a sunny safe space☀️

Michael frustratingly threw down his controller, hitting his desk, and leaning back in his chair as he lost another match in Overwatch. “Fuck! Stupid fucking game…” He muttered to himself before sitting up and starting another round. This was the typical cycle, playing Overwatch for hours on end even though he was pissed as hell every time he lost. It was still fun though; that was just the way games worked. Also, from that competitive spirit in Michael, he didn’t want to quit until he at least ranked up again. He had been playing for most of the morning, having gotten a quick bowl of cereal, then went right to it. It wasn’t like he had anything else to do today.

Except for the fact Luke was downstairs, making a complete mess in the kitchen. He had woken up little, but was determined to do things himself today. He knew Mikey liked to sleep in, so why bother him? Now, he was pouring milk into his bowl of cereal, spilling half of it on the counter. There were little pieces of cereal around his bowl too. “Oh- shoot.” He mumbled as he noticed the spilt milk. He grabbed a paper towel and set it down, drying up the milk, even though it really didn’t do much. He took his bowl of cereal and sat in one of the chairs at the kitchen counter, happily munching away, oblivious to what he was spilling on his shirt. He swung his legs back and forth, very content this morning.

“Asshole! What the fuck!?” Luke heard Michael shout from his room upstairs. The boy didn’t really think of why Michael might be shouting; he was just happy to know he was awake! Luke slurped up some of the milk from his cereal bowl before setting it down a bit too loudly on the table and practically bolting his way to Michael’s room.

Luke barely knocked on the door before pushing it open. “Mikey?”

“Hey-“ Michael was facing his monitor still. “I’m- I’m in the middle of a match right now, so I can’t- uh- do you need something?”

Luke could hear the loud pressing of buttons on Michael’s controller. His eyes flickered to the older boy's monitor before looking down at his feet. He shuffled against the carpet, admiring the light green colour of his socks for only a moment. “Heard you from the kitchen, so came to say hi.”

“Well, hi Luke, g’morning.” Michael might have sounded uninterested, but Luke knew it was just cause he was focused on the game.

Luke shyly stepped into the room, closing the door so quietly you’d almost miss it. “Watcha playing?”

“Overwatch.”

“That’s the one you were telling me about, with the um… Juno character?”

“Yeah, it’s my main.” Michael slightly leaned forward on his chair, eyes still locked to the screen.

Luke shuffled over to sit on Michael’s bed, fidgeting with his hands and watching his boyfriend game. He didn’t like to talk too much while Michael was playing cause he knew how focused the boy could get, and he didn’t want to distract him. Luke was very fidgety today, though, as all he wanted was some attention from his caregiver. “Um, do you—“ The rest of Luke’s words were mumbled.

“What was that?” Michael spoke quickly, still very focused on the game. “Fuck! This guy's gonna kill me!” Michael didn’t see the way Luke flinched from his shouting.

“Do you—“ Luke mumbled out his words again, feeling shy. He looked back down at his hands.

“Luke, I can’t understand what you’re say- DUDE! Where is my support- holy shit!” Michael groaned as he threw himself back in his chair, having lost yet another round. He then spun around in his chair to finally face Luke. “Okay, what’s u— Luke, you’re soaked.” Michael cut himself off after seeing Luke’s shirt that had milk all down the front.

“Oh-“ Luke looked at his shirt, just now realizing how much of a mess he actually made. “Sorry, spilled a little.”

Michael’s mouth quirked in confusion, held open like he was about to say something, but then his eyes widened as he realized. Luke was regressed. “Hey… are you feeling little today?”

Luke nodded. “But I was big boy and got bweakfast all by myself!”

Michael chuckled a little. “Seems like you got most of it on yourself. Come on, buddy. Let’s go get you changed.” He set his controller aside and held his hand out for Luke.

“Carry?”

Michael was still getting the strength to be able to carry Luke as often as he wanted. Even if it got tiring, he could never deny the boy. “Sure, buddy.” He lifted Luke up into his arms, holding him on his hip and trying to make sure the boy’s milk-stained shirt didn’t get on his own clothes.

Luke wrapped his arms around Michael’s neck and put his head down on the older boy’s shoulder. He nuzzled against Michael.

“Alright, bud. What’re we thinking for clothes?” Michael spoke as he walked into Luke’s room, setting him down on the bed.

“Ummmm.. can stay in pjs?”

“Sure! We’re not doing much today, so you can stay all cozy.” Michael started to look through Luke’s closet for a different set of pajamas. He set aside a pair of grey sweatpants, then went to look for a top. He paused upon seeing a familiar hoodie, pulling it out and turning to Luke. “I don’t think this is yours, buddy.”

Luke’s cheeks tinted a light red, and he looked to the side, still messing with his hands. “I’s nice.. smells like you..”

“Aww,” Michael was only teasing the boy for taking his sweater, but knowing Luke just genuinely liked having the presence of his boyfriend in that way was sweet. “Do you wanna wear this right now?”

Luke nodded. “Please.”

“Okay, I just need to get you a shirt—“

“No.”

“No?”

“Jus’ want sweater, nofing else.”

Michael laughed a little, but shrugged and grabbed the pants he had set aside before walking over to Luke. “Do you need help getting dressed?” At Luke’s nod, Michael carefully changed him out of his other clothes and into the new ones. Some comfy sweatpants and Michael’s hoodie covering his frame. “There we go, you look so cute. Are you all cozy?”

“Mhm! Up!” Luke reached out to Michael again. He squealed when he got lifted up, immediately nuzzling into his boyfriend. Everything felt safe like this.

Michael left Luke’s room and began to walk downstairs to the kitchen. He was just holding Luke close and rubbing his back, whispering sweet nothings, until he stopped at the sight of the kitchen counter.

There was a huge puddle of milk on the counter that was dripping off the edge, making a smaller puddle on the floor. There were some small pieces of cereal scattered about, and a little clump of paper towels having barely soaked up the mess from Luke’s attempt to clean earlier.

“Lukey, baby? What happened here?” Michael spoke softly, not wanting to make the boy think he was upset.

“Huh?” Luke lifted his head and stared at the counter. He had made a bigger mess than he thought. His mind was too fuzzy to fully realize. “Oh.. um.. spilled a bit ge’ing bweakfast, but I cweaned it!”

Michael sighs as he walks closer to the mess. “I can see that… You definitely tried to clean it, and I appreciate that, but there’s still a lot, baby.”

Luke pouted, tucking his head under Michael’s chin. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, it’s just a bit of milk; we can clean it up, but next time you should come tell me when you make a mess, okay?”

“Otay… Mikey not mad?”

“Of course not. Spills happen all the time; it’s no big deal. I’d just like it if, when you spill like this, you come tell me so we can get it cleaned up.”

Luke nodded in agreement. He did let out a small whine, though, when Michael set him down in a chair.

“It’s okay, babe. I just gotta clean this up first.” Michael made quick work of getting some paper towels and wiping down the counter. He put away the box of cereal Luke had left out and set the boy’s bowl in the sink. Once he was done, he prepared a quick bottle for Luke, then lifted the boy back into his arms, starting to walk back to his own room.

Luke was already reaching for the bottle in Michael’s hand as they walked, mumbling small ‘gimmies’

“Just one minute, buddy.” Michael chuckled at Luke’s eagerness for his bottle. When they got to Michael’s room, he set Luke in his bed and handed off the bottle. “I’m going to keep gaming, but if you need anything, just let me know, okay? I’ll have my headphones off.”

“Can I cowour?” Luke spoke while nibbling on the teat of his bottle.

“Yeah, let me get your stuff.” Michael ruffled Luke’s hair, making the blonde giggle, before he opened a drawer of his desk to pull out a colouring book. He set it on the bed next to Luke, along with a box of crayons. He watched as Luke eagerly opened the book and found a page to start colouring on. Michael then went back over to his desk, sitting down and starting another match of Overwatch.

The only sounds in the room were Luke’s occasional babbles to himself, the crayon on paper, or Michael’s controller and his remarks at the game. Luke didn’t really mind that Michael would get loud when playing; he was beyond used to it after spending years and years with the boy. It just reassured him that Michael was there and he was having a good time. Although sometimes Luke questioned that by the way Michael would yell at the game.

“This asshole! What are you doing?!” Michael shouted, his button pressing getting louder. Luke made a small sound, cowering in on himself a little.

“Stupid fucking game-!” Michael shouted again, but this time he noticed Luke’s little whimper. When the match ended, he spun around in his chair to face the boy, taking in how he was holding himself while he coloured. “Luke? Are you okay?”

“M-mhm…” He mumbled, but Michael could see how his colouring slowed a little.

“Lukey bear, look at me.” Luke shyly looked to Michael, not able to ignore him when he used that nickname. “What’s going on? I heard you whine.”

“Um.. just- just don’t like the- the words…” Luke mumbled again.

“The words? What do you mean, baby?”

“You- you shouting..”

“You being honest with me, love?”

Luke was silent before shaking his head a little. “Just… the cussing, I don’t like.”

“Oh, shi- shoot. I’m sorry, buddy. You could’ve just said that; I’ll try and stop.”

“Fanks…” Luke smiled slightly when Michael pressed a kiss to his forehead. Sometimes he forgot how easy it was to make things better. Michael always understood.

Luke went back to colouring, and Michael went back to his gaming after making sure Luke was actually okay. He toned back his random outbursts in general, but still sometimes the game got the best of him. “Motherfuuu— fudger!” Michael corrected himself.

Luke looked up at Michael’s attempt to censor his words, giggling a little. “Fudge.” He giggled more.

“Oh- what? You think that’s funny?” Michael teased.

“Yeah.” Luke giggled more.

Michael just rolled his eyes, a smile on his face, and looked back at his screen. He kept playing Overwatch, remembering to censor himself by saying stuff like, “butthole!” “motherfudger!” and “you piece of shiitake!”

Each exclamation would get a burst of giggles from Luke. He thought the replacement words were the funniest thing ever. It made Michael smile knowing that even something so small could make his boy happy. Every little laugh from Luke made Michael want to drop everything and cuddle the life out of him. He would do anything to keep hearing that sweet sound.

It was only an hour later when Michael decided he was done playing Overwatch. He turned his pc off and sat by Luke on the bed, lightly brushing his fingers over Luke’s hair. “Watcha colouring?”

Luke pulled his bottle away from his mouth and spoke. “Buncha fish.” He was currently using a green crayon to fill in fins on a blue coloured fish.

“Oo, those look really good, buddy.” The whole page was filled with different coloured fish and some small underwater plants. “Can I colour with you?”

“Yeah! I have to cowour those, then done so you can do those.” Luke pointed at two fish that weren’t filled in yet, then handed a crayon to Michael.

Michael happily accepted the crayon and got to work colouring with Luke. They finished the little underwater scene together, and Luke had them both sign their names on the bottom of the page.

“Yay! This looks so good, Mikey!” Luke clapped his hands after putting his crayons away.

“Yeah! You did such a good job, I love it.” Michael ruffled Luke’s hair.

“We did good job.” Luke corrects with a bright smile.

“Yeah, we did.” Michael kisses Luke’s cheek, making the boy blush. “Do you wanna keep colouring or do something else?”

“Um.. something else.”

“Alright, how about we go down to the living room and watch a movie?”

“Yeah! Movie!” Luke gave a wide, toothy smile up at Michael.

“Okay, sick! Come on, buddy.” Michael stood up, holding out his hand, but Luke stopped like he suddenly remembered something.

“Wait! I gotta grab somefing.” And before Michael could even question the boy, he was sprinting out of the room towards his own.

Michael just chuckled at the boy’s eagerness and started grabbing his softest blankets, which he knew Luke loved, while he waited for Luke to return.

“Otay! I’m back.” Luke rocked on his heels as he stood in the doorway.

“Hey, what’d ya get?”

“Pengy!” Luke held out his arms, a well-loved penguin plush clutched between his hands.

“Ah, needed Pengy for movie time, huh?” Michael chuckled at Luke’s nod. The boy was so smiley today; it made Michael happy. “Alright, I got us some blankets, so let’s head to the living room.”

Luke eagerly started bounding down the hall and to the stairs. Almost tripping on his feet in the process. He plopped himself smack dab in the center of the couch the second he got to the living room, turning his head to see Michael walking down the stairs at a much steadier pace.

Michael got over to the couch and threw the blankets onto Luke, covering the boy. “Gotcha!”

Luke squealed loudly, his hands moving to try and get out from under the blankets. “Mikeyyy!! I can’t see!”

Michael giggled at the boy and leaned forward to scoop him into his arms, still trapped in the blankets. He plopped Luke down onto his lap after sitting himself on the couch. “Can’t let you get away, can I?”

“Michaeeelllll!!” Luke squirmed, still giggling.

The blankets were moved off of Luke’s face, but Michael kept him wrapped up in his lap. He started pressing kisses all over the boy’s face. “My precious boy.”

Luke giggled more, blushing and leaning into Michael. He pressed Pengy up close to his face as if trying to hide behind the stuffed animal. “Love you, Mikey.”

“I love you too, Lukey bear. Now, how about that movie?”

“Yeah.” Luke nodded, watching as Michael turned on the tv and pulled up one of his favourite movies. “Do I get to move?”

“Nope. You gotta stay wrapped up in these blankets, nice and safe with me.” Michael leaned back, pulling Luke closer against him.

Luke let out a little huff, but it wasn’t mad. He was really just adorable. As long as he had his boyfriend there with him, he would happily stay curled up like this. Once the movie was started, he settled against Michael, wrapped up in the blankets, with his penguin. He brought his thumb up to his mouth, sucking on it.

Michael kept his hand moving gently up and down the boy’s back, relaxing as they watched the movie. He pressed occasional kisses to Luke’s temple. He watched as the blonde slowly drifted off. Hearing those soft snores was his signal that Luke was out. Michael just kept him close, continuing to watch tv while his boy slept. Another gentle kiss was pressed to the boy’s forehead.