Combining kimkey's prompt "Stefan attempting to hack through Damon's parental blocks" and Ronnie_R's "Damon and Stefan going shopping and learning what Little Stefan likes?"
This takes place shortly after "Big Boy".
"Argh!"
Stefan punches in his birthday into the remote, hoping his show will unlock. Nothing. He tries Damon's. Nope. Lily's? Of course not. Katherine's? The fates seem to be mocking him at this point. A last ditch effort, he types in Giuseppe's. Damon hates the old man, but perhaps it's a way of throwing Stefan off?
Still nothing.
Stefan growls. "Damon!"
His brother vamps into the room, a slight smirk on his face. "Yeah, little brother?"
"Why can't I watch MTV?"
"Because you need the password."
"And what's the password?"
"See, it's parental controls. Which means only the adult in charge knows it, also known as yours truly."
"What's so bad about MTV of all things? Don't tell me you're suddenly into censorship."
"The last thing I need is you picking up on whatever new nasty language the teens today are using."
"And yet, you send me to high school."
"Where you have a group of mostly good friends. I know for a fact that Sheila would scrub out Bonnie's mouth if she dare uttered a curse."
Stefan pouts. Damon chuckles, shaking his head.
"Go get your shoes on, we gotta get going."
"Going? Where?"
"Did you forget, Bunny Boy? Today's the day we finally get you stuff for when you drop."
Stefan's mouth drops open. He's never loved clothes shopping. When turned, his father still selected all of his pieces. Over the years, Damon or Lexi usually drag him into a store when it's time for new clothes. On his own, he'll let things get a little worn before he relents. It's so boring. Locating his size, trying everything on, deciding exactly what he wants. The invention of the internet was a God send, he rarely had to go to the actual store.
"Don't even think about arguing," Damon says before he can say a word. "Go get your shoes on, I have the car running."
"Can't we go tomorrow?"
"Nope, because then you'd just find another excuse to not go. C'mon, Stefy, up and at 'em. The mall awaits."
"There's not even a mall in this town."
"I know, that's why we're headed to Lynchburg. Now, I believe I said no arguing. Let's go."
Stefan drags his feet as they make their way to the first store.
"This is ridiculous, I have clothes," he whines.
"You have clothes for your older space. Nothing for when you're younger."
"I don't need special stuff for that."
"You do. It's more comfortable for that side of you to have things that match his personality."
Damon leads him into the shop. It's split into two sections: adult and Little. Stefan lets out a dramatic sigh as he's brought to the right of the store. Damon instantly begins plucking things off the racks without taking a second look at the price tags. Stefan wiggles uncomfortably. They'll never hurt for money. When he goes shopping, he's spending his share of the family fortune. And still, he always feels awkward when Damon or Lexi buy him things. Like he's some little kid.
That's exactly the point.
When Damon first arrived, he had a few younger outfits he dressed Stefan in to help pull him into place. The younger brother hates to admit how well the older knows him.
"You can look around too, Stef," Damon says as he inspects a bright red long sleeve t-shirt that reads "Lil Heartbreaker".
Stefan shrugs. "There's nothing I want."
"I find that hard to believe." Damon drapes the shirt over his arm and continues looking. "You need jammies, I think there's some over there." He points a couple of racks away.
"You mean I can actually go five feet without you chasing after me?"
"If you keep it up, I'll carry you the rest of the day."
Stefan vamps over to the pajamas. There's quite a bit of footie selection. He's brought back to his first childhood. They weren't nearly as colorful or fun as these were. Each set has a different character. Stefan reaches out and feels a soft, fuzzy blue number with Cookie Monster on it. He's watched the show before and for some reason, it's one of the shows that bring him the most comfort. A part of him attributes it to the counting vampire.
He pulls it off the rack, followed by one with Thomas the Train and another that has puppies on it. As he's circling around, he finds two that bring a sparkle of mischief to his eye. He grabs the hangers and walks over to Damon. His brother looks up from the pants and spots the bright yellow and pink onesies. He shakes his head.
"You can get anything but those."
Stefan snickers. "What do you have against SpongeBob anyway?"
"It's a stupid show that is going to rot your brain. I read studies on it."
Stefan arches a brow. "You've read about child development?"
"Gotta keep up to take care of my kid." Damon lightly punches him on the chin. "You can get the other ones and anything else you want."
"Killjoy," Stefan teases.
"Uh huh. Make sure you're checking sizes."
"I am, I am."
Stefan walks back over and returns the offensive pajamas. He selects a few more footie pajamas before moving onto the flannel. The blocking is big, with wide buttons. There's no doubting he'll look about 5 in these. Still, he selects one in blue, another in red and finally, brown.
By the time he's made his way back to his brother, Damon has two full armloads of shirts, onesies and pants. Stefan forgot how fast he works. Now, the older Salvatore brother is onto underwear selection. Damon selects some briefs and Stefan sighs.
"Why do you insist I wear those?"
"Because you look adorable in them. Your Peter Rabbit ones are so precious."
"I'm not adorable," Stefan mumbles, slightly pouting.
Damon smiles, leaning over to pinch his cheek. "You're my sweet wittle bunny boy."
Stefan yanks away, bright red. "I hate when you do that!"
"Which is exactly why I'll continue to do so."
Stefan rolls his eyes, earning him a slight pop to his rear. He wiggles a bit. The store is pretty empty for a Monday afternoon. Even if it was crowded, no one would think twice of the big brother swatting his younger for disrespect.
After another two rounds of the store, both brothers are practically weighed down in clothes. Stefan looks forward to checking out, only to be lead to the fitting area.
"You can't possibly expect me to try on all of this."
"Oh, I do. There's no way I'm waiting in a long line because something doesn't fit."
Stefan starts to go into one of the changing rooms, only to have Damon hot on his tail. His brother sits there while he tries on each and every outfit, zipping up fronts and buttoning the crotch of onesies. He feels to make sure Stefan's privates have enough room to breathe in the pants. Stefan hasn't been this fussed over in a fitting area since he was last measured for a tux, at least 50 years ago.
At the end of it all, only four items don't fit and even then, Damon goes to get the proper sizes. Stefan refuses to look at the grand total as they check out, hopping from one foot to the next. Damon's hand rubs up and down his back. He asks for the clothes to be sent to the house, leaving a handsome tip to get a "yes".
"Why can't we just take them to the car?" Stefan asks as they walk out of the store.
"Because I parked a bit away and we're not going home quite yet."
Stefan's brows knit together in confusion. "Day, you already got me a ton of stuff. I doubt I'm going to drop enough to wear all of that."
"We'll see about that. But I'm not taking you to get more clothes. Your younger space doesn't just need briefs and footie pajamas."
Damon keeps a hand on his back as they walk a little further down. They stop in front of the toy store. Stefan looks away, anxiety building up in his stomach. He's walked past many of these since receiving his classification. Each and every time, he stares longingly into the window. While the games and toys change with each passing generation, the overall curiosity and wonder doesn't. Yet, he couldn't risk Damon somehow finding out. How would he explain a GI Joe or a Legos?
The only piece of childhood he's allowed himself over the years is the bunny that Damon made him. That he could easily explain away as childhood nostalgia. It was the first gift he ever received from his big brother, of course he won't part with it. He purchased a tablet a couple of years back, but it was at the point where everyone and their mother were buying them. That didn't raise suspicion either.
"I don't need toys," he mumbles.
"Stef." Stefan keeps his head to the ground. "Stef, look at me." He shakes his head.
Damon sighs and crouches in front of him. Using two fingers, he props up Stefan's chin and forces their eyes to connect.
"It's okay to want them."
"But I don't," Stefan whispers.
"I don't believe you."
"Day, you've spent enough money on me already. You don't need to waste anymore."
"It's not a waste. And you know not to worry about money. That's my job. Not that I even need to worry. We have plenty of it and that's not going to run out because I spoil you a little."
Stefan gnaws on his lip. "I don't drop enough to need toys."
"Well, you're not just going to watch your tablet when you do. Come on, you can pick out whatever you want."
Stefan lingers, the anxiety still gnawing away at him. Damon rises to his feet and takes his hand. The two walk in together and this time, Stefan makes no attempt to pull away. Damon grabs a cart and pushes it one-handed to the building area. There's collections of Legos, Duplos, blocks of various sizes, shapes and colors. Without a second thought, Damon picks up two Lego kits and shows them to Stefan. One is Rapunzel's tower and the other is a beach set.
"Do these look like fun?" Stefan hesitates. "Bunny, I can't know what you want if you don't tell me."
Stefan's thumb slowly enters his mouth. "I can have Rapunzel? Even though she's for girls?"
Damon nods. "You can have whatever you want. Those movies aren't just for little girls either. I know you like princesses because they're heroes."
"'Cept Sleeping Beauty." Stefan shudders. "Dragon is scary."
Damon chuckles. "That's right."
He throws both into the cart before grabbing a large container that advertises 790 pieces. After Stefan selects a couple more kits, they head down to the doll section. Damon lets him pick out not only the whole Marvel action figure set, but one that has every single Disney princess! It includes Cinderella, his absolute favorite.
Once they're done there, he picks out trains, cars and trucks, as well as enough tracks to put them all on. Damon makes sure to grab some sensory toys, like poppers to help him calm down. They get one of every book from the library section.
The cart is packed to the brim by the time we're done. This time, Stefan's anxiety is gone. He leans into his brother as he sucks his thumb. Once again, Damon has the packages sent to the house. Once he's paid, he lifts his baby brother into his arms and carries him towards the mall's exit. Stefan rests his head on his shoulder and lets out a tiny yawn.
"Sleepies in the car," he mumbles.
"Sounds like a good plan. Then when you get home, we can play with all your new toys until dinner."
"'Kay," Stefan's eyelids flicker close. "Thank you, DayDay. You're the bestest."
Damon smiles, slowly rubbing his back once more. "You make it very easy, kiddo."