Demigod in Gotham

8) Just Street Urchin Things

A/N: when they speak another language I'll either just put it in English in italics after stating it, or I'll try to put a translation at the bottom/next to it.

-Jason POV-

Ever since Jason heard about how a random civilian living in an apartment next to Crime Alley saved, not just Dick's, but also Damian's life, he had gained a habit of keeping a closer eye on the street. Usually he watched out for the street simply because it was a hot spot for shady people, but now he made sure to swing by it multiple times throughout patrol if he could. Even during the day when he was out of costume, he had gained a tendency to try and walk by whenever he could. On one of these days, he had decided to swing by one of the shops he used to go to when he was a street urchin where the owner would give him free food. As he passed what he assumed was the person's apartment, the others had still not told him anything about them, he saw the lights throughout the building were off.

Jason just shrugged and continued on his way to the store. When he walked in he saw that it was just the owner, Aldo, and a boy dressed in black that looked around Tim's age. As he walked further into the store and closer to the two inhabitants, he realized that they were so caught up in their conversation that neither had seemed to notice his presence. Jason took a second to listen to what they were talking about, only then realizing they were talking in Italian.

"Ciao Aldo!" Jason spoke, a little excited that he got to speak Italian again. "Long time no see. I see you've replaced me with a new street urchin."

Aldo let out a laugh, coming out from behind the counter to hug him. "Jason, it has been too long! And I could never replace you, but no one said I couldn't have two street urchins." The man laughed and clapped the boy on the shoulder, Jason noted how the boy flinched slightly at the touch but didn't comment. "This is my new friend Nico. He is from Venice and new to Gotham."

The boy gave a slight wave as he seemed to shrink into himself. Jason simply smirked at the boy and gave a nod. "I didn't know people could be new here, thought everyone just got cursed to live here."

"Nope, just cursed to be an urchin on the move." Nico said, attempting a smile but it looked a bit more like a grimace. "I was in New York before this, California before that, Maine, Nevada, D.C., and so on."

"Your parents move you around for their work or something?" Jason asked, trying to get some more information on the kid.

The kid looked away from him, suddenly finding the food in the case very interesting. "Last move they orchestrated was from Venice to the States. They're both gone now, but I have friends all over. They are the reason I move."

"Who's the friend in Gotham?"

The boy sighed, looking back at Jason. "None here— kinda the reason I came."

Aldo and Jason shared a quick look before Jason ruffled the kid's hair and picked up his bag of food from the counter. "Come on kid, you're coming with me."

"I didn't pay yet." Nico tried to say.

Jason barked out a laugh. "I put it on my tab, now come on. We're having an Urchin's Day Out."

Nico seemed to hesitate, probably off put because a total stranger stole his groceries but also payed for them. Eventually the boy began to follow him.

Jason lead the way down the road, Nico following a step behind him. "So how long you been in Gotham?"

Nico scratched his neck as he spoke. "About a month and a half I think? I moved into my place on May 26th so however long that's been."