"I am still amazed," Barnaby started, dark eyes flicking over to Kotetsu – whom was bouncing in a slightly more sullen way than usual, though he immediately looked over at Barnaby. It had been a while since he'd last spoken, falling into his usual silent anger with Kotetsu's reckless actions. "I mean, really, how do you destroy twenty-four trees almost ten miles from where we live and still manage to completely destroy my garden."
"It was just an accident. The homing feature kicked in when I reached a certain height..." Kotetsu defended.
"You have a homing feature locked on to my garden?" Barnaby asked, almost amused – though he wouldn't be surprised if the next words out of Kotetsu's mouth were—
"Well, yeah. It's the perfect place to crash land!"
Of course.
Barnaby shot his reluctant partner a glare and sped his pace up, now hopping along through the Hundred Acre Wood instead of walking. At first, Kotetsu sped up a little. "Hey, Bunny! Wait!" he called after his friend, but he was already disappearing over a hill. Kotetsu slowed to a stop and drooped down onto his feet. "It was just a joke..." he hung his head. Today had not been a very terrifical day for the tiger.
Kotetsu turned and started to head back to his treehouse, rather than Barnaby's like he had planned. Kotetsu hated returning to his treehouse all alone, especially after bad days. The lonely thoughts that piled up in that house were almost always too much for him. The empty bed was the worst.
He began to sigh, but was cut off by his phone; Antonio's ring tone. He pulled it from his pocket and stared at the display for a moment before decidedly picking up. "Antonio?" Kotetsu asked, the corners of his lips twitching into a small smile.
"Ah, Wild Tiger!" Antonio replied loudly, "I didn't know if you'd pick up! You up for a few drinks tonight?"
It was quite apparent to Kotetsu that Antonio had already had a few drinks. Nonetheless, Kotetsu grinned and sighed a bit. Taking care of Antonio's drunk ass was preferable to going home and sitting alone on his couch while he slowly drank himself numb. "I'm on my way!"
"That's the spirit!" Antonio exclaimed, then hung up. Kotetsu chuckled to himself, tucking his phone away again and hurried off to the Hero Bar. As typical of a Thursday evening, the Hero Bar was generally empty – save for the heroes that had been on duty earlier. The only person missing was Barnaby.
"There he is!" Antonio thundered, shifting awkwardly in his stool. His feet were far from touching the ground and the honey seemed to have gone right to his head. Kotetsu smiled and hopped over, spinning in the stool once he landed, laughing a bit.
"I wouldn't suggest you two drink too much," Pao-Lin warned, shooting both of them a look. "Agnes said we're still on call for the night. There have been a lot of Heffalumps in the woods recently..."
"I haven't drunken too much..." Antonio said, pouting at Pao-Lin in a very childish way that clearly showed he had. "Besides, you should say that to Keith. He's had... what? Five pots since we got here?"
Pao-Lin sighed and shrugged, taking a sip of her own. "You know he's always loaded up. Now shush, Karina is about to perform."
"No one's here but us, though." Ivan spoke up, looking up from the ground which he had been so transfixed on before.
"She said she doesn't want her vocal chords to tense up," Antonio said, turning in his seat and leaned back against the bar as he slowly chugged another pot of honey.
"Honestly, Antonio," Nathan said from behind the bar, confiscating it from him with one swoop of his soft brown wings. "Sometimes you forget Keith is at least three times your size!"
Antonio only chuckled and leaned back at bit to see Nathan clearly, "I might be small but I'm not a lightweight."
"Care to prove that?" Nathan challenged, practically cooing.
"Hush up, both of you," Pao-Lin laughed a bit.
"Birds can't have sex with kangaroos – especially Antonio." Kotetsu laughed, making a face at the thought.
"We could improvise," Nathan smirked.
"No, thank you. And what do you mean by especially Antonio?" Antonio shot Kotetsu a look.
Kotetsu laughed heatily, a small 'hoo hoo hoo' escaping his lips. "Nothing."
"He means you're kind of small, for a kangaroo." Keith chipped in. "Maybe if you were Pao-Lin's size."
"I grow when my powers are activated!" Antonio argued.
"And how long does that last?" Kotetsu teased.
"Longer than yours," Antonio scowled at Kotetsu.
Kotetsu laughed again and pat his friend on the shoulder. "Oh, Karina's on!" Keith suddenly chirped up, looking up from what had to be his seventh honey pot. Sure enough, the lights had dimmed and the little blue bird had taken the stage. Just as she parted her beak to begin singing, the door of the bar burst open and a small boy stepped inside, hands on his hips.
"Heroes!" Agnes exclaimed, holding the door open. "There's been an incident in Quadrant 704 of T.H.A.W.! It's Lunatic." The heroes all stood, Karina dropping her microphone and hopping off the stage to join her comrades.
"Couldn't you have called us?" Kotetsu asked, noting that Agnes was quite out of breath.
"I tried to, but Lunatic knocked power from one of the main towers. I had to run all the way here! Now don't let my ruined shoes be in vain!"
"That's hardly what anyone is worried about!" Kotetsu exclaimed, already completely fired up. Agnes merely scowled at him and stepped aside, the heroes quickly running out the door towards Quadrant 704. Agnes was close behind, of course, politely asking Keith to carry her. And God knows he could never decline.
"What about Bunny?" Kotetsu suddenly asked, glancing back at Agnes.
"The phone lines are down, I have no way to call him!" she shouted, obviously upset about this. Barnaby was one of her top-selling heroes of the Hundred Acre Wood – just behind SkyHigh.
"Duck it!" Kotetsu swore under his breath, fists tightening. It had been a long time since he'd fought without his partner – however reluctant he was at times about it. Both of them were. Kotetsu would have to be the bigger-animal and just apologize to him later, rather than face yet another battle without him. "Are you sure there's no way to contact him!"
"Don't you think if I knew about a way to contact Mister Barnaby, I would have!" she snarled, holding on a little tighter to Keith as they sped along. "Ivan! Rather than lose viewers because Mister Barnaby isn't here, transform into him! Kotetsu, work with this!"
"B-but...!"
"No buts! I won't lose viewers because of Lunatic of all people!" she shouted, obviously very angry with the criminal this time. Kotetsu sighed a little, glancing over at Ivan who was struggling to keep up with the other heroes with his smaller, pink physique.
"Alright," he gave in, "Ivan, let's show them what we can do!"
Ivan looked up at Kotetsu for a moment, stumbling a little before he caught himself and nodded. "R-right! I won't let you down, Miss Agnes!"
"Just stay behind Tiger!" she barked.
Ivan nodded a little and sighed a bit, before he took on the form of the rabbit Kotetsu was all too familiar with. A small smile passed over his face and he took Ivan's paw. Ivan was faster now, and the both of them took off after Pao-Lin, Karina, Nathan and Antonio.
They arrived fairly quickly, skidding to a stop just by the destroyed phone tower. The other heroes halted nearby, staring up at Lunatic – who had perched himself up on the tower. "So you decided to show!"
"What do you want!" Antonio shouted, still a little affected by those pots before.
"Eh, I thought that was clear?" Lunatic exclaimed, "I want to rid the world of criminals!"
"So you became a criminal!" Nathan exclaimed. "This fate could have been avoided...!"
"Silence! Everyone had their chance, but everyone has proved to be scum. All I'm doing is cleaning house! I'm just like you guys – just with less rules." He shrugged a little, the pink bow on his tail catching for a moment on some rubble.
"Enough talk," Keith exclaimed, punching the palm of his hand.
"My ice may be cold, but your plans have been put on hold!" Karina shouted – followed by everyone else with their own special catchphrase before leaping into battle. Kotetsu found himself wondering when Hundred Acre Heroes TV had gotten so commercial – when there were no commercials.
Lunatic evaded blow after blow, Ivan and Kotetsu working as well together as they could; which generally entailed Kotetsu taking Ivan by the hands and trying to use him like a hammer, which only received much protest from the smaller animal.
Kotetsu was hit multiple times, being thrown into trees and crashing through walls. But so was everyone, it seemed as though no one could land a hit! But finally, when Kotetsu was finally sent reeling through yet another tree, only to have Lunatic vanish into thin air, causing heroes to slam into each other in the confusion. "Wh-where'd he go!" Antonio asked.
Nathan hopped down from the rubble, standing next to Kotetsu. "Are you alright, sweetie?" he asked. Kotetsu nodded a little, taking his hand to help himself up only to be tossed aside yet again. "Hm, just as I thought. He must have switched himself out with a hologram before we even made it up the rubble." Nathan sighed.
"What's the point in that!" Karina exclaimed, blushing indignantly.
"To mess with us," Antonio growled.
"Now, now," Keith landed nearby, holding his hands up by his chest. "Let's not let it work on us. He's the criminal, we're the heroes!"
"Right!" Kotetsu nodded, helping himself up this time. Though, the thought fleeted through him that Barnaby wouldn't be pleased about the news of this awful failure. They were losing to a goddamn donkey! Kotetsu was a tiger! This should be no problem for him!
"Oh, ho, ho?" Another hologram appeared. "You think this is over, eh? Not by a long-shot, heroes! If I recall, you were missing a face today...~?"
"...Bunny!" Kotetsu straightened up, heart suddenly thrumming again.
"What does that have to do with anything!" Karina exclaimed, obviously upset by this taunt as well.
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. I suppose we'll all have to get used to him not being around, huh~?" And the hologram vanished. For a moment, everyone stood in silence.
"D-don't let him get into your heads!" Antonio exclaimed, seeming to be much more sober now. "I'm sure Barnaby is fine!" he glanced over at Kotetsu.
"There's no way he could have known!" Ivan exclaimed, reverting back to his small, pink self. "I didn't make any mistakes! I... I didn't! If anything he'd think I'm missing but... no one notices me..." Ivan trailed off. Pao-Lin gave him a pat on the shoulder, smiling a little at him.
Kotetsu nodded, though no one was really getting through to him. Barnaby could be in danger, after all. Agnes finally strolled back over, brushing dirt from her shorts. "Alright, heroes, you all need to repair this tower pronto! SkyHigh, go speak with the public and assure them we have this under control! If they lose faith in us it could be anarchy. And Tiger..." she looked over at him, worry lines showing on his furry face. She sighed a little. "Tiger, go check on Mister Barnaby... just in case. And be quick about it!"
Kotetsu straightened up immediately, "Right!" he nodded and immediately pushed a button on his suit arm. So maybe he hadn't been fully joking when he'd said Barnaby's garden was a safe place to land – he had it programmed as 'Home.' He pushed the small button and then sprang into the air on his tail. It only took another two strong bounces before he landed square in Barnaby's garden. Every time.
Having already skid through some of the cauliflower, he did his best to avoid doing any more damage before running over to Barnaby's door. "Bunny! Bunny, are you there! Bunny!" he shouted, pounding on the door.
It took a few moments, but the door opened up. Barnaby stood there, completely unharmed. "What do you want?" he asked, expression ever calm.
"Bunny... you're okay...!" Kotetsu exclaimed, throwing his arms around him – regardless of both his wounds and Barnaby's ability to hold him up.
Barnaby grunted a little, stepping back into the house. "What happened...?"
"Ah, the phone lines went down. Lunatic was—"
"Lunatic?" Barnaby's soft features immediately hardened into a scowl. "You didn't call me!"
"The phone lines were down! He... he threatened your life!"
"What?" Barnaby frowned, a small flicker of alarm passing through his eyes.
"Indirectly, of course..." Kotetsu muttered, "but still. I... I'm glad you're alright, Bunny."
Barnaby was quiet for a moment, seeing as the older animal still had him caught in a warm embrace, forehead leaning against his shoulder. Barnaby sighed a little, patting Kotetsu on the head. "Kotetsu... don't call me that..."
Kotetsu rolled his eyes, shifting a little away from Barnaby and looked down into his eyes. Leaning back on his bouncy tail, he was at least a few inches taller than the rabbit. "But you are. You're my little Bunny~" he sang, teasing and poking Barnaby's nose.
His teasing was returned with an icy glare. "Stop that."
"Or what?" he asked, laughing. Relief of his partner being okay was washing over him a little too fast, making him incredibly happy. Again, his remark was returned with a glare – but only a glare this time. There was no real threat Barnaby could issue that would scare the old man, and Kotetsu knew it. "Oh, hoo, hoo, hoo~ I knew it~ all bark and no bite!"
"Leave," Barnaby frowned, eyes narrowed.
"Aw, Bunny, you know I'm only teasing..." Kotetsu said, trying to regain points. He'd rather suck up a little bit to Barnaby than return to his empty home again. He'd only narrowly avoided it last time, and he was sure the other heroes were busy now. Nowhere to go, and no one else to keep him company.
"That doesn't matter much to me. Please leave," Barnaby sighed, turning away a little.
"Bunny..." Kotetsu's brain was on the brink of overload. He was still so incredibly happy that Barnaby was okay, yet he was facing another very long night alone in his treehouse. He didn't want that. That's when he realized that he, in fact, wanted to stay with Barnaby. Maybe for longer than just one night – but he shouldn't get that far ahead of himself.
"What?" Barnaby responded after several moments of silence, turning to look back at Kotetsu for a moment before suddenly, Kotetsu's lips had smashed into his. There was a bit of fumbling, mainly Barnaby trying weakly to push Kotetsu away. Whether this was by his own accord or merely shock remained unseen, but either way Kotetsu held firm against his lips, pressing more insistently against him.
"Bunny," he repeated softly, moving back when his lungs began to burn. But staring into those wide, slightly nervous blue eyes the only thing Kotetsu could say was, "I care about you."
Barnaby scoffed. "You care about me?"
"Yes," Kotetsu confirmed. Barnaby could see the earnest look in his eyes. "By some twist of fate we were saddled together as partners, and, though I hate to be the one to man up and say it – I've grown... to care about you. A lot. I want to keep you safe."
"You can barely keep yourself safe..." Barnaby scoffed again, but his words lacked the normal edge they had to him.
Kotetsu chuckled a little at the comment. "You still don't trust me, huh, Bunny?"
"You haven't given me reason to, garden destroyer." Barnaby said, smirking a little at him.
"That was just an accident!" Kotetsu exclaimed, suddenly defensive again – though he was quite aware of the change in tone Barnaby used, and that sexy smirk.
"You really should learn to control your primal instincts better, Tiger." Barnaby said softly, grabbing Kotetsu by the chest and pulled him down into a kiss. It was actually very sweet and soft – much like Barnaby's fur... and maybe his true heart?
The kiss quickly escalated, Kotetsu taking control by wrapping his arms tightly around Barnaby's waist. His hands traveling up over Barnaby's body, gently digging his claws into the luxurious fur of the small of Barnaby's back. A small moan escaped from Barnaby, wrapping his arms a little tighter around Kotetsu's neck, desperately kissing him as if he needed Kotetsu more than air.
"Ha-have you..." Kotetsu broke the kiss, "been feeling this way... for a while, Bunny?"
Barnaby scowled, though the intensity was lessened due to the lust quickly clouding his pretty blue eyes. "Don't... don't call me that while we're being intimate..."
"Intimate...?" Kotetsu blinked. This was a large word for Kotetsu with a hard-on. "Bunny wants to be intimate with the tiger?"
"Don't call yourself that either," Barnaby frowned, grabbing Kotetsu hard by the hair and yanked him down into another kiss. This one was more desperate, full of need and want that had been building in both of them for so long. Whether it had been for each other or just in general, it didn't really matter anymore. They were both here, slowly being stripped of the little clothing they wore. Mostly Kotetsu and his suit – which, once discarded, no longer hid the wounds he'd received. "You were injured..." Barnaby muttered under his breath, sighing as Kotetsu began kissing his neck.
"I'm fine," Kotetsu said softly, moving a paw up through the fur on Barnaby's stomach. "If I'm good for nothing else, it's durability." He shot a small smirk up at Barnaby, which only made the head in both his face and the pit of his stomach rise.
"G-get on with it then..." he muttered, turning his head a little.
"Eager, I see," Kotetsu grinned against his shoulder. "Hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo~"
Barnaby decided not to respond anymore, merely digging his nails into Kotetsu's back as both a warning and to urge him on. Not being one to fool around when Barnaby was in an oh-so-rare good mood, Kotetsu scooped his partner up and went to the bed, carefully laying him down and positioned himself over him. Barnaby was surprised by how gentle the tiger was being.
They continued kissing, hands roaming over each other's bodies and heat slowly rising up between them until neither could take it anymore. "Kotetsu..." Barnaby hissed, hips bucking involuntarily.
Another signature laugh and Kotetsu was preparing. He gently spread Barnaby's legs and shifted down between his silky thighs. A small strangled noise escaped Barnaby's throat as anticipation overwhelmed him. Kotetsu smirked again and gave Barnaby's dick a long, languid lick from base to tip. The rabbit shook beneath him, sighing his name again.
Kotetsu decided not to tease much, and quickly began preparing his ass with his tongue – for lack of a better instrument at the time. He'd come more prepared next time – if there would be a next time. The idea made Kotetsu's heart pound a little more. He dipped his tongue in and out, feeling the smaller animal's thighs spasm around his head. "K-Ko-Kotetsu!" Barnaby exclaimed. "That's... enough..."
For once understanding, Kotetsu moved his head out from between Barnaby's legs and shifted over him. Barnaby moved up a little, groping the air aimlessly for a moment before he found Kotetsu's cock and began stroking it – spreading the precum out properly for lubrication's sake. Kotetsu let out a low, guttural moan in response to the touch, hips happily thrusting into Barnaby's soft hands.
There was a small whimper of disappointment when the hands disappeared, but all sense had now left the tiger's mind. He only had one thing running through his brain: release.
Kotetsu shifted and pressed his dick up against Barnaby's waiting hole, watching his expression for a moment before he thrust into the small mammal. Barnaby let out a small cry of discomfort, throwing his arms around Kotetsu's large shoulders. Kotetsu winced, wounds being pressed against but he didn't mind – the tight warm pleasure surrounding his cock far outweighed any discomfort Barnaby caused him by holding on so tightly. A minute or so passed, but it felt like forever to the desperate tiger. Then finally Barnaby shifted a little against him. "Okay..." he gasped. "Move."
Kotetsu hesitated for a moment before he nodded a little and gently began thrusting in and out of Barnaby. His grunts of pain and general discomfort quickly melted into pleasure as Kotetsu began pounding his ass. Low, pleasured growls were escaping Kotetsu as well, slowly forgetting any hesitation he'd ever had in his life. Barnaby was just so willing, and soft and accepting of his cock. It felt so good, and so right.
It was only a matter of a few minutes before both of them were on the edge, neither being very experienced in matters of this kind. Barnaby came first, spilling his seed all over his and Kotetsu's stomachs. All it took to send Kotetsu over the edge was the moan that escaped Barnaby as he came, moaning Kotetsu's name. "Fudge, Barnaby..." he grunted and came as well, thrusting deep inside Barnaby. And, though he'd never admit it, Barnaby trembled a little from the pleasure overwhelming his brain as he felt Kotetsu's hot jizz fill his ass.
Kotetsu collapsed onto Barnaby, panting and nuzzled into the soft – albeit sweaty fur of Barnaby's shoulder. "Th-that was... splenderific..."
It only took a few moments for Barnaby to regain his usual air of mystique, though much of the impact may have been lost the second Kotetsu started fucking him in the ass. He merely nodded a little, shifting uncomfortably beneath the larger animal.
"Kotetsu..." Barnaby said, absently playing with Kotetsu's hair.
"Hm?"
"You're cleaning up my entire garden tomorrow. And repainting my mailbox."
"Wh... what! That's hardly proper pillow talk!" Kotetsu exclaimed.
"I'm only being realistic," Barnaby said, expression unchanged, "What exactly is proper pillow talk?" Curiousity got the better of him.
"Hm..." Kotetsu thought for a moment. "You could... always ask me to clean out your garden hole?" he chuckled, looking up at Barnaby with a devilish smirk.
Barnaby frowned a little, heat rising to his face – so much so that he was thankful for the fur. "Perverted old man."