Sleep walking

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by McBrube

by McBrube

A wee bit of fluff for you all :)

Bruce heard shuffling from the room across the hall. He desperately wanted to just ignore the sounds, but when they continued he forced his eyes open with a sigh and sat up.

Dick was walking around his room, taking items off of shelves and moving them to new places around the room.

"Ugh," Bruce groaned. "Now's not the time to redecorate the room Dick."

The 8 year old didn't seem to hear Bruce as he continued shuffling around the room.

Bruce stepped into the room, his frustration rising. "Dick," he called again, grabbing his ward by the shoulders.

Dick's eyes snapped open and he jumped back, breathing growing panicked as his gaze darted around the room, his eyes not quite seeing what was around him. He started to cry hysterically, which didn't help the fact that he seemed to be hyperventilating.

Bruce blinked, trying to process what had just happened.

"M-Mami? Tati? Wh... where a-am I?" Dick whimpered.

Sudden realization hit Bruce in the face like a truck. Dick was a sleep walker... and he'd just startled him awake... pretty much the #1 thing on the list of things not to do when dealing with a sleep walker.

Dick curled himself into a corner of the room, holding himself as he cried.

Bruce instantly knew he'd messed up. He tried to think back to his childhood, tried to remember the things his mother had done to comfort him.

Dick's crying didn't seem like it was simply going to stop on its own any time soon... Bruce would have to do something.

Kneeling at his son's side, Bruce held out his arms, awkwardly offering a hug.

Dick didn't hesitate to jump into Bruce's embrace, gripping fistfuls of his shirt as he cried.

Bruce rubbed Dick's back, whispering reassurances to the little acrobat.

After a while, something he did must've calmed the boy down, and he simply lay with his head resting on Bruce's shoulder, enjoying the rare moment of affection.

"You ok bud?" Bruce whispered after a moment of silence. But there was no response, Dick had fallen back to sleep.