#raehood

Jason laid next to her and kissed along the hollow of her throat. 

Of course, other things had left her lethargic too. A soft blush crawled up her neck as she listened to Jason’s soft breathing and felt his fingers skim along her skin. She couldn’t believe she had been so bold last night. Raven wasn’t shy when it came to trying to understand her sexuality, but she also wasn’t the type of person to put it on full blast either. And yet she sat in that hot tub with Jason and watched a porn, and then she masturbated in front of him, and then… Well, the rest of the night had been Jason making her realize how little she knew about her own body’s desires - and there were apparently a lot of them. 

He played her like a finely tuned instrument, and he knew all the songs to make her sing. Raven gave a content sigh as he nibbled at a spot just below her ear before teasing it with his tongue. Electricity snapped along her skin and she pressed her legs together, hoping she might stave off her own arousal - it was pointless, but she tried anyway. 

“We can’t stay in bed all day, Jason.” She wanted to. Gods, she wanted to. Jason was an attentive lover, and one of her best friends. The transition from sparring partners to friends to lovers seemed almost too easy and smooth, like she was following a path she didn’t realize was set out for her. 

“Why not? Weather’s gross. We don’t have anything pressing to do today. We have an electric fireplace and wifi.” 

Damnit. He made a good argument. Raven pushed at her bedhead and sighed. “We’re going to have to eat sometime.”

He picked up his head and grinned at her, his expression almost playful. “Oh, I’m sure we can find something to eat.”

Her face fell. “My pussy a meal does not make.” 

“Maybe not.” His grin widened. “But it sure tastes like dessert.” 

She pushed at his shoulder, and Jason laughed rolling to the side. He stood up and Raven tried not to feel a little defeated at the sight of him pulling a pair of sweatpants over his thighs. Honestly, that man could bring down countries with the power there. The sight of his muscles as he bent her into a hundred different shapes was enough to make her lose her well-placed control right there. Her eyes trailed up his sculpted abs as he reached for his phone. 

“It’s gonna rain all day.” He frowned and flicked over to the radar. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay in bed all day? I’ll even go grab some books from the library if you want.”

He obviously knew the way into her heart. Raven thought about laying in bed with him reading and drinking tea all day, only interrupted by slow, lazy sex. Her breath hitched and he must have read her expression, because he grinned and rocked back on his heels. It looked as though he knew he was about to win an argument. “I’ll bring up breakfast and you can decide after you’ve eaten.”

The sound of Titus bounding down the hall, followed by a stumbling, sleepy Damian, made her pause. She shook her head and pulled the covers off, searching for her nonexistent clothes. Not even a pair of underwear. She had been staying in her own room while she was here, and after what happened in the hot tub last night, she didn’t think to bring her own clothes to Jason’s room. Oh gods, she was going to have to wear Jason’s clothes back to her own room, and that was somehow worse than a normal walk of shame. 

“What is your family going to think? Knowing I slept here.” She chewed on her lower lip, trying not to think about Dick’s snide comments or Stephanie’s low brow jokes. An image of Alfred asking her if they had “been safe” filled her mind and she almost had a panic attack. So much for keeping her relationship with the extended Bat family professional. Groaning, she fell back into bed and pulled the pillow over her face. “I don’t think I can face them.”

Jason shrugged and picked his shirt off the floor, pulling it on over his head. “I don’t see how it matters? You’re an adult. I’m an adult. We like each other.”

She blinked and yanked the pillow off her face, turning to stare at him for a long moment. Swallowing slowly, she felt her heart pick up in her chest, hammering out a frantic beat. “You like me?”

He paused and looked at her, eyebrows knitting together. “Are you seriously asking me that?”

Raven nodded, refusing to look away from him. 

“Oh my god, Raven.” He dragged a hand down his face and stared at the ceiling, groaning as if he couldn’t believe her. “I’m a horny asshole, but I’m not a slut. I wouldn’t sleep with you if I didn’t like you. You’re strong and smart and clever, and you understand my darkness better than any of my family… ” He paused and looked over at her. “Not to mention you’re freaking beautiful. And you give all my shit back to me. Of course I like you. I’ve liked you for years.” 

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” He shook his head before giving her a tilted smile. “Besides, I thought I made it obvious last night.”

He had been an extremely attentive lover. Raven’s shoulders fell and she gave him an incredulous look. “You don’t have to preen like a peacock. You know you’re good in bed.”

He laughed, the sound slow and rumbling. His eyes searched hers and he walked around the bed towards her. His hand cupped her cheek and he leaned down to give her a slow, heady kiss that curled her toes. She stumbled forward and pressed her hands against his chest, stealing kiss after kiss until they were both left breathless. Raven didn’t want him to get breakfast. She wanted him back in bed, making love to her like the world was going to end.  

A slow smile broke across his lips. “Breakfast first, little bird. Then we’ll see where the day goes.” He gave a gentle tap to her ass, and urged her back in bed, pulling the covers up over her shoulders. “And… I don’t mind if you get started without me. I know you need to tame your powers, or whatever.” 

Heat fanned out over her cheeks, and she threw a pillow at him as he ducked out the door. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as a chuckle escaped. 

Shuffling over to his bed, he sat down with a strained sigh, somehow matching the sound of the bed springs squeaking. 

“Fuck,” he hissed, grabbing the bottle of vodka on his nightstand and bringing it to his lips. Tossing his head back, he took a big swig before pouring some on his thigh, uncaring about the mess it would make on the floor. He grunted from the sting of the alcohol but quickly recovered before opening the drawer filled with different sized bandages and gauze. “Shit.”

It hadn’t been a good night. It hadn’t been a good trip as a whole, in fact. This mark was more difficult than he thought and it pushed him behind schedule. 

Longer than he had planned. 

Longer than he wanted.

Longer than he told Raven he’d be.

Raven…

He rolled his tongue in his mouth before reaching for his phone in his back pocket and dialing her number. Jason took another swig as he listened to the phone ring, waiting - praying - that she would answer. He could really use the sound of her voice tonight…

One ring...

Two rings…

Three…

“Hello?”

 His heart fluttered at the sound of her voice, a smile sliding on his lips. “Little Bird…”

He heard her breath hitch, followed by her quickly murmuring something to someone off the phone and sound of hurried movement. A few seconds ticked by. “What the hell, Jason?” 

“It’s nice to hear your voice too, Little Bird,” Jason teased, wrapping his thigh as a smile rolling at his lips at her false anger, knowing full well she this was how she chose to convey relief.

“Don’t ‘Little Bird’ me,” she hissed at him, “It’s been weeks since you last called. I thought you were dead.”

“To most people, I still am.”

“Jason…”

He pressed his lips, to hold back the laugh that threatened to break his throat. “Not in the mood for zombie jokes. Got it. “

“Where are you?”

Jason sighed as he stared out his window to the city streets beyond. He thought for a moment, wanting to have one person that cared about him to know where he was. Maybe he would feel less lonely if he did. Maybe, she would… He let go of the thoughts, hanging his head low with another heavy sigh. “You know I can’t tell you that, Little Bird. You understand?”

He heard her breathe into the speaker. “I know. Figured I’d try anyway.”

Another smile grew to his lips. “I want to tell you…”

“But you can’t,” she replied. “Cause, gods forbid, your brother finds out you’re alive.”

“I’ll come out of the coffin when I’m good and ready, Raven,” he chuckled, feeling the tension ease. 

“Only two sentences before you had to make another ‘I died’ joke.”

“Counting now, are you?”

“I’m keeping a record. I think the longest you’ve ever gone without is ten sentences.”

“That sounds about right,” he grunted as he moved to lie on his bed, his bones suddenly growing heavy. “How have you been, Little Bird? Husband still being an ass?”

“Unfortunately,” her voice dropped, in disapproval. “Same usual thoughtless bullshit.”

Jason gasped, dramatically. “Language!”

“Hush, Kettle,” she shot back, humor coating her voice. “Can you, at least, tell me when you’re coming back?”

“Missing me, Little Bird?” He teased with a light chuckle. 

“Don’t tease.” Her voice cut through like a knife. Calm, even, and serious. “When are you coming back?”

His brow furrowed at her tone. “Everything alright, Little Bird?”

A long silence slid between the two of them to the point where he thought that they might have lost connection but then, she exhaled. “It’s not… I… It’s been hard here… without you.”

His heart tugged and stung at her words. His eyes slid closed, the image of her floating around his head. Her eyes low and her shoulders hunched as the weight of the world pressed on her. Guilt flooded his system at the thought. “I’m doing everything I can to get back to you, my Little Bird.”

“You promise?” Her voice sounded so meek, it pulled at his heart again.

“I promise, Raven,” he sighed. “I hate being away from you too.”

He heard her gasp on the other side of the phone. “I didn’t say that.”

He chuckled as he settled more into his bed, the springs underneath him groaning underneath him with every move. “You didn’t have to, my dear. I know you.”

He could, practically, hear her blush. “That’s a bold assumption.”

“Are you telling me I’m wrong?” he smirked.

“I didn’t say that either.”

“You’re not saying much, period.”

“This, coming from Mr. I-Can’t-Tell-You-Where-I-Am.”

“I’m not saying much in regards to work, not how I feel. Difference,” Jason replied.

“... And how do you feel?”

He hummed. “You’re telling me you don’t already know?”

Another pause. “You miss me.”

Not a question but a statement. Clever Bird. He snorted. “Obviously, but it’s deeper than that.”

“How deep does it go, then?”

“Days are better with you,” Jason started. He wasn’t sure if it was the pain in his body or the alcohol or how exhausted he was or just her or a beautiful combination of all of them, but he just had to get all the words that he had been carrying out. “Look, we both know I haven’t been much for spending time with people over the past few years but I love spending time with you.”

“It’s not so… lonely, you mean?” she asked.

“Not quite...” he hummed. “More like: I love being alone with you.”

“That’s…” he heard her drawl.

“A lot,” Jason sighed. “I know.”

“I was going to say that it’s similar to how I feel…” She answered back. 

His heart fluttered. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said, her voice light and shy, and he could've drowned in that sound. “I’ve been very lonely in my marriage and often I’ve found solace in being alone during my patrols but… I don’t mind sharing that time with you instead.”

Jason smiled at the words, his desire to be there with her increasing tenfold. He opened his mouth to respond before hearing the distant sound of an alarm going off on the other side of the line. Figures. “Sounds like you have to go, Little Bird.”

“I do…” she sighed. “This conversation isn’t over though.”

He chuckled. “I’ll save a bit of love for you.”

He heard her breath hitch. “Come home soon?”

“I promise you I won’t be long.”

“You better not be. Be safe over there”

“I will. Have a safe battle, my Little Bird,” he replied back. “I’ll be home soon.”

Pressing the end button, he ended the call before holding the phone to his chest. His body was battered and bruised but he couldn’t feel any of his injuries at the moment. He could only feel the buzz in his heart and the warmth of her words.