Work Text:
a lot had happened in the past year, a lot of things edward didn’t ever think we’re gonna come even close to happening.
for starters, he was taken out of arkham and now living in wayne manor, bruce wayne’s home. it was a life of luxury he never thought he’d even get close living. home cooked meals 3 times a day, hot showers, winters where he wouldn’t have to worry about freezing to death, getting the help he needs, and oddly his favorite part, having a family. it wouldn’t be odd if it was chosen friends or something along those lines but his family -wether he liked it or not- was bruce wayne and his butler, alfred.
another thing that had changed, bruce wayne, the man he hated his whole life, was jealous of, despised for his wealth and power was now his boyfriend.
it still was weird to think about, all of it was. this whole situation was out of the ordinary, edward couldn’t compare it to anything because of how odd it was.
it made him feel a lot of ways, sometimes he’d giggle about it thinking ‘wow, bruce wayne dating a former terrorist serial killer.’ because of how much it sounded like some stupid snl skit. sometimes he’d think ‘what if i don’t actually love him? what if he’s keeping me around just to turn me into a domestic little house wife or something?’. he knew realistically that wasn’t true, bruce would never ever want a ‘domestic little housewife’ in a million years. he was just naturally not a social person, a lone wolf. but then thinking about that makes edward spiral deeper thinking ‘what if alfred is the one keeping me here? what if bruce secretly hates me and is gonna throw me out one of these days?’. at that point he’d usually give up trying to make himself feel better and go to bruce for reassurance, that usually backfired in the long run though because he’d get stressed he was being annoying, and not funny annoying. annoying annoying.
edward luckily had a great therapist, she was sweet and funny, humoring edward by answering his riddles and solving the puzzles he’d set up sometimes. edward found it was much easier to get stuff out threw a puzzle, like a deflection but not. luckily his therapist understood that well.
it was a lot though, all of it all the time. understandably so. i mean, how would you feel if you were taken out of prison to live with your enemy to help your all time hero THE batman who you found out was your enemy’s alter ego which makes your feelings towards your enemy very confusing, but while that’s happening your also going to therapy for the first time ever which you always thought was stupid and only for rich people but then you also realize it’s really helpful, then you also start taking like 5 different prescribed meds because apparently your all sorts of fucked up in the head, THEN you and your… roomate go threw a enemies to lovers arc and are now dating. thinking about it that way makes it sound like some weird sitcom, for edward it’s not though, it’s his very confusing messy life.
this had all happened in about a year to, a year and a half to be exact.
edward lay in his bed, spacing out and not realizing it.
his room was nice, really really nice. he had his own bathroom, his own tv and queen sized bed. it was amazing, more than he ever had his whole life. the room was his to, customized to his liking pretty much. sage green bedding and walls, dark brown hard wood floor and furniture. it was amazing, more than he ever dreamed of.
he always felt bad, he didn’t deserve this. he killed a ton of innocent people, he didn’t regret killing the mayor and stuff just the flood.
at the time his mental health was just getting worse and worse, plummeting down a steep hill. he was desperate for some other feeling than hopelessness. even as the riddler, killing the mayor, falcone, pete and colson it felt good in the moment but after, he felt lost again. he didn’t have any true friends, his fans were dedicated and he loved them of course he did but he didn’t know them. he knew there usernames and profile pictures, there online persona. but truthfully he was alone, utterly alone.
he thought batman was on his side, he is now but looking back then just gave him second hand embarrassment. he was delusional, not completely but he made up him and batman’s relationship entirely.
but he still had very mixed feelings about the whole thing. he regretted the flood but that’s it really, and he almost feels bad for that. he should feel bad, shouldn’t he?
it was all to much to think about, way way to much. it tortured him, devoured him whole. the regret and the guilt of not feeling regret, it made his stomach churn and turn into tight nots.
he barley even remembers any of it, it feels like a weird nightmare. sometimes it was so far that it felt like it wasn’t him, he was just watching a movie or show.
yet he remembers it so vividly to, the adrenaline, the rush, the pleas and begs of his victims, the feeling of complete power. like he was god, he was in that situation, he could control his victims every move almost. deciding who lives and dies. it was an amazing feeling, ultimate complete utter control.
he remembers getting into costume, it was meditative almost. wrapping the cold saran wrap around his body, around his head, putting on the heavy thick jacket, the last but not least. the mask.
he remembers getting everything together all the while thinking, ‘tonight someone is going to die, tonight i’m going to take a life, tonight i’m gonna torture someone, and there not gonna make it out alive.’ and then the worst part is he remembers smiling, giggling, a feeling of pure excitement and anticipation washing over him.
there was like a switch in his head, he didn’t know when it went on or off. what specifically made it flip but when he was the riddler he felt different, like a new person. he felt baptized of his whole life, completely free of all of his past mistakes, he felt powerful, all of it felt so powerful. he felt like god, he thought he was god.
then he just went on living life as edward nashton, the boring accountant who meant nothing to no one. no family or friends, nothing. he was just another person, another ordinary accountant, another face in the crowd.
edward sighed, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. it was late, 12:35am. he was sitting in bed working on another case he was given, that was his job now pretty much. he didn’t mind, it was fun, he felt like a detective kinda.
but this case was boring, not challengingly fun at all just boring. he kept spacing out, it was annoying and hard to focus on.
he sighed and closed his laptop, cleaning up some remaining papers on his bed and putting them on his bedside table.
he’d been waiting for bruce to come home for a bit, he should any minute unless something big happened that needed his attention. but he usually got home 12:30-1am ish. just depends if he had a busy night or not.
edward flopped back on his bed, landing on the pile of soft pillows and plushies behind him.
his bed is probably his favorite part of having his own room, it was soft and warm, he never had to worry about sleeping on a gross old mattress again, it was amazing. he had 4 pillows and a few plushies to, a batman one from his old apartment, a green dinosaur and a rat. bruce gifted him the dino and rat during there first christmas together, he wasn’t a big stuffed animal person but he loved them a lot.
he grabbed the rat, holding it in his arms gently, staring up at the ceiling just thinking.
until he heard soft footsteps leading up to his door, he sat up suddenly, still holding the rat in his arms.
the footsteps came to a stop and knocked. edward smiled widely, a genuine giddy smile, not his creepy one.
“come in!”
bruce opened the door slowly, smiling softly once he saw edward sitting up, his hair messy and glowing a light brown under the soft moonlight creating almost a halo. his eyes glistened a soft green, like a clover but lighter. his shirt was baggy, hanging off his shoulder exposing his soft pale freckled skin. he was absolutely beautiful right now, it baffled bruce that less than a few years ago this man had killed several people. he looked heavenly, like an angel.
edward smiled “hey” he said softly, just loud enough so the other could here.
bruce walked over to the bed, black paint still smudged on his eyes, hair messy hanging in front of his eyes and forehead. he looked exhausted, he was exhausted.
bruce had always had a hard time sleeping sense his parents died. he was an insomniac, no matter how much melatonin he took. that was until he started sleeping with edward.
it started off when they were friends, bruce actually confessed to edward before bed. they were next to eachother. it was a beautiful night, stars actually shinning in gotham for once, the moon was full shinning threw bruce’s bedroom window, bathing them both in the soft light. bruce remembers leaning in closely to edward after a moment of silence from talking and just kissing him, it was peaceful, it felt right, for the first time in bruce or edwards life a kiss or anything romantic felt right.
edward scooted over, making room for bruce in his queen sized bed which they both somehow comfortably fit in.
bruce got in next to edward, pulling him in close. edward giggled, letting bruce move him around with ease.
bruce held edward tight against his chest like a stuffed animal, his legs sitting criss cross ontop of the covers and edwards laying straight out half under the covers, the rat plushie now laying next to him.
bruce rested his head on edwards hair, smelling it. it smelt like honey and lavender, maybe even a bit of vanilla.
“i missed you, the case i got is boring. i kept spacing out doing it, did you know that bats have the highest homosexuality rate out of any mammal though?” edward looked up at bruce, his eyes big under his glasses.
“oh, really?” bruce smiled, closing his eyes, enjoying this moment.
edward looked away, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt a bit. “yea! in the wild, during late autumn and winter when myotis lucifugus bats mate 35 percent of matings are gay! i thought that was interesting, myotis lucifugus bats are very interesting, well all bats are really!” edward giggled, continuing to fidget with the hem of his shirt.
bruce smiled, enjoying hearing edwards ramble.
“mhm, i think those might be the kind we have in the batcave.” bruce said barley above a whisper
“it could be, they live in north america so it’s a possibility”
there was a moment of comfortable silence between them, they just sat there cuddling, enjoying eachothers company.
“i missed you to, it was a long night.” bruce kissed the top of edwards hair softly
the smaller man smiled, adjusting his glasses.
“anything super eventful or just the usual?” edward looked up to bruce again
“the usual, i talked to gordon about the case a bit and got some new information though, i’ll give it to you later. what did you do while i was gone?”
bruce played with edwards hair softly, curling the soft strand around his fingers. edwards hair had grown a bit sense he got out of arkham, it was down to the bottom of his neck falling around and pooling on his shoulders. bruce had offered to get it cut but edward liked it so it stayed.
“ok, not much though, i worked on the case a bit then kept getting distracted so then i just kinda randomly googled stuff for fun.”
there was another moment of silence
“oh i made a new riddle to! wanna here it?”
edward said, getting more exited again.
bruce smiled and nodded, making a soft humming noise of affirmation.
“what costs nothing but is worth everything, one can’t buy but 2 can share?” edward smiled waiting for bruce to answer.
the bigger man thought about it for a second
“love” “correct! i love you!” edward smiled, giggling doing flappy hands a bit while looking up at bruce.
“i love you to” bruce chuckled softly, pulling edward in a bit more.
they sat there for a few minutes longer, edward continuing to ramble and bruce listening contently.
after a bit, they both layed down, getting under
edwards soft comforter.
bruce held edward tight against his chest, like if he were to let go edward would turn into thin air.
edward fell asleep quickly, holding bruce’s hand against his face. his glasses were off and on the bedside table, his mouth stayed open a bit making him drool onto bruce and his hand. bruce couldn’t care less, it was adorable to him, everything about edward was.
he layed there; bathed under the pale moonlight, edward wrapped up in his arms, there legs tangled together, there bodies pressed against eachothers all under the blanket.
bruce looked out the window, looking at the moon.
sometimes he was worried that edward would be taken away from him, like his parents. one morning he’d wake up and edward just wouldn’t be there. or edward would go out and never come back, getting stabbed and left to bleed to death by himself. it terrified him to his core, he couldn’t loose edward.
but im moments like this it didn’t matter, edward was safe against him. sleeping peacefully and happily.
knowing that bruce fell asleep, laying there against his lover peacefully and happily.
they’d had many nights like this shared, this is how almost every night went, it was always special though, every time.
edward fully believed bruce was his other half, his missing puzzle piece. the person who completed him. bruce felt the same, edward was the person he’d been looking for his whole life.
no matter what they’d been through, none of it mattered anymore. they were happy, for the first time in there whole lives they were both happy, happy in eachothers arms.