Hamlet is Awesome

A Word: Request for HS AU with Jason overhearing a group bullying a younger classmate who just so happens to be the person he's been crushing on.

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"Fag!"

The hissed slur grabs Jason's attention and freezes him fast. The restless sea of students escaping school give him a nasty look as he stops in the middle of the hallway and looks for the source, anger already burning hot when he spots the crowd of dumb jock seniors crowded menacingly in an out of the way alcove. The exiting student body doesn't seem to notice them, or the way their faces are twisted in gleeful sneers as they tower over someone.

Someone short or younger, Jason doesn't know and he doesn't give a damn. That insult and their body language all Jason needs to haul ass over to them, because fuck them all if they think they can bully someone while Jason's around. Especially about sexuality. Stupid fucks've been around often enough they ought to know better by now.

Oh well, Jason's just going to have to beat the stupid out of them. Make sure they learn their fucking lesson good.

"You get a real eyeful there queer?" One of them —Billy or Evan, something preppy and pretentious— is saying when Jason breaks free of the moving crowd and closes in on them. His bag slipping down off his shoulder and to the ground with an unheard thump. "Cause it's the last free show you're going to get! You need to learn to keep your perverted eyes down and to yourself."

"Excuse me? Really?" Jason nearly freezes at the sound of the very familiar voice when it pipes up. He'd recognize Tim Drake's sarcastic drawl anywhere after a year of AP courses with the Junior who can't stand stupidity, and makes no bones about speaking up to it. "You seem to be under the impression that you're someone worth looking at. I'm sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news, but every time your mom calls you a handsome man or a "catch"? She's lying through her teeth."

Jason grins and bites back a laugh as the jocks shift. Upset by the insult, and Jason can feel their intentions turning even darker with each word Tim utters. Tim probably notices too, but it doesn't stop him. Tim's always been fearless like that and it's only one of the reasons why Jason's been nursing a quiet little crush on the Junior all year.

"The fag protests too much, methinks," another meathead eventually says, and is opening his mouth again but is cut off by Tim who Jason can now see standing as tall as his short stature allows in the middle of the group.

"No, don't even try quoting ruined Hamlet at me when you don't understand the source material," he's got that pinched and annoyed look on his face and isn't the least bit scared by his position. "The only one vowing anything here is you creeps. I'm very secure in both my sexuality and who I find attractive, thanks, and neither of those two things would touch any of you with a ten foot pole. You lot on the other hand, are so insecure and defensive you feel the need to assert your "virility"," Tim does actual fucking air quotes when saying the word and Jason falls just a little bit more in love with the little punk right then and there, "anytime you think someone might question it. You assert your straightness so often and so loudly that you're really not fooling anyone."

It takes a bit for that to sink in, and Jason watches as fists curl up and faces twist into rage when the pea minds figure out what Tim's saying. Jason'd love to sit back and listen to Tim tear into them a bit more, but he's also kinda fond of Tim's face the way it is.

The sound of Jason cracking his knuckles is like a shot, and he grins at the three closest guys who turn to look at him. "Hey, I heard someone's misquoting the good bard over here. That true?"

"Shakespeare wasn't a good anything," Tim doesn't miss a beat snarking as he slides out of the gap created by the group's attention shifting. "Just because you live and breathe his works doesn't mean they're not on the same level as every daytime soap opera ever made."

It's the first argument that Tim had in one of their shared classes, and had only ended when the teacher felt like Jason was getting ready to use his fists to win it. He hadn't been, but he had been seriously considering smashing his lips against Tim's face by then. Repeatedly. So, it'd probably been for the better in the end.

The jocks are shifting on their feet. Their anger at having their sexuality questioned warring with the bit of common sense they have that's obviously telling them not to go up against Jason. It's a losing battle, and Jason's just waiting for the first idiot to step out of line so he can put them down.

Billy or Evan breaks first. Stepping forward, beady eyes fixed on Jason and sneer firmly in place. "Aw, little fag can't take the heat so he needs his white trash whore of a boyfriend to-"

Jason's tensing to meet the jock head on when something completely unexpected happens. Tim's annoyed expression melts into one of pure fury and he's spinning on his heel. Billy or Evan's head snaps back under a wicked looking punch that connects solidly. The guy totters back, and his nose might even be broken going from the blood coming from it, before his legs give out from under him and he passes right the fuck out.

"Don't you dare!" Tim spits out, all fury and death as everyone stares at him in shock. Tim is a small ball of snark on most days, but in that moment he looks down right lethal and the rest of the jocks edge back under that look. "Take him and go crawl back into the holes you all came out of."

Before I put you there, goes unsaid, but is heard as the idiots listen. They don't quite run away, but they sure as hell don't look back as they leave very quickly with the limp body of their leader.

Jason stares after them for a moment before turning to Tim who's looking less deadly and more annoyed again.

"They can say what they want about me, I really don't care what they think," Tim shifts on his feet and his eyes flicker over to Jason before going away again. Almost like he's a bit embarrassed at having punched out a guy taller than him and twice his weight. "But they've got no call insulting you for just wanting to do the right thing."

There's a touch of pink to Tim's cheek that's all kinds of fascinating to Jason as he starts to grin stupidly at the younger man. Tim's eyebrows lift in question when Jason doesn't say anything right away, "Cat have your tongue, Jason?"

It's the first time Tim has ever even acknowledged he knows Jason's name. Even after all the arguments they've had in class, and that one almost disastrous group project that had only worked after they ignored the other three people's input.

"Nah," Jason shoves his hands into his pockets, and shakes the tension out of his shoulders. Adrenaline from a fight he didn't even need to bother with coursing through his system as he keeps on grinning at Tim. "I'm just trying to figure out the best way to ask you to marry me."

Tim stares for a bit, blinking slowly before a small smile edges his lips upward. "Well, a date would be a good starting point."

"Sure, I can do that," Jason agrees even though he's kinda already thinking about kids and a house. An entire life time to spend with Tim. "How about now?"

"Now? You haven't even had time to plan anything," Tim sounds amused as Jason heads back to get his bag in the now empty hallway.

"I'm a simple guy," Jason wisely ignores the snort that statement gets him as he walks back to Tim and offers his hand. "I figure we can get a burger and shakes from that diner down the block, and then I can tell you all about how awesome Hamlet really is while we walk through the park."

Tim carefully takes Jason's hand and his heart stutters a little at the look he gets when Jason just laces their fingers together. Using his grip to pull Tim towards the exit and not letting go even when they're outside where students still linger.

"As long as you're paying," Tim muses after they've gotten off school grounds and onto the streets, his shoulder brushing against Jason's arm every other step. "I suppose I can teach you why you're wrong about that."

Jason grins and decides not to mess up those idiot jocks too badly later on when he catches up to them alone.

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