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Damian crossed his arms over his chest. "Surely you must see the lunacy in this so-called amusement!"
"Oh, stop complaining!" Stephanie said, jabbing him in the side with her elbow. "I loved coming here as a kid."
Damian opened his mouth, but whatever came out next was lost in a flurry of shrieks as a group of kids ran by. The camera turned, moving further inward on the circular booth.
"Are you guys having fun?" an unseen Jason asked.
Cassandra, her mouth full of pizza, nodded and shot a thumbs up. Duke looked up from his phone, grinned, and gave a quick wave. Edna...
Well, Edna looked like a deer caught in the headlights. One of her braids was coming dangerously loose and the front of her T-shirt was dotted with blotchy stains. She didn't say anything, just stared wide-eyed at Jason's phone as if she'd never seen such a contraption in her life.
"C'mon, kid!" Jason said. "Say hi to Bruce and your dad!"
She raised a shaking hand. "Hi, Daddy. Hi, Mr. Bruce."
Lip reading was just one of the many skills that Bruce had picked up in his years as a vigilante. If not for that, her reply might have gone completely past him. It wasn't that she was a quiet kid. It was more like trying to hear a white bellbird over the sound of a shuttle launch; the Waynes simply existed on a higher range of decibels.
Duke gestured towards her with his free hand. "Why don't you show them what you won?"
It was like he'd flipped a switch on her. With those words, she lit up like a Christmas tree. She raised her hands and wriggled her lithe fingers, which were covered in multicolored plastic rings. "Look!"
Jason snickered. He turned his phone around, his smirking face filling every inch of Bruce's phone screen. "Bet you wish you could afford something half as nice!"
And with that, the screen went black.
"Well," Edward said, returning to his seat, "at least some of them seem to be enjoying themselves."
Bruce absently waved his hand. "Don't worry about Damian. Sometimes it feels like we have to drag him kicking and screaming whenever we want him to try something new."
"I still can't believe that everyone agreed to go." Though, if Edward were being honest, it was better them than him. He'd have sooner walked barefoot through a Lego factory than step inside a Buster Beaver's ever again. "They didn't have to."
Bruce looked up from the steak he was cutting and laughed. "You'd be amazed what all they can get up to if you give them the chance."
"At least everyone seems to be getting along." If the Waynes really were just humoring Edna, then their acting chops were commendable. Damian was four years his daughter's senior, everyone else at least a decade more. There was no doubt in Edward's mind that, given the chance, they'd gladly have spent their Friday nights anywhere else.
Bruce reached across the table, wrapping his hand over Edward's own. "I already told you, everyone likes you two."
Edward looked down to his half finished bowl of salad. "Are you sure it's still not a shock to them?"
Though he was blessed with all the wit in the world, a part of him still couldn't wrap his head around the path that life was currently leading him down.
Riddle me this: What are the odds I'll wake up tomorrow morning in Arkham?
He couldn't pinpoint an exact number, but the possibility was far from zero. What was his new life, after all, if not some strange dream? Yet absurd as the idea of his face littering billboards instead of wanted posters was, he still saw it grinning back down at him as he made his way through rush hour traffic every evening. As for being engaged to the Batman - well, no matter how many times his eyes landed on the glittering diamond that decorated his right hand, his heart still picked up its pace.
"Believe me, they've witnessed stranger. You're gonna have to get used to it yourself."
Edward brought a hand to his chest. "I'd say that I know a thing or two about the strange and unusual!"
Bruce chuckled. "I admire your optimism, but believe me when I say this: Nothing could prepare you for life at my house. Nothing."
Edward arched an eyebrow. "Are you trying to run me off?"
Bruce shook his head. "Not in the slightest. But I don't want you saying that I didn't try to warn you!"