Having thrown Joker off his game - even briefly, and even under these circumstances - is almost as satisfying as punching him would have been.
He can almost track the confusion - what would Batman want to do with Clark Kent? Nothing, of course. Bruce would do... okay with him, though be an awful lot for that mild mannered reporter, with a habit of blushing, to handle.
Sounds fun, actually. Maybe he'll play with that some evening.
For now, he's just going to keep playing this.
He doesn't retreat when Joker advances, not when he gets into his space and not when he gets into his face. Far from it - he steps forward even though there's really no room to do so. That leaves Joker two options. Deal with Bruce's body flush against his, or back up.
When Joker mentions not being able to take care of his own people - his eyebrow goes up a little, as does one corner of his mouth, but his eyes? They track off to one side and behind Joker. Not as a ploy but as a check to see what natives - or guards - are around- before fixing back on Joker's face.
That's telling. Of when Joker is fun and an alignment between realities. That's useful and-- Bruce does not lose his temper. It's a near thing, but he doesn't. He won't snap that easily. Not here. For a variety of reasons, some very logical and some just sheer force of will.
Something pretty steely is back in the pale blue of his eyes when he looks back, but his vague smirk doesn't change at all. "You're right, of course. It's been very fortunate that the officials here seem to be of the same mind. They wrote the most helpful ad for me. Seems they understood what I needed, though may have underestimated my ability to find my own partners."
Good look for his old dom finder sometime, Joker. It's a real knee slapper.
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He can almost track the confusion - what would Batman want to do with Clark Kent? Nothing, of course. Bruce would do... okay with him, though be an awful lot for that mild mannered reporter, with a habit of blushing, to handle.
Sounds fun, actually. Maybe he'll play with that some evening.
For now, he's just going to keep playing this.
He doesn't retreat when Joker advances, not when he gets into his space and not when he gets into his face. Far from it - he steps forward even though there's really no room to do so. That leaves Joker two options. Deal with Bruce's body flush against his, or back up.
When Joker mentions not being able to take care of his own people - his eyebrow goes up a little, as does one corner of his mouth, but his eyes? They track off to one side and behind Joker. Not as a ploy but as a check to see what natives - or guards - are around- before fixing back on Joker's face.
That's telling. Of when Joker is fun and an alignment between realities. That's useful and-- Bruce does not lose his temper. It's a near thing, but he doesn't. He won't snap that easily. Not here. For a variety of reasons, some very logical and some just sheer force of will.
Something pretty steely is back in the pale blue of his eyes when he looks back, but his vague smirk doesn't change at all. "You're right, of course. It's been very fortunate that the officials here seem to be of the same mind. They wrote the most helpful ad for me. Seems they understood what I needed, though may have underestimated my ability to find my own partners."
Good look for his old dom finder sometime, Joker. It's a real knee slapper.