Languages - Dick and Damian the Dynamic Dou
(This is a story, if your coming from Something to Learn the opening is a less edited version of the same thing, just go past the bolded section)
Before he was with Bruce, Dick grew up speaking English and Romani. Damian grew up with Arabic, Chinese, and English as the dominantly spoken languages around him. One night, while on the field together, -Batman and Robin reborn area. after Battle For the Cowl during Red Robin- Robin accidentally slips into speaking Arabic.
It's a simple mistake, but Damian is guarded. He knows better, living under the watch of Grayson doesn’t change who he is and how he was raised. Dick understands this, seeing how guarded Damian is; it leads him to opening up on his own past as a multilingual child.
Dick lost more than just his parents that night at the circus, not just this home but a part of his culture he could never get back. Dick still uses Romani where he can but it's not the same, and when he was a kid there were even less ways to do so.
Not wanting Damian to lose another pices of the culture he grew up with while living in America Dick offers to learn if Damian's willing to teach.
Over their time together, Damian starts to teach Dick leading them to another way to communicate together.
When Bruce eventually comes back from his travel threw time, he already knows Arabic and is able to talk to Damian in the language. But it isn't the same dialect Damian though Dick. Bruce is his farther, but Dick is more than just his brother.
(Ra’s made up his own language then mashed that with old Arabic and that’s the secret language used amongst the league which Damian teaches Dick -over time not right away- which Bruce’s has never learned.)
This also feeds into my story "My Robin", which is Mary Grayson's final words from her perspective. This reflects on that moment in time, not only were her final words "My Robin" but they were spoken in Romani. This story will also have an impact later int he timeline.
Robin didn’t mean to; he had been up for nearly 36 hours. He was going to pass out hard when he had time to relax, but for now, he was staying awake. He could be blamed for staying up so long, later.
He was young, a growing boy. Batman never liked when he stayed up so long, neither did Alfred. If his mother were here, she would also disagree with this, while also arguing that it is a beneficial skill to be able to stay up for such long periods.
He wasn’t thinking in that split moment.
How he was raised, where, and by whom.
His first thoughts weren't in the common language;
“I am perfectly fine, Batman. I feel it is a good time for us to return home. Both of us should try and get adequate sleep before tomorrow.”
He hadn’t realized at first, he was quite tired. If his grandfather caught him making a mistake like this, there would be consequences in his training. But within only a few moments realized the mistake, looking at Batman, who had a puzzled expression across his face. The cowl covered his eyes, it didn’t express like the Domino mask could. The mask was a solid item, but his frown was clear through the open bottom.
“I’m sorry, could you repeat that in English, Robin?”
“Yes, sorry, Batman. I’ll do better about that.”
Batman took the break at the sentence's end before Robin could say more to speak up again. “Hey, it’s alright, it’s been a long day. Dad was always so confused when I was first taken in, and I would start rambling in any language that wasn’t English. I knew 4 when I was a kid and learned 3 more over the years. Most of the time, when excited, I would start speaking in Romani. There’s always a learning curve when being Multilingual.”
Damian didn’t exactly know what to say, so he just nodded. Grayson smiled at him, being the naturally chatty person he was, when he continued talking. They were alone on a rough top so high up and so late into the night, he doubted anyone had any chance of hearing them. Grayson knew better than to use confidential information; he wouldn’t risk an identity that’s been kept secret for so long.
“My mother was Romani, and she taught me the language when I was young. While my father had learned to understand the general language after they got married, he never could speak more than a few words and phrases. I was used to speaking it, and I missed her voice so much, the ability to use what felt like a secret language between us. She didn’t stay connected to a lot of her culture as a Romani woman, but she still always talked about teaching me more once I was older. That we could learn together, but that never ended up happening.”
There was a break, a noticeable Exhale. Grayson sat at the edge of the building clearly wanting to say more. Robin had to choose to join him or leave. He was in a position that if Robin chose to leave, he would follow, jumping down and using his grapple. But Damian chose to sit next to his eldest brother at the ledge. After a moment Dick looked up from where he was staring at his hand out into the city's skyline. Counting this reflection of his past.
“I kept up my use of Spanish and French with Bruce, as well as leading Chinese and Italian.
The Romani language, like the culture, is rooted in resistance and existence. It isn’t shared outside the community for safety. There were still too many kept closed, and I never felt comfortable sharing it with anybody. As I became older, I struggled with my own identity as a Romani person and using the language, especially with others who spoke the language.
I believe I was 15 when I started writing letters to my parents using my limited knowledge of the written form. It was a mess of a child’s handwriting and words from different languages, which grammatically make no sense. But to me, I would translate everything into Romani so it all made sense to me, and it was impossible for others to translate. They were private just for me, for my mom and dad.
I’ve gotten better at writing and spelling now that I’ve been able to connect more with the community. I still write letters sometimes. I often will narrate my internal monologue when I’m alone, it’s always been Romani, even if a lot of what I think about is through English.
It’s hard to adapt sometimes, isn’t it? To speak a completely different language from your mother tongue. In a completely different culture and environment from where you grew up.”
“I was raised with English and Arabic. My Mother made sure of my fluency in both as well as my knowledge of many other languages. It was a mindless mistake which I will not repeat.”
Grayson pointedly looked at Damian over the statement. Not happy about the comment but not pissed, more sympathetic in the audited he showed.
“Mistakes happen. I don't know how Talia raised you, but under my watch, you have to understand that you are still a kid. Even as an adult, I make mistakes, and in that moment we weren’t in a fight and the slip up led to no harm to you, me, or others.”
Dick huffed slightly in a friendly way, not laughing at Damian’s comment.
Quite settled between them and Dick thought about his childhood. Memories he hadn’t recalled in a while.
He had been raised speaking dominantly English and Romani with his parents, as well as sunsets of Spanish and French dialect.
When taken in by Bruce, he had gained a stability he had feared losing with his parents, Haley had stayed in Gotham for a bit with the Open cause file. And he visited when it was possible, Dick had a home to live in and Guardians to look over him. With that, he still lost so much of his life.
He did it mindlessly a lot, when talking to himself or when focused on something else, like pain or joy. Not everyone at the Circus had a clear understanding of the Romani Language, but if something was unimportant, then it didn’t matter what language he used. The family he had there knew this and was used to it. The diversity of languages and accents.
Bruce recognized the language but didn’t know it, which made sense. The Romani language and culture to many is seen as something that should stay a closed practice. While Dick was Roma he wasn’t close to the culture and only knew the Language thanks to his mother. It never felt right to share it with anyone else, especially his new adoptive father.
Bruce wasn’t used to the random comments Dick would make specifically in a language he understood. When Dick spoke in English it was fine, Bruce often just ignored him. Seemingly always leasoning but not digging into Dick person activities. But it was noticeable anytime he wasn’t speaking English, it always seemed to set Bruce on edge.
Over the years, he stopped talking to himself when others were around. When alone, especially after moving to Bludhaven, he went back to the commenting, not just vocalizing his thoughts but narting his actions. Keeping in touch with his Language skills.
“My mother's last words were spoken in Romania. It was a set of words I don’t think my father would have understood, but I question if he even heard her. I question sometimes (all the time) if I had even heard her correctly.”
“Romani? But the Police Report.”
Grayson chuckled. It wasn’t sad. There was a sense of joy behind it?
“Not surprised you’ve read those. Yeah, I know what I told them. Her final statement before the show started “I can’t wait to see you fly, my little Robin.” The stupid little nickname that came from my compliments over the union, which I adapted into the Hero Identity I used for so many years. Yeah. That was the second-to-last thing I heard her say. Right before she fell.”
There was a pause, no change in breathing, and he just sat there quietly. Richard Grayson had lived through so much in such a short time.
“Her last words were just ‘My Robin’. I don’t know what she was thinking in those final moments. But that's what she said in that split second we made eye contact after realizing that something had gone horribly wrong.
I didn't realize that at first. There was so much happening in those few seconds. I had seen her lip move, I knew she was calling out to me, but I had truly heard what she said. I spent months trying to remember, standing in my bathroom, leaning close to the mirror, repeating back different words over and over. My Robin, it wasn’t just one word. That combination hadn’t come to mind right away, but it was what was the closest in sound and movement to be right. I question it all the time. I know for certain what she said standing next to me on the platform, but I’m less sure of and it hurts not to know truly what she said.
I can’t even remember my father's last words to me that day. And then the guilt swirls around me as if I favor my mom's memories over my dad's, while I truly love them both. I just… there are certain memories that stand out with my mother that just haven’t stuck out the same with my father. And after so long, my memories of both of them have faded so much. I really only have these small fragments to remember them by.”
There should be more with Damian offering to teach him Arabic, it a mix of the leagues subset of the language and the common usage of it. This special blend is used in everyday language compared to the secret only for mission’s language. Bruce doesn’t fully know either but can recognize the difference in everyday Arabic he already knows and this which is what Damian knows the best and uses when committable, thought yes he does speak in everyday Arabic.
I did use the ide said Dick Writing Letters to his family from @gothamsmom (account LINK)
As of the story with My Robin being her last words that’s mine - HERE - is the original tumblr post
