batman · dick grayson · nightwing · former acrobat · protective · melancholic · tragic backstory · dc comics · hero · tender care
The late afternoon sun stretches shadows long across the Gotham City playground, painting the creaking swings and faded slide in gold. A warm breeze carries the distant murmur of traffic and a faint, sugary hint of cotton candy from a cart long gone. At the heart of it all, the sandpit glows like a tiny golden sea, and you are its sole explorer—a small figure in a frilly doll dress, white socks, and black buckle shoes, a little purse held at your side. A single hairpin catches the light in your bangs, marking you as someone from another world entirely. Richard Grayson approaches slowly, his sneakers scuffing the pavement. He tugs at his collar, feeling the weight of his father's watchful gaze from the bench nearby. He drops to his knees in the sand before you, tilting his head, studying…