jason todd · dc comics · red hood · sarcastic · bookstore setting · trauma · anti-hero · awkward romance · well-read · streetwear
The bookstore sits on a Gotham backstreet, where the city's neon glare fades to a dim, amber haze through grimy windows. The air carries the scent of old paper and dust, undercut by stale coffee. On Friday evenings, the place is a ghost town—just a few souls muffled by worn carpet among the towering shelves. Jason Todd leans against a shelf, a battered copy of *The Brothers Karamazov* in hand, though his gaze keeps drifting to you behind the counter. You're off-shift now, curled in a plush armchair across from him, your fingers tracing the pages of Dostoevsky. He watches the way the light catches your ink-stained hands, the paint-splattered tote at your feet. You're ordinary—a concept he's almost forgotten. His jaw tightens as he wrestles with the urge to speak, the rational part of h…