Work Text
The smoke of his cigarette circled above him like a small cloud of slow poison and darkness against the surprisingly blue sky of Gotham. It was a pretty nice day for once, which fueled Jason to want to sunbathe like one of his little brothers cats. He had been planning on possibly going into town, but had decided against it- staying instead in his father's garden, lazing and smoking and watching as little fat bees came to pollinate and ignoring the small dings of incoming messages that came from where he had dropped his phone the bed of flowers next to him.
All around peaceful.
His mind felt allowed to wander and not be so concentrated on whatever he was supposed to care about. On whatever he wasn't supposed to care about. How was that part of the story he was writing going to pan out? It wasn’t coming onto the page correctly, no matter what he deleted or tried to add in, it all felt like shit. Jason’s thoughts always went back- went back into thinking about-
It was dumb.
It was fucking stupid.
No wonder he couldn’t find himself to write a fucking thing his mind was so muddled and confused right now with shit he didn’t want to even attempt to deal with.
All around Jason was peace, but his mind?
All that came into his mind, even as he watches as cigarette smoke float above him before dissipating and as his phone lit up with a spam of texts, was Kyle Rayner. How much Jason liked the way he talked, the way his tongue would poke out of his mouth as he concentrated on drawing into his notebook, how he’d lean his head against Jason and grin up at him, his warm breath hitting at his neck and making Jason want to lean down and-
See? Couldn’t get fucking shit done.
“You shouldn’t be smoking.”
The voice surprised Jason, but he had enough practice with his slippery little brother to not drop the cigarette on his face. Instead he glanced to the side where he could see the kids bare feet, his toenails full of dirt, and the edge of his grass stained pants.
“Sorry kid.” Jason shrugged as best he could and shot him a small smile. “You gonna paint or some shit? Cause I’ll leave if ya want.” He squinted at Damian- instead of the usual sketchbook and case of paints, he simply had a camera in his hands. “Oh, cool I forgot you’ve been getting into photography.”
Damian was always getting invested into different forms of art- right now he was particularly obsessed with drawing and martial arts. It was cute. Photography was still a bit new, something he was bonding with Tim over, although Tim wasn’t as invested in taking pictures nowadays. “Hmmm… stay here, do as you please. I’d like to take some of you. I’m…”
Jason let wisps of smoke escape his mouth. “It’s alright to talk about something you care about Damian,” he mumbled out, going back to the comfortable position he was previously in, listening to the quiet clicks of his little brothers camera. It was good to have an outlet to share ideas- Jason had had Dick and Babs around to bounce his thoughts off of when he was Damian’s age. Maybe he should talk to Rose or Eddie about the part of his story he was stuck on? They would get his story better than Dick could.
“I want to do a project. Of my family. How I see them when no one else does. Alfred might be the only one to see it though.” Damian sighed, his bare feet slapped against the concrete of a nearby fountain- getting a different, interesting angle.
“Start small, work up. And- hey. Our dads a richass billionaire, if he likes it he’ll totally rent out a studio for you.” Jason shrugged his shoulders as best he could while lying on the ground. His little brother hummed, but said nothing more, so Jason took the cue to shut up and be and think- and try not to think about a handsome guy with paint stained fingers as his cigarette slowly burned into nothing but ash onto his chest.
The words just wouldn't fucking come out. Jason stared at the document, lips pursed, teeth gnawing mercilessly at a piece of watermelon gum. His fingers tapped at the laptop as he tried to think, but could only struggle. Fuck. He wanted to write so bad it burned at his mind, made his whole body feel restless, but, now, as he sat in front of the open document- nothing. It was like Jason was a blank slate, all words, all meaning, were shit. Meant nothing whatsoever.
“
Fuck me
,” he groaned out, dropping his head into his hands. What did he need to do to get his inspiration back? Take an eight hour break to binge all the Twilight movies like the emo asshole he was? Listen to some self indulgent songs that would make him die if his siblings ever learned he listened to? Go take an actual break and actually socialize with someone who wasn’t a twelve year old, a cat, his grandfather, or his over eager older brother?
Which lead to-
Jason searched for Kyle’s contact on his phone- below the family group chat, friend group chat, and the group chat that was just him, Dick, and Duke on what to buy Bruce for his birthday present because all their other siblings would most likely make too big a fuss of it and their dad would figure out months beforehand. His thumb hovered over his contact for so long the screen turned black. He stuck out his tongue, opened it up and sent a quick text.
Five minutes later, Kyle texted back.
The first thing Jason always noticed about Kyle was his hands. They were stained from paint- sometimes blue or red or purple or yellow or a fix of colors, today they were green- and his fingers were adorned with more rings then Jason’s sisters combined owned. Some were large and clunky, some slim, some with stones or simple metal or intricate engravings.
“Hey.” Kyle smiled as he sat next to Jason, his stained hand coming up to pull at the chain around Jason’s neck. He pulled it up and stared at the little gold Jesus for a few seconds before letting it drop back down Jason’s shirt. “How’ve you been?”
Jason licked his lips and let his own fingers trace along the many rings on his friends fingers. “Shit. Can’t fucking find any word to write. I’m stuck. Tried to ask Eddie and Rose for their help, but they are uncreative assholes sometimes.”
Kyle laughed and shook his head, his dark hair falling into his dark eyes. “God, they suck. Hey, why don’t you tell me about it and we can dish it out, see what exactly is the issue.” He bumped his shoulder against Jason’s, staying there for a few seconds as he smiled up at him, causing Jason to feel like he couldn’t breathe, like he was falling deep into a pit- willingly. He would willingly fucking fall for Kyle Rayner.
It took him a few seconds longer than necessary to gather his thoughts and get out what he needed to, Kyle nodding along at times and excitedly whispering whenever Jason got to some twisting plot point. It made Jason laugh and roll his eyes- he was such a fucking dork. This was the guy Jason was so completely in love with that his mind wasn’t functioning right because he couldn’t get over all of him. His laugh and his eyes and his whole being that made Jason want to cry because how can he be like this? This great? How were they even friends? Everybody knew Jason was an asshole with mental health issues and an attitude that had most people running off.
“Hmmm…” Kyle hummed as he squinted his eyes, his hands rubbing at his jeans as he thought. “Maybe Josiah will realize something- will he finally connect those looks Ramazi has been giving him? Will he stop and think about how close he is to death, how the walls he set up is coming closer and will he realize that there are things he needs to say, need to get done?”
Jason brought a hand up and pulled at the cross on its chain, up and down, as he thought it out. “Josiah’s kind of stupid about emotions. I’m not sure he would quite realize Ramazi’s feelings all on his own. Maybe if Emmy pushed him a bit, gets him over the edge, yelling and crying… oh, oh shit, shit uh.” Jason fumbled around for a second as he grabbed his phone, quickly going into his notes to type as fast as he could at the little idea in his head. It was half an hour later when he was done, putting his phone back into his pocket, his eyes meeting Kyle’s, who was watching him with his hand on his knees.
“I’m glad I helped.” Kyle smiled. “Want to hang out or are you going to go full on writer right now?”
“Let’s get some fucking ice cream.” Jason replied immediately. He keeps his hands in his pockets as he stands up, leading Kyle out of the parking lot they met up in and towards the ice cream shop a few blocks down that Steph worked at and Jason was pretty sure she was at right now if he read the family calendar correctly.
“Discount ice cream?” Kyle laughed out as he clinked his rings against a lightstop as they waited to cross a street, the both of them squinting against the surprisingly bright sun that was trying its best to blind them enough to not notice when the can cross.
Jason grinned back as he shrugged and began to walk forward, scowling at the car that tried to make a turn despite him being right fucking there. “Hell yeah, discount ice cream.”
When they step inside the shop, Stephanie immediately shoots Jason a knowing look, her eyebrow raised, her purple lips wide in a grin that showed her prominent laugh lines. Despite her teasing look, she simply drones out a cheery, “Welcome to Sunny’s! Our special today is the Rainbow Unicorn Surprise! What can I get you assholes today?” that has the girl working next to her stumble over her feet and gape at the floor, mortified. A part of Jason was sad that Damian wasn’t here to capture this small moment for his project- oh well.
Jason squinted at the board with all the flavors before settling on vanilla waffle cone and paying for Kyle’s large cup of mint and chip and pistachio. Before they left, Jason shoved a few bills into the tip jar and gave Steph a peace sign as he pushed the door open. “Thanks Steph.”
They wander back towards where they met up, sharing bits of their ice cream with each other and messing around until Kyle had to get back home. Kyle brought his hand up towards Jason’s necklace, just like he had when he had arrived to talk. “I had a nice time. We should hang out one-on-one more often,” he said in his soft voice, barely audible against the loud honking from down the street. “You know, like a date?”
His heart feels like it was going to escape his chest, but he sounds calm as he replies, “Cool.”
Words were appearing onto the screen as Jason finally had what he needed to get over his mental block. He slid his feet under Bruce’s thighs, who was reading a book next to his on the couch, his old man glasses on his nose and Damian’s dogs with his head in his lap. His dad gave his legs a quick look, but didn’t say a thing, so Jason continued to type at his laptop. Jason was only half aware of when Damian came padding into the library, in his green and black Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pajamas and his feet in fluffy dog shaped slippers that had to be from Dick, his camera in hand, taking pictures of them.
“How’s your thing been going?” Jason asks when Damian was about to leave the room after fifteen minutes of taking pictures.
Damian wrapped the strap of his camera around his hands. “Good. I’m going to take some more of Dick- he gets too excited when he notices a camera- then I’ll choose some I would like developed. How is your story going?”
“Fucking great.” Jason grinned over at his little brother, who cautiously smiled back before going and climbing onto their dads lap, who moved slightly to let Damian also read the book he had. Jason was about to get back to writing when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He quickly put his laptop down where he was sitting and pulled his phone out- it was Kyle.
Ever since he had asked Jason out on a date, they had been texting more regularly. It was- it was great. Everything Jason ever wanted. He had honestly never felt this way before. Sure, he thought he did when he had that embarrassing big crush on his older brothers best friend, but that was him being a dumbass teenager. This? This flutter in his stomach with not just a text, but when he tugged on the necklace around Jason’s neck and let his fingers linger on his collar and his paint stained fingers pushing back Jason’s curls and the way he smiled bright at something that made him happy. It was real, how he felt.
Jason opened up their messages and quickly texted back.
They lay side to side on the grass inside Jason’s father's garden, watching as a hummingbird buzzed its way over towards a flower. Kyle wiggled around before resting his head on Jason’s chest, his right hand reaching over to grab Jasons, idly playing with his fingers and tracing old scars that extended down his thumb. They were weighed down by the weight of the large burgers they had gotten from a greasy place in the city and the plate of cookies Jason had begged Alfred for earlier in the day; sleepy and content with the date they made for themselves. The sun shined in a way that made a crystal in one of Kyle’s rings to glow a mystic green around them.
“This was really nice.” Kyle whispered.
“Can’t believe you ate that burger in five bites.” Jason grinned when Kyle laughed and attempted to defend himself. “It was cute. Or- it was weird, but it’s you, so cute?”
Kyle groaned and shoved his face closer to Jason's chest to hide himself. “You’re making it worse. It was just gross. Can’t believe I did that either while on a date. But thank you. I am cute I suppose.”
“You were just trying to impress me.” Jason entwined their fingers together. He had a small urge to reach for a cigarette, but he knew Kyle didn’t like them or the smell of it, so instead he held onto his hand and breathed in his scent- Head-n-Shoulders with a small whiff of paint, still, even after he had announced at the beginning of the date that he had thoroughly showered to rid himself of the scent. “Everything about you is fucking cute.”
“Thanks,” Kyle laughed as he brought his face back up to breathe. “This is nice. I’ve been into you for the longest time, but it never really felt like the right time to tell you. Rose and Eddie were always around or it was Connor or your siblings or I just couldn’t say what I wanted to say because it’s so easy to just let your hope go and say- no way he feels the same, no way he’ll say yes.”
“That’s ridiculous. I’ve been into you for the longest time.” Jason leaned his head down to brush a kiss against the top of Kyle’s head. “But- I felt the same way. I didn’t want to fuck anything up. You’re this awesome creative guy that makes me feel like my chest is about to explode, or- more like I gotta good old douse of vaporub? It feels both nice and chill, but can be overwhelming at times?”
“I hate that I understand you. Aren’t you a writer? Shouldn’t you be able to be more eloquent?” Kyle laughed as he positioned himself so his head was no resting on Jason’s shoulder. He turned his head to look at Kyle Rayner- his black wavy hair was half covering his forehead, the other half back behind his left ear, his thick eyebrows were pulled down, his dark eyes intense as he looked at Jason. “Hey, can I kiss you?”
“Hell yeah,” Jason found himself whispering as he leaned slightly forward, his lips touching Kyle’s within seconds. Their hands were still held together and his right arm was growing numb and sleepy from having the entire weight of another twenty year old on top of it, but fuck was it sweet. They kissed as the hummingbird flew with its beating wings right above them and as the sun settled lower in the sky.