In Sickness and In Health

I: To Have a Tiger by the Tail

"Kotetsu's out sick?" The King of Heroes questioned. He didn't think his partner was capable of staying in bed, even if he was ill.

"That's what I said." Alexander Lloyds was reviewing a few papers and appointments he had set up for his star employee, not overly concerned by the topic. "He called in this morning sounding very genuine. He had so many sick days accumulated, and with your popularity skyrocketing right now, it's no trouble for him to stay home."

Barnaby furrowed his brow. He couldn't recall a time before when his partner was sick; injured, yes, but not sick. The man was getting older and illness tended to become worse with the elderly.

"Barnaby, pay attention, please. I have a lot planned for you today and it's already 8:30." The Hero's Manager lightly scolded. Barnaby shook the distracting thoughts from his mind and gave an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, Mr. Lloyds. Where are we going first?"

0o0

Much to his manager's disapproval, Barnaby Brooks Jr. managed to convince his employer to let him off the hook early. At first, he began to mention a headache, to try and subtly hint to Lloyds that he didn't want to continue, but when the savvy Apollon Media executive countered with some painkillers, the star Hero decided to put his foot down.

And by 5 o' clock, Barnaby was right where he wanted to be, on the doorstep of Kotetsu T. Kaburagi's apartment. He rang the door bell and received a predictable response.

"Go away!" A muffled, snuffly voice cried from the inside. "I'm not interested in whatever you've got!" Barnaby smiled to himself as he dug out a key from his pocket and began to unlock the door.

"Not interested in the medicine I brought for you?" The young man announced as he entered the home, taking a quick glance about the first floor and noticing no one. He raised an eyebrow in confusion; he could have sworn the voice had come from downstairs.

"Bunny?" His partner's voice sounded again, weak and miserable. There was a rustling sound from the living room and suddenly, a tanned arm popped up from the couch and began to wave around, signaling the owner's position. "I'm over here." Barnaby made sure to take off his shoes before walking over to his partner.

"Kotetsu, what are you doing on the couch?" He asked. Wild Tiger, the Crusher for Justice, was lying haphazardly along his couch, his long limbs spilling over the sides of the furniture, his body half draped with a throw blanket, with random wads of tissues and damp cloths tossed about him. The older man gave an indignant, half-lidded glare up at Barnaby.

"The couch is closer to the fridge than my bed." He watched as the blonde made his way around the couch and to his side. "Why did you ring the bell? You could have let yourself in, obviously."

"I wanted to make sure you were sick." He set his package, a white paper bag, onto the living room table. "If you answered the door with a smile and bounce in your step, then I would have known you lied to get out of work."

"When have you known me to skip work, Bunny!" The tiger barred his fangs in a grimace, completely offended that his teammate would even think such a thing of him. But Barnaby smiled; he was teasing him.

"Never."

"Then why test me!"

"Out of habit." The young man began to gather up all of the cold, damp wash cloths from the surrounding area and piled them in one spot on the coffee table. "I have never seen you sick either, which prompted me to think you could have been lying." Kotetsu opened his mouth to lash out a retort, but instead of a witty reply, a sneeze interrupted him. He groaned as the throbbing in his head intensified.

"Why did you come, Bunny?" The elder man asked, his voice losing all its bite from before. He didn't have the energy to stay angry at Barnaby's over-analytical practices. "I don't want to give this flu to you."

"You're my partner. Do I need a better reason?" Those green eyes locked onto Kotetsu's and he couldn't look away. His words were honest and sincere, and the intent in his eyes was strong. With a graceful movement, Barnaby kneeled down next to the sick man and laid a hand across his forehead, pushing aside his unruly, brown bangs.

"You're really sick, Kotetsu." The older man's skin burned under his hand. He could see his cheeks burn and turn red as well. He withdrew his hand. "Have you taken anything for it?"

"Ah… No." The veteran hero confessed, averting his eyes like a small child admitting a mistake. "I can't remember the last time I got sick, so I never bought medicine." He suddenly pulled out a cocky grin on his face. "I thought I could just sleep it off, ya know?"

"It's a good thing you have me then." The blonde man turned and reached for the paper bag he had set down earlier. From its contents, he pulled out a couple of boxes and bottles of drugs that might relieve some of his suffering. "What are your symptoms? I bought a little of everything, just in case. Obviously, you have a fever."

"Ugh. I have a…" Kotetsu groaned out. "… headache. Sore throat. I cough a lot." Barnaby quickly read across the labels to see which one of his remedies might take care of all of those aches and pains.

"Then this one." He plucked off the top and twisted the cap of a bottle of dark, syrupy liquid. The veteran grimaced. "It says to take 20 milliliters, which is about as much as the cap holds." The blonde then poured the fluid into the shot glass-looking cap that came with the bottle. "Drink."

With a frown, Kotetsu took the offering and slowly raised himself up (with much protest on his sore head's behalf). He tossed the medicine down his throat and was genuinely surprised that it did not taste nearly as bad as his childhood memories claimed it would. The immediate, soothing effect it had on his throat was bliss.

"Good boy." Barnaby took the cup from the man's fingers with a smirk.

"I'm not a dog! Hey!" Wild Tiger protested, flustered that his younger partner was teasing him so much this evening. In an unanticipated move, the blonde man reached out and took a hold of him, one arm tucking under his long legs and with the other curling just below his shoulders. In a very familiar fashion, Barnaby lifted his sick partner in his arms. "Put me down, Bunny!"

"You should be lying in your bed. It's better for your old bones." What a cocky smirk this whipper-snapper had! Barnaby began to carry Kotetsu to his bed.

"Bunny! All this moving is hurting my head! Put me down!"

"I'm already at the stairs. Just put up with it a little longer." The veteran hero moaned and groaned like some angsty teenager as his head throbbed and as Barnaby carried him up the stairs. The healthier man heaved a sigh at his partner's immature behavior. "I swear, you're just an overgrown child, Kotetsu." Finally reaching the bed, the blonde man did his best to set his partner down carefully, legs first and then guiding his head onto the pillows.

"I don't like being carried." Wild Tiger commented with a scowl. Be it behind closed doors in his own apartment or on the job, he hated being held and lugged around like some damsel in distress. Barnaby just ignored him.

"You'll never get better if you don't rest." He stood back up and turned around, heading back downstairs.

"How can I rest if you keep taunting me?" The older man mumbled under his breath, wrapping himself within his blanket for security, but he quickly abandoned it when the heat became too much for him. He could hear the young King of Heroes turn on the kitchen sink, along with the familiar clang of bowls and cooking utensils. He must be cleaning because it wasn't pristine when Kotetsu last left it. Barnaby returned a few minutes later, carrying with him a large bowl and a few towels.

"What you got there, Bunny?" Barnaby set everything on the nightstand next to the bed. Ice water filled the bowl.

"Something to help your fever." He submerged one towel into the water, rang out the excess liquid, and then laid it across Wild Tiger's forehead, being careful to move his bangs out of the way. The cool, soft texture was heavenly against the man's skin and he let out a moan to signal his satisfaction.

"Ooooh… That's nice, Bunny." A wide, goofy grin graced the older man's face. He heard the splash of water again and felt his partner touch the top of his head.

"Lift your head." Kotetsu did as he was bid, and against the back of his neck he felt the icy touch of another washcloth. He tensed, but forced himself to relax and let the coolness spread across his body. "Keeping your neck cool will help you feel less feverish."

"Are you a nurse in your free time?" The older man teased in a light-hearted voice. He had tried to keep himself cool earlier, but got fed up with having to keep rising the towels so frequently.

"Nope. Just sensible." Kotetsu had closed his eyes, a feeling of nostalgia overcoming him. He could remember his late wife Tomoe doting over him in a very similar manner. She would sit by his side and dab his face with a cool cloth too when he was sick. He felt it now, the wet press of cotton against his cheek, his neck, his collar. He opened his eyes to see it was Barnaby doing those things, and not his memory playing tricks on him.

"Bunny, what are you doing?" He could feel his face heat up.

"Taking care of you." Barnaby responded, hardly batting an eye. He kept up his ministrations and began to unbutton the front of Kotetsu's night shirt.

"You've done enough!" The old man managed to say in a flustered tone, swatting away his partner's hands and twisting his shirt closed. "I'm feeling much better."

"Feeling and being are two completely different things." Those bright green eyes were unwavering and firm, but the younger did not push further. Instead, he laid the back of his hand against the elder's cheek, earning him an uncomfortable stare from Kotetsu. "I can still feel your fever." He removed the cloth that was draped across the man's forehead and returned it to the water.

The veteran hero did his best to stifle his cough, but it still came out jagged and painful, causing him to grimace. A quick and analytical eye from the other man appraised him openly, much to Kotetsu's discomfort, and he replied accordingly, "I'll make you some tea." And he made his way back to the stairs.

"I dunno if you—"

"Blue Rose gave me a box." Barnaby answered with a yell on his descent, completely out of view. "She insisted I take it when she heard you were ill." Kotetsu furrowed his brow and reached over to the rag floating in the ice water, plucking it up, ringing it out, and placing it back on his forehead. Bunny was acting very strange, he thought, over something as minor as the flu. He could hear him rustling around in the kitchen again, running water and setting a kettle on the stove. He was really grateful for his partner to go out of his way like this (because moving around was such a pain) but a feeling, a mix between guilt and confusion, settled on his chest. Usually, his partner was busy with interviews and photo shoots when he wasn't out actually doing his Hero duties. He was certain he was keeping the rising star from some public engagement. He watched Barnaby return, with his bright, blonde hair coming into view before anything else. He carried a mug in one hand. Kotetsu raised himself to sit properly as his partner took a seat next to him on the bed.

"I added some honey." Barnaby warned, since he was unfamiliar how his partner took his tea. He handed the hot mug over. The older man stirred the spoon that rested in drink and then tentatively took a sniff of the warm vapors wafting from the surface. It had a sharp, citrus scent to it with a hint of sweetness.

"Thank you, Bunny." Kotetsu held the damp cloth to his forehead with one hand as he sipped the tea. It was hot, but pleasantly rolled down his throat and soothed the sore muscles. He let out a content hum and licked his lips. Barnaby watched like a doctor would their patient, with a caring and critical eye, the edge of his mouth curving slightly.

"What did you do all day?"

"Hmm?" The tiger was caught off guard by the question. He removed the cloth from his forehead. "Oh, I just laid around all day, trying to sleep this off." He put on a cheesy grin. "But I had a hard time getting comfortable." Another sip of tea. "I figured you'd be busy with important things." He asked in a subtle way of why his partner was here.

"I was, but I finished early. Besides," The young man took the hand towel from Kotetsu and submerged it in cold water again, the ice clinking against the bowl. "Taking care of my partner is important." The older man's face became hot again.

"When did you start to like me so much, Lil' Bunny?" He tried to joke, widening his grin and pitching his voice to a cheerful tone. His over-the-top responses were usually met with indifference or an embarrassed sigh, but this time, they were not. Barnaby took a damp cloth and pressed it to his partner's hot face. His eyes were serious, focused like a cat.

"For a while now."

A/N: Comments feed authors. C: