Work Text:
Floor 23
It’s been a really long run, and Sprout is losing his mind.
“Looey, mark down this next Pebble encounter…” Sprout sputtered out with the tiniest, faintest last remainder of his sanity.
Looey looked at the list on his notebook:
-Seven Twisted Vees
-Five Twisted Pebbles
-Six Twisted Craft Siblings
-Ten Blackouts
-Five Spring Fevers
-Four double main Twisteds
-A Spring Fever Brightney Blackout
-Three Pebble Blackouts
-Pebble Spring Fever Blackout
…And just now they get to add a Triple Main Ichor Leak with Pebble, Bassie, and Astro.
“Noted…!” Looey chuckled, trying to lighten the mood despite the gaping bite wounds on his chest and Sprout’s right arm.
‘Oh my Delilah I can’t believe I’m thinking about this but I so dearly wish I let Cosmo wind me down earlier because I wanna just cuddle in his chest so baaaaad….’
Sprout’s thoughts were a jumbled mess due to how heated it got during this run. The fact he’d been pushing off his regression (to which Cosmo tried to nudge over and get the berry to relax) did not help in the slightest, and the berry’s pretty sure he’s so close to slipping little he’d be setting off his own caregiver instincts if he could feel them over his growing overstimulation. The stress was just so, so much, and the berry’s little brain couldn’t help but wind down as the need to relax became too much to just keep inside.
“Ughhh…” Sprout whined as he collapsed onto the floor. “Why is this run so awful??”
“It could be g-going worse, haha!” Looey tried to joke.
“And tell me how you could find a run worse than this madness?”
“…heh, yeah, fair point…”
This run started with eight toons, but six of them were already dead and probably being resurrected down at Arthur knows where by Dandy… presumably, at least.
“Ughh…”
Sprout was so done with this horrible luck.
Like, for their creator’s sake this puts Floor 50 to shame!
The berry wants nothing more than to just be done with this run, go back up to the lobby, and finally curl up into a ball and cuddle into Cosmo- uhh I mean finally put this all behind him!
Yeah! Totally!
…
“Looey, why are you looking at me like that?” Sprout asked, currently on the floor.
“Uhh…” Looey didn’t know how to reply.
‘Okay,’ Looey thought as he placed his head in his hands, ‘I’m not sure why but there’s some weird instinct in my head that keeps telling me to… care for Sprout?’
Looey’s ears flopped over.
‘Yep… I’m losing my mind.’
The balloon animal sighed, deflating (figuratively and maybe literally if you count a deep exhale as deflating for a living balloon)
‘Alright, I know I’m a flip and therefore have a caregiver instinct, but unless Sprout’s secretly a flip despite being the most caregiving caregiver in all of Gardenview I think I’ve lost my mind.’
Sprout, seeing Looey contemplate something, immediately assumed that the balloon’s instincts were kicking in and tried to deny whatever allegations Looey might throw at him being close to slipping little even though he so dearly wants to-
‘Oh, come on! The urge can’t be that bad, right? I swear I haven’t been pushing my littlespace that much!’
Sprout thought.
‘…Right?’
‘Yeah! Right! Just ignore the fact that I haven’t been little in…
…several weeks on end…
…and the amount of pent-up stress currently shoved somewhere inside of me is probably enough to make some of the toons over here need multiple regressions in a row!
Yeah! Totally!’
Sprout muffled a scream into his hands.
‘Yeah, no, this is not okay…
I should seriously get some help.’
…
Looey had watched Sprout go from ‘I’m fine!’ to ‘I’m not fine…’ to screaming, silently observing Sprout fall apart.
‘This can’t be good.’
Floor 24
Machines Completed: 4/8
Looey, having just finished another machine, felt rather… worried about Sprout.
Which, considering how that relationship between the two is usually the complete opposite direction, is already weird.
…that’s not even mentioning how almost every twisted on this floor is dormant.
Squirm, Razzle and Dazzle, Rodger, Connie…
Dude, there’s even Blot…
Why is he worried about one of the most reliable toons on one of the single easiest floors they’ve ever seen?
Like, the balloon knows he has a caregiving instinct buried in his brain somewhere, but…
Sprout?
Of all toons for it to flare up on…
Sprout???
‘Honestly, the berry could tell me I’m losing my circus pins and I’d believe him.’
…Looey sighed, casually baiting out a Twisted Blot hand swing before looking to find the next machine.
“Please tell me I’m just worried for nothing, like I always am…”
Darting around the corner after setting off Twisted Rodger with his train whistle while Twisted Blot’s main body and Twisted Razzle & Dazzle were literally inches from the capsule (for Rodger-approved research purposes!), Looey looked over, hoping to find the next machine.
“Perfect!” Looey blurted out after seeing the pipe just above where a machine had to be.
He then walked a few steps to the machine…
“Sprout?”
The berry didn’t respond.
“Uhm… you okay?”
“…oh! Hi! Looey! Hello!” Sprout suddenly panicked, sputtering out a greeting.
“Sprout, I’m the one who’s always nervous, and you’re… zoning out? On a run?”
“Uh- yeah! I mean… isn’t this floor really easy?”
“I mean, true, but if you stop paying attention you-“
“Looey, is this about your caregiving instinct?” Sprout interjected.
“Eh- how did you know?”
“Looey, I’m kind of… known for having it flare up like that. I can spot when it happens, too.”
“So… do you need some little time-“
“Looey, I’m fine, just… don’t worry about it.
Please!”
“…Sprout, I don’t think you’re okay…”
“Looey, I’m fine, don’t need a c-cuddle or anything…!”
Looey knew he was pushing it when he asked if Sprout needed some little time, but his instincts are starting to worry him…
“Sprout, you need a break, don’t you?”
“Looey, I’m not a baby (at least right now). I can handle myself just fine-“
*Twisted Squirm Growl*
“HUH!?” Looey darted back, expecting to see the Ichorous Caterpillar charging at him…
Only for said caterpillar to attempt to chomp Sprout’s head.
“GAH!”
The berry shook like crazy, shooing off Twisted Squirm with little apparent issue.
“Sprout, are you okay!?” Looey yelped, staggering back to his feet and feeling his instincts go haywire at the sight of Sprout
Holding back tears?
Wait, scratch that-
Crying?
Over such a small encounter?
…Were his instincts right all along?
“…Sprout, are you alright?” Looey asked, again.
“L-looey, I’m f-fine!!!” Sprout was clearly not fine despite his insistence, and his brain was so stressed out that just one Squirm encounter was enough stress to nearly make him slip…
Wait… Looey???
Looey????
Don’t touch my leaves-
No-
Crap.
Looey-
DON’T!
“J-just don’t t-touch my l-leaves, p-please-“
Despite the berry’s insistence to not, Looey reached up to rub Sprout’s head, ruffling his leaves a bit and unknowingly placing the last straw the camel could take.
“Looey- ngh- ah- baba… bababa…” Sprout sputtered out, too comfy and fuzzy to handle speaking normally. Sprout’s trying everything in his power to not slip into his aching toddlerspace, but his entire brain in itself is at its limit and can’t handle being big any longer.
“Babababa.. me… need…” Sprout sputtered out, his brain on the brink of collapse and unable to keep his truest desires buried away any longer.
“Uhm- Sprout… are you okay?” Looey asked, very confused as to what is up with Sprout all of a sudden. His caregiver instinct wants to bury Sprout in a hug and let him get all those emotions out, and…
“Mm… ngh.. a- loo- Loo- I.. (Sprout tried his hardest to frown)… can’t… I… can’t! I-“
Oh.
Sprout was tearing up.
“I… Loo- I can-can’t I-“
“Sprout, you’re not okay, are you?”
The berry didn’t tell Looey this, but his brain’s been so, so fuzzy this past week, and just the touch of Looey’s hand to help him release a bit of accumulated stress was enough to send the stress and fuzziness boiling over.
“I-I’m… sorry… Looey…” Sprout sputtered with the last of his big-space, actively tearing up. “I… can’t… do t-this a-anymore… I-“
And with that, Sprout fell over and burst into tears.
“UHM-“ Looey gulped as Sprout doubled over.
“GAH- KUHUH- need- AAAA- (pant) (hic!) hug- pwease- need- a-“ Sprout’s baby brain sputtered out before bursting back into unintelligible crying.
“Uh- here, Sprout, look at me!” Looey gestures, trying to make Sprout laugh by making a silly face.
‘…okay, I know my instincts were somehow right about Sprout needing a break, but they really want me to hug him right now-“
Sprout, the moment he spotted Looey after forcing his eyes open to look at him (per his request), the berry realized someone was there to comfort him and immediately tackled Looey for his much-needed hug.
“AH-“ Looey yelped as Sprout tackled them both onto the floor before the berry started melting onto his chest and sobbing uncontrollably.
“Hic- Ack! Hug! Need- pwease!” Sprout forced out of his mouth in hopes Looey would wrap his arms around him. The fragile, little berry needs some physical affection right now, and he thinks Looey’s the only place he’s gonna get it.
Looey blinked a bit, his instincts almost purring as they wanted the balloon to wrap his arms around the berry and cuddle and cradle him like a baby until he got his emotions out-
‘Wait…
…why am I resisting this when Sprout clearly wants nothing more?’
…
“Come here, Sprout, I’ve got you.”
Looey moved his arms, returning the hug Sprout started out of touch-starved desperation, and gently squeezing Sprout to encourage him to just let his emotions go.
“T-thank yooo..” Sprout’s tears began flowing even faster as Looey finally gave him what he wanted. The berry continued to cry out all the emotions he’d had pent-up for weeks, all the stress he’d been under since the last time Cosmo finally got Sprout little enough to cry.
Looey could feel all of Sprout’s tears wet his shirt, but he didn’t care that much. The balloon wanted Sprout to be comfortable and safe while he’s very obviously overwhelmed- they can save the laughs for after Sprout’s not desperately squeezing onto Looey for comfort.
“There you are…” Looey whispered, trying to keep Sprout from paying attention to any of the Twisteds on the floor, despite all of them besides Squirm being unable to do anything back here. Best be safe rather than sorry with a regressed little one.
‘…maybe I should find a better spot to curl up in-“
Twisted Blot’s arm came up in the only exit from their machine spot, cutting Looey’s thought train with an ‘I guess Blot has other ideas.’
Sprout was still crying, all the emotional knots he’d tied up to keep himself big having burst all at once and leaving the berry so unbelievably overwhelmed. Each bottled-up tear the berry shed was a tiny bit of his emotions he finally got to let out, and, knowing this due to it happening to himself on various occasions, Looey simply let little Sprout vent out his emotions in the only way he could, occasionally reminding the little one he’s not alone and he’s being cared for to calm Sprout through his emotional spill.
“Shh… it’s okay… I’ve got you.”
“Kuh- WAA-!” Sprout tucked himself into Looey, hugging him as tightly as he could while his emotions became simply too much for his brain to handle.
“I’m here, Sprout, I’m right here for you. And I’m not going anywhere.” Looey reassured the crying Sprout in his arms, rubbing the back of his leaves a little more with one of his arms. The balloon could feel Sprout’s intense grip of his entire body slowly start to soften- the berry’s heartbeat slowly start to slow down as he cried out all his overwhelming emotions with a tearful cry he’d been holding back for weeks.
“Shhh… it’s okay, it’s okay…” Looey whispered into Sprout’s ears as he rubbed the berry’s back in slow circles, helping the berry to relax while his tears drained out.
…
Several minutes after Twisted Blot lowered his arm again, Sprout had managed to stop sobbing his eyes out and collapsed onto Looey’s chest. The berry’s brain, no longer overflowing with sadness and other pent-up overwhelming emotions, finally relaxed.
“Daba… Aba… ababababa…” Sprout seemed very out of it when he spoke those words.
“Shhh… feel better, Sprout?” Looey asked, giving the berry another well-deserved back rub.
Sprout “mhm”’d into Looey’s chest before starting to notice some of his other needs- his thirst, his exhaustion, his want to suck on something…
If the berry had any of his big-space still active, he’d be cringing that he wants to suckle on a pacifier or whatever, but the berry’s already so small that he just needs that much comfort right now. Of course, he’s still a little too shy to ask for a pacifier-
“Baby, do you need something?” Looey asked, nudging Sprout’s head up to hold his cheek.
“N-no…” Sprout, despite being teeny tiny levels of small, doesn’t really wanna be needy if that involves someone else having to spend their time helping him when he (thinks he) can do it himself.
Looey, however, noticed Sprout probably wasn’t fully comfortable- otherwise, he would’ve probably turned into a puddle of soft toddler feelings soaking up all the affection he could ever want.
However… just to test…
Looey tickled Sprout’s cheek.
“Eh- haha-heh!” …getting a light laugh out of Sprout in response.
Yep… just as Looey expected.
Having spent several days in littlespace spent cuddling Sprout after a run or otherwise, Looey knows Sprout’s ticklish on his cheek. (Both of them are even more so on their respective tummies). The fact that Sprout didn’t burst laughing for a second and get all playful like he does when big tells Looey there’s probably something Sprout secretly wants before turning into a puddle… and that he’s probably too tired to give anything more than a light chuckle with so little energy left in his body.
“Hmm…” Looey muttered as he pushed Sprout’s head back onto his chest to rub it some more.
‘I guess getting Sprout some water would be a good idea, considering he hasn’t been drinking that much on this really long run… besides all those pop cans, anyway.’
“Want some water, Sprout?” Looey asked.
“N-no?” Sprout attempted to not be so needy…
“Sprout, you just had a very long cry. I think you’re a little thirsty.”
“…mhm…” Sprout gave up resisting once he realized Looey already knew.
“Okay, baby, let me get my water bottle…”
Looey reached into his backpack, just to the right of him as he took it off his back (from when Sprout tackled him) and plopped it down to dig inside.
‘This should be where my water bottle is-‘
Looey pulled out what was supposed to be his second water bottle (the first one has his saliva on it so no he’s not giving it to Sprout), and…
Oh.
Oh come on!
…did he seriously pack his baby bottle instead of a second water bottle????
AGAIN!?
This is the third time!!!!
Looey sighed.
Welp, just gonna hope Sprout even drinks from this…
“Drink up, baby!” Looey told Sprout, hoping that he’d actually drink it as he moved the water-filled sippy cup up to Sprout.
Sprout was hesitant to drink it at first- he thinks it’s embarrassing to use a sippy cup, even if his body and brain want so dearly be to a pile of toddler feelings while the urge to suck on something makes it all the more tempting, so he backed away at first.
I should’ve known…
Looey moved it closer.
Sprout backed away a little further.
…Welp.
Looey gave up and just shoved the nipple of the baby bottle into Sprout’s mouth.
The little berry was caught by surprise at first, but instinctively suckled on the thing in his mouth before he knew what he was doing and…
Instantly gave up resisting.
The berry suddenly realized just how thirsty he was once he took a sip of the water, and the fact he got to suckle on something the whole time certainly didn’t hurt.
Well, I guess packing my baby bottle on accident turned out to be a very fortunate accident. Looey thought as Sprout’s brain went from being physically incapable of being big (and therefore having given up on trying) to actively letting itself be small, the instinctive act of sucking soothing Sprout’s tense nerves of all of their stress.
Sprout gulped down the entire bottle, his throat no longer parched and…
“L-loo?” The berry asked, wanting something more than anything else.
“What is it, little one?” Looey perked up as he responded.
“Pa-paci? Pweaseee?” Sprout was taking a shot in the dark here, but his brain so dearly wanted a pacifier to suck on. The berry had to actively push down his arms trying to trail up to his mouth, wanting to just melt into that pacifier he’d been denying himself of because he knows it instantly knocks him over.
“Hmm…” Looey questioned. He doesn’t normally bring little gear out on run… That’s a Blot thing, but considering he has his baby bottle maybe he’ll have accidentally-
Oh.
Perfect!
Looey pulled out a pacifier that he happens to keep in the same bag as his baby bottle. “Gimme!” Sprout suddenly jolted with energy as he reached for his pacifier, the berry wanting it more than anything else and knowing he’s probably gonna pass out once its firmly in his mouth and-
Oh-
Ohhh…
Looey gently nudged the teat of the pacifier into Sprout’s mouth, the berry instantly suckling on it. Said suckle instantly caused the berry to suckle some more, instantly melting the berry into the blob of soft baby feelings he’d wanted to be ever since his brain gave up on being big.
Sprout felt so, so comfy despite not being in a bed with his usual dada, and his eyelids felt so, so heavy as exhaustion set in. The baby’s brain had been staying awake on the urge for some comfort before sleepy time, but now that he’s all cozy?
“Mmmm~”
Sprout simply snuggled into Looey’s chest, unable to keep his eyes open, and let his overworked body finally collapse fully.
“‘m… ‘eepy…”
…
Looey wasn’t expecting Sprout to get so tired after getting a pacifier to suckle on, but obliged anyway. The balloon simply kept his silence, rocking ever so gently to lull the tired berry in his arms to finally fall asleep after one of the longest weeks of his life.
“Zzz…”
Sprout’s breathing slowed down and eventually calmed into a passive pulse of air while his body went slack in Looey’s arms. The baby had fallen fast asleep.
…
Alright, I’m going to need to figure out how to get off this floor…
Looey attempted to get up, but quickly found Sprout was a little too heavy for him to pick up. The berry also stirred a bit until Looey gave up and cuddled back up with Sprout.
Okay, I’m stuck.
…guess I’ll just enjoy this cuddle for until I can figure something out…
The balloon looked up, seeing Twisted Squirm right above him…
Uh-oh.
Twisted Squirm blinked at Looey.
Looey looked panicked- Sprout might wake up if the caterpillar…
Does anything besides… that.
Twisted Squirm just blinked a few times before… lowering himself down to Sprout. The twisted pet Sprout’s leaves a few times before ascending back up to the ceiling and vanishing in the direction of Blot.
…
…
What?
Looey blinked a few times to make sure he wasn’t having the wildest dream-
A paper note crumb from one of the books Twisted Squirm probably found on a different floor somewhere was left on Looey’s side. The balloon decided to read it.
“pls sleep. we no hurt. we cuddle too.”
…Welp.
At that point, Looey was spent. The previous twenty-plus floors of distracting literal nightmare fuel on top of whatever the heck just happened…
Looey’s body had enough, and he instinctively just let his eyes close before he could think it over…
…and fell asleep cuddled up with little baby Sprout in a corner of the gift shop.