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It had been a year now since Dick had been taken in by Bruce and he had become quite certain on the things he liked and the things he disliked about the new experiences he was getting.
One of the things that Richard Grayson had come to realise was that he absolutely hated suits. And galas. But mostly the suits.
They were uncomfortable, and there were too many parts. Why did he need to wear a tie or a bow tie when it was already so stifling having to do all of the buttons up? The blazers and waistcoats were a pain as well.
All of the parts just felt like they were restricting his movement which was horrible, he thrived on movement. He was an acrobat! He couldn’t deal with feeling this restrained.
The shoes he had to wear weren’t comfortable either, pinching at the edges of his toes in that way new shoes did because he never wore them enough to properly wear them in, leaving them all stiff and immobile.
None of it looked nice either. There was no colour! It was all boring plain tones with nothing interesting at all! What was wrong with bright things?
It probably didn’t help either that he mostly wore them to those horrible gala’s Bruce threw which he also hated. Thankfully he was at least able to avoid going to most of the ones Bruce was invited to instead given his age or what day of the week it was. It was always funny when Bruce pulled out the “it’s a school night” excuse given how many of those he ended up being allowed to go out as Robin, even if it did often take a lot of convincing.
He was now getting to experience having to wear one of the suits for a new reason though.
A family photo.
There was going to be a version put up in one of the public areas of the manor, the hall Dick thought Bruce had said but honestly he hadn’t paid that much attention to that part, and it was also going to be released to select media outlets.
He didn’t really want to but Bruce had been insistent claiming that it was one of those small necessities that had to be done given the publicity the Wayne name attracted. He had to put out just enough new information to keep the newspapers fed in their insatiable need for inane stories on the wealthiest family in Gotham while not giving them too much and making them think they could always expect more. Giving the stories directly to them himself cut down on how many times they tried to breach their privacy he had said when Dick had asked about it.
Dick understood the logic, sort of anyway. It was a tough line to have to balance and Dick didn’t envy Bruce for having to be the one to orchestrate it all.
Dick didn’t fully understand why he had to wear this damn suit for it though. Couldn’t they just wear their normal clothes for a family photo? Why did they need to get all dressed up for it when that wasn’t how normally they dressed around each other? It just didn’t make sense to him.
So, because of all that, he was now getting himself ready in his room. He scowled at the dull black tie as he tried to fix it once again, he still found doing the initial knot difficult but he didn’t want to ask Bruce to show him again. He didn’t want to have to keep relying on him when he could do it by himself.
Just, maybe after a few more tries though.
After deciding it might help to try it in front of the mirror, and shuffling over to position in front of it, he was finally able to get it right after just two more attempts. It was a lot fewer attempts than it had taken last time, even including all the attempts before using the mirror to help, so Dick was actually rather pleased with himself.
Another glance into the mirror, after he took his moment of pride for getting his tie right, told him that he would need to sort his hair out a little. It wouldn’t need to be as neat and tidy as it did for gala’s thankfully but he still had to run a brush through it to try to tame some of the wilder parts of his hair.
There, finally he was looking “acceptable” enough for this silly picture.
The picture was going to take place in the guest approved lounge, rather than the one they usually used. Even if it was going to be Alfred taking it they still preferred not to show off the more private areas of the manor in these sorts of pictures.
Dick rushed down there, hoping that if he got there quicker it could be over quicker.
Bruce and Alfred were already down there waiting for him when he arrived. Not surprisingly though, Alfred was making sure everything was sorted that would be in frame of view for the picture while Bruce was hovering over by the camera.
He smiled when he noticed Dick’s entrance. “There you are, chum. I was just about to come and get you. All set?” He asked.
Dick nodded. “Yeah. Can we hurry and get this over with?”
Bruce’s smile dropped a fraction in the corners before he pulled it back up, covering the motion up. He stepped forward and crouched down by the boy, neatening out the suit in areas. “I know this isn’t really something you want to do but it does mean a lot to me. We’re not just doing this for the papers or guests, it’s for us too. You might not think of me as your family, and it’s okay if you don’t chum, you’ve been through a lot and I can’t tell you how you should consider me. But I do consider you a part of my family and it might be selfish but I’d like something to show for that, for me to look back on and remember us as we are now when I get all old and grey.”
Bruce then reached out towards Dick’s tie and straightened it up. “There, all better. Let’s get this finished then.” He stood back up and made his way to the chair in front of the camera.
Dick stood there for a moment before following and taking his own position up. He hadn’t realised it meant that much to Bruce, maybe hadn’t even realised that he meant that much to him either. Hearing it, it was nice. He felt a little silly realising that he hadn’t really been admitting that Bruce was family yet despite everything he had thought to the contrary.
Because Bruce was family now, and Alfred was, they both were. And maybe taking one little picture every so often with his guardian to prove that wasn’t so bad after all. Even if he did end up having to get dressed up for it.
