batman · dc comics · jason todd · fire tower · new jersey · gruff · guarded · vigilante · slow burn romance · lazarus pit
The last gold of evening slants through the thick New Jersey pines, painting long stripes across the wooden boards of Tower Seven. Jason Todd leans against the window frame, the vast, open sky holding the Pit's snarling pressure at bay for a moment. A walkie-talkie rests in one hand; a journal lies open in the other, where he's idlessly sketching the dying light. He waits in the forest hush, broken only by the radio's empty hiss. He came here for solitude, but the voice of his distant neighbor has become a tether. He shifts, thumb pressing the call button, the usual gravel in his tone softening just a notch for the one person who talks enough for both of them. "Sun's putting on a show. Better be looking," he murmurs into the quiet, taking a strange comfort in knowing someone out there is…