Work Text:
You woke up to a strong grip around your waist and the quiet snuffling of your boyfriend as he buried his face in the crook of your neck. You blinked yourself awake, suddenly aware of how warm Jason was. The man always ran quiet hot, like his body was trying to expend all the excess energy that came from the Lazarus Pit in someway (except his hands were always cold). But this…this was abnormally warm, almost like he was- oh.
You wiggled round in his arms, facing Jason, pressing your hand against his forehead. Shit. He had a fever. You peered down at his face, noting the sweaty sheen of his skin as well as the flush along his cheeks. Usually seeing Jason sleeping gave you cuteness aggression, especially with how lax his expression was when he was asleep, nothing similar to the tension he carried when he was awake.
His mouth was slightly parted, allowing for his raggedy breaths to escape in little puffs, his brow furrowing slightly the longer you watched him. You gently pushed his sweaty curls off his face, rubbing your thumb over his cheekbone.
"Jay..? Wake up sweetheart."
He squirmed a little, brow furrowing slightly more, "Mmgh.." You chuckled quietly, cupping his face, "Baby you gotta get up. I think you're sick." His eyes fluttered open, a small pout forming on his lips as he blinked sleepily down at you. "Don't get sick." You arched an eyebrow at him, "Really? 'Cause you're currently very hot." A sleepy smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth and he pulled you back down from you had sat up, "Glad you think so." He nuzzled into your shoulder, grip tightening around your waist as you sighed exasperatedly.
"Jay. You know what I meant. You're sweating through the sheets." You squirmed out his arms, sitting back up and pouting down at him. Jason watched you through half-lidded eyes before he rolled out of bed, stumbling slightly as he got trapped in the sheets. "M'fine sweetheart. Just need a shower."
You crossed your arms, not convinced, watching how Jason swayed on the spot. "Uh huh."
Jason shrugged, turning to go into the bathroom, pulling at the hem of his shirt to toss it into the laundry basket. You couldn't help the way your eyes darted over the wide expanse of your boyfriend's back, tongue sliding out to lick at your lips as your gaze caught on the still fading nail marks you had left. You could feel the blush on your cheeks as you watched the muscles in his back flex.
"I can feel you staring, baby." Jason's tone was full of smug amusement, as he glanced back at you, now entirely naked.
You looked away sharply as he laughed, closing the bathroom door.
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You were standing at the kitchen counter, scrolling on your phone while you let your pancakes cook. You knew Jay always liked pancakes when he was sick, even if he denied being ill the whole time. You heard the bathroom door open and shut followed by the shuffling of clothes in the closet.
You turned back to stove, poking at the half cooked pancake, only glancing up when you heard the soft footsteps sidling up behind you. You smiled to yourself as Jason slid his arms around your middle, tucking himself into you. You could hear his quiet snuffling as he breathed in your scent.
"Hi baby, feel better after that shower?" You reached up to scratch at his head, fingers tangling in his wet curls. He groaned into your skin, warm breath sending a shiver down your spine, "I feel fine. M'not sick"
You snorted dismissively, "And you're normally this clingy?"
Jason went silent for a second, before huffing, "I'm totally fine sweetheart. No need to worry."
You shook your head fondly, stacking the last of the pancakes on a plate. "I guess you don't want pancakes then." You turned back to look at him, only to be met with a doe-eyed look you weren't sure how he managed with blue eyes. You had to restrain yourself from grabbing his face and squishing it, only leading him to the dining table and forcing him to sit. You'd get him to admit he was ill and stay home no matter how.
You sat opposite, grabbing a couple pancakes onto your plate and observing the uncomfortable frown Jason had before he rubbed at his eyes and noticed your gaze. You smiled sweetly, offering the maple syrup to him. He seemed to accept the gesture and took the bottle, drenching his pancakes in them.
That only solidified that your thought that Jason was sick, he only ever ate that much maple syrup when he was.
The two of you ate in a comfortable silence, the pile between you getting smaller and smaller. Being ill had never diminished Jason's appetite, in fact you'd noticed it had actually meant he got hungrier. Like his body was rapidly compensating and trying to get the illness out.
You got up to take the stack of dirty plates to the kitchen, only for Jason to swoop in and grab them from you with a smile and a head tilt. You rolled your eyes fondly, knowing how he liked to do the dishes, an old habit left over from when he was younger and lived in the Manor.
You were sitting back in the chair, zoned out when you heard a large crash from the kitchen, a startled, "shit!", and a pained groan following. You shot up from your seat, scrambling into the kitchen to find Jason hunched over the counter, hand pressed to his forehead.
"Jay!" You rushed to his side, cupping his face to look at you, "Are you okay? What happened?" He winced as he looked at your concerned expression, nose scrunching.
"Nothing- " He was cut off by a sneeze, his head shifting in your hands.
You blinked at him in surprised, realisation dawning on you. The stupid idiot man you were unfortunately in love with had sneezed while trying to put the dishes away and smacked his face into the cupboard.
You choked on a laugh you were trying to hold back, turning your face away from him. He glared up at you, the tears of pain in the corner of his eyes taking away from the effect. "Stop laughing at me." Jason's voice bordered on a whine, as he moved to press himself against you, "It's not funny..I'm very sick…"
You snorted, unable to hold back your laughter any longer, "I knew it. You clingy bastard. I said you were ill and you denied it." You pressed a delighted kiss to the tip of his nose, "Will you let me take care of you now?"
Jason deflated, knowing you had him trapped, "…Fine" You smiled, smothering him in kisses, "Wonderful. Get back into bed baby." You grinned as you pushed him towards the bedroom.
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You had made Jason take a nap almost four hours ago. As soon as his head had hit the pillow he had conked out, which made you laugh since usually Jason took forever to get to sleep. You had sporadically checked on him, only the way he was tangled in the sheet changing.
In the meantime, while your boyfriend slept off his fever, to which you had smothered him in cold compresses while asleep, you had taken to calling up Alfred to get his homemade chicken noodle soup recipe. Jason had mentioned, once in passing, that Alfred used to make it for him when he was sick as a kid. You wanted to make Jay as comfortable as possible, knowing how much he hated being ill. You didn't know the specifics but you knew being ill reminded him of his mother, especially if the sickness left him or you bedridden.
You could feel the waves of anxiety rolling off him anytime you mentioned anything more than a common cold, and even then he would smother you with love and care. You never complained, you loved it when he fussed, you knew he loved it when you fussed. Though he was loath to admit it, you knew Jason loved when you sat by him and ran your fingers through his hair, or read to him, or even just regaled him with stories about your co-workers.
You turned off the stove, carefully pouring some soup into a bowl with a ladle and placing it on a tray you had dug out from the deep recesses of the cupboard, gently sliding a cup of tea next to it before carefully taking it to the bedroom.
You used your hip to push open the door, Jason's light snores filtering out of the room. You smiled to yourself as you saw him sprawled out, the sheets tangled around him in every way possible. You carefully placed the tray on the nightstand before sitting beside Jason.
You ran a gentle hand through his sweaty curls, hand sliding down to cup his cheek, "Jay..? Wakey wakey…" He grumbled, turning into you hand, warm breath puffing against your skin. You scratched at his head, Jason acting cat-like in the way he leaned into you. You suppressed a giggle, shaking him once more. "Jaybird you gotta get up, you need to eat."
He groaned once before he opened his eyes to pout at you. You chuckled at his sad puppy expression, leaning down to kiss his forehead, "I made you chicken noodle soup, Alfred's recipe." He perked up at that, "Really?" You nodded reaching over to grab the tray as Jason sat up properly.
You grabbed a pillow and placed it on Jason's lap, putting the tray on top of it and handing him a spoon. You cuddled next to him, flicking through your phone while Jason ate. The comfortable silence wrapped around the two of you, like a blanket keeping you warm. You could see Jason's eyes drooping by the time his bowl was empty and gently extracted the tray from his grip before he could tip it all over the bed.
As you got up off the bed, you felt a hand tug at the hem of your shirt followed by a quiet, "Don't go…" You felt your heart clench at the quiet plea, placing the tray on the dressed before sliding back under the covers next to Jason. Immediately, he clung to you, wrapping his body around you like a koala, face pressed into your neck.
You reached up to curl your arms around his neck, fingers brushing through his hair, tangling in the messy curls. He sighed contentedly, fingers tightening in your shirt, inhaling your scent like it would keep him alive. You buried your face into his hair, letting the curls tickled your cheeks as you let sleep pull you under.
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You woke up a couple hours later, Jason lying on top of you like a weighted blanket. Jason's phone was buzzing on the nightstand, making you glance over. You had to wriggle a little to get a better look at the contact, it was Dick. You sighed, looking down at your boyfriend, stroking his face gently. You loved how soft he looked when he was asleep, it made him look years younger, more like his age than the hardened man that the world had shaped him into.
You untucked your arm, grabbing the phone off the nightstand and answering it, keeping your voice low.
"Hello?
Dick voice was filled with joy as he said, "Jason!" You chuckled, "Not Jay, he's asleep." Dick hummed on the other side, voice lowering, "I see. He's sick then?" Your breath stuttered, not expecting Dick to catch on so fast. The man in question laughed on the other side at your stunned silence, "Detective remember, sunshine? Jay's always been sleepy when he gets sick…" his voice dropped a little, a hint of guilt creeping in, "Or at least Bruce and Alfred said he did…He doesn't really stick around when he's sick anymore."
You sighed sadly at the guilt in Dick's voice, knowing he wished he was around more before Jason had died, "Dick…" The other man quickly recovered, his joyful tone coming back, "I guess he's not coming patrol then? You need me to bring anything for him?"
"Nah, I think we're okay.. You can drop by though, I think he'd like that, as much as he complains…"
You could practically hear Dick's smile through the phone, "Of course I can come round. Is after patrol okay?"
You hummed the affirmative, hanging up after a quick goodbye.
You flopped back down, from your half-sitting position and nuzzled back into Jason. You could at least get some more sleep before Dick crashed through your window.
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Jason had woken up before you this time and had taken the time to carefully arrange your sleeping form in his lap, head pillowed upon his thighs as he read a book you had gifted him. As you slowly came back to consciousness, you became aware of the hand gently running through your hair. Looking up you saw Jason with a content expression on his face as he played with your hair, tugging at the strands. You smiled fondly as you wriggled into a sitting position, shifting to sit properly in his lap.
Jason arched an eyebrow, putting his book down to place his hands on your hips, rubbing soothing circles with his thumbs. You, on the other hand, reached up to loop your arms around his neck, bringing yourself closer to him before giving him a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. He grumbles and leans in to kiss you properly.
You pull back with a soft giggle, "I take it you're feeling better then?"
Jason nods, nuzzling against your cheek, voice muffled into your skin, "Your soup was so good, and the cuddles." You smiled, hugging him properly as the two of you rocked slightly. It was more of a comfort thing, self-soothing, than a conscious decision as the pair of you swayed in bed.
You pulled back, suddenly remembering, "Dick's coming over later. After patrol." Jason's happy smile dropped into a scowl, one you knew he didn't fully mean, "Why?"
"He was worried about you when I said you were sick."
Jason's scowl morphs into a pout and you could see the cogs in his head turning as he realised his older brother cared that much. You brushed his hair back off his face, kissing his cheek, "You okay?" He nodded, "You have to tell me all the work gossip though, making me suffer through Dickhead fussing like a mother hen."
You smiled at his bargaining, rolling off to lie next to him, "You drive a hard bargain Mr Todd but I'll tell you." Jason shuffled next to you, clingy again as you began to speak.