PLATONIC BRUDICK NEEDS TO MAKE A COMEBACK
I know the *age gap* thing makes it less marketable these days
But Bruce and Dick being best friends first, before they figured out all the down to earth stuff...
Like Bruce being well and truly ill equipped to be a father figure, let alone a decent surrogate family patriarch
But being a high society child turned play boy, he does have the wine and dine and make your date feel relaxed routine down to a science
And that is definitely not what the psychological handling of orphaned children manual says to do.
But for a professional performer, who's spending his waking hours honing his craft, hardly knowing what a non working child does all day?
Being treated like a cranky princess actually makes the whole world make a tiny bit more sense. Bruce doesn't expect Dick to open up, or be overly comforting which is just creepy from a stranger regardless of their occupation in mental health, Bruce just smiles and lists outings they could go on, or books Dick might find informative.
Awkward nerd flirting Bruce, and Dick " world renowned acrobat at age 8 " Grayson, getting courted in to being a sidekick to daytime Bruce?
I get the later modern Bruce is anti social and hates doing human things, but he also enjoys company of real people, yes?
B & R maybe codependent out of trauma response in the battle field, but Bruce won over the trust and loyalty of Dick Grayson by good old fashioned courting.
Bruce using his charm calibrated to get by in the society dating world to befriend a small acrobat :)
Said small boy learning to be the greatest tease to ever dawn a cape?
Early days Dick being the anti social and emotionally closed off one, while Alfred is looking the other way as Bruce is straight up Romancing a small boy.
And I repeat Bruce is not a creep, he just has two settings of human interaction, and this one involves the other party hopefully smiling at the end of the day, instead of spitting out teeth from a broken jaw.
