#galkyrie writes

[galkyrie]

Just a quick sneak peak for my entry into the Code Red: A Jaytim Fanzine benefiting Doctor's Without Borders! Check it out here:

[cheetahleopard]

tagged by @generatorcat Thank you!!!!! Ahhhh I'm so bored thank you for the tag!!!

Bold all that applies to you: (and I'm kinda elaborating in parenthesis because why not)

APPEARANCE: i’m over 5’5” (5' 5.5") // i wear glasses/contacts // i have blond hair // i prefer loose clothing to tight clothing // i have one or more piercings // i have at least one tattoo // i have blue eyes (usually green but it depends) // i have dyed or highlighted my hair // i have gotten plastic surgery (kind of, Yesterday bay be) // i have or had braces // i sunburn easily (gods too easy) // i have freckles (but not really on my face) // i paint my nails // i typically wear make-up // i don’t often smile // i am pleased with how i look // i prefer nike to adidas (i don't care) // i wear baseball hats backwards

HOBBIES AND TALENTS: i play a sport // i can play an instrument // i am artistic // i know more than one language (used to) // i have won a trophy in some sort of competition // i can cook or bake without a recipe // i know how to swim // i enjoy writing // i can do origami// i prefer movies to tv shows // i can execute a perfect somersault // i enjoy singing // i could survive in the wild on my own // i have read a new book series this year // i enjoy spending time with friends // i travel during school or work breaks (if i can afford it) // i can do a handstand

RELATIONSHIP: i am in a relationship // i have been single for over a year (many years) // i have a crush // i have a best friend i have known for ten years (a couple, at this point)// my parents are together // i have dated my best friend // i am adopted // my crush has confessed to me // i have a long distance relationship (used to)// i am an only child // i give advice to my friends // i have made an online friend (often <3)// i met up with someone i have met online

AESTHETICS: i have heard the ocean in a conch shell // i have watched the sun rise // i enjoy rainy days // i have slept under the stars // i meditate outside // the sound of chirping calms me // i enjoy the smell of the beach // i know what snow tastes like // i listen to music to fall asleep (y'all my spotify listening time is always Wild at the end of year wrap)// i enjoy thunderstorms // i enjoy cloud watching // i have attended a bonfire // i pay close attention to colours // i find mystery in the ocean // i enjoy hiking on nature paths // autumn is my favourite season

MISCELLANEOUS: i can fall asleep in a moving vehicle // i am the mom friend (kinda, I've been branded the dad friend before because rather than Having bandaids I supplied tape and tissue) // i live by a certain quote (kinda, ties into tattoos) // i like the smell of sharpies // i am involved in extracurricular activities (kickboxing, used to do circus but that's not in the cards anymore) // i enjoy mexican food // i can drive a stick-shift (I know how but have never done it in practice) // i believe in true love // i make up scenarios to fall asleep // i sing in the shower (I sing in the bath) // i wish i lived in a video game // i have a canopy above my bed (I WISH) // i am multiracial // i am a redhead // i own at least three dogs

I am tagging uhhh @bi-bats @galkyrie@bones-arent-real@oloreandil

no pressure <3

[precursorgod]

@galkyrie ask and you shall receive

combine this with 3rd robin steph. actually while we're at it let's swap the other robins and non-robins. since it starts with duke... lark 1 to signal duke. batboy 1 to oracle damian. lark 2 to assassin leader orphan cass. lark 3 steph. (throw in a little au of an au where a stephcass amalgamation becomes uh. idk, maiden shiva, renegade to deathstroke? a la joker junior) alvin draper (more informant/stalker and less vigilante) to lark 4 to killed by drones tim. (later retconned to have been abducted by aliens or whatever at the last second.) batboy 2 to character assassination (v important that it sucks) red hood to wingman/arkham knight jason todd. then batboy 3 tim. lark 5 babs. robin dick.

ok back to cass. first canon jason parallels. killed by shiva, gets dunked in the pit, comes back crazy and kills shiva and david cain and calls herself orphan. (that's where the bruce vs cass conflict comes from /j) takes over the league. she still hates killing, so she's decided to kill anyone who refuses to stop killing. 'but cass aren't you killing people yourself-' god forbid women do anything. if jason's pit madness was anger, then cass's is tyranny. she's very much a villain in this arc.

we also need to do to her what fandom does to jason todd. she's in charge of the league of assassins, or at least a large part of it. maybe the loa is having a civil war, between her, ra's, and talia. deathstroke? villain decay time: less crazy now, cass stops killing people and starts horrifically torturing and crippling them instead. brings the loa back to its roots of improving the world by bloody force. tyrant cass. thats the core of the cass vs bruce conflict. sure, bruce wayne has social programs and stuff, but batman is always reactive, rather than active. fandom is with her bc we all wish we could blackmail/torture shitty rich people into doing the right thing, bc they sure as hell won't do it by themselves and the system's fucked. fandom is against her bc thats far too much power for one person to have; absolute power corrupts absolutely; it's unsustainable bc either she dies in which case her system collapses or she abuses the lazarus pit and becomes ra's.

titans tower equivalent: cass goes after steph for canon to establish her as a villain. fanon interpretation is it's bc steph came a little too close to breaking batman's golden rule a few times and pit-mad cass wanted to scare her for that, or cass wanted to scare steph, previously a regular civilian, out of the dangerous vigilante life. something something replacement angst.

evil!jason arc: very important that it sucks and is ignored by fandom except to lambast dc for their terrible writing decisions. jason was previously beaten into a coma by the joker as batboy 2, and the next time we see him he's a classist stereotype, power hungry greedy misogynistic druglord or pimp or whatever. can take the boy from the street but can't the street from the boy. 'be my robin' except it's said to steph. due to backlash, this is retconned as brainwashing via chip the joker inserted to sow discord within the batfamily. lmao just realised that due to his gender this arc would inspire hundreds of mafia boss!jason x author insert!steph jaysteph fics. correction: the evil!jason arc is ignored by everyone except wattpad girlies.

what if we utilised the evil!cass arc for a reverse robins au

[galkyrie]

Chapter 7 of A Pearl is up! Here is a quick preview:

"Tim still hadn't surfaced, the water undisturbed but for the rippling out from the falls. Jason could feel eyes on him anyway and had to fight down a shudder, carefully lowering himself into the dark pool.

This feeling– the notable sense that he was prey in the lair of a particularly interested predator– always made his heart pound, the mere brush of a fin against his calf enough to send gooseflesh rippling across his skin.

Tim was making him wait tonight, nothing but the sense of being watched to accompany him as he swam out to the center of the pool. He tread water lazily, drinking in the afternoon sun while he awaited his love.

The first touch was a careful one, the narrowest part of Tim's tail delicately wrapping around his ankle. It sent a shudder through him, sent his eyes scanning for the breach in the water's surface.

He didn't have to wait much longer until Tim was there, emerging right in front of him with a small smile. Hands circled his waist and he paused his treading, trusting the man to hold him up."

[galkyrie]

7. “This is not what I had in mind. Like. At all.”

This sounds like a very Tim thing to say👀

Tim couldn't help but feel like he was interrupting, that he'd gotten the day wrong. He had let himself into Jay's apartment like he usually did- whenever Jason would perfect his latest recipe, he'd invite Tim over to take pictures of the final result for his recipe journal- and had been expecting the usual smell of toasting sugar or warm chocolate or browned butter to be filling the space. He had expected to be able to set up the ligting and fuss with his camera until it was just right, and let Jason review the pictures while he snuck tastes from the various mixing bowls in the space.

He hadn't expected candles. Or the table to be set for two, or the smell of fresh baked bread and cooking herbs to fill his nostrils, making his mouth water.

He certainly hadn't expected the realization that he'd likely interrupted Jason preparing for a date to make him so-

He breathed out, pushing away the prickly feeling in his chest at the idea, and spoke when he was sure he could go for lighthearted without it seeming feigned.

"I thought you were baking today?" He fidgeted with the shoulder strap of his bag instead of looking over to where the man was leaning over the stove, stirring something that smelled amazing. It probably would've been better to slip back out of the apartment as quietly as possible and double check the dates on his burner phone used exclusively for keeping in contact with Jason, but-

That little pit of disappointment that this wasn't for him was making him reckless. Selfish in his urge to prod and possibly see if Jason had just forgotten about their thing in favor of some romantic gesture-

That he...wanted to be for him. Okay. That was- that was new. When he'd started hanging out with him- or really, when he'd shouldered his way into making Jason let him help with his hobby- that wasn't what he had in mind. Like, at all.

He definitely should've slipped out the front the moment he'd seen candles and gone home to lick his wounds, because this was not the time or the place to be dealing with that particular revelation.

"I baked yesterday." Jason was gruff when he answered, interrupting Tim's panic over his newly-realized and thoroughly unwelcome feelings in favor of confirmation that yes, he had messed up his days.

Instead of kicking him out, Jason kept talking. Tim couldn't quite believe it. He'd gotten the day wrong and stumbled upon him pulling together an amazing smelling candlelit dinner that was almost done and instead of shooing him out of the apartment, he just shot him one of his easy grins. "Yeah, been bakin' all week. Had to get a new recipe together fast."

"Why the rush?" Tim tried to sound casual, setting his bag down on the counter and focusing entirely too much on retrieving his camera.

"Well I had to get something together after I found out I missed your birthday, Tim." He shot him a meaningful look. probably broadcasting disappointment in him. "Why didn'tcha let me know last week that it was your birthday? I had to read it in the society pages of the Gazette."

"Um," Tim set his camera down, finally meeting Jason's gaze head on. "It was?"

"You forgot?" Jason sounded flabbergasted, turning away from the stove to look at him fully. "Seriously?"

"I was on a mission! Time was weird there," Tim defended, "I'm still adjusting to what month it is, and it's not a big deal anyways-"

"-Big deal or not," Jason pointed at him with a spoon, "Your friend who bakes would've liked some forewarning before having to cobble together an actually edible version of your favorite cake."

"First of all, Snoballs are actually great," Tim jumped to tread over familiar ground, because-

Jason spent days baking a, probably much better, replica of his favorite snack cake and Tim showed up the day they were supposed to meet to the man preparing a candlelit dinner. He cast a furtive glance to he table, at the warm glow of the setting, and bit the inside of his cheek to suppress the sappy smile wanting to take over his face.

Maybe he was right where he was supposed to be, after all.

[galkyrie]

*bats eyes* trick or treaaat

I dont even know whats going on im just a copy cat, i guess is tumblr halloween. Anyway candy candy candy

Hello Kriz! Here's a scene for unnamed future fic:

"You're just some kid," the green-haired man sneered, rictus smile doing little to mask the rage in his eyes. "You think you're going to kill me? I'm the Clown Prince of Crime!"

"I understand," Tim replied coolly, his nerves well masked as he feigned inspecting his nails, "you think you're better than this." Tim waved his hand airily, gesturing around the windowless room. "After everything you've done, all the people you've hurt- you'd at least earned going out with a bang, right?"

Tim smiled, a grim little thing. The Clown glared harder at him from his spot in the chair. He watched as the man shifted slightly, attempting to loosen his bonds-

It wouldn't work. Tim was nothing if not incredibly, terribly thorough. It wasn't arrogance to say he had the Clown exactly where he wanted him- it was a result of preparation.

Joker seemed to pick up on his predicament, the longer he went on letting him struggle. Eventually he spoke up again, usually shrill voice heightened in panic.

"Batsy's gonna swoop in and stop you, you little pest! He'd never let me-"

"-Batman is on an off-world mission for the next two days." Tim interrupted, stepping further into the room. "That gives us plenty of time."

[galkyrie]

3 and 8 jaytim ? 💕

3. “…I mean, I can’t say I’m upset about this unexpected development.”

8. “…I was flirting for fun.” 

"...I was flirting for fun," Tim said with an arched brow, an airy wave of their hand batting away the very notion that the men who'd been falling over themselves to get their attention had meant anything. "And for practice, since you pointed out how much of that I needed." Tim punctuated the statement with a pointed sip of the lemonade Jason had fetched for them as an excuse to get a moment of their time- which, he was discovering, was increasingly difficult to come by. Tim seemed to have adjusted to being the belle of the freakin' ball quite nicely.

To be fair to Tim- Jason had said that, back when he'd realized the predicament they were in and the level of scrutiny Tim was going to be under after stumbling their way into becoming the Queen's Diamond of all things- which had been difficult to explain and embarrassing to admit he knew quite as well as he did-

But it was one thing to know it needed to be done and to see Tim doing such a convincing job. If they managed to get out of this universe in one piece, Tim's ingenue act was going to be perfect. They'd have men falling over themselves to get them whatever they wished at the bat of an eye.

Not that Tim had a hard time with that back on their Earth, either.

"Well congratulations, Thea." Jason murmured, watching Tim's lip twitch in barely concealed distaste for their universal counterpart's name, "you are certainly well practiced, now."

Tears filled Tim's eyes, but they held his firm despite the clear hurt on their face. "It is the conceit of a brute to presume to keep someone by way of hurting them." They said, primly setting their glass back on the crystal saucer and onto a nearby table.

"Thea-"

"-Goodnight, Mr. Wayne." Tim curtsied, the smile on their lips just shy of cutting. "Perhaps some more practice in the art of conversation is in order before we speak again." Before Jason could scramble for a response, another potential suitor had stepped in and swept them off to the dance floor, leaving him with a warming glass of lemonade and a bruised ego.

_____

"We're certainly going to be mentioned after our little tiff," Tim was grinning down at him from the hayloft, legs swinging idly in the air. Jason relaxed, minutely, oddly pleased to see whatever upset he'd caused had seemed to pass.

He moved, hauling himself up the ladder until he could sit beside them. "I hope she's not too harsh on you." He admitted, glancing Tim's way.

They laughed, shaking their head of carefully pinned curls and shot him an easy grin, "not any harsher than my mom was." They leaned into his side, bumping his shoulder lightly, "she decided the carriage ride home was the perfect venue to remind me what a catch you are." They teased lightly, chuckling at the absurdity of the whole scenario.

Jason winced, rubbing the back of his head. "Y'don't think it was too early to play the 'jealousy' angle?" If he was being honest- he probably wouldn't have been able to wait on that front, anyways. The men in this universe were far too comfortable talking amongst themselves about potential matches, and after an afternoon of brandy, cigars, and Tim being the subject of conversation, he'd felt...

Protective would've been appropriate, but no- it was far too proprietary for that. He'd felt possessive. He hadn't been upset with Tim's dance card filling up because he was concerned they couldn't handle themselves- he was pissed because there wasn't room for him on it.

Every hand on their waist that wasn't his- every lead Tim had followed that night and every laugh another man had earned from them- it would've been impossible to feel anything but jealousy. That was...definitely something he was going to have to figure out, once they were back in their own universe.

"It seems fitting for the genre," Tim said with a shrug, "you get fake-jealous and imply I'm being a harlot, I get fake-hurt and call you a brute- the tension eventually builds to one of those hate-love confessions at the climax of the story," Tim snapped their fingers for effect, "and we're out of this escape room made by horny idiots and back in our world."

"That easy, huh?" Jason looked at him sideways, skeptical. It'd been his own idea, but- it looks like it was working on him as much as it was the world itself.

"I mean, if it's not that easy- at least it's you, y'know?" Tim shot him a sidelong glance, small smile playing across his lips.

"Yeah, Prettybird." Jason agreed, "we'll get out of here." And even if it did take more convincing than playing along, well- Jason wasn't disappointed in this development- all his jealousy dissipating in the light of that conspiratorial grin. Whatever happened going forward- they were in it together.

[galkyrie]

Chapter 23 of Fates' Design is out now!

[cheetahleopard]

Fic Stats Meme

Rules: Give us the links to your fic with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the least words.

I was tagged by @themandylion Thank you!!! I very rarely look at my stats and when I do it's for my wordcount rather than anything else so this was very interesting to me

Most Hits: Small Things (White Collar/Batman Snippets) (52,970) Unsurprising

2nd Most Kudos: Small Things (White Collar/Batman Snippets) (2,678) This one was interesting to me it was beat by a much shorter BSD fic with far fewer comments (aka the kudos-comment ratio on the BSD fic was rancid)

3rd Most Comments: (Life) Turning Around (78 comment threads) and also the aforementioned BSD fic (with 6,472 kudos)

4th Most Bookmarks: A ring on hand (A ring on record) (341) This is my favorite fic I've written for DC so I'm happy to see it

5th Most Words: And It All Settles at 10k which for me is a lot! Fun fact I wrote this all in like. a week because I was trying to force myself to write longer things and it was a. Rough time and it was also around when engagement in HQ!! began to drop off (in the sense of appreciating artists efforts and showing it vs viewing them as "content creators" who are obligated to create stuff to be consumed) so overall I have less love for this than I should, because I did a great job expanding my wordcount. The only other things I've done that are about that length were for zines, collaborations, or the prequel that was also a "force this longer" fic

Least Words: I mean, drabbles in my collections.

A lot of the people I would tag have already been tagged lol I tag @galkyrie @bi-bats @chibinightowl

[galkyrie]

Inspired by this post and its notes (and by that I mean it refused to leave me alone until I wrote these scenes)

Jason tried not to make going to the ‘Cave a habit. No, he much preferred to conduct any Bat-related business in as close to neutral turf as possible, but- 

Tim. Tim was in the ‘Cave, had been manning the comms for the group all night as he nursed a couple bruised ribs. Oracle was away on Birds’ business, so the responsibility of playing coordinator had fallen onto his lap while he recovered. 

It made him easy to find, luckily. Jason wanted to have a chat with the little bird.

“Hey Babybird,” he tried to keep the thrilled, self-satisfied smugness out of his tone as he climbed off his bike and tugged off his helmet, but- 

This was just too good.

The numbers- courtesy of the magic user and dimension-jumper they’d had to coordinate taking down last week- had appeared just as they’d managed to shove him back into the universe he’d come from. A parting gift in the form of a spell. 

May you all see what you truly are. 

It’d been ominous, but anytime a magic used opened their mouths was a pretty ominous fuckin’ moment in his book. And nothing had come of it, not really. Just these- numbers, hanging over their heads silently. Only seen by one another, and seemingly nonsensical. 

Until tonight. 

“Jason, what are you-” Tim turned in the leather computer chair in front of the set of monitors, mug of coffee in hand as he moved to greet him. He stopped, looked above his head with a furrowed brow. “Your number went up.” Jason couldn’t help the smirk that spread across his face as he ambled over to the platform, neither pausing nor bothering to give Timmy his space as he responded. 

“Yeah, funny thing. I ran into someone I’ve been lookin’ for while goin’ about my business tonight- real scum of the earth type, yeah? He’d just gotten off on another rape charge on a technicality- it went about as well as you can guess.” He spun the helmet in his hands lazily before setting it to his side, leaning against the desk and grinning down at a stone-faced Red Robin. “Imagine my surprise when I got back from that little meetin’ to find my number’d gone up.” 

If the cause was surprising news, Tim didn’t let on. “I see.” His tone is level, even. It meant nothing- gave nothing away, about how Drake was feeling. 

“And it got me wonderin’, Prettybird,” Jason added, lips twitching in amusement as the nickname did not draw out the usual faint scowl on Tim’s lips. It was as good a tell as any that the neutrality in his features was an act. “Why your number is hovering around triple what I’ve got hanging over my head.” 

He leaned over, taking full advantage of their comparative sizes and Tim’s seated position to loom, a taunting grin spread across his lips. “How’d’ya think Daddy Bats is gonna take to his perfect little soldier bein’ no better than his biggest failure?” He reached down, taking an errant lock of hair between his gloved fingers before adding, “bein’ three times worse?” 

Tim looked up at him, glacial blue eyes taking in the triumphant grin on his face and finally emoted. 

He laughed.

“I guess we’ll find out, won’t we Jay?” He took the moment of surprise- fully fuckin’ earned, because the little shit just laughed at him holding destroying his life over his head- to push back in the seat, rolling away enough to get standing. “When you tell him, that is. I’m assuming you are going to tell him, yes? That’s why you’re dangling this in my face first?” 

Tim looked his way, head tilted in that studying-a-bug way of his that always made him feel both small and about to be skewered. Jason blinked his way, sure he was broadcasting just how off-kilter he currently was-

“I thought one of you would figure it out eventually, but- honestly my money was on Dick before you.” Tim gave him a grin, small and conspiratorial, seeming utterly amused by the truth coming out. 

Jason was at a fuckin’ loss. “What’d you do, to get that number?” 

“Oh no, that’s not how this is going to go.” Tim laughed again, shaking his head. “We’re not going to share stories, Jay. You didn’t come here to do that. And it wasn’t to warn me, tell me you were so sorry but you had no choice but to tell the others. You’re gloating. You came here,” and Tim stepped closer, that grin and gaze sharpening enough to cut, “to make me squirm.” 

Tim stopped in front of him, just barely within reach as he regarded him. He wasn’t in the Red Robin uniform- opting instead for a loose hoodie hanging over the sleek black athletic wear used by most of them when running training exercises. He looked underprepared to fight him and unconcerned by the prospect, the combination of which managed to turn his looming back around on him. 

“I’m afraid this isn’t going to get me there, Jason.” The cool condescension in his tone killed any quip he might’ve come up with for the innuendo in their tracks, making him sneer. “But go ahead,” Tim waved his hand, turning to gesture towards his helmet, “I’m sure everyone would love to hear it.” 

“You’re bluffing.” He didn’t even sound positive to his own ears. He’d- this was not what he’d been expecting. He’d been thinking he might get denial, a fight, maybe. Not cold, calculated acceptance of the revelation and this...heel-turn. 

Tim huffed another laugh, meeting his eyes again. “Feel free to call it, then. Do you think Bruce will even remember my number when he finds out what the one hanging over him means?” 

“Do you really think he’ll believe you, when his whole idea of himself is at stake?” Fuck, Tim was right and that grin on his face did little to hide that he knew it. “Your word’s worth more than it used to be, Jay- but nobody’s is worth that much.” 

Fuck. He’d have to prove it. “This isn’t over.” He promised, narrowing his eyes at the little bird. 

“I wouldn’t dare assume otherwise.” Tim eyed him coolly, watching as he straightened and yanked his helmet off the desk. 

“You know- I might be a fuckin’ asshole, Tim. But you’re ice cold.” And his judgement was probably less than meaningless to the man, considering he’d come here fully expecting to rub this in his face, but-

“So I’ve been told.” Tim shot back, sounding bored, “now do you mind plotting elsewhere? Some people didn’t abandon their patrols to play mind games and I have a job to get back to.” He gestured back to the computer, easing into the chair and returning to the monitors. 

Jason stormed out, trying not to let the curveball that was this entire interaction get to him. Tim- seemingly adept at finding new ways to be infuriating when given any opportunity- was right about one thing. Bruce wasn’t going to believe him if he just told him. 

He’d have to show him.

...

Tim made it until the roaring of Jason’s bike faded into the distance before his head was between his knees, forcing himself out of the instinctual hyperventilation he’d been trying to avoid since the moment Jason had told him why his number had gone up. 

So- it was over. Tim’d killed people- a lot of people. He hadn’t- god he hoped his bluff had bought him some time, that he hadn’t just goaded Jason into finding Bruce in person and telling him. 

Hope wasn’t enough and he didn’t have time to lose it now. He stood- probably too fast, since he was lurching to the side of the platform just to empty the contents of his stomach over the side. God, he’d- he’d killed people. 

He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, grimaced at the acid clinging to his tongue before forcing himself to get it together. 

The first thing he did was get onto the ‘Cave recording and delete any record of his conversation with Jay- the Hood’s would be a problem, probably having picked up the entirety of his act from its spot on the desk. 

Jason could just go show that to Bruce. That brought down his possible time-table considerably.

Tim moved quickly after that, grabbing every bit of gear he thought he’d need to get out of Gotham and quickly divesting his motorcycle of every piece of tech that could be tracked. 

It came out easily, considering he’d designed it with something like this in mind, someday. 

And- sure, his idea hadn’t exactly been ‘turns out you’ve murdered a few hundred people’ that would be the final nail in the coffin, but- 

Bruce had been vocally disappointed at him considering where to draw his own line with Boomerang, no killing required. Enough so that he’d planned a few exits, should the need arise. 

Yeah, seemed like the need was there. He had to go, like, yesterday. 

He kept his own readout tracking the rest of the Bats’ movements- Jason was sure to act if his control of the comms seemed amiss. Luckily he tended to keep things quiet on the group comm anyways, unless something big was going down. 

Thank god it was a slow night. Outside of Jason, apparently, committing a murder. 

Not that he could judge. 

He got to one of his safehouses tucked away from anybody’s current route, logging into the Nest’s system from the pared down system inside. He set a countdown and activated subroutines that would be necessary for the rest of them to go on without him- and not find him, hopefully. 

After that he bought bus, plane, and train tickets in every direction under every alias he could afford to burn. 

He used none of them, abandoned his bike at the border of Chinatown and backtracked to execute the rest of his plan. He didn’t break down, not when he successfully crept through the marina to the small, solar-powered yacht he’d carefully kept off the books and got aboard. He didn’t fall apart, when he’d carefully slipped below deck and into the dimly lit space that was to serve as his home until he’d managed to put as much distance between himself and Gotham- and seven or eight of its residents in particular- as possible. 

A buzzy, distant kind of calm washed over him as he carefully, purposefully changed once more into clothes more suited for sailing, and tested just how silent the electric motor was as he undocked and left Gotham’s tainted waters in the rearview. 

[galkyrie]

First Kiss

Jason had thought about kissing Tim before. Early in the morning, when the pre-dawn sky was signaling their time in the shadows was up for the night, he thought about it. Sometimes, Tim'd look at him a little too long or his lips would quirk into a little too lopsided of a grin- the real one, the one reserved for his friends- and he'd think about it.

Moments like now, when the only clear way out of the unbelievably shitty situation they were in was certain death. Sacrifice, for the greater good.

Watching Tim fight against unbeatable odds, the downturn of his lips broadcasting he'd come to a similar conclusion about the way out of this? He wanted to throw his helmet off and kiss him for the first time. For the last time.

Jason loved this city. So fervently that it once felt like there was no room for anything else. He could do good here, still- had been doing good. Making his second lease on life really count.

He lived for this city.

But-

He'd die for Tim. If it was gonna be one of them- and nobody else was even close enough to the breach to be a factor, too busy trying not to be overrun- it should be him. It seemed fitting to have to do this in an old cathedral.

"Babybird," the endearment sounded off coming out of the helmet, far too monotone for the affection it carried when it left his lips. "I'm trustin' you to take care of my turf-" he kept himself calm as he spoke, ducking when Tim signaled and launched himself into the air from his shoulders, tossing disks in a rapid-fire spin.

"Shouldn't be too hard for ya- seein' as you live there already-" Bruce was fighting his way up to their position by the breach, Jason noted- probably having done the same math they had regarding their odds. He wasn't going to make it down the pews to the chancel in time to take either of their places, not at this rate.

"Hood, you don't-" Tim started to argue, landing in a roll before stabbing at one of the invading creature's joints with his bo and twisting until he heard a crack. Jason'd usually compliment the fancy footwork, but there wasn't time. Wasn't time to argue, either.

"You don't see any better option-"

"It doesn't have to be you-"

"It can't be you." His tone left zero room to argue. He- for all the good he did- Tim was better. Balancing the work in the light of day and in the dark- knew himself well enough to be able to walk up to his own line and work with people who crossed it without losing himself. He was Bruce if the man could truly wrestle the darkness and win. He wasn't an echo screaming out in that dark.

"Tim," the man's fighting was taking on a frantic edge- this argument was going to be meaningless if Tim got sloppy and got himself killed. "Take care of them for me, promise?"

"I," Tim spun again, driving his staff through a mechanical lens and activating the stun function with all that built up momentum, "I will." It was almost too quiet to hear. "I'll take care of them all." He promised, flicking his wrist and setting the ring of planted disks around them to ignite.

It bought them a moment in the onslaught- apparently all that Tim needed, because he was pressed up close and flying through the steps to unlock his hood before Jason could process the explosions around them.

Lips pressed to his, slightly chapped from the frigid winter air. It was everything he could've asked for in that moment, months of working cases together, sharing late-night meals, trading lingering glances clicked into focus.

He didn't dwell on how many of those moments- how many idle daydreams would've been able to come true, if only he'd done this when they'd had time-

Tim had done everything he could to buy them this much. It wouldn't do to use it to despair.

He kissed him back, guns dropping in favor of gripping his waist to savor the moment.

"I love you," Tim declared, resolute when he broke the kiss. "Remember that," he added, and Jason felt the blade slice through his hand.

Tim didn't hold back, using every bit of force to drive the knife through his hand and into the altar behind them.

Jason screamed, the pain spiking along his nerves a pale imitation of the wrenching feeling as he watched Tim bolt for the breach and leap into it. The tear in the universe shuddered, and Jason got a grip on the bloody hilt of his own blade and yanked hard. He wrenched himself free, heedless of the pain in his desperation to get to the breach before it-

Energy burst through the breach, hurling him back with the force of it. Bruce raced forward, catching his body as it was thrown back before he could make impact with the cold stone wall. Jason couldn't hear anything, eyes glued to where the tear folded in on itself, the only indication that he was still yelling the burn in his throat as the breach vanished, taking Tim with it.

[galkyrie]

Literally! Sharing! A sweater! (or feeling each others pulse, for the angst potential :3c)

(Agh this took me a LONG time to figure out a fun way to do this but aaaah I like this, ridiculous idiots the both of them)

After three years together, Jason had thought he'd seen all stages of sleep-deprived Tim.

This one was new.

"What're you doin', Babybird?" Jason looked up from his book to eye the man standing- swaying, if he was going to be totally accurate- in front of him.

They'd been in a quiet standoff for the past six hours, when Tim had steadfastly refused to take a nap and Jason had stubbornly resolved not to go to sleep either until he did. Tim had been agitatedly performing lab work while Jason pretended to read and waxed poetic about how comfortable the cot he'd dragged from the medbay since then. Every time Tim insisted he was 'fine' Jason had acted like the thread count on the blankets he'd wrangled had doubled.

"Two hours and forty minutes." Tim muttered, making a move to join him on the cot he'd appropriated for his standoff. He grumbled but shifted to allow the man to join him. Tim blinked blearily down at him, pouting.

"What's in two hours and forty minutes?" Jason asked.

"The chromatography for the new Venom strain'll be ready. I think I got the compounds isolated and ready for identification, but-" Tim explained, miraculously managing not to slur his words.

"-It's gonna take two hours and forty minutes, I'm guessing?" The man tucked himself under the blanket Jason had been using and wriggled in close. Apparently sleep deprivation made him less concerned about being under surveillance and more inclined to be all over him, because he made a disgruntled noise when his hands met the soft knit of his sweater instead of skin.

"This ain't the Nest, Babybird." Jason tried to remind the exhausted man, who was now sliding his hands down his chest like it didn't matter if they were in the privacy of his home or in the middle of a fuckin' gala.

"No kidding- it's not this fucking cold in the Nest. And my mass spec is better." Tim grumbled, and Jason tried not to jump as his cold hands met the warm skin when he got under the hem of his sweater. Tim made a triumphant noise before apparently deciding he might as well be a total weirdo and shimmying down the length of his torso until his face was level with said hemline.

"Tim-" Jason's face flared with heat, hands preparing to push him back if Tim's sleep deprivation meant he'd totally disregarded the notion that anyone could walk in on them and see how fun he could make the wait-

"You're warm," Tim sighed, nuzzling the soft skin of his abdomen where the sweater had rucked up. Jason stared at the cave ceiling for a moment, fighting back and urge he had to let his cuddly boyfriend have his probably-delirious way with him.

"And you need to sleep-" Jason tried to scold, fighting down the shudder as hands slid up his torso.

"I'm gonna." Tim actually whined, having the nerve to sound defensive. Jason opened his mouth to argue, point out that running the icicles he called fingers over his ribs while he pressed his face into his stomach was not sleeping. "I'm getting comfy."

Jason didn't have anything to say to that. Not because there wasn't anything to say about the ridiculous display. No, he didn't say anything because Tim took that moment to burrow under his sweater along with him, sliding up his torso until he was in the same spot Jason usually pulled him to when they actually got a moment to stop and nap.

Jason usually had him on the outside of his shirt, however.

Tim let out another sigh, making the weird lump stretching out his sweater sound utterly content. Jason could feel, but not see the cheek pressed to his chest, arms looping around his shoulders from under the fabric as well.

"You're such a little lunatic," Jason griped as Tim tucked his face into the crook of his neck, making a pleased noise when Jason's arms circled his frame despite his complaining.

"And you're perfect," okay, Tim was definitely starting to slur now. "P'rfect an' warm an' s'ft-"

"I'm gonna use you as a bookstand," Jason ignored the heat flaring in his face with a huff, grabbing the paperback he'd set aside when Tim had stomped over.

"Mmkay," Tim nuzzled his neck again. It was the last thing he said before he crashed, breaths falling into an even rhythm.

Jason tried to continue reading, but the warm weight of his boyfriend holding him close- even if he had been a weird little weasel about it- had him drifting off. It wasn't long before he was setting the book aside and curling around the ridiculous man in his arms, resolving to crow about his victory in their battle of wills when Tim was coherent enough to be grumpy about it.

[galkyrie]

i wish you would write a fic that’s just jason simping for tim, except tim can actually hear it

Oh man poor Jason, let's do this lmao

“Ever since you lost the cowl I’m half convinced I gotta follow you ‘round on patrol to keep you outta trouble.” Hood jokes as he lands on the roof beside Red Robin, easing into his usual spot beside the vigilante. It’d become a routine he enjoyed- them meeting up when their patrols intersected once a week, sharing a few minutes of bullshit or a snack or just the quiet reassurance of the presence of an ally among a city of threats. It was a routine he’d missed while on his last trip with the Outlaws. Judging by the way Tim lights up when he turns to look at him- he’s not the only one.

“I don’t look that young.” Tim answers with a snort before taking a gulp from his water.

“It ain’t about lookin’ young. You’re the kind of pretty no fuckin’ domino can hide, Babybird. Makes a guy worry about your well-being and wanna stare at you all night in the moonlight.” Jason says before he can stop himself, eyes going wide as soon as his brain catches up with his mouth. Tim chokes on his drink, sputtering. He’s still coughing when Jason starts fucking talking again, words falling unbidden from his lips.

“What the fuck. I didn’t mean to say that. I definitely thought it; not like any of that’s exactly new, but-” Tim’s staring at him. Fuck. He wishes he could see the blue of his eyes instead of the white lenses. They’re so pretty at night- turning Gotham’s light pollution into something beautiful reflected back. What he can see of Tim’s face goes pink when he sincerely informs him as much.

“Hood- have you encountered anything strange lately? Maybe on your last mission?” The serious set to his mouth is comforting- at least the man isn’t laughing at him over this. He does his best to try and trace back the last dumb bullshit he encountered was- and let out a horrendous stream of curses as he realizes he’d walked right into this.

Jason hadn’t killed anyone in a long while- well, he hasn’t actively sought out making someone specific dead in a while- but the asshole magic user he and Roy had stopped from draining the life force of an entire town might be the first in a while. “Fuckin’ warlock worshiping Eris, I shit you not.” 

“Wow, I definitely want that story once we figure this out, but- we should- let’s get you to the ‘Cave.” Tim sounds strained. “Maybe we can find a way to reverse this-” 

“Good thinking. You’re so smart, Red. It’s another thing that makes me crazy about you-” A gauntleted hand claps over his mouth before he can volunteer more shit straight from the part of his brain carefully reserved for ‘thoughts on Tim Drake.’ It was supposed to be a vault where he shoved these thoughts as soon as they came and then promptly resealed- but someone had blown the fuckin’ door wide open. That someone was gonna pay. 

“Okay! Right- so this seems like a pretty strong compulsion. So. I can just-” Tim kept his hand over his mouth, looking down and grabbing the hood from his grasp. “-have you made a stealth setting?” Jason nodded against the hand pressing to his lips, not even able to pretend he wasn’t enjoying even this amount of contact. The wizard was going to die for revealing to Tim just how pathetic he was.

“Okay, cool.” Tim nods, apparently pleased with his plan. Jason scrambles to pull on the helmet before he can say anything else, cutting off an invitation for Tim to keep his hands on him halfway through. It muffles the confessions of his affections, allowing him to go on about the many and varied ways he admires Tim in relative privacy. 

He’s not sure it’s better, considering it’s leaving Tim to assume. He should know exactly how he feels in his words- not whatever self-deprecating escape hatch the man in front of him is trying to find in the one-sided silence.

This is humiliating. But try as he might, he can’t bring himself to leave Tim’s side- spare them both the embarrassment of him running his mouth. Seems the compulsion also extended to how badly he wanted to stay close to Tim. Hopefully the physical part of this compulsion didn’t escalate to any other desires. He thought of how he’d gotten back from the mission with almost a single-minded focus on getting to their usual rendezvous point. It was embarrassing to realize he was so used to wanting to be around him that he hadn’t even found skipping dinner in favor of seeking him out to be odd. 

“I’ve got Redbird en route. I don’t want you driving in this state- just ride with me.” Jason nodded, already relieved he didn’t have to focus on the road in his state. He’d much rather watch Tim in action. He’s good at driving- he’s good at everything. He wants- needs to tell him. The hood starts to itch like crazy, a maddening obstacle in his path. 

He manages to grit through the itching for half the drive. “Fuck, that hurts-” are thankfully the first words out of his mouth, though Tim’s looking his way in blatant concern. 

“-You okay?” Tim responding to him immediately eases the ache. 

“-Now that you’re listening, yeah.” He wiped a hand over his face, checking for hives. 

“Oh.” Tim chews on the implications of his words for a moment, before setting his jaw and looking resolutely out the front window. “Then, I’ll keep listening.” It’s all it takes for the floodgates to open. 

“Every day I get to see you is better for it, no matter what shit goes down. You give me one’a your rare little smiles or laugh at something I say and I-.” Tim makes a soft noise, quiet enough that the engine nearly drowns it out, eyes staying on the road. “-I think about it all the time. Making you laugh or smile. Think about what it’d be like to get to take care of you. You don’t take the best care of yourself- like you’re an afterthought and I- you’re not. Not to me.” Oh god, he’s pretty sure he’d prefer the burning to the pained expression that flits across Tim’s pretty features at that- “I’m sorry, Tim-” He scrambles to make that expression go away, anything is better than seeing the man hurting. 

“-I’m sorry.” Tim cuts him off, voice thick as he weaves through traffic with effortless ease. Getting to the ‘Cave and getting him fixed seems to have kicked up to an actual emergency judging by the way he’s driving. The rejection stings. Even if it’s not surprising, that knowing it was the only possible outcome was the reason he’d held it back for as long as he had, it still- hurts. “-you shouldn’t be forced to tell me any of this.” Tim continues, not risking a glance in his direction. Jason’s almost grateful to not have to see the pity undoubtedly in his gaze. 

“I never wanted to put you in this position, Prettybird.” He admits. “I know I’ve got no right to want anything from you-”

“-You haven’t done anything wrong.” Tim grits out, “some asshole magic user forcing this out of you as retribution- I’m so sorry, Jay.” 

Jason’s pretty sure the speed at which they make it to the ‘Cave is a record, tires squealing to a stop once they’re safely inside. Bruce and Alfred are already there, both rushing over. Tim meets them as Jason takes his time getting out of the passenger seat. Tim wasn’t interested- was gently and carefully avoiding even saying as much in a way that made his chest ache in affection and sorrow- and was filling them in on the details. He just- he needed the moment Tim was giving him to get himself together. 

“Jason.” Bruce is heading over once he does get himself under enough control to know he’s not going to start crying in front of the three men. “Can you lie to me?” He does, easily. He lies to Alfred with the same level of difficulty as normal- more than Bruce, but not impossible. 

Turns out he can lie to them about anything but Tim, something he’s sure all three of them regret once he starts answering their questions about the man down to the smallest detail. Bruce and Alfred both have vaguely pained expressions on their faces as he waxes poetic about Tim’s fucking bone structure as he watches the little bird get onto the network and start contacting people who can fix this. 

“Zat’s coming.” Tim interrupts the train of thought he was voicing about how hot it was that Tim was scarily efficient before it can gather too much steam, shooting Jason an apologetic grimace. “Sorry to subject you to Zach but he’s the one that owes me-” 

“Zatanna was not available?” Bruce butts in, shooting Tim a look. 

“No, sorry. Look- I’m not exactly thrilled to call him in either-” Tim pinches the bridge of his nose and huffs. It's adorable. Jason’s pretty sure he coos, judging by the pink crawling up Tim’s neck. “He’s gonna give me so much shit for this.” And that wasn’t good- Jason didn’t want to mess anything up for Tim, not with his allies. 

“Prettybird-” He starts, ignoring the way Bruce and Alfred’s eyebrows raise at the endearment, “you don’t gotta waste a favor on me-” 

“-You deserve to keep your feelings to yourself,” and Tim deserves not to have to hear them, “and Zat’s not that bad.” He assures with a wave of his hand and a small smile. 

Jason can’t help but disagree once he meets the guy. For one, he spends a solid five minutes laughing after Tim explains the situation. He’s not much better about it once he’s actually performing the ritual to tease out the details of his specific curse. “Sorry,” Zat says with a smirk sent Tim’s way that makes Jason kinda want to smack him. “I’ve got an antidote- but you’re not gonna like it.” 

“I’ll do whatever-” 

“Unfortunately, you can’t fix it. Eris is the goddess of chaos, and apparently the most chaotic way to mess with you is to make you honest with Red about something I’m assuming you were never gonna get the nerve to say.” Zach doesn’t wait for him to respond, gesturing to Tim. “The only way to break the curse is to get this boy to be honest back. Couldn’t have been crafted more expertly if they’d known who the object of your heart’s desire was. Sorry, man.” 

Tim blanched, eyes widening behind the domino in a brief flash of panic before smoothing out into a forced calm. Oh. Jason’s heart clenches at the thought, of having to hear the rejection Tim had been delicately skating around since this started. It was inevitable, had been since the moment he’d started feeling this way, but- fuck, this wasn’t fair. 

“Okay, then. Thanks Zat. I’ll um- do that.” Zach snorts, somewhat disbelieving, but does take his leave. Tim fidgets once the man is gone, peeling off his domino and eyeing Bruce and Alfred. “Can you guys, uh. Give us a minute?” Tim was so sweet, letting him down easy in private. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe he’d be cured and able to slink away to lick his wounds without having to see the other two men until he was well and truly over it.

“Tim, you don’t gotta be so worried about how I’m gonna take it, I already know-” He rushes to assure him once the two men made their way up to the manor. His heart had been broken the moment he realized this conversation was inevitable- 

“-I’m sorry,” Tim looks up at him, blue eyes wide, “I know you didn’t want me to know and it’s not fair that this is how I found out-” he lets out a harsh sigh, visibly gathering his courage before continuing, “I-” Tim cuts himself off, making a frustrated noise and shaking his head.

He apparently decides using words for honesty is too hard, because he stalks into Jason’s space and yanks him down into a kiss by the collar of his jacket. Jason’s arms reflexively circle his waist, pulling him in close before he realizes what’s happening. He’s dazed, staring down at him in disbelief when Tim breaks the kiss. “I’m bad with this stuff. You’re- even like this-” 

“You like me?” Jason’s grinning, giddy disbelief lacing his voice. 

“Obviously-” 

“Why didn’t you just say that?” 

“You’re magically cursed! I don’t wanna- I can’t take advantage of that-” Jason pulls him into the kiss this time, humming as Tim slides up against him and wraps his arms around his shoulders to deepen the embrace. 

“I suddenly don’t feel like killing that asshole warlock anymore.” Jason quips, beaming a grin down at a pretty dazed looking Tim. “Maybe I’ll send him a fruit basket.”

“Oh, fuck that. We’re still ruining his day- this should’ve been on our terms and he’s gonna learn why.” This time, when Jason bends down to whisper just how hot he finds that mean streak of his and watches in delight as Tim turns another shade of pink, it’s completely under his own power.

[galkyrie]

Jaytim arranged marriage? :3c

Tim wakes up in the most comfortable bed he's ever been in, feeling the most well-rested he has in months. It's the first sign that something is very, deeply wrong.

Something is wrong because last night he went to sleep in the batcave's medbay to the sound of a heart monitor, and the sheets around him are definitely not the sterilized hospital grade ones he'd internally griped about. 

He keeps his breathing even and continues to feign sleep as he tries to take in as much information for his surroundings as possible. One- most immediately notable, his side doesn't hurt- which narrowed down the list of abductors to ones with healing magic. Two- whatever fabric he was dressed in was easily the finest he'd ever touched- which definitely narrowed it down further. Three- he's pretty sure he wasn't drugged. His mouth isn't dry, his head doesn't hurt, and he certainly didn't feel any disconnect from his senses or body. So. Likely not drugged. And finally- probably most importantly- there was a source of warmth beside him. 

No- most importantly is that the source of that warmth definitely has arms, because they are wrapped around him. 

He takes a slow, deep breath. If he opens his eyes and sees green and gold he is going to freak out. Seriously. He'd been studying how to actually permanently kill the bastard, if this ever came to pass- and sure, he didn't have any weapons on him- but he was creative. And patient. And has no fewer than four friends who would launch his remains into space if he asks. 

He gathers his courage with this in mind and cracks open his eyes, immediately going lax at the sight of fine pink linens and ornately carved marble. The style alone is definitely not Ra's.

The person at his back makes a grumbling noise and he freezes again- right. Just because it wasn't Ra's didn't mean this was a good situation. 

Carefully, slowly, he shifts in place on the bed and takes a peek. 

Oh, it’s just Jason. He relaxes into the hold the sleeping man has on him, shifting to lie on his back. Jason looks young when he’s asleep, every sign of tension usually on his face melted away. Tim touches his jaw, lightly, tracing along the bone with his fingertips. He’s greeted with the fluttering of dark lashes and bright teal eyes opening to meet his. Jason tenses, too- then immediately relaxes when he recognizes him. 

“Tim?” He murmurs, sounding half asleep still. It doesn’t stop him from tugging him closer, his own hand raising to cup his cheek as he stares down at him. 

Tim simply hums in affirmation, going easily and pressing a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. It feels good- right, actually- the scrape of stubble against his lips electrifying. Jason tilts to bring their lips together, hand sliding around his back to slip into his hair. 

Some part of him recognizes, even as his lips open in a silent invitation, that this shouldn’t be happening. He was- right, he was in the infirmary because he got stabbed not forty eight hours ago- definitely not in what had to be the fanciest honeymoon suite in Vegas or wherever they were. 

Jason’s tongue flicks across his lower lip before his teeth press into the plush flesh, and Tim briefly forgets the larger issue with his last thought. Jason’s good at kissing- gentler than he would’ve thought, if he’d ever given it any before- 

Right.. Another issue with what was happening was that he hasn’t ever given this any thought.

They don’t know where they are. 

And he’s in bed with Jason fucking Todd. 

And he has no idea how that happened or how either of them ended up wherever this was. 

He pulls back, wrenching himself from his arms and rushing to get out of the bed with an urgency that’s got him tumbling off of the thing and landing on the cold marble floor, but-

“What the fuck?!”  

"I was gonna ask you that." Tim says as he scrambles to his feet, grabbing the fine sheet when he realizes he's totally naked- 

Which only makes it clear that it was mutual, oh god. He covers his eyes with his hand and hopes his face isn't turning the same color as the sheet he's clutching around himself. 

“Where the fuck are we?" Jason sounds as lost as he is, which- 

Okay, yeah. He knows Jason's not the kind of guy to kidnap anyone for this purpose, so. That makes sense. It also does not help him figure out what's going on. 

When he cracks an eye open, Jason has a pillow placed over his lap and is looking as embarrassed and confused as he feels. It makes it marginally easier to drop his hand and start to talk.

"Yep, and no, I don't remember how we got here or where here is-" and on that note, he turns to survey the room. "And I have no clue why I woke up being the little spoon." 

"Size disadvantage, probably." Jason immediately takes the bait. So- good, he's not freaking out too bad if he's still going for the low hanging fruit. Tim wishes he could say the same.

"Hilarious." Tim shoots back dryly before returning to look at the walls. Maybe there was some kind of clue he could find on the what and the who  of this whole mess- waking up with Jason holding him and immediately thinking it was fine to go in for a kiss has him wary of the why for the moment. 

It's all finely carved marble, immaculate to the point of gleaming. The entire chamber looks like it was carved by a single piece- the columns, the floor, the ceiling-

"Hmm," Tim murmurs, paying entirely too much attention to the features on the columns in the room around them as he hears Jason shift behind him. "These are Corinthian in style, but I've never seen it done so seamlessly." He reaches out, running a hand over the transition from column to floor and can't even feel a seam.

"Incredible." He breathes. He wishes he had a camera- Cassie might have more insight on this place. Dr. Sandsmark would probably kill to see a place like this in all its glory. 

"Still doesn't fuckin' explain why we woke up naked together in a bed-" 

"Yeah, see, I'm trying to go for the possible part to solve, here." Tim mutters, "like where to find clothes, if we somehow ended up on Themyscira or something without being murdered. How to get out." 

"Though," Tim adds before Jason can open his mouth to butt in, "pretty sure even Themyscira wasn't carved out of a single piece of marble." He stands up from his crouch and turns to look at Jason again. The man has grabbed the bottom sheet and fashioned it around himself in a facsimile of a toga. 

"So, conclusion- you have no idea where we are." Jason sounds about as thrilled as he is by the prospect. 

"We have no idea where we are.” Tim corrects with a smile, “and there are no clothes set out and no immediately obvious doors. So." Tim sets out to fashion his own robe out of the sheet he had, noticing that Jason takes a turn to lift his gaze far and away from him as he does so. He appreciates the courtesy.

"You thinking magic?" Jason, once they are both as dressed as it was apparent they are going to be able to get, asks.

"Pretty high level stuff to even make this room, but- maybe? Come see if you recognize any of the inscriptions in here-" Tim waves him over to look at the intricately carved marble. 

"Huh," Jason scans the scenes carved around them- intricate battles and tender love scenes, violence and passion in equal measure. "This looks like it's from one of the epics. Haven't read that shit in years, but- this scene looks familiar." 

Tim blinks up at it and wishes, again, he'd listened better to either his parents' speculation about the classics or Cassie's wild stories about the pantheon she heard second and third hand from the Amazons. The woman is beautiful, chiton gown pulled up to her knees as she sits beside the bank of a river, holding a man in her arms. Her face is the picture of sorrow as she stares down at him during his last moments, if the blood seeping into the ground beside him the sculptor put in is any indication. 

"This is familiar." Tim agrees, eyes tracing the trail of blood as it gives way to blooms of wildflowers. Cassie was gonna give him so much shit for not knowing this. 

Or she would, if he ever told her about this. He has absolutely no intention of doing so.

He turns away, instead moving to inspect the bed. There were no seams there either, and the pedestal upon which that insanely comfortable mattress rested was also carved from the same source. 

It also has symbols carved into it, and one in particular had some things clicking in place for him. The pinks and reds that composed of the fine fabrics in the room- the gleaming white marble, polished and nearly pearlescent in the light, Corinthian style columns. the carved roses and seashells full of pearls-

"Aphrodite," he breathes, stepping back from the bed as if he'd discovered it was made of asbestos, "Jason- we woke up on an altar of Aphrodite." 

"Oh, shit. Then that's Adonis-" Jason snaps his fingers and points at the dying man carved into the wall, startling when the whole thing seems to split at a seam that definitely wasn't there and a woman walks in. 

"What are you two doing?" She doesn't waste time with niceties, the beautiful- and he's suspecting literal- goddess simply purses her perfect lips into a pout and stares at them. 

It hurts to look at her directly for too long, her beauty radiant in what might be a very literal sense. Her hair falls in a perfect cascade of waves and her eyes have the magnetism of a black hole- inevitable and endless. She is every inch the pure definition of beauty, turned up to a degree that simply made it undeniable that she was anything but a deity. 

Fear is not an improper response to being in her presence. Hopefully. Because Tim, well- this is scary. 

"You two awakened together upon the altar of Aphrodite- in my temple in Mount Olympus- and this is how you choose to use such a boon? Have the mortals gotten so blind to us as to have forgotten the meaning of our blessings?" She sounds disappointed and confused, and Tim very much wishes to fix that asap. How, is the question. Which- okay, he woke up naked on a bed with Jason Todd wrapped around him. He's pretty sure he knows the answer. How else is probably a better question.

Wasn't she supposed to be good at this? She's the goddess of love, right? How could she mess it up this much? 

"Uh," Tim says instead of any of that, shooting Jason a bewildered look. Were they supposed to wake up naked together and just go with it? "I'm so sorry, your Goddessness-" ugh, he really should've paid better attention when Cassie complained about the myriad and convoluted structure that was the pantheon and how they liked to be addressed- didn't they just turn people into swans when they angered them? Oh god- gods, whoops- between his and Jason's mouth they are definitely not getting out of here without one of them getting cursed. 

"But we're not lovers." Which feels ludicrous to even have to explain, much less to a literal goddess, but. This is apparently what his life has come to. He'll still take this over Ra's.

She shoots him an exasperated look, turning her gaze to Jason soon after. "I am aware of your history, mortals. As you seem to be- albeit somewhat- aware of mine." 

"Sure. But if you know ours then you've gotta know it's not a good history. No kinda foundation for whatever this is." Jason says, because apparently he can't stop being contrarian for one second to flatter a God that could curse them. Or- smite them, the right phrase was smite when done by a god, right?. 

They were totally gonna get smote. 

"New life blooms after the earth is scorched in flame, no matter how hot the fire." She answers easily, as if that solved everything. And- okay, she was a member of the pantheon, maybe it was that easy for them. Or maybe she couldn't admit when she made a mistake- she was a member of the pantheon, after all. 

"But it- it takes time and-" Tim realizes he's the one arguing now, looking at Jason instead of her with wide eyes. There is guilt there, on his face as he looks back at him and he has to turn his gaze back to the deity, her painful beauty less intense than the ache Jason's expression causes. "We haven't had nearly enough to be- to even be friends." 

In all honesty, he's pretty sure Jason still hates him. Sure, he'd slowly allowed the Bats to reach out without it ending literally explosively, but-

Jason avoided him pretty much all the time, and when they were forced together he was both prickly and quiet in a way he wasn't with the others. And look, Tim gets it- but he doesn't have to like that Jason still resents him for something he's not sorry for doing. It's the literal definition of an impasse. And a terrible foundation for much of anything beyond a begrudgingly allyship. 

"My husband is the god of war, I know how close mere passion and true love lie in the hearts of men." She waves her hand dismissively, "what you both feel for one another is certainly not neutrality, nor is it as far from love as you may believe." 

"So what?" Jason says with a glare, apparently eager to step into first place running for being smote. "You did this because you see potential here? Where does what we want factor into this?" 

It doesn't hurt, the acknowledgement that Jason would literally rather taunt a god into finding out what her specific brand of wrath looks like than even think of this as possible. Tim happens to share the sentiment, so it'd be really dumb to get his feelings hurt over the idea. 

Aphrodite regards Jason with an arched brow, somehow both radiating amusement and annoyance in the silent gesture. 

"You're being cruel, sister. That's my job." A thin woman interrupts as she saunters in the room, body wrapped in tight, tattered black fabric and head shaved. She's heavily ringed her eyes in kohl and is wearing an eternal smirk. 

Tim does recognize her almost immediately- the sheer amount of weird plots she's been linked to made it impossible not to. 

"Eris." He acknowledges with a neutral expression.  They were so, so, so utterly screwed. 

She sends him a grin that looks almost entirely like a sneer. "Dear sister, don't you think you should tell them why you believe in them so fiercely?" Eris continues as if he hadn't addressed her, looking over at her sister with that same smirk. 

"You know, Eris-" Aphrodite starts, looking between both of them with a slowly growing smile, "now that I've seen them together, I think this is going to be easier than you thought." 

Eris scowled, waving her hand between them to illustrate her point. "They woke up and immediately tried to escape this as if it were a trap. You're going to lose, sister. Best you accept it now." 

"I suppose we will see," Aphrodite answers easily, "much can change in a month, sister. You of all people should understand that." 

Tim balks, "lose?" He looks between the three entities in the room, horror dawning on his face. "Is this some game?" 

"Wait- and what's at the end of the month?" Jason pipes up as well, suspicion lining his features. 

"Why, your wedding, of course." Aphrodite answers. 

"Our-" Jason begins to sputter, eyes widening to saucers. Tim steps back, sitting heavily on the impossibly comfortable bed. 

"Yes," Aphrodite interrupts, looking between the both of them with a sternness her features have a difficult time pulling off. "I have not blessed a pair of mortals in quite some time, and we will celebrate the success of your anointed love in one month's time with the assembled gods of Mount Olympus-" 

"-or watch my dear sister crash and burn," Eris chimes in with a slightly manic glee, "and have to admit some things are impossible even to her." 

"-or I will be displeased with my chosen mortals." Aphrodite finishes the threat with a winning smile, gliding over Eris' interruption with ease. 

"So- let me get this straight," Jason starts, fingers rubbing at his temples as he does, "you abducted us, put us here together, and have chosen us for one another- to prove you can make even people who hate each other fall in love-" 

"-in a month's time-" Tim adds, resisting the urge to flop back on the bed and stare at the ceiling until his bones crumble to dust. 

"-after which we will be kidnapped again to get married-" 

"-if you can truthfully say you love one another." Eris added, sing-songy tone clearly indicating her thoughts on the odds of that happening, "those are the terms." 

"What if we can't?" Tim asks- blurts, really- because this was absolutely insane. He couldn't- with Jason in a month? 

"Then Eris will have six months to affect my domain without my interference." Aphrodite admits, staring hard at the both of them. 

Calling a god an idiot would be a mistake- Tim knows this, that these powerful beings are as temperamental as any human who grows up rarely hearing the word no, but- 

God, they were totally gonna lose. They were gonna lose and their entire world was going to be thrown into romantic chaos akin to what they were currently dealing with. 

"You've gotta be fuckin-" 

"-what do you get if you win?" Tim interrupts, shooting Jason what is probably a panicked look. 

"Eris must remove herself and her influence from the earthly plane for a year." Aphrodite grins, "her price for getting to choose the mortals I must bestow this gift upon." 

A year without strife. Huh. Tim looks Jason's way, who's fallen silent with a huge scowl on his features. 

Tim opens his mouth. Closes it. Sighs. He doesn't really know what to say, honestly. It's rare that there isn't something coming to him to say, even if it's incredibly stupid and deserves to stay in his brain where it belongs. 

"We will leave you two alone to discuss," Eris says, looping her arm around her sister's with the most smug grin. 

"You will be here until someone on your plane notices your absence," Aphrodite says, as if she's being gracious for roping them into this whole thing over ego. 

They leave as swiftly as they came, the room sealing itself off and the marble smoothing out any trace of their passage. 

Tim crawls into the bed, and, upon reaching a pillow, covers his face and screams into it. 

What the fuck were they supposed to do, now? 

[galkyrie]

If you are still taking prompts from that prompt challenge, then 28 Jaytim?

Thank you, love your writing a lot 💕💖!

Ah thank you! This was fun~

28. "Marry me?"

This was not how he'd wanted this to go. Jason had been carrying around the ring for months now, just waiting for the perfect moment to arise. Catching Tim by surprise was not easy, given his propensity to be the nosiest person in any room he walked into- an incredible feat given how much time he spent with Oracle- but goddamn it he'd wanted this to be special.

He'd wanted flowers and a candlelit dinner and some cheesy, over-prepared speech about how lucky he'd be if he said yes, but-

It didn't look like they were going to get the chance. The warmth was seeping out of him in red rivulets around his fingers and Tim was desperately trying to defend their position and tend to his injuries at the same time- he couldn't help but feel like he'd missed his chance.

"Babybird," Jason managed to choke out, holding his side and fighting back the encroaching darkness tunneling his vision.

Tim looked his way, expression all intense focus as he tried to find a way- any way to get control of the scenario so they'd come out on top. His arm hung at his side at a strange angle. Jason couldn't help but hope it was just a dislocation, but neither helped them now- not when Tim was clutching his staff in his non dominant hand and out of all other weapons.

They were pinned, injured, and Jason was pretty sure he wasn't walking out of this one. "Left jacket pocket," he managed, watching him fumble with the zipper, clumsy with fatigue and pain.

"Jay," Tim blinked down at the tiny velvet box, voice hardly anything more than a breath. "Jay, what-"

"Just wanted y'to know, since I'm not-"

"Shut up. Ask me after I get us out of here." Tim shoved the box back in his pocket and planted a trembling kiss to his lips before his vision finally went black. ______

The steady, incessant beeping of a heart monitor was the first thing he picked up on when he came to. The next was the warm hand gripping his hard enough to hurt through whatever cocktail of drugs he was on- he opened his eyes to slits and sighed when he saw Tim, curled up in a chair beside his hospital bed and clinging to him with his free hand. Jason winced at the sight of the sling on his arm, the bruising on his face indicating at least a broken nose- he shifted, trying to assess any further damage when he startled awake.

"Babybird," His voice was hoarse, heavy tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth as he tried to croak out "you're hurt."

Tim let out a broken laugh, a choking noise closer to a sob, "you idiot." He scrubbed at his eyes with his good hand, and Jason sucked in a breath through his teeth. He opened his mouth to try and convince him to be gentle with himself and his clearly hurt face when Tim pulled his arm back and pinned him in place with a watery glare. "Ask me." 

"What?"

"You- ask me, Jay. If you meant it for more than when you thought you were gonna die- ask me." Tim shoved his hand in his hoodie, slapping the little velvet box into Jason's palm.

"This isn't how I pictured doin' this." He was pretty sure he was slurring a bit, watching his own fingers fumble to get the box open. "Th'ambiance is lacking."

"Well it's better than the first time, you asshole."

"I pictured you bein' nicer to me fer this, too." He grumbled.

"I- sorry," Tim was dipping in, pressing feather-light kisses all over his face between words, "I'm a little- you showed me a ring box then left me alone to manually hold your intestines inside your body- I'm frazzled-"

"Shh, 'm okay. I'm okay. You can go back to bein' mean t'me after I ask, k?" Tim laughed through fresh tears, pressing his face into the pillow next to Jason's head and nodding.

Jason took a deep breath, fortifying himself. "Be my Robin?" He asks, just to watch Tim lift his chin and shoot him the most venomous glare anyone's ever managed through relieved tears.

"You-"

"Marry me, Tim Drake?" Jason interrupts, "I had a whole speech about why this was somehow also a good deal for you, but I think I bled all over it.” It gets Tim smiling again, cupping his face and bringing their foreheads together in a gentle embrace.

“Yes.”

[galkyrie]

Jaytim at the beach maybe? :3c

Ooh practice for jaytim week, love it. This turned out...a bit hornier than I'd planned but WHATEVER here you go!

"Wow, the view is incredible today." Tim glanced up from his book briefly, trying not to radiate annoyance at the women setting up so close to his canopy on a private beach at an all-inclusive resort. If it was close enough that he had to hear them gossiping- it was too close.

He and Jason had wrapped up their undercover case two days early- he’d earned the right to be lounging on a stupidly plush daybed under a canopy without interruption from anyone but room service and his boyfriend. Not that his boyfriend had been interrupting much. He'd dragged them out early that morning to surf- apparently yet another hidden talent the man possessed- and had been out in the water the entire time. Tim had bowed out after their second break to reapply sunscreen- because he was not going to deal with a sunburn in the Red Robin suit, thank you- and had spent the rest of the morning picking at an exorbitantly expensive picnic spread and getting slightly tipsy on diluted bellinis. Bruce had already paid for the rest of the week, he might as well not let the money go to waste.

So four women plopping down beach loungers and cackling over mimosas loud enough to distract him from his best attempt at relaxation in years? Yeah, he was a little bit irked. He tried to find his place on the page again, popping a bite of melon into his mouth.

"That is some prime cut beefcake, right there." That caught his attention enough to get him glancing up to see what the big deal was- and promptly trying not to choke as he caught sight of Jason propping up his board further down the shore.

Well. It's not like they were wrong. Not when he was gently squeezing the saltwater from his curls, his arms flexing with the movement and glistening in the sun. He should probably put on more sunscreen. Tim would be more than happy to help.

“Think he’s an instructor?”

"I hope so. I could use some private lessons."

“I’d certainly let him tell me what to do.”

"Tell me what to do? I'd let him drown me." He laughed, unable to stop himself and earned a pointed look from the group openly ogling his boyfriend. It took him a moment to get a grasp on whatever threads of his composure remained after that.

"There a problem, sweetheart?" The blonde with a scathing southern accent asked with a raised brow.

"Nope- no problem. Enjoy the, uh…beefcake." She shot a baffled look back at him when he gave a thumbs up and returned to his book. Frankly, they could've sat further away from the canopy- though now he suspected they'd picked their spot for the view rather than privacy- if they didn't want him to hear them.

And hear them he did. He gave up on his book, opting instead to embrace eavesdropping and eating fruit. The conversation was a strange mix of a high school clique and a bachelorette party, evaluating every man that got within range of their viewing party and rating them against one another. It was gross, but Jason was winning. Some dumb part of him was proud of that. A larger part of him agreed wholeheartedly.

Jason looked good, his skin a sun-kissed hue that made the light smattering of freckles over his nose stand out. The salt water brought volume to those curls as they dried. Tim's fingers itched to run through them as he watched them lift in a light breeze. He moved with easy grace over the sand, muscles shifting and pulling in a tantalizing suggestion of power. He could absolutely understand the desire to lick the droplets of seawater off his pecs- even if he didn’t necessarily get the bonding experience of talking about doing such a thing to a stranger with his friends- and filed the more interesting comments away for later to take as suggestions.

The ladies fell quiet as Jason jogged up to the canopy, casting them a brief glance on his way before landing heavily on the daybed. Tim yelped as he was lifted off the cushion from the force of it, laughing as a strong arm wound around his waist and tugged him close. It wasn't exactly the greeting the petty, competitive part of him had been hoping for, but the brief glance at the surprised expressions was still satisfying.

"Babe- gross, you're wet!" Tim smacked at the damp arm trapping him against Jason’s still mostly wet chest- struggling both insincerely and futilely as a second arm snakes around his chest and hauls him closer. “Jay-”

“Shh Prettybird, I missed you.” Tim snorted, attempting to turn enough in his place to give Jason an unimpressed look.

“It's been a couple hours-"”

“-far too long for our honeymoon, in my opinion.” He did not need to have this conversation while strong-armed into being the little spoon. Especially since it currently gave him a view of the surreptitious glances being cast their way from a suddenly quiet group of women. Tim rolled his eyes and finally managed to wriggle to the point where he was laying on his back. Jason had been milking the cover- and the way the word alone made Tim flustered- for all it was worth. Tim had spent the week discovering he'd trip over himself to give Jason whatever he wanted when the words 'honeymoon' or 'husband' passed his lips- something Jason had caught onto quickly and used ruthlessly to his advantage.

“You’re the one who dragged us from bed at the ass-crack of dawn to surf instead of making use of that honeymoon suite.” Jason only hummed, leaning over him and plucking a grape from the tray. Tim rolled his eyes again at the unsurprising press of said grape against his lips, acquiescing with a sigh.

“You know- this tray looks like it was designed to be eaten after being in the ocean-” He murmured, ignoring Tim’s grumping as he picked up a sliced mango and repeated the process, this time letting his thumb linger against his bottom lip, “-tastes better with a little extra salt.” Tim flushed under the implication, tongue darting out to swipe at the pad of his thumb. His mind was suddenly very, very far away from the group sitting too close to their place or whatever conversation might be occurring as Jason repeated the process with each of his fingers on his free hand. Tim gave in to every unspoken request, watching Jason's eyes darken with rapt attention.

"You should eat something, too." He tried to regain some composure, grasping blindly at the tray, "you were out there twice as long as me-" Jason grabbed his wrist and dragged his hand into his field of vision, maintaining eye contact as he swiped the cut pineapple from his fingertips with a curl of his tongue. Tim's attempt at calm died a strangled noise in the back of his throat.

"I've got something in mind-" and he was hauling him up into his arms, abandoning the picnic and the scene behind them in favor of carrying him to their suite's beachfront door. Tim could hear the burst of chatter as they were deemed a safe subject of conversation- but couldn't bring himself to care as Jason pulled him into a kiss. He'd have to tell him about his popularity, Tim noted idly as he licked the tang of pineapple juice from the seam of his lips. Jason'd get a kick out of it- especially after he put all those creative ideas to good use.