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Chapter Text

My Life

The Sun shines down

A wish came with

Nothing ever amounts to you

my family

my parents

my dreams

my hope

My soul

For I am Dick Grayson 

The last of their line

The last of their hope

     Dick has been in the Backrooms for almost half the time he’s been alive, stationed directly at twelve he’s growing older but there’s no signs of the end. He’s thought about suicide, there really isn’t many options, and the mold smell combined with the glossy ugly yellow walls of the first level haunt his dreams. Every level so far has been a nightmare, honestly he can’t deal with this anymore. He missed home. He misses his mother and his father. And most of all he misses the circus. It’s truly the one thing stopping him from dying, hope to one day see the circus again.

 He wonders if his mother or father miss him, he also ponders his whole short existence. Is he forever meant to stay trapped in this experience? This death trap…? Is he truly the one he once was? 

 Is he Richard “Dick” Grayson or is he just someone else now? Was he always like this and just never knew? Maybe he’s hallucinating..? That would be the wisest answer, but then there’s The question of how EXACTLY he got here. To this mold infested yellow halls or the dark empty towns or the cartoon like houses that haunt his dreams or rather nightmares?

 Creaks echoed the yellowed halls, the wallpaper scratched and peeling back. A disgusted sound escaped Dick’s throat before he could stop it. A quiet sob wrecked his body, his ears hissing at him-his breath quickening- crunching of someone echoed through the halls.  A shiver produced through his bones and burned to his core. Another crunch, this time it almost sounded closer, but that couldn’t be true. It couldn’t be. 
 
 “Calm down Dick, it could just be someone not something,” he whispered almost silently but he knew some of this hellhole’s monsters could hear very well. A SNAP, and then finally silence, a soft whimper escaping Dick. He couldn’t help the quiet soft whimpering and shivering. As he turned another corner-hoping his feet clanking and charging on the carpeted floor(it was a very ugly yellow) didn’t attract any of those monsters- the sounds finally stopped. A quiet gasp wretched out of his throat violently, taking away his breath and blowing it away. Far far away from his body. 

 There was a monster. A creature. Something. It looked pure black with long grayish black fluffy hair that cascaded down to where Dick assumed its feet would be. It had long black arms with bright blue accents and wore(from what he could see with its back turned) a dark gray suit with pure black slacks. It didn’t have shoes on and every slight movement he could hear a soft moist wet noise from the carpet. Never before has Dick been so thankful for wearing shoes. Its head snapped towards Dick, once again lighting something in his very soul. His feet stuck to the ground, his very being screaming at him to MOVE ANYTHING-he just couldn’t. As it stalked closer he could see the pure black face with bright blue accents and pure blue orbs that seemed to bore into Dick’s very skull. It had two sharp pointy horns that grew up from his face; its statue was what scared him the most. While Dick was around five foot four inches this demon this monster this thing was around seven or even ten feet tall. Leaving Dick a shaking mess, like a leaf in fall getting ready to fall from its tree. Except he had no tree, and it was this thing that would be eating him. He had no weapons, nothing, nada.

  I will actually take the lord’s name in vain holy motherfuckers.

  “h-HeY,” his voice cracked, his knees bucking slightly under the weight of the demon’s gaze. He frowned loudly turning, his joints and mind screaming at him, tugging his feet farther and farther he raced along the walls. Dodging walls he was sure weren’t there before and some traps set by something or someone. He hated the thought. Didn’t everyone know the monsters didn’t like that? It wasn’t kill or be killed it was die or survive. Here in this hell scape it’s Die or Survive, something not many can do.

He can’t do this, his feet hurt from walking all day and he’s tired from not sleeping, he just can’t do anything anymore.

 Toppling to the ground he groaned, it was uncomfortable and very gross to hear the carpet squelch under his weight but even worse when he heard thumping of someone’s feet. Something that he had learned to regret ever hearing. Turning towards his stomach he tried to army crawl his way to safety( even if there is none) when a sharp pain pricked at his right ankle. Heavy weight settled on his ankle before it pulled, barely escaping it being snapped Dick kicked with all his might on his other foot as he was dragged away from where he laid. Heavy fear settled in his gut, churning his system like butter and bile rising to his throat when the clawed tell tale void black claws ripped ‘lightly’ at his skin. He couldn’t help it. He just screamed out of fear and frustration and pain. 

he’s been here too long. His parents probably miss him. He can’t handle this. He’s going to be eaten without ever having his first kiss, his first girlfriend(or boyfriend he doesn’t know yet) and yet here he was being dragged by his bleeding ankle that was gushing way too much blood, making his nauseated. 

A very badly done chirp wrecked his thoughts and he shifted his body, biting back another scream at the twist of his ankle, “S…sAfE,” the thing whispered. it could talk. No. No. No way in hell is he going to be taken by this creature demon monster thing! Who knows!

 
 ”Me,” the thing pointed to itself,” BaTm…”it seemed to have trouble speaking English, it’s voice crackling like a warm log lit on fire,” BatMan,” it stated,” w.WhAt YoU?” It wanted to know his name before eating him?!! What the-What is wrong with this thing.

 Dick started thrashing randomly, hoping to at least hit the beast with some of his might. Hoping for it to let go of his ankle but it never did, if anything it held tighter.

 Is this how it ends? He’s about to be eaten by something! 

“PrO,” crack, it almost sounded like it was crunching on something while talking, it was further shown when it opened its ‘mouth’ and three rows of pearly white sharp shark teeth etched into Dick’s memories-there was something stuck in its teeth that looked like…holy hell was that hair…,”I PrOtecT Protect Protect,” it repeated like a mantra, but Dick couldn’t pay attention. The image of reddish hair snug in the monster’s teeth while its long sharp snaked tongue stuck out and seemed to roll around its teeth. Which the tongue( gross gross gross, Dick couldn’t get any imaginary out of his head this is such a nightmare.) was a dark gray almost like it wasn’t there or it was ‘vintage’ looking. Like those old paintings and maps that yellowed around the edges and were black and white? Dick didn’t really know all that much. 

 “Please,” Dick sobbed, his mouth felt dry and tears streamed down his face with a (uncomfortable) amount of snot trailing from his nose. The creature shifted its mouth closed, it almost looked like a zipper when it was closing, and tilted its head as if to get a better look at its next meal. Dick cried harder.

”PlEaSE? Protect!” It seemed happy with itself, finally pulling Dick closer and closer to its long gangly body that still somehow had mass to it. Its hair was swaying slightly and it nodded its pitch black head in thought. Can it think..? Probably, all the other ones can. BatMan(Dick thinks that’s its name? Can entities have names? What if it was luring Dick into a false sense of-) 

  Dick was being hugged. Not eaten. Hugged. 

The body against him, nausea rancid in his brain as he was swiftly pulled up right, was cold but not to the degree in which it hurt. It was nice…He hadn’t been held in so long…. Happy(????) chirps echoed in his ears, it was the monster demon? it was the thing that was chasing him; it couldn’t be hugging him. This…This was sort of after death hallucination isn’t it..? Is that a thing? Oh God what if Dick’s dead, but not yet if his brain still works? What if he is still alive but just not there? Forever trapped in his mind to be tortured…? 

  “B-BaBYyyyyyy,” it squealed happily(?) at Dick. An unsettled feeling exploded in its gut,” P-Pro-tEcT BaBYyyy!!” It seemed happy with itself, grumbling slightly with its chest against Dick’s body like that’s calm him down. It only cause him to shiver harder, obviously making the entity angry,” BaBYYYyyyy? N-nO happ?” It seemed to tap a singler long claw at his back, the feeling squashed some worries of Dick before causing them to go further up in fear that this creature could affect his emotions. If emotions why stop at that? Why not the brain. Oh golly can it read my thoughts…?

“Death is not the greatest loss in life. 
The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” 
-Quoted by someone Dick doesn’t know

————-

 If death is such a small thing and life is such a big thing why is there both and not one? Because without Death we would be overrun and even then some would have to die anyway. Life is not about being immortal, it is about being alive and making a difference no matter how small or how big. Life is taken for granted but death is taken for fear. We should not fear the inevitable but fear that you lose yourself in passions and fear. 

Dick does not remember falling asleep next to something warm, in fact there isn’t much warmth in the yellowed halls. As he shifted slightly he recognized his arms were unbound, he wasn’t eaten, and he was on a new level. One he hadn’t seen yet. One that was almost a pitch black city looking level, the area around him was dark and it felt like a warm hug was encasing him. Creaking open a tired eye he came face to face with an entity. Wait.

 The events of last night tracing his memory and tickling his brain in a funny way. This thing didn’t kill him. And now he was in bed. Being hugged. By. This? What is his life…? 

 “BaBbbYyy? WakEEY,” it cooed, he was being babied by an entity. it’s long black arms flitted around his body, testing his face by pulling at it slightly. A nice warm pressure was applied to his ankle and when he looked there was no blood or any sign it was hurt. Had he dreamed that…?

  “Hi?” Dick whispered, pushing against the entity a little bit until the entity wrapped its spindly arms around his back and pulled the child into an embrace, a soft rumble erupted from the entity’s very being. It shook Dick slightly but he soon seemed to want to melt into the embrace. If only to be hugged a little longer. Even if it was by a monstrous entity,” I’m not a baby.”

 It shook its head wildly or as wildly as the bed? Wait they were on a bed? What entity slept on a bed. Why? Did entities need to sleep? Was this life? What the heck!

 “Babbbbyyyy,” it crooned happily, pulling a hand around the back and brushing a stray piece of black hair from Dick’s face to the back of his ear. Seemingly staying there with the warm but also cold(?) hand rested on his chubby sullen cheeks. He hadn’t had good food in a while, this showed by his stomach rumbled quite louder than he wanted it to,” ooOoh Bab-BbbaBBY hungry,” the creature opened its mouth widely, it looked like it was yawning and yet seeing those teeth again made him want to almost faint right then and there.

 Well ‘when I’m Rome do as the Romans do’ Dick grumbled or tried to at least,” B-Baby hungry?” He whispered, almost ashamed of himself.

 The entity seemed to accept this answer, picking itself up and Dick with it. It wore the same suit with no wrinkles no matter how they were, the sleeves were rolled up nicely and the cuffs had small yellow bat buttons. It was cute. Sort of. Kind of. Okay maybe definitely cute. 

 Dick wanted some of those too!

 “Baby get F-…FoOOddd!” It chirped happily, picking itself and Dick off the comfy comfy bed. The sheets somehow rumbled and then swiftly as they got up fixed themselves and the mattress returned to its shape. strange. Oh well, what would I get fed..?

 Oh golly what if it wants me to eat HUMANS?! Am I going to have to be a cannibal??? No no no no no no no no no no not possible!! He’d never!!!

 His breathing came in puffs, his heart clenched. It almost felt constricting. Like a Boa constrictor wrapped around his lungs. His heart beat wildly, he couldn’t eat humans. He couldn’t. This monster couldn’t make him. No no no no no no no no no no. He wouldn’t eat humans he just wouldn’t! He’ll kill ‘Batman’ if he has to!!

 A hand stopped his thoughts, bringing him back to his mother’s warm smile. Her pale brownish skin that crinkled at the ends of her eyes when she smiled and her smile lines, she was an angel. Someone he could look up to; but now he’ll never get to see her again or his father. A dark haired male with paler skin than his momma, eyes fuller than life and pearly white teeth that danced in Dick’s dreams. His head turned up at the sound of laughter not unlike his own. A large pearly white smile was burning in his vision, almost like the teeth were too white to be normal. The mouth warbled for a second before,” BaBbbbY sAaadd? I fi…FiX,” it crooned, wrapping soft( wasn’t the claws hard a second ago? Also wasn’t he being held..?) His back slowly hit the other corner of the room. It showed him a nicely done wallpaper that was monotone, along with a dresser night stand and more crowding the room. A mirror stayed towards the back of the room, across from him and behind the creature. it clapped its lips together for a second,” BaBbbbbYyy hunGRY?” It seemed to nod for a second before reaching over from its spot and wrapping its arms slowly around his body. Dick thought it was nice and warm and wasn’t this thing’s body cold before? Could it change its heat signature..?

 A knock echoed through the room,” M̷͙̮̺̦̟̥͙͐̀͐̒͑̒̒͡͡ą̶̜̠̪̖̬͉̖̆̃͆̏̑͂̇͆s̴̙̪̣̩̱̲̰̺̜͂̉̾͆͑͡͡t̰̳̻̩̲̦͂͐̉̌̏͜e͈͇̣̜͙͈̽̏̏̑̽͂̒̅̕͢r̨̠͍͓̳̯͎͇͔͐̾̂̆̀̈́̐̓̓͡?” The voice was almost lost to him, but he felt the words in his very being. Even if he couldn’t understand it. The noise just sounded like static net cat purring. Could these entities purr?!

  “Al-…Alfreeeddd,” the creature tapped at its void black skin then pointing slightly, its nail curled down, at the ‘man’ that stood at the now opened door way. The man was young, not as young as Dick, but still quite young. He looked quite human, but those words could never tell about a human. The ‘young man’ wore a suit jacket that seemed to never crease, fitted with black dress shoes that shined very nicely and combed over glossy black hair with kind blue eyes. Dick liked him. Maybe he has an ally here…

 “Oh,…Um. I-Okay..?” Dick whispered, this apparently was good enough for the entity as it nodded and smiled with its whole teeth. Dick’s nose wrinkled at the edges, his eyes blown wide slightly,” Alfred…?” The creature, ‘Alfred’ was kind enough, motioning for the boy to follow it. Dick stumbled up, afraid of what they’d do to him if he didn’t listen.

Life is a gift. To be one to deserve such one from God is one to be loved. Never once should hate be cast down on the living nor the dead, for God hears.

—-

“Grief is the price we pay for Love.”

—-

 Batman was never just one person, he’s someone yes but he’s a feeling. A symbol not easily replaced; a symbol of peace, love, and apparently adoption. 

Dick ‘awoke’ back to the ‘real’ world in a few minutes of walking. The manor was a black and white maze of rooms, doors, and studies. Until finally they reached an actually lit up area. It seemed full of life despite nothing being there, and the stench was much better than the moldy carpet and wallpaper of the first level.

 “.
.
“A̸̟͈̺̝̙̥͎͉̅̆͛̃̾̄͒̆͟ņ̨̻͕̘̩͎͔̻̓̌͂̿̋̐̋̍́͢ḑ̸̞̟̭̰̖̐̊͊̀̋̀͐͗̕͘ ĥ̵̢̺̥̩̳͂̃̆̓͟͞o̤͍̼̻̦̬̱̓̎̾̈́̈́̕͠w̢̛̙̟̟̜̾͆̾̃̓͂̅ í̛̦̞̰̰͓̠̑̍̂́s̶̲̠̖̣͍̯͕͔̜͌͗̂͛́͘͞ t͚̰̗̹̹̮̟̜̂͛́͂̍̕͞h̛̻̣͍̱̤̳̟͓̍̈́̀̇́̔͋͜͞ͅe͙̖̥̬̗̜̳̾́͐̾͘ y̴̥̺̙̝̝̍̈́̆̑̈́̐̓͘͜͡o̼̜̼̱̔̐̆͗̓͂͊̊͟͝ǔ̷̢̢̻͍͓͉͕̉̽͘͠ņ̸̛̬̦̘̖̱̰̳̎̄̊̓͝͞͞g̶̲̱͍̝̺̈́̄̇̌͐̑̑ m̶̡̢̨̛̹͖̞̟͇̆̂͐͒͛̔͌͢͜a̷̧̮͙̩̜̱̺͐͂̈̍̓͡͝͝s͎̰͎̹̤͈̍̅͌͒͒̾̉͘͜͞͝ṭ̸̨̟̣̜̺̾̊̓̉͂̈́͘e̵̝̳̺̞̝̞̺̲̎̿̈̀̃͝r̶̲͍͍̫̯̩̻͗̽̓͑͛̑̆̕͜͠?̶̡̛͎̳̺̥̳̦͆̆͐̐̋̽̊̈̎͟” Alfred asked, but it was very hard to understand. Dick’s brow scrunching together and his lips pinching. Alfred seemed to notice because he turned around and motioned to his head and then his heart.

 “How’s my emotions and breathing?” 
 Alfred shook his head ‘no’.

  “Ah how I am..?” Alfred nodded silently, “well I’m doing good,” his stomach rumbled. Alfred seemed to look pleased with that notion. A feeling of unease raced against his stomach tearing it up and burning himself. He almost threw up then and there with the thought of eating humans.

 Dick doesn’t know what entity in these levels has hair so it has to be human. He wouldn’t eat human. He won’t.

  Alfred voice was clearer than time but still hard to understand,” NnnnAa-…Nme?” He asked(?) Dick. He really didn’t know what he said but he could probably guess?

 “My age?” 

 No

 “my gender?”

 No

”My name..?” 

 Yes

 “it’s Richard…Or um you can call me Dick if you want Alfred..?” A nod, yet with a poorly concealed frown( Dick knows he could probably lie very well, but was choosing to entertain Dick.)

 “Diii…Ck…?” Alfred seemed to ponder this for a second, this was when Dick actually took a look at the male. While before in the halls and with the other entity Alfred was a pale young man, he had now shifted into that of an elderly gentleman with whitely done hair and wrinkled skin. A suit, not unlike Batman’s, was done freshly onto him except there were no creases even when the man moved none of it wrinkled. 

 Dick himself hadn’t had time to look in a mirror nor be able to change, for he had a sinking feeling this would be the last time he ever set foot outside this ‘manor’. 

 A slight grin appeared on the older man’s face, it was a calmly thing and soothed much of Dick’s worries.

 “Yes Dick,” he pointed to himself as Alfred rounded the corner of the dining hall, trying to follow only to be blocked by an invisible shield. The other entity ‘Batman’ was tall and slender, his legs poking out from under his chair as he sat down. Dick didn’t know when it got there or when Dick started calling him a he and not an it.

 “Babbb..BaBbYy?” Batman wondered, touching a claw to Dick’s forehead where he stood directly in front of the entity.

 “Can I name you…?” He asked hesitantly. He couldn’t just keep calling him demon monster death creature entity(read: creature and monster) so of course the creature had to have a name! Other than Batman! Who names their kid Batman, wait? Do entities have parents? Does Batman have a dad? A mom? Oh gosh he must be so lonely…

 “GueSSSss?”

 ”Clark?” A shake of his knotted locks.

 “Perry?” Another shake except this time his eyes narrowed almost in disgust.

 “Hmmm, Danny?” Another shake of the head. What’s a good name for a sharp toothed possibly evil mother henning entity?

 “Bruce! What about Bruce!” It seemed to ponder that for a second, comically tapping a clawed finger at where Dick assumes is his chin. 

 “Bry…Ce..?” 
 

 “No,” Dick shook his head,” follow my words; B-R-U-C-E.”

 “BrUuC..E…?” A small nod from the entity,” Like LlliiiKkke!” It patted the table as it threw its head back, Bruce(newly named) seemed happy to have a name.

 “Dick,” he pointed to himself,” that’s my name!”

 Bruce tilted his head like a curious puppy, how could he have EVER thought THIS was scary? Except…He could see it in the void black skin, the bluest ‘eyes’ he’d ever seen, the figure so long and gangly and yet so buff confused him, the hair longer than his feet trailing slightly behind almost picking up dirt if there was any.

  “D…DicKkk…?,” Bruce croaked. It almost seemed like talking was hard for him.

 “You don’t have to talk you know? It sounds hard!” Dick said earnestly.

Bruce nodded his head for a second, the dark gray hair flopping a little bit, then shrugged,” DooNn’t KO-KnOoow.” Dick frowned for a quick moment. Disguised anger written on his face until Alfred came with two trays of food,” Eat G-…Good fOOdd,” it said happily. On Bruce’s plate was a hood looking dish reminding Dick of a pot pie. Except if a pot pie had suspiciously red liquid and pale chunks. He looked down at his food.

 it was also a pot pie except his had no red liquid and seemed to be vegetarian! He scooped up his fork and looked over to where Alfred disappeared through a door.

 He took a bite of the delicious insides of his pot pie; the flavors melting on his tongue. It tasted like a warm home cooked meal( he supposed it really was home made) the taste was like flavor firecrackers were being lit upon his tongue, a soft groan spilled from his mouth and Bruce made a soft but heavy huff of what Dick assumed was laughter.

   “You havin’ a laugh?” 
 
 Bruce nodded sluggishly, almost like he didn’t care about whether he was laughing or not.

 The guy really was just a dangerous funny goofy looking guy isn’t he? 

 No Dick! He’s an entity!! Leave him alone

 ”B..-/BBAByyy lIiikee!” Bruce smiled, his mouth tearing and making way for the new rows of teeth, Dick could see red dripping slightly off Bruce’s teeth and that slimy tongue. ugh. Dick have a shiver of disgust.

 “Not a baby!” Bruce frowned, pinching his smile together.

 “noOoo! Yu’ BabbbYyy!!” It was Dick’s turn to frown.

 “Im not a baby!” The table slammed down a few inches causing Dick to violently flinch.

 “BabbBbby…NoTTTTrt happ’?” 

 “No…I-I’m fine Bruce…” Dick didn’t want to  admit he was still ultimately terrified a little scared by Bruce(Read: Terrified) honestly who wouldn’t be?

 “.
.
W̱͔͎̪̠͑͛̏͑͐̉̀͂̅̂͜ì̡̨͍̻̠̮̥̀̐̂͗̎̏̑͘͜͢l̵̞̞͔̳̱̠̫̩̓̀̈̀̽̕͢l̢̩͓̞̇͆͊͑̊́͡ͅ t̢̹͔͍̦͖̫̅̓̂̇̓͑̾̏h̴͚̻͔̪̪̝̮̞̿̄̌̂͜͡ȩ̡̪̩͍̱̣̩̤̭̏̍̌̓̉͐̈́͠͠͝ y̡̺̦̻̬̑́̏̊̿̅́̌̆͟ö̢̫̰̞͕̼̀͒̇͊̋͘̚͘ǔ͓͙͇̥͈̥̏̀̂̈͠ṇ͔̗̘͉̩̯̤̿̔́̅͟͡g̡̦̱̫̬̭̮̍̐͑́͢͞ m̶͈̱̬̱̳̎̏̅̾̓̒͘͢͡͝a͔̞̙̟̙̦̯͛͐͂̊̓̐̀̚͟͡s̢̡̧͎̖̲̀̐́̽̍̈̇̄͋t̻͉͍̲̗̼̣̭̖̰̓̔̇́̒̓͆̔e̡̘͇̰͓̮͖̫̒̏̔̿͘͟͜͝ŗ͚͎̞͙͙͎̟̪̯̑̾̌̔̚ ç̴̛̰̰̭͓͔̦͇̼͉̐̎͂̇́͌̓͘ȁ̸͚̼̣͔̤͓̞͓́̾͊̍͆̾͝r̸͎̤̝͖͇̖͎̺̫͌̇́̐͊̅̽̚͘͝ȩ̴̛̯͕͙̺͇̮̇̓͗̆̌͐̒ͅ f͍̳̳̪̜̻͈̖̿̍͋͘͢͝ō̘̟̦̱̻̺̐́̒͐̏͝ṟ̛̼͉̹̀͐͑̏̑͋̇̚̕͢ a̲͔͔̺͔̤̽̆͂͛̈̄̒̍̈́ b̩̗͓̦̹̖̰́̈́̈́͗̓͟͟ă̛͈̝̠̠̭͉͑̇̄͛̂̿͂͡ţ̗͉͔̞̣̦̌̅͋̿̿͢͟ḩ̶̛͓͙̻̳̠̏̍̀̋͂͛͊͟͝ n͈̣͖̬̖̠͚͂̾̈́̈́͑͌͟o̧̡̭͚̮̲̾͐͆̈́̚ͅẘ̴̧̢̡͕̗̱͛̎͑̐̏̚͘͢͜ͅ?̷̗̥̥̜̝̘̖̿̂̑̂͘”

 Bruce seemed to understand Dick didn’t; his food put aside. Arms up in a faster fashion than he could control with Bruce’s large spindly hands placed at the boy’s armpits, uncomfortably Dick shifted slightly to lean towards move away from Bruce’s touch(Read: Lean towards)

 “BabbbBbbby BatH!!” He was now being jostled up the large amount of stairs, a dizzy feeling settling in his guts. What if the water is sludge? What if it’s HUMAN?! What if Bruce’ll EAT HIM!!?!!

When did he get in the restroom? Shit. Piss. Balls. 

He looked in the mirror directly in front of him. He hadn’t seen himself in so long. Pale brownish skin that was slightly pinkish mixed with green in hue, his dark black hair was shaggy and cut wrongly in some places because he had only ever cut his hair out of his face, his bangs fell short and his locks were tangled and out of place. Deep eye bags gathered on his face along with a few bruises, that were quickly turning purple, that gathered on his facial features. His left eye was slightly swollen with a black eye from the last entity he had escaped. He pulled his shirt over his head, his hands running gently on his pale skinned scars that seemed to be etched on his very being. A long one trailing from the middle of his chest to his neck. Leaving almost no spaces unchecked by scars. A long rough one slid from the cleft of his nose to under his right eye trailing to his cheekbone. Which were slightly sullen in despite the clear baby fat held on his skin. 

He stripped off the rest of his clothes, careful of the water in case it too tried to eat him whole. Instead of the black sludge like ink he expected out came the clearest water he had ever seen! A swift hand raked under the flow of the crystal clear water, the cold seeping into his bones. A nice feeling he had not felt in so long, since the circus. He turned the knob slightly to the right where he assumed the heat would be.  

 The sun’ll shine again

just like that baby blue smile

Just like that circus boy we know

For there is never dark with you here

Dick Grayson

The last of his line

the last to hurt

the only to have comfort

Grave misdeeds and Needless deaths

Dick will rise 

just with help

and so will many others

——

Dick Grayson is a man fit for a man, yet still a boy. A very young one even. Maybe someone young can fill the lonely heart of an entity?

Chapter Text

Richard awoke to a comfortable and warm bed...Wait- a bed? His breath caught up and he started breathing heavily before the small boy's breath caught in his throat, his eyes clenching slightly when he refused to open them. Finally and carefully opening one eye, a look of pure horror crossing his face at the sight of the giant entity curled around him. A soft stuttering breath peeled from him as he squirmed silently away from the creature. Gulping and making a squeaking noise when he thumped down to the floor, the door creaked open and the older humanoid looking entity blinked at Dick.

"H-hullo'," He whispered and awkwardly waved--as if expecting the humanoid entity to rush him and tear him limb from limb. The smell of...waffles floated through the air, making Dick sniff for a second, looking awkward and curious. His stomach growling revealed his hunger, a sharp pain from hunger echoed across his body as he stiffen and swallowed his salvia.

"Hello Master Richard," The male older looking gray haired entity smiled with sharp teeth that gave Dick a stiff back, "Y...you speak English?" Dick asked bewildered--all last night the man-...No Dick stop thinking of them as people! They aren't. Last night the entity spoke jibberish.

"L-like really?...O-or are you just..." Dick trailed off, concerned, a 'oof' sound escaped him as 'Bruce's giant hand grabbed at him, the older(And smaller) Humanoid walking his hand and grumbling, "Now, now Master Batman. Let's not give the poor boy a scare." Like Dick wasn't scared out of his mind already, and wanting to just end his misery. 


'Bruce' made a grumbling noise and a mixture of bird screeches and bat noises slipped from the humanoid's mouth...? 

One heavy day I ran away from the grim face of society and the dizzying clamor of the city and directed my weary step to the spacious alley. I pursued the beckoning course of the rivulet and the musical sounds of the birds until I reached a lonely spot where the flowing branches of the trees prevented the sun from the touching the earth.

I stood there, and it was entertaining to my soul - my thirsty soul who had seen naught but the mirage of life instead of its sweetness

-by Kahlil Gibran

Dick sat down at the table, anxious, the beast-...Bruce sat in a taller chair that looked more like a throne, the table more fit for giants than actual humans--much less children. Or...child. The place these entities resided was...big. To say the least. Waffles were placed on Dick's face, and a carcass of a cooked animal placed on 'Bruce's plate, they were separate sizes, but good fluff and whenever Dick started eating them he couldn't stop eating them. He let out a wild hum, "Uhm...T-these are really g-good," Dick mumbled to the two entities--whom both made crooning sounds. Richard felt his cheeks heat up from the embarrassment. Twirling the last piece of perfectly fluffy delicious honey waffles on his fork, Dick sighed happily and beamed. he could hardly remember he was with two entities.

IT WAS TIME TO EXPLORE