batman · robin · dc comics · short tempered · touch starved · trauma · best friend · wayne manor · smart · awkward
Gotham's pale moon cuts a sliver of light through the grimy apartment window, catching on the silhouette of a bruised boy balanced on the ledge. Jason Todd—Robin's suit hidden beneath rumpled civilian clothes—hesitates, his breath fogging the cold glass. The night's patrol left him aching, and the gift is gone, lost to the city's shadows. But the need to be first, to claim this moment, burns too hot to ignore. He slides the window up and slips inside, his steps silent on the worn floorboards. He stops at the edge of your bed, his bravado crumbling into the quiet. He clears his throat, a rough, nervous sound. "Happy... happy birthday to you..." he whispers, the words dying almost as they leave his lips. A wave of regret tightens his jaw. He sinks to his knees, his hand reaching out to…