![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katleeptTitle: "Secrets Revealed"
Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: G
Summary:
Warnings: Slash, Established Pairing
Word Count: 697
Date Written: 13 June, 2012
Challenge: For a Comment-fic LJ comm prompt
Disclaimer: Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce "Batman" Wayne, Dick "Robin" Grayson, Gotham City, and the Batlight are © & TM DC comics, not the author. Everything else is © & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
He stared across the table at his oldest and truest friend. He kept pushing his eggs across his plate as his argument with his other best friend from the night before played continually through his mind. "Master Bruce, if I may be so bold," Alfred turned back to him, wiping his hands on his apron, "might I ask if you had another argument with young Master Dick?"
Bruce stared at him. His blue eyes seemed to look right through him, but Alfred knew better. He had seen this same, dazed expression many times over the years on his ward's face. He gave a soft sigh and sat down before him. His motion was rewarded with Bruce blinking rapidly and finally, truly looking at him for the first time that morning. "Alfred," he spoke, startled, as though the butler had just arrived.
"Master Bruce," Alfred returned casually, "if it was not young Master Dick, was it Mistress Selina?"
"No." Bruce looked distracted again. Then, with a heavy sigh, he admitted, looking back to Alfred, "He wants me to do something I can not do."
"Now what on Earth could the lad request that neither Batman nor Bruce Wayne could grant?"
"He wants to out us."
The look of shock that fell across Alfred's old but kind face matched the shock that sat heavily upon Bruce. He nodded eagerly. "Precisely."
"But -- But you can not possibly tell the world that you are Batman and live any kind of a normal life!"
Bruce looked away again. Alfred paused his voicing of his flustatrions. They sat in silence for a moment, Alfred carefully and quietly scrutinizing the man who was the closest thing he'd ever known to a son. Ten minutes ticked pass before Alfred quietly announced, "However, that you can admit."
Bruce's eyes were the widest he'd seen them since he had been a child as his head whipped back up to look at him. "Alfred!" he cried. He swallowed hard and then whispered, "You . . . You can't be serious?"
"And why not? You already set a fine example for the children across the world as the heroic vigilante protecting Gotham. Why not set another example and let the public know that you are unafraid to admit that you love Dick?"
"I . . . I . . . I . . . " Bruce was so shocked that he could not even form a coherent sentence. Then, at last, he exploded, "How in the world did you know?!"
Alfred smiled. "I have known for years, shortly after you first realized how you truly feel for him. If I may be so bold, Master Bruce, he is old enough now that there would be no legal implications for acting upon your feelings, and any who would chastise you for loving who your heart decrees to love is not a real friend. It is one of the few things you could do, in fact, to weed out the garden of your acquaintances, as you've so oft admitted to me that you would like to do, and learn who your true friends are."
Bruce was no longer sitting. He had jumped to his feet, and a look of sheer panic was upon his handsome face. His head whipped about, but never once did he see anything. "Isn't that the Batlight? I've got to go!"
He practically ran from the room. Alfred sat back in the chair, a grin of mirth playing across his lips. At last, he laughed. Bruce would come around. Young Master Dick was not one to hide in the shadows, and he knew that Bruce truly hated hiding his true self. The partners would reveal themselves in time to the world, and it would make their relationship even more beautiful.
Yet it was not a man who had just left the kitchen. It was the same little boy for whom Alfred's own heart had once tugged so hard that he had reshaped his life around him. The child was there, despite everything both Bruce Wayne and Batman had undergone, and Alfred enjoyed chuckling for a good while before finally reaching for his master's cold, leftover eggs.
The End
Author: Pirate Turner
Rating: G
Summary:
Warnings: Slash, Established Pairing
Word Count: 697
Date Written: 13 June, 2012
Challenge: For a Comment-fic LJ comm prompt
Disclaimer: Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce "Batman" Wayne, Dick "Robin" Grayson, Gotham City, and the Batlight are © & TM DC comics, not the author. Everything else is © & TM the author. The author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended.
He stared across the table at his oldest and truest friend. He kept pushing his eggs across his plate as his argument with his other best friend from the night before played continually through his mind. "Master Bruce, if I may be so bold," Alfred turned back to him, wiping his hands on his apron, "might I ask if you had another argument with young Master Dick?"
Bruce stared at him. His blue eyes seemed to look right through him, but Alfred knew better. He had seen this same, dazed expression many times over the years on his ward's face. He gave a soft sigh and sat down before him. His motion was rewarded with Bruce blinking rapidly and finally, truly looking at him for the first time that morning. "Alfred," he spoke, startled, as though the butler had just arrived.
"Master Bruce," Alfred returned casually, "if it was not young Master Dick, was it Mistress Selina?"
"No." Bruce looked distracted again. Then, with a heavy sigh, he admitted, looking back to Alfred, "He wants me to do something I can not do."
"Now what on Earth could the lad request that neither Batman nor Bruce Wayne could grant?"
"He wants to out us."
The look of shock that fell across Alfred's old but kind face matched the shock that sat heavily upon Bruce. He nodded eagerly. "Precisely."
"But -- But you can not possibly tell the world that you are Batman and live any kind of a normal life!"
Bruce looked away again. Alfred paused his voicing of his flustatrions. They sat in silence for a moment, Alfred carefully and quietly scrutinizing the man who was the closest thing he'd ever known to a son. Ten minutes ticked pass before Alfred quietly announced, "However, that you can admit."
Bruce's eyes were the widest he'd seen them since he had been a child as his head whipped back up to look at him. "Alfred!" he cried. He swallowed hard and then whispered, "You . . . You can't be serious?"
"And why not? You already set a fine example for the children across the world as the heroic vigilante protecting Gotham. Why not set another example and let the public know that you are unafraid to admit that you love Dick?"
"I . . . I . . . I . . . " Bruce was so shocked that he could not even form a coherent sentence. Then, at last, he exploded, "How in the world did you know?!"
Alfred smiled. "I have known for years, shortly after you first realized how you truly feel for him. If I may be so bold, Master Bruce, he is old enough now that there would be no legal implications for acting upon your feelings, and any who would chastise you for loving who your heart decrees to love is not a real friend. It is one of the few things you could do, in fact, to weed out the garden of your acquaintances, as you've so oft admitted to me that you would like to do, and learn who your true friends are."
Bruce was no longer sitting. He had jumped to his feet, and a look of sheer panic was upon his handsome face. His head whipped about, but never once did he see anything. "Isn't that the Batlight? I've got to go!"
He practically ran from the room. Alfred sat back in the chair, a grin of mirth playing across his lips. At last, he laughed. Bruce would come around. Young Master Dick was not one to hide in the shadows, and he knew that Bruce truly hated hiding his true self. The partners would reveal themselves in time to the world, and it would make their relationship even more beautiful.
Yet it was not a man who had just left the kitchen. It was the same little boy for whom Alfred's own heart had once tugged so hard that he had reshaped his life around him. The child was there, despite everything both Bruce Wayne and Batman had undergone, and Alfred enjoyed chuckling for a good while before finally reaching for his master's cold, leftover eggs.
The End
