Stranger Things in Gotham Have Happened

Steve gets mugged and makes a boyfriend

The next encounter Steve had with the Batclan was after his anatomy test, thankfully. He really struggled with that one. I'll have to study more next time, he thought. Honestly, despite his complaining, Steve enjoyed his classes. They were so interesting and, while he struggled, he enjoyed the struggle. Maybe he shouldn't, maybe that makes him a nerd, but fuck it. There was no one here whose opinion he cared about.

Steve was walking home after going to the grocery store for his dinner (ramen noodles, his unhealthy food of the week) when he suddenly got slammed into a wall. The perpetrator, a mugger, put their knife close to his face and demanded his money.

With all the calmness he can muster, Steve kindly informed the mugger, "I'm a broke-ass college student who has to buy ramen noodles. I literally cannot afford a mugger, so... fuck off, please."

The mugger paused, looking confused and slightly off-put. Before Steve had time to wonder why, he heard another voice. "Hey, what's going on here?" Ah, Red Hood! The rumors are... less kind to Red Hood, but what's a little murder if they really deserved it? ... maybe Steve still needed to work on his morals.

The mugger ran off and Steve was left whole and with all his money. Honestly, the best mugging he'd been through, he didn't even get stabbed that time. Steve looked at Red Hood (Jesus fuck, why was he so tall? Steve was pretty tall, but damn.) and, in a moment of pure impulse, asked, "Want some ramen?"

This led to Steve casually eating ramen with a fucking crime lord and watching shitty romcoms on his shitty TV in his shitty apartment. ... Anything's better than the Demogorgon. This wasn't even the most awkward dinner he'd eaten. Robin wouldn't believe this. He honestly barely believed it himself.

Somehow, Red Hood ended up showing up once a week to eat incredibly unhealthy food in silence and watch shitty romcoms. They hadn't even shared any words since that first meeting.

It was just before his finals (because of course, it was) that Red Hood stumbled into his apartment, bleeding from a fucking stab wound. Steve stared for a moment, incredibly confused, before sighing and putting his English 101 textbook away. "Sit on the couch." He said as he grabbed his med kit.

Silently, Red Hood did so and took off his jacket to give Steve a better view of the hole in his arm. ... At least he didn't get any veins nicked. Steve was not equipped to handle nicked veins, not in the slightest.

After stitching and bandaging the injury, Steve silently offered a granola bar and a bottle of flavored water. He found that Red Hood had the same preference for flavored water that Robin did. Unlike Batman who, apparently, preferred to be rude over any water (... no, he was not holding a grudge, Robin), Red Hood, because he wasn't rude, took them both and took off his helmet to eat and drink. Steve nodded in approval and left to pack up his med kit.

Steve was just putting the med kit up when he heard footsteps. New footsteps. With a sigh, Steve grabbed Joyce and entered the living room. Red Hood was still on his couch, but there was someone new in the apartment. Considering the person's black-and-blue costume, it was probably Nightwing. Still, Steve looked at Red Hood. "You know this guy?"

Red Hood nodded after a moment and Steve shrugged, putting Joyce down. He returned to the couch, picked up his English 101 textbook, and got back to studying. He completely ignored Nightwing and Red Hood, at least until Nightwing started to leave. Barely even realizing what he was doing, Steve tossed a granola bar and water bottle at Nightwing, just like he would with Robin. He realized what he did a moment later and decided to roll with it.

For his part, Nightwing accepted both after a moment and started eating the granola bar.

Hm.

So it wasn't a Gotham thing, it was a Batman thing.

A/N the chapter title is a reference to a later chapter lol
there no romance planned for this fic
also yes jason/red hood is tall, hes fucking 6'0 and built like a ~tank~, his boots also had an extra inch or two (or three, if you want to believe he would purposely try to be taller than batman (6'2) like i do)
i doubt this is being read but i hope anyone who is is enjoying!