A State of Decay

Chapter 14

Midoriya steps out of the bathroom, steam rolling out of the small room behind him. Tomura sits up, trying to forget every thought previously running through his head. 

But then he looks at Midoriya, who's standing in the doorway wearing the black sweatshirt and gray sweatpants that Tomura gave him. His hair is still wet from the shower, and Tomura does not (he reiterates: does not) watch as a drop of water slides down the hero's neck before disappearing into the sweatshirt. 

He realizes he's been staring when Midoriya's blank look changes into one of confusion. Tomura shoots up from the bed and grabs the change of clothes he picked out for himself before walking past Midoriya and into the bathroom. 

"I'm going to shower, too," he tells Midoriya. "Make yourself comfortable. I won't take long." 

Then, he amends his statement: "And no snooping, please." 

"Alright," the hero replies softly, and Tomura shuts the bathroom door. He checks to ensure the mental block he put in place is still there before letting out an unsteady breath. 

Literally nothing had changed in the last fifteen minutes—nothing. Except Tomura's stupid brain had to make a bunch of conclusions about how he felt about Midoriya. And suddenly, he couldn't look at the brat without his pulse skyrocketing. It was stupid. 

He leans against the shower's tile wall and lets the hot water hit his back. Taking in a few deep breaths, he remembers that the hero is still sitting right outside the bathroom, and he is going to have to talk to him. He was going to act like his heart wasn't racing and that nothing was the matter. 

Midoriya already had enough going on. He didn't need this, too. 

All Midoriya needed right now was a friend, and Tomura wanted to be that for him. He knew how necessary his friends were to him while he was going through a bunch of stuff. It was obvious that Midoriya didn't have much in the way of a safety net to fall back on when things got hard. So, Tomura would have to step up and be that for him. It's the least he could do after the hero pretty much handed him a second chance at life after everything he did. 

He was surprised that Midoriya trusted him at all, but he wouldn't dwell on that. He was lucky, and he knew it. 

Tomura steps out of the shower and wipes a small spot in the mirror above the sink so he can see his reflection. He eyes his scarred face and chest and hates what he sees. He quickly dries himself off and throws on the black T-shirt to cover himself. Once fully dressed, he takes a minute to brush out his long, white hair. 

Sitting on the counter next to the sink is a pair of gloves that Tomura sometimes wears. They only cover his pinky and ring finger and have a small buckle around his wrist to keep the gloves in place. He doesn't wear them often, but they're a good idea when he can't control his emotions. 

Not wanting to have any embarrassing accidents in front of Midoriya, he puts the half-gloves on before leaving the bathroom. 

Upon exiting, he sees Midoriya sitting cross-legged in the middle of Tomura's bed, looking at something on his phone. He doesn't look up when Tomura steps into the room. He sees the man sitting on his bed, unsure of what he should do or say next. 

Eventually, Midoriya looks up at him with a blank expression. Tomura has him completely closed out of his mind right now, so he can't hear what the hero thinks as he looks at him. Part of him wants to open the connection again, but he's afraid that Midoriya might catch wind of his thoughts, and he really doesn't want that. 

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" Tomura asks. 

"Oh, um, yeah, sure," Midoriya says. He puts his phone on the little table by the bed before scooting on the mattress to make room. Tomura sits next to him after turning off the lights in the room and grabbing the TV remote, which he hands to Midoriya. 

"You can put on whatever you want," Tomura tells him. He pulls the comforter over his legs, and Midoriya does the same. They're sitting with their backs against the bed's headboard, which sits in the center of the room. The TV is on the wall at the foot of the bed, which comes to life as Midoriya starts to click the buttons on the remote. He navigates to one of the streaming channels on the TV. 

"You don't care what we watch?" Midoriya asks tentatively. The movie he's selected is some cheeky-looking hero movie. 

"I really don't care," Tomura says, and Midoriya smiles at him before turning his attention to the TV. Tomura swears his heart almost burst. 

It's been a while since he's seen Midoriya smile, which made Tomura happy. He smiles softly as Midoriya hits play on the movie and cozies himself into the bed. While the hero keeps his eyes fixed on the screen, Tomura can't help but let his eyes wander to the man lying in the bed next to him. He blushes when he realizes that Midoriya is the first person he's ever had in his bed besides himself. 

They're not even thirty minutes into the movie before Midoriya falls asleep beside Tomura. While the movie continues to play in the background, Tomura continues to keep an eye on Midoriya. He's lying on his side, facing Tomura, and he watches as the hero sleeps. Now that he's sleeping, Tomura can look all he wants at Midoriya's face without getting caught staring. 

His eyes trace the sleeping hero's face, eyeing his freckles illuminated in the movie's soft glow. His face is relaxed, and he looks soft and vulnerable, which makes Tomura's stomach twist. He actually feels comfortable enough around him to fall asleep in his presence. He isn't sure how to feel about this. 

As the movie continues to play, Tomura sinks farther into the bed, resting his head on the pillow next to Midoriya. He reaches out a hand to touch his face but abruptly stops himself when he realizes what he's doing. He wants to trace his fingers along his eyebrows, cheeks, and nose and touch his freckles. He wants to draw lines between the dots on his face and pick out the constellations hiding within them. He just wants to touch Midoriya, but he doesn't

He wonders if he should wake him when the movie ends, but he refrains when the credits start rolling. He turns off the TV, deciding to let Midoriya stay the night. It doesn't take long before Tomura is also drifting off to sleep.

* * * 

Tomura wakes in the middle of the night and feels a heavy weight on his chest. He looks down, and his face is immediately buried in soft green hair that smells like Tomura's shampoo. He breathes in, noting the hints of Midoriya's scent hiding within the shampoo's musky scents. He wishes that Midoriya hadn't used his soaps so that Tomura could smell the hero and nothing else. 

Midoriya's head rests on Tomura's chest, and his arms are wrapped around his middle. Their legs are tangled together under the blankets, and Tomura is careful not to move so that he doesn't wake him. He knows that whenever Midoriya wakes up, he'll probably pull himself away from Tomura. 

Against his better judgment, Tomura carefully lifts his hand and buries his fingers in Midoriya's soft curls. He likes the way they feel beneath his hand. The hero breathes softly as he sleeps, and Tomura can feel the rise and fall of his chest as he inhales and exhales. He continues to run his hand through Midoriya's hair, but then, Midoriya stirs. 

Tomura freezes, not even wanting to move so much as to pull his hand from the sleeping hero's hair. Midoriya moves around a bit, letting out a sleepy groan as his arms tighten around Tomura. Once he's absolutely sure that the man on top of him is still sleeping, he eases his hand away from Midoriya's hair and wraps his arms around his waist. 

Not long after, Tomura falls asleep again and has what he believes is the best night of sleep he's had to date.