Okay listen au for @occasionalauthoring no pack au
Bruce doesn't have a pack. He has his kids but he doesn't have a pack. He didn't have a pack since the day his parents were gone. He respects his kids' wishes to not form a bond, not be a pack, It hurts and it stings, but he can handle far worse. It's a privelege to be allowed to know them at all. Being packless is not too bad. Yeah, he is touch starved, and his stress levels are higher than normal, and his heat cycles are miserable, but none of that ever killed a man. Plenty of people out there living without a pack and managing just fine. It does hurt a bit more in his situation though, since he is constantly reminded of the rejection: every time he sees them and craves to scent and be scented and has to restrain himself, every time he is putting together a nest and finds it barren. But it's nothing to cry over. So many people face worse things every day of their life. It does sting and slap and crack quite a lot when he finds that Damian doesn't actually mind getting scented by Tim, or that Jason gave Cass a few of his hoodies for her nest, but it's really not his business. If they are happy then he is happy as well. It feels like both burning alive and drowning at the same time when he finds that Alfred lets Dick smother him in his scent, and scents Dick back an appropriate amount, subtly rubbing his wrist again Dick's. But Bruce can- he can-
He can't.
