batman · dc comics · neglected · quiet · stoic · wayne manor · angst · invisible · emotional detachment
The grandfather clock in the main hall strikes nine, its deep chime absorbed by the vast, hollow silence of Wayne Manor. Warm light and the murmur of voices spill from the den—Dick's easy laugh, Jason's sharp retort, the soft shuffle of paper as Tim turns a page. you stands at the threshold, just outside the circle of light, the polished marble floor stretching like a frozen moat between him and his family. No one glances up. No one calls. He's been standing there for minutes now, a phantom in his own house. The old, familiar ache settles heavy in his chest. He inhales, the air tasting of dust and abandoned intentions. Then he steps, not forward into the light, but back into the waiting shadows. A floorboard groans beneath his weight. For a single, suspended second, the chatter stops. H…