The Heart Exchange (bnha agere)

Chapter 18: Name Tag

Cws: involuntary regression kinda
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   When the boys arrive at a little supermarket, they're pleased to find it relatively quiet. Yet, Katsuki still holds Kirishima's hand out of pure embarrassment that he'd actually decided this was a good idea. On their way here, he'd tried to change his mind, but Kirishima had reassured him that it'd be fine. And Katsuki just about trusted him enough to let him drag him to this store. The pair wandered in. Eijirou had brought a bag with him - he wanted to buy snacks. "The nursery stuff is at the back, I think." Kiri says, giving Bakugo's hand a slight squeeze, and grabbing a shopping basket. Nursery - the word made him feel funny. They wandered down the aisles till they found where all of the children and baby clutter was stored. Katsuki's eyes drifted over stuffed animals, and nightlights, and rattles, and he tried to focus on something else. He remembers what it was like the last time he regressed in public, and it didn't go well.

   Kirishima tore away from them, bounding over to a rack. He was glad to be engaging with a task; it helped him to stop worrying. And he was glad Katsuki had expressed an interest in the idea. Although, now he was standing here, staring into a rack of pacifiers, he bluntly realises another tidal wave of awkward cringing is inevitable. Because as good of a caregiver he thinks he is, Eijirou still struggles with the whole teenager-acting-like-a-child thing. Because it is odd, he's very aware of that. Yet he's trying to work through it, because it helps his boyfriend, and he can't take that away from them, especially not now. He knows too much. He plucks a blue dolphin themed pacifier from out of the selection. The moment the image of it in Bakugo's mouth crosses his mind, his face creases from the second hand embarrassment. Because of course. The blonde leans in beside him, eyes searching through the selection. He knows it's weird too. It seems they can overcome it together. "Any you like?" Eijirou asks.

   Katsuki bites his lip. There's a lot to choose from. The oldest he's ever been in littlespace is five, and it feels so starkly different from when he's two, and finding words difficult. His eyes land on a red one with a skull and crossbones on it. He picks it up like it might catch on fire at any second, and glances at Kirishima. They don't think they have ever felt this idiotic in their entire life. Kiri cracks a smile, and pops it into the basket. "Hurrah, see that wasn't so hard!" He states. Bakugo rubs the back of their neck; they hadn't bought it yet so the horror wasn't exactly over. "Right, snacks…" Eijirou keeps talking but Katsuki's back to eyeing the stuffed animals. They hardly notice Eijirou walking off down the aisle, and instead they sway over to the box of stuffed friends. They can see a lamb, and a cat, and a duck, and… They rub their thumb across their lip. A dragon. It's dark red, with huge, sparkly green eyes, and Katsuki has to have it.

   He helps the dragon out from underneath the duck, and holds it up in front of him. It's awesome. It's name tag says "Dash", but Bakugo decides "Sparky" is way cooler. He starts daydreaming about a dragon adventure, standing there in the middle of the aisle, holding this stuffed animal in his hands, and he doesn't snap out of it until somebody's hand clasps round his shoulder. "Hello? Dude, are you zoning out again?" Eijirou's standing next to them, bemused expression across his face. Bakugo's face gets hot, and his eyes drop to the floor.
   "No." He huffs. He's trying so hard not to let little Katsuki out, but thoughts of the pacifier, and the dragon are getting him muddled up. Kiri raises his eyebrows at the stuffed animal. "Oh, that's a sick little dragon, do you want it?" He asks. Bakugo shuffles about, scuffing their feet. Maybe retaining their age would be easier if they didn't have to multitask with Kirishima's conversation. They must have been taking quite the time to respond, because Eijirou slings his arm around their waist, and pulls them close. "Are you gonna slip? It's okay if you do, I'll keep you safe." He says.

   "M… Maybe." Bakugo replies, tapping Sparky on the nose. Eijirou ruffles his hair, making the boy grumble with protest.
   "Anything else you wanted? I completely forgot about toys and all that." To the left of the stuffed animals, is a box of sticker books, and next to that, sits a rack of sippy cups, bottles, children's plastic utensils, and the like. Eijirou notices Bakugo's gaze linger on a pirate themed sippy cup, and throws it into the basket; maybe "the more cringe-inducing the better", is what he should be thinking for all of this. Bakugo holds out the dragon, shaking it about.
   "He needs a friend!" His littlespace voice is creeping in, and it makes Kirishima smile. Now his little boy won't have to rely on his baby blanket for comfort when he has a stuffed animal.
   "Grab a friend for him then." Eijirou chuckles, placing the dragon into the basket. Bakugo rummages around in the box, standing on his tip toes so he can lean in further. For a moment, Eijirou thinks they might just tip over into the abyss of fuzzy and furry creatures, when they stand straight again, clutching a blue dragon with teal eyes.

   Bakugo grins, highly satisfied with their find. They knew there just had to be another dragon in there somewhere. They show it to Kirishima, waving it around proudly. The name tag of this dragon reads "Raindrop", but Katsuki once again disregards it, thrusting it in Eijirou's face. "Name them." He orders. Kirishima giggles, and thoughtfully strokes his nonexistent beard.
   "Hm, okay, how about… Captain." Katsuki nods, repeating the name to himself a few times. "Alright, put them in Daddy's basket then, kiddo." He says. Katsuki pats the dragon on the head, and sits it in the basket next to the other. "Thank you, hold my hand please. I don't want to lose you in here." Eijirou says, the little stepping over and holding onto his fingers. They still had snacks to get, but so far, this seemed like a success.

   After collecting the junk on his list - half of which were requests from Denki, Mina, and Sero - Eijirou leads Bakugo to the cashier to pay for everything. Bakugo holds the bag whilst Eijirou pays, and when they emerge outside, task complete, Kirishima gives them a kiss on the head, and a lollipop, since Bakugo's back to sucking his thumb. "Are you excited to play with your dragons?" Kiri asks, swinging their hand as they make their way back to the school. Katsuki nods enthusiastically.
   "The blue one's yours." They add, returning their strawberry flavoured lollipop to their mouth. Is it? Eijirou bought it for Katsuki. All he did was name it.
   "Well, you better look after them for me. I'm sure the two of them don't want to be separated." He purrs. He'll have to prep and clean the pacifier when he gets back, but he doesn't mind. Bakugo looks happy, so Eijirou's happy too.
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A/N: such a wholesome chapter, I quite liked writing this one