Kotetsu woke up the next morning and almost had a heart attack, but kept still. Barnaby was fast asleep on him, one arm wrapped tightly around him. He was using the other man's arm as a pillow, his own arms lightly holding onto Barnaby. He looked down at the ball of fluff that was Barnaby's hair on his chest. The two of them had been drunk, really drunk, and ended up sitting on the floor while drinking beer and just talking. It had been wonderful — the two of them had been normal for once in what felt like forever.

Explaining to Barnaby that he didn't have feelings for him had gone way better than he had expected. Barnaby had accepted it right away and even admitted he had felt awkward about it. Now that the air was clear he felt so much better. Now all he had to do was actually not have feelings for Barnaby, which he was working on. But situations like this weren't helping. It had been so long since he felt the body of another sleeping next to him (Kaede not included). The feeling of Barnaby holding onto him, of breathing next to him, was so nice. He could remember sleeping in and having lazy mornings with Tomoe like this; the two of them staying in bed for hours just snuggling. He knew he shouldn't indulge, that this would make getting over Barnaby harder, but what was he supposed to do? Wake the guy up? He never slept well, taking sleep away from him seemed like it was out of the question.

So he relaxed and held onto the blonde a little tighter; shifting his legs ever so slightly so that he was more comfortable so that Barnaby's leg rested more naturally between his own. He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. Just this once, he would indulge. And when Barnaby woke up he could just blame it on the alcohol. Without even thinking he used his free arm to rise up and run his fingers through Barnaby's hair. It was so soft, softer than Tomoe's even had been. His curls felt wonderful to play with. He ended up twining his fingers around one, spinning it slowly around his finger before sliding his whole hand through the mess. He wasn't thinking at all as he kept petting Barnaby's head, playing with his hair as he relaxed there, enjoying this moment.

The moment ended as Barnaby let out a soft sigh and shifted. Kotetsu wrenched his hand away from his hair, going stiff as he held his breath, if Barnaby had woken up while he was playing with his hair, how would he have explained that away? He was such an idiot.

Barnaby let out another sigh and shifted a bit, then seemed to relax back into him. Kotetsu let the breath he had been holding out and sighed. This had to end, but waking up Barnaby seemed so unfair.

Eventually, he mustered the effort and touched Barnaby's shoulder lightly. "Bunny, hey Bunny," he whispered and Barnaby's eyes shot open and he lifted his head looking Kotetsu in the eye before struggling to pull himself away. The two separated quickly.

"I'm so sorry Kotetsu, I must have passed out next to you and curled up on you, it won't happen again," his face was bright red. Why was Barnaby taking the blame, this was clearly his own fault.

"No Bunny, I probably snuggled up to you, I hate sleeping alone," he said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. It was true, he did hate sleeping alone, he had always loved sleeping next to Tomoe.

The two sat awkwardly for a while until Kotetsu spoke up. "Well, I should help you clean up a bit before I head out, we are on call today so if any emergencies come up we should be ready," he said as he pulled himself up into a standing position. As he stood he realised his vest and tie were gone, and his shirt was undone. He must have taken them off and undone his shirt after getting hot from drinking. Barnaby was in a similar state, his trademark black T-shirt was nowhere to be found, sitting in just his cargo-style jeans topless.

Barnaby got up and stretched, his muscles flexing under his skin in a most tantalizing way. Kotetsu averted his gaze quickly looking for his own clothes, and doing up his shirt.

The two cleaned up the apartment in companionable silence, for the first time since they danced Kotetsu didn't feel the silence as stifling. Kotetsu placed a bag of cans down in Barnaby's kitchen and turned to the younger man.

"Hey, so we are good now right?" he asked just to make sure.

"Of course, I'm sorry for having caused so much trouble," Barnaby said blushing again. Kotetsu couldn't help but notice just how cute he looked with his hair a mess and that blush on his face.

He left feeling better, and also hoping there wasn't a call today, his head was pounding with hangover, why did he always forget to drink water?