When Bruce was younger, before his parents were murdered, he hadn't cared all that much for games. He'd more so been a reader and a lover of theatre. His parents had bought him all the right gaming systems and he'd been gifted some after their death by people who were obviously just trying to win his favour to ensure some future prosperity but he never got into them. If anyone else had asked him to play, he would've said no. He nearly did say no to the offer he was given but Dick had a way of making him do things he'd rather not do. 

The acrobat set it all up for them since Bruce had no idea what he was doing and was still in a little bit of shock that he'd agreed to play. He noticed Dick cough a few times, his frown deepening with each one. He didn't have the cough that morning but the game system seemed rather dusty so he reassured himself it was just from breathing in disturbed particles. Dick didn't seem bothered by the coughing either. When the TV lit up with a blue screen displaying three different profiles, Dick hurried back to the bed and clambered on with two controllers in his hand. 

"Which one do you want?" he asked. Bruce observed the controllers and became confused by the question as they both looked the exact same. It must've shown on his face because his ward gave him a grin and handed him the one on his left. "That's the newer one."

"Why did you give me the newer one?"

"Because you're the guest," he replied simply. "You give guests nice things and new things are nice so you get the new one." He then moved to sit beside Bruce, leaving a gap between them that felt rather intentional. "I made profiles for you and Alfred if you ever wanted to play when I'm not here." 

"That's...nice of you."

"I had to google how to. You guys have so much newer stuff than I'm used to," Dick mentioned offhandedly. He selected his own profile and moved the joystick until he could select Minecraft. "I'll make a new world for us to play. Just us two. I'll make it easy mode since you haven't played before." Bruce watched mildly impressed at how quickly everything was being made. He was unsure if that was how fast it should go or if it was relatively slow though so he didn't comment. 

When the world loaded up, he tilted his head in confusion at the graphics. Whilst the picture looked clean everything else was blocky and looked rather retro for a game in this age. Dick reached across to him, albeit a little hesitantly like he was approaching a frail creature, and turned on his controller before his hand retreated. Once his controller lit up, the screen split in two. 

"The one on the left is your screen and the one on the right is mine," Dick explained. "The joysticks are how you move the camera and how you move your character. Test it out." He glanced down at his controller and experimentally moved them around to find his character moving and the camera spinning. It was a little nauseating so he tried being gentler, finding that to be more beneficial. "There ya go! Okay so now these buttons are how you do things."

Dick walked him through everything step by step, sometimes attempting to reach out to move his fingers to hit the right buttons when he got confused. Even with his teaching though, Bruce died during the first night and had to mad dash back to the house whilst his ward giggled at his panic. He asked questions he knew were simple but Dick gladly answered and helped him through. It was an odd flip on their roles of mentor and mentee. He coughed another few times but they were short and he still didn't seem all that bothered by them. 

As they played, Bruce noticed characters he'd seen on Dick's clothes and he distantly remembered seeing gameplay on his phone. He obviously liked it but never really talked about it or maybe he had and the billionaire had just tuned it out as him rambling. He was suddenly affronted by the memory of last night when he'd cried in front of the acrobat, too overcome with the fact he'd made someone so small and so loving feel unloved and unwanted. It couldn't have been brought on by not hugging him, although that was quite a big part given how tactile the boy was, and he could only guess that some of it came from a lack of engagement in his interests. 

"What else do you like to play?" he asked suddenly. 

"Uhm Roblox but I play that on the computer. I play Terraria which is like this but it's 2D. I know the most about Minecraft though," Dick explained although he seemed uncharacteristically shy about it. "Sometimes I play it after patrol before I go to bed because it's a good game to turn your brain off."

"It does seem relaxing."

"Mhm. I love patrol though! It's really fun and I really like helping people it's just..." he sighed, unsure of his wording. Bruce knew this was something important though especially since an initial worry of his had been the effect of hero work on someone so young. He needed to be on the ball about anything negatively affecting his kid and he'd been too hands-off previously. 

"It can be hard," he stated and Dick nodded with a smile. 

"So I play this so I go to sleep or watch people play it. It's weird I fell asleep last night without doing it."

"Why?"

"Usually I can't sleep without noise. At the circus, there was always noise. People practising, animals, the rain, wind, sometimes the TV and the adults used to get together at night and have a party. Here it's so quiet." Bruce, admittedly and a little shamefully, hadn't thought about all the small differences in the change of lifestyle. Of course, he was aware of the luxury perhaps being a little overwhelming and the lack of moving. He didn't think about small things such as noise. He worried his bottom lip at the thought of missing other small things that clearly meant a lot to Dick. 

His thoughts were only put on pause by another round of coughing only this time it was a touch too close to hacking. Dick buried his face in the crook of his arm as his body was wracked by coughs, his face going red. For a terrifying few seconds, he thought that it wouldn't end but finally, he was able to suck in a deep breath without hitching or returning to the coughing fit. A whine escaped him as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. 

"That's no good," he grumbled.

"Not one bit. Maybe you should try to get some sleep? You look wiped out," Bruce suggested. 

"I'm not tired," he replied.

"What if you watch me play your game? That's how you usually sleep."

"You don't want to do that. You didn't even wanna play in the first place."

"Well, now I want to." When Dick still looked undivided, Bruce decided this was his chance to make that big first step. The one that proved he really listened to him. So, before he could change his mind or overthink it, he grabbed Dick and placed him in his lap not too dissimilar to their position the night before. There was a tense silence before the acrobat relaxed into him with a small laugh. 

"You play as me, that way the screen isn't split," he suggested, surrendering his controller. They swapped controllers, Dick turning off one and then snuggling closer to his mentor. Bruce let his chin rest on top of the boy's head and returned his attention to the screen. "You sure you don't mind?"

"I'm sure. I want to beat the ender dragon you were talking about." 

"I don't know if you're ready for that," Dick taunted playfully.

"If I can master redstone after an hour then I can handle the dragon."

---

If Dick wasn't sitting in his lap trying to get to sleep and if he didn't have the self-respect he had, Bruce would probably throw a tantrum fit for someone far younger than himself by now. He'd died at least four times just getting the blaze rods and he didn't even have enough Ender eyes to make into eyes of Ender to then put into the portal when he finally found it. He suspected that Dick had left out that information when explaining what he needed to do to beat the game just to spite him for saying he needed rest and making him stop playing. That or he was hoping the frustration that came from the game would distract his mentor from how often he was coughing. 

It didn't. 

In fact, Bruce counted each one and mentally chanted how many seconds it lasted. Every time his chest would grow tight and the creeping worry that it wouldn't stop made its presence known by making every second feel like a year. This was so different to how he felt when Dick was sick before. Before he'd felt a little disgusted by the thought of snotting spluttering child and avoided him as best as he could because he couldn't ever afford to get sick but now it felt different. This sickness was a result of his negligence and every poorly suppressed cough or uncomfortable wheeze was an emotional punch to the gut. Every whine that escaped the acrobat from discomfort, he felt as though it came from himself. If he could, he'd trade places with him in a heartbeat even if it meant he'd be flat out for days.

Although he'd held Dick close in order for him to get some sleep, the acrobat remained awake albeit more muted than usual. He leaned heavily against his mentor's chest and sometimes sucked in a deep breath Bruce noticed he did when he was about to drop off but he'd fight through whatever tiredness he had. The billionaire had feared that he wouldn't be able to handle being so close to someone for so long considering he was used to getting hugs once in a blue moon but he liked this. It felt so domestic. Like for one minute he was just another foster dad bonding with their foster kid over something. He could briefly forget that he'd have to face another night of fighting and simply enjoy the moment. Well, he wasn't enjoying it all that much when he was met with another death screen.

"How is this game for kids?" Bruce grumbled, scowling as he spawned in his home with his inventory empty. He regretted not keeping the inventory on when the acrobat suggested doing so but he was too stubborn to change the settings (totally not because he didn't know how) and there was no way he was admitting it aloud.

"Ya suck B," Dick replied. His voice was thick with congestion but it still held a signature sass to it especially when paired with a cheeky grin.

"I do not. You said I was amazing earlier," he defended.

"Mhm at redstone but you suck at fighting. Use your XP to get a decent enchantment before you go to the end and maybe you won't eat dust."

"I'm a vigilante, I know how to fight." Dick just shook his head and coughed before groaning pathetically. 

"But apparently you don't know how to answer your phone," Alfred huffed from the doorway. 

The pair snapped their heads to see the butler narrowing his eyes at Bruce, clearly only holding back because someone else was there not because he wanted to. 

"I've been texting you for hours asking for updates on his condition, in addition to asking what he wants for dinner, and if you've given him more medicine and if he got any rest. All the while you've been playing a game for children." He put his hands on his hips to properly assume the disappointed father role.

"Why didn't you just come up?"

"Because I have been busy calling your work to excuse your absence since you decided that unnecessary, grocery shopping, doing your laundry, cleaning your suits and many more things that are frankly insulting to my own sensibilities to list when you're the one paying me to do them," the older responded. Although his tone didn't waver from his usual stone sternness, his eye twitched slightly as he contained his anger. He didn't like shouting in front of Dick nor did he particularly want to since it would get them nowhere. He'd already had enough screaming matches with Bruce over his night job to know it wouldn't do any good.

"Wait, what time is it?" the billionaire asked, bewildered. 

"You've been playing that bloody thing for nearly five hours!" Bruce gulped. He was in for the lecture of a lifetime. Fortunately, his ward jumped to his defence. There were a lot of things that his butler could stand up against but the boy currently scrambling about in his lap to properly face Alfred was something he couldn't fight as easily. 

"Don't be mad!" Dick begged. "Please, we were just having fun and I was resting. Don't be mad."

"I'm not mad, I'm disappointed."

"That's parent speak for mad," he huffed. Alfred let out a long-suffering sigh and walked over to them, pressing the back of his hand against the acrobat's forehead to check his fever. He couldn't help the small smile pulling at his lips when the boy leaned into his hand as though relishing the tiny act of care.

"He's not gotten any worse at least," he muttered. "You're due some medicine but you can have it with dinner. I hope soup will be alright since somebody didn't tell me what you wanted."

"Alfieeee."

"I was pointing out a fact, lad. Nothing more." It was certainly something more when he caught eyes with Bruce and his gaze became razor-sharp but disappeared within an instant when he looked away. "The soup?"

"It's good with me but I'm not really that hungry." 

"I'll bring you a small bowl and some snacks then. I'm assuming that you two will be glued to that screen for the rest of the day?" Dick nodded happily, almost triumphant, and who could stay mad when he practically glowed like a little star. "Alright. I will allow you to eat in bed this once. Don't expect it next time."

"You're the best! I wish we had more controllers, I bet you could school B at this game."

"I mastered Redstone in less time than it takes for you to skin your knees on patrol."

"Beat the enderdragon then," Dick replied cheekily. 

"Yes well, whatever all that means, I have far too much to do to be playing games."

"But you play supers and bats all the time?"

"Supers and bats?" Bruce questioned.

"That's our secret. It's also different as that game involves helpful things like cleaning your room."

"What even- why is it called supers and bats?"

"Because I'm Superman and if I don't do my job then Batman nags at me or throws sprays me with kryptonite-laced spray," Dick drawled.

"I would never do that." Dick and Alfred shared a sceptical look. "Without reason."

"I suppose I'll fetch your food," Alfred announced as he made his exit. "You two better not be playing on that thing all night."