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It was no secret that George always got tired after long streams, most of the time he was complaining about it while still live.
But this one, in particular, had him on the verge of falling asleep by the time he ended, not really sure why. He just felt a little off and less coordinated, closing all of his stream applications took longer than usual.
If his mind was in the right place he would have figured he was regressing, but all he could think of at the moment was that he was too tired, he needed to sleep as soon as possible. He also wanted to go find his boyfriends though, so as soon as his computer was off that’s what he did.
“Dream?” George called into the hallway, no response. They must be downstairs somewhere unless it was a rare occasion Dream had music too loud in his headset. The brunette stumbled down the stairs and to the living room where his boyfriends were sitting, seeming to be having an important conversation. He didn’t want to disrupt but he also really wants to snuggle up with them.
He chose the second option.
George walked in without a word and crawled into Dream’s lap, nuzzling his face into the younger boy’s neck. They paused briefly but continued to talk. Their voices were muffled and fuzzy to George, but he knew they were from the way Dream’s chest rumbled as he spoke and the deep breaths he took between sentences.
“George?”
“Hm?” He hummed, eyes fluttering open to meet Sapnap’s across from him.
“There he is,” Dream cooed, “Lost you there for a minute sweet pea, we were talking to you.”
“S’rry,” he mumbled, words a little slurred and muffled. “Wh’dya say?”
“I asked if you wanted anything, I bought you more strawberry milk last night when I went out.” Dream was petting George’s hair lovingly, gently lulling him between feeling too fuzzy and grounding him at the same time.
“Milk, p’ease?” His voice was so small. They were already aware of how he was feeling, but something in it sounded so much more vulnerable.
“Would you like to try the cup, honey?”
George’s eyes snapped open again. He’d been nervously thinking about the damn thing all week. They’d gotten him a sippy cup since he had problems even with his water bottle when he was little, and sometimes he regressed so small. He pushed a hard boundary at taking a literal bottle, it was too humiliating for him especially if he needed someone to feed it to him, but he agreed on the cup. Something about it felt too real, his earlier fears of getting made fun of and laughed at reappeared at the thought of using it.
Both boys knew of this unease though, Dream gently thumbed his lip out from between his teeth, he’d done it subconsciously whenever he thought too hard.
“You don’t need to,” Sapnap consoled, “But please at least try it? It’s okay if you don’t like it, I’ll get you a new milk if you decide you’d rather have that.” George finally nodded in agreement, though he clung onto Dream a little tighter.
Dream was talking about things while Sapnap was gone to keep George coherent and grounded, but he wasn’t really listening— Dream knew that though, he smiled and kept talking anyway. He was about to start whining when Sapnap was taking too long but just as he started the youngest has returned with more than he left for, George’s panda and his pacifier in one hand and the cup in the other. He set the items down on the sofa next to Dream and held out the cup.
It wasn’t anything too special, a simple yellow color with Winnie the Pooh on the side. He preferred it like that though, just enough to entice the little him but not too crazy to raise anxiety levels. George gingerly took the cup from Sapnap and stared at it for a little bit, examining it and internally debating on using it. They made sure not to stare at him and only spared a glance sometimes, they wanted him to take his time and go at his own pace on things, it helped relieve the pressure.
When Sapnap and Dream had gotten back to their casual conversation, their voices had slowly fizzled out again, George was lulled into his little bubble of sleepiness and giggles. As his mind slipped, the cup came to his mouth instinctively, the familiar sweet and sugary taste of strawberry milk made him smile. Sapnap was first to notice and cooed, it didn’t bother the brunette. They adored how cute he was cuddled up with his cup in his hands, the content smile on his face told them enough.
He’d eventually fallen asleep, the cup lazily dropped from his hold. Dream was quick to replace it with his pacifier, they were happy to find the cup empty. He had done so well taking it, they would be sure to praise it for him at a later time. They could tell he’d slipped even deeper this time, somewhere drifting in baby space.
For now, he slept, curled up happily in Dream’s arms.