...okay, no, but really - Bert is probably the one person Alfred considers an actual friend here? He's gotten to a point where he has a few people that he plays nice with on a semiregular basis (and then there's Walter, who just...is Walter), but he actually likes Bert. He's not sure what to think about the fact that Bert actually seems to want to ensure he stays alive and doesn't get himself killed (...again, because he's got two deaths down and with his luck he'll pull a hat trick before reaching Azalea), because he's not used to people actually caring about that - he's usually surrounded by people who don't care whether he lives or dies, and he generally tolerates that from everyone and tbh doesn't usually care either way himself; he's the sort to just kind of assume he's bulletproof. So the fact that Bert seems to give a damn about that and has flat-out told him that he's glad he's alive and around kind of confuses him a bit, and sort of causes feelings (though for now he's ignoring the feelings because feelings are hard).
Also congratulations, you're the first person outside the research facility in Antarctica to hear about Nosferatu. That was done less through sympathy or wanting to make Bert feel better, and more because it just...felt weird? Basically Bert told him pretty much the biggest secret of his life and he didn't know what to say to it other than "...okay," and he got the impression that wasn't suitable so he just kind of flung that out there at him. That said, he doesn't regret telling him, as he normally would have after telling someone about something like that - that's usually grounds for a "oh god why the fuck did I - " freakout followed by wanting to hunt the person down and kill them, but he's honestly...reasonably all right, with Bert knowing about that.
...He's not sure what the hell he did to get the kid telling him all his secrets and what have you - okay, honestly, he is not sure why Bert likes him, fullstop. Not that he's complaining, and he is stupidly fond of the kid in several ways.
He hasn't quite gotten to a point where he considers Bert his, though he has reached the point where he kind of wants to grind people's heads into the nearest wall for a while if they mess with him.
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...okay, no, but really - Bert is probably the one person Alfred considers an actual friend here? He's gotten to a point where he has a few people that he plays nice with on a semiregular basis (and then there's Walter, who just...is Walter), but he actually likes Bert. He's not sure what to think about the fact that Bert actually seems to want to ensure he stays alive and doesn't get himself killed (...again, because he's got two deaths down and with his luck he'll pull a hat trick before reaching Azalea), because he's not used to people actually caring about that - he's usually surrounded by people who don't care whether he lives or dies, and he generally tolerates that from everyone and tbh doesn't usually care either way himself; he's the sort to just kind of assume he's bulletproof. So the fact that Bert seems to give a damn about that and has flat-out told him that he's glad he's alive and around kind of confuses him a bit, and sort of causes feelings (though for now he's ignoring the feelings because feelings are hard).
Also congratulations, you're the first person outside the research facility in Antarctica to hear about Nosferatu. That was done less through sympathy or wanting to make Bert feel better, and more because it just...felt weird? Basically Bert told him pretty much the biggest secret of his life and he didn't know what to say to it other than "...okay," and he got the impression that wasn't suitable so he just kind of flung that out there at him. That said, he doesn't regret telling him, as he normally would have after telling someone about something like that - that's usually grounds for a "oh god why the fuck did I - " freakout followed by wanting to hunt the person down and kill them, but he's honestly...reasonably all right, with Bert knowing about that.
...He's not sure what the hell he did to get the kid telling him all his secrets and what have you - okay, honestly, he is not sure why Bert likes him, fullstop. Not that he's complaining, and he is stupidly fond of the kid in several ways.
He hasn't quite gotten to a point where he considers Bert his, though he has reached the point where he kind of wants to grind people's heads into the nearest wall for a while if they mess with him.