Joey and Ciara had managed to play with dolls for about half an hour before Mrs. Hale entered the room, asking that Ciara brush her teeth and get ready for bed.
Of course, Ciara whined, saying that she’s a big girl and deserves to stay up late like the other big kids, but this was only met with an expression from her mother that brooked no argument.
“Ciara, I know you want to play with Joey longer, but he’s had a long day, and you both need your rest. Plus, you have school tomorrow” their mother explained firmly, met with a nod in agreement from Joey followed by his own, overly exaggerated yawn.
“Yeah CiCi. I think I’ll probably go to bed early. You know, a lot of adults don’t really stay up late anyway, right? It’s much more grown up to sleep early” he said, letting out another loud yawn and stretching his arms over head as he stood up to leave the room, a small smile forming on his face as he passed his mom when he heard her stifle a chuckle.
Ciara frowned in confusion before sighing in defeat, and she followed behind her big brother, wanting to do the same thing the grownups do, and not seeing the amused expression of her mother as she left her room to prepare for bed.
Roni, meanwhile, had been sitting in her room on her computer. Sandi had left a few minutes ago after their embrace, in a better mood than she was before. Roni could still sense trepidation in her, it wasn’t nearly as bad as when she first entered. She couldn’t blame her younger sister for feeling anxious and uncertain about the situation as a whole. Even Roni was starting to feel the pressure of the commitment that she made to Joey, and he hasn’t even changed yet.
Still, though, Roni wasn’t one to back down from a challenge just because she was worried. If anything, it was a motivator for her to put in more effort. She didn’t want to let him down, but at the same time, Roni knew that she didn’t want to let herself down. She couldn’t rely on Joey to always be there anymore. Sure, thought Roni as she continued putting together a wishlist of possible things to acquire for Joey, he’s going to be part of my life forever now, but I can’t rely on him to raise my confidence anymore; I need to be the one to do that.
As she continued working on the wishlist for accommodating his needs, the chime of her GeneriStream window pulled her attention. Pulling up the window, a small smile formed on her face when she saw who it was trying to chat with her.
“Giiirrrrlllll!” the message from Sophie read, with extra emojis added at the end. This was immediately followed up with another message from her, “Don’t act like you didn’t read this, either. Message back, Roni!”
With a light chuckle, Roni started a reply, “Sup Soph. Shouldn’t you be writing that extra credit report for Ms. Doyle’s class”
“Pssh, I’ll have that done in a flash. I’ve got bigger fish to fry” she replied immediately, before sending a follow up, “What’s the word on Joe?”
Roni sighed, knowing Sophie would be concerned about his absence. “You know him” she started, “Family Business and all that”
“So…he’s at your house then…,” Sophie sussed out, causing Roni to groan, “Is he coming to school this week?”
“Why are you the real-life Batman when it comes to this stuff? Yes, He’ll be at school. He just needed some time…away from his family” Roni typed out, hoping the half-truth would keep her from prying further.
To her relief, Sophie seemed to accept it. “Good,” she replied, “I know he’s supposed to take over the business or whatever, but working him to the bone while he’s got academic scholarship opportunities is just unfair. I worry about him, ya know?”
“Well, he worries about you too, Sophie. Now go finish that paper!” Roni messages, adding a frustrated emoji to her message, “Otherwise, I’ll have Joey call you and give you a lecture”
“Fine mom!” she replied jokingly, “I’m mostly done anyway, btw,” and with that, Sophie signed off.
Sighing again, Roni leaned back in her chair, interlocking her fingers behind her head. Thoughts about how Joey would handle their friend group ran through her mind. What’s worse, were the thoughts on their friends finding out Joey was going to be a little. She figured Joey wouldn’t keep this a secret. He was always open with everyone in his friend group, whether or not it was to his benefit. Part of her is fairly certain nothing would change. Sophie would probably view him like she always had and only want to be supportive.
The other’s, though, were different. While they never were pro-little like she and Joey have been, they weren’t necessarily progressive in their views either. Roni seriously doubted they’d be horrible to him once they found out, but would they still care about him the same way? Or would their opinions on littles change their attitude?
On another note, there was what Joey’s change would do to their dynamic in school in general. Their friend group wasn’t necessarily unpopular, though they weren’t the most well-known either. They all attributed it to the fact that it was Joey Calhoun that had always been around. He never went out of his way to flaunt his status, but that didn’t mean people didn’t know who he or his family were. Once word got out that he was a little, though, Roni wondered how that would change.
Before she could dwell on it much longer, though, there was a knock on her bedroom door.
“Come in!” Roni said loudly, turning to see Joey entering with a pillow and blanket. “What are you doing?” asked Roni, her eyebrow raised. “You know I hate waking up early…”
Grinning, Joey nodded in acknowledgement. “Oh I’m well aware of your hatred for mornings. However, your–err–our parents thought it would be safer if I slept in your room. You know, in case…well…” Joey trailed off quietly, seeing understanding in Roni’s eyes.
“Yeah….okay, that makes sense,” agreed Roni, her expression softening, “At least if it does happen here, I’ll be able to find you easily. But you have to turn your phone alarms off, Joey. If we’re waking up, we’re doing it on my time, not yours!” she added with a smirk.
“Fine, fine” relented Joey, “I mean, you could just learn to be an adult and wake up earlier”
“Never!” retorted Roni with a laugh before the two of them went silent. The room seemed to get a little more tense as they looked at each other, the weight of what tomorrow would bring settling on the two.
Breaking the silence, Roni cleared her throat and scooted her chair back a little. “I’ve got a surprise for you”
Raising his eyebrow, Joey walked to her computer and looked to see the browser open. On the screen was the wishlist of items Roni had been working on; clothes, habitats, beds, and a few other devices he didn’t look at too closely. His eyes narrowed and, while he tried to keep his composure, Roni could see that he wasn’t reacting too well. His jaw had tightened and he didn’t blink at all as he looked at the screen. She had hoped that seeing her already taking his comfort and future needs into consideration would alleviate his anxiety, but she realized immediately she had made a mistake
“Joey….I…I’m sorry I…just wanted you to see how serious I’m taking this” Roni said quietly.
His expression changed immediately, becoming more concerned for how his own reaction made Roni feel. Letting out a sigh, Joey just shook his head. “Roni, I’m not sad about this. If anything, I’m happy you are picking out things that, well, are me. Like this shirt with the Giant’s on it, and this habitat that has blinds on it so I’ll have some kind of privacy…Really, it’s great.”
“But…” replied Roni, wanting to hear what was really going on in his mind. “Come on, Joey. You can tell me. We’re in this together”
With a deep breath, Joey gave her a dejected look and bit his lip, “But, it’s just a reminder of how…real this is. I’m going to be sleeping in one of those beds, I’m going to be living in one of those habitats, I’m going to be wearing those clothes. I just, I don’t know, I guess I just want to put it out of my mind a bit.”
“Joey,” Roni said, feeling bad for his reaction, rubbed his arm affectionately, “I wish I could say I know what you are feeling and what you are going through, truly I do but…well, pretending it isn’t going to happen isn’t going to stop it from happening”
His gaze flickered away for a moment before she continued, “It’s a lot to accept, and it’ll be so, so difficult to do so, but pushing it out of your mind, it’s not healthy. Bottling up things just–it isn’t going to make you feel better.”
With a sniff, Joey wiped his face and exhaled, “Can you at least make sure one of the habitats is sound proof? Because you snore like a stampeding cattle—ow!” he exclaimed with a small laugh as Roni punched his arm.
“I do not snore! Ugh!” she said with a huff before laughing herself, “But fine, I’ll look around. Hey, maybe tomorrow after school, you and I can both just look at things, ya know? You’d be helping me out a lot with budgeting and things like that too.”
Joey let out a big sigh and shook his head. “Right… school,” he muttered as he made his way to Roni’s bed and sat down. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and rubbed his face with his hands. “I’m really not looking forward to that, Roni.”
Roni watched him, her teasing smile fading. “Yeah, I figured,” she said, shifting in her chair. “Wanna talk about it?”
Joey let out a short, dry laugh. “What’s there to talk about? I don’t even know how I’m supposed to act. Do I just… pretend everything’s normal? ‘Cause it’s not. And soon, everyone’s gonna know.”
Roni leaned onto the armrests of her chair and looked Joey in the eye. “You don’t have to pretend, Joey. Just be yourself.”
Joey sighed again. “That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one people are going to be judging.” He picked at his sleeve. “People aren’t going to be accepting of this, Roni. They aren’t like you or I. They’ll look at me and see a different animal, something lesser than them. Once they know I’m going to be a little, that’s it. That’s who I’ll be to them. Forever.”
Roni frowned. She hated that he had to go through this. “Okay, yeah,” she admitted. “People are probably gonna talk. And yeah, some of them might be mean about it, or get some sick satisfaction that it’s you of all people. But not everyone, Joey. You still have us. Your friends, and your family.”
Joey looked up at her, his expression unsure. “Yeah, but for how long? What if they start treating me differently? What if it’s not just some of them? What if it’s… all of them?” his eyes took on a more gloomy glow, “What if you do?”
Roni’s chest felt tight and her stomach felt uneasy. She wanted to tell him their friends wouldn’t change, that everything would be okay—but she couldn’t promise that. And Joey would know if she was lying. Instead, she scooted her chair closer and gave his arm a little nudge. “Then we deal with it. Together. And I swear, I will never treat you less than what you are to me: my best friend”
Joey gave her a small smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You make it sound easy.”
“It’s not,” she said. “But neither is being a stubborn idiot, and you do that just fine.”
That got a small chuckle out of him. “Fair point.”
She nudged him again, a little harder this time. “Look, I’m not saying it won’t suck sometimes. It probably will. But you’re not alone in this, Joey. You never will be.”
Joey took a deep breath, then glanced at her. “You sure? ‘Cause I’m gonna be really annoying about it.”
Roni smirked. “Oh, I’m counting on it.”
Roni felt her mood become more optimistic as Joey looked just a little bit lighter, like the weight on his shoulders wasn’t quite as heavy. It wasn’t gone, but at least he wasn’t carrying it alone. The two talked and joked over the next hour or so until they decided to get ready and go to sleep. Roni climbed into bed and pulled the covers over her, while Joey rolled out a sleeping pad and laid on top of that.
“Good night, Joey. don’t worry about tomorrow. We’ll take care of it one step at a time” said Roni before she rolled onto her side and drifted to sleep.
“Night Roni…” Joey replied, closing his eyes and falling into a deep slumber.
The two slept deeply during the night, the sound of the breeze outside providing the only ambience in the room. That is, until a light, unassuming cough came from the floor where Joey was sleeping.
Deleted by me
1) “Ciara, I know you want to play with Joey longer,” Especially because their time playing like this is nearly over.
2) “You know, a lot of adults don’t really stay up late anyway, right? It’s much more grown up to sleep early” Oh that’s a fun line to read while about to stay up late respond to this.
3) “Even Roni was starting to feel the pressure of the commitment that she made to Joey, and he hasn’t even changed yet” at least she’s taking it seriously.
4) “She couldn’t rely on Joey to always be there anymore.” and yet she could literally take him EVERYWHERE.
5) ““Giiirrrrlllll!” the message from Sophie read,” For a minute I thought you meant Sofie, (The British girl from Good Girlfriend 6-8)
6) “So…he’s at your house then…, Is he coming to school this week?” – “Why are you the real-life Batman when it comes to this stuff?” The real Batman would have figured out that Joe was a Little, which I suspect Sophie doesn’t know.
7) “but working him to the bone while he’s got academic scholarship opportunities is just unfair” well, there are other unfair things that could ruin those scholarship opportunities.
8.1) “Thoughts about how Joey would handle their friend group ran through her mind. What’s worse, were the thoughts on their friends finding out Joey was going to be a little” I’d liketo see how they interact with littles, are any of them trained? Have littles of their own?
8.2) “Sophie would probably view him like she always had and only want to be supportive.” that’s the hope
8.3) “While they never were pro-little like she and Joey have been, they weren’t necessarily progressive in their views either,” I think you mean “while they never were anti-little”
9) “your–err–our parents thought it would be safer if I slept in your room. You know, in case…well…” smart thought just so long as he isn’t on the floor beside her bed.
10) “But you have to turn your phone alarms off, Joey. If we’re waking up, we’re doing it on my time, not yours!” THe fuck she mean “if”?
11) “I mean, you could just learn to be an adult and wake up earlier” Yeah, like how CiCi’s learning to be an adult and going to bed earlier.
12) “She had hoped that seeing her already taking his comfort and future needs into consideration would alleviate his anxiety, but she realized immediately she had made a mistake” it was a good move, I hope Joey can see that.
13) “His expression changed immediately, becoming more concerned for how his own reaction made Roni feel” That’s good empathy boy.
14) “this habitat that has blinds on it so I’ll have some kind of privacy…Really, it’s great.” that is nice, most Littles aren’t given privacy.
15) “But, it’s just a reminder of how…real this is. I’m going to be sleeping in one of those beds, I’m going to be living in one of those habitats, I’m going to be wearing those clothes. I just, I don’t know, I guess I just want to put it out of my mind a bit.” That’s fair, and unfortunate timing.
16) “Hey, maybe tomorrow after school, you and I can both just look at things, ya know? You’d be helping me out a lot with budgeting and things like that too.” A pre-shunk and their future guardian is probably a common sight in Littlemart.
17) “Right… school, I’m really not looking forward to that, Roni.” Neither was I at your age, Matey.
18) “They aren’t like you or I. They’ll look at me and see a different animal, something lesser than them. Once they know I’m going to be a little, that’s it. That’s who I’ll be to them. Forever.” that’s true, Sara’s main bully was almost completely depowered once Sara learned she was a little.
19) “Yeah, but for how long? What if they start treating me differently? What if it’s not just some of them? What if it’s… all of them? What if you do?” All valid concerns.
20) “Then we deal with it. Together. And I swear, I will never treat you less than what you are to me: my best friend” THis world needs more Roni’s
21) “Look, I’m not saying it won’t suck sometimes. It probably will. But you’re not alone in this, Joey. You never will be.” realistic expectations and support.
22) “until a light, unassuming cough came from the floor where Joey was sleeping.” That’s his next symptom, isn’t it?
1) “Ciara, I know you want to play with Joey longer,” Especially because their time playing like this is nearly over.
true. I’m sure they’ll play with each other post shrinking, but it’ll definitely be different
2) “You know, a lot of adults don’t really stay up late anyway, right? It’s much more grown up to sleep early” Oh that’s a fun line to read while about to stay up late respond to this.
lol Joey knows that he’s full of shit on that part too, just trying to make it seem cooler for ciara.
3) “Even Roni was starting to feel the pressure of the commitment that she made to Joey, and he hasn’t even changed yet” at least she’s taking it seriously.
very serious. I think it’s really starting to fully hit her just how big of a responsibility this is. not that she thought it was small\easy, but that she just never took the time to understand how big it actually is. I like to think guardian training helps releive that a bit.
4) “She couldn’t rely on Joey to always be there anymore.” and yet she could literally take him EVERYWHERE.
She definitely could, but at the same time, she wouldn’t be sure if she should. it’s one thing to convince him to go do things where she needs his support, it’s something else enitrely to bring him without even asking or considering his autonomy. like he may not be convinced to go somewhere and she’ll either need to respect that he wants to stay in his habitat or she’ll need to take him anyway. It’s kinda like the sarah and jordan dynamic except it’s not implied that he’ll go with her everywhere and be supportive in the same sense that Jordan is.
5) ““Giiirrrrlllll!” the message from Sophie read,” For a minute I thought you meant Sofie, (The British girl from Good Girlfriend 6-8)
stupid random name generators…lol didn’t know we had a character with that name in the universe
6) “So…he’s at your house then…, Is he coming to school this week?” – “Why are you the real-life Batman when it comes to this stuff?” The real Batman would have figured out that Joe was a Little, which I suspect Sophie doesn’t know.
True. It was more of a joke, plus I thought it’d be a good way to intro the next closest friend for the two of them. Sophie i guess would be their Mallory minus the status and controlling attitude
7) “but working him to the bone while he’s got academic scholarship opportunities is just unfair” well, there are other unfair things that could ruin those scholarship opportunities.
ironically the ones that he would get for good grades and things like that are most likely to go to Roni. She and Joey have been at the top of their class for a while now.
8.1) “Thoughts about how Joey would handle their friend group ran through her mind. What’s worse, were the thoughts on their friends finding out Joey was going to be a little” I’d liketo see how they interact with littles, are any of them trained? Have littles of their own?
hmm. Let me get back to you on that. I just realized i never went through and decided who is and isnt’ trained, and who would be a guardian already.
8.2) “Sophie would probably view him like she always had and only want to be supportive.” that’s the hope
we’ll see more of Sophie in the next few chapters. I have her character and stuff ready, just need to get a feel for writing her and the others
8.3) “While they never were pro-little like she and Joey have been, they weren’t necessarily progressive in their views either,” I think you mean “while they never were anti-little”
yes. thank you, was tired when writing this lol
9) “your–err–our parents thought it would be safer if I slept in your room. You know, in case…well…” smart thought just so long as he isn’t on the floor beside her bed.
nah, he’s more on a far wall by her tv stand right now, so I want to say about 8 feet apart, and even though they stopped sleeping in the same room cause Joey is a early riser, Roni still knows where he normally sleeps so she avoids walking over there on instinct. they had a lot of sleep overs before Joey used an alarm on his phone lol
10) “But you have to turn your phone alarms off, Joey. If we’re waking up, we’re doing it on my time, not yours!” THe fuck she mean “if”?
bad wording on my part again lmao
11) “I mean, you could just learn to be an adult and wake up earlier” Yeah, like how CiCi’s learning to be an adult and going to bed earlier.
lol true. Joey could have pointed that out to her
12) “She had hoped that seeing her already taking his comfort and future needs into consideration would alleviate his anxiety, but she realized immediately she had made a mistake” it was a good move, I hope Joey can see that.
Ultimately it is. I know I’d feel better seeing things like that.
13) “His expression changed immediately, becoming more concerned for how his own reaction made Roni feel” That’s good empathy boy.
I try to keep that a main trait of his
14) “this habitat that has blinds on it so I’ll have some kind of privacy…Really, it’s great.” that is nice, most Littles aren’t given privacy.
I thought it’d be a good idea for both parties. I know we haven’t seen it yet, but I’m sure there are some guardians that were very close to their littles prior to shrinking and would feel weird having them always watch them, especially during intimate moments
15) “But, it’s just a reminder of how…real this is. I’m going to be sleeping in one of those beds, I’m going to be living in one of those habitats, I’m going to be wearing those clothes. I just, I don’t know, I guess I just want to put it out of my mind a bit.” That’s fair, and unfortunate timing.
yeah, especially after having some fun playing with Ciara. He was probably a bit more relaxed up until he saw everything being planned out
16) “Hey, maybe tomorrow after school, you and I can both just look at things, ya know? You’d be helping me out a lot with budgeting and things like that too.” A pre-shunk and their future guardian is probably a common sight in Littlemart.
I would hope so. it’d be better to plan it out that way, imo.
17) “Right… school, I’m really not looking forward to that, Roni.” Neither was I at your age, Matey.
nor I lol
18) “They aren’t like you or I. They’ll look at me and see a different animal, something lesser than them. Once they know I’m going to be a little, that’s it. That’s who I’ll be to them. Forever.” that’s true, Sara’s main bully was almost completely depowered once Sara learned she was a little.
for real. the power dynamic and optics change so drastically once the fact you aren’t immune is known.
19) “Yeah, but for how long? What if they start treating me differently? What if it’s not just some of them? What if it’s… all of them? What if you do?” All valid concerns.
those are the ones I’d be most afraid of. just being seen as less or helpless isn’t something I’m comfortable with in general
20) “Then we deal with it. Together. And I swear, I will never treat you less than what you are to me: my best friend” THis world needs more Roni’s
I agree. I also try to keep in mind that this, in a lot of ways, is kind of how I would have pictured Sara and Gavin being in a alternate timeline
21) “Look, I’m not saying it won’t suck sometimes. It probably will. But you’re not alone in this, Joey. You never will be.” realistic expectations and support.
yeah, though the trick of the matter is who will be there for Roni when guardianship has it’s bumps
22) “until a light, unassuming cough came from the floor where Joey was sleeping.” That’s his next symptom, isn’t it?
🙂
1) Yeah, I don’t think they’d ever stop playing together.
2) and it worked.
3) Guardian training would help her understand.
4) I said she could, not would. lol
5) It’s spelt differently but yeah it’s similar.
6) Mallory minus Mallory.
7) Well at least he’s not losing it to an enemy.
8.1) Understandable.
8.3) I’m here to help
9) That’s good.
11) it’s a funny idea to repeat.
12) He just wasn’t ready.
14) Yeah, they couldn’t all shut of their empathy and compartmentalise like Sara does.
15) emotional whiplash
16) Agree
18It’s probably the main reason Gavin kept it secret.
19) It’d be horrible, especially if its loved ones and friends.
20) I could see that, in a universe where Sara is nicer, though Gavin was never a contender for the top of any classes.
21) Joey
22) *Cries*