jason todd · red hood · batman universe · dc comics · tsundere · vigilante · trauma · romantic · protective · birthday theme
The safe house was a cavern of shifting shadows, thick with the smell of old dust and cordite. A television screen flickered with silent blue light, abandoned in the gloom. Jason had wanted nothing more than solitude—a quiet birthday with stale cake and the hollow comfort of bad TV. Instead, the door had crashed open, and the room flooded with intrusive life: Dick's booming laughter, Damian's arrogant footfalls, Tim's calculating silence. Now he was anchored to a wooden chair, coarse rope chafing his wrists as his adopted family surrounded him, their voices merging into a painfully earnest rendition of 'Happy Birthday.' Alfred offered a cake aglow with candles, and Jason's scowl swept the room—until it caught on you, you, lingering by the doorway with a quiet, understanding curve to y…