Author's Notes: Ah, this one kind of came to me naturally. Some fluff. Some teasing of the verbal variety.
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Prompt 9: I'm not afraid of you anymore. You're not the monster I thought you would be.
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Barnaby shivered as a gust of autumn wind sent chills up his neck. He pulled his white coat closer to him and they continued walking along one of the many bridges of downtown Sternbild. Kotetsu talked about Kaede for the most part and how she always wanted to come to the bustling city and how he always felt guilty for telling her no. Truthfully, the blond was just glad Kotetsu wasn't forcing him to talk about the previous night's incident.
The sound of collective squeals caught their ears and they turned. Four girls were running towards them, all in high school uniforms and light jackets to keep the crisp air at bay. They stopped before them and giggled.
"Excuse me," one girl with short dirty blonde hair addressed him with a hint of nervousness, "but are you Barnaby Brooks Jr.?" Barnaby automatically slipped into his role and smiled at her.
"I am." Two of the other girls squealed in delight while the one that had addressed him actually kept a pretty calm composure. Barnaby could tell from her blue eyes, however, that she wanted to join the others girls in their excitement.
"Please, Barnaby, could we have your autograph?" The blond flipped his hair and held his hand out to her.
"Of course, and your name?" This time she giggled as she handed him a photo of himself in which he was shirtless and wearing blue jeans that hung low to his waist and left little to the imagination. "Aimee." Barnaby signed his name flawlessly, using a marker that he always seemed to have on him and handed it back to her. "Thank you, Barnaby!" She squealed.
"You're welcome," the young hero said, winking at her for an added effect. He turned one of the other girls, this one with short ginger hair. "And yours, dear?"
It was then that he noticed the fourth one standing off to the side with Aimee and heard her whisper, "Shae, aren't you going to get Barnaby's autograph?"
Shae shook her head and crossed her arms matter of factly, responding louder than Aimee.
"No. Besides, Wild Tiger is obviously more attractive." She turned toward the blond. "No offense."
Barnaby chuckled and scribbled on the final girls' picture, "None taken." He stole a glance at Kotetsu and had to refrain from outright laughing at his expression. The dark-haired man was clearly smitten over having his ego stroked as he eyed the ginger, and the blond bit back the pang of jealousy that reverberated off of his ribcage.
With practiced ease Barnaby sent them off, three girls yelling "thank you"s and Shae simply waving as they walked away. As soon as they were out of earshot, Kotetsu began preening loudly.
"The red-head obviously has excellent taste." His grin was ear to ear and it was all Barnaby could do not to send an icy glare at him. The words fell from the younger man's lips before he could have even thought about catching them.
"Well you are rather attractive, for an old man that is." The words came out as teasing, but Barnaby hadn't been more serious in his life. He turned the corners of his lips into a visible smile and the only reason he could tell it was genuine was the reflection of it in Kotetsu's irises.
His older partner scratched the back of his head but gave him a goofy grin. In that exact moment in time, Barnaby knew that this was right. It wasn't wrong to feel so strongly about the other man. He wanted to always feel so unguarded, even if it was only for Kotetsu T. Kaburagi. He was going to take this love by the horns and run freely with it, because maybe, just maybe, it wasn't as scary of a monster as he thought it was.