Work Text:
A/N: I have a lot of Jason feels okay.
Please do not repost, recreate or translate.
Summary: Jason usually sleeps with at least three dogs in his bed.
Stray
Jason usually sleeps with at least three dogs in his bed and he's willing to acknowledge that it's kind of getting out of hand. There's dog hair everywhere and he often stumbles over the countless bowls of dog food and water when he gets back from his nightly patrols - not to mention it was getting harder and harder to find a comfortable place to sit when he had to share his small apartment with so many slumbering animals.
To Jason's defense – he hadn't meant to get this many dogs in the first place.
He had started with one, a stray, just like him wandering the streets without a place to really call home. Jason had found the dog in a starved and slightly aggressive state in a dark alleyway but it had warmed up to Jason after being presented with a good meal. He deeply understood the dog's need to bite – Jason, too, had trouble accepting random acts of kindness.
Eventually the dog and Jason became friends. Jason was consistent in training it and read plenty of instructional books and online tutorials on the subject, spending the last of his money to get everything the mutt could ever ask for.
After that he had sort made it a habit to start bringing home other strays he came across.
Jason made a genuine effort out of finding loving homes for most of them. He had made a bunch of families and dogs happy so far and on top of his normal superhero business, it made him feel good. It was something to keep him busy.
Sometimes he longed to start over and start a family of his own, tucked away from the craziness that his life has always been. He craved a domestic life and it was a notion he found shame in. He knew a simple life would be something he'd never be able to obtain.
'Jason. Your sheets smell like dog.'
'So does your breath,' Jason instantly replied but he had no bite in his voice.
Bruce sighed somewhere behind him.
Maybe Jason also just felt more comfortable being around animals rather than people because animals were simple. Feed them and show them respect and they'll love you forever – unfortunately, things didn't work like that for people. If it did, Bruce wouldn't have such a hard time dealing with Jason.
'Five dogs are too many for your apartment. You know that,' Bruce gently reminded him. His voice was a wonderful baritone, his concern genuine.
Jason didn't even know how Bruce had found this apartment (he's the goddamn Batman, Jason, don't be stupid a voice in his head cynically supplied) but here he was, playing at Jason's heartstrings, making him all too aware of his overall presence and how it seemed to fill every corner and crevice of the room. The man's excuse for coming over (breaking into Jason's apartment and casually waiting by the window for Jason to come back home) was to check up on him. Make sure there wasn't anything Jason may need like perhaps food or clothes.
Or Bruce himself.
Jason glared at the older man.
Jason knew Bruce was right. He was surprised his landlord hadn't kicked him out yet - at least the mutts didn't bark all that much.
Bruce's hand landed on his shoulder and he squeezed him gently, and Jason was reminded of breathless nights and passionate moans, Bruce's heavy weight on his own body, open-mouthed kisses along his throat. How he missed that intimacy... How he struggled each day to stay strong and keep from picking up the phone, crying, letting everything out.
Jason shrugged the hand off. Being distant and cold to Bruce was his way of coping with the bitterness he still had inside of himself.
'I'm looking for new homes for them all, this is just a temporary thing.'
The pitbull he had found last night looked at him with big brown eyes, blinking lazily before yawning and dropping his head back down between his paws. Jason could feel himself relax and his heart warm at the endearing sight. Letting go was becoming harder and harder with each dog... He had even started naming them, something he hadn't done at the start.
Bruce hummed and bent down to pick up a scruffy looking chihuahua, wrinkling up his nose when it licked his cheek. In Bruce's hands it looked so tiny... Jason stared in mild longing and he quickly looked away when he noticed Bruce gazing at him.
'Why won't you drop some off at the manor, let them come live with me for a while? They'll have a lot more space and they'll be able to go outside all day if they want.'
The underlying invitation of you can come along too was very clear and Jason couldn't help but protectively wrap his arms around a blind pug he's had for a while, sitting on his ratty couch. She was old - grey hairs under her chin. No one would adopt her. Jason had found her tied to a streetlight and he had waited for more than an hour for any possible owners to pick her up until he had dreaded to admit she'd been left there.
Bruce sunk down on the couch next to him and bumped his shoulder into his, fingertips ghosting over Jason's chin gently.
'I can get them all checked by the best vet in the city,' Bruce added hopefully. His eyes flicked to Jason's lips and Jason unknowingly wet them. Bruce must have taken that as a good reason to lean forward and kiss him.
It was like sinking into a warm bath after being outside for hours, in the freezing snow. Jason could do nothing but give in and his lids fluttered shut. These were familiar grounds, before Jason had died Bruce had shown him intimacy and love he hadn't known could truly exist... Then, when he came back to life, things were different - Tim Drake had taken Jason's role as Robin. It had been a role he had fought for and had carried with pride... It had been a role that had been as important to Jason as being Bruce's had been... Resentment had filled Jason, curling into his chest and making its home there. Perhaps Bruce had lied to him, perhaps it had just been the sex, yet...
Deep down Jason was extremely grateful that Bruce was still trying to tear down the walls he had so carefully built up. How he loved this man, even if he could never show it, even if he was still so hung up about everything that happened between them. Their tongues danced together and Jason moaned. He was starved for affection.
Bruce was here, willingly offering anything Jason could ever wish for. Why was it so hard to trust? What was it in Jason that had died and hadn't come back when the rest of Jason had been revived? Was it his innocence, his happiness? His carelessness? His desire to believe every promise that fell from this man's wonderful lips?
Bruce's long fingers brushed his hair from his face and then they parted again. Jason noted he was vaguely out of breath even though it had been fairly innocent considering what they had done in the past together. It took all his willpower to pull away again, away from that wonderful heat radiating off Bruce's body, away from that wonderful smell of expensive cologne that Jason secretly kept a bottle of, tucked under his pillow so he could smell the male whenever the loneliness became unbearable.
Silence fell upon them. There were so many unspoken words threatening to escape Bruce's mouth yet all he did was look at Jason with a sad expression on his darling features. It almost ached to see him like that.
Jason cleared his throat, lowered his eyes and pulled away.
'Okay, fine, whatever. But I'm keeping Bats,' he mumbled dumbly. He didn't want to go there again. He didn't want to pick a fight now and feel miserable afterwards - he could play Bruce's game and keep from straying to more sensitive subjects.
'Bats?' The older man questioned in mild amusement. Bruce looked as though a very deep thought had been interrupted and he only just realized what their earlier conversation had been about. Jason felt his cheeks warm up as he just lifted the old pug to Bruce's face if only to put some distance between them both. Deep down, it pleased him that he still had that effect on Bruce.
'Yeah, Bats. Cause, y'know. She's blind as a bat.'
A small smile broke on Bruce's features and he reached out to hold her properly. He was getting dog hair all over his expensive suit but he didn't seem to care extremely much. Jason wished he wasn't so gorgeous. He wished he could live up to the hate and aggression in his own acts and words and really, truly hate Bruce. His heart ached and his mind was in tatters... The thought of being replaced still a knife in his gut.
'I suppose one pet is more than acceptable,' Bruce then agreed. He glanced at Jason meaningfully while Bats settled into Bruce's lap, being the lapdog she was, and made herself comfortable. 'After all, there will always be that one special stray you can't let go.'
Bruce wasn't a man of many words and Jason knew very well each word the man spoke was meaningful, to the point. His heart skipped a beat as he mulled this over.
'Maybe the stray doesn't want to be let go,' Jason finally whispered. 'No matter how much it bites the hand that feeds it.'
Bruce smiled brighter and Jason enjoyed this. The simple way they could have light conversations even if the more serious undertones were killing him.
Maybe one day, in the future, some things could be mended once more.