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Slipping inside the manor, Damian hesitated just inside the door, his senses on overdrive with all the wonderful smells wafting through the house. It smelled like Christmas, but it was late January, and Damian knew Alfred was on official Butler duty with Bruce in the city. The annual Brucie Wayne needs to be seen gala bullshit. Which likely meant one of Damian's brothers was in the kitchen. He knelt and unclipped Titus from his harness, gesturing to let him meander off through the house and then hanging his harness and leash on the hooks by the back door.
Damian didn't really think he'd been gone for that long, but glancing at his watch, it'd been almost two hours since he disappeared into the little swath of forest backed up to Wayne Manor. Some days it was just too easy to let time get away from him while he roamed the most peaceful parts of Gotham.
Keeping his steps quiet, he made his way toward the kitchen, pausing in the doorway, taking in the utter sea of food. Something that looked like stew gently bubbled on the stove top in an enormous pot Damian had never seen before. Eight trays of muffins sat cooling on the back counters and something was cooking in the oven, from the smell likely a roast or some sort. Empty bowls and various utensils were strewn across countertops and piled in the sink, the dishwasher already on with a load. Another step into the room revealed an entire setup for bread loaves, which meant that what Jason had going in the mixer was definitely bread dough, the gentle hum of the machine covering any noise Damian might have been making.
Jason had his back to him, cutting up various fruits, tossing them into a bowl together and the last counter held supplies that looked at lot like the stuff to make the vegan chili Damian had raved about a few months ago when Jason made it for him.
All of it smelled wonderful, but none of it explained why Jason was currently making enough food for a small army. Much less why he was making it all by himself or why his entire body was held in a way that spoke of stress instead of happiness, which… was not how Jason normally got while cooking. If anything, it was Jason's happy place. The one place nothing could ruin. Except, something clearly was now.
Frowning, Damian tried to make his footsteps louder, did his best not to sneak up on Jason despite the noise in the kitchen. It was obvious he managed when Jason flicked him a glance, tipped his chin up in greeting, and then went back to hurriedly trying to cut the fruit.
"What's this all for?" Damian made sure to keep his voice curious, light, hoping some part of it might rub off on Jason's mood. Something was clearly wrong and Damian didn't relish setting him off further.
"Homeless shelter I volunteer for."
Well… that was news to Damian. He had no idea Jason volunteered at all, much less for a shelter. Shrugging off his jacket, he pitched it over the back of one of the chairs and set to work washing his hands around the sea of dishes. "Trying to feed everyone yourself or…?"
"Something like that." Jason sounded put out, on edge, grouchy beyond belief and Damian took a moment to study him, finally reaching over and plucking the knife from his hand, shooing him away from the fruit. "I can do this. All of it in the bowls equally?"
"Yeah." A second later and Jason was at the island, popping open the various containers for the chili, starting to pour it all into a second large pot.
Damian began cutting, careful to keep his cuts even. "Want to talk about what's going on or want me to shut up?"
For a minute, Jason was silent. Finally he gritted out, "I showed up and the entire kitchen was flooded. A pipe burst from how cold it was. So we can't cook there and Bruce wasn't around to ask if I could bring the other volunteers over, so…" he trailed off.
Damian pursed his lips, tried not to sigh, swallowing instead. "So you're doing it all yourself. Next time ask me for help. Please. You know I volunteer at the animal shelter in Bristol every other week."
"Doesn't mean you have time or want to volunteer for this."
Damian set down the knife, failed to conceal his sigh this time, and turned around. "Look at me." When Jason turned, looking for all the world like he was about to lose his shit, Damian made absolutely certain to hold his gaze. "I am always here for the people of Gotham. Beyond that, I'm here for my brothers. That includes you. Ask me when you need help." He turned back around and began cutting strawberries again. After a moment, he murmured, "Not just with this."
He heard Jason start working again, silence reigning between them. Honestly, he hadn’t expected an answer, knew in Jason's current state his words might be too much, but he'd be lying if it didn't sting a little bit. Surely his family knew by now he held far more care than he was ever given credit for. Doing his best to shove away all of his thoughts, he sank into cutting the fruit, repeating to himself again and again that the point of the task was the task. Mindfulness at its core existence. The point of the cut was the cut. The point of the movement was the movement. The finished task was nothing, didn't even exist because only each moment mattered.
"I appreciate it."
When Jason did speak, Damian was slow to come out of the place he'd put himself in and it took him blinking a few times to compute what Jason had said. Damian murmured, "Sure," in response, dumping equal amounts of strawberries into each bowl and then starting to cut the melons Jason had already de-rind.
"When you're done, can you check on the temperature of the roasts for me?" Plural. More than one. Damian's mind boggled at how on earth Jason had gotten this much done in two hours since he left. The man was a machine.
It didn't take long to finish the melons when he let his mind slide back into mindfulness and when he was done, he wiped his hands and found the thermometer, filling a cup with cold water and sticking it in, waiting on it to cool down. Then he stooped in front of the oven, opened the door, and used a pot holder to slide out the top rack. He took the temperature of each roast in two spots, and then repeated the process on the bottom rack, resetting the thermometer in between roasts. "All are in medium territory for beef."
"Exactly where we want them. Can you grab some towels and spread them on the floor?"
Damian nodded, left the oven open to go get the towels from the hall closet and spread them out as Jason came to move the roasts from the oven to the towels. He turned off the burner under the stew and then lugged the giant pot over, putting it down as well. Gesturing at a stack of containers, he eyed Damian as if he expected him to bail, but Damian just stood there, trying to look as open as possible until Jason made his next request. "Would you portion out the stew into those containers?" He tipped his head toward a cardboard box.
Stepping around the sea of food, Damian dragged the box over while Jason turned down the oven and began putting in the bread loaves. He plucked out the first container and sifted through the others. All were about the same size, so he went and grabbed Alfred's biggest four-cup measuring cup and then dragged a chair over, settling down and getting to work.
The next time he glanced up, Jason looked less stressed out, a little more at home in his own body and mind, and for that Damian was grateful. He smiled to himself and went back to ladling.
By the time he was done, Jason placed the vegan chili in front of him and handed him the two-cup measuring cup so they didn't cross-contaminate and Damian couldn’t help the huge grin at Jason remembering everything had to be separate for it to really be correct. When he was finished, he got up and washed his hands, went to work beside Jason on packaging the muffins while Jason cut up the roast and veggies and began sectioning it out. "Have a plan on how to get it all out to a vehicle?"
"Box truck is in the garage and there are the pallets we always use in the back. Figured we'd bring them in after we've got it all packaged."
Damian made an agreeable sound, finishing up with the muffins just as the timer went off for the bread. He reached over and took the knife and spoon from Jason, waving him away. "You deal with that, don't let me wreck your bread by touching it. Alfred says I'm the loaf deflater."
Jason snorted and Damian smiled to himself, his one-man mission of making Jason relax accomplished. Technically Alfred had shooed him away from the soufflé, not from bread, but he'd figured it would make Jason laugh, regardless. He ignored Jason banging around behind him while he finished carving up and distributing the roasts into the containers Jason had fished out of another box. By the time he turned around, Jason was putting the loaves into aluminum foil, already mostly done, so Damian washed up and headed into the garage to investigate the pallets.
It was easy enough from the look of it, the truck built for this purpose exactly, having all the necessary places to help keep the pallets in place. Neat and efficient and Damian thought to himself there was no way Jason wasn't responsible for the design of it. Not only was it unique, it was ingenious. Not enough people gave Jason credit for being exceptionally smart at finding ways around life's inconveniences. Damian began with the pallet that said soup, bringing it down from the truck and taking the tiny rolling lift with him. In the kitchen, he set it up with the pallet on the lift and began filling it, only hesitating long enough to catch Jason's eyes and let him survey what he was doing. When he got a nod, he kept going, working as quickly as he could, sensing Jason's renewed almost frantic energy. It was clear he was on a timeline and had figured out he was almost behind while Damian had been gone. Working for so long in the field with him meant he didn't have to ask about such mundane things. It was just obvious.
Jason trailed after him when he left the kitchen with the first pallet and together they loaded it into the truck and fastened it down. From there it was just rinse and repeat, both of them working together to fill the pallets and get them situated.
When they finished, Damian wrote a quick note on the white board on the fridge, stating he'd be back to clean it up in a few hours, delivering food to homeless, and picked up his jacket, following Jason back out the door. He hopped up in the truck beside him and sat back, one foot propped on the dash, letting his body relax. Somehow, he was exhausted, and all he could figure was it was just a different kind of workout from their usual. He turned and studied Jason; the way he still looked so stressed out even as they navigated their way through Gotham. He'd have to make absolutely certain some of Bruce's sway ensured the kitchen was back in working order by tomorrow once he knew where they were going.
Twenty minutes pulled them up in the alley behind a shelter and almost immediately they were swarmed by eight people in sky blue shirts. Jason jumped out and someone handed him a shirt as well and he came around to Damian's side to change, doing it as quick as possible. Damian trailed after him and started helping to bring things inside, no one questioning him about his presence. As soon as they had everything on the tables and the doors were opened, Damian slipped out front and took a look at the sign, then made a few phone calls, doing his very best impression of Bruce's voice as he got a trusted plumber to drop everything and come in. Then he called in a favor as himself from the animal shelter, borrowing the industrial vacuum to get the water out of the kitchen, which when he'd passed it, was still drowned. Finally, he called a contractor he knew Tim had used for one of his safe houses and asked what all would be ruined, sending a few pics of the flooded kitchen and then hanging out in the hallway while the guy rattled off items and Damian scribbled them on the corner of a poster.
An hour later, he had the vacuum set up, the plumber braving the cold water and already attempting to fix the issue, and new appliances ordered and inbound tomorrow afternoon when he could ensure everything would be okay. He found Jason sitting in the tiny break room, his head in his hands, trembling ever so slightly. Kneeling in front of him, Damian put his hands on his knees and murmured his name, giving him a tiny smile, hoping it might help. "I took the liberty of ensuring the kitchen will be taken care and should be operational by tomorrow evening. Do you think catering would be okay for tomorrow's meal? I know four people who owe Father a favor and between them, it would equal enough food if they're not busy. If anyone is, we could add in a pizza order." Jason opened his mouth, looking for all the world like he was about to protest. "And before you argue, know that we'll be using Father's Gotham assistance fund. I'm certain he wouldn't object and if he does, we will have words."
Finally, blessedly, Jason smiled and Damian inflated a little. "So… plan?"
"Yeah, kid… plan."
Damian flicked his fingers against Jason's arm. "Not a kid anymore." He stood, stretching until his back popped. "Got you new appliances and the plumbing is presently being worked on. At least half of it is favors, so, I'm thinking all the thanks I need is… your presence with me at the animal shelter next time I go. I think you'll find one of the programs I set up with the dogs to be very therapeutic." He watched from under hooded eyes as Jason took in a deep breath and then nodded, finally sitting back in his chair.
"I can do that."
Damian held out his hand and when Jason took it, he led him back through the facility and out into the back alley, away from the noise. Leaning against the side of the building, he fished out the cigarettes he'd swiped from what was very clearly Jason's bag in the back room, tapped one out and silently held it out to Jason with his lighter. It was only after Jason got his first inhale and relaxed back against the building that Damian really felt like he was starting to understand where Jason was always gone to. Why he was never available. He fell into his work, into helping. It was both precisely who Jason was and a way for Jason to chase his demons away. And, really, it was so beautifully Jason that Damian couldn't help but let himself smile over it.
If there were one solid fact that Damian had to produce from all of today, it was that Jason was a genuinely good man and Damian would fight anyone who said otherwise.