Dick reached up and felt something wet on his cheek. His first thought was blood... but that couldn't be right. He wasn't feeling any pain... physical pain that is... and he hadn't done anything particularly dangerous that day. He hadn't really done anything, not since he found Jason's cold dead body the night before.
The wetness seemed to be coming from his eyes, so Dick wiped at them, bringing his arm down to look at the glistening wetness on his hand. Nope, definitely not blood.
Dick was confused. His eyes were leaking and they just wouldn't stop. He took a shaky breath and sniffed his nose that had also started leaking.
He sat there for a few more minutes, hoping that this weird phenomenon would fix itself.
When the tears only started pouring down his cheeks faster, making their way to his chin and dripping down onto his lap, Dick started to feel something that he'd learned to recognize as worry.
Not knowing quite what to do, Dick walked into his bathroom and peeked at himself in the mirror. He saw his bright golden eyes looking back at him, but the normally white sclera tinged a reddish pink. As was his nose for that matter.
Dick watched as a large tear made its way down his cheek. He lifted a hand and wiped it away before it could drip off of his chin.
He took more shuddering breaths and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep more tears from leaking from his eyes.
That, however, didn't seem to work.
Dick's worry morphed to fear. The small droplets pouring from his eyes scared him. He'd never seen anything like this happen to any other talon or even Bruce or Alfred.
Was he dying?
What was causing this?
Dick could feel something building up in his chest. A feeling that he wasn't accustomed to. Something he didn't have a name for.
'Maybe Bruce knows what's wrong with me...' Dick thought to himself, moving towards the door of his room.
—
Dick knocked gently on the door of Bruce's study before opening the door and slipping inside.
Bruce sat with his back to Dick, his head resting on his hands. "Hey bud... I... I need to be alone right now... if you need help could you ask Alfred?" Bruce asked, voice gentle.
Dick nodded, knowing Bruce wouldn't see it, before quickly rushing back to his own room.
Despite how kind Bruce had been about wanting to be left alone, being asked to leave only made the tears pour down Dick's cheeks faster, the strange overwhelming feeling intensifying.
Soon Dick was curled up on his bed, sobs shaking his body as he hugged one of his pillows, hoping it could offer him at least some comfort.
Dick was scared out of his mind, not knowing what was going on, and not being able to stop his own tears and sobs. Eventually he simply cried himself to sleep.
—
Bruce sat on the edge of Dick's bed, gently running his fingers through his son's hair.
He sat there for a few minutes in the quiet before he noticed the tear stains on Dick's cheeks and the wetness of his pillow.
Bruce inwardly chastised himself for not realizing what his son must've been going through that day. He should've focused less on himself and his own pain and tried to help Dick who probably didn't even know what his new feelings were.
Dick's eyes blinked open when Bruce shook his shoulder lightly. Almost immediately, tears were spilling from his eyes and his lip was trembling. "B-Bruce... I t-think I'm broken," he said. "M-my eyes are l-leaking... a-and I have this w-weird f-feeling like s-someone cut out a piece of my h-heart."
Bruce pulled Dick to his chest in a hug. "You're not broken Dickie," he soothed. "The water droplets coming from your eyes are called tears. They come out when you cry... which is what happens when you're sad."
"Sad?" Dick mumbled into Bruce's shoulder.
Bruce squeezed Dick tighter for a second. "Ya, sadness is a new emotion that I haven't taught you about yet. It's what happens when something or someone hurts you or the ones you love," he explained.
"S-so this is because J-Jay is gone?"
Bruce didn't say anything for a moment, simply nodding a yes. He sighed, rubbing Dick's back. "It'll get better in time Dickie. It'll get better..."