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sassycassie-s-writing · 4 years

Text

Playful Friends

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): DC, BatFam - Jason Todd/Red Hood

Rating: PG-11/T-

Original Idea: I have a lot of time to think during my job right now so... yeah.

Notes: (Masterlist)(By Character)(About Me) Been a while since I really wrote and this felt so good!

@welovegroot @jason-redhood @bat-shots @jason-todd-squad

^^^^^

“Jason!” I exclaimed as my friend opened his apartment door to accept me into a big bear hug. I laughed as he squeezed me. “What is up, my dude? I missed you!”

He chuckled, a deep, resonant sound rumbling low in his chest where it pressed against mine, and patted me head. “Not much. Work’s been murder lately,” he said. “But, yeah, I missed you too. It’s been a couple weeks since we could chill. Are you thinking Mario Kart? Because I’m thinking Mario Kart.”

I laughed and let go of the hug. “Oh, you wanna get creamed?” I teased.

“I was thinking more of a rematch for last time,” he replied playfully.

I patted the side of his face. “You’re just mad that I’m better than you at Rainbow Road.”

“No! I’m not!” He paused for a second. “Seriously though, how do you never fall off?”

Winking, I edged around him to slip into his apartment to get out of the cold. “Practice,” I said.

Jason laughed, shut his front door and spun around. He came over to me—I assumed for another hug—but he surprised me by scooping me up, laughing the whole time. I shrieked, scared, before he carried me to his couch and dropped me on it. “There. Now the night can really get started.”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t scare me like that ever again,” I snapped. But the actual anger in my tone was diminished somewhat by my laughing. Jason smirked and flopped onto the couch next to me.

“So, shortstop, what brings you to me tonight?”

I whacked him in the arm. “Stop calling me that! We can’t all be as tall and muscular as you!”

Jason just laughed. “Okay okay. I’ll keep the short jokes to a minimum.”

“Sure you will,” I muttered sarcastically, not believing him for a second.

“I will!”

I scoffed. “Shut up. Let’s just make a homemade pizza and let me whip your butt at Mario Kart.”

Jason laughed again. I loved his laugh. He sounded so genuine.

Actually… that was one of my favorite things about Jason in general. He was just genuine. I knew a lot of fake people—ones who put on masks to hide who they really were. Who detached themselves from other people for one reason or another. But not Jason. Jason was real. He felt his emotions and owned them. At least… he did with me. I’d never really seen him around too many other people. Not even his family. Our friend Roy occasionally crashed our game nights but usually hanging out with Jason was a one-on-one thing. He claimed he liked it better that way.

Which I could understand. It was easier not to have to perform emotions for people. And Jason and I had established that we could be real with each other a long time ago. Any space with just the two of us in it was a no-judgment zone. I’d cried in his arms more times than I had in the presence of any past boyfriend. Because Jason and I got each other.

“Alright. Let’s get started on the food and we can play while it bakes.”

Which is exactly what we did. Between the two of us, Jason was the better cook. I mostly sat on the counter and watched. But he let me put the cheese on so I could pick how much. He filled half of it with his toppings and left the other half plain for me. Then it was in the oven and we were on the couch, probably disturbing the neighbors by shouting at each other about how dare you and don’t you dare red-shell me!

Oops.

Jason dropped his controller on the ground. “How do you beat me at Rainbow Road every. D*&%. Time?!” He ran his fingers through his hair and I caught sight of the white streak that hid under his bangs. He’d never told me how he got it and I never asked, but the curiosity was eating me up inside and had been for years. It just never seemed like the right time to bring it up.

I patted his knee. “Because God or the universe or something decided that I could be better than you at one thing. One single, solitary morsel of existence. And that morsel is Rainbow Road in Mario Kart,” I said.

Jason rolled his eyes. “You are better than me in so many ways. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh sure,” I said.

Jason got up as the oven timer went off. “You are,” he insisted.

“Apart from the fact that I can’t cook to save my life, and my sense of style is far less refined than yours. I snooze my way through classic literature yet I claim to love reading. You are a classy dude—even if you try to hide it under a frat-bro façade. You’re a fantastic cook, really well-read and academic. You dress like the most elegant businessman possible when you want to make an impression. And let me tell you: you make an impression. And then there’s me. I look like a vampire who just emerged from her coffin after a three-hundred-year nap half the time. So yeah. Rainbow Road in Mario Kart is basically the only thing that I’m at better than you,” I said.

Jason had pulled out the homemade pizza in the time it took me to spew all that at him.

“Thanks for the confidence,” he said. “But you’re wrong. Your life is so much more put-together than mine. I am a trash fire about ninety-percent of the time.”

“Then I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree,” I said as Jason slid the pizza off the baking tray and onto a big serving plate and started to slice it up—being careful to keep the toppings separate from the plain side.

“S’pose so,” he agreed.

We dished up the slices we wanted and sat next to each other at his breakfast bar.

A few moments of comfortable silence stretched on between us. We’d always had that easy-going relationship where we understood that we didn’t need to fill every moment with conversation. Hanging out with Jason was basically me-time and I was pretty sure he felt the same way about me.

After a minute, a thought struck me. “Jay, I think you’re working too hard. We should take a trip. Go to… I don’t know. Miami? Orlando? We should just fly to a beach or Disney World for a couple days and get away from everything.”

“Beach is more relaxing, Disney World is more escapist,” Jason mused. “But I can’t just leave Gotham yet.”

“How come?”

“Too busy. I really have to get this project done. But it’s easier when you come over and hang out for a while,” he said.

“Oh yeah?” I teased, raising an eyebrow.

“Hey, if you’re going to tease me about a genuine moment, I could just… not invite you over. I can handle myself just fine on my own, thank you very much,” he said. He took a bite of his pizza to punctuate his point. “I don’t need some girl coming around and poking holes in my pride the way you do.” He had a playful tone to his voice, so I egged him on.

“Then why do you?” I asked. “Hmm? Why do you invite over some girl to poke holes in your pride?”

“Maybe it’s because I think you need some entertainment. Thought you might be getting bored.”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah. Yeah it’s all for you.”

I scoffed. “You are so full of it, Jason Todd!”

“Oh yeah.” He laughed. Then his face sobered up. “But, for real, I wanted you to come over because… there is something I’d like to talk to you about tonight. But not now. When pizza and ice cream are over with.”

I laughed. “Okay. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah it’s fine. It’s just something I’ve been thinking about.”

“Okay.”

We finished our pizza and after waiting a few minutes—playing another couple rounds of Mario Kart that I beat him at—we had digested enough to have a quick dessert. We each had a bowlful of ice cream, laughing and joking around. Jason stuck his spoon on his nose and then tried to lick the ice cream off his nose when the spoon fell.

I sighed and set my bowl on his coffee table, leaning back on the couch. “Oh man. I missed this. How come it’s been like three weeks since I saw you last, man?”

Jason also sighed. “Been busy and… I’ve been kinda trapped in my own head,” he said, setting his bowl on top of mine on the coffee table.

“How come?”

“Op—you’ve got a little bit of…” He reached out and wiped the corner of my mouth with his thumb. “Ice cream,” he finished.

I snickered and wiped at my own mouth. “Thanks. So what’s up? Why have you been stuck in your head?”

Jason took a deep breath and sighed. “Remember the last time we saw each other? We got in that argument?”

“I recall,” I said.

“Don’t bristle. I know you still think you’re right and you probably are. But that’s not what this is about. I’m not trying to restart that argument. I wanted to… explain something else,” he said. I cocked an eyebrow.

“What?” I asked.

“Look. When you and I first met, all those years ago, I knew there was something powerful in your soul. Your fiery spirit. Your emotional and mental strength. It was stunning. And I was very intrigued on how you would use it. Then a few weeks ago when we got in that argument…” He sighed again. “I don’t know. I saw it again. That passion—that drive. And… it was beautiful.

“And… you know, I know Roy likes to joke that I’m a big brother to you. But… is that all I am? Is that all I am… to you?”

Jason reached out and touched my wrist with his fingertips. My mouth was slack but I hadn’t let my jaw drop yet. Was he really saying this?

He wasn’t done yet though. “Is this just me? I’ve seen the way you look at me and maybe I’m delusional but it doesn’t look like a platonic gaze. I could keep acting like I’m cool with this weird limbo between friends and something more—but I’m not. I just… I need you. I’m dying for you.” He took another fortifying breath. “Now, I’m not expecting any sort of immediate answer. Take your time figuring it—umph!”

His sentence was cut short by me leaning forward and planting my mouth on his.

Jason’s whole body relaxed. His shoulders curled forward and his hands slid over my waist. He let out a small, low sound—a cross between a coo of contentment and a moan of relief. I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck.

He withdrew from the kiss just enough to whisper against my lips, “So… is that a…”

“Shut up, Todd,” I teased. “I’ve been waiting for this. I just didn’t want to scare you off.”

Jason laughed. “Sure,” he replied playfully.

I kissed him again, and he reciprocated hungrily.

“I’ve been waiting years to call you mine,” he whispered.

#Playful Friends #Jason Todd #Red Hood #Jason Todd imagine #Red Hood Imagine #Jason Todd FanFiction #Red Hood FanFiction #DC #DC imagine #DC FanFiction

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