"I'm sure he'll appreciate that," Bruce smiled. "He really doesn't think of himself as anything special. To him his powers are just something he has that compel him to do more to help people." And to others, Superman was a god. It was difficult for Clark, so inherently humble, to live up to that image - just as it was hard for Bruce to really be either of the men people thought he was.
"It's not just the billionaire playboy - although that is part of it," he admitted. "You know that better than anyone." Even before Bruce had told her the truth about his identity, he had always known she could see that something wasn't quite right about the image he presented to the world. "I'm really not the bon vivant Bruce Wayne is; small talk, constantly smiling, laughing. Most of the time I'm wondering when I can escape and go back to work.
"Batman is part of it, too. His reputation is larger than anything I could ever live up to. I'm completely responsible for that, of course," he tilted his head. He had spent fourteen years and millions of dollars creating that persona. "But in the end, I am Batman - and Batman is me. And the Mystique of Batman, just like the Mystique of Superman, is something I could never possibly live up to."
He chuckled softly. "You definitely have that in common. He had a particular love of Gregory Peck - 'To Kill A Mockingbird' is his favorite, actually."
Tilting her head back further to rinse the shampoo from her hair, Bruce's fingers slowed a bit as he became distracted by his thoughts. "Human touch is... a luxury sometimes," he said. "Well, for Tony it's not the touch that's a luxury, it's the actual companionship. To be honest, I believe the reason he created the bots and JARVIS the way he did is that - he has a lot of 'Yes' men surrounding him; people who will say what he wants to hear, or simply won't disagree with him, or give an honest opinion. It's the reason he hired his current assistant. JARVIS is dryly sarcastic and the bots are something like pets, or children. The don't simply do what he says. It's not an error in programming, but because they have personalities."
No, hearing Alfred's voice at that moment would not be pleasant for her, but for Bruce, it wouldn't necessarily be abnormal at all. He smirked. "Just wait until he brings us breakfast in the morning," he warned. "He'll knock first, at least."
Turning her around, he kissed her. "When I have the choice," he told her quietly. "I do very much prefer human interaction."