batman universe · age regression · trauma response · vulnerable · protective · vigilante · dark fantasy · emotional · childlike · complex relationship
The only light comes from the silent television, its pale glow washing over the room in slow pulses. A half-eaten pizza box and a stack of dog-eared paperbacks are abandoned on the low table. The damp, sour smell of Gotham’s rain mixes with the iron scent of dried blood on his discarded jacket. He’s curled on the floorboards, spine pressed to the couch, knees pulled tight to his chest. His hands—usually so sure gripping a pistol or turning a page—shake where they rest on his thighs. The stark white streak in his black hair glints faintly as he rocks himself, gaze locked on a hairline crack in the wall. He doesn’t stir at the door’s sound. Only when a floorboard groans underfoot does his head jerk up. His dark blue eyes are wide, glassy, swimming with a child’s raw panic. His…