Chicken Soup for the Soul
AKA "After Alfred dies, the Batfam need a new chef. Somehow, they find Danny (who totally didn't lie on his resume and absolutely knows how to cook!). Danny just wants Mr. Pennyworth's ghost to stop harassing him." DPxDC prompt idea!
This was inspired by the bajillion other ghost!Alfred prompts, but I literally couldn't get it out of my head. Specifically, how bad Danny would be as a chef. But I also want Danny to somehow heal the Wayne's grief a little?
Damian is the first one to notice how the Manor's kitchen looks different. While Bruce, Tim, and Damian still live in the Manor, Bruce and Tim refuse to enter the kitchen. Bruce even (politely) refuses to eat the food Mr. Fenton cooks. (Damian hadn't known Alfred Pennyworth for very long but he had respected him all the same. Even so, he refuses to let his loss prevent him from walking around his own home.) So, of course, Damian notices.
It starts subtly. Mr. Fenton, their new chef, left several recipe books on the kitchen counter. It's not unusual for a chef to do so but it's jarring since Mr. Pennyworth always made sure to keep the kitchen spotless. Next, are chrysanthemum flowers in a vase. Notes pinned to the fridge with colorful magnets. Star-themed tea towels hanging off the oven door. A small hydroponic garden plugged in on the counter top. Mr. Fenton starts to listen to music - an odd mixture between country and classical, sometimes listening to a podcast about NASA or World War II. It's not obnoxiously loud but it can be heard over the bubbling of soup, Mr. Fenton chopping veggies, and occasional humming.
It's like the entire kitchen transforms with new life. Sounds, colors, movement, the scent of fresh herbs and tomato sauce. Damian stays hidden in the hallway as he silently observes.
Until he sees the cookbook flip several pages and a bottle of pepper flakes floats above the sauce pan, shaking until they flutter out. Mr. Fenton heaves an exasperated sigh and groans, "Al! I was going to add them! Ancients, if you wanted to cook, you should'a just done it."
It's several more minutes of a one-sided conversation before Damian decides either he's hallucinating (not likely given Mr. Fenton would also need to be hallucinating) or Mr. Pennyworth is... a ghost. Haunting the Manor. And somehow Mr. Fenton can see him, can communicate with him. It wouldn't be the strangest thing to happen - Damian has seen the dead revived, had the displeasure of speaking with John Constantine, and he himself has been in Hell. A ghost would be underwhelming. But the ghost of Alfred Pennyworth?
Good thing Damian is the son of the world's greatest detective. He will figure this out.
(Cue Damian recruiting Thomas, Cain, and Brown - those least familiar with Pennyworth and therefore less likely to be swayed by the ghosts of the past - to investigate Fenton's clearly meta status.)
((Alfred is surprisingly busy for a dead man. If only his new charge didn't have the cooking skills of Master Bruce. Nonetheless, Alfred has never backed down from a challenge before; he'll not do so now.))
