Talking casually in the kitchen with his children, snacking on some food. It's a nice off day where they coincidentally went into the kitchen at the same time for food and decided to linger and enjoy each other's presence.
Bruceβs eyes flicker up momentarily as he feeds Ace a slice of cheese. His children immediately notice how Bruce tenses suddenly, and they turn to the entrance in confusion.
βAce, greet.β He murmurs, jerking his head in the direction of the kitchen entrance.
Ace looks behind him before turning back to Bruce and booping his leg with his snout. "No? Go greet, Ace, c'mon," Bruce urges again, getting another boop from Ace's nose and a sneeze. Bruce hums in understanding and feeds Ace a slice of turkey this time.
βGood boy.β Bruce praised, bending down and hugging Ace, burying his face in his fur for a moment.
Damian watches for a moment before turning to Tim and frowning. "What was that?" He asked quietly. He's seen Ace do other service dog commands for his Baba, but he had yet to see this one.
Tim smacked his lips, his eyes never leaving Bruce's form. "Dad gets hallucinations sometimes. He just needs a little help differentiating reality, that's all." Tim said simply, placing a hand on Damian's shoulder and squeezing it.
Damain looks down, and his eyes dart around the kitchen floor as he digests the information given to him. "... really?"
Dick nods. βYeah, Dad put Haley in the same program Ace was in for me.β Dick takes a sip of fruit punch from his glass. "Bitewing's already in training for me..."
Jason doesn't look at either of them. "Is he...?"
Duck shrugs. "Maybe." Ace pads over to him and boops his nose against his leg before going back over to Bruce and sitting down at attention. "We've been through a lot of shit, Jay. It could be you, it may not be. Can't start wallowing now."
"I'm not wallowing." He protests, a scowl on his face even as he allows his older brother to pull him in for a side hug, tucking himself against DIck's side just like when he was younger.
"You good, Dad?" Tim asks, stepping closer and being pulled into his own hug.
Bruce nods, looking away from the entrance of the kitchen and giving a faint smile. "Yeah, I'm good, sweetheart." Damian, not wanting to be left out of the apparent cuddle party that was happening in the kitchen at the moment, pushes his way under Bruce's other arm.
"Whoa... sad sacks." Cass blinks as she walks into the kitchen, an eyebrow raised, and the slightly somber atmosphere. "You're eating cheese and salami, what could you possibly be sad about?"
Bruce lets out a chuckle and shakes his head. "Nothing to worry about. Who wants to watch a movie with me?" Bruce tilts his head, the energy in the room already lifting as his children nod.
"Dibs sitting by Dad." Jason suddenly piped up, causing an uproar immediately.
Bruce couldn't help but sigh and smile, leaning down and patting Ace on the head as his family moved to take their argument into the cinema room.
