Good Morning

She did not need an alarm to wake her up. The soft rays of the morning sun together with hint our clouds, when filtered through the glass of the window and diffracting at the fringes of the curtain, bathed the room in an illumination of a mélange of colors. It was as though they were sent out to bless her, the daughter of Gods as she was. She squinted a bit, as her eyes failed to accommodate the entirety. It felt strange. Even though she had been sleeping there for a month now, she never had to take the sun shine in her eyes before.

She ducked in reflex, burying her face back into the pillow. It seemed… harder than usual. Something about the scent too…it smelled like musk. She turned her face to the left, without lifting herself up. She smiled with satisfaction at what she saw. Her man - lay fast asleep, unperturbed by the sunshine. It was too small an amount to disturb him. Normally, Alfred would open the curtains, and sometimes even the window, to give a rise and shine call to his master. But for the last one month, it had been her duty.

Watching you sleep is a luxury! she said to herself. Her left hand involuntarily rose and landed softly on his cheek.

"What are you doing?" he mumbled, without opening his eyes. His lips curved slightly, into a smile.

"Seeing you," she replied softly. "Are you awake?"

He didn't reply, and his lips came back to their original state. Sleeping was the untold reply.

She frowned, and then smiled.

"Hmm…You see me every day," he mumbled as she was about to take her hand away. It was as though he was addressing someone in his dream.

"Not from this close," she said, as she traced circles on his cheek, moving upwards, to his eyes. And there, she stopped, and pressed her finger against a fine wrinkle.

"Don't get too close," he mumbled, still not opening the eyes, "or you might see the flaws."

She stroked the wrinkle gently, and said, "I love you - for both your merits and your flaws!"

He gave a short laugh, which surprised her and made her hand withdraw. The next moment, she found herself wrapped against his chest by his right arm. He was now facing her, his deep blue eyes open and examining her. He brushed her hair aside and his palm traced the left side of her face, from forehead to chin.

"Don't get too close," she mocked, "or you might see the flaws."

He raised one eye brow and smiled for being shot back at. He brought his face close to hers, dodged her lips and went to her ear.

"You have no flaws," he whispered, and then planted a soft kiss on her temple.

"Really?" she smiled, pushing him away.

"Really!" he pressed, "If I see a flaw, then that is in me, not in you."

She chuckled. "You really are the romantic type, aren't you?"

"I was only telling the truth," he shrugged.

There was a sweet silence for a while, as they looked into each other's eyes.

"You can kiss me, I'm open," he said, suddenly.

"How did you know that I wanted to kiss you?" she frowned.

"Let's just say…observation!" he said.

She blushed slightly. Once again, he had the advantage over her. Well what else could she expect from the World's greatest detective!

"Do you realize that you are sleeping on my side of the bed?" she complained, to change the subject.

He looked at himself, trying to evaluate his position. "I guess I am," he shrugged.

"Switch places," she demaded.

"What's the use," he said, "you are going to wake up now, anyway."

She flinched. But she wasn't going to accept defeat so easily.

"Why just me?" she said, "You are going to get up too."

"What's the time?" he yawned.

She deliberately pressed her palm against his chest and rose high enough to see the table clock. He winced at the pressure caused as a result.

"It's 6 AM," she declared, "Now out of bed, you!"

"Ah, comm'on," he protested, "I've only slept for 3 hours."

She looked intently at him for a while, and smiled deviously. He frowned.

"Poor Batman," she mocked. "Had to be on patrol till 3 AM!"

He knew where this was going. He squinted at her.

She ignored him, and put her finger to her lips, as if suddenly struck by a revelation.
"But Batman wasn't on patrol yesterday! Nightwing was…"

He cursed himself. He had played right into her hands.

"Wonder what kept Batman awake till 3," she stole a glance at him, and quickly withdrew, "Insomnia? But…"

"All right, all right, I get it!" he said in exasperation, "You too had only 3 hours of sleep!"

"So…" she lingered.

"You can sleep too," he said, quickly. She raised her eye brow and pursed his lips.

"Ok, how about  - Let's sleep till 9 AM," he added.

"Hmm," she frowned, "How about - Let's get going with our daily schedule, which I am not going to repeat

He pouted, and threw away his sheet in disgust. She laughed almost instantly.

"What?" he asked in dismay.

"I didn't know that you could pout!" she said, amidst laughter. "I think this can be added as the third expression that you can give, in addition to bat-glare, bat-stare"

He got off the bed with a jerk and charged at her. She uttered a shriek, which melted into laughter, as she ran around to the other side of the bed.

"Batman is angry!" she teased as she dodged the pillow he threw at her.

"You bet he is!" he said, as he reached out for the second pillow.




"Ahem, ahem,"

Alfred was at the door with the morning coffee in the tray.
"I heard that you were awake, master and mistress. So, I thought you would like to have your morning coffee."

"We'll have it at the breakfast table, Alfred," she said, hastily walking towards him, grabbing the tray and walking out.

Alfred raised an eye brow, seeing his master. He became aware of the pillow in his hand, which was now squished. He let go off it instantly.

"I think we need new pillows, sir!"