Chapter Text
"Hey."
"Hey."
"Can I come in?"
Lloyd only nods in response. He's curled up on his side with his back to the door and his face muffled in his stuffed dragon, most likely to cover up his tears as opposed to for actual comfort. His knees are drawn up to his chest and his breath is quiet but jagged, erratic, his shoulders shaky with every inhale.
Most of the time Lloyd doesn't mind therapy. He even likes it at times—his therapist specializes in age regression therapy and keeps all kinds of toys and games and coloring supplies in her office, which he likes to play with while they're talking because it helps calm him down. It took him a while to feel comfortable enough to do this, of course, but once he started to let himself fully regress, things had seemed to be going really well.
But crayons and little toy cars can only help so much, especially now that they've finally started digging into some deeper trauma. Today apparently hadn't gone so well.
Nya sits down on the edge of Lloyd's bed, gently running her fingers through his hair. "I heard you had a rough session today."
"I hate therapy." His voice is muffled and shaky but clear enough for Nya to make out the words, and when she does she feels a pang of sympathy in her chest. She tucks his hair behind his ear.
"I know," she says gently. "I know it can be really hard to talk about those things, but you're doing so well. I'm really proud of you."
"Well, don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't be proud of me. I didn't do anything but cry a whole bunch."
"Yeah? Well that's a good thing. Crying is part of the process."
"So you're proud of me for crying?"
"You bet I am," Nya says enthusiastically, which elicits a small giggle out of Lloyd. He takes his dragon away from his face and hugs it against his chest.
"You must be really proud of me, then. I cried a lot."
"I am really proud of you. You're being really brave. You know that, right?"
Lloyd shrugs. "I guess. It's a different kind of brave that I am usually."
"It is," Nya agrees. "But sometimes it can be even harder."
There's a long stretch of silence. Lloyd sits up and rests his head on Nya's shoulder, and she wraps her arm around him, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.
Admittedly, this has been a bit of a difficult adjustment for all of them. It took a few weeks just for Lloyd to get comfortable enough to openly regress in front of all of them, and even then he was always nervous about it. But he gets so animated and carefree when playing with his action figures and toy cars, and it's not only one of the cutest things Nya's ever seen but also a huge relief.
Although there are definitely still hard days, overall Lloyd has seemed so much happier. He definitely would never have initiated physical contact like he did just now a few months ago.
"Do you wanna go do something together to get your mind off of things?" Nya suggests.
"Like what?"
"Anything you want. We could go draw with chalk outside, or color in your coloring books, or watch a movie, or build a blanket fort, or play a game..."
Lloyd thinks for a minute. "What if...we build a blanket fort...and then watch a movie and color in it?"
"That," Nya says, standing up and hoisting Lloyd up onto her hip, "sounds like an excellent plan."
Lloyd giggles and wipes the dried tear tracks off of his face, and Nya can practically feel her heart melt with bittersweetness. He never got this when he was little. He never had anyone to take care of him like this or make him feel better when he was sad or protect him when he was scared. Nya hugs him a little closer to her chest, gives him a quick kiss on the cheek, and vows, not for the first time, to make sure his second chance is better the first. They can't go back and fix the past. The best they can do is try again now.
"I have some fairy lights in my room, do you wanna use those to decorate the inside?" Nya asks, setting Lloyd down.
"Yeah!"
15 minutes and several spontaneous giggle-fits on Lloyd's part, they've constructed an admittedly impressive-looking blanket fort. The inside is lined with pillows and fairy lights, and a laptop is propped up on the side playing the movie Lilo and Stitch while Lloyd lays on his stomach happily humming under his breath with a box of crayons spilled on the floor and a coloring book spread out in front of him. "Does our fort need anything else?" asks Nya.
"Nope. It's good," Lloyd says. He pauses. "Thank you for helping me."
"No problem, bud," Nya says, tousling Lloyd's hair. "I love hanging out with you."
"I love hanging out with you too!" Lloyd chirps. "You're the best big sister ever!"
Nya has to physically restrain herself from squealing after he says this. "And you're the best little brother ever," she smiles. "Do you think w-"
"Did you really have to build your fort right there?"
They both look outside the fort to see a rather irritated-looking Jay standing in front of it.
"You're blocking the tv," he clarifies.
"I'm...sorry?" Nya says. "It won't stay up forever. We'll take it down in a bit."
Jay merely huffs in response.
"You...you can come in if you want. It's super cool on the inside," Lloyd says tentatively.
Jay blinks. His face stays neutral, an unreadable expression on it. "No. Maybe later," he says, in a tone of voice that makes it pretty clear "later" is not going to happen anytime soon. He leaves.
After he's gone, Lloyd frowns. "Nya? How come Jay never wants to play with me?"
"I...don't know, Lloyd." Nya pauses, furrowing her brow. "He's been pretty mean lately, hasn't he?"
Lloyd nods, a more worried look finding its way onto his face. "Does he...does he not like me anymore because I'm..."
"What? No, of course not, honey! I don't know what's going on with him, but I'm sure it has nothing to do with you. He's been mean to everyone lately, even his own boyfriends."
Lloyd nods again, although he doesn't really seem like he believes her.
"Lloyd," Nya says. "I promise Jay still loves you. I don't know why he's been acting so grumpy lately, but I do know that he will always be your brother, no matter what. Got it?"
Lloyd looks back outside the fort again, even though Jay's already left. "...Got it."