Ronnie_R prompted " I was curious to see what happens when Stefan regresses during school. The idea of Damon having to leave a hook up to run to pick him up makes me laugh" combined with "I was wondering if you could incorporate a scene of little Stefan trying to play with crow like one might play with a "regular" pet, and just absolutely pushing the poor bird to his limit."

There's a brief steamy scene at the beginning, just fair warning if that is not your thing.

Damon grunts as he's pushed onto the bed. The tall brunette before him smirks, shaking her head. Her waves whip around her head, some landing in front of her deep green eyes. Damon smirks as she starts unbuttoning her top. It's funny how just an hour ago, she was a stranger at The Grill. A tourist passing through Mystic Falls on the way to a medical conference in Richmond.

"I'm Tracy."

"Damon."

Now, he's in her hotel room.

Damon props himself up on his elbows and manages to pull off his t-shirt. In just her bra, she leans down and kisses his jaw. He pulls her down by her silver butterfly necklace. She wraps her arms around his neck, slipping her tongue in his mouth. He grabs her ass, squeezing it. She nibbles on his lip. He moves his hands up to her bra while she moves her arms to suck on his neck.

His phone vibrates in his pocket.

"Ignore it," she huskily whispers.

He nods, his fingers lingering on the cusp of the black lacy fabric around her breasts…

"I can't."

Tracy continues sucking. Damon pries her off and places her on the bed. She frowns, her tweezed brows narrowing.

"Got a girlfriend or something?"

Damon pulls his phone out and checks the caller ID.

"It's my brother's school."

That doesn't ease her confusion. Damon answers.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Salvatore, it's Kim, the school nurse."

"Is Stefan okay?"

He gnaws on his lip. Any injury will heal quickly, but did he get another batch of bad blood? He knew he shouldn't have trusted the deer was clear…

"He's fine, he just dropped. He's too young to remain in school."

Damon exhales. "Alright. I'll be right there. Is he scared right now?"

"Mrs. Forbes-Mikaelson had some toys for him. He'll be fine."

"Thank you."

Damon hangs up and grabs his discarded shirt from the nightstand. Tracy sits up on the bed, arms folded over her chest.

"Can't your parents go get him or something?"

"We're all each other has. Parents died a long time ago."

"What's going on?"

"He's a Little. His school says he dropped."

"They don't have a space to take care of him?"

"No. It's a regular high school."

There's been some debate at council meetings whether or not they should add such a thing. Damon always votes against it. He'd rather take care of his brother on his own. It's bad enough he has to share him with Lexi.

"Can't it wait?" Tracy runs her fingers against his shoulder blade. "We'll be quick."

"Stef comes first. Always."

Tracy rolls her eyes. Damon glares at her as he gets up and puts on his shoes, shoving his arms into his leather jacket.

"Forgive me if we don't exchange numbers."

Damon walks into the nurse's office. Stefan sits on the floor, clutching his bunny in one hand and doing a Disney princess puzzle with the other. His tongue pokes out of his mouth as he tries to find all the pieces for Cinderella. Damon smiles and crouches down in front of him.

"Hey, Bunny."

Stefan looks up and beams. His wide green eyes are filled with childish wonder.

"Day!"

Stefan leaps over the puzzle and nearly knocks his brother to the ground in a big hug. Damon catches himself and laughs, holding on tight to him.

"Whoa there, crazy."

Stefan isn't fazed. "I'm doing a puzzle."

"I see that." Damon kisses his cheek. "Can you clean it up so we can get out of here?"

Stefan nods. "Park?"

"It's raining." His brother pouts. "But, we can do puzzles or whatever you want inside."

"With Crow?"

"I think I saw him outside."

Stefan's smile returns. He quickly picks up the puzzle and puts it on the shelf. Without promoting, he turns to the school nurse.

"Thank you, Ms. Kim."

She smiles. "You're welcome, sweetheart. Have fun with your brother."

Damon pats her on the shoulder before grabbing Stefan's hand. He leads him out to the car and opens the door to the backseat. Damon straps him in nice and tight, adjusting Bunny under his arm.

The drive home is rather quick, with Damon just barely tolerating the Bon Jovi tape that plays. He thought that his brother wouldn't appreciate the artist in space, but no such luck. Stefan is still Stefan, even when Little. Which means his horrid taste in music. Though, he's also glad that Stefan doesn't listen to Cocomelon or whatever other children's music is popular. Damon would stake himself if he had to listen to Kidz Bop.

Once they're at the house, Stefan vamps for the living room. He immediately takes out his own puzzles, clearly his chosen activity for the day. Damon checks the clock. Not yet lunchtime, but his baby brother could use a snack of blood. Damon dips into the kitchen, calling out over his shoulder.

"Sippy or baba?"

"Sippy!" Stefan yells back. A pause. "Please."

"Good boy."

Damon's a little disappointed as he grabs the cup from the fridge. Feeding Stefan a bottle is one of his favorite things to do. Oh well. He'll get to do it at nap.

Upon entering the living room, Damon finds Stefan throwing a tiny rubber ball across the room. His puzzle is abandoned before him.

"Go get it," he tells Crow. The bird remains perched on his shoulder. "C'mon. Fetch."

Crow caws, unamused. Damon chuckles.

"What are you doing, Bunny?"

"Playing." He makes a face. "But Crow isn't."

"Has Crow ever played fetch?"

Stefan frowns, clearly trying to think. "Grover does."

Damon laughs again. One of his friends from the playgroup recently got a puppy.

"Crow isn't a golden retriever. They don't fetch."

"Oh." A beat passes. "Can we get a puppy? Please?"

"Absolutely not," Damon says.

"But why?" Stefan whines.

"One, no whining." Stefan pokes out his tongue. "Two, they are loud, slobbery and make messes. They're a lot of work."

"We used to have doggies."

"Those were Father's, and they weren't for play."

Giuseppe's hunting dogs were widely feared in the house. Even Lily despised them. 6 year old Stefan tried to play with them a few times. He got bit more than once. Ever the glutton for punishment, he tried time and time again, until Damon found a way to keep them separated.

Stefan lets out a long, dramatic sigh. "You hate doggies."

"I don't hate them. I've come across many I like. I'm just not a dog person. I prefer birds."

"Like Crow." Stefan smiles. "And Sami."

Damon frowns temporarily. "Yes, Sami too." He glances at Crow, who's gently pecking at Stefan's ear for bringing up the turkey. His brother giggles, not understanding. "The only pet we need is Crow. He's a big enough responsibility for you."

"I love Crow." Stefan kisses his head and Damon's smile returns. The younger brother looks at his older. "Thank you for sharing him with me. Sharing is nice."

Damon's eyes soften. He kneels in front of his brother and kisses his forehead.

"You're welcome."

Stefan reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small ziplock baggy of pistachios. Damon nearly forgot he kept those on his person, even at school. The older brother helps him open it. Stefan pours far too many in his hand and Damon quickly sweeps them away before the bird eats them. Crow omits an irritated caw. Stefan pokes his tongue out at Damon.

"Not nice."

"He doesn't need that many. His tummy will hurt."

Stefan pokes out his tongue once more before going back to tending to his bird. Damon knows he shouldn't roll his eyes too hard. His brother inherited his tendency to spoil the bird.

From Lexi, definitely Lexi. Damon doesn't spoil his little brother. He said no to the puppy after all. The mountains of toys paired with the newest phone, tablet and laptop don't count.