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Something jolted him awake.
Eyes blown wide, Kotetsu stayed still as he surveyed his surroundings. He had awakened lying on his back. The bordering walls were scarcely decorated, and the room was much the same. Trickling in through the blinds of a nearby window was the early morning sun, bathing the floor in warmth and light. A down pillow was perched under his head, expensive high-count sheets draped across his body.
For a moment, Kotetsu felt calm. A sigh left his nostrils, his tense muscles sinking into the plush mattress beneath him.
Wait.
Where was he?
He wasn’t home. He wasn’t at a hotel. This certainly wasn't a hospital. He couldn’t remember asking a colleague to crash at their place. Worry panged in his chest. Had something happened to him? He couldn’t immediately recall the prior evening. Had he been injured? Had he hit his head while apprehending yesterday’s criminals and lost his memory?
Think, Kotetsu. Think.
Beside him, the bed dipped. The sheets stirred.
He blinked and turned his head.
His eyebrows raised.
“B-Barnaby…?!”
His whispered exclamation died in his throat, fizzling into surrounding stillness of morning, leaving his sleeping partner undisturbed. Kotetsu blinked again and again, attempting frantically to wipe the sleep from his eyes and awake from what had to be a dream. His hands fell and his eyes opened to reveal he wasn’t dreaming. He was in Barnaby’s home, in Barnaby’s bed, with Barnaby beside him.
He shut his eyes.
How…?!
Scenes of the prior evening started to flicker on the back of his eyelids.
- - -
“You are here only to discuss our partnership. Do not delude yourself into thinking I invited you here for anything more.” Barnaby’s voice was stern, a bottle of rosé tucked under his arm and a wine glass in either hand. His curt tone contradicted the kindness in his offering wine. Kotetsu could have laughed.
His hands on his hips, Kotetsu arched an amused eyebrow. “Hmm, are you sure you aren’t trying to wine and dine me? I won’t be any use if I’m drunk, you know.”
Barnaby set the bottle and both glasses down on the table beside his computer chair. He gave Kotetsu a look. “Don’t push it, Old Man. I can kick you out whenever I see fit.”
Kotetsu made a face. “Smartass.”
The cork popped. The wine poured, blush pink and effervescent. Kotetsu immediately savored a sip. Rosé, let alone wine, was never his go-to, but it tasted sweet and light, a refreshing change from the beer he typically favored.
Conversation started tense. Barnaby criticized Kotetsu – his performance, his outdated virtues, his tendencies to sabotage. He was insistent on becoming the head of their partnership, a reality he claimed was underscored by the fact that even Apollon Media had insisted as much.
Kotetsu’s hands balled into fists. Each of his attempts to stand up for himself were shot down. Barnaby was quick to remind him of his poor standing on the leaderboards and his weak perception in the media. He was unyielding in his affirmation that he – the shining rookie and rising star – should be the leader.
Tension rose. A glass shared became two, three, four. The bottle emptied. In the middle of their argument, Barnaby brandished another and poured them each another glass. The buzz of alcohol had settled in Kotetsu’s stomach long before, warmed his veins. His tone grew all the more impassioned. He paced quicker, gestured broader, intent on convincing his stubborn junior to concede or at least compromise, to perhaps let him lead until Barnaby was further initiated.
The answer was “no.”
Barnaby sat stiff in his computer chair, arms wound tight against his chest.
Their impasse was vexing. Exhausted, the conversation halted and silence permeated the space around them, broken only when Barnaby sighed. He slipped his glasses from his face and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes in an effort to calm down. They were getting nowhere. Much time had passed since Kotetsu’s arrival at his apartment and they were no closer to resolution. Barnaby started to wonder if inviting him over was a mistake.
He heard Kotetsu’s footsteps, pacing, then approaching. Barnaby sighed again. He no longer had the energy to argue. Tonight had only driven them further apart, and he already dreaded the next time the two of them would have to work alongside each other. Physically and emotionally spent, he dropped his fingers from his nose and opened his eyes, prepared to dismiss his partner from his residence.
He shot upright.
Kotetsu was now stood in front of him, leaned over, a hand planted on the side table and the other planted beside Barnaby’s thigh. His face was mere inches away, his typically kind, amber eyes now tired and defeated. Barnaby stared at him, his lips twisted in a frown, his hands balled tight in his lap.
Moments passed. They stared one another down, both at their wits end, but too stubborn to concede. The little space between them had Barnaby noting how handsome Kotetsu was. His lips looked surprisingly supple, framed by that immaculate, albeit silly facial hair. His face was strong, structured, his jawline sharp. His dark hair was tousled, practically beckoning his fingers to rake through it. Even the crow’s feet by his eyes were attractive and endearing.
Barnaby stopped himself.
Maybe it was the alcohol. It had to be the alcohol.
There was no way, absolutely no way that he could find someone like Kotetsu attractive, someone much his senior, someone with an affinity for getting under his skin, someone who drove him crazy in a way no other man ever had.
But, he did.
He knew he did.
It wasn’t the alcohol.
Intoxication was not clouding his judgement. It was bringing to the surface the many truths he had been fighting to keep suppressed, and before he even knew what he was doing, he yanked Kotetsu in by the tie and pulled him in for a kiss.
- - -
Kotetsu flinched alert.
He remembered, bringing his fingers to his lips. The sensation returned, the feeling of his partner’s mouth pressed hard against his own. Fueled by pent up frustration and stress, the kiss had been rough and passionate. Barnaby’s hands were not much gentler, tearing away at his clothes with similar desperation. Kotetsu had mimed him, acting with little thought and zero hesitation, intoxication driving his hands into his partner’s hair, down his chest, over his thighs…
Did that…really happen?
Again, he flinched. The lithe body lying next to him shifted and stretched. Barnaby faced him, eyes closed and cheek melted into the pillow, his lips parted. His hair – normally perfect and meticulously-styled – was mussed from sleep, stray whisps of blonde swept across his forehead. The bedsheets fell across the younger hero right below the small of his spine, leaving his back exposed. Kotetsu traced the divot of his spine with his eyes, admiring the fair, muscular span of his skin until his gaze settled on the perfect mound of his ass beneath the covers.
A knot of nerves sat tight in his throat. He gulped, peeling his eyes from Barnaby’s figure and back up at the ceiling. He blew a sigh from his lips and pushed his fingers through his hair, combing through wine-drunk memories, trying to understand how in the world a heated argument turned into this.
With one glance at Barnaby to ensure he was asleep, Kotetsu slipped quietly from the bed and started for the bathroom. The absence of deluxe bedsheets and the caress of cool ambient air brought his attention immediately to the fact that he was naked. Heat crept up his neck. He could hardly remember a point in the prior evening when he stripped completely. Apparently, at some point, both he and Barnaby had ditched their clothing somewhere in his apartment. His pulse quickened.
Kotetsu closed the bathroom door gingerly, so as to not disturb his partner. He was not yet prepared to confront him. He couldn’t fathom the thought of facing him, looking him square in the eyes after the two of them had evidently shared a night of pent-up desires. Kotetsu shook his head and stood over the sink, running the cool water. He bent forward and splashed it over his face, the brisk temperate shocking the fatigue from his system.
Shutting off the faucet, he raised his head to meet his reflection in the mirror. His eyes followed droplets of water, watching them drip from his hair and down his skin. Leaning forward, his gaze narrowed. A bruise? No, several bruises – against the side of his neck, on top of his shoulders, dark and fresh.
- - -
An ankle hooked over his shoulder. A leg wrapped around his side. Fingernails dug into his forearm. Beneath him, Barnaby threw his head back and cried out in agonized delight. Kotetsu, above him, deepened within him, hilting inside of him. Their eyes locked. Bright, green eyes, pupils blown and eyelids fluttering. Deep, amber eyes, heavied with lust, drinking in the image of the beautiful man before them. Barnaby, the stubborn rookie who had been adamantly refusing to call his senior partner anything but “old man,” now uninhibitedly moaned Kotetsu’s name again and again.
He loved how his name sounded, breaking from Barnaby’s lips in short, breathless moans. His mind was already committing it to memory, all while trying to understand how this could be real. How did he end up here? How had an argument led to this? It all had to be a dream, a fictional manifestation of a fantasy he’d had more times than he wanted to admit.
Barnaby’s arms flung around his neck, pulling him back to the present and in for a kiss.
Kotetsu’s lips melted against Barnaby’s. He groaned, accepting the tongue that nudged at the seam of his mouth. His hips rolled slowly, back and forth, every languid thrust igniting that spot in Barnaby that made him whine. Fingers twisted in Kotetsu’s hair, nails sharp against his scalp. The leg around his side squeezed, wanting him nearer, deeper. Barnaby separated their lips with a smack and peppered the side of his partner’s neck, leaving kisses on top of bruises.
Kotetsu shuddered as he quickened. Barnaby arched with a gasp. Skin met skin, faster than before, a steady staccato underneath the cacophony of moans and pleas Barnaby panted into the air.
“K-Kotetsu…! Kotetsu! Pl-Please, I-I’m…ah! Kotetsu…!”
- - -
“Kotetsu?”
Kotetsu nearly jumped out of his skin.
Barnaby’s voice, a bit concerned and heavy with sleep, from behind the door.
He blinked, looking frantically over either shoulder for something to cover himself with. Shit, shit, shit. He wasn’t ready to face him. What would he even say? Would it be awkward to bring up the night before? Was he supposed to pretend it never happened, or just outright mention it?
“Kotetsu?”
“J-Just a second!”
Spotting a body towel, he snatched it and fixed it snug around his waist. He pivoted to face the door. His outstretched hand hovered over the doorknob, hesitating for a handful of seconds as he took in a deep breath. Exhaling, he twisted the doorknob and pulled, finding Barnaby stood at the threshold in nothing but briefs. Kotetsu unthinkingly ran his eyes over his partner from head to toe, swallowing. “I-I was just, uh…I had to, um…”
“Is everything alright?”
Kotetsu’s jaw shut with a clack. He pushed his fingers through his hair and waved a hand with feigned nonchalance. “Y-Yeah! Yeah, yeah. All good here, Bunny. It’s just…early, you know? A little coffee should get the brain back in working order.”
Barnaby remained quiet for a moment, green eyes searching his partner’s face. Finally, he nodded. “I will make some. For now, I’ve brought you these.” He revealed a small, folded pile of clothing. “Feel free to use the shower. I’ll be in the kitchen.”
“Th-Thanks,” Kotetsu stammered, accepting the clothing in both hands. Barnaby’s hospitality was still a bit foreign to him, save for the bottles of wine they had shared the evening before. Only days ago, he had grown accustomed to his partner almost exclusively being short and irritated with him. This was a welcomed change.
No more than half an hour later, Kotetsu emerged from the bathroom dressed in the sweatpants and solid-colored tee shirt Barnaby had lent him. The shower had been refreshing, and he had to admit it was nice to use the pleasant body and hair products he had smelled on his partner many times already. He scanned the apartment as he made his way to the kitchen – the unmade bed where they had spent much of the night together, the hallway scattered with clothing, the main room where the air smelled of lust and rosé.
Swallowing hard, he stepped into the kitchen. A plain tee now covered Barnaby, although he hadn’t yet bothered to slip on any sweatpants. Hearing Kotetsu enter, Barnaby glanced over his shoulder. He acknowledged him with a nod before returning his focus to the stove he stood over. “Have a seat. Your coffee is at the table. Are you hungry?”
“Starved,” Kotetsu answered, slipping into a chair at the small dining table. He cradled the cup of coffee in both hands, comforted by the warmth radiating through his palms. Lifting the mug to his face, he watched Barnaby through the steam. Something about a domestic Barnaby was endearing. Kotetsu liked watching him like this, his hair still a little messy, his appearance casual. He couldn’t believe this was the same Barnaby he had met only a few days ago.
Breakfast was soon set in front of him – two slices of toast, eggs and sliced fruit. Kotetsu smiled. Neither one of them had eaten anything the night before, as it had never been intended for Kotetsu to stay more than an hour or two. It was no wonder the rosé had hit them so strongly.
He beamed. “Wow. Thanks, Bunny. This looks great.”
Barnaby took a seat across from him. “It’s no trouble.”
The meal proceeded as any might, but without the idle chatter. Utensils clanked and scraped against their plates. Chewing and sipping filled the space conversation typically occupied. Kotetsu kept uncharacteristically quiet, occasionally flicking his eyes up from his plate only to find Barnaby focused on his meal. He swallowed his final bite of food and reclined in his chair, aimlessly drumming his fingers against the mug nestled between his palms.
Finally, Barnaby looked up, dabbing his lips with a napkin. “You are not normally this quiet.”
Kotetsu’s fingers stilled. He blinked, opening his mouth to speak and promptly shutting it when he realized he didn’t know how to answer. In truth, he hadn’t the slightest clue how to address the elephant in the room. He hardly knew Barnaby. Their relationship had been strained from the start, yet somehow, he had ended up in bed with him.
He grappled between dodging it entirely and addressing it head-on. There really was no use in skirting around what was definitely top of mind for both of them. What would he even say? How great of a kisser Barnaby was? How much he had loved touching him, fucking him, and how badly a part of him wanted to do it again?
His head spun. The seconds ticked by, his eyes fixed helplessly at the swirling depth of his coffee. “Well…I can’t stop thinking about last night, Bunny.”
Barnaby blushed. He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. “What about it?”
Kotetsu’s smile was crooked. “Everything? I can’t believe we started the night arguing with each other and then ended up – ”
“It was never my intention to do that,” Barnaby interrupted. He took a second, inhaling and releasing a deep breath. “When I…get frustrated, I need release. I’ll punch something, break something. This time, I…I suppose you were my release. Everything happened before I even had a chance to stop myself, Kotetsu, and when you kissed me back, I figured…”
Kotetsu nodded as his voice trailed off. “I get it. I’m not mad at you, Bunny. You definitely caught me off guard, but I didn’t have a problem with it.” He leaned back, a hand rubbing nervously at the back of his head. “Believe it or not, I hadn’t even kissed another guy before, let alone…well, y’know.”
Barnaby stared, brow knitted with confusion.
Kotetsu made a face. “Oi, don’t look at me like that…!”
“It’s just…I-I would have thought – “
“Was it that obvious?”
Barnaby shook his head. “…N-No. Quite the opposite..”
Kotetsu reddened. “Ahh, you’re flattering me! You don’t have to lie to me. I’m an old man. I can handle it.”
“I am not lying to you. You must be lying to me.”
“I’m not, Bunny! Really! L-Last night was a first for me!”
Barnaby studied him, curious. “Why, then?”
Kotetsu blinked. “Why what?”
“Why me? Why last night? You must have had other opportunities in the past.”
Sheepishly, he looked aside. “Y-Yeah, sure, I have, b-but…those other opportunities weren’t with you, Bunny.”
Barnaby’s eyes widened. His blush settled deeper.
“Ah, you already know it yourself – you’re a handsome guy. I noticed that when I first met you. And the day we were officially paired up, I knew I was in trouble,” he chuckled, returning his gaze to his partner. “So, I guess that’s ‘why.’ I’d never turn down a kiss from you.”
Barnaby cast meek eyes to his lap, his pulse hammering. “I-I see.”
“I could ask you the same, y’know. Why me?” Kotetsu grinned. “Does Little Bunny find this Old Man attractive?”
Barnaby cut him a look. “Obviously. Don’t be childish.”
Kotetsu laughed a little. “Alright, well, where do we go from here? Nearly all of Stern Bild thinks we don’t get along. We can’t suddenly start flirting with each other on television.”
“Certainly not,” his partner said firmly. “There can be no mention of what happened to anyone. Our public appearances have to remain the same. We can’t jeopardize our standing with Apollon Media or our standing as heroes.”
“Right, right.” Setting down his mug, Kotetsu leaned over the table and cocked an eyebrow. “Our public appearances have to, but what about our private ones?”
Questioningly, Barnaby tipped his head.
Kotetsu let out a laugh. “I’m joking, Bunny! My lips are sealed. We’ll keep it strictly professional. Starting this very minute, we can pretend last night never even happened.”
Barnaby blinked at him. After a moment of quiet, he stood and approached where Kotetsu sat. With ease, he spun Kotetsu’s chair to face him, set his hands firmly against the armrests and leaned in, closing nearly all of the space between their faces. “Our private life is just that. Private,” he said lowly. “We don’t have to keep it ‘strictly professional.’”
The older hero froze in his chair. The purr of his partner’s voice snaked a shudder up his spine. He swallowed hard, scanning Barnaby’s face. “W-We…are y-you sure y-you’re alright with – ”
Barnaby hushed him with a kiss – hard, deep, and intentional, quelling the doubt stammering from Kotetsu’s lips. He broke the kiss and met the depths of his amber eyes, a touch of levity in his smile. “Do I make myself clear now, Kotetsu?”
He stared, momentarily stunned, though the look of surprise on his face soon became one of delight. Kotetsu shook his head with a knowing smile, a hand lifting to cradle his partner’s cheek. “Crystal clear, Bunny.”