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"It looks great, Bruce."
Bruce hummed, shifting from foot to foot. "You don't think it's too much?"
Duke shook his head, clapping him on the shoulder. Bruce allowed himself to lean into it.
Gotham Academy loved to host a million events in a school year and Bruce appreciated all the opportunities it gave him, as a dad. To be there for Duke, to spend time with Duke, to show Duke he really was a part of their family now.
"Margie is gonna be sick."
Yeah, Duke saw right through him. Every event was also an opportunity to make Margie eat shit.
Margie was Bruce's rival in the PTA. Bruce didn't know what it had been that had made her gun for him: maybe that her son had been bullying Duke and Bruce had refused to back down about it. Maybe she was insecure because he was so rich. Maybe he'd gently rebuffed her advances at one point – Bruce really couldn't be sure, single moms hit on him a lot.
Whatever it was, she was out to sabotage him at every turn. And he was too competitive not to come out here and win.
The PTA was putting together Gotham Academy's winter festival, complete with a Christmas village of lights.
Bruce was in charge of the lights.
"I wanted it to inspire wonder in adults too," Bruce explained.
"It does that! Duke rushed to reassure him. "But I think exorbitant demonstrations of wealth will always do that…"
"Oh God." Bruce paled. "Is it showing more money than taste?" He could feel his face twist in horror "Is it nouveau riche?"
"Definitely more Vegas than Paris," Duke confirmed, wincing.
"Fuck." Bruce ran a hand on his face. "Margie is going to eat my ass for this."
Duke snorted. "I think you're fine. Margie was on entertainment."
"She got a petting zoo!" Bruce hissed. "She got real reindeer!"
"Oh shit, really?" Duke looked around, like he'd be able to see a reindeer. "That's actually pretty dope."
"Duke."
"No, shh, Bruce, it's fine. It's fine! Look, the light design is giving wonder, for sure. You definitely achieve your goal. It's a winter wonderland!"
"It's too bright," Bruce said, pulling at the fingers of his glove. He never allowed himself to be this visually anxious, but at least he was doing it as Bruce and not Batman. "I'm going to burn kids' retinas. I'm going to have to donate to so many children's hospitals to make up for the influx of children coming in with retinal damage."
"Bright's not bad!" Duke insisted. "May your days be merry and bright, right?"
"That song was written before the invention of LED's, they had no idea what they were saying."
"Bruce." Duke grabbed Bruce's shoulder and turned him toward him. Bruce had to blink several times to clear his eyes from the bright lights he'd been staring directly into.
"Bruce," Duke said again. "You went above and beyond for me. Like you always do. No one is going to complain that their winter spectacle is too spectacular, calm down, you know I appreciate you and everything that you do. I'm already so proud that you're here as my dad. I wouldn't ask you to do anything different."
Bruce blinked. Of his sons, Duke was definitely the most outspoken and outwardly expressive of his appreciation. But it was still a lot to take in. To hear that he was doing a good job. Hear that his son was proud he was here.
He would have just been happy knowing that even though Duke had living parents, he still saw Bruce as a father. To hear that Duke thought he was a good father was almost too much.
He blinked again. A little wetly
He cleared his throat. "Okay. Well. Good." He looked away, looking to escape the situation. "If you think the lights are fine I might just–"
"Yeah go take a breather," Duke laughed. "I'll man the station when the kids start pouring in."
Bruce nodded, stiffly, but clapped Duke appreciatively on the back before heading off to the bathroom and quietly have a heart attack.
He was trying to express his emotions better so he called Clark to have the heart attack with company. Clark was happy to hear that Duke was having a good carnival and had a good laugh at Bruce's expense but Bruce did feel like he made emotional progress when he hung up the phone.
It was full dark by the time he came back out (so about 4:30pm) and the lights from the festival really shone. Bruce winced a little, knowing that the true darkness would make his outrageous display even brighter, but squared his shoulders and soldiered on.
He passed Margie on his way back to where he'd left Duke, catching her storming away, tiny fists clenched around her mittens. He plastered on an amiable smile and nodded at her and she gave him a tight grimace back as she marched back toward her reindeer pen.
Bruce couldn't say he wasn't surprised. He was sure she'd take at least a moment to either gloat or passive aggressively comment on his exorbitant display of wealth. She'd brought in actual reindeer but she was acting like she lost something.
He turned back and continued on to his display only to see it differently than how he thought it would look in the darkness.
The lights weren't as searing as Bruce had feared. The white lights seemed to glow with a gradient from warm to cool, making the shapes and patterns ripple with texture. The space is between the bulbs arched with rainbows and radiant pulses like shooting stars. The entire structure seemed to beckon, inviting you to approach and walk through. It guided the viewer with movement that was amusing and evocative.
It really was a wonder.
"I hope you don't mind," Duke said, a little shyly, sliding into Bruce's side.
And a Bruce understood immediately. This was Duke making this happen. Duke had taken Bruce's vision and made it magic.
Bruce brought his arm up around Duke shoulders and pulled him in tight. He squeezed Duke in a hug and leaned down to kiss the top of his head.
"You are a marvel" Bruce said, before leaning in closer to speak in his ear. "No powers out of uniform."
Duke shrugged. "I mean technically, I am in my school uniform."
Bruce shot him a look.
Duke rolled his eyes. "But did you see Margie's face? Oh she was sick."
"She was devastated." Bruce confirmed with relish.
"So I'm not in trouble, right?" Duke asked, and his eyes sparkled like all of the lights were doing it just for him. Because they were.
"Just for today," Bruce said sternly. "You get a pass."
Duke grinned, bringing both arms around Bruce's waist and squeezing him tight.
See, this is why Jason accused him of having favorites.