The Trenches

my one thing regarding these characters is that just because a title is used, doesn't necessarily mean the title applies. like i said when talking about jason and dick, they don't really view bruce as a father figure, the same way they don't really view each other as proper childhood-sibling-brothers; even though they all regularly refer to each other as brother/bruce as their adoptive father. titles are just words to them; they've all had so many identities/secret aliases/rebirths/changes to their life that they'll say pretty much whatever the fuck pops into their heads regardless of if it matches the actual emotions and dynamics of the relationship they're supposed to be describing. life as a wayne is just too messy to even attempt to mentally organise into categoric labels. another thing i'll say is that i wouldn't pen bruce as a grandfather-type for either of the younger two, just because i feel like that's more deriving from the concept that because jason/dick have been parental, then bruce automatically couldn't have the same role. that's not what i think happens here, because i think especially for tim and damian it is perfectly plausible/normal to have multiple people in the same parental role for them. they can have multiple dads, or multiple moms, and they wouldn't blink an eye at that. 

i also think it's worth saying that just off the bat--i think it's far easier for damian and tim to subconsciously develop familial ties with people than it is for jason and dick, due to their upbringings and who they are as people. there's a reason i specifically tend to categorise jason and dick as the 'older ones' and damian and tim as the 'younger ones', and it's not just because jason and dick are the only legal adults, it's also just because dick and jason are the two more likely to be internally mature and independent in the present point in time. i think all four of the batboys grew up in fascinatingly different circumstances, with dick and jason's leading them to be more isolated and independent family-wise (dick was an only child who was then taken in as an only child by non-parental acting figures, and he had no siblings until he was 19 when jason finally came along, and jason like i said in his lore dump grew up completely self sufficient both physically and emotionally because he was smart enough to recognise that nobody around him would take care of him), and tim and damian ending up with the opposite. 

the cool thing about damian and tim is that they were both brought up at first being isolated physically rather than mentally. i think it was different to what jason and dick experienced when they were young because dick obviously grew up in a very social environment, first in a literal circus bursting with colour and culture and people, and then when he was taken in by bruce he threw himself into the hero world--ignoring his issues by being as social as he possibly could and bringing that colour into being a vigilante. he was an extrovert, brucie wayne's little miniature, the pioneer of younger hero-groups. he was a lot of things, but dick grayson was not isolated. jason, too, didn't really have to deal with that. growing up on the streets meant there was a slight sense of community there for jason, and i think i've established pretty well that jason is a hardcore introvert anyway. he prefers being alone, just existing in his own head. when he was taken in by bruce he specifically tried to cut down on social stuff as much as possible because he doesn't thrive on it, so he didn't really experience any kind of negative effect that would come from being physically isolated; he enjoyed that shit.

tim and damian however are completely different stories. both tim and damian are, in varying ways, extroverts. tim's probably more textbook extroverty than damian, but still. they thrive on being around people for different reasons. to focus on tim specifically for a minute, i personally view batcom!tim as a very creative person. i know a lot of people put him down as the analytical obsessive one, but i put those traits more to him being a dreamer than anything else. 

tim was isolated physically as a kid. he was alone in a big manor with nobody to be close to and parents that were barely ever home and who didn't pay him any attention when they were home. he was, obviously, a bit of a 'weird' kid in the sense that he didn't fit in anywhere and other kids didn't like him, so both outside and inside he really was on his own. because of this i think tim was forced to delve into his own head to keep himself happy. he didn't get the enrichment he needed from real life, so i think he dreamed. i think he wished, and he pretended, and he daydreamed to get through the day. it might sound sad, and it probably is sad to be fair, but i think he learned how to be a very creative and colourful person inside his own head because there was nobody around him to provide that colour in real life. he is also, obviously, a very intelligent child as well, which only boosted those other aspects of his personality because they allowed him to learn things and become the kind of person that could only boost those dreams. by the time he was ten he was an isolated child with his head constantly in the clouds who also happened to be the only civilian to figure out batman, robin, and nightwing's identities. i think he watched that bat-world for so long, viewing it as his ideal life, to the point where he enmeshed it in his head with what he actually knew was reality. he probably dreamed so much that he forgot a little bit how to exist in real life, and he had absolutely nobody around him to keep him tethered back to the physical world. the first time he did have that, i think was when jason died and tim realised bruce Needed a robin to function. and boy was that a harsh tether to reality, because bruce was not in the state of mind to be delicate. 

and you know, it would have been harsh, but i also think in a way it was probably necessary for tim to get that level of reality check? i think tim did jump into the robin role with a very starry-eyed vision. he had his dreams and his internalised world where everything was better for him, and although he was devastated that his hero robin was dead, he was still jumping at the idea that by him becoming robin, he could finally live out those dreams. but obviously, being a vigilante is not a dream, and it's not the vision he expected, and you also have to take into account that tim had been living his entire fucking life in his own head--he was probably very self destructive. when everything around you is half-fake and you exist only in your thoughts, then nothing real matters. taking care of yourself, eating, sleeping, getting through life practically; it all disappears. that was the state with which tim first became robin, and i guarantee you it terrified bruce. he just lost jason and right out of the gate the next robin he gets is a kid that doesn't seem all that bothered by being hurt because who cares about being hurt in a dream? so obviously bruce was, initially, very harsh on tim in order to bring him back down to earth. slightly mean? yes. did it do the job? also yes. 

so obviously he was brought back down to earth and given a lot more stability in life by being robin, both in the sense that it kinda killed that romanticised view of what being a bat would be as well as gave him multiple people that actually paid enough attention to him that he stopping needing to entertain himself in his own head as much. the way that i think this aspect of who tim is as a person is relevant to his view of being a part of the family is that it shows he was already pre-accepting of the idea of having these people as his family in the first place. his bio parents didn't fill any kind of parental role and he'd spent the better part of his childhood dreaming of being a part of the wayne family, so for him assigning dick and bruce to those roles was easy--they were pretty much already there, and although at the very beginning bruce was harsh on him, it was very soon after tim came along that both bruce and dick started truly working on themselves both separately and as a family unit, meaning that they both also actively accepted and tried to live up to the role of being tim's brother and father figures. i also think that it's quite important and fortunate that it was tim specifically that was the youngest during this period of time, because although bruce was trying he wasn't just. better overnight. and tim was, in a sense, a little bit delusional/looking through rose-tinted glasses regarding the concept of bruce as a father, so although he had 100% been disillusioned to who bruce was as a parent he was still capable of bouncing back and keeping faith in bruce; helped along, obviously, by the fact that dick was trying this new thing with kid-brother-number-two called 'encouraging forgiveness rather than hate towards your adoptive guardian'. so for tim it's pretty straight forward, dick is his brother (there was never any sense of dick being a father figure to tim; when tim came along dick wanted to make up for being a bad brother to jason, so he never tried to be anything more than a brother to tim and tim never looked to dick for that because he wanted batman) and bruce is his dad, even before he was officially adopted (which happened when he was around 13, a year or so after becoming robin). over the years he's definitely gotten more jaded and grown out of that head-in-the-clouds nature just a bit, as he grows used to being a wayne and everything that involves that, but that aspect of his personality effected him enough before he grew that he'll always subconsciously consider the waynes as his family, and because of that it's easier for him to form that type of bond with other people later on, like when jason and damian show up. it also i think is what made tim the one that pushed so hard to figure out that bruce was trapped in the time stream rather than dead--dick accepted it and started grieving, jason accepted it and had to run away to deal with whether he wanted to grieve or not, damian just... accepted it point blank. but tim didn't, because he is still at his core, partially, that dreaming kid constantly chasing and trying to live out that fantasy life he made for himself when he was little that he somehow managed to somewhat make a reality. bruce couldn't be dead, because tim decided that's his dad and he doesn't want his dad to be gone, so it's not true and he's gonna fix it. luckily, of course, he was right, and now in the present batcom era he can settle down somewhat with everything Better and probably as close to 'normal' that the waynes could ever get. 

now, damian is interesting for a multitude of reasons. like i said before, i see batcom!damian as  a version of extroverted, even if it probably doesn't come across as much as it might with tim. i think damian is a different type of extrovert than tim, in the sense that damian has a much more analytical mind in the way he thinks and interacts with people. he is artistic, like tim, and when he was younger he was obviously a very whimsical kid, liking magic and fantasy, but he's also at his core a very linguistically artistic person--good with words and speaking. this is definitely something he gets from jason, but he is also a wayne and an al ghul, and i think the calculative intelligence and the social dominance that he inherits from talia and bruce mix with that todd-linguistic nature in a way that makes him very good at interacting with people. he's an extrovert less because he genuinely loves and enjoys being surrounded by lots of people at all times, and more because he's very good at navigating interacting with people and figuring out how to benefit from other people's presences. in essence, being manipulative runs in his family for about six different reasons and damian's inherited all of them, even if he isn't selfish about it like he could be. 

obviously it goes without saying for anybody that knows a bit about the batcom universe that damian was isolated before jason came along. he was raised in a cell within an ancient cult to do nothing but train as an heir to the demons head. he literally was isolated in a cell, he had no choice but to be alone. but something that i think a lot of people overlook is that damian has something that none of the other batboys really experienced, that effects his ability to grapple the concept of family, and that's a present and large extended family. 

damian was being raised isolated and groomed to be the perfect soldier, but he was still aware that he was an al ghul, which meant he was obviously aware of who his family was. he knew he had an aunt, an uncle, a grandfather, cousins, and he knew they were those peoples titles. the al ghul family in the batcom universe is obviously a complicated thing--the al ghuls aren't good people and their traditions and ways of life obviously are not healthy or safe in any way, but they are still a family. damian has never disowned or despised who his family is because of what being an al ghul meant for him, instead i think he just learned to embrace the toxicity and abuse and stopped caring at a very young age (which honestly interestingly enough i think 100% contributed to jason's ability to accept his place in the batfamily later on, as well as repair his relationship with bruce. damian could do it with the al ghuls, so why couldn't jason do it with the waynes?). the point is that damian grew up with really weird familial dynamics all around him, with an extended family that he probably didn't see all that often that he still recognised to be his family. on top of that he already knew that his father was bruce wayne before jason even died, so the concept of him having family in gotham wasn't strange to him. it's also worthwhile to point out that he was well used to the concept of just. accepting people as family off the bat before he even went to gotham in the first place--keep in mind the person he's closest to in the world is jason todd, the fourteen year old that just kinda appeared when he was little and talia told him was his brother. gotham is not even close to the first time he's randomly acquired a sibling. 

obviously damian as a whole is slightly more complicated as a person because he is a lab child, in a sense. i think it adds to damian's nature of just accepting the things around him for what they are, because he doesn't really have a choice. everything about his very existence is inherently chaotic and disorganised, from his various extended family tree, to his age and dna being mutated and not following the natural laws of being a child, to the rapid changes in his life; such as going from a cell to being in jason's care, to jason giving him to bruce, to bruce going missing, to bruce coming back again, all on top of his constant juggling of now being both a vigilante and a bat as well as attempting to build a 'normal' civilian life. that sort of living is insane for a child to attempt to mentally organise and comprehend, and so damian just learned not to. it is pretty much impossible to catch him off guard at this point, which i think feeds into a lot of how he is as a person later on; very calm all the time, not reactive to things that the other batkids would be angry/embarrassed/excited about, a little bit OCD when it comes to his surroundings because if he can't figure out what the fuck he is on the inside you can sure bet your ass he's gonna keep control of what's on the outside, and easy to adapt and adjust to wild situations that cause a lot of distress for the others, such as big injuries or when bruce was thought to be dead. tim and jason ran off, dick was grieving his adoptive father, but damian just accepted it and moved on to being dick's robin. because, as he responds with everything else in his life, why not? might as well. 

this obviously effects the way he perceives his relationships with the others, in that it's very easy for him to be told that the waynes are his family and him to just shrug and say 'ok'. obviously one of the few things he's known from the beginning of his existence is that bruce wayne is his biological father anyway, so he knows bruce is his dad, and this is then strengthened by the fact that when jason comes along he is at first introduced as a brother, also a son of bruce.

i do think that quite a lot of how damian feels in reference to the family is at least partially influenced by jason, as is a lot of damian's life anyway. obviously jason is the person he has the strongest bond with out of everybody he knows for a multitude of reasons. jason is probably, ironically, the most stable aspect of damian's life so far. like i said, experiments/hand-wavy science stuff makes his ages while at the league a little up in the air, but i like to think he probably was around six years old when he and jason first met, upon which jason immediately took the kid under his wing. the fun thing about jason and damian at the league is that jason was still definitely a little bit crazy back then--mental and emotional issues topped off with being newly resurrected and imbued with lazarus energy as well as whatever the fuck the all blades does to him. damian was obviously smart enough to recognise the instability within jason, but he also got to watch jason tirelessly and consistently work through/around those little dips of crazy specifically so he could continue to be a guardian figure in damian's life, which would have been the first time that damian had witnessed a family member ever make damian a priority for damian's sake, which no doubt would have been refreshing. there's also the plain aspect that jason just straight up made damian's life a thousand times better--him existing got the rest of the al ghuls off damian's back about being a main heir; he got a proper bedroom, better food, protection. to damian the concept of comfort in general became associated with jason at a pretty young age, which i guess is both a blessing and a curse. the thing is that although he knew that he had a father, bruce wayne, he didn't exactly have a father figure that was actually present and interactive in his life while he was in the league. because of this i think that 100% jason was mentally shoved into that role for damian, even if it became another weird chaotic amalgamation inside his head. jason was both a brother, a guardian, and a dad to him; obviously this was only cemented by jason eventually figuring out how ra's experiment bullshit worked and making himself a biological paternal donor to damian's DNA, making him a technical second biological father. subconsciously, damian views jason as a triple-thread of every kind of family member he'd ever need--and on top of that jason became that thread even while mentally unstable, meaning that damian probably assigned him more trust that he would have originally under the logic that, well, jason didn't leave at his worst, so why would he leave at his best? 

this relationship with jason would of course effect damian's coming to gotham, in the sense that it just adds to damian's whole 'well who cares' attitude towards the family. he knows that he's a wayne, and so he accepts that bruce is his father and by extension dick and tim are his brothers, and it's easy for him to let them fall into that role because why not? might as well. but also because on top of that, regardless of what the waynes end up being to him, he still has jason in the background filling literally every role anyway, so if things go wrong then no harm done. --and to be clear, i do mean in the background. jason was coming and going during those first few years in gotham, he was busy. this didn't bother damian because i imagine jason was also flittering about a lot while at the league so he's kinda used to jason rushing in and out like a damn bumble-bee, and he probably knows ways to contact jason if he ever truly needs him for an emergency. again, damian is a very accepting and quick-to-adapt person, so being alone is something he got over being worried about years ago. 

obviously his relationship with bruce is... slightly weird. he is damian's dad, but he's not damian's only dad, and he did fuck off in the time stream for a year not too long after damian first appeared, which kinda put a dent in their initial relationship's first impression. funnily enough, although damian can be quite protective of jason, i think the strained nature of bruce's relationship with jason was probably what made damian settle into the idea of bruce being a present father figure in the first place. it just made sense to him, you know? that's what an older family member is to him based on what he's experienced--messy and complicated. if he'd shown up and bruce had been picture perfect suburban dad material i think it would have turned damian right off, because how the fuck could he be the picture perfect suburban son to match? but bruce is messy, and complicated, and a massive work in progress, which meant that damian felt he could fit right in and was able to work out a half-decent dynamic with the man. obviously damian is a lot more independent than he probably should be at his age, but i think that's needed for damian in order for him not to feel suffocated after having such a weird and, in a lot of ways, lax early childhood. bruce recognises that, but i also think he recognises that he isn't the only person in damian's life that looks out for him like a parent does--even if he doesn't know the biological extent just yet, and i think it's part of his attempt at healing his relationship with jason to trust that if jason lets damian have that independence, then bruce should probably be ok with damian having it too. 

for the matter of dick, i think again damian subconsciously takes note of jason's relationship with dick before forming his own. obviously dick was his legal guardian while bruce was missing, and i think damian trusted him to take that role because jason so obviously did (damian trusts that jason wouldn't have run off without him to do his little mental-breakdown grief-stricken league visit if he didn't think dick was capable of keeping damian safe), but i also think that he took note of jason and dick's relationship before jason left town for a while, and he would have picked up on the fact that although they were not in any way hostile towards each other, things were... awkward between them. stilted. unknown. cautious. and because of that damian would have held back from fully accepting dick as a parent. i think it really was more of a 'distant uncle taking guardianship' kinda shtick for damian, and they probably ended up being a lot warmer towards each other as brothers when jason came back and damian saw them start to get along again. 

funniest thing about the family is probably that the strongest brotherly bond in my humble opinion, is tim and damian's relationship with ech other. both of them had wildly different childhoods with slightly similar psychological effects in specific aspects, and funnily enough they merge together like fucking magnets because of it. both of them find it easy to just 'accept' people as family, they're young enough that they're around similar stages of mental development, they're both creative and artistic with wildly unrealistic views of the concept of violence/fighting (damian bcs he grew up in the league and tim because he still sometimes forgets he isn't dreaming), and both of them fully accept and embrace bruce as their father. it also goes without saying that they're the only two living in the manor together and they go through quite significant development while around each other--damian slowly learning to trust that being in gotham is stable and figuring out how to be a civilian, and tim finally starting to slow down in his role within the wayne family and grow out of his various untethered-from-life coping mechanisms because he now has a pretty full life to keep him occupied and he's settled into his role as red robin for long enough that it doesn't feel like a dream anymore. in a way, i think damian and tim both grew up being more abstract concepts of a child, rather than being actual human kids; and it's only now together in the present batcom era that they're starting to smooth out into who they really are as singular independent people, which gives them a very childhood-sibling-specific essence to their relationship that the others obviously missed out on getting. 

And his routine was nonnegotiable. He woke up at a certain time, ate at certain times, reading time, nap time (though he couldn't sleep, he'd just lay there because that's what he should be doing). If his schedule was broken he'd have a tantrum. I don't think that Bruce was a kicking and screaming kid. I think he would sit there in a silent protest as tears ran down his face. He wouldn't eat, he wouldn't sleep, nothing. Not until whatever was wrong was remedied. Alfred, despite the challenges, adjusted to this very quickly. Of course, Bruce always had ocd, it didn't show up over night, it just got more intense with a very traumatic experience. What was once chalked up to being a weird, picky, little boy, was now acknowledged as something that needed to be tended to.

Getting Bruce to say exactly what was offending him was a challenge, but it was important for children to learn communication skills. So Alfred would sit with Bruce for however long it took, comforting and asking specific questions that would get him answers.

"It's bedtime, Master Bruce. Don't you want to lie in your bed?" Alfred questioned. Young Bruce only shook his head and sniffled as tears brimmed his eyes. Deeply concerning that he did not wish to follow his schedule. "Tell me what you require sir, I shall fetch it for you." Bruce opened his mouth to speak before immediately closing it. He was going to cry. He did not want to cry.

Alfred looked around the young boys room. It was clean and organized so that wouldn't be the problem. The bed was made, only one corner untucked that showed where he was meant to lie. His designated sleep pal (stuffed animal) for the night was placed exactly where he belonged on the bed.

"Is the issue in here, Sir?" Alfred asked thoughtfully. Bruce shook his head. Progress. Now he just had to narrow down every other room Bruce had been in. "Could you show me what's the matter?"

Bruce thought for a moment before taking a deep breath, grabbing Alfred's hand, and leading him to the library that was completely dark and packed up. They did story time already? Did he not say "The End?" Maybe he mistakenly put the book in the wrong spot. No no. None of that. He looked at Bruce who was glaring at the fireplace. Of course. He didn't light the fire. He didn't know Bruce needed the fire because he never forgot to light it.

Alfred got to work, sparking it to life. "Should I read again, Young Master?" Alfred questioned as Bruce sat on the carpet like he always did during story time.

"No." Bruce finally spoke. "We did that already. We can't do story time twice."

"Ah of course. My mistake. I apologize for the upset."

"S'okay."

Bruce sat there for thirty minutes staring at the fire, around the amount of time it took for Alfred to read one of the designated story time books. Only then did he raise up, stretching his hands for Alfred to carry him to bed.

Dick

Dick was very similar to Bruce in the sense that food was a big thing for him. Texture made him crazy if it wasn't right. Foods that were hard were out of the question. He could never eat a fresh platter of veggies. No carrot or celery sticks, not even an unripened tomato. I also feel like he just fucking hated bitter foods. If it wasn't sweet or buttery he would wage war. Only certain veggies were acceptable and they had to be cooked in very specific ways. No cinnamon in his coco or tea. God forbid he was served anything that even resembled a leaf. You couldn't hide it from him either. He always knew. Alfred managed relatively well seeing as a picky child was far from foreign to him.

Dick was, and still is, a screamer and a crier. Textbook tantrums that make people who have never had children think Bruce is a bad parent, when in reality, his child just doesn't know how to regulate his emotions when mildly inconvenienced. As children are.

Bruce on his knees in the middle of the park, doing his best to help a screaming Dick calm down. "What happened, Bubba? Is it too hot? Are you hurt?" He rubbed his shoulders, eyes scanning for injury or sunburn. Dick attempts to choke out the problem, but he's too upset to get it out.

Alfred stood back as he attempted to assess Dick's body language when he noticed the prying eyes of an older man who sat playing chess by himself.

"Excuse me, sir." He called him out. "It would do you good to pay attention to your game. It appears you're losing to the air." The man looked away, shocked and embarrassed.

The whole interaction made Dick laugh, calming him down a little. He sat on his butt, pouting and huffing. "My feet. It hurts. My feet." He stared at his shoes that he could not possibly untie with his small fingers.

Bruce quickly untied the shoes, revealing a small rock in the left one. "Oh, my baby. Was this it?" He held up the small pebble. "I'm so sorry this happened. Are you okay?" Dick nodded, but still reached out to be carried. Bruce happily complied.

Dick also hates when his feet touch the floor. No matter how polished Wayne Manor was, Dick swore up and down that he could feel the dirt accumulating on his feet. He had to have socks. Not slippers. Socks.

Dick was brutally honest. But that wasn't autism or anything else. He just did not like anyone. His kindness was exclusive to Bruce, Alfred, and Clark. Though his clinginess could probably be attributed to the trauma of losing his parents at such a young age. Alfred knew too well that such things required extra love. Bruce didn't question it either. If Dick demanded that he skipped school in favor of accompanying him to work, then it would be so. As long as he caught up with the work sheet Alfred picked up for him.

Jason

Jason was when Alfred first realized that there were levels to this. Jason didn't cry, or pout, or refuse to function if things didn't work the way he wanted them to. No. Jason had to grow up literally fighting for his life. He could not, and would not complain when his clothes had tags that made him want to curl into a ball and cry. And thus Alfred discovers the nonverbal child. Jason was so happy to be at Wayne Manor. So openly grateful to have a roof over his head and people who cared for and looked after him. It was rare to ever see the boy not laughing and giggling about this or that. So it immediately struck Alfred as odd when he'd suddenly go eerily quiet. After paying a bit more attention for the next few weeks, and a little bit of research, Alfred understood what was going on. Bruce really knew how to find Kin most similar to him.

Like I said, Jason hated tags. Heavy clothes were also a big no. Or anything that would cling to his skin in the weirdest ways. This applied to blankets and sheets too. The only bed in the entire manor without silk sheets. Alfred learned that by finding him on the floor every morning for a week. At first he assumed it was a fish out of water thing, but a sleepy Jason once confessed that the sheets made him uncomfy. This was remedied immediately. Alfred tried a few different materials to make sure they found the perfect one. Cotton, tried and true, was ultimately the winner.

I wanna say he had a routine thing too, but not nearly as strict as Bruce's was. He mostly just needed to be read to before bed. Alfred did it for him one night, and little Jason who had never experienced such comfort immediately latched on to it. Social gatherings were also a no no. He'd lived his life mostly alone, and suddenly being surrounded by people who would not stop talking? Nope! Bruce noticed one night as little Jason clung to him with that eery silence Alfred had mentioned, and immediately excused them from them from the party. He held Jason the entire way home, apologizing for making him so anxious. Jason would've argued and told Bruce to go back and enjoy himself were he not too upset to speak.

"I'm sorry I ruined your party." Jason mumbled quietly as Bruce tucked him in for bed.

"You didn't ruin anything, Jay." Bruce reassured, making sure the blankets weren't too stuffy.

"But you had to leave because of me. I'll do better next time." Jason huffed, determined to be better.

"Jason," Bruce started gravely serious. "You never have to go to a party again if you don't want to. You never have to do anything you don't want to do. I'd rather you make me leave in the middle of socializing than make you endure something completely unnecessary."

"But-"

"No buts. We're partners, Bubba. It's essential that we communicate, yes?" Bruce phrased it in a way that would hopefully appease Jason's Need to be responsible.

It seemed to work as Jason nodded his head with resolve. "Okay!"

Bruce smiled a little lopsided. They would work on that. And the self-sacrificing. "Besides," Bruce hummed, pressing a kiss to Jason's cheek. "I also hate parties." He whispered.

"Then why do you go?" Jason gasped, scandalized.

"Only to remind the world that Bruce Wayne isn't dead."

Tim

Tim is like textbook tism and adhd. Hyper fixations galore. A wide range of nerdy artsy shit, to video games and comic books. Alfred considered himself lucky to only be dealing with a chatty baby who just wanted someone to listen, he was getting much too old for tantrums and silent treatments.

"That is very interesting, Master Tim." Alfred would hum, pouring Tim a cup of tea with honey and cinnamon before Tim immediately changes the topic to facts about different types of teas.

The only time Tim wasn't talking, is when he was learning. Buried deep into a book of any kind, watching documentaries on obscure things like the process of making candles. Sat in the garden watching ants go in and out of their hill for hours. It was his 'Tism time,' or 'Timmy's tism time' as Dick had so affectionately dubbed it, intentionally ignoring the evidence that he was also textbook autistic. He hadn't been diagnosed so it couldn't be held up in court.

Tim was also a blunt child, and teenager... And adult. He never really cared to develop social awareness. But alfred was plenty used to that. Dick was a terribly blunt child. At least Tim was running on pure, unfiltered rambling, rather than a genuine hatred of anyone who came near his father. Not that Alfred or Bruce would correct either of them around guests. Alfred was usually caught suppressing a laugh while Bruce looked at the offended as if daring them to say something about one of his babies. Someone at Wayne Corp once said Tim needed to learn basic manners. That he was much too chatty, too honest. Children should never be so compelled to speak their minds constantly. Tim went silent. Tim never went silent. Obviously that person was fired, but it wasn't in the calm, composed way Bruce Wayne usually handled his employees. No. This person got ran through the mud in front of the entire office. Called everything but a child of god. They left the building in tears.

"I'm so sorry, Timmy. Please know that people like that are ignorant and that their children hate them." Bruce immediately turned around to comfort Tim who had watched the interaction in mild shock. He decided that Bruce Wayne was much more terrifying than The Batman could ever be, and counted himself lucky that he was his son, and not his employee.

Tim also hates hugs. Hand holding is nice because it reminds him that he's no longer blindly taking care of himself. He tolerates kisses because Dick made him tolerate kisses. It lowkey became a competition amongst the Bats. Who was Tim most comfortable with touching him. Dick swore up and down that it was him because he was the only one who gave him kisses. Jason knew that it was not him, and he was okay with that. The most he ever got from Tim was a high five or a shove... Or a punch. Damien thinks Dick is wrong, but he wasn't exactly the one to claim a title for physical affection. Although, Tim did seem to initiate it most with him. Was it because he was younger? Bruce knew it was him but said nothing. Hand holding, hugs, cuddles, even the occasional forehead kiss. Bruce had it all

Damian

Damian was very responsible. Every animal was fed at specific times, it did not matter if he had to feed 20 different animals at several different times during the day, he ensured they ate. He only entrusted Alfred to share this responsibility as he'd never missed one of his own meals. He was a worthy caretaker. He once asked Bruce to feed a few of his outside friends to ensure that they all got fed while he was away for a school trip, and Bruce did feed them... Too much. Or too little. Or a few minutes ahead of or behind schedule. How Damian knew, was beyond Bruce, but he accepted his incompetence with dignity.

Damian. Obviously the kid has a thing with animals. Doesn't relate to other kids bc he spent many years without being around a single one. So he has the animals. They are not pets, they are family. If anyone addresses them like pets, they are scowled at and then scolded. Damian will then walk away holding said animal in his arms no matter how big it is (never speak to me or my son again). 10 y/o Damian huffing at Jason who just baby talked Ace, and carrying the dog that's as big as him away on wobbly legs. Alfred didn't know they came in this flavor. He was the complete opposite of Tim who talked to anyone and everyone. All of the kids had been chatty to some extent. But Damian only spoke when necessary. That included making demands, hurling very intentional insults, and telling his baba how his day was.

But the animals heard it all day. Random facts, stories he read, tales of his missions. Anything and everything. There was always an animal with him, and the animal had to be addressed if he was addressed. "Master Damian, your lunch is ready." Alfred would inform, Damian, pausing to see which friend accompanied him at this time. "Does Master Tiny require a meal as well?" He nodded towards the rather fat short-tailed python hanging off of the rather small boy's shoulders. "No, Tiny has had her meal already." Damian nodded, satisfied with Tiny's acknowledgement.

"I'm just not cut out for this responsibility, Bubba." Bruce sighed.

"It's okay baba, I should've known you have far too much going on to be competent at this. I will not be making this mistake again." Damian nodded, more disappointed in himself than Bruce.

Truly, he was Bruce 2.0 when it came to routine. It could've been an assassin thing, or just the autism. Either way, Alfred was accustomed to it. In away, he was like a culmination of all the children combined. Dick's demandingness, Jason's need to be seen as self sufficient, and Tim's seemingly endless knowledge.

Most parents might complain when their children fail to grow out of things that are perceived as inconvenient, but Alfred was far too happy that his boys were still his boys after so long. Rather than ridiculing them for their oddities, Alfred simply helped them learn to help themselves. So when the day came where they had to take care of themselves, they'd be equipped to handle it. Bruce's ocd depends on where he's at mentally, but he learned methods to quell his anxiety, making his episodes less severe. Dick learned how to cook so that he would never be subjected to icky textures or bitter flavors. Jason strictly owned breathable, cotton fabrics. Tim did eventually learn social cues, he just did not care, and continued to be himself understanding that there would be the occasional consequence. Damian learned that relying on others wasn't the end of the world, specifically his brothers, who were far from perfect, but would die for him all the same. And that was honorable.

(⁠*⁠＾⁠3⁠＾⁠)⁠/⁠～⁠♡

An: I'm venting. I experience at least half of these things but I was much too smart to be diagnosed despite my very early signs. Like I was literally taken for testing because I was hyper active, but the energy bursts weren't actually one of my habits, so when I was able to control it they said "nah." I wonder if you can tell which ones I have from how I wrote this 😭 Note that my entire family is undiagnosed so I think I'm pretty accustomed to most of these.

Also. Sorry that there's no Cass, Steph, or Duke. I don't know a lot about them so I don't really know what to write. Hopefully I'll get to the content with more of them soon. I'm sure that they are all also very neuro divergent.

While Tim loves Jack and respects him to an extent, he's never going to be the obedient respectful son Jack wants, and I also don't think he really respects Jack as a parent. Jack's still his dad and he respects him as a person, but as a parent? Everytime Jack tries to tell Tim what to do or order him around, it's pretty transparent that Tim only does it if he wants to. If he thinks it's stupid or there's something more important to be doing, he is halfway out the window before Jack is even finished turning around. Tim does what Jack tells him to because he's trying to placate him or it serves his own purposes, he never really thinks Jack is right or really respects his decision.

And I think Jack knows that on some level, and he hates it, especially because in his eyes, the moment Bruce tells Tim to do something, Tim can't do it fast enough. Bruce lives rent-free in Jack Drake's head as the personification of his own emasculation: rich, good looking, always has beautiful women throwing themselves at him, fighting fit and in shape, everyone talking about him all the time, and all Tim's obedience/respect/adoration that is, in Jack's mind, his by right.

On top of all that, Tim and Jack are just very different people. They have different interests, they interact with people differently, value different things. Tim tries to placate Jack and meet him halfway on things, but it's pretty clear he and his dad just don't have a lot in common, and that's another blow to Jack's ego: his son loves him but doesn't respect him as a parent, and there's very little Jack has to share with Tim that Tim is even interested in. And again, there's Bruce looming in the horizon with shared interests with Tim.