when regressed, one of damianās favorite activities is to scroll through ebay and look at lotās of the old LPS. he had recently discovered the plastic creatures and had become quite enamored with them. dick tried to buy him a set from the store, but it was the new generation, which he is not a fan of. he only likes the lps with neutral colors.
damian was ashamed at first. regressing was one thing, buying items to indulge that regression was another. but once he saw the gray great dane that looked very close to his beloved pet, he broke. he carefully tracked the packages every move, standing outside the door waiting for the delivery truck to pull up so he could quickly snatch it and run off to his to room. once he made it, he started at the brown mailer like it was a threat, and with slightly shaky hands, he opened it.
he looked silly, he thought, holding a tiny plastic toy in the palm of his hand. it was stupid. he was not a child. he never got to be one.. but he felt his lips twitch up, and a small sprinkle of warmth bloom in his belly.
he spends the next week guarding the pet. he shows it to titus, who tries to chew on it. he sleeps with it next to his pillow. in a particular night of softness, he bounces it across his desk, pretending like itās walking. he tucks the dog in his pocket, in his backpack at school, everywhere.
when his secret is inevitably revealed, because who can hide anything in a family of superheroes and detectives, itās not met with the hatefulness he thought. heās not benched from robin, heās not anything. heās just damian. and they still love him just as much.
dick still insists on babying him, but much more than before. he would be lying if he said it wasnāt starting to grow on him.
itās a few months later when he finally gets the courage to ask bruce for a toy. heās found a very nice lot of LPS on ebay, and heās just itching for more little plastic friends.
āfather, i require this.ā damian says to him one day, shoving his ipad in bruceās face. bruceās old man eyes take a few seconds to adjust, and even then he canāt really tell what it is without the reading glasses alfred forced him to get. but it doesnāt even matter. his baby boy just asked him for a toy and bruce is so proud of how far heās come.
later on, when bruce is looking at his banking app, he sees a charge of 1,000$ from Ebay. He doesnāt even care.
