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It starts with his suspenders. It often does.
Those tight suspenders and his maddeningly twitchy fingers.
Barnaby can never manage to keep his eyes from following his partner’s hands when he runs them up and down his suspenders like that.
It’s a dead giveaway.
And really, he can’t blame Kotetsu for being like this. Even Barnaby has started to get tired of the media circus they’ve been in since the disaster that was Justice Day. Ever since their return to the First League, they’ve been on the positive press docket, trying to restore Apollon Media’s good name.
Both of them are of course excited to be back, but today has been a bit much. They’re an hour overtime already and Barnaby can’t yet see the end of his line… only Lloyds managing it from the back end of the room, smiling wide and waving when he looks over.
Worse yet, Kotetsu finished with his own line quite some time ago, and the more time passes, the more obviously bored he becomes. He could certainly leave if he wanted to, but Barnaby knows he won’t. They’re partners, and that means Kotetsu won’t abandon him even during tedious things like this, because that’s simply the kind of person he is.
Barnaby smiles and shakes the hand of his next fan, but he can still see Kotetsu’s fidgeting out of the corner of his eye.
His partner stretches, arching his back just so, running his thumbs down the length of his suspenders from shoulder to hip. Next, he’s messing with his bracelet, fingers idly running over the beads before shifting to twirl his ring around and around and around. Kotetsu just can’t seem to stop moving, and if Barnaby weren’t so otherwise engaged…
He’s hardly even aware of taking his glasses off to clean them again, giving himself a second to breathe between fans, and in the idle moment, an idea begins to creep up on him.
Perhaps… perhaps he could simply take a break, drag Kotetsu backstage. He could tell his partner yet again how utterly distracting it is, to have him wiggling about next to him. Kotetsu would probably give him that embarrassingly fond look in response, the one he makes when he’s not really listening to what Barnaby’s saying.
It’s as annoying as it is endearing, and so maybe he’d simply yank Kotetsu in by those suspenders, make him stumble so that he pushes Barnaby against the wall, a solid and warm weight against him, shoulder to hip. His partner would make that dumb face like he doesn’t know what Barnaby wants him to do, at least until he reads the heat in Barnaby's eyes, and then Kotetsu would melt and press their lips together…
A clatter interrupts his thoughts and he pauses as soon as he’s done with the current autograph, glancing over at Kotetsu, who’s dropped his phone on the table. His partner shakes his head with a sheepish little smile.
Don’t worry about me, Barnaby reads in his partner’s eyes, and so he returns to his never-ending parade of fans, though perhaps pulling them through a bit faster now. Kotetsu can make any face he likes, but Barnaby knows all too well that they both want to be out of here already.
Still, he can’t keep his mind from wandering back to where he’d like to be right now – his hands tight on Kotetsu’s hips, his partner’s lips claiming his own, only breaking away so that he can nip at Barnaby’s earlobe before trailing hot open-mouthed kisses down his neck…
Barnaby glances over at his partner as he rubs at his neck distractedly, pretending to adjust his necklace, but he can’t seem to reel his mind back in now that he’s let it spin off into this daydream.
If everyone else would simply disappear, he could have Kotetsu all to himself, slide his hands up the back of his partner’s shirt…
Or just undo the shirt altogether, baring that glorious chest to his view, so he can watch the way his partner’s muscles move as Barnaby trails his fingers over every inch of skin, feeling Kotetsu shiver… maybe he’d even leave the suspenders on, as without the barrier of his shirt, Barnaby bets that they would brush against Kotetsu’s nipples just so, driving him almost as crazy as Kotetsu drives Barnaby.
And then – then he could sneak his hand down, watch Kotetsu’s golden eyes dilate with lust as Barnaby slides past the waistband of his trousers, aroused by the husky way his partner would say his name, “Please, Bunny.”--
Barnaby startles again, nearly dropping his glasses as Kotetsu somehow manages to send a pen ricocheting off the wall between them and skittering across the floor. This time he doesn’t even get a chance to look at him before Kotetsu dives underneath the table and Barnaby goes into emergency mode, smiling automatically at his next fan.
He cannot think about how close Kotetsu is to him down there. How his partner could just touch him, could decide to truly mess with him, and even just the thought of it has Barnaby flushing slightly.
He can’t help but imagine Kotetsu taking him in his mouth, right here, right under this table. He wouldn’t do it immediately, of course – not before teasing Barnaby relentlessly. Knowing Kotetsu, he’d probably mouth him through his pants first, he’d probably pull down his zipper with his teeth, he’d probably make Barnaby beg him for it.
Goddess, if only they could, if only he could fist his hands in Kotetsu’s hair while his partner’s fingers dig into his thighs, as he watches those lips sink deeper down onto -
The sudden ringing of their call bracelets startles Barnaby out of his thoughts – and Kotetsu too, judging by the sound of his head against clonking against the underside of the table. Barnaby bends over, ripping the tablecloth open so that his green eyes can lock with the amber of his partner’s incredulously. What the fuck are you doing!?
Kotetsu has the audacity to laugh, and Barnaby narrows his eyes angrily, but knows his thoughts on the matter will have to wait until tonight.
In any case, they’ve now been freed from this line and any other thoughts Barnaby was having, although he’s certain both will somehow come back to haunt him in one way or another.
“Let’s go, old man,” Barnaby shoves his chair back from the table and – though he’s tempted to just grab him by those suspenders and haul him out of there – extends a hand to Kotetsu, who takes it instantly.
Grasping the hand he so loves, Barnaby pulls his partner onto his feet before sending an apologetic look at the remainder of his line.
This autograph session is finally over – and so are his idle daydreams.
“You got it, Bunny!”
Being heroes always comes first.