Chapter Text
Plop. A box was placed on top of another box that was lined neatly near the bottom of a staircase. A woman with ivory-blonde hair furrowed her brows at the boxes, with her lips pursed. "I might have gone overboard with the books." She raised her hand and scratched her cheek sheepishly.
She squinted at the boxes and then at the flight of stairs. How inconvenient for me to live on the 5th floor... She was about to pick up one of the boxes before her vision was obscured by a muscular bicep. Before she knew it, a tall man with broad shoulders and defined muscles all over had easily picked up both of the boxes. He easily towered over her measly 5'3 figure. His features were defined, and he easily belonged on the cover of a magazine...or one of the covers of her books. His dark hair was somehow windswept in a way that seemed like he actually styled his hair—she knew he didn't—and his eyes were a wonderful but ominous shade of forest green; it was a rich forest green, though. One found if you ventured too far into the woods.
"Jason," she greeted. The corners of her lips tugged up to form a soft, kind smile as she craned her neck to look up at him.
"'ello there, Vivienne. Thought I'd lend ya a hand or two." He chuckled, already making his way up the stairs, prompting her to follow him. "Don't ‘uppose ya learned your lesson of not buyin' too many things, have ya?"
Mystic eyes flickered over to him, twinkling in amusement. "In my defense, I had these pre-ordered months before the incident."
"Incident," Jason parroted. "Is that what we're callin’ it now?"
Vivienne smiled pleasantly at him as she nodded. "Yes."
"Whatever helps ya sleep at night, Viv."
The two of them finally arrived in front of her unit. Jason gently placed down the boxes on the floor and dusted his hands off as Vivienne unlocked her door. She walked in and gestured for him to come in. He shuffled his feet awkwardly for a few moments before he picked up the boxes again and walked in.
"I don't know why you get so awkward walking into my place when I invite you over so often. Our book club is hosted here almost every weekend." She arched her eyebrow at him before she chuckled softly. Once the boxes were placed down, she used a small cutter to open up the top box. She reached in and grabbed a book. She inspected it before she turned to Jason.
The man only furrowed his brows at her words, scowling slightly. "This is Gotham. It ain't safe invitin' people like me to your place. I could be dangerous," he warned.
Vivienne just flashed him a sweet smile as she took his hand and placed the book onto his hand. "I've been your downstairs neighbor for months, Jay. Almost a year now. You could be dangerous, yes," she agreed easily, retracting her hand, "but you're not dangerous to me."
"That don't mean jack shit. It's the same thing."
"It's not. Trust me, it's really not. You could be very dangerous, Jason, but you wouldn't be dangerous to me." The blonde shrugged. She knew the weight of her words and wouldn't take them back. "That book is yours now, by the way. A gift from me to you."
Jason was about to retort before he looked down at the book, his eyes widening. He looked at her and then back down at the book. "You're kiddin' me. Ya did not just casually hand me a signed copy of Pride and Prejudice, and then tell me it's a gift!" His voice raised at the end slightly, disbelief laced into his voice.
A laugh escaped the blonde's lips. She tilted her head. "You're right, I did not just do that." She raised her index finger as she continued. "Because I just casually handed you a signed first edition of the book."
"Nah... yer kiddin' me. Ya didn't. No way ya managed ta do such a thing, and then hand it over ta a guy like me. Yer messin' with me." Jason's Crime Alley accent was worsening as he gaped—he would protest this; he would never do such a thing—at Vivienne.
"Oh, but I did. I'm not taking it back, Jason." Vivienne tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ear before she crossed her arms, tapping her foot slightly. "I want you to have it, and you're keeping it. You've been a great friend to me, and you've helped me out more than most Gothamites would... and without asking for any compensation except a book club. A book club I was already planning on starting anyway." Her eyes had a blaze in them. Jason felt pinned down as he stared at her eyes. Her eyes could only be described as mystical. He could never pinpoint the color of them—they almost seemed to be changing, as if she wasn't human. And usually that would make him wary—antsy even—but it didn't.
Once, he stared at her eyes for too long, and she only offered him an amused smile, along with an explanation. She was French, and her eyes were inherited from her mother's side of the family. She then dutifully commented, in an entertained thought, that she didn't have a metagene either. Her eyes just did that. He was skeptical at first until he realized that even if she was a meta, or wasn't human or part something else, it wouldn't... really bother him. Whether her eyes were blue, gray, blue-grey, green, or even violet , it didn't matter to him. At least he didn't think so.
Back to the present, he gently gripped the book and gave a stiff nod. "Ya wouldn't have it any other way, would ya?"
"That goes without saying, yes. Don't worry about how expensive it is either. I just...happened to have a friend that owed me a favor and didn't want the book." She sounded pained as she said the last part, as if parting with a book was heartbreaking.
"What?!" Jason's eyes widened once more as he sounded scandalized. "Didn't want it?! It's a first edition copy of--!"
"I know." Vivienne nodded solemnly. "That's what I said too."
The black-haired man with a mysterious streak of white in his hair was about to voice out his disbelief and displeasure before his phone started beeping. He scowled. "I know I should thank ya more but..."
"It's probably an emergency?" She guessed as he hesitantly nodded, a flash of guilt in his eyes appeared. She smiled. "Go on then."
"I'll, uh... leave this here for now. I'll come back for it!" He grumbled under his breath as he rushed out. "Or else you'll find a way to give it back to me..."
"That I will." Her eyes twinkled as she watched him leave, closing and locking the door behind him. She pressed her palm against her cheek as she tilted his head. "I wonder if he knows I know he's Red Hood."
...
"Probably not. I suppose it sucks for him. Sucks a lot, really. I'll tell him soon." Her eyes flickered to the two boxes of books before glancing at the bookshelves lining up the walls of her home. All of them were filled with books upon books. "... I'm going to need another bookshelf. I wonder if Jason is good at building those..."