Barnaby let out a sigh as he sat down on his white lounge chair, running a hand through his hair.
He and Kotetsu had blown it again, they were supposed to be helping at an old folk's home today, being in the Second League was a lot like the "Let's Believe in Heroes" campaign.
They had started out alright, but when it came time for them to work together serving snacks to the residents it had happened again. He and Kotetsu had gotten close and in a panic Barnaby had pulled away from his partner, causing Kotetsu to bump into the table they were at, which in turn caused a domino effect of things to happen.
The table tipped over, it was a flimsy plastic one that really should have been made a bit better, the drinks and snacks on the table were dumped on the ground, which was of course carpet, so cleaning up the mess had been practically impossible.
The other Second League members had been nothing but helpful (in their own way). They were all nice people, worshiped the ground they walked on, which had been fun for the first bit but was getting tiresome, and were always there to try and help out when things went wrong. After the table tipped over they had jumped at the chance to help clean up, and they did a pretty good job of it too. But Agnes was going to have a field day, they couldn't even help hand out drinks to old people, how was he supposed to be trusted with the safety of the public?
He leaned his head back on his chair, letting out another sigh. The chamber had been upgraded by Saitou, he had been getting somewhat proper sleep again and he had hoped that would help sort things out, but it hasn't. He is still just as awkward around Kotetsu; he needed to get over these feelings.
There was a knock on his door. Who could possibly be at his place?
He got up and looked through the viewfinder. Kotetsu? He opened the door immediately.
"What are you doing here?" He asked in surprise. Kotetsu marched past him with bags in his arms, setting them down on the counter.
"I'm here to deal with you!" He said and opened the bags, a case of beer and a couple bottles of wine were produced. "We are drinking, we are hanging out, and we are talking." It was said with such finality that there was no denying him.
"A-alright?" Barnaby said as he came into the kitchen with Kotetsu who was already pulling out wine glasses. He had never expected Kotetsu to confront him about his actions. What was he going to say?
Kotetsu poured them each a glass of wine before leaning against the counter and taking a drink. "Things have been weird between us for a while now, and I'm to blame," He took another sip. "I should have dealt with this when it started instead of letting it keep getting worse, I'm sorry."
Barnaby didn't understand, how was any of this Kotetsu's fault? He was the one acting like an idiot because his hormones set him on fire whenever Kotetsu was around. "This isn't your fault Kotetsu I —" Kotetsu cut him off.
"Listen, I understand. You must have been confused, but I don't feel that way towards you, I swear, so it's not a big deal," Kotetsu said with a shrug while taking another sip of wine.
Wait. Kotetsu said he understood. That he didn't feel the same way and that it was fine. As in… He knew Barnaby was attracted to him? And he didn't care?
"Can we just go back to being partners now? You being all jumpy around me is really making a mess of things, I really don't feel that way so it's not a problem right?" Kotetsu said setting his glass down, he had drunk the whole thing already. "I won't be weird around you if you aren't weird around me," Kotetsu said with a bright smile.
"Kotetsu I…" he didn't know what to say. Kotetsu knew he liked him, told him he didn't feel the same way… and that they should continue being partners the way they were before? Could they go back to being partners like that? Barnaby felt awful, he was just turned down by the man he was in love with, but at least he still wanted to be partners. It was what he wanted; he wanted to be around Kotetsu, wanted things to be normal between them. He had never planned to confess his feelings, scared it would ruin their friendship; but, if Kotetsu already knew and didn't care, then it didn't matter… did it?
"I'm sorry for how I acted Kotetsu, it was childish," Barnaby finally answered. "I should have just talked to you about it, it's been really awkward for me," Barnaby said with a blush. Admitting you felt that way about someone was embarrassing.
Kotetsu picked up the wine bottle and poured himself a second glass. Barnaby realised he hadn't even taken a sip yet. Maybe Kotetsu had the right idea; a few drinks would make this a little less unbearable. He took a few sips from his wine glass.
"I'm sorry it was awkward for you, but I swear it's not a problem," Kotetsu said, waving his hands. "Ah, it feels so much better getting that out of the way," Kotetsu said as he took another giant gulp of wine, he really must have been nervous to talk to Barnaby about this.
Barnaby followed suit and finished his glass, honestly getting drunk sounded pretty good right about now. His heart was a mess, on one hand Kotetsu knew his feelings and had turned him down, which was earth shattering. On the other hand, he still wanted to be with Barnaby like normal, which Barnaby had desperately wanted, he just wanted things to be normal between them. But would he be able to hold himself back around Kotetsu even if he did know his feelings? He felt supercharged with sexual energy, but maybe if Kotetsu was accepting of the fact he was attracted to him it wouldn't make it so weird when they touched.
Also knowing Kotetsu didn't feel the same way automatically killed the feelings he had for him, there was no questioning if the touches he gave had a hidden meaning, they were meant in friendship only, which left his imagination nowhere to roam.
"Thanks Kotetsu, I really appreciate you talking to me," Barnaby said as he poured himself more wine, Kotetsu had come prepared for this event, all this alcohol could only mean one thing, he too felt it was a let's get drunk off our asses kind of day.
They broke into the case of beer after not too long, the first bottle of wine put away by them in the span of minutes; they were both already feeling it. By their third beer they were both pretty hammered, Barnaby hadn't eaten anything since he got home, and all this alcohol on an empty stomach was going straight to his head.
"K-Kotetsu, we should eat something," Barnaby stuttered out, sitting on the little step that separated his kitchen from his living room. Kotetsu was right beside him, also sitting wobbly on the step.
"Yeah Bunny, we should," he answered, looking at his watch. "Most places should still be open, you choose…" he slurred out, his eyes glazed over. Kotetsu ended up leaning against him as he started looking through places on his phone, his vision blurry from the drinks; gosh this was worse than taking his glasses off.
He somehow managed it, and ordered them burgers and fries, it was the easiest thing he could manage, the app was the most straightforward on his phone, plus it was pre-programmed with all his credit card info and address, he just had to hit pay.
The two sat leaning against one another for a while, the room spinning as they waited for the food to arrive. "Thanks for this Kotetsu," Barnaby said lightly, he felt so much better. Somehow knowing Kotetsu knew he was attracted to him and was still willing to hang all over him like this and get drunk together and just be normal was exactly what he needed. Yes, the feeling of Kotetsu pressed against him was wonderful, but not in the way he had expected. Normally this would have sent fire through his veins and left him so rock hard he wouldn't be able to breathe, but now it was just nice. Kotetsu next to him was natural, it was like breathing air.
Their food arrived and it felt like walking across the deck of a boat during a storm to get to the door. Barnaby barely made it to the door. He pushed the door open, the world spinning as he did so and plastered a smile on his face, "hey thanks," he said, reaching out and taking the bag from the delivery guy, practically slamming the door shut in his haste to get back to a sitting position.
He dropped the bag of food on the ground beside Kotetsu and collapsed back onto the step leaning heavily on Kotetsu "o-oh god, the room is spinning Kotetsu, why'd we drink so much," he groaned out.
Kotetsu let out a laugh and reached into the bag pulling out his burger and shrugging "because I am a bad influence on you and cope with stress poorly," he admitted as he opened his wrapper biting into his burger like it was the first thing he had eaten after being trapped on a deserted island. "Oh god that's good," he practically moaned out, licking condiments off his lips. Barnaby felt a shock run through him, so much for things being normal, watching Kotetsu licking his lips and moaning like that had done it — he was still a mess for this man. But Kotetsu didn't seem to care and kept eating. He shoved the bag at Barnaby. "Eat something, it'll make you feel better," he said with authority. Kotetsu would know he was a pro at drinking.
Barnaby reached down into the bag and pulled out his own burger, unwrapping it he took a few bites. He didn't feel great but maybe the bread and grease would help make the world stop spinning.
They ended up finishing their burgers, Kotetsu went back to his beer, Barnaby switched to water for a bit until the food digested, then joined Kotetsu with the second bottle of wine. The two drank well into the night, joking and playing about like they always did when they were drinking.
Barnaby didn't remember falling asleep, but must have as the dreams came to him, memories of his high school days, a mix of lust filled hormones and adrenaline over searching for Ouroboros.
When he awoke he didn't feel the same drowsy effect he was used to. In fact other than the massive hangover that was already developing he felt more rested than he had in almost a year. He was warm and cozy and felt completely at peace, minus the throbbing in his head from the alcohol.
He slowly came into awareness of his surroundings. He was on the floor of his living room, but his head wasn't on the carpet, it was on something softer, and moving. He realised with shock that he was curled bodily around Kotetsu, his head on the older man's chest, legs twined around him, one arm under Kotetsu's head the other wrapped around him tightly. Both of Kotetsu's arms were wrapped lightly around him, holding him in place against his side. He had passed out and snuggled with Kotetsu all night?
He tried to pull himself away, but was so tangled up with Kotetsu that to do so would probably wake him up. Also, and he knew this was terrible of him to even think, this might be the only time he got to experience this, this wonderful feeling. He relaxed back against Kotetsu, laying his head back down on his chest and just enjoying the moment. Kotetsu was breathing lightly in his sleep, chest lifting and lowering under his head. He could hear his heart beating as well. It was calming, he felt so safe and at peace with Kotetsu here with him. He let out a contented sigh and closed his eyes, going back to sleep.