paramountinplace

[paramountinplace]

I know I've already made it clear that Van and Nat = Rusty and Jack from Bluey in my mind but I am thinking about it again, just for the record

[paramountinplace]

please do a part 2 of the trip to the lake!!

Well, I Wood, But... - Pt. 2 (Little!Mel)

Summary: They make it to the lake and Mel finds that it's all just fine to deviate from the routine a little. Thank you to 🐨 anon who sent in some ideas for this fic! I tried to use them all!

It was, admittedly, a little odd to buckle Mel into her carseat while she was wearing her usual hiking outfit—her cargo shorts and hiking boots and hat crammed down ever her plaits—knowing that they were headed to the like. Everyone else was wearing their swimsuits under their t-shirts and shorts, but getting Mel into the car had involved agreeing to let her wear her hiking outfit. Van had made sure to pack Mel's swimsuit and sandals into her backpack in case of the likely event that Mel wanted to go swimming when they arrived.

She'd clambered into the backseat with Mel and Akilah, allowing the blonde to pepper her with questions about the lake as Akilah interrupted every so often to point something out through the window.

"Will there be indoor washrooms?"

"I think so, yeah," Van nodded. Akilah tugged on her sleeve and she leaned over to peer out the window, following the point of her finger until her eyes landed on a few horses in a small paddock. "Neat find, Akilah."

"Can I use my goggles?"

"Sure, but it might be a little too murky to really see anything," she explained. Mel's brow furrowed as she considered this.

"So I won't be able to see if a shark is coming to get me?"

"There won't be any sharks in the lake, I can promise you that much," Van chuckled. Akilah's face fell a little, evidently having gotten excited over the prospect.

"Will there be dogs there?"

They sometimes came across dogs on the hiking trail, which Mel usually spotted before everyone else and would run back to warn Van. On some occasions, after she'd made her warning, Mel would ran back to the front to politely ask if she could pet the dog if it was a particularly excitable pup.

"I hope not," Van muttered, leaning forward to reach over the middle row of seats and grab Mari's hand before she could poke a sleeping Nat in the cheek. "Leave her be, Mar, she's tired."

"What if I go in the lake and bacteria gets in my ears?" Mel asked, voice suddenly much quieter as she considered the frightening possibility. Akilah, who'd been distracted looking out the window suddenly tuned back into the conversation.

"There's bacteria in the lake?" She asked worriedly.

"Well, yeah, but it's okay bacteria," Van answered, wincing when their faces both dropped in horror. "I mean, no! There's no bacteria and it's perfectly safe to swim in the lake, I promise."

Mel continued asking questions as they pulled into the gravel lot at the lake and started unloading the car. Her queries only started to slow once they'd ventured out onto the sand to find a quiet spot to set up, seemingly mesmerized by the view out over the lake. Tai led them over to a shady spot nearby a pile of boulders that made Mel slow down as she considered clambering up onto them before Van called out for her to keep walking.

"Van," Mel said as they began setting up various chairs and towels. "I don't see any washrooms and I have to pee."

"You've got an absolutely massive toilet right there," Van quipped, gestured out over the lake, where Akilah had already wandered over to peer at the shoreline for fish.

"What?" Mel cried. She wasn't even wearing her swimsuit yet.

"Mel, honey, they're just over there a ways," Tai cut in, pointing. "Don't let Van get you fussed."

"I'd leap at the chance to take a wazz in the lake," Van said teasingly.

"Go on then," Tai urged and Van snorted, pretending to busy herself with unzipping one of the insulated bags to dig around for a drink.

"I still have to pee," Mel mumbled, kicking at the sand.

"Come on then," Van replied, grabbing Mel's backpack. "You can put your swimsuit on as well."

Mel nodded slowly.

"Can I put my boots back on after?"

"Sure, but you'll want to take them off to go in the water," Van said gently, which got a heaving sigh from Mel, but she nodded begrudgingly.

"Alright."

By the time Van and Mel returned, Lottie and Laura Lee had made their way down to the waterfront and were sitting with their feet in the water. Lottie kicked her feet every so often, sending up a small spray of water that Gen and Akilah squealed at excitedly.

"Did you bring your sun hat, Van?" Tai asked, watching as Mel clumsily smeared sunscreen over her arms.

"Nah," Van shrugged, collapsing into a chair beside her. "It's not too sunny. Mel, you headed in?"

The blonde picked up her foot to show that she still had her hiking boots laced up tight.

"We've got your water shoes," Shauna piped up from where she and Jackie were sprawled across a blanket on the sand, both quietly reading. Mari was sulking at the very edge of the blanket, drawing in the sand with a stick as she pouted over her recent realization that there was seaweed, of all things, floating at the edges of the lake. Gen had been trying to get her to ignore the weeds and go into the lake with her for a few minutes, but had evidently given up as she dug a small hole by Jackie's feet with a small rock.

Shauna tossed the shoes over Mari's head at Mel, who fumbled with them awkwardly before they spilled into the sand and she groaned.

"Now there's sand in them," she whined, picking them up and giving them a shake. Van squawked as sand flew at her and Tai, leaping out of her chair to playfully grab the shoes away from Mel before she could keep getting sand everywhere.

"C'mon," she told Mel, "let's wash them in the water and then you can get in. Mar, Gen, you wanna come?"

Gen nodded and hopped up to follow them down to the water, while Mari followed slowly, dragging her feet through the sand. Van dunked Mel's shoes in the water and helped her slide them on before reaching for her hat.

"No, I want it!" Mel protested, ducking away.

"You're gonna get wet," Van warned.

"I want it," Mel repeated, wading into the water before Van could grab at her hat again. Lottie and Laura Lee had moved further into the water and Mel made her way towards them with Gen close behind.

"Go on, bud," Van urged Mari gently.

"Will you come?"

"I'm not in my shorts, pal," Van replied, gesturing down at her denim shorts. "I can go change in a bit, but you could head in without me."

Mari mumbled annoyedly, but started edging into the water, avoiding the scummy bits as best she could. Van turned to head back up to the chairs, but was stopped before she could get very far by an indignant yelp from Mel. She turned slowly, watching as Mel splashed out of the water towards her.

"Lottie splashed my hat wet!" Mel cried, pulling the hat off her head to show Van.

"Well, what did I just say?" Van chuckled, patting Mel on the shoulder.

"Can you fix it?"

"We can put it in the sun to dry," she suggested. Mel considered the option for a long moment before heaving sigh and handing the hat over to Van.

"Be careful," she instructed, waiting for Van to salute before she turned to head back into the water.

Van set Mel's hat next to Shauna on the blanket before returning to her chair by Tai and falling into it again. Tai peered over the top of her book in amusement.

"You don't want to get in?"

"And drive home in wet shorts? No thanks."

Van shook her head emphatically.

"Well, you could get out soon enough to dry off," Tai mused. "You're going to get bored just sitting here."

"You can never dry off at a lake," Van intoned, digging her feet into the sand in front of them. "You get wet and somehow, even to your best efforts, you just stay perpetually damp."

"That's a big word for you," Shauna teased.

"Aw, be nice," Tai chided before Van could shoot back at Shauna, reaching over to put a hand on the redhead's knee. If anyone was going to take risky shots at Van, it was Shauna.

"Sorry, sorry," Shauna said. Van stuck her tongue out childishly and Tai snorted, nudging her shoulder.

"Go put your swimsuit on and go swim," she repeated. Van huffed, gazing out at the lake.

Mel, Gen, and Mari, who'd evidently gotten used to the idea that the lake was going to be a bit mucky, were swimming circles around a giggling Lottie while Laura Lee watched with a smile. Mel was trying to hold her hand above her head like a shark fin, but kept accidentally dunking her face in the water and coming back up spluttering, which Mari seemed to find hysterical.

It didn't take long for Van to give in and run to the washrooms to change into a swimsuit, joining the others in the water. She'd barely stopped long enough to let Tai put sunscreen on her face.

The day passed quickly and Tai let everyone eat their dinners standing in the water as long as they promised not to go in past their waists until their food was digested. Jackie and Shauna gave in after dinner and paddled around with everyone else until the sun started dipping down and they herded everyone out to help pack up.

Mel chatted excitedly about how fun the lake had been as they loaded their things back into the car, drowning out Van's soft complaints that she was still wet and didn't want to have to sit in her damp swim trunks for the drive home. She made Tai promise again that they would go back to hiking as soon as the trails opened up, but relented to Shauna's gentle teasing that they'd have to come back to the lake sometime since Mel seemed to enjoy it so much.

"You liked it a little bit, right, Mel?" Shauna asked, pinching her fingers together. She was seated in the middle row of the van, twisted around so she could look at the three in the very back seat. Mel stared for a long minute before groaning and leaning forward to spread Shauna's fingers a further apart.

"I liked it a medium bit," she corrected. "Not as much as hiking, which is like, this much."

She opened her arms wide, careful not to smack Van sitting next to her.

"It wasn't so bad then?" Shauna sounded much more genuine as they turned out of the parking lot. She was smiling softly as Mel nodded eagerly. The blonde had her hat crammed back down over her head and was cradling her hiking boots in her lap like a teddy, which had made Akilah wince a little because they were so dirty, but she hadn't said anything.

"Yeah," Mel agreed. "I kinda liked it lots."

[paramountinplace]

Thoughts on how they’d act at bedtime? Here are some of mine, I’d love to hear yours

Van would be the most hard to put down when she was feeling small I think because she’d hate being bored and have so much energy. She’d try to distract Tai for as long as possible and insist she needs some colder water in her sippy cup, some goldfish please (and pinch her fingers to show she needs a little bit). She’d also insist she needs to go to the bathroom at least 3 times even if she doesn’t actually have to. Van would sometimes ask for a pull up if she was worried about having an accident, or Tai would give her one so she’d stop getting up to try going. She wouldn’t be able to fall asleep without someone rubbing her back. Tai sometimes gives her a teether or a paci to calm her down.

Mel would be easy to get down usually, unless the “sweet spot” was missed and she got overtired. Sometimes this happens when she joins Van in acting up at night. When she is overtired then she gets super teary and fussy, refusing to brush her teeth and just sit on the floor because she doesn’t want to go to bed, getting mad when Tai picked out a pull up for her and didn’t let her do it herself, after Tai put her hair in two braids she’d cry because she just wanted one, etc. cg Shauna would be good at dealing with her when she got like this, picking her up and rubbing her back till she fell asleep.

Mari would be fine as long as everybody was being quiet and she was read at least 2 stories by Gen or Tai and she got enough snuggles. All her stuffed animals would have to be tucked in too, and her fairy lights on, etc. I can see her wearing pull ups at night too. As long as nobody made a big deal out of it she would be fine. She’d also like having a bottle as she falls asleep.

Jackie would be very particular about her sleeping conditions, kinda like Mari. She’d need her sippy cup and her stuffed animals in hand, her blankets to be “fluffed up” by Shauna, her calico critters all put away, and of course lots of cuddling.

-🐨

Getting Van to bed would definitely be a bit of a chore that Tai's best suited for. If she's not home, bedtime for Van is generally whenever she finally passes out from sheer exhaustion after multiple people have tried getting her down. She just needs something to do that's not just lying there, so having her back rubbed or getting a teether or a soother make perfect sense. Anytime Van does have an accident, she'll be a bit paranoid about having another one for a few days because it really bugs her when it happens. I think she'd actually sleep quite compact as opposed to sprawling out across half the bed. She picked up a habit of curling up on her good side and shielding her face with her arms to get to sleep after the wolf attack and never quite shook it off.

Akilah puts herself to bed half of the time, which sometimes means that she can get overlooked, so Tai really makes an effort to come sit at the edge of her bed and talk softly about the day tomorrow or tell her a story or something. If she can't make it in to say goodnight, whoever's putting Mari down will fill in for her. Akilah doesn't usually ask for someone specific unless she's had a rough day, in which case she'll beg for Tai or sometimes Lottie.

Your thoughts on Mel are great! Not sure I have much to tack on there besides her habit to ask right before bedtime if she can have a sleepover with Van or Shauna or Mari, which the answer to is almost always no. She doesn't usually put up a fuss about it, but sometimes she'll get real upset and has to be gently guided away from the idea of a sleepover.

Loud nights are a nightmare for Mari. If people are going up and down the hall for the restroom or she can hear the television going downstairs, she's simply not sleeping. She has ear defenders but they're kind of bulky to sleep in. It's not uncommon to find a cg dozing in Mari's bed during bedtime because they gave up on trying to talk her into sleeping and decided to just wait it out.

Jackie will sometimes insist on getting up so she can check in on everyone else to see that they're okay. After a couple times of this, they stop trying to talk her out of it and just let her make her rounds because she usually falls asleep way easier after.

Gen's not too fussed about bedtime. She'll pretend to sleep if Mari's really putting up a fight and Tai asks her to just play along, but a lot of the time, she's allowed to read under the covers with her penlight until she gets sleepy. She doesn't get quite so cranky when she's tired as some of the others and her internal clock is strong enough that she usually gets to bed at an alright time.

Laura Lee is an unsung bedtime hero. She's got some kind of magic touch. If someone's struggling badly to get to sleep, Laura Lee gets called in and most of the time, she'll get them on their way to sleep or at least calm enough not to pitch a fit without too much hassle. She's very good at having that extra bit of patience that some of the littles need when they're overtired or fighting sleep and haven't quite worked out why yet.

[paramountinplace]

Mel and Van being completely obsessed with no little monkeys jumping on the bed for no reason besides they like to jump on Tais bed together

They don't even sing the song after a certain point—they're just so thrilled to jump on the bed. They only do it when Tai's not home because they know she doesn't like it, but if Shauna or Lottie catch them, they're still made to stop. Whenever Tai comes home and finds Van and Mel dozing together in the bed, she knows they were probably testing the structural integrity of the frame by jumping on it a bunch.

[paramountinplace]

I really loveee the dynamic between Shauna and Mari and how you write them, and how Mari is both so fierce and so clingy, so brash and so desperate to be loved. I was considering the potential for like….overlap between things people experience feeling small vs feeling normal. Bc like obviously someone isnt going to take a confidence given when small and use it against someone when bigger but what about the other way round?

Like Shauna being very gentle and patient with Mari in the morning- like maybe Mari has wet her bed or had an accident while awake and is really really really upset about it, like furious with herself, utterly humiliated but also really shaken and sad too, so she’s teary but trying to hide it, lashing out a bit.

And Shauna is able to realise whats wrong and help cover it up without anyone else finding out whats really wrong and she just is able to sort things out- getting anyone who was in the firing line calmed down and distracted, maybe handed over to Lottie who is very gentle and soothing and who would totally also be sympathetic to Mari too but that is NOT what Mari needs right now, she wants Shauna to reassure her that everything is ok and make her feel big and brave again.

Bc Lottie is SO sweet she’ll just feel like shes being treated like a baby but Shauna has a sort of edge that is deeply reassuring, like shes really gentle with Mari but in a way that doesnt make her feel patronised at all.

And thats all fine. Except Mari is still kind of upset and thus snappy with everyone and making everyone mad for the rest of he day- and Shauna herself has an awful day and some stuff (maybe she sees something on tv, maybe something triggers a memory) just ends up making her feel a LOT smaller and a LOT less patient. And so when Mari is STILL being mean to people later AND annoying Shauna herself AND making both Jackie and Mel cry, she’s less able to react with adult-Shauna-maturity, instead she snaps like ‘Omg Mari just bc you peed yourself dont take it out on all of us!’ and Mari is SO betrayed and SO embarrassed and SO SO upset.

And Shauna feels a tiny bit bad but also mostly just defensive bc mari was being mean in the first place.Except mari fully shuts herself off from everyone and eso from Shauna and later, when shauna has calmed down, she feels SO bad and goes to Mari to apologise. Mari just shrugs her off bc she doesnt trust Shauna now, shes not her Safe Person, and Shauna is even more distraught.

I’m not even sure how it would all resolve: maybe Tai and Van intercede, like Shauna goes to Tai and Van tries to get mari to open up a bit and kind of acts as her advocate and they talk it out and Shauna is made to understand that even if shes stressed, its not nice to embarrass people and Mari is made to understand that even if shes embarrassed, its not nice to be mean to people who arent involved.

Perhaps Mari then spirals a bit the other way and ends up worrying that now all the OTHERS are gonna be mad at her and Shauna comes and reassures her and suggests they just wipe the day off the slate and the others kind of pick up on it and start chipping in with funny suggestions, like originally its ‘lets just pretend you werent mean and i wasnt mean either’ but then Jackie says she wants a new dessert since yesterdays didnt count and Gen wants to watch her favourite show again since watching it yesterday never happened and Mel wants another turn on Vans gameboy and Akilah wants to bring in another stray cat since her talk with tai about why she shouldnt do that happened yesterday and yesterday didnt happen….

Idk just a headcanon i was mulling over that I wanted to share XD

Oh man, that is so interesting. You make such a good point about things getting carried over from feeling older to feeling smaller, that's not something I think I've incorporated into much of my writing but I'm very interested to explore that a little more!

[paramountinplace]

I love this so much! I can so see them trying to play Pokémon with the actual cards but they kind of have no idea how to do the battles and only Van and Mel understand the statistics on all of them and how they combine with the other cards. Nat’s weirdly obsessed with the energy cards and she’ll line them all up by type while the others argue over whether or not a Machoke can win against an Arbok.

They technically have to “share” the cards, but they’ve all got their decks. Everyone else’s are fairly well-rounded trainer type decks (Van’s got a tone of fire types and some fighting ones, Akilah’s mostly grass and water, Mel’s got lightning and metal types, Nat likes the psychic, etc) but Shauna’s is mostly made up the cute ones.

Mari’s over in the corner mumbling about how Yu-Gi-Oh is way cooler.

Van, Mel, Shauna, Nat and Akilah get really into Pokémon. Van will sit for hours just organising her cards, they’re always trading and playing Pokémon trainer in the backyard. Jackie reluctantly joins in as long as she gets to be the pretty one (Eevee)

[paramountinplace]

YJs + Tantrums HCs

Mel: She just gets overwhelmed so easily and has inadvertently been taught that tantrumming is a quick way to get taken somewhere quiet and private and to have someone to pay attention to calming her down. She won't do it as much if they're in the car or out somewhere because she's too anxious about drawing attention, but the feelings will get built up to be released once they're home again and the smallest thing will set her off. Tripped up the steps coming inside? Instant tears. Gen accidentally stepped on the back of her shoe? She's shoving at Gen and stomping her foot. They very quickly learn that trying to reason with an upset Mel just makes her more upset because deep down she does know that it's fine that she fell, she's okay and no one even noticed, but it's not really even about the falling, it's about a million other things that irked her or made her feel icky. Van's usually the one to deal with a Mel tantrum if she's feeling older because she's got such a calming presence that Mel usually tuckers out pretty quick and collapses against her.

Akilah: Not huge on tantrumming because she's much more likely to go hide if she's feeling really upset. The times that she will throw a fit is when she gets the sense that she's being ignored or not being taken seriously. If she's trying to explain to Tai why she needs to go outside at ten at night because she saw a stray cat limping through their yard and Tai's not really listening, Akilah can go from zero to one hundred very quickly. She's quiet about it, but once the tears start, they have to run their course. She secretly really likes it when Tai picks her up and walks her in slow circles, which generally gets her to calm down. The first time the others saw her throw a tantrum, they were a little stunned. Mari immediately tried to jump in to help, which Akilah did not like at first, but Mari very quickly learned how to exist calmly near Akilah without being oppressive in a way that was helpful.

Van: She's actually very reserved about her "negative" emotions, even when she's smaller. Van's big with her excitement and amusement, but she's quiet about sadness and anxiety. There are times, as there are with everyone, where she can't control having an emotional outburst, but generally if she's gonna throw a tantrum, it's gonna be because she's been pushing down those feelings for a while, so they seem to come out of nowhere a lot of the time. Tai's always the best bet to calm her down, but Nat's a close second. She doesn't "bounce back" after a tantrum like Mari or Mel might because they verge into meltdown territory for her. If one happens, she's out of commission for the day. She'll be quieter and cling to Tai, quicker to get upset over smaller things, and she does not want to be the ringleader for anything whatsoever whereas she'd usually be game.

Lottie: Doesn't really do tantrums because she's very responsive to being comforted. Like, she'll start to get really upset, but as long as someone notices and deals with it, she doesn't get into full fit territory because it's very soothing to her to know that people care enough to see when she's upset. If it doesn't get addressed, she'll cry for ages, even once someone does scoop her up. It makes her feel very vulnerable to feel like she was left to deal with her upset alone, even if that wasn't anyone's intention.

Nat: Almost never has them. She's generally a little too anxious about allowing that much emotion to come through because growing up, a tantrum was dealt with in a not-good way. Even as she gets a little more comfortable expressing herself around the others, she's inclined to go hide or seek out one specific person if she feels herself getting really upset. The times that it has happened were when she was smaller than usual and got the sense that someone around her was going to be hurt in some way. Like Van talked back to Shauna at snack time and Shauna raised her hand (to pick up Van's juice to swap it out for milk), but Nat freaked out and pitched a fit to distract Shauna. Even once she realized Shauna wasn't going to hurt Van, she'd gotten herself so worked up that she couldn't calm herself down without help.

Shauna: Will have more "traditional" tantrums if she's feeling smaller, but otherwise it'll look more like an argument. She's prone to throwing toys and things, which is a habit that everyone picks up on pretty quickly and Tai clears the room if she senses one coming. Tai deals with them by wrapping Shauna up in a huge bear hug. Shauna generally struggles against it at first but Tai knows the difference between "I'm just angry" wiggling and "you actually need to let me go right now" wiggling. Unlike a lot of the others, Shauna does not respond well to being talked through what caused the tantrum. Jackie and Tai have a journal that they use to write back and forth with Shauna instead of talking. It's easier for her to process her thoughts/feelings through writing, but they don't want to leave her alone to deal with them.

Jackie: She really doesn't like having her tantrums acknowledged. She has them frequently enough, but they're usually kinda mild unless someone points it out (like Mari running into the other room to announce that Jackie's crying again) or approaches comforting her in an overtly caring way. She doesn't want to be told it's okay to have big feelings or that she'll feel much better once she gets it out. Shauna's method of dealing is to scoop Jackie up and take her into a different room to just sit for a while or stick her on her hip to "help" do chores while she lets Jackie cry it out. Nat's similar where she'll drop a craft or book or something in front of her while she waits for Jackie to calm down and become interested in the new thing. They both, of course, offer hugs and such, but distraction is a big thing for Jackie.

Gen: Her emotional regulation skills are pretty good, but when she gets fed up with feeling like a doormat, she'll explode. If she's been walked over all day—she tried to speak up about what she wanted for snack but got bulldozed by Mel, she tried to ask for a certain movie but Van only heard Mari's excited yell, she wanted to go outside but Tai told her no without telling her why—she'll snap back and storm off. Mel usually finds her crying into her pillow or huddled outside in the garden and sits with her until she's calm again. She'll advocate for Gen in literally any scenario, even if Gen did hit out at Mari for taking a toy from her, because in Mel's mind, Gen is always in the right.

Mari: Probably the most frequent trantrummer. She's very reactive and tends to not deal with emotions internally. A lot of her tantrums stem from her getting defensive about something, which makes calming her down kind of hard because she tends to resist it in order to prove her point (i.e. she did not cry over Shauna taking her toy or she did not nearly have an accident in the car, Gen, stop saying that!) The best person to calm her down depends on the crux of the tantrum; Van's her preferred person if she's feeling out of control and like the world's ending, Shauna is the best person to deal with an angry Mari, and Lottie's really good with an overtired Mari. For a while, they try sending Mari to time out or something after she throws a fit, but they quickly stop doing that and start focusing on helping her sort out what caused the tantrum and how she can make reparations if needed.

Tai: Just getting her to sleep when she's smaller is usually a one-way ticket to tantrum town. She doesn't know how else to stop Van from trying to get her into her pajamas except throwing a fit about it. She hasn't quite put together that she can do that and still end up having to go to bed, but the emotional release is sometimes helpful for getting her tuckered out and laying down, even if Van hates having to hold Tai back from trying to sprint out the door because Tai is fast and will outrun everyone except Shauna. The times that she has managed to escape were terrifying and had both Shauna and Van sleeping in their trainers whenever Tai was regressed for a while.

Misty: She won't usually get into tantrum territory if she's with other people because someone will recognize her getting upset and if it's acknowledged, she can generally be calmed down again. If she's alone, she can work herself into a frenzy over something very quickly. Nat's found Misty sobbing in her room and throwing stuff at the walls more times than the blonde girl would really like to admit. She likes to be talked to rationally and kindly when she's really upset. She doesn't want to be babied or have her feelings belitted and it's comforting for her to hear things laid out plainly and factually, which Nat is really good at ("If you keep crying, we might miss dinner, which means it'll be cold. It's okay if it is, because we can warm it up again, but it might not taste the same." or "You did hurt Mari when you pushed her in the yard, but she's not going to hate you forever. She's going to want an apology, but you can do that. None of this will feel so bad tomorrow morning.")

[paramountinplace]

Van overheating super easily because of her complexion and she’d also forget to drink water. Tai would make her come inside and she’d be so mad but then realize she wasn’t feeling good

She hates having to take sunscreen breaks and putting her hat on even when some of the others don't because she feels like she's missing out on playtime. It's even more annoying when she gets pulled away from a game to come inside and get sat at the table with a sippy of ice water, which she doesn't need! She needs to get back outside before the game moves on too much and they forget about her! She pouts about it until it catches up to her how sweaty and headachey she'd been. She'll get hit with a wave of sleepiness as she cools down and won't argue when Tai gently guides her to have a quick lie down. Whenever it's warm out, it's not uncommon to find Van dozing on the couch at random points during the day because she got overheated.

[paramountinplace]

Would Mel ever have full on tantrums, like Mari or Jackie style?

As much as Mel would like to say otherwise, she's almost as prone to a full-out tantrum as Mari is. She just gets overwhelmed so easily and has inadvertently been taught that tantrumming is a quick way to get taken somewhere quiet and private and to have someone to pay attention to calming her down. She won't do it as much if they're in the car or out somewhere because she's too anxious about drawing attention, but the feelings will get built up to be released once they're home again and the smallest thing will set her off. Tripped up the steps coming inside? Instant tears. Gen accidentally stepped on the back of her shoe? She's shoving at Gen and stomping her foot. They very quickly learn that trying to reason with an upset Mel just makes her more upset because deep down she does know that it's fine that she fell, she's okay and no one even noticed, but it's not really even about the falling, it's about a million other things that irked her or made her feel icky. Van's usually the one to deal with a Mel tantrum if she's feeling older because she's got such a calming presence that Mel usually tuckers out pretty quick and collapses against her.

[paramountinplace]

do you perchance have thoughts on babyre nat and cgs Jackie + Shauna ^_^ LOVE YOUR AU BTW !! - 🎸

Nat w/ CGs!Jackie + Shauna

Nat can be so clingy to Jackie if she’s having a hard time, which she generally is if she’s that small because she only gets that young when she’s very stressed or upset. She won’t cry out for her or try to grab her as she walks away, but Jackie will turn to see silent tears streaming down Nat’s face if she’s too far away for too long.

Shauna’s at her silliest when she’s taking care of kiddos and it’s no different with Nat. She pulls endless faces and makes funny sounds to try to get Nat to smile.

Jackie can read baby Nat’s noises and facial expressions like a book. She knows a hungry cry from a tired one from a bored one.

Shauna talks to Nat near constantly when they’re alone together. She narrates what she’s doing or how she’s feeling or just shares the thoughts that pop into her head because she knows it makes Nat feel a little more at ease if she knows exactly what’s going through Shauna’s mind. She might not always understand the exact words Shauna’s saying, but she understands her tone.

Nat won’t sleep if Jackie’s not within arms reach. She prefers to be held but as long as Jackie stays close by, she’s able to sleep. It takes Nat a little while to get used to being cared for by Shauna—at first, she doesn’t want to be left alone with her without Jackie, but as she warms up to Shauna, she starts really appreciating how much of a protector Shauna is. She slowly comes to really like having Shauna nearby because it makes her feel safe.

Jackie and Shauna sometimes disagree on things when it comes to caring for Nat, like if she should be fed and then put down for a nap or vice versa, but Shauna defers to Jackie after they did her way once and it backfired wildly.

I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the au! Thanks for the ask!

[paramountinplace]

Mari being really on top of making sure Van eats regularly. Mostly because she’s really into rules and following the routine

Oh I love that idea so much! After Van’s tendency to forgot to eat is realized, Mari starts reminding her (big or small). She’ll try to share her snacks with Van when she’s smaller and when she’s older, she’ll check in with Van every so often. For a while, she scolds Van for not eating because that’s “against the rules,” but she learns quickly not to do that because it’ll just make Van shut down and not listen to her. Tai’s honestly very grateful to have another set of eyes on Van so she’s not the only one monitoring.

Thanks for sharing!

[paramountinplace]

Random HC—TW marijuana and alcohol

I can imagine (older) Van smoking weed sometimes at night, usually while Tai is drinking a few glasses of wine. If Mel was feeling older she’d join them.

I wonder how Van would feel about being under the influence/around other people under the influence. I’d imagine she’s got some reservations about alcohol especially but maybe it’s different with weed! Regardless, Mel would love a chance to hang out with Van and Tai when they’re all feeling older.

[paramountinplace]

Do you have any shauna and lottie or tai and lottie thoughts :)

Sure thing!

Tai + Lottie

They get along most of the time, but they have such different ways of doing things that they get into disagreements fairly often. When they’re both older, they can usually resolve it with minimal shoving (even if Van has to step in sometimes). When one is smaller and the other isn’t, they don’t tend to get into arguments as much, and when they’re both little, they can be prone to getting physical with each other. Tai gets really protective over Shauna and doesn’t always like the way Lottie chooses to deal with her when she’s struggling. Lottie’s a big believer in letting people get their feelings out in whatever way works for them, but Tai knows how hard it can be for Shauna to approach stuff logically when she’s really upset and doesn’t agree with Lottie’s strategy of allowing Shauna to be really aimlessly angry until it fizzles out.

Lottie’s really good at helping Van get little Tai to sleep. She’ll usually come in as Van’s trying to get Tai down just to talk a little and give her some reassurance about her sleepwalking. As much as they can argue, Tai does have a lot of trust in Lottie.

Tai also secretly likes getting asked to care for Lottie when no one else can because it gives her a good reason to slow down and just sit quietly for a while. Lottie usually ends up dozing off against Tai and while she won’t sleep, she finds it nice to relax so as not to disturb her. They’re one of the best caregiving duos. Together they can get the entire house down to bed in less than an hour and if they really work, they can get everyone through a car trip with minimal incident. Between Tai being very pragmatic and very attuned to people’s individual needs and Lottie’s ability to distract people and mediate conflict, they make a good team.

Lottie + Shauna

They agree on the weirdest stuff. Like Shauna will have a very niche opinion that store brand tomato sauce is better than the big brand kind, but only if it’s from this specific store and Lottie will come home with that exact tomato sauce like “this is the best one don’t argue with me.”

Shauna will never admit it, but she really likes the shows that get put on for little Lottie and will find excuses to hang around so that she can watch them too.

Lottie secretly admires how fierce Shauna gets when she’s angry because she feels like she could never be that open with her anger. Angry Lottie is a quiet and sad Lottie.

Lottie subconsciously tries to keep Shauna and Nat apart when she’s caring for them. None of them notice her habit of doing that that until Van asks about it and she realizes she has some stuff to work through regarding that.

Shauna thinks Lottie is really funny and is usually the first person to laugh when she makes a really dry joke that flies over some of the others’ heads.

[paramountinplace]

Thinking about Van having a bunch of those squishy gel ice packs that she uses when her scars are achy

Sometimes her cheek scar especially gets inflamed and it’s hard to eat food, which makes Van mad because she wants her goldfish. Tai and Lottie would make her lots of milkshakes though that she’d share with Mel of course

-🐨

Some of them are in fun shapes too to make it a little more fun for her if she’s being really combative to settling and icing her face. When it gets tricky for her to eat, she won’t actually say about it becuase she wants to be able to eat “normal food,” but when Tai or Lottie notice, they’re quick to make her something else without making a big deal of it. I imagine she’d be kind of fussy when they’re acting up too because her body still isn’t trained out of the stress response to her face hurting.

[paramountinplace]

loved the ask and your comment about little jackie and mel fighting over who gets cg shauna. no pressure but was wondering if maybe you could do a fic on it? maybe nat and van are out together for the day so both jackie and mel are desperate for all of shauna’s attention? <3

No, Me! - Little!Jackie, Little!Mel

Summary: Short fic wherein Mel and Jackie have to decide who gets Shauna's attention. Spoiler: they can both have it.

"Get off, Mel," Jackie grumbled, reaching across Shauna to nudge at Mel's arm.

"You get off," Mel replied, burying her face further into Shauna's shirt as Jackie groaned.

"Neither of you need to get off," Shauna chided, patting both of their backs. "We do all need to get up for lunch soon, though."

They were sprawled across the couch, Mel and Jackie each clinging to one of Shauna's sides, periodically leaning up to glare at the other halfheartedly.

"When's Van comin' home?" Mel asked, picking her head up and poking at the design on Shauna's shirt. She yelped, guiding Mel's finger away from her stomach.

"Dinnertime. Her and Nat are out today, remember?" she said. Mel groaned softly and thunked her forehead against Shauna's shoulder with enough force to jostle her. Jackie yelped in protest on the brunette's other side.

"Mel-issa!"

"Don't call me that, Jacqueline!"

Mel usually only got full-named when she was in trouble and even then, they used it sparingly. She really wasn't a fan of it, much like Jackie, who cringed away from her full-name because it reminded her off fingers jabbing in her face disapprovingly and being sent to bed without dinner.

"Hey!" Shauna tried to raise her voice enough to be commanding without yelling. It was a skill Tai had achieved perfect balance of—they all listened to her without cringing away. Lottie had been trying to perfect it, mostly because she wanted to outdo Tai on that front, but she usually erred too far on the side of gentle for it to be really effective.

Shauna seemed to hit the right combination of stern and forgiving to get both girls to sink defeatedly against her and stop squabbling, murmuring flat apologies to each other before Shauna could instruct them to do that as well. Their annoyance had only subsided for a short time, though, because they were back at it again a while later as Shauna tried to prep lunch.

She stood with Tai at the counter, doling out slices of bread for sandwiches as she tried to ignore the increasingly noisy banter going on at the table. Mel seemed to have gotten Gen on her side for whatever it was they were going on about while Jackie had recruited both Misty and Akilah to argue in her favor.

Tai glanced over from time to time as she assembled various kinds of sandwiches, sharing an amused look with a not-so-amused Shauna every time they made eye contact.

"It's been all day," Shauna sighed, slicing Jackie's sandwich into her preferred fourths. She suspected the plate would be passed back to her and a request would be made to slice each fourth into four more pieces, so that each piece was one bite, because Jackie had a packet of crackers in front of her and she liked to portion out one cracker per bite of sandwich (and they all had to be the same size).

"I'd be flattered," Tai snorted. "You're obviously the coolest."

"You're acting like no one ever squabbles over you."

"You mean like you and Van? No offense, Shauna, but I wouldn't really call what you guys do squabbling. It's more like you try to bite her and she cries and then you run away because you feel bad," Tai replied.

Shauna's cheeks flushed and she shoved a plate at Tai a little rougher than necessary.

"Anyway, I'm not really sure what to do about it," she continued, choosing to ignore Tai's comment.

"Make a game of it," Tai suggested, dumping handfuls of blueberries into various small bowls. "Team them up against you for something."

Shauna chuckled, placing baby carrots onto the plates next to the sandwiches.

"I tried that. They started arguing over who got to be on my team," she explained. "And when I said they had to be on each other's teams, they tried to tell me they had 'creative differences'."

She made air quotes with her fingers and smiled as Tai burst into laughter.

"Let me guess, that one was Jackie?"

"Yep. Mel just crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out."

They finished plating everything up and brought it to the table, which momentarily disrupted the arguing, only for it to start back up again when the question of where Shauna would sit was posed. Mel wanted Shauna next to her, which meant that she'd be on the opposite end of the table from Jackie, who wanted Shauna to sit next to her.

"Alright, you know what?" Shauna said, raising both of her hands in surrender. "I'm gonna sit at the barstools with Tai. If you're gonna fight about it, neither of you get to sit near me."

The back-and-forth quieted instantly as Shauna went over to sit by Tai, who patted her back in support. The discussion over at the kitchen table was much quieter and far less heated as lunch continued. As they started finishing up, Shauna noticed Mel get up to whisper something into Jackie's ear, who nodded slowly.

They both came over to her, side by side, looking sheepish.

"We're sorry," Jackie announced, hands folded in front of her. Mel nodded at her side, copying Jackie's stance.

"We'll stop fighting," she added, "for real life this time."

"Not like when we said we'd stop earlier and then didn't," Jackie agreed. They awkwardly leaned their shoulders together, smiling at Shauna sweetly.

It was, admittedly, adorable.

"Alright," she relented, lifting a brow. "I want you to do something to me to prove that you're serious, though."

They both nodded eagerly.

"Good. Do what I say," she instructed. "Stand on one foot. Put your hands on your hips...Actually no, put one hand on your hip and raise the other one."

"Like this?" Mel asked, wobbling.

"Good! Now start hopping up and down and—oh, excuse me I'm getting a call," she interrupted herself, reaching for her banana that was sitting untouched by her plate. She held it up to her ear. "Hello?"

"That's not a phone!" Jackie squawked, giggling.

Shauna hushed her dramatically.

"I'm on the phone, Jax! Yes...no...I said forty-three...No, no, not the green ones. We like purple," she said nonsensically.

"Shauna!" Mel protested, clearly struggling to continue holding the ridiculous pose Shauna had put them in.

"One sec, bud, I'm talking," Shauna said, holding up a finger and making them both dissolve into giggles. "I do know a Ms. Wigglebottom, but she's busy with the dishes right now."

Mel and Jackie collapsed against each other, laughing full-out when Tai spun around at the sink with a bewildered expression on her face, pointing to herself questioningly.

"Yep, all good. Buh-bye now," Shauna concluded, placing the banana back onto the counter. She turned to the girls. "What happened? I thought you were supposed to be hopping?"

"Shaunaaaa," Jackie groaned, still grinning as she drew out the "a" sound in her name.

"Yeah," Mel agreed," Shaunaaa. That was impossible!"

"So impossible!" Jackie added.

They looked at each other and giggled. Tai flashed Shauna a thumbs up, smiling. She managed to get them both wrangled onto the couch for an afternoon movie without any arguing, even when Jackie wanted to lay her head in Shauna's lap and Mel obviously did to. She opted to settle against Shauna's shoulder after Jackie promised they could switch halfway through the movie, the two shaking hands in agreement with such serious and professional looks on their faces that Shauna couldn't help but laugh.

When Nat and Van finally did come home, they found Mel and Jackie asleep against Shauna as the sequel to the movie they'd originally picked played quietly on the television. Even Shauna had her head tipped back against the couch, dozing lightly.

"Seems like they got on well," Nat mused.

Van shrugged.

"Who knew?"

Hope you enjoyed, anon!

[paramountinplace]

My hcs about each of them and their periods

Jackie would get really bad cramps and just be bedridden the whole time poor bb. She’d be really irregular though so she wouldn’t get her period frequently which would be good. She’d like that she could get coddled by Shauna and Nat

Shauna would get really cranky and annoyed before and the first few days of it. She’d constantly be arguing with cgs, biting much more frequently, and shoving mari, getting impatient at Van, etc.

Mari would also get really annoyed while she’s on her period, and whining would get so bad. Her cramps would be really bad too and she’d loose her appetite for a few days. Getting her to eat would be really hard between the physical symptoms and the big emotions. She would however think her pads are like stickers so that wouldn’t be an issue.

Mel would just get really teary and clingy. I can’t really picture her dealing with heavy bleeding or bad cramps.

Tai would feel so sick on her period and would hate it because she can’t be productive. Van would love snuggling a cranky tai though.

-🐨

As always, I loved getting to read your thoughts!

Shauna and Nat who don't always get along amazingly becoming the best team whenever Jackie's on her period to give her the easiest time they possibly can.

Tai picking up on Shauna's short-temperedness and doing her best to intervene where she can/gently talk Shauna through her big feelings.

Akilah being Mari's buddy for a few days and being so patient while she slowly works through a plate of food she doesn't really want long after everyone else has already left the table.

Van being perfectly willing to let Mel cling and is very good about letting Mel get her feelings out while also reassuring her that everything is ok.

Tai not wanting to feel coddled until Van is like "literally nothing would make me happier than you letting me take care of you right now" and then relenting.

[paramountinplace]

Mel getting anxious about a change in routine

Well, I Wood, But... - Little!Mel

Summary: As seen above! Mel likes their Friday routine and the idea of doing something different isn't exactly exciting to her. I'm not gonna lie, I didn't even consider that they might all have an aversion to hanging out in the woods after the wilderness until the very end, so lets pretend they're doing exposure therapy on themselves and everyone's fine with it now 🙈

Mel couldn't help but wriggle excitedly in place as she brushed her teeth, shifting from foot to foot as energy thrummed into her legs. It was Friday, which meant that it was lunch in the woods day, which was maybe Mel's favorite thing to do ever. She got to pack her lunch into her racecar lunchbox and wear her cool hiking boots, which had orange laces and made her feel like an explorer on an expedition. Sometimes she was even allowed to climb up onto boulders or onto a low branch of a tree to eat her lunch. The best part came at the end, when everyone was worn out from the hike and whoever was driving made the executive decision to stop for ice cream. It didn't always happen, but Mel had a good feeling about this time.

She spat her toothpaste out in the sink, carefully rinsing her toothbrush before placing it back into the cup with her name on it. Her hair was still hanging loose around her shoulders and she hoped there would be time to have Van plait it before they left so that her baseball cap fit down nicely over it.

She heard voices in the kitchen and made a beeline for it, a little bounce in her step. Van, Tai, and Lottie were standing around the counter talking quietly and they fell quiet when Mel entered, which made her falter at the door.

"No, no, it's okay," Van reassured, reaching an arm out. "C'mere, Mel. What's up?"

"Can you plait my hair?" She asked, voice barely above a whisper. The quiet that had fallen over the room when she'd entered had been disarming and she didn't want to speak too loudly just in case it would mess something up.

Van nodded, directing her over to a chair to sit.

"Bud, we were just talking about how we might do something a little different from our normal hike today," she explained softly as she started separating Mel's hair into sections.

Mel stiffened her chair, but tried to relax her shoulders so that Van wouldn't notice.

"Um, okay," she replied, biting her lip.

"The park we usually go to is closed today," Van continued. Her fingers trailing lightly through Mel's hair felt nice, but it was hard to focus on when her entire day had just been blown to pieces. "This week's rain flooded the trails and caused some small landslides."

"Is it gonna be closed forever?" Mel blurted, suddenly fearful that she'd never ever get to climb her favorite tree again or carve another notch into the underside of the boulder she was using to count how many hikes they did there.

"No, buddy, just for a little," the redhead soothed. She finished tying off Mel's plait and came around to the front of the chair, crouching down to look up at Mel. "We were thinking maybe a lake. It's about an hour away, so a little further than usual, but the website makes it look really nice."

"Would we have lunch still?" Mel asked. She could feel her leg beginning to bounce restlessly as her mind whirled through questions. Would she still get to wear her boots? Would she have to put on a swimsuit? Would she have to bring a dry change of clothes? Were there bathrooms there? What if Gen got carsick on the way there? Would they still maybe stop for ice cream? Would they be home in time for her to watch an episode of her favorite show like she always did on Friday nights?

"Well," Van's mouth twisted, "no, we wouldn't. We'd bring dinner instead."

Mel usually had a sandwich for lunch when they went hiking. Sandwiches were not dinner food, no matter what Mari thought. Dinner food was fish or soup or rice with beans and Mel did not like the idea of eating those things outside. She could feel tears starting to press at the backs of her eyes, leg picking up speed as it jounced. Van put a gentle hand on her knee, not trying to stop it from moving, and tilted her head questioningly.

"What are you thinkin', kiddo?"

"I���" Mel hesitated, fingers twisting together in her lap. It wasn't that she didn't want to go, but it sounded too different from their hike days. She probably wouldn't get to watch her show or eat her sandwich and if she didn't even like the lake, her whole day would be messed up for no reason. "I just wanna go on the hike."

Van nodded sympathetically. She took her hand off Mel's still-bouncing knee and stood up so she could sling that arm around Mel's shoulders.

"I get that, Mel," she murmured. "The lake might be fun, though."

What if it was too fun? What if everyone liked the lake even better than the hiking and they started having dinner at the lake instead of lunch in the woods forever?

"I don't want to!"

The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could really think about them, frantic and urgent. She shot to her feet, turning to look Van in the eyes seriously. The redhead looked a little taken aback, but she nodded slowly.

"We could stay here, if you really don't—"

"No one should go!" Mel cried. She tugged at the end of one of her two plaits. "We should go to the hiking instead."

"It's closed, kiddo," Van murmured, brows furrowed. "Mel, what's so scary about the lake?"

She clamped her eyes shut, trying to will back tears. Van was quiet, waiting patiently. Finally, after a few moments of internal debate, Mel decided to just out with it.

"It'll be too different," she mumbled, cracking her eyes open to see what Van's face would do in reaction to her words. "I don't want people to like the lake more than the woods, and I want to have a sandwich and not rice, and I wanted to wear my boots, and I don't know if I have to wear a swim suit, and I don't want to get water in my nose or be cold or—or any of that stuff."

Van's face softened, confusion melting away.

"It's a lot of unexpected stuff, huh?"

Mel nodded vigorously. She liked the woods. She had a map in her head for how the woods would go and it made everything feel very secure to know exactly what was coming next.

Van sighed, rubbing at the back of her neck sheepishly.

"We probably should've told you about this a bit sooner," she admitted.

Mel raised her eyebrows like she'd seen Tai do.

"Uh-huh," she agreed, making Van chuckle fondly. She reached out to squeeze Mel's shoulder.

"Noted," Van nodded. "Look, bud, I know it's scary that it's gonna be so different, but I think it might be fun. And if it feels like too much, you can find me and we'll try to figure out how to make it feel better."

Mel gnawed at her lip. More footsteps pounded into the kitchen, Shauna and Mari's voices rising excitedly as Tai informed them of the change in plans. Shauna had a thing for sandcastles and Mari loved swimming, so the lake was definitely preferable to the woods for them. The thought made her stomach churn again and she looked at Van worriedly.

"What are we gonna eat for dinner?"

Van grinned, leaning in close to whisper by her ear like it was a secret.

"Sandwiches. And we'll pack yours in your lunchbox like always."

"Really? That's not dinner food," she replied skeptically.

"Maybe we pretend it's a really late lunch?" Van suggested. Mel mulled it over for a moment before sighing.

"Okay. Do I need a swimsuit?"

"Only if you want one. It might be a little chilly to get into the water all the way," Van explained. "We could always pack one just in case and you could change."

That sounded...doable.

"Can I wear my boots anyway?"

Van chuckled. "Sure. Why not?"

Mel nodded slowly. That wasn't so bad. She could still feel a million more questions bubbling up on her tongue and she wanted to ask them all right away in case she forgot them or Van got busy with getting Mari to put her sunscreen on and forgot about Mel.

"Will it be bedtime when we get home? And will there be a water fountain there? And bathrooms? Are we bringing the beach toys? What if my clothes get wet and they don't dry before we get in the car?" She rushed out.

Van blinked, brows furrowing as she tried to follow Mel's train of questions. Vaguely, Mel remembered a conversation about not saying too many things to Van at once, but she was too caught up in worrying about the lake to correct herself.

"How about," Van started, "I sit in the back with you on the drive and you can ask me all the questions you want. I can't promise to answer all of them, but I can do my best."

Mel considered the idea. Normally, she liked sitting next to Gen, but Gen would probably have to sit in the front for the longer drive. If she sat next to Van, she'd be able to put her head on her shoulder to nap and Van might even tell her a story when she was done with all her questions.

"Okay," she agreed. She reached out shyly to grasp at the hem of Van's shirt, sighing contently when she was pulled in for a proper hug. "Will you play with me at the lake?"

When Van was smaller, she almost always played with Mel in the woods and would run ahead with her on the trail and climb the trees they were allowed and play stick shooters. She wasn't sure if big Van would still want to do those kinds of things with her, even though she usually said yes when Mel asked. Maybe the lake would be different.

"Of course, buddy," Van hummed.

Satisfied, Mel pulled away. She was starting to maybe feel the littlest bit excited to go to the lake. Van smiled, noticing the way Mel's happy wiggles had started back up again.

"Run upstairs and grab your swim stuff and backpack, okay?"

"Okay!"

She started to turn to go upstairs before something occurred to her.

"Wait, bubba!"

"Yeah?"

Mel held up her pinky seriously.

"Do you promise we'll go back to the woods when it's open again?"

Van's mouth twitched, fighting off a smile as she tried to nod seriously for Mel's sake. She locked her pinky around Mel's solemnly, having managed to get her expression under control.

"I promise."

Mel nodded, pleased.

"Good."

And then the lake trip was fun and everything was ok in the end! Maybe part 2 on the horizon if I can get through the other requests I have (or just if inspiration strikes lol but I promise I'll try to get everything else out first)