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The air was cold the moment they stepped out of the tube, making Jason’s nose feel weird. He wrapped his blanket tighter around himself, trying to ignore the itchy feeling of his sweater. The space they were in was dark and empty and dusty and Jason didn’t really know why they were here but Bruce just led him forwards through creaking doors to the outside. There wasn’t much more to see here either. Just long brown grass as far as he could see. Jason wasn’t sure if he was meant to recognise this or not. He climbed up Bruce to get a better view.
“Hi, lad,” Bruce said as he pulled him into a more stable position on his shoulders.
Jason laughed, rocking back and forth to spite him a little “Hi, lad,” he echoed. “Moo!” He announced as he spotted cows. That was something he definitely recognised but he wasn’t sure where from. He… he didn’t see cows much in Gotham.
“Yeah, there’re cows,” Bruce agreed. “Do you remember where we are?”
Jason hummed. Recognising the place didn’t mean he remembered it. He just knew there were cows here and he didn’t think here was particularly bad. Or at least he hoped it wasn’t. “Moo,” he muttered again.
“This is where the Kents live,” Bruce explained, “Martha and Jonathon and Kon.”
“Kon,” Jason grinned and vocalised happily. He was looking forwards to seeing Kon. Bruce had said they were going to see the Kents today. Jason just hadn’t really been listening much.
“Yeah, you’ll get to hang out with Kon and we’re going to eat a lot of food.”
“Happy birthday, Jay?” Jason asked. He hung out with Kon a lot but generally when food was a big thing it was someone’s birthday. He hoped it was his birthday.
“No, there’s not going to be any presents.” Disappointing.
“Nn, want,” Jason wanted presents. “Why?”
“Because it’s Thanksgiving. It’s not about presents.”
“Why?” What was the point in having a holiday if there wasn’t presents.
“Because it’s about… colonialism really. These days people just see it as an excuse to spend time with the people they love.”
“Happy birthday, Jay,” Jason argued. His birthday was an ideal time for people to spend time with the people they loved. And he got presents. Thanksgiving could also be a time where people gave him presents.
“You’ve had three birthdays this year, that is not normal or to be expected,” Bruce told him. “It’s only because you were dead for your sixteenth and in a vegetative state for your seventeenth.”
“More,” Jason argued, grinning a little. “Happy birthday, Jay.”
“No, today is Thanksgiving. The farmhouse is just in front of us now,” Bruce said and yeah, Jason recognised that at least. He felt a little bit better about everything.
Bruce rung the doorbell and then they stood and waited before the door came open. A big white dog jumped at Bruce’s feet, sniffing at Jason’s legs and hand when he reached down to pet it.
An old woman stood in the doorway, he recognised her… she was… she was… “Ma!” Jason said. It had been a while since he’d seen Martha.
“Hello Jason,” she beamed back, reaching for a hug even as he sat in Bruce’s arms.
Bruce leaned forwards to facilitate it.
“You’ve grown so much in the past few months,” she told him. “You’re going to be taller than me soon.”
“Yeah, growth spurt after growth spurt, doc thinks it’ll stop soon,” Bruce said. “Do you want to go down?” He asked Jason.
Jason wanted Martha to carry him. He tried shifting his weight.
“Martha can’t carry you, lad,” Bruce said, shifting him back more securely into his arms.
“Why?” Jason asked. He knew Alfred couldn’t carry him but pretty much everyone else in his life who’d tried could. He couldn’t really imagine his speech therapist picking up and carrying anyone but aside from that…
“Because you’re getting a bit big for most people to carry you these days,” Bruce told him.
“Oh,” Jason grumbled his discontent at that but he settled on the ground and let Martha place a hand between his shoulders as she walked him inside instead.
Jason spotted a really cool looking toy turkey. It had a huge round body, with floppy legs and wings and a sort of startled look on its face. He walked over and crouched down in front of it, prodding at its eyes and beak. It didn’t make any noise so he wasn’t sure if it was an interactive toy or not. But he tugged at one of the eyes for a bit before examining the wings. The wings and legs were floppy which was interesting. The fabric on the wings was really soft too and he pressed it to his cheek, rubbing it up and down as Bruce talked to Kon. He should… he needed to greet Kon himself but Kon could come say hi as he investigated the turkey toy. He thought that would be okay.
“Hi,” Kon said after a moment, “Bruce said you’re having a little bit of a rough day.”
Jason shrugged and nodded. He didn’t think today was the worst day ever but things hadn’t been great lately. He patted the turkey again.
“You like the doorstop?” Kon asked, sitting down on the floor next to him.
“Yeah,” Jason agreed. He hugged it.
“I actually made that in a Textiles class at school,” Kon said.
“Cool!” Jason hummed. He patted it again. “Good, Kon.”
Kon chuckled slightly, “Thanks. I mean it’s just some dumb turkey doorstop but I’m glad you like it.”
“I’m glad you like it,” Jason echoed in agreement. “Dumb turkey doorstop. Dumb turkey doorstop.”
“Dumb turkey doorstop,” Kon echoed with him.
Jason laughed. He tried to pick out the animal word in there, “Turkey.” It was a fun word to say, “Tur… key... Turkey.”
“How was your journey over here?” Kon asked, standing up.
Jason stood too, holding the turkey. He shrugged. “No car, bad,” he sighed. He wished they could have taken the car. “Er…” he couldn’t think of the word. “Ch… ch… ch…”
“You took a zeta tube?” Kon asked.
“Yeah,” Jason realised he hadn’t hugged Kon yet. He reached for one. Thud. The turkey fell between them and Jason startled backwards. He hadn’t meant to drop it. He’d just kind of forgotten it was there.
“Is everything okay?” Martha asked from the other room.
“We’re fine, Jason just dropped the turkey doorstop,” Kon called back.
“Turkey doorstop,” Jason muttered again.
“It’s a good phrase,” Kon smiled.
“Are you okay, Jason?” Bruce’s voice asked.
“Yeah!” He was hanging out with Kon, “Bye.”
He heard Martha laugh a little from the other room. He wasn’t entirely sure where he was but Kon was here and that was good. When he was with Kon they generally… “Want game?”
“Want to play some video games?” Kon asked.
“Yeah.”
“Nice. The downstairs TV only works with really old consoles but we could play some Zelda,” he held out one hand, “Or we could head upstairs to my room and play some Devil May Cry?” He held out the other.
Jason was down to play some Zelda. He tapped the Zelda hand.
“Sweet, Ocarina of Time it is,” Kon said.
Jason pressed himself into his side again.
Kon chuckled. “Let’s go do some Ocarina-ing.”
The Zelda game didn’t particularly look like the Zelda games Jason had played before. Link seemed to be a series of badly made shapes. Jason nodded along as Kon read out the dialogue to him. “Why?” he asked eventually, pointing at the shapes. “Why look?”
“Why do they look like that?” Kon asked.
“Yeah…”
“Because graphics used to be a lot worse. Computers were worse so they couldn’t make things look as nice so we got weird blob Link.”
“Blob Link,” Jason echoed. He hummed along to the music. It was really good.
Kon smiled at him and knocked their heads together.
They were still running around some weird blocky woods when Martha came into the room. “Dinner will be a few hours,” she told them both, “But Bruce informed me that you haven’t had lunch yet.”
Jason really couldn’t remember. He hummed along to the music some more.
“And Kon, I know you’re a growing boy,” she said fondly.
“Thank you, Ma,” Kon said.
Jason glanced over and realised that she had two plates of food on a tray with her. He took the one that was handed to him and the lidded cup.
“I know you normally drink cold drinks from open cups, but if you’re going to sit on the carpet…” Ma started.
Jason shrugged. He then realised that he did in fact have a load of food in front of him and he should probably thank her for that. “Thanks,” he signed before voicing, “Ma.”
“You’re very welcome, Jason,” she beamed at him. “You two have fun.”
“Will do, Ma,” Kon said. He took a bite from the sandwich. “Chicken salad,” he said.
“Cool,” Jason ate his own. He then noticed the colourful turkey thing. It kind of looked like part of a puzzle but he wasn’t sure what puzzle it was part of or why it was here. “Kon?” he asked.
“Oh, that’s a sugar cookie,” Kon said, “Guess it looks confusing with the icing.”
Jason nodded. Icing, sugar and cookie were all food terms. “Food?” he checked.
“It’s food,” Kon said, taking a bite out of his own.
Jason bit his and it was sweet and crunchy and good. He happy squealed.
Kon smiled slightly, “Martha is informing Bruce she’ll make more for you.”
“Fuck yeah!” Jason cheered.
There was some laughter from the kitchen.
“Fuck yeah,” Kon said a lot quieter.
Dick dropped by when they were getting a horse. “God, I loved this game as a kid,” he said.
“Guessing you were a kid when it came out?” Kon asked.
“How old do you think I am?” Dick frowned.
“As old as Ocarina of Time?” Kon asked back.
“Technically, but I would have been way too young to play it when it first came out,” Dick said. “I just liked old games as a kid.”
“Back when they were new,” Kon continued.
“I’m twenty-five.”
“And I’m five,” Kon retorted.
“And biologically, you’ve been sixteen for all of those five years,” Dick sat upside down on the sofa behind Jason.
Jason knocked their heads together.
“How’s it going?” Dick asked, ruffling Jason’s hair.
Jason gave him a thumbs up, “How’s it going?”
“Good,” Dick told him. He started scrolling on his phone.
Jason thought about doing the same with his. He liked hanging out with Kon but he kind of… he wanted to see if Bart and Tim and Cassie could come hang out too. Especially Tim. He was worried about him now he’d moved to Bludhaven with his uncle. He pulled out his phone and took a picture of Kon, sending it to the group chat.
Dick’s phone buzzed a moment later.
“Happy Thanksgiving,” Roy’s message read. “Are you at the Kents?”
“We’re at the Kents,” Dick looks intrigued at him. “Any reason for Kon posting in the Titans chat?”
“No chat,” Jason hadn’t meant to put it in the Titans chat.
“You don’t want to talk about it?” Dick asked.
“It is a little bit weird,” Kon said.
Jason fussed. He hadn’t meant to do anything weird. “Tim, Bart, Cassie.”
“You were trying to send the message in the other group chat,” Kon realised.
“Yeah.”
“Ah, that makes more sense,” Dick said too. “Wrong chat guys. But Happy Thanksgiving.” He shuffled forwards a bit so he could rest his head on Jason’s shoulder, legs still pressed to the sofa back, “Want to take a picture, Jace?”
Jason nodded and tried to lean his head against the sofa too.
Dick took a picture of them both smiling, “This could be an album cover.”
“Couldn’t anything?” Kon asked.
“True, but I think this one would be a good one,” Dick said. He knocked his forehead into the side of Jason’s face before pulling away again.
Jason snickered. He shuffled around a bit and the sweater rubbed against the sofa. He really didn’t like the sweater. He tugged at it and managed to free one of his arms but then he was kind of stuck.
“Escaping a sweater by crawling out the neck hole is not the way to go,” Dick told him. “Can I help?” He asked.
Jason nodded and Dick did a handstand and flipped so he was sat on the floor in front of Jason. He lifted the sweater slightly, “Yeah, you’ve got your compression vest on under it,” he said. “You okay with me taking the sweater off in here?”
Jason nodded and lifted his arms.
Dick pulled the sweater off him and it really itched against his arms.
Jason groaned and scratched at them once it was gone.
“Guessing this was a Bruce idea?” Dick asked.
Jason was pretty sure it was. He nodded and grabbed Dick’s hand to get him to scratch his arm too.
“Yeah, you’re itchy,” Dick said, gently rubbing at the arm instead of scratching.
Jason whimpered. He was cold now and he was starting to think, he recognised this place and he knew Kon and of course he knew Dick but he was trying to remember why he was here again. There were video games and there was the itchy sweater and he hugged his knees to himself.
“Is everything okay?” Kon asked.
“I think Jason’s a little disorientated,” Dick said softly. He reached behind Jason and Jason startled, wondering what he was about to do. “Hey,” he said softly. “Do you want to look through your social story for today?”
Jason nodded.
Dick moved next to him and showed the laminated piece of paper. “Today is Thanksgiving so you don’t have school. Instead, we are at the Kents’ farmhouse. You get to hang out with Kon and I’ll be here. Later, Clark, Lois and Jon are going to come here and we’re going to have a big dinner with turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes. For dessert, we’ll have pie.”
That made sense and sounded okay. Jason took a deep breath. “I’m here,” he muttered.
“Yeah, can you remember who’s home you’re in?” Dick asked.
“Kon home?” Jason asked.
“You got it,” Kon said.
Jason nodded. That made sense. He just… he’d kind of forgotten and then he’d gotten confused and he… he whimpered and signed, “Sorry.”
“Hey, it’s all good,” Kon said. “Do you want a hug?”
Jason nodded and let Kon pull him over into his arms. He was wearing his jacket and it felt nice. Jason prodded one of the studs a few times.
“I’m not sure if you’re a little dehydrated,” Dick said to Jason. “Do you have any drinks you particularly want?”
Jason shook his head.
“Some juice?” Dick asked.
Jason nodded. Juice sounded okay. He prodded at Kon’s jacket studs again.
“You okay?” Dick asked.
“Yeah, this is fine,” Kon said. “Your jacket isn’t studded, right Jay?”
Jason nodded. “Isn’t studded,” he tried to echo. “Want.”
“You want studs?”
“Yeah,” they were really cool.
“Yeah, but they can get tangled in things which is annoying, not great for sliding down hills,” Kon said.
“Oh,” Jason hummed. He wondered if they could go outside here. They were… this was the Kents’ house. He looked at the social story again. Right, cow place. They were in the cow place. He pointed at the picture of cows.
“I’m happy to see the cows but I think Dick wants to do a bit of a check in with you first.”
“Oh,” Jason hummed to himself. Right, Dick was getting him a drink. He signed as much.
“Yep, Dick’s getting you a drink,” Kon said. “And Bruce is in the kitchen too.”
“Yeah,” Jason nodded again. He was a bit less anxious now. He just… there was still a feeling that something was wrong. He rocked a little, pushing Kon back and forth with him.
Dick came back during this. “Hey, Martha said you liked apple juice,” he said to Kon, holding out two glasses of the stuff with Jason’s spillproof cup tucked under one arm.
“Oh, thanks,” Kon said.
“No problem,” Dick handed Jason the spillproof cup. “You okay with apple juice?”
Jason nodded and took the cup. Once he began to drink, he found he needed to drink a lot of it.
“Yeah, I think you were a bit dehydrated,” Dick said.
“Dehydrated,” Jason tried to echo. He knew that word. It just didn’t come out as anything when he tried to say it.
“Yeah, it’s a hard word,” Dick said. He sat down again with his own glass of apple juice. “So, you’re running around Hyrule, huh?”
“Yep,” Kon said.
While they continued to play the game, a few more messages came by on his phone. “That’s Kon!” Bart’s message read.
“Yeah, we’re playing Zelda and eating cookies, bet you wish you were us,” Kon texted back.
“Can I be you?” Bart asked with a big-eyed emoji.
“Not sure you can get a plate at dinner but Ma loves guests, you can come play video games,” Kon said.
“Tim,” Jason messaged as well.
“Sorry Jace, busy with my uncle,” Tim’s message replied.
Jason hummed. “Tim okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good,” Jason got a picture of Tim smiling on a sofa. He had big bags under his eyes and didn’t look great.
“Worried,” Jason said to Kon and Dick.
“Yeah, Tim’s not doing great at the moment but we can’t force him to talk about it, you know,” Dick said. “Well, we could but not without making things worse.”
“Nn,” Jason rocked slightly.
“Wait, who’s at the Kent thanksgiving if you’re there, Jay?” Cassie asked.
“Me, Jason, Ma, Pa, Clark, Lois, Jon, Bruce and Dick,” Kon replied. He held out the phone for a picture and Dick raised two fingers, still upside down on the couch.
Jason tried to copy the gesture and Dick rotated his hand around.
“Do the Vs with your palm facing the camera or you’ll upset Alfred,” he muttered.
“Oh,” Jason didn’t really want to do that but he grinned for the picture.
“Wally says I have to stay for family time,” Bart’s message read. “I argued that you guys are a family too but apparently I have to spend it with my family. This is unfair. This is outrageous. Play that Ocarina in my memory.”
“Wish I could head over too,” Cassie said. “Do you know how awkward it is to explain to your aunt that no, your cousin cannot join the Teen Titans and we definitely don’t do boy scout badges.”
“We could,” Tim’s message read. “Team, what do we feel about boy scout badges? First battle with Trigon. Helped an old lady cross the street. Saved the world.”
Jason laughed. “Jason.”
“Fuck off,” Tim said with a laughing emote.
“Wait, Jason, what did you do to save the world?”
“He defeated Mongol when he was thirteen,” Tim replied. “After getting his ass handed to him by Crazy Quilt.”
“I have no idea who the other person is but fucking hell, Jace,” Cassie replied. “Yeah, we’re so doing boy scout badges.”
“Nightwing is grimacing on the sofa,” Kon’s message said.
“It’s your team now, you… you do what you want,” Dick said. He then leaned and whispered into Jason’s ear, “As a current Titans member, I need you to veto this decision so I don’t look like an ass.”
Jason laughed and shook his head. “Joke,” he promised Dick.
“I know,” Dick smiled.
“How many boy scout badges to be Batman?” Kon asked.
“I will 3D print a cowl for you tonight,” Dick chuckled.
Eventually Bruce came in and said that Jason needed to get cleaned up and ready for dinner. “Where’s your sweater gone?” he asked.
“He hates it,” Dick said.
“Hn,” Bruce said. “Okay,” he decided after a moment. “Let’s get you sorted,” he told Jason. He picked up the sweater.
“No!” Jason protested. He didn’t want to wear the sweater right now.
“You don’t have to wear it, I’m just putting it in your supply bag,” Bruce soothed.
“Nmuh,” Jason really didn’t like the sweater. He hugged himself, the blanket was kind of warm but he was a little bit cold still.
“Let’s go get you sorted,” Bruce told him.
“Are you sure you don’t want to wear the sweater?” Bruce asked as he washed his hands.
Jason nodded. “Shit.”
“I take it that you don’t like the feeling of it but… people are dressed fairly nicely because it’s Thanksgiving,” he pushed his hair around. “And Martha likes to take a picture most years. And I don’t want you to see the picture later and feel underdressed.”
Jason was dressed. He had his compression vest and his jeans and his blanket cape. He was a little bit cold though.
“The sweater would also be warm.”
“No,” Jason wasn’t wearing it. He threw it in the sink so it got wet.
“Hh. Understood,” Bruce said. “Do you want to wear your hoodie?”
Jason nodded and lifted his arms. The hoodie was so much better than the sweater.
“Okay,” Bruce put him in that but he didn’t seem too impressed. Now Jason felt bad.
Dinner was apparently ready by the time Bruce led him to a dining room. Clark and Lois and Jon had appeared from somewhere in that time and people were coming in and out of the not-home dining room with lots of different food. Jason wasn’t entirely sure where to sit at this table. He fussed again. “Do you want to sit next to me, lad?” Bruce asked.
“Okay,” Jason said, taking the seat Bruce gestured for him to take. He rocked a little to himself.
“It’s good to see you, Jay,” Clark said.
“Mm,” Jason looked around. Kon was carrying plates and Lois was sitting down across from Jason and getting Jon to sit next to her and there was a lot of talking going on. He covered his ears.
“Can I help?” Bruce asked.
“Mm?” Jason wasn’t sure how.
“I’m going to adjust your ear pieces to block out a bit more sound,” Bruce said. He reached and Jason let him turn around and push at some stuff in his ears. Everything became a bit less loud. “Better?” Bruce asked.
Jason nodded. He knocked his head into Bruce’s shoulder. There was still a lot going on and he wasn’t entirely sure of any of it.
Bruce rubbed his back. “It’s all a lot at the moment, isn’t it?” he asked.
Jason nodded. He clung to the wool of Bruce’s sweater. It was scratchy like his own but when he wasn’t wearing it, it felt less bad. He ran his fingers up and down Bruce’s arm.
“Are you okay?” Jon asked. “Can I help?”
“There’s not much you can do at the moment, Jon,” Bruce said. “Jason’s just a little overwhelmed.”
“Oh, I know that feeling,” Jon said. “Listening to hearts helps.”
“I’m sure it does but Jason’s hearing is not as good as yours,” Bruce said. Jason could feel his voice rumble in his neck. He put the hand not rubbing the sweater arm too it.
“I think he is listening to your heart,” Jon argued.
“I think he’s feeling my throat move when I speak,” Bruce said. “Do you need a break from the dining room?” he asked.
Jason shook his head. He was going to be okay. He was just… he was probably being overdramatic or something.
“I know what will help,” Jon disappeared. It was a little easier without the loud kid being there. Jason managed to bring himself to pull away from Bruce.
He looked to Lois and smiled slightly. He didn’t think he’d seen her yet today.
She smiled back at him. “It’s nice to see you, Jay.”
He nodded again, he felt like he’d already had the same conversation with Clark. He wondered what Jon was doing. He wondered where Kon and Martha were.
Kon came in again with glasses. “I don’t get why there are multiple glasses,” he grumbled.
“For different drinks,” Lois said. “White wine, red wine and water.”
“Does that mean I get to drink?” Kon asked.
“No, you’re on sparkling raspberry juice,” Clark said.
Kon rolled his eyes. “That’s so unfair.”
“Maybe when you’re older,” Clark said.
Kon sighed.
“Conner…”
Jason watched in slight bewilderment. He hadn’t seen Clark be an asshole before. He slid under the table to kick him. “Fuck.” Clark’s leg didn’t move at all but Jason’s hurt and he fell off his chair.
Bruce pulled him out from under the table a moment later.
“I didn’t know he was going to-” Clark looked mortified. “Are you okay, Jason?”
“Fuck that hurt,” Jason whimpered as Bruce prodded at his foot.
“Check nothing’s broken,” Bruce said.
Clark and Kon both stared at his foot.
“He’s okay,” Clark said, slumping a lot. “I’m so sorry.”
“Next time you’re going to kick Clark, make sure you have some kryptonite to help you,” Bruce said, pulling Jason into a hug.
He sniffled, he hadn’t expected kicking Clark to hurt so much.
Martha walked in then with some sort of tray of green stuff. Jason already wasn’t sure of it. “What happened here?” she asked.
“Jason kicked Clark,” Bruce said. “Were you trying to stick up for Kon?”
Jason nodded.
“Thanks, Jay, but I can fight my own battles against Clark,” Kon said. He glowered at Clark too.
“Okay, boys,” Martha said. “It’s Thanksgiving, there’s no need for fighting.”
Jason fussed. He really wasn’t sure how he felt about any of this. He bit his hand.
“Chew your chewie,” Bruce said, waving it at him.
“Nn.” Biting his hand made everything less loud.
Jon ran in with something bright and colourful. “Do you want to see a really cool car?” he asked.
Jason wasn’t sure. He didn’t like how near to him Jon was either. He whined.
“Maybe later,” Bruce said.
“But it’s really cool,” Jon said, “Look when you roll it on the table it even…”
The car started making loud noises. Jason pushed it away.
“Jon, come sit with me,” Lois said.
Jason hid his face in Bruce’s shoulder and wailed, he didn’t like all of this.
He felt himself being carried and then the air was cold. He managed to stop crying enough to at least look at where they were. There were chickens clucking around nearby and a big white dog sniffing at his legs. “Do you want to sit down?” Bruce asked, holding out his hand, “Or do you want me to keep walking around? Tap my head for the second option.”
Jason laughed a little, more tears dripping down his face, and tapped Bruce’s head.
“Okay, lad,” Bruce walked around the yard some more and it was so much quieter than it had been inside. Jason found himself able to think again rather than just being anxious. “You’re not really a fan of the holidays, are you?” Bruce asked.
Jason didn’t really know what he was talking about.
“You hated Halloween,” Bruce said.
“Bad,” Jason muttered. On Halloween people wore costumes and Jason didn’t know who they were underneath and what if a bad guy wore a costume and then there’d been clown stuff and it had all been horrible.
“Yeah,” Bruce said. “And this is all a lot of structured socialising in a place that you’ve been to a few times, but not enough to orientate yourself with any certainty, and it breaks from every part of your routine that keeps you comfortable.”
Jason nodded again. He thought that was a pretty good explanation.
“December’s coming and that means so are Hannukah and Christmas,” Bruce said.
“Mm?” Jason wasn’t entirely sure what that meant.
“Hannukah is the Festival of Lights, it’s a Jewish holiday. It’s to celebrate the recovery of Jerusalem and the miracle of the oil. It’s not an especially major celebration traditionally but it’s become popular due to the fact it’s often celebrated close to Christmas. Christmas is a major celebration for Christians, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ who they believe is the son of God. My uncle and cousin are Jewish, as was my mother, so the maternal side of my family celebrates Hannukah every year, I attend sometimes. My family on my father’s side were Christian, as is Alfred, so as a kid I also celebrated Christmas. I then didn’t for a long time but when Dick and then you came along, we put up the decorations and did presents again.”
“Mm,” Jason grunted. “Happy birthday, Jay.” He liked presents.
“Yeah, there’ll be presents.”
Jason thought so. “Yeah. Happy birthday, Jay.”
“It would be a little bit like when it’s your birthday,” Bruce said. “Lots of presents at any rate.”
Jason grinned. “Paper.”
“And wrapping paper, although you can have that whenever you like lad… you can have presents whenever you like really too.”
“Happy birthday, Jay?”
“Do you want a toy turkey for the ordeal that is today?”
“Yeah,” Jason hums. “Car?”
“You can get some more toy cars. If I got you an actual car for every holiday, we’d have problems.”
“We’d have problems, good,” Jason argued, snickering a bit.
Bruce snorted and hugged him tight. “Good for you perhaps,” he looked out at the empty space around them again. “Now, we have options. Do you want to go back into the dining room now everything will have calmed down a bit. Or do you want to hide in the living room?”
Jason wanted to see people again. He did… he was fairly sure he liked everyone there. It was just stressful when they were moving about. He tapped Bruce’s hand for dining room.
“Dining room?” Bruce asked.
Jason nodded. He then patted Bruce’s head because it was still kind of hilarious to him that that was an option.
People looked at him for a moment as him and Bruce walked into the dining room but then they quickly looked away again and continued talking about whatever they were talking about. There was one plate that looked different with the cutlery that looked like Jason’s and the food all chopped up already. Bruce led him over to that one. “Are you okay here?” he asked.
Jason nodded. He sat down and took a piece of the… he thought it was probably chicken. It didn’t taste quite like chicken. He fussed.
“It’s turkey,” Bruce said.
“Oh,” Jason tried another piece and it was better with that knowledge.
“And that’s mashed potato, green bean casserole, broccoli, carrots, stuffing and collard greens.”
Jason pushed the floppy green stuff off of his plate.
“Don’t want to try it?” Bruce asked.
Jason shook his head. Broccoli was okay but other green things were weird and gross. He prodded at the mashed potato. It had a fun texture.
He half listened to the conversations going on around him, stuff about school and work and a little bit about cars that he looked up for but nothing too exciting. For the most part he played about with the mashed potato. It tasted really good but also it was fun to spread about the plate and pile back up again and he could stand pieces of broccoli up in it or lean his face really close and blow on it hard enough to move it just a little. It was cool.
He did however notice there was some sort of bubbly drink that Lois and Clark and Dick and Ma and Pa were drinking which was intriguing. Jason reached over and took Lois’s drink. He wanted the bubbly stuff too. He chugged it before anyone could take it away from him.
“Ope,” was Clark’s immediate response.
“Sorry Lois,” Bruce said, taking the cup off Jason and giving it back to Lois. He looked contemplatively at Jason, frowning a little too. “You’re not meant to drink alcohol, lad.”
“You did okay when you managed to steal the port,” Dick backed Jason up. “You kind of just got giggly then cuddly then fell asleep.”
“On substantially less than would be expected for your body weight,” Bruce stated.
“Most people in Jason’s grade are in college now, right?” Kon asked. “Plenty of people drink in college.”
“But alcohol is for grownups,” the kid argued.
Jason groaned. He didn’t like the fact everyone was bickering and arguing and the sparkly stuff hadn’t even tasted good.
“It’s been drunk now,” Ma said. “If you’re going to be okay, Jay, then I don’t think there’s much we can do about what happened now.”
Jason continued to poke at his mashed potato pile, eating a bit more of it even though there was now barely any left. He still tossed a bit more to the dog who was looking excitedly at him.
“Do you want more potato?” Bruce asked.
Jason absolutely wanted more of the potatoes. He nodded and rocked back and forth.
“Send Alfred the recipe for this,” Bruce said. “Jason really likes it.”
“Of course. I’m glad you like my cooking, Jay.”
After that food, there was pie and after that Jason was exhausted. He slumped into Bruce’s side. “Should we go to the living room?” Martha asked.
“Can I play games?” Jon asked.
“It’s Kon’s console,” Clark said.
“Sure,” Kon said. “I’ve got Banjo Kazooie and Mario Kart 64.”
Jason yawned. He was happy to watch people play games but he didn’t want to play himself.
“Ready to go home?” Bruce asked.
Jason shook his head. He wanted to watch video games and hang out with Kon.
“We’ll stay another hour,” Bruce said. “Want to head to the living room?”
Jason nodded and stood up, not entirely sure where he was going.
“I’ll lead the way,” Kon said, slinging an arm around his shoulders again.
Jason found a comfortable spot under the coffee table, grumbling when Jonathon asked if he’d be more comfortable on the couch. He could lie down here and starfish or curl up and everything going on in the room was clearly visible while the lights felt less bright and the noise was a little more muffled.
“He’s happy,” Dick said, sitting down on the floor next to him and ruffling his hair. “How many controllers have you got?” He asked Kon.
“Four,” Kon said. He threw one at Dick. “Sure you don’t want in?” he asked Jason.
“Sure you don’t want in,” Jason echoed. Krypto walked into the room and he vocalised and reached until the dog came over, letting him settle next to him. “Good boy, good boy,” he cooed as he scratched his ears.
Lois joined them on the floor playing Mario Kart after a while, cheering Jon on as he kept winning. Then he said he was going to go play with his cars in his room here and disappeared upstairs. Suddenly, the tone in the room shifted, Dick changing the speed of the karts with a grin on his face. “Anyone else want in?” he asked.
“I’m good, thanks,” Clark said.
“Pussy,” Lois said, causing Jason to snicker.
“Lois!”
Lois laughed, “You’re a coward, deal with it, Smallville. Bruce?”
“Hn,” Bruce stared pointedly at his phone.
“Can save the fucking universe and yet can’t play Mario Kart to save their lives,” Lois grumbled.
“You’re very confident about this, Lo,” Kon smirked.
“I’ve been playing this longer than you’ve been alive,” she said back.
“Let’s just see how this goes,” Dick said.
For the bulk of the race, Dick sat in third place, not particularly bothered about what was going on in front of him. Lois and Kon kept bickering with each other, not particularly paying attention to him. Bruce leaned down and tapped Jason’s shoulder at one point and muttered, “He has a blue shell.”
Jason noted that too and grinned, Dick winking at him.
As they all got close to the finish line, Dick sidled his car up to Kon’s, pushing him back before throwing the blue shell at Lois’s. It spun around and stopped as Dick overtook her. “That’s how it done, ladies and gentlemen,” he did a little bow.
“I’m going to shove your mask so far up your emo ass-” Lois shouted at him.
“You can when you beat me at Mario Kart.”
Dick ducked as the controller flew at his face, Jason catching it before it could hit Krypto. He gave it back to Lois. He kind of wanted to see how this developed.
“I want a rematch,” Lois announced. “And this time, I’m going to win.”
Lois did win the next round, repeatedly managing to shove Dick and Kon off the track. There was so much swearing and bickering and Jason couldn’t help but laugh at all of them. “Jace, do you want in on the next round?” Dick asked.
Jason was still pretty comfortable under the coffee table. He shook his head, moving his blanket around himself a bit more. “Dad,” he said as the next race started.
“What’s up, Jay?” Bruce asked.
Jason wringed his fingers. He needed something to fidget with.
“Do you want a fidget?” Bruce asked.
“Mm.”
Bruce handed him a rainbow slug toy and Jason rattled the pieces, passing it from hand to hand as he looked back over to see Kon winning this time.
“Get fucked, Wing!” He cheered as he sailed past Dick’s character.
“Get fucked, Wing!” Jason echoed in support.
Bruce said they were going after the last race, Dick, Lois and Kon apparently at a tie. There was a lot of bickering between them, but it still seemed to be mostly happy. Jason watched as they set off, Lois immediately splattering the other two screens with ink and then Kon green shelling her. Dick got red shelled a moment later and he actually elbowed Kon for it. Then Lois was trying to cover Dick’s eyes. “This is where memorising the course comes in handy,” Dick said.
“Oh, fuck you,” Lois retorted.
“Well, if that’s what you want, get fucked Mrs Lane,” Dick said, cheering as he crossed the finish line. “Good game everyone.”
“I am killing you in your sleep,” Lois said.
“She’s not,” Clark said, “Come on, we like Dick.”
“You like Dick.”
“You’re on your own, chum,” Bruce said, smiling slightly.
“I am going to kick your ass one day,” Kon said.
“Sure, bud,” Dick cooed and stuck his tongue out.
“Ass,” Kon elbowed him.
Bruce said they were going after that even though Jason had found a new comfortable position to fall asleep in. “Bed,” he murmured when Bruce reached to pick him up.
“Let’s get you in your actual bed,” Bruce said as he pulled him into his arms anyway. “Hopefully, you’ll sleep tonight.”
“Struggling to sleep at the moment?” Clark asked.
Bruce grunted, “Steph’s passing and Tim moving away have been difficult for him.”
“If you ever need to talk at any time, just call me,” Kon said, looking at Jason. “I don’t need much sleep so I’m down to hang out whenever.”
Jason nodded, hopping down from Bruce’s arms to hug him. He was really glad to have Kon in his life even if other people kept going away.
“Us, Cassie and Bart are gonna look out for Tim,” Kon said. “And we’ll look out for you too. I didn’t know her well but Steph was pretty cool.”
“Yeah, Steph was pretty cool,” Jason agreed. He pulled away to sign, “Thanks. See you.”
“Yeah, this weekend?” Kon asked. “We can surprise Tim with pizza and energy drinks.”
“Mm,” Jason nodded and smiled a little. “Pizza.”
“Great, see you then,” Kon said.
“Great, see you then,” Jason went in for one more hug before going over to Dick. He spotted the turkey doorstop again.
“Wait, do you want the turkey?” Kon asked.
Jason grinned but then he remembered it was Kon’s. “Do you want the turkey?” he echoed.
“Nah, it’s just some dumb thing I made,” Kon said. “You can have it. Not that I’m giving you my trash but…”
Jason laughed. Tim would sometimes call him a trash panda for the stuff he found exciting. “Good.” He took the turkey from Kon and rubbed the wings against his face again.
“Justice League or not, I’ll see you soon,” Clark said to Bruce, hand on his shoulder.
“Hn.”
“I’m sure I’ll see you armed with a knife soon,” Dick said to Lois.
“I’ll be far more creative than that,” Lois said.
“Well, I look forwards to the weird and wonderful way I die.”
Jason fussed. He didn’t want Dick to die.
“I won’t actually kill Dick,” Lois said.
“Good,” Jason looked at Dick, “I know.”
“Yeah, I love you too,” Dick hugged him.
“See you soon, Jace,” Clark offered him a hug, Lois stepping in too.
Jason hugged them back and then was definitely done with interacting with people who weren’t Bruce or Dick. “Bye,” he announced.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Bruce smiled as Jason took his hand.
Once Bruce was back from patrol and Jason was actually getting ready for bed, he added the turkey doorstop to his plushie pile. “Are you sure, lad?” Bruce asked. “I’m not sure it’s going to be that comfortable to lie on.”
“Dumb turkey doorstop,” Jason insisted, holding it close.
“Don’t call it-” Bruce grunted and tucked Jason into bed. “Do you want an audio book and your light projector on?”
“Yeah,” Jason agreed. He took his phone off Bruce and scrolled until he saw a book cover he liked.
“The Colour of Magic,” Bruce said. “Terry Pratchett.”
Jason nodded and rolled onto his side, holding onto the Cave Creature as the narrator started to read, “In a distant and second-hand set of dimensions…”
Bruce turned on the star lights and Jason hummed happily. He then started to walk away.
“Dad, stay,” Jason argued.
“Just until you fall asleep,” Bruce said, sitting down on the bed next to him. He grunted when Jason settled against him. “I know today was a lot but you did good,” he said.
Jason shrugged. He reached for his speech book, not wanting the light from his tablet right now. “See friend. Good.”
Bruce smiled but he looked a little bit sad. “And you’ll see Kon again the day after tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” Jason agreed. He yawned and Bruce ran a hand through his hair. “Steph?” he asked.
“… Steph’s not going to be there on Saturday,” Bruce said.
“Why?” Jason asked.
“She’s… dead, lad, remember?” he asked.
“Bad man,” Jason said.
Bruce nodded. “Black Mask killed her. Which means that you won’t get to see her anymore.”
Jason pointed to the picture of the clock. He was fairly sure that had something to do with time.
“… Some people believe that when we die, we go to a place filled with the people we love. You might see Steph there one day, hopefully a very long time from now.”
Jason sighed. He didn’t get why everyone acted like she was gone, gone. He came back and she’d come back too. He fussed.
“I know, loss and grief are difficult,” Bruce said. “But she wouldn’t want you to be upset.”
“Nn.” Jason was upset regardless of she wanted. If she wanted him to not be upset, she needed to come back.
Bruce squeezed him tight. “It gets easier with time, even if it never stops hurting.”
“Dad, Jay, fuck that hurts?” He wondered if Bruce hurt while Jason was gone.
Bruce took a deep breath, “The day I lost my parents, I knew that would be the worst day of my life. Then I lost you and that pain was infinitely worse. But even then, there were a handful of moments that made me happy. And I think… with time, there would have been more. It’s always going to hurt, but with time that pain becomes bearable.”
“Why?” Jason asked.
“Because sometimes your brother would come out with some ridiculous quip, or Alfred gave me that look that makes me wonder if I’ve trapped him in a bad sitcom. Or Clark would remind me of just how good people can be.”
Jason put the paper board down and lay down again, head resting on Bruce’s legs. “Next?” he signed.
“What happened next?” Bruce asked.
Jason nodded.
“Next, you came back,” Bruce said. “And I had to consider a lot of different priorities in my life. But statistically, Jay, you are probably going to be the luckiest human to ever exist.”
Jason frowned. Everyone always said he had bad luck. He hummed his disagreement.
“You have been through so much and none of that is fair, but you’re also the only human to ever come back from the dead,” Bruce said. “You coming back is a miracle that no one’s quite been able to explain yet.”
Jason really didn’t get that. He yawned again and closed his eyes. He was tired and he really hoped Steph would be back soon.
Bruce moved Jason’s head onto the pillows, rearranging the blankets and the plushies. “Get some rest, lad,” he said.
Jason hummed, leaning into the feeling of Bruce running a hand through his hair. He could feel himself falling asleep.
“Good night, Jay,” he heard Bruce say before he fell asleep entirely.