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None of the Wayne's truly liked going to Gala's.
They were loud, crowded. Fancy Gala's meant fancy (or restrictive, as Damian claimed) suits. Fake smiles, too many people touching, and the food way always a hit or miss.
Fortunately for them, Bruce really needed only one plus one when he got invited to an event.
Unfortunally for Bruce, he still had to go.
Luckily, however, this time his plus one was his girlfriend, Selina. They had been going steady, thankfully. A few hiccups here or there, but nothing big or terrible. And for once in a long while, the Dark Knight felt more peaceful than he had in a small while.
Still, Bruce zoned out as some rich prick rambled about . . . something- He wasn't actually paying attention. He knew he should, especially if it was Wayne Enterprise related
. . . But he wanted to go home.
He had been at this event for almost four hours! His usual nice suit no longer felt as nice anymore. He wanted something comfy. The food was eh, but he kinda wanted something else? Like apple slices!
. . . Crap, was he regressing? And at a Gala of all places?!
No, no, he was fine. Just peachy!
Sure he felt a bit fuzzy, and he'd love nothing more than to go home and watch Gray Ghost. Maybe he could tell Alfred about how yucky some of the food here was? . . . Uh, how unappetizing some of the food was.
Suddenly the man laughed, playfully hitting Bruce's shoulder, "Those were the days, huh? Well, I need to see some potential clients. I'll see you around, Bruce!"
Bruce gave a nod and a wave as the man walked off. He would have said bye back . . . But he wasn't even fully sure what they spoke about.
"He took forever," Selina scoffed, eyeing her boyfriend. ". . . You look out of it."
"Do I?" Bruce tried to cover it up with a smile. "Well it has been a long night-"
"Right, of course, long night," Selina rolled her eyes. "What's wrong?"
"I have no clue what you mean," Bruce tried to brush her off. "Did you see the dessert table? I think Jason would have enjoyed it . . . Don't give me that look."
Bruce didn't like the look Selina gave him, or how she crossed her arms. It made him feel small, tiny. Clearly she didn't believe him. And clearly, she was waiting for him to speak about what was wrong.
But Bruce was never a man to voice many things. So he also crossed his arms in reply, and the two glared at each other.
"Are you going to stay silent all night?" Selina sighed, putting a hand on her hip. "Or are you going to tell me what's going on? Because somethings clearly wrong, Darling."
. . . . Dirty cheap move, sweet nicknames.
". . . Wanna go home, Kitty," Bruce whispered, looking at the ground.
He didn't like calling Selina 'normal' caregiver nicknames when he was small, even if both her and Alfred insisted any nickname was normal. It felt . . . wrong, calling her 'Mama' or 'Mommy'. That title slipped away long ago. And while Selina might have adored the nicknames themselves, she didn't like how iffy Bruce got saying them.
Plus, Kitty was cuter anyways.
Selina's eyes widened, "Oh Baby . . ." She grabbed his hands, looking around. There were still many people, although none that came to bother them, yet.
Still, publicity was key.
And leaving an event before it ended wouldn't look the best . . .
"Do you think we can stay for another ten minutes?" Selina asked quietly, gently squeezing his hands. "Then we can scramble away from this silly party, okay?"
Bruce grimaced, he hated being small in public. He would always be afraid that someone, anyone, would pick up on the fact that he regressed.
He rarely ever regressed in public. Maybe once or twice, where he quickly ran home.
He was Batman, the Dark Knight himself. . . Who might have regressed the moment he walked into the Batcave after a bad night- But that only happened three times!
But right now, he was Brucie Wayne. And if the press found out that he used age regression?
. . . He didn't want to think of those headlines.
Still, he reluctantly nodded, ". . . O'kay."
Selina smiled, "Good boy. I know, I wanna go home too. But in about ten minutes we'll hit the four hour mark and then we can blow this joint."
But ten minutes seemed like so long! Bruce held back the want to stomp his foot and huff. They were in public after all, he couldn't be too pouty, yet.
Selina grabbed his arm, leading him towards the tables filled with food. Some of it was . . . there. Not healthy enough for Bruce's taste. Or perhaps Alfred just spoiled him with his cooking.
Still, there was the dessert table, which Selina made a b-line to.
"Look at all these sweets!" she said in a semi hushed tone. "Which ones should we try before we go? Hmm, such a tough decision, don't you think? I don't know which to choose!"
Selina was amazing at distraction tactics.
Bruce looked at all the tiny, bite sized cakes and finger foods. Normally he didn't tread near this kind of table. But tonight was an exception, he guessed.
He glanced around, just to make sure no one was watching or two close by, before smiling widely.
"Everything!" he whispered excitedly.
"Everything?" Selina gave a quiet laugh. "Someone's going to get a tummy ache if they eat all of that. How about we only choose a few?"
Bruce pouted, but looked again at all the yummy snacks. None of them compared to Alfie's snacks, but it all did look good. Better than the boring foods at the other tables.
He pointed to a mini cupcake, looking at Selina, almost for permission.
"Good pick, looks tasty," Selina smiled, handing Bruce the treat.
Bruce happily took the cupcake, immanently putting half in his mouth. Selina chuckled slightly at the scene. She wanted nothing more than to ruffle his hair, but they were still at the Gala, and Bruce needed to look presentable.
"Thank yew, Kitty," he managed through the mouthful.
Alfred would have a field day if he saw that, talking with his mouth full.
"You're very welcome darling," Selina smiled. She reached out and wiped the bit of frosting that got on his face. "Such a messy boy."
She side eyed as another man walked over, probably one of Bruce's many bushiness partners. He had a smile on his face . . . Selina didn't quite like it.
Bruce quickly shoved the reach of the mini cupcake in his mouth, quickly wiping his hands with a nearby napkin. He was really hoping no more social interactions tonight. He knew they should have left earlier!
"Bruce! There you are, I was hoping to catch you tonight!" the man laughed, holding out his hand for a handshake. "I assume you caught my email?"
Alfred had warned Bruce about several businessmen at the Gala tonight. If Bruce had anything to go by the silly little name tag on his suit, this was the one that was the most persistent. Always trying to get some kind of 'partnership' from Wayne Enterprises. Which really just mean he wanted to use Bruce for his money. He thought Tim had dealt with him, the partnership didn't look very promising.
Selina noticed as Bruce tensed, almost glaring at her. She gave a sheepish smile, putting a hand on his back, gently running her hand up and down. She hoped it would soothe him a bit . . . Which it did.
"Ah, yes of course," Bruce nodded, giving the man the best handshake he could muster up. "Caught me at a poor time, I was just about to head back to the manor."
"Oh?" the man raised an eyebrow. "I was hoping we could have a conversation actually-"
"Unfortunately, as my boyfriend said, he's had quite a long week, and he's just exhausted. We were just about to leave," Selina stepped in,
"But-!"
Selina's glare made him shut up,
"Well- That's a shame," the business man quickly chuckled, seeming now a bit nervous. "Are you sure your alright there, Mr. Wayne? I mean, you usually spend a bit more time partying. Barely seen you with any drinks tonight!"
Bruce gave an annoyed smile. He didn't want to deal with people right now.
He wanted to go home, curl up in a nice blanket, and maybe have Kitty play with his hair. He could practically feel himself slipping!
"Fine," he mustered out. "Just tired."
Before the man could speak again, Selina grabbed Bruce's arm, giving another smile, "Well, we have to get going now. Have a good day."
Selina didn't care to look at the businessman's face as she dragged Bruce away and out of the building. She didn't bother to stop for anyone that tried to grab their attention, b-lining to the car.
". . . That was rude," Bruce pouted as they stopped in front of it, Selina already grabbing his keys. "Leavin' like that . ."
Selina huffed, "That man was insufferable. And you were in distress! We need to get you home, poor thing."
Bruce pouted a bit more, he didn't like leaving things unfinished. Especially when it came to his business . . .
But Selina's concerned tone and the little petname at the end made him decide it was better to just not argue.
. . . Another dirty cheap trick.
Selina carefully helped Bruce get into the passenger side, buckling him in, ". . . How about we get some McDonalds for the ride home?"
Normally Bruce was so strict about his diet, which made sense really. When competing against men like Superman or the Flash, who basically had super genetics, diet was important to being Batman.
Even little Bruce was a bit strict about what he ate, although a little less so. He gravitated towards things like fruit, which there was nothing wrong about that, but wouldn't turn down Alfred's cookies . . . or ten.
Still, Selina was sure he could coax him.
Bruce let out a quite hum, thinking. McDonald's sounded great right now. He'd probably regret it later, but right now? That didn't matter one bit! Big Bruce's problem after all!
". . . Can we get a toy too?" he asked quietly as Selina got into the car.
Selina smiled, turning on the car and starting to drive, "What if we go to Bat Burger instead? You could get a Batmite! Some Robin nuggets, a toy, some fries. How does that sound?"
Bruce seemed excited by the idea. Normally, Bruce didn't care much about the whole Bat Burger thing. Sure it was . . . there.
But his kids liked it. And more importantly, little Bruce liked it.
He fiddled with the cuffs on his suit, ". . . Can we get some apple slices too? Please?"
"Of course, Handsome. We can get you some apple slices too, I bet they're very yummy, aren't they? Anything else you want?" Selina asked. "Chocolate milk? Apple juice?"
Bruce thought about it, shaking his head, "No thank you."
". . . I'll get you an apple juice," Selina promised, earning a small huff.
She pulled into the drive thru, coming to a stop. Luckily, there was almost no one in line, and they got their order done quickly, ordering something for herself too.
Selina handed the happy meal to Bruce, setting her own food on his lap, driving back to the manor.
. . . But he didn't open it. Just letting it sit on his lap.
"Something wrong, Kit?" Selina frowned.
". . . Alfie says it's not proper to eat on the car ride home," Bruce quietly insisted. "Wait till we get home. Eat at the table."
Selina had to suppress a small laugh at his insistence.
She gave a soft smile, "I doubt one time would be such a crime. Besides, Alfred isn't here right now. Kitty will take full responsibility if Alfred gets all huffy about it. So there's no need to worry, okay?"
Bruce shifted slightly in his seat, looking a bit upset. He didn't have many rules when he was small . . . He wasn't even sure if no eating in the car was a rule for when he was regressed. it was a rule when he was a kid, and none of his kids were encouraged to do so either.
Sure, Alfred never lectured him or got too upset with little Bruce. Mostly because Bruce couldn't handle certain tones when tiny. But he was rarely bad on purpose . . . Unless it was a bad regression night- But Alfred never got upset at those either! In fact he tried very hard to make sure he didn't snap at Bruce on those nights, no matter how stubborn or fussy the Dark Knight was.
"I won't tell," Selina promised. "No Alfie, or Clark, no anyone else, I promise. It'll be our little secret, okay?"
". . . Pinky promise?" he asked quietly.
Selina coulnd't help but smile more at Bruce's question. Pinky promise? he was too cute sometimes.
It was nice, seeing him act more like this. She hadn't been Bruce's caregiver for very long. Technically that role mostly applied to Alfred. But Bruce's regression . . . Well, she was glad he was more worried about pinky promises and being naughty than helping her baby stop spiraling.
It saddened her, really.
She stuck out her pinky, "Pinky promise. And once we get back, I'll help you put on your comfy clothes, and then we can have a special night just for you. I'm sure you'd love to watch some Gray Ghost, right Sweetheart."
Bruce perked up at the idea. He loved that show! Both little and big- He could talk about it for hours if he could.
He hesitated, but linked his pinky with Selina's. Selina was telling the truth, and she wasn't going to tell on him. He immanently opened his happy meal.
He didn't eat . . . a lot. Only a fry or two.
But he quickly grabbed his toy, smiling at it, "Look! 'S Batwoman."
"Cousin Kane?" Selina asked, receiving a happy nod. "You'll have to show her it later, I'm sure she'd love to see a picture of it."
Bruce smiled at the thought, showing off his new toy.
They quickly arrived back to the manor, and Selina insisted on helping Bruce unbuckle, much to his pout. He might have been small, but he could very easily get out himself!
. . . But this once, perhaps he could let himself be helped and babied. Just a bit.