussing, prompting Viola to hush her, bouncing the bab on her hip.
“Now now,” she said. “I’m just making sure you won’t get anything like dermatitis or any skin infections. I won’t cause you any harm, I promise.”
Maddie remembered those from her last period of Shrinking Doll. That bout of diaper rash felt more like she was on fire than anything. That pain was made even worse with the beatings she’d endured meant to make her stay shrunk.
“Yep, you’re fine.”
Maddie’s train of thought stopped in its tracks as she was brought back to reality. They were now in the trailer bathroom, and Maddie was laid down on a towel on the countertop, her pale purple onesie now unzipped.
As Viola slowly zipped the onesie back up, she picked up and held Maddie on her hip and headed out of the bathroom with her.
“We did all this because this isn’t the first time a co-star shrunk down like that.” Viola told Maddie as she picked the binky back up to put it in the bab’s mouth, causing her to gum on the nipple, for lack of a better word. “You remember Clemmie, right?”
Maddie nodded, but not before noticing that Viola was now heading out of the door, shielding the bab’s eyes from the midsummer sun.
As they both got adjusted to the brightness, Viola spoke again.
“So, the reason why the finale of the first season took so long to finish was because Clemmie almost died from bullet wounds, so we had to make sure she was healthy enough and attended her mother’s funeral.” she explained. “But during the funeral, Clemmie went on an understandable rant about how awful of a person her father was in life, and when she went to sit back down, she shrunk, and the episode lasted for a week.”
–That’s horrible–Maddie thought, suddenly noticing that she was fussing about again, prompting Viola to change her holding position and bounce her a bit. “Oh, I really shouldn’t have brought that up,” Viola muttered. “But, we do need to bring you to the others to show you’re alright.”
From there, Maddie noticed the studio in the distance. The place meant for indoor scenes and when the trailers got too crowded. That was the place, and her mind raced at the mere thought of her worried co-stars, so she decided to lean into Viola once more.
* * *
The air inside the studio felt much cooler and more comfortable than the outdoors, now that she and Viola were inside the place.
But then Maddie noticed Haley and Tanner, who then trotted towards Viola with worry on their faces.
“How’s Maddi–oh wait there she is!”
Haley then slowly approached Maddie, which was a first for the bab, but she decided to practically melt back into Viola once more as Haley partially reached out her hand for Maddie to grab.
“Wha?” Maddie cooed, forgetting that she couldn’t speak for a split second.
“Haley’s an aunt, so she’s as careful as she can around her brothers’ kids.” Tanner told her as if he’d read her mind. “Those people are far, far, more pleasant than her parents.”
“Tanner, Vio, it was ONE TIME my parents insulted me over toilet paper.” Haley stated. “How come you’re still hung up about that?”
Tanner and Viola looked unamused, while Maddie was just confused.
“So, what now?” Viola asked.
“Maybe visit Ambi and Wesley, if they’re able to.” Haley suggested.
“Wait, what do you mean, ‘if they’re able to’?” Viola asked, fear rising in her voice, causing Maddie to begin to fuss about a bit.
“Amber looked at her script and asked to change the circumstances of her elimination, and the producers reacted VERY badly.” Tanner explained. “They hit her and began shouting at her, calling her a bunch of slurs and everything, so Wesley came in and walked her to the other trailer. Last time I saw her, she could barely lift her head because of how upset she was.”
With that, Maddie burst into tears. She just couldn’t stop herself. As a result, Viola and her partners trotted to the couch so she could try and calm the bab down.
“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Tanner said as Viola held the bab close to her. “Did I say too much?”
Maddie wanted to speak, but she quickly realised she couldn’t, so she just leaned into Viola’s chest, prompting her to stroke her hair with her free hand.
“I’m here.” Viola whispered to the bab. “I don’t know if Amber is injured, but she’s in very good hands, just like you.”
As she said so, Maddie began to calm down a little, trying to wipe a bit of tears from her puffy cheeks, before Viola took care of it.
“Now, Maddie, we’ll go visit Amber and Wesley together.” Viola told her in that low, quiet voice she had soothed the bab with. “Haley, Tanner, you should stay here. We don’t want to spook Amber.”
* * *
The other trailer was dark, with the AC set on high from what Maddie felt, so she tried to lean into Viola, despite the fact that the older ravenette had a firm hold on her.
From there, the pair heard breathing from one of the bunks. When they got closer, they saw what was unmistakably Wesley and Amber, with the latter resting on his chest.
Wesley had streaks of dried tears down his face, and Amber looked even worse. Her eyes around the edges were reddened, and one side of her cheek was redder than the other, with more streaks of dried tears down her face, yet she looked sound asleep.
“I heard what happened.” Viola said quietly, but not whispering. “Are you okay?”
Wesley nodded as Maddie reached out her arm, cooing. Then, they all noticed Amber moving around before she sat up, smiling weakly.
“Maddie…” she said sleepily. “You’re okay…are you?”
Maddie nodded slightly, now noticing her eyes were getting heavier.
“I’m so glad you’re doing okay,” Ambi told her. “Well…unlike me.”
Viola sighed. “Yeah, I heard about what those producers did to you.” she sniffed. “It was more than enough to get Maddie to cry, speaking of which…”
Maddie could barely keep her eyes open now, but Viola didn’t mind. The older ravenette waved bye bye to the couple as she held the bab in her arms, bouncing her more and more until Maddie’s world was dark with sleep.
* * *
The first thing Madelyn noticed was that she didn’t feel small anymore, but there was someone holding onto her.
She shifted around to her other side, causing her eyes to open a little bit, where she was face to face with—
“Viola?” Madelyn asked quietly, causing her kinda-mom to shift around under the covers.
“Yeah?” she asked.
“Can you get up? I have to use the bathroom.”
Viola complied, shifting around and getting up from the bunk so that Madelyn could do the same.
Then, her dark russet eyes widened in shock to see Madelyn. “...y-you’re ten again?!” she stammered. “Ah, who am I kidding, Charlotte never let you out of her sight.”
Maddie didn’t question it because she made her way to the bathroom to do what had to be done.
end
