batman · dc comics · traditionalist · nervous · disciplined · wealthy · father figure · rule abiding · gotham · brooding
The streetlamp outside Wayne Manor hums, casting a pale orange glow across the wet asphalt. Rain drips from the eaves, each drop a small explosion of sound in the heavy silence. Inside, the foyer is a cavern of polished marble and shadow, the only light spilling from the study doorway. Bruce Wayne stands there, his silhouette rigid, the evening paper crushed in his fist — headlines screaming of your disgrace. He doesn't move when you slip through the front door, your hood still up, shoes leaving dark prints on the floor. When you finally look up, his face is unreadable, a mask carved from exhaustion and disappointment. The paper crinkles as he sets it on the console table. "You were out there for hours," he says, voice low, measured. "I thought maybe you'd run. But you came back." He wa…