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Aranya was born and raised in Gotham. His father was an abusive alcoholic and his mother, despite wanting to give him a good life, never fully fought back. By the time Aranya was 15, he was fed up with all the yelling and threats and decided he would finally run away from home. He packed his things and left without anyone noticing.
Aranya did not spend much time on the streets of Gotham before running into Robin.
It was a slow night of patrol for Robin so he was jumping across the roofs of buildings when he spotted another kid, about the same age as himself, sitting on the ledge of an apartment. There was no roof access from the inside, so they must have climbed up the fire escapes. Robin, assuming the worst, carefully made his way closer as he tried not to spook them.
"Hey," Robin tried, keeping his voice even and soft. The kid flinched anyway, clearly not expecting company. Luckily, Robin was close enough to grip their arm and pull them back before they could've fallen. The kid looked up at him with shock.
"Jesus fuck, dude, what the hell?" they gasped, still awkwardly half-sitting half-laying on the roof.
Robin winced. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to scare you," he said. The kid just scoffed and resumed sitting crisscross as they looked back to the city's horizon, this time a healthy distance from the ledge. Robin moved to sit next to them. "What's a kid like you doing out here, anyway?" he asked, keeping his eyes on their surroundings instead of attempting clearly unwelcome eye-contact. He could see in his peripheral vision the incredulous look the kid shot back at him.
"You can't be any older than me, kid," they remarked. Fair enough, thought Robin. He tapped his comm in a way that would let Batman know he was taking a break from patrol.
"Okay," he drew out. "Then do you have a name?" The kid's gaze left him once more. "I'm Robin," he added quickly, risking a glance at them.
"I know you're Robin," they replied, rolling their eyes. Robin, thinking they were going to leave it at that, opened his mouth to continue the conversation when the kid surprised him. "I'm Aranya."
"It's nice the meet you, Aranya."
After a little prodding, Robin learned all about Aranya. They apparently had no qualms with venting to some kid in a cape, which was good for Robin because he liked knowing all the details. Robin found that he could relate surprisingly well with Aranya's story, and they got along greatly after their stilted introductions. Robin could especially appreciate their dry and sarcastic sense of humor. Eventually, the conversation tapered off and the pair sat in comfortable silence. That was when Robin noticed Batman's presence appearing behind them. Robin peered back, and Aranya quickly followed suit when they noticed. Aranya gasped.
Robin simply smiled back at Batman, the Dark Knight himself. Batman gave him what Aranya assumed was a questioning look, quickly glancing at Aranya then back at Robin. Robin stood up, dusting himself off. "You know," he began, holding out a hand for his new friend to pull up off the ground. "I just so happen to know someone with a room or two to spare," he continued with a smirk subtly pointed at Batman. If Aranya was any less caught off guard, they would have noticed the uncharacteristically tired sigh that came from Batman's mouth. Instead they just looked at Robin with surprise and more questions than answers. Batman leapt off the building and Robin made to follow. Before jumping himself, he looked back. "You coming?"