ILLUSION || Jason Todd

TWENTY-ONE

❝AND HE'LL WANT ME TO STAY❞

TAYLOR SWIFT, I THINK HE KNOWS

With a flight to Chicago to New York and then a bus from New York to Gotham, Lorelei was beyond exhausted by the time the duo reached Wayne manor. Travelling had taken all night from connections and waiting, it was no wonder Lorelei and Jason didn't return to the manor until five AM.

It was a good thing she made sandwiches too. Without those, they would have lacked the energy necessary for that journey. It sucked.

When they first arrived at the manor, they were surprised to see Alfred and Bruce already up and ready for the day. As it turns out, Bruce was leaving for a Justice League business trip and Alfred was, of course, assisting him on that trip and with any morning duties.

The true surprise, however, was that Bruce wasn't mad.

He let out a knowing sigh at Lorelei's presence before informing the young mage that a bedroom had been set up for her within the manor. The safehouse was now no longer off limits, open for all Gotham vigilante's - and visiting vigilante's - to use and unless specified, it would still remain Lorelei's main residence. If she wanted it too, Bruce was unbothered by whatever decision she would make.

But that was a decision and conversation for another day. Like when she returned to Gotham full-time because she had every intention of leaving and returning back to her friends.

That interaction was a few hours ago now.

Lorelei woke up with sleepy eyes and an instant snuggle back into her sheets. She missed this. A comfy Wayne bed. When she finally checked her phone after continuously dozing back to sleep but never ending back into the slumber, the young mage let out a groan at the time. One PM.

She had roughly eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. That was a new record, surely.

Typically, Lorelei only slept for four to five hours nowadays. She had been training her body for the past few months for when she would be able to go on patrols with Batman. Plus, with her current predicament of being on the run from a cult, it didn't give her the luxury of long nights.

In fact, Lorelei had considered four to five hours uninterrupted a lengthy sleep. Whether being woken up by her nightmares - something that shocked the young mage when she realised that despite her frightful terrors, she still slept eight hours! - or the night being unfortunate, Lorelei rarely slept without waking up once or twice.

It was frequently like that in the days when she had no stable roofing over her head. Her first year in Gotham and previous two years in Scotland were very much spent like that. It was part of survival mode and instincts, she supposed.

So those four to five hours she trained her body to have, Lorelei was grateful for them. Especially as they were in the comforts Bruce Wayne ensured he would always have. Ethical billionaire or selfish billionaire, Bruce Wayne knew how to live in luxury.

It was not like the clock showing Lorelei changed anything, though. The young mage turned her face away from the alarm clock on the bedside table and drew closer into the pillow beneath her.

At least that was until she realised Jason was in the room as he spoke into the quietness. "Lorelei, wake up." Was he the reason she woke up? Lorelei didn't know but the boy nudging her awake was pissing her off as she let out a small huff and pulled away from him. "I made food."