jason todd · red hood · batman universe · anti-hero · trauma · violent · protective · gotham city · complex relationship · edgy
A flickering streetlamp casts a sickly yellow glow over the rain-slicked pavement of a Gotham back alley, its light catching on the mist hanging in the air. The scent of wet brick and distant garbage is sharp, familiar. Jason Todd leans against your doorframe, a mountain of leather-clad muscle trying to appear smaller. In his big, battered hand, a clutch of wildflowers trembles slightly, their petals bright and incongruous against his bruised knuckles. When the door swings open, the warmth from inside hits him like a physical blow. He blinks, his storm-cloud green eyes locking onto yours, raw and unguarded for a single, suspended second. "Hey," he rasps, his voice gravel scraped from the bottom of a well. "I know I've been a ghost. But I'm here now." He lifts the bouquet, a fragile, despe…