Work Text:
Dick was a smart boy. At the circus, everyone praised him, saying how brilliant he was.
He was eight years old, but he wasn't stupid. So one look at Mr. Wayne was enough to tell him he wasn't a normal person.
It wasn't just that he was a little weird, that he refused to make eye contact with people and mumbled instead of speaking straight.
There was much more, and he realized it after two months of living with him: Bruce Wayne was a vampire.
And Dick had a list of things he'd learned about vampires.
Vampires don't like the light (if forced outside, they'll wear sunglasses)
That was pretty obvious, Dick knew. But Mr. Wayne - Bruce - forgot. How was that possible? Good question.
The fact was that Bruce forgot that the sun hurt him, he went out to accompany him to school, and when he was out he closed his eyes annoyed.
He'd even heard him hiss in the sun as if it had personally offended him. Alfred, the butler (he was pretty cool), sighed and gave him some sunglasses.
It was obvious he knew Bruce was a vampire, and thought him a bit of a fool for forgetting things vital to his survival.
He had even heard that your nightly regimens should have taught you something. So it was clear that the other preferred the night and was not used to the sun.
Who knows what special sunscreen he used to avoid burns. Did the vampires sparkle in the sun or did they melt? He'd seen a movie once where the vampire shone, but it wasn't very good, and it was super boring.
However, Bruce kept forgetting that he needed glasses, so Dick brought them to him because he didn't want his brace to melt his eyes from the sun. And when there were beautiful sunny days – rare in Gotham, but there were – he also carried an umbrella with him. You never knew when it would come in handy.
Vampires don't eat like normal humans.
Bruce never ate with Dick. She hadn't noticed him at first, because he didn't feel like eating either. But then hunger had won, and he had joined Alfred and Bruce in the kitchen. No, correction: Dick had joined Alfred in the kitchen.
Bruce played with a blueberry on his plate, making him think he'd eaten so far. The first time he deceived him.
Later he used the same trick, with different food, but he benefited us while Dick ate. It was nice that she wanted to make an effort to spend time with him even though he didn't need human food. But when did he feed? At night, when Dick was sleeping?
He had feared that he had taken him in only to have a bag of blood always available, but he had never approached him with bad intentions. He didn't even see Alfred with strange bruises on his neck, but Alfred was old, so his blood probably wasn't that good.
So who did Bruce feed on?
Maybe he went to hospitals to get blood bags, or maybe he got it from bad people.
Maybe he didn't do it in order not to attract Batman's attention, so he just bought it on the Internet. It was weird, but Bruce was weird, so he might have done it.
Vampires don't sleep at night. They take a nap during the day.
He still hadn't found Bruce's coffin. However, it was a matter of time, Dick was curious and Wayne Manor was huge. He was in no hurry to find it.
However, he was beginning to think that Bruce too had forgotten where his coffin was, since he found him asleep in the strangest positions: in the library sitting in an armchair, in front of his office computer, on the kitchen table, once even on the floor.
It must have been hard to stay awake during the day not to startle him, and maybe Dick should tell him he knew her secret. But what if he was angry? What if he decided it wasn't worth living?
He still hadn't found his parents' killer, he couldn't die!
So he decided to ignore it. It was funny too, Bruce was sleeping soundly and snoring too. He was a heavy sleeper and nothing Dick would do to him would wake him!
(He may have drawn his mustache with a sharpie, but ssh, Alfred didn't know that)
Vampires turn into cute bats.
He found a bat in Bruce's study. Dick screamed, the bat let out a squeak and they both hid. At least, Dick hid, the bat had a wounded wing and tried to cover itself with the healthy one.
When he realized he wasn't going to hurt him, Dick walked over. It was a pretty cute bat, and a very small one.
It wasn't gross like everyone at the circus told him.
But what was it doing in Bruce's studio? Moreover, Dick hadn't seen him all day, and Alfred said he'd had a long night…He slapped his forehead and called himself a fool. That was Bruce! He was injured and could no longer become human again.
Dick stroked the animal's head, "Don't worry, B. I'll take care of you!"
He stayed close to him all day, fed him (check the internet first, duh, he's not that dumb), cuddled him, and kept him with him when he fell asleep.
Upon awakening, the bat was gone. There was Bruce with a bandaged shoulder (ah!) and a worried look.
“You shouldn't play with wild animals.”
Dick just smiled. He was glad to have been of help.
Vampires are evil, but Bruce is cool.
Everyone knew vampires were monsters. But mom and dad had been killed by a human being, not a monster. Humans weren't much better than monsters. Not even Bruce understood them, despite being so old.
Dick wasn't afraid of him. No one will ever be able to replace his parents, but Bruce…well, maybe one day he can convince him to turn him into a vampire and make him fly again.