Robin one shot part 3!

I'm so tired

TW: MENTION OF VOMIT

Bruce thought he'd never have to worry about his kid. When he listened to the others talk about their proteges and how it was such a task to get them to do homework, he sat there smug because he didn't have to do that. Dick did his homework and he even went so far as to bring it with him on patrol to make sure he'd get it done. He was so proud of him for taking on responsibilities. There was hardly any arguments over homework and when they were it was usually just because he reminded Dick too many times to complete something without knowing it had already been submitted. Then there were his ward's grades that he flaunted the moment he got the chance to. He knew that his boy was going to get a full ride to university. There was no questioning that the best places in the country were going to beg him to have him join. Bruce hadn't interfered either that was the best part. He just let Dick do his own thing and he was succeeding. Bruce wasn't naive to the world of paying for grades. He knew it went on and he was always slightly disappointed when someone he knew didn't work hard got the same opportunities as his boy but there was nothing that could be done about it. He was just proud of Dick for putting his nose to the grindstone and keeping those grades high. What he found a little weird was the other heroes reactions to him subtly bragging whilst they complained. They would give him looks that he couldn't quite decipher. Some looked sympathetic in some way as though he had no clue and other times there was a flicker of anger then there was this weird mix of something that looked longing. The other reactions made sense in some way. Dick was young so he got why they thought he was getting over their head. They were raising teenagers and he was raising someone who only just turned thirteen. Everyone said the teenage years were hard but he wasn't too worried about them. If he could deal with a newly traumatised orphan who knew a handful of English words, he could deal with a grumpy hormonal teenager. The second reaction made sense too. Here he was bragging about how wonderful his kid was doing whilst they were trying to wrangle theirs in. The longing look took a while to figure out but when he did figure it out, well, he didn't feel like such a great guardian anymore.

Test week was coming up and every teenage hero out there was playing a careful game of Jenga between schoolwork and patrol. The mentors were working on a case together so they thought it fair for their kids to study whilst they went through details. "These past few days have been killer, I can't wait for the weekend," Flash complained during the lull in the conversation. 

"Tell me about it," Green Arrow replied with a sigh. "Roy has been clawing at the walls trying to avoid revising. Says he's naturally smart." Batman listened to the pair talk about their wards struggling with that same smugness he always did. The only thing he'd noticed from his protege is that he wasn't around very much but that was because he was working so diligently. He ran a tight schedule that he was very strict about following. He'd practically done a flip because he'd interrupted the scheduled biology hour to bring him here to study. Nonetheless, he calmed down once he was assured he could still work. Batman was proud of such a work ethic. 

"How's your boy taking it? He looks exhausted," Flash said, grabbing his attention. The speedster tilted his head to the doorway that lead to the room where their wards were working. Wally was highlighting most of the page he was looking at with a disinterested look whilst Roy poked a Boy Wonder who looked desperate to understand what he was reading. It looked half like annoying him for the fun of annoying him and half making sure he hadn't zoned out. Yet Batman shrugged his shoulders after sending his protege a quick glance. 

"He's fine. He's got a schedule to make sure he remembers everything. I thought I'd treat him with a long patrol this weekend." The other adults sent him that look that he didn't know the meaning of. "You're right. He should have a long one on Friday too."