Chapter Text
Jackie was pouting, but what else was new? Trips to away games used to her favourite thing in the world. Just hours on the bus with Shauna, sometimes staying overnight. The perfect time to get into her Little Space. There were five Bigs, girls who were destined to be loving, mothering caregivers, on the team. There were also five Littles, girls who just needed time and space to regress and re-centre themselves. The rest of the team, the Neutrals, probably teased them behind their backs a bit, but Jackie was long past caring what others thought of her.
If it ever got too much, Jackie could just curl up on Shauna’s lap, have her hair stroked, and let her worries melt away. Only now, she couldn’t. Even though they’d always had the same Big/Little always always always always, stupid Mari had to ruin it. An incident with Mari and her usual Big, Yumi, had led to a new policy that all Big/Little pairings would be mixed, assigned at random rather than chosen by the girls themselves. Worse, Yumi was suspended for this game so she wasn’t even going. All this meant Jackie was stuck with…
“Will you quit pouting?” Nat said sharply.
“No!” Jackie told her, bottom lip curling around.
“Fine,” Natalie said, ignoring her.
Jackie huffed, arms folded, nose flaring.
No reaction.
She did it again, firmer.
Still no reaction.
Then, even louder, “Hmmmfff!”
Finally, that did something.
“What do you want, Jackie?”
“Pay me attention!” she pouted.
Natalie turned to her captain, arms folded, legs kicking childishly, a very obviously padded bottom underneath what otherwise a preppy, stylish outfit. It all just seemed a little too strange.
“It’s just… weird, Jax. You’re the captain. I’m not used to being around you when you’re like this.”
It was true - Jackie wasn’t embarrassed by being a Little, necessarily. If anything, it was impressive she had risen to the social stature she had while owning her fairly embarrassing condition. But part of the reason she was able to keep that was because she could let it out as much as she wanted around Shauna. The rest of the team never saw it, not up close.
“You know I can’t help it,” Jackie said. “It’s biowogical.”
“See, that’s exactly what I mean,” Nat said. “You don’t have a lisp. You can say the word ‘biological’.”
“I know,” Jackie admitted. “But it’s fun. It helps. Aren’t you supposed to need to look after Littles? What sort of a Big are you, anyway?”
Natalie turned in her seat and saw Lottie smiling as she brushed Misty’s hair, then looked back to Jackie. It was a question she’d asked herself a lot. The truth was she mostly thought of herself as a Neutral, slightly put off by the Big/Little dynamics that had gradually become normal. But something about Misty, the Littlest Little she’d ever seen, just made her want to… well. That wasn’t important right now.
“I don’t know. Maybe you just got the short straw.”
“Misty likes you,” Jackie shrugged.
“Misty likes creamed carrot. Don’t trust her judgement.”
“Eww veggies!” Jackie said, then blew a wet raspberry.
It was weird, seeing her like this. With Misty, everything seemed so natural. But with Jackie, it was like she was putting on an act. She knew she wasn’t, not really, but it was clear that Jackie’s Little Space was somewhere Jackie relaxed by playing a character - a very annoying character. Natalie wasn’t sure she was up to it.
Natalie didn’t react when Jackie stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry. Jackie didn’t like that. Frankly, she was used to attention at the best of times, but when she got into her Little Space, Shauna would always fuss around her. Natalie didn’t even seem to care. Jackie blew another raspberry, then another, and another, tilting her head playfully each time, until Natalie took a sharp grip of her ear.
“Stop doing that.”
Jackie whined as Nat held her ear, looking at her with her big, pathetic eyes. Something inside Natalie just melted looking at them, not that she’d ever admit it.
“What do we say?”
“Sorry,” Jackie said in a small voice.
Those big eyes staring at her, Natalie understood why Shauna let Jackie get her own way so often.
“Say it properly,” Natalie sighed.
Jackie practically glowed at the request, or more accurately, the permission.
“Sowwy…”
“Good girl.”
That made both of them buzz inside. Natalie sort of wished they were alone right now, maybe she could let more of her natural Big out. She could tickle Jackie and kiss her all over like she did with Misty, just so she would giggle and squirm up against her. But they weren’t alone right now, and Misty and Shauna were the jealous type. When she finally got Misty back in her arms - and she would - she didn’t want to deal with more jealous pouting. She also didn’t want Shauna to punch her in the face.
Natalie turned again to look at Misty, sat at the back of the bus, contentedly drinking from a juice box. Hair freshly pulled into bunches by Lottie, Misty waved brightly. Natalie waved too and turned away, lightly shaking her head. There must be something wrong with her for her to want Misty Quigley this badly.
She didn’t really get a chance to dwell on that thought before Jackie was bouncing up and down excitedly.
“Snackie! Snackie!”
That little bounce and that crinkle beneath her… Natalie shouldn’t be feeling this way about her captain. If anyone else felt this way about Misty’s crinkling little ass, Natalie would swing for them. And if Shauna knew, she’d be dead.
Still, as she rested her hand on Jackie’s bare thigh, she couldn’t help but rub her skin a little more than she should, a little higher than she should.
“You can have a snack. I forgot about this swap and I only packed for Misty, though.”
“Are Misty’s snacks icky icky gross?”
Natalie chuckled, “Yeah, some of them.”
Natalie hauled her snack bag into her lap, and Jackie clapped excitedly seeing the pink fabric.
“Pony! Pony!”
“That’s right, sweetie. Misty likes My Little Pony. Do you like My Little Pony?”
“Barbie! Barbie!”
Well, that was hardly a surprise.
“You know you look a little like Barbie,” Natalie said.
“Fanks.”
Jackie rested her head against Natalie’s shoulder for a second, and Natalie had to take a long breath. She’d always, obviously, known Jackie was pretty. But seeing her like this was the first time she’d been thinking the sort of thoughts that would make Shauna want to cut her heart out with a rusty knife.
“Okay, you want those creamed carrots?”
Jackie blew another raspberry. Even that was making Natalie feel all fuzzy. She pushed Jackie to do it again.
“Celery sticks?”
Another, longer raspberry. Jackie shook her head and her hair fell forward. Natalie pushed it back behind her ear, seeing those big eyes shine again, and realised she really was tempting fate here.
“Okay Jackie, apple sauce or cookie?”
“Cookie! Yay!”
Nat reached into her bag and fished out the cookie before handing it over for Jackie to take a large, goofy munch out of. Natalie was relieved, really. If she had to stare into Jackie’s eyes while spoon feeding her apple sauce, she might have felt a wetness growing in her own underwear.
“Bottle?” Jackie asked.
“Oh, right. Sure.”
Natalie reached into her to the bag again and handed Jackie a juice box.
“Nuh-uh. Milk.”
“Misty doesn’t drink milk,” Natalie said.
Which was weird, now that she thought about it, when milk was all Misty ever drank when she wasn’t in her Little Space.
“Milk,” Jackie repeated. “For cookies.”
“I’m sorry, Jackie. I don’t have any. You don’t wanna try the juice?”
“Shauny has milk.”
Natalie looked down the bus to see a clearly annoyed Shauna who was mostly ignoring Melissa.
“I can’t reach her.“
“Go get! Go get!”
“I can’t go get, no one’s allowed up on the bus. Remember why?”
“Because Littles get too ‘cited,” Jackie said in a grump.
“C’mon, apple juice isn’t too bad, right?”
Jackie pouted and looked out the window, but eventually stuck her straw through the juice box and sucked.
“Good girl,” Natalie said, just to feel the butterflies again.
For a while, Natalie sat back peacefully, watching Jackie stare out the window. Then Jackie suddenly spun and looked at her with horror. She pulled Natalie close to whisper in her ear.
“I need to go tinkle.”
Natalie moved herself out of Jackie’s tight grip and smiled at her.
“That’s okay sweetie.”
“No, we’re on the bus.”
Natalie’s smile turned up, became sympathetic.
“Jax, I know you’re wearing a diaper. It’s okay. I’ll change you when we get there. I change Misty all the time.”
“Nuh-uh,” Jackie said. “I don’t like using it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I only like when it’s soft and dry. I never potty in my diaper. Never never never!”
“Seriously?”
“Never! Ooh stupid juice box!”
Natalie ran her hand down Jackie’s arm to soothe her.
“Well, can you be a big girl and hold it?”
Jackie screwed up her face, then nodded, determined.
“Good girl,” Natalie told her again.
Okay, she really would need to stop soon.
After a while, Jackie started to snore. And shortly after that, she started to…
“Oooohhh nooo!”
“What’s wrong Jax?”
“Natty! I went tinkle!”
She hugged into Natalie tight, whining against her neck.
“You’re okay, sweetie.”
“I’m still going,” Jackie whimpered.
Nat stroked her hair softly, letting Jackie finish.
When the grip on Natalie’s arm eased up, that was her cue that Jackie was done. And soon after that came the waterworks. First Jackie’s lip trembled, then her legs started to kick, and finally the tears came.
“Shh,” Nat soothed her. “Shhh, baby. It’s okay. You’re okay.”
“Ewwwwww gross! Natty! I hate! Hate hate hate!”
“I know sweetie,” Nat said, and wiped away Jackie’s tears with her thumb. “We’ll be there soon.”
Jackie gulped and nodded, snuggling up against Natalie. Natalie’s hand swept gently through her hair, trying to calm her.
It wasn’t too long until they reached the hotel they’d be staying in overnight, though it felt like a lifetime for Jackie. Sitting in her own pee, feeling it rapidly cool down pressed against her, was not a fun experience. She didn’t understand how other Littles did it. And they did it, like, all the time! Like it was fun! Well, it wasn’t fun. It was wet and icky icky gross!
Thankfully, the bus soon came to a stop and they could all pile off the bus and gather in the parking lot. There was only one thought in Jackie’s mind when she was free to move again.
“Shauny!” Jackie said, dramatically throwing her hands around Shauna, pressing her face into her shoulder. “I tinkled…”
“Oh, Jackie, you poor thing. I’m sure Nat’ll take care of it right away.”
Behind Shauna, Melissa started to giggle as Jackie sniffled.
“What are you laughing at, dumdum?”
“You!”
Jackie made a pathetic attempt to claw at Melissa, only to miss and have Melissa yank at her ponytail.
“Melissa!” Laura Lee shouted, and Melissa instantly let go.
Shauna hugged Jackie for a sec, taking the time to stroke her hair, to breathe in its scent, then handed her back to Natalie.
“Come on Jackie, let’s get upstairs and get you changed.”
“O-okay…”