He’s been coming over after patrols now for months. You knew the Bats, you worked for them, Barbra had brought you onto the team to assist her after proving yourself when you managed to block even her from getting some info she needed you managed to do so without even leaving a trace.
Jason was always the coldest with you, at least he was at first. One night after a job Grayson managed to convince him to go to your place with him, he was too tired to put much of an argument up against a way too energetic Grayson.
He walked in silence throughout your apartment taking in everything as you and Grayson talked, he hadn’t come from Blüdhaven in a while and the two of you were dying to catch up.
You noticed Jason stayed by your bookshelf for a long time, you’d heard he liked to read, and your bookshelf had mainly your old literature books from high school and college. He had picked out Frankenstein from the shelf, it’s the most worn-out book due to it being your favorite and you can tell that quipped his interest as he flipped through it.
Eventually, when Grayson fell asleep on your couch, it was just the two of you left. He was sitting in the armchair by the window reading the book. Back then you had just watched him filled with curiosity from your spot on the armchair on the other side of the living room.
The night passed and before you realized you'd fallen asleep, you woke up to a snoring Grayson sprawled out and Jason dozed off in the armchair, the book was placed on the armrest with his hand on top of it. The sun was peeking over the city, it was morning.
A couple of hours later they were both awake and heading out your door, but before you shut it Jason turned back to you handing you the book back, you insisted he keep it til he finished reading it and to stop by anytime to return it, he hesitated before eventually accepting your offer.
When he’d dropped off the book you assured him he could stop by for any intel, food, or to borrow books again. That was over 10 months ago now, he’d slowly but surely started coming by more and more often since. At first, he seemed almost uncomfortable being there, but he started getting comfortable by occasionally telling you his analysis of the books, it was fun and you were learning so much especially because the majority of them you’d bought and read begrudgingly during your school days so you had blocked out what they were about.
When Babs learned about his nightly visits she’d found it amusing but promised to not mention it to anyone. She did tell you though to be careful because relationships with a vigilante as his confidante can get messy, you scoffed at her assuring her you two were just friends.
—-
Tonight was like any other night he had tapped on your window while you were watching TV, you’d let him in and he didn't waste a second before plopping himself onto the couch and throwing his mask off. This is how he always comes in his frustration and exhaustion of the night obvious in his actions.
“Rough night?” You ask as you sit down at the armchair.
“Same as every night, you got food for me tonight?” He turns his head over to you as he runs a hand through his hair. you can tell it’s a bit damp with sweat from wearing his helmet.
“Only some pizza if you want it.” You point to the counter where the box with the leftover pizza sits, you knew it was likely but it wasn't assured but you left it out in hopes he’d stop by.
Jason gets up and heads for the box as he does, you reach out and grab your laptop off the coffee table, you remember Babs had asked you to look into something for her while she was busy with something with Tim and Bruce tonight. He heads back over to you pizza slice in hand and leans against the back of your armchair looking at your screen as you get to work. “What’s on your plate tonight?”
You continue typing away, “Babs needed me to do something for her, it’s easy and quick, but she’s busy with another assignment tonight.” Your eyes burn slightly because the screen its late and you're tired. You feel around for your glasses, he notices and grabs them off the coffee table for you, nodding at him in thanks.
He plops back onto his previous spot on the couch, eating the last bite of the pizza before grabbing the remote and mindlessly scrolling through channels, nothing caught his eye clearly. You can tell he wants your attention but respects the fact you’re working right now.
After a few minutes,, you put all the information into a file and send it off to Babs, shutting your laptop as soon as it says delivered. The shutting of your laptop gets his attention. He tries not to let it show, but he’s clearly happy to have you now.
“You liking Gatsby so far?” The latest book he’d borrowed was The Great Gatsby, your junior year of high school English reading assignment. If you’re honest you never really read the whole thing, online summaries were your saving grace. You know he never did finish high school and in a way this is him getting to experience the highs and lows of public school education, not like Bruce would have even enrolled him in a public school anyway.
He starts on a tangent about what he’s read so far, mentioning the key points and giving his thoughts about the characters.
As he talks, you move to place the laptop back on the coffee table and get up to go grab some water. When you come back, you sit down on the couch next to him, all the while he continues talking.
“Are Bruce’s parties any similar in their grandeur to Gatsby’s?” The question is random but genuine curiosity got to you.
He takes a moment to think letting his head fall onto the couch cushion behind him. “In a way yeah, especially his New Year’s parties I’d say so. The old man would pretend most of the night, you know his rich brat act, but he clearly enjoyed the environment for sure.”
You watch him his expression seems to falter a bit recalling those days, but he doesn’t let it show for too long.
“What about you, did you like it?” you take a sip of water and hold the cup on your crossed leg.
“Eh, there was lots of food all around and the later it got the weirder people would get thanks to the drinks. I preferred helping Alfred prepare everything while listening to classical music and him telling me about his good old days.” A smile forms on his face, it’s clearly a fond memory of his.
It’s rare when he smiles, but it makes you happy. He looks over at you and seems to get embarrassed about getting all nostalgic on you.
“You know I’ve enjoyed your little book collection so far, I used to have a lot of books back then… Some of these were there, of course, I needed the classics.” His expression dampens a bit again. “It’s been so long since I’d read them though. Why do you have so much classic literature? Don’t take you as the type.”
“They’re honestly just my old books from school, kept them around to seem more intellectual, most of those I hated having to read.” You hear him chuckle at that. “Having you retell them to me has made me honestly go back and actually read some of them thoroughly, I’ve learned I actually do enjoy most of them outside of the class environment.”
He grins at you clearly flattered by the statement. It makes your heart flutter, you remember what Babs had warned you about but every time he comes by you find your feelings for him strengthening. You feel like a teenager with a crush, but you’ve been forcing yourself to drown these feelings. You feel your face get a little hot and look down at your cup.
“I never got to finish school, I actually liked it, especially English class, as you could’ve guessed by now.” He’s opening up to you, these moments always mean a lot to you if you’re honest. “If I hadn’t… died, I would’ve loved to actually finish my high school education and further it by getting some sort of English degree.” He sighs, shaking his head some. “I’m a soldier still with those childish dreams in me after everything.”
You look him up and down, he’s so broad and tall, but right now none of that matters as he feels so normal, almost small even.
“If you looked like this back then I don’t think I would’ve ever talked to you, I would’ve been way too scared.” It’s a tease and it manages to make him laugh, “Granted given the fact you’re such a nerd maybe I would’ve found you annoying.” That gets another laugh out of him before he fakes being offended by the comment.
“I guess we really would’ve never talked, I would’ve found you too geeky,” he gives you a quick up and down of his own, “but at least you’re a pretty geek.”
You nudge him as you roll your eyes, of course, he’d return your comment with a tease of his own.
He grabs the cup from your hands and places it on the coffee table before the two of you. “I mean it though, the fact no partner is in your life is astonishing.”
He’s messing with you, that’s what you tell yourself at least. “Not looking, this city and dating are a nightmare.”
His hand is placed next to yours on the couch, you note how large it is in comparison, it’s so stupid. You recall those memories of girls asking the guys they liked to ‘compare hand sizes.’ You want to reach out and grab his hands to take your relationship further, but both Babs words and your fear of him not feeling the same way stop you.
When you look back up at him he’s looking right at you, it’s almost as if he’s waiting for something. You swallow, could he be giving you a sign, could he want that for the two of you too? Against your better judgment you take a deep breath and move your hand onto his. He doesn’t move, but his expression softens from his usual uncaring look. His eyes seem to shine in the light, they’re a deep blue, and alluring to you.
You want to go further you want to pull him and kiss him as you climb onto his lap. Instead, you inch closer and intertwine your fingers. His eyes are glimmering, you’ve never seen him like this, it’s endearing.
He’s placing his other hand on your thigh before you know it’s moving up, it’s on your hip now, it stays there for a while before he pulls you close. Your hands are on his chest and you can feel his heart beating quickly and his breathing is heavy. “I thought you’d never realize.” The words are simple but they feel almost desperate the way he says them.
You move a hand into his hair, fingers running along his scalp, and you can feel his shudder at the touch. You play with the white strips of hair, they’re more coarse than the rest.
“You saying I might’ve had a chance back then?” You’re going back to the topic from before and you can see him get embarrassed and hide his face into your neck. It makes you laugh seeing him this way, this new side of him is so shy.
“Jay,” He freezes at the use of the nickname, looking up at you expectantly. You cup his face and he leans into it, his face is full of desire, you close the distance and plant a kiss on his lips, his hands run up your back, he’s enjoying this.
You are too you can feel excitement throughout your whole body as his hands wander.
Before you know it he’s pushing you down onto the couch and pulling away as he’s pinning you down. He’s looking down at you desire is clear everywhere, you both had been fighting your feelings for so long and now that they’ve been placed before each other you’re both completely giving in. He leans back down continuing the kiss from earlier, like he depends on this to continue breathing.
You know the Bats won’t be fond of this, but you don’t care, all you care about is finally having this, having him, he’s yours and you're his.