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jason is tired.
the kind of tired he feels deep in his bones after a month of no proper rest. the relentless tiredness that nestles behind his eyes and prods incessantly into his brain. january had been long and february wasn't proving to be any kinder with its harsh winds and blinding snow. winter in gotham tears through his padded layers and finds home under his skin.
tonight, with the snow giving him a break, he's leaning against a busted chimney staring at the gotham skyline, scanning park row for something to keep him out. something that needs his attention and wants to keep him forever. he sees nothing. at two o'clock in the morning, his part of the city draws quiet. on valentine's day, gotham shows him mercy.
jason scales down the tattered wall and lands on the sidewalk with a heavy thud, his thick boots colliding with the concrete. the streets of park row are desolate, filled to the brim with despair and fear. as the red hood, he can move with little anxiety and linger around the corner to decide if he needs to intervene. as a younger jason todd, he often felt he needed someone to intervene, though he would never express this. jason todd is more red hood than he would rather admit, but he is still jason todd nonetheless and so he continues moving home.
he has mixed feelings about his apartment. for one, it is far nicer than he cares for. it's sleek and grey and there's a keypad at both the front entrance and his front door. he doesn't need all that-what he needs is a bed and a fridge and a place to keep his assortment of equipment. he does however live close enough to crime alley to keep an eye on it if need be. he often finds this useful.
the singular plus, aside from the location, is the human slumped over their phone on the couch. as he locks the door behind him, they stir and check the time before greeting him. the sleep in his skull doesn't stop the smallest smile from appearing on jason's face.
"hey, you're back sooner than i thought you'd be," they say, voice still weighed down by sleep.
jason shrugs as he walks to their bedroom. "quiet night. let's not think too hard about it."
they nod and contort themselves to stretch in such a way that would put a cat to shame. jason busies himself with putting his jacket away and tucking his helmet into the closet. their shared collection of unopened lego sits on top of the storage box and offers an element of disguise. he lingers as he puts the boxes back and doesn't falter when hands fall on his shoulders.
"oh, yes! that is absolutely how we should spend the night and also the entire day tomorrow," his partner proposes, excitement flooding the suggestion.
jason's hold on the box remains tight as he turns and stands back up. the cold has left him, but the exhaustion is settling further and he could collapse into bed right now. his partner, now studying the dark shade of blue in his eyes, moves their hands to hold his face. as his eyes close, jason thinks instead he could fall asleep standing like this.
"jason. do you want to go to bed?"
this pries jason's eyes open from their peaceful, near-slumber state. he steps away and shakes the box in his hand with great passion. "it's valentine's day," he states.
eyebrow now raised, accompanied by a less-than-amused scoff, his partner snatches the box from jason's clutches. jason follows them into the kitchen where they leave the box on the counter and spin around to drag him into the bathroom.
"what the hell..." jason says, confusion making its way across his face.
"valentine's day is no fun if you're passed out, almost dead," they say before handing jason his toothbrush, loaded with toothpaste. "we are going to sleep.”
jason has never celebrated valentine's day. in previous years, he never saw it as special, as something worth celebrating. this year, he understood. despite the turmoil every year seems to bring him—the familial disputes and the somehow growing crime rate gotham likes to present them with—he was looking forward to his first valentine's day. perhaps it's because this time he has someone to celebrate with.maybe that makes a difference.
he cannot, for the life of him, understand why this person in front of him, dressed from head to toe in his clothing, would want to delay the start of their celebration. he thinks about this as they shimmy beside him while they brush in silence and he continues to think about it when they've washed both his face and their own.
he watches as they pour two glasses of water and dance their way back into the bedroom. he changes quietly into the soft clothes they push into his arms. he follows their movements to retrieve their phone from the couch and how they drop onto the bed when they return. he doesn't understand.
and then he gets it.
he gets it when they plug his phone in and slide theirs onto the nightstand without a care. he understands in the way they tug him under the covers and attempt to tuck him in like he's a child and not six feet of muscle. he sees love in how they hold his face again and plant a quiet kiss on his forehead before rolling him over and holding him tight.
he is loved. love and valentine's day can be sleeping in and waking up together loving and knowing you are loved. as the sleep he's been so desperately craving for months finally takes over his body, he hears a whisper from behind him, "when we wake up, we can do lego and then I'm going to destroy you in some kind of video game."
jason doesn't have the energy to respond but a smile reappears on his face and he knows this is more than enough.