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Gotham City
Milinof Hotel; 18:51 EST
Tuesday
Soft piano keys played a high social class theme to the rich Gothamites attending the charity fundraiser. From expensive dresses and highly fashioned suits, to the guest's common character and personality traits, the whole evening screamed GET-ME-OUT-OF-HERE for Bruce Wayne. The billionaire pretty-boy stood amidst the crowd, leaning against a pillar with a firm grip on his alcohol (really ginger ale) beverage.
Alfred had insisted on him and Dick to attend the evening Children's Orphanage charity fund mostly due to two things. One being that Bruce had been skipping out on plenty the past couple months and needed to keep up his social image, while the other was a reasonable excuse: it was a charity for orphanages. Perfect for Dick's social standing. Bruce didn't want to bring the poor boy along, knowing neither of them would have any real fun. But, it was for a good cause, and Bruce supported it. Besides, Alfred threatened to take away his cookies.
Bruce glanced around the crowded auditorium, the charity event taking place in one of Gotham's fanciest hotels. He saw Dick walking over to him, a slight irritation in his step and a huge frown plastered on his face. As the boy got closer, and upon closer inspection, Bruce noticed something on the young man's face and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Don't laugh at me." Dick said in a not-so-seriously-threatening tone. He stopped in front of his guardian and began rubbing his check vigorously, the red kiss mark smearing on his face.
"Who did it?" Bruce asked with a smirk. He held his drink up to his face to try and hide it, but Dick already saw.
"Her." He groaned out, pointing up at the lady that just took the stage and microphone. She was one of the hosts for the charity event.
"Ahhh," Bruce replied, his tone telling Dick a comeback was ready. "Did you make a good impression?" His father figure joked. Dick glared at him.
"What do you think, you're the detective." Dick retorted. Bruce knelt down to his level while pulling out a napkin he had on his person.
"I think you're only making it worse." He stated right before he used his free hand to wipe the white fabric across Dick's cheek.
Said lady responsible for Dick Grayson's little embarrassment was now speaking into the microphone, and the guests were now moving to their reserved seats. Bruce finished up with Dick and the two joined the rest of the crowd, taking their seats at a round table near the stage.
Tenders came out from the kitchen and began serving meals to each table. One passing by Bruce and Dick's table and catching the attention of the small raven-hair boy. The platter was a dessert platter, and had some delicious looking cupcakes on it.
"Ooooooh," he announced with a big smile, "That cupcake is going to make my day." He told Bruce. One of the tenders arrived at their table and presented them with an exquisite cuisine.
"Here you are." He said while laying the plates down in front of them.
"Thank you." Bruce replied with a genuine smile, followed by Dick doing the same thing. The man looked a bit shocked from the kindness as if he'd never been thanked for his services. His features relaxed into a smile, "No, thank you." The old man happily poured Bruce a cup of coffee, while giving Dick some tea.
As the tender walked back toward the kitchen, Dick followed him a bit before returning his gaze onto his food.
"He was nice." He complimented, digging in with his practiced rich boy posture.
"Well, it just goes to show, a little bit of kindness can go a long way." Bruce replied, looking out at the crowd to see how the other guests were treating their tenders. It was pitiful to see how some of the upper class citizens treated others. Not all of them were the stereotypical rich folk society pinned them out to be, but you know how a few bad apples spoil the bunch.
Something, or rather someone, caught his attention. Far across from where they were sitting, one of the tenders was whispering something to the man he was serving. To anyone, this would just be brushed off; people have a right to talk in whatever volume they'd like. But to the trained eye, you could see that quick look of fear on the man's face before it got covered with disappointment. Bruce continued to watch their lips, catching on to what the man was saying.
What do you mean you don't have it was the words Bruce got. The man turned around and looked at another guy at a table behind him. That man mouthed the word 'well' while the other, who got the initial message, shook his head no.
A bad feeling rose from the pit of Bruce's stomach and he glanced around to see if anyone else was acting strange. This kind of thing was bad at these kind of events.
Dick sensed his foster father's tension and looked up at him.
"What's wrong?" he questioned, noticing how Bruce was scanning the crowd. He copied his actions and glanced around.
"Nothing yet, just keep an eye out." That was Batman talking, telling Dick to be ready for anything.
The evening continued on into the late night with no signs of immediate danger or further acts of suspicious activity. Bruce had kept a target on the three men from earlier, and made sure Dick was near him rather than going off and doing who knows what. He was currently spying on the two guys who seemed to just be having a conversation with some guests. They were doing that lately; small talk, to just about everyone, as if interrogating.
They shook their heads, holding smiles as to escape the talk with the man and woman, and started over towards Bruce. Said billionaire fixed his gaze and pretended to be distracted. That's when Dick tugged on his sleeve.
"Bruce, they're serving cupcakes now!" he practically yelled and dashed off. Bruce was about to growl at him for disobeying, before realizing that the boy had offered them an escape from an interrogation of the two men.
Said men had stopped their approach when Dick dashed off and watched as Bruce followed after him. One looked away, pretending to not care, while the other discreetly followed them with his gaze.
Bruce caught up with Dick at the desserts table, seeing how the boy was eyeing the cupcakes in a decision to which one he would devour.
"Good job." He whispered in Dick's ear, earning a sideways grin from him. He picked up a cupcake and took a huge bite. After chewing a bit, his eyebrow furrowed at the taste and texture. It was soggy, like a liquid cupcake.
"Uck, this thing tastes nasty." He mumbled with a full mouth. He tried swallowing some of it so he could talk better. Bruce took the cupcake from his hand and analyzed it.
"Bruce!" A voice announced to the right of said billionaire. Bruce glanced over and smiled, recognizing the man as one of his clients.
"Devin, how are you doing?" he replied.
"Oh, just perfect. How's the party going for you two?" he asked with a cheery tone. His eyes noticed the cupcake in Bruce's hands. "Oh, how are you liking those cupcakes? I believe that's the special batch my wife made."
"What are in these cupcakes?" Bruce questioned.
"Alcohol."
The instant Dick heard the word, he spit out the contents of his mouth onto the floor, some saliva following afterwards. Bruce looked down at him with wide eyes before transferring the look over to his friend.
"He didn't eat it did he?" Devin asked with growing concern.
A distant away, the two guys were observing the scene, watching how the young ward, Dick Grayson, clutched his stomach after spitting out what looked to be remains of a dessert. The man next to that billionaire playboy was apologizing, Devin Baxter was his name, a client of Bruce Wayne.
They distinctively heard the boy complain about his stomach and witnessed Bruce leading him off and out the door. The two men glanced at each other before nodding.
YOUNG JUSTICE: IN TIME
BY MARSHMELLOW CAT
Hey everyone! Another story for you to read. Don't worry, I'm still updating Seeing Red as I do every week, but this idea had been waiting long enough, so I decided to post it. I would say this story will be Robin-centric, mainly because the team does appear, but doesn't play a large role.
As always with my stories, chapter 2 will be posted immediately after this one, so don't let me waste your time.
Happy New Year everyone!