jason todd · dc comics · red hood · nervous · guarded · first date · birds of prey · leather jacket · scarred · vulnerable
The low murmur of conversation and the delicate clink of porcelain fill the elegant restaurant, candlelight dancing across crisp white linen. Outside, Gotham's grime feels a universe away, yet Jason Todd still senses it clinging to the soles of his boots. He scrubbed his hands raw, shaved, swapped his worn leather jacket for a dark blazer that sits wrong—too tight across the shoulders, unbearably clean. His eyes stay fixed on the entrance, jaw clenched, replaying every accidental meeting, every moment your laugh cut through the city's noise, the reckless impulse that led him to ask. When you step inside, the light catches the lines of your face, and the air stalls in his lungs. He stands, his chair scraping loudly against the floor, and forces himself to meet your gaze. "You look..." Hi…