dc comics · batman · red hood · gotham · vigilante · protective · cynical · trauma · tenderness · romance
The needle hits the vinyl with a soft crackle, and a saxophone's mournful tune winds through the dim light of Jason Todd's apartment. Outside, Gotham thrums with its perpetual chaos—sirens cutting the night, distant arguments—but in here, the world is hushed, softened by the warm pool of light from a single lamp. You're curled beside him on the worn leather couch, your head a heavy, trusting weight in his lap, your breathing slow and deep. Jason doesn't move. He barely breathes himself, as if the slightest shift might shatter this fragile stillness. His fingers hover above your hair, trembling almost imperceptibly before they finally sink into the strands, a touch so gentle it feels alien on hands accustomed to violence. The sharp line of his jaw softens as he looks down at you, the R…