Chapter Text
He just had to be invisible. Well, not him per se, but the real him. The him that everyone tended to forget about or dismiss as a bad day. The him whose smile was a little too brittle and the constantly simmering rage brimming under his skin was always just a little too hot . The him who couldn’t break, the one who couldn’t possibly have any problems because he was the Golden Boy, the one who set the standards .
He just had to be invisible. He just had to take those parts of him that no one found flattering or savory and shove them deep deep down into the shadows. It was easy, to make those qualities go unnoticed when he was with his family and friends. It was so easy, to take those tethered little strips of his poison, crumble them up, and toss them away until it was like they never existed.
He was good at being invisible. When he was a child, he was almost second-nature when he went with his parents to the store. “Gypsy.” “Thieves.” “Trash.” “Filth.” “Keep your wallet close.” The whispers would always penetrate him, despite being invisible to any caring eyes. To them, he was nothing more than another piece of the scenery. Something less than human, based on his heritage.
But being invisible was better than being shunned for things he couldn’t control. He could try to leash up his rage, the snarling scorching thing, but it was better to hide it than anything else. It was better than letting it slip out in little tendrils that leaked too much and caused damage irreparable. It was better than letting out every single little voice in his head that screamed on a good day and were deafening on his worst.
So, Dick would smile and pretend all the bad in him were invisible to the naked eye. Because it was better to pretend than face reality.