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We’ve got guests for dinner be nice when you get here
That was all Roy’s text said and he didn’t reply when Jason asked what the hell was going on. They never had guests over. Neither of them really had friends, let alone in Gotham. At best Jason had underlings but he wasn’t inviting any of them over.
So Jason drove home faster than he normally would have. Half annoyed, half curious to see what was going on. Who or whatever he expected to find when he go there it was not Tim and Kon sitting in the living room playing video games. He hadn’t seen either of them since he pulled Tim from the mob hideout almost three weeks before.
“What the fuck?” Jason growled as he walked in.
Tim looked over and grinned. “Hey, Jason.”
“Pay attention,” Kon complained. “Crushing you’s no fun if you aren’t.”
Tim turned back to the TV. The two continued to play the game as if Jason wasn’t standing right there. Not sure what else to do Jason stomped off to find Roy and some damn answers.
“Why are Robin and Superboy in our living room?” He demanded when he found Roy in the kitchen. “They aren’t even supposed to be in my territory.”
“They’re here cause I invited them.”
Jason folded his arms and scowled. “That’s not answering my question.”
“Don’t give me the Batman glare,” Roy scolded.
Without thinking, Jason dropped his arms to the side and let his face go-to neutral. Because, yeah, he had been doing the glare. That was one of the few truly annoying things about having Roy around. There was always some to notice the habits Jason picked up from Bruce and that even death hadn’t allowed him to shake off.
When Roy seemed satisfied he continued. “Tim’s been helping me with a project. He needed to look at some things in person. So figured why not do dinner.”
“You can’t cook for shit, Roy.”
“I ordered Thai,” he mumbled indignantly.
That sounded like the best option. Roy had plenty of talents but none of them were of the domestic variety. Typically if anyone cooked more than a microwave meal it was Jason.
“Thai sounds great,” Jason said offering a smile.
He moved to Roy and took him by the wrist. After a quick kiss, he dragged him from the room. If Jason was going to have to deal with a couple of teenage capes he wasn’t going to do it alone. Roy laughed as he followed willingly.
“Using super speed is cheating!” Tim yelled
“I wasn’t using super speed. I’m just better than you.”
Jason rolled his eyes as he walked back into the living room. Their place was rarely quiet. Roy was loud by nature and Jason wasn’t going to ask him to be anything less. Background noise helped him focus too, so there was always the sound of music or TV coming from somewhere. Tim and Kon seemed to be perfectly happy to add to the noise. The fact that they were so comfortable wasn’t as irritating as Jason would have expected.
“So Bruce hasn’t busted out the kryptonite yet and run you off ?” Jason asked sinking into one of the couches.
That earned him an elbow to the ribs from Roy as he sat next to Jason. It was worth it though for the irritation that flared in both Tim and Kon’s faces. “Be nice,” Roy hissed.
“It's a fair question. We both know how he is about other capes in his territory.”
“Look who’s talking,” Kon shot back.
Jason smirked. “What can I say, had to pick up my bad habits somewhere.”
Roy made an exasperated noise and demanded that the subject be changed. He seemed to want things to go well so Jason let him do the talking. Content to sit back and watch the other two closely. They were sat on another couch like he and Roy. But where they were sitting together Roy leaning slightly against him Tim and Kon had taken up opposite ends. The effort not to stare too long or move closer was written all over them.
When the food arrived Roy jumped up to get it. The fact that he was leaving Jason unsupervised probably didn’t cross his mind. A welcome oversight. Jason leaned forward from where he was sitting.
“Pretty sure you two could be more painfully obvious if you tried,” He said grinning viscously. “I hope this isn’t how you act around people you don’t want to know.”
A deep red spread across Tim’s face just before he ducked his head down. “We’re not...” he muttered.
“You told him I know right?” Jason asked turning to stare at Kon.
He shot him a glare but it lacked the usual anger. Jason just rolled his eyes before sinking back into the couch. It wasn’t much fun if neither of them was going to fight back. The sound of the front door closing echoed down the hall.
“You two know Roy and I don’t care, right?”
“What don’t we care about?” Roy called as he walked back towards them.
Jason waited for him to come back into the room before he said anything else. “I was telling them that we don’t care that they’re dating or whatever. Also that they don’t have to act like they’re physically repelling each other.”
“Mm, and I’m sure you said it just as nicely as that.” Roy set the box of food down on the coffee table. “Come help me get plates and stuff.”
With a huff, Jason got up headed to the kitchen. As he walked Roy shoved him from behind. There wasn’t much force behind it, just enough to tell him to quit being a jackass. Not that he ever would.
When he and Roy returned to the living room Tim and Kon had in fact moved closer together. Not by much but it was a start. While they ate Roy and Tim talked about whatever project they were working on. Jason cringed internally when he realized whatever it was involved explosives. Roy had managed not to blow either of them up, yet. But that failed to make Jason any less nervous. He also wasn’t sure how much of an expert a sixteen-year-old could be. Even if he was supposedly a genius and trained under Batman.
“Tell me you’re not building bombs again,” Jason said after growing more and more concerned.
Roy rolled his eyes. “Like I’d need help doing that.”
While that may have been true it was in no way comforting.
After dinner, Roy and Tim go off to the workshop. Roy asked Jason and Kon if they wanted to come. Jason declined, making a joke about avoiding explosives after last time. Only he found it funny.
At least Kon went with them. Jason breaths a little easier once he’s alone. There was a tension building in his chest he hadn’t noticed until it released. He picked up one of the game controllers determined not to reflect on what the cause might have been.
Unfortunately, his peace doesn’t last long. Kon returns about ten minutes after leaving and goes back to where he had been sitting.
“Get bored already?” Jason asked.
Kon just shrugged. After the silence dragged on Jason let out an irritated sigh.
“If you’re going to sit there at least grab a controller. And no super speed. I played enough games with Wally growing up to know how to spot it.”
“Trust me,” Kon grinned, “I don’t need my powers to beat any of you.”
There was no use of super speed as far as Jason could tell. Which was unfortunate because he got his ass kicked in the first round.
“So are you here to play bodyguard? Just in case I go rabid again.”
Kon’s jaw clenched. “Do I need to worry about that?”
“No, but I’m just trying to figure out why you came out here tonight. At first, I thought you two were just looking for a make-out spot or whatever. Which this would be a good choice, for hiding from other capes. No one would think to look here. But seeing as you two haven’t been in so much as reaching distance...”
He let the silence hang there as they started the next round. Which Jason started off strong.
“How’s this any of your business?”
“It's not. Just what the hell else are we supposed to talk about? You got hobbies or something?”
That earned an eye roll. “I fight criminals and villains.”
“That’s not a hobby. That’s a poor life choice.”
“Do you have any hobbies that aren’t shooting people or collecting severed heads?”
It was so much more fun when people shot back. “Of course. Being a crime boss is my job, not my entire life. I read, cook, play video games.” Jason smirked. “Roy and I have also started sharing a mutual hobby.”
Kon’s nose wrinkled in mild disgust. The round ended in another loss for Jason but by a smaller margin. That seemed a little more acceptable since he got to keep some of his pride. They started another round.
“So is it like internalized homophobia or are you guys just shy?”
A game controller flew at Jason’s head without warning. He just barely managed to dodge it. If he was able to do that it meant Kon hadn’t used super strength. Which was good. Despite his seemingly careless attitude with his own safety Jason generally preferred not to have his skull caved in. Behind him, Jason heard it hit the wall and shatter. Did that mean he won the round by default?
“Do you always have to be such an asshole?” Kon snapped.
“Of course not. It just comes naturally to me. I generally don’t put much effort into being nice to people who already hate me.”
“Well then quit being a dick to Tim! He practically worships you still. For whatever reason. If anyone should hate you it's him but instead, he’s here trying to make nice. Asked me to do the same but shockingly you’re making it impossible.”
“Well go tell him that so he can quite bothering.”
A vicious look was leveled at him that made Jason flinch. There was no glowing of lasers but that didn’t make Kon’s anger feel any less threatening.
“You have family that actually wants you and you’d rather push them away to keep throwing a tantrum.”
Plenty of smart-ass remarks came to mind but for the sake of self-preservation, Jason ignored them away. Even he knew when he’d pushed someone too far. And again really preferred not having his skull caved in.
“I’ll have you know I stopped throwing that tantrum months ago. If I hadn’t the truce wouldn’t have lasted. And things would be a lot worse for everyone.”
“Should I be impressed by that? That you’ve managed not to continue a turf war with your own family for whatever bullshit reasons.”
“Look I stand by my reasons. I do regret some things I did because of them and the people that got caught in the crossfire. I’ll concede that I should be less of an ass to Tim. I was working with some bad information and was mad at Bruce. Tim shouldn’t have suffered because of that. But you don’t get to tell me off for how I interact with them. You don’t know shit about it and I doubt you’d understand. Not all of us get Superman for a dad.”
He had more to say but suddenly found himself being lifted into the air by his throat. Looking down he saw Kon with absolute rage carved into his face. Oh, he thought, there’s the laser vision.
“You’re the one who doesn’t know shit,” Kon snarled.
They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. Jason didn’t say a word. The grip on his neck was uncomfortable but not tight enough to really hurt. With any luck, the kid would calm down with a little time and let him go.
“Kon!” Someone yelled. “Put him down!” Or that worked.
Jason was dropped and stumbled backward both trying to stay on his feet and getaway. The first thing he noticed was that he didn’t bump into the couch. He looked and saw it had been shoved several feet away against the wall. Next was Tim standing between him and Kon. Tim moved towards Kon cautiously. Then took the other boy’s face gently into his hands.
A hand touched Jason’s jaw making him flinch. He looked to see Roy at his side, face tight with worry. “I’m alright,” Jason assured him.
Kon’s eyes snapped towards them. Not even thinking Jason moved in front of Roy. Like hell he was going to get hurt because of Jason.
“Kon it's alright,” Tim murmured softly. “Just tell me what happened.”
The boy looked back at Tim. The last scraps of anger melted to guilt. Kon’s breath hitched and became rapid. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I...”
Fuck, Jason had really screwed up. Just like the night Jason met him all the confidence had drained out of Kon. And all that was left was a scared-looking kid. It did not escape Jason that there may have been a pattern forming. He needed to try and fix it. He took a slow step forward and then another when no one reacted. Tim turned and looked at him, there was a warning in his eyes. Jason held up his hands.
“I fucked up. I was pushing him and said shit I clearly shouldn’t of.”
Tim considered that for a moment as his eyes narrowed.
“Clearly,” Tim said with venom dripping off the word.
It was good to see the kid had some fire in him. However, being on the receiving end of his anger stung a lot more than Jason would have expected.
“Jay,” Roy muttered, “what the hell?”
Jason started to answer but was distracted from that by Kon shaking his head.
“I shouldn’t have blown up over that. It's stupid.” His voice kept getting smaller as he spoke.
“What did he say to you? Jason what did you say? Shit, don’t tell me you brought up Clark.”
All Jason could do was nod. Tim’s face told him that there was likely nothing worse he could have said. Because Jason was just talented in that way.
“Damn it, Jay,” Roy said sounding tired and irritated. “You out of everybody should know not to bring people’s parents into shit. Kon should have put you through the wall.”
“Probably,” Jason admitted. He would have done that to someone who brought of Bruce or Willis the way he had.
Tim made a noise of agreement before he turned back to Kon. This time Tim ran his finger through Kon’s loose curls. “See, no one is mad at you.”
“I lost control. Broke things.” Kon sucked in a shaky breath. “I could have killed him. They would have come for me.”
Over his shoulder, Jason gave Roy a ‘what the fuck’ look. Roy shrugged but looked a bit worried. In their field of work, vague and ominous theys were never a good thing.
“You could have maybe but you didn’t,” Roy offered
Jason nodded. “You didn’t even cut off my breathing. With how strong you are that had to of taken a lot of control.”
“I’m sure it did,” Tim agreed. “And people break things sometimes. Shit, Jason broke several of my bones and we’ve moved past that.”
There was a long beat where no one said or did anything.
“Fucking hell, Tim!” Jason yelled.
“What? You get to make jokes about dying but I can’t make jokes about my own traumatic moments?” Tim shot back.
Of all things that was what broke the tension in the room. Kon slumped forward resting his forehead on Tim’s shoulder. But even then his shoulders shook with the hint of laughter. Roy put a hand on Jason’s shoulder and nodded towards the hallway. “Let’s give them a minute. We need to talk.”
With a deep breath, Jason followed Roy out of the living room and into the kitchen. When they got into the room Roy turned and touched Jason’s neck gently examining it.
“Are you sure you’re not hurt?”
“I’m fine. I swear.”
“I’m glad but Jay, what happened?”
“I was just giving him a hard time and he was giving a hard time back so it was fine but then...,” Jason winced realizing that there had been a pretty clear escalation he’d ignored. “I didn’t stop when I went too far.”
There was a long pause as Roy turned his face up to the ceiling. “I’m not saying Kon was in the right but you were the adult there.”
The sound of footsteps stopped the conversation. Jason knew it wasn’t over though.
Tim appeared in the doorway towing Kon behind him. Neither of them stepped past the entrance. After a few awkward seconds of silence, Tim nudged Kon.
“I but the couch back where it was.” Tim prodded him again. “... I’m sorry for everything. I shouldn’t go off like that. You didn’t deserve that, Jason.”
Jason shook his head. “I kind of did. We both said a lot of shit when we don’t know each other like that, yet.”
Roy wasn’t wrong about Jason being the adult in the situation. It was easy to forget that Kon was still a kid. A kid with god-like power powers but still. Plus Jason had done far worse things at sixteen, even if the people he had hurt deserved it. He’d done worse as an adult to people who hadn’t deserved it.
After a few more beats of silence, Tim cleared his throat.
“Um, it feels weird to bring this up now but one of the reasons we came over tonight is because we need to ask a favor.” He hesitated looking back and forth between Roy and Jason before dropping his gaze to the floor.
“Just ask,” Jason said trying to watch his tone.
“Well, Kon kind of needs a place to stay,” He said slowly.
“If you don’t want me to I...” Kon started.
“That’s not a problem,” Jason said cutting him off as Roy nodded.
That was not the favor Jason had been expecting. Help with a case or something else bat related was much higher on the list. It was a strange thing to ask him and Roy of all people though. There had to be better options or more friendly at the very least. But if Tim and Kon had come to them then maybe there wasn’t. If that were the case it had to be a hell of a situation.
“Do you need a place to crash or to hide?” Roy asked
“Crash, I guess,” Kon said with surprise.
Next to him Tim looked equally surprised but he nudged Kon again giving him a grin. That pleased something in Jason and he couldn’t help but smile a little.
“Do you need to stay for a night or two or a while?”
“A while. I don’t know how long.”
Jason tried to think if there were any more vital questions. “Alright, we can set up one of the rooms. Did you bring any of your stuff?”
“I have a bag, yeah.”
Roy started walking to the door. “I’ll go get a room ready then.”
Before he left Roy gave Jason a look telling him to behave.
“That’s it?” Kon asked suspicion creeping into his voice. “That’s all you’re going to ask me?”
“Pretty much,” Jason said leaning against the counter. “Roy and I don’t ask too many questions when it comes to this kind of stuff. We’ve both couch surfed and been homeless at some point in our lives. People prying into the hows and whys doesn’t usually make anything better.”
“Thank you, Jason,” Tim said.
And fuck, the kid was smiling at him like he was some kind of hero.
“Whatever. Figure I owe you two a few favors. There are rules though. If you two are gonna screw around keep it private. Clean up after yourself and do your own damn laundry. Do you cook?”
Kon looked suddenly shy. “I know how to in theory.”
“Well, that puts you ahead of Roy so you can help with meals. Most important rule, no drugs and no alcohol anywhere near this place. Break that one and I won’t just throw you out.” Jason added a glare for emphasis.
To his credit, Kon shook his head with his face going serious. “I wouldn’t dare.”
Good. Tim or someone had likely made Kon aware of the situation with Roy and he seemed respectful about it. That was the biggest thing. Jason could bite his tongue and get along for a while if it was really needed. What he couldn’t put up with was someone being shit to Roy or bringing triggers around him.
“Other than that just don’t be a shit roommate and we’ll get on just fine.” Jason bit at his bottom lip thinking. “You’re sure you want to stay here? There’s got to be better options for you. Has Tim tried dangling you in front of Bruce? You’ve got the black hair and blue eyes. That’s like catnip to him.”
That managed to get Kon to smile a little. Even Tim let out a small laugh.
“I’m trying my best to stay under the Justice League’s radar. That includes Batman.” Kon explained.
“Is that the, they, you mentioned?”
Kon blinked in surprise and nodded slowly. It wasn’t a great sign that he was worried about the JL. But as far a vague ominous theys went there were far worse. Jason for instance had to worry about the League of Assassins since he was no longer going to complete the mission he was sent on.
“Well, it doesn’t get much more under the radar than here. I assume that’s why you decided on here then.
They both nodded. “It was Tim who thought of it.”
“That makes sense. Few people are smart and dumb enough to think of asking a crime lord vigilante to house their secret boyfriend out of the superhero purview.”
“I don’t know if that was a compliment or an insult,” Tim laughed.
“Both, I’m talented like that. Go get your shit, Kon. Tim, are you staying or not?”
“I can’t stay much longer. I have to go out on patrol soon. If I don’t show everyone will ask questions.”
Not long after that Tim left to head back to the manor. Jason gave Kon a quick tour of the building. There wasn’t much to see. It had been rundown when Jason moved in. He had patched it up enough to make it livable and looking half decent. If the worn appearance of the place bothered Kon though he didn’t show it.
They found Roy in one of the bedrooms. It was barebones just like all the others. The three of them, mostly Kon, moved some furniture in from other rooms and made it half decent. Kon seemed pleased enough with it. Which still wasn’t sitting quite right with Jason.
“I know I keep asking this but are you sure you want to stay here?” Jason asked once they had finished moving things.
Kon scratched his neck looking more than a little embarrassed. “I do. I know we didn’t start off on a great foot but as long as you two are okay with me being here I’d like to stay. I won’t be here all the time. I’m still with the Titans and have a room at the tower. If I stay there too long though, people start asking questions I really don’t want to answer.”
“I’m fine with you being here,” Roy said. “It’ll be nice to have someone to talk to besides Jason.”
“It's fine with me too. And look, neither of us are going to pry but if you need to vent or whatever just do it. Especially if it's daddy issues. Roy and I have five dead, abusive, or otherwise shitty father or father figures just between the two of us. Bitching about them is practically the national pass time around here”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Kon said with a sad smile.
Jason and Roy left Kon in his new room and headed up to theirs. Normally it would also be time for Jason to go out on patrol but it didn’t feel right to do with someone new in the house. Besides a night in bed with Roy was too good an opportunity to pass up. Roy looked amused as the door closed. “And just like that, we adopted our first stray. We’re as bad as Bruce and Ollie.”
Denial jumped to Jason’s tongue but it died there. No one was busting out the adoption papers but they had just taken Kon in for an indeterminate amount of time. It could be for just a little while but something in Jason’s gut told him it wasn’t.
“At least we’re not turning him into a vigilante,” Jason replied.
“No, he came to us pre-trained. Leave it to us to screw up the order.”
Jason nodded in agreement. That was fine with him. He would never turn a kid into a cape. No matter what.
They fell into silence as they changed for bed. “So do you...”
Roy walked up to Jason and him onto the bed cutting off his statement. What he’d meant to say was immediately lost as Roy towered over him. Only it wasn’t lust or excitement on Roy’s face like he hoped.
“Roy, what?”
“Jay, we still need to talk about what happened tonight.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Guilt tightened in Jason’s chest. Disappointed, Roy looked disappointed in him. Jason tried to speak but he had no idea what to say. In the end, he just looked away not able to hold eye contact.
“You gave a kid a panic attack tonight. Even if you didn’t mean it that’s messed up.”
“I know,” Jason whispered.
“Are you going to be able to get along with Kon while he’s here?
Instead of answering right away Jason considered it carefully. “I can’t promise I won’t ever run my mouth but tonight won’t happen again.”
“Everyone says stuff they should but you need to know when to stop. I’ll talk with Kon in the morning about the same thing and trying to talk things out. I don’t want either of you starting fights.”
“You’re going full mom already.” Jason tried to tease.
Roy didn’t respond to it thought. “Also if Kon’s going to be here Tim will probably be around too. And you still haven’t apologized to him have you?”
More guilt squeezed at Jason until he felt like it might crush him. “No.”
Roy sighed and backed away. For a terrifying moment, Jason thought Roy was going to leave him. He started to reach out desperately but before he could the other man got onto the bed at his side. He pulled Jason down so they were lying next to each other.
“You really need to. For both of your sakes.”
Jason nodded. He knew that but had no idea how to even start. It was less terrifying taking on whole gangs.
“I know and I will,” Jason said after a while. “Kon told me kind of that same thing tonight too.”
“Hm, good. I could use someone else around here to help call you on your shit.”
Fingers brushed against Jason’s hairline. He leaned into the touch eagerly. It would have been wonderful to leave the conversation at that but Jason had to ask.
“Are you mad at me?”
“Of course not,” was Roy’s quick reply. He moved closer and pressed his forehead against Jason’s temple. “Worried, a little disappointed but not mad. I want you to be happy and hate seeing you get in your own way.”
“If anyone else said that to me I would probably shoot them.”
“Only probably? You’ve come so far Jaybird.” Roy smiled and kissed Jason deeply. “I do mean that and I really am proud of you.”