Tony frowned at the steak on the plate, cut into such a sorry mess that it hurt to look at.
He couldn't help reaching over and taking the plate. In a few quick strokes, he cut the steak into bite-sized pieces for the girl, then handed it back, immediately earning a watery-eyed look of gratitude.
"Thank you, Mr. Stark. You're such a good person."
Tony choked a little at being called a "good person," looking somewhat helpless. "Fish Baby, it looks like your complimenting skills still need work."
"And you lot." Tony turned to the others, who had turned a blind eye to all this. "Fish Baby was struggling that much to cut her steak, and you just sat there watching? None of you helped?"
Dick spread his hands. "It's not that we didn't want to help."
"It's that we couldn't," Damian finished.
"Couldn't?" Tony looked puzzled. "Why not?"
"Because of Alfred," Jason said, putting another piece of fried egg on Miaomiao's plate.
"Alfred?"
Tony was even more baffled. Alfred had looked after three generations at Wayne Manor, and had watched all these little rascals grow up to one degree or another. Children from the Wayne Family might talk back to Bruce Wayne, but they would certainly never fall out with Butler Batman Alfred Pennyworth.
Would Alfred, who had all but taken on the role of "grandfather" in the Wayne Family, deliberately stop them from helping their new little sister?
Surely not?
"Here's the thing," Bruce explained, seeing that Tony still looked confused. "Miaomiao used to live in the sea, so she isn't accustomed to using all the various human tools. Alfred has therefore asked her to practice. At the very least, she needs to be able to use cutlery like knives and forks competently on her own."
"So that's