Day 43: Sun Room, 4th Shift

[euphemise]

The late-afternoon sun filled the large, open Sun Room. It was almost enough to make you sleepy, Euphemia thought, as she walked in, brushing a little glitter off her shirt. She didn't particularly feel like she was up to much - the worrying about everyone had drained her, as much as she'd tried not to think too much about it

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[scarletspeedstr]

Geez, today had really been one bad thing after another so far. First there'd been the whole zombie mess the night before - which he had the injuries to remember them by, not to mention enough nightmare fuel to keep him going for, say, forever, and that was assuming the night before that stopped haunting his dreams sometime in the next lifetime - then there'd been the news that ZEX had lost someone he really cared about in all the chaos. Then Tim telling him that firstly, he was Robin, and secondly, people thought Batman was dead where he was from. And then he'd quite possibly messed things up so badly with Grell that, if Bats was right, there'd probably be another corpse turning up sometime soon and it was going to be called Wally West, the dumbest guy alive

[thebatbutler]

Alfred had stopped by the kitchen, after speaking with Richard, and picked up a few apples. They wouldn't be too messy and were easy to hide. It couldn't hurt to have food readily available during the night... Although, from what he knew about Wally West, he probably wouldn't have any apples left once he was done talking to the man.

A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he looked around the room for Wally. The man had alluded to the fact that he might know Bruce, in their conversation on the bulletin. Perhaps he would know a little bit more about what seemed to be going on, what with different universes and everything. The thought occurred to Alfred that it was possible this would not be the Flash that existed in his 'universe', but there was little that he could discern without actually talking to him

[scarletspeedstr]

Wally blinked as someone joined him on the couch, and realised that he’d closed his eyes for just a few moments, which probably meant he was more tired than he realised. It was lucky that Alfred had an idea of what he looked like, otherwise they probably would have missed each other.

"Oh, hey Jeeves!" he said, pulling himself up more and grinning happily as he studied the older man. So it really was Alfred after all. He wondered how Bruce was taking that, provided he even knew at all. No doubt he’d find out what was going on there soon enough.

The apple was in his hand and had a bite missing before Wally’d even realised it was being offered. He hadn’t eaten that much this morning with ZEX - understandably - and while he’d made up for that while talking with Tim, that had been a while ago, and his conversation with Grell had been stressful enough that he was back to being starving again.

"So, uh", he said carefully around taking another bite out of the fruit, "how long have you been here?"

[thebatbutler]

Alfred blinked at the nickname, raising an eyebrow slightly, "Jeeves, sir? Although I appreciate the effort you demonstrate in creating a unique new name for me, I can assure you that 'Pennyworth' is quite fine." He already had the feeling that this was going to be a loosing battle - almost as pointless as the one he waged with his nurse - but the rebuttal was more out of habit than anything else. It wasn't that he particularly enjoyed being called "Jeeves", but if the alternative was to discuss that instead of more important things...

It certainly did seem as though the other man was hungry (although that might not be quite strong enough of a word) from the way he went about consuming the apple. Alfred sighed to himself, certain that he would be returning to his room without any of the 3 apples that he'd removed from the kitchen.

"I believe that I have been here for approximately two days, sir. How long have you been here." He paused. "You don't seem to be faring very well, sir. Would you like me to look at your injuries?"

[scarletspeedstr]

"Hey, I like Jeeves," Wally protested, smile widening. "It sounds butlery." He took another large chunk out of the apple and winked. "But, I guess I can let it drop if you'd prefer." The last thing he wanted was to have Bats'... whatever Alfred was (they seemed closer than just employer and servant at any rate) mad at him. He had a feeling that wouldn't do much for his popularity with anyone connected to Bruce.

"How long have I been here?" Wally repeated. He frowned for a moment, casting his mind back. "Nine days, I think. It's been a while." His smile slipped a little, but he shook his head and it came back on in full force. "Nah, it's fine. They do a pretty good job with the health care here, though I guess we wouldn't need it if we weren't, you know, here."

[thebatbutler]

His eyebrows inched up a little further, "I don't believe that a person's name often reflects upon their position in life. When my parents gave me a name I'm sure that how 'butlery' it sounded didn't factor into their decision." Alfred fixed Wally with an unreadable look, "However, if you do continue to insist on calling me 'Jeeves' for your own personal enjoyment, I may have to take drastic measures." He was joking, of course, although Wally might not realize. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about being called "Jeeves", but other close friends or family members had given him some rather ridiculous nicknames in the past, and it seemed as thought Wally would stop if Alfred found the name to be too bothersome

[scarletspeedstr]

[aflkjl sorry for slow Dx]

Wally blinked, obviously more than a little taken aback by Alfred's reaction. It wasn't that he was offended or anything, but before Alfred had been more likely to just say 'very good, sir' and ignore him. So this was kinda weird, like being threatened by a puppy you thought you knew really well.

"Uh, sorry," he said meekly. "I was just messing around, honest. And yeah. Nine days. From what I remember things have pretty much run on the same weekly schedule. Minus the zombies. Those are new." He paused and frowned uncertainly. "The I.R.I.S thing is new too, and some of the other stuff last night people have been talking about... I'm kinda wondering what else is going to end up happening around here."

Whatever this place had in store for them, Wally was pretty sure it wasn't going to be a surprise early release with cake and coffee for everyone.

[thebatbutler]

Alfred looked at Wally for a moment longer before giving a small smile. "I was joking, sir. I do that sometimes." He winked. Perhaps the teasing had been a bit much, judging from the look on Wally's face, but there wasn't a lot of extra time to be had for extended apologies, so he hoped that the younger man wouldn't be too traumatized.

"Is that right?" Alfred thought over this new information for a moment before he nodded. "I noticed the notes on the bulletin concerning last night's events and the placement of the new announcement system."

Neither could mean anything very positive.

"If you happen to require anything of me... or know of another friend that might, I can be found in room M98. I understand that Master Bruce seems to be here as well?"

[scarletspeedstr]

Wally managed an uncertain smile in return, though he was still more than a little thrown off by everything. He had spoken with Alfred a few times, but it was really hard to get to know someone when they were mostly in the background while you bugged their boss. Not to mention the idea of someone living with Bruce having a sense of humour was kinda weird. Still, it was pretty awesome that Alfred wasn't actually that upset about the name, specially since Wally wasn't willing to bet on the chances of him not slipping and calling Alfred that again later.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Seems like a lot of things are changing around here, whatever that means. I figure Ba- uh, Bruce, has some kinda theory about it all. He always does, right?"

He frowned as the question caught up to him. "Wait, you didn't know he was here?"