Chapter Two:
Ms. Hawkes looked just about ready to faint.
"I'm afraid that Master Bruce had a rather important work emergency to handle. He did, however, send his regards. He would have liked nothing more than to be here."
Danny noticed with great amusement that, unlike his adoption worker, the old guy didn't even blink at the remark; although, it was most likely a part of the man's job to maintain professionalism, a trait that Ms. Hawkes clearly lacked. She stared Danny down with an expression akin to a baby that just had its first lemon. He barely spoke a single word and she was already done with him!
For reasons that Danny couldn't possibly comprehend, she seemed keen on stopping him from speaking again. It was a futile effort, considering that they would later be living in the same house. All the same, she still turned towards Mr. Wayne's… advisor? Employee? Whoever he was, the man fell victim to her sugary sweet smile.
"Mr. Pennyworth, may we have a moment in my office please?"
While she had her back to him, Danny started to silently mimic her, sticking out his tongue and scrunching his nose up. It was beyond childish, but the woman was so infuriating that it couldn't be helped. But a few moments after, the old British man noticed Danny's antics. His graying mustache twitched into a small smile. Danny stopped, sending a sheepish grin back.
"Of course," Mr. Pennyworth agreed, but probably only because he wasn't allowed to say no.
The instant the affirmative was said, Ms. Hawkes nodded firmly and walked away without another word to Danny. Her short brown hair, despite stopping just short of her chin, managed to swish behind her as she marched by. The guy, whose last name apparently was Pennyworth, followed the despicable woman. However, instead of ignoring Danny like she did, he gave a soft, reassuring nod.
The sixteen-year old didn't even realize that he needed reassurance until that moment, when the single nod somehow managed to make him feel a bit lighter.
Oh god.
He was nervous, wasn't he?
What the hell did he have to be anxious about? Just a few moments ago, he was perfectly content while sitting down, eating Lucky Charms, and calculating the exact minute his adoptee would arrive to haul him off to his new house.
Perfectly content.
Although, his fidgeting said otherwise.
Danny took a deep breath and stood abruptly. It probably wasn't that he was nervous; just tired and anti-social. That must have been it. Whatever the reason, it started to get worse the more that he thought about it, a growing pit of nerves stabbing at his stomach. The stretching silence, for the most part, didn't exactly help.
What did those two even need to talk about?
Staying by himself in the otherwise empty kitchen soon started to make him a bit restless, so, since he had no concept of privacy, Danny put his bowl in the sink (he did have some manners, after all) before wandering down the hall to eavesdrop on their conversation. They probably had to go over paperwork or something equally as boring.
This, as it turns out, was not the case.
"Is Mr. Wayne certain that he even wants to adopt Daniel? To put it lightly, the boy is a huge burden."
Danny almost tripped over air.
It shouldn't have been a surprise. The woman practically loathed children, which was a bitter irony, considering where she worked, but Danny held a special place in her heart. She always did go out of her way to make him the most miserable orphan in the building. This was most likely because he had accidentally called her a buck-toothed cow when they first met.
But still. Even if she hated him as if had murdered the army of cats she probably had at home, trying to convince somebody not to adopt him was a bit much. If anything, she should have been glad he was leaving!
Bitter old wench.
She continued, "I'm sure that a man of his status would not be able to find the time to deal with a kid like him. He couldn't even pick the child up, which is probably the easiest—"
Whatever-his-first-name-was Pennyworth didn't let her finish.
"With all due respect, ma'am… I do not think that is any of your concern. Master Bruce has raised several boys who have grown to become fine, young gentlemen. Your worries are quite unbecoming, I'm afraid."
This was the second time that he had referred to Bruce Wayne as Master. It was peculiar, to say the least. What kind of job in the 21st century would require something like that?
"You don't understand. He's an ungrateful brat! I just thought that Mr. Wayne should know what he's getting himself—"
"I believe I said that is none of your concern. Come to think of it, I find that there are quite a few other rather worrying issues that you might think to draw your focus to instead."
"Such as?"
"A few obvious points come to mind." Despite not being able to see Mr. Pennyworth's face, Danny imagined him staring pointedly at her while speaking. "Now, if that is all, then Daniel and I will be taking our leave. I advise that you do not bother to concern us with your so-called worries in the future."
Five minutes later, Mr. Pennyworth found Danny casually sitting where they had left him, spinning around in the kitchen stool to stay occupied. The man that had looked so stoic since they met actually looked a bit peeved. It was a slight, barely noticeable hint in his expression, which Danny totally didn't know the reason behind. Totally.
Did he look too casual? Not casual enough? Should he start whistling?
"Daniel, allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Alfred Pennyworth, personal butler to the Wayne family."
"Butler, huh? Isn't this a bit out of your job description?
"Nothing is out of my job description, young sir," Alfred said. "Are you ready to leave?"
"Is that even a question? I've been ready since I first got here."
The car ride to Wayne Manor was the longest twenty minutes of his life.
Conversation was few and far between, so he spent a majority of it staring out the back window, watching the scenery fly by. Countless questions were running through his mind, the most obvious being why he was there, but this was clearly an inappropriate time to ask them. Instead, he awkwardly choked out conversations like:
"Um, so it's really nice outside today."
"There is a ninety-percent chance of a thunderstorm tonight."
"Oh."
Or:
"You're a butler, huh? I had a butler once. He kind of reminds me of you."
"Indeed?"
"Yup. So, you, uh, like… buttling?"
And, his personal favorite:
"Why do you call him "Master" Bruce?"
"It's the proper title for a man in a position such as myself to address him by. As of today, consider yourself as Master Daniel."
"Kinky."
He gave up after that.
Staring out the window proved to be a lot less entertaining, but he used this opportunity to try to discern where in Gotham they were headed. It was useless; the roads and turns all blended into the next, a countless number of forgettable buildings and structures whizzing by in a blur of indistinguishable color.
What he could tell, however, was that with each passing second, they were getting further and further from the crowded bustle of the city. The amount of buildings decreased substantially, starting to become smaller until, eventually, there was nothing around but trees. As the car turned abruptly down a long, narrow road, Danny was able to make out the tall, looming mansion that was Wayne Manor.
It was huge.
Was it even okay to call it a house? It looked like a fucking palace.
As they pulled to slow stop in front of the giant fountain that resided in their driveway, Danny knew one thing for certain:
He did not want to go inside anytime soon.
"This place isn't haunted, is it?" he asked when Alfred opened the door for him, stepping to the side to allow him to exit the car.
"I don't believe so, but what do I know? I'm simply a butler."
Danny snorted.
Alfred insisted on carrying Danny's luggage, which he didn't argue on because that thing was heavy as hell, and then just awkwardly trailed behind as the elder effortlessly walked up the flight of the stairs that led to the front door.
Honestly, the building just radiated cold, unfriendly vibes. Danny expected that the inside would reflect that through empty, quiet halls filled with ornate antiques and priceless, untouchable furniture.
He was half right.
As Alfred opened the door, loud arguing immediately bombarded them. What sounded like a death threat echoed down the hall, followed by amused laughter and something crashing to the floor. The butler, unfazed, strode purposefully towards the source, making a gesture for Danny to follow.
He'd rather not.
Unfortunately, there wasn't really a choice in the matter.
Slow start, but I swear to you that it will pick up, and quickly! Also, let's just all pretend that this was posted last Friday and that I'm on schedule. *thumbs up*
I feel like my writing style keeps changing somehow. I don't know, man, what even is structure? xD
But anyways, thank you for reading and to the huge response that I received last chapter! All of you are so supportive and it makes me so excited for this rewrite. Like I said, I know this is a slow start so far, so I hope you enjoy anyway :D (Just for curiosity's sake, how many of you guys read the old version?)
Review Replies (RR): (Warning: thousands of "thank you"s and FF style emoji's in store)
TheSilverHunt3r: Aw, thank you! I really appreciate you standing by for so long~!
Glaciaj Flamoj: Thank you~ :D
Bad Ass Poltergeist: I'm glad you like it so far!
Amaxe: All of your guys' excitement basically amplifies mine by like a trillion xD
Poohbearmorris: Same, though~ MCU hype is taking over xD Thank you so much! :D
PeridotGreenHeart: Rebel Danny is the best Danny xD
Foxchick1: Thank you, glad you're enjoying it so far~
Flufflez McSugartop: Me too, fam.
Adrianna Agray: I'm glad you think so! (Since I haven't really written anything in so long, I'm a bit rusty xD)
InkMelody: Thanks! (Hopefully it becomes one xD)
Davidscrazy234: Thank you~ :D
Guest: I'm excited that you're excited! xD
Locky3670: Aw, thanks for reading!
Matt: Your wish may be granted *wiggles eyebrows*
Blackkyu: I live off of Danny's attitude xD Glad you're enjoying so far~!
GrammerPolice: Hopefully it stays that way xD Does anything faze Alfred?
Kimera20: Yup~! :D