Their Little Beauty (MxMxM+)

Chapter Twenty-Four: A Day of Adventure (Part One)

It was cold, which was the first thing that clued Quinn in that something was different than normal; usually he woke up sweating from every pore in his body. Sleeping with two other people worked much better than extra blankets.

Opening his eyes to find where his lovers had gone, he blinked in surprise to see that he was nose-to-nose with Briar. Pulling back to look around, Quinn quickly realised that he must have fallen asleep in the boy's room the night before. 

It was then he remembered Briar stirring every time he tried to leave the room, crying in his sleep or whimpering in what seemed like pain. Yet now Little Briar slept soundly, large arms wrapped around Quinn's larger one and legs scrunched up to his belly in the foetal position. His eyes were slightly crusty, no doubt from all of the tears he had spilled, and his lips were set in a pout. 

He's so adorable. I hated seeing him so distraught last night. Let's hope today is better for him.

"Hm..." the boy hummed, snuggling closer then releasing a heavy, slow breath and relaxing again. The caregiver smiled, brushing knotted hair out of the way of the boy's pretty face and gently working his fingers through it until the nearby strands fell in smooth dark locks against the pillows. He was happy to lay there a while longer, enjoying the peaceful sensation warming his chest while sunlight slowly came in through the thin curtains. 

But when Briar groaned a little while later then stretched, back arching like a cat and his t-shirt riding up, Quinn knew it was time to greet the day and whatever it would bring. He gently pulled down the edge of the boy's t-shirt, given that it was rather cold so early in the morning. 

"Quinny" the boy said, voice cloudy from sleep as were his eyes.

He's still in Littlespace it seems. 

"Good morning, Sweetheart. Did you sleep well, no more bad dreams?". 

His face scrunched up in thought before those dark eyes widened. "No bad dreams! Quinny kept me safe, thank you!" he cheered and hugged the large man. 

"You're very welcome".

Natural silence fell between them, Quinn watching as the Little slowly awoke further, sitting cross-legged and looking around the room with hazy eyes. It seemed he recognised where he was this time which made the caregiver very happy. 

Hopefully his lack of anxiety or fear means Little Briar likes it here and feels safe with us. 

But eventually, he had to break the silence and try to obtain some insight; if he could figure out what feelings or thoughts were specifically triggering the regressions, he was hoping that Big Briar would be open to working on the root of the issues, therefore having it so that regressing didn't happen accidentally. Because as much as he absolutely loved Little Briar being around, knowing he only appeared due to negative emotions or experiences would always leave Big Briar associating regression as bad.

That wasn't how it should be, and it wasn't healthy. Maybe one day, eventually, Briar would consider regressing to be a helpful or enjoyable activity to partake in but until then, Quinn wanted him to be happy and healthy now.

"Sweetheart, can I ask you a question?". 

"Hmhm". 

"Do you know why you're Little right now? Or maybe why it happened last night?".

Briar turned his face down and began fiddling with the blanket, poking the penguins on their noses then pinching their toes. "I was sad. Really sad". 

"Why were you sad, little one?".