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“Granpa Alfie?” A teeny tiny voice rang out in the normally quiet kitchen as an equally tiny and chubby hand tugged lightly on a well pressed and clean butler uniform. The wearer of said uniform stopped his preparation work for the upcoming lunch he had been planning and looked to his side. His eyes softened a bit as he caught bright blue ones staring back.
“Yes dear boy?” Alfred asked gently, he did his best to keep his face straight and not coo at how adorable his youngest grandson was being. He was greeted with a big smile and bright blue eyes sparkling, eyes he hadn’t seen childhood innocence in for years. Bruce once held those kind of eyes but it had died the same day his parents had that horrible night.
Now however ever since the birth of Daniel ‘Danny’ Wayne, Alfred once again had the chance to see them.
He hoped, prayed, those eyes would carry this innocence for many years. He had seen too many of his older grandsons loose that spark far too early in their lives or they came to manor without it at all.
Danny chewed on his lip for a moment, casting his eyes to the side for a second before asking “Can I has some chocy milk… And tea?”
“Tea?” Alfred questioned, his youngest had never asked for tea before so he wondered why now and if Alfred wasn’t well… Alfred he would had spared a glance at whatever Danny could see.
“Umm hmm.” Danny happily hummed, his eyes once again straying to the side and he did a small head tilt as if listening carefully to someone. Alfred noted a very thin ring of bright green appear in Danny’s eyes for a second when he looked. Alfred didn’t hear anyone but he could feel something was… watching. Not a bad or dangerous way, or even unnerving more like amused and warmly. Danny then cheerfully added “Yeah, the one with p-pom-no-gran-its please!”
Alfred raised an eyebrow at Danny’s attempt to say pomegranate and wondered where on earth had Danny heard the word much less knew he had just received said tea a few hours ago from a delivery.
He knew asking the boy would cause him to clam up and do his best to spout nonsense to confuse him. It was something Danny often did to his brothers, sometimes to Bruce and it often worked because they would believe he was just being a toddler with an active imagination.
That and they all honestly wanted to keep pretending that there was nothing… strange about their youngest. Not bad strange of course… but sometimes Danny seemed to just know things.
“I see, give me a few minutes my boy and I shall have your request done.” Alfred said warmly, he will not press mainly because he knew Danny would tell them when he was ready and he knew whatever was happening around Danny didn’t seem to be too dangerous. Danny never reacted negative to anything in the house, never seemed scared when he would stare at something no one could see, or cry when Alfred could clearly hear Danny talking to someone in response only to open the door and see his grandson speaking to nothing.
Now most would be scared, and even unnerved about this but Alfred trusted his instincts and knew whatever was, for lack of better words, ‘haunting’ his grandson was not evil or harmful. Danny despite being a toddler trusted whatever was in the manor. He had seen Danny’s reaction to bad things and people before a few times when they were in the city, there was one time he had baby yelled at a man that had been following them during a quick shopping trip turns out the man had plans on attacking Alfred, which in itself was a very foolish thing to do regardless, and take the car and Danny.
And although Alfred would had no problem taking the man down, he left that duty to Jason who had joined them that day, and was amused to see his grandson drag the would be kidnapper to a nearby alleyway. Once the threat was gone, Danny brightened up, babbled and giggled as he happily clapped his little hands.
Alfred broke out of his musing and turned his attention to making said things for his grandson.
“Ooh-Kay Granpa Alfie. Cans yous bring ‘em to the sunny room please?!” Danny happily asked as he rocked back and forth on his heels and tiptoes. His eyes once again bright. “I’s wanna have ‘dem there.”
“But of course Master Daniel.” He responded and smiled to himself knowing what Danny was going to say next.
“Noooo!! It’s Dan-eee Granpa Alfie! Dan-E!”
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Danny munched happily on one of the sandwiches his Granpa Alfie had added to his request of chocolate milk and tea. He hummed to himself and swung his little legs back and forth as they dangled off the big comfy chair in the sunroom.
Danny looked to his side and placed his half eaten sandwich back onto the plate next to the table he was sitting at, he reached for his cup of chocolate milk and asked before he would take a sip “Lady Gothy do’s you like the tea Granpa Alfie mades?”
Danny watched with blue eyes with a tint of a green ring around them as a long, unnatural due to how thin it was and how it looked like claws dipped in dark ink, hand reached for the tea cup. The cup was raised to very pale skinned face, dark long hair spilled like oil from their head, yellow eyes glowing like a switch light on a dark sky, and two-toned lips one colored deep black and another near deep blood red.
“As always, Clockworks Humanity makes excellent tea my darling Ghostling.” Came a raspy, whispering voice. “Thank you for giving him my request.”
“Yous my guestie Lady Gothy! I gots be a good host!” He happily said back “That’s what Granpa Alfie, Timmie, and Granmama M says always!”
“Danny? Chum? You in here?” A almost strained voice interrupted along with a quick knock on the door.
Danny smiled big, his dad was finally home! Or rather finally up out of that cave of his below the manor!
“Yes! In here Da!” He shouted back as the door opened and curious, with a hint of worry, eyes peeked into the room. When the door opened up fully, Danny noted his dad was tense and looking around the room with a small frown. No doubt he heard Danny talking to someone, perhaps he was listening in when he was doing a quick check on Danny via the bugs planted in the room. Bruce more likely caught the raspy voice in the static and came rushing up when he realized his youngest was in a room by himself with an unknown.
Danny giggled into his chocolate milk, eyes twinkling with delight and mischief when he saw his Dad staring at the other end of the table, eyes narrowing slightly at the half drunk cup of still hot tea sitting on its saucer plate and a half eaten biscuit resting in a napkin. The one bite it had was far too big for Danny to have made it, especially since his sandwich showed that proof.
However the chair across from Danny was empty, undisturbed as there was no indent on the cushion. And given the fact the seats were leather there should be some kind of evidence of someone sitting there.
“Danny? Was… Was someone here? Who were you talking to buddy?” Bruce’s eyes roamed the room again, trying to find any other evidence of someone had been there or rather was still there. His body tense in case he needed to take his son out of the room as quick as possible. He couldn’t help but feel like something or someone was watching him, amused more than anything. He didn’t like it, but at the same time he knew it didn’t mean harm, he could feel it deep in himself. In fact, it felt somehow familiar, like a very, very old dream or memory that was good.
But still, an unknown with his youngest did not set well with Bruce ‘I am Batman with a boatload of trauma and paranoia for the safety of my family’ Wayne. He needed to make sure Danny was safe from whatever it was… So maybe it was finally time to cave and call in Constantine to take a look around the manor. Despite how much of a headache the man was going to be about coming to Gotham.
Constantine seemed to be avoiding Gotham a lot as of late, which Bruce didn’t mind all too much, but the few times he requested him to come to look at something occult related the British man insisted to see it at the Watchtower or just send pictures because he was apparently busy…
Danny stared with large eyes and blinked before he started laughing. Normally to Bruce such innocent sounds always warmed his heart and made him want to protect his youngest even more from the dangerous outside world however for some reason he couldn’t help but feel like Danny was laughing at him, like he knew something Bruce didn’t.
“Silly Da. Lady Gothy wanna’ed to chitty-chat today. I’m hosting.” Danny titled his head to the side, once again seeming to hear something no one else could. He blinked and when he opened his eyes again, the same ring of green was in his sea of blues only this time a tiny bit thicker. He smiled proudly at his father before cheerfully said.
“She saids thank you for ‘opping Mister Scarycrow last night by the ways.”
Danny once again giggled with Lady Gotham raspy one when his father began to look panicked and started to ask how he knew that.