nothing to lose

An infamous King of Heroes with a sharp wit, stellar hair, and an endearing partner that could make anyone lose their mind. [indie barnaby brooks jr. blog; timeline varies.] [ooc tag: out of bunnies] tracks the tag "rookiehero"

[thefiveminutehero]

“It’s not – ” This is as far as Kotetsu got before Barnaby was darting away, and the older man was left there to plop down on a chair with a defeated sigh. “… that bad, don’t worry,” he finished the sentence in a grumble, even though there wasn’t anyone else around to hear. He prodded at his shoulder again; the pain had subsided as quickly as it came. He really hated being fussed over. And, to be perfectly honest, he felt a little bit like he was guilted into letting Bunny do that, but whatever, if partnership meant putting up with it, he could do that. If it was that important to the blond. And he was already coming back with an ice pack, so Kotetsu tried his best to look a little less put-out than he felt. “You know, I really am fine. You just surprised me. It doesn’t even hurt anymore, see?” A wince. Okay, maybe lifting his arm that high was a dumb idea. He took the ice pack from the other with his good hand, and pressed it over his collarbone. Okay, that didn’t feel too bad. “Thanks, Bunny.”

[rookiehero]

“Don’t!” Barnaby gasped out, a little exasperated, as Kotetsu tried to life his arm up in display. “It obviously still hurts! Just-- sit there and ice it, please,” he instructed, tone a little clipped, but that wasn’t because of Kotetsu (even if he was trying to lighten up the situation), simply because of Barnaby’s carelessness; he let out a sigh, rubbing at his forehead gently. It was a long moment before he could bring himself to look at Kotetsu, very bemused. “So, was it hurting that bad before? Or did I manage make it worse?” Not that he was trying to play the woe-is-me card, but it did actually matter if it was one way or another, if Barnaby should feel worried or guilty. Though perhaps far more subtly this time round, he added to himself.

[lunaticwisdom]

まめ藻

[thefiveminutehero]

Ahh, there it was. This was as far as Kotetsu could go without bursting into laughter – Barnaby’s face was just simply priceless. Of course, he wouldn’t have dreamed of making this joke in Kaede’s presence, he would have gotten smacked around for it, but he truly didn’t expect Barnaby to shove him, and especially not on the injured side. It didn’t hurt that badly – but it was enough to cut off the laughter with a sharp intake of breath, as well as taking a step back, out of arm’s length. “Ow, Bunny! Okay, okay, I get the point, bad joke, there’s no need to maim me!” He was exaggerating, of course, which probably wasn’t fair, considering how worried Barnaby had been about the stupid injury, but it had always been Kotetsu’s knee-jerk reaction to joke about the things that hurt him, both physically and metaphorically.

[rookiehero]

It was only a reaction from being caught off-guard as he had been-- perhaps a bit from being overly-flustered as such an implication as well. Had Barnaby actually thought before mindlessly smacking at Kotetsu, he probably would have avoided it altogether, especially as he watched Kotetsu gasp and step back, obviously in pain. “Kotetsu-- I’m so sorry,” he was quick to blurt out, face going a little pale as he realized his error. “I didn’t mean to do that-- shit,” he hissed under his breath, taking a step back as if to bolt from the situation altogether. Even if Kotetsu wasn’t truly angry with him, even if he was only joking, Barnaby still felt extremely guilty for letting something silly escalate that far, definitely of his own fault. “Let me get you some ice for your shoulder; just sit down, I’ll be right back,” he insisted, already moving to do such; it wasn’t some big show of decency, anyway, as the gym, of course, had a trainer center with an ice chest with the specific function of providing for any minor injuries in the gym.

[mysteriousdbzgt]

Ituka’s Twitter Album

[thefiveminutehero]

Being told he was impossible – well, that was something Kotetsu knew already. Still, he was relieved to hear the teasing note back in the other’s voice; it meant Barnaby wasn’t seriously mad at him for the earlier slip-up. Kotetsu toweled his face with his good hand, flopping down onto a chair. He was slowly coming to a realization that really shouldn’t have been news: that it was impossible not to move one’s arm while running. And of course, now his shoulder was aching. Damn, he really deserved every name Bunny called him… Better try and not let him know, though, or Kotetsu would never hear the end of it.

“How is being told you’re decent the same thing as pressure?” he inquired with a lopsided grin. “It’s not like you’re asking her out, or something.” Pause. “Or… are you?” God, he just couldn’t help himself; it was too good of an opening. Sometimes, Barnaby was just too easy to tease. (Even if at the same time, Kotetsu did appreciate the things he’d said.)

[rookiehero]

Barnaby watched his partner finally take a seat, almost scrutinizing him quietly. Maybe his shoulder really wasn’t as bad as Barnaby was making it out to be before, which made Barnaby regret, to a point, treating Kotetsu as he had. Hell, he hadn’t got any training in himself, spending the entire time thus far practically hovering over Kotetsu to make sure he didn’t injure himself-- usually was Kotetsu was the one slacking off, meandering around the gym between actual work outs, but Barnaby blamed the change for today more on the fact Kotetsu stole his usual place at the treadmill than on the fact he was, more or less, mother-henning over his partner.

“Because I--” Was all Barnaby got out before Kotetsu’s words seemed to make sense. Immediately his jaw dropped, embarrassed and scandalized, to say the least; would it have been any other topic, Barnaby could have easy brushed off Kotetsu’s teasing with some wit and grace, but with this? “What? No! I don’t-- you are awful,” he scoffed, giving Kotetsu’s arm--mistakenly, the side of his bad shoulder, it being the closest bit of Kotetsu to get at-- a small shove as he rolled his eyes, struggling to rid himself of the nervous fluster from the topic.

[thefiveminutehero]

By this time, Kotetsu had picked up the pace enough to be too breathless to really carry on the conversation. He did, however, see that flash of hurt in Barnaby’s eyes from the corner of his own, and it was enough to make him slam his palm against the stop button on the machine, coming to a halt and trying to catch his breath while he reevaluated his earlier words.

“I’m sorry, Bunny,” he finally said. His voice was low, and the flare of anger had dissipated, though he still didn’t sound too happy. “I didn’t actually mean that. I shouldn’t have said it.”

He got off the treadmill, rubbing his towel against the back of his neck. “Y'know, I gave you all that grief about you not letting me care about you, but I’m no better with it, really. I prefer doing the caring.” He almost shrugged, but he realized in time that would have been a bad idea. Instead, he tapped his fingers gingerly against his left shoulder, at the fixer he was still wearing under his shirt, even though there were no bandages anymore. “Makes me feel less useless, I suppose.”

Finally, he looked at Barnaby, and he gave him a small smile. “And I really don’t mind that Kaede likes you so much. Not anymore, anyway. I didn’t like it when she thought I was a loser, but that was my fault for hiding the truth from her anyway.” A small pause. “It’s not like you’re the type of guy I need to protect her from, anyway.”

[rookiehero]

Barnaby could have kicked himself for his reaction to Kotetsu stopping the treadmill-- the small lurch he made as the thing came to a stop made Barnaby’s hands shoot out from his sides preemptively, which he quickly tried to brush off as... a muscle spasm, perhaps. After all, that seemed to be the issue right there, wasn’t it? He balled his hands up at his sides for good measure.

But the apology certainly put Barnaby at ease; it was just frustration, something Barnaby was very well-acquainted with. He let out a soft sigh, nodding at Kotetsu’s words, though they made little sense to him; being cared about wasn’t equivalent to being useless. But it did make a person feel that way, he rationalized, being quite familiar with the feeling himself. “...You’re impossible, old man,” he finally sighed, though there was a note of fondness in the statement, not something said out of malice.

“Way to put all that pressure on me, partner-- making sure I do good by your daughter,” Barnaby teased with a wry smile, shaking his head. “She’s a good kid; even if she knows how painfully embarrassing you are first-hand, I’m sure she still looks up to you.” Truthfully, Barnaby felt odd discussing Kotetsu’s daughter, not because of dislike, but because he simply seemed so estranged with the topic of children in general. But he definitely did try, so Kotetsu couldn’t fault him for that.

[thefiveminutehero]

Kotetsu had already moved on from the passing thought, so he didn’t catch the momentary fade of Barnaby’s smile. He grinned at him again when the blond replied, stating matter-of-factly, “How would I know, if I don’t listen? That’s the whole point.” Utterly shameless, and he knows it. But hey, he has enough people nagging him even without Barnaby. And plus, Barnaby had always been weird about Kotetsu butting into his business, so how was it fair that he was allowed to be a worry-wart about Kotetsu’s health?

(Then again, nearly dying in his arms was probably a good excuse for him to worry.)

He pouted at the playful taunt, letting out a dramatic sigh. “I’m afraid I’m kinda late with keeping you from getting to Kaede’s head. She’s been head over heels since day one.” Truthfully, what Barnaby was actually implying didn’t even cross Kotetsu’s mind. Barnaby was a decent guy. There was no reason for mistrust.

“I’m not gonna keel over from a busted shoulder, Bunny.” Oddly enough, this implication felt worse than the innuendo involving Kaede. “If you seriously think I’m that useless, why are we partners?” Okay, even he could tell that was a little harsh. But he’d always hated being fussed over, no matter who it was that did the fussing – his mother, brother, wife, or even daughter. Though, hey, if Bunny decided to get in line, did that kind of make him family…?

[rookiehero]

“You must be paying attention in some degree, if you can whine about all our “complaining” over you,” Barnaby teased easily in turn, rolling his eyes with a fair bit of amusement. “I’m glad you seem so at-ease with you’re whole “selective hearing” thing,” he added with a wry smirk; Kotetsu might be willfully ignorant at times, but it certainly wasn’t always, Barnaby had to admit.

Barnaby couldn’t help a little smile at that, shaking his head with a peculiar fondness. “That must be difficult for you,” he chuckled, not so much smug as merely entertained with the idea of Kotetsu-- Wild Tiger-- dealing with his Barnaby-adoring child; possibly a very rough blow to Kotetsu’s ego, if Barnaby knew anything about his partner. “It’s a passing phase, I’m sure.” (He wasn’t really sure, kids aren’t exactly his specialty, but the sentiment would probably be appreciated.)

Kotetsu’s snap earned a slight look from Barnaby, a mix between surprise and... hurt? Kotetsu wasn’t often one to bite out retorts quite that bitter, and Barnaby took a moment to rethink the conversation; nothing too out of the norm, right? “I never said you were useless,” he answered, rather plainly. “Is it seriously that big a deal? That you need to question our partnership over-- what, exactly?” He had to fight the urge to raise his voice, but the insistence was still there in his tone. “Me caring about you? Not wanting bad things to happen to you-- not wanting you to injure yourself just as you’re recovering? Don’t you think you’re being unreasonable?” Barnaby set his jaw once more, to resist the urge to bark back through his offense at Kotetsu’s question, but he did manage to add, in a softer (but still very sharp) voice, “Partners care about each other. That’s just how it works. I thought we figured this out by now.” Well, not without a lot  few hiccups; this was probably just one of those, but it didn’t stop Barnaby from mentioning the point, anyway.

[shi-o-ren]

<3

[mysteriousdbzgt]

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[rookiehero]

“They happen enough, anyway; I wouldn’t be too surprised if it was all some clever, “reality TV” ruse I’m not in on.”  It would certainly be a little less mortifying if that were the case (since partnering with Kotetsu, Barnaby has seen a lot of things), but that particular thought is neither here nor there.

Barnaby couldn’t resist cringing at the whine. From a middle-aged man. So very Kotetsu indeed. “You don’t tend to listen very well if whatever I say isn’t a direct attack on your person.” You’re impossible, was what he didn’t say. “If it were me in your position, you’d be all over my case,” was what he did say, with an extremely-pointed look. “I can’t be a team on my own, you know.” Which was almost sentimental, perhaps even a bit kind! Except–

“So let’s keep the work-cancelling injuries to a minimum from now on. Don’t go aggravating what injuries you’ve got left.”

[thefiveminutehero]

“Exactly!” Kotetsu gestured wildly with his hand to drive the point home, while he stepped up onto the treadmill. “Enough misfortune happens already without actually planning for it…” He paused for a moment, his face darkening a little. “And we’ve had more than enough of the planned sort, too.” But nope, he was not going to think about Maverick and his plans for Hero TV. Bye, not going there.

He set the pace to a brisk walk for warm-up. “I don’t listen well, period, I guess,” he said, and his cheeky grin said he was not at all apologetic about it. “And you and Kaede are both excellent at complaining about that. Maybe you should get together sometime.” Very smooth, Kotetsu. But hey, anything for Kaede, and if he could actually persuade Barnaby to do something like that, she’d be over the moon.

Still watching the other from the corner of his eyes, he picked up the pace a little. “Aw, Bunny, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re worried about li'l old me.”

[rookiehero]

Any semblance of a smile-- or, more accurately, smirk-- that was there prior immediately dropped as Barnaby set his jaw at the comment. Maybe it wasn’t even about what Kotetsu thought it was about, maybe he was just reading too far into it. So he gave a stiff nod and let it drop without another word. Definitely not something he wanted to talk about, nonetheless, waste any more time thinking (read: lamenting) over. Right.

However the unease that a mere thought brought him was soothed with Kotetsu’s retort, something that actually earned a quiet snort as he regarded his partner with a cocked eyebrow. “I’m sure our complaining is the truly difficult part of you not listening, of course,” he teased effortlessly. “Besides, I was pretty sure fathers had a particular penchant for not letting boys get into their darling daughters’ heads?” Even knowing Kotetsu’s daughter was, indeed, a fan (if not from the numerous things Kotetsu asked him to sign for Kaede), it was still too good a chance to pass up riling Kotetsu up about it; harmless fun!

He definitely wasn’t blushing at being caught in the act, though. It was obviously from the workout! Definitely not.“Someone’s got to be, anyway. It’s practically in my job description, ‘Making sure Tiger doesn’t keel over’.”

[rookiehero]

“Oh, do you usually plan your disastrous misfortunes on the job?” It was a bit of a task not to smirk at the implication; Kotetsu made it far too easy, it almost made Barnaby pity taking what shots he did at the guy. Almost.

“…At least tone it down until you’re one-hundred percent,” came the sigh of defeat. It was, most often, of no use to try and fight Kotetsu– he’d certainly tried to enough in the past. “Seriously. You look like you’ve been skipping one too many leg days, anyway.” Alright, that’s definitely a smirk.

[thefiveminutehero]

“That’s a little harsh, don’t you think? Besides, how does someone plan a misfortune? That doesn’t make any sense!” Yep, focus on the semantics, so he can just ignore the fact that his partner is making fun of him. And insulting him at the same time. Nice. “You’re mean,” he said, and it was very nearly a whine – but he did change direction towards the treadmill.

[rookiehero]

“They happen enough, anyway; I wouldn’t be too surprised if it was all some clever, “reality TV” ruse I’m not in on.”  It would certainly be a little less mortifying if that were the case (since partnering with Kotetsu, Barnaby has seen a lot of things), but that particular thought is neither here nor there.

Barnaby couldn’t resist cringing at the whine. From a middle-aged man. So very Kotetsu indeed. “You don’t tend to listen very well if whatever I say isn’t a direct attack on your person.” You’re impossible, was what he didn’t say. “If it were me in your position, you’d be all over my case,” was what he did say, with an extremely-pointed look. “I can’t be a team on my own, you know.” Which was almost sentimental, perhaps even a bit kind! Except--

“So let’s keep the work-cancelling injuries to a minimum from now on. Don’t go aggravating what injuries you’ve got left.”

[rookiehero]

“You should still be taking it easy, old man. If you end up re-injuring yourself, Agnes and Lloyds might manage to spare you, but I certainly won’t.”

A long-suffering sigh, “I’ll never understand how bull-headed you can be. It’s… among other things, baffling.” As well as absolutely infuriating, at times. But that particular portion didn’t need to be muttered, as Barnaby’s clipped tone manged that point all on its own.

[thefiveminutehero]

“Well, it’s not like I’m planning on getting slammed against a concrete beam again.” Of course, he didn’t plan it the first time, either, but then, we all know how his plans usually end. (What plans?) “Which is why I gotta keep in shape, Bunny!” Perfect logic. To him, anyway.

[rookiehero]

“Oh, do you usually plan your disastrous misfortunes on the job?” It was a bit of a task not to smirk at the implication; Kotetsu made it far too easy, it almost made Barnaby pity taking what shots he did at the guy. Almost.

“...At least tone it down until you’re one-hundred percent,” came the sigh of defeat. It was, most often, of no use to try and fight Kotetsu-- he’d certainly tried to enough in the past. “Seriously. You look like you’ve been skipping one too many leg days, anyway.” Alright, that’s definitely a smirk.

[thefiveminutehero]

His shoulder is almost healed. Which means workout, because he can’t sit still on his ass for that long, no thanks.

[rookiehero]

“You should still be taking it easy, old man. If you end up re-injuring yourself, Agnes and Lloyds might manage to spare you, but I certainly won’t.”

A long-suffering sigh, “I’ll never understand how bull-headed you can be. It’s... among other things, baffling.” As well as absolutely infuriating, at times. But that particular portion didn’t need to be muttered, as Barnaby’s clipped tone manged that point all on its own.

[salt4salt]

Ivan’s powers visually demonstrating .Graphic inspiration from the “alchemy” effect from FMA,of course.

[mysteriousdbzgt]

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[kauulii]

im rewatching t&b with a friend and my ojisan crush is coming back full force

[mysteriousdbzgt]

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