#make me write things

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“They g-got mad,” Buck says. His voice is really quiet; shaking so bad that for a second she’s worried maybe she missed something and he is hurt somewhere, but she still can’t see anything when she looks again. “They got s-so mad, an’ they—they said—”

Whatever he was gonna say next gets cut off by the crying again. Maddie bites the inside of her lip and tries to figure out what to do.

She’s pretty sure Buck just had a bad dream, but she doesn’t wanna make it worse if she does something wrong by accident. If the dream was about Daddy or Miss Athena, going to get them might just scare him more. (They wouldn’t hurt her or Buck—Maddie almost always knows that now unless she’s too scared to think—but she also knows bad dreams don’t always make sense.)

She could get older to try to help, but Maddie thinks that might make him feel guilty on top of being scared—and it’s getting harder to make herself do that when she doesn’t really, it’s-an-emergency-right-now have to, anyway. That’s the one bad part about having Daddy around: Maddie can’t get older as quick as she used to anymore, not if she knows he’s here to take care of stuff for them.

Alternatively-- if you're feeling evil -- one time Doug calls her Bun and one time Bobby does. >:)

💙 *starting another draft* I’m not sure if this one will be part of The First Time Bun Drops Little or its own separate installment—but I figure this probably happens a couple weeks after she’s started dropping little again, so Bobby’s had time to figure her out a bit and think of a nickname for her. Warnings for a mention of Doug getting mad at Bun for trying to cuddle without asking first.

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Maddie inches a little bit closer and presses into Bobby’s side the way Buck is doing—going slow just in case it turns out she isn't allowed to cuddle after all. (Doug had gotten mad about that sometimes, her cuddling without asking. She doesn't think Bobby would be mad about it since Buck is all curled up against his other side and he didn't ask first, but she's still not completely sure.)

Bobby doesn't get mad. Bobby smiles a little and lifts his arm so Maddie can get closer if she wants, kissing the top of her head. “Comfortable there, Little Bun?” He sounds like he's proud of her, maybe—like he thinks she's done something all big and important and brave when all she really did was move a little bit and try not to be scared about it.

*points to post title* Hey, I just wanted to let you guys know that just because it’s not January/February anymore, that doesn’t mean you can’t send prompts from the list if you still want them.

“But Mads,” I hear you asking, “it’s March 14th. Isn’t Regressuary over now?”

Technically, yeah. It is. But just because things can take a bit longer depending on whether or not my muse cooperates doesn’t mean I’m not interested in writing more of these if you guys want ‘em—and I’ve been writing them as prompts instead of daily things, anyways. So here’s what I’m gonna do: I’ll link all the prompts/days I’ve already written here, and I’ll also link the list here, and I’ll put this in my pinned post. You want one, just go ahead and ask—I’ve been having fun writing ‘em.

(The only one I’m a bit hesitant about is #15—not because I have any issues with the prompt, I’m just not sure I could see anyone I write for being that dark. If you have something you want me to try with it, you’re absolutely welcome to come into my inbox and spitball, though. Maybe we can figure something out together.)

Completed Days/Prompts:

1 with Bobby and Buck (and a brief offscreen Maddie cameo)—Buck doesn’t show up for their standing family dinner and Bobby goes to check on him

4 with Buck, Bobby, and Maddie—Mads is in the hospital post-Big Bear, and Bug doesn’t wanna go to bed without calling her

17 with Buck, Bobby, and a handful of OCs—One of Bug’s new “friends” bullies him on the playground; his family steps in to help

3 with Bobby and Buck—Bobby has to come into the office to get paperwork done, and three-year-old Bug wants him to play instead

10 with Joel Miller and Ellie Willams—Ellie finds a bag of Halloween candy and has a little too much, Joel does what he can to soothe her and get her settled after the sickness passes

11 with Bobby, Buck, and Maddie—Bobby and Bug have a couple nightmares (follow-up to 4; I promise she’s not actually dead, but mind the warnings)

6 with Maddie, Buck, and Bobby—Mads tries to calm down Bug before they go back home to Margaret and Philip; years later, Bobby tries to do the same after they’ve spent the day at the pier

21 with Buck and Bobby—Bug tries to surprise Bobby with breakfast while he’s dropped; Bobby wakes up to a bit of a mess

I think I might have actually gone past five sentences. Whoops. Have something from the Scared Bug, Protective Maddie WIP:

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Still haven’t kicked this thing completely, but I’ve reached that point in this illness where my creative drive is starting to wake up again, so—*claps my hands together*—let’s fuckin’ go. Three new sentences from the one where Bun drops for the first time.

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He turns back to the counter and sets the spoonful of peanut butter he's holding down in a bowl with some apple slices, and then he turns to face her again. The attention makes Maddie's stomach feel a little twisty 'cause it's been so long since she was this small around anybody.