Tale #60: Cotton-Tailed

Tale #60: Cotton-Tailed (Part 3 to the bunny storyline) (Content Tags: Mental regression, hypnosis, messy training pants, wet training pants, cursed toy, supernatural elements) Bailey nibbled meekly at his index finger. His chaperoned visit to the nurse's office hadn't been all that pleasant; waddling bowlegged with a load in his 'briefs' and tears running down his face, while the girls he'd been playing house with were trying to comfort him. They had explained to the nurse what had happened, at least as far as they could tell, and then she had sent them off to return to recess. The woman had sighed and shaken her head at the sorry sight of the white-haired boy; he may be dressed like a Kindergartner, but he was much too old to be having accidents like one too! Unclipping his shortalls had only raised more questions. While the soiled garment looked like underpants at first, a closer inspection revealed that they were actually training briefs! While Bailey often wore them to school, on account of his unreliable bladder, he'd never needed to clue the nurse into the fact that he wore them. Little dribbles or even moderate tinkling was something that he could handle on his own, either by waiting until he got home, or by making a trip to the boy's room for a switch-out. A messy accident was something different; he couldn't hope to hide it all day, nor could he effectively clean himself up, and even if he did, then where would the trainers go? The nurse's first instinct was to call the boy's parents to pick him up, but he meekly mentioned that they were both at work. She'd been prepared to make a call to the SPED room to ask for something to change him into, but he'd interjected that he had a fresh pair in his backpack. The only problem with that was that his backpack was still in his classroom, on the other side of the school. The nurse mentioned that she'd make a call to have someone bring it to her office, and Bailey didn't think much of it; as far as he could tell, that meant that another teacher or an admin would go fetch it. That wasn't the case. Coming into the room, with the boy's bag in her hands, was his twin sister. Bailey bit his lip and looked off to the side, glad that the nurse had put his shortalls back into place while they waited. "...Hey, Hailey..." The girl looked at him and then at the nurse, before her eyes finally settled on the backpack she was holding. "Bailey, did you...Have another uh-oh?" He blushed at the infantile way that she referred to it, "...I don't want to talk about it." "Yeah? Well, I don't want to play babysitter to my *little* brother. You really do *that* in your pants again? Twice in one day?" She grimaced, opening the bag to pull out the fresh pair of trainers that Bailey always kept on hand. "So this already happened today?" The nurse raised her eyebrow. "Yeah, he stunk up his pajamas this morning before school. Walked in on him doing it like he was two years old." Hailey replied, handing off the training briefs to the nurse. "It was an accident..." The boy quietly groaned. "Does this happen often? The accidents?" Hailey grinned, "Yeah. Well, not *those* kinds of accidents. He usually just wets the bed and sometimes his pants. I don't think he's messed himself since we were six or seven..." The nurse delayed the boy's much needed change and instead took his temperature, having to make sure that he wasn't simply ill. He checked out normally, which left the woman scratching her head. "No fever...But you could still have a sore tummy. I want you to take it easy the rest of the day...Oh, and I'll need you to take a note home to your parents..." Hailey interrupted with a glimmer in her eye, "Oh, I'll take the note. Wouldn't want my baby brother to 'misplace' it." The nurse didn't see anything suspect about it, and Bailey couldn't exactly say anything, since his twin was invariably correct about what would happen if he was the one to take the note. Of course, his misplacement of it would also be less than accidental, much like Hailey had subtly implied. The woman handed the note off to Hailey and mentioned that the pair could pick up the soiled trainers after school, since they weren't disposable. Just another thing that Bailey needed, to walk home with a plastic bag holding evidence of his shameful failure. The nurse then went on to dismiss Hailey and get to cleaning up the messy boy on her cot. The rest of the day passed by in a blur. The trio of girls from recess gave him pitying looks, his sister gave him a smug one, and the rest of his classmates were blissfully ignorant to what had happened to him. All that Bailey could think about was what that note must say, and the trouble that would be in store for him whenever he went back home. His parents had been pretty miffed about the 'accident' from that morning, but it seemed like they were chalking it up as a one-time thing. It was hard to imagine how much more severe they may be when they read that he'd had *another* accident at school. It wasn't his fault though! He wasn't sure where the blame deserved to be placed, but he knew that he wouldn't so something like this intentionally! He may crib a more youthful style and wear protection for his weak bladder, but he wasn't a *baby*. After class had led out, his sister accompanied him to go back to the nurse's office to pick up his soiled training briefs. Arguably, she actually *escorted* him, since she wasn't giving him the option to skip the trip. They'd been sealed up in a clear plastic bag, so the odor was mitigated, but the appearance of them was bluntly displayed. He stuffed the embarrassing bag in his backpack and shuffled awkwardly out of the school with his sister. "Hailey...Can't you just, y'know..." "Get rid of the note? Let you sweep this under the rug?" The girl grinned down at her twin brother. "Y-yeah! There's no reason that mommy and daddy have to know..." She clicked her tongue and shook her head. "That right there is exactly why I'm going to give them the note. We just turned ten and you still act like you're five! If *even* that... If you want to act like you're still in Kindergarten, then fine, that's how I'll treat you. **Baby** bro." Heat returned to the white-haired boy's face. "I don't act like a little kid! I-I just don't think I'm feeling well today..." "And what about every other day? You always wet the bed, you wet your pants, and you dress like...*this*. Maybe you can't help being shrimpy, but you don't have to lean into it!" Bailey *was* wearing shortalls, and they *were* a staple of his wardrobe. He just thought that they looked cute, there had never been any thought process involved that pointed out how much younger they made his appearance skew. "P-please, Hailey! They're gonna be real mad and--" "I watched you suck your thumb for *ten minutes* today in class. You brought that stupid stuffed rabbit to school with you! You pooped in your pants at recess! You're a big baby, Bailey. Start acting more grown up and I'll treat you that way...Until then, your big sister has to make sure our parents know about all your little 'accidents'; big or small." The remainder of the walk home was quiet. That was good, since when he *did* get home, things got a lot louder. His sister wasted no time in presenting the nurse's note to their father, and his father wasted no time in chastising him for having yet another accident. Bailey tried to defend himself, but what was there to say about the incident? He didn't even have a full memory of how or why it had happened; everything past lunch was kind of hazy, which was suspicious, but he suspected that his memory was impacted by the embarrassment he'd felt from the ordeal. The most that he could really say was that it wouldn't happen again, but that did little to put his father at ease. After enough pitiful begging, the man sighed and said that Bailey would be given grace for now, but that he'd be in big trouble if it happened a third time. What were the odds that it would happen again? Today must have just been a freak occurrence! It was easy for Bailey to internally justify it like that; it'd never been a problem before today, so why would it be a problem after today? Today was the problem, not him! The next few days would go better for the boy. He was still taking his new bunny wherever he went, and he still caught himself with his thumb in his mouth, but he hadn't had any other smelly incidents to worry about. It was lulling him into a false sense of security, just as the supernatural stuffy wanted. The weekend came and the twins were set to go to the movie theater with their dad. It was a contentious decision to make to decide which movie to see; Hailey wanted to see the newest of the 'young adult novel made into a movie', while Bailey's preference was for something whimsical and animated. It was going to come down to a thumb war or a game of rock-paper-scissors, at least until Hailey made a point to the boy. The girl reiterated her stance on his lackluster maturity, and how this was yet another example. It was a low enough blow to make him acquiesce to her choice of film, regardless of how drab and unappealing he found it. They bought the tickets and their father made one last call for a trip to the restroom before they went to their movie. It was a general statement, ostensibly at least, but there did seem to be more of a directed look at Bailey in particular. Bailey seemed oblivious to any subtext and just went to take a wizz without any further provocation. It probably wouldn't amount to much to keep him dry once he picked up an icee, but it may mitigate things to *some* degree. A hop and a skip through the concession stand and they were at the podium to get their ticket torn. The teen working the station took a look at Bailey, and then felt the need to remind the boy's father that this movie was PG-13. The teenager wasn't being a dick about it; just looking at Bailey, who was carrying his stuffed rabbit under his arm and who had a kid's tray, the boy seemed younger than he actually was. That wasn't even getting into his somewhat diminutive stature and his colorful choice of wardrobe... One embarrassing ticket-tearing later and the three found their theater down the hall. The father sat between his two kids and scooped popcorn into his mouth, with the thought that this would be a completely normal outing. And it was, at least for a while. As Bailey had feared, the movie was a miserable slog. There was angst and a washed out color palette, not to mention that this wasn't even the first in its series, so there was a whole list of plot-points that he was completely in the dark about. He tried to make the best of it, mostly turning his attention to his snacks and the occasional fun action sequence on the screen. About three quarters into the movie, Bailey was out of snacks and basically completely checked out. With less than thirty minutes left of the show, Bailey decided he needed to tap out, lest he fall asleep right here and soak himself. He nudged his father and leaned in to whisper his plan to go use the restroom again and then stay outside the theater until the movie was over. Bailey would just hang around in the little arcade that the theater had, and so he just needed a few dollars. Turning ten recently, Bailey felt a little empowered to ask something like this. To be allowed to go somewhere without any supervision for a little bit; to take charge of his own itinerary! His father agreed and pulled a few singles out of his wallet to hand off to his son, but before he did, he sternly whispered: "Bathroom first, games after." Bailey had every intention of keeping his word on that! His stuffed pink rabbit had other ideas. There was a skip in his step and a hum coming out of his mouth as he headed back toward the lobby. Before he could reach the restroom, his new little buddy decided to speak up and stop him. "Where are ya hoppin' off too? The arcade is over *there*!" Bailey looked down at the bunny, immediately entranced by its otherworldly presence. "I promised my dad that I'd use the bathroom first..." "Your daddy doesn't have to know! Besides, you're already wearing your bathroom, aren't you?" Bailey pondered on that for a moment. His training briefs *were* a lot like a diaper...Heck, they were already a little damp like one! Besides, he'd used them like a diaper before, so why not again? That *would* make him more babyish, and being babyish was cute! The white-haired boy smiled and changed course, instead heading for the little sliver of arcade that the theater had. He initially wanted to go for the claw machine, but a quick examination made it obvious that nothing inside the prize bin was even halfway as cute as his bunny, or all the other stuffies he had at home. Instead he selected a racing game. He had enough money to go a few rounds in the driver's seat, and that'd kill the rest of the time he had to wait. Bailey fed a bill into the machine and climbed behind the wheel, putting his bunny in his lap while he played. He went again and again, and suddenly he had to 'go' in a far different context. The boy had already relinquished any mindfulness about his bladder, but he was feeling an urge from the other end. He looked down at the bunny, as if to ask for guidance, or for permission to be a 'baby'. "Umm...I gotta potty..." Bailey bashfully muttered. "Silly bunny boy... You're cotton-tailed, just go ahead and *go*! Another race is about to start, so you better hurry!" The rabbit replied, referencing the thick cotton trainers he had around his waist. That was all the enthralled boy needed to hear. He couldn't do it of his own volition quite yet; he still had some deep seated control of his own will, something that the bunny hadn't yet taken. Bailey lifted his butt from the chair, hovering above it by a few inches, and he let out some soft grunts. Just like that morning, and then the recess after it, he was giving in to the infantile pleasure of being a stinky 'baby'. He could feel the large steamer settling slowly into his trainers, forming a firm lump in the back of his shorts. He gave a big final push and felt the pressure ease from his gut as the large log fully plummeted into his pants. A dopey smile crossed his face and he gently let himself back down into the chair for the next race. As he felt it squish against him, he could see people starting to come down the hall from the movie that he'd left. He didn't pay that any mind, but he'd only be halfway through his race by the time his sister and father came to collect him. He probably wouldn't finish the race before the smell of his misdeed became obvious. That'd be his third strike.