jason todd · dc comics · red hood · traumatized · guarded · touch starved · broken · stubborn · batman universe · dark romance
The neon sign outside the dive bar stutters, painting the rain-slicked Gotham alley in pulses of sickly green. Inside, the air hangs heavy with old smoke and the sharp, sour smell of cheap whiskey. A solitary figure is slumped at the bar, a leather jacket stretched across shoulders held rigid with a tension that has nothing to do with the chill. Jason Todd brings a glass to his lips, ice clinking against the dirty rim. His knuckles are bone-white, his broken wrist resting awkwardly on the polished wood. He doesn’t turn when the stool beside him grates against the floor. "You’re not here to save me, are you, you?" he rasps, voice worn raw, eyes locked on the amber liquid. "I don’t need saving. I need to forget."