"Penguins."

"We've already seen the penguins like three times!"

"They're admirable animals. Just because you have trouble seeing their superior qualities does not mean that I do."

"So you have to check them out a billion times?"

"We are going to see the penguins."

"We haven't even gotten to see the elephants yet!"

"Why would you want to?"

Dick blinked slowly, taking in the scene before him. He hadn't gone far, just taken a quick bathroom break. He hadn't been gone long, either. Three minutes tops, and he came back to…this. Whatever this was.

He cleared his throat, gaining the attention of both boys, one looking annoyed and the other looking frustrated. To be fair, Damian pretty much always looked annoyed when dealing with other people, and Jon had spent the entire day with Damian, so Dick didn't really blame the kid for getting a bit upset over Damian's attitude, especially seeing as it was nearing closing time.

"Did you two figure out where you want to go next?" Dick asked, looking between the two boys. "The zoo is going to close soon."

Jon huffed an irritated breath. "Damian wants to go back to the penguins."

Yeah, Dick had heard that, but he hadn't quite believed it. They had already seen the penguins three times, one time actually seeking them out and twice in passing. Dick was a little surprised that Damian wanted to go find them again.

Dick turned his gaze to Damian, who glaring at one of the posted maps and decidedly not looking at Dick. "Damian," Dick said, gaining his little brother's attention, but not his eyes. "We've already seen the penguins. And besides, isn't Jon's turn to pick the animal?"

"Not if his decision his idiotic," Damian muttered.

Jon stomped his foot. "I want to see the elephants, Damian. It's not stupid."

Dick grimaced. "Jon," he started in an apologetic tone, "Gotham's zoo doesn't have any elephants right now. They were transferred to another zoo."

"Wait, really?" Jon asked.

Damian rolled his eyes. "See? It would have been stupid to go see an empty cage."

"Then why didn't you just tell me that there weren't any elephants?"

"It would have been a waste of breath."

"Did you just want to be mean?"

"I don't care enough about the elephants to be mean," Damian said coldly, meeting Jon's gaze head on, and Dick winced at the harsh words.

When Dick had first heard of the elephants being transferred, he'd been kind of sad for a while. He remembered coming here with Bruce when he was a kid and spending hours chattering at both Bruce and the elephants, getting to know both his new guardian and the familiar yet so foreign animals in their cages. He'd ached for the circus, for Zitka, and the zoo elephants had been the closest he could get.

It had been nice, something he and Bruce liked doing together. Dick liked to babble and Bruce liked to listen to him babble, and they'd made it a tradition to go once a month. At least, up until they'd starting majorly fighting. Then he and Bruce had gone their separate ways, and Dick had ached for months.

Even when Dick and Bruce had made up, the zoo visits hadn't continued. At least up until Damian had expressed his frustrations over missing his school field trip to the zoo due to an emergency called in by the Justice League, calling everyone available.

Dick had decided to take Damian to zoo at the next opportunity, even calling up Clark to invite Jon to go with them. He knew it wasn't going to be like the times with Bruce, what with the elephants transferred and his different relationship with Damian and Jon being there, but Dick was determined to have fun.

He clapped his hands, startling both Damian and Jon. "Okay, Dami," Dick said, mustering as much genuine cheer as he could. "I think you're starting to get a little tired. Do you think you can go the rest of the day or would you rather head home?"

"Wha—I'm not a child, Grayson!" Damian spluttered, completely ignoring the fact that yes. He was a child. "I don't need to go home and take a nap like some sort of toddler!"

"Good!" Dick grinned. "What do you say, Jon? You ready to see this through?"

Jon smiled back. "Sure. If we can't see the elephants, do you think we could see the lions instead?"

Dick ruffled the kid's hair. "I don't see why not. What do you think, Dami? Lions okay for you?"

"Of course lions are acceptable," Damian scoffed like thinking otherwise deeply offended him. "They're majestic and are considered top hunters."

Geez, sometimes Damian sounded like a textbook. Still, Dick didn't miss that spark of excitement in Damian's eyes.

"Okay, then," Dick said, shooting both boys a smile. "Let's go."

By the time they'd left the zoo, dropped Jon off with Clark, and went back to the manor, Dick was feeling something that could be categorized as exhaustion. He wondered if this was how Bruce felt after their visits. He didn't remember feeling this tired, but he supposed he wouldn't have, seeing as he usually fell asleep in the car before Bruce could even start driving.

Dick curled up on the couch in the den, pretty much ready to drift off to sleep.

"Dick," Bruce called, and Dick forced his eyes back open to stare at the figure in the doorway. "I don't think the couch is the best place for a nap. Why don't you go to your bedroom?"

"'M comfy," Dick complained, sinking back into the couch and closing his eyes so he couldn't see the unhappy frown he knew was on Bruce's face.

There was quiet for almost a full thirty seconds before Bruce let out an exasperated sigh. When Dick opened his eyes again, Bruce was crouching in front of him, an indulgent smile on his face as he reached up to brush Dick's hair from his face.

"Did you have fun?" Bruce asked.

Dick hummed softly. "Yeah, but it's been a while since we've been."

"The elephants were transferred," Bruce told him, his fingers still carding through his hair in a rare show of affection.

"I know," Dick whispered.

"I know you love Mellie and Trunks."

"I do," Dick confirmed, trying to push away that sadness again. He smiled sadly at Bruce. "The zoo wasn't the same without them, but it wasn't really the same without you, either. What about next time you come with us?"

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to spend some time with Damian and Jon?"

Dick shrugged the best he could on the couch. "I do. But also think that maybe we could turn it into a family thing."

Bruce hummed thoughtfully. "It would be tricky," he said, his voice low, "but I'm sure if we sell Alfred on it, the others won't be able to say no."

"Damian wouldn't pass up an opportunity to see the penguins again," Dick said, cracking a grin. "And I'm sure Cass would be interested without Alfred-coercion."

Bruce fell quiet and then so did Dick, because he wasn't quite sure what else to say. After another minute Bruce said, "I missed going to the zoo with you. It's been a long time."

"Yeah," Dick croaked. "It has. But if this family zoo thing pans out, I don't think you'll be missing anything anymore."

"I guess not," Bruce said, and then he got to his feet, bending down only to press a kiss to Dick's hairline. "Bed, Dick."

"I'm twenty-four."

"Bed."

The trip to the zoo was honestly complete chaos, but with Damian demanding to see (free, actually, but that was something Dick wasn't ready to deal with right now) the penguins, Steph begging to see aquatic animals, Cass quietly asking to go to the monkey exhibit, and Jason and Tim arguing over food, Dick was pretty happy.

Bruce looked hot and not at all prepared to deal with his kids in a public space all at the same time, but tough. Because this was the first time in a long while where Dick thought that maybe he'd finally done something right when it came to this family.

And when Bruce dragged him into a light hug after passing the empty elephant area, well, that was just a bonus.