With work to be done, it had to be several days later that Bruce and Velma had their first date. Making sure a lot of the testing and lab work had been finished up, to allow them to wait for results and end up having a moment together to enjoy their new status as a couple... And finally, they were able to arrange their schedules and have everything lined up for that fated day for a date!
"...You really know how to woo a girl."
With a deadpan look, Velma stared over at Bruce from where she sat. She had spend the whole morning, psyching herself up. Wrought with worry and loads of pacing as the time got closer and closer. But while she knew they needed to get some minor Wayne Tech things done, (paperwork mostly) she had been expecting more out of the date... then having a bit of take-out in Bruce's main office. It was a nice office, and it was some good food. But she had been secretly hoping for a more hallmark movie special sort of moment... then a work lunch date.
"..."
Velma's unhappy look was betrayed, as she had cast her glare over to the man she could be calling 'boyfriend'. Finding him resembling a happy chipmunk with his cheeks full of the burger he was indulging on with both hands. Cheeks pushed out, making her have to struggle against being grumpy at him and stay annoyed. Shaking her head at seeing yet another side of him, that would make the paparazzi jump for a photo op. Just proving to her, the real reason for the location choice.
"How do you put up with, that?" Velma asked Alfred, tossing a hand in Bruce's direction. Caving against the growing mental reasoning and logic that was slowly revealing Bruce's intentions for the office being the destination for their lunch.
"It is a daily struggle, Miss Velma." Alfred responded, moving about the rooms to do his usual duties. And while he had a straight face, she felt that he was more amused then he was letting on. Feeling that she might have finally met her match, when it came to the sass department. But, the British were always formidable in that regard.
"I'm sorry, I usually have to be so prim and proper... I figured you wouldn't mind if I ate more relaxed " Making short work with what he had in his mouth, he at least made sure to swallow before talking. Living with Shaggy, that was the least of Velma's problems with Bruce eating as he pleased.
"Yeah, I don't really mind, but it is doing a number on my brain. I now know that most of what I know, is a lie. Still trying to process everything." Velma had her hopes up before, but thinking about it more... She honestly she was thankful for the more discretion and privacy. Sure, she would have loved to have some romantic type of first date one would see out of a film, but this was more of her speed. Paperwork, tasty food, and good company for conversation.
"But I'm still getting used to the idea of this being a 'date' and all."
"Well, I mean we still have work to get done. And there aren't too many secure areas for lengthy discussions. And I wanted to try this burger, at your recommendation." Bruce admitted, raising up the burger he had in his hands.
"Wait, Is this from that..."
"Yeah, you told me in one of the letters about it and writing a report to Daphne about it."
"Oh, yeah... Those letters... Feels like I was talking to a totally different person." Velma admitted, trying to recall everything they had been talking about. Trying to make sure she knew which facts to sort as truth and what was fabricated.
"Well on your end, you were. Sadly having to deal with the lie I had to tell you, and then the slow reveal of a more truthful version of me. I figure there has to be tons of things you want to ask me. So, why don't as we work and eat lunch... We can take turns asking questions?"
"Hmmmmmm..." Chomping down on her burger, she did have many things she needed to sort out and get answers too. Though there was one that was the most pressing. It was the main thing that really needed to be addressed going further if this was to work out. Something she had been worrying about, even before she had found out his big secret.
"I'll start then..."
"Go head. And mm, good burger."
"I guess out of everything. Since I know, and you seem to be letting down your guard more."
"Mostly around you." Putting down his burger, Bruce focused on a few fries as he looked over a file in front of him. But his attention was almost all at Velma. Only allocating a small bit of attention at the work on hand.
"Yes, granted around me. But I spend a lot of time with the Gang. And they know me too well, that I am not sure if they won't figure things out once they spend time with you... Like this..." Trying to not be insulting, but it kinda felt like she was. But Bruce only chuckled.
"That is part of me dropping the act. I am ok with the gang knowing. I figured when... Well, if it comes to that. I will be found out really quickly. And well, I also don't want you to have to lie to the gang for very long." Bruce admitted. And he personally loved the gang, what exchanges he had seen from Batman's point of view. And well, she talked about them enough, that even on Bruce's side, he knew they were important to her. Certainly a cast of characters for sure, but that just made it more interesting. He is looking forward to getting to know them, on a more personal level. One he couldn't do, as Batman before being revealed.
"You think they will figure it out?"
"Yep. Meeting the gang will no doubt have Batman found out." Bruce said with a definitive nod
"And you trust them to keep it a secret?" Velma chewed on her lip as she worried about it.
"Well, you trust them, so that is good enough for me. While Bruce hasn't really interacted with anyone beyond you and Daphne. Mainly through her family and high society. Batman has seen you guys time and time again save each other and foil the bad guys. And how you guys react and work together. If there wasn't that level of trust, you probably wouldn't be even half as successful as you guys are."
Bruce gushed honestly. He had seen plenty of wanna-be's over the years trying to work with 'The Batman'. Like over zealous fans, wanting to get in on the lives of who they were obsessed with. But Mystery Inc wasn't like that. They were professionals doing their job, when it tended to fall in their laps. It wasn't like the Gang was jumping head first into the mystery around one of his villains for fame or glory, but more that the clues put themselves in their path and they couldn't help themselves with a good Mystery to solve. Ignoring that it was someone like Penguin, behind it.
Velma hid a blush behind her burger, not expecting the answer she gave him. Trying to merge her brain with his two halves. He did kinda know the gang, which was true. It was just... Batman who knew. "I certainly want to get my head wrapped around this first... Feels like I am in a daydream."
"...But what is your first question?" Her turn over, it was his time to ask something.
"Out of everything to ask, hm? Well..." Putting his hand to his face, he brought his nose out of the paperwork to dedicate his full attention to this very important chance to ask anything he wanted. Not revealing that he had a set of notes he had been taking of her... With him not noticing that she was doing the same as well by her paperwork.
"What is your favorite color?"
The deadpan look returned, as she stared past the thick rims of her glasses on her face. She would glare over her glasses to amplify the look, but that would also render her blind to his expressions across the room. Which she didn't want to ignore.
"Out of everything you could possibly ask... that is your first question?"
"Yep."
"Well, I am not sure I have a particular favorite color. But I do find myself enjoying wearing ED6111 the most."
Pulling out her snark, she couldn't help herself. Something she regretted the moment it came out of her mouth. As she would do in a situation like with the gang. But even with them, sometimes her sharp tongue rang out before her mind processed if that was a good idea or not. But she forgot who she was dealing with.
"Oh... ED6111? I figured you more in the F94F0B specrum. Since that has a bit more of a reddish hue to it." Not even flinching at her quip, Bruce just rolled with it and pondered the hex color codes in order to come up with proper styling on Velma. "But you do look good in D00606."
"Well, you get away with just zero's across the board!" She snorted.
"I think my body armor is more 808080, and there is a 00008b in some of my cowls." Bruce defended, and he also had a few suits in the darker gray and the matching blue shades.
"I believe Master Tim would be referring to you, Master Bruce and Miss Velma as... Nerds." Alfred merely pointed out, resuming his work aside. Earning a snirk from Bruce, and a smile from Velma. Though it didn't last long, since it was her turn for the next question.
Lightly chewing one end of a fry, she tried to come up with things that she needed to ask. Her notes were scribbled in a giant mess of conflicting notes with loads of things crossed out and circled as they talked. Knowing most likely this wasn't something to get sorted all at once. But wanted to use this time to get some things more sorted... And she just thought of another important question to ask of him.
"What... What do you expect out of me, in this relationship?" He said he liked her. Sure, but she wanted to know what that entailed.
"I expect you to be yourself. I don't want you to change yourself for me." Pushing up from his papers, he stretched a bit before walked over to where she had been put at a nearby surface for her own lab work. Hovering nearby to answer her question.
"There is no mold you need to fill, or role you need to fit. I'm not wanting you to dance to some tune to play a part in the lies I have been telling. I'm sick of it, and honestly falling for you will help me be able to mostly... tell the truth. To you, and to the world. I still have to be Bruce Wayne for the Media, and hide the fact that I am Batman to the world. That hasn't changed. But who I want by my side in all of this, has." He admitted honestly. Now that he has allowed himself to have fallen for her, he didn't want to give her up so readily.
Unless it was her choice. It was always her choice. But even if she wanted out, he still trusted her to keep his secret.
"I fell for you exactly how and who you are. I hope, that you can get all the answers you need to feel comfortable around me, and we can sort out things so your brain is struggling less with the lies that I have told and the truth of what to expect from me on my end. Does that help?"
"... A small bit."
"Well, that is ok. I want to take as much time as you need. And feel free to ask me anything. Though I think I will have Oracle set up a secure line for some of the more redacted questions. As clever as the messages we had before, it's not exactly going to foil Riddler if for some reason he pokes his nose into things."
"Oh, yeah. We will need a more encoded method of conversation." Velma's brain switched into debug mode, and started to trying to code a proper communication method, though being Batman, she wasn't sure how her ideas might be when compared to what ever was on the Bat Computer.
"I know this is a lot to take in, why I don't want to rush things and leave you where you feel comfortable. Which is why for my next question, you can say no. It is alright to say no if you don't want to... you don't have to agree to my question." He wanted to make sure she knew it was ok to reject things. She didn't need to say yes to him, because he was him.
"So, feel free to be honest, but... Can I hold your hand?" Moving to one of the cushier couches, he sat himself down and left enough room for her to sit beside him. But well, she was allowed to refuse him. Raising up his right hand to wiggle his fingers at her. He was more used to being a gentleman and escorting a lady lightly by the hand, in a manner one might kiss the back of the hand with. And while he had interlaced his fingers with many of his foes, it was for a totally different reason!
"..."
Staring at him, she was again thrown off with his questions. It was very normal, date wise for these sorts of things to come out and be asked. Right? But their situation wasn't that normal, that something that was in fact basic protocol was seen to her as strange. Sure, she had occasionally went on dates in her past, and some of those she even held hands. But most had been so awkward that she wasn't sure what was so good about it. Or why he might want to hold hers? Self doubt rearing it's ugly head to poke at the back of her thoughts.
"I never understood the general idea of hand holding without a purpose." Revering to her logic, was the safe thing to do. Emotion can take a back seat till things are sorted. Also trying to push away the negative thoughts that were prodding from the shadows.
"Then, why don't we try it, as an experiment!" Bruce offered, since he was mainly curious himself. And if she wasn't up for it, they could easily just stop without it being weird. "We can try various common hand holding, and see how you react and which might be more preferable or if it's not something you enjoy."
He appealed to her, with Science! Something she couldn't argue with.
Raising up from his seat, he smoothly glided over to where she sat. Turning his palm upwards, he extended his hand to her. Like all the times he escorted ladies in the past. It was a light grip, and should be a good starting point. Also something he was more familiar with, and had a wide base of knowledge with on how this should feel like. Ignoring the butterflies he got, offering the hand to her specifically. Something he took mental note of.
Considering the offered hand, it wasn't an unfamiliar gesture. She knew what it meant, and what she needed to do. Sliding her seat out from behind the desk, she tilted it so she would be able to be raised from her seat successfully. Placing her small hand in his, Bruce lightly gripped her hand to help her up. She was light, so it didn't take much to get her to her feet. But he lightly pulled her into a small circle around the room. Leading her by the hand, before bringing her to the couch he had chosen before.
"Thoughts?"
"You seem very practiced in it." Velma might have enjoyed herself, had she not felt silly just waltzing around in a circle in Bruce's main office. But it did give her doubt some fodder, since she could picture the many who's he had done this before with. Ignoring that a small part of her did enjoy to be escorted by such a gentleman and knight.
"Guilty, I figured I would start with a control, and see how the other options compared. As well as who was my companion this time around. It was nice, but I think there are other... What's wrong?" While he was explaining, she couldn't meet his eyes. But he did notice that not only was she hiding her head from her, she was deeply chewing on her bottom lip.
"I don't think I deserve to be at the end of your hand like this. Why me?" Velma couldn't help herself. Her mind just flashing all the photos and videos of the news she had seen of him in the past. Sure, it was part of the lie to protect the worlds biggest secret. But surely he couldn't enjoy someone like her on his arm. She would just be an embarrassment if they actually had a date outside. She was just the tomboy in the turtleneck and skirt... (Though how her classic combo was attributed to being a tomboy, she hadn't figured out. But she did feel that the stereotype wasn't 100% false.)
"Surely there are prettier... Rich and famous... or smarter. Well, maybe not smarter. But there has to be someone out there better then me, to stand beside you."
Like a punch in the gut, she recalled something that he had said before. "...Someone like Daphne."
She hated to say. Daphne was her best friend and the one she trusted the most. She hated the part of herself that thought negatively about her. But Daphne was much more suited to Bruce then her. She was pretty, she was Rich and Famous. She was a Blake, so that already put her on the same social standing as him. Velma was just... The sidekick that everyone forgot the name of... in Mystery Inc.
Scooby was more famous then her.
"Come here." Tugging on her hand, Bruce led her to the couch. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders to sit her on one side and then sat next to her. Shifting himself at an angle, he picked up both of her hands to take in his own. Looking at her softly, but not trying to command her to look at him in return. Just trying to be supportive while holding her hands, giving them light squeezes.
"I can not say that I might not have fallen for Daphne in another life. You have an amazing best friend there, and I'm a bit worried what she will think before she finds out my secret as well. I feel that how ever long till she knows, I will have a huge target on my back. Due to my general Playboy-ness from the past. And well, I have already made you cry twice." The wrath of Daphne Blake, was one to be feared. And he had seen how proficient she was on the Batman side of things. And while he could take her, he wasn't sure he would come out unscathed. Especially if it was about Velma.
"But I didn't. So, alternate universe aside. I fell for you. And I will remind you as long as it takes for you to believe it. I don't know what other boyfriends you may have dated in the past, and I can't say that I am a shining example of someone who knows what a real date looks like. But I think that we can take it slow and figure out what that means for us instead. Find out our own definition."
"But to address the Playboy Elephant in the room..."
"... I thought they were bunnies." Velma couldn't help but add.
"Heh, yeah. Well, this one is an elephant I guess. Maybe he has bunny ears along with his normal ears." Which earned him a pleasant laugh from her. Making him glad to hear that, even if it was for a fleeting moment.
"I am worried about making this public. I wish I wasn't who I am, so I could date you without any worry. Well, except maybe having to wait for my amazing girlfriend to come back from capturing her latest criminal mastermind behind a mask... Solving some far off mystery, to be able to see you. But I am Bruce Wayne, and I am known by the world as a playboy and flirt. This isn't something that will go away any time soon. So, being the woman who tied down Bruce Wayne, might be as shocking to the world as someone actually finding out my real secret."
"That you like the color black? Shocking." Velma couldn't help but jab at. Trying to keep herself sane by making snarky remarks.
"Yeah, who knew! But there will probably be a lot of attention brought towards you. Rumors and paparazzi will be all over. And I won't be able to stop that."
"Oh great, more cameras and stereotypes. Well, not like that doesn't already happen." Velma grumbled, not thrilled at the prospects but also not unfamiliar to her.
"Yeah, which is one point in your favor. You are THE Velma Dinkley. Household name, and world trotting mystery solver of Mystery Inc. A woman who has skipped across the globe and solved some of the most difficult cases that people have ever seen!" He tossed up his hands emphatically. Sure, he was able to be classified as 'The' Bruce Wayne, but she was also worthy of having a 'The' to her name as well.
"...You even have your own Lego!"
"Granted, for every one Lego of me, Fred or Daph, there is like three of Shaggy, and five more of Scooby." Velma sighed. "He gets all the good merchandise. But while I don't think there is a Bruce Wayne playset, I know that Batman has a few."
"Hey, I wish I could get royalties, but I would be outing myself. Though I have threatened as Batman, so that some of the proceeds go to those in need. I just had to string one of the CEO's out of a window to get it done."
After a short pause, Velma just sighed again. "...I wish that you could be joking."
"I actually am," Bruce said with a laugh. "I didn't have to do much to get them to bend. The people at Lego already were thinking of donating but wasn't sure what I wanted to support. The higher ups are fans, so it was a pretty seamless process."
"Hm, I will have to talk to Daphne, she is kinda our mediator when it comes to various meet ups, merchandise and the like. I wonder if we can get some of that donated or if Daphne has something already set up."
Velma was more then happy to leave those sorts of things to the red head. It just gave her a headache. Sure, she had her own network and things. But some of the crazy things Daphne had her hands all in, was better left up to the imagination and less stress not thinking about it. Velma had enough to worry about.
"So, well... I don't think any of those dolled up woman that I have had on my arm before, could claim to be a Lego. So, that is a plus for you. Well, I have to take that back. There might be a few, but more secret identities abound. Hopefully you don't run into Selena any time soon, but her other half as Catwoman might not be thrilled for not getting any money from her being a Lego. But I bet she has probably nicked a playset or three just out of spite." Bruce said with a chuckle. Maybe later he would talk about the few other ladies that he had considered at length, if Velma was interested.
But for now, it didn't matter.
"So, you are more then capable to stand above those ladies that I have had on my arm in the past. I can't say that some don't mean something to me. Though mostly on a platonic level. There are several ladies that I used to rotate through, that it was a sort of mutual agreement between the two of us in regards to showing up to some social event with someone of stature." He would be more then happy to give that up, if Velma was willing. Or if she wasn't, to have some ladies that were that sort of noncommittal position to just appear in a social gathering for their own agenda's and he his. Though only if he had too. He would rather have her on his arm, then anyone else now.
"You are world famous. You are rich... At least, I know you are making a killing with these patents with us, let alone what else you have going. I figure you are well off, and not after me for my money." Bruce joked. Sure, she wasn't a billionaire or old money. But she was certainly well off enough that he could find. And she was not the personality to be a gold digger and like him for his money. That didn't matter to her in the least, and she even argue with him with their contract in the past.
"And I know you also are the owner of a book shop, and have a share in several things over the years."
"And it isn't your place to say that you aren't Pretty." He said pulling one of her hands up to kiss the back of it, earning her to stiffen up and react with him calling her pretty. "You are the most beautiful woman in the room."
"I'm the only woman, in the room."
"No, my mom is here." He admitted honestly gesturing over to the portrait that sat in the room. Actually, the only painting in the room with people in it. It was one that had been commission by his father, before he was born. It was one of his favorites of them, and they always sat over looking him in the office. "And I think you have her beat."
Velma's head all but exploded. After the few days before finding out about his parents, she considered that to be a massive compliment. She didn't believe it was true in the least, since she didn't see herself in the same light. But it still was a compliment she didn't know how to deal with. Her face flush with a blush, that reached all the way to her ears.
"You might not see yourself in the mirror in a good light. But I wish I could show you how your face lights up when you figure out something that has been bugging you. Or how your nose has this little crinkle in it, when you are annoyed, or thinking really hard about something. Though I do worry about you chewing a hole in your lip, or your finger when you really go at it. Or how you glow when you gush about the gang, telling one of the stories to someone. I hope to get more front row seat to those, since I was only able to see them when you interacted with the other lab techs and stuff, playing the role of jerk playboy to you. How excited you get on the hunt of a mystery, a grin on your face even when facing down some of my toughest criminals. I know you don't like your photo taken, but it's times like those, I wish that you had the most pictures of. So you can see, what I see." Bruce could go on forever, but he didn't want to kill her with his praise. Just gushing enough to show her how sincere he truly was.
"Jinkies..." Velma had indeed seen some pictures like that. Fred's dad was notorious for sneaking up on her and taking shots that she hated to admit, she liked of herself. (Out of all the pictures of her at least.) It was not like when she knew the camera was on her, and she was put in the spotlight. It was the best, when it captured who she genuinely was without a filter. So, that is what he was seeing her like all the time. Those little moments.
...But not emotionally prepared for him to say that to her. Having to fan herself, her face still beet red in emotion.
"You REALLY, know how to woo a girl."