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har-rison-s · 4 months

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mask & seek: 15

batman x fem!reader

based on: Hello! May I request Battinson x SpiderWoman!Reader fic where she’s from the MCU but then she ends up in Battinson’s universe and meets him? Maybe he doesn’t trust her at first but once she saves him from something, he relents then begins to trust her and maybe then a relationship ensues??

author's note: hey all :) mask & seek is forreal back this time. i think this is my favourite series ever, sooooo.... i really want to like actually finish it. there's not a lot left honestly, but don't worry, no spoilers. i hope you guys are still tuning into this, i know it's been like..... more than a year since i published 14, and almost two years since i started mask & seek too.... wow. that's insane. so! bruce and y/n are so cute in this. happy reading <3

main masterlist

bruce wayne masterlist

part fourteen

word count: 4.7k

warnings: little bit of smut towards the end, it's pretty short, some anxieties, self-doubting

gif credit goes to author! (i know it's neil but i needed a sorta domestic bruce gif and there are none!!! i cannot find them!!)

“okay, here goes,” y/n mutters with a heavy heart and a chest that seems to have grown ten times its usual weight. she sticks the porta filter back into its place in the coffee machine and faces vanessa with a heavy sigh. everything is heavy as of now, most of all - her own heart. vanessa meets y/n’s dark eyes with her bright ones, “i... will be quitting this job soon.” y/n finally tells her.

immediately she thinks her voice was too quiet, too unsure, too dark even, maybe? and maybe she uttered the words too fast. but really, no matter what voice she uses or how she says it, the news stay the same, and they still break vanessa’s heart. her eyes grow wide and her mouth hangs slightly agape. “what? you’re leaving?” she asks in nearly a whisper, shock and sadness all over her features. y/n can do nothing else but nod. “why? are you going somewhere? did something bad happen yesterday or something?”

“no, no, no, not at all,” y/n answers with a shake of her head. god, does she tell her the truth? it’s been a only a few days since that faithful night and morning that were followed by this decision being made, officially. it’s been hard for y/n to muster the courage to tell her co-workers, much less her boss, about leaving this job, but it’s also been killing her not to tell them. so here she is, choosing vanessa as the first person she tells. mainly because vanessa has become sort-of her best friend, and she trusts her the most, “i, uh... i got a really good job offer. it’s something completely different, but actually in the field or, value margin, that i wanna work in, and have wanted to for... a while. basically since i was a kid.”

“not a team of crazy scientists, i hope?” vanessa asks, now her face changing to doubt. it makes y/n laugh, and she does so while shaking her head. “okay, what is it, then? some genie came up to you and offered you three wishes, one of them being getting your childhood dream job?” vanessa gets more casual and closer again. y/n chuckles again.

“something similar to that,” y/n nods along, “only the genie is a man who happens to have very, you know, thick pockets,” y/n wiggles her eyebrows, and vanessa laughs, “he’s honestly the kind of man who’d fulfil more than three of my wishes, he’s made that quite clear.”

vanessa grows an ear-to-ear wide grin and gives y/n a wicked look. “is this about bruce wayne coming to visit you here those days back?” she asks and steps even closer to y/n, so their conversation would get more private in the café with nearly all full tables, “did you guys work it out? and how do you even know him? he’s a very hard man to catch outside his enormous house, much less to meet.”

now, bruce had predicted that this kind of question would come up for both of them, and that they couldn’t just dodge it. he also predicted that people would want a clear status of their relationship, to know how the business would really work and how it came to work at all. his and y/n’s conversation about it came to start on something like...

“i don’t want to be a faceless fling of yours in the eyes of the media and public,” y/n admits with a frown on her face, and bruce looks to her.

“well, you’d be the first one to have that title,” bruce faintly jokes. y/n gives him a curious look, still thinking that it sounds kind of impossible, “at least we’re the same age. they’ll take you somewhat seriously.”

“somewhat seriously?” she echoes, now turning to face him completely, one leg bent at the knee before her, on which she lazily splays her arm. bruce shakes his head.

“trust me, i know this so-called industry,” he clarifies, “the press love the old billionaires and their young fling-of-the-months.” bruce says and has a dark-humoured chuckle. it’s sad, really, that old men go after much more younger women, and that the press make all their money off it. bruce knows that. he’d never want to be that kind of man, and he’d never wish that fate upon any girl. “what do you want to be to the public?” bruce asks y/n as he looks to her again, his shoulders hunched forward.

she shrugs. “don’t want to lie about anything that i am, or what we are,” she says truthfully, “but then again – tell the truth, and they find a way to make up lies, anyway.” y/n chuckles and shrugs her shoulders, looking thoughtfully out of the window.

bruce wears a faint smile on his face. “how does being my wife sound to you?” he asks her in a soft tone. that question, though it’s just a casual one mentioning an option for their title, makes y/n look at bruce again. she smiles, too, her head tilted to the side as it’s resting on her knee now.

“for the papers or... in actuality?” she clarifies. bruce smiles wider. he wouldn’t mind having her as his wife, though we all know that’s an understatement, but he needs her consent, of course. he already feels closest to her now, sitting with her in her apartment, and he felt close to her and with her when she was at his mansion. marriage is only a document, two rings and a ceremony. he doesn’t need that to know that he loves her, to have proof that they’ll want and belong to each other forever.

so bruce shrugs for an answer. “whichever one you want.” he answers truthfully. it’s really all up to her. it’s her image to society, after all. and yes, of course, the medias and public change it to what they want it to be, but at the end of the day, she is the foundation of herself and how she is viewed. y/n smiles again, this time with a hum.

“neither, to be honest,” she answers and turns her gaze back to the window, “i’m not ready to be someone’s wife. not because i’d be scared of commitment or anything, no. i feel you and me have committed for quite some time now,” y/n says and they both chuckle, knowing it’s true, “no, it’s just that the word has so much meaning, so much... weight and unnecessary stigma around it, you know. like, you tell a person that you’re someone’s wife, and in their eyes you’re already pregnant, have two cars, a cul-de-sac and its garage full of washing machines, fridges and driers.” bruce laughs further. “plus, being a wife is just a legal paper and title. i could be your wife in my head, if i liked the title, without any legal, official papers.” bruce has quieted down, and just smiles now. it kills him to realise more and more, with each day and each new conversation with her, just how similar they are. they both see marriage the same way. “i wouldn’t say no if you proposed at any point in the future, though,” y/n clarifies and bruce chuckles again, like a school boy, “just making sure you heard me.”

“i hear you,” he confirms with a nod and that smile still on his face, “how double standard of me to not need to worry about my title. what if i wanted to be your husband or your fling of the month?” he suggests, and that makes y/n laugh loudly. she hops off the window sill, only wearing one of her huge thrifted sweaters and a pair of pajama shorts, and still giggling, tiptoes her way over to bruce, her thin socks touching the wooden floor of her apartment. he watches her all the way of doing so, and now that she’s comfortably sitting close next to him on the sofa, his eyes take on a more private gaze at her. she makes one of her beautiful smiles at him and breathes a short sigh. “what about you being my... girlfriend?” bruce now suggests, his voice a bit quieter.

y/n’s smile grows even wider, and her mushed cheeks are complimented by a deep crimson blush. she smiles so wide her eyes are barely visible, but the small portion of them still visible shine with the few tears gathered in them. just pure happy tears, nothing else. she shrugs her shoulders and then moves closer to bruce. his body grows immediately aware of the proximity. “well, my only condition would be...” y/n starts to say, and sighs quickly again, “that you’ll be my boyfriend.” she says. and she thinks god, there must be more age appropriate terms for boyfriend and girlfriend for people their age, something between boyfriend and husband, and girlfriend and wife. partner seems too formal, as well. she feels too young saying saying boyfriend, and too old saying partner. but, she guesses, since they’re just playing with these terms, also the ones the medias like to use, there’s no harm in saying boyfriend and girlfriend.

bruce cracks a wide smile at that, something only y/n gets to see and even she rarely does, and his pale cheeks blush a rose pink for a moment, too. on the rare occasion y/n sees him blush, she always takes note of how the rose pink brings out the soft brown of his eyes, and the gentleness of his eyes altogether. they’re usually dark, filled with emotion to the brim, and encircled by that dark matter he uses. but his eyes are gentle, as is he. the light brown irises look up into y/n’s eyes with care and ease, and a smile still faintly displays itself on bruce’s lips, “i think that’s a good deal.” he says in a voice deep and soft.

y/n smiles wide again and gets the closest to him that she can. legs entangled, y/n partly laying in his lap, faces close but hands still withdrawn from each other. “yeah?” she asks him in a faint whisper, and now her hand glides over the side of bruce’s face, like he’s often done to her, and she adores it. she only expects more of that in the future.

his eyelids flicker as he looks up at her, and any expression except adoration and submission fades away from his features. bruce only gives her a nod in response and y/n smiles. the world goes completely quiet as she presses her lips down onto his. only their inhaling of breath can be heard as bruce encircles her waist with his arms and pulls her body impossibly closer to his own. y/n holds both sides of his face now, continuing to kiss him—still hoping she’s good at it—and draws in breaths through her nose because the event and sensation of kissing bruce is drawing out all air and suffocating her in the best way possible.

“we, uh...” y/n’s mind fogs a bit from that memory, but only pleasantly so, “we met through friends in the justice department.” she tells her, hoping it’ll be enough. she and bruce planned out a small cover story for them to use, involving an old friend of bruce’s in the justice department, who happens to be on vacation right now.

“oh, you never told me you had friends there!” vanessa muses. “tell me exactly how you met, i need all the details.”

y/n chuckles, and hopes the nervousness in her chuckle doesn’t appear too strong. “it’s nothing romantic, i promise,” she tells vanessa, “they visited me here on a closing shift after some dinner they’d had, and bruce happened to be with them.” y/n says, but she knows she’s gotta do better than that. funny, how her whole life here in gotham has been built on lies she’s told, and she’s suddenly nervous to lie. maybe it’s because she has to lie to vanessa. but she’s done that before, too. “he told me recently that i struck him in the first moment he saw me. i do remember how awkward he was when he tried to order a drink.” y/n says and makes a small laugh again, but this time it’s genuine because she knows how awkward bruce, in truth, can get sometimes.

“i don’t care what you say, to me that is romantic,” vanessa replies. y/n shakes her head. the reason why she hates to be lying right now could be that the circumstances of how they met are much better than this made-up story. much more special, “wish i could have been there to see it.” vanessa admits. y/n doesn’t like the light this cover story paints her in, either. rich business man falls for the woman serving him. in her eyes that feels very weird for some reason. maybe it’s her feminist character that finds it weird.

but judging by vanessa’s face, the cover story and y/n’s acting are natural and convincing enough. y/n wishes she could spill the truth to vanessa, because god knows she trusts her, but she can’t tell her the truth. it would jepordise everything. “you would have got second-hand embarrassment, v,” y/n tells her and both women laugh.

“so, what, are you gonna be working for wayne enterprises now?” vanessa clarifies.

“sort of,” y/n answers with a shrug, “you’ll see. but don’t tell anyone else yet. and don’t tell anyone outside of work, ever. they’ll be all over you, and i do want us to make our relationship public, not anyone else.”

“yeah, yeah, you and I both know how tabloids work around here,” vanessa answers, “even though i’d love to tell everyone, i promise you on sebbie’s life that i won’t tell a soul.” she promises y/n on her cat’s life and does a cross over her heart. y/n chuckles at the superstition element. “you’ll have to deal with them a lot, though. i’m sorry for that.”

“yeah, thanks,” y/n replies quietly, taking that vanessa has mentioned the thing she’s most afraid of. she guesses vanessa knows the character assassination women face in gotham if they’re on any tabloid or news banner. y/n is in for a big portion of that—people don’t take too kindly to women who work in the same company for their male partners or spouses. it’ll be even worse for y/n perhaps, because she’ll be getting a job at wayne enterprises because she’s in a relationship with bruce. there’s nothing wrong with it, and it was bruce’s idea. god knows what kind of speculations will spiral out of that fact...

y/n feels bruce’s tongue against her own as he brushes his hands underneath her sweater now, petting her waist gently. the image of his large calloused hands on her bare skin already entices y/n more, her sharply inhaling breath through her nose. it feels difficult to breathe now, her fingers digging into the skin of his face. bruce softly groans at the feeling, and an almost animalistic shiver sends his hands to the back of y/n’s thighs and pulls them closer to his crotch, positioning her legs on either side of his body.

the pair nearly fall over from the impact, but y/n steadies them both with ease that her instincts provide, and they only interrupt their kissing with laughter over their slight clumsiness. she really has me feeling like a teenager, bruce thinks to himself before kissing her once more. they melt into each other so easily you’d think they were two pieces of butter on a hot pan. y/n is just about ready to eat him up, she feels this insatiable urge to touch him and kiss him all over, for as long as she has breath.

and when she’s reaching into his sweatpants and adjusting him up with her entrance, panties slid to the side, it’s almost like they sync up completely. the final transaction, the closest they can get, yet they still want more. they’re messy, panting, giggling, hands trembling as they hold onto each other and y/n rocks her hips on bruce’s length. he thinks this must be heaven – her on top of him, her chest in his face, her hands in his hair. he loves her on top of him, always did when she used to patch him up, clean his face, all those times. now their relationship has been turned around and this intimate position they’ve been in before has gained a different turn, too, one bruce was secretly thinking of beforehand.

“you’re so perfect,” he breathes against her skin, laying hot kisses across her chest, her sweater now pushed up, barely covering anything. y/n gasps at bruce’s lips on her breasts, mewls softly, and feels herself so close to release already. she pulls her sweater off over her head, it being in the way, and lets bruce pull her closer, smothering her chest with kisses, arms around her holding her securely.

“fuck, i’m close, bruce,” she tells him in a heave of breath and bruce nods in response. it might be his familiarity with her body, and it might be her spidey-sense growing on him, but he could tell she was close before she uttered the words herself.

“i know, i’ve got you,” he tells her quietly and keeps his hands supportingly on her back. y/n looks into his eyes, her hand now on his cheek.

“you f-feel so good inside me.” she whines and arches her back, hair messy in the air, complete surrender to her feelings.

bruce feels himself twitch inside of her at the words, and he doesn’t resist the groan coming out from between his lips. he grips one of her thighs in his hand, one palm completely capable of covering it, and sees the bump he’s made in her, completely visible to him. “fuck,” he moans out and takes one of her hands in his, guiding it down to the bump, looking into y/n’s eyes as he does. y/n feels the phenomena there and gives him a tired smile, her cheeks sweaty and shining from it in the half-dark.

“you’re so big, bruce, no wonder,” she compliments him and it makes them both chuckle quietly, though the praise once again goes straight to bruce’s hardness inside of her, “ah, fuck—” she starts to say, but can’t even finish her sentence, whatever it might have been, because her orgasm has taken hold of her and is washing through her entire body like an intense wave. bruce completely succumbs to her, feeling himself unloading inside of her, too, nearly in unison with her milking him in all his length.

he tries to watch her face as she comes, not wanting to miss the sight of it, and he manages through his eyes filled with euphoria to catch the look of her. eyebrows scrunched, cheeks glistening with sweat, breasts on display for him, hair falling over her arched back. that is until she crumbles on top of him, her head resting on his shoulder and her hands gripping the back of the sofa. she pants heavily into his ear as he does the same, both of them grounding themselves back to reality. “you’re incredible, y/n,” bruce tells her and y/n smiles in response.

she easily hops off him and finds her sweater on the floor and puts it on before sitting back down next to him. bruce stuffs himself back into his sweats and runs a hand through his hair. she turns her head to look at bruce and they smile at each other. “you’re not so bad yourself,” she tells him and kisses his lips gently. she circles her arms around his neck and they rest their foreheads together, “i could never get tired of this. physically, i mean. i think my stamina is through the roof,” y/n admits, making bruce chuckle, and she enjoys feeling the rumble of his laughter.

“i’ll try to keep up,” he promises and glances into her eyes, this time he’s made her laugh. with her he comes to realize how much he’s capable of. he can make her laugh, he can make her smile, he can make her blush, he can make her reach ecstasy-level orgasms. all of these are honours he holds dear to his heart, “i could never get tired of you.” he tells her quietly.

“me, neither, of you,” y/n responds, then averts her eyes from bruce’s briefly, “what if i can’t take it? the press, the job? what if i’m not... good enough? classy enough?” she lets her anxieties wonder. it breaks bruce’s heart that she feels this way.

“you’re more than good enough,” he assures her, “the press may want to say horrible things about you, and i know it’s easy to give into hate and... critique, but...” bruce shakes his head, “you’re the amazing spider-woman, without the suit and powers, too.” he makes a smile at her and y/n gives a weak one back. “you’re going to be so great at this, i already know it. and don’t be afraid to ask for help—me and alfred will be supporting you every step of the way.”

y/n sniffles quietly, but gives bruce a nod. she leans against the back of the sofa, letting go of bruce, and his skin misses her touch immediately. she rubs her eyes and sighs. “i’ve wanted to do something like this, be someone who can make a real change, all my life, since i was a little kid,” she tells him, “and everything that happened throughout growing up just made me want to do it more. and now you’ve given me this amazing opportunity to finally do something like it, and it scares me,” she turns her head to look at him again. bruce nods, understanding, and splays an arm over her frame, “i can never thank you enough for doing this for me. i’m really grateful for it. i’m just scared i won’t be any good at it.”

“you will be,” bruce tells her, “i never expected this kind of... role would fall on me. i did know, of course, that i would have to follow in my father’s footsteps, and i was more than happy to, but doing it alone, especially when there’s so much pressure about it, and relentless work, never made me like it.” he shook his head. “i know i still want to help people, i always have, and being batman was my way of doing it, but... you’ve made me realize it’s never going to be enough. yes, i can make people fear me, but there’s always going to be someone not so afraid.” he makes a pause to clear his throat. “you remember that brothel we went to on our first night together?” he asks and y/n nods along. “we’re never gonna stop more of those being made by just... doing what we do on our night shifts. crime and corruption in gotham are like diseases. we gotta do more.” he says and y/n nods again.

“i’m glad you see it now, too,” she tells him and runs a hand through his hair, “we will do more. but i can’t do it without you.” she says and makes a sad smile. bruce holds her moving hand in his and lays a kiss on the top of her palm.

“you won’t,” he promises, “you won’t be alone. i’ll go to every interview, every event, anything with you.” so you won’t be alone, like i was, in this business.

y/n chuckles. “really?”

“yeah, i promise,” bruce says with a smile and that’s what makes her believe him. she nods, “i’ll take care of you.” she presses their intertwined hands against his cheek.

“we’ll take care of each other,” she corrects him, and bruce nods, lips once again on her hand, “thank you for this. and for believing in me.” she makes a smile at him and curls herself closer to bruce. he nods at her. he’ll always believe in her. ever since that first night she took him to her apartment, he has put tremendous faith in her and she has always proved worth it. she has never disappointed him. she’s only ever surprised him and hurt him when she fled the manor that night. but never disappoint him. she should have ‘exceeds expectations’ written in her resume, in her passport.

“always,” bruce says and kisses her lips.

“uh, vanessa,” y/n calls for her attention again, and vanessa turns to her with welcoming eyes, “can you promise me that... you won’t say anything the press want you to say? no matter how much money they’re offering.” she requests shyly, hoping this won’t close vanessa off to her. but her friend-colleague nods.

“of course,” she says, “i would never do that to you, man, come on,” she bumps y/n’s shoulder and they both laugh, “no amount of money could make me want to lie about you.”

“thanks so much. i’d never assume otherwise, you know, just had to make sure.” y/n says timidly and rubs her hands together. “i’ll hand in my resignation tomorrow. a month’s notice.” she tells her and vanessa nods with a smile, though she also sighs sadly.

“only a month with you left,” she says and makes a playful frown. y/n shakes her head, “it’s gonna be weird here without you.”

“i know,” y/n says in an aching voice, “it’s gonna be so strange not working here. but i’ll come here for coffee, i promise you that.”

vanessa smiles. “it’ll always be on the house,” she says and does a salute. it makes them both giggle again, but the bell ringing at the entrance door alerts them of a new customer and their laughter dies down a little.

“that won’t go unnoticed, v,” y/n tells her as she takes her post behind the cash register. vanessa raises an eyebrow at her, “if i’m ever invited to a gala and i can take a plus one, it’s gonna be you.” y/n smiles at vanessa and she nearly bursts at the proposition.

“are you serious? but won’t mr wayne be your plus one?” she makes sure, but y/n shakes her head.

“no, he gets his own invites. we could go as three, and i wouldn’t wanna go with anybody else, anyway,” she admits.

“ah, just imagine – us getting ready together to go a gala! what a dream,” vanessa ties her apron around her waist again and passes y/n to stand behind the coffee machine, “your life’s definitely getting better.”

that statement sort of stops y/n in her tracks. her life is getting better, that’s true, she just hadn’t admitted that to herself yet. probably because she feels she doesn’t deserve it, isn’t worthy of such good circumstances. a great relationship, a job she’s wanted to do since she was a kid, a job in helping countless people in peril, poverty, hunger and everything else that’s eating gotham up from inside. but she doesn’t let herself enjoy it. well, truthfully, it hasn’t happened yet, and she’s already hesitant towards it.

being scared of the job is one thing – how good is she gonna be at it? how will everyone else at wayne enterprises like her? how will the media take her work? how will the people of gotham embrace her? but another thing is feeling like she doesn’t deserve it. she doesn’t come from upper class, she wasn’t born into money like bruce was. she comes from a different universe altogether.

but shouldn’t an advocate for people who can’t defend or support themselves be someone exactly like them? maybe y/n should tell her story to the whole of gotham, about her hardships growing up, about her mother’s hardships – not the whole story in details, but just enough that would make people see that she’s just like them, no different, and wants to help. because she knows how she can help. she knows exactly what these people need because she’s been one of them. who better to protect and vouch for them than someone who comes from the same gutter? that would be a great article headline for the press, y/n thinks.

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#bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne x fem!reader #battinson smut #battinson #battinson x fem!reader #mask & seek #batman series #the batman fanfic #har-rison-s writes #har-rison-s work #har-rison-s writes batman #battinson x oc #mask & seek series #bruce wayne fanfic #bruce wayne fan fiction

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elb4ckfl1po · 3 months

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i havent done indigo disk yet but i think carmine n kieran should go to therapy

#they definitely come from a background where seeking help is looked down upon i can feel it #like theyre supposed to do everything themselves but also not be too arrogant bc theyre looked down upon for that #anyways carmine is vriskacoded and kieran is transgender but we're not ready for that conversation yet #eggposts #pokemon #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon teal mask #the teal mask #pokemon the teal mask #pokemon the indigo disk #carmine pokemon #pokemon kieran #pokemon carmine #kieran pokemon #rival kieran #rival carmine #is that enough tags? sure

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gofancyninjaworld · 9 months

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OPM Manga Update 233 Review: Evaluation

I had initially postponed writing this until the next chapter, but I've come to realise I have so much meta to write that it's best I do each chapter individually.

Summary because it's been a moment

The first part of the chapter is set in the mountains above City G where the Council of Swordmasters is based. At their building, the three disciples are reviewing what they've been able to unearth about Sweet Mask. It's precious little, with nothing available before his signing up as a hero. Iaian surmises that this fits in with the information that Bushidrill has been able to uncover on Amai's shifting appearance. They consider that the shape-shifting could be a special power, but in light of his behaviour towards Do-S's hostages, was much more likely a sign of progressive monsterization. Iaian expands on it by recounting what he'd seen of Sweet Mask at the surface when he'd seen a monster struggling to keep its humanity. With surprising empathy, Iaian states that it's often those who've lost something who know its true value. They decide to keep a careful eye on Sweet Mask but say nothing to Atomic for now. Okamaitachi hopes that they end up glad to have kept Sweet Mask's hands clean.

Elsewhere, we see Kamikaze (it is not right to call him Atomic Samurai in this context) and Nichirin paying their respects at a shrine dedicated to successive generations of the Swordmasters. They are accompanied by two young people, here to take the places of the slain Swordmasters. We are treated to Yuta's thoughts of hunting down whatever remains of the Monster Association. Nichirin apologises to the pair to say that if he'd been stronger -- but Shido cuts him short. His father lived by the sword, after all, and falling in battle was an honourable death. Besides, as a bodyguard, seeing Nichirin alive would have pleased him.

Speaking of that, given how gravely Nichirin had been injured, it naturally leads to Kamikaze asking after the old man's health. Nichirin sits on the ground and hitches his robes up to show a pair of cybernetic legs. His entire lower half is now mechanical and he's apparently no worse off for it [Aside: I guess the doctors who butchered Air back in Chapter 182 weren't joking about Metal Knight's skill in cyborg medicine].

He stands up, and, declaring that circulating one's chi through body and weapons made them part of a whole -- artificial bodies included -- unsheathes his sword and slices at an apple that he tossed into the air. The apple is apparently unharmed, but the cliff face in the background is cleaved. The apple falls to the ground, and Shido and Yuta marvel at the accuracy of the old man's cutting the cliff but sparing the apple. Nichirin states that he did cut the apple as well. Kamikaze picks up the apple and explains that this is Nichirin's special technique: it's so fast and finally that the Apple rejoined itself, apparently unharmed. He is relieved the old man is his usual self.

It's now Nichirin's turn to ask him a question. Now that his rival Bang has retired, will Kamikaze stay at the Hero Association? Kamikaze looks wistful for a moment as he recalls himself leading the charge to take down Psykos-Orochi. He says that, indeed, he'd initially gone only to challenge himself, but now he had experienced something that he couldn't get anywhere else. Besides, he still had one more person whose strength he needed to fathom -- we are shown that it is King. He'd decide after then.

As he takes his leave, Nichirin thinks that Kamikaze has changed. Being thrown among a variety of strong fighters with vastly different strengths had broadened his mind. Maybe being a hero wasn't so bad after all. He says that last part out loud to Yuta's puzzlement.

We cut to the hero Association and to Saitama and Genos approaching it. Inside, Forte is putting the finishing touches to a dog house Black Sperm is disgusted, but shelter and food, even if it is only dog food, are what he needs right now, at least until he rebuilds his cell count. Saitama and Genos heave into view and Forte greets them. Black Sperm rushes behind the dog house in well-justified fear. His life wouldn't be worth a scrap of cigarette ash if Genos caught sight of him. Fortunately, Genos is a bit distracted, first by the dog's name, then by the news that Forte lives next door to Saitama. He wastes no time in evicting Forte.

I have a feeling the dog is going to be trouble

Finally, we're in the M-City branch of Mouse Sushi, the cheap rotating sushi place with the infamous nasty t-shirts Saitama loves. Atomic Samurai is there with his disciples, having paid a futile visit to King's residence. There's only one problem with this place: someone keeps taking every plate they have their eye on. After the fatty tuna plate is taken, Atomic stands up to confront the person only to find that is King. The chapter ends with Atomic standing over an anxious King and asking if he could talk to him for a few minutes.

Whew, if you think this is meaty, wait until we get to the meta. Grab a drink!

Meta

I really struggled with thinking where to even begin with this one. Well, let's take it like a hot bowl of soup, start on the outside and work our way in.

The Real Kaijin Shows Up

Small things first. It's hilarious that Genos invokes more fear than the actual monsters do at Saitama's residence. Surprising that he's been visiting Saitama for a while but has never run across Saitama's neighbours or pets until now. You'd think that Saitama had brought home a tiger. As if he were extolling how the beast is still barely half-grown and tame, and all everyone else could see is how it's already the size of a large fridge with cruelly-curved claws longer than one's fingers and fangs sturdy enough to bite through one's skull. Forte may know not to mess with Saitama but he's so aware of Genos's capacity to do actual violence to him that the latter doesn't even need to breathe a word of threat to commandeer his house.

the really big dogs don't need to growl

Don't Panic, It's Just A Monster

I love thus story: people are not blind or stupid. It's hard to keep secrets when someone takes an interest. The disciples are on Amai Mask's trail, and while they're fairly certain that they've uncovered a monster hiding as a human being, the circumspection and nuance they're showing is remarkable.

Despite their misgivings, they're prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt and see him more as a person struggling to retain his humanity than as a monster biding its time to strike. In this, Iaian leans towards the former interpretation, while Bushidrill would rather err on the side of caution. Okamaitacchi is in the middle but is of the mind that this is a fluid situation that could go either way.

It's really neat that what was once a one-off gag, with Iaian telling Meltzegard that he could read the latter's murderous intent, has been repeatedly revisited ad deepened in the course of the story to create what is a wise and sympathetic response to a potentially dangerous situation. The disciples aren't blind to the danger of a monstrous hero, but because they can read intentions, they're willing to be heroes to the core and risk reaching out a helping hand to a struggling person.

Iaian's taking a risk in hoping there's a person in Amai who can be saved. But what else is a hero about?

Decisions and Inspirations

So, what will you do, Kamikaze? Had Nichirin died, what he'd have had to do would have been simple. As the new head of the Council of Swordmasters, Atomic would have had to resign as a hero and raise up a new generation. Thankfully, he's been spared that.

It's refreshing to get more insight into Atomic's character and find that he's been looking for both a source of challenge and inspiration in his life. Bang had certainly provided both while he'd been a fellow pro-hero. However, Atomic deciding to lead a charge to the very skies rather than stand on his pride and be an old man shouting impotently at the battle raging overhead had been a revelation. Terrible as the Monster Association showdown had been, it had also been a peak experience unlike any he could have imagined. He's hooked. [Since this is so late, Child Emperor's suggestions of a specialist dragon-slaying team would have found in Atomic an enthusiastic sponsor]. But he still wants a rival, so off he is to challenge King.

a new fire has been lit in this guy who thought he understood everything

Coming to Nichirin, I have three things to say:

A: Words Are Best Eaten Cold, With Salt

Despite having a disciple working as a hero (Spring Mustachio), Nichirin hasn't thought too highly of heroes. Depending on the translation, he'd called them hunters... or pest controllers. It's nice to see that he's had to eat his words.

I hope those words are tasty

B: The Old Lie

'Dolce et decorum est pro patria mori' . I don't blame Shido for clinging onto a view of his father bravely laying down his life. He needs all the comfort he can get.

We know the truth. Zambai was not felled by a superior foe but by a sentient barf bag spitting in his face.

Amahare's desecrated remains were so fragmentary that his coffin needed only a single pallbearer. A cruel duty indeed for Yuta to perform.

Nor can we forget Spring Mustachio fighting desperately to stop Nichirin's transected body from being burned, then Fubuki frantically keeping him alive, his guts kept from spilling out by what had been Genos's precious designer jacket.

a tableau of horror

This had been an actual conflict, not a carefully-managed test of skill vulgarly called a 'fight', and there was nothing sweet, fitting, nor fair about it.

C: Sword and Spirit

AND NOW FOR THE PART I'VE BEEN WAITING FOREVER FOR! Forever being from December 2017. It also ties into more recent chapters. The border between living and non-living has always been a bit porous in One-Punch Man and it's amazing to watch Nichirin make no distinction between his biological body, his sword, and his prostheses to forge a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts. Once again, it comes down to spirit and willpower.

Had Genos witnessed this, he'd have asked Saitama for a leave of absence to study under Nichirin. This is the missing part that has been nagging at him, the question he'd asked Saitama about whether his parts truly made him stronger, to which Saitama had had no answer. Heck, just being able to observe Nichirin would have been profoundly inspirational for Genos.

ONE, however, is not in the business of giving Genos anything cheaply. No, on current headings, he's going to have to work it out for himself. Indeed, he accidentally and instinctively touched on the answer when he seamlessly rejoined himself after being bitten in two by Elder Centipede. He didn't think about what he was doing then: he was just totally determined not to be dismissed by that miserable worm. [It goes without saying that Kuseno did not get a distress call, nor brave monsters to see what the fuck was going on for himself because of a mere broken leg and some loosened plates of armour.]

Before and after: plates laid on a bias rejoining so perfectly there's no damage to see. And all the internals are fine too. Black magic shit that got the old engineer out of bed to do a field inspection.

Come to that, Saitama does know about the importance of will but does not know it consciously. Yet another gag that has become very much not a gag is that any object Saitama holds that he does not want to break becomes unbreakable. Cheap store-bought chopsticks catch a falling man -- and his clothes, in turn, don't give way. They become an extension of Saitama, like Nichirin's sword does of himself. Speaking of swords, it's notable that when Atomic Samurai managed to draw the sun blade, it was impossible to tell where the man ended and the sword began. Saitama just has no idea that that's what he's doing, so he can't teach it to his increasingly frustrated disciple.

the same principle, played very differently, but each in a life-or-death situation

And like that, another piece of the puzzle of the power scheme of OPM has been shown to us. No one character has the whole picture. We will hopefully get to piece it together by the end, and we hope that the right characters understand it well enough at the right time to make for good outcomes.

Next chapter review will be much shorter!

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captainslayahoe · 6 days

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UNPOPULAR OPINION:

There are too many r@pe fics in the 'Call Of Duty' and horror movie communities.

This is a long ass rant BTW so thank you so much if you actually stay to listen to me complain.

I'm a huge fan of masked men, gore, horror movies, and Call Of Duty. They're all very fun things, even if seen as boyish or grim to the average Joes and Janes of society.

HOWEVER, there is a huge issue in both communities. Glorifying sexual assault. Groping, grooming, full blown rape. It's ridiculous. Both communities have a myriad of writers who write about nothing but manipulation and straight up noncon.

And you know what makes this worse? From experience, I've seen that there are FAR more rape fics in the Call Of Duty community than in the horror movie community.

Can you believe that shit?

THERE IS MORE SA FANFICTION ABOUT OFFICERS OF THE LAW AND MILITARY MEN, GOOD MEN WHO ARE CANONLY CHILL AND LOVING, PEOPLE WHO'S JOBS ARE LITERALLY TO SERVE AND PROTECT, MEN WHO HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG AND HAVE ONLY DONE THERE JOBS IN CANON, THAN SA FICS ABOUT MEN WHO ARE LITERAL SERIAL KILLERS, MEN WHO HAVE BEEN SEEN IN MOVIES AND SHOWS MERCILESSLY GUTTING INNOCENT PEOPLE AND NOT FEELING ANY KIND OF SHAME, MEN WHO WOULD KILL YOU IF THEY WERE REAL.

What does that say about society? That there's more SA fanfiction about law enforcement than criminals and demons?

Does that make sense to you?

Horror movie fans, although unhinged, treat their kins and fav characters like they're just misunderstood and can be helped and even with the disgusting amount of SA fics, they still treat the characters like chill guys who are mentally ill and can't be trusted with knives.

But Call Of Duty? Nope. It's surprisingly fucking easy to find a fic about Simon Riley being overly dominant, possessive, and pretty fucking predatory, when in Canon, he's just... He's just him. Simon is not a rapist. He is a good man trying to do his goddamn job. Why would he want to "use and abuse" anyone? Do yall not know his lore? His dad literally used to abuse him. HE FORCED HIM TO KISS A FUCKING SNAKE AND SCARED HIM WITH ANIMALS, FOR CHRISTS SAKE.

He would want his s/o to have a better life than what he went through. And don't even get me started on Soap. All yall serious? He himself implied he wasn't very violent in an interrogation scene that I vaguely remember like this:

Hostage: you gonna cut my hand off?

Soap: not my style, but he might. *he says pointing at Ghost*

(Im mid writing this and I am really realizing I am defending fictional men against rape allegations lord what is going on, I wanna be Phoenix Wright so bad)

And you know what REAAALLY pisses me off? The way they try to DEFEND THAT SHIT. MAKES ME SICK.

"Oh, well Michael Myers wouldn't care about consent because he doesn't care about people's lives" you sound dumb. It's giving "if it'll kill, it'll rape" like bro what? This is like that saying "if it can bleed, it can breed" in reverse and I hate both equally. And then these motherfuckers will be like

"ITS CALLED BDSM, YOU'RE JUST VANILLA" Bitch, are you slow?

The bdsm community is all about consent. Ever heard of a safe word? It's called role-playing, and they (almost) always have boundaries. By calling your illegal fantasies BDSM is bashing them and they DO NOT claim your crazy ass.

I'm not gonna name any creators, because at the end of the day, it's not like me dropping their accounts will get them banned or investigated, but I actually saw a post where someone CONFRONTED the writer's nasty ass Call Of Duty fics, and their legit response was like:

"Okay? And? I write dark romance. I add warnings. Everything isn't all puppies and kittens."

You are genuinely ignorant if you think basic consent is puppies and kittens. Rape is not dark romance.

As for the BDSM community, They get enough hate as it is, and 50 shades of Grey has already ruined them as it is, stop bringing them into your bullshit. You like being choked by masked men? Cool. You like rough housing and aggression? Sure. That's cool. I completely agree with that. But PUH-LEEEASE, bitch, stop calling grotesque shit like this "BDSM" and "Dark Romance".

I'm not vanilla, I'm a decent human being. You need to start realizing the problem is you. I can't stop you from writing it, but call it what it is and stop being a pussy.

You know what you write and you know what your read.

#rapeawareness #rapeculture #rant post #seriously #it doesn't make sense #call of duty smut #call of duty #horror movies #horror fan #serious issues #daddy issues #seek therapy #seek the lord #scream #ghostface #halloween #bo sinclair #masked men

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goldensunset · 5 months

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*hasn't watched the trailer and isn't currently planning to* dude i am sooooooo stoked for the indigo disk....

#from the few spoilers i've seen. dude. YES. YESSSSSSSSSSs #it looks like just what i've been wanting #hehehehehehhehehehehehehehehheheheheh #pokémon #i'm just gonna keep. neither hardcore dodging spoilers nor seeking them out #all-natural information osmosis is what i'm going for #wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh kitakami siblings.........#i am so excited to see you again #my kingdom hearts brain poisoned me i saw them with yellow eyes and was like YOOOOOO #before remembering oh right those are just their natural eye colors. lol #teal mask/indigo disk #sv dlc spoilers

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soldier-poet-king · 7 months

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I can't journal I'll just turn into Kafka and obvs he didn't have washi tape and neither do I do itlljust end real bad

#the duality of fran #ok im. sorry. be quiet now. enough pathetic mewlings and attention seeking #im not even being fully truthful. its layers and layers and even idk where it ends #turtles all the way down except its masks and walla all the way down and im not a real person underneath it all

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girlthingdecay · 5 months

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#i kind of want to kill myself. im so disconnected from anything. i have no original thought. everything is scripted #everything is just put together pieces from things ive heard elsewhere and i do not have a single original thought #everyone can see that im masks all the way down and everyone can see that i am nothing underneath and even that is a stolen way of saying it #i have no way of making nothing palatable but i am simply nothing. invite me over and ill try to adapt to you and write a new script based #off new media but if you make me truly comfortable and somehow manage to unplug my behavior then youll be rewarded with me just sitting #beside you on the floor and staring at whatever media you show me without speaking much and only occasionally seeking further warmth from #you #i vocalized it to someone close recently but im a nothing void and i wish people all acted in exactly the way i wanted regardless #i have selfish fantasies about people just doing everything to make everything easy for me and if i were a god i would be an entirely #selfish one #if the right people would go and stay as i please even though im a nothing void and dont deserve them around #if they would all do whatever i needed like gave me cuddles or sex or affirmation or money or treats #if life was one long cycle of being the most treated god by everyone then maybe i could be something i dont know #maybe something could be manifested into me #everyone already projects an idea onto me so maybe a collective idea held by all with a great deal of love would make whatever they say of #me true and maybe then id exist fully #until then oh well #though in reality im just sanitizing a bit. having others fully as puppets serving me isnt something that i want because i think itll “fix”#me by any measures and id likely only grow far more sadistic and selfish but i wish for that world because i could live in perfect comfort #i could do anything i wanted and have anything i wanted and nobody would stop me #sorry this is just like. a long rambling in tags. i should shut up now

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crypticmoth-art · 1 month

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Drawing my two FL characters, and there’s like a seven inch height difference.

Feardorcha, the shorter one, usually wears a mask but I’m permitting myself to actually draw their face this time.

And Mr. Seek, the taller one, has a hat which ostentatiously adds like six inches to his already tall figure.

#fallen london #fallen london character #original character art #original character #failbetter games #sketch #my art #i will admit that mr seek’s creation coincided with the beginning of my jekyll and hyde hyperfixation #but he’s an older/aged version of my current mask of the rose character

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har-rison-s · 2 years

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mask & seek: 14

batman x fem!reader

author’s note: hello :) long time no mask & seek ;) it’sBACK, BABY !!!anywhos. hello. still on with this story, fighting my impulses and regular abandoning of stories – i’m sick of it, too, trust me. nearly all my fics are unfinished, all except one lol, and i feel like i didn’t end it pretty good, either. but yk... we move. so. bruce and y/n. how wonderful !!!! i love them together. but are they together, though... ;))) just kidding. we’ll see how they play out. if you find their conversations over-all and in this chapter strange, let me just say - what they have together is what they both are having for the first time. they’re 28, but they’re both literally like teenagers, and they get nervous and insecure, too. happy reading, my babies!

author’s note 2: my laptop is still waiting for my paycheck to take it to a fixing shop, i’m currently on a laptop i’ve been given for a little side-job, but i also think i’ll write a little on it hehehe, as much as i can of course because i have a lot of work hours this month, so we shall see. happy reading once again!!!

main masterlist

bruce wayne masterlist

part thirteen

word count: shit i didn't even check. ummmmmm around 8k ??

warnings: nothing much, insecurities popping up here and there, that’s it

gif credit goes to owner / creator!

y/n is so glad she’s free of work today. she hates her time being limited, especially with bruce. she knows she has these moments with him right now, but if she had an evening shift to get to, for example, she wouldn’t appreciate them as much, even though she should. she doesn’t like having something to do after, it’s always at the back of her mind, that she’ll have to leave, even though the time with bruce now is more amazing than ever.

but today isn’t one of those days. she has the whole day free, and the next morning, as well. she doesn’t need to ask if he’s free, because she knows bruce well enough to know that he doesn’t have a work schedule, can do whatever he wants with his time, and will always be free for her. that’s what he’s showed her—that he’d sacrifice anything for her if he wants to. it makes y/n feel very special, very valued and appreciated. but it scares her a little, too—how far is he ever willing to go for her?

waking up to him in her bed is a feeling, rather, a whole event, that she loves so much. all those mornings in his manor, in that riddance bed, were magnificent on their own. but they were different—there were no words spoken, nothing established between them. they were both cautious, nervous and treading on fragile ground, not really addressing what’s going on between them – and should they, really? – letting everything unspoken just be in the air between them. somehow that made the atmosphere and moments in the room all the more sacred.

her hand now treads on the fragile skin and muscle of bruce’s chest. the man lays bare next to her in the bed, both of them partly under the covers, and it seems that bruce is still asleep. she doesn’t mean to wake him, she just repeats her ritual she remembered having those few mornings in his manor. of her just running her hands across his skin, just caressing the skin, exploring the bumps and crevices, the twists and pulls of muscle, some spots where his bones come closer to the skin’s surface, some where they hide deeper under.

she still finds it peculiar that he has no permanent scars on his chest, but has a whole library of them on his back. it’s easier for attackers to go for his back, though, she realises. he’s not looking, doesn’t have eyes in the back of his head, and they use it as an advantage. clever. explanatory. seems almost obvious now that she thinks of it.

y/n likes seeing bruce asleep. it’s a rare event that she or anyone at all can have the privilege to see, she can only guess that alfred hasn’t seen him asleep ever, or very rarely. maybe when he was younger, just a boy. she might be the only person in the world to see him in slumber. so vulnerable, anyone with malicious intent would think. but y/n thinks this state is calm, peaceful, soft. very much deserved for a man of his line of work.

it seems the tender beast has been softly rattled to consciousness after just a few minutes of caresses. the give-away is his breaths becoming deeper, louder, and his head slightly raising from the grey linen pillow underneath. y/n smiles softly, and her eyes squinting nearly closed serve as proof that she’s still sleepy. she withdraws her hand, seeing bruce’s torso also rising from the bed a bit as he comes to all his senses, drifting out of his deep slumbery state. y/n tucks her hand under her chin as she looks at him.

it takes a few seconds for bruce to situate himself and find his surroundings again, and a few moments after that to open his eyes so he could see. so he could see her. laying on her side right in front of him, in her literal morning glory. he’s sure there’s nothing more beautiful than y/n in the mornings. of course, she’s beautiful during whichever time of day, but there’s just something unbeatable about mornings. this fragile softness her entire presence has after she’s freshly woken up. her lips, her hair, her eyes. and her smile. the one that forces her sleepy facial features to rise or twist in any needed direction or position.

bruce felt the tracings of her fingertips on his back when he started to wake up, they’re actually what woke him up, in all honesty. he reaches his hand out to her, at first caressing the skin of her cheek, and taking note of how big his hand is compared to her face, “admiring your work?” he asks her in a whisper, and then his hand moves just a few inches down to snake its way into her hand, curling shyly into a gentle fist under her chin. y/n smiles at his partly rhetorical question while bruce intertwines his own fingers with hers. and their sleepy eyes connect again.

she gives him a shrug. she’d forgotten about those markings on his back, to be honest. but now she smiles wider at the memory of them, and smiles even wider, and blushes, too, at the whole memory of last night. bruce can see a glint, a shimmer in her eyes that lets him know what she’s thinking about, and he grins. “do they hurt?” she simply asks in a concerned voice, though her lips still curling into a grin tell a not-so-sincere story. bruce shakes his head, intending to answer vocally, too, but, as he nearly always does, he settles for no words needed. y/n holds onto his hand and tucks it under her pillow, both their hands, intertwined, squished under the soft plush. “did you enjoy last night?” she asks bruce, her voice now nearly inaudible.

but they’re close to each other, so close that they needn’t necessarily hear every word as loud as it can be said. bruce smiles so wide his eyes close for a few seconds, and he nearly laughs. “what do you mean?” he asks, his hold on her hand slightly tightening. now that worries y/n. he doesn’t give her an answer, and he laughs. fishy. concerning?

“what? i need to know if it was good for you,” she tells him with a soft shrug and searches his eyes. there’s so much behind them, nearly a whole book, she can see that. and she wants to read every word in every chapter, “tell me everything.”

bruce clears his throat, but doesn’t object and hopefully, this time, doesn’t dodge the question. “firstly, it was undoubtedly good for me,” he tells her, “i... could not imagine sharing that with anyone else but you. in the whole world,” he confesses, and y/n’s oxygen runs short for a second, “i did enjoy last night. it’s important for me to know that you did, too. i kind of feel like i should be the one asking you these two questions,” bruce admits with a quiet chuckle. y/n can agree with him, but it’s been made clear in these few months with him that sometimes she needs to ask the questions, speak and do the things that the man in the relationship usually does, “secondly, i think there’s something else you want to ask me.” bruce says and looks clearer into y/n’s eyes.

she wants to play it off clueless at first, not know what he’s talking about when she clearly does. he can read her like an open book sometimes, and she knows there’s no hiding the truth from him. not that she’d want to hide it with intention. y/n sighs shortly. “you know me so well,” she says and pulls slightly away from him. removes her hand from his hold, intertwines it with her other hand on top of her chest, and she lays on her back next to bruce. her eyes are on the ceiling as she thinks of the best combination of words to put her thoughts and worries into. bruce doesn’t take this withdrawal as a good sign, “yeah, i guess i... i guess i was just... i wanted to know if, uh, if you’re disappointed or uh... if you regret last night.” she admits with a heavy heart. “but i guess you already cleared that up with your confession just now.” y/n gives bruce a soft, dismissive smile and turns to lay partly on her side again.

her eyes are nowhere near his, and she can’t clearly see the pained expression on his face. he runs his hand across her cheek again, trying to bring her attention back to him, trying to bring her back to him. “i feel neither of those things,” bruce tells her, “i’d never regret a single thing with you. i haven’t up until now, and i’m sure i never will in the future.” he says with a gentle shake of his head, and those words make y/n look at him again. our future? bruce makes a supportive smile as their eyes connect. “i... was worried you’d be disappointed by me.”

now at that y/n loses all composure and laughs like hell. “you? how could i be disappointed by you?!” she gasps for air between heaves of laughter.

“same goes for you, y/n,” bruce tells her as he watches her face, ever changing, in front of his own.

“bruce, i’m not blind to you being one of the most popular men in gotham,” she tells him, “and i’m not blind to the perks of that title, either. surely i don’t need to remind you that you’re a casanova-kind of guy.” before me, anyway.

with no idea where she could have heard that, bruce grows a bit puzzled. he shakes his head and moves his heavy torso beneath the blanket to lay on his back. “i’m not really that, no,” he tells y/n quietly, ashamed and scared to admit the truth. but he feels safe with her nonetheless. if it was anyone else raising this topic, he wouldn’t have said a thing.

y/n turns her head to look at him, and finds bruce wearing a secluded, pained expression on his face. now she feels bad. she’s definitely touched a nerve. the topic is something not only she reminds him of, she can see that. there’s pressure about it from all sides, the public, the pressure from his absent father, and no doubt alfred as well. this topic torments bruce, and, somehow, it’s never come up before, so there’s no way she could have known.

she has to find a way to make him feel comfortable with her again, something to dismiss this whole thing with. what could make him feel safe? maybe not being alone in this? y/n isn’t a casanova, either. they’re equal in that sense. y/n makes a short, decided sigh and turns her head to bruce again, “so... were we each other’s first?” she asks quietly, still treading on fragile ground, trying to find a common one. anxious about whatever bruce will say, she watches his face in silence, her nose huffing and puffing here and there.

her question surprises bruce, and he turns his head to look at her, his eyebrows drawn now. she looks into his puzzled eyes with her curious, slightly sure ones. she’s wondering what he wants to ask her, and if he’ll answer her question at all. “you’d never—” bruce starts to ask, too anxious to put his assumption fully into words. but y/n doesn’t give him a chance to, she cuts the question short with a shake of her head. “then yes,” he tells her quietly, anxious and a little ashamed of his answer, and its truth. but she just revealed the same truth about her to him, and she doesn’t seem half as anxious as he does.

they both turn their faces and eyes to the ceiling, feeling all kinds of emotions. a wide smile that she tries to suppress stretches y/n’s lips and cheeks as she looks up at the single lamp on her ceiling. there’s quite possibly nothing that could bring her and bruce closer than this, than last night. sure, they have that night shift thing, and understand each other in that sense like no one else does, but this... this is, dare she say, special.

bruce feels selfish for thinking this, but he’s really fond of the fact that he was her first. and he didn’t suck! he was her first ever, he has that honour and title, too, maybe, and she hasn’t left, hasn’t protested. instead she feels insecure about herself in this matter, when that is totally out of place. he feels insecure as well, and it’s proven that his anxiety is out of place, too. and though bruce has his anxieties, his insecurities and other characteristics that he thinks aren’t likeable, she’s with him. she’s still with him, she’s let him in completely now—at least he thinks she has—and there’s hardly any signs she’ll leave. he’s not sure if he’s paranoid that she will leave because of his just general paranoia and anxiety or because she left the manor with no warning.

but she explained herself, so he guesses it’s just him and his insecurities. the fear that everyone he cares about will leave at some point. there’s not a lot of those people, but the two that he has are dearer to him than anything.

he sneaks his hand over to y/n’s, where both her hands lay on the blanket over her chest, and he butts his fingers into that gentle hold. he looks over at her as he does, and sees a wide smile on her face. one that nearly brings tears to her eyes. bruce’s lips held a smile before seeing hers already, but now his widens, too. he turns his eyes back to the ceiling and scoots closer to y/n in her bed. he’s surprised he can even fit in her bed. all those times he’d watched her fall asleep in it he thought the bed couldn’t possibly have space for him, too.

feeling over-whelmed and emotional, y/n finds something refreshing in the golden rays of the morning sun breaking through her old window. “oh, look,” she points at them with her and bruce’s intertwined hands, “a little sun for gotham at last.” y/n says, and now there really are happy tears in her eyes. the sun rays must have been the last straw for her emotional state to tip over the edge.

bruce can’t fight the feeling that overcomes him, it makes him throw himself against y/n and pull her tight against his chest as he snuggles his nose into the crook of her neck. it makes y/n laugh and she wraps her arm around his beautiful, broad back so she doesn’t fall from his grasp. “i love you,” bruce mumbles into her skin, his lips on her both sending a shiver down her spine and warming her up. for always finding the best in things, the best in people. bruce has the exact opposite ability. y/n smiles wide and lays kisses on the closest spot of his skin that she has access to.

she moves back a little so she could look into his eyes. his sleepy, beautiful eyes, “and i love you.” she tells him. and for the first time in both their lives, it feels like every piece has finally fit into its place.

and here they are now, somewhere about an hour later, sitting at y/n’s kitchen island in barely any clothes and eating breakfast that bruce has made for them both. y/n is pleasantly surprised he can cook at all, she was sure he always relied on someone else to make him food. they’d never eaten anything made at her place before, they’d always order in, much to bruce’s request. and though his bacon and eggs and toast are pretty simple, they’re okay. there’s room for improvement, of course, but he has basic survivalist cooking skills.

“i’ve been thinking about it a lot,” bruce starts to say quietly as the two of them still eat, “what you said to alfred, and what he said after that.” y/n furrows her eyebrows as she looks at bruce and wonders which instance he’s talking about. “about you being a part of wayne enterprises.” bruce looks into her eyes.

y/n makes a pretend smile, “i was only being half-serious.” she dismisses the idea, not wanting to seem too eager and after it. of course, she’d love nothing more or less than an entire empire she can do the right things with, and the resources that come with such an empire. it’s not like she’s after money. money is but a tool, it’s never the goal.

bruce shakes his head with a smile just as half-true as hers, “no, you weren’t.” after listening to her story last night, the one about her mother, and listening to how y/n compared herself and bruce, he knows her heart was fully into the suggestion she take over wayne enterprises. he knows she has things she wants to say, things she wants to do, and she’s much smarter than him in these things. she knows what needs to be done, and it looks like it’s come naturally to her. unlike bruce himself. so he knows this is what she must do, and wants to do.

y/n gives him a look as bruce rises from the table with his plate in hand and takes the few steps over to the sink, clearly getting ready to wash that and the other dishes he dirtied while making breakfast. but y/n will have none of that. if he made food in her house, she’s doing the dishes. so she gets up from her seat with her own dirty plate and quickly walks over to bruce. no questions asked, she moves him to the side with only her hips, taking his place at the sink. when bruce still doesn’t move, y/n nods her head towards the kitchen island, “go on,” she tells him, meaning the island, and sighs quietly when bruce gets the hint y/n really didn’t want to put into words. it’s just a little hard for her sometimes. as bruce makes for the island, y/n turns water on in the kitchen sink and clears her throat, “so what’s, uh, what’s me being part of the company mean, exactly?”

bruce sighs quietly as he sits down, and takes his mug of coffee in hand, “well, anything—any position—you want, really,” he says, “but i think you should be in charge of accepting business deals, funds, calling up to collaborate with charities and other firms, all of that.” bruce truthfully tells her. “something tells me you might have a lot of good ideas for what we could do.”

it was a compliment, and y/n takes it as such – smiles from ear to ear and blushes just as vividly, too, as she brushes a sponge over food snippets on the dishes. though bruce can’t see it happening, he knows it is. he knows his effect on her. and only sometimes does he dare to use it to his own advantage.

“it’s not like you’ll need to manage everything, alfred and dory have roles to play in the company, too,” bruce continues, “and, of course, there’s about a hundred other people working for us, but... yeah. you should just take over my position, and have alfred be your... partner of sorts.” he suggests. y/n can’t stop smiling. so much so that she momentarily puts down the plate in her hands and looks over at bruce, to tell him with only her eyes and face how this is all making her feel.

it makes her feel important, needed, productive. but most of all appreciated. and bruce can guess at that. he gives her an uplifting grin and y/n turns back around to finish off the dishes. the appreciative smile of disbelief she showed him still stays on her face, though, she really can’t stop smiling.

“of course, there’s the business calls and meetings, business lunches, brunches, dinners,” bruce counts off in a bored monotone. y/n chuckles a little at that. but then her thoughts drift to the realistic parts of those events. she doesn’t own any of those formal rich clothes. her smile fades a little. maybe she should just dress as herself, put on the best clothes she owns and leave it at that, “oh, and we do have galas here that we have to attend—we always get an invite—but i rarely go,” bruce shakes his head, and even though y/n is listening to him, his voice fades away in her head a little.galas, oh my!

she’s always seen how people who attend galas wearing just completely ordinary clothes or without sticking to the dress code get trashed on the internet by the public, and she’s always agreed. galas are very luxurious fashion events, at least most of them are. she doesn’t know gotham galas that well, maybe they’re for people to show off their amount of money or amount of crimes they’ve committed – that would be gotham-style.

but she suspects it’s just the regular galas, and most of the attention would be on the women. what dress they’re wearing, how old or new it is, how valuable it is, how much did it cost, how stylish—according to the current trends—it is, how scandalous, perhaps, it is, how revealing, how modest, etc, etc. and all of that is, of course, documented and decided by the medias and critics. that’s a huge spotlight and a big amount of attention on her for one night, or for the rest of her life. it’s just too much attention.

suddenly her breath or too much air gets stuck in her throat. can she even do events like that? can she even do one? she’s not made for the spotlight, she knows that because she knows herself. all these high-class, rich and sophisticated people around her, them and everyone else expecting only the best behaviour from her. and they’re often not nice, she’s learned that from documentaries and interviews she’s watched about celebrities or popular people in general. being among those people, becoming one of them—if she ever does—is not a wonderland experience.

and she doesn’t have the wardrobe for galas, none of her best dresses are gala-material. maybe she should take up bruce’s tendence and just not go when there’s an invitation. but surely, if she is to become the new public face of wayne enterprises, she needs to give public appearances, especially right after the announcement, if there will be one. and galas are the way to do that.

y/n finishes doing the dishes as she thinks all of this over, and she turns off the water and dries her hands in a towel as she turns around to face bruce again, her hips pressed against the counter. she looks at him with her wide, worried eyes, but just for a second, because she looks at the window further away, the one she and bruce always climb through after their night shifts. in this emotionally fragile state, she can’t handle him looking at her, perceiving her and her emotions and feelings. he can read hers very easily by now, and she can’t deal with what that is followed up by.

she breathes a short breath of strain, which captures bruce’s attention even more than her over-all facial expression, and he nearly jumps up from the table. but he refrains. he knows how she gets when she feels off, he knows what she wants and doesn’t want in those moments. he just hopes everything they talked about last night and this morning has made her trust him more than before, so that she doesn’t close up and leave him again. he just tunes in and listens. it might take a few moments for her to be able to say what she wants to.

“what if i can’t do it?” she finally asks in a strained, small voice. and her eyes gloss over to bruce again. “all the... events and meals and business meetings... i mean, i don’t even know how to talk or behave formally, i’m... not that kind of person. i wasn’t raised like that, either.” y/n admits and picks at her fingers and the towel she’s holding between them. bruce smiles. “and i don’t have any clothes for a gala.” she throws her hands up in the air for a moment, out of pure despair, and her eyes look to the ground.

now bruce laughs. he doesn’t mean to laugh at her, he doesn’t want to be mean with it, but he just can’t help it. y/n looks to him with nervous eyes, ones slowly filling with tears. she’s just suddenly so anxious and terrified of what it means to be the face and leader of wayne enterprises. she hadn’t calculated any of that before, how could she? she didn’t know what that kind of lifestyle entails. now she does.

bruce shakes his head at the look she gives him, “sorry,” he says and then straightens his back. y/n is willing to listen now, “come over to me.” bruce softly requests with a clearing of his throat, and he gestures towards himself with his hand. y/n puts the towel on the side of the sink and makes her way over to him, around the kitchen island.

“i just... i’m not made for things like that,” she says while she walks, anxiety clear in her voice. bruce pushes his butt and the chair underneath it a bit further from the table and turns his body more to the side, so y/n would have a place close to him at the table, “i’ve never had to be that sort of person at work before...” she nearly whines as she now comes up to bruce.

he looks at her with eyes sweet as cotton candy and tilts his head just so it’d be in one angle with y/n’s. there’s genuine worry and insecurity in her eyes, as well as small tears gathered. bruce cradles the side of her face in his hand and looks her over with a smile. y/n waits for any further words, maybe some explanation as to why he laughed, and her hand instinctively wraps around bruce’s wrist. her touch on him still sends shockwaves throughout his body, and he tries to hide it as best he can. but the blush on his cheeks is visible, whether he wants to or not. and y/n sees.

“out of everything i’ve just listed down for this position, the events you’ll need to attend are what you’re worried about the most,” bruce deducts with a gentle shake of his head, “that’s what made me laugh.” he explains. “there’s a lot to juggle, but i understand how being out in public can cause you the most concern.” bruce’s thumb caresses her cheek, and he draws closer to her, softly bumping noses with her. y/n softly smiles and lets her eyes drop closed for that moment. “because that’s the same case for me. and i just can’t believe how similar we truly are.” at that, y/n smiles wider.

“well, at least you have clothes for those kinds of events,” she says on a more realistic note. bruce laughs again, and instead of hearing it first, she feels the thunderous rumble of his laughter all over just because their bodies are touching. she smiles.

“don’t worry, we can get you those kinds of clothes,” bruce tells her in a soft whisper. he’s now so close to her that he can feel her scent, and she can feel the strands of his dark hair on her forehead. again with the spoiling of her, y/n thinks. she can’t allow him to spend more money on her, it’s just outrageous. and it’s not like he’ll offer to buy the clothes in second-hand stores, because to attend a gala in something second-hand would just get you a straight ticket to fashion jail. no, bruce will go for the high-end fashion brands that y/n couldn’t afford even with the biggest salary her workplace offers. she sighs.

her eyes open and look into bruce’s as she has now slightly pulled away from him. his hand is still on her cheek, and hers is still around his wrist. but there’s a rift between them. “bruce, i told you i’m not comfortable with you buying me clothes, or spending money on me at all,” she reminds him.

“and i’ve told you that i don’t mind doing it,” bruce argues back, “money is practically nothing to me, and i’d love nothing more than to spend it on someone i care about,” he pushes strands of hair behind her ear, “someone i love.”

though she appreciates the loving thoughts and gestures, y/n still worries. “that’s what i’m scared of, bruce,” she tells him, “that money is nothing to some people, and everything to others. it’s what’s eating the world alive, and most people don’t even realise.” y/n shrugs, stating these facts casually yet with all her heart in them.

bruce shakes his head. “i’ll be more reserved with it, i promise,” he assures her, “let me get you those clothes, please. just... think of them as a new-job gift.” bruce suggests, and at that he makes y/n laugh.

“why are you so bent on spoiling me like this, huh?” y/n asks him as she rests her arms his shoulders and circles them around his neck, pulling him closer to her standing form, though she’s still not much taller than him because bruce is a man of nearly enormous height. she is able to look down on him a little, but just a little. and she enjoys the view. bruce’s eyes looking up at her.

he shrugs. “i don’t know,” he admits and y/n rakes her hand through hair on the back of his head, slightly tilting his head upwards to her, “i’ve never had this urge to spoil anyone before.” bruce says. “and i’ve never... had anyone like you in my life before, either, so...” he shrugs again and looks into y/n’s eyes in search of an answer. a positive answer that might tell him she’s understood him. and he finds that in her warm smile.

the questions ‘what am i to you?’ and ‘what are we, exactly?’ tickle her tongue in the worst curious way possible, but she doesn’t let them win. let that be unspoken and undecided for a while. as soon as there’s something decided, something concrete, there’s also rules that should not be broken, and that’s not always good. that puts constrictions on both parties involved, and that creates anxiety, tension and borders. none of that is necessary when everything’s going smooth and fine the way it is. unspoken.

y/n just shakes her head. “alright, if i’ve got the clothes, how am i gonna get the... persona?” she asks furthermore. “there’s going to be so much attention on me at those events, i just don’t wanna get overwhelmed and then... black out or something.” she tells him with wide eyes. “oh, my god... oh, my god, i’m gonna have to quit my job at jeremiah’s... oh, no.” y/n pulls slightly away from bruce, leaning onto the kitchen island top and resting her head on her hand, deep in thought as her eyes are still as wide as plates. they find bruce after a few moments of silence, which he doesn’t mind having with her. “i really like my job there. and i love my coworkers.”

“you don’t have to start today or tomorrow,” bruce reminds her with a gentle shrug, “just hand in your... paper of leave or whatever it’s called whenever you’re sure.” he pats the hand of hers still on his shoulder. y/n is still in her stupor of slight shock as her eyes slide back to bruce.

she shakes her head. “i’m gonna hate to do that,” she admits, “it’ll be hard to see their faces. i’ve gotten nothing but compliments and praise for my work.” y/n sighs. “also it’s gonna be weird working for you. really weird.”

bruce gives her a dismissive shake of the head. “you won’t be working for me, you’ll be replacing me,” he says to her.

“no, as we’ve decided, i’ll be the co-owner. or public face of the company,” she says, a little unsure, but then moves on, “and you’ll still be paying me. we can agree that that’s weird, right?” she asks. now bruce can’t help but agree with her.

“yeah, we can agree on that,” he says, thinking stuff over in his own head, “and as for the persona... don’t worry about that.” bruce assures her. “we’ll obviously tell you a few things you should know, but everything else is just... you, really. you don’t have anything to worry about,” he pulls her back closer to him by her waist, and y/n doesn’t protest, “you’ll do everything right. and you never have to worry about the attention.” he bumps her nose with his own again. “i will always be by your side.” he assures and lays a kiss on her cheek.

y/n closes her eyes to really enjoy that short, affectionate sensation, and her lips tug upwards into a smile. “even at galas and public events like that?” she asks, emphasising the word public just to tease him, and she has all the rights to do that, knowing his anti-social tendencies. bruce hums before laying a kiss on her other cheek.

“especially at those.” he tells her and pulls just a centimetre or so back just to look at her. they both find the other smiling at them, each in their different way, but smiling nonetheless.

“you’d do that for me? break your streak of avoiding public appearances?” she makes sure in a quiet whisper. bruce doesn’t answer verbally, he only nuzzles his face into the crook of her neck and she can feel his head moving in a nod against her neck. she chuckles. “alright then, mister wayne,” she starts to say as her hands rake across his raven-haired head again softly, comfortingly, “i’ll take care of your company for you. i can make no promises about the family empire, though.”

she hears bruce laughing quietly to that, and it makes her happy to hear that sound. she feels his hands tighter around her, too, and then, in just the faintest, softest of whispers: “will you take care of me, too?” bruce asks her, and she can hear that it’s completely genuine. the question stops her for a moment, as it’s so intimate, and uttered in a voice partly scared of the answer – what if it’s negative? what if she pushes him away? “it’s... it’s rotten work, i can tell you. but i think you already know that.”

y/n makes a half-smile at that attempted joke of his that she can tell he made out of nervousness, to break the tense air that accidentally rose between them. she was sure he knew her answer to this question even before he asked it, but it turns out the opposite.

of course, a relationship with him isn’t easy. hasn’t been the easiest so far. and maybe this is his way of asking her if she’s really ready for that. maybe he’s asking her if she’s ready for full commitment with him? but... if the feelings have come easy, and getting used to each other physically and romantically has come easy so far, then... maybe it won’t be hard? being around each other more, learning to work and maybe even live with each other more? but that’s been easy so far, too, hasn’t it?

with him, everything is so natural and without any serious tension.

so y/n smiles and holds bruce’s head gently in her hands and pulls it back a little, just to have him look at her. she bends down to touch his forehead with hers and really closely looks into his eyes. she wants this moment and her following words to stick with the man, so he’d never doubt it again. “not to me,” she answers his previously muttered doubt, “not if it’s you.” she assures him and makes a soft smile at the end of her words.

they mean more to bruce than she could imagine. he sees the toll it takes on alfred to care for him, even if he’s not acting on the care. just caring for and loving bruce from afar is work enough, he sees that in alfred’s eyes. he’s the closest person to bruce, and he was all that he had until he met y/n. and now, when bruce is subtly asking her to share this burden alfred has had for the past... many years, she’s so easily saying yes. like it’s nothing. like it’s as natural as breathing.

bruce hugs her closer to him, his face in her chest, and his big form hugged back by her. warmth spreads between them, back and forth, all over, and they both close their eyes. even though it’s scary, and a lot of aspects in all that follows will be completely new and unknown for both of them, it also doesn’t feel as scary. because they’ll be going through it with each other. and that makes everything seem less intimidating and more achievable.

series taglist: @blue-aconite @captainbarnes @chiliiscereal @miniflower93 @scorpio-echo@faithsreviews @buckysjuicyplums @legendaryfishdreamexpert @eucalyptrus @matchesarelit @daphne-bloom @aestheticpisces @baybay123455 @measure-in-pain @spookysins @calumspupils @prettygirlpattinson @johnisonlysleeping @bedshrooms @mischiefmanaged71 @is-this-a-febreze-commercial @siriuslydestiny @strawberriebabbles @katemusic @angelicadiabolus @musamusing @fatherfigured @tojisprincess @eriklensherrschild @uraritychain @philiasoul @violetsthought @srryxmate @frozenhuntress67 @underdarkcityskies @brthofafish @mistasbae @uncle-eggy @daryldixonstorm @tshuuls @alderaansleias @brightjimini @xmalereader (i’m sorry if someone’s @/s aren’t working, idk why!!)

if anyone wants a tag next time, please let me know :)

#bruce wayne fic #bruce wayne series #mask & seek #bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne x oc #bruce wayne x you #bruce wayne fluff #battinson fic #battinson smut #battinson imagine #battinson x you #battinson x reader #battinson x oc #battinson series #har-rison-s writes #har-rison-s series #har-rison-s writes batman #mask & seek series

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