Canes and family love
@starry-bi-sky's blood blossom au will always have my heart. Have a short snippet of my own little headcanon for it, and Danny's growing collection of canes<3
Danny's first cane is simple. It's something Bruce dug out from the storage just so he'd be able to walk around the house without needing to rely on him or Alfred, close to the right height and with a comfortable grip, but one that feels more borrowed than owned.
His second cane is a choice he's included in, along with crutches and a wheelchair. His first cane let him venture outside the manor, with time and a disguise on his side to not alert Vlad. This one is wooden, made perfectly to his height and with incremental options to change the height. He doesn't grow much, dead kids with cannibalistic poison in their blood rarely do, but it's there. He drags Bruce and Alfred into decorating it alongside his other mobility aids, and a little yellow bat finds it's way onto the handle, where Danny can wrap his hand securely around it. The first cane becomes backup.
The third cane isn't Danny's - it's for nightingale, and made just in case. Bruce goes through both hidden and trusted channels to procure it without anyone catching a glimpse for them to recognize in Nightingales hand. Neither Danny or Bruce want him to use a cane and tie his identities together, but it's become clear that his new vigilante persona is here to stay, whenever Batman needs help, and a simple, sharp, black design stands next to his gear in the cave.
It's the second cane that Danny uses whenever he has a chance, and the need for more isn't there. It's Danny's favorite, and he feels no need for another, but then the fourth cane comes in a birthday gift. Dick Grayson has been with them for just a little over three years, and he gives Danny a cane with a bat symbol carved under the handle and crawling vines of ivy with hidden music notes going up the stick. Dick's smile is big and only missing one tooth as he says with joy, "You love music."
And Danny does love music. He uses two canes daily, after that, swapping between the one he decorated with Bruce and Alfred and the one from Dick at his will. He never goes more than a week using one alone.
The fifth cane is just as unexpected as the fourth. It's years after Bruce adopted Dick when a kid from crime alley tries to jack his tires, and hits him with the iron when he approaches. Danny jokes that he'd like a sister next time, and welcomes Jason with open arms. He's an incredibly sweet boy, once given a proper home with three meals a day and a library he doesn't get kicked out of. Jason doesn't ask Danny what he wants for his birthday, and Danny never expected a gift, wanting only his family's company, and yet he's handed a long, beautifully wrapped box. Jason is simultaneously excited and shy, swapping between a more than justified pride of his work, and insistence that Danny doesn't have to use it if he doesn't want to.
A beautifully painted cane joins the other two for Danny's good days that are slowly becoming more frequent. It's colorful and full of small references no one would get if they didn't know the story, and Dicks jab that Jason is trying to up him is met with a laughter filled play fight.
Without Danny noticing, it apparently becomes tradition. Tim gives Danny a simple, stylish cane for going out at Danny's first birthday after he moved in. Cass doesn't even wait for his birthday. Damian's gift is followed by a physical fight with Jason when he reveals a bet had been made on if the prickly child would be able to give a good one. Barb takes him out to pick wheelchairs together.
It's maybe not Danny's favorite tradition in this family, but it's up there. He cherishes each gift given, acknowledgement and help with his comfort. Every year brings an increase in good days, and with that occasions to use each cane.
