Jason stepped out of the cold shower with a heavy sigh.

What the hell was Venus Meadow doing to him? Any other girl's opinion on him he did't give a flying fuck about, but he wanted her to like him.

So of course he went and screwed it up with Kalie. Literally.

In the mirror, two fresh injuries stood out on his neck from Venus. The first just a bruise. The second, a violent, nasty bite. It was clear evidence that the sadistic side of her that created Sugar Skull was there somewhere.

And Jason liked it.

When he opened the door, an unusual smell hit him. A sizzling sound came from the kitchen. He looked up to see Venus cooking something, her back to him.

After getting dressed in his room, he walks back out into the kitchen. Venus hears his door open and swing close. She glances over her shoulder with a small smile.

"Hey..." Jason begins, sitting on the seat on the other side of the bench. Venus turned around to look at him.

"Hi," she replies, turning the stove off. "We going to talk about this like adults now?"

"You going to tease me and then abandon me?" He replies. When Venus goes to glare at him, she sees he is smiling; a joke.

"We both know you deserved it," she smirks.

"...Yeah." When she begins spooning what she cooked into a container, Jason screws his face up.

"What?"

"The fuck is that?"

"Roasted butternut squash with kale and almonds," she says.

"It looks disgusting."

Venus frowns suspiciously, before opening the draw and taking out a fork. "Try it," she says seriously. Jason looks at her in surprise as she scoops up a small portion.

Leaning over the bench, she held the fork out to him. Just as he was about to eat it, he looked at her suspiciously. Why the sudden change in attitude? 

"Worried I poisoned it?" She grins.

"Well now that you've said it!" He says back.

"Don't worry. If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead," she replies encouragingly.

He stares at her for a moment, smirking, before trying the butternut squash. Venus pulls the fork away.

"Okay... it's not that bad."

"Tastes better than steak."

"Nothing tastes better than steak.

"Honestly I don't remember what steak tastes like. Pork and chicken I remember. Lamb I hated. Bacon I probably miss the most," Venus says contemplatively, looking at the ceiling in thought.

Jason smiles at her. When she is like this, it's almost as if she were never Sugar Skull, or Gotham's District Attorney. He shakes such sentimental thoughts from his mind.

"Hey, look. I'm...I'm s-sorry...for the whole 'Kalie' and 'it's just fucking' thing," he blurts out. Venus withdraws, looking at him in surprise.

That was the last thing she had expected him to say. All evidence pointed in the opposite direction. If anything she expected him to emerge from his room with five different girls at once just to get revenge.

"Well, I accept your apology," she replies softly, before sniggering. "That must have been hard for you."

He grins, "You have no idea."

The two look at each other for a second more. Any longer and Venus had a feeling they'd both be on the bench again, but she had turned away.

"I'm uh...going out. If you want I'll bring you back something other than beer. That girly drink you like. The pink one. Because you complain so much," Jason says as he watches her walk over to the sofa.

"You mean champagne?" She smirks.

"Yes."

"Will you be bringing someone home."

"...No."

"Then thank you," she smirks, before sitting down. Jason spent a moment staring at the back of her head, before walking out the door.

He had a load to ask Kalie about this girl.

~

The bar was relatively empty; it was only 6:00. He went to his usual spot, where Kalie stood counting money in the till.

"Don't hold it so high. 'Round here someone might try to take it," Jason begins, sitting down.

"Well, they'll get glassed in the head. What brings you in so early?" She smiles. Kalie had always been so pretty, with perfect, dark skin, gleaming brown eyes and wavy brunette hair.

Plus she was intelligent. Jason felt bad for her; so smart, yet stuck in Crime Alley working a downtown bar with distant relatives.

Jason knows she's been saving and wants to get out of here as quickly as possible.

"You've got question face. What do you want to know? Is this about your pretend sister?"

His head snaps up quickly. Dammit, he thinks. The last thing he wanted to do was kill one of his few friends because she knows things she shouldn't.

"I couldn't help notice that your 'sister' was exceedingly beautiful. I remember thinking the same thing about the DA once. They look far too alike. You said her first name, Venus, in your sleep. That's when I started to see the truth. Then, a news report comes on about how the DA has been put under protective custody. Ding ding ding, the lightbulb went off. She's been with you."

Jason stays silent, not telling her she was right, but not implying that she was wrong. Kalie slowly starts to grin, placing a beer on the counter.

"Why didn't you tell me? I worship her- you know she saved my dad from jail-time for something he didn't commit!"

"She saved a lot of people in Crime Alley."

"That's why they love her. Never had a DA people around here respected so much," she admits, before wandering off to serve someone.

Jason knew that Venus was a rare gift to every part of the city. From her upbringing, she understood Gang-wars and the darker side of life. It made her the best decision for being Gotham's District Attorney.

"So what do you want to know? How to sleep with her? Don't think that's possible- she's way out of your league," Kalie begins with a laugh when she walks back over.

"Too late for that."

Kalie's eyes widen, before she whacks him in the arm. "You dog!" She laughs. 

"I don't know what to do about it though."

"Well, do you want a relationship?"

Jason shrugs slightly. He'd never had a girlfriend, apart from small flings in high school when he was Jason Todd-Wayne. There were multiple one-night stands, as well as a few booty calls with the girl in front of him right now.

"So then...something like what we had...but more?"

"Maybe?"

Kalie rolls her eyes. "Alright look. What we did was nothing, right? Just stuff. Just something to do because of boredom. You're one of my best friend you know? But a relationship isn't like that. If you want to be her boyfriend, you can't touch anyone but her. You have to be together most of the time. That's a relationship," she says, before walking away.

When Jason had Venus with him he didn't think about anyone but Venus herself. Sparkling blue eyes, shiny mahogany hair, resident sultry smirk. She was perfect.

But he's an antihero. Having a girlfriend would be inconvenient at best. He'd be out a lot, she would worry... he saw it happen with Dick and his previous girlfriend.

With Ginger it's better. She knows about his other life and what it holds. Despite it, they make the best of it. Plus, being a cop she is away a lot of the time too.

Venus knows he is Red Hood. Being the DA is busy work. She may even have an advantage, dating a vigilante. She also knows what it's like to be the vigilante.

Maybe of they tried, he could make it work. Yet he realises he knows very little about her; what is her favourite colour? Her favourite band? Was she allergic to anything? Why does she never talk about her mother?

Reluctant to make it a relationship but determined to see the results, Jason left the bar. On his way home he stopped at the bottle shop to by some more beer, plus some champagne like he promised.

When he returned to the apartment, he had some things to ask the beautiful Venus Meadow.

~

Hey lubly Wizard Ninjas!

Sorry I had no authors note on the last chapter, and that I didn't update for a while until the last chapter.

Things have been craycray in my real life, so super sorry!

I have a new, in my eyes fairly unique Nightwing fanfic and I'd love it if you guys checked it out! 

It's called "Arranged Marriage - Distance" and follows Lieutenant Cleo Perich, an Ex-Marine Sniper Shooter and her arranged marriage to Richard Grayson AKA Nightwing, in order to strengthen a tie between Wayne Enterprises and Perich Inc.. But what happens when Dick is still dating Barbra and Cleo suffers from PTSD and a narcotic addiction?

Read to find out!

Love you all,

Stay magical!

-Kaido Xx