Duke Thomas VS The "Good Child" Stereotype
Welcome to my fic for the @dukethomasbigbang! betas are @theycallme-ook @queerbutstillhere artists are @a-sketchy-character @doodlingdeelight
5 Times Duke Tried To Prove To Bruce He Wasn't The Responsible One, and 1 Time His Siblings Knew Better (& used it to their advantage)
Because Duke is relatively new, he hasn't opened up completely to the family. He tries to follow Bruce and Alfred's rules, but he doesn't always succeed (nor try to). It's during these times Bruce still manages to pin the blame on someone else. His siblings, of course, see this. And whatever are they supposed to think? Well, Duke's clearly doing it on purpose!
(This is really just me being salty about fanon characterization, and an attempt to cram as much Crazy-Totally-Not-Sane-Duke as I can into a single fic)
Duke sat up in his bed and set aside the Physics homework he had been slaving away on for the past hour. It really wasnât how he wanted to spend his post patrol free time, but the work was due in two days, and he was worried that if he didnât get it done now, then he wouldnât get it done at all.
Duke stretched his arms, but then sighed and pulled the textbook back onto his lap.
Just then, a knock came from his door. After Duke called out a quiet âCome inâ the knob turned and Bruce poked his head in.
âGoing on patrol, now.â He grunted, and Duke grinned. He had to admit that it felt good to know that Bruce cared enough to let him know when he was heading out.
âSounds good. Iâd watch the east corner of the Diamond District if I were you, I heard some whispers of something earlier.â he paused. âCall if you need help, Iâm only working on some homework.â
Bruce eyed the open text book and pages of notes spread over Dukeâs bed and sighed. âGood to know I have one responsible child,â he said and ducked out.
Now, this wasnât too out of the norm. But there was something of Bruceâs words that seriously rubbed Duke the wrong way. No, it wasnât that Bruce hadnât acknowledged Dukeâs offer of help. It was -
Being called responsible.
Duke frowned. He liked to think of himself as responsible, but it was the connotations that Bruce was implying. There had been several times over the past year that Duke was hailed as âthe good childâ or âthe sane oneâ or âthe well-behaved batâ which if he were being honest, he didnât think fit him at all.
Didnât they think of the time he decided he could take on The Riddler by himself?
Or when he kept running away from foster homes to look for his parents?
Or became one of the Robins?
Or an official vigilante?
And one who wore bright yellow at that (though to be fair that was partly Bruceâs fault. Though Duke did keep the design when he revised it âŠ).
And patrolled alone during the day!
Or when he disobeyed Bruce multiple times for so many reasons? One of the biggest when he didnât tell him he suddenly got shadow powers?
Duke sighed. âIâm starting to believe Tim when he says that heâs the actual  Worldâs Greatest Detective.â
He liked Bruce and the family, and living in the Manor, he honestly did. But sometimes he wished he could be seen as something other than Bruceâs poorly thought out assumption.
But there wasnât anything Duke could do about it. He was already one of the stranger members of the family, so it wasnât like he could rebel a bit.
Duke grinned as he grabbed his laptop from his bedside table and pulled it open, then quickly typing in what he was looking for. After a few minutes of search, Duke had hit the jackpot.
âOh, thisâll be fun,â he said as he smirked down the screen, and what it read.
How To Become A Rebellious Teenager.
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