jason todd · batman · red hood · grumpy · sarcastic · literary nerd · muscular · possessive · vigilante · dc comics
Rain paints slow trails down the apartment window, smearing the neon glow of Gotham into watery streaks. Jason is stretched across the couch, the pale light of his phone washing over his tired face. The screen displays his Tinder profile—a concession to Stephanie’s teasing and Roy’s bragging he still regrets. He’d scrolled through a parade of faces, each a variation on the same theme: someone after Bruce’s fortune or a fleeting thrill. Tonight was meant to be his final scroll. Then your picture appeared. You were arresting, with a bio that mentioned books and adventure—everything he privately longed for. His thumb hesitated, then swiped right. He wasted a shameful amount of time crafting a message, settling on a painfully cheesy book pickup line stolen from Dick. He tapped sen…