Chapter Text
“I have no words,” Dick announced. “You are actually insane.”
Jason was currently halfway through his now-broken window, clad in his Red Hood suit and clutching an oversized bag of what Dick could only assume were marshmallows.
“Hi.”
“No no no, you do NOT get to just bust my window that you know I have to pay for and steal an entire bag of…whatever and say hi!” Dick said, looking in dismay at the shattered glass on his living room floor.
“Oh, please, you let Tim come in all the time, why am I any different?” Jason asked, hopping off of the windowsill. Right onto the new rug.
Dick screeched.
Everyone who lived in the Manor knew Dick as a relaxed, annoyingly attractive acrobat. Until someone left their shoes on… indoors. Jason never understood what was wrong with it.
“TAKE YOUR FUCKING SHOES OFF, JASON, OR I SWEAR ON EVERYTHING THAT’S HOLY THAT I WILL HAUNT YOUR NIGHTMARES!!”
“Geez, calm down, dude,” Jason placated, holding his hands up in surrender before removing his (admittedly) muddy boots and leaving them lined up neatly next to the wall near the window.
Once he had placed his shoes off of the carpet, Dick settled down…relatively speaking.
“I don’t understand why it pisses you off, Dick,” Jason huffed, flopping onto the couch after tossing the bag of marshmallows onto the rather beat up looking coffee table.
“It’s barbaric, Jason! Shoes are designed to be used OUTSIDE. Why on Earth would you willingly choose to walk around your living space in shoes covered in dirt and who-knows-what else?” Dick argued.
“I’m not the only one. I mean, Bruce, Steph, and Duke all agree with me,” Jason responded.
“Absolutely insane,” Dick chided. “Anyways, what are you even doing here all the way in Bludhaven? Nothing bad, well, worse, is going in Gotham, right?”
“No, no, nothing like that,” Jason muttered.
“Well, go on then, spill.”
Jason sighed in defeat. He wasn’t too sure about what made him take the drive to Bludhaven himself. (He was).
“Maybe I just…wanted to…see my older brother-”
Before he could say anything else, he found himself being squished by the one and only Nightwing. Dick was a few inches shorter and weighed a mere fraction of Jason, but he always managed to give the best hugs.
“I missed you,” Jason finished.
“I missed you too,” Dick said, squeezing a little harder before pulling away a little, so Jason wouldn’t crush his ribs (too much).
“You are like a bendy toothpick,” Jason snickered.
“And you’re built like a brick wall, little wing.”
“Looks like I grew out of that nickname, huh?”
“No, never,” Dick mumbled, his face still partially hidden in Jason’s shoulder. After a few more seconds, he reluctantly let go before pulling the couch mattress out.
“I don’t understand why you choose to live here, I mean, this is like a glorified shoebox, Dickie.”
“What are you talking about? It’s cozy.”
“It’s claustrophobic.”
“Shut up, my apartment is perfect.”
“Yeah, perfect, with all the uh-roaches and-is that… MOLD?”
“Shhhh, we don’t talk about that,” Dick whispered.
“Speaking of not talking about stuff, how’s work going?” Jason asked.
“It’s um, it’s going, I guess?” Dick admitted.
“So, in other words, it sucks,” Jason replied.
“Not necessarily. The tea is incredible. So, you know the other paramed, Caleb-”
“Hallway guy? The dude with the, with the…”
“The lashes? Yes, I got a concerning amount of commentary about that, actually. Mostly from Babs and Steph. Oh, and get this, even Tim-”
“WHAT ABOUT HIM.”
“Okay, so you know that diner near that alley with the super broken chain fence? Apparently, he saw one of the EMTs, I don’t know her name, but, according to him, he saw her kissing one of the…”
“I hope you realize I don’t actually care, right,” Jason interrupted. “You and your beyond crazy paramedic stories.”
“Hmm, too bad,” Dick said before wrapping an arm around him.
“You know you can come over anytime? You know that?” Dick asked, moving to look his baby brother in the eyes.
Jason noticed the stress lines around Dick’s eyes, his smile seeming just a little too nervous for someone like him.
“Yeah, I do, don’t worry,” Jason said, leaning a little into Dick’s shoulder.
And then he shoved him off the couch, sending the marshmallows along with him (balance is key).