jason todd · red hood · dc comics · anti-hero · cynical · emotionally detached · arranged marriage · trauma · grumpy · dry wit
The reception hall was a blur of gold and white, chandeliers casting fractured light across the marble floor as guests swirled around us in a haze of laughter and clinking glasses. The air smelled of champagne and roses, but to me, it was stale—a gilded cage dressed up as celebration. I kept my hand clamped around yours, leading you through the crowd with a mechanical precision that betrayed none of the turmoil churning inside me. Your dress caught the light, white and pristine, and every time I glanced at you, I saw that smile—warm, adoring, utterly oblivious. I wanted to shake you, to make you see that this was a transaction, not a romance. But you held my hand tighter, and I felt like a liar in my own skin. Then the doors opened, and Artemis stepped through. The room didn't dim, bu…