#red does threaten to kill ed for her btw. steph declines but its the thought that counts

[froot-batty]

Had to post these two together they're like a bonded pair of zoo animals at this point

Y'all already know how they came to be, so I'll talk about how they came to be...together!

So, Alexis was already the Red Hood by the time Steph came into the picture. Bats couldn't always be around to help train Steph (and honestly just supervise her in general), so oftentimes Red was left to the task. For Red it was like a dog getting a new playmate. Finally! She didn't have to deal with Bruce being all quiet and emo alone anymore!

Steph immediately thought she was super cool and hot and basically short-circuited every time they were alone

Their relationship doesn't progress to anything past friendship while Steph is doing her time in-costume, but there's a mutual attraction between the two of them the eeenntiirree time. Alex has killed people in a roller derby outfit before, so she's got no shame she'd be ready to get hitched on the spot if Steph asked, but Steph has been made of repression and shame her entire life so it takes her a long time to accept herself for who she is

And then she gets paralyzed and her entire life is knocked upside down

Both Bruce and Red are there with her the entire way, but only Red knows what it's like to be betrayed by family in such a monumental way. It's that kinship they share and the soft side that Alex shows Steph during her recovery that finally allows their relationship to grow deeper

It's a very gradual process. Steph wakes up one day months later with Red sleeping in bed next to her and goes "OH GOD, ARE WE DATING??"

Like yeah, dummy. Y'all have been making out every day the past two weeks