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Bruce always has, and always will, work himself until he breaks.
He could go days, weeks, sometimes months, without a minute of real rest. But he would always end up hitting a wall and his body wouldn't forgive him for it. All the patrols, strained muscles, and skipped hours of sleep, catch up to you eventually.
Recovering from overextending himself to this degree was always hell. And it only got worse with age. The migraines, fatigue, and achy joints got just that much more constant.
He's always been used to pain. He can't remember the last time he had a day that was even close to pain free. It's second nature to him. His body is just more susceptible to it than most people's are. He had struggled to accept that for a long time. It made him feel weak. Fragile. Like he'd already broken before he could even try to push himself.
Clark helped. A long time ago, he'd told Bruce that he was by far the strongest person he knew. And that shouldn't have reassured him as much as it did. But hearing someone finally understand just how much Bruce pushed himself was…nice.
But keeping up his public image, patrolling at night, and taking care of the kids, while his body was actively working against him, wasn't easy. He could admit that now. And he was…trying to accept more help when he needed it. Which mostly consisted of the kids taking over patrol for him so he could rest. Before "rest" had meant working from home in any way he could, and watching over everyone from the monitors. But since Bruce started seeing Clark, he hasn't been able to get away with that anymore. Clark actually makes sure he gets the rest he needs.
In the beginning, it started a lot of arguments between them. Usually resulting in Bruce stubbornly refusing to change his mind and Clark having to step out to calm himself down. Now, Bruce welcomed it. Sometimes it felt like Clark knew Bruce's limits better than he did. He could see the warning signs that Bruce was about to crash and would take care of him before it could happen.
Which is what happened today.
Bruce's weeks are always long, but this week felt exceedingly so. Clark was off planet which meant Bruce was barely sleeping.
Back to his old habits. Skipping sleep and working overtime.
And like always, it caught up to him.
The Justice League called for a group meeting when Clark returned to Earth. Bruce dragged himself there but he couldn't for the life of him focus on what any of them were talking about. He was just too damn tired.
He tries his best to turn his head towards whoever is talking and grunt a response when needed. But he was struggling to keep his eyes open at this point. Blinking too much, and shaking his head every now and then to try to stay awake.
Clark must have noticed because he subtly wraps up the meeting as quickly as he can. He waits for the room to empty out before holding Bruce by the shoulders and leading him out of the tower.
"Let's get you home, B."
…
"Honey, did you get any sleep last night?"
They've done this song and dance a million times before but Clark will never stop asking. Will never stop worrying.
Bruce lets out a heavy sigh. "No."
Clark is basically holding the man upright at this point. His bleary eyes, and swaying form, trying to take him under. Clark does a quick scan of his body and sees that nothing is physically 'wrong' with him.
At least he doesn't have to deal with an injury on top of this.
Clark pulls Bruce's weight into him. Letting Bruce lean against him so he doesn't have to use what little energy he has to hold himself up.
"Did you sleep at all while I was gone?"
Bruce sucks in a deep breath before replying. Something he does when he's embarrassed or ashamed of what he's about to admit. "A bit. Kept waking up in pain. Unable to fall asleep again afterwards."
Clark hums in acknowledgement. It had taken him a long time to accept that this was Bruce's normal and there isn't much to be done about it except be there. It hurts him to see Bruce in pain of any kind but especially when it's like this. Especially when it isn't a battle wound he could have helped him avoid, or a bullet he could have taken for him. But instead just a constant simmering background noise in his daily life, fluctuating at the worst times and leaving him helpless to stop it.
So Clark does the little things he can do. He listens and he takes care of Bruce in the small ways he can.
"What hurts right now?"
Bruce huffs out an almost laugh. "Everything."
He pauses, to take a moment to figure out what's actually bothering him the most right now. Sometimes it's hard to figure out where the pain is coming from when it's so persistent. "…My neck…and my hands."
Clark's hands immediately find themselves massaging Bruce's shoulders to release the tension there, before moving on to where it really hurts. Bruce sighs contentedly and relaxes into him.
Clark's hands are like mini furnaces against Bruce's cold skin. His hands travel from the nape of his neck, to in between his shoulder blades. Stopping and paying special attention to an area when Bruce's breath hitches in pain. Gently kneading his aching muscles until the knots loosen, and Bruce's breathing evens out.
Once Clark is satisfied with that, he moves on to Bruce's hands. Holding them in his own and rubbing the muscles in his palm. Bruce has to bite back a moan at how nice it feels. He can never provide this relief for himself.
When he's finished he presses soft kisses to each of Bruce's palms, and up his neck. Bruce leans into the touch and closes his eyes. Pain subsided just enough that he can finally enjoy Clark's presence.
"…Thank you, angel."
Clark hums against his neck, the sound sending a vibration through him that makes him shiver. Clark wraps his arms around Bruce's waist pulling them flush together as he continues to mouth at his skin.
Ever the multitasker, Clark starts mumbling against Bruce's neck. "I think," Kiss. "We should," Kiss. "Go take," Kiss. "A bath," Kiss. "Together."
"Mm, Kal I don't know if-"
"Shh, all you gotta do is relax and let me take care of you, alright?"
Bruce hesitates for a moment. His only reason for wanting to say no was that he didn't have the energy to bathe. He was exhausted. But Clark is offering to help him. And the internal battle in his head dissipates at that thought.
This was a big field of tension for them in the beginning of their relationship. Bruce didn't know how to let himself be taken care of without feeling immensely guilty. It took him a long time to come around to it. Learning that Clark genuinely enjoyed doing it made accepting the help easier. Made him start to crave it sometimes.
"…Alright."
Clark smiled and scooped him into his arms, walking them to the bathroom. Setting Bruce down he starts gathering candles, bath salt, towels, and essential oils. They don't have the time to do this often so when they do, Clark likes to go all out.
He fills the tub, not bothering to wait for it to heat up by itself, and carefully heats it with his eyes. Dumping in more than enough epsom salt just to be safe.
Then he gets himself and Bruce undressed. And helps Bruce get comfortable in the tub before settling in behind him.
Bruce lays his head back on Clark's chest and closes his eyes.
Clark methodically washes Bruce of all the sweat clinging to his skin. Cleaning every inch of him like it's an act of worship.
By the time he's finished, Bruce is half asleep on his shoulder. Clark doesn't want to disturb him but he knows how much Bruce hates having unclean hair. He won't say anything but he'll be noticeably uncomfortable all day tomorrow if he doesn't wash it now.
Clark shifts his shoulder slightly to warn Bruce he's about to move.
"Hmm?"
"I'm just gonna wash your hair and then you can go back to resting."
Bruce hums again in agreement and sits up a little.
Clark gets to work carefully getting Bruce's hair wet. His hair needs to be trimmed soon, he has to keep sweeping it out of his face. He'll have to convince Bruce to let him cut it another day.
He massages shampoo into his scalp for much longer than strictly necessary, and carefully rinses all the suds out. He combs Bruce's hair back with his fingers and lays him back on his chest.
Clark reheats the water, not giving it time to get cold. He wraps an arm around Bruce's waist and uses the other to rub soothing circles into his flesh. A low rumbling purr emits from deep in Clark's throat. Bruce sighs deeply and nuzzles in closer. The sound has grown to become comforting to Bruce and it lulls him into an almost meditative state. Not quite asleep but deeply relaxed.
They stay there until it seems like Bruce is actually going to fall asleep in the tub and Clark can't allow that. (Knowing it would lead to Bruce waking up sore and grumpy).
Clark presses a kiss to his forehead and hoists him up out of the tub. He dries the both of them off as quickly as possible, (which is pretty quick considering he's Superman and all), and gets them in bed. Bruce grumbles when he's set down but relaxes when Clark wraps his arms around him again.
"Love you, baby. Get some sleep."
…
When Bruce wakes up, Clark is already out of bed, his side of the mattress still warm. Bruce rolls over into the residual body heat and lays there until it fades. Clark (or maybe kryptonians in general), runs hot so it gives Bruce a while to fully wake up.
When he finally gets up he slips on a robe and goes to find Clark.
He finds him in the kitchen making what looks like a restaurant's worth of food. There's pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee covering the entire counter top.
"Good morning, sweetheart! How'd you sleep?"
Clark passes him a mug of coffee (decaffeinated, as caffeine doesn't help with his fatigue and just makes it more difficult to fall asleep later).
Bruce drinks from the mug greedily. "I slept well. Clark, what is all this?"
Clark has gone back to loading up several plates with food while he brews more coffee. "The kids just got back from patrol, I thought they would be hungry."
"…And Alfred let you use the stove unsupervised?"
He huffs out a laugh. "I'm told I can be very persuasive."
Bruce kisses him softly and pulls back to reply. "You can be."
The rest of the morning is spent eating and debriefing about the kids patrol together. They have all gotten so comfortable being around Clark. It makes Bruce's heart swell to think that every morning could be exactly like this one.
Clark by his side, his kids safe and happy, waking up without any new injuries from the night before.
Clark has taught him a lot of things throughout their relationship but the biggest one is this. How to be a real family together. He'll always be grateful for that.