What is this human emotion? (Bruce and Dick)

[justlikeacircus]

Dick strode into the Batcave with a determined look on his face, probably more focused than he'd been on anything in a while. Was there some terrible villain on the loose? World-threatening events afoot? Some other disaster looming over them all? 

Well, sort of.

He was here to talk about feelings.

He came through the cave first because he knew this was the most likely place he was going to find Bruce, but he was willing to scour the whole house if he had to - and to lay in wait if Bruce wasn't here, because this was the first time he'd seen the man since Bruce got back from his cruise. He'd had his talk with Clark, and he felt pretty good about that, but Bruce wasn't going to get off that easily.

It was probably just because all the irritation he felt at not being told had been displaced by Clark's easy friendship, and it had been left with nowhere to go and ended up directed at Bruce, but whatever had caused it he was on the warpath. There would probably even be hugs.

"Anybody home?" he called out.

Comments

[knightbynight]

Bruce had told Clark that he and Dick weren't speaking. Not that he'd actually know, since he hadn't made much of an attempt at contacting Dick; he hadn't made any contact at contacting his kid. He'd told the whole world, via graphic, public sex act. That counted as an alert and Dick knew where he was.

Also, he didn't want to talk about it. At all. With anyone - including Clark.

He should have expected Dick to just show up, but he was still somewhat surprised by Dick striding into the cave, and after a moment or three of silence he came out from a work station in the back, looked Dick dead in the eye and answered his question with: "No."

Because he wasn't standing right there or anything.

This was going to be fun.

[justlikeacircus]

"Wow. You should try that trick on the Joker sometime, take him totally by surprise," Dick deadpanned, shaking his head in amusement. He could never tell if Bruce was just a sarcastic bastard or he just had a really dry sense of humour and actually thought he was being funny. He stopped in front of Bruce, giving him a challenging look and folding his arms. He was in costume, because he'd come through the batcave entrance and that was just the rules, so his intimidating stance was at least vaguely effective, or rather would have been if it were anybody else he was facing down.

"So..." he started "How are you?" he'd give Bruce a chance to bring it up himself. He knew he wouldn't take it, but Dick couldn't help but at least try to give him the option to pretend to be a normal person with real emotions.

[knightbynight]

"If Joker ever walks into this cave and asks if anyone's home, I can promise you he will be surprised."

Both. He was a sarcastic bastard, but he had a dry sense of humor that he found funny and knew damned well no one else did. That didn't stop him from indulging it now and again, though in fairness it only took on the mean, sharp edge when he was feeling uncomfortable. Then it was, like everything else he had access to, weaponized.

Bruce wasn't fully in uniform. The gloves, cape and cowl were off. That just left him in black body armor, and... eyeliner (grease paint, whatever) that blacked his skin out from around the openings of the cowl when the lenses were transparent or not in use. He folded his arms over his chest, and basically stared Dick down.

"I'm fine, thank you. You?"

It was a game of emotional chicken. As far as Bruce was concerned anyway. ...as far as Bruce was concerned anything involving feelings was a game of emotional chicken.

[justlikeacircus]

"I don't doubt it," Dick agreed. He also wouldn't put it past the man, if he ever found out where the cave was. He could quite confidently say that Bruce had a contingency plan in place if that ever were to happen. Bruce had a contingency plan for everything - everything to do with fighting, anyway.

The problem with emotional chicken was that using it to avoid having to actually talk about uncomfortable things only worked if both people were playing, and Dick didn't say any point in playing because he knew Bruce would never, ever back down. He had to be the first to give in because otherwise nothing would ever get discussed, and Bruce would avoid it until the cows came home, so he didn't see the point in playing along and letting Bruce avoid it, not this time.

"I'm great. I had a really lovely dinner with Clark the other day, he wanted to make sure I was okay with the two of you, which was nice of him. Not his job, but nice of him."

[knightbynight]

Bruce flinched. In fairness, it wasn't much of a flinch - just something around or in his eyes, might even have passed for some sort of tic - but it was a flinch and it was about as much of a reaction as you could expect if someone had just shot him, but it was still a flinch.

It was right around the time Dick said 'two of you' and directly referenced some kind of relationship.

Which was exactly what he didn't reference at all.

"That's nice. Did he invite you to come play on the gym he built for you when you were twelve?"

He'd... eventually give up. Really. Probably? Maybe?

[justlikeacircus]

Wow. He didn't think he'd warrant a flinch. He actually felt sorry for Clark, how on earth did he cope in a relationship with Bruce? It was so typical of him to put on his big showy display of ... well, he wouldn't call it romance, but he made it perfectly obvious there was something going on between them, and then left Clark to deal with any of the fall out.

He sighed. It wasn't often that Dick lost patience with him, he was more than used to dealing with Bruce and forcing him into these kinds of situations, but every now and again he found them particularly trying. He was getting a hug out of this whether Bruce liked it or not, he needed one.

"Now that you mention it, I guess he has been a second dad to me for quite a while, I suppose I shouldn't really be surprised that you've finally made it official. But I am surprised, it would have been nice to get a little warning you were planning something, you know?"

[knightbynight]

Clark didn't have to deal with the fallout. Clark was perfectly welcome to do what Bruce was doing, pretend nothing had changed, avoid discussing it, and if pressed growl, glare, and snap.

...everyone should feel sorry for Clark. Everyone should also question his sanity in deciding to want to be in any kind of relationship with Bruce, and should possibly drag him off to have his head examined. At the very, very least they should be concerned about his extreme case of emotional masochism.

...Dick was going to deserve a hug for putting up with this shit.

"That isn't what I meant." Nope, dammit. "He has literally been building and rebuilding a playground in the fortress for years. I think you should ask to see it. You'd have fun with it." And then - Dammit: "I should have warned you. If I'd had warning myself, I would have. It wasn't planned." Even if there was media coverage.

Bruce handled the unexpected so well.

[justlikeacircus]

"...Really? Because that does actually sound like a lot of - damn it stop changing the subject." Dick caught himself at the last minute, though he mentally filed away the idea for later consideration, because he'd definitely have to ask Clark about that. He supposed he had to give Bruce a little credit, he at least admitted to his wrongdoing, and it wasn't exactly a surprise to Dick that he hadn't planned something like that, of course he hadn't, he wouldn't think about it long enough to plan it, it was exactly the kind of thing he would have done on impulse, because that's the only way he would ever have done it.

"...Okay." he conceded, forcing himself to back down. Getting angry wouldn't do him any good, not when he was actually thrilled that the two of them had finally worked this thing out, he didn't want Bruce to get the wrong idea "Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy for both of you. You both deserve to be happy."

[knightbynight]

Bruce really questioned why he let people who knew him well enough to effectively read his mind anywhere near him. Even if they could only retroactively do it, piecing together his motivations. Even if they only used it to stop him from being able to divert or deflect.

In short, Dammit, Dick.

"You would have fun with it. Ask him about it." Yes, he was pushing, but he wanted Dick to have fun, too, and it wasn't even all deflection, now. Though there was some deep unease around the statement that he deserved to be happy. That wasn't him, he didn't buy it and he mostly didn't believe that he was going to make Clark happy.

The only thinking about this he was likely to do was to think of a way to save Clark from him but he knew that wouldn't actually work so mostly he was just putting his head down and trying to ignore it when not actively engaged in it. Even then - Dammit. He was shit at this whole thing.

"Be happy for me. Worry about Clark." He managed a slight, very wry, smile. "This is a horrible idea."

[justlikeacircus]

Dick almost gasped and mocked him for that brief moment of self-aware humanity, but also he didn't want to discourage it, so he reigned in his urge to tease (with great effort) and gave the older man a smile that could only be described as fond.

"I am happy for you, very happy. He'll be good for you," on that front he was very certain, he'd said as much to Clark. Dick cared about Clark, of course he did, but as he'd acknowledged when he was talking to the other man, Bruce would always come first. "I'm happy for him too. He's thrilled, you know, he really cares about you. He understands you too, so it's going to be really hard for you to mess this up." It's also going to be really hard for him to do something stupid and try and manipulate Clark into breaking up with him, because Clark isn't going to put up with any of that nonsense - and neither is Dick.

[knightbynight]

Bruce tried, he really did. Setting aside his feelings of discomfort over that really sweet, blunt, talk wasn't the hard part or part where trying didn't lead to success. It was the finding a sincere response that he failed miserably at.

Clark understood him, Clark cared, Dick was happy for him - people needed to stop having emotions about him. Bruce didn't know what to do with them or how to respond to them. At all. He was really good at loving people, but showing them that? No. Being loved? Even worse.

He stared awkwardly at Dick for several moments, and then came out with: "Never question my ability to mess things up." His relationship with Dick wasn't always smooth sailing, either. "Is there a reason you're still masked?"

Luckily there were other things he could say, and talk about. ...Clark even. Jason. Time Travel.

[justlikeacircus]

"You're good, you're not that good," Dick told him with a grin "Clark isn't going to let you." Dick had invested his interest in this relationship, and he knew Clark had been waiting for it for a long time, between the two of them they'd keep Bruce right.

He'd honestly forgotten about the mask in his determination to have a heart to heart, so he reached up and removed it, rubbing a hand over his face before looking back at Bruce.

"You also don't have to mess this up, so don't go getting any ideas about not deserving it or whatever else you tell yourself to avoid being happy."

[knightbynight]

"Stop that," he snapped. It wasn't as snappish as it could have been or he was capable of, but... If Bruce were a cat instead of a bat, it would have been an ears flattened, tail lashing, swat in Dick's general direction. Some kind of attempt to get him to get him to back off a step or so.

The thing Dick was supposed to stop doing, of course, was being right and knowing how Bruce's mind worked.

He'd come back around to it, just as soon as he'd decompressed some.

"Did Clark tell you about Luthor? Or Harvy?"

[justlikeacircus]

It was like walking on eggshells sometimes, or genuinely like dealing with a touchy animal, you had to know when to stop pushing and when to let them sit back and lick their emotional wounds until you pushed again. This time, he allowed the change of subject - but he wasn't going to drop the subject until he knew they'd properly discussed it.

"Luthor? Harvey? No he didn't mention them, what happened?"

[knightbynight]

"Luthor unknowingly kidnapped a meta human from the future who was holding onto Silver Kryptonite." He had no issue with that since it was mostly harmless and he'd gotten to hit Lex (repeatedly. in the face). "Dent managed to get a red kryptonite collar around his throat." That one hadn't gone quite so well, but they'd dealt with it. For some value of dealt with it.

That Dick hadn't been called was - probably going to be a bigger problem there, once details came out, than splashing his ass across nationwide media.

This was so much more comfortable. For now.

[justlikeacircus]

Two villains, a time travelling meta-human and two different types of kryptonite. Well... that explained some things. And opened up a whole load of other questions.

"...And you didn't call for backup why exactly? I told Clark before you went to let me know if you needed me." He wondered if Bruce had talked him out of it, or if the two of them just got so caught up in the fight that they didn't stop to think there were a host of people ready and waiting to help them. With all the kryptonite around, he imagined it was the latter, but it was just Bruce getting caught up - Clark kind of had an excuse.

[knightbynight]

"Arthur was on call with the Silver K, and we didn't even need him. It was short, and fast, and the only impact it really had was to make Clark high. He talked about rainbows and then slept it off." That one was the easy part, the other one - Well, they weren't talking about his relationship with Clark now, so he'd deal with it. He couldn't dodge two conversations at once (yes he could, but not with Dick).

"There wasn't time in the encounter with Dent. It was over in a matter of minutes, and from the time Dent got a collar on him until it was off, Clark had his hands on me." That sounded way, way more... interesting than it was. "I couldn't have gotten a call off if my life depended on it, even to Alfred and Jason upstairs."

[justlikeacircus]

"...Rainbows?" He asked, curious despite himself. He wanted to still lecture Bruce (and really, who was the parent here?) but he couldn't help being interested. He'd love to see it in action, despite the fact it probably could potentially cause an issue in a battle situation, it sounded hilarious.

Clark had his hands... "Okay I don't need to know the details. There's a reason I've avoided most major media outlets since it happened." he held up his own hands as if he could ward off the thought. He was happy for them, but that didn't mean he wanted to think about that. He had to admit Bruce's excuses were... pretty good, there wasn't really much he could argue against.

[knightbynight]

"I don't know if he actually sees auras or if he was hallucinating them."

He frowned at Dick, head tilted and then caught on and looked horrified. "Not that kind of hands on. He threw me around for a while, then stabbed me. With a stalactite. In the shoulder."

This was not sexy and it was not calling Dick after and half dead that he expected trouble with. He was absolutely in no way, shape, or form ever discussing any kind of sex life with Dick. Ever. Ever ever ever. He wasn't that much older than Dick, but Dick was his kid.

[justlikeacircus]

"We should get more and try it. ... For science." You know, in case they needed to know exactly how it might affect him in a battle situation. Or... well he was sure he could come up with a decent enough excuse to convince him it was a good idea.

"...wait, wait, Clark tossed you about and stabbed you through the shoulder with a great big rock and you didn't think to call for back up at any point in proceedings? Let me guess, you got the collar off and you still had to fight Dent, and you did it with a god damn hole in your shoulder, didn't you?" he threw his hands up in disbelief. Although, at this point, he didn't know why he was surprised.

[knightbynight]

And some broken ribs, a broken jaw, a broken nose, and - "I had Clark sew up the hole in my shoulder before I fought Dent." Which was to say, no, Dick shouldn't be surprised and Bruce was a moron.

"...I saved the Silver Kryptonite. We can play with it later. Or I'll give some to you so you can." Just in case it impacted them in a battle situation. And also because it was funny and he was trying to buy his way out of shit.

Who was the parent, again?

Dick is best parent parenter. .... that's totally a word.

[justlikeacircus]

The look Dick gave him said exactly how much he believed Bruce's story, which was to say not at all. Oh, sure, he probably did get his shoulder sewn up, in sloppy battlefield stitches that he probably didn't get replaced until Alfie forced him, but he knew Bruce well enough to know that wasn't the whole story.

"Next time, call me." He demanded, even though he knew it would fall on deaf ears and they'd have this exact same conversation again, because that was just the way they worked, Bruce got into fights and somehow survived them and Dick either shoved his way in without asking, or yelled at him about them later.

"Don't think you can win me over with silver kryptonite, because you would only be half right to think that." he wagged his finger at Bruce.

[knightbynight]

"Can I combine the playground Clark built you and you never saw and time travel to finish winning you over?" Bruce asked, very dryly. He knew he wasn't going to call Dick in, because Gotham wasn't Dick's city anymore, and even if it was he preferred people he loved alive. He was also too damned stiff necked and stubborn to ask for help from anyone, at least for himself.

And he didn't feel good enough about his relationship with Dick, anyway. Didn't feel like he'd been good enough to ask him for anything, felt like he'd fucked up too much, just - a lot of things.

Oh lord Bruce you precious creature.

[justlikeacircus]

Dick sighed, but honestly he was already won over and he knew it. The very fact that Bruce had even remotely consented to talk about feelings (however vaguely they'd done so and however much it wasn't over), and that he'd managed to make a joke that actually sounded like a joke, and that he'd at least taken Clark with him in the first place rather than trying to deal with the whole thing himself, it added up to him being frustrated but forgiving.

"...Almost. I do need one more thing..." and without any more warning than that (because warning meant Bruce would just avoid it), Dick jerked forward and flung his arms around Bruce in a tight hug.

[knightbynight]

He hadn't... actually taken Clark with him to deal with Dent, but he wasn't going to clarify that point.

Bruce grunted in surprise and his immediate reaction was actually to go very, very still. The sort of still that preceded him exploding into motion and often violence. It only lasted for a beat or two, while his brain helpfully told him he was being hugged. Then he hugged Dick back. Awkwardly, but tightly for a moment or two.

He really, really did love Dick. Was horrible at it, but loved him.

"You're disgustingly well adjusted," he murmured, unspoken tag being 'for someone I had a part in raising', based on the dry humor in his voice.

But. He hugged Dick back? Hard.

[justlikeacircus]

Dick waited patiently through the tensing for Bruce to just give up and hug him back, a contented grin crossing his face when he finally did, however awkwardly.

"Well, obviously," Dick laughed "you're a good dad Bruce... and Alfie is a better mom."

He knew he shouldn't be, dead parents and a childhood crimefighting were not exactly normal, and he had every right to be pretty damn screwed up, but Bruce was actually a better dad than he thought he was, and all joking aside Dick wouldn't have asked for anyone else.

[knightbynight]

Bruce was almost as awkward in letting Dick go as in hugging him, but he did that, too. He snorted inelegantly at the remark about being a good dad, because no, no he was not, and moved on. "And yet Alfred was responsible for me for more of my life than you." Which wasn't that he disagreed with Dick, but Dick was... better adjusted to start with. Somehow. Better mental wiring, probably. God knew Dick had ever reason to be messed up. Maybe even more messed up than Bruce was.

...Maybe Bruce was a great warning.

[justlikeacircus]

"Well, clearly you just don't listen to him as much," Dick said smugly "That's why I always get more cookies than you."

He teased because he cared. Which is to say, he teased so that Bruce knew it was safe to retreat back into his grumpy little shell because things were back to normal now and there would be no more serious discussion of emotions to scare him.

[knightbynight]

"That may or may not be why you get more cookies, but it's probably why he drugs the ones he gives you less often."

HE was better now, thank you for the safe avenue of retreat. "It is probably why you're the favorite."

[justlikeacircus]

"Alfie has never given me drugged cookies," he replied, tone still smug. It probably wasn't entirely true, there were definitely anti-biotics, painkillers and other assorted medications he'd refused to take that had been smuggled into him via chocolate chips over the years.

"I'm everybody's favourite."

[knightbynight]

"If you believe that, I have a piece of property I'd like to sell you." Which wasn't really refuting Dick being everyone's favorite so much as the drugged cookies. "You've never been sedated via cookie."

Or tranquilizer dart, for that matter. Or whatever teh hell else Alfred did to get horse tranquilizers into Bruce.

[justlikeacircus]

"Exactly. Alfie loves me best so he's never found me so annoying he needed to sedate me." He teased. Technically it was because Dick actually stopped when he was injured. Most of the time. For a bit. More than Bruce did, anyway, and he actually let himself get some sleep occasionally.

That was another good thing about Clark, he was another person who would force Bruce to get more regular sleep. And if they weren't sleeping, Dick didn't want to know about it.

[knightbynight]

Honestly, he was raised by a man who knocked him out with horse tranquilizers. There was no wonder Bruce had some odd ways of showing love. (Except the chocolate chip cookies aspects of Alfred's affections, anyway).

"I should ask if he's had occasion to sedate Jason yet." He paused and rephrased. Jason was always an occasion. "I should ask if he's actually done it. I'm not sure I want to know."

[justlikeacircus]

"I bet he has. Jaybird's good at being annoying enough you want to sedate him," he grinned. He didn't really mean it, Dick was very fond of all his brothers, even when they drove him insane. Which, admittedly, was often. ...ok, so maybe he meant it a little bit, but that was just the perils of siblings really.

"I better head off," he said after a moment of silence "glad we had this talk, I will leave you in peace and force unwelcome emotions on you no longer. Until next time anyway."

[knightbynight]

Bruce didn't hug Dick again because he was Bruce and Dick was Dick and... he just didn't do hugs, easily or naturally, but he did give Dick a long look and a slight nod.

All he said before he turned away though, was 'Thank you'.

For him, that was pretty huge.

[justlikeacircus]

Dick put a hand over his heart and pretended to wipe a tear away from his eye, but teasing aside he was genuinely touched. Smiling more genuinely, he nodded slightly.

"You're welcome," he said quietly, before turning away and heading out.

(Fin XD)