#topic: waynetech

[theblue6ook]

A Quiet Day

Summary: Bruce does not like celebrating his birthday. All of the pomp and circumstance was very “Bruce Wayne Bachelor,” but it wasn’t him. He wants quiet, he wants easy, he wants focus. So Y/N gives him that.

Pairing: Bruce Wayne x fem!reader

a/n: I tried to add everyone who wanted to be on the tag list, but let me know if I missed you! [B (24) & Y/N (22)]

“Happy Birthday, Master Bruce,” he heard Alfred over the speaker system. 

Bruce couldn’t help but gaze at the digital clock built into his car console. Well, maybe a tank console? Lucious Fox said it was called the Tumbler, but the name just didn’t feel right to him. It was a birthday present he had told Bruce, and Bruce would call it what he liked... when he thought of a name. He was patrolling, as he does, except this time, he would take his new Waynetech Tank out for a spin. Nope, that name feels wrong too.

“Thank you, Alfred.” 

“Anything special planned this year, sir.”

“You know there’s not,” he chuckled.

“I wasn’t sure if you were getting bold with birthdays,” he could feel Alfred's grin, “considering what an extravagant time Ms. Y/N had.” 

“Just doing something nice for a friend, Alfred.”

Friend. That was nice to say. It’s easy to make friends when you’re a twenty-three - well, now a twenty-four-year-old billionaire. Bruce had never been low on friendships, but he had been low on real friendships. Of course, he had good friends. Rachel, Alfred, Lucius, and Jack Drake, to name a few, but that was all before The Bat. After he had left Gotham, he’d been through a lot. He’d been alone a lot. None of them would ever understand what he went through, who he was now. When he had trained, you’d be "assigned" friends. People you had to work with, save. He had met people who would and had died for him. How can you come back to trivial friendships after that?

And when you don’t water something, it dies. So, friendships slowly crumbled. Shriveled away. It wasn’t in a huge, dramatic way, but in a lost touch way. People didn’t want to deal with the Bruce Wayne he really was, a workaholic, stressed, easily annoyed, quick, and yet she didn’t care.

Y/N had come along, and he was used to the petty fights, people making up their minds, even leaving. They'd slowly given up on him. But she didn’t. They could fight all day long, and by the end, he’d be frustrated, grabbing his coat and announcing it was the end of the day for him. She’d look up at him and say, "See you tomorrow."

Once, he had questioned her about it, half joking and half not, “You’re not going to walk out and never come back?” 

She had looked at him strangely and scoffed, “Bruce, it’s fine if we argue and argue and move on. That’s friendship. That’s life.”

“That’s life?” he had asked sarcastically.

“Yeah. Now get over it and get out,” she had smirked at him.

So, they fight, and they move on, and they fight, and they move on, and Bruce doesn’t mind at all. At the end of the day, he knows he’ll see her the next, and then he does. It’s consistent, and god knows he could use some consistency. 

“A good friend gives back,” Alfred stated. “Maybe she’ll plan you a party.”

God, he hopes not.

-

Y/N had been conspiring. Bruce had made her birthday like nothing she had ever imagined, and even if her ex-finance had soiled the evening, she was grateful. So she wanted to do something special for him, except… he didn’t really seem like he wanted to do anything. Everyone in the office was talking about The Bruce Wayne’s birthday except for Bruce Wayne himself. 

Y/N knew she never typically saw his party side, aside from him hopping into the fountain at The Ocelot. The Bruce she knew was more reserved, quiet, and calculated. Plus, when it came to the topic of his birthday, it’s like he shut the complete conversation down. So, how do you plan something for the one person who wants nothing?

You don’t.

At least you don’t plan a party; you make the day itself special. Bruce hated meetings, so she moved them. He loved the bagel place she showed him down by Dorthie’s Flowers, so she scheduled a nice lunch. The last time she was in Dorthie’s, John had told her that violets were Bruce’s birth flower, so she put some in the office. Finally, for the last hour of their workday, she had a cake, nothing special, she had made it with Carrie last night, and a few birthday cards. 

She was nervous as hell. Giving something to the man who can afford everything is more nerve-wracking than she thought it would be. 

Bruce had arrived at his typical noon timeline. He stepped into the office with caution, just praying what had happened in the past years wouldn’t happen today. When he did occasionally come into the office years ago, past assistants and coworkers would plan some Bruce Wayne Birthday Happy Hour where everyone would get plastered, and he would sneak off annoyed. He knew Y/N knew him better than that. Or at least he hoped she did.

When he stepped into the office, there were no decorations, no music, and no surprises so far. He let out a breath. There was Y/N battling it out on the phone like she usually is. She waved at him and mouthed to him I can’t do phone calls anymore, rolling her eyes. He chuckled, stepping into his office.

Violets.

It wasn’t abnormal for Y/N to grab flowers for the office. She was dear friends with his florist, but violets made him think of his mother. Every birthday, his mother would go through the grueling tale of his birth just to tease him. 

“Thomas, you don’t get to laugh. You were no help!” she squealed. “Anyways, my dear Brucie. I was in the worst pain of my life bringing you into this world. All I wanted was my ice chips when our doctor started going on about birth flowers to distract me.”

“It annoyed her to no end-”

“Stop interrupting me, Thomas,” she had giggled, and Bruce had done the same. “Anyways, I was trying to bring you into this world, and he tells me, ‘ma’am it sounds like your son’s birth flower will be a violet. I never cared for violets.’ And I thought, what a terrible thing to say to a mother. So I kicked him out, and the nurse and I worked hard for you.” 

“She’s not joking, son.”

“But now, every birthday I just have to douse the house in violets for my sweet Brucie.”

 Bruce stepped closer, touching the edge of the petals with his fingertips. It had been a while since he’d been given any flowers... but violets, he was sure he had only gotten them from Mama.

There was a light cough behind him, and he turned to see a bashful Y/N. “So, no meetings today, but we have some paperwork to go through.”

“No meetings?” he questioned. That would be a first.

“Yeah, this donator work really should take priority,” she tried to act casually. “Oh, and I was going to run to Upper East Bagel later if you want to come.”

“We’re not getting delivery?”

“Well, it’s nice outside,” she started innocently. Bad lie, she thought. It’s February. It’s never nice. “I figured I’d walk, but if you want me to go by myself I can grab something for you.”

Bruce scoffed, “You’re not walking by yourself in Gotham.”

She grinned. Bait taken. 

For the few hours before lunch, they worked on paperwork. The donator paperwork did take up a chunk of time. There were so many details like which benefits he needed to attend, which non-profits were approved for the Wayne Charity donation program, etc. He was whipped, and even worse, he was hungry. Stepping toward the door, he leaned on the frame. Y/N was digging through one of her bags, and he cleared his throat.

“Bageles?”

She grinned, “I’m literally starving.”

Y/N was excited, not just for the bagel, but because as soon as they walked down to get their lunch, Alfred was going to come and help her set up Bruce’s office. Again, nothing crazy, a cake, cards, and maybe a balloon. It was nothing that should take long. She even had everything in a tote bag under her desk. 

The bagel line wasn’t long, and they didn’t have any issues other than a few people recognizing Bruce and wishing him a happy birthday. When they did, he’d look at her curiously. While Y/N had no reaction, Bruce was suspicious. So, she knows it’s my birthday, and she hasn’t said anything. Not that Bruce cared about things like that, but Y/N wasn’t the type to forget or be silent on the subject. She had only glanced at him innocently, batting her lashes, “Should we eat lunch in the park?

Bruce humored her, so they sat in Gotham Park and ate their lunch. While the bagel was great, it was fucking freezing outside. Y/N looked over at Bruce, pleasantly eating his bagel. It didn't look like the cold had bothered him at all. Despite not being cold, the whole ordeal had Bruce's mind moving. God, please no office parties when we get back. 

He was on edge stepping back into the office, waiting for some insane ordeal… but nothing. They took the elevator straight up to his office, and walked in by Y/N’s desk and… nothing. He breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe she forgot and didn’t want to say anything. Y/N walked casually over to her desk and set her purse down while Bruce put the code into his office door and stepped inside. There was a balloon attached to his desk chair, a cake that was clearly not from a bakery, and cards. 

He chuckled, looking through them. One from Rachel and Harvey Dent, one from Alfred, one from Lucious, one from Jack Drake (who he hadn’t spoken to in so long), and one from Y/N. Except it wasn’t just from Y/N; her brothers had signed it with little notes and doodles, and Carrie had signed a nice message as well. 

It was so simple, so homely, and wonderful.

“Happy Birthday,” Y/N appeared behind him with a couple of paper dessert plates.

He looked at her but said nothing. In the best way, he didn’t know what to say, and suddenly she became nervous.

“I know it’s not much, and you probably have friends planning something crazy, but,” she paused, unsure of herself, “it’s just… you didn’t really seem like you wanted a party.” 

Bruce chuckled quietly. “I don’t,” he said honestly. “I’ve had friends plan a few insane things over the years, and I’m grateful, but I never really felt like celebrating my birthday without-” He stopped, a little embarrassed. “I sound like a child.”

“You don’t,” she stepped over to him, bumping his shoulder with her own.

“Yeah, I do,” he mumbled.

“After my mother left, I tried to make birthdays special for my brothers, but my dad didn’t really celebrate, and neither did I,” she wasn’t sure why she was whispering. Maybe it was the close proximity between them, or maybe it was because she had never admitted what she was about to say aloud. “John, Carrie, even Russ, they all tried to make things special for me, but… I didn’t want to celebrate. I’d always leave early or fake a headache.”

“I didn’t know your mom left,” he replied back.

“I don’t really talk about it. It’s not like it’s a secret, but I don’t know. It feels so awkward to mention.”

“It’s awkward to mention your dead parents too,” he looked over at her, grinning. 

“At least you know they loved you,” she cringed like she regretted what she said. “Sorry, that was a lot.”

“I get it,” he said honestly.

“So, cake,” she quickly diverted the topic.

Bruce smiled. A real true smile, “Cake.”

@pank0w @moejoeflow @padsfirewhisky @maxinehufflepuffprincess @pastelsweaters-and-bubble-t @mariadvorak @100520s @st0rmyt

[jean-paul-azrael]

He sympathized with the tiring commute, and voiced as much to her. He didn't press for questions, instead staying quiet to give her his attention.

But when the topic turned to his work, suddenly he had a lot to say.

"Only software for my position, all on the coding side, others do the pretty graphics and stuff. Backends stuff. I'll work with hardware sometimes, just for fun, you know? Buy the cheapest laptop I can find and stick one of the WayneTech SSDs we have lying around in it. Make it run like a million bucks, it's great."

"Excuse me? I'm sorry, you must get this a lot. Could you reach the honey wound gel on the top shelf for me, please?"

The request comes from a woman wearing big sunglasses and loose, fashionable clothing. She's notably shorter than Jean-Paul, which makes sense, given the nature of her request.

Her shopping cart has what some people might call "vigilante supplies" within it. Bandages, medical tape, dressing pads, creams, ointments, painkillers. It really says something about the state of Gotham that even the standard grocery stores have well-stocked pharmacy shelves.

"Honestly, it's a stupid place for them to put it..."

- @akatarantula

"Oh, sure...this one?" There was a few products that might have been the one the woman wanted, so he offered the one he would buy.

He was only here to buy a pack of band-aids with cute pictures on them, but as his gaze caught sight of her card, he didn't much feel like grabbing his purchase while she was still in the aisle.

"Are you okay?"

[beginagainbugle]

In this issue of The Daily Bugle …

Headline: Lord Lords over Tech! New York city set abuzz with its brightest minds in science and innovation announcing new projects. With presentations from everyone from Alchemax to Stark industries we’ll be breaking down the biggest breakthroughs of the weekend. Read more top-notch analysis inside!

Front page: Rumors are abound after Captain Marvel joins Maxwell Lord in a real time presentation of LordTech’s newest Guardian™ security system. Is the hero economy the new gig economy? Or simply an extension?

At 8:30 the skies over Manhattan were alight, not with intergalactic visitors or doomsday devices, but with fireworks. The sight was fitting as Maxwell Lord, the young entrepreneur from National City, smiled. When one thinks of a science expo their likely to think of hours of dull introspection on the physics that allow our technology fueled lives to operate but that was not the case during the hour and a half slated for LordTech East’s first project. The subsidiary of LordTech, a security staple best known for it’s government contracts, has expanded into a number of other projects since making a home in New York City including its medical clinics aimed at bridging the gap in medicine concerning the extraterrestrials among us and subsequent alien-oriented work initiatives, has come back to its routes with the launch of it’s GUARDIAN™ line of security systems which will soon be implemented in many state and federal buildings across the country and it’s WARDEN™ line, a commercial alternative. With this it was also announced that LordTech would be partnering with familiar faces with it’s Heroes Program with it’s ad campaign heavily featuring Lord’s “trusted friend and confidant”, Valor, who also made his first public appearance since his highly publicized shooting last month, during the presentation to demonstrate the Bio-Encryption aspect of both security lines.

Page 3: Bruce Wayne makes waves with Drake industries introduction.

From the dark skies of Gotham City comes it’s shining beacon, and that’s not even thinking of the famed Bat-Signal that takes over the clouds. Wayne Enterprises own Bruce Wayne made an appearance outside of his home town for the first time in what might’ve been years, usually making his own announcements from the safety of his office, or leaving the many figureheads of Wayne’s massive company reach to their own devices. The former Playboy offered a warm greeting to everyone and professed that projects that had been previously announced were moving ahead as scheduled. There wouldn’t be much news on the WayneTech front besides a few key updates to pre-existing software. However, the surprise was to come later, for Gotham’s Favorite Son was sharing the spotlight with one of his own. Presenting Tim Drake, one of Wayne’s adopted sons, he explained that he had bought the younger’s company when it belonged to his since deceased father when it had been facing bankruptcy. Passing the now revived company to his son, Drake Industries was to thrive again under it’s new, and rightful, management. From there, Drake took to the stage, explaining with vigor his plans to create a cybersecurity network able to be installed and applied to computing devices worldwide. This unnamed network has been supposedly in a prototype Beta for some time, but Drake looks to launch sometime in the very near future.

Page 6: Stark industries stuns with the unveiling of nanotech. clinical trial lists are already filling and stock is on the rise. Is this the return on Tony Stark? Read what our experts think on page 6!

Stark Industries finally presents to the world a brand new concept that has been at the forefront of Iron Man and recent Avengers technology for the past twelve months, harnessing multi-universal concepts and ideas as well as building on previous iterations. It is called nanotechnology, and its uses, according to Head of R&D at S.I. Tony Stark, are practically limitless. Although the material used to create the nanobots is kept under lock and key in the vaults of the company, the basic principle is that they are powered by clean, arc reactor energy, housed in a unit that can be kept on a person’s body either on their chest, wrist, stomach or wherever there is space on their skin.

The first trialed use of this nanotechnology in the general public is in medicine and healthcare. Teaming up with Rand Enterprises, Stark has been working on new, intuitive prosthetics following his personal experiences in Berlin. These prosthetics not only provide limbs to those who have suffered traumas, but also act to heal internal disabilities as well. Results from trials have been promising in regards to insulin production management, blood constituent monitoring, hormone replacement, and many others. Stark is to give a speech on the subject at the expo, titled: “The Future of A.I: Bettering the World Through the Human Brain.” The United States military has voiced their interest in potential use for combat injuries, but it has not yet been confirmed whether Stark has signed these contracts or not. The uses of nanotechnology that can be seen in the Iron Man armor are extraordinary, allowing the suit to form and repair itself during combat situations, as well as provide immediate first aid to the person wearing it. Stark has also demonstrated that weapons can be formed through pure force of thought and will, however rejects that nanotechnology will be linked entirely to neurons of the general public during its initial introduction. Regardless, the future looks bright, and this spark of genius is sure to put Stark back on the map!

Page 9: The illusive Lena Luthor makes first public appearance since The Seige on New York. Will L-Corp’s dip into Virtual Reality mean progress in the medical field or are it’s ethical implications a ticking time-bomb? Read more on page 9 and decide for yourself!

L-VR lenses are the next piece of technology produced by L-Corp. The contact lenses are the latest in virtual reality technology based in an augmented reality designed by some of the worlds best world building architects. The lenses are entirely run through cell towers, allowing the lenses to be used seemingly anywhere. The lenses connect not only to their brain, creating NPCs based on memory and allowing the user to warp the world around them, but they also connect to a user’s biology, making the virtual reality feel as real as this one. Fail safes are tied into the user’s biometrics to allow the user to escape at the push of a virtual button if stress becomes too much. Currently, all locations in the L-VR map are real-world locations but game managers are working to integrate more and more locations every day, including maps of other worlds or even fantasy dimensions. Users are able to submit ideas for locations and adventures to L-Corp for pending approval.

In her presentation Ms.Luthor asserted, “L-VR is only available in its beta-form to select psychiatric hospitals as an experimental program working with patients suffering from PTSD in order to help them overcome their triggers. Plans are in progress to expand this to help other trauma victims and patients recovering from serious illnesses as a form of combatting depression and anxiety. In the coming years, L-Corp has hopes to make L-VR available in retail form, allowing anyone to turn their dreams into virtual reality.”

[faceless-conspiracy-buff]

[ive honestly always been confused by the people on the watchtower. Like the regular, non superheroes. How did they end up there? Did Superman personally go to each person and recruit them? Was there a hiring event? Are they all just Waynetech employees? Ex-military? It always baffled me. There’s gotta be some guy up there named Craig who’s just there for a paycheck, right?]

[ I feel the same way, honestly.

Like, I want assume that the League has a very selective hiring policy, but there’s no evidence to suggest that they do. 

I thought that this topic might be explored in “Task Force X”, since that episode focuses on the squad impersonating members of the watchtower support staff, but it doesn’t come up at all.

Weird, huh? ]