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“Rainy color?” Sky asks cutely as he reaches his hands out towards Rain, who was frozen in shock. Sky’s eyes were big, round, and clear. He wasn’t more close off and hesitant like he usually was. Instead, it was like he forgot whatever made him hesitant to show Rain his other side. Rain wasn’t shocked because Sky let down the wall he hides behind. No, Rain was shocked, because he just found out his best friend is also a Little.
“Rainy no color?” Sky sniffed, as tears began building up, already looking close to tipping over the edge. He doesn’t like how quiet Rain is, or how he’s just staring at him. Sky feels like he’s being judged, and he hates being judged, especially by those he trusts and loves.
‘How couldn’t I tell he was slipping?’ Rain thought to himself, as he let himself kneel down next to Sky. How did he not realize Sky was a Little?! After all, he regresses himself.
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Flashback
“Alright guys, that’s the end of class. Please remember that your models are due next week, and your presentation will be due the following week.” Their teacher called out as they started packing their things. Rain had been lost the entire class, finding himself looking around the room more than once, or getting distracted by something on his desk.
He was trying a new set of meds for his ADHD, because his last one wasn’t working too well. His doctor did say his body needed a bit of time to get use to it, so his meds won’t show any signs of improvement yet, meaning Rain may as well be failing his class, because he can’t focus. It was frustrating really, trying to focus on important things and getting lost trying to do something else.
“Rain, are you trying to stay for another class?” Sig snickered, snapping Rain out of his momentary daze, which consisted of him trying to spin his pencil on his desk. When Rain looked up, he found Sig and Por hovering close to his desk, amused and slightly confused by Rain’s pencil spinning.
Rain looked to his right, finding Sky still packing his things, a little slower than usual, and Ple standing next to his desk, waiting for him to finish.
“Rain, I’m serious, are you really waiting for the next class to start, or are you going to pack your things?” Sig asks again, walking closer to Rain’s desk, and grabbing his attention once more. Rain rolled his eyes and started stuffing his note books and pencils into his backpack, scoffing at Sig’s urgency.
“If you need to go somewhere, go without me.” Rain huffed out as he zipped his backpack up and stood from his seat, walking over to Por, who was trying to hold back his laughter.
“Fine, you can’t grab lunch with me then.” Sig declared, and Rain wrapped his arm around Por’s arm, sticking his tongue out at Sig.
“Fine, Por and I can have lunch without you then.” Rain sasses, and Por nodded.
“I’m fine having lunch without Sig. At least it’ll be peaceful.” Por agreed, and Sig pouted and shuffled his way over to Rain, grabbing onto his free arm.
“Wait, I don’t want to eat lunch alone. I’m sorry.” Sig whined, shaking Rain's hand. Rain and Por both laughed at Sig’s sudden emotional change, and Rain pulled his arm away from Sig.
“No, you said you want to eat lunch without me, so you will.” Rain states firmly.
“Yeah; why don’t you ask Sky and Ple if they want to eat with you. I’m already thinking about my peaceful lunch away from you.” Por agreed, and Sig looked over at Sky and Ple, ignoring how Sky seems to be lost in thought, and how Ple was giving him a worried look.
“Do you guys think I’m that annoying? Do I really ruin lunch?” Sig asked, giving the two of them puppy dog eyes. Sky didn't look at him, and Rain could tell something was wrong.
“Well, you do laugh loud enough to burst someone’s eardrums.” Ple points out, and Sig’s confident stance drops a bit. Sig looks over at Sky, hoping to hear otherwise from him, but that’s when he notices Sky’s distant look, and the way he doesn’t seem like he heard anything that happened.
“Sky, are you okay?” Rain worriedly asked, beating Sig to his own question. Sky blinks a few times as he turns to look at Rain. His eyes seem a little glossy, and his legs are shaking a bit, but it’s barely noticeable. His right hand is twitching a bit, mainly his thumb, and he glanced around the room before looking at Rain.
“What?” Sky mumbled in confusion, and Rain frowned.
“Sky, he asked if you’re okay. You seem like you’re spacing out.” Por says, also frowning at Sky’s confusion.
“I’m fine, just tired.” Sky states, though he seems unsure of his own words, like he can’t tell if it’s true or not. Ple places a hand on Sky’s shoulder.
“Did you stay up all night working on your model? You know it’s due next week. You don’t have to finish it now.” Ple asked worriedly. Sky has a habit of trying to finish everything all at once, and he pulls all-nighters because of it.
“I just didn’t sleep well. I didn’t pull another all nighter.” Sky says, though his voice was quiet enough that everyone had to lean in to hear him.
“Sky, maybe you should go back to your apartment and rest.” Por states, and Rain nods in agreement. They don’t have any more important classes for today, so Sky can go home without missing anything.
“Yeah, Rain, why don’t you take him back to his apartment. He really shouldn’t be going back alone.” Ple says as she turns to look at Rain, who moved away from Por and walked over to Sky, wrapping his arm around Sky’s arm.
“Don’t worry about us. We’ll have lunch, and if you two need anything, just text us.” Sig states. Ple and Por sighs in sync, and while Sky‘a eyes gloss over a bit more.
“All you think about is food. I’m starting to think you like food more than us.” Por comments, and Ple nods her head in agreement.
“If food makes you happy, then food can be your only friend, and food can accompany you to lunch.” Ple laughed out, and she walked over to Por, grabbed his arm, and dragged him towards the door. Sig’s eyes widened, and he quickly ran after them.
“Wait, I don’t love food more than you guys!” Sig yelled out, then he stopped, and turned back to look at Rain and Sky, both who were still standing near Sky’s desk.
“Text me if you want me to bring you both food.” Sig rushed out, before he ran out the room, leaving Sky and Rain alone.
“Let’s go before you collapse on me. I’m not strong enough to carry you.” Rain joked, as he helped Sky walk towards the door. He wished Sky commented on how Rain was too weak to carry him, or made some remark about not needing help, but Sky stayed spaced out, leaving Rain more worried than before.
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Rain should have started noticing the signs during the car ride to Sky’s apartment, but he was too busy driving to watch the way Sky’s eyes widened as he looked out the window, or how he started softly babbling about something underneath his breath. If Rain turned the radio down a bit, he would have heard Sky mumble something about the puppy he saw walking down the sidewalk, or heard how he gasped when he looked up and saw the birds flying in the sky.
When they finally made it to Sky’s apartment, Rain found the closest parking spot near the building, just so Sky wouldn’t have to walk far. He turned off his car, and got out, walking around to the other side to help Sky out, but Sky had already got out of the car and was now crouched down, looking at the bug crawling on the ground. Rain almost had a heart attack when he saw Sky on the ground, thinking he fainted when he stepped out.
“Sky, what are you doing?” Rain asked in confusion, and why Sky looked up at him, he was grinning, pointing at the bug crawling around next to him.
“Buggy.” Sky giggled, and Rain had to crouch down to see better, but once he saw the bug crawling on the ground, he recoiled and stood back up, grabbing onto Sky’s arm and pulling him up with him.
“Sky, that’s not a pretty bug.” Rain comments, and Sky gets distracted, as he notices a woman walking outside with her fluffy white dog, who was sniffing along the ground.
“Puppy!” Sky called out, and he pulled rain along as he made his way over to the dog. Rain had to pull him back to slow him down, when a car passed in front of them, but once the area was clear, Sky continued pulling him.
“Puppy, Puppy, Puppy!” Sky called out in excitement, pulling away from Rain’s grasp and running over to the woman and her dog. The woman was startled, having only heard Sky’s yelling a little too late as he ran up to her, but she relaxed once Sky crouched down next to her dog.
“Pet Puppy?” Sky asked cutely, looking up at the woman for permission to pet her dog. The woman was a bit confused by Sky’s wording, but her eyes softened as she crouched down next to Sky, waving her hand and asking her dog to sit.
“This is violet. You’re allowed to pet her.” The woman stated, and Sky placed his hand on Violet’s head, watching her tail wag behind her happily. Rain watched the scene in confusion. At school, Sky seemed tired and shaky, but now he was full of energy. It was strange to see his sudden switch, especially since Sky has never acted this careless before.
“Pretty puppy.” Sky mumbled as he smoothed Violet’s fur, watching in awe as her tail thumped against the concrete. Rain walked over to them, giving the woman a soft ‘wai’ as he crouched down next to Sky.
“Sky, Violet and her owner may be busy.” Rain found himself saying, voice softening as he saw Sky’s big, bright eyes. Sky frowned, but nodded, standing up after petting Violet one last time.
“Thank you.” Rain said as the woman stood up, waving her off as she walked away while waving goodbye to Rain and Sky. Sky turned around to look at Rain, still frowning because his new friend left. Rain still hadn’t connected the dots yet, unable to find a straight answer as to why Sky was acting so differently.
“Come on Sky, let’s get you up to your apartment.” Rain stated, grabbing onto Sky’s hand and pulling him inside. Rain passed by the door leading to the reception desk, ignoring the look he was getting from Joy as he walked by while pulling Sky along with him.
The elevator ride wasn’t eventful, except for Sky asking Rain to push the button. Rain was confused as to why Sky asked him to do that, but once he agreed, he regretted it, as Sky pushed all the buttons in the elevator, and since Rain couldn’t undo them, they stopped at ever floor, Sky giggling to himself as the doors opened every 5 seconds.
Rain guided Sky out of the elevator once they reached his floor, pulling him along towards his apartment door. They reached it pretty quickly, since it wasn’t too far from the elevator, and Rain pulled out his spare key, knowing Sky might not know where his own key is. Once the door was unlocked, they walked in, and Sky quickly took of his shoes and ran towards his room, giggling to himself, as Rain closed and locked the door behind them.
Rain took off his shoes and set his bag down on the island connected to Sky’s kitchen, looking around at the mess around Sky’s apartment. Rain may be bad at keeping his room clean, but Sky’s apartment has never looked so…disorganized. Sky has his model sitting on the coffee table, half built, with pieces scattered across the areas it doesn’t take up. The scraps were littered across his carpet, along with the tools he used, and on the corner of the carpet laid a white teddy bear.
‘Wow, and I thought I was messy.’ Rain thought to himself as he moved over to the teddy bear, picking it up. The white bear was worn down. Its paws were a bit dirty, its fur was torn near its left arm pit, and one of his eyes was loose, though the toy looked loved. Rain has never really seen Sky with a stuffed animal before, so it was a pretty shocking sight to see.
While Rain was distracted, he didn’t realize Sky had run back into the room, holding his coloring book and a box of crayons. It wasn’t until he was sitting down, opening his coloring book to a new page that Rain realized he was there.
“Rainy, color?” Sky asked cutely, looking up at Rain with such an innocent look, as he made grabby hands towards him, wanting Rain to sit down and color with him. Rain only froze because he realized that all of Sky’s weird behaviors pointed towards Regression. Sky had been slipping in the classroom, and when they were alone, he felt safe enough to slip with Rain. That, or Sky hadn’t realized he involuntarily slipped.
‘How couldn’t I tell he was slipping?’ Rain thought to himself. Rain has slipped before, multiple times actually. He didn’t even know he was a Little until finally looked up the reason why he found himself waking up to his things being colored on, and little messes around his apartment as his little side attempted to make food.
It was the first time in his life he actually felt interested in researching, and he spent hours reading up on age regression. He found out there was something called age play, and how people did it as a kink, but Rain also found out about Age Regression, and how peopled used it as a way to relieve stress, cope with trauma, or just to feel happy in a younger mindset. Rain knew age play didn’t fit what was happening to him, and he realized quickly that he was a little.
After Rain realized that he wasn’t going crazy, he found himself regressing more, voluntarily, not involuntarily, and he found himself spending more of his money on toys and snacks and foods that were easily accessible to his little side. Rain even went as far as to start cleaning up more, so his little side was more comfortable, and didn’t have to worry about tripping over the clothes he left around his apartment.
He didn’t know the reason why he slipped in the first place, but he does know that he loves being able to do things without thinking about his school work, or projects. He did wish for a caregiver or a playmate a few times, when he found himself watching cartoons alone, or coloring in his bed, but he didn’t want anyone judging him for acting like a little kid. He just didn’t expect his best friend to be so similar to him.
“Rainy, no color?” Sky asked, looking close to tears. Rain snapped out of his shocked state as he kneeled down next to Sky, quickly shaking his head.
“Wait, don’t cry Sky. I would love to color with you.” Rain rushed out, hoping to see no tears from his best friend. He doesn’t think he could handle a mini meltdown from Sky, especially since he’s at risk of slipping himself.
Sky lit up at Rain’s words, pushing his coloring book more towards Rain as he scooted closer to him.
“Pick.” Sky stated, and he waited patiently as Rain flipped through his coloring book. The majority of the pages were colored in, but a few of them were left blank.
As Rain flipped through the pages, he noticed how Sky tried his best to color inside the lines, though by the shading on the outside, he knew the little gave up after a little while, letting himself color without worry. Rain saw images of cars, and flowers in the color book, wondering why Sky brought it. It’s always hard to find coloring books with multiple things inside, but apparently Sky knows where to find them.
Rain flips through a few more pages, before he eventually finds himself pausing on a page with a frog. The frog was cartoonish, looking nothing like an actual frog. It had big eyes, huge webbed feet, and it was smiling with teeth. Rain found himself fascinated by the picture, and Sky placed the colors in front of the book, laying down on his stomach as he pulled out a few crayons to begin coloring the tulip on the other page. Rain copied Sky’s position, also laying on his stomach as he pulled two green crayons out of the box.
“Pretty flower.” Sky mumbles to himself as he colored in the petals with a pink crayon, not minding when he colored outside the lines. Rain began shading in the frog’s skin, stiff at first, but eventually relaxing and letting the crayon smoothly shade. He got lost in the rhythm his hands were moving in as he tried to leave little to no white spots, and his head started growing fuzzy the more he colored.
Eventually, Rain’s neat coloring turned into a mess of scribbles as he started coloring outside the lines, pulling out random crayons and making his frog bright and pretty. His feet were kicking back and forth behind him as he stuck his tongue out, focusing on coloring the cute frog. Sky took a peek at his picture while he was changing colors and gasped, gaining Rain’s attention.
“Froggy so pretty.” Sky said in awe, and Rain giggled, looking over at Sky’s tulip, which is now pink and blue.
“Your flower pretty too.” Rain replied as he pointed at Sky’s flower, and Sky nodded, grabbing a red crayon. Rain found himself looking over at Sky’s picture more and more as Sky colored the stem red.
With his own picture completely forgotten, Rain grabbed a black crayon and colored the leaf of Sky’s flower, giggling to himself. Sky giggled to, and grabbed the yellow crayon, coloring the cartoon frog’s eyes yellow. They eventually changed positions and started coloring each other’s pictures, chatting about the different colors they’re using.
“This orange.” Sky stated as he pointed at the little bud in the middle of the flower. Rain grabbed the orange crayon, also grabbing the dark blue crayon as well.
“Spots blue!” Rain exclaimed, handing Sky the blue color so he could color in the spots.
“Purple! Purple!” Sky cheered as he touched the little bee that was sitting on the flower.
“Green. Should be green.” Rain called out as he slammed his hand down on the frog’s webbed feet. Sky giggled while nodding, grabbing the green color.
The two found themselves giggling over colors for the next 20 minutes, switching to a different page once their earlier pictures were done. As Rain was coloring the picture of a car that looked like lightning mcqueen, he heard Sky whine beside him.
“Hungry.” Sky whined, and Rain dropped his colors and stood up, almost losing his balance as he stood up too fast, and he made his way over to the kitchen. Sky followed behind him, hungry but also intrigued. Rain opened Sky’s fridge first, noticing the fruits and drinks that were inside. He turned back to look at Sky, who was standing behind him and trying to peek into the fridge.
“Apes?” Rain asked, and Sky’s eyes lit up as he nodded. Rain grabbed the container of grapes, almost dropping them as he closed the refrigerator, and he sat down on the ground. Sky sat down next to him, and waited for Rain to open the color, before reaching out to grab a few. The two happily munched on them, not caring about the stems they were leaving on the floor, or how sticky their hands were getting because of the juice.
They both eventually got tired of eating grape, and Rain opened the fridge again and pulled out the bottle of apple juice Sky keeps in his fridge. Rain sat back on the floor, and opened the bottle, pushing it over to Sky, who took a few sips of it, before pushing it back over to Rain, who also took a few sips out of it. Rain eventually tried to sit the bottle down, but the bottle tipped over instead, spilling the liquid on the ground. Sky and Rain both gasped, looking at each other.
“Oh no!” Rain yelled out as he stood up, running to grab some paper towels off the counter. Sky stayed sitting on the floor, watching the way the juice slowly trickled towards him. When Rain turned back towards Sky and the spilled juice, he found Sky running his fingers through the juice, slashing it everywhere as he giggled.
“Ky no!” Rain yelled out, running over to Sky, who looked up at him happily. Rain sat down on the floor and placed paper towels over the spill, cleaning up the mess as best as possible, which wasn’t great, but it’ll be their problem in the future. Rain then placed paper towels in Sky’s hand, helping him clean the sticky mess off of them as he watched Sky giggle.
They left the paper towels on the floor and migrated towards the couch, where Rain found the remote and put on a cartoon with surprising ease. Apparently all his cartoon watching while little paid off. Sky didn’t really care for the cartoon, because he got lost in the flashing colors moving around the screen.
Rain was extremely interested in the cartoon he put on, being dramatic and gasping when something surprising happened. He found himself looking at Sky half the time, wondering if they were seeing the same thing. Sky didn’t comment on the cartoon as much as Rain did, but he didn’t complain when Rain talked over the cartoon a few times.
The two littles eventually started drifting off. All their excitement was wearing off, making them super tired, and Sky was the first to fall asleep, laying his head down on Rain’s lap. Rain couldn't keep his own eyes open, and they drooped as he leaned back into the couch, drifting off into a peaceful sleep.
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“Why did this have to happen? Why couldn’t you hold yourself back? He probably thinks you’re weird and disgusting.”
Rain woke up to the sound of whispering. The first thing he registered was how sore his neck was from leaning it back while sleeping. The second thing he registered was the fact that he’s not in his headspace anymore, and the third thing he registered was that Sky was pacing around his kitchen and whispering to himself.
“Sky?” Rain called out as he yawned, sitting up and stretching. Sky paused his pacing, looking over at Rain in horror, which was a bit startling to see. Sky looked away from him.
“Sky?” Rain called out again confused on why Sky wasn’t answering him. He stood up, making his way towards the kitchen island while trying not to step on the tools on the floor. Sky still didn’t look at him.
“Rain, I think you should leave.” Sky stated, still not looking at him.
“Why?” Rain asked, because maybe he wasn’t getting something.
“I’d rather not hear how disgusted you are with me, and I know you probably don’t want to be friend anymore.” Sky rushed out, and Rain frowned.
“Why wouldn’t I stay friends with you?” Rain asked, walking around the island to stand in front of Sky. Sky turned away from him, not daring to look into his friend’s eyes.
“I acted like a baby and was being weird. You must think I’m crazy or something.” Sky said sadly, and it finally clicked for Rain. Sky didn’t think Rain accepted his little space.
“Sky, I don’t know if you remembered what happened, but I was acting like a baby too.” Rain points out, and Sky turns around, giving Rain a confused look.
“What?”
“I know you regressed. I also regress. Being a little isn’t bad, it’s actually very helpful.” Rain explained, and Sky narrowed his eyes.
“Who are you and what have you done with Rain?” Sky said cautiously, and Rain laughed.
“I’m me. I can tell you know about Age Regression, and that you’re a little. I’m a little too.” Rain admitted, and Sky looked him up and down, before hesitating.
“Really?” Sky asked, and Rain nodded.
“I couldn’t tell you were regressed at first, since you looked so tired and all, but once we got to your apartment, I realized, and well I kind of slipped while we were coloring.” Rain said sheepishly, and Sky rolled his eyes.
“I wouldn’t have put it past you. You aren’t ever observant.” Sky huffs out, and Rain pouts.
“Hey, I took care of you. You should be nice to me.” Rain said while pouting, and Sky stared at him.
“If taking care of me meant slipping with me, then you weren’t actually taking care of me.” Sky points out.
“I saved you from getting hit by a car!” Rain cried out, and Sky smirked.
“Yeah, then slipped and made a huge mess in my apartment.” Sky teases.
“You made the mess with me! I’m not the only one at fault.” Rain yelled out, and Sky shushed him.
“Fine. Thank you…for taking care of me.” Sky said, and Rain lit up, walking over to Sky and grabbing onto his hand.
“Does this mean we can have play date, and sleep overs together, while Little?” Rain pleaded, giving Sky his puppy dog eyes. Sky looked away from Rain, hiding his smile.
“Idk…maybe if you clean up the mess you made, and order us food.” Sky stated, forcing himself to sound hesitant, and Rain unattached himself from Sky and dove towards the counter, reaching for the paper towels. Sky watched as Rain frantically cleaned the sticky floor, and found himself smiling.
“Don’t forget about the crayons, and my coloring book.” Sky called out as he walked away from Rain, pulling out his phone to order them takeout. He heard Rain hit something in his kitchen, and he just hopes he doesn’t break anything.
‘That went better than expected. I definitely chose the right best friend.’ Sky thought to himself, as he sat down on his couch and scrolled through the different food options. He may still be a bit skeptical, and it may take him a bit longer to realize that Rain wants to be around when he regressed, but if they’re doing it together, then Sky has nothing to worry about. They may not have a caregiver, but they do have each other.