12433/Butler and Constable Taking Tea

Butler and Constable Taking Tea
Date of Scene:	14 August 2022
Location:	Family Room - Wayne Manor
Synopsis:	Alfred and Jim talk over tea.
Cast of Characters:	Alfred Pennyworth, Jim Gordon

---

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
     Wayne Manor was relatively quiet about mid-day, for one reason or another, though Alfred had some kind of classical music playing in the family room. He had an extended an invitation through Jim's secretary (or whatever a police commissioner has that serves as a secretary) following his visit for the impromptu hunting party and while having readopted his more professional attire still seemed to have a bit of the fervor from the days prior.

    Seeing as he was the butler, he saw to answering the door personnally with a warm smile, standing aside to offer a sweeping gesture of invitation. "Ah, Commissioner Gordon! I appreciate you accepting my offer for lunch. I realize it's a bit of a drive for you, but, between one thing and another, I realized I don't often get to speak with people, ah..." he paused, offering a dry laugh. "Closer to my age. Are you more a tea or coffee man?" he asked in a dutiful fashion, leading the way toward the Wayne's family room.

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon would enter on in and glance about, "Thank you for having me, Mister Pennyworth." If they were going to be formal here then Jim would get his own licks in here. He wasn't a member of the estate after all, so he could get away with it. "I appreciate the invitation. Barbara has been telling me to get out more, so I can tell her that I'm at least attempting."
    Jim's daughter was what kept him going through everything else. Her successes were what helped him take on step forwards each day no matterw hat happened in the city.
    "And coffee. Strong as you can. I don't care what it tastes like>"

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
    Waving a hand idly about, Alfred closed the door before gliding across the entryway toward the lounge. "Of course - and all we can do is try, at least. How is she doing? Miss Brown is always talking about her but I fear my contact with your lovely daughter is rather limited," he replied - completely straight faced at that. A pair of carafes already waited on the coffee table and he went about pouring a cup from either or.

    "I overheard you and Miss Queen discussing fishing - I don't imagine you've had many opportunities to get some practice in with everything?" he continued while gesturing to one of the seats before taking his own and crossing one leg over the other.

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon would smile, "She's doing rather well. She's currently working in a startup to help with cybersecurity. She's going to help change the world. And you talk to Stephanie more than I do, but I think her progress is going well>" Jim goes to sit over. "And no, very rarely. Not since I was married." His tone is wistful and a little tired. Such things were in the past.
    "And thank you, Alfred. It's a pleasure to get to sit down for awhile."

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
    Shaking his head, Alfred let out another dry laugh. "The pleasure is all mine, Jim -" he replied with a distinct drop of formality. "I never had the chance myself. At marriage, that is. Things progressed rather quickly after leaving Her Majesty's service, but I know what it's like to lose time for hobbies."

    Sipping his tea, he nodded at the carafe of coffee. "I figured 'strong' was the criteria, it's a blend from Paraguay I had the opportunity to sample once. I think it'll meet the mark." His shoulders slumped for a moment as he glanced about in an idle fashion, "Speaking of cybersecurity though - that curious letter you received. If you'll pardon my curiosity - and I understand if you can't, did anything -interesting- turn up of it, given the whole 'No electronics'?"

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon would nod, "Well, I'd recommend you try and get to it someday. I have nice memories of it. Peaceful. Time to yourself and whomever's with you. Whehter or not you catch anything, the point is just sitting out in nature and having isolation. Of course by that I mean sitting out ina boat and having too many beers and not remembering if you caught anything." He's honest. And the memories are fond.
    "Appreciate it, Alfred. These things are wasted on me to appreciate them, thank you. And you'll have to ask Barbara on that one. She just had a look at my phone. Blasted thing. Given she works on mine for me I'm afraid what the rest of the world's is like." And he's afraid of what the GCPD's is like no matter how closely he has it looked into.

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
    The comment raises a bit more of laughter from the aged butler as he nodded in commiseration. "It's a wonder. I'm only -just- able to keep abreast on some of the things coming out of the damned things," he quipped while pulling his own phone from a breast pocket to wave about in the direction of some of the obscured video gaming and entertainment sytems.

    "You try to suggest something is more fun in 'real life' than on one of these consoles and you're met with laughter," he continued. "I try to keep an eye on things, and there's apparently video games where you go and do just sat. Sit on a boat and fish," he joked with a certain aged disdain. "We have a perfectly good lake and a fleet of boats within walking distance!"

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon would chuckle, "Well, I have a perfeclty polluted harbor and boats that go back and forth in it. I don't get to play with them either. And I'm sure you've done your part for king and country. What you can't impress on anyone you have more to yourself to enjoy and time to set aside. What they can't appreciate you can't make them. Take it from my experience as a father. The harder you push them, the less they're prone to listen. Accept some things they will figure out on their own."
    He would go on, "And also that they have their own methods, whether or not we particularly understand them>"

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
    Alfred nodded emphatically, losing some of his feigned bluster as the conversation turned to the idea of fatherhood. "Oh, i've come to realize it too well. With Master Bruce especially, if you'll forgive me for mentioning it," he acknowledged. "Time -does- fly though, i'm sure you've felt it too. I remember when I could keep pace with the best of them and then the old muscles just decide not to cooperate," he joked in a morose fashion.

    "I think i've read," he resumed after a moment - though he had CERTAINLY read - "That you did some time in the Corps. Do you miss it at all, in comparison to the jungle that is being Commissioner? Sometimes I wonder what I would be doing, had I decided to stay in myself."

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon would glance over to nowehre in particular for a moment, "At my age? I really do feel it. I'm not as fast, it takes longer ot heal.. But I've had plenty of time to catchup on sleep." He spent months in a coma. "I'll have catchup for the rest of it soon enough." When he's not capable of going out anymore.
    "I did. And being Commissioner is.. Harder. I have more responsibility and a lot more things to take care of. In the Corps, I was just a grunt. I suppose all these sorts of things still happen if you get to bea n officer. Gotham's rougher than anything that's not a real war." Which he was glad he never had to go through. "But Gotham is it's own jungle."

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
    "I've thought much the same thing - I vaguely alluded to it, but I did most of my time in service, ah..." Alfred paused with a fond smile, "Behind any sort of front line, working in Her Majesty's intelligence network, and I read the paper," he continued casaully as old veterans might while gesturing to a copy of the Gotham Times. "I think you have your work cut out for you. Between one thing or another, and everything you've had to handle," he finished with a nod.

    "And old age isn't doing us any favors in -that- regard. It's difficult, taking a hands off approach to things. Helping organize meetings and the like on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne's memory, rather than going out and putting in a hard days work on their behalf and the like."

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon would nod, "I figured. I presume you've had enough comparisons to Ian Fleming to last a lifetime." He would quip over lightly, trying to make a joke. "And Gotham needs aid. The people of the city have to feel safe. If only from their own protectors." From the GCPD. For Jim, it was as much if not more about rooting out the corruption in the force as fighting crime.
    "I'm sure you hear this enough Alfred, but I'm sure you've done the both of them proud. And you've made a bigger difference here than if you stayed in the service."

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
    There was another laugh from Alfred at the comparison, "Oh - not nearly enough for my tastes Jim. And those that are made are woefully uninformed - I was never anything like Mr. Bond," he retorted before refilling his tea cup. "You're absolutely right though - the Wayne legacy is a small thing in the long run if the people don't feel safe in their own city and everything Master Bruce and I do pales into the work you and the GCPD do," he enthused in a serious fashion.

    "I do my best though - i'm more pleased in the man Master Bruce has become than in anything. My part is a small one - though I suppose it's a familiar part, hm?" he asked in a vague fashion. "Be it a leg in the infantry, a medic beside them, a 'spy', or even a police commmissioner and butler I think we understand that while the machine might function we have the privilege of being a part of something bigger."

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon would lean back, "You do your part Alfred and you took a young boy that would have had nothing and you gave him family. And you've given another generation. Look at all the kids that have come here. If you taught Bruce anything, I'd hvae to wager it was love of family. And that's something that he's kept to. So I think that's the most powerful legacy that you could give anyone. And you certainly have."
    He would sigh. "And it's always about the bigger picture. THe joy of being grunts is we get to ignore it sometimes."

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
    It looked as if Alfred might respond to the interesting family dynamic before he finally smiled and nodded in agreement at the succinct recap of the joy of military service. "You're absolutely right on that point. It was -easier- then, don't you agree?" he remarked while waving his free hand about again. "It's very much like fishing, hunting, cooking, or any of the other hobbies people find for themselves. You just do the thing in front of you and deal with everything else later."

    There was another pregnant pause as he looked up toward a portrait of the present Wayne family and his smile returned. "I suppose in that regard we're rather alike in some fashion as well - you have the GCPD to look out for, and I have the Waynes, and we can only do this and that for their benefit and growth," he agreed. "It -is- a legacy though, Commissioner, and I think you're doing a phenomenal job of making things right. I recall a time -before- a Commissioner Gordon and this 'Batman' and the like, and I have to say i'm happy to be in a time where you're about."

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon would shake his head, "Being out there.. We didn't know the hows, whys, or anything beyond our little impact. Whether our presence there was good or bad, what else was giong on.. I have to wonder though if that made what we did good or bad, though. Just there and doing what we were told. I wonder if when things went wrong even if we had no idea but we did what we were supposed to do did that make us part of it?"
    He would go on. "And I hope one that I can leave for Barbara. A city with enough parts left for her to see through and fix up. To mak a better place." Being honest with himself. Jim Gordon had come to admit that he wasn't going to fix Gotham's ills on his own watch. Leave enough of the city for the next generation? That was what would be his legacy.

Alfred Pennyworth has posed:
    Pursing his lips in thought, Alfred shook his head. "Mistakes or not, I think that we do what we can with our limited perspective. It was good because some of the lads that may not have come home did get to come home and the like," he mused introspectively, setting his tea cup down and folding his hands together. "I've -read-, in one form another, that parenting is much the same way. You're tossed into a situation you may not fully comprehend and just do what you can to keep your little piece of things good and just."

    The counsel came with more than a little sign that Alfred may have indulged in some kind of parenting book at one point or another in his life before he shrugged helplessly. "I think you're doing a fine job of it. If nothing else, Miss Barbara will have a much easier job of making things right than you did. Plus, i'm sure as the likes of Miss Brown, Master Damian, and all of the rest of our fledgling charges grow up they'll find the spirit to work together toward that same end. Honestly, Jim, we may be able to retire before long," he joked, letting out another laugh.