#runwayking

Okay, let’s be real for a second—Dick Grayson is ridiculously good-looking. Like, impossibly so. He’s got that whole "smiling golden boy with the perfect jawline and piercing blue eyes" vibe that makes everyone in Gotham swoon. It’s only natural that at some point, someone would want to put him in front of a camera. And so, at some point in his life, Dick Grayson probably worked as a model.

Now, this isn’t something Dick ever talks about. Ever. He doesn't bring it up around the family because, in his mind, it’s just something everyone does. You know, like a rite of passage. “Oh, I had a couple of modeling gigs back in the day,” he’d casually say, with a shrug, as if being a literal Vogue cover boy isn’t a big deal. It’s just Dick being Dick, the golden retriever of the Batfamily, casually brushing off the fact that he has probably appeared in ads for everything from high-end fashion to extremely unnecessary cologne brands.

But the thing is—he was good at it. He’s a performer by nature, and being in front of a camera? That’s like second nature to him. When you have the smile that could literally melt hearts and the charm to match, you don’t really need to do much extra work to make people fall in love with you. The camera loves him. So it’s absolutely not a stretch that he could have been plucked out of a crowd to be a model.

It was probably some agent who just saw him one day—walking around Gotham, being too handsome for his own good—and thought, "That’s the face we need." And Dick, ever the people-pleaser with a “sure, why not?” attitude, agreed. So he ended up doing a few runway shows, a couple of photoshoots, and maybe even starred in some ad campaigns. And in true Dick fashion, he never made a big deal about it. He just went on with his life, like, "Yeah, I used to be a model... so what?"

Then one day, Jason Todd, the brooding, angry, and absolutely not fashion-savvy younger brother, ends up borrowing a random Vogue magazine from his library buddy (don't ask why, because he definitely only started reading it for the articles about tactical gear and undercover missions, but hey, Mildred did recommend the fashion section). He’s flipping through the glossy pages, trying to figure out why in the world this magazine is so ridiculously expensive, when—wait a second—he sees a familiar face.

Jason (frozen, eyes wide): “No. No way. What the hell?”

There, in a full-page spread, was a picture of Dick Grayson—smiling effortlessly, his hair swept back, wearing a ridiculously expensive designer outfit, looking like he had just walked out of a dream. He’s striking a pose on some exotic beach, surrounded by high-end fashion, and Jason, well, Jason feels like the ground has just been ripped out from under him.

He immediately slams the magazine shut. His mind is racing. Is that… is that Dick?

Jason (absolutely stunned): “What the hell? No. NO. No way. This can’t be him. He—he’s a model??”

A few minutes later, he finds himself stomping straight into Dick’s room, magazine in hand, demanding answers. Dick looks up at him, perfectly calm, like nothing’s the slightest bit weird about this whole thing.

Jason (holding up the magazine, practically yelling): “You—YOU—were a model??!!”

Dick (casually leaning back in his chair): “Huh? Oh. Yeah. Why?”

Jason (frozen, staring at him like he’s just seen a ghost): “WHY didn’t you—WHAT?!”

Dick (shrugging, unfazed): “I dunno. It was just a thing I did. Everyone does something like that at some point, right? You’ve probably got some weird hobby you did before you joined the Batfamily.”

Jason (shaking the magazine like it’s some sort of revelation): “But you’re—you're in VOGUE, Dick! VOGUE! Do you know how big that is?!”

Dick (totally calm, casually picking up his phone like it's no big deal): “Yeah, I think I remember that shoot. I had a good time. Nice people. Nice clothes. What’s the big deal?”

Jason (staring at him like he’s lost his mind): “You were a model, and you never thought to mention it?”

Dick (nonchalant, as if talking about the weather): “I mean, it’s in the past. It’s not like I’m still doing it. I don’t see the point in bringing it up. It was a couple of photoshoots. No need to make a fuss over it.”

Jason (rubbing his forehead, utterly flabbergasted): “I’m just... I’m just so confused right now.”

The Aftermath

From that point on, Jason can never look at Dick the same way again. Every time Dick walks into the room, Jason just stares at him in disbelief, like he’s somehow seeing his older brother for the first time.

And every now and then, when Jason is feeling particularly moodily dramatic, he’ll occasionally toss out some random comment about Dick’s “modeling career” and how he was probably the “world’s most perfect runway model.” Dick will just shrug it off with a grin, totally unbothered, because in Dick’s mind, it was just another chapter in his life that doesn’t need any extra attention.

But for Jason? The idea that Dick was a model—in Vogue, no less—will haunt him for the rest of his life.

Moral of the Story:

Dick Grayson, the reluctant supermodel, is the absolute last person you’d expect to be in front of the camera. He’s too casual, too breezy about it. Meanwhile, Jason, the brooding younger brother who can barely keep up with Gotham's chaotic fashion scene, is now burdened with the knowledge that his older brother was once the epitome of high-end fashion, effortlessly gracing the pages of magazines.