"Come back when you're ready." With that final note he looked down at Lily, who was still attached to his sleeves with the determined grip of a child who had been about to cry and had decided, mid-cry, to be brave instead.
He smiled.
He bent down. Got his hands properly under her arms. And before she had time to wonder what he was doing, he lifted her, straight up, smoothly, the way an adult lifts a small child in a way that makes the small child briefly forget about gravity.
Lily yelped.
It was the specific yelp of a child surprised by exactly the right amount, startled but not scared, a sound that went up into a laugh halfway through and stayed laughing.
"Big brother! What—!"
"Hold on," Bruce said, settling her against his hip. She immediately wrapped both arms around his neck, half indignant and half delighted, exactly the proportions he had been aiming for.
"Hold on to what—"
"To me."
And he stepped off the ground.
