Could you give me some fluffy or angsty headcanons on Steph/Jason? They're my OTP and also so, so rare haha
JAYSTEPH IS MY FAVORITE RAREPAIR I LOVE THESE TWO AND I THINK THEY’D BE SO GOOD TOGETHER TBH. seriously though, I’ve always said that there’s huge potential for a really compelling dynamic with these two… they have so much in common and they’d balance so well…. @ dc let jason and stephanie be friends you cowards
Okay, so, comic timelines are generally a mess, and I’m really, really bad about reading storylines out of order anyway, so I don’t actually know if Stephanie’s death happened before or after the Under The Hood storyline. But either way, I’m pretty sure that when Jason found out that another Robin “died” in the line of duty, he’d be really torn up about it, even if he’d never met Stephanie before that point.
And when he finds out how Bruce reacted to Stephanie’s death, he’s livid. I mean, Jason has his issues with the Batdad, sure, but at least Bruce mourned Jason. Jay got a gravestone and a memorial in the Batcave – Stephanie got nothing. (Later we find out that this is because Bruce knew she wasn’t really dead, but Jason doesn’t know that and he’s furious. Like, scary furious. He never even met this kid, but he knows she deserves better than this.)
Stephanie, for her part, has never understood the rest of the Batfam’s hostility toward Jason – sure, he’s done some bad things, but he’s Bruce’s son. She also can’t say she blames him or even disagrees with his methods – Stephanie of all people knows that sometimes you have to take drastic measures to deal with criminals, and she’s always quietly disagreed with Bruce’s very black-and-white morality system.
It’s because of all this that Stephanie starts reaching out to Jason when she goes solo as Spoiler again. She doesn’t have Bruce’s limitless budget, or Dick’s knack for making powerful allies, or Barbara’s hacking skills, and she knows that the Red Hood has both the connections and the reputation to help her establish herself in Gotham’s underworld, and she’s not so proud that she won’t ask for help.
Jason is a little shocked when he finally meets Spoiler face-to-face because she reminds him so much of himself back in his Robin days. She’s snarky and passionate and has personal reasons for wanting to get as many criminals off the streets as possible, and it all feels achingly familiar. He’s also a little horrified because she has way less training than he or any of the other Robins did, and she was basically tortured to death, and yet she’s already throwing herself back into the game, and she’s even doing it with a goofy smile and bad puns.
His thought process is basically, “Someone’s gotta help this kid out before she gets herself killed again,” and since Bruce has turned down her offers to join Team Batman, Jason guesses he’ll have to do it himself.
What starts out as a strictly professional working relationship quickly evolves into a friendship that both of them desperately needed. From the constant stream of witty banter and playful teasing while they’re on patrol together to Jason helping her edit her English papers to Stephanie inviting him to spend Thanksgiving with her and her mom since she knows he doesn’t have anyone else to celebrate with, working together is a very positive thing for both of them.
Stephanie “I fall in love with literally all of my best friends” Brown is definitely the first one to realize she’s Caught Feelings™, but because Jason is a couple of years older and she never really hears him talk about romance, she assumes that he’s not interested and just kinda shrugs it off. And she’s so flirtatious and affectionate in her platonic relationships that nothing really changes in her behavior now that she’s developed a crush.
Jason takes a lot longer to realize that his feelings for Stephanie may have progressed past the friendship level. He and Steph were probably having a movie night or something and somewhere in the middle of the movie she falls asleep with her head on his shoulder and he finds himself looking down at her with this goofy grin on his face and then he’s just – oh shit.
He also tries to shrug it off (bc baby boy has some self-esteem issues and probably assumes Steph could do better than him), but he’s a lot less skilled at hiding his emotions than she is, so it only takes a couple of weeks before Stephanie pulls him aside and asks if he’s doing okay, because she’s noticed he’s been acting a little weird lately?
And Jason is just. screaming inside, but she’s looking at him with those big blue eyes and this really concerned expression and he’s pretty sure he’s forgotten how to breathe. He says in this really quiet voice, “I’m about to do something really stupid. Stop me if you’re uncomfortable, okay?” and then he kisses her.
Imagine his surprise when she throws her arms around his shoulders and enthusiastically returns the kiss.
When they come up for air, she grins and quips, “Actually, I think that’s the best idea you’ve had in a while.” And then kisses him again.
This post is starting to get kinda long bc I have A Lot of Feelings about these two, but I’m gonna stop it here. (I’m literally always craving jaysteph content tho so like…. hmu if you have more requests or have your own headcanons you wanna share.)