#gonna make a separate one for my jaybird

[soulsforsales]

Texting with the Bat Boys <3 (pt 2)

(Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake)

[crystalgirl259]

How to Train Your Dragonblood 3: The Dragonblood Alpha Ch5

The clouds looked like cotton candy as Kai and Jay broke through them, not really sure where they were going. Jay just really wanted to find Iron Baron and be as far away from his father as possible. They flew above them, with the only sounds being the rush of the wind around them. Jay scowled at nothing until he clenched his fists and started yelling aloud in rage, stopping as he fell on his back a few seconds later. Kai moaned lightly, trying to be consoling to his boyfriend and Jay took a deep breath, knowing that lashing out wouldn't solve anything.

"That's right, better let it all out." Kai snorted at his boyfriend's outburst.

"You know me so well." He managed to grunt before sighing. "Don't worry, baby, I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." He promised as he patted the dragonblood's head from his laid-down position. Kai wasn't paying attention anymore, however, as he started looking around. He could see something peeking out of the clouds on their right and growled lowly. Jay didn't notice as he kept looking upward. In the corner of his eyes, he could see a figure beginning to rise out of the clouds and his brows scrunched up in frustration.

He stood up, ready to give the person he was sure was his father a piece of his mind.

He recoiled in shock when he saw an intimidating dark blue horned mask instead. The person, carrying a crooked staff and a shield, appears to be simply standing on the clouds. They slowly sank back into the cloud bed soon after. The air around the couple was tense with suffocating silence as Jay and Kai started looking carefully around them for any sign of the masked figure returning. They were worried that if they made any sudden movements it would lead to disaster.

A dragon cry was their only warning.

A huge Lightning Dragonblood surged out of the clouds right in front of them, on its back was the person from before. Kai flapped his wings to stop and hover in midair. Jay followed the path of the dragonblood with his eyes as it circles around them, the rider standing upright with unbelievable balance. The figure pointed its staff in their direction and the Lightning Dragonblood grunted as it came back to hover in front of them. The two dragonbloods were at a standstill, watching each other and disturbing the air and clouds around them.

Jay watched the Lightning Dragonblood and its mysterious rider closely.

There was something very familiar about that dragonblood. Kai narrowed his eyes and snarled threateningly. The other dragonblood roared as well, the crown around his skull widening with the motion. Another roar drew Kai's attention and he turned his head in time to see another dragonblood closing in and grabbing Jay around his arms. He yanked the boy out of the saddle and Kai struggled and growled as he fell down.

"KAI!" Jay screamed as his boyfriend plummeted down to the frozen ocean below. Kai was helpless as he tumbled down to the ground, never taking his eyes away from Jay. He fell through the ice and into the cold water of the north. Jay watched as he swam back to the surface, jumping in the air but not flying long or far before plunging down into the ocean. The sight was truly saddening and heart-wrenching. The Fire Dragonblood kept trying to reach his rider, howling to the sky as he watched the flock of dragonbloods carrying Jay further and further away.

Kai was in total shock. He was unable to fly on his own and now his rider was kidnapped by other dragonbloods and he was helpless during the whole thing.

His ears lowered and his eyes begun to shine. He didn't want to let that happen but he couldn't do anything either. As he struggled to stay afloat, he failed to see a crest behind him dipping in and out of the water. It wasn't long before Kai finally noticed them as he held onto a piece of ice. They swam around him and eventually take him under with them. The calming water was again disturbed by Jay's helmet surfacing...

****************

As the group of dragonbloods led by the Lightning one and its rider Jay tried to get free the same way he did with Morro, the dragonblood holding him was much bigger. He tried reaching Kai through their link but he didn't get a reply. He really hoped that meant that Kai was just too focused on staying afloat. Jay knew that Kai was a terrible swimmer, and the freezing waters could seriously hinder his powers or cause damage. When it was clear he wasn't going get out of the Lightning Dragonblood's grip, Jay settled on gaining the attention of the person.

"HEY, YOU LEFT MY BOYFRIEND BACK THERE! HE CAN'T FLY ON HIS OWN, OR SWIM, HE'LL DROWN!" He shouted, but the rider wouldn't listen. They flew through the icebergs until they reached a massive ice fortress. They flew through a series of tunnels and entered a dark large cave. The dragonblood dropped Jay and he rolled back on his feet trying to pacify the creatures that surrounded him. "We have to head back for Kai!" He shouted as he put his hands up to show he wasn't a threat, unintentionally backing into an unfamiliar dragonblood that snarled.

Jay quickly took out his sword, activating it, and swung it in front of the dragonbloods.

The rider watched as the dragonbloods followed the glow of the flaming sword, calming down almost right away. As the flames began to die, he switched it off and took a capsule from his ankle holster that he put inside the device. He spun low to the ground, releasing the gas, and then lit it, making the dragonbloods back off. He then stood up and cautiously approached a different Lightning Dragonblood with his palm up. Before he could touch it, however, the rider jumped inside the circle.

Jay jumped back and watched the stranger anxiously.

"Who are you? The dragon thief? Uh, Iron Baron? Do you even understand what I'm saying?!" He snapped as the strange, silent rider, who had been analyzing the teen so far, swung its staff and hit it on the floor, making it rattle. The noise affected the dragonbloods and one of them flew overhead dragging in its claws the missing Fire Dragonblood. He was in his human form, soaking wet, and only just regaining consciousness as he hacked up the seawater from his lungs.

"Kai!" Jay cried with joy as he ran to him and hugged him while he shook off the water.

"I'm okay, Jaybird, it takes a lot more than a cold bath to kill me off." The brunette reassured Jay, still shivering from the cold.

"I'm so glad to see you too, baby; you really had me worried there." Jay giggled, close to tears as he tried to hug the air out of Kai. Kai smiled warmly as he gave Jay little kisses, happy to be reunited too as he used his powers to warm himself up. On the side of the cave, the rider tilted their head and started shaking the staff. The rattle had all of the Light and Lightning dragonbloods open their mouths and ignite their powers but without shooting.

This illuminated the cave, showing the couple how much they were surrounded.

Kai stood in front of his friend protectively as the mysterious rider started getting closer. The strange person crouched, dropping the staff and shield, as it crawled on four limbs towards them. The two backed away with Kai growling all the while. The rider leaned closer with its hand and twisted it to the side. Unexpectedly, Kai suddenly dipped and fell to the side, crooning in delight, despite being in human form. Jay gasped worry, but at least Kai was still breathing.

The person started to stroke Kai's jaw and then moved on to Jay.

The youth watched the hand warily, backing away uncomfortably as he realizes the rider wanted to touch him. A light gasp was heard under the mask and the person's finger stop short of Jay's chin. Where a small scar was just barely visible. It stepped back and crouched again.

"Jay?" The feminine voice surprised the ginger-haired man, who stuttered as he tried to come up with an answer. Before he could, the rider removed the mask revealing a beautiful woman who looked to be in her very early forties. The dim light in the cave allowed him to get a good look at the woman. The shoulders were fairly pointy, very wide and large in size, and black in color. They were decorated with layered pieces of curved metal, starting at the inner sides and curving outwards.

The upper arms were protected by black, rounded, layered metal rerebraces which sat loosely under the shoulder plates.

The lower arms were covered by vambraces which had an intricately crafted sigil attached to each outer side. The breastplate was a dark sapphire blue and made from several separate pieces which were layered on top of each other. It had what looked like a white lightning design carved into it. It covered almost everything from the neck down and ended at the groin, but the sides were only covered near the bottom. The upper legs were covered by pointed, layered metal.

The lower legs were protected by black greaves which had metal flower ornament pieces covering the outer sides.

The woman looked almost exactly like Jay except for her long blonde hair and stormy blue eyes.

"C-Could it be? After all these years... how is this possible?" The woman stuttered in shock as her excited eyes scanned the young man before her.

"Eh, should I... should I know you?" Jay asked fearfully as Kai regained his senses and got to his knees and the woman visibly deflated.

"No... you were only a baby back then." She muttered sadly, looking ready to cry until she finally looked him dead in the eyes. "But a mother never forgets." She said loud and clearly. It felt like every species of dragonbloods Jay could name had struck him down. His body just went limp and he kept staring at her. Kai was also in his own unresponsive state. That was his boyfriend's long-lost mother, Libber Gordon. The woman he never got to meet.

The woman he found Jay and Cliff still mourned on occasions, and she was alive and a dragonblood rider like her son.

Kai took a sharp intake of breath and began to back off. The woman raised a hand and made a soothing sound. She looked to the side at a loss of what to do and then glanced back at him with the beginning of a smile.

"Come."...

[dontbesoweirdkira]

Dating Jason Todd would include

-YOU ARE LITTLE PRECIOUS BUNNY I SWEAR YOU BRING OUT THE SOFTEST PART OF THIS BROKEN MAN

-like this dude will literally let you get away with ANYTHING and no one better stop you

-“Hey Jay I just robbed a bank and took a lollipop from that kid next door.”

-“Aww you’re so cute, Doll. Let me put out this cigarette and I’ll help you count the money, okay?”

-“Jay, Dick said I can’t have anymore ice pops!!! I really want some, it’s not fair!!”

-“ He said what?! hOld On iM gEtTinG mY Gun nO OnE TelLs mY lItTle Babe sHe caNt haVe anY iCe popS.”

-wearing his thick leather jackets that smell like cigarettes and expensive scotch 

-Stealing his 1/16263819827 Red hoods and waddling around the house while he’s out on patrol

-“Hey I’m RedHood and I have DaDdY IssUes, prepare to diEee!!! *pew pew*”

-“is that how I sound to you?! Because I don’t *pew pew* I *brrraaatratratatataaa* get it correct Y/N”

-Your tough edgy boyfriend 

-If he has an off day, he’ll take you on a ride on his motorcycle to wherever you want to go. If it’d make you happy, he’d drive to Paris for you if he could.

-You guys usually end up drifting by the waterside, taking in the longing smell of the sea, feeling the subtle warmth of the setting sun and melting into the welcoming breeze

-There’s this really good Sandwich stand by the oceanfront and you guys always get a large one, and share it with a nice cold bottle of Coke. There’s also this really nice private beach that you two have no business being on, you guys would sometimes just sit on one of the lifeguards stands for a while and just enjoy each other 

-“Hey Jay Jay?”

-“What’s up, Love bug?

-“Your eyes have a hint of Aqua Green in them. It’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. I just wanted you to know that, that’s all.”

-IN HOME CONCERTS EVERY SATURDAY AND OR FRIDAY. 

-every week you guys make a list of your favorite classics and you build a Spotify playlist and dance around the house screaming *cough* I-i mean singing on the top of yalls lungs.

-weird adventures around the city! Like you guys sometimes go to weird parts of the city to see some weird crap to laugh about later on. 

-“Why is he wearing a tutu and dirty socks-“

-“keep walking baby girl don’t question it.”

-monthly movie nights where you guys watch a movie that has crappy 1 star reviews while eating a bunch of unhealthy garbage all night.

-“but why did he do that?”

-“according to ‘moviecridictbooiiii12’, he’s an uncultured swine who has no Character development, 1/10 trash person totally.”

-If you guys are just sitting in a comfortable silence, just cuddling, he might open up a bit about his childhood or maybe talk a bit about how he’s feeling. But that’s a rare rare occasion he doesn’t like talking much about it.

-This sometimes can cause a bit of a rift because it almost feels as if there’s a lack of trust but you understand he’s been through a whole lot and if it were you, you’d probably be the same way

-he does not like pills in the house but if you have health issues and have to take them, he won't crucify you because of it, but he will monitor you and make sure there is no drug abuse. He wants to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself. He doesn't wanna lose you that way.

-He’s a depressed crackhead 

-“Hey Y/N, can you tell me what’s in the drawer in the kitchen. The one next to the sink”

 -“Hmm? There’s nothing in here Jason.”

-“Nothing you say? Just like my relationship with Bruce haha.”

-“Are you okay?”

-“No I am not and neither is my sleep schedule.”

-Oh yeah this Poor boy barely sleeps. Mainly because he’s out on patrol all night and when he finally gets home, he’s being called back out. Or sometimes he’s just so restless thinking about everything he needs to do. Other times he’s just scared to sleep.

-Yeah he’s pretty reluctant to go to sleep. He’s scared to have a bad dream and wake up in a vulnerable state. Or to accidentally wake you up from tossing and turning and wails of agony.

-You lost a lot of hours of sleep already do to comforting him at night so as much as he can function without a nights rest, he’ll do it to spare you

-You hate when he does this because you actually don’t mind comforting him, it makes you feel like he trusts and can rely on you.

-nightmares about the joker or the pit. Cryinggg this boy is really traumatized

-“Shhh, Jason it’ll be alright. I’m right here love.”

-Even though he avoids sleep at all costs, this doesn’t stop him from napping on the recliner or at the kitchen table from time to time.

-He’s a bit self destructive with drinking, smoking, betting himself up, not sleeping or eating properly. You really have to help him and work with him. Be patient and kind pLz.

-He doesn’t like exposing you to the stuff he does, he doesn’t like you seeing all the gore or what not so he doesn’t try to come home bloody much actually. He might stop at dicks house or some other friend’s house to clean up a bit before coming to you

-Todd doesn’t like you to see and be around all that. He wants to keep that life very very separate, he even tries to keep the news off and away from you. Although you already know and if it bothers you it not, it’s not much you can do to stop him.

-The only time you might see him bloody or hurt is when he can’t make it to a friends house and he needs you to patch him up and put him to bed quickly.

-argurmentssss

-Yeah you guys do little annoying antics back and forth but it’s not something super crucial. The only time where it heats up is like if something he’s doing really really bothers you, like his killings or if he does something super reckless. The arguments usually end up with

- “I’m sorry Doll, I’ll do better for you.”

- “Sorry JayBird, I wasn’t being fair” 

-The worst an argument had ever gotten was when he didn’t come home for weeks without telling you he was out on a mission and you were scared out of your mind and ended up cursing him out for scaring you. 

-You didn’t talk to him for about a week and he was a wreck

-“JASON DONT YOU DARE TRY TO KISS ME OR HUG ME I THOUGHT YOU WERE F*CKING DEAD OR WORSE! YOU COULD'VE TOLD ME SOMETHING LIKE I LITERALLY HATE YOU RIGHT NOW I COULDN'T SLEEP FOR WEEEKS JASON I WAS WORRIED SICK-“

-“Hey, it’s okay Y/n- I’m here no-“

-“NO IT'S NOT LITERAL I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU ANYMORE, GET AWAY FROM ME.”

-He cannot stand when he breaks your heart or makes you upset like he beats himself up a whole lot. He will apologize to you and do anything to make it up.

-“Stupid Todd? How can you upset the one person that seems to be so patient and loving to you? Ugh you idiot.”

-yeah he literally kissed up to you for months he felt so bad even after you apologized for overreacting and told him he didn’t need to do anything 

-Yeah speaking of kissing up to you, he Buys you anything you want just ask. Looking at that super nice outfit in the mall? Check your room, it’s on your bed with a cute little note. Want an ice cream sundae? Yeah he got extra fudge/caramel for his princess. 

-He just loves you like so so much he doesn’t care what you look like, how big or how skinny, how light or how dark you are. He literally adores you and wants to protect you with all his heart. He’d buy the whole world for you.

-“Jason, literal listen to me. 600 dollars for a charm bracelet I liked in the mall is too much, go return it”

-he’s a bit overprotective with you. Not in a “HEKDJEHEHEHINEEDTOKNOWWHEREYOUAREATALLTIMESSENPAI.”  Kind of way but in a like “Check in every once in a while will ya babe? I wanna make sure you’re okay.”

-He doesn’t let you go outside after a certain time for ANYTHING unless it’s an emergency. It’s too dangerous in Gotham for you to be out scrolling going to a convenience store at 10pm at night. So if you need something from the store he’ll go get it for you or already have it in the house.

-Will 100 throw hands for you

-actually makes sure you can defend yourself and trains you a bit every month to make sure if trouble comes and he’s not there, you can protect yourself

-Intimacy

-Honhonhon. Although what many believe Jason has a high sex drive and wants it a lot or what not. I don’t think it’s 100% true

-I believe that like if his partner wasn’t the type of person who wanted it, or didn’t feel comfortable with it, he’d be okay with it. Like he doesn’t need it to survive although you look hecking good in that outfit today

-I feel like he’d be more kissy and rough touching than the full 100 yards with a more soft/standoffish sexually significant other. 

-Yeah if he gets from a stressful mission or just needs to feel you, he’s gonna wanna kiss and touch on you but if you’re not into all that then like he’d back off because he respects you enough 

-neck kisses and thigh kisses 

-“jaybirdy I wanted to wear that new skirt I got yesterday, now I got your bites all over my legs.”

-he's a totally Dom and that’s on that period boo

-dAdDy KiNk I’m sorry

-His voice somehow becomes super raspy when he’s aroused?!?!

-He will tease you to a point you moan out his name and then turn around and act innocent 

-“let’s watch Frozen! What’s with that face dear? You didn’t think I’d let you have it that easily now did you?”

-*wears anything short*

-”WOOOOO DAMMNNNN Y/NNNNNN LOOKING FOINE TODAY I SEE YOU! CAN I GET YOUR NUMBER?!?! YOU GOT A BOYFRIEND BECAUSE I KNOW HE'S DAMN LUCKYYY!”

-Highkey finds it so hot when you sit on his lap like damn it feels so nice to him like you know you’re his and that’s like arousing to him. Will play with the hem of your skirt if your wearing them and your thighs aren’t safe

(Anyways I ain’t trynna make this NSFW but I might do a little something for my 200 follower special)

-On a softer purer note, you guys are like the roasters of the fam, okay! Like no one is safe, especially Damian.

-“Tch- Todd and his little pet.”

-“Dami, didn’t know you’d be here, and apparently your hairline didn’t know either.”

-*Jason, Tim and Dick were dying*

-“Hey you little accident, why you standing like that, you look like you’re bout to enlist in the army.” 

-“shut up Todd, at least I have good posture unlike you.”

-“Hey leave Damian alone, Jason. Dami just has a pole in his ass that makes him stand in first position all the time. It’s a serious condition, y’all need to stop laughing.”

-“Hey Selina! Your Sugar Daddy is in the kitchen, try not to steal anything though because he might cut down your weekly allowance.”

-“Haha Y/N and yours is in the living room getting drunk, careful he might end up with me tonight.”

-“Hmm, a gold digger and a cougar? Wow you got your careers set don’t ya! Ooops you should check in the mirror tho! I think your Botox is drooping.”

-yAlL CAnT sTop ROaStinG PeOpLe anD it’S wOrse When yaLls DruNk

-You’re actually pretty close to The BatFam and like Bruce Adores you he thinks you’re a wonderful influence on Jason like you changed him a lot. Dick sees you as a baby sister and like he literally baby’s you so much it’s sad. Tim and you like to joke around a bit and talk you guys get along decently. Although Damian would NEVER admit it, he actually is kinda fond of you even though you guys insult each other. He might stab someone for like hurting you or something. But watch your back because he might stab you as well.

-going to Bruce’s Galas and charity events like by force. 

-“yYyyYYyyY/NnnNnNnNiEeeeEEee PLEaSE COmeEeeee sO iWOnT DrInk MySelF ouT oF tHeRe!!!”

-“Jason let go of my leg.”

-You don’t actually mind it too much, you’ve made some nice connections and plus it’s a little date night with Jason so Win Win!!

-He actually wears a nice Tux and styles his hair real nicely. Might even be wearing that nice watch Bruce gave him a long time ago on his birthday.

-*sniff sniff* is that Cologne? *sniiiiiiffffffff* *HIGHLY* Expensive cologne he’s wearing?! And *pat pat* HAIR GEL OH BOIIII

-He actually picks out a dress for you to wear. One he’s been dying to see you in. The super expensive one he found while shopping with Dick and Bruce one day.

-If some rich guy try’s flirting with you, it’s over for them. Jealous Todd Mode activated!

-“Doll Face, I found you. Love wandering off don’t you babe? When we get home, I’ll make sure you won’t want to wander off again,” He kisses into your ear hungrily “wHo’s tHiS, Y/N? Is he bothEriNg yOu?” He asks like he didn’t see him there

-“No but Jason you are.“

-“:o”

*later*

-“I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT I DID WRONG Y/N!! HE WAS FLIRTING WITH YOU AND I HAD TO INSERT MY DOMINANCE.”

-“JAY HE WAS A BUSINESSMAN LOOKING TO INDORSE ME AND MY WORK! YOU JUST EMBARRASSED ME AND MADE HIM FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE!! LITERALLY NOW HE THINKS I HAVE AN OVER POSSESSIVE BOYFRIEND.”

-“oh-“

“YEAH ‘oH’! serIouslY I CanT stAnd yoU.”

-Jason’s drinking and smoking. Let’s just say you’re not the biggest fan of it because of his health, you’re so worried about it. He’s already taking shots and stabs but like the drinking and smoking on top of that? You’re worried about him

-You always voice your concern and he’s never too phased and he’s always like 

-“Don’t worry L/N, I’ll be okay. If this kills me, don’t let Dick take my meat stash in the freezer. Tell him I’m coming back to life in like 3 months give or take and I’ll be hungry for steak.”

-Actual best boyfriend! Like if you’re insecure about anything he’ll make you feel so much better, in every way possible. He makes it so know how much he loves you it’s so sweet and super cute like I’m crying.

-makes weird faces at you randomly and it somehow gets you to laugh?!?! 

-cooks breakfast or dinner for you every once in a while but messes up a few times 

-“sorry y/n I accidentally burnt the cookies I was trying to make for you. I-I can go run and ask Alfred to make some? I know how long you’ve been waiting to have some.”

- Did I mention he’s best boi? Like ugggghhhh he’s so blind to all that superficial mess people get caught up in. You talk down about yourself and he’ll like attack you in love I swear he will. He doesn’t like the self deprecation you do. He completely detests it.

-“Say you’re ugly one more time I’ll slap you with this heart of mine. Don’t make me do it Y/N. I’ll give you so much love, the only thing you’ll be able to say is “Omg I love myself so much like damn I’m so sexy and so fine and my personality? Perfect! thanks  to my totally handsome boyfriend, I see myself so clearly now.”

-You guys Also like spend his birthday with just each other. But it’s really special to him and he always looks forward to the small marble cake you make, that has strawberries on top. He loves when you sit on his lap with your face in the crook of his neck, whispering into his skin ever so gently telling him to ‘make a wish old man’

-something about the birthdays you spend with him, brings him back to a happy place he once felt as a child. Or wanted to feel. He always wishing for the same thing…..to always see you happy

-“Jay I love you.”

-“I love you too Y/N. Remember that okay?”

(Request open)

[snarkwrites]

02 | upside down; steve harrington

Notes:

I suck so bad. I meant to post these before I left to go on my little trip and life got hella busy. But, I didn't get around to it. BUT BUT.. I am now. They're not really that edited, so yeah. I was happy with what came out, despite this turning out to not be a slow burn type thing at all like I originally wanted. So for all those hoping for a slow burn, oopsies?

OH.. And before I forget, chapters one, two, three and potentially four take place BEFORE the actual series starts. ;P

Summary:

She moves back to Hawkins and manages to turn his life completely upside down. In the best of ways.

But how will everything play out between them? Also, can they handle all the weirdness ahead? We shall see.

Warnings:

LOOSE CANON COMPLIANCE AT BEST, TOTAL DEVIATION AT WORST - this is just an up front catch all because sometimes, things happen that I don’t particularly care for (the senseless death of Barb, anybody?) and if you’re one of those canon only people, this is here to warn you that this is not the fic for you. LANGUAGE, OCCASIONAL GORE, MONSTERS / FANTASY ELEMENTS, TEENAGE DRAMA AND SHENANIGANS - Obviously, teenagers are going to do stuff. They’re at that point in their life where not every decision they make is the best one. So if you’d rather skip over this kind of thing (teen drinking, fighting, etc) then yeah.. you’ve been warned. THIS IS NOT A SLOW BURN, I REPEAT NOT SLOW AT ALL / EVENTUAL FILTHY GOOD NESS - because lets be real.. we’re all wondering when we’re gonna drop the plot and get to the good stuff. When this chapter occurs, I will flair it with an M. In the meantime, if you’re not into slow burn or mutual pining, then you’re probably not going to care about this.

Other Parts

[ SOUNDTRACK | part one]

Other Stuff

[ FAQ - TAG LIST DOC ]

Tagging:

There’s nobody on my list yet but… If you wanna be tagged for this, tell me pls. It will make me overjoyed.

Throwing out a no pressure tag to @RAMPAGEWRITING​ and @TWISTNET​ as well as @CHASINGEVERYBREAKINGWAVE​ just because. No pressure though bbies!

TWO.

Monday came with no sign of Steve. Then Tuesday. By Wednesday, I felt like I was about to lose my mind. Still no sign of him.

It was now Thursday afternoon. And honestly, I’d put the whole thing out of my head. Started to convince myself that I’d been right about Steve Harrington and his intentions after all. Nana Ginger had gotten Jonathan to come and help out by bussing tables in the dining area for an hour or two so I could go over the books for her with no interruptions. When I caught sight of Steve’s silver BMW pulling into the parking lot, I was perched atop the counter in the gas station doing just that.

With Billy Idol blasting quietly from a little boombox nearby.

I raised a brow when instead of coming in like usual, Steve wandered around back. Out to where Nana's boyfriend Hank was working in bay 3 of the garage behind the place.

“Oh. Oh no. Steve, why the hell…” I muttered to myself. Sitting the ledger to the side as I tiptoed carefully to the door that lead out into the garage from the front of the buildings attached. I pressed my ear against it, trying to listen.

All I could really make out was Hank laughing out loud. And Steve asking what was so funny about what he’d apparently asked. Then Hank telling him verbatim, that he didn’t know if he could trust him as far as he could throw him while pointing out that he’d been a teenage boy once too and that he knew exactly where this was all heading.

My breath caught in my throat. I waited on Steve to offer some form of rebuttal. Seconds later, he finally did. “ You’re actually completely wrong about me, sir. With all due respect.”

“If you can get her to say yes to a date in the first place, kid, by all means. But if you hurt her, you’re not gonna have anywhere to hide. We clear, kid?” Hank said this as loud and as plain as day. Clearly enough I could hear it completely through the door separating the two areas.

Steve muttered something else I couldn’t quite hear and in a mad scramble that had Jonathan nearly doubling over in laughter, I was trying to perch myself back on top of the counter at the front of the gas station. Balancing the ledger on my lap. Trying to force myself to concentrate on running numbers.

My reading glasses started to slip down the bridge of my nose and swearing, I pushed them back up. Eventually taking them off to unfocus my eyes and give them a little relief from strain. Jonathan spoke up from nearby.

“Hear anything interesting just now, Jen?” he gave me a teasing smirk and I grumbled, playfully flipping him off as I gave a soft smile. I nodded. “Yeah. I guess I have to at least consider saying yes to Harrington’s constant asking me out. I mean… takes a brave guy to talk to Hank.”

“You’re definitely not wrong there.” Jonathan muttered, chuckling quietly. Digging around in the pocket of his apron and tossing me a cassette tape. Smirking. “I made it during the countdown last night.”

“Oh?” I turned the cassette over in my hands, smiling. “I’ll put it in right now, give it a listen while I’m doing the rest of the books. Hey, do you need somebody to give Will a lift to Mike’s on Saturday?”

“If you don’t mind?” Jonathan asked.

“Not at all.” I grinned, adding quickly, “I’m supposed to drop Dustin Henderson off there too. Figured since they’re going to the same place and I’m gonna hang out with Nancy for a while, why not?”

“Thank you.” Jonathan gave a grateful smile and an idea kind of formed. I smiled and mentioned casually, “Ya know, Jon.. If you really want to thank me.. You could talk to Nancy sometime.”

Jonathan eyed me with a raised brow. I held out his mixtape and added, “She loves The Clash.”

“Really?” his brow raised.

“Just take my word for it, Byers.”

“ You’re sure you don’t mind me giving her this?”

“Why would I? I told you to, silly.” I laughed, shaking my head. Jonathan was being called to the back dining area again by my Nana, so he hurried off and I stood, stretching. Slinking down the aisles of the gas station, over to a cooler.

I grabbed myself a Diet Pepsi and dug around in my pocket for the money to put in the register to cover it. Once I’d popped the top against the counter, I settled back on top of it, getting back to balancing the books.

I heard a throat clearing from the doors about ten minutes later. The smell of cheeseburger and french fries wafted straight to my nose, making me groan quietly as my eyes fixed on Steve and then promptly lowered to the grease stained brown paper bag he held in his hands as he grinned at me, nodding to the glasses perched on my nose.

“Fuck.” I scrambled to take them off. Steve stepped into the gas station completely, walking towards me. A teasing gleam in his eyes as he shook his head. Stopping on the other side of the counter, in front of me. “You don’t have to do that, Jennie. I’ve seen you wearing glasses before, remember? The red framed ones you had in kindergarten.”

I cringed, laughing a little. Leaning in slightly. Gazing at him almost helplessly as the bits of conversation I’d overheard between him and Hank out in the garage earlier replaying in my head.

Remembering that tonight, if he asked me on a date yet again, I was going to say yes. And not just because of some silly dare given to me by Barb and Nancy. Because I couldn’t keep fighting Steve Harrington off the way I had been if I wanted to, to begin with.

I was leaning closer where I sat. It occurred to me when Steve chuckled quietly. Stepping between my legs, the way they dangled over the counter on his side. He sat the grease stained paper bag to the side and he bit his lip, gazing up at me.

“Your grandma told me to come and drag you out of here. She told me to tell you not to worry about waiting the tables, she’s trying to help Jonathan get some extra cash on the side. She also said don’t argue.” Steve flashed me another one of those charmer grins and I swallowed hard. My mouth opened and closed for a second or two because I just couldn’t think of anything clever to say. Weird, because normally, I have plenty to say. Constantly.

Out of habit, my fingers drifted up to the dainty cursive nameplate that hung on the silver chain around my neck. I toyed with the lettering as I pretended to mull it over, just to be slightly difficult.

So I could feel better about giving in when I inevitably did.

“C’mon, Jennie.” Steve pleaded. Eyes locked on mine. Gaze dropping briefly to my lips and lingering there just long enough that I could feel my breath when it caught in my throat.

I finally managed to get my mouth and brain working in tandem and licking my lips as I gazed at him, I muttered quietly, “It’s Jen.”

“Maybe I like Jennie better.” Steve leaned in just a little. A teasing gleam in his eye and a flirty tone to his voice as it dropped lower. Quieter.

And when Hank’s throat cleared from the door between the garage and the front of the building, I wanted to puddle into a pile of goo in the linoleum tile.

“Interruptin somethin, Jaybird?” he asked the question so casually.

Steve looked like a deer in headlights. He pulled away just a little and despite myself, I pouted.

Satisfied that he’d interrupted things between Steve and I, Hank smirked a little, dragging an oil stained hand over shaggy brown and gray hair. Gazing at us both. Giving Steve that universal gesture that clearly spelled out “I’m watching you, kid.” before going to a cooler to grab himself a six pack of beer, counting out the correct change in bills and coins and handing them to me.

I grabbed hold of Hank’s hand. “Nana is gonna have a fit. I know that’s not super glue I see holdin skin together, sir.”

“It is, Jaybird. Because if I don’t get that damned Chrysler off my lift, I’m gonna burn her to the ground.”

“Oh Hank.” I shook my head, clucking my tongue at him. Digging around for antiseptic and a bandage, holding it out to him expectantly as he withdrew his hand. He chuckled and shook his head. “It’ll be fine, kid.” he waved away the antiseptic and the bandage and made his way into the garage area again, making me shake my head.

Taking the time to pull myself together decently enough that I wasn’t a stammering mess when I glanced at Steve again.

“C’mon. Please?” he asked again.

I tapped my chin, pretending to think about it. Slipping off the counter. By this time, he’d stepped in close all over again, so me slipping off the counter had us body to body. His hand settled in the curve of my hip and I barely restrained a gasp.

“Okay. Alright. I’ll leave with you.”

He grinned brightly. Holding the door open for me after I clocked out and placed my timecard in the slot with my name on it. I ducked my head into the dining area and my Nana’s only response was to smirk and wink at me. Shooing me out of the diner.

“Get her outta my hair, kid!” my Nana smiled as she called out to Steve, who was standing right behind me. His hand at my lower back. The second I realized this, I could feel myself burning up all over. Just the simplest touch.. Felt comforting. Intimate. And me, being of dirty mind, well.. Me and my dirty mind, we took that and ran.

Jesus Christ, of all the times for my hormones to manifest, it’s now? When I’m trying to break 2 prior generations of questionable romantic choices? I wanted to shake my head at myself. I reminded myself calmly that just because my Nana and my mom did the things they did, that didn’t mean I had to cave in and repeat. I am my own person, after all. And apparently right now, that person is giddy with… Thoughts.

“Gladly, ma’am!” Steve called back, laughing.

He pushed open the door and we stepped outside. When he opened the passenger door, I sank down into the seat, leaning back against it a little. Steve wandered around to the driver side, getting into the car. Starting it.

“Where are you taking me?”

He chuckled. “ I think you’ll like it.”

“Steve.” I pouted, “A hint?”

“It’s outside.” was literally all he’d tell me.

“Well that really narrows it down.” I teased with a laugh.

He parked at this old park we all used to play at after school. Just as the sun was starting to go down.

We got out, wandering over to an old picnic table. Sitting on top of it, digging around in the bag for our food.

“So.. That dumb carnival is this weekend. Starts tomorrow night, I think.” Steve hinted after a few minutes. I nodded to where carnival workers were already setting up a midway a few feet away from us. Taking a bite of my burger, I mentioned casually, “I thought about going. But Nancy’s grounded again and Barb’s got that date with some guy Logan.”

“You could go with me.” Steve chuckled as he said it.

I smiled, taking another bite. “I could.”

“Would you?” he asked a few seconds later. Adding quickly, “Tonight isn’t a real date. Tomorrow. That would be.” flashing me that charmer smirk.

I nodded. Smiling as I spoke up. “ Yeah. I will. Hey… since I don’t have to go back to the diner…” before trailing off and gazing down at my legs . Reminding myself to have boundaries and restraint. But all the mental reminders in the world just weren’t cutting it. At all.

He reached out, curling his fingers beneath my chin. Making me look up at him. “What were you going to say, Jennie? You can tell me.” he coaxed. Biting his lip as he gazed at me intently.

“I was going to ask if you wanted to go swimming with me. There’s this little place out by my Nana’s out in the woods I go to swim…” I gave a soft laugh. I had to laugh at myself, it was pretty much all I could do.

Look at me. Going overboard.

“Yeah.” he nodded, smiling. We finished our food, and after, we wound up driving around a little. And about an hour later found us walking through the woods. Well, he was walking, glancing around warily, swatting at spider webs that he almost walked into a time or two and I had hold of his hand, practically dragging the poor guy.

We stepped out onto the sandy bank and he chuckled. Dragging his hand through his hair as he gazed down at me. “We don’t have suits or towels.” he mused, stepping closer to me. Staring me down all over again. I could feel my breath as it caught in my throat because if you want me to be honest?

I hadn’t thought this through properly. And was now freaking out silently. Just a little bit.

But I did my best to shove that out of my head and play it cool and calm. I went for turning it around on him, hoping to fluster him like his observation had flustered me just now.

“I know Mr. Lady Killer’s not worried about somebody seeing him in his Calvins.” I teased, sticking my tongue out at him. He chuckled. Going for his shirt, tugging it over his head. Letting it settle on a branch nearby without tearing his eyes off me for a single second as he did it.

“Did that look worried to you, Jennie?” he muttered, stepping closer. His hand at my hip as he gazed down at me. Waiting.

I cleared my throat, gesturing for him to turn around. He did, but as he did so, he joked that I was the one who was worried. Which to me, sounded like a challenge. So I tapped his shoulder so he’d turn around after lowering my shirt.

He eyed me, a brow raised.

“Challenging me, Steve?” I questioned, giving him an amused laugh as I reached down, tugging my shirt up and over my head. Letting it settle on the branch next to his polo shirt.

Steve sucked in a sharp breath and muttered something to himself, closing the distance between us. His hand settled on my hip again and he laughed quietly. Leaning down a little bit so that we were face to face, his forehead against mine and one of his hands cradling my face.

My heart was pounding. Hard and fast. So fast that I thought it might break out of my chest. I went to lick my own lips and my tongue brushed against his mouth. His fingers dug into my hip lightly and he muttered huskily, “ I see you still can’t turn down a dare, Jennie.” only half teasing. I shrugged, biting my lip as I gazed up at him. Trailing my fingers over his chest mostly just so I could ignore the way my hands were shaking and I was wet, getting wetter by the second. I glanced over my shoulder and nodded at the water. “If we’re going to swim, we should get in.”

Steve cleared his throat, nodding hastily. Stepping away, bending to tug off his sneakers and nearly tumbling over in the process. Making me giggle softly as I pulled off my boots. When my pocketknife and my mom’s old lighter fell out, he eyed me and then nodded to the items on the ground.

“A knife?”

“A girl’s gotta be prepared.” I shrugged it off. Steve tugged down his jeans and while I told myself I wasn’t going to peek or stare, I wound up failing at this miserably and got so distracted watching him that he was able to turn around my own words on me as soon as he kicked his jeans free at the ankle.

“If we’re going to swim, Jennie… we should get in.” he gave me a playful smirk as he said it, stepping closer all over again.

My hand shook as I lowered it to the button on my cut offs. As soon as I’d shed those, I took off for the water full speed. Nearly tripping on a stump in the hill leading down to the water. Steve’s arms shot out and he caught me, pulling me back upright. Pulling me hard enough that when he did, I found myself pressed against him completely.

He chuckled quietly, raising a hand. Pulling a leaf free from my hair.

“The water’s not going anywhere, Jennie.”

“I know.” I answered, my breath catching in my throat when our mouths brushed against each other’s just a little more with each word spoken. His fingers dug into my hip a little more and he took a shaky breath, asking the question quietly, “If I kissed you right now…”

My heart was hammering away in my chest but I managed to answer, “I dare you, Steve...No… I triple dare you.”. The hand he’d placed on my hip was tangled in the hair at the back of my head, pulling my mouth all the way against his mouth. His tongue swept out, outlining and then parting my lips. Massaging my tongue. Slow. Deep. Savoring the moment, even after we both clearly started to get light-headed from lack of actual oxygen. His hand moved up and down my body, settling on my lower back. Pulling me up to tiptoe slightly. The kiss broke long enough for both of us to properly breathe and then his mouth found mine again.

When it finally broke completely, Steve dragged the back of his hand over his mouth. Taking a few deep breaths. “Yeah.” he chuckled to himself.

I raised a brow. “Hm?”

“That was exactly how I thought it’d feel.” he mused, adding quietly, “Wow.”

My stomach churned and I tensed up a little. He chuckled, shaking his head. Placing his lips against my forehead. “It’s not a bad thing. Not at all. I mean.. It wasn’t for me?” he was the one who looked anxious now.

I muttered quietly, “ I definitely wouldn’t mind a repeat. A few repeats, actually, if I’m being honest.” while still quietly reeling from the intensity of it all. Melting myself against him, my fingers dancing slow over his chest. He sucked in a breath, catching hold of my hand. Tilting my chin so that I had to look up at him.

“You’re blushing.” Steve was teasing gently. Rolling his thumb over my bottom lip, leaving it quivering.

“I’m not!” I pretended to be offended by what he said, pouting a little. But I knew I was, I could feel my cheeks burning hot. I stepped away and turned my back, taking off at a run down the hill. Hitting the cool water with a loud and obnoxious splash. Steve dove in behind me, swimming over. Surfacing behind me and pressing against me from behind. I turned to face him and when he splashed me and dove out of the way, I sent up an obnoxious spray of water in his direction, making him yelp because he hadn’t been expecting it.

After about an hour of swimming around and walking the creek down further, we made our way back up to the bank, flopping onto the sand.

My restraint was well out the window by now. If I even thought for a second I was going to fight off the magnetic pull I felt to Steve, I was mistaken and I knew that now. I settled my head on his shoulder and he looped an arm around me, and we lounged around lazily, watching the sky get darker and darker.

Talking. A lot.

I realized that it had to be getting late and I sprang up, holding out my hand. Steve grabbed hold, pulling himself up. After we’d gotten redressed, we wandered up the hill and out of the woods, over to where he’d parked his car at the end of my nana’s driveway..

When he went to walk me up to my front door, we wound up body to body. My arms raised, settling around his neck. My back met the front door and he pulled me into another long and drawn out deep kiss that had us both breathless when it broke.

“Kind of don’t want tonight to end.” he admitted as he gazed down at me. I nodded, definitely agreeing. “Me either.” I admitted quietly, muttering the words against his lips. The porch light started to flicker like crazy and I smiled into the kiss, wiping my mouth as I finally managed to pull away.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, right?” Steve asked, reminding me that I’d agreed to go to the carnival in town with him. I smiled and nodded. Pausing in the doorway of my grandmother’s house to steal another quick kiss before finally making myself go inside.

I leaned against the door, pulling myself together and my Nana called out from the kitchen, “Well? How did it go, Jennie Bird?”

I wandered into the kitchen, sinking down in a chair at her kitchen table. Smirking at her as all I did to answer her endless stream of questions was to shrug.

“You’re no fun, girl. No fun at all. I wanted to hear juicy details.” my nana reached out, pulling a leaf from my wet hair, holding it at me, smirking as she did so. “Any reason you’re all wet and dazed, bringing half the forest up in my house?”

“We went for a swim down at the creek.”

“Mhm.” my nana teased, laughing softly. “I know you’ll use your head. God knows one of us Brown women needs to, neither me or your mama, god rest her, could ever manage it.” she nodded to the phone on the wall by the doorway. “Might wanna call Nan and Barb. They’ve been calling all afternoon, wondering where you were. They both told me tell you they wanted full details.”

“No listening from upstairs, Nana.” I teased as she shrugged. “Makin no promises, Jennie Bird. You know me. I’m a nosy old broad.”

I grabbed the phone and managed to make the cord stretch to the living room, where I sprawled out on the old couch, legs over the back, telling Nancy and then Barb everything that happened that afternoon.

At one point, while I was talking to Nancy, I smiled to myself when she went into a good ten minutes of gushing over Jonathan walking her home from the library earlier. And giving her a mixed tape.

To be fair, it’s about time he finally talked to her. I was beginning to wonder if I’d have to shove them both in a closet and walk away.

“So… how’d it go with you and Steve tonight?”

“So many sparks.” I gave a dreamy sigh as I spoke, making Nancy laugh. Toying with the necklace and smiling softly to myself as I continued, “ Between you and me? I needed the dip in the cold water…”

“You went swimming?”

“Mhm.” I answered, taking a deep breath. “He’s taking me to the carnival downtown tomorrow night.”

“Oh my god. Get out. Really?” Nancy laughed.

I rolled onto my stomach, twisting the phone cord around my fingertip. Laughing softly as I explained exactly what transpired when Steve showed up at the diner earlier. By the end of it, Nancy let out a low whistle. “He really sacrificed himself to Hank.”

“Mhm. Left me with no option but to say yes. We know how my nana’s boyfriend is. It takes… a brave one to even attempt that.”

“Confession… I may or may not be meeting Jonathan at the carnival tomorrow night too. And Barb mentioned earlier that she’s going to come to it after the movie ends over at the theater, with Logan.”

“Group date?” I asked, giving a giggle. Raking my fingers through my hair as I reached for the Diet Tab I’d gotten myself before grabbing the phone, taking a sip of it.

“Yes. Group date indeed.” Nancy answered. I could hear her mother yelling at her to hang up, and I let her go, calling Barb.

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, you are not going to believe what happened to me this afternoon, Barb.”

“Your nana told us you left with Steve earlier. How’d that go?” Barb asked in a teasing tone. “I told you he liked you, you realize this, right?” she added.

“All I’m saying is I needed that swim to cool me down. I needed it badly.” I giggled. Agreeing reluctantly when she reminded me that she’d been telling me he liked me all month long. I rolled onto my back, twisting the cord around my fingers again. “Hey, are you and Logan gonna stop by the carnival after your movie?”

“Yeah! Did Nancy tell you? I told her to tell you so we could all meet up or something.”

“I am dying for funnel cake. And maybe getting stuck at the top of the Ferris Wheel like some cliche romance novel…” I muttered, giving a soft laugh at the end.

“Aww how cute!” Barb teased.

I took a few more sips of my diet Tab and smiled to myself. Excited about tomorrow night. Barb spoke up again, “Wait… you said you and Steve went swimming…”

“We did.”

“What was that like?”

“Oh, it was interesting. Very,very interesting.”

“You’re no fun girl!” my Nana’s voice cut through the call and I groaned inwardly, lowering the phone to call up the stairs to my Nana in her room, “Seriously?”

Barb was laughing. After my nana hung up, we talked a little more and I told her about Steve going out to the garage. WIth all the tools. And my nana’s boyfriend Hank… to ask him if he could take me on a date.

“He did? And he’s alive? How?”

“I don’t know, actually. Hank’s always giving him shit when he comes into the diner, I did not see it going the way it did. But.. I’m glad it did. Ah, I had such a good time tonight.”

“He’d better be good to you or I’m coming for his knee caps.” Barb teased, going quiet for a few seconds. Her mom must have come to her door to tell her she needed to use the phone, because she had to get off. After I ended the call with her, I wandered up to my room, falling across my bed.

What.A.Night.

[moonfox281]

Tentatodd Week 2019: Day1 - Brothers in Blood timeline

WARNING: Tentacles!

(Word count: 4,487) AO3

New York, in his mind, was a complete different adventure compared to Gotham. And Manhattan, the glorious part of this city, was at all shades an evil twin of Metropolis. Days spent by with Dick calculating the little bits of miss and matches between this city and Gotham, and sometimes, just sometimes, Bludhaven.

Dick came here to heal, and it was so far a colorful journey. Lots of things had happened, lots of subtle things that had kind of thrown him off his feet more than once lately. But all things considered, Dick thought he was doing fine. Not great, just fine.

That was, until he came back to his rooftop studio and found Jason lying on his couch, eating his chips, parking booted feet on his coffee table watching FRIENDS on the TV.

Dick wished he had remembered about the eggs before dropping his grocery bags down the floor, not until his ears caught the heartbreaking crack of them against the wood.

“Jason? What are you doing here?”

Jason smirked back at him. “I heard the eggs screaming, Dickie. Too happy to see me?”

“How did you get in?... You know what, never mind. What do you want?”

“Why do you always assume I want something? Makes me sound like a bad guy.”

“Because you always want something, Jason.” Dick steadied his feet. There he thought today was a perfect day.

“Now you’re being offensive. What did Al teach us in the past, huh? Manner‒”

“Maketh man.”

Dick launched towards him. Jason let out a rich laugh and flipped up the whole couch. Dick jumped over it, just in time to catch Jason’s arm swing at him.

There was once a time when they fought in sync, not the same style but they knew the moves like memorized notes of a duet. Their pieces fitted each other’s. Jason still threw his fists like a livid man despite having a cool head, the same restless way his Robin self had been, but now, his aim was right, his pace was abnormal, and damn was his strength magnificent.

Dick watched Jason caught his punch with his bare hand like he had been waiting for it, grunting when admitting that okay, maybe fighting a post Lazarus dipper with a freshly healed radius on the right might not be a good choice.

Jason slammed him down the floor in a heartbeat. Dick didn’t even get the time to process what just happened, just folded his leg by instinct and readied to kick Jason in the stomach. Jason caught on his ankle as if he had read his mind, lifting the limb up and over his shoulder.

“Give in Dickiebird.”

Dick grunted and curled the other leg around Jason’s neck, squeezing extra just to hear him huff out of breath.

“Give in, Jaybird.”

“That‒gargh… fucking body of yours!” Jason laughed again when Dick tightened his hold. “Wanna see a surprise?”

“Try me.”

Jason squeezed the ankle he held on Dick and pushed his right leg down beside his ear despite the other still clung around his neck. That, might be painful or even torturous for most people, but to Dick - who had lived under a roof of a circus and the raising hands of two acrobats - had learnt to pop some bones and bend to his limits since the day he started to walk.

“You have to try harder than that.”

“Oh this is just me getting ready.”

Dick felt something grab his heel and pull it off Jason’s neck. That something slowly curled around his ankle, his calf, running below his pants and sliding on his skin. Something strong, something long, slimy, something… urgh.

“Jason what the hell…”

“Do you like it?”

From Jason’s back, about a dozen branches breached out over his shoulder, tore through his jacket, reaching over 6 feet above and shadowing down Dick’s frozen body. No, not branches… they were… tentacles? Dark colored, arm sized tentacles.

Dick lost his breath, laying flat down the floor listening to his own heartbeat as the huge tentacles wiggle in the air.

“You like it? I still have them since our last encounter. You still remember that right?”

“That time when you dressed up as Nightwing and went around killing people under my name? Hard to get that out of my head.”

“They’re surprisingly useful, especially in situation like this.” Jason smirked and wiggled his brows.

A tentacle went down and slipped under Dick’s shirt. It was cold, slightly wet, and textured enough to make his skin felt sensitive. Dick yelped in surprise and shivered when the thing rubbed over his nipples.

“You like that?” Jason grinned.

“Unhand me, now!”

“Not until you promise to not try to strangle me.”

“Telhas Teeze!”

“My Arabic may be rusty, but it’s not rusty enough to not understand you just invited me to eat your ass. Dickie, you have no idea.”

“The idea I’m perfectly clear of right now is that if you don’t let go of me now, I’ll find a way to strangle you with your own arms, and you have fourteen of it.”

“Whatever you say, Dickiebird.”

Jason slowly got up, he let go of Dick’s arms but his tentacles still curled around his feet.

“Well, unleg me too.”

“Easy, will you? I know how fatal those legs can be.”

The tentacles were off him after Jason got a good distance between them. Dick sprang to his feet, patting over himself, feeling the slime leftover on his body with a shudder of disgust.

He recalled when Jason had got this power after being caged in the test pod. How he had swallowed up that original monster thing and spat him out.

“This is unnatural.”

Jason scoffed. “No shit.”

“This was supposed to wear off weeks ago. You can’t be still having it now. There’s something wrong, Jason.”

“Think I don’t know that? I’m the one who out of the shit grow 12 extra arms out of every part of my body. Though I might say, they don’t annoy me as much as they should.”

“Don’t tell me you actually like this.” Dick watched with hesitance as Jason turned and split his arms into two long tentacles.

“What if I do? You see how strong they are. I’ll tell you this, these bad boys can make a full English breakfast while I sit on a couch. Can’t see the cons now.”

“Don’t toy with reality Jason, one way or another it’s going to turn back and bite you in the ass.”

“I can see only one ass being bitten here and it’s not mine.”

Dick groaned. Ever since coming back, Jason had been saying weirdest things, like now his oversized body finally gave him the cheek to dance his tongue the way he couldn’t back in the days.

He turned to pick back up the grocery bags and headed to the kitchen. Eggs were ruined, the cake got smashed, everything was messy. Suddenly, he felt even angrier at Jason.

“Hope you’ve got a spot for dinner cause I’m staying over.”

Dick slammed his fist down the counter. “What do you want, Jason? Why are you even here?”

“Chill, dickhead. And here they say I’m the mean one.” Jason shrugged and flipped the couch back with one hand like its weight didn’t concern him much. “Just need some fresh air. Gotham is pretty crowded these days, need to get away from the city for a time.”

“You mean away from Bruce.”

Jason turned back looking at Dick. The smirk on his lips fell off.

“You’ve gotta pull B in every time we talk?”

They stared. Jason got a pretty mean look on him but Dick got a hell lot of need for an explanation right now, especially when just briefly two months ago, Jason still wore his Nightwing attire blazing guns down the heads he deemed unworthy.

They could do this all day. But anger was just a temporary drive, soon enough Dick found himself sighing and switching attention back to the bags.

“It’s not that I’m not glad to see you fine. It’s just… surprised me. And why me? Thought I don’t lie among your preference list.”

“Bludhaven is shit hole, man. I’d better stick my ass in your place than sleep in some cheap motel to find myself waking up naked in the morning.”

“Right.” Dick clicked his tongue. “Right, I bet you’d even let anyone come near enough to strip you.”

“Look, you’re gonna keep bitching about this or be a good owner and offer me tea?”   

Dick glared at him. To say his trust in Jason had hit rock bottom was an understatement. Jason was, in the end, Jason. Hard to not feel like he was being fooled half of the time, especially now with those slimy things growing out from his body.

God, he was once a good kid. Rude and hot headed but still, a good kid. Now he was as big as a bull, smoking cigarette and acting like a delinquent.

Dick jumped when Jason suddenly turned back and grinned at him.

“You’re been staring pretty long, dickie boy.”

Dick tried not to throw the kettle at his head.

Three days.

Three days so far, and Jason hadn’t left.  If anything, Dick expected him to gain some weight by the amount of spare time he laid around eating chips, watching Netflix and doing absolutely nothing.

Dick watched him throw another mighty kick on the sandbag and clicked his tongue, realizing that nope, that wouldn’t be the case, not with Jason exercising like he was getting ready for an MMA match.

Strike. Dodge. Elbow. He fought like a machine.

Even though they didn’t stand eye to eye most of the time, Dick liked watching Jason. He liked the way the blows from his right arm tended to lend a little bit higher than the left. He liked the way Jason used his standing smartly, switching between legs consistently, making it hard to figure out which one was the weaker. His strikes were solid, separated but effective. Like a rap song played by a street performer, the moves were off track but together they made a great story.

Dick liked reading people. He liked reading movements. And to him, Jason molded himself into a historical novel, one of wars and emperors.

“You’ve been staring a lot.” Jason smirked. He wiped the sweat of his shoulder. “Care for a match?”

Dick pursed his lips. He really shouldn’t, but he was never that good at making decisions.

“One on one, like old times?”

Jason grinned. “Like old times.”

They moved before thinking. Dick enjoyed this.

They let their bodies do the talking. Dick even heard Jason snarled out a rich laugh. He liked Jason’s laugh when it was this honest, this innocent. Just like old times when they wrestled in the ring down the Cave where Bruce had gone off to work, only letting go when Alfred told them to.

Jason used to be the one whose back hit the ground first after five to eight minutes. He used to act grumpy about losing, frowning and acting offended when wriggling himself off. Now, Dick couldn’t say one on one with Jason was as easy as it used to be back then, not with Jason still goaled the spirit like there was a champion cup for each game. Dick really wasn’t that surprised when they dragged on to the 10th minute.

“Still a spider monkey, huh?”

“Still a barbarian, I see.” Dick huffed. He felt hot. It had been long since sparring felt this good. “Though you actually look like a barbarian now.”

“Compliment appreciated.”

Jason had him by the neck and lifted him up. Hell, Dick still wasn’t over how strong and fast he could be nowadays. It was like fighting a damn meta.

Dick curled his legs around his neck, bent his back, dragging Jason down with him.

“Give in.” He grinned, pulling Jason’s arm and set it to the most painful angle.

“F‒fuck!”

“Is that a yes or a no.”

Jason breathed through his mouth. “That’s a fuck.” He groaned, panted, punched the floor. Dick admired his effort when trying to lift both of them up. “When‒garh. When I imagine…having my head between your legs‒ugh‒it’s a lot different than this.”

Dick squeezed his legs tighter.  

“You’ve got guts.”

“No,” Jason panted. “I’ve got tentacles.”

Before Dick could react, he was ripped off Jason, sent to the air, and slammed down the floor. Tentacles wrapped around his legs, his hands, pinning him down. Jason rolled over, coughed a few times and rubbed his neck.

“You work me the hell up.”

Dick snarled. “This is playing dirty.”

“But dirty is my style, Dickie. I’m an Alley boy, remember? You can’t stand on the street by playing fair and square.”

“You just want to use your tentacles.”

Jason pursed his lips and shrugged. “If you see them as uncool, you seriously need to fucking unwind.”

Okay, Dick took that a little offended. Just when he started to think Jason had actually manned up pretty cool beside from being a little haywire by the whole dead then alive again thing. But he hit the right spot, maybe Dick did need to unwind. The city still treated Nightwing as a stick up its ass after the whole fake Nightwing Jason pulled, and he had been alone. Emphasize on alone. Injuries, cases, crime, too many things to deal with than his love life. Especially after Cheyenne too, it felt like too soon, but again, like an old memory.

“Looking at your face, guess I’m right. What happened to the red head?”

“Red head who?” Dick tried, feeling not so amused now.

“The not Barbara not Tamarian red head. Geez, Grayson, you sure have a fetish.”

Dick tried to kick Jason but the tentacle only held him tighter.

“I can feel that, they’re a part of me you know.” Jason suddenly smirked down on him. “Hey, want me to help ya?”

“Help what?”

Jason’s brows wiggled. Dick’s mind sparked.

“Jason, no. I’m not gonna let you hook me up with someone.”

“Who said anything about hooking you up with someone.”

Dick could see he wasn’t going to be thrilled by the end of this. He pushed at Jason with his shoulder and intended to tell him to knock it off when he felt his tentacles slip under the sleeves of his sweats and reach toward his thighs.

Dick hissed. “Jason, control your tentacles!”

“Hum, dunno about that, Dickie. They kinda have their own minds.”

“You just fucking said they’re a part of you.”

“Oh, did I?”

“Jason!” Dick snapped his jaw when the limbs were running around the sensitive skin. “I swear if you move one more inch‒”

Dick hitched. Jason’s tentacles wrapped around his underwear, nudging at his balls.

“You like that?” Jason grinned. His thumbs drew little circles on Dick’s wrists. “Breath, Dickiebird. I’ve got you.”

“Breath my ass! Can’t you se‒mph mmh!”

Jason only grinned wider when his tentacle thrust down Dick’s throat and made him swallow back his insult.

Dick felt heat building up on his lower half, felt his legs getting numb by being pulled up, felt Jason’s fierce grip around his wrist.

“You’re so tensed, maybe that’s why you’re such an asshole to me. You just need a nice rub, don’t you?”

Dick glared fire at Jason, wishing he could drill through his thick skull of much he wasn’t enjoying this. But Jason’s tentacles did their things, and Dick’s yelp around the slimy limb between his lips with toes curled and back arched.

“You like me squeezing you like this?”

Dick groaned when the tentacles squeezed again.

“That’s it.” Jason laughed.  Sweat rolled on his forehead, droplets Dick hadn’t notice before when he was training.

Dick squeezed his eyes shut when the tentacles moved up and down his cock. He felt them toy with his…everything. His dick, his balls, his skin, his nipples. They were touching, sucking, branding their hunger on every inch of Dick’s body.

Like drowning in fire, suddenly everything felt too hot. Dick’s vision either blurred out or turned black and white. His skin prickled at every movement made. His throat was stretched and had turned raspy with the huge thing nesting in.

He wanted to kill Jason. He wanted to throw him off a bridge. He wanted to rip the tentacles out of his body alive. He wanted… more.

When Dick moaned, he knew he was being stupid for wanting more. Yet, he wanted the arms around his member to move faster, wanted the one circling around his hole to do something already, and wanted the ones on his nipples to keep sucking.

Jason let out a rich laugh and kissed his nose. “You look fucking amazing.”

He laid his head down Dick’s shoulder, sniffing the end of his hair and the area behind his ear. If Dick wasn’t busy being breathless with a particular thin arm toyed with his urethra, he might actually think Jason had sounded just as blown as he was right now. It couldn’t be, not when Dick was the one being done.

Once Jason got back up, Dick thought it must have been the light that turned his face a little redder than normal.

Nonchalantly, he whisked off all of Dick’s clothes at once with his extra arms, tugging his shirt up to wipe the sweat down his chin.

“Wanna come?”   

The limb thrust into Dick’s hole. Dick choked on the one on his mouth. His stomach clenched. Like one explosion, everything burst.

“Look like you did already.” Jason laughed. He laughed again when looking down at Dick. “Fuck, you did already.” He mumbled.

The tentacle finally left Dick’s mouth, sliding out between his lips with a sinful wet sound. Dick found himself breath through his mouth again, feeling the air cooling his windpipe and sore throat.

This didn’t just happen. It couldn’t just happen.

Jason didn’t give him time though, he start moving his tentacles again. The one inside Dick start moving in all the oddest way, twisting and thrusting and dragging weird noises out of Dick. It wasn’t that big at the beginning, but the deeper it got, the more it swelled up until it sized like a wrist. And deep, so deep it went, reaching all the way in until Dick felt it knock against his stomach, just by his belly button.

The natural slime coated around the thing acted as a perfect lube because it slipped right in and out like a damn lubed sex toy, fasting the already brutal pace the tentacle delivered inside of him.  

Dick felt like flaming up, like he could be burning from inside out. He heard himself making sounds, sounds he could never imagine himself making.  

“Ja…Jason‒ah!”

“Hell, why can’t you just call my name like this all the time?”

Dick’s voice hitched again. All his joints sparked up and bent, feeling the electric shock when the tentacle dragged out and thrust back straight at his prostate.

His back arched off the floor, neck bent and hands fisted. It felt so good Dick felt like blacking out anytime.

“Hey.” Jason suddenly hushed. “Hey hey, don’t hurt yourself like that.” He let go of Dick’s wrists all at once and started peeling off his balls of fingers. Dick must have fisted so hard he skinned himself.

“Look at me.”

Dick bit his lips and swallowed back a moan when another tentacle circled around his rim and nudged in.

“Dick, if you want this, look at me.” Jason’s voice, so close and warm, blew right down to Dick’s ears. “If you don’t want this…”

Dick snapped his head right back at Jason, staring at his wide blown eyes and only regretting when Jason’s barked out a breathy laugh.

Dick must be stupid, or too lonely for this. Yes, he could only be, because god, Jason felt so good. He felt himself pulsing and twitching around Jason’s tentacles waiting for him to lean down and give him one mind-blowing kiss.

Jason’s tongue curled around his teeth, rolled over his gum, sucking and claiming dominance as if Dick’s inside was his long claimed territory.

While Jason was busy sucking his face, his tentacle made its move in. It felt big, bigger than the one currently inside Dick, big enough to have his eyes water and hands clawed marks on Jason’s back. Together they entwined and Dick felt stretched, so stretched.

He was practically limp and unresponsive when Jason moved away, but when the tentacles moved in and out, so rough and fast, they had Dick jumped and came back to life again.

It took too long for him to realized that it was his arms around Jason’s neck, and the voices filled the air was coming from him. The tentacles weren’t just moving inside him anymore, they were drilling. They spun and curled and abused Dick’s prostate, dragging in and out so fast they moved Dick’s whole body along.

Jason panted. He dropped his head low enough his hair tickled Dick’s face. Dick whined at another particular thrust and watched Jason frown while sweat glistered on his skin.

“Jay‒ ah! Are you‒mmnh… feeling this too?”

“Fuck yeah,” Jason huffed. “They’re me, remember?”

His stomach hurt. His guts twisted and denied the uninvited guests intruding. Dick panted staring at Jason’s eyes, palming his stomach and feeling him outside in.

Jason looked back like a cord in him had snapped. He suddenly bared his teeth, wrapped his arms around Dick and hoisted him up.

“Goddamn it, you always fucking stir me up!”

They got up with Dick’s legs curled around Jason’s waist, and his tentacles still up and moving in Dick’s ass.

Dick choked when each step Jason took, the tentacles moved extra hard inside him.

Jason moved them into the bedroom, and threw Dick down the mattress. Dick yelped and shook all over when the tentacles slipped out not in the gentlest way. He laid on his back, legs spread and hole aching, twitching like he had been electrocuted.

Jason pulled off his shirt, his pants, and threw them over his shoulder. He pulled his underwear down, and Dick couldn’t help but gulp.

That wasn’t a dick. That was a fucking monster. What the hell happened when Jason came back to life?

“Wait!” Dick panicked. “Jason, you can’t. That thing will destroy me.”

Jason frowned. “What do you mean destroy you. You literally took in two of mine. Now spread your legs.”

Dick couldn’t argue when Jason had already nestled in between his thighs. He rubbed his cock a few time, panting while the precome coated the skin and eyes on Dick’s twitching hole the whole time. Dick watched him too, swallowing because he honest to god didn’t know if Jason’s monstrous cock would kill him or not.

Jason dragged his legs around his waist, then dove in.

Dick thought he might have blacked out for a second. Jason let him wait though, because of course Dick would need a moment with the beast inside of him.

It hurt. It hurt so good. That was how terrible it was. It was so big Dick felt it in his breath. Dick unconsciously touched his stomach, felt the skin tighten and flex, felt Jason’s hard member throughout himself.

“Fuck, you feel so good, Dickie. Should have done this‒nghn‒ long ago.”

Dick screamed when Jason moved again. He screamed so loud Superman must have dropped his belonging somewhere in the world. Jason fucked like he was trying to kill Dick with his cock. Thrusting up then down, in and out, painfully hard and so brutally fast.

Dick couldn’t breathe. Saliva spilled out from the corner of his mouth and wet the sheet. All he heard was his heart pounding the same rhythm of Jason’s mercilessly pounding his ass. And all he felt was Jason’s huge cock splitting him open over and over again.

Dick came again, untouched and fucked out just like that. He came so much it hurt. And Jason was still going, long from even reaching the peak of his game.

Dick slacked against the bed, welcoming Jason’s kiss when he leaned down but that was it. He was so done, he was so done he was pretty sure he was gonna be sent to the other side by the huge cock of the Red Hood.

“Hey hey, don’t let me have all the fun.” Jason snapped his finger next to Dick’s hazy eye. “It’s supposed to be about you, remember?”

Dick moaned when he hit at a particular angle. But then he felt something. Something wrong.

“Jason?...Ah‒ Jay‒ aah…” Dick covered his stomach, shuddered while feeling Jason expand.

“Figure I’d have you back in the game like this. Wanna know something nice?” Jason grinned, pushing his palm down on Dick’s stomach only to hear him hick up and jump. “I can transform my cock too.”

He could. He fucking could.

It not only grew bigger. It grew longer. Dick twisted on the bed, kicking his legs while feeling the tip of Jason’s cock now grew so big it poked at his colon. His tongue poked out, his whole body shook and Dick could feel it. He could feel it.

“You just came again.” Jason laughed. “Fuck, there’s barely anything left.”

He started moving. By now Dick couldn’t even hear the sound of his own voice, his own pants and screaming. He could only focus on the thing tearing his ass open and entering his sigmoid colon. He felt Jason pushing up his stomach. He saw it, too.

Dick hugged his stomach, touching the little bulge while Jason threw Dick’s legs over his shoulder and speeded up.

“I’m gonna come in you now.”

Jason panted. His thrusts faltered. Dick couldn’t feel it. By now, he could just laid there and took it.

“I’m gonna come so deep in you, gonna stuff you full of me. So deep you’re gonna.Fucking.Taste.It.”

The resulting slaps from each grunting thrusts were probably even audible down the street. His cock went so far, too far into Dick, and then everything exploded.

Dick screamed out what was left of his lungs when he was filled to the brim, full of Jason’s cock and his seed, so much of it. It flowed in Dick, so deep, so much, burning every corner of his guts Dick felt like it could come up his throat any time.

When Jason pulled out, it wasn’t even a cock anymore. It was this long huge tentacle covered in semen, hanging limply between his thighs like a monster.

Dick stared at it, felt the gush out from his hole and the space left empty inside of him that fit Jason’s monster cock.

He took one last look at it, and passed out.

[izzy-b-hands]

Happy At Home-Part Six

So, first things first, I tried to find a proper source for the recipe I included in this part, but this was the best source I could find lol: https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/food-and-cooking/the-s-food-in-wartime-and-peace/article_2f98ef78-fccd-50e3-aa8d-e4331dc1170e.html

Anyway, sorry I’ve not gotten to write every day to keep this up, but thru the weekend and into next week I’m trying to find more time to finish this, as well as some one shots I’ve started!

Thanks to all who read/like/reblog! The response I’ve gotten on these Sledgefu pieces has been great, and it has really helped keep up the writing motivation-in short, you all are wonderful!!

“We have bourbon,” Snafu was in the pantry, rifling through everything Sid had bought for them. “Do we really need more than that? Your parents drink that much?” 

“That’ll be fine. Any ideas on a main dish?” 

Snafu popped back out and shrugged. “Not really. You?” 

“Y’ever heard of ‘delicious combination?” Eugene replied. 

Snafu’s eyes went wide. “We have to eat it too, you remember that?” 

“Sacrifices must be made,” Eugene said, though he was aware he was asking for a hell of a sacrifice. Every time his mother had made it, he’d honestly contemplated feigning sickness and skipping dinner. Separately, the ingredients of apples, peas, carrots, celery, pineapple, bananas, mayonnaise, whipping cream, and maraschino cherries could be delightful-all together was another matter in terms of taste and texture. Sure, it was edible, but so were rations even after you’d dropped them in the mud one or five times. 

“Now you know I love you,” Snafu sighed with a smile. “That’s basically a whole meal in one dish. You really think we need anything else?” 

“I know someone who makes amazing beignets,” Eugene said coyly. 

Snafu gave him a look. “You do. But you really want to let them in on somethin’ so good?” 

“The way I see it, is depending on how the night goes, they might all be for us anyway. May as well have at least one leftover we actually want to eat,” Eugene replied. 

“Oh, Sledgehammer, that’s adorable. But if you think we’re saving any of that ‘delicious’ bullshit, then you are dead wrong,” Snafu said. 

“We can’t waste food!” 

“Once you put it all together, it ceases to be food. Therefore, we can toss whatever is left. Don’t even argue, my logic is flawless,” Snafu said as he dove back into the pantry. 

“Fine, fine,” Eugene replied, but his mind was elsewhere-their first days of settling in had gone fast, too fast. Tomorrow was the dinner with his parents, but no matter how much he prepared, he still didn’t feel ready for it. 

“We haven’t talked clothes yet,” Snafu said as he emerged from the pantry again, this time closing the door to it. 

“...we have to wear them,” Eugene said. “What else could there possibly be to talk about?” 

“Let’s impress ‘em some. I know you hate the blues, and the uniform in all forms, but-” 

Eugene sighed. “I don’t know. A nice pressed shirt and slacks is really all-” 

“That’s what they saw you leave town in. You may still wear those clothes, but you came back in the uniform. But they didn’t get to see that-they don’t see who you are now,” Snafu said, his gaze steady as it caught Eugene’s eyes. “You’re still their son, but you know you’re different now. Everyone is, who made it back. Not just with the nightmares and the flashbacks, but-” 

Snafu paused. “I don’t know how to put it, exactly. Bein’ out there was...” 

“Shit,” Eugene filled in. 

Snafu nodded. “But it gave time to anyone, everyone, to figure things out. Who you are away from family, friends. In situations you never thought you’d be in. Making choices you never thought you’d have to make. Meeting people you end up caring about, loving. And then getting back, just to realize you have to figure out how you want to live.” 

“I don’t wanna put words in your mouth,” Snafu continued. “But-you figured out you loved me. I figured out I loved you. We both figured out we wanted to be together...Jesus, I’m not gonna say this right.” 

Eugene grabbed his hand, and led him out of the kitchen to the sitting room, to one of the ornate couches. “Can I say what I think you’re tryin’ to get at, and you let me know if I’m close?” 

Snafu nodded, still holding his hand and gently rubbing at the back of it with his thumb. 

“I’m still me, but a different me than the one that left. Some of me is the same, but there’s a lot changed. You think if we roll out for dinner in uniform, it might make them see that and face it, and us?” Eugene said. 

Snafu smiled softly, and pulled up Eugene’s hand to press a kiss to it. “You got a way with words, darlin’. That or you’re psychic.” 

“No. Just been thinkin’ about that all myself. We’re just always pretty much on the same page, or damn close. And while I hate the idea of wearing it again, I cannot stress that enough,” Eugene said. 

“I know,” Snafu replied. 

“I think you might be right. Just what we wore on the train back though-no dress blues,” Eugene continued. He hadn’t even unpacked the dress blues-Snafu had his hung up in their wardrobe, but his languished in one of the few boxes left to finish unpacking. 

“Okay,” Snafu said. “I know it isn’t late, but you wanna head in? Get some extra sleep for tomorrow?” 

Eugene nodded. It felt slightly silly-after all it was only seven at night. But it was less the idea of getting extra sleep, and more the idea of having extra time to be cuddled up in bed with Snafu that sounded so good. Having that time in their own little bubble, safe from everything. Sid was the only one who had called, and only to confirm that he’d be on-call for the dinner, and would come as soon as possible if either of them called and asked him to do so. It was glorious-setting up the house together, moving furniture to where they preferred it, just-nesting was the only word he could come up with for it all. 

“C’mon,” Snafu said as he led them upstairs while the cats ran past them to the first floor. They’d fallen in love with the house itself, not to mention the garden. “You kids play nice, and come to bed soon. No scratching up the curtains.” 

“You know even if they could completely understand you, they wouldn’t listen, right?” Eugene asked as they made it to the bedroom. 

“They understand. They just don’t care either way. That’s just cats though, that’s how it works. Those curtains are ugly anyway; we can get something new,” Snafu replied. “Um-not that your mother has terrible taste, but-” 

Eugene laughed. “They are ugly. And I don’t know if we could call it bad taste. Maybe...questionable, when compared to ours.” 

“We won’t talk about it over dinner,” Snafu said as he started to undress. “What the fuck are we gonna talk about? Or can we trust them to do the talking?” 

Eugene shrugged as he unbuttoned his shirt. “I have no idea what they’ll do. I mean, we can tell them about Maryland. About our trip down here-well, some of it.” 

Snafu grinned. “You can handle the censoring of that part of things. What else though? That might not cover a whole dinner, especially tryin’ to choke down the main course.” 

“I mean...they might ask about it. Peleliu, Okinawa-I know they’ll ask about us coming home. I mean, I wrote them letters but I’m sure they’re curious,” Eugene replied. “That could take up a lot of time. Potentially more than dinner even, depending on how they react, how much we tell them.” 

Snafu was down to his underwear as he dropped to the bed. “We can’t really plan for this part of it, can we? Second we think we got it planned, they’ll throw us a curve ball.” 

Eugene contemplated his pajamas, then joined Snafu on the bed in only his underwear. “Yeah. We’ll just have to try and be quick on our feet.” 

Snafu nodded and pulled him close. “No more talking about it. No more thinking about it. Not till the morning. Just relaxin’ and sleepin’ now.” 

Eugene settled into his embrace and tried to follow Snafu’s instructions. It was easier once Snafu had fallen asleep-watching his face relax as he ended up cuddled against Eugene as close as he could get. 

It still took him two hours to fall asleep. 

Morning came all too quickly, and if it hadn’t been for Snafu he didn’t think he’d have resisted the urge to cancel the dinner and hide in bed all day. 

“Got your clothes ready for later. Don’t care if you walk around naked as a jaybird for now, but make sure you’re dressed later,” Snafu was already dressed, in one of Eugene’s shirts and a pair of trousers that hung on his hips. No matter how much he ate, he was still skinny as a rail, and even the most tailored garments seemed to eventually hang off of him. Eugene didn’t mind the excuse to spoil him with new clothes, even if they didn’t have the money for it as often as he’d like. 

“What time are they comin’ over anyway?” Snafu asked as he sat on the edge of the bed. 

“Five, or sometime around that. At least I think so. That’s when dinner time always was before I left. God help me if they show up early-” Eugene replied as he forced himself out of the bed, panicking at the thought. “I should get dressed now, just in case. And I’ll start cooking, and-” 

“Sweetheart. You gonna start dinner at nine in the morning? You think bein’ cold is gonna make that ‘delicious’ bullshit taste any better?” Snafu laughed. “Relax. Even if they do show up early, we’ll figure it out.” 

He got dressed anyway, peeking out the window of the guest bedroom-their bedroom now. They’d discussed taking the master bedroom, but ultimately it felt too strange. And any guests they might have would certainly appreciate having the bigger room. 

Downstairs, he picked at the breakfast plate Snafu sat in front of him. 

“You gonna eat those eggs, or just stab ‘em?” Snafu asked, his mouth full. “At least have some coffee. I swear I made it good today.” 

Eugene shook his head. They weren’t even here yet and he felt sick. 

“Okay, lover-boy of mine. Let’s find something to keep you busy,” Snafu said, setting down his fork. 

“I’m fine,” Eugene said, trying to mean it. 

Snafu didn’t say anything, just grabbed his hand and held it tight. 

After a few moments, Eugene found his voice again. “Might try reading.” 

“Sounds good. You go sit down and read. I’ll be with you in a few minutes,” Snafu murmured.

“You don’t gotta rush to eat because of me,” Eugene said as he stood up, ignoring the light-headedness that hit him almost immediately. 

Snafu was watching him, clearly concerned. “Baby, you’re pale.” 

“Aren’t I always?” Eugene asked, just before the light-headedness turned to proper dizziness, and it all went black. 

He came to maybe a moment later, on the cool floor of the dining room. He registered that Snafu must have moved him into the recovery position, as he took in the feeling of Snafu’s hand rubbing his back and the fact that his face was wet. 

“What happened?” 

“You passed out,” Snafu replied. 

“I know that,” Eugene replied. “Why am I wet?” 

“Well, I was tryin’ to wake you back up. Nearest thing was the water pitcher. It was that or the coffee,” Snafu replied. “Don’t you dare rush to get up. Let yourself lay for a minute or two.” 

“I-” Eugene started, then stopped. Why was he fighting this so much? He was safe, Snafu was right there to help him. And the dizziness and anxiety eating his stomach alive were at a minimum on the floor. 

He sighed, and let himself relax and go limp. 

“Better,” Snafu hummed, his hand still making slow and soft circle’s on Eugene’s back. “Just breathe. I’m right here.” 

He wasn’t sure exactly how long he stayed there on the floor, with Snafu alternating between rubbing his back and holding one his hands gently, whispering soft and sweet things to him. 

Finally, Snafu let him up, only to gently grab hold of him until he was leaning backwards into Snafu’s lap and arms. 

“We have to get up eventually,” Eugene murmured. 

“Eventually. Not now,” Snafu replied, his arms warm and comforting as he held onto him just tightly enough to feel safe but still be comfortable. 

“I’ll fall asleep here if you keep this up,” Eugene said. He meant it too-he’d slept, but fitfully, and figured he could fall asleep anywhere right then. 

“Let’s get you to the sitting room then. Let you nap,” Snafu said. Before Eugene could protest, Snafu had scooped him up and was carrying him to the next room. 

“I just got up,” he muttered into Snafu’s shoulder. 

“You just worry about feelin’ better. If you’re still like this by four, then I’m callin’ Sid and tellin’ him to cancel the dinner.” 

“We can’t,” Eugene replied. 

“We can do whatever we want and need to do,” Snafu said. “That includes cancelling.” 

“But I’m just feeling this way because I’m nervous about dinner. At least I think that’s all it is.” 

He couldn’t resist the urge to curl up on the couch as Snafu set him down carefully. There was just enough room for Snafu to sit on the edge of the couch near him that way. 

After a moment, Snafu was up again though, and returned with a thin but soft blanket from the downstairs linen closet. “You just sleep. I shoulda let you stay upstairs, but-” 

“No, I should be getting up, I should be helping you get ready. I shouldn’t be...like this,” Eugene sighed. 

“You can’t help how this makes you feel. Get some rest; I got this,” Snafu said. 

“You’re even going to make the main-” 

Snafu shuddered. “Don’t remind me of that. But yeah, I’ll make that delicious bullshit whatever. I’ll wake you in a few hours. Don’t worry about anything.” 

He settled on the couch, and tried to listen to Snafu. Sleeping was always better than staring into space, anxiety-ridden. He just had to will himself to do it. 

[tb5-heavenward]

Harvard!Christmas - 3

Part 1 // Part 2 //

I hope you didn’t expect this to stay cute and cheerful. this is harvard, fam. i have a reputation to consider.

It's not the kitten who wakes him in the morning, but the pounding of a fist against his front door.

It's an unpleasant thing to wake up to, because it doesn't register immediately as what's woken him, and for the first few moments he doesn't connect the sound to its source. There's just a loud pounding noise and he has no idea what it is---until he does. John sits bolt upright and then scrambles out of bed, stumbling down the hallway from his bedroom and to the front door of the apartment, where he fumbles to unlock the door, without stopping to check who's there.

And he opens the door to find the building manager, yet again, only this time all the cordiality has disappeared from his manner, and his expression is taut and tense with disapproval. John's first thought is that somehow (probably owing to the few pounds of sand he'd stolen for a makeshift litterbox) the contraband kitten has been discovered, and he's being evicted, but instead the manager just holds out his phone. There's no "merry Christmas" this time, nor even a "good morning". The man's voice is flat with exaggerated patience as he says, "Your father's on the line. Apparently you haven't been picking up your phone."

The irritation of the man standing in front of him is paltry compared to the towering disapproval of the man on the other end of the line. John's only about a minute out of bed, and he's as disheveled as he ever is, still bleary-eyed from sleep and with his hair tousled and his pajamas rumpled, and in any other situation he'd be embarrassed to be caught like this in front of a semi-stranger---but the capacity for any emotion more complex than sheer horror has vanished. When the building manager gestures insistently with his phone, John's reaction is automatic and he takes it---but there's a wild moment of panic in which he wants nothing more than to throw it down the hallway, slam the door and bolt it, and then walk briskly across his apartment and straight off his fourth story balcony.

Instead he holds it up and hears the disconnected faintness of his own voice as he says, "Hello?"

"John. We've been worried about you."

Just the sound of his father's voice---separate entirely from his tone and what he's said---is enough to make John want to fall through the floor. He feels like some part of himself has detached and departed, because he can hear himself answer, but can't comprehend how he's able to say anything at all, "---I'm sorry. I-I got home really late, I just wanted to go to bed. I just---I forgot to turn my phone back on."

"This kind of irresponsibility is something I count on you not to demonstrate, John."

"I'm sorry. Dad, I---"

"When you called me yesterday, I didn't form the impression that I was the only person who'd been told you were heading back to Boston. No one else knew where you'd gone. You'd been missing for hours with no word to your brothers, to my mother---by the time I got home, they were getting ready to start calling hospitals. And no further word from you until now? Because I contacted your landlord, on Christmas morning?"

John feels himself cringe, and distantly notices the way that the building manager is staring at him, watching the half of the conversation that he's privy to. He should probably be at least vaguely horrified by this, but he can't even bring himself to properly register the man's continued presence. All that matters is his father's voice on the line, his expectant silence as he waits for an explanation. There's no point in trying to justify himself, all he can do is stammer out another useless apology, "I'm sorry."

This isn't what his father wants. "I'm not especially interested in your apology, John. But later today you will be calling your grandmother, to tell her how sorry you are for frightening her, and your little brother, who held out hope that you would be back by Christmas morning. I don't know when I've ever been so disappointed in your behaviour. I expect much, much better from you."

That's always been true, and John's always known that it's true, but hearing it stated when he knows he's failed to meet that expectation makes him want to die. "Yes, sir."

"Apologize to your building manager for the trouble you've put him to on Christmas Day. Charge your phone. I'd better hear that you've spoken to your brothers and your grandmother before the end of today. Goodbye."

It's abrupt, but maybe that's merciful, really. John plummets back into the present and manages not to break down in the hallway in front of his building manager. He hands the man's phone back, uncomfortably conscious of the way he's being looked at, the way the man's irritation has melted into something like pity. "I'm very sorry for the intrusion," John says, and can't even manage to wish that he sounded sincere, instead of just hollow and perfunctory, as though he's only apologizing because he's been told to. He wonders if the other half of the conversation had been audible at all, in the way that phone conversations sometimes are. He hopes not.

"Honest mistake," the manager says quickly, and then briefly, impulsively, pats John's shoulder. "Glad there was nothing wrong. I think it's just that you gave your family a bit of a scare, is all. But it all worked out. Merry Christmas."

"Same to you," John answers numbly, and then closes the door.

His phone waits where he left it, in the pocket of his discarded coat, over by the radiator.

[19 missed calls]

Scott

[24/12/2055 06:38:02 Scott: hey jaybird, where'd you go?]

[24/12/2055 06:38:41 Scott: al says you probably went to cool off some place, you maybe wanna let me know where?]

[24/12/2055 07:02:20 Scott: virgil's dealing with gordon]

[24/12/2055 07:05:13 Scott: I'm sorry about gordon, he wasn't supposed to fly out on his own. he was supposed to show up with dad to keep him in line.]

[24/12/2055 08:12:29 Scott: look i know you're mad but don't do this shit johnny, it's christmas]

[24/12/2055 08:41:48 Scott: John seriously. Pick up your phone.]

[24/12/2055 09:30:58 Scott: Dad is gonna be landing at the airport in an hour John, I do not want to tell him that we can't fucking find you.]

[24/12/2055 09:35:17 Scott: if you've crashed your stupid rental car into a ditch on some stupid backroad john I'm personally gonna haul you out and kick your ass the whole way back home]

[24/12/2055 09:36:11 Scott: I didn't mean that. Sorry. Please just pick your phone up.]

[24/12/2055 09:59:01 Scott: okay well we're gonna start calling the hospitals/highway patrol/the fucking cops in a minute here john, so if you're just being an ass now would be a real good time to fucking quit it]

[24/12/2055 10:25:31 Scott: okay. talked to dad. he's furious, by the way. so that's fun. thanks for that. sometimes I literally just cannot fucking believe you. merry goddamn christmas, John.]

Virgil

[24/12/2055 06:20:52 Virgil: okay, i'm really really sorry about Gordon. he was supposed to fly in with dad. I'm not going to make any excuses. He's way out of line.]

[24/12/2055 06:21:04 Virgil: if you've gone for a drive because you need some time to cool off that's fine, but don't do anything stupid like turn your phone off, okay?]

[24/12/2055 06:21:43 Virgil: like I know you do that when you're pissed and you have every right to be pissed but we live in the middle of nowhere and the roads aren't great out here and everybody would feel better if you kept your phone on.]

[24/12/2055 06:34:49 Virgil: also please text me back.]

[24/12/2055 07:46:18 Virgil: John, you've been gone for an hour and a half and nobody knows where. Grandma's really worried.]

[24/12/2055 07:46:31 Virgil: if you make my Grandma cry on Christmas Eve, J, then you and me are gonna have a problem]

[24/12/2055 08:50:18 Virgil: look john, if you're reading these, then at least acll Alan, he's freaking out. you're actually scaring the shit out of him. the poor kid pretty much worships you and you go and pull something like this. at christmas. come the fuck on johnny.]

[24/12/2055 09:15:27 Virgil: okay. your phone is off.]

[24/12/2055 09:42:53 Virgil: I mean at this point I think Scott's actually hoping that you're upside down in a ditch somewhere because if you're ignoring texts and calls like this, he's legitimately gonna kick your ass until you die.]

[24/12/2055 10:01:45 Virgil: we've gotta call dad. like, this is the warning. i think we've been kinda covering for you in case this is just a stupid tantrum, but it's been three hours now john. please just answer somebody.]

[24/12/2055 10:02:04 Virgil: if something's happened to you then we need to start doing something, and dad literally has enough pull to have the entire county searched from orbit.]

[24/12/2055 10:02:24 Virgil: I don't know if you realize how scary this actually is.]

[24/12/2055 10:45:08 Virgil: Okay. so, you've just left the fucking state. you're not dead. when dad gets ahold of you you're maybe gonna wish you were. but i guess I'm trying to be glad you're okay.

[24/12/2055 11:21:38 Virgil: all right well whenever you get this. Probably when you get back to Boston. I don't know what to tell you, other than that I can't actually decide if I'm madder at you or at gordon. you've both been total fucking jackasses and this shit can't continue. you're as bad as each other. I don't think we've had a christmas this bad since Mom died.]

[24/12/2055 11:22:01 Virgil: maybe think about that.]

Alan

[24/12/2055 06:44:19 Alan: gordon's super drunk and he's being really really dumb. virg and scotty are gonna cover for him but they shouldn't. i totally don't blame you for leaving. i wish i could leave too.]

[24/12/2055 07:01:36 Alan: when you come back we should go hang out in the barn. one of the barn cats had kittens over the summer and they're all still around]

[24/12/2055 07:01:44 Alan: they're cute]

[24/12/2055 07:28:53 Alan: scotty took the truck to go look for you, but i think that's probably kind of stupid. it's dark and the roads are pretty bad.]

[24/12/2055 08:02:14 Alan: virgil put gordon to bed and told me to tell dad he has food poisoning. stupid gordon.]

[24/12/2055 08:21:45 Alan: I think grandma's kind of upset.]

[24/12/2055 09:07:19 Alan: did you see the geminids this year? it was too cloudy here, but i checked the weather near Boston and it was supposed to be clear]

[24/12/2055 09:12:32 Alan: i guess it's hard to get out to anywhere with dark enough skies if you don't have a car]

[24/12/2055 09:33:41 Alan: do you miss driving? i'm excited to learn. Grandma let's me back the truck out sometimes. virg said he'd teach me when I'm old enough.]

[24/12/2055 10:01:27 Alan: are you gonna be home soon? everybody's kind of worried.]

[24/12/2055 10:40:49 Alan: dad says you had to go back to Boston for school stuff. I guess it was important.]

[25/12/2055 12:01:02 Alan: merry christmas, johnny]

John turns his phone off again.

[rs-gs-archive]

Genuine Stardust. (Act 1, sequence 1)

"Isn't it funny? All these years being surrounded by stars that barely seemed to be any closer to us. But I've never been so happy to look at the stars from this distance again. Get what I mean, dude?"

"I hear ya…"

Weeks had passed since the Park dome was safely returned home; back on Earth. Its inhabitants needed time to re-adjust to their old lives, as some changes turned out more brutal than others. Pops would not be joining them, ever again. Muscle Man was elated to find out he had a small family now. Making sure to properly bond with his daughter, and making up for the missed times with Starla, he decided to take a long, well-deserved vacation. Fives seemed to follow suit, as he and Celia went out to explore Europe together, after these three years of separation. Benson was pleased to find out his studio appartment was still there, belonging to him. It was amazingly clean and neat too, despite his long absence. Could his pet pig have had something to do with it? Rigby and Eileen were about to make things official. And Mordecai? He didn't seem hurried to leave the park just yet.

"Hey, Mordecai?", Rigby began, "Shouldn't you… you know, set out to find a special lady again?"

"Nah", the blue jay replied, "after three years of being without either Margaret or CJ it feels like.. I don't know, dude. Maybe it's just fine this way. Guess I'm better off being on my own." He stretched, and went to lay on his back, staring into the star-filled night, on the roof of the house that once belonged to Pops. "What will be will be", he muttered, slightly sarcastic.

Rigby sat upright next to him, shooting him a pained look of disbelief. "You seriously want to be some sort of Benson?"

"What! No!?", Mordecai responded to this insult. "How is that anything like Be-..", he didn't finish this sentence, as he seemed to realize the similarities. At that instant, the two fellows witnessed their boss walking out of the house, heading for his car.

"But, speaking of Benson", he continued in stead, "I don't think he's heard anything from Pam anymore since we got back here".

"Yeah, what's with him and all this bad luck when it comes to women", Rigby chortled.

Something sparkly shot through the sky, catching Mordecai's attention as he went to lie down on his back again, arms behind his head.

"I honestly wish he could be happy for once", Mordecai suddenly spoke out, as he stared at the disappearing trail of sparkles. "I think he needs a special girl in his life.. way more than I do, at least"

"Yeahh! How about a real babe- EeOW!", Rigby clenched his teeth as Mordecai punched his shoulder.

The raccoon was met with an unamused glare.

"Fine", Mordecai sighed, "Let Benson have a 'real babe' then to love unconditionally.. but you better not get jealous, Rigby", he ended with a sneaky smile.

"You think wishing upon shooting stars really works?"

"Nah, probably not"

"WishCorp.", the giant letters read. Grandest Grants Guaranteed!, so says the slogan on the side of the huge structure.

"Ughhh, this is lame", a young girl inside the building groaned, as she walked past the many cubicles, serving mugs of coffee.

"I'm not learning anything from this, I need those credits".

Obviously, this youngster was an unappreciated intern for WishCorp., and like so many unappreciated interns, she got to do the crappy chores. The black sheep of the family. Or company, in this case. Quite literally too; she was a short-build, dark furred sheepgirl. A wooly afro added about 15 inches to her total length. Both sides of her head featured an impressive horn, curling around her ears. "Hi. My name is Avery", said the paper name tag on her chest.

Her colleagues' computer screens were showing recordings of people from all over the world, wishing upon stars that fell at just the right moment.

"Yeah, don't we ALL want to win the lottery?", one guy at his computer hooted. "Not today, buddy!" and he clicked "deny".

"Rude…", the girl thought to herself, walking past.

"I honestly wish he could be happy for once" she caught coming from a currently unmanned cubicle. She couldn't help but walk back and watch; "I think he needs a special girl in his li- *buzzzz* The screen seemed to have trouble processing the imagery. Yeah! How about a *buzzz*babe-EE *bzzzz*

Fine, let Benson have a- *buzzz* babe to love unconditionally".

The intern's eyes widened with glee. This has got to be the cutest wish she's ever heard, so altruistic. Maybe, if she took this matter in her own hands, she could finally get those required credits and make somebody happy as well. Shifting her eyes, her hand went for the mouse and clicked "GRANT". "Please specify" appeared on the screen, and she rapidly typed something in; the things she heard the glitchy blue jay and raccoon from the video footage say.. or so she thought. She then clicked "CONFIRM" in conclusion.

A radiant capsule popped out of the large device beside her, which she snuck into her pocket.

"This is gonna be SWEET!" she gushed to herself, as she made haste.

Back at the park, Rigby and Mordecai had left the rooftop and were bidding one another goodbye. Just as Rigby was about to walk out the door, said door was slammed open by an overly enthusiastic young ewe.

"WHAT THE-?!" Mordecai called out in surprise.

"Who are you?!"Rigby followed, rubbing his face where the door had hit him.

"Hiiii!", the girl cheered, "You two must be Mordecai and Rigby, correct? I overheard you making a wish and OH MY GOSH, I am absolutely smitten, so here I am!"

The raccoon and the blue jay stared silently at the girl in front of them. Rigby tilted his head.

"Sooo, are you the special girl Mordecai wished for..?"

"HA HA HA, good heavens, no! I'm an intern at-" she stopped right there, then corrected herself. "Uh, I work for WishCorp. and like I said, I overheard your wish for that Mr. Benson guy, so I got here as fast as I could to grant it!"

Mordecai and Rigby looked at eachother, then back at Avery. They didn't question what was going on at all.

"Awesome!", the jaybird exclaimed.

"That's what I thought!", the girl said with a nod, "So, if you guys wanna sign your names here, I can make things in order and mr. Benson will know he has some wonderful friends looking out for him!", she winked while speaking those words.

"We're gonna get the biggest raise!" Rigby chanted, scribbling his name on the card presented to him.

[a-wayne-at-heart]

HYPNOTISED: A Jason Todd/Red Hood x OC Fan Fic

Summary: Snippets of a blossoming romance between Jason Tood/Red Hood and an original character (named Ima), with other DC characters in supporting roles. Jason falls for a waitress at a diner he frequents with his best friend, Roy Harper. When she is caught in the crossfire between him and Black Mask, he is determined to protect her at all costs. What he does not expect is her falling for him, too. And how much she becomes a part of his - and the Batfamily’s - life.  

** Not strictly canon. Romance + fluff + minor angst. A lot of Batfamily feels. Title from the Coldplay song. Currently 10 chapters long, each one to be posted separately due to length. Editing may occur, depending on inspiration. :) **

Chapters: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight

Three

"Nah. Non. Nein. Net. And for the last time, no.” Roy was rarely this firm with his decisions. This was serious. (Also, he knew that many languages?)

It had been two days since the warehouse incident. Once Jason and Ima had gotten out of the warehouse, comm signal had improved drastically. He contacted Roy immediately, telling him to rendezvous with Batwing at a secure location. They were to deliver the briefcase to an off-shore branch of S.T.A.R. Laboratories. By the time the paramedics arrived on scene, he had strapped Ima behind him on the back of his motorcycle, doing his best to be gentle. She was unconscious and bruised, but otherwise stable. The safe house had enough equipment to deal with injuries ten times worse than what she sustained, and he was focused on getting her out of there as soon as possible. As he was about to speed them off, he heard Roy’s voice over the comm a last time. “You gonna be good, Jay? Because if you don’t make it out of there alive, I’m gonna have to kill you.” He would never admit it out loud, but the concern in Roy’s tone was reassuring. He grinned under his helmet. His best friend always had his back.  

But maybe just not today.

"Roy -"

"That waitress from that dump of a diner?! Two days, two days, and you couldn’t even send me a text that you were having a little slumber party??” The accusatory finger was dangerously close to Jason’s chest. On another day, that would have warranted a breaking of bones, but he was admittedly at fault for not giving Roy a heads up.

“Her name’s Ima. And I would’ve introduced you two the last time we saw her, but you were upset -”

It indeed had been the last time he saw her. At least until the incident at the warehouse. Neither of them suggested that they exchange numbers. Accidentally crossing paths was good enough, it seemed. Well, that wasn’t completely true. He had his way of knowing where she would be and when. But he had not anticipated the warehouse incident. At the diner, at the Wayne Foundation library, on a crowded street. It didn’t have to get any more complicated than that. Yet.

Besides, he had been caught up in dealings with criminal overlords as undercover work for Batman, Incorporated. He saw it as a good opportunity to close in on Black Mask. And as much as he itched to be with her, he could not put her in harm’s way. She did it herself, he thought bitterly. The irony.

Jason Todd did not do dates, or relationships, or coming home to someone, or growing old with someone. The last woman he felt strongly for was a mother who betrayed him. With everything that had happened to him after the Lazarus Pit, distrust and guilt continued to plague him. He still felt that he had to earn love.    

“Yeah, well, nothing’s changed there! So, don't you for one second think that I forgot about how she almost ruined our friendship! I can't believe you just -"

"Will you please keep it down? She's still asleep -" Way too much drama for 2:30 AM.

"- brought her into the safe house! Our safe house! Not a hospital, or a precinct, or a dumpster -"

"Roy, why the heck would I leave her in a dumpster?” 

"- but in the one place we keep hidden from everyone else -"

"Nightwing and Red Robin crash here, like, every other week -"

"- so that bloodthirsty d-bags like Black Mask wouldn't have our asses handed to us so freakin' easily!"

"Will you please…" Jason began rubbing circles on his temples. No mediation technique from the All Caste could quell the headache that was building up. They had been going at it for almost an hour and the worst part was that Roy had a point.  

"You have any idea what the cops would do to us if they found out we were harboring a potential state witness? Dude, I don't know about you, but I'm kinda enjoying being on their good side for once. A ‘working relationship’ with the cops, Jay. How may vigilantes do you know can brag about that?” He held up a hand, “And before you say Batman -”  

"It's not safe for her. We don't know which cops are on Roman's payroll. Besides, we can probably ask my old man to have a word with Gordon if it came down to it."

“Yeah, because Daddy Bats gives in to all your demands, right?” Roy scoffed, reminding Jason of his precarious standing with his adoptive father. “In case you didn’t know, the role of irresponsible, overly trusting crime-fighter has already been taken. By me. You’re supposed to be the level-headed one in this safe house, Jason.” Full name. This really was serious. “Safe house? Should we even call it that anymore -”

“Just shut. Up. Roy. Please.”

The finality in Jason’s tone made the tirade stop. A soft thump indicated that Roy had slumped down on the giant beanbag across from the couch he sat on.

"Look," Jason said, resigned, "None of this is... ideal. And I’m so sorry for dragging you into this. You have every right to be angry with me. You’re one of the few people I trust with my life, but I guess I wasn’t ready to talk about this thing Ima and I have -” This thing? “…If it’s anything to begin with, that is. It’s… new territory to me, man.”

It was his turn to stand up and pace, running his hands over the back of his neck. “When you and Starfire started dating, you two could barely look me in the eye every time I caught you alone together.” He paused and looked over at Roy, whose arms were crossed, but now had a softened facial expression, as if in contemplation.

“That kind of relationship was new to both of you. And it was so mind-blowing-ly amazing that it took you a while to process it. Your words. Now, Kory, she’s one of us. She understands what this life,” he said, gesturing to their surroundings, where high-tech gadgets and weapons sat in plain view, “entails. We’ve lost count of the battles she’s fought alongside us. Gangs. Magicians. Aliens. She gets it. But, Ima…”

He paused, saddened by what he was about to say. “This isn’t her world. She was once a street rat just like me. An orphan just like me, let down by the system. Except no one like Bruce came along to offer her a better life. She works herself to the bone for a measly salary, being felt up by jerks twice her size as she fetches them coffee, just so she and her younger brother wouldn’t be out on the streets. Her eyes would light up every time she talked about him. And now he’s gone...

“She never mentioned that he was working for Black Mask. As far as she knew, he worked at the docks. I’d never gotten around to mentioning to her that I was Red Hood, either. The same way I kept putting off telling any of you about her. It’s not that I didn’t trust you. I just… wanted to keep her out of this world of ours. To keep seeing her smile in spite of the weight of everything she’s already been through. She’s become my world outside of this one.”    

Roy stayed silent. He had not moved since Jason started his heartfelt confession.    

“Right now, she needs my help,” Jason continued. I know I’m not being myself, trusting someone this easily. But she’s not just someone to me anymore. And she needs someone to trust, too.” He headed to his room, to check up on Ima, who was snoring lightly on his queen-sized bed. He did not mind sleeping on the couch for a few days if it meant giving her a little comfort. “I’m not asking for your help. You don’t deserve any more burden from me. All I’m asking for is a little patience until I figure out how to keep her safe.”  

And just as he was about to enter the room, he heard Roy stand up behind him. “You’re an asshole, Jaybird.”

"Yep," Jason sighed. "Glad we got that covered."

"An asshole who'll need my help."