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Eclipse looked over at Lunar, then back to his screen, then back to Lunar, then back to his screen. The smaller bot was dressed in the most confusing outfit. The blue footie pajamas with clouds were normal enough, but the accessories were what made it confusing. A baby pink pacifier, somewhat translucent and sparkly was in his mouth and what just had to be a diaper crinkled whenever Lunar adjusted how he sat or fidgeted…which was happening a lot.
Lunar kicked his feet and giggled while hitting a zombie in game, leaving the rotten flesh to despawn. Finally Eclipse built up the confidence to say something. “Hey…Lunar?”
He pulled the pacifier from his mouth, answering with a perky “What’s up?”
“So…” the nice Eclipse uncertainly started, “You said you aren’t a kid—that you’re older than me even—so what’s up with…all that?” He gestured to the pacifier and the direction of a rather well timed crinkling sound.
“Oh! It’s a kink thing!” he popped the pacifier back in his mouth and returned to the game, watching Eclipse’s reaction out of the corner of his eye. He’d been expecting that question. It was why he came over dressed in his little gear to begin with.
He stared at Lunar with his mouth hanging open for a bit before spluttering “It’s a what?!”
Lunar sighed and set the pacifier down on the desk, clearly needing his mouth right now. He couldn’t quite tell if Eclipse’s reaction was shock or judgment. Judgment was what he feared here, was what he was watching for and hoping not to receive. “Did you not hear me or…”
“Ah! W-well..? Um…” Eclipse searched for some sort of response, finally just blurting out a flustered sounding, “I don’t get it!”
Lunar giggled a little bit, the slight worry and tension from before instantly replaced with amusement. He kinda liked it when Eclipse was flustered. It was kinda… cute. And much better than yelling or telling him to leave. He exited the game, turning in the swivel chair to face Eclipse more fully. “I think this is a beanbag talk. Come on!” He hopped down and reached for Eclipse’s hand.
Eclipse willingly stood up and followed after the sharp little tugs to his arm. Followed them and the soft bot at the source of them through a portal and into a room filled with beanbags and plush objects. He felt a bit dazed from shock, so the softness was appreciated. “This place is….cozy…”
“Yeah, thought it might help you relax a bit!” He gently pulled Eclipse over to one of the softest, biggest beanbags and nudged his belly until the taller realized what was being asked of him and sat down. A fluffy pillow was promptly placed in his lap then Lunar pulled another beanbag over and plopped down into it, “You could use a lot more cozy relaxing time honestly.”
“What do you mean by that?” Eclipse’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.
Lunar wriggled himself down further in the beanbag, grabbing his reindeer plush from nearby and cuddling it close to his chest. “Nothing bad! You’re just real overworked by your Moon and I can see how tired and sore you are. Especially with him giving you that frame. I can hear it scraping!” Lunar explained, fiddling with the ears of the plush and watching Eclipse’s face turn a bit red from…he’s not sure. Embarrassment? “Are you okay? I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.”
“Yeah just…didn’t realize you paid that much attention to me I guess…” He leaned back in the bag. Lunar was right, he did scrape and it did ache and exhaust him.
The smaller bot giggled. “Of course I do, I like you!”
“Oh…huh. Thanks I guess?” Eclipse rubbed one arm, feeling a strange fluttering and the tiniest bit of hope hearing that. “So…a kink thing…?”
“Yep!”
“I…I don’t really know what to ask. Aside from…I guess why? How? Can you just…explain?” He was confused, curious but confused.
Lunar hummed, rocking back and forth in his beanbag. “Hmm…well it just feels nice I guess? To feel soft and cute. There are other parts to it too. Kinda figured it out just because…well the embarrassment I got from being treated like a kid never felt bad? More tingly and fluttery. So maybe I have a thing for being embarrassed too and it all just gets tangled up in a way that makes abdl feel nice! Oh that’s the name of it by the way, or I guess the short version. I looked it up cuz I was confused about what I was feeling and turns out there are a lot of people like me!”
Eclipse looked toward the floor while listening and filing away the information. “Okay, that kinda makes sense.”
“I think some of it is coping with trauma too? Wanting to be taken care of and stuff.”
Eclipse can definitely relate to that one. “Is it anything like…um…regression?”
Lunar tilted his head a little bit, “Kinda? I regress too and both headspaces feel kinda fuzzy but…well regressing for me at least is feels more delicate. Vulnerable. I mean I feel vulnerable in little space too but it’s different? When I’m regressed I feel like a child so it’s definitely not a headspace I would wanna do kinky stuff in. I wouldn’t feel safe.”
The taller bot nodded. With his own intermittent experiences regressing—mostly when he was overstressed and finally got a few minutes alone—he could sort of see the appeal of a similar headspace. He wasn’t sure it was for him, that was something he needed more time to think on but… something else had occurred to him. “You said part of it is enjoying being taken care of. Are there people who...enjoy doing that?”
“Well, yeah!” Lunar answered, shifting to curl up a bit more. This conversation was going…pleasantly. He wasn’t feeling judged, Eclipse seemed to be experiencing the same curiosity he did with anything he wanted to learn about. It made him feel safe.
Eclipse nodded then took a moment to think. His mind wandered to the idea of taking care of Lunar, comparing it to his other experiences. He never really enjoyed looking after the daycare. He didn’t hate it either. It was just a job. But the idea of looking after Lunar, holding him in his arms and seeing those soft eyes sparkle with his smiles, of seeing him nodding off all wrapped up after a nice bottle of his favorite chocolate milk…it did something for him. Something that had his wires twisting and his face flushing again. “Um…would it be okay if…I looked after you when you come over?”
Lunar stared at Eclipse while he sheepishly asked the question, feeling his artificial heart stop in his chest. He hadn’t quite expected this conversation to go that well. He had just wanted to get an idea about how comfortable his friend was with the idea of age play. He had never expected the little crush he had to be returned. Was that what this was? Eclipse liked him too? Or had he just…randomly found one Eclipse who was into the caregiving side of things?
Lunar realized he had been thinking too long, staring too long, when Eclipse’s rays started to pull in. Eclipse curled in on himself, starting to stand. “S-sorry I shouldn’t have asked that. I’ll just-”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Yes!” Lunar repeated with a smile. “I’d love that!”
“Oh!” He relaxed again and sat back down. “Okay. How do we..do this?”
“Well,” Lunar looked up, still grinning though now with a more serious feeling around him. “First we should have a chat about boundaries.”