Some talon!Dick because that is my shit right now and I'm sorry if you don't like it

EDIT: TW BURNS

In the kitchen, Alfred was in charge of looking after the boys since Bruce was out at work and there was no school. They didn't mind spending time with the elderly butler and he didn't mind having them around as he baked. He assigned them tasks and they all got on as per usual. They thought that doing small domestic things helped ease Dick back into being a normal kid. Well, a more normal kid than he was before. His Talon training would always be ingrained in him and his features were permanently changed by them but he could reclaim the personality they'd tried so hard to take away from him. As they baked, Dick had climbed onto the corner next to the hob. His job was to call out when the chocolate had melted. This part when down without a hitch and Alfred took it away to pour the melted chocolate into some molds. This left Dick next to a very hot hob, unattended.

"Is something burning?" Jason asked as a whiff of burning hit his nose. Damian had looked at the cakes in the oven and shook his head. 

"Not that I can see," he stated. Then he was hit with the strong burnt smell too. He looked over to Tim and Alfred who smelt the pungent smell also. His eyes passed over Dick and saw that his hand was pressed on the hob. The red light to show the device was still hot was clearly displayed and he was sure that his hand was where the pan had just been. He ran over and pulled his hand off it, revealing a large burn across his hand. Dick didn't look fazed at the sight of his sizzling flesh. "Oh, that must've been what was burning," he said dismissively. He tried to take his hand from Damian's grip but the older tightened his hold, unwilling to let the boy escape before he could get treatment for the burn. 

"Drake, first aid kit," he ordered. The younger nodded and searched for the kit whilst Alfred walked over and inspected the burn. It didn't look serious enough to go to hospital but it should've been enough to make him cry out in pain or at least take his hand off of it. Any other child would've been screaming but Dick wasn't any other child. 

"Doesn't it hurt?" Alfred asked. It was almost scary to see the blank expression he saw. Dick shook his head, staring at the layers of skin that had been burnt off. 

"How can't you? It has to hurt," Damian insisted. The fact that he didn't remove his hand played on their minds. It was a simple reaction. When you feel pain, you try to stop the pain by doing whatever you can. That's how it worked. But that wasn't how Dick worked apparently. Did he like the pain? Was this something they should've looked out for? Is this a warning sign that he needed more therapy sessions? "Well, it doesn't."

Before they could open that can of worms, Tim returned with the burns kit and Alfred got to work patching the boy up. Still, he saw no twinge of pain in Dick's face, even when he sprayed the disinfecting spray on it. It was if he mentally checked out. But he couldn't have. Even the most trained fighters would've at least flinched at it. Dick sensed there was something wrong and raised a curious eyebrow at the butler. "You know you can cry around us, don't you Master Dick?" Alfred inquired. He received a nod from the boy and the curious look on his face strengthened. "And now would be an appropriate time to cry, so you can cry," he continued. Something behind Dick's eyes suggested that he knew he should be doing it but he just couldn't. Jason climbed up onto the counter and put his hand on his shoulder. 

"It's like you can't even feel it," he said. He knew what he was doing. He just needed to trigger something in the younger to tell them. Dick didn't answer and once Alfred was done, he ripped his hand away and got off the counter. Jason's suggestion had been a little too obvious and prompt. He didn't like that. "I'm going to my room. Is that alright?" After receiving a nod, he briskly walked out of the room.

"Something's wrong," Tim stated, rubbing his chin in thought. It was no surprise that what was going on was being revealed to them at this point. Despite trusting them, Dick was still finding it hard to open up. Old training they supposed. Emotions weren't something he was supposed to either acknowledge or show so this was all new. "No doubt but Grayson will only close up if we don't give him time," Damian reminded them. A collective sigh filled the room before they got back to baking.

A few hours later, Dick heard a knock on his door. He'd been staring at the bandages on his hand for the entire time. He tried to tell himself to do something else so he could shake the awful feeling it gave him but he just couldn't rip his eyes away. It took him a few moments to answer the door. He needed to wipe away the tears he didn't know had trickled down his face. Bruce gave him a soft smile which he knew meant he wanted something. "I heard you burnt your hand today," he stated. Dick hummed, showing his bandaged hand. Bruce knelt down and delicately took his hand. "Must've been a big burn."

"All of my palm," Dick explained.

"Does it hurt?" He received a shrug. That wasn't much of an answer. "Can I come in so we can have a chat?" The younger nodded and held the door open further to let him in, closing it when Bruce found a spot on his bed. He turned to the billionaire then climbed onto the bed to be beside him. "You can be honest with me, yes?" Dick nodded. It sounded like a loaded question but he decided to play along. They were kind to him, the least he could do was give some gesture that he was listening to them. "So, what's going on?"

"It's just a side effect," he replied cryptically. His eyes never once looked upon the billionaire. He didn't know why he couldn't look at the man. Emotions he supposed. He was still getting used to their effects. "What is?"

"Not feeling pain." He looked down at his hands with a frown. Bruce found that he kept doing that. He supposed they were his way of grounding himself or reminding him of something. He couldn't tell if it was a good thing that Dick kept doing. "You can't feel pain?"

"They took it away. Pain stops us. We should fight through the pain. They couldn't be sure that I would so they took it away."

His eyes glazed over and he pulled his legs up to his chest. Bruce gave him a sad smile and opened his arms. It took a little time but Dick eventually climbed onto his lap and accepted the hug. It was faster than the last time which was a bonus. Small things like that were a big win in his mind. "Humans feel pain. I just don't feel...human," Dick admitted softly.

"Of course you're human."

"But I can't feel pain," he insisted, pulling away to give Bruce a stern look. It was quite adorable but he didn't mean for it to be. It was supposed to be a defiant expression to prove his point. That would have to be yet another thing he'd have to work on whilst everyone else could do it easily. Bruce ran a thumb along his cheek to wipe away the tears that had escaped. "That's not all being human is."

"I look like this," Dick said, gesturing to the yellow marks and yellow eyes he'd gotten. He despised those features. It made it so obvious he wasn't right. "I'm not human anymore."

"Do you feel emotional sometimes?"

"Evidently," Dick responded as some more tears were let loose.

"And you have some sense of right and wrong?" There was a small nod. "Then you're still human. The Court may have taken something but they didn't take your humanity." He gently placed a kiss on the boy's forehead.

That's when he heard it. A small giggle escaped Dick's lips and made him grin. This was the first time he'd heard something so pure come from the boy. Everything else had just the hint that it wasn't quite what it used to be. Like it had been tainted by his experiences. But this was so cute and so pure that it genuinely caught the billionaire off guard. He wished he'd recorded it somehow. "See, there's still Dick Grayson in there," he stated, holding Dick a little closer. 

 "I suppose so. Just wish it was easier."

"Things won't be but we're right here to help."

Dick melted further into the hug before posing a question. "Do you think not feeling pain is permanent?" He felt the older shrug. "Could we try to see?" The request was almost like a beg for help. Bruce knew that he wanted so desperately to put everything behind him but that wasn't how things were going to work out. Things never worked out so nicely. "See if we can get you to feel pain again?" He nodded. "We can try. If it'll make you feel better. But just know, whether you can or can't, it doesn't matter." Bruce's fingers ran through the boy's black curls soothingly. "You are human and that's that." He felt Dick slump against him and looked down. The poor boy must've tired himself out after today as he was now quietly sleeping against Bruce's chest. He couldn't blame him. It must be overpowering sometimes to let his emotions take over considering he'd gone so long dismissing them and keeping them locked away.