took a little time to make it a little better [Closed]

[sentiments]

Characters: Barnaby Brooks, Jr. [sentiments] & Kotetsu T. Kaburagi [wildest]
Location: Fatality Condos #1A
Rating: PG
Time: June 24th, evening
Description: Kotetsu has a job proposal for Barnaby.


[Getting used to life at Kotetsu's apartment was both a natural and abnormal experience for Barnaby. Those past ten days had been full of headaches, sudden moments of clarity, and the mere act of piecing together old, disjointed memories. What he definitely knew, most of the time, was that Kotetsu was his partner and close friend. Kotetsu was Wild Tiger, not a murderer, not a soulless monster, not a demon. He was a father of a very sweet and spirited young girl, and Barnaby knew his favorite food without any reminders. (Well, not that he even needed to remember it; going off what Kotetsu continued to try and cook for dinner, the older hero made it pretty obvious.) He was overly worrisome, always meddling--which annoyed Barnaby to no end sometimes--over everything, clumsy, but always willing to listen and always patient to help. It was odd, definitely.

Not every day was a good day on the road to recovering his memories, but thankfully today had been one of the more pleasant ones. Barnaby knew he didn't remember everything, but things felt better; things felt more right here, despite all the paused loose ends in their own world. Until he could return home, the problems would wait; and he knew he couldn't dwell, so he would let them wait until he returned. But being here, in Kotetsu's apartment--in the apartment he and Kotetsu and Kaede all shared--he felt just a little bit safer, far less alone.

After dinner he was relaxing doing what he did best, sitting in the living room with his laptop thoroughly engrossing himself in the old notes he had collected over the months he didn't remember. He knew it was his writing by the tone and preciseness of the notes, along with the extraneous details which definitely came in handy. Most of his current research lined up perfectly, and it was enough that Barnaby figured he'd just add to these notes once he finished. Even if he didn't recall it before, this was all completely useful, and he had no intentions of moving from that spot for the rest of the evening.]

Comments

[wildest]

[The change hadn't been quite as difficult for Kotetsu as it had been for Barnaby, but then considering the difference of their experiences and how they were meant to overcome them (Kotetsu didn't exactly have a thousand and one memories to recall, replacing old and fake ones that had been there either days or even years because of Maverick). However, as natural and easy as it was to have Barnaby around again, the normal Barnaby, the Barnaby he cared for and trusted as a dear friend and his only partner, it was still hard to try and offer Barnaby the right help during the tougher times.

But the important thing was that he wasn't alone, and that was what always kept the smile on Kotetsu's face every time he looked at Barnaby during those troubling times. He wasn't alone to try and rearrange the pieces of his life, try and get back to how things used to be, the way they were meant to be. His partner was with him, the one he could remember now, could trust and rely on through thick and thin, and that would never change.

It felt so good for Kotetsu to walk back into their apartment that day after his Watch shift, and not just because the air conditioning felt amazing. The living room was silent. Everything was quiet, but not the empty kind that he'd started to hate when Barnaby had been gone. This was good silence, it was the comfortable and warm kind. That apartment didn't feel so empty with only himself and Kaede, because Barnaby was there now too, and his silence was the one Kotetsu could always appreciate.

...well, not completely silent, as Kotetsu shut the door behind him and stepped into the apartment with a relieved sigh, eventually hearing the distant but evident patter of tapping from a laptop's keyboard.]

Bunny? [He called out before quickly heading over to the kitchen to grab himself a cold glass of water.]

[sentiments]

[As Barnaby heard the door open, he turned his head, a smile slowly forming as he heard Kotetsu entering the apartment. Even with the task of trying to reacquaint Barnaby with his memories, Kotetsu still kept his steady duty with the Watch. It seemed like a long shift, or perhaps Barnaby had just lost track of time, but he was rather glad Kotetsu returned unscathed. The city was quite troublesome, so any day without injury or concern was a good one.

Saving his file, he inched the laptop from its resting spot so the back was right against his knees. He was probably done typing for the day, but he'd wait to see if Kotetsu wanted to spend any time together, otherwise he'd consider going back.]

Welcome back. There's spaghetti on the stove if you're hungry.

[wildest]

[Kotetsu paused after he'd retrieved a glass from the cabinet, turning his head over toward the stove and finding a small pot of the aforementioned food sitting right there. When he stepped over to it a little closer, Kotetsu peered inside and held his hand close to the pot, only some faint lingering heat remaining there, which meant the food hadn't been made too recently but it hadn't been left out for long.

It was more than enough to bring a wide, warm smile to Kotetsu's face as he stood there and quietly looked at the food without saying another word, strangely mesmerized by the sight and the fact that Barnaby had cooked food, was offering him food, had welcomed him home with such a kind greeting. Yeah, this was exactly how things were meant to be.]

--alright, great! [Snapping out of his daze, Kotetsu finally hurriedly answered back, going over to the fridge like he'd intended to earlier.] I'll have some soon, just not right now. I'm more thirsty than anything else. It's really hot today!

[Opening the fridge door, he paused once more, suddenly recalling something before calling back over to Barnaby.]

Oi, are you still busy? I wanted to talk to you about something, but I can wait until later if you want.

[sentiments]

It shouldn't be allowed to be this warm.

[The heat was actually bad enough that Barnaby couldn't wear his favorite jacket. Not that he was particularly obsessed or inclined to wear it everywhere, but... well, he was very inclined to wear it all the time, really. But at least indoors, he could keep the air conditioning on at a reasonable level and keep his jacket off, which was nice. How Kotetsu managed to work in this heat was almost kind of a mystery.

Pushing himself from his seat, Barnaby rose and headed over to the kitchen to find his partner. This was just ridiculously homely, and while Barnaby still felt very natural in this little routine, it was still odd actually sharing his house with someone. Leftovers were few when everyone was around for dinner, and there were other people to share chores with. That in itself... was just strange, despite how accustomed he became to it. He could remember already living this way, having apparently shared an apartment with Kotetsu during his entire previous stay, but... it was still rather strange.]

I'm free now. What did you want to talk about?

[wildest]

[Chuckling, Kotetsu filled up his glass to almost the very top, took a long drink from it, then refilled it again... took another drink, then filled it one last time before placing the jug of water back in the fridge and closing the door.]

I know, right?! It's ridiculous! It's hard to complain when you live in the middle of the desert though. [He knew that desert wastelands were sometimes common themes in action films and war films, but he still thought it was a bit unfair to hold hold a war in a harsh place like Death City. Hell, who even decided to build a city in the desert? Though of course, calling it "Death City" with the sort of heat they received did make some sense...

Intending to head over to the kitchen, Kotetsu paused as he caught sight of Barnaby suddenly coming toward him, and so instead he decided to take a seat over at the small dining table, waving Barnaby over to take a seat right next to him or at least stand nearby.]

C'mere first! --oh, sorry, I should've asked if you wanted something to drink too. Want me to get you anything?

[sentiments]

Unfortunately. [It made him miss the nice, calm weather of Sternbild even more with the reminder of the dry, desert weather. But at least it wasn't completely atrocious in the evenings with the cooler weather coming at sundown. But as long as they were there, they could make the most of it, as they already seemed to have done. Despite mild complaints, Barnaby had mostly adjusted to it, and Kotetsu seemed to be picking up even more of a tan to his already darker complexion. (How did Barnaby even notice that?) Standing idly for a moment, he just watched Kotetsu, trying to see if he had noticed anything else different.

...nope, beard was the same. And Kotetsu was talking to him again.]

I'm fine, thank you. You just got home; you don't need to worry about me so quickly.

[But he did follow the waving of Kotetsu's arm and walked to the small table, sliding into his chair on the side. His chair, it seemed; even from not fully remembering their many dinners at that apartment, he was already drawn to that seat. Once he sat, he crossed his fingers on the placemat, looking directly at Kotetsu as he waited for the man to explain.]

[wildest]

[Sternbild's reasonable weather wasn't the only thing that Kotetsu missed as well, but in his time stuck in Death City, he'd learned to get a little better at not being so homesick over the city he was meant to live in, his hometown and his world itself. Being with Kaede did happen to make things a little easier, and ever since Karina and even Barnaby had shown up, it felt more bearable than usual, but even if they were gone, Kotetsu was sure he could handle it on his own. He'd been alone before, he could take care of himself just fine. ...or at least, that's what he told himself. Whether that was true or not was anyone's guess.

As Barnaby finally sat down, Kotetsu gave his partner a curious, amused smile as he stared at him silently for a while. Something as simple as offering him a drink didn't seem to be a worried action, but then again, ever since Barnaby had started to regain his proper memories, a lot of what Kotetsu did was probably chalked up to worry and concern. He couldn't help it though, that was how he always was. He'd always worry, and he'd always do his best to make sure the people he cared for were just fine. After everything Barnaby had been through and still would continue to fight through, Kotetsu wouldn't be able to stop himself from fretting over him.

Shaking his head of the distracting thoughts, Kotetsu folded his arms on the table and leaned over, keeping his eyes on Barnaby but his gaze more focused.]

You remember the Watch, right? It's this thing they've got here in Death City that's a group of people who do patrol around the different districts and keep an eye on things. There's more to it than that of course, but basically, it's to help protect the guests and even the residents of the city from anything or anyone that causes any problems.

[sentiments]

[Barnaby couldn't help but think that the entertained smile on Kotetsu's face was in regards to something he said, but he had no idea what it could have been. He decided to ignore it, just waiting for Kotetsu to begin explaining. And once the older hero did, Barnaby found himself staring in surprise. The Watch? Barnaby nodded slowly.

Barnaby had heard of it before. He knew a bit, from piecing things together and listening to a few others speak on it. His Hero skills were more acquainted towards being in the Watch anyway, with physical guarding and watching, whereas the Agency, the other branch, was more geared towards those in the judiciary field. It was the fact that Kotetsu was in the Watch that had held him back before. That reason was gone now, wasn't it?]

I know of the Watch. I spoke to someone over the network about it before. You're a Zone leader with them, aren't you?

[Why was he asking about it?]

[wildest]

Yup! Been about a month now but Neji asked me if I wanted to be a Zone leader, and it was kinda hard to say no. [Kotetsu still felt pretty proud about that whole arrangement, even with the fact that he'd been assigned to the Red Light District. Of course, he didn't really care. In fact the ladies around that area stopped bothering him and sometimes he could get a free drink at Bitches Brew, so things were going great.]

It was around when you left, so I had to take up the spot on my own. Brew was taking back more people and so we started losing more and more members at the Watch. A lot of the shifts and positions had to be switched around so whoever was left could handle it. We seem to be doing just fine now, but I know Neji always appreciates more help. [Kotetsu laughed for a moment before raising his glass to take a drink.]

T'think, he's the boss and he's not even half my age. I'm gonna get way too used to this, working with kids like that. [There was a brief pointed look in Barnaby's direction while he drank from his water, but after placing the glass back down on the table, Kotetsu's expression went more serious.]

You were part of the Watch too, before you left. We had a shift for patrol together.