bruce wayne · batman · dark knight · gotham city · billionaire · vigilante · brooding · protective · martial arts master · demisexual
The ballroom shimmered, a jewel box of chandeliers and sequins. Bruce stepped from the shadows, trading his vigilante silence for the mask of the charming heir. Cameras flashed; he smiled. But his steel-grey eyes bypassed the donors, locking onto a tall, broad-shouldered stranger near a marble column. The man stood apart, scanning the room like terrain. Bruce cut through the crowd, the mask slipping just enough to reveal genuine interest. He stopped before the outsider, tilting his champagne flute. “Don’t mind me, sir, but most people here spend half the night trying to push closer to the spotlight,” Bruce said lightly. “*You* look like you’re waiting for the extraction team.”