Young Master Dick, I trust Master Damian has been agreeable company?
[ Alfred is looking at his oldest pointedly. Damian snorts and looks away, crossing his arms, the picture of disagreeable company. Nevertheless, the old butler looks marginally mollified by the smile upon Dick's face, and the way the boy now crowds behind him.
Damian is uncouth and eccentric in his personal behaviors (careless with fine china and fine crystal and fine words), but whatever tactics he employed seem to have both calmed the young Grayson down and established some measure of endearment on the boy's behalf. A good outcome.
Not that he is surprised. Alfred knows Damian; the young man, despite his standoffish exterior, cares deeply for his charges, and measures his words and actions accordingly when they're upset. Such a change from the boy he first met sixteen years ago, so young and brash and cruel, sharp with his words even with the ones he cared about. Bruce had a hand in the change, as did the friends Damian made (and no small credit to Alfred himself, of course). ]
You accuse me of being poor company, when he's the one calling me old?
[ Damian's hand drops to push in irritation at the messy fluff of Dick's hair, batting his head down and mussing his bangs in one fell swoop, a move that's just inviting a bout of roughhousing (too common between him and Jason, and so many things get broken as a result). Alfred is quick to step in, turning his polite regard on Dick. ]
Would you perhaps be interested in helping me prepare our evening's courses? There is a dessert that could use the expertise of an experienced taste-tester.
no subject
[ Alfred is looking at his oldest pointedly. Damian snorts and looks away, crossing his arms, the picture of disagreeable company. Nevertheless, the old butler looks marginally mollified by the smile upon Dick's face, and the way the boy now crowds behind him.
Damian is uncouth and eccentric in his personal behaviors (careless with fine china and fine crystal and fine words), but whatever tactics he employed seem to have both calmed the young Grayson down and established some measure of endearment on the boy's behalf. A good outcome.
Not that he is surprised. Alfred knows Damian; the young man, despite his standoffish exterior, cares deeply for his charges, and measures his words and actions accordingly when they're upset. Such a change from the boy he first met sixteen years ago, so young and brash and cruel, sharp with his words even with the ones he cared about. Bruce had a hand in the change, as did the friends Damian made (and no small credit to Alfred himself, of course). ]
You accuse me of being poor company, when he's the one calling me old?
[ Damian's hand drops to push in irritation at the messy fluff of Dick's hair, batting his head down and mussing his bangs in one fell swoop, a move that's just inviting a bout of roughhousing (too common between him and Jason, and so many things get broken as a result). Alfred is quick to step in, turning his polite regard on Dick. ]
Would you perhaps be interested in helping me prepare our evening's courses? There is a dessert that could use the expertise of an experienced taste-tester.