I NEEDED THIS AFTER FLASH 3 - Tumblr Posts

little rabbit // max + bart // wc: ???

small baby!bart & max preview below : ) it is very much in the beginning stages but i made a little progress so i wanted to share

Max was used to Bart ending up in precarious situations. It was better to predict that Bart would get into some mishap than to assume he’d somehow stay out of trouble for once. So Max often relied on the assumption that by the time he got home each day Bart was either already in over his head or something terribly wrong had happened to prevent Bart’s misadventures. Thus, Max was prepared whenever he spent a decent amount of time away from Bart, mentally arranging solutions in his brain for when he’d check on Bart. But when he walked in the door, Max felt a feeling was over him that something was awry. The strangest reason being that the house seemed completely empty. If Bart had gone out with friends or did something after school he would’ve definitely checked in with Max about it beforehand. Well, he couldn’t be that worried, could he? Maybe Bart just forgot to tell him he had something this afternoon? That was the thought Max was leading with, walking maybe an inch or two forward when something rammed into his legs, not enough to knock him back, but enough for Max to be slightly surprised and look down to see what it was.

“Huh?” Max’s gaze was met with something completely unexpected. 

Well, there Bart was. Looking up at Max like a deer in the headlights of. At first, at least, until some sort of familiar comfort took over the boy and most of the fear and confusion was replaced with…love? Probably the only way Max could really interpret it. But what was so strange in this given situation was that Bart was not his normal size, nor his normal age, his normal anything. Max was met with his mentor; his now very, very tiny mentor. 

Max was stumped. However, staring down at Bart like an idiot certainly didn’t do anything to help either of them in this situation. Besides, Max had a strong feeling the moment he took his eyes off little Bart, he would wind up in even worse of a situation, if there was one. So he bent down and plucked the baby off the floor, in a motion that seemed a little too natural when it was much out of the blue. He had picked Bart up a few times before if the teen was injured and honestly? He never weighed much. But it still was weird just how different it seemed. As Max tried to process what was going on and how he was going to take care of this peculiarity, Bart just sort of melted against Max’s chest, huge eyes focused on Max without a care in the world. Seemed like the little dude was on cloud nine, not even miffed by his sudden morphological change that would leave most verging on a breakdown. Either that or he hid it really well. Who knew? Max sure didn’t. 

“And this is why I can never leave you alone.” Max slowly shook his head, his free hand resting against his temple as he took a very brief moment to inhale and exhale, trying to sort out his thoughts. This would be a very difficult situation considering whatever Bart knew about his current state was really limited. And though he had no doubt at any age Bart was capable of much more than a normal person, he wasn’t sure how much that potential could be used if Bart had the attention span of, well, a baby. Getting Bart to cooperate normally could be a struggle. Imagine how bad it could be now. 

The man supposed he should start from the basics. See if Bart knew who he was, where he was, what was going on. When he could get a feeler for the situation, perhaps a clearer answer would follow suit. So Max fixed his posture, sitting on the couch, adjusting Bart in his grip to sit comfortably in his lap, Bart still lost in his own abstract thoughts but in-tuned with Max’s movements enough to simply rest his head against the man’s chest, finding comfort in the old man’s heartbeat. Max took a quick look at it and was honestly sort of surprised at how calm Bart was for how bizarre this was. Maybe the kid was just so used to weird antics that this sort of thing was a walk in the park. The uncertainty made Max’s usual mighty disposition only very slightly waver. But he had been through worse, will be through worse - it was just the sort of life Max had gotten used to. So this? It might have not been ideal or common but that didn’t mean it would break him so easily. And since it involved Bart, a boy he considered family, he would do anything to sort this out and protect him, especially in such a fragile state.

“Okay…” One more balanced breath came from the man before he addressed Bart, placing a grisled hand beneath Bart’s chin and gently guiding the boy’s gaze up to his face so they could get this whole situation sorted out as fast as possible, “Bart, do you know where you are?” 

Golden eyes studied Max’s face. Like before, as Bart processed what was asked, his eyes seemed to light up as his brain’s gears churned and chugged. He tilted his head ever so slightly, bottom lip pursed, eyes shifting left and right trying to think. When the answer hit him, his eyes lit up once more and Bart triumphantly nodded his head in excitement, sitting up a little and holding onto Max’s shirt with small fists. The smile on the kid’s face was super irresistible but Max was somehow keeping his composure. For the time being. 

“Okay, I suppose that’s progress.” He was decently surprised by that alone. Maybe Bart wasn’t as illusioned as he thought he was? Still, Max thought it important to assume Bart had little idea what was going on until he had much solid confirmation Bart was all there. Time to continue the questioning. Max seemed to hesitate if only for a moment or two but this was probably the more important of the two questions to aks right away so he’d have to even if he was unsure what the answer might be. But if Bart knew where he was, he was 75% sure the answer to this one would be just as encouraging. He drew his attention back to Bart, who in the span of maybe 30 seconds, ended up completely focused on something else, catching something in the corner of his eye and causing the baby to dip forward and try to chase after whatever it was. Maybe something as small as a dust bunny. Max wasn’t sure. But Max reeled him in, not even phased by it really, if anything, at this size and capacity, it made more sense for Bart’s inattentiveness. It could be forgiven much easily here than it could normally, at least, if you didn’t know the boy that well. 

“Hey, no running off.” Max’s rough voice caught Bart suddenly, Bart looking back up at Max sheepishly but with a ever increasing smile. He seemed to have no care in the world. It was…a little too cute. But Max could refrain. Somehow. No one else would be able to resist those eyes so easily. “Focus, Bart. I know that may be hard. You know you’re home, yes?” 

Max intently looked Bart’s way. Bart slowly nodded in confirmation. Max finally offered a small smile. Bart responded extremely positively to it, gasping at first and making a happy squeal, satisfied with the action. Oh boy, this took all of Max’s restraint to not become putty in his tiny hands. How did he say no to Bart so frequently? It’d barely been 10 minutes and he was losing his rigidity. Yet again, Max searched Bart’s eyes for something, anything other than pure love, which he would appreciate in any other scenario had they had less questions to address. But right now, he needed some sort of SIGN. And this wasn’t enough. 

“Do you know who I am?” 

Another nod full of vigor from Bart. This seemed promising. Max raised a brow, hitching a ride on that lead, “Okay, who am I, then?”

Bart’s smile grew wider, somehow, eyes radiating warmth. And though it took him a second or two, Bart leaned closer to wrap his arms around as much of Max as he could, before answering, “Papa..”

Max’s heart skipped a beat. Bart seemed thrilled, satisfied with himself, but Max? He didn’t really know how to respond. Should he be worried Bart thought he was his dad? Was this some sort of biological wiring gone wrong? Or was it due to their relationship being blurred by Bart’s young mind? Was this how Bart viewed Max when there were no barriers keeping things in check? Max, for once, stumped, didn’t even realize Bart seemed to catch on that Max wasn’t happy, and he seemed to quiet down, looking at Max unsurely and gently patting Max’s stomach until he came back to Planet Earth. 

“Bart…I…no, I’m not…” Max sighed, brows furrowed, “I’m Max. Your mentor. Not-” 

“Papa.” Bart reaffirmed, frowning, searching for some sort of warmth in Max’s face or tone but not finding much there. It was clear though that Max’s response to this all was upsetting Bart. But Max wasn’t sure he could put it aside. Not right now. Not when this had JUST happened and they had to figure everything out. 

“Bart…”