Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I feel like no lessons have been learned here.” Jason muttered, his arms were crossed tightly over his chest as Tim was looking through some binoculars. “You remember the last time…and the time before that right? You haven’t hit your head since then right?”

Tim pulled away from his recon to give Jason an exasperated look; the boy wonder had been lecturing him ever since he’d stopped by the apartment while Tim was suiting up. He was well aware this wasn’t the best idea and it wasn’t like he was really interested in pulling a job lately either, he just wanted to know if the rumor of the two of them was still spreading. Besides, he needed to start shutting down connections; Stray wasn’t in the game right now.

“No, Birdie, I have not hit my head.” Stray shook his head as he saw Robin tighten his posture. “It’s not like we can do what we did last time. I promise I’ll be quick and bail if there’s trouble in the air.”

Robin’s frown deepened and glared down at the ground, last time he played Stray and that had been…disgusting. But that was exactly why he didn’t want Tim going either, not if someone was going to treat him like that. Was that normal for the cat? Did he just…let that go on?

The very idea of someone putting their hands on his boyfriend like that stoked a fire in his chest, burning the more he thought of it. Jason wouldn’t stand for it. He hadn’t known he was the jealous type until this moment and it was hard to keep a lid on his emotions, Bruce always said his rage was such an issue that he needed to work on.

“Switch me.” Robin grabbed Stray by his utility belt when he had moved from his surveillance.

Stray paused, shifting his weight from foot to foot, something was really ruffling his bird’s feathers tonight, he couldn’t say that he’s seen that expression on the other’s face in some time.

“What? No way, we decided after last time it wasn’t a good idea. I can handle-“ Stray nearly squeaked as Robin jerked him forward by his belt, nearly knocking their heads.

“I don’t care, I’ll go. I don’t want you to.” Robin said firmly though gritted teeth.

“What has gotten into you, Birdie?” Stray reared back as much as he could but there was no way Robin was letting him go any time soon and that look in his eyes had Stray on alert.

It was too familiar from back when they would actually brawl as children. It was making him anxious….Jason wouldn’t…hit him now, right? That had never even occurred to him after they started dating. He really doubted that was what was in the cards here.

“I don’t…I don’t want….” Robin growled through his teeth, forcing himself to let Stray go, he was scaring him, he could tell. He turned away trying to breath it out before speaking again. “I don’t want them touching you, okay? If what happened to me last time is…normal or whatever for you, I don’t want you going.”

God, listen to him, he sounded so controlling even if he was being honest. It was driving him crazy ever since Stray told him what he was going off to do, why he demanded to come along. He should have had them switch then; no way he could just stand by and let some creeps….Ugh.

Robin turned back to Stray, he had been so quiet and Robin was terrified how he reacted to all that, there was no way that…that he…um…was Stray…blushing right now?

Stray’s face was stuck in a stunned expression; a blush was creeping up from his neck to his cheeks, perfectly visible even in the poor lighting they were standing in.

“…um….Kitten?” Jason mumbled, confused at best and nervous at worst what this was supposed to mean.

“Are…” Stray breathed out the word, a strange gleeful smile starting to spread across his face. “Are you jealous?”

Robin sputtered and nearly choked on his own saliva, of all the things to say about this situation! Had Stray even listened to the actual problem!

“That! We are not! This isn’t about that!” Robin tried to defend even if it was a hundred percent true. “It’s dangerous and everyone is so creepy around you! Like…I get its your…thing or whatever, but they think they can just...” He didn’t know how to find the words, how to get across what he wanted.

“You’re jealous….” Stray mumbled like he wasn’t listening to Robin at all and in a little daydream, his hands pressed over his heart.

“Why are you reacting like this!” Robin huffed frustrated; of course he was jealous or more so furious that any criminal thought they could be close to his Kitten like he did.

“Oh Birdie~” Stray cooed and he threw his arms around Robin’s neck, smothering the older boy’s face in kisses, delighting in the panic reaction he received. “This is probably not a healthy thing, but I love that you’re jealous, hoooh boy, makes me all tingly.” He laughed as Robin made those cute sputtering strangled noises.

“You’re insane!” Robin retorted but he secured his arms tightly around Stray’s waist, still not able to look him in the goggles. “Are…are you sure it’s okay? That I…am?”

“Completely~” Stray purred the words, feeling his bird shiver against him. Oh damn. “I assure you, Birdie; I am all yours, never worry about that.”

Stray pushed his goggles up and grasped Robin’s chin and forced him to look at him, looking into the whites of Robin’s mask with a look Robin only saw after they had switched uniforms. It made him feel weak in the knees, his former fury washing away into some other sort of fire.

“You’re not the only one that’s the jealous type, so don’t worry about that.” Stray purred out softly, his gloved fingers tightening slightly. “You are mine, Jason, always.”

Jason’s heart thudded so hard in his chest that it almost hurt as they kissed, Tim didn’t let go of him the whole time as their lips moved against each other. No matter what, Tim could always get the upper hand on him, Jason couldn’t seem to care, he loved the possessive way Tim pulled him in.

Jason was dizzy by the time they parted and his breathing had gone ragged, he wasn’t even sure he had been breathing the whole time they kissed. It wouldn’t have surprised him in the least.

“I don’t get how you always turn things around on me.” Jason mumbled, sighing through his nose as Tim kissed him again, shorter this time.

“I’m very talented.” Tim grinned and made a squeak sort of noise when Jason dug his fingers into his waist, why did that feel good? Oh boy. Jason was always keeping him on his toes just as much he just didn’t seem to know it.

“I’m still not letting you go in there; you’re not distracting me from that.” Jason said firmly, flames slowly coming back to life.

Tim was still a bit distracted himself before he answered with a little nod, this side of Jason shouldn’t be so attractive but his Birdie has been rather intense since they were children, he shouldn’t be all that surprised just because his bird softened around him.

“Okay.” Tim said and laughed at the sudden dumbfounded look on Jason’s face. “Don’t get me wrong, you aren’t either, I’ll stand firm on that. I say we bail, I’ll think of something to tell them, something came up or whatever. I’d much rather spend time with you~” He kissed the tip of Jason’s nose lightly.

Jason made some sort of noise that only a cat walking over a keyboard could make and it delighted Tim to no end, there was just something about getting Jason like this that made life worth living.

“You are a man of many complexities.” Tim giggled.

“I could say the same about you.” Jason shook his head amused, resting his forehead against Tim’s, sighing softly as the tension started to leave him. “You are mine.”

“You’re so hot~” Tim cooed delighted.

“Shut up, we’re having a moment.” Jason laughed, bumping their foreheads gently. “Damn cat.”

“Pretty bird~” Tim shot back, grin spreading across his face.

Jason just knew this boy was going to be the death of him and he couldn’t find it in himself to mind.

Chapter Text

“Birdie~” Tim cooed as he draped his arms over Jason’s shoulders from behind, nuzzling against his cheeks and taking joy in the little jump the contact caused.

Jason was at his apartment for another terrible movie night and he had been standing there in the kitchen holding the popcorn bag, lost in thought, for more minutes than it took to cook the snack. So Tim decided to break him out of it, he had been looking forward to this, he had strictly picked movies based on books just to watch Jason rant about how inaccurate they were and how they had trashed the original story.

“What’s on your mind, Jay?” Tim asked after Jason came back to earth, wondering what that little frown was about. “Wanna talk about it?”

Jason glanced back at him and then forward, his fingers started fidgeting with the popcorn bag as he tried to put together all this thoughts. He wasn’t exactly sure if it mattered enough to bring but the thought made him feel like not bringing it up was weirdly like keeping it from Tim but it wasn’t a big deal…probably.

“It’s just something that happened at school, that’s all.” Jason settled with for now.

“When do you have time for school?” Tim snorted; he hardly had time for it and mostly did private lessons when he had the time and energy. Even if Selina still insisted he go to school as well to be around other people his age. Ha, pass.

“It doesn’t feel like I do most of the time.” Jason huffed out a laugh, sliding in Tim’s hold to face him and rest his hands on Tim’s waist.

“What happened?” Tim asked when Jason didn’t go on.

“Well…” Jason paused, his eyes darting elsewhere. “Someone from my class confessed some sort of crush they had on me, it was really awkward.” His eyes returned to Tim’s when he felt the fingers on his shoulders dig in a little. “Heh, relax Kitten, obviously I turned them down…I just feel bad, I think I hurt their feelings.”

“Who was it?” Tim asked completely seriously.

“You wouldn’t know them anyway.” Jason laughed but Tim didn’t seem very amused. “Babe, really, I only have interest in you.”

“I’m not worried about that.” Tim said like that should be obvious. “I don’t like that someone thought they could put you in this position. Who is it?”

“I’m definitely not gonna tell you now.” Jason laughed, was Tim getting jealous or something? Over this? “Really, you don’t have to worry about it…I doubt she’s ever gonna talk to me now.” He said, his gaze moving to the side as he remembered the incident.

A girl? Tim’s brain went on the fritz. That didn’t sit well with him one bit and it also occurred to him that he hadn’t given much thought to what Jason might even prefer. Why would he consider that when Jason was with him? The biggest threat really was this girl went to school with Jason, got to constantly interact with him in public places freely. He didn’t like that one bit.

“Tell me what happened.” Tim demanded but tried to keep his voice softer than he felt and push thoughts back down in the secret places they should stay.

“I will if you stop getting your dander up about it.” Jason smiled fondly at Tim. He detached from him and pulled Tim over to the couch to sit them both down and get a little more comfortable if they really had to talk about this.

Tim still looked absolutely miffed about the whole ordeal but he softened when Jason lightly caressed his cheek and leaned in to kiss him chastely. This bird was everything to him.

“Okay, so, after class one of the girls in most of my classes stopped me as I was leaving. When the class emptied out she started getting all weird, I honestly had no idea what was gonna happen. Then! She just…started talking about all this stuff she liked about me and how long she’s liked me, that every time we got to work together on some in class thing it made her happy.” Jason paused his story when Tim gripped Jason’s shirt tightly. “But…the worst part…” Tim was going to rip it if he kept at it like that. “I had no idea who she was; I didn’t even know her name.”

Tim released the abused fabric stunned as Jason looked down ashamed but Tim could not have been happier about it. At least for a moment until he saw how terribly his sweet bird felt about it. He loved to hold guilt in him, didn’t he?

“I didn’t know how to tell her, it took such a long time to say anything that I think she thought I was going to, you know, return it or something.” Jason sighed aggravated. “I ended just telling her the truth.”

“To her face?!” Tim was shocked.

“Oh! No! Not that truth!” Jason back pedaled, waving his hands around. “I would never tell someone I didn’t know they existed after something like that!”

“Then…What did you tell her?” Tim asked curiously.

“That I was taken, of course.” Jason said a little pink creeping up his neck and cheeks. “But I’m not totally sure she believed me, since I wouldn’t tell her your name. It’s not like I could, you being legally dead, that would make it sound more like a lie.”

Jason sighed and dropped his head onto Tim’s shoulder with a pained groan, it melted into a pleasant soft hum when his cat started to run his fingers through his hair. “I just feel sooo bad about making her cry.”

“Shh, you aren’t responsible for her feelings.” Tim hummed, nuzzling against Jason affectionately. “And I won’t be responsible for my actions if she tries to make any more moves on you, Birdie.”

“Kitten! Don’t!” Jason pulled back to say more but the words were smothered in a surprised kiss.

Jason melted into the kiss, feeling Tim slide his hand up his neck, his short nails lightly digging into his skin and pressing forward into him. God. He shouldn’t love how possessive Tim got over him, it probably was some sort of red flag, but it be damned if he was get his brains kissed out like this more often.

“Mm…wow…” Jason mumbled in daze, smiling like a fool. “I mean, that’s a great point and all but I’d still rather you didn’t do anything too drastic.”

“I’ll consider it.” Tim hummed playfully. “But if she knows what’s good for her, she’ll stay away from you.”

“I’ll make a point to be even less available if you promise to not do anything about this, kay?” Jason laughed, shaking his head. “Now how about we get on with movie night, huh?”

“Alright, alright. I’ll do the popcorn this time, you pick the first movie.” Tim said, giving him one last lingering kiss before grabbing up the bag and heading to the microwave.

Jason went to the pile Tim assembled and picked up two from the top. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Watership Down.

Tim couldn’t hold back his laughter as he heard Jason screeching in the living room, the sound of different films being frantically searched through.

“Tim! You brat!”