Dinnertime
"Dick, make sure you eat all of your veggies."
Richard Grayson groaned, stabbing a brussel sprout with his fork and popping it into his mouth with a huff. Bruce was not in a good mood tonight, and had turned to taking it out on his young ward. The thirteen year old despised brussel sprouts, and any other night he may have gotten away with leaving a few on his plate. Not tonight, it seemed. The very reason that Bruce was in a foul mood was sitting right across from him, stuffing his face messily with mashed potatoes and chicken. Barry Allen, AKA The Flash, had somehow managed to invite himself and his nephew Wally West over for dinner.
"Don't be rude Dick, Alfred made those brussel sprouts with love."
"Yeah Dick, looovvveee!" Wally said, snorting and downing half of his juice in one gulp.
He was rewarded with an elbow to the ribs, though the speedster just laughed it off. Dick shuffled in his seat, eyeing his plate with disdain. Suddenly, Bruce seemed to grow instantly alert, sniffing the air several times before glaring at Dick menacingly. The boy visibly flinched at the dark glare, and was about to ask what he did when Bruce asked for him.
"Dick, did you just fluff at the table?"
Wally burst into uncontrolled laughter, while Bruce continued to suspiciously eye the now red-faced boy. He sank low into his seat, trying to avoid the laughter coming from his friend and Barry.
"I didn't! And don't say 'fluff!'"
"But that's what I've always called it. And don't lie Dick, I can see right through it. As if it isn't bad enough when you fluff in the Batmobile…"
"BRUCE!"
The speedsters both laughed, much to Dick's embarrassment, as he sunk even lower into his seat with his face burning in humiliation. Bruce even had to smirk a bit at this. It appeared he was venting some of his annoyance onto the poor kid. Flash, finally controlling his laughter, spoke up.
"Actually guys, I admit it. I cut the cheese," he said, grinning wickedly.
Dick glared daggers at him, and Bruce just rolled his eyes. Wally couldn't stop laughing.
"So, you really fluffed in the Batmobile?" he asked.
"Shut up!"
Bedtime
Richard Grayson rapidly pressed the buttons on his Xbox controller, beating Wally's character to the floor successfully.
"Good one Robin!" Kaldar commented, and Megan cheered from the background.
The atmosphere was full of excitement as the rowdy teens continued their weekend-long video game competition at Mount Justice. The action was getting intense, and it was ten o'clock at night. They had had the place to themselves for the entire weekend to socialize and have fun, and that is exactly what they intended to do. That is, until a very stern looking Batman materialized out of the Zeta tube and strode over to the group. He walked straight at Robin, who knew nothing good could come out of this.
"Robin, what are you doing up?"
"Huh?" Dick tried to feign innocence, but knew exactly what Bruce was talking about. On non-patrol nights, his bedtime was 9:30 pm.
"Don't play dumb with me Robin, you know your bedtime is 9:30 on the dot. I suggest you brush your teeth and get in your pj's as well."
Dick blushed as the all too familiar sound of the team's collective laughter filled the room.
"But Batman, it's a weekend! I'm hanging out with the team!"
"No excuses young man, you'll be sleepy in the morning if you don't go now."
Dick knew that it was no use arguing with a grumpy Batman, and dejectedly passed his controller to Conner and trudged out of the room. Five minutes passed, and the team looked to see Robin, clad in his Bat-Symbol pajamas, sneaking back out to the lounge area.
"I don't think so Robin."
Dick jumped in surprise as he felt Batman's hand on his shoulder.
"Say goodnight to the team."
Dick blushed once again at the childish expectations, but wished them all a good night either way. Batman kept his hand on the Boy Wonder's shoulder, leading him from the room.
"Alright, let's get you all tucked in," Batman said, in clear earshot of the entire team.
"You don't need to! I'm not a kid anymore," Dick grumbled, growing more embarrassed by the second. He could hear the girls "aww-ing" at the adorable situation.
Batman frowned.
"But, I always tuck you in when I'm around."
This caused laughter to erupt from the team, and the girls loving the affection coming from such a stoic figure.
"Yeah yeah, I know," Dick gave in, looking down at his feet.
Maybe Bruce Wayne was just a bit to caring at times, but Dick was thankful that he had him either way.
Thank you to all those who reviewed the last chapter! Hope this one was good too! Most of the credit goes to my brother, who typed;) I came up with the ideas though!
