That night Barnaby definitely wasn't in his normal state. He couldn't stop smiling for one, Barnaby didn't smile unless it was for a photoshoot or for being agreeable to sponsors or to the media. He didn't even know why, nor did he care, he just didn't smile, that wasn't him. Yet, tonight he did.
Today hadn't been a good day either, so there was no reason.
On the other hand if there was something he actually appreciated in his state of not normalcy it was the fact that for once he could sleep, usually he only collapsed when his body couldn't take it anymore and it wasn't a good sleep, it was almost as if he came out of it even more tired than before. Then again, you can't really rest when your sleep is continuously disturbed by nightmares made of fire and murders.
When his alarm rang (because no matter what he always put an alarm, just in case), he actually felt like he had slept well and he coudn't remember a single nightmare of that night.
Unlike last evening, this was definitely a reason to smile.
Before leaving for another day of hero work (most likely paperwork after yesterday's event, only thinking about it was irritating) he took extra care of his hair, making sure even more than usual that they were at the right place. The brat had no idea about the work it took to maintain curls.
Sure enough, he was the first to arrive at work, exactly like he predicted, his new partner (definitely he had a problem with the word) didn't seem the type to be on time. At exactly 8:15 am a loud shout made itself heard in the office "Hello everyone! Hello Bunny!"
"My name's not Bunny, it's Barnaby"
"Right, right" he still wore that damned smile on his face, he should have known, the day started well, it couldn't go on like that.
"You're late brat"
"Not my fault. There was that cat stuck in a tree"
"I thought a hero's job was to save people not animals"
"Animals are important too. Ask Sky High." Sky High? Why was he supposed to ask Sky High, well, nevermind.
"Just say you spent the time grooming your idiotic beard and I won't say anything"
"I didn't! And I'm sure you spent even more time taking care of your curls."
"At least I do care for my hair and don't leave the house with a mess on my head"
"This is not a mess it's artfully mused"
"Artfully? You call that a work of art?", he scowled, he couldn't help scowling, why was he so disagreable to the brat
"Yes I definitely call that a work of art" he crossed his arms on his chest as if to make his point stronger, Barnaby was about to answer when their secretary spoke angrily "Enough you two, I can't work"
"Sorry"
"Sorry Ma'm"
Scolded, he just has been scolded, it never happened in his whole life, he was supposed to care for the brat, teach him things, not let himself be influenced by him, by no means did he ever want to act like the brat.
Throughout the morning he had to wake the brat up a few times, "You're not supposed to fall asleep while working"
"But it's paperwork we're talking about, paperwork's boring and a hero job is to save people not to do paperwork"
"Paperwork is part of the job too and you wouldn't have that much paperwork to do if you could respect people's property and not destroy everything in sight"
Every time the brat sighed before going back to his work.
It was painful and Barnaby had to do quite a fair share of it but when morning came to an end the paperwork was done with and his young partner was beaming at him.
"Thank you so much Bunny!"
"I already told you, my name is Barnaby"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever"
Barnaby sighed. "Beside, we're a team, if you don't do your paperwork it affects me too"
"Still, thank you Bunny. Let me buy you lunch since it's way past noon, you don't seem like you eat enough"
"Please let my eating habits alone"
"So, you're coming?"
"Yes, yes I'm coming, just because I don't work for free. Especially for you"
"Wonderful! Now let's go!" he grabbed his jacket and strode outside
"Wait, where are we going?"
"It's a surprise", he said, winking at him.
"What you just did is old fashioned" he sighed, but followed anyway.