Page 7 of A Little's Campervan

“Emmie, come out here this instance.” The sharp tone cut Emmie off mid-word, and the lock to the cubicle unlocked, and the blond woman stepped out sheepishly.

Whatever Wren had planned on saying was wiped away when she saw what she was saying. Cute pink pyjamas with tiny Stitches all over them. Well, all over what there was of them. The top was pretty standard, but the shorts… The shorts showed off a dangerous amount of thigh.

Wren blinked rapidly, took a deep breath and tried again.

“You’re going to brush your teeth, and while you’re doing that, I’m going to talk to you and you’re going to listen without saying anything. At the end of that, you can say whatever you like—does that seem fair?”

Emmie nodded vigorously, and took the toothbrush that Wren had already prepped for her. The strawberry flavoured toothpaste had made her smile, and that—coupled with the Daddy comment—had led Wren to believe that Emmie was possibly a fairly inexperienced Little.

“I don’t mind that you called me Daddy; in fact, when I’m dating someone, I often like being called Daddy. But I was wondering if there’s a possibility that you might be a Little. Some Littles like being looked after, and sometimes, when the world gets too big and scary, they like to retreat and take comfort in things that they liked when they were young.”

Emmie rinsed her mouth and spat out.

“Do you think that might describe you?”

She looked thoughtful, and Wren realised that she wasn’t really in Littlespace anymore. The brushing of her teeth had given her a sharp enough focus that she was Big again. “I think that it could describe me. I don’t really know because I don’t usually let myself get like that.”

Taking the washbag from Wren, she tried a tentative smile. “Can we talk about it when we get back to Luna?”

“Of course!”

They were quiet for a little bit, walking through the campsite. Emmie was clearly thinking, and when they got to Luna and sheunlocked the van, she turned to Wren. “Do you want to come in? There’s not a huge amount of space, but we can definitely sit together.”

It took a few minutes to decant all but one of the stuffies onto the driver’s seat. Emmie kept one back, a red panda who smelt decidedly of strawberries.

“Who’s this?” asked Wren.

“It’s Red Panda, of course,” said Emmie, as if any other name would have simply been illogical.

“Oh of course,” said Wren, hiding a smile.

“So,” said Emmie. “Littles.”

“Littles.

“I know lots of Littles, but I’ve never really… I’m always the person who looks after everyone else. I don’t have time to get overwhelmed.”

“How do you manage it usually?” asked Wren gently.

“Usually I push through until the feelings go away, or I remove myself from a situation before I get too overwhelmed. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been so far out of my comfort zone. And that’s not a bad thing, it’s just that all of my usual coping techniques aren’t helping as much as I’d like. And you’re just solovelyandkindandcaring. I don’t know why it slipped out.”

“It’s because I’ve got those queer Daddy vibes,” said Wren. She knew she was sounding slightly smug, and that’s because she felt it. For Emmie to have dropped her walls like that, she must have seen Wren as a super safe person, and that felt amazing.

Emmie giggled. “You definitely do.”

“Well, how about I be your Daddy this weekend?”

Emmie’s eyes widened and Wren had an urge to kiss her. “You’d be open to that?”

“Are you kidding? I’d have the most adorable baby girl ever. Cute, and pretty and…”

“You think I’m pretty?”

Wren paused and stared at her. “Have you seen you?”

“Yes, but most Littles are cute and petite and I am… not.”

She wasn’t kidding. She really didn’t realise how attractive she was. “I… Baby girl, you are cute as a button, and smoking hot to boot. I don’t know who you’ve been spending time with, but if they don’t tell you on a daily basis how you’re the best thing since sliced bread, then I’m going to start having some words with people. It’s unacceptable that you don’t know how gorgeous you are.”

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