i know that bruce being emotionally constipated is a comedy staple in a lot of batfam fics, but i have a headcanon that bruce does understand emotions fairly well but ONLY in the context of how his family handles/reacts to them. for example:
tim, holding his side and stumbling up to his bedroom: ow, ow, ow, ow ow-
bruce, hovering but not doing anything because his feral child will hiss and hide his injuries for months if he makes him feel cornered: do you want me to help directly or leave The Offerings?
tim, sullenly: offerings, please
bruce: *piles a bunch of medical supplies in tim's customized Injury Offerings bag (covered in Young Justice and weird animal stickers) and leaves it outside of his door like a sacrifice*
two days later
WE employee: *gets bad papercut* oh, jeez, this hurts
bruce, malfunctioning in the hallway because he literally watched three of his gremlins refuse to treat a broken rib like two hours ago: do you want The Offerings?
WE employee, used to their boss' eccentricities: no i'll just use the first aid kit, thank you Mr Wayne.
new intern, pale and shaking: oh god its a cult, i knew it, the health benefits were too good i'm gonna die-
like bruce can understand and interpret the meanings of other people's emotions, he just has horrible reference points. he stays completely straight faced and sometimes even looks wistful when cursed out by a random board member, but gets misty eyed when he finds random rocks stuffed in his suit jacket pockets (jason shows affection through volume and damian/tim/duke/steph put rocks in his clothes when they're grateful but don't wanna be mushy about it) i believe this wholeheartedly let bruce wayne be a good dad I SWEAR
