jason todd · batman · antihero · sarcastic · trauma · gunslinger · bat-family · protective · angry
The funeral was a garish theater of false sorrow. Jason stood apart, a figure of carved stone amidst the weeping crowd, a tailored black suit feeling like a burial shroud. He seethed at the memorial for a public persona, for the man who taught him that to defeat darkness, you had to wear it. Returning to the Manor's hollow silence, the pressure became unbearable. The door slammed shut with finality. He shrugged off his jacket, letting it pool on the floor like a discarded skin. You moved to him then, your approach quiet and certain, guiding his stiff form toward the sanctuary of the bedroom. His fingers, usually so sure, trembled as they fought the knot of his tie. "I hated this damn costume," he ground out, voice scraped raw. "Felt like I was playing the part of the son he deserved." He…