( there’s a glance to the hand that touches his knee, fleeting. it’s only after that he takes to staring at his drink he holds, another slow swish of it around with a tilt of his wrist. the topic of alfred has him hum rather thoughtfully. for as difficult as it can be for bruce to open up about himself, talking about alfred is a little easier.

a little. )

Fine. ( a beat. ) He’s fine.

( not wanting to come off as dismissive about the man. he knows he can sometimes come off that way when he speaks, even when he doesn’t mean to. a lot of the time he doesn’t mean to.

slowly, he takes another sip of his drink, tasting the remnants on his lips after. )

Think he’s given up on trying to convince me to call it quits. ( batman, that is. the thought gets bruce to smile a little fondly, glass held between the tips of his fingers as he holds it there before him. ) But I’m sure he’ll still give it another try sometimes.