Unbreakable (A Dick Grayson story)

CH 17: Bruce sucks at peaceful confrontation

A loud yawn pushed past his lips as Dick stumbled out of his room, still half asleep and out of it from the night before. The delicious scent of freshly made pancakes wafted from the kitchen, and he headed in that direction, stomach rumbling hungrily.

Groggily, Dick remembered that he had skipped most of the meals the day before. Oh well. All the more reason to gorge himself on pancakes now. Alfred made the best pancakes.

He slumped into his seat at the table, only vaguely aware that something felt off about this situation. But he had more important things to worry about, namely the plate of steaming deliciousness that had just been set down in front of him.

"Thanks, Alfred," he mumbled, fighting back another yawn as he began drizzling syrup onto his plate.

"Alfred has the day off, actually."

Dick blinked, brows furrowing in confusion as he rubbed at his eyes before blinking up at the person standing next to him. Definitely not Alfred.

Why was Bruce making him pancakes?

"Oh... I didn't know he had days off." Alfred was always around doing things. He even lived in the house. Dick honestly was not sure if he had ever seen the butler doing something that was not work related, and he had lived there for nearly a year at this point.

Bruce simply chuckled and shook his head, reaching down to comb his fingers through Dick's hair in a futile attempt to tame the boy's bedhead. "Of course he has days off. He just doesn't normally take them. I insisted today, however. I was thinking that we could spend the day together."

"Spend the day together? Is that code for going on a mission or something?"

"No. No missions, no costumes. I just figured we could use some bonding time after yesterday."

"Right... okay. Do you have anything planned for this day of bonding?" Dick could not help but feel suspicious. It was awfully convenient for Bruce to want to spend time with him right after he had hacked into his computer system. But then again, maybe Bruce really was more thoughtful than Dick had first pegged him as and he really did just want to bond with his 'son'. He would just have to let things play out.

"I'll let you know once you've eaten your breakfast and gotten dressed."

"So... in other words... you don't have anything planned."

Bruce huffed, shaking his head as he slipped into his normal seat at the head of the table, dishing himself up some pancakes. "Hush. I have things planned."

Dick fought back a snicker. "Uh-huh. Suuuure you do."

"I can always take the pancakes away, Dick."

He gasped, tugging the plate closer to himself to protect it as he bit into his first pancake. "Nebermignd... u'be go'a pwan." Dick reassured him, mouth full of food.

The disgusted look Bruce gave him was enough to make him start laughing which quickly turned into choking which in turn led to him gulping down orange juice.

Bruce made no move to help, simply lifting one eyebrow at him. "Are you alright?"

"Fine." Dick huffed, fighting down the urge to pout as he once again began eating, practically inhaling the pancakes. While they were not as good as Alfred's, they were still quite delicious, especially when drowned in maple syrup.

They finished the meal in relative silence, Dick eating everything on his plate as well as the few remaining on a platter in the center of the table. Once they were all gone, he sat back with a contented sigh, hand rubbing his now full stomach.