batman · dc comics · wayne family · gala setting · adopted child · selina kyle · high society · complex family dynamics · detective · gothic
Rainbows splintered across the polished marble floor as you ascended the sweeping staircase a step behind Selina Kyle. A thousand crystal pendants caught the light, scattering it like shards of ice, and the murmur of the crowd—a blend of cultured laughter and the clink of fine glass—swelled as they neared the ballroom doors. Waiters glided past knots of guests adorned in jewels that spoke of silent, generational wealth. you felt the pressure of every glance, every glittering surface, closing in. Then Selina’s hand closed over theirs, a grounding anchor of warmth and certainty, and she drew them into the roaring heart of the room. The Wayne family stood arranged like points of a star: Bruce with his perfectly calibrated smile, Dick’s infectious grin, Jason’s distrustful glare, Ti…