Dick woke up refreshed and carefree. He slept great last night, and didn't get a single nightmare! That was a win if you asked him. That's the main reason why he was in a pretty good mood that morning.
Bruce was nowhere to be seen, meaning he left to go to work. Alfred greeted him good morning and made pancakes. He even added blueberries to them, just for Dick.
After that, though, he didn't know what to do. He was bored, but he had so much energy!
"So, Alfred, what are your plans for the day?" Dick questioned as he sat upside down on the leather couch, his legs and bare feet propped on the backrest. Dick giggled at how it looked like the butler was defying gravity.
That gave the child a crazy thought. What if Alfred had super powers- Like Ivy- but Bruce and Alfred didn't tell Dick because they were worried he'd tell the world? After all, how else could one man keep the whole manor as shiny and perfect as Alfred did? How could a person without powers cook a meal as wonderful as his?
"I am simply going to tidy up the manor." Alfred explained casually in his familiar accent, "Afterwards, I planned on visiting the study and enjoying a good book with a cup of tea. Why do you ask?"
Dick turned himself upright before he became dizzy. "Um, no reason. I was just wondering."
Alfred searched through a nearby cabinet and grabbed a feather duster. "Well, should you need my assistance for anything at all, do call out for me. Perhaps you'd like to join me at the study when I'm finished?"
Dick smiled and nodded enthusiastically. He wasn't into books all that much, but it could help him learn more vocabulary words. Also, spending time with the old man seemed pleasant.
Alfred began to walk away, but Dick still needed to ask him something. "Wait, Alfred!" He exclaimed as he jumped to his feet and ran up to him. Alfred watched him curiously.
"Umm... I- uh.. you're very skilled." Dick started off.
The butler smiled with a raised brow, "Is that so?"
"Yep." Dick confirmed.
"Well, thank you, Master Richard. I think you're very skilled as well." Alfred played along.
"Call me Dick," said boy insisted.
"If you say so, Master Dick." Alfred complied.
"Anyways," Dick drawled while shifting the weight on his feet, "You're almost too skilled.."
He waited for any sign of nervousness, but received none. Alfred merely smiled at him kindly and waited for Dick to reveal his intentions.
Dick's voice dropped down lower, almost to a whisper. "You know you can tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone. I won't even tell Bruce you told me if you want!"
Alfred was very curious indeed. A sliver of suspicion arose, however. Could it be that Richard is referring to Batman..?
"I would appreciate it if you'd tell me what exactly you'd like me to tell you, Master Dick." Alfred stated.
Ooh, he's good, Dick thought.
"Your powers!" He announced as if it were obvious. "What are they?"
"My... my powers?" Alfred repeated, unsure he had heard correctly. He began to chuckle softly. "Master Dick, I am saddened to disappoint you, but I wield no powers of any sort."
Dick couldn't tell whether he was lying to cover up his secret or if he was telling the truth. Bruce probably would have told him if Alfred had powers, right?
"Oh," Dick uttered. He scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed, "I guess I sounded pretty silly, huh?"
Alfred set the cleaning tool on the table to his side. "It was rather funny," he admitted, "but I do understand where your coming from. You never know who might be a metahuman nowadays. That would be quite interesting, wouldn't it? To have a butler who possesses such special abilities."
"Yeah, that'd be super cool, but I think I like you the way you are best." Dick concluded.
That comment touched Alfred. It felt nice to be appreciated. "Thank you, Master Dick, that means a lot to me. I may not be Superman, but I do try my best to keep everything going smoothly in this family."
Dick blinked. Super...man? Superman. Haha, what a funny name. Bat man and super man... That must be another vigil.. ant-T..?
The elderly man seemed to notice Dick's confusion, so he asked, "Have you ever heard of Superman before?"
Dick shook his head.
"Ah, I see," the man muttered. "Superman is a super hero. Although he is an alien from the planet Krypton, he helps those in need in his city, Metropolis. He also works internationally as a member of the Justice League. The Justice League is a team of superheroes consisting of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and even more."
"Woah!" Dick gasped in awe. "There are so many superheroes! Does Superman have any super powers?"
"Unlike Batman, Superman does have powers. He is very famous for them, in fact. For starters, he has super strength. He can lift up a car easily, like it were a toy. He can also fly." Alfred explained.
Dick listened with his mouth agape and his eyes wide.
Alfred continued, "He has super senses, far superior to a normal human's. His eyesight and hearing can detect almost anything, really. I heard he can even hear your heartbeat."
Dick looked down to his chest and placed a hand on his heart. He could barely feel it, and he definitely couldn't hear it.
"Speaking of his eyes, Superman also has X-ray vision and lasers in them. A bright red glow it has, and it goes, 'ZAP'!" Alfred imitating the sound of a laser made Dick jump a bit by surprise.
"He sounds unstoppable!" Dick commented, admiration and wonder were written on his face.
"Yes, it does sounds that way. However, he's not. He has a weakness, and it's called kryptonite. It's a radioactive element that weakens Superman when he's exposed to it."
Dick's mouth made an 'o' shape while his eyes expressed concern. "Oh no! How does Superman defeat the bad guy if he's weak?!"
Alfred shrugged. "Heroes usually find a way. Perhaps he outsmarts his opponent?"
Dick snapped his finger. "Probably!"
Alfred smiled warmly at Dick's excitement. It was strange to see a child who had never heard of Superman. After all, he was usually the first person who came to mind when people heard the word 'super hero'. But it was nice to see all the amazed expressions Dick had to offer; it really did brighten his day.
The butler wondered how Batman would feel about Dick's sudden interest in Superman. He suspected it would certainly be amusing.
"I'm sure we can find him on the national news somewhere." Alfred said as he grabbed the TV remote and turned on the TV. Dick sat back down on the couch behind Alfred and watched him go through the different channels. At last, it seemed he found what he was looking for because he moved out of the way so Dick could see the screen.
A lady spoke through a microphone but Dick couldn't hear anything. Alfred noticed this and put up the volume.
"- The whole train was filled with civilians! Had Superman not come in time, many lives would have been lost. We have two clips of footage that you're about to see. One clip was taken from a passenger inside the train while the other was from a witness outside." The lady informed in front of two trains.
Footage from inside of a train was shown. There were lots of lights that glared on the window that the camera was facing, but Dick was still able to see it- or should he say him? Through the screaming of the passengers, a man zoomed through the air so quickly that he would have missed it if he blinked. The hero wore a blue costume along with a long, red cape.
The next clip looked like it was recorded outside of a shopping center. It was focusing on the same train as earlier, but much farther now. The train was moving much faster than what Dick presumed was normal and only a little farther than where it sped, was another train, waiting at the station. Using the clues shown, Dick guessed that the train went out of control for some reason and wouldn't stop.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, the man soared in front of the train and pushed with his mighty strength. The train slowed down but didn't halt just yet. The closer the trains got, the more Superman would push. With a deafening screeching sound the train finally was stopped. Immediately crowds cheered. Dick was able to get a good view of the hero when he flew over the area the person recording was. He was very built, and on his chest was a large S.
"Wow." Dick muttered under his breath, his eyes glued to the screen that showed more videos and pictures of Superman.
"Interesting, isn't he?" Alfred noted.
Dick gave a dazed nodded. "He's so cool."
Alfred went back to his feather duster and went to work while Dick continued to watch the TV.
The city that Superman lived in looked so different from Gotham. It was bright and had a hopeful vibe. Meanwhile, Gotham was dark and gave off a spooky vibe. Dick was jealous. Why doesn't Gotham have Superman! Who cared about Batman? He's so lame! He doesn't even have superpowers!
Dick had always loved to fly. Gliding on the trapeze hack in the circus had never failed to cheer him up after a bad day. He missed the way the air fanned his face, and the the way he'd extend his arms and pretend he was a bird. Dick's mother used to tease him because hair became even more wild after a good swing. Superman reminded him of how much he missed the freedom of soaring.
Man, the cape suited him well. It looked so cool how it rustled in wind. Dick wanted to try that..
He got an idea.
Alfred, who was now down the hall, turned back and watched Dick run upstairs. What was the boy up to this time?
Upstairs, Dick pulled the blanket off his bed and tied two of the corners together around his collarbone. He made sure not pull too tight since it bunched up at his neck if he did. At first, he looked more like Batman than Superman because the blanket covered his shoulders and arms. He did not want to look like that emo bat so Dick fixed this by pushing the material behind his shoulders.
Now it looked like a cape.
He looked like a.. a hero!
Dick ran- carefully, because the 'cape' was long and pooled on the floor behind him- to the stairs and sat on the handrail. He was about to slide down when Alfred glanced at the stairwell and suddenly gave a surprised cry for Dick to stop and not move.
"What's the matter, Alfred?" Dick innocently asked. His excited grin dropped to a confused pout.
As Alfred dashed up the stairs he anxiously said, "I do not think that is a good idea, Master Dick."
Dick cocked his head to the side. "What, this?"
When the butler got up all the stairs, he rapidly walked up to Dick and picked him up from the armpits and set him on the floor. "What am I going to do with you?" He questioned rhetorically through an exhale. He was impressed that his old bones still had had it to go up so quickly.
"I wasn't doing anything bad, I was just going to slide down the stairs." Dick defending with a pout in his face.
"I understand, Master Dick, but these stairs are very high up. Also, the armrests are not meant to support a person's whole body weight. You could hurt yourself easily. We wouldn't want that, now would we?" Alfred explained.
Dick didn't understand why the man was so pre-cautious. Yes, he could get hurt if he fell, but he wouldn't fall. He wouldn't do something without thinking first. His parents used to let him use trapeze without a net for goodness sake! (He used a net when he was first practicing, of course.) He could handle some stairs.
Something could be unscrewed just like Mami and Tati's ropes, though. You wouldn't want to end up like them, right?
Regardless, the child nodded to ease Alfred. Alfred smiled and held the end of Dick's cape as they walked back downstairs to prevent any tripping. "If you'd like to play around, I could always bring you to a park. They have actual slides, I assure you."
Dick frowned. "But I can't use a slide! When Superman flies, he goes all the way up to the sky! That's what I want to do too! Or at least as high as I can!"
Alfred wanted to regret introducing Superman to Dick, but he couldn't. He was just so youthful. "I'm sure that Superman would want you to stay safe. Wouldn't he?"
He had a point. "Yeah.." Dick admitted. Superman was a hero and heroes always wanted people to stay out of trouble. Only they could do dangerous stuff. Well, that's not very fair..!
Alfred gave a victorious smirk. "And Superman would want you to listen to your butler, too."
"Okay, now you're just pushing it," Dick joked with a goodhearted laugh.
"Ah, you caught me." Alfred replied. When they were back on the first floor, Alfred let go of the cape he had been holding onto and observed Dick's little costume. "Very creative. You look good in it." Although he would recommend a shorter blanket next time.
"Thank you!" Dick proudly accepted the compliment, "I guess capes look good on everyone. Just like in comic books."
"Speaking of books," Alfred mentioned as he glanced at his watch, "would you like to join me at the study now?"
Dick had forgotten about that. "But what about cleaning?"
"I could always work on that afterwards." Alfred replied.
"Oh. Okay then!" The raven haired boy chirped. Time to see what kind of books Bruce Wayne owned..!