Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice nor claim to do so
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After five years of living with the man, Dick sometimes forgets how truly lucky he is to have Bruce.
It isn't that there are times when he stops being appreciative, because Dick will always—always—remember the man who had been there for him when no one else had.
It's just that sometimes, Dick forgets the little things. The little things that so often become so normal that eventually they're easy to take for granted.
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Things like Bruce helping with a school project.
The scene: One of the many living rooms in the manor, the floor is littered with paper, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, puffy balls and of course, glitter.
Beside Dick, paint containers are spread out before him. Bruce in all his artistic vision holds a paintbrush (he's the only person Dick has ever met who can make a paintbrush look intimidating)
"So I'm painting the words "Kinetic Motion" in blue, right?" Bruce asks.
12 year old Dick nods enthusiastically "Yes! Aaand…" There's a theatrical dramatic pause "I'LL SPRINKLE THE GLITTER!"
Bruce gives him an exasperated look before muttering something under his breath. Catching something about "glitter" and "death wish" Dick just grins as Bruce begins to paint.
"You have a very steady hand you know" Dick observes.
"Mhm" Bruce answers automatically, most of his attention focused on the poster board in front of him.
As he finishes up, Dick—as promised—happily sprinkles glitter with more joy than even a fascinated two year old would have.
Bruce is just glad Alfred put covered the entire wooden floor with layers upon layers of plastic.
After writing down the definition of Kinetic Energy in a sparkly green pen, Dick begins the fun of the party.
His assignment is to make a model that represents Kinetic Energy. So he decides it's a good excuse as any to make a roller coaster.
A roller coaster made out of an assortment of pipe cleaners, colorful popsicle sticks, fluffy puffy balls, and a whole lot of glue.
The rest of the night goes something like this:
"You just glued my fingers. YOU JUST GLUED MY FINGERS! I'M GONNA DIE, I'M GONNA DIE. WHAT IF THIS GLUE HAS LIKE, WEIRD CHEMICAL PROPERTIES AND I GET A WEIRD BACTERIA AND OH MY GOD, MY WHELMED FINGERS! THEY WERE TOO YOUNG TO BECOME OVERWHELMED! WHY DEAR FINGERS, —WHY?"
*Amused look from source of great panic* "You done?"
*Dick stares at panic source incredulously* "Am I done? AM I DONE! I WILL SHOW YOU DONE—"
Bruce cuts him off by calmly unsticking Dick's fingers.
*gape* "You couldn't have done that before I went ballistic?!"
*Stare*
000
"Pipe cleaners hate me. This is a fact." This is what Dick says as he stubbornly gives an innocent pipe cleaner the death glare.
"Really?" Bruce wryly asks.
"YES!" His charge exclaims. "I mean, is it my fault the stupid first hill has to be high so that the ball we send down can gain energy from it so it can continue the rest of the way? Is it my fault roller coasters are biased against poor 8th graders? IS IT MY FAULT KINETIC ENERGY EXISTS AND I HAVE TO DO A PROJECT FOR IT?!" By the end of his rant, Dick is standing up.
As Bruce sticks a puffy ball onto a pipe cleaner, he retorts, "Yes. You chose the model, didn't you?"
Dick opens his mouth to retort, then he closes it. "Whatever" he grumbles but sits back down and continues working in his roller coaster.
Bruce just smirks.
000
"Long was the haggard night. One blue eyed pre-teen (cough official teen cough) works hard to finish the project assigned by his torturer—teacher—that is due tomorrow. He is ready to drop dead from exhaustion and his stomach clenches in painful hunger but he valiantly continues his work. He will not back down, he will not give up, he—"
"—would not be here if he hadn't decided to leave everything to the last minute."
Dick glares at Bruce who shrugs innocently, "It's true"
"Don't intrude upon my enthralling narrations!" Dick whines.
Enthralling … ?
At Bruce's look, Dick pouts. "Don't Judge!" In a quieter voice he mumbles, "You're just jealous I can use bigger words than you"
*Another look* I heard that
Dick pouts again. "Whatever"
000
After what feels like eons, the adrenaline starts to fade. Dick knows his previous excitement and absolute optimism are on their deathbed.
And it's because this stupid roller-coaster-project-thing was so annoying! And frustrating. And mean. And a bully. And uncooperative. And generally insufferable.
He's done all the calculations and the model should be working—the ball they are rolling should be able to continue the entire way depending only on the initial push… But it isn't!
Every time he tries to make it work with the pipe cleaners, is only another time he fails and becomes even more frustrated.
The solution is simple—it has to be—But Dick's brain has become a slushy and it's so mushy that he can't see the answer.
He's ready to throw in the towel, crash on his bed, and forget about this dumb project.
But then his grade suffers. And so does Robin.
Even after knowing Dick left his school work to the last minute, Bruce hasn't said anything about benching Robin but if Dick doesn't pull this project off and proves he can handle both his duties, Dick knows he will say something then.
Suddenly, Bruce nudges him. Dick looks up to an unreadable face.
"Go to bed," Bruce tells him
Dick's eyes widen in panic. Because he knows what's going to happen next, Bruce is going to say that in the morning, they're going to "talk" about how Dick needs to be more responsible and how he needs to prioritize. Then he's grounding Robin.
Dick opens his mouth to say that No, he can finish his project and sure maybe he was a little irresponsible but he'd done the actual research beforehand and honestly hadn't thought making the roller coaster model would've taken so long. It wasn't like he'd decided to be sleep deprived and frustrated on purpose!
Before he can anything in though, Bruce repeats himself. "Go to bed, chum"
Then he says, "I'm going out for a couple of hours; When I get back, I'll wake you so you can finish up and actually comprehend what you're doing." Bruce stares at the roller coaster pointedly, "For now, just get some sleep."
And so Dick sleeps. 3 hours later, Bruce—as promised—wakes him up and helps Dick finish up the roller coaster.
Dick had been right before—the solution had been indeed very simple.
Then, Dick heads to school and turns his project in.
Bruce doesn't mention anything about it afterwards nor does he give any reason to imply Robin is grounded.
Dick makes an effort to be more responsible with his school work from then on though.
It isn't until two months later that he finds out that the day Bruce helped him on his project was also the day he'd been awake for more than 24 hours already.
He also finds out that despite having two important board meetings that morning, Bruce had still kept his promise about waking him up and helping Dick finish the project.
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Things like Bruce letting Dick rant about anything and everything.
Age: 10
Rant Topic: Spicy Foods
"It makes more sense! How come that food is so spicy, how come it makes your mouth feel like it's living fire, how come it makes your ears burn and feel hot n' cold, how come it's so hot, if it gonna be so good?! With the hint of lemon and the flavor it leaves in your mouth… Mmmm!" *Dick smiles to himself like a sap before snapping out of it* "... Exactly my point! Why does spicy food enjoy torturing a kid like me? I mean did I ever do anything against it? Who was the brilliant person who thought it would be an awesome idea to add hot spices to food anyway?!"
Bruce: "Do you need more water?"
000
Age: 11
Rant topic: The English Language
"In my humble opinion, English is a dumb language." *as he rakes his fingers down his face* "I mean why are there so many rules?! Silent E, if it's beside a verb you say it's name, i before e except after c, ph makes a fffff sound… So complicated! And half of them don't follow their own rules half the time! Toe-may-toe, Toe-ma-toe… Same thing!"
Bruce: *shrug* "That's why you learn other languages"
000
Age: 13
Rant Topic: Exams
"I'm done… Mark my words Bruce—are you marking them? I. Am. Done. DonedonedonedonedoneDONE! My brain cells feel non existent right now… I am stressed beyond relief and I'm still nowhere near done with all these exams! It is impossible to retain all this information! Who cares about random math dudes who found the formulas to life changing equations or the dates of every major event in history?! We aren't gonna need the info in real life so why bother? Why does a test have to define you as a person anyway?"
Bruce: *in his most insightful voice* "It doesn't"
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Things like sitting at the counter and simply eating along with Dick.
An apple, a pear, a banana, a kiwi, baby carrots, a ripe tomato… no matter the fruit, the vegetable—just knowing that he wasn't alone… Sometimes that was enough.
Some of his funniest memories had actually happened at the counter.
Some of his saddest memories had happened at the counter too.
Some of the moments that didn't stand out, that weren't spectacular, that were just there—they'd happened at the counter too.
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Things like playing a game of basketball with him.
Things like hiding junk food behind Alfred's back (but at the same time not really since Dick suspected no one—not even the World's Greatest Detective—could hide anything from Alfred).
Things like taking Dick out when it snowed and helping him build a snow fort.
Things like quizzing Dick for his next Mathlete Competition.
Things like hearing about how Dick's day went practically everyday and never complaining about it.
Things like everyday things.
Things that when Dick stands back and looks at his life—actually really looks at it—he realizes that he should not take for granted.
Things that make him understand how much luck he has in his life. Even after all the tragedy he has gone through, luck somehow found it's way to stay.
Luck or Hope.
Knowing that there are still people in this world who care for him, knowing that a man he has learned to love and look up to, cares for him so much that the care eventually feels normal…
Somehow, that seems like so much more than just luck.
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When Dick silently enters Bruce's study, the man looks up.
When Dick whispers, "Thank you," Bruce blinks in confusion.
When Dick says, "Thank you for everything," Bruce's eyes slowly comprehend the meaning behind the words. And he smiles.
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AN: Okay so I don't know where that came from. Once second. I was wanting to right a mini Drabble about Dick ranting about exams and the next, that happened. I think I liked it though and I hope whoever is reading this did too!
Second part of this message is for all YJ fandom people who already know me:
I'd like to say sorry for deleting all my stories without thinking about how you would feel as well as the precious faves and follows and reviews you all took your time to do. Even with all my legitimate excuses, it still doesn't make it right. So really, please, please believe me, I am sorry.
On a brighter note, the break I'd needed and the reason I left in the first place is over.
Thank you for reading! Tootles!
~AF