#since the TSP fandom has been calming down lately

[blackkatdraws2]

ANIMATION TEASER [Blank Scripts AU]

[cuddlepilefics]

9.    Glazed Almonds

Fandom: Monsta X

Little: Jooheon

Caregiver: mostly Kihyun

 Minhyuk’s POV.:

The dynamics of our group have changed a bit recently. After having to take a step back from group activities due to his anxiety, Jooheon had tried different therapy approaches. One evening him and Kihyun had gathered all members in the living room. Kihyun had also been the one to accompany the rapper to some of his sessions and his support was easier accepted by the younger than ours, for some reason our Honey struggled to open up to anyone except Kihyun and sometimes Changkyun. That particular evening, he announced, he wanted to tell us something but when we were all sitting there expectantly, he had freaked out a bit, not being able to say a single word. With the nodded permission, Kihyun had spoken up to explain what Jooheon had wanted to tell us. It was about one of his therapy approaches, the one that had helped him the most during his sessions and what he had used as coping strategy ever since. Kihyun had reminded us to be open-minded because the reason the rapper had freaked out was because he feared our reaction. How could we react in a negative way, if it is something that helps him? He probably never noticed but watching him hurt tore each and every member to pieces inside.

What they introduced us to, was a thing called age regression. Apparently, an individual acts, thinks and feels as though they are a younger age than they physically are. More accurately, an age when they had no worries. It was a bit difficult to grasp at first, it being hard to imagine Jooheon not being the Jooheon we knew. Nevertheless, we asked them to explain it in depth, so we’d be able to support our rapper the way he needed it. Not receiving the rejection he had feared, he had quickly slipped into his headspace, introducing all his plushies by name. It had been hard not to squeal at his cuteness but we were afraid of scaring him. While calmly playing along with Jooheon and his plushies, we had learned that Kihyun was something that’s called a caregiver to the little. Basically, a protective figure that looks out for the little, comforts him when sad or laughs along when happy. With the vocalist’s motherly instincts, it had only made sense that he’d take that role for Jooheon when he regressed. Jooheon had gotten tired quickly, falling asleep in his best friend’s arms. While the maknae had carried him to bed, tucking him in with his favorite plushie, we had asked Kihyun to teach us how to care for our member should he ever slip without his caregiver around. We had stayed up till late at night, receiving our lesson in How to care for a little.

Ever since then, we were all looking out for our Joohoney. Of course, only Changkyun could get as close with his fellow maknae as Kihyun but that was alright. Whatever he is comfortable with. It was fine, especially because we all get to cuddle and play with him. The cuteness that came with his younger headspace was overwhelming again every single time. I was so lucky to share a room with the rapper and Kihyun. I woke up early today, hearing soft whines and shuffling coming from Jooheon, something the rapper never did when he was big, so I figured he had regressed. That was alright, since we have no schedule today. I looked over at Kihyun but he was deeply asleep, unaware of his little’s distress. Nervously, I got out of bed, walking over to the messy bundle of blankets that probably also contained a regressed rapper. I gently started pocking the bundle, before pulling aside the edge of the blanket, coming face to face with the most adorable, squishy pout I had ever seen. “Well good morning, Honey”, I whispered, patting Jooheon’s sleep-ruffled hair. He gave be a dimpled smile before yawning and making grabby hands for me. I was a bit insecure because I had never been alone with the little before but I tried to just follow my instincts by picking him up and sneaking out to the living room quietly so Kihyun could get at least a bit more rest.

We were cuddling on the couch, watching cartoons on my tablet till the little got hungry. What do littles even eat? “Honey, what are you hungry for?”, I asked helplessly only receiving a frown. He wasn’t really the talkative one so I just carried him to the kitchen, letting him sit on the counter while I showed him different foods I deemed suitable for a little. Jooheon made his choice by shaking his head or pointing at the items excitedly. In the end we settled for a sliced banana and a chocolate pudding. Kihyun will probably kill me later when he learns that I let his little have pudding for a meal but if he has a problem with that, he should have woken up and handled the situation himself. His breakfast was messy and before we could go back to watching our cartoons, I wiped the table and we had to take a detour to the bathroom to wash the littles hands and face. I was actually surprised how entertaining cartoons could be and I was so captivated that Kihyun’s hand on my shoulder startled me as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere. “Momma”, Jooheon squealed giving his brightest smile. “Good morning to you too, baby”, the vocalist hummed, kissing his forehead. “Why are you up already?”, he continued, looking at me. “Well, I was awake and after a while I heard whining and noticed that our Honey here was awake too, so we went to watch cartoons together and let you sleep a bit longer”, I explained.

I offered to cook breakfast today because Jooheon had immediately taken his caregiver captive not allowing him to get up from the carpet where the two were playing. Slowly our members woke up one by one, shuffling into the living room. It was hard to get their attention off of our little but after a while I had gathered them all at the breakfast table. Jooheon sitting next to Kihyun, not really eating because he had already had a small breakfast but stealing small bites from Kihyun’s plate while the caregiver pretended not to notice. Changkyun on the other side of the table had secretly taken out his phone, recording them. We had no plans for today so we wanted to have some quiet time at the dorm and maybe try to get into the Chrastmas spirit. It couldn’t be too difficult to get into a joyous mood when you have a joyful little around you now, could it?

 Kihyun’s POV.:

I was really happy for my dongsaeng that he finally could regress freely around our members after having to do it in secrecy for weeks. We had actually planned for him to regress today, since we were free for the day. What I had not expected however was that, he’d wake up before me, so when he was gone when I woke up, I panicked for a second before my eyes fell onto Minhyuk’s empty bed. I calmed myself down, although Minhyuk has never cared for a little by himself, at least there was someone with Jooheon. I found them together in the living room and was relieved that my baby was actually being cared for well while I was asleep.

After breakfast, I convinced my group to occupy our regressed rapper for a while, not that they had a problem with that, rather the opposite was the case, so that I could busy myself in the kitchen. I knew glazed almonds were one of Jooheon’s favorite seasonal treats, never failing to make him feel nostalgic, so I figured it would be perfect for him to have when in little space, especially in our attempt to get into a festive mood today. Hyunwoo and Minhyuk went out to buy some Christmas decoration and plastic ornaments, while Changkyun and Hyungwon helped Jooheon pick out his favorite fairylights, hanging them up in the places the little pointed to while I quietly watched from the kitchen door. Satisfied that they were handling it, I pulled out a wrinkled paper that I had slipped between the pages of a cookbook my mother gave me.

Glazed Almonds

Ingredients:

·        200g unpeeled Almonds

·        200g white sugar

·        100ml Water

·        Pinch of salt

·        ½ tsp. cinnamon / gingerbread spice mix

Mix sugar, water, salt and spices in a pan and heat the mixture up on high till it starts bubbling gently.

Add in the almonds, stirring with a wooden spoon.

Keep boiling on high while stirring constantly till the moisture has evaporated and the sugar looks crumbly.

Turn the heat to medium and keep stirring till the sugar starts to melt again.

Turn off the heat and spread the almond out on a baking sheet, separating them carefully with a spoon to prevent them from sticking together.

Be careful, melted sugar is extremely hot!

 Hyungwon’s POV.:

We’ve been decorating the dorm with Jooheon, waiting for Hyunwoo and Minhyuk to return with more decoration since we barely owned any. The fun really only started when the two came back, emptying their shopping bags onto the carpet. Buying plastic ornaments was the wisest foresight anyone could have had, it was Kihyun’s idea, so what did I expect? The little was worse than any cat when it came to ornaments. He could stare into the shiny globe for minutes straight, before suddenly rolling it across the carpet giggling. Since we didn’t have to worry about anything being broken, we just laughed along, hanging up paper stars and setting up LED candles. We didn’t want to have any open fire with a little around. It was nice watching our second-youngest so carefree again, I had missed it. The dorm slowly filled with a warm and sweet cinnamon scent and I snuck away to the kitchen to check how much longer the vocalist would take, since Jooheon wanted to show his momma the pretty Christmas ornaments. The almonds already lay spread out on a baking sheet and I reached out to try on, freezing in my tracks as Kihyung who had just turned around yelled: “STOP! No touching yet. They’re still extremely hot.” I startled but pulled my hand back, trying to get my heartrate down after the shock.

Kihyun was still cleaning up when Jooheon shuffled into the kitchen, being lured by the smell. Like he had done earlier, he tried to sneak a bite, me only realizing what he was doing when it was to late. Alarmed by a loud cry, Kihyun shot over, pulling the little towards the sink to let some cold water run over his burned fingers as I stood in shock. A worried Changkyun popped his head into the kitchen to see what was going on, turning on his heels to fetch the first aid kit while Kihyun tried to calm the little down with their hands still under the water. When the maknae returned, pulling some ointment as well as two cute band-aids from the first aid kit, Kihyun turned off the water and gently dabbed the water of Jooheon’s hands, so the band-aids would stick, while shushing him quietly. The little was reduced to silent whimpers as Kihyun sat him down at the table. “Aww baby, what happened?”, Changkyun cooed, crouching in front of his best friend. “Ouchie”, the mentally younger boy whined, holding out his burned hand. “I see, let’s put some band-aids on that so that the ouchie will go away, hm?”, he hummed sympathetically, applying some of the ointment to the blisters forming on the little’s thumb and index finger before covering it with cute childish band-aids that he’d dug out from the bottom of their first aid kit. One of the band-aids was printed with a small bear while the other had a cute bee on it. Only sniffling a bit, Jooheon allowed his main caregiver to wipe his tears before pulling him in a hug. No one was going to scold the rapper, knowing he had learned from his mistake. Kihyun handed the little an ice pack that he could press his fingers against to numb the pain a bit, guiding him to the couch, where the little sat sandwiched between Minhyuk and Changkyun. Hyunwoo turned on a Christmas movie to distract his dongsaeng from the pain he was feeling. We all got settled in front of the TV and I picked up Jooheon’s favorite ornament that we weren’t allowed to hang up because he wanted to play with it and show it to Kihyun.

In the middle of the movie, the glazed almonds had finally cooled enough for Kihyun to fill them into bowls and serve them on the coffee table. He held out a small plastic bowl to Jooheon for the little to have his treat now. However, the little only shook his head refusing to eat any of it after they had betrayed him earlier. Minhyuk took the bowl and held it in his lap so his dongsaeng could easily reach it in case he changed his mind. We watched his eyes drift from the TV to the bowl longingly before blinking back up at the screen. After a few minutes, Kihyun had had enough. He got up from his spot on the ground next to the couch and picked an almond from the bowl, poking Jooheon’s pouty lips with it who shyly opened his mouth letting his caregiver feed him. The caregiver gently patted the littles head as he saw his eyes light up with emotion at the taste of the festive treat. Not as scared anymore, the little picked up an almond himself, holding it out to Kihyun who thanked him politely before the little got up to give each of his members one of his glazed almonds.

Settling back in his original spot he contently munched away, eyes glued to the TV as the movie reached its climax.