Don't Believe Everything You Read On the Internet

Chapter 9

        Richard woke up early on Sunday, the bright morning sun bringing him away from his slumber. There wasn't any plans for that day, so he figured that he would simply find something to do in the Manor. It was only 7:00 a.m. after all, so Bruce wouldn't be awake. Richard decided to grab some breakfast and watch a RomCom. When he reached the kitchen, Alfred was already making him toast, eggs, and a cinnamon roll. The boy hugged his (sort of) grandpa.

       "You always know just what I want," Richard exclaimed, looking at the gorgeous meal.

     "Oh please, it's my job," Alfred insisted, waving his hand.

       "Hey do you want to watch a movie with me?" Richard asked.

       "What did you have in mind?" Alfred asked.

         "Clueless," Richard suggested. Alfred blinked, for he was unfamiliar with the movie.

"You know, with Alicia Silverstone. She played Batgirl once," Richard reminded the butler.

        "Oh yes, her. Please tell me she's better in this movie than she was in that," Alfred remembered.

      "Trust me, this movie's a lot better than Batman and Robin, " Richard assured Alfred.

      "Well, I'd be willing to watch it with you. Still, there are a few things that I need to do around the house," Alfred pointed out.

     "I'd be willing to help you with your work after the movie's done," Richard offered. Alfred smiled. The young man really was a sweetheart.

            After the two finished the movie, they started to work on cleaning the pool and feeding the dolphins. Alfred figured that feeding the dolphins would be more fun, so he let Richard do it. Sure enough, Richard was having a great time with the aquatic creatures. He would always giggle when they splashed him. There was a question on his mind, and he felt that Alfred would be the best person to talk to. He strolled up to the butler, who was cleaning out the pool drain.

      "Alfred, do you think that Dad might have a crush on the Joker?" the boy asked. Alfred stopped, surprised at the question.

       "I'm not sure. I do believe that the Joker might have feelings for Master Bruce. He seemed pretty awestruck when he saw Bruce in a suit. I don't know if the Joker still feel the same amount of affection after what happened two nights ago," Alfred tried to explain.

       "The idea of capturing Joker with a date was mine. I'd feel awful if the two wouldn't be able to talk to each other again because of something that I did," Richard said, rubbing his arm.

        "If the two really do care for each other as more than enemies, then I'm sure they'll be able to talk it out. Besides, I'm sure that Master Bruce would've talked to us about it if he really did have feelings for the Joker," Alfred reassured Richard, whose mouth had returned to a soft smile.

      "Thanks, grandpa."

.....

        Bruce lay in bed, unable to fall asleep. He figured that letting Joker free would make him feel better, but he still felt like he couldn't get Joker off his mind. It wasn't as if he was feeling guilty anymore, he just couldn't stop thinking about him. It wasn't even what had happened the previous night, he would just think about random things about him. Like the way that he would laugh at his own bad jokes, or poke Bruce's cheeks to make him smile, or days where he ran out of hairspray so he would have to wear hair gel instead, which didn't change a lot, yet Bruce would always miss the smell of Joker's hairspray. Bruce didn't know why all of this was only starting to matter to him now, and he was worried what it meant. He pressed a pillow to his face and yelled, letting out all of his frustration. He hoped that Alfred or Richard wasn't there. Then again, it would be nice to have someone to talk to. He picked up his phone and dialed the first name that came into his head.

      "Antonio's Pizza here, what do you want?" a happy man answered.

     "I'd like a large pepperoni, please," Bruce said, quietly enough where no one could hear him.

      "Okay then, where do you want us to deliver it?" the man on the other side asked.

      "Wayne Manor," Bruce replied.

      "You mean the big mansion on the island at the edge of town?" the man made sure.

      "Yep, you can't miss it," Bruce confirmed.

     "Great, we'll be there in twenty minutes," the man finished.

Now Bruce had to find something to do for twenty minutes.

.....

        Joker had finally reached his humble abode. He tapped on the door and was greeted almost immediately by Harley. She ran over to her bestie and squeezed him as hard as she could. Joker returned the embrace. It was nice to have a friend that he could hang out with again. Harley looked like she had a thousand questions that needed to be answered pronto.

          "Did you run into any trouble on your way here?" Harley asked, a firm look of concern on her face.

           "A little, but nothing I couldn't overcome," Joker answered, shrugging his shoulders.

         "Really? What happened?"

          "Batman stopped me outside Arkham, nothing too bad."

        "So he tricked you, put you into Arkham Asylum, and then made sure that you wouldn't leave? I swear, the nerve of that guy."

        "It's okay, he only wanted to talk. He even helped me escape."

        "If that's the case, then why did he put all of that effort into capturing you in the first place?"

         "I'm not sure. All that I know is that I'm going to have to end this whole charade of us dating once and for all before anything like this ever happens again."

    "What about the publicity?"

      "I'll just have to regain my popularity someway else."

        "How? Do you want me and Ivy to pretend we're dating?"

       "No, I'll just have to come up with a scheme that'll blow everyone away."

      "Figuratively of literally?"

      "We'll just have to see."

Author's Note:

Sorry if this chapter was overly fluffy, I just couldn't come up with anything super plot-heavy. Besides, I wanted to write some more with Richard Grayson (I prefer to use his actual name instead of Dick). He's such a cutey pie, I love him! I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out, but I'll try to shoot for tomorrow. If not, then there might be a bit of a drought in the next couple of days. Other than that, feel free to comment and/or vote (I think that's what it's called. It's that star thingy)