Chapter Four: I have Found What You are Like

-o-

September 25th 1956

Jason walked through the campus park slowly, looking up at the trees as they rustled and moved above him, rattling around a bit like pennies in a silk bag. There was the faintest scent of autumn in the air, not entirely pungent, but certainly enough to remind him that the end of summer was coming quickly, and soon the nights would be filled with with the chill of winter.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, his eyes closing as he let a moment of peace wash over him. It was nice to not feel the press of a million different things to do all at once, and to actually have a day off. At least for a little bit anyway, he did have a match later tonight, but he would worry about that later. Right now, he was just going to enjoy the sun and the last dregs of summer warming his face.

"He's not here."

Jason jerked and opened his eyes, craning his neck around a tree to see a pair of bare feet digging into the grass. Taking a few steps closer, he followed those feet up a pair of strong legs before ending in a set of hips that practically made him drool. He smiled and dug his hands into his pockets. A body that gorgeous could only belong to one person.

Raven.

"Tim. He's not here," she repeated, looking over her shoulder at him.

She was sprawled out on her stomach underneath a tree, a red blanket protecting her from the dirt and grass, as several books laying around her, open and marked with little bits of paper. She looked completely at ease with herself, and not at all concerned with who might be watching her. It was kind of endearing, and Jason felt his lips tug up into a smile as he watched her kick her feet into the ground again and turn back to her book.

"I suspect that you're here for him anyway. He was supposed to meet me here too."

"Yeah, I'm here for him." Jason leaned against the tree next to her and smirked, watching the way her body moved as she continued to kick her feet. It was positively intoxicating. "I don't think it's very nice of him to keep ditching us like this. I hear gas might go up to 23 cents a gallon, if that happens he's gonna have to start paying me like a chauffeur."

Raven looked over her shoulder at him again, this time with a smirk playing on her lips. "And that's not what you're doing already? Being a chauffeur?"

He pursed his lips and glared down at her, his eyes still a little playful. "Hey now, I am so much more than a chauffeur."

Her eyes shot down him in a movement almost too quick to recognize, but there was a flash of heated emotion in her eyes - the kind of emotion that sunk deep into his bones and threatened to set him on fire. "Yes, I know."

Her lips twitched and she turned back to one of the books in her hand, leaving him standing there, feeling a bit like Wile E. Coyote as he was left to hang off a cliff. But, he found he kind of liked the weightlessness, and there was something very interesting about knowing that she was looking at him in the same way he looked at her - with that spark of electricity that lit up both of them and made them forget their own names.

Jason licked his lips and continued to look down at her, his eyes still fixated on the roundness of her hips and behind. She was perfect and curvy and plump in all the places a woman ought to be. Vaguely, he wondered what it would be like to grab a handful of her soft flesh and pull her against him, hearing that low raspy voice call out his name as he set his lips right on-

"…are you even listening to me?"

Jason coughed and pulled himself from his thoughts as he raised his eyes back to her face, forcing a small smile when she glared at him. "Scusa me, Uccellino. Stavo pensando a te baciare." He sat back on his heels and continued to watch the confusion on her face, a small bubble of satisfaction sitting in his chest at the fact that he could keep some secrets from her.

"I don't speak Italian." She turned back to her book, her lips pursing as she turned a page. "And I think it's kind of rude when you do that."

He raised his eyebrow. "No more rude than when you speak French to me?"

She stiffened and set her book down, obviously realizing that she had pulled the same stunt on him just last week. Tucking a lock of stray hair behind her ear. "Maybe you have a point."

"Ah, you're conceding then? That I might actually be right?" He chuckled and sat down on the edge of her picnic blanket, reaching for one of her books. Browning. A good poet, not really his favorite, but good just the same.

"I don't concede."

Raven popped up from her stomach to rest on her knees, her cheeks red and her lips pursed, looking very much like a tiny little wren pretending to be a big, scary hawk. Jason had to press his lips together to keep from laughing. Her cheeks were red and her eyes were narrow, and she looked just a little bit fearsome, but not quite fearsome enough to stop him from from continuing to tease her. Seeing her snap a little made his heart skip a few beats, and he wondered what else he could do to rile her up.

"Sorry, I suggested it. I'll know better for next time." He smirked at her, watching as she sat back down slowly, obviously trying to reel her temper in. Cute. At least she was trying.

"So… Browning today?" Continuing to smile, he paged through the poetry book in his hands, before setting it back down and picking up another book by her side. He looked down into the neat, even handwriting and realized that this book was not meant for his eyes… but that didn't stop him from looking anyway.

"Mio dio, Uccellino… what an interesting train of thought you have."

Raven's eyes widened as she realized what book he had, and all her bright red color left her face. She pitched forward and scrambled to try and snap the book out of his hands, but she was too late. He had already seen too much. Blushing brightly, she managed to pull the book from his grasp and held it tightly against her chest, eyes wide and lips trembling as she waited for some kind of teasing or censure from him. It looked almost as if she were afraid, as if this scene had played out before and she knew exactly how it would end.

Jason pursed his lips as he watched her carefully. That look of fear was so unbecoming on her, and he couldn't help but feel his heart soften just a little. There were a lot of things he could tease her about, but this was not one of them. He gave her a reassuring smile and leaned back against the tree, watching her. "It's good… I wouldn't have made some of those word choices, but… then again, it's not mine, now is it?"

Raven lifted her eyes to meet his own. "And what would you know about poetry?"

"I'm surprisingly well read." He picked at a piece of grass next to him and smiled. "Keats and everything."

She blushed and held her book tighter against her chest. "Right… you actually read poetry."

"You always seemed so surprised by this?" Jason smiled and leaned forward, inching just a little closer to her. He could smell something sweet from her, like vanilla and cherries, and it made his mouth water. Taking another deep breath, as if to satiate his hunger, he leaned back against the tree again. "I like to read, and I don't really see why you want to keep believing that I'm just some uneducated greaser from the wrong side of the tracks."

Raven blushed and she looked genuinely remorseful, setting the book down on her lap. "I… didn't mean it like that."

He shrugged and looked away a bit. "I get it a lot, Uccellino. I'm used to it by now."

She pitched forward a bit, moving closer to him. There was curiosity in her eyes, and she stared at him as if he were practically fascinating. Jason had never been looked at that way in his entire life, but seeing that spark of interest in her eyes made something in him light up like a bomb going off. He could feel his heart sort of jump into his throat and sit there, wriggling around as she continued to watch him, her fa

"Oo… Uccel…" She stumbled over the word slowly, as if it tasted foreign and strange in her mouth.

"Uccellino," he finished for her, chuckling.

"Yes, that word. You keep calling me that… what does it mean?"

Jason's lips quirked to the side and he smiled teasingly. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

She lifted an eyebrow. "That's why I asked."

"Raven?"

Jason and Raven both picked up their heads and turned to see someone walking up to them. A few seconds ticked by as all the pieces seemed to fall into place. That just slightly crooked nose from a childhood injury, those electric blue eyes, that dark hair…Gesu Cristo, Raven had made friends with him. Of all the people that she could have been friends with, it had to be Dick Grayson.

Those steel blue eyes narrowed in on him, sharp and relentless. "Jason Todd?"

There was a sort of strange, vitriolic poison that dripped from his name, and if Jason had been any less steadfast in his personality or character, he might have shrunk away. But he just stood up and dusted off his pants with a smile. "Ah, didn't mean to intrude on your study session… I guess I'll be leaving now." He gave her a polite nod and a smile. "If you happen to see Tim, let him know I'm going to take it out on his hide when he gets home."

Raven nodded slowly, her stare flicking between Jason and Dick.

"That's your kid brother, right? The one we were supposed to-"

"Shut up, Grayson." Jason's lips twitched and he shoved his hands in his pockets, walking away with as much dignity as he could muster. "I'd rather not have you dirty up my good name with the memory of that incident. If you don't mind."

Dick growled and narrowed his eyes. "Why don't you go back to that pit you call-"

"Dick!" Raven growled and glared at him, her cheeks red as she pushed closer to him. Her feathers ruffled and she glared up "Watch your mouth and behave yourself."

Dick just shook his head and snorted. "Don't bother with him, Raven. He's just a greaser with sticky fingers, and he isn't worthy of your attention."

Jason's shoulders stiffened, but he knew better than to qualify that statement with a response or an explanation. He didn't need to justify himself to Dick Grayson, nor did he want to - that boy had never known a single day of hardship in his life, and it was unlikely he really understood what it meant to actually survive. Jason had lived long enough to realize that much at least.

Cracking his neck and offering the best smile he could, Jason waved good-bye and walked away. Raven's expression looked pitying, and that made him sick. He didn't need her pity. Hell, he didn't even need her. But there she was looking at him like some kind of broken down invalid, and that hurt more than any kind of slur either of them could say. Biting back a curse-filled outburst, he walked back to his car and ignored the low, angry voice of Dick.

"Don't bother with scum like that, Raven. He doesn't care about you."

Jason slammed the car door and stared ahead, his lips twitching. He should have known better than to be interested in a girl who spoke French.