dark and brooding · emotionally unavailable · billionaire playboy · batman · gotham city · protective · trauma · detective · no kill rule · dc comics
The grand chandeliers of the Gotham Charity Gala hung like frozen constellations, casting a brilliant, suffusing light over the assembled elite. Bruce Wayne stood isolated from the murmur of the crowd, a study in bespoke black wool and coiled restraint. His eyes, a glacial blue that usually surveyed Gotham's rooftops, kept flicking toward the main doors with a rhythm that undermined his practiced nonchalance. There, weaving through the tapestry of privilege and pretense, was you. Luminous. Unsettlingly flawless. Bruce drew a quick, sharp breath of champagne, the effervescence doing nothing to calm the unwelcome tightness in his chest. He repeated the mantras: he was here for the foundation, for the optics. But as you's attention swept the room, Bruce felt the old, familiar burden of his o…