It's been two hours since the latest promotion for BTB's newest single, a meet-and-greet at a local park, started and Karina's smile is beginning to crack along the edges.

A quick glance at the electronic billboard across from her indicates that she still has an hour to go before she can send out for a large caramel mocha. Karina smothers a yawn behind a gloved hand and wishes, not for the first time, that Titan would allow Blue Rose to pick up a coffee house sponsor. She can definitely use the extra caffeine, as juggling her college coursework and Hero duties often leaves her worn out at the end of the day.

The deafening, high-pitched squeals of excited fangirls batter her eardrums right then, a reminder of yet another reason for her lingering fatigue.

Karina doesn't have to look to her right to know that Barnaby isn't showing any signs of just how little sleep he's had. Kotetsu won't either, but that's because he most likely slept through his alarm this morning. It's her own fault, really, for being so easily distracted last night. For not packing up her things once Kotetsu straddled Barnaby, twining fingers in those blond curls as he pulled him close to suck on his bottom lip. She should have left the apartment then instead of watching Kotetsu lazily drag his partner's shirt up and leave a trail of bruising kisses down his chest. And she shouldn't have dropped to her knees and joined him in reducing Barnaby into a flushed, needy mess.

The approach of the next fan in line, a man in his mid-forties with thinning hair, shakes her out of her reverie. Karina eyes him critically, pegging him for a father seeking an autographed souvenir for his daughter.

"She's a sweet girl," the man says as he hands over Blue Rose's latest CD release. "I wanted to get her something nice before I wrapped up business here in Stern Bild."

She returns his sheepish smile with a dazzling one of her own. "That's so thoughtful of you!" she compliments him as she signs the CD with a flourish. When she gives it back, the man inches forward and presses a business card into her palm.

"I've got one more night here, so I was wondering if..." His voice drops a bit so Karina leans in closer to hear him better. Within seconds she realizes that may not have been the wisest thing to do.

The words he whispers into her ear aren't entirely new. After all, she's not unfamiliar with the subset of Blue Rose fans who find her domineering personality extremely appealing. But this unassuming man has a more active imagination than most of her letter writers. He describes what he wants from her in excruciating detail, the images blooming in her mind as clear as if she's watching them. She feels her cheeks warm, and if she's honest with herself, she can't say that it's all due to embarrassment.

When Karina finally regains her composure, she flings the business card at him. "You're mistaken. I'm a Hero, not a hooker." Her tone is as cold as her ice, but there's no hiding the slight tremor that weaves through it. Her voice carries farther than she intends, enough to make Barnaby pause while signing one of his hero cards. She's about to have the man thrown out when Kotetsu appears at her side in a heartbeat, metal-clad body shoving her odious admirer away from her.

"Hey pal, why don't you back off?" The threat of a more violent response is implicit in the low growl that accompanies Kotetsu's words. The man's face screws up in an ugly grimace, but before he can step forward his progress is arrested by a hand landing on his shoulder.

"Sir, you're holding up the line. It's not fair to the rest of these kind folks to take up more of Blue Rose's time." Though his usual courteous smile is firmly in place, Barnaby's eyes are emerald-hard, lacking any of the warmth that his fans find so charming. The man finally senses that his presence is unwanted and shrugs off Barnaby's grip, slinking away from them without a backward glance.

The rest of the session is relatively incident-free, much to Karina's relief. She waits until after the meet-and-greet ends, when they're in the privacy of the Apollon transporter, to berate Kotetsu for his unnecessary meddling.

"Why did you have to interfere? I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself!" Karina frowns at him, arms crossed over her chest. Her pose is meant to be intimidating but it doesn't stop Kotetsu from smiling at her in that disarming way that breaks through her irritated mood.

"Aw c'mon, Karina, don't be mad." He ignores the coldness that surrounds her like some invisible armor and pulls her into his arms, his undersuit warm against her back. The roughness of his beard tickles the curve of her neck as he places a soft kiss behind her ear, and she feels her frustration dissolving little by little.

"You shouldn't let him get away with that," Barnaby suggests as he relaxes on a cushioned bench, a bottle of water hanging idly from his fingers. Karina slips out of Kotetsu's loose embrace, ignoring the small noise of disappointment that escapes from him, and stalks over to Barnaby. She leans over him, forcing his head up and back as they lock gazes. It's a petty move on her part, and judging from the smirk playing about his lips, he's well aware of that. Her head lowers until their noses are almost touching. "Like you're one to talk, Bunny," she murmurs against his lips as she snatches the bottle out of his grasp. Karina spins away, prize in hand, and primly settles herself across from Barnaby, lifting an eyebrow in challenge as she takes a sip.

"Now play nice kids!" Kotetsu says with an easy laugh as he collapses next to his partner. "I still think you should say something to your sponsors about dropping that dominatrix thing."

She exchanges glances with Barnaby. "Is that so?"

"Yeah, I mean, you've complained before about the weirdos writing in to you. Now they're showing up in person."

Karina rolls her eyes at that. While she's touched by his concern, Kotetsu seems to have forgotten that she's been doing this since she was fifteen. That she's faced worse criminals than some lonely pervert. "I can handle them. I'm a Hero, remember? In any case, my fans aren't that aggressive most of the time."

However, she still can't shake off what the man whispered to her. It's as if he opened a locked door in her mind, allowing all these disturbingly provocative ideas to come pouring out. Some of her uneasiness must have shown on her face, as she catches Barnaby observing her closely. But before he can speak up, Kotetsu interrupts with a loud groan and an exaggerated stretch of his arms above his head.

"I'm beat. These publicity events just suck all the energy out of me."

The corner of Barnaby's mouth turns up slightly. "Arm tired from signing all those autographs?"

"Shut up!" he shoots back, though his hand reaches out to muss Barnaby's hair fondly. "I could use a drink. How about you, Karina?"

She thinks of the stack of books waiting for her at her apartment. "I don't know. I've got some exams to study for, a paper due in a week─"

"S'okay! We can you help you out with that," Kotetsu assures her. Barnaby simply gives him a dubious look.

Which, as it turns out, is warranted, since Kotetsu's idea of help comes in the form of ordering pizza and making sure she's not starving while she goes through her assigned reading. After dinner, Karina curls up against one arm of her couch, book balanced on her knees, her feet tucked under Barnaby's leg while he commandeers her laptop. Kotetsu is sprawled on the floor, head resting against her hip as he flips through the channels on the muted television before finally deciding on a rerun of a sitcom that was popular ten years ago.

The mood inside the room is cozy enough that she's almost forgotten the unpleasantness from earlier in the day. Karina doesn't mind at all when Kotetsu lifts her hand from his shoulder and turns it over to kiss the inside of her wrist. She hears the lid of her laptop snapping shut and the book in her lap is replaced by the more satisfying weight of a warm, hard body settling between her thighs.

Kotetsu and Barnaby are attentive lovers; they always are, but tonight they seem particularly focused on her pleasure. They know her body so well by now that it doesn't long for Karina to lose herself, panting and writhing between them, a litany of pleas and broken moans falling from her lips as her orgasms bleed from one to the next. Even so, she can't help but wonder, as she's tangled up in their arms in her too-small bed.

What if there's more?