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Jason walked onto the edge of the rooftop before sitting down on its ledge. It was a building he’d never done this in before, because rule number one of avoiding people was being inconsistent. That is, avoiding everyone but your partner, who had, as he always did, joined him for their late night parole. Flame came to sit down beside him, patting the last of leftover sparks on his body. Jason smiled; Flame always looked so fluid and confident. It was nice being the only one to see him grumble as he dealt with small aftereffects of being a superhero.
“I swear, sometimes the flames don’t want to be controlled,” Flame muttered as he moved his hand, covered by a red glove, over the last of the sparks. He looked over at Jason–or, well, Static–and pouted. “You’re enjoying my suffering, aren’t you?”
“Less the suffering aspect and more the you aspect,” Jason replied. On any other time, he’d have been abashed by his own confidence, but he was still coming down from the effects of adrenaline.
Flame rolled his eyes but smiled, not quite showing his teeth but still visibly happy. It made Jason happy, seeing Flame like that, knowing it was Static who had made him happy.
"Whatever, lover boy," Flame teased, poking his supersuit-covered stomach. "Don't know when you got this smooth.
Flame rested his head on Static's shoulder, as he usually did after a long parole night. Jason turned his head ever so slightly to look at him. Not much of the top of his head could be seen because of his black and red mask (an object Jason had grown to despise). However, Jason had spent his fair share of time looking at his partner, enough to know how a black curl would sometimes poke out of the mask, or how his nose scrunched ever so slightly when he was focused, or how his dark brown eyes would turn lighter when he ignited a fire. Little things, most people wouldn’t know.
Jason sighed, feeling his heartbeat slow down and his body relax. Flame seemed to be too, if the loss of tension in his body was any indicator. Jason would be lying if he said it weren’t one of the best moments when it came to his alter ego’s life. He felt guilty thinking so, but he knew it was true.
Jason watched as Flame ignited his hands then stopped the flames, over and over as if it were a normal fidget. He smiled at that. He watched for a moment, then two, until his thoughts started to run. He thought about Flame, and about Static, and about both of them, and about Flame again. Jason was hard not to think about him, no matter where he was, no matter who he was with. It didn’t take long before he spoke, verbalising what was on his mind.
"Tell me about yourself," Static whispered.
Flame lifted an eyebrow, looking up at the hero. "What happened to complete confidentiality, Sparks?" Flame asked, as Jason predicted he would. It was at Jason’s request that they kept their identities a secret, and he vaguely remembered something about staying safe and not risking their lives that all seemed so unimportant now. Flame had disapproved of Static's reasoning, but he’d respected his request, which only increased Jason's want to tell Flame everything about him.
But that would be stupid and dangerous, wouldn’t it?
Jason sighed. "You're my best friend, Flame. I trust you with my life. You've saved my life, but I barely know anything about you.” He stopped for a moment, thinking carefully before adding, “It doesn't have to be something major. Your favourite colour, how many siblings you have, or a subject you enjoy. I don't know. I just want to know more about the person I trust completely."
Flame was silent, making Jason start regretting that he asked in the first place. He knew there was a silent acknowledgement that he was trying to edge towards territories they both knew they shouldn't cross. He swallowed, about to take back his request…
...except, Flame broke the silence. "My favourite colour is blue, I have two half-siblings, my favourite subject is math,” he replied, brown eyes looking up at Jason.
Jason took a minute to process everything Flame told him, as if it were some big secret, information so fundamental that Jason couldn’t live without it. It was the most basic information about Flame, useless in the long run, but he still engraved it in his mind, immediately memorised.
"What about you?" Flame followed up, making Jason look back up at him. Flame was still staring at him through his mask. Jason ignored the flutter in his stomach.
"I have an older sister, and my favourite subject is art."
"What about your favourite colour?"
Jason thought for a moment, staring at Flame through the corner of her eyes before he decided on a colour. "Brown."
Flame nodded attentively, as if what Jason had just told him was just as important to him as what Flame had told him. Flame thought for a moment before adding. "What else would you like to know?"
Jason thought for a moment. "What would you like to be when you're older?"
"Mechanic. You?"
"I don’t know yet. Maybe a civil engineer."
“What's your favourite food?"
"Burgers. You?"
"Cupcakes."
"What flavour?"
"Chocolate. I got a bit of a sweet tooth."
Jason smiled softly. "Just a bit." He made sure to note that down so he could one day get Flame some chocolate cupcakes. Asking for his birthday felt a bit too much. Maybe the day they'd met. Or just a random night parole, to make things a little sweeter.
"Where's your dream destination?" Jason continued, deciding to leave the gift planning for later.
“Mexico. My mom is from there. She immigrated here before I was born. She’d tell me a lot about her life there before, though, and about our family there. Always considered reconnecting, or at least seeing all the places my mom loved," Flame seemed to lose himself in his thoughts, a sight Jason didn’t see too often. Flame was usually much more playful and lighthearted, cracking a joke even in the most difficult of fights. The faraway look on his face, coupled with the gentle upward tug of his lips, were a rare sighting, but it was far from a bad change.
Unfortunately, though, he snapped out of it quickly, lifting his head as he looked away, mumbling an apology. Jason couldn’t help but feel disappointed at the loss of contact, or at the fact Flame felt the need to apologise.
"What about you? What's your dream destination?" Flame asked.
Jason thought for a moment. "Italy. I’d love to go to Rome. Maybe Greece too. I’m really interested in ancient mythologies.” He couldn’t help but think about how lame his answer was compared to Flame’s. He quickly asked another question, as if trying to make up for his answers’ lack of uniqueness. “How many languages do you speak?"
"Five. Spanish, Greek, English, learning French and Latin. And morse code." Static replied casually, as if his multilingualism was an easy feat. "You?"
"English and Latin, and I'm trying to learn Mandarin."
"Favourite fruit?"
"Watermelon. You?"
"Oranges."
"Favourite drink?"
"Redbull. You?"
"Apple juice."
"Ew," Flame's face scrunched up as he faked gagging.
"Oh, shut up," Jason replied, smiling, as he poked Flame's side.
They continued asking questions until they'd run out of questions to ask, and they sat in silence, Flame resting his head on Static's shoulder again as they took in all the information they'd learned about each other. Not much, just preferences and details, but more than they'd allowed themselves to know for a long time. Jason hated that it didn’t feel like enough. He didn’t think anything would ever be enough, not until he really knew Flame.
He looked to his side, to Flame watching the stray car being driven. There weren’t many this late at night, but the sight was still beautiful. Flame was still beautiful, especially with the light of the street hitting him, outlining what little of his features were visible and making his suit look maroon, a shade Jason thought should belong to Flame. Jason watched as his eyebrows furrowed, and Flame looked at his watch, his eyes widening under his mask, a quiet “shit” released from his lips.
“I need to go, It's already three in the morning. Got a meeting tomorrow morning that I can’t miss. See you here again tomorrow?” Flame said as he quickly scrambled to get up. Jason processed this slowly, the aftereffects of adrenaline and meaningful conversations leaving him exhausted. All he could do was nod as he watched Flame’s lips curl upward.
“Bye bye, Superman,” he said, saluting him.
Jason felt a pit in his stomach. Things were ending far quicker than he had hoped for, changing before Jason could accept that they had to. The peace he'd cultivate with Flame during late nights was going to end again, and Static would be left alone, wishing Flame was still next to him. He wanted to stop time. There was still so much more he wanted to know, so much he wanted to ask.
Instead of saying that, or asking another question, he smiled weakly and said, “See you tomorrow, Flame.”
And with that, Flame was moving away, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, and Static was sitting at the edge of a building, watching stray cars alone.