Nothing lasts forever-
She’s vigilant of this fact always, but even more so when she's had the pleasure of his company for more than a scant couple of hours at a time. Raindrops race each other in misshapen lines down the length of his bedroom window, and the sky above Gotham city is an ominous steel gray. She shivers involuntarily against him as a crack of thunder booms overhead, and he instinctively pulls her closer to him, the pitter-patter of his heartbeat against her sternum helps to ease her mind. Low light from the candles scattered around the room bathe her nude companion in a pale-yellow glow, and highlight his marred, ivory skin exquisitely.
“Bruce?” Her voice hovers above a whisper.
Slate eyes slide open slowly, and pin-prick pupils adjust to the obscene lack of light before he answers her. “Hm?”
“What happened here?” She presses a featherlight fingertip to a silver mass of jagged scar tissue about an inch long beneath his clavicle.
Bruce smiles softly beneath her. “Rogue knife fight with a wannabe thug, Halloween night.”
She marvels at the healed wounds that decorate the expanse of his pale chest like a warzone, and at the sheer amount of pain he has endured in the name of vengeance.
“And this one?” She eyes an angry, crimson scar to the left of his belly button.
Bruce shifts beneath her and reaches up to brush a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “You sure you want to hear all this? We could be here a while…”
She nods her head in earnest. “Nowhere else I’d rather be.”
It always amazes her how easy it is to be truthful with him.
“That one was a tussle with a psychotic clown.” She peers down at the shadow of stubble on the underside of his jawline, then up at the circles that bloom violet beneath his eyes and speak novels of how exhausted he truly is. “Your thoughts are loud,” He murmurs sleepily, and the low reverberation of his voice causes her to tremble violently against him once more. “You must think all of this is hideous.”
She falters against him; taken aback at the side of Bruce Wayne she so very rarely sees. “Quite the contrary, Mr. Wayne. I find you nothing short of mesmerizing.”
His lip quirks up into a small half-smile that never reaches his eyes, but he lifts her hand to his lips and kisses the back of it, gently. “What’s next then?”
~
She awakens in the morning hush to his sleeping figure still next to her. Relief washes over her at the notion that in this very moment, this time is still entirely their own. Charcoal grey sheets hang loosely off his hip, and she watches the steady rise and fall of his back as he sleeps. She longs to trace the scars there too- hopes that he’ll remain a fixture in her life long enough so that one day she may be lucky enough to know the origins of those as well. She reaches out to him, but a car horn blares in the distance below them, and violently knocks Bruce out of whatever shallow slumber he had been in. A cold sweat blooms over his body and his chest heaves under the weight of sudden dread. His eyes are wide and entirely unsure, and she finds his hand beneath the sheets and squeezes it thrice.
“It’s alright, Bruce.” Leaning forward, she presses a gentle kiss to his temple. "It's alright..."
He swallows hard and settles back against the down pillow beneath him, patting his chest as he does so. “Lay with me a little bit longer, please…”
She nestles down into the warmth of his chest, and drifts off to the frenzied thrum of his heart as it beats to more regular rhythm beneath her.
Nothing lasts forever.
But when she’s with him like this- when they’re tangled up together in the warmth of his silk sheets, and their combined embrace provides safety from every malignant evil Gotham city has to offer, a moment lasts an entire lifetime.
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lonely traveler (battinson!bruce wayne oneshot)
Fanfictionbruce takes his companion on a little scar tour, cuddles and soft feelings ensue!
