Work Text:
Today is August 16. Today is Jason's birthday. Today, Bruce said he has the whole day planned. Today-
Jason sneezes.
Fuck.
Jason shoots out of his bed the fastest that he's ever been. This cannot be happening today. Maybe it's just some dust in the air, or something tickled his sinuses. No matter what, he cannot be sick for his first birthday with Bruce.
Grabbing a tissue from his bedside table, Jason makes his way to the bathroom attached to his room and starts getting ready. Alfred helped him pick out a special outfit. Bruce has gotten him so many clothes recently and it can get overwhelming trying to match them. The night before, Jason had shyly walked up to Alfred before bedtime to ask for his help. He held up a few options that he thought would look nice together and let Jason pick from those. Now, those clothes are hanging from a hook on the back of the bathroom door.
He dons a colorful polo with alternating pink, green, and white stripes. Bruce had gotten Jason the shirt a few months prior for Easter but he's never had the chance to wear it since. The outfit also features beige shorts that went down past his knees even though they were not intended to. Jason had refused Alfred's suggestion of hemming the shorts as he thought they looked cooler this way. He throws on some socks before heading down stairs. After moving into the manor, he quickly learned that the hardwood floors are extremely cold in the mornings, no matter the season.
Bounding down the stairs, he can feel a headache start to form. He feels like someone stuffed his ears with cotton balls and then pressed his cheekbones against his brain.
He's probably just dehydrated. Nothing can go wrong. It's his birthday.
Jason slams open the door to the kitchen, ready to get the festivities started.
"Hey, Alf- uh…" he stumbles verbally and physically.
"Good morning, Jason," Bruce calls over his shoulder. He's standing at the stove and wearing an apron. Jason didn't even know there were aprons in the manor.
"What are you doing?" Jason says incredulously.
"Cooking."
"Where's Alfred? I wanted to wish him a happy birthday," Jason says, still trying to comprehend the sight in front of him. Bruce is in a kitchen
"He's out doing something or another for his birthday. Don't worry, Alfed will be back tonight in time for cake." Bruce still isn't facing Jason, very focused on whatever is on the burner.
Oh yeah.
"Why are you making?"
"Pancakes." Jason can see a small smile on him from his current view of Bruce's face. "Would you like chocolate chip or blueberry?"
"Uh-"
"Nevermind, I'll make both."
"Thanks." The word comes out strained and Jason holds back a cough.
"Go ahead and sit at the table. These will be done soon." Bruce waves him off in the direction of the dining room.
Jason chooses the seat to the right of the head of the table. As soon as he sits down, he feels something tickle inside his nose and he is unable to stop the sneeze attack that follows. Six consecutive sneezes and a close call with the table and his forehead later, and he feels like absolute shit. His headache has gotten worse. Jason can feel the pressure from the congestions pressing against his skull. He even has to sniffle to keep the snot from coming out of his nose. Overall, he is not having a good time.
Bruce peaks his head into the dining room, looking a bit puzzled. "Is everything okay?"
"Yup," Jason lies. "Just… practicing my fake sneezes." The sentence comes out more like a question.
"... why?"
"You never know when you might need to pretend to be sick for the sake of the mission," Jason doubles-down.
"Okay. I'll leave you to your acting practice." Bruce heads for the kitchen again before Jason can make even more of a fool of himself.
Jason decides to put his head down on the table. The cool wood feels nice against his forehead which is steadily increasing in temperature. He doesn't even know how long he stays in that position until he hears the door to the kitchen open with a too loud thud. If Jason had been slightly more conscious, he would have realized that Bruce made the noise on purpose.
"Pancakes are ready."
Jason cheers as he sits up again.
Bruce is carrying two large plates stacked with flapjacks taller than what would be considered architecturally sound. He places the plates down on the runner in front of Jason. Bruce ducks back into the kitchen before returning with maple syrup, butter, and whipped cream. Whipped cream means this is a special occasion. Bruce would happily give Jason whipped cream (or anything, for that matter) if he asked for it. Jason is the one to moderate the treat. He doesn't want it to lose its novelty.
Finally, Bruce sits down at the head of the table, scooting his chair in without the slightest hint of the legs scraping against the flooring.
"Would you like to say a prayer?" Bruce motions to Jason.
Despite not being Catholic himself, Bruce has always allowed Jason to do whatever he wants to do when it comes to his religion. One of those practices being grace before meals. Usually, Jason doesn't bother with saying the whole prayer. He just briefly envisions the themes of the prayer and calls it good. He only says the prayer out loud when it's a holiday or another celebration.
Jason quickly makes the sign of the cross. Bruce doesn't do the motion, but he tilts his head down and clasps his hands in his lap.
"Bless us, O Lord, and these," Jason has to stop here a moment to wheeze out a quiet cough. If Bruce hears it, he makes no indication of it.
"Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen." Jason manages to finish without anymore hiccups.
Jason and Bruce get to work on eating as many pancakes as humanly possible, and then some. Jason piles his stack high with whipped cream while Bruce puts a moderate amount of butter and maple syrup on his plate. Some of them are a little burnt around the edges but they still taste amazing. The chocolate chips are soft and melting. The blueberries are warm and satisfyingly pop inside his mouth.
They don't talk for a few minutes, but they enjoy each other's silent company. Jason is enjoying his breakfast so much that he even forgets he's sick. Wait. No. Not sick. He can't he sick today. How lame would that be?
Jason stops inhaling pancakes enough to breathe. There's a glass of milk in front of him that he doesn't remember where it came from or when it appeared. He decides not the look the birthday horse in the bat-shaped mouth and chugs about half of the glass in one go. Bruce has a cup of coffee and another cup of water in front of him. Both seem to have been drank from already.
"-ason?"
"Wha?" Jason startles. Turning his head very quickly. He can feel his head fill with more cotton as he moves it.
"I asked what you wanted to do first today. We have pretty much the whole day just the two of us." Bruce tilts his head to the side and furrows his eyebrows. "Are you feeling alright, Jason?"
"All good! Just zoned out for a second. I think I might go into a food coma. The pancakes were really good. Thank you for making them. You really didn't have to. I know cooking isn't your strong suit but it's really nice that you tried, on my birthday nonetheless. I can't believe Alfred even let you into the kitchen this morning. I was expecting you to start a fi-"
"Jason."
"Shit, sorry. I didn't mean to start rambling. I'm just very thankful."
"Language. And there's no reason for you to be sorry. We haven't done any of the celebrating yet." Bruce laces his fingers together on the surface of the table.
"Oh, right." Jason doesn't realize what's happening before he's already sneezing.
Bruce looks like he's about to say something. No way is Jason going to let him.
"Maybe we could go to the library. Or the park. Or an aquarium. Oh, I bet the botanical gardens are lovely in August."
"You… want to go to the botanical gardens even though you've met and fought against Poison Ivy before?" Bruce gives him a look.
"Absolutely, I do!"
Bruce lets out a low sigh, "Jason…"
"Hold that thought! I'm gonna go grab my shoes!" Jason tries to speak around a cough but he's not very successful.
Before he can get out of his chair fully, Jason feels a hand press onto his shoulder. He looks down and sees Bruce looking at him with some mystery emotion written across his face. Jason doesn't need to hear it to know that Bruce wants him to sit back down.
"Are you sure you're feeling alright? You seem sick," Bruce asks with a slightly serious tone. Not quite Batman, but similar enough to make Jason want to listen to him more.
"No! I feel great! Must've slept on a pillow covered in animal dandruff." Jason't voice gets more nasally as he continues to talk.
"We don't have any animals in the manor."
"Some rodents must have left their fur in my room, then. But I'm fine! Just some allergies." As if to prove his point, Jason's statement is punctuated by a sneeze.
Bruce pulls a tissue out of thin air like a magician and hands it over to Jason. He slides his glass of water closer to him as well. Bruce waits patiently as Jason blows his nose.
After a moment of silence, Jason stares at his lap and says, "I'm not sick, okay? I feel fine. Let's just do whatever you had planned."
"Can I feel your temperature?" Bruce asks instead of acknowledging what he said. Jason hesitates for a split second before nodding.
Bruce puts the back of his hand to Jason's face. First his forehead, then his cheeks, and finally, his back. Jason didn't realize how much he was burning up until he felt Bruce's cold hands against his skin. He involuntarily leaned into each touch, searching for something to lower his temperature.
"You're warmer than you should be but it's nothing to be concerned about. It's likely some kind of cold that will go away soon enough."
"Bruce, I'm fine." Jason tries to sit up straight in his chair to further his point. He's about halfway through adjusting his posture when his vision suddenly gets blurry. Bruce is able to tell something is off and places a soothing hand against his forearm.
"It's just a minor illness, really," Bruce assures him.
"I'm not sick," Jason sniffles and he's not entirely sure it's because of his sinuses.
"It's not a big deal," Bruce tries to understand. "What's wrong, Jason?"
Jason sits there for a while, not wanting to answer. He knows he can articulate his thoughts about being sick well enough, but it's embarrassing. He wants to live in a world where Bruce doesn't know every single one of his insecurities for a little bit longer. Bruce allows him the time to think.
"I…" Jason finally starts. "I can't be sick today."
"How come?"
"Because!" Is Bruce really going to make him spell it out? "Because… it's my birthday."
"I'm aware." Bruce is still trying to understand.
"Yeah. But basically since July, you've been talking about how much fun my birthday is going to be. If I'm sick, then we can't do any of those cool things you have planned."
"We can always reschedule for a later date."
"That's not the point!" Jason is getting more frustrated, and he can feel a coughing fit coming on. "You planned all these potential things for us to do and you have the money to make anything else happen if I wanted it. I can't mess up this chance!"
Bruce gets up from his chair and kneels beside Jason's chair. Jason is still facing the table, so Bruce can't see his whole face. Bruce opens his mouth but whatever he was about to say is cut off by Jason coughing up a lung.
"Oh I didn't mean to cough so close to you. I don't want to get you sick. Fuck, I'm sorry," Jason rushes his apology out.
"Language. It's alright. Part of my training was to overcome every virus I would ever be exposed to."
"Really?"
"No. I just stay up to date on my vaccines and am careful about my hygiene." Bruce offers him a little grin.
"The other version was cooler," Jason pouts.
"I know." Bruce is still kneeling in front of Jason. "I also know that you don't want to miss any of your birthday festivities, but your health is more important. You shouldn't be pushing yourself past your limits."
"Says Batman." And it gets a small chuckle out of Bruce.
"I may not be the perfect example of what to do when you are injured or ill, but I hope you will learn from my mistakes." Bruce pauses for a moment. "There will be other days for us to spend together. You don't need to worry about getting this one perfect. I'm not going to stop being your fath- your caregiver because you're too sick. I'm not going to stop trying."
"I know that logically," Jason starts off slowly, "but, I just can't shake the idea that you won't want to spend time with me if my first birthday with you is lame." Jason avoided looking at Bruce for most of that but, at the end, he glanced up and made eye contact with him.
"I promise you, I don't think you or your birthday is lame. Even if we can't do everything I had planned, you didn't ruin anything by being sick. It's not something you can control, or predict. Sometimes, it just happens. Not to mention, we don't have to wait for your birthday or any other special day to do something together. I'm here for you."
After a few moments of silence, Bruce speaks up again. "How are you really feeling?"
Jason takes a deep breath in and he can feel the air burn in his lungs. "I feel pretty sick."
Bruce places a hand on his shoulder and gives him a warm look. He then stands up and guides Jason out of his chair. Jason stumbles a little bit but he's being supported by Bruce, Bruce's harm wrapped around his shoulder.
"Let's get you in a warm bath and then some comfortable clothes," Bruce says as he leads Jason upstairs.
Once they get into the bathroom attached to Jason's bedroom, Bruce sits Jason on the lid of the toilet while he fiddles with the bathtub. He turns the faucet handles into all sorts of configurations before he runs his hand under the water with a satisfied hum and closes the drain. He stands up with a loud pop from his knees and turns towards Jason.
"Go ahead and take a bath. I'll set aside some clothes on the other side of the door that you can change into." Jason nods silently. "Once you're in bed, I'll bring you some tea."
Before Jason can even suggest a type of tea, Bruce is gone. Jason sinks into the bathtub as warm water fills around him. Despite running a slight fever, the warmth feels nice.
All too soon for his liking, the water begins to cool down and Jason is pushed out of the tub by cold, uninviting waters. He finds a pair of sweatpants and a tank top placed outside the door. Jason quickly puts on his new clothes (what a waste of his special birthday outfit) and snakes under the covers of his bed.
Just as he's about to fall asleep, Bruce comes back into his room with a steaming mug of tea. It smells like mint and a tiny bit of honey. Bruce sets the mug on the bedside table as Jason sits up. Now that he's admitted to being sick, Jason is sniffling and coughing and sneezing without abandon.
"How do you feel now?" Bruce asks.
"A little bit better. My head doesn't hurt as much," Jason says weakly.
"That's good. I also brought some nighttime cold medicine if you feel up to it." Bruce holds up a bottle of deep purple liquid, the scent of fake grapes clinging onto the medicine cup.
"Yes, please."
Bruce measures out the appropriate amount of medicine and watches as Jason swallows it with a wince. Even the best tasting medicines still taste bad. Bruce takes a seat on the edge of Jason's bed as Jason sips at his tea. They stay like that for a while until Jason is practically falling asleep again. Bruce takes the cup out of his hands and puts it back on the table so that Jason can get in a more comfortable sleeping position.
"Wait," Jason suddenly jolts into awareness. "What about Alfred? If I go to sleep now, I won't see him when he gets back. We're supposed to be birthday buddies."
"When you wake up in the morning, Alfred and I will give you your presents. Just focus on getting a good night's rest for now." Bruce smooths out Jason's hair against his forehead and eases him back to laying down. "Goodnight, Jase."
"Night." Jason feels a hand carding through his hair and relaxes into it. Normally, Bruce says goodnight and then leaves. He never stays. Although it's uncommon, Jason finds his presence calming at the moment. He isn't worried about having trouble breathing or focusing on all the aches in his body.
Bruce knows that it's not anywhere near nighttime yet but, for some reason, it felt odd to tuck Jason into bed and it not be bedtime. It's not often that Jason lets himself be treated like the kid he is. Even for something as simple as getting sick, he was layers deep into denial about the whole thing. He looked dead on his feet during breakfast. Bruce stays at the side of his bed for a bit longer, combing through Jason's hair with his fingertips.
A few minutes later, Bruce hears something quietly whispered into the room.
"Thanks, dad."