Crossing Fates : Book 1 - Escape (BakuDeku)

23 - Rest

Katsuki said from under his arm, "I'll pursue that comment later."

Izuku turned to the kitchen. "I'll get you some water."

"Scotch."

"Okay. And water."

He brought the bottle of scotch along with a jug of water and a cloth. Katsuki swiped the scotch bottle from him, uncapped it and drank half without pausing.

He waited until the man came up for air, then he sat on the wood-framed coffee table and used the washcloth to wipe the blood off of Katsuki's chest. The entry wound was already nothing more than a white scar.

"Does it still hurt?" he asked, anxiety gnawing at him.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

Katsuki just grunted in response.

He bit both his lips as he finished washing him.

Katsuki sighed and shifted. While the man had lost none of that lethal animal grace, it was obvious he was in pain.

"Keep doing that with the cloth. It feels good," Katsuki paused and added. "Please."

After freezing for a moment, Izuku said, "I'll get a clean one."

He dropped the bloodied cloth in the sink, grabbed another and hurried back. Katsuki hadn't moved. Izuku began to smooth the dampened cloth over his chest and shoulders.

"It was the phone call," he admitted. "For the steaks. I didn't call a number from the phone book. I had memorized a help line number somebody gave me."

"I got that," Katsuki's reply was very dry.

He nodded, dipped the warm washcloth in the water from the jug to cool it down and started over again. The words kept pouring out of him.

"I was scared when I called them. I thought you were going to kill me."

"Got that too."

"I'm sorry," he burst out. He grabbed the scotch bottle from Katsuki and took a deep swig. As he lowered the bottle, he caught the man smiling.

"Good," the dragon said. "You should be very sorry. In the last two days, you have cost me an untold amount of manpower, tens of millions of Yens in property damage- "

"Hey. Let's keep the record straight. I wasn't the one who threw a hissy and hollered fit to wake the dead," his spine straightened and he glared at Katsuki.

The dragon's smile broadened, a slash of white in the room's gathering darkness. "You've caused me all kinds of broken treaties with the Elven community, and now I'm sick as a dog."

He pointed at Katsuki. "YOU broke those treaties. You weren't supposed to come here. How crazy is that."

A pause.

He looked at the man with sad eyes. "Are you really sick as a dog?"

"Pretty much," Katsuki gestured for the bottle and he handed it over. "My body's fighting off the poison. It's better than it was. In a little bit I'll be able to move around on my own."

He turned and sat with a small grunt on the floor. He leaned back against the couch facing away from Katsuki. He drew up his legs, put his elbows on his knees and pushed the heels of his hands against his eyes. His headache had grown.

"I'm not sure where the Elven Domain ends, but it won't take long to drive it. Couple hours. We've got some time."

Katsuki dug his fingers into Izuku's hair and lifted up the strands. "I want some of your hair."

He lifted his head. "What?"

"I said I want some of your hair. Give me a lock and I'll forgive you for breaking and entering."

"Oh-kay. Sure," he squinted at Katsuki. "So I give you a lock of my hair, take you to the Elven border and drop you off?"

The man laughed. "I never said I was letting you go. I just said I'll forgive you."

"I knew that had to be too easy," he muttered. "You're just not a straight road, are you? Okay, so why will you forgive me but not let me go?" his shoulders sagged. "Never mind. I'm too tired for this conversation."

Katsuki kept running his fingers through Izuku's hair. "Did you ever give your boyfriend any?"

His eyes tried to close. The gentle tugging on his scalp was making it all but impossible to keep his head upright.

"Ex," he mumbled.

"Ex," Katsuki amended.

"No," Izuku fought against the drugging pleasure to wake up. He gave Katsuki's hand a halfhearted push. "Stop it. I can't keep my eyes open when you do that."

"So don't," Katsuki smoothed his palm over Izuku's head. He liked how Izuku's voice got soft with drowsiness. He liked that the boy didn't smell of fear any longer, that his scent was tinged with a lingering faint of smoke and sweetness. "Go to sleep," he murmured.

"Gotta meet that deadline. Set an alarm," Izuku tried to struggle to his feet.

As the boy was rising off his knees, Katsuki hooked an arm around his thief's waist and pulled him down on top of him.

It wasn't hard. Izuku was off balance to begin with and wobbly with fatigue. He oophed and tried to push off Katsuki, but he wrapped his arms around him and trapped him in place.

"Lie down," he ordered. "I'll make sure we leave on time. Go to sleep."

Izuku collapsed on him like a house of cards. He pulled the boy's green head into a comfortable spot on his uninjured shoulder.

"Quit giving me orders," Izuku yawned. Under the guise of shifting to get comfortable, he rubbed his cheek against Katsuki's chest, wallowing in the sensation of warm, powerful male.

It seeped into the cold cracks that ran deep inside him.

"You're not the boss of me."

"Sleep," Katsuki told him.

Just like that, from one moment to the next, Izuku was asleep.

No one was around to witness when Katsuki experimented with pressing his lips against Izuku's forehead.

Katsuki decided he liked that feeling too.