One-Thousand Light Years Away

by radioangel

Summary:

007n7 misses C00lkidd and unknowingly regresses. Fortunately for him, Elliot quickly took notice and handled the situation.

 

There will be more chapters added, but the first one is pretty short because it’s 2:38AM and I’ve been writing this since 1:17AM, and I’m tIre’s and want to sleep

Notes:

made some mild edits/fixed mispellings, added depictions of violence into the warnings for future chapters

THIS IS NOT SEXUAL AND IF YOU MAKE IT SEXUAL I WILL TAKE YOU OUT BACK AND SHOOT YOU 57 TIMES.

aaaa this is the first fic I’ve written since like 2022, and I use a fuck ton of commas and “-“ things so PLEASE bear with me I promise I can write better I just need to get used to it. ALSO, 007n7’s experiences with age regression in this fic are based on mine and might not be completely accurate to his character, but I’m just writing with my knowledge on the subject as an age regressor myself and slightly project into him. However, I did try to write him at least mostly accurate to at least how I see him in the game!! (and yes the title is a refrence to Slime Rancher)

Chapter 1: Absentminded

007n7 sat idly on the couch, mindlessly fidgeting with a flower he had picked earlier before gently putting it on the table after Guest let everyone know that dinner was ready. The last match had been a particularly hard one- as all matches against C00lkidd were. 007n7 couldn’t bear the sight of the other survivors stunning his son as he tried to “tag” them, even if they had to do so to avoid dying. 007n7 wanted nothing more but to hug C00lkidd and tell him they’d eventually get out, that they’d go back to normal. And just as quickly as the round started, it ended, C00lkidd hugged his dad as he braced for the feeling of his neck snapping- a sensation he had become much too used to feeling. 007n7 snapped himself out of his thoughts and went over to the dining table, sitting next to Elliot and Guest, the only two survivors who he considered “friends” in this place, the others merely tolerating him, or at worst, disliking him. 007n7 quietly ate his dinner as everyone else chatted amongst themselves, discussing who should be the next pair to go foraging and hunting next. 007n7 blocked out the mindless chatter, pinching his forehead as he tried to ignore the fuzzy feeling that quickly spread across his mind, not noticing Two Time addressing him, asking for the salt.

“Hey, n7! The salt..?” Two Time called out for what seemed like the hundredth time, waving their hand and finally getting the older’s attention, 007n7 snapping out of his thoughts once again and realizing he had been holding the small salt shaker for god knows how long.

“Ah, yes, sorry Two Time..” 007n7 weakly responded before handing the salt over, which was out of character for him. Normally he was awkward when talking to others, but never that awkward, he never seemed so… meek when talking to others, he was never that,, spacey.. Two Time shrugged at the thought and grabbed the salt as soon as it was handed to them, eagerly piling it onto their plate. Elliot however, took notice and immediately connected the dots, remembering what happened earlier in the round with C00lkid, and how nearly everyone criticized 007n7 for letting himself be killed, losing the Last Man Standing for the third time that month, and how that, as well as the guilt that had been growing in the back of his mind must’ve overwhelmed him to the point of regressing, as 007n7 never voluntarily regressed- waiting for it to eventually take over, leading to him not noticing when he regressed more often than not. Elliot turned to face 007n7, who was separating the berries on his plate from the potatoes, messily cutting up the rabbit meat into smaller chunks and occasionally sliding food over onto Guest’s plate- as he couldn’t eat the big portion he had been served (gastroparesis is a bitch). Elliot gently tapped on 007n7’s shoulder, noticing he had been more quiet than usual, and how he was fidgeting more, Elliot quickly “checked in” with him to make sure he was feeling alright or needed help with anything before he dismissed himself, and once 007n7 gave the “okay”, Elliot left the table- 007n7 leaving shortly after him, going outside.

007n7 sat at the dock, mindlessly throwing pebbles into the water as he looked up at the sky and ran his fingers over the grass blades nearby, one of the few things that kept him sane here, calming the “fuzziness” in his head, despite it not going away quite yet. After a few minutes of idly doing the same pattern of things, Elliot once again tapped on 007n7’s shoulder, now feeling comfortable asking him if he was regressed since there weren’t any people around anymore.

“Hey, Sev..? Are you sure you’re at 100% right now..?” Elliot gently asked, which was his way of asking 007n7 his he was regressed, or “fuzzy” as he called it. 007n7 nodded, then reluctantly shook his head, knowing lying wouldn’t get him far even if he had to sacrifice the little dignity he had by admitting that he was regressed. Elliot’s voice then dropped to a softer tone, easing into his “role” as 007n7’s unofficial “caregiver”. 007n7 had told Elliot about his regression a few weeks ago after he was unintentionally found in a closet, holding back tears as he helplessly tried to compress his body with a blanket and squeezing into a tight space- something he did to try to emulate C00lkidd’s hugs whenever he missed him, something he did to stop himself from regressing, which never ended in his favor. Since then, Elliot had sort of become 007n7’s caregiver by proxy, being the only one who knew about his regression, and one of the only ones who were his friends.

“Sev..” Elliot called out again, catching 007n7’s attention again. “Do you want to go to your room..? It’s not exactly,,, safe for us to be by the water at this hour.” Elliot said softly, kneeling down as 007n7 slowly stood up, flinching and clutching his head as the fuzzy feeling spread, overtaking his whole body, letting Elliot lead him to his room.

Chapter 2: Annihilation

Summary:

007n7 and Elliot go back into 007n7’s cabin. After Elliot finally gets 007n7 to sleep, he has a nightmare, again.

007n7 could hardly think, he stumbled to his room as the fuzziness in his head turned into a full-on headache. He instinctively grabbed and squeezed Elliot’s hand as they headed into his cabin, which thankfully for him, no one saw. Elliot slightly flinched at 007n7’s sudden touch, still not fully trusting him despite being his caregiver and friend, he never truly forgot what happened at the pizza place. He really did care for 007n7, but, being trapped in this place with him, knowing what he could do as a former hacker, despite knowing 007n7 couldn’t even hack because of the spectre, the thought still frightened him a bit. Despite Elliot’s slight fear, he went inside of 007n7’s cabin with him, sitting next to him on the couch. Like it was a routine, Elliot grabbed a cup of lukewarm milk, bringing it over to 007n7. It took a lot of experimenting to find out exactly what worked for him, since they couldn’t really pinpoint an exact age 007n7 regressed to, as it fluctuated most of the time depending on various factors that Elliot was honestly too tired to remember right now. Elliot estimated 007n7 to be regressed to about 5 or 6 right now, which meant that today would be easier, hopefully.

“Sev..?” Elliot once again called out, noticing the little’s slight distress as he was about to hand the cup over, taking a bit to understand what was going on, but then realizing 007n7’s stomach must’ve hurt,, again. Elliot internally sighed, it’s not like he could really do much, medicine didn’t really exist here, and resources were limited, so making it was out of the question, not that anyone even knew how to make it. The medkits they were given during rounds wouldn’t be any help either as they only contained bandages and gel. Elliot shook his head as he sat next to 007n7, rubbing circles on his back.

“You’re okay,,” Elliot quietly said, looking down at 007n7, still not used to the whole caregiver thing. 007n7 absentmindedly picked at the skin on his fingers while humming something, not paying much attention to Elliot anyways.

What seemed like hours passed by, Elliot just couldn’t get 007n7 to sleep. He calmed down about the whole C00lkidd thing rather quickly, but something still felt,, off.. Elliot knew there was something 007n7 wasn’t telling him, but it’s not like he could really do anything. If 007n7 didn’t want to tell him, then he wouldn’t be told, simple as that. Once 007n7 eventually did go to sleep, Elliot slept on the couch, knowing 007n7’s tendency to not remember things that happened when he was regressed, so in the case that he did wake up, Elliot would be there to explain what happened.

007n7 ran through the ever-familiar carnival map, occasionally looking behind him, making sure no one was following him despite not hearing the theme he had gotten much to used to hearing. 007n7 ran, and ran, and ran, until he turned the corner. He was once again faced with C00lkidd.

“Hey,, kiddo…” 007n7 called out, slowly stepping forward as he watched C00lkidd effortlessly kill another survivor. Then, C00lkidd’s focus shifted to him. 007n7 tried typing the coordinates on his C00lGUI, messing up again and again and again before opting to run for the rest of the round. They only had 40 seconds left, what was the worst that could happen? 007n7 chugged a bloxy cola as C00lkidd missed yet another hit, he ran up the stairs, pausing for a second to regain his stamina, he checked his watch- only 20 seconds left. He could do this, he could do this. He ran and ran before C00lkidd launched towards him, setting his body on fire, 007n7 feeling the sensation of the flames melting his flesh, trying not to scream to not scare his son- even if he was just killed by him again. The round ended, C00lkidd celebrated, shaking 007n7’s body, telling him that he could get up now. He then wailed as he realized his father’s body wasn’t moving, yelling something along the lines of “I didn’t mean to tag that hard!” before being forced back into his limbo as well.

007n7 jolted up from his bed. Another nightmare. He started hyperventilating, grabbing at his sheets, desperately trying not to cry. It was stupid! He shouldn’t be crying over a nightmare- even if it was of his kid. He shouldn’t be disturbed by it anymore! It was their reality now, he knew that the rounds were the only ways for them to see eachother, and he knew it was inevitable that his son would repeatedly kill him. So why was he getting emotional over this? 007n7 was an adult! He shouldn’t be crying, he shouldn’t cry over this! So why was he? Why was he? 007n7 buried himself under the covers, pulling at his hair as he quietly sobbed into the sheets.

Notes:

HI SORRY I DIDNT UPLOAD EARLIER😭😭 I tried to get it out at the same time as yesterday’s chapter (~2AM) but the Ao3 curse is real! I’m not even exaggerating when I say someone almost broke into my house today! So yeah, posted the chapter like 12 hours after I was supposed to- sorry!!