[TommyInnit Oneshots]

{Sometimes He Can Be a Child}

TW// REFERENCED ABUSE

All of the Sleepy Bois Inc had met up for Christmas that year, all of them staying with Wilbur. The man was now living alone in an apartment instead of the the flat he was at before. Currently, Phil was unpacking his stuff in the guest room, Techno and Tommy both had agreed to take the living room since they insisted that Phil should have the only guest bedroom.

Wilbur was in his own room, cleaning his stuff up while Tommy was laying down on his bed. Normally he'd shoo the youngest out of the room, but the boy had been extremely off since when he first picked him up from the teen's house. The silence normally was calm with the boy but now it was only stressful. Soon enough he deemed his room clean and sat next to Tommy, running his fingers through the boy's hair with one hand.

"Did something happen, Tommy? You've been very...quiet since you got here," Wilbur spoke casually but held a lot of concern in it. The boy sighed but simply nodded his head, not giving a verbal response as he leaned into the hand slightly. The older frowned, so used to getting verbal responses from the boy so this heavily concerned him.

"Tommy, I need you to talk to me," he gently encouraged, unsure of how to continue before adding on. "I can't help if I don't know," the boy let out a small whine of frustration, shocking Wilbur slightly. What the man was unaware of was the fact his baby brother was fighting off a regression. His life at home wasn't the best, not at all, and he had been forced to grow up far too quickly. He was stressed and anxious constantly and used age regression as a way of coping. He had brought some of his little gear with him but didn't expect to need to use it.

The comfortable and safe environment that he was finally in made him start slipping into headspace. His little self was the opposite of his usual self. He was quiet and very non-verbal when little just like how he was when he was younger. He's loud and seemingly confident because of traumatic experiences, he's learned that. Tommy's therapist had suggested age regression the previous year to cope with his abusive household and he'd been regressing alone without telling anyone since.

Now, finally being away from the abuse, he just wanted comfort and to de-stress by being little. He curled up into a ball, facing where Wilbur was sitting and scooting over to place his head in the man's lap. This shocked the older before he slowly started carding his fingers through the boy's hair, blunt fingernails eventually massaging the younger's scalp. He used his free hand to text Phil to have him and Techno come into his room to help with Tommy.

The two were in the room in less than a minute, seeing the boy curled up and biting the fingernail on his thumb as he looked like he was on the verge of tears. Phil quickly rushed over, sitting down on the bed. Techno stood awkwardly in the doorway, waiting to see what would happen before he steps in to help. He didn't want to overwhelm the upset boy.

He was right on the verge of slipping while still being in his normal headspace, the sudden panic making him want to slip even more. He struggled to stay big as all three men looked worriedly at him. He wanted to snuggle his cow plush, Henry, and suck on his Paci while his worries would go away. He wanted to watch Up and giggle as he played with the sensory cube he owned. He wanted to be small.

"Hey, Toms. Everything alright, bud?" The eldest gently asked, hearing the boy whine and then shake his head 'no' a few stray tears falling down his face. This shocked all three of them and made everyone deeply concerned. It seemed obvious he wasn't gonna talk anytime soon so Phil kept asking yes or no questions. "Did we do something?" He shook his head. "Did something happen at home?" He nodded his head. "Do you wanna talk about it?" He shook his head. "Is there anything we should know?" A nod of his head. "Is there anyway we can help?" Another nod.

With that Tommy pulled out his phone and typed something in real quick before shoving it into Phil's hands and hiding his face with his arm, moving to sit up instead of having his head in Wilbur's lap despite how safe it made him feel. Phil carefully read what the boy had showed him. 'Age Regression?' He thought to himself, having heard of it but not knowing a lot. He waved Techno over and showed him what was on the phone screen, the man's eyes lighting up in realization. "Yeah I know what that is, I had a friend who regressed and I was their caregiver for a year. Their partner took over the role after two months into their relationship," Techno informed, making Tommy perk up and peek his face out.