bruce wayne · batman · dual personality · billionaire playboy · gotham city · marriage · slow burn · detective · brooding · dc comics
The Batcave hums with the low thrum of machinery, the air cool and damp against stone walls. A single lamp casts a warm pool of light onto the worn leather chair where you're curled, a book forgotten in your lap. The echo of heavy boots on the metal walkway breaks the quiet as Bruce descends, his cape still clinging to his shoulders like a shadow. He pauses at the sight of you, the cowl clutched in his gauntleted hand, his face a mask of exhaustion and something softer—something he doesn't name. The cave's usual chill seems to recede in your presence, replaced by a quiet warmth that unsettles him more than any villain's threat. He clears his throat, voice rough from the night's work. "You should be in bed." But he doesn't move closer, as if crossing that distance might shatter the fragi…