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“I need a favor”
Alice raised a quizzical brow at Chad. It wasn't often he made such direct requests of her, usually if he needed something he went about it in a more subtle way.
“Did you piss Roberto off again?”
Chad huffed indignantly “not all of my problems center around his flat ass”
“Then what's the favor?” she asked, a hint of smug conjecture tugging at her lips.
There was a short pause before Chad threw his hands in the air, frustration evident in his expression. “Fine! It's about Robert, but my point still stands!”
Alice hums disbelievingly but is quick to move on.
“So what's the favor?
With a long-suffering sigh the fire user speaks “Roberts nightmares are back, the ones about his dad. It's been affecting his sleep and his regression. If he doesn't regress right before bed then he wakes up in the middle of the night crying and small”
That got Alice's attention. Everyone on the team had grown to care rather deeply for each other, forming a fucked up little family. Hearing that one of them was suffering in some way was simply unacceptable. Especially if that person was one of their littles.
“I promised Sara I'd go with her to watch Farah's dance team at regionals, meaning I'm gonna have to stay the night with them in Arizona this weekend and I really don't want to leave him alone right now and-”
Alice raised a perfectly manicured hand, signalling her best friend to shut up.
“I got it bae! I'll hang out with Robbo this weekend. We’ll do self care and shit”
Relief flooded Chad at her easy acceptance
“Thanks Alice, I'll pay for your drinks next time we go clubbing”
“Damn right you will!” Of course she would have done it happily without the free drinks. Hanging out with Robert when he was small was always a treat. He could be pretty cagey when it came to his regression so it wasn't often anyone other than Chad got to see it.
Alice spent the rest of the week preparing for Robert's arrival. She put fresh sheets on her bed and the guest bed in case he wanted to cuddle at night, bought tons of semi-healthy snacks and put together a playlist of movies she thought Robert might enjoy, big or small.
Next she vacuumed the plush white rug in her living room and tossed her fluffiest blankets onto the sectional. It was perfect!
Alice even took the time to go out and buy Robert some new pajamas that may or may not match her own brand new pajamas.
The soft cotton of the sleep shirts featured a swirling galaxy composed of purples, pinks and blues. For Robert she bought some fuzzy blue pants with little stars printed all over them and for herself a pair of silky pink shorts. Matching outfits are cute and all, but originality is still important!
Just as she finished securing her bonnet for the night there was a knock at the door. Alice glanced at her phone, 6:27, too early for the pizza she ordered to be here already. A smile took over her face, that means Robert was here.
Sure enough, just beyond the threshold of her home stood Robert himself, still dressed in his uniform and carrying a beat up backpack.
Robert looked exhausted, the ever present dark circles under his eyes were much deeper and more pronounced than usual. His posture was slumped and he drug his feet with every step, even his arms were shaking just from carrying his frankly miniscule overnight bag.
“Hey Alice” he smiled wearily as he walked past her and into the living room.
It was a good thing he was here because now that she was seeing the damage for herself Alice was more determined than ever to make sure her dispatcher got a good night's sleep.
On to the first order of business then! Pajamas! Alice made a point to step into Robert's line of view, with a quick twirl she asked “what do you think? I just bought them the other day.”
The Brunette blinked sluggishly at the colorful sleep wear “it looks really soft” he mumbled absent mindedly.
“Great!” The pop star clapped cheerfully “cause I got you a pair too!”
That seemed to wake Robert up a bit.
“You didn't have-”
“I'm gonna stop you right there white boy!” Alice leveles him with a disapproving stare “You were probably planning to sleep in your grungy ass work out gear right?”
He nodded, feeling strangely ashamed at being called out so quickly.
“That's what I thought. I told you baby, this is a self care night! That means we only wear the best! Now get changed before the pizza arrives! Bathroom is the second door on the left.”
Robert looked down at the soft bundle of fabric in his arms, wondering briefly when it had gotten there, and turned to do as he was told.
When he stepped out again Alice couldn't have a nod of approval. The sizing was perfect, small enough not to fall off but big enough to swallow the man in a blanket of comfort. Chad had mentioned with pride that Robert often felt small when he wore his boyfriend's clothes, so logically she concluded that getting the pajamas in a slightly larger size would yield the same results. Judging by the far off look in those big brown eyes, she was correct.
“I knew you'd look cute in those!” She chose her words carefully, hoping to help the other slip into his headspace without his notice. It would be far more difficult for both of them if he tried fighting it.
“Uh, thanks…”
“Come on, I wanna do cucumber masks before the pizza gets here” Alice grinned holding up a green bottle and a brush.
That's how Robert found himself covered in a pastel green goop lazily eating pizza and watching a movie about robots on Alice's couch.
The goop was kinda sticky and cold but Alice said they would wash it off soon. Everything else was nice though. On screen a Robot with a comically large rear kept bumping into the other bots pulling a quiet chuckled from Robert. The blankets were warm and his belly was full. He felt his eyes starting to droop as he melted into the plush couch beneath him.
Just as he felt himself drifting off he saw it. The same image that had been haunting his dreams for over a week now. His father lay before him bleeding out on the cold concrete of his workshop. Above him stood Eliot Conners, a man he once loved like an uncle holding the very gun that had left five gaping holes in his father's lifeless corpse. He grabbed Robbie by the hair and hefted him up so that Robert could see his father's cold, lifeless eyes. “Get up” the corpse whispers. “GET UP!”
Robert tumbles off the couch in a panic, wiping furiously at his face as the tears continue to blurr his vision, uncaring of the mystery slime covering his face. He was scared. Everything was too big, too much. He wanted his Papa. Papa would fix it. He'd hold Robert and tell him about how he would keep him safe and fight the bad dreams for him, then Robert would giggle just like always because his Papa was so silly. You couldn't fight a dream!
Through his own cries Robert could hear someone singing. He didn't recognize the song but the voice seems familiar, albeit sweeter than he was used to. He blinked a few times to clear the tears from his eyes. In front of him was Alice. She was the one singing the unfamiliar tune for him. She looked silly with her face covered in all that green stuff. He sniffled then let out a breathy giggle.
Alice smiles back at him, letting her song taper off into silence “there you are” she whispers. Her whisper is soft and kind, nothing like the whisper of his father's corpse.
“What do you say we wash up and start getting ready for bed?”
Robert's breath hitched at the mention of going back to sleep. He didn't want to go to bed! If he did then his dream would come back.
“N-no! No bed time!” He shouts, when he sees the way Alice flinches at his volume he adds a faint “please”
Alice seems to think it over for a moment.
“Yeah your right, everyone knows your not supposed to sleep at a sleep over. Your supposed to have fun!”
The Little nodded, relieved by how easy it was to convince her they should stay up.
“We should do story time instead! I'm like, the queen of stories after all” the pop star boasts.
Story time, that sounded nice. Robert liked when Papa read him stories. He always did the best voices!
“Can we read a story about space?”
Again Alice smiles at him “of course baby! Now let's wash up!”
After washing all the goop off their faces Alice took Robert to her bedroom and instructed him to climb into bed. At his hesitance she explained that stories were better when you were comfy. Robert mulled this over and eventually found her logic sound, so he climbed into her bed and waited patiently for her to return.
When she reenteres the room Alice is carrying a very familiar stuffed animal. A bear dressed in a poor recreation of track stars hero suit. It had been a joke gift from his older brother for his birthday but quickly became his favorite toy when regressed. He wondered how Alice knew he snuck it over.
“Tracky!” Spindally fingers clutch the bear with great enthusiasm before bringing in to Roberts chest for a proper snuggle.
“Alright, scootch” Alice nudges his shoulder and Robert is quick to make room in the spacious queen sized bed. He doesn't get too far away however, as soon as she's settled Alice wraps an arm around the Littles shoulder and pulling him close enough to lean against her shoulder. He waists no time getting comfortable in this new position. After all it was important to be comfy for the story.
Speaking of which,
“Weres the book?”
Alice just smirked “who needs books when you can do this!” With a wave of her hand the milky way was projected in stunning light all around the room. In the center of the room was a cartoonish space ship and teatheres to that ship was a tiny astronaut.
Robert stared in wonderment as Alice began to weave a story about a little space man who was looking for a dream planet. He wanted to find it and bring back sweet dreams for all his friends.
With each new turn in her tale Alice easily shifted the scenery and the characters to match.
While Robert marveled at the projections illustrating the fantastical narrative being spun, Alice watched Robert. He looked far more relaxed than he had in the living room. Before, when he fell asleep on the couch there was a hint of tension in his face as he slipped into sleep. Now though, he was completely relaxed against the light heros side as he smiled gently at the light show before him. His eyes dropping slowly, head nodding up and down against Alice's shoulder until finally he sagged against her completely.
Alice took great care in shifting Robert to lay down completely. The last thing she wanted to do was wake him.
As soon as the two were settled for the night Alice took a picture of her Dispatchers sleeping face both for her personal collection and to send to his very worried boyfriend/care giver.
That night, Robert slept soundly for the first time in weeks. Instead of corpses and bloody concrete he dreamed of swirling galaxies and planet that granted wishes.
His nightmares weren't banished for good, he wasn't really sure they ever would be, but for the next few months they wouldn't be bothering him again.