Normal POV

"Grayson." Damian said, finding the boy sitting in front of the fire place silently. It would have been odd behavior for any other nine-year-old. But of course, Dick was far from normal.

Dick looked up at Damian, seeming smaller because he was sitting crisscrossed on the floor.

"Do you want to try and come clothes shopping with me? Alfred's getting grocery's and I thought you could come with me and get something you liked." It was an odd suggestion, but Dick needed to get better introduced to the thought of strangers. And that they weren't all out to hurt him or someone else.

If Dick did end up saying no (or in his case just walking away) he'd just have Alfred go to get more clothing. But Damian hoped Dick felt up to it.

Dick scrunched his face up a little bit (which was positively adorable) and pulled at the skin under his eye.

Damian almost overlooked that, having grown used to seeing the bright yellow.

"I had had an idea for that." Damian made a motion for Dick to follow him, which the boy did.

They walked to the nearest bathroom, where Damian had put a contacts case inside a medicine cabinet. He pulled them and opened one for Dick to see.

They were a bright but deep blue color. Something that'd cover the golden underneath.

"These are contacts." Damian said. "You put them in your eye. You'll still be able to se, they'll just cover up the yellow color. Think you can try putting them on?"

Dick grabbed the contacts case, looking at the contacts themselves. Then nodded back up at Damian.

We shall skip the process of learning to put in and take out contacts and skip right to our designated destination.

The two drove to the store Damian had picked out, a Target. They normally didn't have to many people inside, but enough for Dick to get a feel of what being in a store felt like.

If the parking lot was anything to go by, the Target was going to have a few more people than expected. Damian parked the car and looked back at Dick, who was still staring out the window.

"There are going to be people in there, Grayson. Do you think you can handle it, or would you rather go back to the manor?" Dick looked at Damian, studying him before looking to the front of the store. A mom and her kid were walking in, the doors opened and they could see random groups of people walk by.

Dick didn't say anything, but he undid his seatbelt and tugged at the door handle. Damian took that as a yes and unlocked the doors.

Dick stood close to Damian's side as they stepped through the automatic doors. Both scrunching up their noses' at the foul smell that hit them almost instantly.

"Sorry shoppers, but our popcorn machine in the concession area had a bit of a mishap." A man said over the PA. "That's the burning smell that's filling the store, so nothing to worry about. Thank you."

Dick shuffled closer to Damian, face scrunched up tighter than the older's. Damian felt bad for him, enhanced senses would not be fun.

Damian bent down a bit, checking one last time that the boy was alright. "We can still go home if you'd like."

Dick didn't respond for awhile. Instead scowling for a minute and squeezing his nose quickly, before his face went back to neutral and he lightly tugged Damian's hand forward.

They kept going, finding the kid's section without difficulty. It was calm and simple for the most part, they were in the t-shirts section when Dick stopped and pulled at his socks.

"Everything ok?" Dick shot his head up towards Damian, standing back up with a frown pulling at his lips. Damian was honestly a little surprised, Dick was normally a blank slate. Hardly ever showing any form of emotion. Seeing a scowl twice in only a few minutes was definitely odd. Dick bent down and pulled at his sock again, letting out a little frustrated noise before just leaving it be.

The noise in the section was steadily getting louder when a couple of families with younger children started to pass by. Damian watched Dick carefully as he looked through shirts, worried about any sort of reaction.

But Dick looked more pained than anything, a hand randomly coming up and pulling at his ear or his eyes squinting a bit.

A particularly rowdy group came up and Damian swore he saw Dick whimper.

He turned around towards the mother of the group, giving her a light glare to get her dang kids under control. When he turned back to Dick he saw him press his hands to his ears and all but crouch down to the ground.

Damian dropped down to the ground faster than he thought possible when Dick gracelessly fell to the ground, curling up into a ball. He dropped the clothes off to side, and sat down besides the boy. Dick clenched his teeth, somehow still completely silent as a few tears wet the creases of his eyes.

The fact that he was in such a vulnerable position in such a public area was more concerning. Something was very wrong (if the fetal position hadn't already given that away) and Damian didn't know what to do.

"Hey." Damian lightly grabbed onto Dick's wrists, the boy flinched and Damian let go. His eyes were squeezed tight, and ever muscle on his body looked tense. "Grayson, can you show me what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

Dick pressed his hands tighter over his ears, "L-Lou-"

"To loud?" Damian asked softly. Dick whimpered and nodded softly.

Sensory Overload, Damian wanted to smack himself in the head for not seeing it sooner. The strong smells, irritation from his clothes, loud and sudden noises. With enhanced senses that had to be to much to quickly.

"Ok, Gray- Dick." Damian whispered. "I'm going to pick you up and get you out of here, ok?" He didn't get a response but when he put a hand on Dick's back the boy flinched away again, curling further into himself.

"I'll only bring you to the car then set you down. Is that alright?" Dick only responded with a whimper but allowed himself to be picked up, wiggling and trying to get comfortable fruitlessly the entire walk out of the store.

They made it to the car and Damian made a move to set Dick down in the back seat.

That plan changed when Dick started to cling to the older when his back hit the seat.

"Dick we are in the car. No one else is here and it is quieter." Damian whispered, sliding into the back seat and shutting the door quietly. He adjusted himself so Dick could comfortably sit on his lap.

Slowly, Dick opened his eyes and took his hands off his ears. He leaned more into Damian's chest, breathing still a shaky.

Damian thought about putting a hand on Dick's back to help calm him down. But Dick barely wanted to be touched. He remembered when Jon had S.Os when he was younger. He used to get irritated by touch from anyone. (Not that Damian had tried to comfort him much) So he let Dick just sit there and collect himself.

Though the tension in the boy's body was still there and his breathing was a little iffy, Dick climbed off Damian's lap and sat down on the chair.

"Are you feeling better?" Damian asked, watching Dick fiddle with his hands and keep his eyes on the floor. The boy nodded and Damian gave him one more look before going to the front seat as soundlessly as possible.

He turned the car on, playing some quiet music that Dick didn't protest.

What if he can't go out in public? Damian thought. If he got a sensory overload from a Target how would he react in a mall? Or a theater, or play place, or school? Would he have to wear headphones to cancel out some of the sounds? Maybe earplugs would block some of it and his enhanced hearing would allow his hearing to just be average.

But what about smells and lights? What clothing would bother him?

There were to many questions that couldn't be answered without Dick's input. Which was frustrating since the boy had no idea how to express such a thing.

Damian looked in the rear view mirror, seeing Dick just staring at the seat in front of him. His breathing was steadier and he didn't look as anxious. He looked back to the road, hoping everything would pass by the time the got to the manor.

The drive was short. As soon as they were home Dick opened his door and walked to the manor door. As soon as that door was opened he made a beeline to his room. Not even stopping to acknowledge Alfred's Good Afternoon, Master Dick.

Damian stepped in, just catching Alfred's confused look.

"I take it Master Dick's first trip to the store didn't go well?"

Damian sighed, "He had a sensory overload from us going to Target. There were more yelling children that I expected and their concession place burnt some popcorn."

Damian made his way to the kitchen, Alfred in tow. "I guess I just pushed him to fast. Maybe we should have gone to a thrift store. There are never many people there. You should have seen him Alfred. He just sat down on the floor with his hands over his ears and started to cry."

"Out in the open like that?"

Damian nodded and ran a hand down his face. "Right in front of a clothing rack."

Alfred hummed, grabbing a mug already filled with black coffee. "Give him some time to think. He'll come down when he's ready." Damian accepted the drink with a nod. He was worried Dick wasn't as ok as he looked and was struggling to express it or ask for help. Obviously he wasn't ok, but to what degree was still unknown.

Damian was in the library when he heard the shuffling of feet. (He was reading about sensory overloads. And common triggers, ways to prevent them, ways to help when someone has a SO.)

He looked up to see Dick standing by the doorway, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt as he had earlier.

"Are you feeling better, Grayson?" Dick nodded and made his way over to Damian, climbing into his lap when Damian did nothing to stop him.

He was still tense, Damian noted, and looked tired. He set his book down and looked to the still burning fire. He gently set a hand in Dick's hair, mentally sighing when Dick did nothing to make him stop.

"My friend Jon used to have sensory overloads. He doesn't have them as often now, though. He's Superman's son, so he has super-hearing, and superhuman sight and sometimes they were to much and he had a sensory overload like you did."

Damian didn't fail to notice Dick lean into him. He made a mental note that (when allowed) Dick responded well to contact when he was stressed or anxious or tired.

He felt Dick start to relax more and more in the comfortable silence before he was leaning into Damian completely. The even rise and fall of his chest showing he was asleep.

Damian looked down at the boy, feeling a wave of protectiveness come over him. He wanted to keep Dick here, just kind of here in this moment. The quiet and the calm of it.

He didn't want to see the boy go through another sensory overload, and have to stress over how his senses played against him.

But he'd help Dick figure it out, maybe even ask Jon how he dealt with his S.Os.

But now was calm and peaceful. And Damian smiled, glad that Dick was comfortable enough with him to receive and come for comfort.

And I've done another Talon!Dick chapter.

(How many of these am I gonna do? . . . )

In all honestly I'm only in the mood to write when I don't wanna do something I'm supposed to do XD.

But I really need to read this book before school starts in two week (sigh) so let me get on that.

Don't forget to ask questions and leave suggestions!

HAVE A STAR STELLAR DAY WEEK MONTH AND YEAR!!