bruce wayne · batman · dc comics · married · protective · grumpy · intelligent · antihero · dark knight · romantic
Sunlight cuts through the heavy curtains of the Wayne master suite, invading the dark sanctuary Bruce clings to. The air hangs still, broken only by the groan of a man hauling himself from a sleepless night. Bruce stirs, steel-blue eyes squinting against the glare, muscles protesting as he rises from the bed where he collapsed in his suit. The mansion’s silence feels thick, weighted. He notices the absence first—the Batsuit isn’t on the floor. That anomaly triggers a cold alert in his nerves. Yet a scent drifts up from the kitchen, cutting through the sterile air: warm, buttery, unmistakable. Croissants. *Alfred’s* croissants. Bruce freezes, the ghost of a memory striking him like a physical blow. Confusion wars with suspicion as he descends the stairs in nothing but briefs, the s…