little - tommy (1-5)
cg - phil
others - wilbur, technoblade
can you tell tommy is my comfort character? probably half the oneshots i write he'll at least be apart of. also this has a bi!wilbur and ftm!techno hc
tw - nervous shy little, a tiny bit of harmful
stimming (picking, biting self, scratching), minor swearing
————— | 3rd person | —————
"It's, it's called age regression, or just agere. Do you know what that is?" Tommy questioned.
Phil shook his head, rubbing the back of Tommy's neck comfortingly knowing pressure there helped him a lot.
"It's a coping mechanism, someone's brain goes back to that of a child. And it's not just acting childish sometimes, your brain literally puts you in the mindset of a child" Tommy explains, now picking at his cuticles, "That headspace is called littlespace. There's also babyspace. It depends on what age you regress to"
"And you do this? That's why you have that stuff" Phil asks.
"Yeah, I'm a little. I- I'm sorry I shouldn't have said anything, I can stay at Tubbo and Ranboo's for a bit if you want-"
"Tommy" The boy slowly look up at him, "It's ok Tommy, I'm not kicking you out. Never. I don't care how you cope, I don't care what you identify as or who you like. You are my child, and I'm never going to get rid of you"
I didn't kick Wil out when he came out as bi, I didn't kick Techno out when he came out as trans. You thought I would send you back when you got your CPTSD diagnosis, and again with your ADHD and Autism diagnosis' but I didn't right? Because I love you and nothing is ever ever going to change that"
When Phil finished his mini speech Tommy was crying again. He let his father wrap his arms around him once more, staying in the embrace even after he calmed down fully.
"Can I ask you some questions Tommy?" Phil asked.
"Go ahead"
"When you regress, how old are you?"
"It's different for everybody, I go anywhere from 1 to 5. Usually I slip, another word for regress, without meaning to, but recently I started doing more. It- I guess it feels good to be a little kid sometimes" Tommy explained, Phil smiling at how cute he found his son.
"Does anybody know? Like, does anyone take care of you?"
"Tubbo has known for awhile, I had a sensory overload at his house a while back and slipped and he looked it up. He's the one who told me what it was. Ranboo found out as well a few months ago, and they take care of me if I slip around them but they aren't my caregivers, just babysitters kind of. Michael also knows but I don't think he understands, we just play together sometimes"
"Caregiver?" Phil could guess what that was he still wanted to confirm. He was really trying to understand.
"Someone who takes care of a little. Technically Tubbo fits the criteria or whatever but I don't know, we talked about it and it didn't seem like the right label per say" Tommy explained, "Most littles see cgs as parental figures, going so far as calling them mommy and daddy. I don't see them that way"
"Do you need an official caregiver?" Phil blurted.
"What? Do you mean-"
"Me. I'm sure your brothers would love to take care of you if you told them as well. And I mean I have experience with kids, I have three and I fostered long before you guys as well" Tommy lit up, his hands flapping in excitement.
