Chapter Text
When it wasn’t raining, everyone made sure to enjoy the outdoors as much as they could. While some of their time was spent entertaining themselves, the rest was met with hard work. Winter was not a season to be trifled with, and meat would be harder to come by. Everyone spent more time foraging than hunting, burying whatever they could find. The anticipation of winter put them on edge, and sometimes it was reflected in their behavior. Jason was less patient with his siblings, Dick didn’t often bother peace-making, and Stephanie wasn’t as energetic as she was at the start of the season. Tim was a little more sullen than usual and Cass’ cuddle time shot through the roof. She liked pressing herself up against whoever was feeling the worst in the evenings. Then she showered them with all the attention that could possibly be showered, even to the point that it could prove irritating.
Jason was often the one who grew most irritated since Cass picked him more often than the others, but he never turned her away when she came trotting over. That’s because it was equivalent to accidentally stepping on a hatchling. There was a lot of guilt and second thoughts involved. She could manipulate anyone’s emotions by drooping her ears and dragging herself away.
Bruce hadn’t changed much in the mood department, and he remained a vigilant egg-protector. He occasionally left the nest to prepare for winter. He didn’t like it when anyone pushed themselves too hard, so he made sure everyone had adequate rest. Because they lived in an enclosed burrow, it was impossible to avoid his observant eye. No one could hide when they were tired. No one.
Bruce didn’t have to worry so much once winter finally rolled in. Every dragon within the horde became lethargic because of the bitter cold, and they spent most of their time focusing on survival. To keep themselves warm, they spent most of their days huddled together in a large group. Bruce found himself in the center because he wanted to protect the egg, but his children weren’t going to let him, or themselves, get cold. They squashed him in on all sides, moving only to eat and drink. Sometimes, Bruce had to step over his children to do the same, but he snapped at anyone who decided to stretch themselves out in his unoccupied space. With glinting fangs, he warned everyone off from the egg. Though he dearly loved his children, he didn’t have 100% trust in their awareness. Not when they were sleeping like this—all dazed and lazy-like.
Winter seemed longer than the other seasons, only because there wasn’t much to do, and it seemed to drag on and on. Tim, who was previously withdrawn, became difficult to deal with, and if Jason wasn’t busy pinning him down to keep him still, Dick was growling because Tim couldn’t stop walking all over them and putting himself in weird crevices that he didn’t fit in. When he didn’t fit all the way, he made a big fuss about it. He made sure everyone knew about his predicament. He had no end of woe is me moments.
Finally, after a whole season of being cooped up in a burrow, the family was restless for freedom, and freedom came when the ice melted away. Though the cold hadn’t completely dissipated, it warmed up enough for dragons to roam around and stretch out their wings. For three days, no one was in the burrow. No one except Bruce.
While envious of his children, he had a duty to fulfill, and he would not be leaving his egg until spring properly rolled in, but it seemed this year had all sorts of surprises for him.
Because one day, in the quiet of the burrow, Bruce picked up his head, perked his ears up, and tilted his head to the side. He listened very closely to the little sound he thought he heard.
For a moment, he felt as if he’d imagined things, but then there it was again.
A little peep.
It wasn’t a frequent call, but every-now and again, there was another peep, and another peep, and another and another until, a few hours later, there was a creature calling out to him within the egg, shouting out to the world that it was alive and ready to hatch. Bruce couldn’t sit in the nest anymore after enough of this, and he found himself pacing back and forth as he watched the egg.
Dick found him like that after returning home with a bass, eager to share his treasures, but he paused when he found his father pacing around the burrow like a predator waiting for its prey to emerge from a hiding place. His initial confusion stretched for a few minutes until he, too, heard the little peep that was calling out from within the egg.
He abandoned the bass and spat it out. He approached the nest as close as he could without having Bruce snap his jaw at him, creeping lowly like a feline. Then he sat himself down and did nothing else. Not a sound escaped him. Unlike Bruce. When he’d heard that little peep, he’d chuffed impatiently and longingly.
Dick wisely refrained from making any sudden movements as he watched the egg. Hatching was a long process, much longer than he could have anticipated. It was little wonder Bruce was whining like a wolf pup, or why he was pacing around. He’d probably been dealing with this for multiple hours.
As Dick dozed off, Bruce continued with his pacing. Tim eventually slipped into the burrow, and he didn’t catch on as quickly as Dick. Though Bruce’s pacing puzzled him, he didn’t pay it much attention. He sat himself down tiredly, and he looked about ready to put himself into a nap too. Instead, when he heard the hatchling’s peep, his ears shot up and he jumped into the air like a spooked animal.
He stared at the egg wide-eyed, and then he stumbled over his own limbs as he tried to get closer to it. He almost tripped into the nest doing so, and Bruce immediately stopped pacing and shoved Tim away, not-too-gently, and then he growled at him and nipped at his ear. Tim squeaked and hastily climbed over Dick to get away from his father.
“Just stay there,” Dick said, roused by the racket, “and don’t move around too much.”
“The hatchling is coming out,” Tim said instead of acknowledging Dick’s words. “It’s finally time!”
Tim’s excitement was very obvious but hopefully he’d be able to contain it. Who knew how long it’d take for the hatchling to come out?
Long enough, apparently, for the whole family to return and to make a full-out audience. They spent the entire afternoon watching the egg. The evening, too. However, nothing really happened until night fell, and then the egg finally started to show signs of wear. A little hole was made by persistent struggle.
Little by little, more holes came to be. The hatchling fought and fought, taking far too long for everyone involved. There wasn’t a single dragon that wasn’t anxious, though it wasn’t as obvious in some as it was in others. Bruce, for instance, compared to Jason’s supposed disinterest, but Jason’s tail was tapping worriedly, and he was trying to hide other tics in his body language.
When a little hatchling, so tired of fighting and struggling to get out of the egg, finally broke through the barrier and slipped out, Bruce flew across the burrow and immediately started licking off all the goo and slime off his hatchling. The little creature peeped weakly, maneuvered around however its father liked. It couldn’t even open its eyes yet, so one could only wonder what it was thinking right now. If it was thinking anything, perhaps it was thinking about the temperature of the nest. Or the exhaustion it was feeling.
As Bruce dedicated himself to the hatchling’s care, desperate to be as close as possible, Stephanie got a good look and realized what they were dealing with.
“Congrats, it’s a boy,” she said.
“Another brother?” Jason moaned. “Not another one.”
Tim was almost vibrating out of his scales and made it Jason’s problem. Jason yelped as Tim pounced on him out of sheer joy, eager to start a wrestling match to get his energy out, and Jason wasn’t as willing this time around. Not with one eye on a big, protective, papa dragon.
Bruce chuffed a few times and cleaned the hatchling up until there wasn’t anything left to be cleaned up. Then he was rumbling a fierce thing, moving the hatchling around with his snout to get him into the spot he wanted.
“Looks like he takes after Bruce,” Dick said after noticing the black coloring of the hatchling’s scales.
No one acknowledged his words, not when Jason was busy with Tim, and Cass was silent in reverence and fascination. Stephanie was quiet too, unwilling to speak for reasons Dick didn’t know, and Dick found himself doing the same because he didn’t want to interrupt this moment.
Bruce curled around the hatchling and purred deeply. The hatchling settled down into a quiet, breathing out slowly and just… living. How one could just be alive and be adorable was confusing, but Dick found that he was endeared. Way more than he’d been prepared to be, which wasn’t much of anything at all. He hadn’t been prepared for this if he was going to be honest with himself. He’d thought they’d get a new addition, and that was it. He hadn’t anticipated what he’d personally feel about the hatchling, and he’d kept a healthy sense of unattachment, he thought.
Until now.
Uh-oh, Dick thought, realizing it was far too late to turn back, I'm attached.