Just Robin Oneshots Part 2

Fluffiness

Bruce is just tryna be a dad and falling flat on his face

"B, look! I got my first scar!" Dick proclaimed proudly. Bruce choked on his coffee, immediately abandoning his work to look at his protege. He couldn't believe this. Dick was only ten and he already had a scar? But he was so careful when they were out together that he stayed away from things like that. He knew it would happen at some point, that was just something he had to accept, but he didn't think it would happen this early. "What?" he finally wheezed out as all the air had been knocked out of him. Dick grinned at him and lifted up his shirt. A long jagged scar traced from his right hip to just above his navel. Bruce remembered the last patrol where someone had tried to stab him and the acrobat had just managed to dodge it. Unfortunately, the knife was too close and cut along his stomach. Bruce knew it had been deep, but he didn't know it was that deep. "Ain't it cool? I look like a badaaa-butt," Dick stated, catching himself at the last minute. He smiled expectantly at his mentor, waiting for him to confirm that he did look like a badass but the moment didn't come. Bruce reached out and traced the scar with his fingers, barely touching it, as all the colour drained from his face. That wasn't the reaction Dick neither wanted or expected. He thought scars were cool. He was like his mentor now with awesome scars that showed how great he was. "B?"

"I'm sorry, chum. I should've kept a better eye on you," Bruce said in a solemn tone.

The tone made his heart constricted painfully. That wasn't what he wanted to hear. He pulled his shirt down with a frown. "Oh," he mumbled. "It's uhm fine, I guess." His tone mirrored his mentors and his eyes dropped to the floor. "I'll be in my room."

Flash and Robin were hanging out in the Watchtower, playing games, when they got on the topic of scars. It started with a comment on the character's gnarly scar that covered cut through her eyebrow and it moved to their own scars. "How many do you have?" Robin asked. Flash was happy to answer his questions. He thought being open about these types of things were healthy since they always spoke about them positively. That way when the inevitable happened, Robin would view them as an addition rather than a detriment. "Eleven but some of them are fading. You got any yet?" He nodded, his gaze falling then moving to the screen. The action rang alarm bells in the older's head. "What's with the long face bud? I thought you of all people would be excited to have one." He even remembered telling Robin to not get himself killed in order to get one. That was an oddly difficult argument to win. Afterward, he told him to sign up for debate club which he ended up doing. He was swiftly invited to all the debates and had been kicked out a few times for laughing smugly when Robin won. He didn't regret it. "Well, I was excited to have one but then B didn't react how I thought he would," he admitted, playing the game to distract himself.

"How so?"

"He acted...sad? Like they're not good to have. Sorta took all the fun out of it," Robin explained. In all honesty, he didn't like the look of his scar anymore. He knew that was probably because of the reaction and he shouldn't really let that affect him but it did. Batman was right about everything. If he thought there was something wrong with the new addition then he must be right. Flash sighed to himself as he thought of a way to rectify the situation. He really must teach Batman how to be a person at some point, if not for his sake, for Robin's. A healthy mind was important in this business and acting like that only makes having one harder. "Bats was just shocked. You're his baby, you know? Scars are close calls and he feels close calls are failures on his part," he explained clearly. Interpreting feelings was one of his better qualities and it came in handy a lot as a hero. Especially when Batman was involved. Robin turned to him curiously. That was a start. "But does that mean he doesn't like them?" he asked. Flash paused the game so he could have the acrobat's full attention. He held his small hands in his own and made sure to keep eye contact, assuring the boy that what he was saying was truthful. "Batman might not like them and that's okay because that's something he has to deal with. That doesn't mean he doesn't love you with them or thinks of you any less because you have them," he clarified. "How do you feel about your scar aside from what Batman says?"

"I don't think it's bad. I thought it made me look kinda cool, to be honest," Robin responded truthfully. The older smiled at him, happy with his answer. 

"Then that's all that matters and if that opinion changes for any reason, you tell somebody. Healthy heroes do better jobs." His smile was greeted by a relieved grin.

"Thanks, Flash. You always know what to say. You wanna see it?"

"Hell yeah, I do."

When Batman came to pick up his protege, Flash decided to have a little word with him. "Hey, can I have a quick talk with you? Adult to adult?" he asked. Confused, Batman nodded and told Robin to head home to the Batcave. He waited till he was out of earshot to ask what was going on. There wasn't anything he could think of on the spot to cause the talk that couldn't involve Robin. Perhaps there was a mission he needed help on that had mature topics. "You need to be more careful about what you say around Dick," Flash stated.

"What? Why?" Batman responded. He was Robin's mentor. He knew him better than anyone since he worked and lived with him 24/7. He knew how to act around him. Right? 

"His new scar. From what I understand your reaction wasn't a good one."

"How else was I supposed to react? It was massive," he pointed out. The speedster nodded but didn't look very impressed with his fellow hero. 

"I'm well aware. I'm sure you know how he previously felt about scars?"

"Yeah, he thinks they're cool," Batman answered as though it were obvious. It was obvious. He'd heard his protege gush about his scars plenty of times. Sometimes he didn't even realize how much he needed someone to say they were cool. "He didn't think that when he was sitting with me today. He thought they were bad because of your reaction. He showed you his first scar because he was proud of it and you disheartened him," Flash revealed. He was silenced by that comment. That would explain why all the scar talk stopped. The new self-consciousness the school had mentioned to him. "Let me guess, you didn't even notice the effect you had?" Batman simply shook his head. He got a reassuring smile from his fellow hero and felt his hand on his shoulder. "Here's some advice, tonight tell him how much you care for him and explain why you had that reaction. You need to explain yourself because, unlike J'onn, he's not a mind reader and will just assume something you didn't mean him to." Batman sighed defeatedly. He really thought he was improving in his people things since Dick arrived. Maybe he was over hyping himself. "Parenting is hard Bruce. One slip up isn't the be-all and end-all. Especially when you've got your's truly as his honourary uncle."

"Thank you, Barry. I'll keep your advice in mind." He walked back to the Zetatube, noting that he should talk to the Speedster more if he didn't know how to conduct himself around his new son.

As Bruce tucked Dick in, he put a small kiss on his forehead after sweeping his fringe back. Dick grinned at the affection. He loved small signs of care. They made him feel special. "I want to apologize for my reaction to your first scar. You're just so young and it was a rather big first scar so I became overwhelmed. I didn't mean to make you self conscious about it," Bruce explained, running his fingers through the younger's hair. "I love you a lot and it's scary to know you're growing up so fast."

"I love you too B and I beg to differ on growing up fast. I've been the same height for ages," he replied. Bruce chuckled and rolled his eyes lovingly. He loved this child so much. He wished everything could just stay like this. That was an impossible ask. "If I was someone else, would you think it's a cool scar?" the boy asked quietly. He received a soft smile. 

"I'd think it's a very cool scar. Makes you look like a badass."

"I knew it!"

These next two are going to be one smut story and one non-smut story, if you have any suggestions lemme know 

i got a smut story prewritten and an idea for a non-smut story but if y'all have ideas I'll hear em