Laugh

Chapter 2

"Breakfast time, Master Richard! You must hurry or you'll be late for school," called the voice of the family butler--Alfred Pennyworth.

Dick groaned and pulled his pillow over his head. "S'it morning already?" his slurred voice replied. Just like he'd predicted, he had barely gotten any sleep last night, and now...He was utterly exhausted.

"Master Richard?"

Dick sighed and sat up. "Coming," he muttered. He got out of bed, wishing he could stay under the warm covers for just a few more minutes, and then got dressed. As he continued to get ready for school before heading down to breakfast, he caught his reflection in the mirror. His face was a shade paler than usual, and there were dark shadows under his eyes. He looked like a zombie. So far, he'd been able to hide his restless sleeping from Bruce, but if he saw him like this today, he'd definitely realise something was up. Heck, Bruce probably already realised something was wrong with Dick. He wasn't called the world's greatest detective for nothing, after all. Then again, Bruce had been even more busy than usual (both as the playboy billionaire and Batman).

Once Dick made his way to the kitchen for some breakfast, he took his usual seat at the long table. On the other end across from him, Bruce Wayne sat with a newspaper as he sipped some coffee. "Ah. Good morning Dick," Bruce said without looking up from the paper.

"Morning," Dick replied as he stifled a yawn. He glanced over at Bruce, who didn't seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. Good. The two of them kept silent as they finished their breakfast. Dick ate as quickly as he could, both because he didn't want to be late to school (since he woke up a little bit later than usual) and because sitting here in silence with Bruce right now was...slightly unnerving.

It wasn't too much longer until Dick left the house as Alfred drove him to school.

---

"-And once you finish up this worksheet, turn it into me and I'll give you your homework," Ms. Ramey, a teacher at Gotham Elementary, told the class.

Dick let out a sigh and tapped his pencil on his desk. He'd already finished the worksheet five minutes ago, and most of the other students in his class had barely started. He was somewhat of a prodigy here, and was in a fifth grade math class even though he was only in fourth grade. He would be in a much more advanced math class, but since the elementary and middle schools were separate, it would be too much of a hassle to have him go over there just for math.

So why didn't he just skip grades? Well, Dick still struggled in the subject of english, since he had barely spoken any of it before Bruce took him in as his ward. Back in the circus, he spoke Romani for the most part. Any english that he knew had only been the basics. He hadn't been staying with Bruce for more than two years yet, and it wasn't exactly an easy language for him to learn. That being said, he was actually a little behind in his english class, and that was with a tutor helping him too.

Being Robin, Batman wanted him to learn as many languages as possible, so he had also started learning german and french. His first year living in Gotham, he had already mastered spanish. So if he was getting all these other languages down, why couldn't he just understand the dang English language already?!

Along with that, Dick still carried a fairly thick accent. It had died down a little over the course of time he'd been Robin and such, and Bruce estimated that it would continue to vanish over the years as he got more used to this new language.

The kids at school would often make fun of him for the accent, or mock him for being a "charity case". This was a private elementary school for the sons and daughters of the wealthy, after all. A powerful billionaire taking in a young circus boy was definitely unheard of, and Dick got a lot of crap for that. "I heard Wayne only took him in for the publicity," or "There's no way someone like Bruce Wayne would take in someone like him; he's only doing it to make himself look better."

Well, whatever people said, Dick had heard it all. By now, he learned to just block most of it out, but every now and then, someone would say something that really stung. He would hear insults like, "Circus freak!" and "Gypsy trash," which were both very rude and hit him every time. He knew they weren't true though...He knew he wasn't some freak or trash. He was proud to have grown up in the circus, and he couldn't have been more proud of his heritage.

Even so...Sometimes...Sometimes he just wished he actually had a friend. Someone who wouldn't make fun of him for a change.

Yeah...That would be nice. Because right now, Dick Grayson was living a pretty lonely life. Sure, Bruce and Alfred were there for him, but who else? No one, and that was a fact.

He was lonely, and it hurt. It hurt more than anyone could ever know.