hesmystarlet

[hesmystarlet]

𝐃𝐨 𝐈 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐫?

Summary:

Bruce Wayne has been spending a significant amount of time with a feline foe and former lover of his. Clark Kent, feeling the absence of his partner attempts to make himself what he believes Bruce is craving. A dark, feline esque lover, instead of his usual sunshine self.

‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵

A/N: I tried my best to stick to character but I haven’t written any sort of fic since like 2022 so please bear with me. I truly hope you enjoy! Also note that the spacings might be off slightly because I did type this all out on my notes app # trooper

‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵

Any irrational Tuesday could pass by and Clark would still freak out, especially if he made it to the manor to see Bruce and he wasn’t yet back from patrol, even though his usual patrolling hours were well over. Maybe he’d just gotten the clock wrong, maybe he entered the wrong side of the manor. He knew neither of these were true yet he couldn’t help but wish they were. He couldn’t just barge into Alfred’s room to figure out where Bruce was and why he wasn’t back yet, and he had no intentions to break Bruce’s trust but sneaking into the batcave to find out. He sat around, waiting for his return for another forty minutes before grabbing a pen and paper from his office and writing a note on it. “Missed you tonight, I’ve got work in the morning so I couldn’t stay. Love C.” That should suffice, he’d see Bruce the next day. Eventually, hopefully.

The next day came and he hadn’t slept a wink. He had a feeling Bruce might not have felt bothered to read his note. He knew he shouldn’t think like that, he was thinking of his boyfriend after all, but he couldn’t shake the feeling Bruce had bigger fish to fry, and that he wasn’t even on the menu. When he walked into the Daily Planet he felt something grim hanging in the air, Lois must’ve noticed it cause she was walking towards him but turned around and came back with a macaroon in her hand as well as a Manila folder. “Wish I could tell you to cheer up but this article they want you to write is going to make you rather upset, so please don’t use your laser vision on me, I’m just the messenger.” She joked a little, hoping Clark wouldn’t be too mad at the folder she gave him, it was filled with photos of Batman and Cat Woman. “The Gotham Press read some of your work about Superman and was hoping you could write something up about these two meandering together after Batman’s typical hours,” she took a deep breath placing her hand on Clark’s shoulder and taking another macaroon out of her pocket and setting it on his desk before whisking away to a meeting.

He opened his desk drawer, it was a drawer reminiscent of one from a filing cabinet, and saw a bright red envelope sealed with blue wax and the Wayne family emblem. He recognized the handwriting the moment he saw it, the envelope said his name in the most fine script in Gotham. He wasn’t sure whether his face heated up from embarrassment or annoyance, but he opened up the letter anyway. “Clark, I apologize for not making it in before you left last night. I had some business to attend with Ms Kyle last night, I hope you can forgive me. I’d be delighted to have your presence grace me at that little hole in the wall diner you love so deeply, I’ll be there regardless waiting for you. Sanguinely, I shall see you for lunch. Keep that illustrious chin of yours up darling. Yours always, B”

Clark couldn’t help but break a smile and tuck the envelope into the inner pocket of his oversized work suit. Bruce had tried to get him to allow him to purchase him something a little more grand than what he owned, or at least a little more fitted, but Clark denied saying it wasn’t necessary no matter how hard Bruce tried to get him to budge. The moment he started writing he felt sick to his stomach, he looked over the header he’d written feeling himself get queasy so he ate one of the macaroons Lois had given him. The headline read “The Bat and the Cat, are we seeing the return of this perfect coupling of an alliance?” It was the only time in history he’d wished that he wasn’t noticed as a journalist, but at least he was making a few extra penny’s at the expense of his own agony. Why couldn’t they get some journalist in Gotham to write it, why’d they have to pick him. Writing about a public sighting of his boyfriend and said boyfriend’s ex in their vigilante getups felt like some sick joke.

By the time lunch came around he’d finished the article, he was one green eyed monster as he made his way to the diner. He saw Bruce through the window before he walked in, stopping to fix his hair then beginning to feel like a fool as he shoves his phone into his pocket, hastily walking through the restaurant and sitting across from Bruce. “Mr Sunshine, it’s kind of you to join me.” Bruce studies Clark’s nervous hands, fidgeting and picking at his nails above the table. He’s hesitant as he reaches out and grabs Clark’s hands, a look of reluctance in his face. It wasn’t a surprise to find reluctance or hesitancy in his eyes every time he showed affection, he tried a little every day to show some sort of affection, even if he felt as though he was coded to be opposed to it. Bruce was no stranger to detecting emotion, it didn’t mean he understood why Clark was so uneasy, and the man had no intention of letting him know. He just had a plan. A plan that caused him to send a message to Diana asking her to cover Metropolis for one night so he could take care of some business. “I know I’m no sponge of emotion and no saint to understanding, but if you need a shoulder I’m always here for you. What’s that thing you tell me, some midwestern sweetheart thing about only being able to hold what you know.” Bruce was so utterly off about the saying that it made Clark crack a smile, his teeth shining in the dim lighting of the diner. It was exactly what Bruce was hoping to see. The beautiful apparatus of the man sitting across from him. Besides his many heathen children, the best thing Batman had ever given him was Clark Kent. Though he had a tendency to struggle expressing his emotions to more than just him and the angry persona of Batman that he carried within, he loved his partner deeply. It occasionally became a problem when he got a tad too handsy after not seeing him for an extended period of time due to missions and Wayne Enterprises taking their time together away from each other. But typically Bruce kept himself in check. Like he was right now, even though he had a burning urge to kiss the man before him and hold him till he told him what was wrong. This was an apology lunch, it wasn’t the appropriate time to do what he wished he was doing. This was an apology for fraternizing with Selina Kyle instead of spending time with him, that’s why he ordered his food before he arrived. An American cheeseburger and a slice of apple pie to remind him of home. Martha Clark made the best apple pies, maybe it was that midwestern farmer love.

Clark ate in silence, stealing glances at Bruce wondering how a man like that could love him. A man with so much depth could love someone like him, someone who many considered shallow and ignorant. Several also tagged him with the gold digger title. Bruce stood to pay the check, walking back over to Clark with a pang of guilt in his eyes. He’d been spending a decent amount of time with Selina, but a part of him couldn’t help himself. When Clark finished he gave him a hand to help him out the booth, even though it wasn’t necessary. Bruce pulled him into a sweet kiss tasting the whipped cream and pie on his tongue. Clark craved more but he knew he needed to get back to work or someone, most likely Lois Lane his cherished best friend, would have his head. Clark denied Bruce’s offer for a ride, stating that if he was going to spend the weekend in Gotham he wanted to soak up some sunshine while still possible. Bruce excepts the excuse and gives him a peck on the forehead, sliding into his car but waiting as he watched Clark walk towards the Daily Planet.

The moment Clark tripped into that building he went over his article a minimum of seven times before submitting it for review. He told Lois he had some personal business to handle and that he’d work overtime next week to make up for any shortcomings before he bounded out of the building with a plan. He found himself sulking around the more lavish part of Metropolis, standing out like a sore thumb. He walked into a men’s lingerie shop, silently swearing he’d pay Bruce back. He’d been given a card, Bruce encouraged he used it but he never did. He felt his heart beating in his stomach and ears, this wasn’t something he ever planned to do. Yet here he was, trying on black bodysuit style lingerie in hopes that Bruce would find whatever he was missing in that outfit. He tossed a catlike masquerade mask into the purchase and paid for it without much of a word. He felt odd to be perceived, it felt wrong for people to be able to see him shopping for such an intimate thing. He shook his shoulders and headed to his place, waiting for midnight to hit so he could fly over to Gotham without worry of being caught. The back door was unlocked, he’d asked Alfred to leave it as such so he could enter more humanly than normal. He walked through the manor, taking in the state of everything, it was such an ostentatious display of a home. He couldn’t help but wonder how many times Bruce made love in a specific spot to Selina each time he passed any remotely flat space. Selina behaved like an exhabitionist in the workspace, so it would make sense for the two to have had fantasy inspired adventures on different surfaces of the house.

There was this pang in his heart, what if he could never make up what he lacked, whatever Selina had that he didn’t. He wished for nothing more than to have everything Bruce desired, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t enough. As it grew closer to two he finally made his way to Bruce’s room, he undressed in the connected bathroom. Bruce arrived home an hour earlier than normal, he must’ve gotten one of his older kids to finish patrol for him. It was a Friday night, there was no way crime was dead in Gotham at only three in the morning. He heard Bruce stripping off the suit belonging to the dark knight down in the batcave, slowly ascending towards his room. Clark quickly finished decorating himself in his gloomy attire, gloomy compared to how he normally dressed.

When Bruce sat on his bed in his boxers and his robe Clark exited the bathroom, trying to have this faux confidence about himself. He had the entire lace black bodysuit on, he didn’t look nor feel like himself. The feline like mask adorned his face and Bruce heard his footsteps, his heart picking up its pace a bit till he turned to see someone foreign to the man he loved. While he was aware how utterly handsome Clark looked, as much as he’d love to love him in this dressing, this was a show. And he was picking up the same off feeling from their lunch. His eyes raked over his partners distinguished muscles and dashing eyes, his wonderful build and breath taking lips. He stood up, reaching to grab that mask off Clark’s face but Clark dodged him. “Darling, let me play the role of who you wish I was. Just for the night.” Bruce was shellshocked, he pulled the hurt man before him back towards him. He’d hurt him, and it didn’t take more than another quick scan over Clark’s outfit to see why.

“Sunshine, Clark, you’re exactly who I want you to be. I frequently end up overwhelmed by how much I, Clark I often end up overwhelmed by how much I love you. No I won’t repeat that, not till later.” He reached around to Clark’s back, carefully untying the bodysuit style lingerie with one hand, the other hand moving to slide the mask off Clark’s face, crushing it in his hands before tossing it well out of his way. “You don’t need to be Selina, there’s a reason I’m not together with her anymore. There was no trust, she did not trust me. I lost the minuscule amount of trust I had for her. Now you’re making me talk an awful lot, come here.” He carelessly tore the lingerie off of Clark, he hated how the darkness of it captured his light. Even though that could be contributed to himself, he’d spent a decent amount of time with Gothams greatest thief. There was a reason behind it, he didn’t even look at himself in the mirror without a reason. The moment Clark was left standing bare, in nothing but his boxers, Bruce pulled him into bed, wrapping his arms around his lover and stroking his hair. Every so often he’d plant kisses on his forehead, keeping him in reality as he felt him silently cry. Bruce wasn’t a man of many words, and he’d used almost every word he’d had that night, but he had enough in him to say another sentence. “Never change yourself, I’ll be right here…” He didn’t frequent this word, but he knew more than anything his man of steel wasn’t completely steel, he was a sweet farm boy with a heart of honey. “I’ll be right here cause I love you.”

Those were never his words of choice, but he knew they were Clark’s. And as much as he was reluctant to say them, for every time Bruce said them something tragic seemed to happen, he could face the tragedy if it meant that the man he loved was a slight more comfortable in his arms.

As for Selina, Bruce would just have to text her about the best rings in Gotham instead of meeting up with her in person. And he’d just have to pray that Clark never needed to open his phone, not until he had the chance to ask his mother for permission to propose to her son. Bruce found himself grossly optimistic, Clark typically left that effect on his usual grouch, he found himself oddly optimistic that they had all the time in the world to waste.

As Clark fell asleep against him, Bruce found himself almost amused that this man had earned the title “Man of Steel” when anyone who knew him was more than aware he was made of the most delicate, sculpted porcelain the earth had ever seen.

[hesmystarlet]

[hesmystarlet]

The titans love dick Grayson they do not love Bruce Wayne

The outlaws love Jason Todd they do not love Bruce Wayne

Young justice loves Tim drake they do not love Bruce Wayne

But much to their teams protests dick Jason and Tim all love Bruce

[hesmystarlet]

𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐀𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐈𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬

I tried my best to maintain a set timeline, thank you for your patience!

Bruce Wayne has abandonment issues, no he won’t address them, no he won’t see a therapist, and yes he will ghost anyone who accuses him of such a thing. Not many people intentionally abandoned him, his kids all have but they each find a way back somehow, but everyone abandons him somehow. It started with his parents, not only did they die but he saw the whole thing. He grows up with Alfred as his only person, the only person he trust or even loves, not that he’d use that word on a daily basis. This abandonment issue got worse when he adopted Dick. For a long time Dick was someone he wanted to love, emphasis on the word wanted. He didn’t grow up with a father, though Alfred tried his best to be everything Bruce needed he just wasn’t intended to be Bruces parent. Adopting Dick was throwing himself into the deep end not knowing how to swim, but not thinking he’d drown.

Dick, inevitably, would grow up and seek independence. He ventured out to become his own person, to become Nightwing, the leader of the teen titans, JL member, etc. Bruce, was abandoned again, by natural causes of Dick simply growing up. He finds Jason, this kid who the writers hate, this kid whos seen by many as troublesome and rebellious. By now Bruce has had the realization that he doesn’t get this kid forever. Jason was about eleven when Bruce found him, which means Bruce was aware him time with him was limited. He gives him the role of Robin, fighting side by side with him, which I believe became the way Bruce showed his kids love, fighting crime with them. He could protect them if they were fighting crime together, that was his way to love in a sense. Bruce is a man who avoids emotional intamacy of all sorts if possible, so keeping these kids by his side, sharing something he cares about deeply with them whilst being able to protect them was how he showed them love.

He lost Jason sooner than he thought he would, after that he swore to never adopt another kid, to never find another robin. If Dick chose to come fight with him once in a while that was fine, but he’d never seek out another kid, never find another companion in a child he could adopt.

The timeline gets a little foggy here, depending on the source of media you intook when Jason died.

For me the media I intook states that Tim came along before Jason was discovered to be alive again, so thats what I’m basing this on.

Bruce had stuck to his word, though he was alone he declared that it was “better this way” every time Alfred tried to check in on him. Dick had a million things going on so he was a little more absent than he cared to be, though he did return to Gotham his fair share of times to check up on Bruce without him knowing. Eventually, this kid, who would make a really skilled detective kinda just sneaks up on Bruce. He’d noticed that Batman was fighting his battles alone now, missing the younger crusader in bright colors by his side. Either Bruce’s guard was extremely low, or Tim was just on steroids that make you incredibly sneaky, but Tim followed the Batman back to Wayne Manor, though he’d figured out his secret identity long ago, and requested to help him. More so he demanded to be of service to Batman. Bruce was extravagatly reluctant, trying to keep Tim at a distance because he was too frightened to have another kid die, or outgrow him. Tim was different from Dick and Jason though, he kept Bruce on his feet in ways the other two hadn’t. When Bruce found out that Tim saw him second to his actual father it was a weight off his chest, he couldn’t be abandoned by someone who didn’t want him in the first place.

Just to rub salt in the wounds I’ve opened, when Alfred died he closed up. He wouldn’t speak to Selina or Dick. Hell, he wouldn’t even spare the energy to fight Talia. Alfred had been the only person who never left, even when Bruce left Alfred was always waiting with open arms and some gauze. (About to reference the book Failsafe.) When Bruce was trapped in his own head, fighting against Batmans failsafe, he’d never felt more abandoned. At this point in the canon Alfred is still dead, theres nobody left that can save him but himself. All of his kids are putting themselves in harms way and the only person who knows how to fix it was Alfred, but Alfreds gone now. Bruce is left to his biggest fear, being alone, though he isolates himself endlessly he’s his own apparatus with his own way of functioning. He has an avoidant attachment style as well as abandonment issues. But at the end of the day, he’s terrified of being alone. And that’s what failsafe is, it says he failed as Batman and takes over, entrapping him in his own head to sit and watch as everyone he loves hasn’t left him but might die trying to save him. Even Superman puts his life on the line for him.

This entire time he’s felt alone he was failing to realize he was loved and that people weren’t leaving him, they were living. And he had so much to live for, no matter how far away these people were.

[hesmystarlet]

* potentially posting drabbles about Bruce Wayne

* if I do something else I’ll make a better pinned

* important note is I use she/they pronouns and will remain nameless here

* if you have any thoughts/reqs about Batman please share them !

[hesmystarlet]

said partner is like extremely protective of Damian. they’d be at home finishing up some work on their laptop and Bruce and Damian are out as Batman and Robin and eventually they go to sleep after doing work and they wake up scared that something happened to Damian even though he’s far harder to haunt than Bruce is but said partner had seen Bruce fight his own for years and Damian is just a kid so of course they’re worried about him so they wait till Batman and Robin get home and just like smother the both of them because they love them so desperately

Bruce has a partner and everyone loves them and they’re happy to see Bruce happy but most of them (maybe with the exception of Tim, Damian, Stephanie, & Cass) were in their late teens early twenties when said partner came around so they never got super close the way a parent and their child would. But Bruce’s s/o made a point to defend Damian like it was their lifeline because he was so young and still had so much time to grow, and they’d gotten into arguments with Talia about how she did nothing to deserve a boy like him and over time Damian grew a soft spot for them though he’d never tell anyone everyone, especially Dick, knew.

[hesmystarlet]

Bruce has a partner and everyone loves them and they’re happy to see Bruce happy but most of them (maybe with the exception of Tim, Damian, Stephanie, & Cass) were in their late teens early twenties when said partner came around so they never got super close the way a parent and their child would. But Bruce’s s/o made a point to defend Damian like it was their lifeline because he was so young and still had so much time to grow, and they’d gotten into arguments with Talia about how she did nothing to deserve a boy like him and over time Damian grew a soft spot for them though he’d never tell anyone everyone, especially Dick, knew.

[hesmystarlet]

Bruce, to Jason: you'll never guess what just happened

Jason: you adopted a new Robin.

Bruce to Tim: guess what just happened

Tim: I got a new sibling already huh? Kinda nice, I figured it was time.

Bruce to Dick: Can you guess what happened?

Dick: ALREADY? Man you have a problem!

Bruce to Damian: can you conjecture what has taken place

Damian: you have acquired another batchild.

Bruce to Stephanie: ok. Can YOU guess what's just happened?

Stephanie: you're pregnant.

Bruce to Cassandra: Can you guess what I'm about to tell you?

Cassandra: Selina said yes.

Bruce, to the entire family: YES!!! ATLEAST ONE OF MY KIDS KNOWS ME!

Cassandra: no, I just got a text from her.

[hesmystarlet]

— Nikita Gill

[hesmystarlet]

[hesmystarlet]

[hesmystarlet]