Bruce turned his gaze toward him, and Jason tucked his legs behind the chair. Those shorts really did nothing for his negotiating presence.
"You can stay at the Manor for now," Bruce said. "The guardianship paperwork can wait until this is over."
Jason looked at Peter.
Peter sat beside him with a blanket over his knees and a hand held protectively against the side of his chest. At the mention of the Manor, his eyes shone with anticipation.
"Great! Our rooms can be next to each other, too."
The tough words Jason had prepared circled his mouth before finally turning into a very quiet hum of agreement.
Chen Mo watched, pinching his pen cap. Bruce Wayne's invitation hadn't even earned a smile, but Peter mentioned adjoining rooms, and the street kid immediately nodded.
Spider-Man really was the one who got results.
Jason turned back to Bruce and hurried to make his position clear.
"Staying there is fine. All that adoptive father-and-son stuff is off the table."
Alfred's eyebrows rose slightly. He placed an extra serving of food in front of Jason and arranged the cutlery.
"Eat first, Mr. Todd. There will be plenty of time to consider what to call each other."
Jason looked down at the hot food, and the aroma carried off the temper he had been clinging to. His stomach growled loudly. He picked up his fork, his ears burning, and didn't look up again.
Chen Mo wrote down a few details that needed filling in at the end of the list, then handed Jason the pen.
Jason took it, shifted the corner of the paper out from under his plate, and lowered his head to look for his usual routes. Peter leaned over to look too. Their heads close together, Jason pushed the map toward Peter