Chapter Text
Peter was getting ready for his own patrol today. Jason was out of commission for the next few days so Peter had stepped up and offered to handle it knowing damn well the man wouldn’t let any of the bats do it without a fight.
Jason and Peter were definitely a lot closer then they would admit. A lot of stake outs shared together, a lot of safe house codes as well.
The patrol wasn’t too eventful, typical back alley Gotham stuff. Peter showed up at the safe house Jason was at with some bruises and a stab wound on his leg.
Nothing his enhanced healing wouldn’t be able to fix.
Except…it didn’t feel right. In fact all of the bruises didn’t feel right either.
“You make it back alive?” Jason’s voice boomed in his head, Peter nearly jumped as his gaze immediately shot to him leaning in the doorway to the bedroom.
Jason paused a minute, taking note of the way his eyes and body moved. He hadn’t even spoken too loudly, his voice still a little raspy from getting choked out by Bane last night.
“Shit, scared me” Peter chuckled as he moved to tug his mask off and flop down on the couch with much less grace than usual. “I’m breathing aren’t I?”
“Breathing yeah, but you seem…not all there” Jason pointed out carefully, his gaze narrowing on Peter as he moved to head towards the couch.
“I might just be hungry” Peter suggested as he started fishing through his bag for his wallet to see how much money he had to spend on pizza or something.
Jason gave him a minute, subtly watching from the sideline as Peter opened his wallet to what seemed to be two five dollar bills, a single dollar bill, and then a couple coins. Not enough for a whole pizza.
“You want dinner? I think the only thing I got in the freezer here is tortellini if that’s okay.” Jason offered as he headed for the kitchenette without even waiting for a response from Peter.
“No it’s fine, I ate before patrol anyway. It might just be me being tired.” Peter stood to try and show Jason that nothing was wrong but for some reason his body wouldn’t comply. He blinked and he found himself on his hands and knees when he opened his eyes again.
Jason was at his side almost immediately and trying to lift him. Even with a broken arm and bruised ribs the man didn’t even grunt at Peter’s weight, he never did really.
But this time he paused slightly.
“Peter, what have you been eating lately?” Jason’s voice was firm, confronting, and he moved to sit Peter on the couch again.
“Food, I don’t know…I don’t keep track of it.”
He absolutely did keep track because he knew it wasn’t enough. His body needed more nutrients and calories than a normal person but he worked two part-time jobs and was currently in college, it wasn’t like he could afford meals that met his body’s requirements.
“Peter what have you eaten today,” Jason demanded, his voice still impossibly soft.
He made sure Peter was sitting comfortably on the couch before hurrying back to the kitchenette to quickly heat up some leftovers.
“I had a protein bar for breakfast, but I don’t typically eat breakfast. Lunch was a slice or two of pizza” Peter said quietly, knowing damn well it wasn’t enough for him but still not able to spend more money for food when he could survive fine without it.
Today was just an off day. He needed more sleep, that's all.
Jason was back by his side in a couple minutes with a plate of leftover grilled chicken.
“You’re a dumbass. You know that?” Jason sighed as he handed the plate to Peter, waiting till he had a solid grip on the plate and fork.
“Maybe…but it’s usually fine” Peter muttered as he accepted the food. He wasn’t gonna be dumb enough to reject what was handed to him when he needed it.
Jason knew Peter’s avoidance when it came to talking about money. He would watch the man turn down every little offer from Bruce for something as simple as the man trying to pay him for his work in the lab back at the Bat-cave. It was basically a job with the amount of work Peter would put into helping build or break down chemicals and substances, so it was stupid of him to refuse.
“Pete…c’mon. You gotta eat more” Jason stated, pointing out the obvious as he watched the way his friend tried to scarf down the meal without seeming like he was actually starving.
“I know- i- it’s just not something i can spend money on right now. My landlord is still being stingy about lowering rent-”
“Do you need me to go shoot some stray shots around the building? He would have to lower prices to keep tenants." Jason immediately cut in, wanting to help.
He had good intentions.
“No- god no, i don’t want anyone scared. I just…money is put towards better things. I usually eat enough calories for a person in a day anyway” Peter assured him as he finished his meal and stood to go wash the dish.
“Yeah but you’re not a regular person. Your metabolism is faster already and you burn more calories anyway with the work you do” Jason reminded him like Peter had maybe forgotten about it himself.
Jason watched as Peter just walked to the sink, not acknowledging his words as he moved to handle cleaning up. He looked gorgeous. Jason knew he was fucked for thinking like that but even beaten and bruised and struggling to get by Jason couldn’t help but notice the way his hair had a gentle glow in the yellow light of his safehouse. Even the bruise under Peter’s eye added to the beauty of the man and the fact that even after all this shit he still turned out so good.
Jason hadn’t realized he was leaning against the back of the couch and staring until Peter turned around and paused.
Jason noticed how he did a quick glance down to see if he had something on him or a wound that Jason had spotted but when he saw nothing Peter just stared for a second.
“It's nothing,” Jason sighed and simply turned to sit normally.
Peter stood there for a moment opening his mouth to speak but ultimately shutting up and just moving to sit next to Jason on the couch.
“You promise you’re okay?” Jason said quietly as he reached out to brush some hair away from a small cut on Peter’s neck.
Peter just nodded, staring down at his hands. He knew Jason wouldn’t push, he appreciated it most of the time. But he wished he would push harder sometimes.
“Please Peter, I need to hear you say it” Jason urged softly as he hesitated when it came to pulling his fingers away from his neck.
He wished he could just run his fingers through Peter’s hair. It was so soft for someone like him. Too soft for Jason to deserve to touch anyway.
“I’m fine Jason.” His voice wavered slightly, an obvious tell that Jason didn’t really need in order to know he was lying. “I’ll eat more…but technically I can go longer without food if my body recognizes a sudden scarcity.” Peter wasn’t sure why he was trying to argue and prove his point because the idea of his body adjusting to a sudden drop in calorie intake would definitely make Jason more worried.
“Money's just- it's hard okay. And I know it’s stupid to complain about it with all the handouts Bruce offers but it doesn’t feel right to just…just take it. I didn’t earn it” Peter explained quietly, trying to move on from all this.
Jason understood that. The feeling of being less than what you felt you could be and causing it to affect just how much you deserved in life. Maybe that’s why he’d grown so close with Peter. He understood Jason a little too well, whether that was because of his own life or because Peter may have taken psych classes and had psychoanalyzed him Jason may never know.
“Why don’t you find a roommate then? You’ll cut rent in half and you’ll both put money towards food” Jason suggested simply, not thinking anything of it as he reached under the coffee table to grab the medical supplies he kept stashed there.
“Well for one…it’s Gotham” Peter reminded Jason as the man moved to readjust him with one hand, pulling the leg with the stab wound over his lap.
“And two, how the hell would I explain sneaking around at night?”
“I don’t know, tell em you party hard” Jason teased knowing damn well Peter couldn’t even really get drunk due to the arachnid mutation.
Peter rolled his eyes as he watched Jason work on the knife wound on his thigh. He just settled back against the arm of the couch and got comfy, ignoring the minor pain that came with getting patched up. His healing would hopefully kick in soon anyway now that he ate.
“What about me?”
Peter almost didn’t register Jason’s words. It was the quietest he’d ever heard him and the words made him second guess if he had imagined them or not.
“What about you?” Peter asked calmly, not wanting to make a huge deal out of it.
Jason didn’t speak again until after he finished with Peter’s leg and gave him time to pull away from him.
“Are you asking to be my roommate?” Peter moved to put his other leg over Jason’s lap, watching the way he avoided eye contact and the subtle color burning the tips of his ears pink.
“Well it’d save you expenses wouldn’t it…and god knows you probably need a home cooked meal. I’m sure your stomach is full of takeout” Jason tried to joke with a smug grin, putting that cocky facade back in place to try and flaunt his cooking skills as a reason that Peter would have to move in.
“Just admit you like my company” Peter sighed dramatically with a laugh.
“Yeah right.”
“Admit it and I might actually consider it.”
That made Jason pause, for barely a second.
“I do enjoy your company…a lot actually.”
Peter was surprised by that. He hadn’t expected Jason to actually do it and even then he didn’t think he’d be so sincere about it.
“Well…how much is your rent?” If Jason was going to go as far as to be this emotionally vulnerable then Peter wasn’t going to scold him or flat out refuse.
“Usually stays steady between five hundred to one grand a month, depending on the crime and how much I wanna pay.” Jason knew what crime right next to an apartment complex meant, it got you lower rent. So he made his own crime when he wanted to save some money.
“That’s actually not bad. How much are utilities and stuff?”
“Hell if I know, I’m honestly barely at that apartment.”
“Then why are you offering to let me be your roommate?”
“So you actually save money and eat.”
Peter couldn’t argue the logic behind that at least, though he still wasn’t sure why Jason would trust him to live in his apartment basically alone.
“I guess I’d be fine with that,” Peter admitted with a quiet tension in his voice. He was exhausted and just the idea of being able to save money was something that made him visibly relax.