#background jaytim cuz I can't help myself 😂

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👀 AU where Bruharley meet at a masquerade gala ❤️‍🔥

This is supposed to be that 5 head canons but my heart heard "Cinderella au", then ran with it and then never really got to the Cinderella part anyway so we just rounded back around to meeting at a masquerade ball 😂 WHATEVER ENJOY

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𝓐 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵𝔂 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽, 𝓪 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵𝔂 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽, 𝓪 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓻 𝓷𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓴𝓷𝓸𝔀 𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓵𝓵 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓼𝓮𝓮...

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Bruce isn't fooled. He knows what this is about and it isn't really to celebrate his skills as a leader or the period of peace times the kingdom was currently enjoying or whatever Dick and Alfred had cooked up. He knows that's not what this about.

His family is worried about him, he gets that. He just wishes they didn't insist on interfering when Bruce was perfectly happy, thank you. His failed engagement to Selina was… alright, it was still a little sore but that was to be expected. But it was better than before, Selina had even sent letters on her travels in the last year. So.

He was fine.

He was fine and absolutely did not need to meet new people under the guise of a masquerade ball.

And yet here he was.

Nursing a glass of wine, hoping desperately not to catch anyone's eyes. From across the ballroom he can see Jason and Tim conspiring together, their red and black masks inconspicuously matching. Bruce suspects half the sudden insistence on him meeting new people is in part due to Jason and Tim returning from their latest trip where they certainly eloped.

The night was still young, unfortunately, which meant Alfred expected him to continue mingling for at least another three hours. He'd already danced with more than his fill of prospective hopefuls, some better than others at hiding their intentions. Bruce appreciated the gesture, sure, but he wasn't sure how else this was supposed to go.

He catches movement to his left, as much as he can with the mask obstructing his vision, a woman in a slinky yellow dress with a large ruffle down the side approaching swiftly. Surely Alfred can forgive him for avoiding just one dance tonight? He turns sharply and heads for the gardens hoping to lose the woman in the shuffle of bodies.

The night air is a welcome relief, the gardens are mercifully quiet compared to the crowded ballroom. Quieter, anyway, since as Bruce rounds the corner of a hedge towards the fountain he immediately starts hearing the sounds of a struggle.

"C'mon you stupid thing…"

Sitting on the edge of the fountain is a woman, her silvery white bodice bleeding into a extremely voluminous red skirt made up of multiple jagged layers which was currently bunched up in her arms as she tried desperately to do up the strap on her heels.

"Would you like help?" The words are out of Bruce's mouth before he even fully processes the offer, the woman's head snapping up to look at him.

Her masquerade mask resembles a harlequin, red and black diamonds edged with silver. Curly blonde hair cascades over her shoulders, several pieces falling into her face from where they've come loose from a half updo.

"Well, ain't this embarrassing," she huffs, "didn't even make it into the party before having a wardrobe malfunction."

Bruce finds himself chuckling. "That's alright, the party isn't all that great anyway."

Crimson lips curve into a smile. "Oh, yeah? Then I guess I got all dressed up for nothing."

"I wouldn't say that. May I?"

She shrugs and sticks out her foot, having to gather the many layers of her skirt up in order to reveal the unbuckled shoe.

"I like your bat mask," she says after releasing the layers of her skirt so far they all hit Bruce in the face, "very mysterious."

"It was my youngest's idea," Bruce mumbles, backing away from the woman as she unnecessarily dusts herself off.

"Youngest? There isn't a Mrs Bats I gotta be looking out for is there? Because I will find out and tell her you were out here fondling a poor girl's feet in a heartbeat."

She rounds on Bruce, lips turned down in a severe frown as she points an accusatory finger in his direction. It's quite the sight, a woman in quite possibly the biggest ball gown Bruce has ever seen looking like she was one step away from trying to beat Bruce within an inch of his life for someone she didn't even know existed.

"No," Bruce chuckles, holding his hands up in surrender. "There is no, uh, Mrs Bats, as you say."

She assesses him for a moment more before relaxing. "I am choosing to believe you but if you're lying…"

"I'll hold you to it." Bruce holds out his hand, a smile tugging at his lips as he asks, "would you care to dance?"