Only the Lonely, chapter 11
Mar. 20th, 2012 02:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lirillithTitle: Only the Lonely
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Characters/pairing: Karina/Barnaby, Kotetsu, Pao-lin, Nathan, Ben
Length: 3k words
Rating: T
Summary: When Kotetsu returns from retirement and starts coming to Karina's performances again, she thinks she has her chance to get closer to him at last... but that also means getting to know his partner.
****
The MVP ceremony was the same as ever. No new rookies, just the usual highlights of the season, the rankings for the Second League and then the First - Barnaby walked away with the second-league MVP award, of course, with a victory margin that was kind of disgusting - and speeches from Agnes and Acting OBC President Lloyds about Hero TV's efforts to blah blah justice blah like they'd been doing at every official Hero TV function since Maverick was exposed. She understood why they kept doing it for the audiences, but she had to stand onstage without fidgeting the whole time. To make matters worse, she was flanked by Sky High, who listened to each and every speech about justice with his eyes glistening, apparently completely sincere, on her right, and Nathan on her left, making it incredibly difficult not to whisper to him.
The afterparty at least gave her a chance to finally get out of costume, even if it was just to change into a different wig she hadn't been sweating into, have the Blue Rose nails put on her hands, and don a dress and heels. Her floating ice pack seemed to be working well enough - it was visible if you knew where to look, but Nathan hadn't been able to see it at a distance, and it wasn't rubbing off her makeup, so she looked more or less unharmed. Not bad at all, especially since everyone would have seen her take the punch.
But the afterparty was, if anything, more tedious than her own graduation had been. At least there she'd been able to swap seats after they'd walked so she and Jane could talk while it went on. Here, she was stuck smiling and laughing with the Titan president and board members, the Pepsi representative, the Suntory rep, someone from Aurora Cosmetics, someone else from Aphrodite, and a rep from Galatea Toys who wanted to talk about the Blue Rose doll prototype she hadn't had a chance to see yet. She laughed at each and every joke they made about her encounter out there, about Cutie Escapes and catch phrases and her storyline with Barnaby. She posed for pictures with most of them, and signed a few trading cards, smiling the whole time, even when the Galatea guy had one for his daughter and then, with a wink, "one for me." At least it didn't have a phone number or something on it. She nursed a champagne flute of Pepsi Nex, wishing she could just have some water or something, and tried to remember to keep her eye cold, and barely got a chance to talk to anyone she liked, because time spent talking amongst themselves was time they weren't mingling.
She did get to talk to Natasha, for a while, which was nice. Pao-lin had really hit the manager jackpot, even if she was always complaining about being told to act a little cuter. At least Pao-lin got to wear pants. Natasha promised to pencil in an apartment-hunting afternoon, and they talked about price ranges - this was what her dad had meant about a budget, she didn't really know what was reasonable.
"A third of your monthly income is sort of the rule of thumb," Natasha said, "though for you girls I think we should set the bar a tiny bit lower than that."
"Yeah, no kidding," Karina said faintly. "I'd kind of like to have something that won't completely blow my cover if I have civilian friends over."
"You could just tell them you're a trust fund baby," Natasha suggested, with a smile. "We can talk more at the time. Have you had a chance to eat?"
Karina usually avoided eating at these events. She didn't want another round of tabloid speculation on her weight and diet. But she was kind of starving, so she said, "Not really," and let herself be shooed over to the table where Pao-lin pointed out the ha gao.
"We eat a lot better at these since you joined up, Kid," Kotetsu commented, somehow materializing by them. He was wearing a tux, because even official events had their compensations.
"Glad I could help," Pao-lin commented around a mouthful of dumpling. "Steamed things last better on a buffet, I guess."
"They just added it the year you two started as a welcome thing, I think," Kotetsu explained as Karina tried to maneuver her dumpling from plate to mouth without spilling her drink, "but it was such a hit we've had it every year since." He rescued her Pepsi glass just as she felt it slipping.
"Ugh, I need to go," Pao-lin sighed, but not before she moved over a few steps to snag a final pan-fried dumpling. "You talked to Natasha about scheduling, Karina, right?"
"Yeah," Karina said. "Good luck!"
"Thanks," Pao-lin said, sighing again as she trudged off.
"Something up?" Kotetsu asked.
"She's getting, um... old enough that her bosses are starting to want her to show some more skin," Karina said. It had a lot less to do with age than cup size, really. "I overheard them talking about it earlier. Knowing my bosses, she's going to get a repetition of it all night, even if she doesn't have to go through with it."
"What? No way! She's just a little kid! Barely any older than Kaede!"
Karina debated whether to point out that Pao-lin had started heroing at about a year older than Kaede's current age. She settled on, "She's the age I was when I started with this costume."
"Sometimes I feel really old," Kotesu said pitifully.
"There, there," she said, reclaiming her Pepsi flute from him.
"How are you holding up?" he asked. "You kinda looked like you could use something stronger than Pepsi."
"Alcohol can make the bruising worse, can't it? I'm pretty sure the medics told me not to drink," she said. "But I'm fine. My eye doesn't even really hurt, I'm just worried about the aftereffects."
"Got it," he said. "I guess you're almost used to being Queen of Heroes now, right?"
"Kind of? It doesn't really change the amount of attention I get," she said. She'd been a front-runner her whole career so far.
"I guess everyone takes these things better than I do," Kotetsu said. "Bunny's great at them." She looked over the direction he was facing, where Barnaby was chatting amiably with a group of four, one wearing a press pass, the others clearly representing sponsors. She remembered what he'd said about acting.
"That doesn't mean he likes them. I wonder if there's some way to save him," Karina said.
"You maybe could," he said. "The media lady spent about two minutes with me and she was done, and the sponsors, well..."
The reporter was the only one she'd thought she could peel away. But of course Tiger and Barnaby in the first league would be the story the reporter was after; articles about Karina would mostly be retrospectives by the usual hero columnists, who reported on the standings and analyzed performance like sports writers. They didn't need interviews for that. "What companies are the sponsor reps from?" she asked, but then she realized the other thing she could do. "If I just drag him off, it looks like stealing your thunder."
"Nah," he said. "Well, depends on how you do it, I guess."
"You're a huge help," she said, tossing back her Pepsi like it was a shot of something. "I guess there's only one way to find out how it plays."
He was grinning. "Need any more liquid courage?"
"Don't make me put ice down your neck," she said, handing her glass and plate to a passing waiter. She took a deep breath, and headed over towards Barnaby. You're Blue Rose right now, she told herself. You're the ice queen of Stern Bild who leaves everyone begging for more or whatever Mario always says. Your heels do not give you any trouble no matter how thick the carpet is. She felt the way she walked change to something slower and slinkier as she got back into character. You have Barnaby Brooks Jr. wrapped around your little finger, and you aren't distracted by the fact he looks hot in a tux, she told herself. You have really interesting ideas about using your powers in bed. You totally own some kind of whip. Maybe with thorns on it. She heard the chatter die as she neared the knot of sponsors around Barnaby.
"Blue Rose," he said. "I was looking for you earlier."
He was a huge help too. She put one hand on her hip, trying to think - she needed to come up with something domineering but tactful to say, and she didn't have a door to lean sexily against. "You forgot to congratulate me," she said, draping her other hand over his shoulder.
"Exactly," he said. "If you'll excuse me a moment, everyone..."
To a murmur of goodbyes and best wishes, they made their way towards a window, Barnaby's hand hovering near but not quite touching the small of her back. She glanced back to see the group dispersing. Poor Kotetsu seemed to have inherited the reporter, but maybe he wouldn't mind the attention. He'd said something about Kaede wanting to see him on the show more. News coverage might suffice.
"Thank you," Barnaby murmured, devoutly. "I'm incredibly rusty at this sort of event."
"You're welcome," she said, automatically. They stopped near a window, at some distance from the nearest guests. "You looked like you were doing fine, though."
"And the... I guess I never really saw the Blue Rose persona as being so, um...."
He was blushing, she realized. Well, that means I'm doing it right, she thought of saying, but Blue Rose wouldn't let him off the hook.
"Shall I make you pick an adjective?" she asked, smiling slightly.
"Please don't," he said, but she just waited, keeping an eye on him. "Sexy?" he finally managed, blushing to the roots of his hair.
"I'll accept it," she said. That was the general idea behind it, after all. "I didn't know you liked that."
"Neither did I," he admitted. "Until you turned the full force of it on me. As just a generalized thing..." And she hadn't realized she'd liked it either till just now, but that had been... she'd liked it. She kissed him lightly, figuring at this point they might as well go for it before Agnes choreographed everything for them.
"Is your black eye doing all right?" he asked. "I could feel the cold just now."
"Like I told Kotetsu, it doesn't really hurt. I think she sort of got me a glancing blow on the cheek. I just want to minimize the bruising."
"Perfectly understandable," he said, before she kissed him again.
Eventually they were rousted out of their corner by Nathan. Barnaby was kissing her neck when he suddenly yelped in surprise, which was pretty disorienting; by the time she opened her eyes, Nathan had his arms wrapped around Barnaby from behind, though she suspected he'd opened with the usual butt-grab. "You didn't invite me, darlings?" he asked, practically nibbling on Barnaby's ear, which was about as close as he'd ever get to chaperoning anyone, probably. Then he dabbed some of the blue off Barnaby's face with a hanky, touched up her lipstick - of course he had blue lipstick on his person somewhere, she didn't know why it even surprised her anymore - and dispatched Barnaby to help Kotetsu with something.
"You ruin all my fun," she pouted.
"Nonsense. We just have a business proposition to discuss."
"We do?"
"Kotetsu's scheming to get Apollon to buy out your contract."
"He was thinking about it. I don't know if he really schemes."
Nathan waved that away airily. "So I have a competing possibility for you. Just a concept, you understand, I'd still need to go through the same board-of-directors hoops Apollon would, but... who's to say Tiger and Barnaby need to be the only hero duo?"
She stopped dead, narrowly missing a waiter. "Wait. Seriously? But you and Bison work so well together."
"True. He's all defense, I'm all offense, we complement each other... not in color schemes, mind you, but that could be arranged. But there's also a certain flair to a fire and ice team, don't you think?"
She wondered if Kronos had refused to sell Bison's contract. No, surely not. He didn't do that well, though teaming up unofficially with Nathan had helped him. And he'd be a lot more of a bargain than she would. So she was probably the first choice. "You may have a point. So, what, would I be 'Red Rose'?"
"That would depend on the sponsors," he said. "But think about it, would you?"
She thought about it for most of the evening. He introduced her to a few of the Helios board, and she was so off-guard she actually mentioned hating her catchphrase to one of them before she caught herself. Fortunately the woman just laughed and agreed it could be better, and Karina was able to get herself back into her party persona. It was sort of like playing Blue Rose, but polite. To her surprise, several of the people Nathan introduced her to wanted to talk about the rankings, how she'd "played" - it took a few repetitions before she realized they meant it in the sense of playing a football game, not in the sense of playing a role or a song - and she stumbled through some discussion of that.
"I'm lucky enough to have powers that let me immobilize a large area or group at once," she said. "Like stopping a group of criminals, or saving a group of civilians. It lets me accumulate points very quickly, as opposed to a steadier flow like Sky High's." She wondered if this was part of Nathan's reasoning. His powers had limited non-deadly utility, for all his creativity with them, and she typically outscored him. Though, yes, he'd care about the style points too. They'd make for some very eye-catching posters.
Finally, though, the corporate types began to call it a night, and the remaining heroes - Pao-lin and Natasha had already gone home - gathered at one end of the room. Some of the staff were already starting to clear off the refreshment tables. Kotetsu and Sky High were talking happily with a couple of the second league heroes, Origami had taken off his helmet and hit the buffet at last, and Bison was, for once, not complaining about Nathan's hand on his rear, whether because he'd drunk enough not to care - she wasn't sure how, with his helmet, but maybe he wasn't averse to getting his champagne through a straw - or just because the crowd had mostly cleared out.
"This is his favorite part," Barnaby said behind her. She leaned back into him, not even needing to ask who he meant.
"You never really got close with the second league?"
"I had nothing against any of them, but I'm afraid I seemed standoffish to them."
"It couldn't just be that you were standoffish. You just seemed that way."
"I... tried to make conversation..."
"I'm just teasing," she said, though she hadn't been entirely. The fact he'd been a little defensive was proof of how much he'd improved since they met, though. "I think this is everyone's favorite part."
"Even mine," he said. "Though I may enjoy the attention more than most do."
Karina tried to hide her smirk. Hiding it from him was easy, but not necessarily from everyone else. "You might," she finally admitted. "Possibly. A little."
"I sense faint traces of sarcasm," he said, slipping his arms around her waist.
"Nooo. You must have had too much to drink."
He nuzzled her neck, and she was giggling as Nathan chimed in with a fond-sounding, "Honestly, you two."
"Aw, give 'em a break, they're young," Kotetsu said. "Rose, have you met Ben?" He gestured to a smiling, moon-faced black man at his side.
"Briefly?" she said, slipping away from Barnaby. "I remember seeing you before, at the Justice Tower." The only person in unbloodied casual clothes in their circle of costumes, armor, and lab coats. He was in a suit now, though he'd clearly loosened his tie as soon as he could.
"Right," Ben said, his smile broadening. "I'm surprised you remembered. Ben Jackson - I manage these two," he said, shaking her hand. She grinned back, liking him already.
"I don't know if I caught your name at the time," she said, "let alone that you were the Ben Kotetsu and Barnaby kept mentioning."
"Well, I'm sure you know what Kotetsu has in mind," Ben said. "No guarantees, but I'll see what I can do." She smiled broadly but less genuinely, wondering what she was supposed to do in the midst of all this corporate intrigue. Nathan knew about Kotetsu's plan, so it was only fair to let the Apollon side know, right? "Good meeting you, Blue Rose, and congratulations."
She thanked him, but Sky High had overheard, and apparently decided he'd been remiss. "Congratulations, Ms. Blue! And again, congratulations!" He wasn't the last, of course, and she kept fielding more congratulations as she made her way out to where all the limos were waiting.
Outside, though, she stuck around, watching the others leave, helmets tucked under their arms or tossed in the backseat (except for Sky High, who wore his faithfully) and the limos roll away. Nathan went with Bison. Hmmm. "I should probably mention," she said to Kotetsu. "Nathan's interested in buying out my contract, too."
"Good!" Kotetsu said. "I suggested it to him."
"Kotetsu..." Barnaby, standing behind him, had winced. She wasn't sure whether she liked the idea of a flattering bidding war for her contract or not, but it hadn't been a very wise move for an Apollon employee. "Why?"
"You need better bosses," he said. "And veto rights on your costume."
"That wasn't exactly what I meant," she said. It was late, and it had been a very long day, and Barnaby and Kotetsu were both wearing tuxedos.
"I'll try to explain it to him later," Barnaby said. "You need to go home, Karina. You look exhausted." He steered her towards a limo, and leaned down to kiss her as she got in. "Congratulations, your majesty."
"Hey, king and queen of heroes," Kotetsu said, behind him. "And congrats, Rose. In case I missed saying it."
"He's not the king, he's the prince consort," she said. She caught Barnaby frowning as the chauffeur closed the door, and she grinned at him. He finally smiled back. She watched Kotetsu sling an arm around his neck and walk him towards another limo, as her own pulled away from the curb.
She was pretty sure she'd be leaving makeup smeared on the seats. But that was OBC's problem, not hers.
****
Fandom: Tiger & Bunny
Characters/pairing: Karina/Barnaby, Kotetsu, Pao-lin, Nathan, Ben
Length: 3k words
Rating: T
Summary: When Kotetsu returns from retirement and starts coming to Karina's performances again, she thinks she has her chance to get closer to him at last... but that also means getting to know his partner.
****
The MVP ceremony was the same as ever. No new rookies, just the usual highlights of the season, the rankings for the Second League and then the First - Barnaby walked away with the second-league MVP award, of course, with a victory margin that was kind of disgusting - and speeches from Agnes and Acting OBC President Lloyds about Hero TV's efforts to blah blah justice blah like they'd been doing at every official Hero TV function since Maverick was exposed. She understood why they kept doing it for the audiences, but she had to stand onstage without fidgeting the whole time. To make matters worse, she was flanked by Sky High, who listened to each and every speech about justice with his eyes glistening, apparently completely sincere, on her right, and Nathan on her left, making it incredibly difficult not to whisper to him.
The afterparty at least gave her a chance to finally get out of costume, even if it was just to change into a different wig she hadn't been sweating into, have the Blue Rose nails put on her hands, and don a dress and heels. Her floating ice pack seemed to be working well enough - it was visible if you knew where to look, but Nathan hadn't been able to see it at a distance, and it wasn't rubbing off her makeup, so she looked more or less unharmed. Not bad at all, especially since everyone would have seen her take the punch.
But the afterparty was, if anything, more tedious than her own graduation had been. At least there she'd been able to swap seats after they'd walked so she and Jane could talk while it went on. Here, she was stuck smiling and laughing with the Titan president and board members, the Pepsi representative, the Suntory rep, someone from Aurora Cosmetics, someone else from Aphrodite, and a rep from Galatea Toys who wanted to talk about the Blue Rose doll prototype she hadn't had a chance to see yet. She laughed at each and every joke they made about her encounter out there, about Cutie Escapes and catch phrases and her storyline with Barnaby. She posed for pictures with most of them, and signed a few trading cards, smiling the whole time, even when the Galatea guy had one for his daughter and then, with a wink, "one for me." At least it didn't have a phone number or something on it. She nursed a champagne flute of Pepsi Nex, wishing she could just have some water or something, and tried to remember to keep her eye cold, and barely got a chance to talk to anyone she liked, because time spent talking amongst themselves was time they weren't mingling.
She did get to talk to Natasha, for a while, which was nice. Pao-lin had really hit the manager jackpot, even if she was always complaining about being told to act a little cuter. At least Pao-lin got to wear pants. Natasha promised to pencil in an apartment-hunting afternoon, and they talked about price ranges - this was what her dad had meant about a budget, she didn't really know what was reasonable.
"A third of your monthly income is sort of the rule of thumb," Natasha said, "though for you girls I think we should set the bar a tiny bit lower than that."
"Yeah, no kidding," Karina said faintly. "I'd kind of like to have something that won't completely blow my cover if I have civilian friends over."
"You could just tell them you're a trust fund baby," Natasha suggested, with a smile. "We can talk more at the time. Have you had a chance to eat?"
Karina usually avoided eating at these events. She didn't want another round of tabloid speculation on her weight and diet. But she was kind of starving, so she said, "Not really," and let herself be shooed over to the table where Pao-lin pointed out the ha gao.
"We eat a lot better at these since you joined up, Kid," Kotetsu commented, somehow materializing by them. He was wearing a tux, because even official events had their compensations.
"Glad I could help," Pao-lin commented around a mouthful of dumpling. "Steamed things last better on a buffet, I guess."
"They just added it the year you two started as a welcome thing, I think," Kotetsu explained as Karina tried to maneuver her dumpling from plate to mouth without spilling her drink, "but it was such a hit we've had it every year since." He rescued her Pepsi glass just as she felt it slipping.
"Ugh, I need to go," Pao-lin sighed, but not before she moved over a few steps to snag a final pan-fried dumpling. "You talked to Natasha about scheduling, Karina, right?"
"Yeah," Karina said. "Good luck!"
"Thanks," Pao-lin said, sighing again as she trudged off.
"Something up?" Kotetsu asked.
"She's getting, um... old enough that her bosses are starting to want her to show some more skin," Karina said. It had a lot less to do with age than cup size, really. "I overheard them talking about it earlier. Knowing my bosses, she's going to get a repetition of it all night, even if she doesn't have to go through with it."
"What? No way! She's just a little kid! Barely any older than Kaede!"
Karina debated whether to point out that Pao-lin had started heroing at about a year older than Kaede's current age. She settled on, "She's the age I was when I started with this costume."
"Sometimes I feel really old," Kotesu said pitifully.
"There, there," she said, reclaiming her Pepsi flute from him.
"How are you holding up?" he asked. "You kinda looked like you could use something stronger than Pepsi."
"Alcohol can make the bruising worse, can't it? I'm pretty sure the medics told me not to drink," she said. "But I'm fine. My eye doesn't even really hurt, I'm just worried about the aftereffects."
"Got it," he said. "I guess you're almost used to being Queen of Heroes now, right?"
"Kind of? It doesn't really change the amount of attention I get," she said. She'd been a front-runner her whole career so far.
"I guess everyone takes these things better than I do," Kotetsu said. "Bunny's great at them." She looked over the direction he was facing, where Barnaby was chatting amiably with a group of four, one wearing a press pass, the others clearly representing sponsors. She remembered what he'd said about acting.
"That doesn't mean he likes them. I wonder if there's some way to save him," Karina said.
"You maybe could," he said. "The media lady spent about two minutes with me and she was done, and the sponsors, well..."
The reporter was the only one she'd thought she could peel away. But of course Tiger and Barnaby in the first league would be the story the reporter was after; articles about Karina would mostly be retrospectives by the usual hero columnists, who reported on the standings and analyzed performance like sports writers. They didn't need interviews for that. "What companies are the sponsor reps from?" she asked, but then she realized the other thing she could do. "If I just drag him off, it looks like stealing your thunder."
"Nah," he said. "Well, depends on how you do it, I guess."
"You're a huge help," she said, tossing back her Pepsi like it was a shot of something. "I guess there's only one way to find out how it plays."
He was grinning. "Need any more liquid courage?"
"Don't make me put ice down your neck," she said, handing her glass and plate to a passing waiter. She took a deep breath, and headed over towards Barnaby. You're Blue Rose right now, she told herself. You're the ice queen of Stern Bild who leaves everyone begging for more or whatever Mario always says. Your heels do not give you any trouble no matter how thick the carpet is. She felt the way she walked change to something slower and slinkier as she got back into character. You have Barnaby Brooks Jr. wrapped around your little finger, and you aren't distracted by the fact he looks hot in a tux, she told herself. You have really interesting ideas about using your powers in bed. You totally own some kind of whip. Maybe with thorns on it. She heard the chatter die as she neared the knot of sponsors around Barnaby.
"Blue Rose," he said. "I was looking for you earlier."
He was a huge help too. She put one hand on her hip, trying to think - she needed to come up with something domineering but tactful to say, and she didn't have a door to lean sexily against. "You forgot to congratulate me," she said, draping her other hand over his shoulder.
"Exactly," he said. "If you'll excuse me a moment, everyone..."
To a murmur of goodbyes and best wishes, they made their way towards a window, Barnaby's hand hovering near but not quite touching the small of her back. She glanced back to see the group dispersing. Poor Kotetsu seemed to have inherited the reporter, but maybe he wouldn't mind the attention. He'd said something about Kaede wanting to see him on the show more. News coverage might suffice.
"Thank you," Barnaby murmured, devoutly. "I'm incredibly rusty at this sort of event."
"You're welcome," she said, automatically. They stopped near a window, at some distance from the nearest guests. "You looked like you were doing fine, though."
"And the... I guess I never really saw the Blue Rose persona as being so, um...."
He was blushing, she realized. Well, that means I'm doing it right, she thought of saying, but Blue Rose wouldn't let him off the hook.
"Shall I make you pick an adjective?" she asked, smiling slightly.
"Please don't," he said, but she just waited, keeping an eye on him. "Sexy?" he finally managed, blushing to the roots of his hair.
"I'll accept it," she said. That was the general idea behind it, after all. "I didn't know you liked that."
"Neither did I," he admitted. "Until you turned the full force of it on me. As just a generalized thing..." And she hadn't realized she'd liked it either till just now, but that had been... she'd liked it. She kissed him lightly, figuring at this point they might as well go for it before Agnes choreographed everything for them.
"Is your black eye doing all right?" he asked. "I could feel the cold just now."
"Like I told Kotetsu, it doesn't really hurt. I think she sort of got me a glancing blow on the cheek. I just want to minimize the bruising."
"Perfectly understandable," he said, before she kissed him again.
Eventually they were rousted out of their corner by Nathan. Barnaby was kissing her neck when he suddenly yelped in surprise, which was pretty disorienting; by the time she opened her eyes, Nathan had his arms wrapped around Barnaby from behind, though she suspected he'd opened with the usual butt-grab. "You didn't invite me, darlings?" he asked, practically nibbling on Barnaby's ear, which was about as close as he'd ever get to chaperoning anyone, probably. Then he dabbed some of the blue off Barnaby's face with a hanky, touched up her lipstick - of course he had blue lipstick on his person somewhere, she didn't know why it even surprised her anymore - and dispatched Barnaby to help Kotetsu with something.
"You ruin all my fun," she pouted.
"Nonsense. We just have a business proposition to discuss."
"We do?"
"Kotetsu's scheming to get Apollon to buy out your contract."
"He was thinking about it. I don't know if he really schemes."
Nathan waved that away airily. "So I have a competing possibility for you. Just a concept, you understand, I'd still need to go through the same board-of-directors hoops Apollon would, but... who's to say Tiger and Barnaby need to be the only hero duo?"
She stopped dead, narrowly missing a waiter. "Wait. Seriously? But you and Bison work so well together."
"True. He's all defense, I'm all offense, we complement each other... not in color schemes, mind you, but that could be arranged. But there's also a certain flair to a fire and ice team, don't you think?"
She wondered if Kronos had refused to sell Bison's contract. No, surely not. He didn't do that well, though teaming up unofficially with Nathan had helped him. And he'd be a lot more of a bargain than she would. So she was probably the first choice. "You may have a point. So, what, would I be 'Red Rose'?"
"That would depend on the sponsors," he said. "But think about it, would you?"
She thought about it for most of the evening. He introduced her to a few of the Helios board, and she was so off-guard she actually mentioned hating her catchphrase to one of them before she caught herself. Fortunately the woman just laughed and agreed it could be better, and Karina was able to get herself back into her party persona. It was sort of like playing Blue Rose, but polite. To her surprise, several of the people Nathan introduced her to wanted to talk about the rankings, how she'd "played" - it took a few repetitions before she realized they meant it in the sense of playing a football game, not in the sense of playing a role or a song - and she stumbled through some discussion of that.
"I'm lucky enough to have powers that let me immobilize a large area or group at once," she said. "Like stopping a group of criminals, or saving a group of civilians. It lets me accumulate points very quickly, as opposed to a steadier flow like Sky High's." She wondered if this was part of Nathan's reasoning. His powers had limited non-deadly utility, for all his creativity with them, and she typically outscored him. Though, yes, he'd care about the style points too. They'd make for some very eye-catching posters.
Finally, though, the corporate types began to call it a night, and the remaining heroes - Pao-lin and Natasha had already gone home - gathered at one end of the room. Some of the staff were already starting to clear off the refreshment tables. Kotetsu and Sky High were talking happily with a couple of the second league heroes, Origami had taken off his helmet and hit the buffet at last, and Bison was, for once, not complaining about Nathan's hand on his rear, whether because he'd drunk enough not to care - she wasn't sure how, with his helmet, but maybe he wasn't averse to getting his champagne through a straw - or just because the crowd had mostly cleared out.
"This is his favorite part," Barnaby said behind her. She leaned back into him, not even needing to ask who he meant.
"You never really got close with the second league?"
"I had nothing against any of them, but I'm afraid I seemed standoffish to them."
"It couldn't just be that you were standoffish. You just seemed that way."
"I... tried to make conversation..."
"I'm just teasing," she said, though she hadn't been entirely. The fact he'd been a little defensive was proof of how much he'd improved since they met, though. "I think this is everyone's favorite part."
"Even mine," he said. "Though I may enjoy the attention more than most do."
Karina tried to hide her smirk. Hiding it from him was easy, but not necessarily from everyone else. "You might," she finally admitted. "Possibly. A little."
"I sense faint traces of sarcasm," he said, slipping his arms around her waist.
"Nooo. You must have had too much to drink."
He nuzzled her neck, and she was giggling as Nathan chimed in with a fond-sounding, "Honestly, you two."
"Aw, give 'em a break, they're young," Kotetsu said. "Rose, have you met Ben?" He gestured to a smiling, moon-faced black man at his side.
"Briefly?" she said, slipping away from Barnaby. "I remember seeing you before, at the Justice Tower." The only person in unbloodied casual clothes in their circle of costumes, armor, and lab coats. He was in a suit now, though he'd clearly loosened his tie as soon as he could.
"Right," Ben said, his smile broadening. "I'm surprised you remembered. Ben Jackson - I manage these two," he said, shaking her hand. She grinned back, liking him already.
"I don't know if I caught your name at the time," she said, "let alone that you were the Ben Kotetsu and Barnaby kept mentioning."
"Well, I'm sure you know what Kotetsu has in mind," Ben said. "No guarantees, but I'll see what I can do." She smiled broadly but less genuinely, wondering what she was supposed to do in the midst of all this corporate intrigue. Nathan knew about Kotetsu's plan, so it was only fair to let the Apollon side know, right? "Good meeting you, Blue Rose, and congratulations."
She thanked him, but Sky High had overheard, and apparently decided he'd been remiss. "Congratulations, Ms. Blue! And again, congratulations!" He wasn't the last, of course, and she kept fielding more congratulations as she made her way out to where all the limos were waiting.
Outside, though, she stuck around, watching the others leave, helmets tucked under their arms or tossed in the backseat (except for Sky High, who wore his faithfully) and the limos roll away. Nathan went with Bison. Hmmm. "I should probably mention," she said to Kotetsu. "Nathan's interested in buying out my contract, too."
"Good!" Kotetsu said. "I suggested it to him."
"Kotetsu..." Barnaby, standing behind him, had winced. She wasn't sure whether she liked the idea of a flattering bidding war for her contract or not, but it hadn't been a very wise move for an Apollon employee. "Why?"
"You need better bosses," he said. "And veto rights on your costume."
"That wasn't exactly what I meant," she said. It was late, and it had been a very long day, and Barnaby and Kotetsu were both wearing tuxedos.
"I'll try to explain it to him later," Barnaby said. "You need to go home, Karina. You look exhausted." He steered her towards a limo, and leaned down to kiss her as she got in. "Congratulations, your majesty."
"Hey, king and queen of heroes," Kotetsu said, behind him. "And congrats, Rose. In case I missed saying it."
"He's not the king, he's the prince consort," she said. She caught Barnaby frowning as the chauffeur closed the door, and she grinned at him. He finally smiled back. She watched Kotetsu sling an arm around his neck and walk him towards another limo, as her own pulled away from the curb.
She was pretty sure she'd be leaving makeup smeared on the seats. But that was OBC's problem, not hers.
****
