Kotetsu stared at the message he got back from Barnaby. Busy. Busy with what?! Kotetsu slammed his phone down on the kitchen counter storming around his house. Why was Barnaby being like this! What had he done? He stormed back over to his phone and hit call. The phone rang and rang and eventually went to message. He hit end call and pressed send again; it rang and rang until it went to messages again. He jammed his finger on the end call button before he hit send again. This time when it got to message Kotetsu had worked himself up into a bit of a frenzy. "Hey, how can you possibly be busy! Call me back." he hit end call. How he hated these new phones, it was so much more satisfying to slam the receiver down before.
He paced around waiting for Barnaby to call him back, no call came. He picked his phone up and sighed. He would still plan something even if it was just something small. Barnaby wasn't going to get off easy for ignoring him, but he also wasn't going to let the younger man wallow in his house all alone on Christmas.
He looked through his cupboards, took stock of what he had and made a list of ingredients. He would have to call his mom and ask how to make some of this stuff but he was pretty sure he could pull it off, how hard could it be to cook something other than fried rice.
Kotetsu spent the rest of the day preparing for Christmas, he went to the store and got the ingredients he needed to make fried chicken and cake, he would go out and buy it but it seemed too impersonal to do it that way.
He baked the cake, a boxed one with the instruction on it, honestly he wasn't sure why it turned out a little lopsided but whatever.
He let the cake cool on the counter; he would ice it tonight so it would be ready for tomorrow. He looked at his phone periodically throughout the day, no call, no texts. He had called home and spoken to his mother, and Kaede. She was so excited for her presents with Grandma and Muramasa tomorrow, but was even more excited to come to Sternbild for a week with him.
Kotetsu set the phone down and looked around his place. Should he decorate? Maybe a little? No, what if the decorations made Barnaby uncomfortable? If he was going to decorate he could do it with Kaede when she got here, they could have a late Christmas.
Ten at night rolled around and still no call from Barnaby. Kotetsu sent a text.
"Bunny… if you don't want to see me I understand, but at least let me know you are alright."
He waited to see if Barnaby read it. It sat on unread for a while. Maybe he was already asleep.
Read.
Kotetsu's heart was in his throat when he saw the three dots.
"Sorry Kotetsu, I forgot to call you back. I'm doing alright, the dreams are… I'm struggling with them right now. I'll call you tomorrow, promise."
"Thx Bunny! Have a good night 3" Kotetsu sent back hastily.
The next morning Kotetsu was up at the crack of dawn, unable to sleep. He was like a kid on Christmas (pun intended) he was excited to hear from Barnaby finally.
His phone rang and he snatched it up answering immediately. "Morning!"
"Hi dad!" Kaede said chipperly as her image appeared in front of him. Kotetsu was sitting in his kitchen with a bowl of cereal in front of him; he had been eating breakfast waiting for Barnaby to call. He felt guilty for momentarily forgetting his daughter would be calling him this morning as well.
"Hi, sweetie! How has your morning been?" he said with a lopsided grin. She went on a barrage of details of her morning from pouncing on uncle Muramasa to wake him up (he had stayed over so they could have an early morning) and helping Grandma make coffee so they could open presents. She then went on to tell him all the cool stuff she got (mostly Hero TV stuff because she was an addict, just like both her parents).
Kotetsu was more than happy to talk to his daughter all day long every day of the year, except right now: today. He felt worry and panic the whole time they talked that Barnaby would be calling and unable to get through because the line was busy.
Kaede got off the phone quickly though, too excited to stay on the phone long, she wanted to go play with her new stuff. Kotetsu said goodbye and quickly hung up. He checked his call history to make sure there are no missed calls. None.
The phone rang again almost an hour later. He snatched it up and answered "morning!" again trying to be just as chipper as he had been the first time, but it was hard to be chipper when he was worried.
"Morning Kotetsu," came Barnaby's very tired voice, he had the call on voice only.
"How are you feeling?" Kotetsu had to know, was Barnaby actually sick? Was there more to it than just fatigue?
"Worn out, but I'll be fine. I think it's just the stress of the season on top of everything else. Sorry I haven't been getting back to you, I have basically just been sleeping as soon as I get home," Barnaby sounded sincere, maybe he really was just in bad shape and not avoiding him?
"Well, we don't have work, and I know for a fact that if you are that tired you shouldn't be operating a car or a stove. Let me come over and make you some food. Lunch, dinner, you name it. Come on Bunny," Kotetsu pleaded.
"... I think dinner should be fine, I don't have anything to cook here though," he mumbled.
"Leave that all to me, when should I come over? Four? Five?" Kotetsu was thrilled; he hoped Barnaby would be in better spirits.
"Five should be fine, you don't have to cook, we could just order in,"
"Nah, I already have all the stuff, besides everywhere will be bonkers today, so I'll be there for five with all the fixin's," Kotetsu said happily.
"Okay, see you then," the call ended.
Kotetsu decided pre-making the chicken might be a good idea, if he messed it up he could just get some on the way, if it turned out right he could heat it up at Barnaby's.
It took two tries, but the second batch of chicken came out perfect. Crispy, flavourful, cooked all the way through. He set them inside a container and looked at the time. Perfect timing! If he left right away he could be at Barnaby's for just before five.
He gathered up the chicken and cake, and put it into a couple of bags. He grabbed his jacket and took the things out to his car.
When he got to Barnaby's building he used his visitor pass and entered the parkaid, parking in a visitor stall. He lugged the bags to the elevator and pressed Barnaby's floor. He knocked on the door at 4:55, perfect timing!
Barnaby opened the door and smiled, "you're early," he said as he got out of Kotetsu's way.
The smile on his face was an interview smile, why was he smiling an interview smile? He would let it slide, maybe he was still tired.
Kotetsu set the bags down and turned to face Barnaby. "Merry Christmas," Kotetsu leaned in and gave Barnaby a hug, it was not reciprocated. If anything Barnaby went stiff as a board and pulled away slightly, what the hell was going on?
"Thank you, Merry Christmas Kotetsu," Barnaby said before going over to the bags on his counter. "What did you bring?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Fried chicken, homemade, so don't say I don't know how to cook more than fried rice, and cake, also homemade, sort of," Kotetsu said as he pulled the Tupperware containers out. He had cut the cake into a smaller piece and iced that, the whole cake had been too misshapen to ice, it would have looked awful.
Barnaby looked surprised and a real smile spread across his face. "You made all this?" he said as he lifted up the cake container looking through the clear bottom. "You actually baked this? From scratch?" he looked dubious now.
"W-well… not from scratch, the cake is a box cake, but I still have to mix it and bake it the right amount of time! And the chicken is from scratch, mom's recipe," he said as he took the lid off the chicken, it was still pretty warm, it wouldn't take long to heat it back up.
"Wow, Kotetsu… thank you." Barnaby said as he looked up at Kotetsu, he looked a little happy and sad at the same time.
"What's wrong Bunny, I know today isn't the best day, but your parents can rest easy now, you avenged them, and you are finally living your life. It's time to make new memories right?" Kotetsu said trying to make him feel better, anything to make Barnaby feel better. If there was one person on this planet that deserved to have a nice Christmas for once it was Barnaby.
"You sound like my therapist," Barnaby said before moving into the living room and sitting down on his lone chair. "So what's the plan, heat that back up and eat?" Barnaby was keeping his distance again, why was he way over there in the living room? He was acting so weird.
Kotetsu rubbed the back of his head and smiled, he would keep it casual, maybe Barnaby just needed space— it dawned on him like a pile of bricks in that moment. Barnaby must need space because of the dance. He must be feeling awkward because he realised it isn't normal for two grown men to spend time together like that. Did he realise Kotetsu was technically hitting on him and is just trying to politely keep space between them, not wanting to hurt his feelings? "A-ah yeah, I'll start heating it up now, you just… just relax Bunny," he said with a lopsided grin out to Barnaby in the living room.
Kotetsu turned away from the living room feeling sick as he mechanically started bustling around the kitchen. He turned Barnaby's oven on and just stood there staring at the numbers slowly going up as it preheated.
What had he done, if Barnaby realised his growing desire and felt awkward because of it, would they still be able to be friends? Kotetsu had no intention of acting on his feelings, but maybe even just having them would be too much for Barnaby. Maybe he would feel uncomfortable having yet another person ogling him? Kotetsu swore lightly under his breath, what had he done. He needed to stop being so clingy, maybe then Barnaby wouldn't think too poorly of the situation? Ya, he would give him the space he clearly needed.
Once he had the chicken in a pan and in the oven he set a timer and walked out of the kitchen, but didn't go and sit down with Barnaby, something he normally would have done, draping his long legs over Barnaby since he refused to buy a couch. Instead he took a seat by the window, looking out at Sternbild.
Barnaby looked over at him, eyebrow raised. "Why are you way over there?" he asked sounding almost hurt. Maybe Kotetsu had misread the situation? He didn't want to chance it, he would give Barnaby space, they both needed a bit of a cool down from each other.
"Haven't seen this view since before you left, thought it would be nice to see the Christmas lights from up here," Kotetsu reasoned, eyes trailing back to looking out the window. Barnaby stood and walked over. He sat on the other side of the window, close, but not touching.
"Ya, it is a nice view isn't it. One of the reasons I kept this place, it's not very homey to anyone else, but it is to me," Barnaby had a soft smile on his face as he said this, he looked relaxed now.
"Of course it's home Bunny! You've made all kinds of great memories here, like that awesome party you threw with all the Heroes," Kotetsu said looking over with a smile.
"Yeah, that was fun, even though you guys totally went through all my stuff," Barnaby complained while pushing his glasses up. "Bison even bent a pair of my glasses," he turned and looked back out the window with a sigh.
They fell into silence, and it wasn't as awkward as Kotetsu thought it could have been, but it wasn't their normal companionable silence. This was a silence born of Kotetsu being unsure how to talk to Barnaby now, not wanting to make him feel like he was hitting on him, or meddling too much.
The oven finally dinged alerting them both to the chicken being hot, Kotetsu stood up first jogging over to the oven. "You just stay comfy, leave everything to me!" he called out as he put oven mitts on. He pulled the chicken out and sure enough it was nice and warm, maybe a little dred out, but it would still be fine.
The two sat on the floor, sure the island was there, but it felt more like tradition if they sat on the floor, like they always did. Barnaby took a bite from the breast he had taken; Kotetsu had a drumstick.
Barnaby looked up at Kotetsu in surprise after he swallowed. "This is actually pretty good Old Man," he took another bite while Kotetsu laughed. Of course it was good, he had phoned his mom and gotten specific instructions. She was a master cook.
"I actually love cooking when I have time, finding the perfect balance of ingredients, it's just lately I haven't felt up to it, not with all my energy sapped. When the machine made it so I was getting a proper rest I thought all my problems were behind me, but now even the machine isn't working. Saitou is looking into it but… well, we will see I guess," Barnaby set his fork down, looking down at his plate, the image of defeat.
"Hey, I'll always be here for you, anything you need," Kotetsu said as he placed his hand on top of Barnaby's knee. So much for giving him space, but this was no time to worry about that sort of thing!
Barnaby looked up at him with a sad smile, like he was holding something back, "thanks Kotetsu," he picked his fork back up and started eating again. "That cake better be as good as this chicken or I'm phoning your mom and telling her you used a boxed cake and still messed it up," Barnaby teased with a grin.