#dualcom friendly

Xia tried to keep their age regression a secret from most people. Whether it was the fear of being judged or the shame that that they felt from acting so childishly, they tried to keep their feelings a secret from everyone, only letting themselves be free when they were by themselves.

It was lonely. Secrets were lonely.

Secrets were especially lonely when they had to keep them from their girlfriend, Pomni. Even though Xia wanted to tell her most of all, and even though they fantasized about what it'd be like for her to take care of, play with, or hell, even just see their little state, they couldn't bring themselves to. Every time they thought about it, they couldn't help but wonder what it'd be like if she didn't accept them.

What if she left them?

The possibility was too frightening to bear. Xia loved her after all! They didn't want her to leave them or look down on them.

But today was just so difficult — work was long and tiring, and it felt so much harder than normal. Xia was in so much pain, and they could hardly walk back home after a long shift of standing and walking around. The customers at the store they worked for seemed meaner than usual too, maybe because it was a Monday. Or maybe Xia just had a lower tolerance for rudeness, given how much pain they were in and how tired they felt from a bad night's sleep.

Xia just wanted to snuggle up in bed with their secret plushies and watch cartoons until the weight of the day felt even a little lighter.

"Xia! Welcome home, love." Pomni smiled at them, only for her smile to fall when she saw how troubled they look. "What's wrong?" She walked over to them. Xia immediately fell into her arms, both from how exhausted they were and because their pained legs wouldn't let them stand any longer.

"Pom…" Xia said, and just from the way they said it, they could tell they were slipping. They were going into their littlespace, even though they tried so hard to hide it from their girlfriend. It was so tiring though, and they didn't feel like hiding it anymore. Pomni held them in her arms as she walked them over to the couch.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Pomni asked, and Xia just sniffled, wrapping their arms around her and burying their face into her chest. Pomni was a bit surprised at how forward they were at first but stroked their hair nonetheless. Xia was usually so reserved about their feelings, and she couldn't help but feel like they were starting to trust her.

"Today was really hard, and it's not fair…" Xia whined, tears forming in their eyes.

"What's not fair?"

"People were so mean, and my body was so mean today," Xia mumbled. "Just want to cuddle with big sis..."

They should have tried to backtrack. They should have laughed it off as a joke or played it off as their chronic pain affecting their mind. But Xia didn't have the brainpower to hide it, and frankly, they were tired of hiding it.

Though they couldn't help but feel a rush of anxiety once they said it. Please, Xia thought. Please don't hate me.

"Big sis?" Pomni asked, a bit curious about their word choice. It didn't seem like she was judging them though, and Xia hesitantly nodded. Pomni wiped away the tears in their eyes. "You want to cuddle with your big sister? You really are cute…"

Xia clung to her, burying their face into her chest again and letting themselves cry. They couldn't even tell why they were crying — was it because they were still feeling stressed from work? Or was it relief that Pomni didn't seem to think less of them? Or both?

"Let it all out, sweetie…" Pomni said, her voice quiet and soothing as she held Xia close to her chest. "It's okay; I've got you…"

"You don't think I'm weird, do you?" Xia asked, their voice meek and pleading as they looked up at Pomni. They sounded so helpless, and it made their girlfriend's heart ache.

"You're not weird at all, sweetie," Pomni said, her voice still soothing. She kissed their forehead, hoping to reassure them. "I love you, okay? I don't want you to worry about that." Xia let out a tiny noise of contentment.

"I love you too, big sis…" they said right before they yawned a little. "'m sleepy…"