“Oh god, change the channel.” Jason groaned while Dick was already brightening.
“Jay! Its Halloweentown!” Dick said excitedly, determinedly not changing the channel. His arm, that was not in a cast, holding the remote out of reach.
“Its Disney channel and you’re a grown ass adult.” Jason replied, not even trying for the remote with his broken leg.
“Ssssh, don’t say the a-word.” Jason was sure the ‘a-word’ was ‘adult’. “We have to watch this! Its tradition! I didn’t even get to watch it last year.” Dick pouted out his lip, looking at his younger brother with the most childish expression. How does his face even do that? Jason was sure his face would break if he tried to beg with it that way, “Pleeeeease~?”
Jason sighed, rolling his eyes, but something in his annoyance must’ve hinted at Dick’s victory, because the eldest was starting to grin before Jason even answered, “Fine. Hand me my crutches, I’ll leave you to it.”
“NO!” Dick gripped Jason’s arm with his good hand, “You have to watch it with me!”
“Dick…”
“Its so lonely alone…” Oh god, here it comes, “Damian is with the Titans and Tim’s helping Kon with something, and Bruce and the girls are on patrol…please? It’ll be fun together. Remember how we made Bruce watch it with us that one year, like marathon-ed all four movies and made fun of his face?” Jason smiled despite himself -that was a great memory. There was something about making Bruce watch movies, like the idea of getting Batman to watch Disney was great as it was, but in addition, he always had this look like he was engrossed. Jason used to think Bruce was probably picking apart the story line and characters and mentally listing all the things he could be doing instead of that.
Jason sighed, “Fine, but I’m only watching the first one with you.” He said in warning as he settled back into the sofa, readjusting the pillows under his leg. Dick cheered, cranking up the volume and dragging the blanket off the back of the couch. Jason gave Dick a look that didn’t deter the elder brother at all, as he draped the blanket over both of them and leaned against Jason, shoulder-to-shoulder.
Jason let it go. This was nice and there was no one to see anyway, so he was going to let himself have this time with his brother. Dick was probably the easiest to be cozy with, without the judgement and all. Like Tim was great, but baby bird did not go out of his way to pester for physical affection, to serve up his love on a silver platter in a way that was universally understood. And Damian was…Damian, more confused than Jason was about this family-thing (and wasn’t that something). And Cassie was sweet, but she didn’t have the gooey words and overt ‘I want to be around you’ to her body language. So here he was with Dick…
“Debbie Reynolds is the bomb.” Dick whispered, giggling as she turned the chicken in the bowl into a live chicken. Ah, the useless commentary, Jason thought, fondly annoyed, he was pretty sure that when they were younger, Dick had made a comment like that and laughed at that exact scene.
Alfred checked in only once, offering snacks and securing the blanket around them tightly with a wicked gleam in his eye, before he disappeared.
Jason knew he was far too relaxed, he didn’t even make a move to get up when Halloween Town was saved and credits flew by on the half-screen while the introduction to Halloweentown 2 started to play on the other half. Dick said nothing either, just leaned even closer. Oh god, this was going to be a marathon, wasn’t it?
Bruce got back to the Manor, taking off his suit and cowl and rolling joints, it had been a cold and wet night- typical Gotham. The hot shower was bliss to his overworked body, the hot tea that Alfred offered was even better.
“How are the boys?” Bruce asked as he walked with Alfred up the stairs, “They didn’t give you any trouble?” Now he knew that neither Dick nor Jason would really give Alfred a hard-time, especially when they were drugged up for their broken limbs, but they could be a handful-just as stubborn as Bruce about not resting properly in some ways.
“Oh, no trouble at all. They’re watching a movie.” Alfred said, his tone simply delighted though his expression was still mostly neutral. Bruce quirked a questioning eyebrow and was promptly gestured to the living room. He took the hint and peeked into the doorway, unable to resist a smile at his two boys. They were wrapped in a blanket together, watching the TV, totally at ease with each other. It was wonderful to see, especially since Jason was almost always wary when he was at the Manor.
They must’ve sensed his gaze, Dick waving while Jason was freezing up with a blank look on his face, “Hey B!”
Bruce made sure not to comment, looking away so Jason didn’t get more uncomfortable, “Is this Disney Channel?” Bruce studied the TV and chuckled, “Halloweentown, hm?”
“All four!” Dick proclaimed and Bruce took another glance at them, Jason was shifty but…not angry. Bruce had to school his features to not grin, Jason was embarrassed-it had been a long time since he’d seen Jason embarrassed. The blush really gave a hysterical touch to the edginess in Jason’s expression. “You gonna watch with us?”
Bruce shook his head, “No, I’m turning in for once,” He offered a brief smile, “Have a good night, you two.”
“Goodnight, Dad!” Dick waved him off.
“Yeah, goodnight…dad.” Jason uttered, almost as Bruce was out the door. It gave his heart a little squeeze, warmth that would let him rest easy tonight.
