I kinda ran out of steam near the end but heyho maybe it's just ambiguous (i just gave up-)

also not sure if this was something i came up with or someone else and their name just got thrown out by wattpad so if this is your idea, leave a comment so i can give proper credit :)

When Dick first came to Wayne Manor, he quickly found out that it was very different from his home at the circus. Most notably, he found out Bruce and Alfred weren't big on hugging. At the circus, it was normal to hug, throw yourself on the strong men and use them as a human climbing frame and some of the women who treated him as their nephew would kiss his head for good luck. They hugged after every show, they patted each other on the back when they finally did a stunt they were trying to nail. He couldn't remember a day where he wasn't shown some sort of physical affection. 

Dick was always a perceptive child so it didn't take too much for him to realize this. 

He'd gone to hug Bruce after a particularly harsh nightmare and noticed how he flinched before reciprocating the gesture. It wasn't a flinch of fear but a flinch of having no want to touch him. Although he got his hug, he understood that it was uncomfortable so he didn't initiate them again unless he really needed to. He didn't let himself need to often. 

Alfred had been nicer about it. He'd hugged Dick back without hesitation when the boy reached up to him with watery blue eyes. For a brief moment, the young acrobat had thought that he had at least one person to be there for him. One person to provide him that warmth he'd once felt from his parents. Then Alfred made a passing comment about being the butler and wrinkling his suit. That was all he needed to not try again.

Safe to say, Dick was used to the coldness that touch starvation brought. He'd all but forgotten what it was like to live with affectionate touches and he didn't realise how bad it had gotten before now.

He was out as Robin, fighting alongside Batman as usual, when Poison Ivy decided to make herself known. Fights with her had been a little awkward over the years since she didn't really know what to do with him. Even as a villain, she wasn't comfortable using her usual methods on a child and he was quite glad for that. She was a lot of things but she respected the boundaries around children even if she did try to murder him every other fight.

It's why he was so surprised when she directly hit him with one of her bombs that released unknown spores from some weird and wonderful plant she kept in her nursery. He coughed and spluttered, immediately terrified of the effects on him, but when the air had cleared he didn't notice anything wrong. He could breathe once the spores had dissipated, his skin wasn't breaking out with boils and he wasn't feeling any of the effects associated with Poison Ivy's usual work which he was silently thankful for. He felt normal albeit a little cold. 

Both Poison Ivy and Batman seemed surprised he was unaffected and still able to fight although he had no idea what was supposed to happen. Maybe he was just naturally tolerant to whatever strain of plant she'd used or with the number of chemicals that he'd been given by other criminals, he'd gotten to the point where he needed something stronger to get a reaction. Honestly, he didn't put much thought into it and concentrated on taking her down which was rather easy now she was caught off guard by his quick recovery. 

"Are you sure you're alright?" Batman asked once they got into the Batmobile. Robin groaned in exasperation. The last thing he wanted to do was to be grilled on his health right now. He knew how it would go. He'd say he was fine, Batman wouldn't take no for an answer and then spend an hour testing him like he was a lab rat only to find his blood sugars was a tiny bit lower than normal and it was a waste of time that he didn't have the patience for. 

He had a meeting with the team tonight and they were already getting annoyed with him since he missed the last two thanks to Gotham being crime central. Seriously, why did anyone live there anymore? Between the crime and the weather, it was a horrible place to live. Great coffee though.

"I'm fine B. Whatever she wanted to happen, didn't. You can tell by her face, she was expecting me to curl up and die or something but nothing happened. Even eco-terrorists mess up their plants." He folded his arms across his chest, rubbing his biceps in a half-hearted attempt to feel warm. It was like the temperature had just dropped suddenly but he guessed he was just cooling down from the blood-pumping fight. 

Batman remained unconvinced and reached across to the glove box, pulling out their travel test kit. It was just for emergencies to test for poisons they'd been hit with before so they could determine if there would already be an antidote or if they were dealing with something new. Robin called it the sudden death kit but Batman hated the name. 

"I still want to test it," he insisted. 

"Fine but make it quick. The team are waiting for me and M'gann is gonna leave me all the rejected cookies if I come late again." Whilst her baking had gotten significantly better, the rejected cookies were rejected for a reason. She once baked a batch of scones using laundry powder instead of baking soda because they looked the same. Canary almost had a heart attack when Wally reached for one.

Batman grunted in acknowledgement as he took off his protege's glove. Even with gloved hands, his touch was boiling hot and Robin snatched his hand away with a hiss before the needle had even pricked his fingertip. Despite how hot it had been, he wanted nothing more than for the touch to return. It was better than the cold that seized him. He cradled his wrist and looked at his mentor in surprise. 

"Your hand warmers are acting up B! How do you not feel that? I know you have callouses but they're out of control if you can't feel that."

"They're not on."

"Yes, they are! You just burned me." Batman frowned and took off his gloves. He carefully placed them to the side and held Robin's arm again only to receive the same reaction.

"You're freezing."

"You're burning." The older shook his head and rummaged around his kit for a thermometer, shoving it in Robin's mouth as soon as he got hold of it and ignoring any protests. He waited for it to beep then took it out and read it with a frown. 

"No, you're freezing," he said, showing the thermometer. 35 C. "You're nearly hypothermic."

"What? So she hit me with some freezing flowers?" Robin asked sarcastically before remembering this was Gotham and she could absolutely find a way to do that. 

"Grab the hand warmers and curl up to conserve heat."

"Fine but I want it noted that you're overreacting. I bet it's just a chill hitting me late. It's the season for colds."

But no matter what he did to try and keep warm, his body kept shaking. His teeth were chattering and he felt like he was frozen to his core. He was so cold it hurt to breathe in the warm air as though he was breathing in fire. He glanced at the rearview mirror and noticed that the inside of his lips were tinged blue. He tried to think of warm things in hopes of that somehow fixing things and although that didn't do much right away, it did make him linger on his interaction with Batman.

"B, put the cruise control on," he said. 

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Just do it. Please." 

Batman for all his faults knew when to listen to his protege in these types of matters. That didn't mean he always did what he was being told or agreed with what he was listening to but he did listen. Luckily, this was one of the times he did what he was requested. When he did, Robin took off his own gloves before holding his mentor's hand and marvelling at just how warm he was. At first, it felt far too hot but it only took a few moments to adjust and for the cold to retreat. He then let go and immediately felt the cold return so he snatched the hand back. 

"What is it?" 

Good question. Physical contact was definitely helping with the cold and Poison Ivy never attempted to use her usual femme fatale act on him. She knew how effective forcing people to be codependent (for lack of a better term that didn't make his face turn red) was in order for her to achieve her goals. She knew she couldn't give the same formula to Robin, he was just a kid, but it would make sense that she didn't want to let the method go.

"Oh God," he muttered. "She made a kid version."

"A kid version of what?"

"She made a- I don't know. A cuddle pollen?"

"Shit."

"My sentiment exactly."

Robin didn't usually feel so embarrassed when being carried about. He was small, he'd been particularly adorable as a kid and he knew more people who could bench a car with ease than he knew those who couldn't. The point is, he's used to being picked up and not feeling particularly conscious about it. This was humiliating though. Being carried around by his mentor like he was four because he couldn't stand to feel cold for more than a second felt much different to being carried around by Superman because he was just so small and might accidentally trip someone over. 

After a couple of tests, they determined that as long as he was in contact with someone it wouldn't be so bad. When he was out of contact, a chill would overcome him and he'd display symptoms of hypothermia and act like he was stuck in the Arctic in the suit he made when he was eight. 

"How long will it last?" he asked, already knowing the answer wasn't going to satisfy him. It definitely wouldn't run out before the meeting. 

"We'll have to let it run its course. I want you here in case any other symptoms occur." He groaned despite knowing Bruce would pull this. 

"I can't miss seeing the team, B. They're already antsy about me missing missions and Canary is on my ass about team bonding."

"So is this a meeting or is this a play date?"

"Turn down the sass okay, it's a meeting where we hang out and catch up. I've got to go to these things because unlike you, I want my teammates to be my friends," he responded. He would've folded his arms at this point but he had to keep in contact with Bruce. 

"But you need to remain in contact with me and I don't particularly want to spend my time listening to whatever high school drama they're going through."

"Maybe it doesn't have to specifically be you," Dick suggested. The idea of having to ask his friends to hold his hand or to keep close to him made him cringe but he had no doubt that they would gladly do it. It would just bruise his ego and tear away at his lone wolf's mysterious act. 

"I'll take you there and we'll test it but if it doesn't work, you're coming straight home."

"Deal." He couldn't decide if he wanted it to work or not. On the one hand, he could deal with this in private and on the other hand, he was going to be stuck with Mr Emotionally Unavailable, president of the No Hugging club.

Robin was late. Again. Whilst they understood that Gotham was a big city full of crime, it didn't feel fair that he was called in to deal with the emergencies. They guessed it was because Batman and him had been working together for so long that they'd become accustomed to each other being there during fights but none of their mentors ate into their personal time like Batman did. 

"You don't think he got hurt, do you?" M'gann asked after glancing at the clock for the third time.

"There would've been something on the news if he did," Artemis reassured her. "He's just late."

"Yeah, it's probably some paperwork that ran over. He does all his own reports and he's a perfectionist with it," Wally added.

Finally, the computer announced the arrival of Robin. It also announced the arrival of Batman. The group shared a confused glance before making their way to the Zetatubes. If Batman was showing up then maybe there was a mission for them and they wouldn't turn their noses up at some action even if it was their off day.

Batman had his hand on Robin's shoulder which was odd. They hardly ever touched each other unless they were sparring or something horrible had happened. Dread settled in their stomachs as they readied themselves for the horrific news.

"If any of you laugh, I'll throttle you," Robin stated and he meant it too. 

"Robin was hit with something tonight that causes him to become hypothermic when he isn't touching me. He would like to test if your touch provides the same effects and if it does, he is allowed to stay here for your meeting," Batman explained, matching the tone that if any of them laughed or dismissed his concern they'd regret it. Wally stepped forward and took his friend's hand without question. When he did, Batman let go. A tense few seconds passed by before Robin nodded.

"It can be anyone."

"Then I suppose I should leave you to it. If there are any other symptoms, contact me." He turned his attention to the team. "You're to maintain contact with him until the toxin wears off. Don't make me come back here because you've failed to do so." He walked back to the Zetatubes after that and left his protege.

"How the hell did you get hit with a hugging toxin?" Artemis asked.

"Actually, I'm calling it cuddle pollen and I guess Ivy is trying to be more PG since her usual stuff isn't exactly kid-friendly," he answered. "She threw this like spore bomb at me and nothing happened, or at least I didn't notice anything happening, and she seemed surprised. We got to the car and now it's colder. Then my temp dropped like I was hypothermic and I figured out that Batman holding my hand made it go up. Now I'm stuck like this for however long."

"You're acting like it's a death sentence. It's just holding hands," Wally commented.

"I don't do physical contact."

"That's a lie," Connor stated with complete seriousness. "Superman said you used him as a climbing frame."

"Yeah, you used to give hugs to everyone then one day you just stopped," the speedster added. 

"I grew out of it."

"Wait, how did you not notice something was happening? If Poison Ivy was surprised then surely she intended for the effects to be immediate. How could you not notice?" Kaldur asked, concern clear in his tone. It made sense. If he couldn't feel the immediate effects of something, there could be something wrong with how his body was responding to danger. He dismissed the idea that it was anything to worry over though. 

"I always run cold," he defended.

"I read somewhere that people who don't get a lot of physical touch feel cold most of the time. Maybe you're touch starved," M'gann suggested. That...made sense. However, that would mean admitting there was a problem with how his life was now.

"Nuh uh."

"Seriously?" Wally questioned, somewhat amused.

"Just shut up and keep holding my hand."