Side character perspectives - part 4
Uncle Dudley
* November 29
"Ooh! I have the perfect idea," Billy shouted, suddenly pulling away and running to the cross walk.
Even knowing that his nephew was a wise child, and had known better since before that crazy wizard made him Captain Marvel, Dudley H. Dudley still felt his heart skip a beat as a car raced by.
Billy had dutifully stopped by the edge of the sidewalk, however, so he contented himself with calling, "Wait up for me, little man! I'm not as young as I used to be."
"Oh. Right. Sorry," Billy apologized, and dutifully held his uncle's hand across when the sign said to walk. "Now don't. I've told you, it's my job to carry everything, and I'm quite alright," he chided gently when the too-good-for-his-own-good tried to take one or two of the shopping bags at the other side, so that the old man wasn't so laden down. "Now, what was your perfect idea?"
"That!" Billy declared, pointing at the pottery paint shop. "I want to paint something for Renka. Can I, Uncle Dudley? Do we have time?"
He chuckled. "Well, it usually takes a week or two to fire something after it's done, so I'm glad you though of this now. Speaking of which, I can think of someone I want to paint something for, too. Shall we?"
"Yes! Woo-hoo, thanks Uncle Dudley!" Billy cheered, tugging his uncle over and then holding the door open.
"I have to ask, does she celebrate Christmas?" Dudley asked as Billy peered around the shelves of unfired clay shapes. "She's not… from America, is she?" From this dimension would've been more accurate, but they were in public, and even if people ought to write it off as an old man humoring his nephew about a TV show or some such, he'd rather not risk it.
And, truth be told, the idea was still very strange to him. He'd encountered a lot of odd things in the years since Billy had been recruited by a wizard as 'a bastion against evil,' and heard tell of even more, but a woman from another dimension was a whole new piece of odd.
At least she was a sweetheart, and in an innocent way, not a questionable one. Dudley had only been born at the end of WWII, and at 5-8 he hadn't been affected by the Korean War, but he'd been barely 15 when the Vietnam War began.
He would've gotten away with lying about his age to enlist, but his asthma disqualified him anyway. When they'd started showing pictures of the napalm bombings, he changed from mad to glad. He still shivered at some of what he saw second-hand.
The point was, he sympathized with the woman who'd lost her childhood to war, and whom his nephew was helping have a second one. The idea of a sleepover with a woman twice Billy's age had been odd, but she'd been upfront about it when he wouldn't have known the truth without her telling him, so he let them try.
And Dr. Fate was reported to like her, so that was a point in her favor. The man in gold had been tied with Wildcat as his favorite heroes growing up, until he'd by chance met the first Flash in person.
Granted, from what Billy said, he wasn't sure if it was the same man in the helmet as it had been in the war, but Billy's explanation when he asked about the funeral had also included something about the real Dr. Fate living in the helmet like the Wizard….
It was all a bit beyond him, to be honest.
"If she doesn't celebrate Christmas, that just means she isn't going to get me a present," Billy reasoned, returning with his chosen piece of pottery and a pallet of paints. "I can still get her a present, and it can be a Get Well Soon gift instead."
"Is she getting well? You said she was starting to walk on her own again, I remember," he inquired gently.
"Yup! She gets frustrated at everything, but she's okay, and she's getting better," Billy confirmed.
"That's good. What are you going to get her?" Dudley eyed the dish Billy had chosen.
"A candy dish! You know, because we hung out on Halloween, and candy," his nephew explained. "I'm going to paint it green like a Christmas tree, and then I think I'm going to put on orange ornaments, like jack-o-lanterns!"
"It sounds like something she'll enjoy. Hmm…."
"Oh, I know that noise! You have an awesome suggestion," Billy crowed, "don't you? C'mon, tell me tell me tell me, pleeeeease."
"Alright, alright," Dudley laughed. "I was thinking it might be a bit odd to put Christmas and Halloween things close together. If it's a candy dish, maybe you'll want to put on candy corn decorations, and other sweets."
"Oh, yeah! That's a great idea, Uncle Dudley," Billy agreed, and set to painting on the green with a gusto.
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Side character perspectives - part 5
Alfred Pennyworth
* November 29
Having been alerted of her return by the security system, Alfred had the garage door open before his co-worker could attempt to knock with her hands full.
"On the ball as always, boss," the short redhead complimented, staggering through with a dozen pizza boxes in her arms.
"I aim to please and impress, Miss Alice. I will take these," he declared, deftly plucking six boxes from the top so that she could more easily see where she was going.
"You didn't say the brand was important, so I just went to DK's. Is that okay?" she asked earnestly.
Alfred's nose wrinkled. "While I detest the idea of connecting my creations to their name, I have no objection to using their boxes. And I detect you purchased something for yourself, as well?"
"Yup," she confirmed cheerfully, sliding all but the bottom box of her pile onto the granite counter-top of the kitchen.
"
That I might find offensive, that you would prefer greasy fast food over my edible artistry," he declared faux-snidely, with the same arrogance he'd once used in to play Don Adriano de Armado in his board-treading days. "Why I never."
"Aww, don't be like that Mister Pennyworth," she pleaded, even summoning crocodile tears to her eyes. "Why, it ain't anything personal; Ah jus' dint want to upset your English sensibilities by askin' you to put pineapple an' anchovies on a pizza pie!"
"Alice Elizabeth Tesla," the butler declared icily, eyes narrowed. "I do believe your
accent is showing."
"Ah! Where?!" She gave a scandalized gasped and glanced down to examine her maid uniform.
A moment later, they both broke out in chuckles.
"What can I say? I'm still a college student at heart," Alice confessed more seriously when their shared laughter subsided. "I figured I'd keep this in my personal pantry for when I got midnight munchies while working on a new batarang design."
"You have a new design already?" Alfred inquired, returning to the pasta he had on boil. "I remain quite impressed by your productivity."
"Not so much a new idea as a new chance a designing an old one properly," the redhead elaborated. "Ooh! I picked up the wires I needed while I was out, so just give me a second. Where is-?"
"I placed the kettle beside the coffee beans," he informed her, stirring the simmering tomato sauce. "Taste this, if you will?"
The maid placed the Kelvin Kettle on a free area, far from any food, and bounced over to touch her mouth to the sample spoon. "Hmm… New, but I don't know what you put in it. I like it, though. What's the secret ingredient?" she inquired, applying a pocket screwdriver to the kettle.
"My dear, if I told you, it would cease to be a secret. I can only hope Master Dick will recognize it."
"Oooh," the maid mused distractedly, fiddling with the battery casing that powered the kettle's internal thermometer. "Something he'd recognize, I wonder why? An old family recipe from some long-lost papers, perhaps?"
"It is both a surprise and a secret, Miss Alice," he said, serene as ever.
"Aaaaand… thaaaat's… there we go! Good as new," she declared brightly, efficiently returning all unused supplies to her pockets.
"Many thanks, Miss Alice," Alfred said warmly, taking the kettle and putting it on a free burner. "I confess, many of these new-fangled contraptions you favor-," The maid giggled, knowing he was playing up his age and down his understanding. "-are beyond me, but despite my doubts, the simple act of adding a thermometer has, I admit, made it much more efficient to brew a reliable pot of tea. I would be most distraught to inform Master Bruce that my birthday present from him had ceased to function."
"Any time, old man. Any other projects? If not, I should go check how well my modified Roomba is handling our stairs."
"I am afraid the answer to that is: not very." The redhead wilted at his news.
"What happened?"
"I am uncertain," he admitted, "but Master Dick brought it to me before he left for the cave to see his friends. He said he found it upside-down, and a climbing arm was misaligned."
"Ooooooh….! Curse you, my mortal nemesis! I'll get you yet!" She vowed, storming off to reconfigure her pet project.
Alfred chuckled, and his ears informed him he was not the only one.
"Master Bruce," he declared, spinning around and affecting a scandalized demeanor. "I do believe I have banned you from this room
repeatedly. We do not want another of the incidents with the wet socks, or the Bunsen burner."
The butler's act had its desired effect, and the small smile on Bruce's lips not only lingered, but grew slightly. That sight always struck a chord with Alfred, having been so long absent from the Manor until the taking in of Master Richard.
"Don't worry, Alfred, I have quite learned my lesson on that," he promised, making no move to set foot on the kitchen's tiles. "I thought I should let you know that Dick called, and he plans to spend tomorrow night at the Mountain over dinner, for a team-bonding exercise."
"A pity, as I had planned… Well, as pizza will be the meal of the hour on his actual anniversary of birth, I suppose I can wait until the second of December to try my surprise," the Butler mused. "He will be home tonight, I hope?"
"Yes." The smirk still had not faded from Bruce's face as he turned to walk away, message duly delivered. It had been twenty years between the death of his parents and the next time he laughed. While Alfred could never condone the reason which had brought Richard Grayson to the Wayne's household, he gave his gratitude to God every early morning that the boy had reminded Master Bruce how to smile.