I'm sorry I just really love the idea of Batman (2022) having a Robin and being absolutely shit at trying to express emotions

As much as Bruce would like to say that he improved Dick's life, he had to admit that it was the other way around. Sure he fostered the kid which prevented him from staying in a cell until he eventually made his way to one of the many painfully neglectful fostering families that inhabited Gotham but in doing so Dick brought new light to his life. The bright and lively acrobat was like a small ray of sunshine he never asked for or originally wanted but now that he had it there was no letting go. Dick's babbling brought life to previously dead rooms and he saw the world through a lens that Bruce didn't think he ever had when he was that age. He somehow pushed Bruce to get out of his comfort zones in ways that weren't noticeable until there was time to reflect. He pushed him to try dodgy food from street vendors even though Alfred would have their heads if he found out, he pushed him to socialise with people to "practice friendlier interrogation" when in reality it was just getting him to talk with people his age after years of isolation and made situations that would usually send him running home that much easier by just being there. It was Dick's idea, in fact, to go to a gala that didn't have any need for Batman to gather information. If it was suggested by anyone like Alfred, he would've immediately said no, but this was Dick Grayson and you couldn't say no to his idea. Well, it was Dick's idea influenced by Alfred.

It was Alfred's idea. A promise of a cookie meant it got put through the impossible to say no to filter. 

Everyone was clearly surprised to find Bruce had actually turned up to the event. He couldn't blame them given he hadn't been to one since his last case was closed and before that he'd gone even longer. As surprised as they were to find the billionaire there, they were even more surprised that he'd brought along his ward. Although they would've preferred for the child to be a biological descendent, it was an heir to the Wayne fortune nonetheless which meant there was another chance to get their hands on that money. 

Prior to the event, Dick had received a rundown of what not to do at a gala. No running, no shouting, speak when spoken to.  

"What kind of party has rules?" the boy grumbled as his bowtie was straightened for the fifth time that night. They hadn't even left yet. "How am I supposed to start conversations if I have to wait to be spoken to?"

"Because you're a child," Bruce replied bluntly. He didn't know how he let himself be persuaded into going but if he was going then he needed the outing to uphold the Wayne image. One of good behaviour and humility. 

"Well that's not very nice," Dick argued. "Children have good ideas too. If I waited until you spoke to me then I'd hardly talk!"

"That's just how things are," he responded. 

"Why can't things change?"

"Because they don't." The younger seemed to pick up on his annoyance at having to answer the questions and went quiet with a slightly apprehensive look. He really needed to start watching his tone but he'd be lying if he said he wanted to answer another lot of questions. "Just stick by me tonight. It's only two hours." He glanced down to see a nod after failing to hear verbal confirmation that Dick understood but was met with the child staring at his feet awkwardly. "You can have a cupcake tomorrow." That was enough to make up for his previous lapse in tone as a grin greeted him.

"Okay! I promise I'll be on my best behaviour."

Bruce was kicking himself. He felt like an idiot. How could he have taken a child's promise of good behaviour to heart? Dick was usually a trustworthy kid but in the sense that you could leave him in a room alone and have nothing broken. Put that kid in a room and leave then he won't be in the same place you left him. Sometimes he wouldn't be in the room. So when Bruce felt a distinct lack of a hand gripping his trouser leg or the soft questioning of whether the treats set out for guests were also for children, he knew that Dick had run off. The problem was he didn't know how long he hadn't noticed Dick being there and he knew that evil hid in every crevice of Gotham. Even though he wasn't here for work that didn't mean that he was free from its perils. He frowned as he gently weened himself away from a conversation, one that he wasn't sure he initiated and felt slightly held captive by. He walked away quickly, looking around for any sign of the little acrobat. Dick was so tiny that he could slip through crowds effortlessly and get lost in a sea of people in seconds. It felt almost hopeless to find him without calling his name but yelling would cause a scene so he'd have to work with deductive reasoning. 

"Looking for something?" Oh no. She could not be here. He couldn't deal with her trying to snatch something whilst he was trying to find his lost child that was God knows where. Why did these venues have to be so big? There weren't enough guests in there to justify the size. 

"Selina," he greeted through gritted teeth, his eyes not meeting her although he knew she was standing beside him. "I'm busy."

"Evidently. You were backing away from that guy like he had some sort of disease." She paused for a moment and actually considered the possibility. "He doesn't, right?"

"He doesn't," he confirmed. "As I said, I'm busy." He pressed on with his search but she was intrigued and you know what they say about curious cats. They follow you without caring if you agreed to it or not. 

"I'm rather good at finding misplaced things."

"You're rather good at misplacing them," he corrected. He could feel her smiling at him.

"Look at you Mr Talkative. I don't think I've ever had such a back-and-forth with you. Must be that kid. Speaking of where is-" she cut herself off. "That's what you're looking for isn't it?"

"I told him to stay with me."

"Well you'll learn not to expect children to listen when you tell them to do things." He huffed and continued to search the crowds but with no luck. Alfred was going to kill him if he didn't find the boy before their two hours were up. Maybe he could buy some time by saying Dick had found some nice kids to play with or something. "Go check by the windows, there's a door to the garden there. He's probably bored out of his mind so he went for some fresh air. I'll check around in here for him."

"Why are you helping me?" Bruce questioned suspiciously. 

"Why not?" He wanted to say something more but nothing came to mind. To the garden, he went. 

And in the garden, he found the acrobat sitting on the floor with his head in his hands. If Bruce was more level-headed at that moment, he would've taken time to check his emotions before going up to him. Had he kept himself in check then he would've noticed the rise and fall in Dick's shoulders and the hiccups escaping him. He didn't do that though. Instead, he went in with all the worry turned frustration any parent has after their child goes missing from right under their nose. "What did I tell you about tonight?" he growled out, slipping into the voice he used to intimidate criminals accidentally. Dick jumped at the sound and whipped around to face him, scrambling to his feet and nearly tripping himself up in the process. He wiped at his face and went to say something but his mentor continued. "I said stay with me! That's all you had to do but you couldn't do that. If you were bored then you could have said so but running off is unacceptable. You were perfectly fine all evening why did you have to ruin it now?" Big watery blue eyes stared up at him and he took the moment to take a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, it's just so loud," Dick wept. Bruce shook his head dismissively. The gala wasn't that loud. In fact, this was one of the quietest ones he'd been to in a while given that the jazz was soft rather than blaring. This event was explicitly for mingling and gaining connections rather than a dancing occasion so conversations had the backing track of the singer. It wasn't blaring music with socialites yelling over it. He gave the boy a disapproving glare just to prove that those crocodile tears would do nothing to save him from punishment for going outside without permission. It was dangerous first and foremost and he nearly gave his mentor a heart attack. 

"You were in the circus before this," he pointed out. That place was loud. 

"The circus was different!" the boy protested, crying harder. So hard that his mentor worried that he was going to pop a blood vessel or something. He was almost impressed with how hard the kid was going with it. "It was just me n the music in the circus but now it's everyone all trying to talk n touch me n asking me things I don't know about. What's a tax bracket and which are we even in?" Dick sucked in a big breath before continuing. "I really didn't mean to make you angry or scare you or anything it was just so much!"

Oh. 

Oh, Bruce messed up. He didn't mean it was literally too loud. He meant that he was overwhelmed by all the noise and conversations. He just didn't have the vocabulary to say what he meant and Bruce had shouted at him for running off. This poor kid was already overwhelmed by the party, his sensitivity to the noise already high and Bruce had shouted at him. Telling him off for escaping it when he'd done the same in his youth only he had the foresight and vocabulary to do so without worrying anyone. He could give someone a heads-up. Not only was this Dick's first gala ever, but this was also his first time holding so many conversations with new people since his parents died. It'd be normal for it to feel overwhelming when he hadn't done it for months. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"No, this is my fault. I didn't understand what you meant. You still shouldn't have run away."

"I know, I'm so sorry I broke your rule," Dick cried. He was already upset when he left the party and now he'd been yelled at so of course, he was too worked up to understand his guardian was back peddling. He was sobbing loudly, his eyes scrunched up and his tiny fists trying to wipe away the tears. There was no talking to him if he was so upset because he wouldn't hear or understand a word of it. "I didn't mean to! Please don't be mad!"

"It's okay." He just continued to cry, his voice cracking as the wails abused his throat. Before he was worried about Alfred killing him for losing his ward but now he'd be killed for making his ward cry so hard he ruined his throat. He tried to think of a way to calm Dick down but he didn't have a clue. "Chum, it's okay." Chum had always held endearment and comfort to him but he may as well have said nothing because it did exactly that. Nothing.

"I see you found him," Selina asked, approaching the panicked pair. For the first time that evening, Bruce actually looked up to see her. She was wearing a sleek black dress and delicate silver jewellery which was likely snatched from the elites of Bludhaven given her new hunting grounds. She'd caught Dick's eye too when she knelt beside him, actually managing to silence him for a moment before he returned to crying. "Oh, buddy, what's with the tears?"

"Party was too loud n B shouted n my clothes are too tight n I'm in big trouble n my head hurts!" Dick whined.

"Sounds to me like someone is overstimulated," she commented softly. She scooped the little boy up and held him in her arms, gently rocking them back and forth. Dick hid his face in her neck and continued to cry but he wasn't wailing as loudly as he was before. He'd been mildly subdued by the affectionate gesture which made Bruce feel less on edge about the whole thing. He was always bad with kids crying yet he still felt some stirrings of jealousy when he saw how easy she'd settled him. 

"Overstimulated?" Bruce repeated.

"Yeah, overstimulated. You get it too. Y'know when everything is suddenly a lot and you become sort of hyperaware? That's why he's so upset," she explained. "Kids can't always process these big emotions so they cry and run away to feel better."

"So I just hug him when he's like that?" he inquired.

"Well, no. We'll have to get him out of here once he's calmed down and talk about what happened. He can't go running off every time he feels big emotions especially around some of those creeps inside." He tensed at the thought of having to have a discussion later as he knew for a fact he'd have to stumble through it all blindly and likely make something worse. "But hugging helps."

"We don't really hug," he admitted. Selina frowned at him then redirected her gaze to the boy in her arms and then back to him. 

"Time to change that then." He didn't catch onto what she meant until she was handing over the sniffling nine-year-old who latched onto him immediately. It took a minute to adjust his hold and another to get used to the fact a small child was now clinging onto him like the world would fall apart if he didn't. "Why are you holding him like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like he's a bomb or a big turkey you got from a butcher. Hold him flush to your body," she instructed. She forced the readjustment when he just stared at her and he had to admit it felt much more comfortable. Probably felt better for his ward too. "There we are. How are we feeling little man?" There was a noise that neither of them could decipher but they decided to be on the optimistic side. He wasn't full-on sobbing now so that has to be a good sign. "Let's stay out here. Give him a moment to adjust." She spied out a bench further down the garden and hooked an arm around Bruce's free one, gently guiding him towards it. 

"Why are you helping?" 

"Because you're clueless. It's like watching a cat with its head trapped in a cardboard box. I had to do something," she answered simply. He doubted her but didn't argue. "You should get a parenting book."

"I have Alfred."

"Alfred must be a hundred years old. Plus he's British. It's all about the stiff upper lip with them. Clearly, that sort of thing isn't this kid's thing." He hummed. "Think about it, hey? For now, why don't you fill me in on how you got a kid in the first place? I have a bet on him being illegitimate."