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[theknightshift]

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CODE BY TESSISAMESS

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[theknightshift]

It's what Bruce likes about Steve the most. There are expectations of him: from society, from his kids, from Alfred too. From himself. But not so much with Steve. It's always so easy to just exist in his vicinity, that Bruce sometimes let's himself relax a little when he's nearby.

"No rush. Take your time." Bruce doesn't seem to be any rush himself. He stays where he is, flipping through a few design documents concerning his batmobile turned bat tank.

[imperfectsoldier]

Steve finds it pretty easy to just exist around Bruce, too. It's nice. Maybe that has something to do with the laid back. Or maybe that's just awareness that Bruce is under pressure, all the time, from everyone around him in a wide variety of different and compounding ways.

There isn't any unwillingness to draw and hold some lines though. They're just (so far) minor ones like being fucking determined that he's consuming food first. He gets back out of the chair he just sat in, and disappears back into the room he'd come out of, leaving Bruce to his designs, and comes back carrying his shoes and a couple of protein bars.

One of which he slides across the table like he's playing air hockey and the goal is Bruce's lap. "Eat. That." He's pretty firm on that point, too. Man does not have to content with Steve's metabolism, but he has a lot of muscle and activity to fuel. He can't not consume calories the entire time they're here.

Then he sits back down, opens his own, and holds it between his teeth while he puts his shoes on.

[theknightshift]

Bruce watches Steve slide the protein bar across the table. It hits the edge and Bruce picks it up with a thank you. It's endearing how much Steve cares. The others in his family do too, but it's always just a little bit annoying. It's something he'd get to eventually. With Steve, he's willing to forgo the pretense and just do as he's been asked.

He tears the wrapper as he gets up to put his shoes on too while he summons the car to take them out. He waits for Steve by the door and when he's ready, Bruce gestures through the door. "After you, Captain."

[imperfectsoldier]

Steve very sincerely cares. He also tries really hard to pick his battles and to avoid making things a battle with Bruce at all - because he's pretty sure that man is at least as stubborn as he is.

So far, so good, if Bruce eating the protein bar compromise is anything to go by.

Once his shoes are on and he's thrown out the trash and is ready, he gets out the door then slows up so Bruce can take them wherever they're going. "There's something appealing about you calling me Captain that I don't get at all, but am not about to start complaining about."

[theknightshift]

Duly noted. Bruce smiles as he shuts the door behind them. It's more to himself than anything. Now that he knows Steve likes being called Captain, Bruce might find himself doing it more often. Maybe he finds it appealing just as much as Steve.

Downstairs, the car is already waiting for them. Once they are on their way, Bruce finally decides to elaborate on the dresscode.

"If you're not interested in a blazer, we can skip that. A polo and a nice pair of pants should do."

All his treat, of course. He's the one who asked Steve to come to this place with him. And considering the expense of it all, he'd never ask Steve to pay for anything.

[imperfectsoldier]

"I don't mind wearing whatever you want to dress me in, as long as it's even vaguely within the realm of fitting social norms and won't leave me freezing to death. Blazer's fine."

Steve leans back in the seat, but is angled slightly toward Bruce as he does. "Is this a situation where I'm supposed to act like your date, or is there some kind of other role I'm supposed to be filling?" Supposed to be, or supposedly.

They can argue about money later. Maybe. In truth, Steve can't afford Bruce's lifestyle. But he is going to feel bad about it.

[theknightshift]

With all that happens in these places, a blazer might be a bit much. Steve would not freeze. There wouldn't be a chance to. And while Bruce didn't plan to be in the club for that long, he didn't want Steve to be uncomfortable while they were there.

He casts a curious glance at Steve. "Depends. Do you want to be my date? It means there may be cameras shoved in your face."

Bruce wouldn't hold it against him if Steve didn't want that kind of publicity. Bruce was used to it and knew how to navigate with ease. For someone who might value privacy, this might not come as easily.

[imperfectsoldier]

"Unless you've got specific preferences, objections, or some kind of reason I need to pretend to be something else, I'll take the cameras in my face." Does he love it? No. Is he completely unfamiliar? Also no.

"You promised me a date and a dance. Spending the entire night trying not to be associated with you doesn't sound like a real great way of getting either one of those." He should probably not have just decided this was an actual date.

But here they were.

[theknightshift]

Bruce had none of those. A date never meant anything serious. It was all part of the performance. A means to an end. So people would never see him as anything other than what he presented.

He didn't necessarily feel that way about Steve because Steve was not his typical date. They were usually vapid and shallow, with the depth of a mud puddle. People who would not be taken too seriously.

But it's easy to see a future with someone grounded like Steve. It's hard to imagine him as a passing fancy. And maybe Bruce was okay with that.

"And I keep my promises."

So it's a date then. When the car parks at their destination, Bruce slips out and nods for Steve to follow. "Let's get you dressed."

[imperfectsoldier]

Steve is maybe a touch surprised he hadn't met an objection or any resistance on the point of it being a date - but in the same way that Bruce just ate the protein bar when Steve handed it to him, and also ate.

He's starting to realize Bruce might actually like him and that? Is a relief, given how much he likes Bruce - and it's a lot.

He follows Bruce out of the car, puts his hands in his pockets and sticks pretty close in following him. "That sounds more exciting than this is probably gonna be." Dry and amused, but also very sincerely interested in how this process goes when you're rich.

[theknightshift]

The problem was he did like Steve. Enough not to tell him it was just part of the act. He imagined it would be more hurtful than he intended. Not everyone appreciated being part of the show, when they maybe wanted something a little more than that. It was all Bruce had in him to give. Maybe he could give a little more if he was pushed by the right person.

Bruce leads the way into the boutique but keeps his stride in line to match Steve's. They were here together after all and he wanted no one to question it.

"So what's your taste? Neutral colors or care for something a little more. Patriotic?" He's teasing him. A little.

[imperfectsoldier]

It might only be a little humor, but it makes Steve laugh, even as he walks beside Bruce, hands in his pockets. "Blue's good. Neutral's okay. Red and white stripes are right out."

He actually doesn't even like red. Doesn't think he's ever worn it voluntarily and that's an interesting revelation about himself.

[theknightshift]

Bruce stops and considers the options. No red and white stripes. Got it. With a glance at Steve - his eyes specifically - Bruce points to a bespoke outfit. Something he thought would be perfectly tailored for the night.

And it didn't hurt that it was dark colors.

"It goes with your eyes. You'll look good in it."

[imperfectsoldier]

Steve doesn't quite, entirely, consciously recognize that he's doing it, but once they're in the shop he sticks fairly close to Bruce - physically. He's not nervous or uneasy, but he is out of his element. Bruce is not. It's just natural for him to gravitate toward him just a little more than usual under those circumstances.

"I'm pretty sure I could buy a car for that much money," he pretty much murmurs. But: "I like it. I am assuming this is a scenario where trying it on is gonna need to be a thing?"

He has no idea how to navigate this.

[theknightshift]

Bruce doesn't seem to mind that Steve sticks close. In fact, he leans into it; brushing arms when he walks by to look at accessories, lingering close by when Steve asks if he should try it on.

"They offer custom tailoring. They'll just take your measurements."

It was a little pricey, especially considering Bruce would ask them to expedite it for their date. But it would be worth it to see Steve dressed up. Bruce did this sort of thing regularly. It's nice doing it for someone he considered important.

[imperfectsoldier]

There's no point in the process where Steve gets tense or seems uncomfortable with the process, including when he's got a guy with a tape measure crouched down in front of him, measuring for inseam length. He doesn't pretend he is anything that he isn't, including familiar with the process.

But he's not wholly himself, either. He's still sincerely warm and charming enough (even in a... third? language) but it's a little more aloof and 'professional' and a little more 'on' than he'd be in another situation.

He definitely leans into Bruce leaning into the closeness, returns casual touch along the way, when and where it makes sense. Because he wants to, he can and Bruce is clearly not having an issue with it.

Once they're done and have a second alone though he tilts his head to study Bruce's face for a moment. "Someday, I want to reverse roles and I'll take you on vacation. I'll even make it a working one so you'll let me." Bruce has to be so fucking tired. Steve kind of wants to see him in a more relaxed setting though. Just once. Someday.

After dancing.

[theknightshift]

There's something...nice about this whole process. It's all very normal and things haven't felt normal for Bruce in a long, long time. At least, not in any conventional sense. He was here, ostensibly, for this very reason. To be seen, to create buzz and excitement and generate headlines, so no one would ever guess his real motive: to confirm the specifications of his new Batmobile. It was different, here, though. It felt less like a charade and more like something real. Genuine. It was a nice feeling.

When they're alone again and Steve mentions taking Bruce on a vacation himself, Bruce can't help but smile. Alfred would be thrilled to hear it. Pack the bag before the trip was even planned, Bruce was sure. But Steve was right; Bruce was tired.

"That sounds nice." Even though he doesn't say it, the 'but' lingers. There was something coming Gotham's way. Bruce didn't know what. But his instincts told him not to trust the complacency the city was being lulled into. As nice as a vacation sounded, he could not leave Gotham. Not yet. Maybe someday.

Dancing was simpler. Dancing he could commit to.

[imperfectsoldier]

There's enough overlap in them, though Steve isn't sure many people would see it, that he understands Bruce's drive, and his ties to Gotham and the near impossibility of ever stopping.

Steve also knows damn well what the differences are. Steve is tired - and he's physically augmented, doesn't have a family legacy, a billion dollars, a company, kids and a need to maintain a separate identity.

He takes Bruce's hand, mostly because they're supposed to be on a date - and he can and he figures Bruce will twitch away when and if he wants or prefers. Snorts very softly with some amusement. "You'd get one stretch of decent sleep, then be climbing the walls from pure boredom." In that 'someday' that, no, he doesn't actually expect to happen.

[theknightshift]

There are times - not often - but sometimes Bruce wishes he could just shut off. That he could sleep a normal schedule and live a life not dictated by his war on the criminals of Gotham. He'd endured enough broken bones and stabbings and shootings to know there would be a price to pay at the end of it all. But then he remembers the promise he made and it puts to bed those doubts and fears. Because if he can leave Gotham better off, even just little, it's a price he'll pay gladly.

So the mission continues.

He squeezes Steve's hand and even laughs a little. Steve isn't wrong. Bruce's 'vacations' are never the mundane kind. "Bruce Wayne is many things, but he is not a workaholic." Batman, on the other hand, well he could go all night.

[imperfectsoldier]

Steve takes the pressure around his hand as permission, and doesn't so much relax as he settles into just holding Bruce's hand.

It's odd. He can be awkward with a lot of things, but he's not tentative or shy. He isn't with Bruce, either, but he is careful with him. Careful of his boundaries, but also just careful.

The man has enough pain in his life.

So, he keeps the hand until they get to the car, anyway. "I don't know. Maybe not a work-a-holic, but all the good that comes from him into charities isn't exactly play, either."

[theknightshift]

Bruce lets him. No one is ever close. Not in a way that matters. But Steve is. Closer than Bruce is willing to let anyone else. It's nice not feeling alone in his inner universe. Even if this was only as temporary as holding hands as they walk back to the car.

"People used to wonder when I would grow up. When I would stop being Bruce and start being Thomas."

Bruce never wanted to be Thomas. Just someone his father could be proud of, that did what the Waynes do: make Gotham better for everyone who lived there. Batman had his mission and thanks to Alfred, Bruce Wayne had one of his own. He would revitalize what was taken from them by Arkham's Finest. And at night, he'd make sure the dark parts never touched the light.

"I just try to do good. But I make sure that the tabloids always sees me having fun so I'm not too boring." And they never ask the right questions.

[imperfectsoldier]

It feels nice to be allowed close. Maybe that's part of why he's so determined to be careful with Bruce. Not all of it - but part of it.

"Get too boring and it becomes unbelievable, and people start asking questions." Bruce - the playboy version - feels more like a mask, a smokescreen or lie, than Batman even comes close to. Batman feels like Bruce. The playboy feels... different. At least when he sees the playboy in the papers.

"I guess we've got some extra benefits if we get a camera or dozen in our faces while we're here." He should add some level of distraction. More if people put together who he is, but either way. "Have you ever hit the tabloid with a guy as your date?" That one's just curiosity. He catches things, but it's not like he religiously seeks out Bruce Wayne appearances in tabloids and society pages.

Not when he has access to the man. Not really his nature to believe media image or be voyeuristic, either.

[theknightshift]

To the people who knew the difference, they would agree with Steve’s assessment. They’d also say neither version of Bruce was acting particularly like himself these days. It’s been a slow burn ever since he carried Joker’s corpse out of Monarch Theatre. Aggressive as Batman, more withdrawn as Bruce. They were thrilled to know he was taking this trip with Steve and not holing up in the hotel until it was time to go back to Gotham.

“No. You’re my first.” In most appearances, when he wasn’t alone, Bruce was with some leggy blonde he never intended to speak to again. Or Selina when he could pin her down. Showing up with Steve, would certainly get the gossips out in force.

[imperfectsoldier]

"I'm flattered." That's a little bit of a joke, but same, Bruce. Same.

He makes a low noise in his throat right after, though. It's more thoughtful and assessing than anything else, there's certainly no judgement in it. "Is the extra attention that brings going to be useful, a problem, or irrelevant?"

Because he can and will pivot if he needs to. This trip and the public nature of it wouldn't be happening if 'be seen' weren't part of a plan. That doesn't mean additional attention is, or that Steve wants to make things harder.

[theknightshift]

If he's honest, it's mostly all three. Useful, in that it would mean he was seen and when he inevitably disappeared into the shadows, no one would think to question it. A problem, because it would invite scrutiny that Bruce certainly did not want. As publicly as he dated, he often kept the more personal details as private as anything else about him. Irrelevant because at the end of the day, it wouldn't matter. The goal was still met, even if the parameters changed along the way.

"You won't embarrass me if that's what you're worried about," Bruce replies.

It's the truth. He's done a lot of things to be embarrassed of all in the name of maintaining his identity. But being seen with Steve would never be one of those things.