no rest for the wicked [jason todd]

twenty two

THEY LEFT ON GOOD TERMS WITH EVERYBODY.

Mostly. Barbara had mentioned something about Jason being a little handsy. He was physically affectionate, that's what she'd clarified, and she'd asked if they were dating. Tye chose to instead say she needed to go without answering, and Barbara had shouted after her about 'this isn't over!'

She didn't know why she couldn't stop thinking about it. She wanted to talk to him, but staying up until he got home and talking to him in a state where he was exhausted and not ready to communicate with the world? It seemed a little manipulative in her books. She figured she would probably talk to him in the morning, but morning took too long to come.

She hadn't slept at all. She hadn't been sleeping well as of late, and she couldn't determine if it was pure paranoia or she was going insane. She hated going to bed now. Hated the idea of lying down and shutting her eyes when someone could sneak up on her.

So, she chose to sit in front of the television, binging old episodes of Law & Order: SVU. Her only interruption was around three am. Jason was throwing his keys into the bowl he had on the counter and hanging up his jacket when he noticed she was still up. "Uh, hey," he said, leaning down to unlace his boots, "you should probably get some rest, Tye. Doc said lots of rest, and the sun's gonna come up in a couple hours at this point."

She didn't drag her eyes over to him until she heard him yawn. "Says you," she offered, pulling her feet up onto the couch, "I can't sleep."

Jason tilted his head toward the room. "I can sit with you," he suggested, "c'mon. You've gotta try." He rubbed a hand across his forehead, stifling another yawn. "I'm gonna take a shower," he told her, "you can tell me your decision when I get back. Cool?" He offered a tilt of his head and a cocky raise of his eyebrow, but she nodded in reply anyway.

"Cool," she agreed.

Despite that, she tried to ignore the idea of sleeping. It was pushed back to the farthest depths of her mind, and honestly, she didn't even know how long it had been. Jason was back after what seemed like minutes, and she immediately slapped a hand over her eyes. "Jason," she said in what she tried to make a calm, cool voice — it was close to a squeak though, "put a shirt on, Jesus."

"What?" Jason raised an eyebrow, putting a hand on his hip. "Tye, c'mon, are you twelve? I just forgot my shirt."

Tye peeked through the gaps between her fingers, eyebrows pulling together. "Yes," she declared, "so go put a shirt on and stop scarring my eyes with your indecency." She dropped her hand now, looking away, and Jason couldn't help the laugh that spilled from his lips.

"I'm guessing you don't do well at pools," he mused, "or beaches, or you know, life. You're actually embarrassed."

Tye shot him a glare. "Firstly, I'm not embarrassed," she told him, "and second, I'm fine at beaches. It's just different when this guy wants to get naked in his apartment after his shower and you kinda have to see his face all the time. It is embarrassing, but— for you! I mean..."

He nodded along like he had any semblance of what the hell was going on. He was a good fake listener, apparently. "I think this is tired Tye speaking," he told her, pushing his room door open to lean in, grabbing a shirt, "but whatever. I mean, whatever makes you comfortable." He pulled the shirt on before he stepped over and extended a hand toward Tye. "C'mon, you need some sleep."

"Oh," she replied, grabbing his hand to pull herself to her feet. "Oh. Are we still doing that?"

Jason scoffed, pushing the door fully open with his foot. "Yes," he muttered, "we are definitely still doing that today." He pulled the curtains shut as the sun filtered in and then pulled the sheets back, nodding for her.

She didn't even move to get in. She pressed a finger to her lips and then she reached for a duffel bag they'd gotten of her clothes, searching through it. She pulled out a nightgown and motioned in the vague direction of the bathroom before she stepped away from him. She returned moments later, giving a little yawn and moving to take a seat on the edge of the bed. "You gotta sleep too," she told him quietly. He reached for the chair in the corner of the room and pulled it closer to the bed, taking a seat. "You are not sleeping on a chair," she told him firmly.

"We've got one bed," Jason reminded her, "and we're not turning this into a romantic cliche where you go 'oh, so let's both share the bed!' and everyone lives happily ever after." He leaned back in the chair, reaching for a book off to his side.

Tye pressed her lips together. She grabbed the decorative pillows off the bed and then lined them up in the middle, using a spare blanket to drape on top of them. "Now we have a wall," she stated, "we have a wall so that it isn't a cheap romantic cliche. No one will be close to anyone. You're not sleeping in a chair, but at least I'll know you're there."

"Are you twelve?" Jason mumbled again, but he moved over toward the bed and settled down on the other side of the wall, rubbing his eyes. "If you kick me through the pillow wall," he told her now, "I'm pushing you off the bed."

She scoffed. "If I get any injuries while I'm asleep, we know who's to blame," she replied.

"Sure," he mumbled, and she could hear him shift on the bed, probably turned away from her. He sounded more tired than she did at this point. "Goodnight, Tye. Go to sleep."

Tye stared at the ceiling. "What if rubber ducks turned into real ducks and we had to come to the conclusion we would have to stop using rubber ducks or we'd kill baby ducks? I don't want to drown baby ducks," she said now, "I love ducks. Have you seen a duck? I don't think I've seen a baby duck."

He groaned, moving to grab one of the pillows in the middle and tossing it off the bed. "Tye," he told her now that he could see her face. "Shut your eyes and go to sleep, okay? No more rubber duck talk. They aren't going to come alive and cause an insurgency about wanting rights and not wanting to be drowned. I need sleep, and fuck, you do too. We can have this talk in the morning if you're really having to critically think about this."

"Justice for the ducks," Tye mumbled tiredly in reply, turning toward him.

Jason moved to press an arm over his mouth, muffling a sigh. "Oh my God," he mumbled, "fuck the ducks. We're done with the ducks, Jesus Christ." He rolled onto his back now to stare at the ceiling, and now Tye swung an arm out to poke his cheek. "Yeah?" He asked finally.

"If we're gonna be sleeping in the same bed," she whispered, "does this mean we're dating now?"

His brain short-circuited. "Go to bed," he mumbled now, turning his back to her, "please sleep, Tye. Please." He rubbed a hand over his eyes and then sat up. "Please," he repeated. He turned toward her now, and she actually seemed to be sleeping now. He nodded after a moment, lying back down. "Goodnight," he whispered.

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here's a fun chapter before we go back to AGGRESSIVE ACTION