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Chapter 1 - I Somehow See What’s Beautiful
It started as a joke. A joke that literally ruined Roy’s life.
Jason has lived with Roy and Lian for a couple of years now. It started as an accountability thing; both would be each other’s impulse control. It worked great— Jason has saved Roy from relapsing or cutting all of the sleeves off of his shirts and Roy has saved Jason from harming himself or rebinding all of his books. Plus, it was a bit difficult for Jason to live at the Manor, especially since it was just Bruce and Clark there. Dick moved in with Wally, Tim rents his own place with Kon, and Damian lives on the outskirts of Gotham with Jon.
The best part about Jason living with Roy and Lian is he always has a backup. Can’t figure out the math homework? Jason can help. Need help with spelling sheets? Jason is the guy. Stuck on a mission and need a baby sitter? Not to fear, Jason will be there. Plus, he’s a great cook. Roy has indulged in homemade dinners and packed lunches for the duration Jason has been living with him, and he has no intention of letting Jason go now.
And he loves Lian like his own, which is a huge plus.
Jason loves Lian so much, he taught himself how to bake all sorts of treats for her. Bread, cookies, brownies, even homemade animal crackers. It was sweet, really, both the treats and Roy coming home to find Jason humming in the kitchen over an old recipe book.
Until Jason got an apron.
And not just any apron— no, Tim went out of his way to find the apron of Roy’s dreams. It was this frilly, lacy abomination, butter-yellow and trimmed with pleated white lace. It had two long strands of fabric that Jason cinched around his waist with a charming bow in the back, a sweetheart cut in the front, and fell to about mid-thigh.
It was awful. Roy couldn’t stop thinking about it, and the knowing, smug grin from Tim told Roy that the sly, grinning little shit planned the entire thing. And Jason, precious Jason, had no idea just what he was doing to Roy every time he put that apron on.
Which leads Roy to his latest dilemma.
Home from the League meeting, Roy is immediately settling tension between Jason and Lian.
“But Jayjay, you’ve read all the classics!” Lian pouted, holding what looks to be a rubric for a project.
“I’m sorry peanut, but I despised Treasure Island. Let me see that again,” Jason huffed, grabbing the pink paper.
Roy leaned against the doorway, clucking his tongue at the scene and getting the attention of them both.
“Papa!” They both called in unison. Roy couldn’t help but grin like a fool.
“What did I just walk into?”
Both started talking so quickly, Wally would’ve been impressed. Roy picked out project due tomorrow, and pirates, and treasure map from Lian’s rambles. He also detected hate that stupid book and I’m terrified of pirates, more so than clowns from Jason, snorting at his comments. So, Roy took it upon himself to read the rubric, and settle them down.
“Okay. Lian, what have you done so far?”
“Well, to make it more map-y, I dunked the parchment in Jayjay’s old tea leaves. Then, I traced an island shape using where the leaves dried. And I added the treasure part, but it doesn’t look… pirate enough,” Lian frowned, sliding the map to Roy.
Roy hummed and thought while looking at the map. Honestly, it wasn’t half-bad; she did a great job with making the paper look old and worn, and used a special type of pen or marker to make the map look like something out of a fantasy book. Now that Roy thought, Jason used to have a book with a map of some kingdom or another, but the edges were a bit charred and the paper had burn holes, like from tobacco or being out in the sun too long.
He snapped his fingers.
“What if we add some texture? Crisp it up a bit?”
Lian clapped her hands together.
“Yes! With matches! Can I light them?”
“You’re too young for arson,” Roy grinned. Jason stood from the table with a smile, ruffling Lain’s hair.
“You two head outside with that. I just mopped today. I’ll get dinner ready,” Jason said, ushering Roy and Lian to the back door.
Roy caught the matchbook Jason tossed to him from the kitchen cabinet, following Lian outside where she was holding her map. He lit a match, held it to the corner, and let Lian blow the flames out when she was content with the look. He put a few hot ashes from the parchment on various spots on the map itself, adding an old look.
“I think that’s as good as it’s going to get, peanut,” Roy said, blowing the fire out on the edge of the paper, tapping the ashes out into the wind.
“Do you think it looks like an old map?” She asked on her tiptoes, trying to see Roy’s attempt.
“For sure! Like it was stolen from Captain Long John Silver himself,” Roy nodded, not really knowing anything about the book. But, his joke earned him a snort and a beaming, toothy smile, so it was a win.
“Dinner’s ready, you rapscallions!”
Both spun to Jason, Lian grabbing her map to show him, while Roy…
Well.
Roy stood, speechless and stunned. Jason leaned in the doorway of the back sliding door, arms crossed, wooden spoon in one hand and a smile on his face. He wasn’t in his usual butter-yellow apron with the lace and frills. Instead, this one was a deep red, with lacy-black accents, still cinched and showcasing Jason’s trim waist and the cut showing off his broad chest. The worst part was what it said on the front, right across the pectorals: The only thing I love doing more than cooking is my husband.
Roy shook his head to get all of the terrible, filthy thoughts he was having about Jason in that stupid apron out of his head. Thank God Lian was too young to understand what that meant, and she was too caught up with her project.
And watching Jason smooth Lian’s hair back and usher her inside for dinner, watching him dish up a simple but delicious pasta, serving Roy first with that sunshine-bright smile… Roy learned a few interesting things about himself.
Chapter 2 - In Things That Are Ephemeral
Something about Jason that basically everyone knew— and most were afraid of— was how bossy he was. Especially on patrols or missions, where he would bark out orders and little jibes when something wasn’t completed the perfect way. In fact, just last week, he was bossing around Dick and Wally, hands on his hips, head cocked to one side, like he was the King of Bludhaven.
“You sure are slow for someone who is supposedly the fastest man alive! What are you waiting for? A green light? Go and clear the building!” Jason yelled over the comms.
“Don’t talk to him like that!” Dick retaliated, grunting at the end as he dodged a punch from one of Blockbuster’s men.
“Nightwing, if you don’t pull your gigantic cranium out of Wally’s ass and get your arms up so you don’t get knocked out, I’m going to put a cap in your knee.”
Roy chuckled as he fired two arrows, one to distract the goons fighting Dick, and another to pierce one that was about to get the drop on Jason.
“What are you laughing at, Arsenal? Get off that building and by my brother so he doesn’t get his shit rocked. Robin can do better work than this! Who even are you people?” Jason hollered, fed up, even though the mission was going perfect without any civilian or vigilante casualties.
“He does have a Super on his side!” Wally sing-songed, racing people out of the museum and away from the trouble.
At the end of the mission, when they were sitting in a twenty-four hour diner, bruised and smiling, Jason excused himself to use the restroom and clean the rest of the blood from under his shirt. Roy offered to help, but Jason waved him off. Wally sipped his vanilla shake and leaned back in the booth, arm casually around Dick’s shoulders.
“Man, Jason sure is bossy,” he whispered, eyes glancing toward the restroom like Jason would come out in a fiery rage.
“He’s always been like that,” Dick whispered back, using a fry to scoop some of the whipped cream off of Wally’s shake.
“I kinda like it,” Roy sighed, leaning his head into his palm, sipping his chocolate shake. He missed how Dick and Wally shared a side-eye, Nightwing with a smirk, Flash with a grimace.
And Roy did love when Jason bossed him around. It was hot, in maybe a self-deprecating way. Just last week, Dick came over to drop off some books of Jason’s that Wally was borrowing. The two were in the kitchen, coffee brewing, when Roy heard some rustling paper, a gasp, and hushed talking. Then, Jason strode into the room and stood in front of the TV, hands on his hips, peering down at Roy, a black eyebrow raised.
“Roy Harper.”
“Jason Todd.”
The man in question (still in that stupid apron), scooped up the remote and turned the television off. Roy wasn’t really paying attention anyway, but the scowl on Jason’s face made him sit up right away.
“Our daughter has a bake sale. That you need to come help with. Now.”
Roy totally missed the whole our daughter admission and furrowed his brow. The bake sale was next week, or so he thought. The Justice League did have him pretty busy lately, on top of helping Kori with the Titans while Dick and Wally gallivanted into the sunset.
“Sure, hun. What do you need me to do?”
Jason rolled his eyes, but his ears did turn pink at hun, and dragged Roy up off of the couch. Dick was digging through cupboards, looking for ingredients, while Jason laid out a few of his recipe cards, fancy handwriting staring up at Roy.
“I’m a terrible cook. Lian basically lived off of chicken nuggets and canned corn until you got here,” Roy admitted.
“That’s why you are measuring ingredients only. We are making lemon bars and chocolate chip cookies. Dick, did you find the sugar yet?”
“That would be a negatory,” Dick mumbled, rising on his toes to peer into the back of the cupboard.
“Then stop wasting time and go buy some.” Jason said, pulling him back by the shirt collar.
“Jesus, okay! Okay! Why can’t you just buy the treats?”
Roy is pretty sure Hell froze over, if the look Jason gave Dick is any indicator. Needless to say, Dick basically ran out of the house with a little shopping list while Roy and Jason got the rest of the ingredients together. Roy helped where he could, going as far as scooping Jason into one of his famous bear hugs and squeezing so the infamous Red Hood would stop stressing about cookies.
“Okay! I’m back. Here is the sugar, the lemons, extra butter, and I bought coffee creamer since you two are fiends and don’t have any.”
Jason rolled his eyes and slid Roy the measuring cups and bowls so he could start parsing out ingredients. Dick started on the cookies, of course getting bossed around by Jason, until eventually he took over himself and put Dick on mixing duty.
“Roy Harper! That is not how you zest a damn lemon. Give me that.”
Roy quickly gave Jason the lemon and file, watching how he did it, before Roy was allowed to take the supplies back and try again. Dick snorted a laugh, tapping the spoon off on the side of the bowl, flinging cookie dough everywhere.
“Jason sure has you on a tight leash, huh?” Dick asked with a grin, eating a bite of raw dough.
Roy flushed, while Jason slapped his hand away from taking a taste of the lemon mixture.
“Yeah, and he barks for treats too. Take some notes, Dickie. And stop eating the cookie dough!”
Roy squeezed the lemon too hard, juicing it into the bowl, earning a stern talking to from Jason. His traitor brain was still caught up on leash and barks for treats. Roy was in deep if he was this turned on by Jason bossing him around like a naughty pet.
Chapter 3 - I’m My Only Friend Of Mine
One of the first things Roy learned about Jason was just how much he loved to read. He loved reading and he loved collecting books. When the Outlaws were a thing and they all shared a few safehouses, there were piles of books. On stakeouts, Roy was in charge of recon while Jason leaned up against him and read his current book. Sometimes, he would let out little gasps, or groans, at whatever the characters were doing. Evidently, this distracted Arsenal; for one, Jason was warm tucked against his arm. For two, the noises he let out always made Roy’s dumb brain run wild. For three, watching his calloused fingers that were so capable of killing and fighting gently cradle the spine of a book, or flip the pages, or trace the words was nothing shy of watching a potter craft tableware.
When Jason broke his arm (and elbow… and wrist… and fingers…) he couldn’t read. He wasn’t a fan of audiobooks, so Roy did some research and bought him one of those Kindles with money he stole off of whatever crime boss of the week they were fighting. He even bought one of those stands, so the Kindle was propped up while Jason laid in bed. Roy even bought a damn clicker for the thing, so Jason could curl up and digitally flip the pages.
Roy was going through a terrible lapse of wanting to use again, probably from some stupid fight with Ollie, when Jason marched him to the library and made him register for a library card. Then, they were spending tons of time at the library together, Jason with a book that was well over five-hundred pages, Roy with a graphic novel or a young authors paperback. Roy even had one of those little keychain library cards on his keyring that he always kept clipped to his belt. Jason had one too, far more used and beat up than Roy’s, but it gave him some big feelings that he and Jason had matching library keyrings. Like an old married couple.
So it only made sense that when they bought a literal house together, and Jason couldn’t find enough space for his books in the living room, Roy custom built him a little garden library. Really, it gave him something to do between Justice League missions and it kept his mind busy. Jason would help him, handing him tools or holding up boards, but Roy basically designed the entire thing to Jason’s liking. It felt good, doing something like that for him, giving Jason his own space when he needed a bit of alone time. And watching Jason kneel with his little girl in the fresh soil, planting flowers they all picked out, made his stupid little heart jump rope. When Jason was reading in his shed, Roy would go out and sit with him sometimes. He would act like he was working on an arrow, but really, he was just watching Jason. The way Jason’s eyebrows would furrow, or the way his mouth whispered names he was trying to pronounce, or his nimble fingers trace the spine of a book.
This morning, Jason has been holed up in the shed. Roy figured he was burnt out, dealing with a cold case all of the Bats were working on, and needed a bit of a pick-me-up. Roy snuck out, heading to the local bookstore and florist. He learned on Instagram Reels (a bad habit, he knows) that April 23rd is Diada de Sant Jordi, or the Day of Books and Roses. Apparently, one was supposed to purchase a book and a rose for the reader in their life. Who would appreciate this more than Jason?
Roy took a peek at Jason’s Goodreads account, figuring out which books he didn’t have a physical copy of, before heading downtown. It was hard just picking out one from Jason’s giant to be read list, but Roy found a box set with an entire series that technically counts as one book. It’s even a special edition set! Of course, Roy has to snort when he gets to the checkout counter with the entirety of the Twilight series like he’s a teenager, tucking it safely under his arm before heading down to the florist.
The roses were the easy part. He was supposed to only buy one, but instead, left with a bouquet of black and white roses, with a single red flower in the middle. It was too pretty to pass up, and it reminded Roy of Jason’s wild hair after he took off his Red Hood helmet. He was so excited to present Jason his gifts, Roy almost skipped back to his truck. He tried his best to go the speed limit on the way home, and once there, he didn’t even go in to set his keys down. Roy just hopped the fence, and headed straight to Jason’s shed.
“Jaybird! I have something for you!” Roy said, knocking on the door, rocking on his heels.
“Come in, I’m too comfortable to get up,” Jason said, not looking up from his book.
Roy came to a stop in front of Jason, holding out the roses and set of books in front of himself, smiling with all of his teeth. Jason glanced up with a shy grin, looking at the roses first and then the set of books.
“Oh, my God. I can’t believe you know the whole books and roses thing,” Jason said, trying to snatch the books out of Roy’s hand.
“Well… I had a bit of help.”
And every penny he spent was worth Jason’s gratitude, along with watching him tear the plastic off of the set and carefully take the books out. The rest of the day, Roy lounged on the little pullout chair, thigh brushing Jason’s, acting like he was reading. But really, he watched the smile that never left Jason’s face, his fingers trace the pages, and the raise or furrow of his brows when Bella Swan did something stupid.
Chapter 4 - And Love Is Just A Piece Of Time
“You are not too old for a princess birthday. Who told you that?” Roy frowned, crossing his arms over his chest while he leaned back in his chair.
Lian pouted and shoved her green beans around on the plate. Jason gave Roy a look that said calm down, papa bear. Jason busied himself cutting another slice of lasagna and splitting it between Roy and himself.
“Some of the boys at school,” Lian admitted.
“Boys are gross, Lian. Don’t listen to them. They just don’t understand how awesome princesses are. I mean, look at Diana!” Roy said, bringing up Lian’s favorite hero of all time.
Of course he was jealous of that. So was Bruce. And Clark. And Ollie.
“Besides, it’s your tenth birthday! Double digits is important! You can have any kind of party you want,” Jason added.
From there, Lian was ecstatic for a princess birthday. She insisted on dressing up like Wonder Woman, which made Diana nearly cry tears of joy. Roy bought a bundle of princess crowns for the other kids to wear, along with some plastic swords, and Diana contributed Amazonian headpieces in case anyone wanted to wear those. Jason baked a cake shaped like the red star on Diana’s headpiece and little finger sandwiches that were easy and clean to eat. Roy set up a few games in the yard, and a chalk set because what kid doesn’t love chalk. The weather was forecasted to be great, they had a lot of RSVPs, and his little girl couldn’t be happier. What could go wrong?
Of course, everything went wrong. Not with the party, no; the kids loved it. They were playing in the yard and drawing with chalk while their parents mingled amongst themselves. Of course, a few brave souls asked if Roy and Jason were getting married, causing both of them to turn into stammering messes. But then, Lian pranced up to Jason, holding a sparkling red crown.
“For you, Jayjay. This was the only red one.”
Jason ducked his head so Lian could slide it into his black and white hair. She made sure it was straight, then ran off to get included in the game of kickball the kids were organizing. Jason snorted and looked at Roy, eyebrow raised.
“How does it look?” He asked.
Roy felt his mouth dry up like he just ate sand. Heat rose in his cheeks and low in his abdomen, causing him to take a few deep breaths. That stupid, stupid crown sitting on Jason’s beautiful hair, taunting Roy like that damn apron. How was he supposed to say anything other than, “please wear that all the time,” or, “you have to take that off immediately or else things are going to get very awkward.”
“Looks great, Jason,” Roy finally muttered, standing to busy himself in the kitchen with the cake. He had to get away from Jason, now. Really, it was fitting. Jason was Roy’s princess. His strong, stubborn, bratty princess. Roy did everything he said, protected him on missions, and he was even beautiful like a princess.
Roy sighed and pulled the cake out from its safe spot in the oven, setting it on the counter. He stood there for a moment, composing himself, when Jason strode in carrying a few empty plastic cups. He was still wearing that damn crown!
“Need help?” Jason asked, saddling up to Roy.
“I think I got it, Jaybird—”
“Here, Papa! You can be Prince Charming,” Lian said, sprinting into the house, handing Roy a plastic sword. As fast as she ran in, she ran back out, onto the sword fights the kids were doing. Roy laughed, looking at Jason’s slightly-flushed face, swinging the sword around like one of his arrows.
“You want to be my princess, pretty bird?” Roy asked with a smirk.
“You’re not very princely,” Jason hummed, adjusting the plastic crown on his head. “More like, my knight in shining armor.”
Roy was thankful Jason busied himself with setting the table for cake and calling the girls in, because he didn’t catch Roy breathing like he just finished a marathon and splashing cold water from the kitchen sink on his face.
Chapter 5 - In The World
Jason and Roy have a lot of nicknames for one another.
Red Hood, Arsenal.
Jaybird, Harpy.
Moron, pain in the ass.
But recently, Roy came up with a new one, inspired by Jason walking into the kitchen one morning, pajamas slung low on his hips, in one of Roy’s shirts that he obviously stole from the laundry, hair sticking up every which way, the breaking dawn sunlight illuminating Jason like an angel.
“Well, good morning, pretty bird,” Roy had said, pushing the button down so the kettle boiled for Jason’s tea.
He was oblivious to the way Jason froze, one hand under the shirt on his stomach, the other covering the yawn that was cut off when Roy called him pretty bird. But, when he turned back around with a plate of toast, Roy noticed the tips of Jason’s ears were pink.
So, naturally, he called Jason his pretty bird at every opportunity.
Sometimes on patrol, over the comms when Jason was being particularly bossy, Roy would say: “I’ll do whatever you want me to do, pretty bird.” This, of course, resulted in whoever else was on patrol to gag or coo. When Jason made a particularly good dinner or dessert, Roy would thank him by saying: “You are the greatest cook I know, pretty bird.” It was flirting, for sure, but Jason didn’t know so!
But one day, Jason backfired. The worst part? He didn’t even realize it.
Lian came home upset from school, a few boys were picking on her again. Roy was ready to go fight their parents to teach them a lesson about bullies, when Jason put a hand over his and said: “Easy there, papa bear.”
The fight left Roy very quickly after that. Like, embarrassingly quick. They gave Lian a snack, explained to her that some kids were just rude and she was best to ignore it, then they all went to go play at the park for a while. It was a great night.
Until.
Jason hit him with papa bear again. He was fresh out of the shower, heading to the washer and dryer to start a load of laundry so Jason wouldn’t need to worry about it first thing in the morning, when he spotted Jason carrying a cup of tea out to his shed.
“Ready for bed, papa bear?”
Of course, Roy’s stupid brain stuck at seventeen years old was filled with implications of all of those words. He nearly dropped the damn laundry basket, stuttering and stammering like a fool, all while Jason watched him, confused.
That stupid, silly nickname made Roy ready to pounce. Literally like he was a teenager all over! The funny part was if anyone else called him that, he probably would run them through with an arrow. But in Jason’s strong, smooth voice… Roy was a goner.
He eventually got used to it. Of course, it would make his heart beat so hard that whenever a Super was around, they would raise an eyebrow at him, but he stopped having such… physical reactions. Until Poison freaking Ivy.
The woman was smart. She made all sorts of pollens; sex pollen, fear pollen, truth pollen, even rage pollen. But of course the one patrol Jason and Roy agreed to pick up, she absolutely doused them with cuddle pollen.
Well, she moreso got Jason. Roy was outside tangled up in these weird slippery vines, calling out for Hood. Eventually, Ivy was far enough away that the vines receded, going back to whatever Hell they crawled out of. When Roy ran inside the warehouse, Jason was laying on the cold cement floor, arms around himself, nearly shivering.
“Jason!”
Roy ran to him, taking the helmet off to check for any injuries. Around the domino mask covering his face, his cheeks were flushed, and he was panting. For a split second, Roy thought it was a fate worse than cuddle pollen, until Jason curled up in his arms and nuzzled his hair into Roy’s chest.
“Don’t let me go,” he mumbled, rubbing his cheek on Roy's armor.
“What happened to that filter in your helmet?” Roy asked, grunting as he scooped Jason up so he could stand.
“That plant sprayed it right in my face. Not sure there was much a filter could’ve done,” Jason panted, tucked against Roy as they walked out of the warehouse.
“We have to get you to the cave, pretty bird,” Roy said, trying to manhandle Jason into his truck. He speaks low in his comm, letting whoever is running the computers at the cave know that Jason is a bit beside himself. When he finally gets Jason into his truck and goes to get into the driver’s seat, Jason reaches a hand out and pulls Roy back to him.
“You can’t leave me, Harpy,” he basically whines.
“I’m not, hun. I’ll just get into the driver’s seat and we can… hold hands?” Roy says, definitely flushing under his own domino.
This gets Jason to let him go, and he makes quick work of tossing his bow and arrows into the trunk and sliding into the driver’s seat, stretching his hand out right away so Jason can latch on. And latch on he does; he’s basically laying over the center console, face shoved into Roy’s sweaty neck, both arms wrapped around one of Roy’s, strangely squeezing his bicep every so often.
Roy drives as fast as his truck allows, swerving in and out of cars, trying to get to the secret garage to get to the cave. Really, he’s being dramatic. Jason seems fine. Maybe a little warm, panting occasionally, but as long as he’s holding Roy, he’s fine. After what feels like hours, he’s pulling into the cave, Wally at the passenger door before Roy realizes the Speedster is even there.
“No!” Jason yells, holding Roy tighter when Wally tries to pry him off.
“What’s going on?” Dick asks, trying to peek past Wally.
“Some kind of new pollen. He, uh, doesn’t want to let me go,” Roy says, gently taking Wally’s fingers from around Jason’s wrist to calm him down.
“Jay, we have to get you to the med bay,” Dick says softly.
“Not without Roy.”
“Pretty bird, I’ll be there with you. We just need to get out of the car and we can hold hands again, okay?” Roy says. Eventually, Jason nods, and slowly unwraps himself from where he was basically holding Roy’s arm like a koala.
Quickly, Wally gets Jason out of the truck while Roy runs around the bumper, stretching his hand out for Jason to take. He was not expecting two hundred pounds jumping into his arms, legs wrapped around the waist, arms around the neck. Roy laughs and holds Jason so he doesn’t slip off, following Dick to the med bay.
“We need a blood sample to study and make an antidote. I can always call for Clark if we need Bruce’s help.”
Roy sets Jason down on the cot, letting him keep his hands on Roy’s shoulders or in his hair while Roy makes quick work of Jason’s boots. He also gently pries the domino off, getting a look at the flushed cheeks and pretty green eyes. Dick gets a bit of blood from his arm and Wally helps him figure the antidote out. A few times, Jason tries to scoot back and pull Roy onto the bed, but he feels a little too shy to be doing that when Jason is in this state of mind and with Dick and Wally at the computer.
“You don’t want to cuddle with me, papa bear?” Jason asks, green eyes looking through black lashes, an adorable pout on his lips. And dammit, that stupid nickname is his weakness!
He hears Dick snort, and ignores the way Wally grimaces, because it kind of pisses Roy off since Dick literally calls him shmoopy. Roy is sure his entire face is as red as his hair, but with one hand still occupied by Jason’s, he kicks his boots off and slips into the cot beside Jason, trying not to look too excited when he all but dives on Roy’s chest and snuggles close. Roy adjusts the blankets over them and slips one hand into Jason’s hair to comfort him while they wait for the antidote.
Roy hopes it isn’t ready for a bit. Roy is also so fucked.
Epilogue - And I Couldn’t Help But Fall In Love Again
Jason, for once, was not being bossy over the comms. He was silently grumbling to himself under his hood, watching as Nightwing and Robin rounded up goons in the warehouse. He and Roy were up in the rafters for damage control, mostly waiting for their signal to jump down and help the others. Jason should be watching his brothers, making sure they’re covered, and paying attention to the comms.
But Jason was a weak, weak man.
There was nothing that could stop him from looking at Roy’s biceps as he pulled the bow back, arrow after arrow, watching Nightwing and Robin’s backs. There was something sweet and protective about the gesture, especially since he was aiming for knees and shoulders opposed to the killing blows he used in their Outlaws days. But all of that was in Jason’s hindbrain. Instead, he was watching every thick vein, every strong cord of muscle as Roy knocked another arrow, aimed, and let it fly.
And that tricep.
It was going to be the death of Jason.
Roy’s upper body was honestly unfair. Jason trained upper body twice a week and had a protein-heavy diet. Arsenal has never once trained upper body in the gym, just uses the training rooms at Titans Tower to practice new arrows he comes up with, only eats the carb-heavy pastas that Jason cooks for Lian, and his arms are nearly twice as thick as Jason’s.
Finally, Nightwing gave the go, and the two dove down. It was quick cleanup from there, Roy alternating between hand-to-hand and flinging arrows, while Jason mostly just hit people with the butt of a dull dagger. Nightwing did his crazy acrobatics, and Robin used the martial arts technique they all had mastered. It was easy, it was fun.
At the end of it all, Nightwing and Robin split to go back to the Cave, where Bruce and Clark were running the main comms with Oracle. Jason still had big feelings about going to the Cave, so he and Roy stripped their gear and threw civvies on in front of Roy’s truck.
“You hungry?” Roy asked, tossing the rest of his gear into the tailgate of the truck.
“I could use a bite,” Jason said, staring at the pump in Roy’s arms from using his bow the last hour and a half. Of course, Roy didn’t catch on, and brought Jason to some pancake place. Not that he was complaining.
Of course, a few weeks after the whole arrow incident, Jason decides he needs some new bookshelves. Now, he and Roy’s place isn't Wayne Manor, but Roy was awfully sweet a few summers back and put up a little garden shed for all of Jason’s books so he has a place to go and get alone time, and they don’t take up space in the house. Jason bought a few cheap shelves from a thrift store, but then books started piling up on the floor. One night, Roy went out to check on Jason when he was in the shed reading late and stumbled into a pile, earning quite the commotion from Jason while he made sure each volume was okay. The next day, Jason asked Roy how many of those Billy IKEA shelves could fit.
“Why don’t I just custom make you some? Tell me how you want them to look and I’ll handle the rest.”
So, today, Roy has been in the yard all afternoon, measuring and cutting wood and putting a shelf system into Jason’s book shed. It’s terrible. Jason tried to stand out there and help him, but he kept getting distracted and handing Roy the wrong screw or tool. It wasn’t his fault! Of course, it was the one hot day of the year, so Roy was wearing an old band shirt with the sleeves cut off. He was sweaty, lickably so, and his biceps were the only thing Jason was aware of. Especially when he got that vein in one of them after moving a finished shelf into the shed.
To be nice and make up for being a terrible helper, Jason gets a glass of lemonade he just made and takes it out to Roy, with no intention of looking at his sweaty biceps while he cuts wood or nails the shelves on or whatever else he’s doing. He goes in, checks on Lian who’s doing some homework at the table, gets the lemonade, and goes back out.
And oh, God.
Roy is entirely shirtless, singing along to Creed of all things, measuring out marks on a piece of finished wood. His shirt is tucked into his waistband, long, fiery hair pulled back in a half-up, half-down style, and he is of course sweating in the hot sun, the perspiration glistening on his perfect bulk.
Once again, Jason is a weak, weak man. Eventually, Roy looks up from marking the wood and totally catches Jason drooling. He doesn’t say anything, just smiles at Jason, all white teeth and pink lips.
“Hey, hun. That for me?”
“Yeah, figured you’d need something with some sugar in it.”
Like a coward, Jason basically runs away again. To distract himself, he starts pulling out ingredients to make the peanut butter Hershey Kiss cookies Roy adores. It’s really the least he could do since Roy is building him his dream library. Lian comes over when she’s done with her math and helps, rolling the dough into little balls and helping Jason unwrap the Hershey Kisses. While they wait for the cookies to cook and cool, Jason helps with a few questions she couldn’t figure out, sneaking glances at Roy out the back door. The cookies finally cool, Lian sticks the kisses into the tops, and her and Jason each have one.
“Why don’t you see if Papa Bear wants any?”
Lian nods and hops off of her stool, wrenching open the sliding glass door.
“Da-ad! I think Jayjay wants to give you a kiss!” Lian yells from the backdoor. Jason doesn’t even watch to see if Roy has a reaction. He immediately ducks behind the countertop.
“Lian,” Jason hisses, hurriedly tearing his apron off, planning to run away. He can probably make it a few blocks before Roy sends someone to find him. “The cookies have Hershey Kisses on them! I don’t actually want—”
Roy Harper, and all of his muscled glory slides the screen shut behind him, biceps still pumped from all of the lifting of Jason’s books and the building of his new shelves. He peers down at Jason, still on the floor fighting with his apron, and licks his lips. Is the blush on his face from the heat, or because of what Lian said? Are his pupils blown like that because of the bright sun versus the darker kitchen, or because of what Lian said? Jason is spiraling.
“Lian, can you do me a favor, baby? Can you go into the garage and look for the drillbit that matches this screw? Then you can come out and help,” he says, dropping the screw into her small hand. She beams, happy to be useful, and snags another cookie before running off to the garage.
When she’s gone, Roy smirks at Jason, and holds up said drillbit from the pocket on his cargo shorts. Jason can’t help but snort a laugh. That will buy them fifteen minutes.
Roy doesn’t say anything. He just offers a hand, giving Jason a great view of his bicep, and hello bicep vein. Jason lets Roy pull him up, only he doesn’t let Jason go as usual. Instead, Roy puts both of those big arms around him, fixing the knot Jason managed to make when he was trying to rip his apron off.
“You wanna give me a kiss, pretty bird?” Roy teases, resting his hands on Jason’s hips, loose enough so that if Jason didn’t want it, he could pull away.
Jason looks at Roy’s lips for just a second.
“I made those cookies with the Hershey Kisses in the center. Lian and I call them kiss cookies, and—”
Roy just quirks an eyebrow.
“C’mon, hun. I don’t deserve a little extra reward for building all of those shelves?”
For a third time: Jason is a weak, weak man. How can he resist those striking green eyes, orange freckles, and shy smirk on Roy’s mouth? Besides, he knows Roy catches him ogling those arms constantly. What could one little kiss hurt? So, Jason gently brings his arms up Roy’s arms, finally giving his biceps a squeeze, and wraps his arms around Roy’s neck. When their lips meet, there are no fireworks, no world-changing feelings, just the familiar sensation of home. Like they’ve done this thousands of times. Like Roy’s hands belong on his waist, his mouth on Jason’s. Like it’s always been fate to have Roy build his dream library while Jason brings him lemonade and cookies.
And as their mouths move a bit slower, a bit deeper, and Roy tugs Jason a bit closer, the garage door opens.
“Papa! I can’t find it! Are you sure you don’t have it?”