Chapter Text
“God, this is stupid,” Jason frowned. He was busy adjusting his cufflinks.
“You were the one to agree to it!” Steph exclaimed, mock pouting. To be honest, she was quite excited. Jason didn’t usually go on missions with the Bat Clan, choosing to work alone on his cases, so when they finally coerced him into a mission, he agreed on two conditions.
- It wasn’t with one of his brothers
- It wasn’t with Bruce
So Steph agreed. She perhaps failed to mention that they were going undercover as a couple, but c’est la vie. Jason wasn’t as happy as she was.
“Come on Jay, you look great!” And he did! Steph didn’t even have to wrestle him into the suit he was wearing. It was a dark gray, not quite black, and Jason looked stunning in it. His tie was a dark maroon, a nod to the Red Hood, not that the people they were schmoozing with would know. Stephanie was wearing a green dress so tight it looked like she was sewn into it. And she actually was, Jason had to help her into it. Luckily it was made exactly for her measurements and not too tight in the wrong places. And she wasn’t going to lie, her butt looked amazing in this dress.
“I dunno, Steph,” came Jason’s voice. She glanced over to see him with a rare uncertain look on his face. He had stopped fidgeting with the cufflinks but now he was staring blankly at the wall.
“What’s wrong, Jay?” She wobbled in her heels only minorly as she walked over to him. It wasn’t that she couldn’t walk in heels, she was actually fantastic at that. However, these heels were about five inches tall, putting her closer to Jason’s height but not nearly enough to surpass him.
His hand flew out to steady her by the waist but his eyes remained fixed on the wall in front of him. He opened his mouth only to visibly hesitate.
“C’mon, Jay. What’s wrong?” She asked, furrowing her brow. She carefully perched on the desk next to him. He bit his lip, hesitating.
“...Beige?” He asked, finally meeting her eyes. Ah, the color system.
“Oh, Jay. I’m sorry.”
The color system was various code words in the form of colors, which represented either a mood, feeling, or a struggle. For example, green meant Jason was struggling with food, leftover anxiety from the streets. And red meant one of them was struggling with urges. Lilac was the most used code word, meaning the family was getting too overwhelming.
But beige, Jason didn’t usually use, it was usually Stephanie who did. It meant one of them was struggling with body dysmorphia or their body image. Usually it was Steph and her scars or her period was making her wish she wasn’t born a girl, but sometimes Jason had moments where his body felt Wrong and Bad. A by-product of getting resurrected by the forbidden Kool-Aid pool.
“Do you want to talk about it or do you want a distraction?” She asked, tugging him closer. He sighed, the breath coming from the depths of his lungs.
“Distraction, I think,” he decided. Stephanie nodded, hopping off the desk.
To play the part of a devoted couple, they had rented one of the bigger suites in the hotel they were staying in, which included a whole sitting area, complete with a couch big enough for the entire Wayne family to sit on.
This is where Steph led Jason to. She kicked off her heels as she sat down, patting her lap. Jason tilted his head, as if he wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted.
“Come lay down. I’ll play with your hair.” His eyes lit up in recognition as he shrugged off his jacket, placing it on the coffee table in front of them. He carefully laid down so his head was resting in her lap, breathing deeply. His eyes were still not the Jason she knew, the playful, rambunctious Jason, and she smiled down at him in understanding.
As she ran a hand through his perfectly slicked back hair, his eyes slid shut. She would have thought he fell asleep if his breathing wasn’t so in control. He inhaled as she brought her hand to the front of his forehead, held his breath until her hand reached the crown of his head and exhaled as she reached his neck.
After a few minutes, Jason drifted to sleep, tucking himself into both Stephanie and the couch. Stephanie didn’t mind. The mission could wait.