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Tiger & Bunny fic - Kotetsu/Barnaby
Title: Storytime
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Pairing: Kotetsu/Barnaby
Length: 3300 words
Rating: G
Summary: When Kotetsu comes down with the flu, Barnaby takes care of him and tries to keep him entertained.
Notes: An anon on the kinkmeme asked for fic of Barnaby reading to Kotetsu. I ended up picking one of my favorite novels - which I can actually see Barnaby reading, though he might find a few parts hit painfully close to home - and then abandoned all plausible reading speeds to excerpt the parts of my choice.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is the book in question. It's about the birth of the American superhero comic, the role played in the Golden Age comics industry by young Jewish men who frequently got royally screwed over by their publishers, World War II and the Holocaust, partnership, family, comic books themselves, superhero origins, creativity, escapism in about a dozen different senses of the term, and eventually I lose the ability to talk sensibly about it and just kind of start flailing my hands expressively. The excerpts chosen are by no means really representative; I mostly followed the thread of the comic-publishing plot until the part where Sam meets Tracy Bacon, because, well, I had to quote that part, that's why. As I mentioned on the meme, the version of the novel in the T&B-verse would have to be a bit different - whether because it would have to take place before NEXTs began to appear, or because superhero comics in a world with real superheroes would be a different prospect - but that's why I tended to skim over those parts. The book Kotetsu hears is still about comic books, though, either way; if Astro City can have superhero comics, so can T&B.
****
It had been a long time since anyone read out loud to Kotetsu. Since he was a little kid, and his mom would read him bedtime stories, or sometimes his dad - but Dad tended to kind of monotone through them, unless he got bored and made up his own versions. And sometimes that could be fun, but when he was young enough, sometimes he just wanted to hear the story he knew by heart and hear it done right, so usually he'd ask his mom.
Later, a lot later, he'd wish he'd let his dad make up his own versions more often, but by the time he was old enough to think that, it was too late, and he was too old for anyone to read to him.
He'd tried to keep it in mind when he read to Kaede, when she was tiny. He'd do all the voices, he'd make 'rawr' noises and make his hands into claws for dragons or monsters, he'd do explodey sounds and wave his hands around, but he always stuck to the story. "She likes it better when you read to her," Tomoe told him one night, when he'd been out getting people out of the subway tunnels after an explosion on the tracks and he'd missed storytime.
Bunny didn't do any voices, and he definitely didn't do explosions or monsters, or even the kind of books where a lot of those were happening. Good thing Kotetsu was too sick to care.
*
He'd been pretty much browbeaten into admitting he was sick. He'd come to work, he was going to damn well get through his paperwork if it killed him, when Barnaby asked him "Why are you so sweaty?"
"I dunno," Kotetsu said. Paperwork was so boring - hard to focus on at the best of times, let alone when he was feeling kind of sore all over, and needing to cough. He didn't need any distractions. Let alone Bunny reaching across his desk to try to hit him or grab his face or something when he started coughing. He dodged, glaring at his partner. "What was that for?"
"Just hold still a moment," Bunny said, then put a hand on his forehead. "I thought so. You're burning up."
So he'd been forced to go home, and not answer any hero calls - he hadn't gotten any, come to think of it, so his bosses were in on the conspiracy - and lie around at home. And, okay, it felt good to lay down on his couch and go to sleep, but he couldn't sleep all day, and when he was awake he felt too bad to even enjoy any Mr. Legend recordings, and there was nothing on TV that didn't kind of make his eyes hurt. Or his ears. And his music made his ears hurt, too.
So he called Bunny to explain that he'd died and gone to hell, and hell was boring. Bunny sighed. He looked like he was being made up for something - oh, right, they'd had an interview scheduled. "Did you take anything for the fever? Ibuprofen, acetaminophen?"
"Do what now?"
"Tylenol. Aspirin?"
"Oh. Huh. Yeah, I guess I forgot that." Kotetsu dragged his miserable corpse to the kitchen. He started shivering again as soon as his feet touched the cold tile. "I miss being a kid. I need somebody to tuck me in and bring me drinks and feed me okayu."
"I don't know what that is, but I can come over," Bunny said. "Can you wait about an hour?"
Kotetsu stared at the screen for a second. He wasn't used to getting results when he grumbled like this. "Well, yeah. Of course. You're really coming over?"
"Would you like me to bring you anything?"
"Bunny, you're the best!" he said, or tried to, but his enthusiasm just left him with a bout of coughing.
*
Kotetsu managed to change into pajamas and down something for the fever - he really didn't know what kind of painkillers he had, right now, especially since Bunny seemed to like to use the names with all the syllables and Kotetsu just bought the first thing he saw that'd make him hurt less after the latest round of getting thrown into buildings - and then flop on the couch again. He was half-asleep when Bunny let himself in, carrying a shopping bag. He tried to get up, but Bunny basically ordered him to lie back down, so he didn't put up much of a fight. He just laid still, half awake, listening to Bunny put things in the fridge, open and close cabinets, and finally come over to put a blanket over him. Must have found the linen closet.
Kotetsu drowsed while Bunny did other things - cleared some junk off the coffee table, found some things from his medicine cabinet - only really waking up at the feel of Bunny's cool, smooth hand on his forehead. He opened his eyes to see Bunny was kneeling by the couch, looking a lot more sympathetic than Kotetsu had expected. He'd sort of figured his partner would be grumpy, just helping him out of a sense of duty. "I'm not that bad off," he said. "Just bored. And sick. Hey, are you gonna get this from me?"
"I get my flu shots every year," Bunny said. "Unlike some people."
"I never get sick," Kotetsu protested despite the evidence.
Barnaby just stood up, smiling a little, rummaged around in something Kotetsu couldn't see, and then he sat on the couch at Kotetsu's feet, holding some kind of tablet thing, and started reading out loud.
*
In later years, holding forth to an interviewer or to an audience of aging fans at a comic book convention, Sam Clay liked to declare, apropos of his and Joe Kavalier's greatest creation, that back when he was a boy, sealed and hog-tied inside the airless vessel known as Brooklyn, New York, he had been haunted by dreams of Harry Houdini.
Around the middle of the fourth chapter, Barnaby noticed that Kotetsu had fallen asleep. He stopped reading aloud, returning the bookmark he'd left for himself - the book was his own reading material, not selected just to entertain Kotetsu - and leaned back on the couch slightly. He wasn't sure it had been the best choice, but Kotetsu had seemed to enjoy it until he drifted off, and if he had complaints when he woke up, maybe Barnaby could find something else to read. Kotetsu had to have some books on the shelves amongst his memorabilia collection.
When it grew dark, he got up to turn on a light, and the shifting of weight when he moved was apparently enough to wake Kotetsu. "What time is it?" Kotetsu rasped, then cleared his throat, which turned into coughing.
"You should see a doctor," Barnaby said. "Just to get something for your cough."
"I think I have some cough syrup in the medicine cabinet," Kotetsu said. "How much of the book did I miss?"
"I'm not sure." Barnaby went to investigate the bathroom. The bottle of cough syrup looked suspiciously old, but he brought it out anyway, looking for some kind of expiration date.
"I lost track somewhere in Prague," Kotetsu said. "Might be a bit advanced for me with my fever. You might want to try something simpler. Like Pat the Bunny." Barnaby eyed him suspiciously. "It's a real book!" Kotetsu explained hastily. "A kid's book! I don't have it here, but I swear it's real."
"When did you last take the Tylenol?" Barnaby asked. "You may be due for more. I'm afraid I may need to go soon."
"Surprised you didn't get a call before now." Kotetsu accepted the pills but didn't move to swallow them; Barnaby went to get him more water.
"I'll come back when I can. Tomorrow, if nothing else," he said, handing Kotetsu the water. "I bought you a few cartons of orange juice, quite a bit of fruit, and some canned soups, so you should have something to eat besides beer and last week's fried rice."
"You're a lifesaver, Bunny," Kotetsu said. "Don't worry about me if you're busy tomorrow."
*
As if Barnaby could ever follow that kind of direction.
"Excuse me, Origami?" he asked, the next morning in the training center.
"Yes?" The younger man lowered the weights to the resting position, out of breath.
"I was wondering... Kotetsu's not feeling well, and he was asking about okayu?" He didn't want to bother Kotetsu unnecessarily, and Origami was usually a pretty good source for Japanese cultural trivia.
Given way the training center and the cast of Hero TV operated, Barnaby really should have foreseen that his question would be overheard, and that he'd end up with Blue Rose's recommendations of reading material and offer to make chicken soup - he strongly suspected she'd never cooked it in her life, but he noted her recommended books - several different family remedies for flu and colds, including Sky High's "it helps to hug a dog! I can bring John over for a visit!," and Origami's offer to take him to a Japanese supermarket to buy a product that he described, appetizingly, as "soupy rice."
"Everyone has their own comfort food," Origami said, sounding as dubious about it as Barnaby felt. "I'm sure he'd be fine with the instant kind. He's lived alone a long time." Barnaby wondered if he ought to try making it from scratch. No, probably not, given the way his first attempt at fried rice had turned out. The instant packets should be foolproof.
With the flu-related errands done for the day, Barnaby was back to the business of being a hero, but after another interview ("Wild Tiger is sick right now,") and a routine hero call, Barnaby was able to go over to Kotetsu's place early that evening. He found his partner in the kitchen, staring bemusedly at the refrigerator's contents.
"It's unrecognizable when it contains real food, isn't it?" Barnaby greeted him. Kotetsu jumped - he must not have heard the door.
"That's just a lot of orange juice, Bunny."
"It's what Aunt Samantha always recommended when I was sick," Barnaby said. "And it was on sale."
"I don't know if I can drink that much, is all."
"Yes, you might die of a vitamin overdose." Barnaby put the shopping bag on an empty patch of counter, and noticed Kotetsu was shivering. "Go lie down. I can get you a drink."
"You think you're joking, but my system's not made to eat healthy stuff. Unless it's fried. So it stops being healthy." Kotetsu shuffled past him, and Barnaby had to resist the urge to scoop him up and carry him over to the couch. He was a grown man and he just had the flu; Barnaby was coddling him more than enough as it was. He'd probably forgotten to take anything for the fever again, and compounded it by standing barefoot on the tile in front of the open refrigerator door.
Barnaby settled for bringing Kotetsu a second blanket.
*
They had been walking for hours, in and out of the streetlights, through intermittent rainfall, heedless, smoking and talking until their throats were sore. At last they seemed to run out of things to say and turned wordlessly for home, carrying the idea between them....
At first Bunny had started to read from some kid's book - The Secret Garden, he thought - but Kotetsu had decided he liked the one they'd been in the middle of better, so that was what Bunny was on now. He was only halfway paying attention to the plot about comic books. Mostly, he was just following the sound of Bunny's voice. The fact he was here, reading to a flu-riddled old man with a pile of used Kleenx within arm's reach and an aversion to vitamins.
Granted, Bunny did tell him his Kleenex-heap was disgusting, clear it away, and then wash his hands at length, but that was nothing out of the ordinary for Bunny. Sometimes he had similar reactions to Kotetsu's meals. And yeah, Bunny also plied him with orange juice every time he coughed. But in between times, he read, and Kotetsu could just get lost in his voice again, occasionally being pulled out enough to chuckle at a one-liner or figure out what was up with the plot lately.
"Sammy, is this a trick?" he whispered. "Or are we serious?"
Sammy thought it over. The elevator chimed. The operator threw open the door.
"You tell me," Sammy said.
*
Barnaby came in the next morning to check on Kotetsu before work. "It's not like I'm on your way in," Kotetsu greeted him.
"Are you just sleeping on the couch all night?" Barnaby asked, wrinkling his nose at the latest installment of the used Kleenex. Kotetsu claimed some of them were reusable. Barnaby didn't like to think about that in detail. Or at all.
"Yeah. It's pretty comfy."
"If you say so..." He needed to start bringing rubber gloves to handle the Kleenex.
"Seriously, Bunny, you don't want to be late for work."
"I won't be." Not even if he took the time to bring Kotetsu another pillow, make sure he at least drank some orange juice, and prompt him about the Tylenol again. "I'll be back this evening," he said, but Kotetsu was asleep on his fresh pillow. Barnaby smoothed the hair from his forehead and let himself out, as quietly as he could.
Barnaby returned in the evening to find Kotetsu watching the channel guide on TV and drinking orange juice from the carton. At least he was getting fluids. And there was an empty bowl on the coffee table, so he was probably eating, too. "Are you waiting for something on TV?" Barnaby asked.
"No, just.... something to stare at," Kotetsu said, flipping the TV off. "It was starting to make my eyes hurt, though."
Barnaby put a hand to Kotetsu's forehead again, trying not to be too concerned. Flu could develop into pneumonia, though. He didn't feel especially feverish, so either he was improving or he'd remembered to do something about the fever today.
"You still feel like reading to me?" Kotetsu asked hopefully.
Of course he did, when Kotetsu smiled like that.
*
He exited the workroom, troubled, but not unduly, by a pang of sympathy for Kavalier & Clay. Love saw how it was. These boys had come up with this Escapist character and then, in exchange for some token payment and the opportunity of seeing their names in print, signed away the rights to Anapol and company.
*
Kotetsu figured he'd have to borrow this book and read it himself someday. He'd been drowsy and feverish enough the first two days that he was pretty sure he'd missed parts of the story, but he wasn't about to interrupt Bunny to ask for explanations of any details he'd missed.
He wasn't sure if it was the sound of his partner's voice he enjoyed, the soothing flow of words that sounded a lot more natural in Bunny's mouth than they ever would in Kotetsu's head, or just the fact that Bunny was there. It was nice to be taken care of, and nice that it was Bunny doing it; the younger man could be cute sometimes, even if it was mostly when Kotetsu was sick or injured and not able to fully appreciate it. He felt a little guilty, though. Bunny's time was so much in demand. The media loved him, and unlike a lot of heroes he was a crossover star, getting profiles in the kind of magazines that usually interviewed actors or musicians. It seemed like a shame he was giving up so much of his free time to entertain Kotetsu.
He mentioned that, when Bunny paused for a drink, and Bunny sighed at him. "Kotetsu, if I didn't want to be here I wouldn't keep dropping in."
"Yeah, but... why?"
"Someone needs to take care of you," Bunny said. "You're not very good at doing it yourself."
Kotetsu frowned at him, not so much insulted as annoyed. "That'd account for force-feeding me OJ. Not for reading to me."
"I was reading this book anyway," Bunny said. "Why shouldn't I share it with you?"
"Okay," Kotetsu said, planting his feet in Bunny's lap. The young man tried to push them off, and Kotetsu let the struggle hide the fact that he was touched. So far, most of their sharing of things like this had been one-way; Kotetsu trying to convince Bunny to appreciate new types of music or showing him movies he'd apparently never seen.
*
The only bright prospect for the day was that he and Joe had also been invited to come down to the radio studio to meet the cast of The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, in run-throughs for the debut next Monday afternoon.
*
Barnaby found he was looking forward to his afternoons spent reading to Kotetsu, if only because it was one of the rare situations when Kotetsu would admit to wanting and needing some kind of assistance. A dry mouth and rasping throat was worth it for the knowledge his partner actually needed him, and would admit to it. Even so, it was good to see that Kotetsu was improving.
That also meant he was getting restless. When Barnaby let himself on the fourth day, he was surprised to find a towel-clad Kotetsu drinking orange juice - from the carton, again - in the kitchen. He'd foregone showers for most of his illness so far, so this was a good sign, really, but Barnaby still had to bite back the urge to scold him about catching a chill.
"Hey, Bunny," Kotetsu said, without any apparent self-consciousness. Barnaby tried not to stare. He'd seen Kotetsu shirtless or otherwise partially-dressed before. This wasn't that different.
"Hello," Barnaby responded, feeling painfully awkward. "You're feeling better?"
"Yeah. The shower helped, too. I bet I can go back to work tomorrow."
"That would be good," Barnaby agreed.
"I'll miss you reading to me, though," Kotetsu said. "I don't guess I could talk you into..." He broke off into a fit of coughing.
"Clearly you're the picture of health." Barnaby felt he was on firmer ground now that he could be sarcastic. And possibly take care of Kotetsu a little longer.
"Well enough to shave, anyway," Kotetsu said. "'Scuse me a minute. The maintenance of the Beard is top-secret."
"You use a stencil, don't you."
"Top. Secret."
*
The stubble on their chins scraped together with a soft electric rasp. Sammy was so taken by surprise that by the time his brain with its considerable store of Judeo-Christian prohibitions and attitudes could begin sending harsh and condemnatory messages to the various relevant parts of his body, it was too late. He was already kissing Tracy Bacon back.
"I don't guess I could talk you into keeping this up after I'm well?" Kotetsu asked as Barnaby was getting ready to leave that evening, finally finishing the sentence he'd begun earlier that afternoon.
"The reading?"
"Yeah." Kotetsu got up to fold one of the blankets on his couch he no longer needed, so he wouldn't have to make eye contact. Or possibly explain at all. "It's just... kinda nice, I guess, and I like your voice, and you said you're not even halfway through the book..."
"I could do that," Barnaby said. He was smiling shyly when Kotetsu looked up at him. "Though I might pick a shorter book next time."
Kotetsu's own smile was probably edging over into silly. "Whatever you want," he said.
****
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Pairing: Kotetsu/Barnaby
Length: 3300 words
Rating: G
Summary: When Kotetsu comes down with the flu, Barnaby takes care of him and tries to keep him entertained.
Notes: An anon on the kinkmeme asked for fic of Barnaby reading to Kotetsu. I ended up picking one of my favorite novels - which I can actually see Barnaby reading, though he might find a few parts hit painfully close to home - and then abandoned all plausible reading speeds to excerpt the parts of my choice.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is the book in question. It's about the birth of the American superhero comic, the role played in the Golden Age comics industry by young Jewish men who frequently got royally screwed over by their publishers, World War II and the Holocaust, partnership, family, comic books themselves, superhero origins, creativity, escapism in about a dozen different senses of the term, and eventually I lose the ability to talk sensibly about it and just kind of start flailing my hands expressively. The excerpts chosen are by no means really representative; I mostly followed the thread of the comic-publishing plot until the part where Sam meets Tracy Bacon, because, well, I had to quote that part, that's why. As I mentioned on the meme, the version of the novel in the T&B-verse would have to be a bit different - whether because it would have to take place before NEXTs began to appear, or because superhero comics in a world with real superheroes would be a different prospect - but that's why I tended to skim over those parts. The book Kotetsu hears is still about comic books, though, either way; if Astro City can have superhero comics, so can T&B.
****
It had been a long time since anyone read out loud to Kotetsu. Since he was a little kid, and his mom would read him bedtime stories, or sometimes his dad - but Dad tended to kind of monotone through them, unless he got bored and made up his own versions. And sometimes that could be fun, but when he was young enough, sometimes he just wanted to hear the story he knew by heart and hear it done right, so usually he'd ask his mom.
Later, a lot later, he'd wish he'd let his dad make up his own versions more often, but by the time he was old enough to think that, it was too late, and he was too old for anyone to read to him.
He'd tried to keep it in mind when he read to Kaede, when she was tiny. He'd do all the voices, he'd make 'rawr' noises and make his hands into claws for dragons or monsters, he'd do explodey sounds and wave his hands around, but he always stuck to the story. "She likes it better when you read to her," Tomoe told him one night, when he'd been out getting people out of the subway tunnels after an explosion on the tracks and he'd missed storytime.
Bunny didn't do any voices, and he definitely didn't do explosions or monsters, or even the kind of books where a lot of those were happening. Good thing Kotetsu was too sick to care.
*
He'd been pretty much browbeaten into admitting he was sick. He'd come to work, he was going to damn well get through his paperwork if it killed him, when Barnaby asked him "Why are you so sweaty?"
"I dunno," Kotetsu said. Paperwork was so boring - hard to focus on at the best of times, let alone when he was feeling kind of sore all over, and needing to cough. He didn't need any distractions. Let alone Bunny reaching across his desk to try to hit him or grab his face or something when he started coughing. He dodged, glaring at his partner. "What was that for?"
"Just hold still a moment," Bunny said, then put a hand on his forehead. "I thought so. You're burning up."
So he'd been forced to go home, and not answer any hero calls - he hadn't gotten any, come to think of it, so his bosses were in on the conspiracy - and lie around at home. And, okay, it felt good to lay down on his couch and go to sleep, but he couldn't sleep all day, and when he was awake he felt too bad to even enjoy any Mr. Legend recordings, and there was nothing on TV that didn't kind of make his eyes hurt. Or his ears. And his music made his ears hurt, too.
So he called Bunny to explain that he'd died and gone to hell, and hell was boring. Bunny sighed. He looked like he was being made up for something - oh, right, they'd had an interview scheduled. "Did you take anything for the fever? Ibuprofen, acetaminophen?"
"Do what now?"
"Tylenol. Aspirin?"
"Oh. Huh. Yeah, I guess I forgot that." Kotetsu dragged his miserable corpse to the kitchen. He started shivering again as soon as his feet touched the cold tile. "I miss being a kid. I need somebody to tuck me in and bring me drinks and feed me okayu."
"I don't know what that is, but I can come over," Bunny said. "Can you wait about an hour?"
Kotetsu stared at the screen for a second. He wasn't used to getting results when he grumbled like this. "Well, yeah. Of course. You're really coming over?"
"Would you like me to bring you anything?"
"Bunny, you're the best!" he said, or tried to, but his enthusiasm just left him with a bout of coughing.
*
Kotetsu managed to change into pajamas and down something for the fever - he really didn't know what kind of painkillers he had, right now, especially since Bunny seemed to like to use the names with all the syllables and Kotetsu just bought the first thing he saw that'd make him hurt less after the latest round of getting thrown into buildings - and then flop on the couch again. He was half-asleep when Bunny let himself in, carrying a shopping bag. He tried to get up, but Bunny basically ordered him to lie back down, so he didn't put up much of a fight. He just laid still, half awake, listening to Bunny put things in the fridge, open and close cabinets, and finally come over to put a blanket over him. Must have found the linen closet.
Kotetsu drowsed while Bunny did other things - cleared some junk off the coffee table, found some things from his medicine cabinet - only really waking up at the feel of Bunny's cool, smooth hand on his forehead. He opened his eyes to see Bunny was kneeling by the couch, looking a lot more sympathetic than Kotetsu had expected. He'd sort of figured his partner would be grumpy, just helping him out of a sense of duty. "I'm not that bad off," he said. "Just bored. And sick. Hey, are you gonna get this from me?"
"I get my flu shots every year," Bunny said. "Unlike some people."
"I never get sick," Kotetsu protested despite the evidence.
Barnaby just stood up, smiling a little, rummaged around in something Kotetsu couldn't see, and then he sat on the couch at Kotetsu's feet, holding some kind of tablet thing, and started reading out loud.
*
In later years, holding forth to an interviewer or to an audience of aging fans at a comic book convention, Sam Clay liked to declare, apropos of his and Joe Kavalier's greatest creation, that back when he was a boy, sealed and hog-tied inside the airless vessel known as Brooklyn, New York, he had been haunted by dreams of Harry Houdini.
Around the middle of the fourth chapter, Barnaby noticed that Kotetsu had fallen asleep. He stopped reading aloud, returning the bookmark he'd left for himself - the book was his own reading material, not selected just to entertain Kotetsu - and leaned back on the couch slightly. He wasn't sure it had been the best choice, but Kotetsu had seemed to enjoy it until he drifted off, and if he had complaints when he woke up, maybe Barnaby could find something else to read. Kotetsu had to have some books on the shelves amongst his memorabilia collection.
When it grew dark, he got up to turn on a light, and the shifting of weight when he moved was apparently enough to wake Kotetsu. "What time is it?" Kotetsu rasped, then cleared his throat, which turned into coughing.
"You should see a doctor," Barnaby said. "Just to get something for your cough."
"I think I have some cough syrup in the medicine cabinet," Kotetsu said. "How much of the book did I miss?"
"I'm not sure." Barnaby went to investigate the bathroom. The bottle of cough syrup looked suspiciously old, but he brought it out anyway, looking for some kind of expiration date.
"I lost track somewhere in Prague," Kotetsu said. "Might be a bit advanced for me with my fever. You might want to try something simpler. Like Pat the Bunny." Barnaby eyed him suspiciously. "It's a real book!" Kotetsu explained hastily. "A kid's book! I don't have it here, but I swear it's real."
"When did you last take the Tylenol?" Barnaby asked. "You may be due for more. I'm afraid I may need to go soon."
"Surprised you didn't get a call before now." Kotetsu accepted the pills but didn't move to swallow them; Barnaby went to get him more water.
"I'll come back when I can. Tomorrow, if nothing else," he said, handing Kotetsu the water. "I bought you a few cartons of orange juice, quite a bit of fruit, and some canned soups, so you should have something to eat besides beer and last week's fried rice."
"You're a lifesaver, Bunny," Kotetsu said. "Don't worry about me if you're busy tomorrow."
*
As if Barnaby could ever follow that kind of direction.
"Excuse me, Origami?" he asked, the next morning in the training center.
"Yes?" The younger man lowered the weights to the resting position, out of breath.
"I was wondering... Kotetsu's not feeling well, and he was asking about okayu?" He didn't want to bother Kotetsu unnecessarily, and Origami was usually a pretty good source for Japanese cultural trivia.
Given way the training center and the cast of Hero TV operated, Barnaby really should have foreseen that his question would be overheard, and that he'd end up with Blue Rose's recommendations of reading material and offer to make chicken soup - he strongly suspected she'd never cooked it in her life, but he noted her recommended books - several different family remedies for flu and colds, including Sky High's "it helps to hug a dog! I can bring John over for a visit!," and Origami's offer to take him to a Japanese supermarket to buy a product that he described, appetizingly, as "soupy rice."
"Everyone has their own comfort food," Origami said, sounding as dubious about it as Barnaby felt. "I'm sure he'd be fine with the instant kind. He's lived alone a long time." Barnaby wondered if he ought to try making it from scratch. No, probably not, given the way his first attempt at fried rice had turned out. The instant packets should be foolproof.
With the flu-related errands done for the day, Barnaby was back to the business of being a hero, but after another interview ("Wild Tiger is sick right now,") and a routine hero call, Barnaby was able to go over to Kotetsu's place early that evening. He found his partner in the kitchen, staring bemusedly at the refrigerator's contents.
"It's unrecognizable when it contains real food, isn't it?" Barnaby greeted him. Kotetsu jumped - he must not have heard the door.
"That's just a lot of orange juice, Bunny."
"It's what Aunt Samantha always recommended when I was sick," Barnaby said. "And it was on sale."
"I don't know if I can drink that much, is all."
"Yes, you might die of a vitamin overdose." Barnaby put the shopping bag on an empty patch of counter, and noticed Kotetsu was shivering. "Go lie down. I can get you a drink."
"You think you're joking, but my system's not made to eat healthy stuff. Unless it's fried. So it stops being healthy." Kotetsu shuffled past him, and Barnaby had to resist the urge to scoop him up and carry him over to the couch. He was a grown man and he just had the flu; Barnaby was coddling him more than enough as it was. He'd probably forgotten to take anything for the fever again, and compounded it by standing barefoot on the tile in front of the open refrigerator door.
Barnaby settled for bringing Kotetsu a second blanket.
*
They had been walking for hours, in and out of the streetlights, through intermittent rainfall, heedless, smoking and talking until their throats were sore. At last they seemed to run out of things to say and turned wordlessly for home, carrying the idea between them....
At first Bunny had started to read from some kid's book - The Secret Garden, he thought - but Kotetsu had decided he liked the one they'd been in the middle of better, so that was what Bunny was on now. He was only halfway paying attention to the plot about comic books. Mostly, he was just following the sound of Bunny's voice. The fact he was here, reading to a flu-riddled old man with a pile of used Kleenx within arm's reach and an aversion to vitamins.
Granted, Bunny did tell him his Kleenex-heap was disgusting, clear it away, and then wash his hands at length, but that was nothing out of the ordinary for Bunny. Sometimes he had similar reactions to Kotetsu's meals. And yeah, Bunny also plied him with orange juice every time he coughed. But in between times, he read, and Kotetsu could just get lost in his voice again, occasionally being pulled out enough to chuckle at a one-liner or figure out what was up with the plot lately.
"Sammy, is this a trick?" he whispered. "Or are we serious?"
Sammy thought it over. The elevator chimed. The operator threw open the door.
"You tell me," Sammy said.
*
Barnaby came in the next morning to check on Kotetsu before work. "It's not like I'm on your way in," Kotetsu greeted him.
"Are you just sleeping on the couch all night?" Barnaby asked, wrinkling his nose at the latest installment of the used Kleenex. Kotetsu claimed some of them were reusable. Barnaby didn't like to think about that in detail. Or at all.
"Yeah. It's pretty comfy."
"If you say so..." He needed to start bringing rubber gloves to handle the Kleenex.
"Seriously, Bunny, you don't want to be late for work."
"I won't be." Not even if he took the time to bring Kotetsu another pillow, make sure he at least drank some orange juice, and prompt him about the Tylenol again. "I'll be back this evening," he said, but Kotetsu was asleep on his fresh pillow. Barnaby smoothed the hair from his forehead and let himself out, as quietly as he could.
Barnaby returned in the evening to find Kotetsu watching the channel guide on TV and drinking orange juice from the carton. At least he was getting fluids. And there was an empty bowl on the coffee table, so he was probably eating, too. "Are you waiting for something on TV?" Barnaby asked.
"No, just.... something to stare at," Kotetsu said, flipping the TV off. "It was starting to make my eyes hurt, though."
Barnaby put a hand to Kotetsu's forehead again, trying not to be too concerned. Flu could develop into pneumonia, though. He didn't feel especially feverish, so either he was improving or he'd remembered to do something about the fever today.
"You still feel like reading to me?" Kotetsu asked hopefully.
Of course he did, when Kotetsu smiled like that.
*
He exited the workroom, troubled, but not unduly, by a pang of sympathy for Kavalier & Clay. Love saw how it was. These boys had come up with this Escapist character and then, in exchange for some token payment and the opportunity of seeing their names in print, signed away the rights to Anapol and company.
*
Kotetsu figured he'd have to borrow this book and read it himself someday. He'd been drowsy and feverish enough the first two days that he was pretty sure he'd missed parts of the story, but he wasn't about to interrupt Bunny to ask for explanations of any details he'd missed.
He wasn't sure if it was the sound of his partner's voice he enjoyed, the soothing flow of words that sounded a lot more natural in Bunny's mouth than they ever would in Kotetsu's head, or just the fact that Bunny was there. It was nice to be taken care of, and nice that it was Bunny doing it; the younger man could be cute sometimes, even if it was mostly when Kotetsu was sick or injured and not able to fully appreciate it. He felt a little guilty, though. Bunny's time was so much in demand. The media loved him, and unlike a lot of heroes he was a crossover star, getting profiles in the kind of magazines that usually interviewed actors or musicians. It seemed like a shame he was giving up so much of his free time to entertain Kotetsu.
He mentioned that, when Bunny paused for a drink, and Bunny sighed at him. "Kotetsu, if I didn't want to be here I wouldn't keep dropping in."
"Yeah, but... why?"
"Someone needs to take care of you," Bunny said. "You're not very good at doing it yourself."
Kotetsu frowned at him, not so much insulted as annoyed. "That'd account for force-feeding me OJ. Not for reading to me."
"I was reading this book anyway," Bunny said. "Why shouldn't I share it with you?"
"Okay," Kotetsu said, planting his feet in Bunny's lap. The young man tried to push them off, and Kotetsu let the struggle hide the fact that he was touched. So far, most of their sharing of things like this had been one-way; Kotetsu trying to convince Bunny to appreciate new types of music or showing him movies he'd apparently never seen.
*
The only bright prospect for the day was that he and Joe had also been invited to come down to the radio studio to meet the cast of The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist, in run-throughs for the debut next Monday afternoon.
*
Barnaby found he was looking forward to his afternoons spent reading to Kotetsu, if only because it was one of the rare situations when Kotetsu would admit to wanting and needing some kind of assistance. A dry mouth and rasping throat was worth it for the knowledge his partner actually needed him, and would admit to it. Even so, it was good to see that Kotetsu was improving.
That also meant he was getting restless. When Barnaby let himself on the fourth day, he was surprised to find a towel-clad Kotetsu drinking orange juice - from the carton, again - in the kitchen. He'd foregone showers for most of his illness so far, so this was a good sign, really, but Barnaby still had to bite back the urge to scold him about catching a chill.
"Hey, Bunny," Kotetsu said, without any apparent self-consciousness. Barnaby tried not to stare. He'd seen Kotetsu shirtless or otherwise partially-dressed before. This wasn't that different.
"Hello," Barnaby responded, feeling painfully awkward. "You're feeling better?"
"Yeah. The shower helped, too. I bet I can go back to work tomorrow."
"That would be good," Barnaby agreed.
"I'll miss you reading to me, though," Kotetsu said. "I don't guess I could talk you into..." He broke off into a fit of coughing.
"Clearly you're the picture of health." Barnaby felt he was on firmer ground now that he could be sarcastic. And possibly take care of Kotetsu a little longer.
"Well enough to shave, anyway," Kotetsu said. "'Scuse me a minute. The maintenance of the Beard is top-secret."
"You use a stencil, don't you."
"Top. Secret."
*
The stubble on their chins scraped together with a soft electric rasp. Sammy was so taken by surprise that by the time his brain with its considerable store of Judeo-Christian prohibitions and attitudes could begin sending harsh and condemnatory messages to the various relevant parts of his body, it was too late. He was already kissing Tracy Bacon back.
"I don't guess I could talk you into keeping this up after I'm well?" Kotetsu asked as Barnaby was getting ready to leave that evening, finally finishing the sentence he'd begun earlier that afternoon.
"The reading?"
"Yeah." Kotetsu got up to fold one of the blankets on his couch he no longer needed, so he wouldn't have to make eye contact. Or possibly explain at all. "It's just... kinda nice, I guess, and I like your voice, and you said you're not even halfway through the book..."
"I could do that," Barnaby said. He was smiling shyly when Kotetsu looked up at him. "Though I might pick a shorter book next time."
Kotetsu's own smile was probably edging over into silly. "Whatever you want," he said.
****
no subject
I actually think I may check out that book, since it sounds like an interesting read as well!
no subject
I highly recommend the book. One thing that doesn't come across in the excerpts here or in my explanation above is how funny it is - I just love this book to pieces (literally, my paperback's in bad shape) and omg I would be thrilled if this fic worked as a rec. :D