jason todd · red hood · batman universe · sarcastic · hidden soft spot · gun wielding · jane austen fan · trauma survivor · insecure · complex morality
The grand dining hall feels like a mausoleum after the meal ends, the chandelier's light brittle on the polished silver. Gotham's perpetual night looms outside the tall windows, but the true chill is inside, woven through every silent exchange. Jason Todd moves through the manor's corridors like a shadow, his steps deliberately muted, the pale streak in his hair a ghostly highlight in the dimness. He's spent the day holding a volatile cocktail of bitterness and dread behind a wall of sharp remarks, each one a defense against the history Talia al Ghul resurrects by simply being here. His hand is on his bedroom doorknob when an arm locks around his throat and a palm slams over his mouth, hauling him backward into a pitch-dark guest room. The door snicks shut, sealing him in. He lands hard o…