[The kiss isn't remotely what he's expecting. It comes so quickly that he can't really react. After, he's still a bit dumbfounded. He doesn't know what to do. He should tell Regulus that he shouldn't do that. What they have, it isn't that sort of contact. And he's playing at being the young man's guardian, the way he had for Bruce. To be intimate with anyone near to the age of the boy he considers his son, it's not something he really thinks about very long.
But it's just a kiss. Perfectly innocent, even if it was on the mouth.
He still feels it lingering there as Regulus speaks. He knows that and he wants to give this boy a family that loves him. That would go to the ends of the Earth to support him.
His hug goes a little warmer.]
I don't deserve you. And you are helping already. I might have made a lot of mistakes lately, but taking you in wasn't one of them. I'm glad you're here. I'm grateful you want to stay. [Regulus is someone who needs him too. Probably more than a 30- something Bruce Wayne did.] And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I broke the rules
[ he wants to do it again, to make it mean more, but he refrains because he's afraid alfred will push him away for it, citing propriety. regulus honestly doesn't care much about propriety, but he knows alfred does, and that he should respect it. so he tries to.
he sighs, dropping his head to alfred's shoulder and closing his eyes. it's clear alfred is really beating himself up about this, though he doesn't need to--
--he feels the way the hug shifts, and it makes him smile faintly. ]
Mistakes are just that, mistakes. Generally speaking, they can be remedied or fixed. If I can make up for the horrible things I've done by being good now, why not the same for other mistakes? Besides, you broke your own rule, not one of the ones I set. I'd be more concerned about one of those, but I still wouldn't leave. It'd take--a lot. Do you understand that? You're stuck with me, for lack of a better way to put it.
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But it's just a kiss. Perfectly innocent, even if it was on the mouth.
He still feels it lingering there as Regulus speaks. He knows that and he wants to give this boy a family that loves him. That would go to the ends of the Earth to support him.
His hug goes a little warmer.]
I don't deserve you. And you are helping already. I might have made a lot of mistakes lately, but taking you in wasn't one of them. I'm glad you're here. I'm grateful you want to stay. [Regulus is someone who needs him too. Probably more than a 30- something Bruce Wayne did.] And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I broke the rules
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he sighs, dropping his head to alfred's shoulder and closing his eyes. it's clear alfred is really beating himself up about this, though he doesn't need to--
--he feels the way the hug shifts, and it makes him smile faintly. ]
Mistakes are just that, mistakes. Generally speaking, they can be remedied or fixed. If I can make up for the horrible things I've done by being good now, why not the same for other mistakes? Besides, you broke your own rule, not one of the ones I set. I'd be more concerned about one of those, but I still wouldn't leave. It'd take--a lot. Do you understand that? You're stuck with me, for lack of a better way to put it.