"Clark suggested a dog."
Alfred raised an eyebrow at the "dog" in question. It was term that he was using very loosely.
When Master Bruce had told him that he planned to procure a pet, Alfred had thought it was an excellent idea. It was true they were a lot of work, but he thought that a dog would be an excellent opportunity for the young masters to learn responsibility – outside of Master Bruce's training sessions that is. Learning to care for another living being was something that all children needed to do at some point or another. Plus, a dog would offer them companionship and protection for the children beyond what was already in place. Needless to say, Alfred had been rather enamored by the idea, and had heartily agreed when Master Bruce had brought up Mr. Kent's suggestion earlier that week.
However, Alfred was fairly certain that Mr. Kent had been thinking more something akin to Lassie than Seabiscuit.
The young master stood next to Alfred and were staring at the creature that sat obediently next to Master Bruce. Alfred half expected it to turn its head in curiosity at the group that was observing it, but the beast merely continued to sit as still. It was highly trained – Master Bruce wouldn't accept anything less – but its stillness was rather off-putting. Alfred had seen other animals act like that in past, and he would hardly consider any of them the sort that you would give to a child as a pet.
Hopefully, the harshest commands that this one knew were given in a different language than any of the boys knew at the moment. Otherwise that would be a bit of...not good.
Master Dick seemed particularly oblivious to Alfred's reservations about the creatures. He was practically vibrating with excitement and had been since the news of impending pet ownership had been told to him. The sheer size of it did not appear to bother Master Dick in the least, but Alfred supposed that growing up with animals even larger than this one would do that. It was not locked in a cage, nor did it have chains around it; therefore, by Master Dick's standards, it couldn't be that dangerous.
Master Jason and Master Tim did not seem to share his thoughts. Alfred could hardly blame them. The beast was only a bit shorter than Master Jason sitting down and outweighed both boys by a good seventy pounds. Anyone with iota of sense would be uneasy at first at the very least, and Alfred would say that Master Jason and Master Tim had more than a passing amount of intelligence. They may choose to ignore it from time to time, but their upbringings to this point had made them both rather sensible. Dogs such as this would pose a problem for Master Jason in his former lives, and instincts as such wouldn't abandon him within the near year that he had been with them. Master Tim simply wouldn't have been exposed to such an animal at time that Alfred was aware of, but he could certainly see how such a creature could be harmful to him. Both boys held their ground, though, and simply chose to wait patiently next to Alfred. If either one – or both – were a bit more tense than normal, well, he certainly was going to say anything.
Though he had no doubt that Master Bruce had been very careful in his selection of pet, Alfred still felt it was imperative to keep an eye on Master Damian. He most certainly had never dealt with animal of this size before and seemed to be regarding it with the same cool indifference that he usually held with anything other than Master Bruce or Master Dick. Alfred couldn't help but feel that might be a good thing for the time being. Maybe after he saw how the creature reacted to the other children he would feel differently, but for now he rather hoped that Master Damian simply chose to ignore it.
The beast in question continued to sit obediently next to his master, as still as if he had been carved from an expensive black stone. Alfred would almost swear that it was merely a statue that Master Bruce had purchased had it not been for the creature looking up when he spoke.
"This is Ace," Master Bruce said.
That was apparently enough of an incentive to send Master Dick rushing over. Alfred sucked in a breathe between his teeth as he waited for any sort of adverse reaction to such a sudden and abrupt greeting from the dog, but it took Master Dick's sudden attention in stride and merely sat there as the boy began to pet it roughly.
"He'll be your responsibility to care for," Master Bruce said to all three of the boys, but it was primarily directed it at Master Dick. "Alfred and I both expect you all to take care of him."
"Yeah, we know," Master Dick replied as he scratched behind the dog's – Ace's – ears. If it liked it, it didn't show it one way or another and just continued to appear indifferent to them all.
Alfred could see why Master Bruce would like this one.
Very slowly, Master Tim began to make his way over Master Dick and Ace. Unlike Master Dick's charge ahead approach, Master Tim apparently wanted to give Ace plenty of time to get use to the idea of him being anywhere near the creature. When he finally reached them, he carefully reached up and laid in his hand on Ace's shoulder and slowly began to stroke his fur.
The fact that Ace was not reacting at all to Master Dick practically hugging him seemed to be lost on Master Tim. If he wasn't going to react to that, Alfred highly doubted that he would mind a few tentative pats.
Master Jason, however, wasn't going to have any of it any time soon.
"Gees, B," he said as he crossed his arms. "I know it's hard for you rich guys to believe it, but bigger doesn't always mean better."
Master Bruce frowned and said, "Ace's size is actually helpful here, Jason. People are easily intimidated by a dog this size and will be less likely to come near any of you."
"Yeah, because Tim looks like he's the prefect snack size for that thing," Master Jason replied.
The tension that had begun to melt from Master Tim's shoulders returned in full strength at Master Jason's assessment. He glanced up at the dog's massive head that was only a few inches away from him and appeared to be imagining how easily his own head could fit inside those jaws.
"Don't listen to him, Timmy," Master Dick said from the other side Ace before turning a smirk towards Master Jason. "Besides, weren't you the one that said you hoped Bruce didn't bring home some 'rich-girl purse dog' this morning?"
"That didn't mean that he had bring home Padfoot," Master Jason replied flatly.
Alfred raised an eyebrow at Master Jason apt comparison, but Master Dick face lit up as if some great secret had just been bestowed upon him before falling once again.
"Oh, man, we should have been able to name him that," he said with a pout. A hopeful grin tugged at his lips as he looked up at Master Bruce and said, "Is there anyway we can call him that?"
"I doubt he'll respond to you if you do," he replied.
"He doesn't act like he responds to a lot of stuff." Master Jason squinted a little at the dog and then asked Master Bruce, "You sure they didn't just give you a dog statue?"
"Ace is alive," Master Dick said. "You'd know if you weren't too scared to come over here and pet him."
Alfred held in a sigh. Here they go.
"I'm not scared," Master Jason snapped back.
"Oh, yeah, then why won't you come over here?" Master Dick taunted.
Glaring, Master Jason replied, "Because unlike some idiots, I've got enough brains to know to not go hugging something that's big enough to use me as a chew toy."
"Ace is a big baby." Grabbing either side of the dog's face, Master Dick asked, "Aren't you, boy?"
The dog nor Master Jason were very impressed with him or his question.
"You're so going to be first one he eats," Master Jason said with a shake of his head.
Sighing, Master Bruce said, "He's not going to eat anyone, Jason."
"Unless you give him some kind of weird German command, right?" he replied. "Like guten wiedershen or gefahr katze."
"Stop trying to make him attack us!" Master Tim snapped.
At the same time, Master Bruce was pinching the bridged of his nose mutter to himself about getting Master Jason started on German lessons as soon as as possible.
"He's not going to attack, Tim," Master Dick said. "And I'll prove it."
Before Alfred could stop him, Master Dick marched over and picked up Master Damian. The boy had been occupied watching a dragon fly buzz around the back patio for the past few minutes and protested a bit at first as Master Dick carried him over to Ace. For the first time that afternoon, the dog finally decided to give some sort of reaction. He peered down at Master Damian with something that Alfred would almost swear was curiosity. Alfred supposed that he had never seen a human that small before. He could imagine whatever training he had had up until this point would include much interactions with toddlers, and Ace probably didn't know what to make of such a thing.
Master Damian for his own part stared up at the dog with a slight frown on his face. He placed his tiny hands on his hips as he studied the beast, but he was careful to not come to close just yet.
After a moment or two of just staring at one another, Master Damian ordered, "Down."
Ace tilted his head to the side for a moment, before laying down in front of Master Damian. The boy quickly sat down in front of him and began to scratch the dog's head as its tail begin to swing back and forth.
Well, it seems that Master Damian might have a knack with animals. That was rather surprising, all things considered. Not unwelcomed, of course, but not something that Alfred would have expected from such a dower, serious child.
A triumphant smile spread across Master Dick's face. "See."