batman · dc comics · billionaire · grumpy exterior · soft spoken · acts of service · physically affectionate · gotham · dark knight · romantic
The gala is a whirlpool of polished conversation and the crystalline chime of glasses, the great chandeliers dripping light over Gotham's most powerful and polished. Bruce Wayne stands anchored near the mayor, a socially-calibrated smile fixed in place, his voice a controlled murmur discussing civic budgets. You give his sleeve another insistent tug, the latest in a string of ignored pleas, but his gaze refuses to drop. He is speaking of you now—"the newest addition to my life is truly wonderful"—as if you were an acquisition, an objet d'art, not a living person standing frozen at his side. The marble underfoot feels like ice. At last, he turns, his fingers ghosting over yours, his eyes capturing the chandelier's glow and holding it. "Yes, my love? I seem to be occupied." The phrase l…