Friday (Day 4)
Kotetsu sat with his back against the living room wall, listening to the dull beat of the shower as his charge cleaned up. Stretching until he heard several pops from his back, the bodyguard smiled at the overall sense of wellness he felt. The day before he and Barnaby had walked around down town Sternbuild for the better part of the afternoon. The city was all abuzz with life and Kotetsu had thought it would be a good idea for Barnaby to get a feel for where he would be living for the next few months. It had certainly been one of Kotetsu's better ideas so far.
From what he could tell the young man had loved walking through the concrete city, he actually smiled instead of smirked for most of the trip and he even suggested they go shopping for a bed for Kotetsu. Which had actually gotten them a few odd stares from the sales staff.
Barnaby hadn't even bothered to wave off the conclusion the mattress shop workers had come to. Two mildly attractive men, who although there was a slight age difference, were currently strolling around a bed store, picking out which one they thought Kotetsu could sleep comfortably in. It hadn't helped when the two constantly had quips at each other such as, "Ouji-san would you just pick one that will let you sleep through the night?" to which the response was, "But Bunny! It has to be just right, I want to be well rested and energetic in the mornings." Barnaby had rolled his eyes and absently walked over to the next set of displays, "Do you ever think you have too much energy? I can barely keep up with you as it is."
While this entire conversation seemed innocent enough to the two men, the employees took the meaning as a more domestic household relationship. Kotetsu spent fifteen minutes trying to eloquently explain he was just living with the blond, not sleeping with him.
Exhausted, the older male had collapsed onto one of the smaller mattresses and sighed. He couldn't imagine what gave people the idea that he and Barnaby were together. Heck the kid was just barely not a brat anymore and it had only been three days of knowing each other. Wiggling into the mattress Kotetsu relaxed and let his eyes slip shut wearily. Actually, this bed was pretty nice. Firm enough for his old back injuries, but comfy enough to flop onto. Hmmm.
Leaning onto his elbows he spotted Barnaby flipping through a small brochure with sheep printed on the cover. Waving Kotetsu called out, "Bunny! Hey check this out. I think I found one."
Barnaby had given him a mildly amused stare before he walked over and looked the bed over.
"You sure? It seems kind of small doesn't it?" Kotetsu could hear the doubtfulness in the other's voice. He proceeded to scoot over so there was more room on his side before he patted the bed and cracked an eye at the blond.
"Nah, it's perfect. Just try it out! You might even like it."
Barnaby still looked doubtful but he did end up lying beside Kotetsu.
A moment of quiet elapsed before Barnaby quietly admitted, "Actually, this isn't so bad."
"Right? So, you think this one will look good in the bedroom or what?" Kotetsu had asked excitedly.
That's how the two had ended up at the register together, buying a bed for Barnaby's spare bedroom so Kotetsu could sleep at night and avoiding the curious stare of the cashier.
Kotetsu laughed at the memories and pushed himself up from the new bed in Barnaby's spare room. Last night had been positively wonderful for him. He felt like he could run a marathon or something. Instead of tackling that idea, Kotetsu wandered into the kitchen to fix up pancakes for two.
Twenty minutes later Kotetsu flipped the last pancake onto a plate as the shower shut off. Quiet consumed the apartment and the bodyguard could only imagine what beauty regiment the young man was excicuting in the bathroom. Eyes never leaving his handiwork, Kotetsu called out loudly.
"Yo, I made some breakfast if you want to eat!"
Shuffling could be heard from the bedroom and Kotetsu was only a little surprised when Barnaby appeared in the kitchen two minutes later in a tank top and pajama pants. He had his glasses off and his hair was still damp, blond curls turned to small waves that stuck to his cheek and neck. Green eyes blinked as he focused on the man setting two plates onto the only table in the apartment.
"Are you wearing an apron?"
Kotetsu started at the question before he glanced at his attire. Oh yeah. He was wasn't he? Spatula in one hand Kotetsu waved it off like he wasn't wearing an apron with '#1 Dad' scrawled over the chest. "Aha, a present from Kaede last father's day. Told her I'd get some use from it."
He chose to ignore the smile on Barnaby's face as he reached for two cups above the sink. "You want milk or orange juice?"
"Just water, thank you." The smile never left Barnaby's face even as he grabbed two forks and knives from the cabinets. He placed them on the tabletop, neatly parallel to the two plates already there. He sat down as Kotetsu walked over to the table and put both glasses down.
As Barnaby looked over breakfast his lips twitched and he glanced at Kotetsu. "Pancakes?"
"Yeah, didn't you say your aunt used to make 'em for you all the time?" Kotetsu asked as he finally sat down to his meal. Syrup was quickly poured onto the poor pancakes, now drowning in sugary goodness. Kotetsu was like a little boy sometimes.
"I did." Was all Barnaby said to indicate he had heard the question.
Several heartbeats passed before Barnaby spoke again. By that point Kotetsu's mouth was full of starchy sugary bites and he couldn't respond.
"Thank you."
Kotetsu raised an eyebrow and tried to ask what for.
Barnaby continued to eat. "For the food."
Once Kotetsu had followed the mouthful he rinsed it with his own glass of milk and smiled at the man. "Of course, a man's gotta eat!"
When the meal was almost done Kotetsu spoke up (thankfully without the food in his mouth, Barnaby noted relieved.)
"Hey Bunny? What do you want to do today? Dinner isn't until 6:00 and I doubt you want to be cooped up all day." Kotetsu scooped the reaming bit of syrup onto his last bit of pancake, making it drip heavily with sugar.
Barnaby only mildly glared at the nickname before he leaned back slightly in his seat. His posture had been impeccable like always, Kotetsu thought, really this was breakfast in his own house. He should just chill, there wasn't anyone to impress. Kotetsu sure didn't want the kid to be so formal with him. "I was just going to read up on some of Doc Saito's books."
"The ones you bought yesterday?"
Barnaby nodded, eyes watching Kotetsu's plate. But there was no really focus there and Kotetsu figured Barnaby was still hung up on the whole secretive lab thing. As much as Kotetsu wanted Barnaby to just trust the little guys in white at Apollon, he really was only along for the ride for now. If Barnaby wanted to take his advice then he would. Until then Kotetsu would listen and add his two cents and probably a bad joke every now and then.
"I started reading one of them last night. It's one of his earlier works, about the thermo-energy currently being harnessed for building…" Kotetsu stared at the blond incredulously as he went on to talk about things absolutely had no idea about. But as Barnaby spoke he seemed to come back down to earth so Kotetsu nodded and smiled when called for, letting the engineer have his fun.
"He has some really interesting ideas, but I wonder if maybe I could make some tweaks to his design. There's a new theory I'd like to test out before we head into the lab on Monday. Do you think he would mind if I-? Oh, sorry." Barnaby realized he was talking to Kotetsu, who couldn't explain how a toaster worked. The blond bit his lip and shook his head when his partner waved his fork at him.
A frown pulled down Kotetsu's lips, shaping his cat beard into squished-eared kitties. "Sorry? What are you sorry for? You looked like you were onto something a second ago."
"Don't worry about it. I'm just wondering out loud." Barnaby seemed to shut off again and Kotetsu wanted to drop his head onto his plate in frustration. Where was that cute kid that had opened up to him two days ago?
Standing up Barnaby grabbed his plate and glass before going into the kitchen to clean up.
Kotetsu placed his hands behind his head and turned to watch the kid clean his dishes. Boy this kid was weird. Hot and cold and back again within twenty minutes.
"So, does that mean you want to take it easy today? You just want to read and research today."
Barnaby nodded down to the soap in his hands. "Yeah, I think so." He spared Kotetsu the briefest of looks, shy curiosity coloring his eyes. "You got anything to keep you occupied? I won't listen to you grunting and huffing as you work out if that's what you're planning."
Kotetsu rose to bring his dishes to the kitchen and laughed. "I don't work out that much. Antonio's already got the title of meat head of the office. Wouldn't want to take the title from him."
"I'll probably call Kaede if you're okay with that. I'm just gonna be on the balcony for a while. After that maybe I'll try reading one of those books you're so into."
Barnaby actually laughed at that. He smirked at the suddy water on his hands. "Call your daughter ouji-san. Tell her that you'll be up for her ice skating competition this weekend." Kotetsu smiled at the surprisingly accommodating Barnaby.
"But don't worry about reading those books, I think I have something a little more your speed."
"You're really coming this time Dad?"
Kotetsu laughed into the phone speaker and smiled. His daughter sounded suspicious now but just wait until he showed up with a bouquet of flowers on Saturday for his little girl. He could already imagine her smile, just as bright as her mother's.
"I sure am sweetie. My employer is a fan of skating so he said he wanted to see it. That means I'll be right up in the stands cheering for you!"
A mortified shriek came from the other end. "Ew! Dad, don't do anything embarrassing. Jamie Spencer is going to be there. If he saw you doing that I would die."
Kotetsu frowned into the phone, sensing that he already didn't like this Jamie Spencer.
"Who exactly is James Spencer anyways?"
Kotetsu heard the sharp intake of breath as Kaede practically fainted from her father's absolute uncoolness. Preparing for a barrage of information that only teen girls are capable of, the father waited for the extremely long explanation to occur.
"Jamie Spencer is only the number 1 teen exhibitionist skater in all of the world! He's placed first in everything. He even has a move named after him. The Jamie Spencer is also a boy who goes to the same school as me, so I can't have my dad yelling about how that's his ice skating princess on the floor. Jamie would never even speak to me!"
Rolling his eyes, Kotetsu pouted at how this mythical boy had already staked a claim on his little girl's heart. She was still far too young to be interested in boys!
"Fine, fine. I won't embarrass you in front of James Splinter."
"Jamie Spencer, dad!" Kaede corrected automatically.
"Uh huh. Anyways, what time do you want daddy to show up?"
Several minutes later Kotetsu shut the glass door shut behind him, ears still ringing with Kaede's retelling of everything that had happened at home for the past four months. Maybe she should be a gossip columnist or something, that girl had dirt on everything.
Pausing a few steps from the door Kotetsu looked down onto the floor where Barnaby currently sat, piles of books, notes and pens littered around him. There had to be at least twenty something books there, some flipped open to pages with neat handwriting in the margins, others with bits of paper acting as bookmarks. Kotetsu tried to figure out the drawings on the notepads. But he had stopped when the drawings morphed into diagrams with calculations and formulas covering the pages. Barnaby himself sat against the back of the couch (a gift Maverick had sent over), glasses balancing on the tip of his nose, still clad in pajamas and blond hair tied neatly into a ponytail.
Kotetsu imagined this is what the engineer looked like most of the time while he had been in college.
"Is she excited her dad is coming to see her performance?"
Kotetsu smiled and dropped down so he sat between the stacks of books around him.
"She sure is. Although she seems more excited about this boy name Jamie Spencer or something. Ugh. She's too young to be thinking about boys, Bunny!"
Barnaby smirked up at the father, eyes teasing behind his glasses. "Sounds like somebody is jealous."
"Of course not! Kaede's just a little kid though! She should be obsessed with shoes or clothes or cats or anything. Boys could break her heart. And then I'd have to kill them and that wouldn't look good on my record." Kotetsu threw his head back and groaned.
Barnaby rolled his eyes, turning back to his piles of notes. "She's just a kid, love is a pretty sugar-coated idea. Leave her be. In a decade or two she'll remember how great her father was when he watched over her in her teenage years."
Kotetsu proceeded to sulk. He didn't want to be placated so easily by some guy who didn't even have offspring yet.
"What'cha working on? These notes look pretty intense." Kotetsu flipped through the nearest book, Manual of Nano Science; Volume 6. Eww.
Barnaby flipped a page, eyeing the words there skeptically. "Just researching some ideas for you bodyguards."
"Sure you are. What do Nanobots have to do with me?"
"Quite a lot actually. But I can't really explain right now. I'm in the middle of something." Barnaby returned to his books and jotted down several numbers.
The older of the two chuckled at how much like a kid Barnaby could be. He scooted so he was also leaning against the couch and closed his eyes, just listening to Barnaby breathing and subtle sound of pages turning.
A few minutes passed like that before Barnaby seemed to remember he had books for Kotetsu. He pushed a book forward so that it rested against Kotetsu's knee. An amber eye cracked open and looked down at the book. "What's this?"
"I told you I had books that were your speed right? Well here."
Kotetsu reached down to the book, eyeing the blank cover nervously.
"It's a Japanese book of short stories. No talk of nanobots in there."
Laughing Kotetsu cracked open the book, not even bothered by Barnaby's small jab. Just content that he was beginning to understand that he had at least thought about Kotetsu when he picked the book out. The kid was adorable, underneath all the layers of exterior stubbornness.
Dinner could have gone a lot worse, in Kotetsu's professional opinion. The unsettling feeling he had in the supermarket with Kriem and Cis had vanished and even Jake, who seemed like he had done one too many shots in his lifetime, seemed nice enough when he was in his own environment.
Kriem had said the dinner was casual so Barnaby had picked out simple black jeans and black short sleeve top for the meal. He had also approved of the vest, tie and black pant combo Kotetsu considered his 'civilian clothing'. Even so, Kotetsu had two guns strapped onto him; one to his ankle and one under his ribcage, where he had easy access to it. He also wore a bullet proof pad underneath his vest that added extra volume to his chest.
When they had arrived, Cis had answered the door with the same emotionless face she had worn at the supermarket. She beckoned them in with a short greeting before Kriem took over the job of hostess.
And what a great hostess she made. She was bubbly and funny, more so the kind of person Kotetsu could imagine Barnaby hanging out with. Kriem sat them down in the living room with Cis and Jake who were making comments about some reality tv show about bounty hunters. In the twenty minutes it took for their food to finish cooking, Jake telling hilarious stories of high school days and long tangents about life now that he and Kriem were married. Barnaby had settled in nicely with the three former classmates of his, laughing at Jake's jokes and answering Cis's questions happily. Kotetsu was honestly surprised by how easily the bond had slipped back into camaraderie with the group.
As much as Kotetsu got along with everyone, he kept fumbling when it came to talking to Jake or Cis. Cis would look at him dumbly when Kotetsu cracked jokes and Jake would laugh at things that weren't even funny. Kotetsu looked at Barnaby for help and the blond did back him up whenever he could, although Kotetsu could see he was shocked that he hadn't automatically connected with his friends.
While they were eating Kotetsu had pushed away his embarrassment at his failed humor and chose to devour the turkey platter Kriem had set out. It was delicious. There was lemon glazed turkey with stuffing and greens, mashed potatoes and corn. Hot bread with butter was available all around the table and Kotetsu practically died when Cis brought out the pound cake with strawberries that she had made.
"So Kotetsu, how long have you been in Sternbuild?" Kriem asked with a delicate smile.
Swallowing his last bite of cake, Kotetsu laughed sheepishly. "I would say it's been over a decade by now. Must say it's a lot different than my little hometown; too many people. How do you and Jake enjoy it here?"
A pleasant curve found Kriem's lips and she titled her head in thought.
"Sternbuild certainly is lovely. Beautiful parks, hardly any crime for such a big city and plenty of work for me and my husband. Although our little boarding school was nice enough, it wasn't a place for a married couple to live."
"What is it you do anyway if you don't mind me asking?" Kotetsu laughed to show he was simply curious. Jake spoke up after finishing his third slice of cake.
"I'm in construction, the Petrov Construction Company. Cis works as one of the manager's there. Damn fine with numbers and budgeting too." Jake jerked a thumb over in the slim woman's direction. Cis simply blinked, fork dangling between her lips.
She set her utensils down, eyes slipping close. "Someone has to make sure Mr. Yuri doesn't run his father's company into the ground. That deadbeat dad of his left so much debt anyways."
From his place beside Kotetsu, Barnaby finally spoke up.
"Sounds like you guys are doing well for yourself. High school seems like a lifetime ago doesn't it?"
Jake laughed, "Now, don't go making us sound too old Barnaby. We still got plenty of life and plans before we can kick the bucket."
Barnaby smiled and nodded his head.
"You always were the most adventurous of us Jake. I'm sure whatever you have planned in life will be interesting." Barnaby turned to Kriem, smile in place. "How do you put up with him?"
"With a smile, we both have a thrill seeking side to us." Kriem began to gather up dishes, Kotetsu and Barnaby helping out.
And although by the end of the night Jake still laughed at Kotetsu constantly and Cis thought his jokes were lame, the bodyguard felt better about the whole thing. Barnaby finished his goodbyes, promising to call them after the ice skating competition, before rejoining Kotetsu at the bottom of the stairs. The two walked in a comfortable silence under the warm summer night sky.
Walking out towards the company van Kotetsu smiled, content at how well things were going as Barnaby's bodyguard.
A/N: Annnnd an extremly late chapter. Well ta-da? 7 Chapters in and Barnaby is starting to act like a normal human and Kotetsu is about to be reunited with his baby! Bring it Kaede! FYI, next chapter is going to be a bit of a doozie so be prepared for a long chapter. Later ya'll!
Crystal F. Flowright: I appreciate the SkyHigh reference there. Haha, also yeah it was KARINA! Boom. Annnnd she and Barnbay were an item. What what? So that leaves Pao-lin and Ben as the only characters we haven't met yet. Kaede is up next chapter and Pao-lin the chapter after that! And I'm glad the backstories of the characters are't too far out there. It's fun to explore what they would all do in another life.
deemama66:Yeah, Karina is an interesting character haha. Little miss sunshine! And Barnaby resumes his lab stuff in two chapters woot woot. I think Barnaby just wants a friend so he doesn't mind talking to Kotetsu.
wildgirl: Thank you! You rock for reviewing :)
halfbreedfox: Yay for thrilling! We've met the main players in the game and now the game has been set in motion. I'd love to hear your theories, just out of curiosity though!
KuroKitsuSan:Well, this is a late update but here it is! Hopefully I can pick up the pace. But glad I could entice you into the fandom again. :) Stay excited woot!