Adam was well versed in kink, and when he loved mysterious and otherworldly things like his boyfriend Steven, they were bound to mix.

Maybe a bit of rope combined with a dripping, safe for skin wax while a cold glass toy was shoved up their ass. Or if his fancy lie with real pain, bending ones will until it matched his and they craved more instead of less. He loved to play with the strings of people's minds, it was one of Pluto's strongest powers when amplified by Steven's magic. Nova had really rocked his world, and with having Miss Rebecca as his mentor for "mind parkour" as she called it and the two years of after school training and summer classes, he was taught enough to make him a problem.

Today, he was going for something a little more difficult: this was a request, not his whims.

Connie, Anna and Jasmin sat obediently in front of him and he beamed all the damn way. All of their eyes were trained and sharp with focus, but that wasn't what had him cheesing so hard. Each was so exceptionally wonderful, and he loved them so. He felt his heart writing poems today, he could feel his adoration giving him diabetes. One little angel with big doe eyes aching to please him, a competitive spirit to win (there wasn't really a competition going on either) and a mildly pre-mind fucked demon brat just breaking out of her recalibration.

Jacob smirked at his expression and nodded to the other boys. It was so rare to see Adam like this, and from the tiny gasps and smiles around him they apparently felt the same way. "What's got you so happy?"

"I love Littles!" Adam cried achingly with a volume that surprised them. His hand went to his throat idly as he continued on. "I love having these smart women turn into sweet snugglers who eat snacks and just want to read and color. It's so fucking cute!" He rubbed over their cheeks one by one and then went back to kiss all of them. "And they're being so obedient with not speaking. Obedient submissives make me happy."

Steven scoffed. "Uh, hello? What about me, jackass?"

Hazel snorted and poked his cheek. "Have you found a new favorite curse word, Steven?"

"Jackass," He grunted through an annoyed smirk.

Adam pointed at that exact behavior. "You, Connie and Jasmin are my biggest challenges," He confirmed with a laugh.

Jasmin started complaining quite loudly, "You're gonna go ahead and piss me off! I have been a perfect angel and—,"

"Jasmin Imani Olfax, you shut your mouth and correct yourself!" Jacob demanded, sitting up to give her a deadly serious look when she opened her mouth again testily. "So help me God, I am not fucking around with you. Do not test me so soon."

Steven, Hazel and Adam gave him a round of applause he ignored to keep the eye contact. She was just pushing boundaries a little, and he fucking loved it.

Her mouth shut again and she happily returned her gaze to Adam, who flexed his hands in irritation and leaned down to look her dead in her eyes. "Watch yourself, you don't wanna end up in a diaper regardless of what happens. I am 100% on board with it, and you'll never. Live. It. Down."

She flushed angrily but kept her mouth shut tight. He did see her eyes light up with joy, the woman liked to be put in her place. She liked to be reprimanded, but then she'd bitch about it.

"That's what I thought." He righted and turned to the boys watching humorously past their curiosity. "Okay, should be relatively simple. I need you guys completely silent, and it's important you make sure you're there the second I motion for you."

They nodded curtly and Adam sat back in a rocking chair, eyes sliding shut. "Close your eyes." He had no need to check, he'd know if there were eyes still looking. "I'm going to count backwards from 50, and with every number I want you to become a little more like your youngest, happiest self. It doesn't matter the age, and it doesn't matter if your mind wanders. You'll need to correct yourself and find the comfort in my voice again." He started steadily counting backward, and with each rock of the chair there was a tiny creak. It was important that it be there; the creak would keep their minds from wandering too much in silence, and it was his chair. Only Adam was allowed in it by himself, and Stella if she was a cat. They knew the creaking meant peace, and for some, extreme comfort. When Adam was rocking in his chair he usually had his precious Anna drinking milk while she tried to doze off, or one of the other girls. Alex liked to sneak his time in too, to just be comforted and babied until he passed out in Adam's safe arms.

He was cool to the touch, but warm in spirit. "10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5..." Adam stopped for a split second, he was getting goosebumps.

Something was off, he felt the energy shift more than it was supposed to. "4... 3... 2... 1. Good job, I'm so proud of you. I want you to imagine yourself as a sweet Little, being kind and respectful while you play together. You're all so wonderful, and you make me so happy when you're regressed to the happy little sweethearts I adore."

He popped open an eye and stood, pleased with the dead silence and still shut eyes.

Next it was gentle touches as he walked past them all: a head pat here, a stroke of the cheek there, it was all love and safety. Sometimes it didn't work all the way, or at all, but those times were becoming pleasantly rare after all of the time he spent practicing on Hazel. He lavished a bit of attention on the boys too, but he kept his gaze locked on the girls for any signs of not quite being under his influence.

"Raise your right hand." It was a test as old as time. While some hypnotists expected that exactly to happen, he was looking for dissonance. "Can you raise your right hand?"

His heart leapt when Connie lifted one hand, the incorrect one. Anna didn't raise hers at all. Jasmin swayed happily but didn't do much else.

"Look at you," He murmured dreamily. "Every one of you is pure perfection. You're all done now. Open your eyes."

He checked their eyes with a stern hand to their chins, first going for the most stubborn, Connie. "Connie, you're so pretty. How are you feeling, honey?" He chuckled when she beamed silently at him. No further translation was needed.

Next was Anna, who wiggled happily and squealed, "Daddy!"

"There's my baby," He replied with just as much enthusiasm. "And what about you, Jazzy?"

She shifted and shrugged limply before shoving a thumb into her mouth. "Nuffin'."

"Ugh, you're all so cute I could eat you up." Adam stood and felt an insurmountable joy in his heart. "Alright, Jacob you should go first since your Little seems anxious."

When he didn't get a response he raised his eyes to scold him only to find the boys all snuggled up and cuddly with each other. It didn't look much different from earlier, but they were all staring at him with innocence.

His brows tented in what was becoming concern. It was certainly cute but... "Guys? Earth to Daddies?"

Steven huffed in a very sweet way and shook his head. "No, thank you. We're cuddling! You can come cuddle too, I can make more room."

Hazel nodded and tucked into Steven. "He's warm and I like it. He's nice to me."

"Come cuddle, I need a kip," Jacob muttered in an achingly adorable, full cockney accent. "I want my blanket and jimjams, please."

Adam's lips curved in a disbelieving smile. "No way." He dropped down quick. "You girls stay here like good girls would, okay? Say 'Yes, Daddy'!"

"Yes, Daddy!" They chorused obediently. He had to drop kisses to all of their foreheads before he moved on.

The boys were definitely glossy eyed and apparently, tired as all hell. Adam brushed a hand over Hazels cheek first, he'd done this to him before for brief periods when he was getting on his nerves or he needed practice, but this gentle mewl was unlike his giant husband. "Daddy, come cuddle."

Adam's smile got shaky and bigger at the same time. "Quit fucking around, you guys. This isn't funny."

All around him, every party pointed out that he'd said a bad word. Called out and mildly offended, he scoffed. "Daddies are allowed to say bad words. Little girls aren't."

"I'm not a little girl," Steven giggled. "Can I say fucking?"

"No."

"I know two bad words," Anna exclaimed passionately. "I know bitch and asshole."

Adam had to beat back his laughter. "Anna Lynn Johansson-Tabb, you watch your mouth or you'll get a spanking!"

She simpered and pointed to Steven. "He said fucking."

"Nuh uh!" He protested, his cheeks going a little red. "I did not! You really think your Steven would say that? That's crazy!"

"Did too," Jasmin said past her fingers. "I heard it."

"Me too!" Connie fiddled with the carpet while she spoke emphatically, one of Adam's favorite traits of her Little Space. "You said not to say f— I mean, the bad word— and then he asked and said it anyways."

Jacob whined and nuzzled into Steven further. "I want my blanket."

Steven glowed a happy pink when Hazel kissed his cheek and Hazel gasped. "You're glowing cause you're happy!"

Adam backed into a corner and slid down as cute aggression barreled upon him. He wanted to squeeze them till they popped and pinch their cheeks so hard there'd be bruises he loved them so much. "Oh god, what have I done?"

*

Adam laid on the floor to die, he was sure he was going to because every single one of his polycule save for Alex beside him were absolutely humiliated. "Oh- oh my god, make it stop!" He cried in agony as his laughter started moving organs around. "Ow, my— my organs! I can't!" Now he was tearing up he was cackling so hard. Hazel pouted and he gasped in more air. "Stop it! Please!" Their humiliation as six people was bringing him too much laughter and joy, and their pouty expressions were not helping.

"You're making fun of us," Hazel complained. "This is mean."

"I think it sounds great," Alex supplied as he tugged a weak Adam off of the floor. "I'm almost a little mad I missed it for sunset and star photos. I like hearing Adam laugh."

"At least tell us what happened," Jasmin muttered, glancing at her mortified husband. "Call it a morbid curiosity."

Adam licked his lips and nodded. He had to take a minute to breathe. "Oh yeah... there's a Little in every. Single. One of you." He grinned dangerously at the boys especially, who stood rigid like soldiers. Training they weren't even aware was showing made him even more triumphant. "But I will say, there's one that surprised even me. I had a good time today, and you were mostly perfect angels though there's a troublemaker amongst you. Someone's a little too brave, and that's why you have a sore bottom." He stopped in front of Steven and snapped his fingers loudly enough that Steven met his eyes for a second before he dropped his head. "You're a darling Little, Steven."

He grunted and cringed. "This."

Adam quirked a brow over his smirk. "This what?"

"This is the worst thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life!" He cried into his hands. "We should've had ear plugs or headphones! I was too caught up in the..." His hands dropped and he made a face. "I-I don't remember."

Adam's eyes brightened and he grabbed his hand to pull him to his knees. Now he was just a bit under eye level. "You're so precious. You're not even back all the way. I'm not judging or making fun of you, you know I just love red faces."

"You're lucky I didn't turn into a real four year old," He mumbled. "Then we really would've had some trouble."

Adam shushed him and placed kisses along the bridge of his nose. "You were an angel, you've just got a curious mouth." He hummed when his fingers grew warm against his cheeks. "Your obsession with raw flour stems from a thing you potentially skipped: teething. With your healing powers you probably never got a stage where you gnawed on things to soothe the pain, you never had any, or at least not long enough to let you notice. All babies need that stage to explore texture so when you grow up, you don't wanna put every single thing you see in your mouth, including my hands." Steven blinked slowly as he processed it, then blushed harder. "Hey, it's okay Steven. You didn't bite hard and it was adorable."

Connie leaned forward on the couch. "Oh my god, this makes too much sense."

He rubbed at Steven's curls tenderly, looking deep into his wide eyes. "It does, which is why it isn't weird or bad, and it makes sense you have aversions to certain textures. I get it now: you eat flour when you're stressed." He nodded and scooted closer. "Okay, I also think I know why it's flour: there's little texture. It's not slimy or crunchy and it doesn't really have much of a taste. It's very little to focus on. You never really got to explore all that much with three helicopter parents, Greg, and living in a van, so it makes sense that your Little teethes on everything." He planted a kiss on Steven's head. "Stay."

Next he moved on to Hazel, who was already wrinkling his nose with distaste as he instinctively sank to his knees. "Lay it on me."

"You already know this one, but I'm gonna reveal it a little more," Adam laughed. "You're a sit-in-one-place Little. I could put you in the oven and you'd not move a single inch." It was cute honestly, and from the look Hazel was giving him he knew that. "You're also a parrot. So is Steven to be fair, but you're worse. You just repeat everything I say to you," Adam told him with a kiss to his scruff. "It's adorable, and it makes sense for you. Your Little is at the bottom of the range for the six of you, with Anna and someone else right next to you age-wise. I'd call it two or three. You just want to be taken care of, and I see that pattern every time. I can only hope I'm living up to that when your Little likes me so much." He liked the texture of his dreads against his fingers, there was something about it he adored as he carefully combed through them. "You're also heavily in need of diapers, which I did supply. You had an accident in the kitchen, and that's why you have on your pajamas."

Hazel exhaled like he'd been kicked in the stomach. "Ow."

Adam chuckled and kissed him again. "No worries, you're not the only one." He caught Steven looking arrogant and laughed, "And don't you start because you had to be accompanied to the potty ten times in the last four hours and then you wanted to talk about stars and space and held my hand the whole time." He slumped and Adam grinned widely at Jacob, he was the only one who met his eyes steadily of the boys and it was only out of wonder. "And my Jack, come here."

He obediently stepped forward and looked back nervously at the other boys, but they were wallowing in their embarrassment too much to encourage him.

Adam's eyes shone brightly, and he burst into a glow. "I have known from the second I felt I knew you well that you had an inner Little trapped in a closet that was bolted, fused shut and nailed closed." His hand fell to place over his heart and he tossed his head back in bliss. "Ugh, he's so fucking cute. It's those freckles, I-I just let him have whatever he wants, I'm not gonna lie to you. I'm soft on all Littles but the accent kills my ability to not let you have ice cream every time you ask for it. I'm sorry, but there are times when I'm just gonna wanna put you in Little Space and snuggle all the trauma out of you. I can't help it, this is who I am and that Little boy is who you are. Everyone else needs rules and patience; I think you need to be spoiled first and work backwards. As a Daddy who works with the dark arts, I am obligated to use my vastly human skill of deception to slowly close whatever wounds I can. I don't like your Little being afraid of me either, so it's rooted in selfishness but..." He exhaled and shook his head sadly. "I've never seen a Little so afraid of discipline, not even Hazel. He didn't even need any, he was just afraid because I'm a man."

Now Adam paced, sure feet in front of the other as he glared at the ground. "God I could just kill that fucker all over again, and then ten more fucking times. Oliver threatens to make me the most psychotic man on the face of this godforsaken planet. You poor baby, you were scared out of your goddamned mind for a good 30 minutes after I got you guys upstairs. Jack doesn't like change, I think. He is still stuck in a horrendous schedule I know I can snap like twine if I can just... snip that wiring in there." His vicious snarl was directed at the floor for a split second before it disappeared back into nothing. "Thinking out loud helps me think, especially with an audience. This is all just vastly interesting to me, I'm seeing things I had no idea about and this changes things."

Jacob sniffled once and Adam launched to hold him steady. "I haven't a clue why we're all crying."

Adam blinked and glanced at the other boys leaned against each other. "Oh my stars, did I—?"

"No," Steven laughed through his tears. "I'm personally crying because I'm realizing I never got to be a normal kid all over again. I'm happy, and it's weird."

"Use a different word," Adam demanded to Steven's gasp. "What?"

He swallowed and his eyes darted to Connie. "Allison used to say that... but she'd make me say something worse." He smiled a little and melted more into Hazels arms. "Ugh, I feel like a raw wound."

Hazel giggled. "Tell me about it. I feel like I've just been peeled back to expose all of my layers. He's too good."

Adam rubbed Jacobs back. "Believe it or not, having a safe place and person to regress with can actually be monumentally helpful to the little kid we all have inside of us," He spoke gently to them all. "It's important to go to therapy, it's important to figure out problems and shit. I understand that better even just now, and I'm sorry I ever said therapy was stupid. This is therapy, that all was just a giant therapy session." He sighed wistfully and gently brought Jacob to back up and cuddle with the other boys. "You three need some extra care, and I am willing to take care of you when you need a break from being an adult, because being a kid used to be impossible for you."

Adam missed the stars in their eyes, and the quick fusion glow between the three. He stood and stretched himself out before turning to the girls. "Your turn."

Adam smiled at his oblivious Anna. She probably expected the undying praise she normally got, but if he was going for it he had to go all in. "Babygirl, I think Connie and Jasmin are the perfect Little friends for you to have. You are too much of a people pleaser, you're going to get yourself hurt or killed trying to make everyone happy. My happiness is not your goal: your happiness is your goal. It is so fucking important that you be happy, it's literally the only way I can be happy." Her eyes went shy and ashamed but he kissed her rapidly with soft kisses. "You're not in trouble for being obedient, but my god do these two have things to teach you. You've gotta learn to try your own ways, be a little resistant, babycakes. You've gotta remember that sometimes it's more fun to do what you want. I need a little challenge sometimes, it's getting too easy." She giggled and he smirked back at her. "Pretty girl. My baby. You're so cute." He could fill her with praise for the rest of his life, and he was going to. "Learn to be a little naughty, and trust me, it won't be hard with these two."

He scratched at her scalp and she fell back in bliss. "The Daddy voice gives me flutter-byes." She wasn't even Little, she just liked to say it that way, it was more pleasing to her.

Adam snorted and motioned Jasmin to the edge of the couch. "You have the exact opposite problem: you realize when I say not to touch the stove, it's for a reason, right? Like, I'm not trying to suck all the joy and fun from your life when I say you need to keep your pampers on?" She blushed hard and he cooed at her. "Aw, Jazzy I'm not saying you're a naughty Little Girl, but there is a reason your ass aches to the touch. I know Jacob loves your fire, but it's impossible to me that your Little is actually deaf. There's no fucking way, especially with the way you jump when you're caught. Just listen a teensy, tiny bit, I just wanna keep you safe. All of us do. You're so beautiful, and so loved, and it's important to listen to the people you love, okay?"

She tucked her chin to her chest and nodded shyly. "Okay. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry!" He corrected quickly. "It's just your Little Space, there's no wrong way to do it. You're a brat to your core, and thanks to Contestant Number Six, I am well versed and experienced with Littles like you. You just prefer the punishment over pleasure, but you know that even if I'm a sadist, I love to make you guys happy and smile all big at me like you do. It's so fucking cute I can't stand it, and you got a lot better after the spanking, even if you were a bit clingy, which brings me to my point: I think you need more attention, and trust me when I say you'll get downright pathetic for me if I so choose, so learn to ask for attention or you'll end up over my lap six times a day for your daily doses of "attention"."

Jasmin's eyes got misty and she turned her head to kiss his hand. "Okay."

"And Steven's Connie, good lord girl you've got an attitude," He sighed to a few giggles. "Your parents must have been strict as fuck because you think you know the best way to do everything, you conceited little brat." Connie gasped her playful offense and Adam kissed the life out of her. "But you're cute, so it works for you. However I do think I know what you need finally."

She poked out a lip and huffed. "More dick?"

He snorted. "No, you need your independence completely taken away." When her jaw dropped he tightened his grip on her chin. "Don't you dare clock out on me. Say 'Yes, Daddy'."

"Yes, Daddy," She repeated immediately to a nice surge of dopamine from previous efforts to tame a part of her. Adam's praise made her even dreamier.

"You need to be diapered, you need to be spoon fed, you need to be cradled and bottle fed or whatever the hell it takes to take away your instinctive take charge attitude. I have never had a Little in all of my days tell me that I am not diapering her right when I in fact am. I've also never had to duct tape a diaper on before." He grinned at her embarrassment and gently shimmied her head. "That's a first, and I like new experiences. Your parents taught you independence and self reliance but butt fucked you on the part of life where you need to accept help. I bet if I walked over there and asked Steven how many times you've had a meltdown because you worked yourself into illness or depression, he'd say every couple months or so."

Connie was going to lie but Steven lifted his head to stare her down. "It's probably a tiny bit less than that, but yeah."

Adam's eyes turned chiding and upset. "Do you know how fucking ridiculous it is to burn yourself out all the fucking time?! You're going to hurt your mental health, and if you don't start learning to let yourself be taken care of, you're going to find out why we need breaks for our mental health. You wanna go the long road and find out what happened to me when I burned out? I tried to kill myself, Connie, and don't think you're above it. I've seen your depressed stints when your husband isn't around, and I've seen them when he is. I'm not a stupid little boy, I notice when you get listless because there's no work to drown in. You need to get your shit together and be actually Little, you need to learn to rely or you're going to irreversibly hurt your brain, your body, or yourself. Am I making myself clear, or do I need to get in your head about it?"

She swallowed and nodded. "I understand. I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing to me? Apologize to yourself, that's the one you're damaging. And if you do need to apologize, it's not to me, dammit." He dropped to wipe the tears from her cheeks and kissed the rest away. "You know I only scold you because I love you deeply, right? You think there's any other girls on this entire planet I'd ever fall in love with? No, not even a single one could get me to talk to them with this much care and adoration. I want you to get better for you, not for Steven, and not for me either. You need to be emotional and clingy too, and I know you have it in you to really let go. I've seen it once and even then, you still had a bit of a grip onto your self assurance. Let yourself be assured by the people you love. It really is important for your self confidence, which this is all stemming from being both too high and too low. So do that, okay?"

Adam backed away to watch the girls stare into the distance silently before getting up to hug their partners tight. It made him choke up, this was hardly a burden, he genuinely felt this had healed him too.

Hazel called for him and when he crouched, ready to console and comfort, he instead was violently yanked into the pile and cuddled up to.

"Exemplary husband, would marry again," Hazel giggled.

"Five stars," Connie sniffled. "Therapy boyfriend is immaculate."

"Great decor, 10/10 service." Jacob nuzzled into his chest and kissed over his racing heart. "Handsome."

Adam chuckled and let himself be loved. "Jaqueline says I need to get off my high horse if I'm gonna take care of you guys the way I like to. Would you consider me to be less hostile and moody lately?"

Anna snorted. "That's just your personality, we know you're not being an asshole and you're not hostile. You're extremely protective."

"I beat the shit out of Oliver, I broke that guys nose, I almost jumped someone in an ice cream shop, I decked that guy because he was hitting on my pretty goth girlfriend," He listed quietly. "I've punched too many walls, I've hurt too many feelings trying to be brave and instead dousing everything in flames. I am not perfect, and I need you guys to acknowledge that."

Jasmin brushed her fingers over his chin to turn to look at her. "We never asked you to be perfect, we asked you to be Adam, and we love who you are."

"Sometimes your temper gets the best of you," Steven murmured. "I know not of a single person in this house who hasn't had a catastrophic meltdown yet. It means you're comfortable showing us sides that need to be tweaked a little, not erased."

Alex piped up in the background, "Also, see Issues. When the girls wrote that song, I was behind the couch looking at crepe recipes to beg Jacob to make me, and even after every con, they expressed how much they needed you, and how much they love you. All of us are imperfect, we all need each other because we are the best versions of ourselves like this, even when we're not."

"I love your moments of emotional clarity," Adam chuckled through his tears. "You're so sweet."

"I've also never met a bigger group of sex addicted attention whores," He tacked on boredly. "I guess I could be added to the list because I swear it's happening a little more often I'm slutting myself out to the boys just to make them happy. I never used to care about other people, but I guess the ones stuck in their permanent slut era are my people so yay to that."

"Is it unhealthy to wanna drink a little?" Hazel asked nervously. "I feel like I need to be drunk."

"Stick to Tequila." Adam turned his head to look at him. "It'll make you guys horny and then you'll fall asleep immediately after fucking each other stupid."

"I kinda think we should snuggle Adam," Jacob suggested. "I think we should drink and then love the fuck out of him."

Adam sighed softly. "If you guys all snuggle me, I'm gonna pass out."

It was inevitable: drunk and snuggly partners telling him with so much feeling how much they loved him had him dizzy and faint. Too much blood was rushing too many places, that stupid praise kink was rising again, and he fell into their arms still as night. But he had the tiniest smile as his passing out was met with a healing kiss, and then a gentle coax from all of them to just sleep.

At the end of the day, no matter how devoted Adam was to taking care of them all, he needed to be taken care of too.