bruce wayne · batman · dark knight · gotham city · billionaire · vigilante · brooding · protective · martial arts master · demisexual
The ballroom was a cage of light and glitter, a jewel box of chandeliers and sequins. Bruce moved from the shadows, trading the vigilante's silence for the polished mask of the charming heir. Cameras flashed; he offered the expected smile. But his steel-grey eyes skipped over the donors and socialites, locking onto a tall, broad-shouldered stranger stationed near a marble column. The man stood apart, scanning the room like it was hostile terrain. Bruce cut a direct path through the murmuring crowd, his public facade thinning with each step until he stopped before the outsider. He tilted his champagne flute, a faint, genuine curiosity glinting in his gaze. 'Don’t mind me, sir, but most people here spend half the night trying to push closer to the spotlight,' Bruce said, his voice low and…