Crossing Fates : Book 3 - Detain (BakuDeku)

18 - After Dreaming

"You look like something a cat coughed up," Ochako said in a helpful tone of voice.

Izuku gave Captain Psycho a dirty look as he tied the laces of his new boots. "Have I told you yet how much your witty repartee means to me?" he said between his teeth. "No, wait. I believe I haven't."

Nemuri had told him that the Elves would provide for his group's needs, but he had still needed to get a few things suitable for horseback riding and a stay in the Wood. He had brought only two pair of jeans, one was he had worn on the trip down while the other was definitely not for horseback riding.

The group had stopped at a superstore directly after leaving Adlivun House so that he could buy a couple extra pairs of jeans and the boots. He had brought enough sweaters, and although they seemed a bit dressy, they would do. He packed one nice slacks outfit to meet Sekijiro in, left his fine wool coat in the wardrobe and threw the more serviceable anorak he had worn on yesterday's car trip on top of his pack.

Ochako crossed her arms and lounged against the doorway, watching Izuku's final preparations. "You sick?"

"Nope."

"Deranged?"

He gritted his teeth. "Just didn't sleep well."

He had, in fact, lain in a furious, hurting clench for hours after he had woken up. After a brief, horrible struggle with himself, he did exactly what he told Katsuki he would do, and he turned off his iPhone.

Then he glared at the damn thing for the rest of the night.

He wanted to turn it on. So. Badly.

But it would be truly awful to turn the phone on only to find out the man never called or texted. And it might actually be just as awful to turn it on and find out that he left a terrible message of some sort, something cold or hateful about disobeying him.

And it would be especially awful if he turned on the phone to find out that Katsuki was remorseful and apologetic. In pain. If the dragon did something horrendously unusual like beg him not to go.

Because then he was afraid he would totally cave in, and what's more, he might gallop back to Musutafu, and that wouldn't do anybody good, not the Elves, not the Nyr domain, not Katsuki and especially not him, because this was a line he had to draw that he could not back down from.

Katsuki simply had to acknowledge and treat him like his partner, and work with him to figure out what that meant.

He could not give lip service to the subject only to revert whenever he lost his temper or he didn't like how things were going, and sure, he was a dragon and a man, and that meant he had all kinds of communication issues, but this one time, he had to be the one who gave in.

"So," Ochako said. "There's no reason to call off this trip."

Izuku froze as an especially, super-duper terrible idea added itself to the litany of terrible possibilities. "Why?" he bit out. "Did somebody ask you to try to stop it?"

Ochako stared at him like he might have lost his mind. The woman might have a point. "Just thought I'd double-check."

"There are lots of reasons to call off this trip," he said. He stood and walked over to Ochako, and looked into the woman's eyes. "I just happen to think all the good reasons to go outweigh the others. Got a problem with that?"

Ochako cocked her head. "You got a touch of bitch-goddess too, don't you, princess?"

He twitched a shoulder. "I guess I do."

One corner of Ochako's mouth lifted an insolent notch. "Your bitchiness ain't as good as mine though."

"Who cares?" said Izuku. "Because you're my bitch now."

Surprise flared in Ochako's gaze, then she burst out laughing. With that, they both went down the stairs to load the SUVs, and the group drove out of Kuju.

The early morning was cool, damp and gray. Low-hanging clouds blanketed the sky, dark and lowering. They might be in for a wet, uncomfortable day's ride.

Izuku flipped his cell phone over and over in his hands, scowling at it for the duration of the trip. He only looked up when they drove the final approach to Adlivun House.

As they pulled up to the front doors, an Elven male stepped outside to direct them to follow the drive around to the back of the property where they could leave their SUVs by the stables.

The drive took them around the edge of the garden, which was lush from every angle. Between the magnolia trees, Izuku caught a glimpse of a gap in a high green hedge, bordered by two elegantly carved marble pillars.

That looked like the opening to the labyrinth.

The stables were already a hive of activity. A couple of the Elves smiled at the newcomers. Several of them walked horses that were already saddled. Their horses were gorgeous, thoroughbred, sleek with gleaming coats, long, slender legs and intelligent eyes.

Izuku saw one horse mouthing affectionately at the hair of the Elf attending it, who bore the attention with a tolerant smile. They clearly loved their horses, and their horses loved them.

The animals were also quite large up close. While the rest of his group double-checked their packs, Izuku took a deep breath and turned to Tetsutetsu, who carried his pack slung over one shoulder along with his.

"I suppose now's the time to mention that I don't have a lot of horse-riding experience."

"Not to worry," Tetsutetsu said. His smile transformed his sleepy features. "I'll make sure they give you a suitable mount."

"Thank you."

Izuku fingered his phone again as Tetsutetsu left to talk with one of the attendants. His stomach was a tight knot of nerves. He ran his thumb over the power button, looking down at the black screen.

He would just take one quick peek. He never said he would leave it off forever. And he ought to check on things anyway, since the phone probably wouldn't work when they went into the Wood.

He couldn't go all day without some sort of contact, he just couldn't, not with how they... he had left things.

He thumbed the power button on at the same moment that Nemuri walked out of the stables, caught sight of their group and walked toward him.