Thread by @GreyFrey3

#okaeri2022, #domesticbkdkweek, #domesticbkdkweek2022, bkdk, dkbk

Day 3: bathing, arguments, fantasy AU, there be dragons

“Kacchan, are you even listening to me?!”

Honestly? He quit paying attention to Izuku the moment they began their hasty escape on dragonback.

Katsuki’s mind is preoccupied with trying to figure out how those bandits got the drop on them in the first place. That and visualizing all the close calls they barely managed to survive.

…the close calls *Izuku* barely managed to survive. Katsuki was fine the whole time.

He’s dragonkin, after all. And no lousy human—even twenty of them, armed and out for his blood—can intimidate him.

But they almost managed to take Izuku out several times during the ambush.

And for whatever reason, every time his brain recalls a sword flashing towards Izuku and how his human barely danced out of the way, his stomach clenches. Maybe it’s motion sickness. Still, the arms wound around Izuku’s waist squeeze tighter.

“Kacchan?! I’m asking you a question!”

He clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Yeah yeah, I’m listening. Hard to ignore you when you’re yapping so loud.”

“I asked you what could have possibly been thinking?!” Izuku exclaims. Katsuki’s hackles raise at his flippant question,

but the other’s tone is rife with concern, so he chooses to stay silent. “Why on earth did you use your quirk so recklessly? You could have been injured!”

//The longer we fought them… the one who would have gotten hurt was *you*.//

But he’d rather die than admit something so sappy out loud. Where had that thought even come from?!

“Shaddap or I’m going to throw you off,” he threatens in Izuku’s ear. “This close to the ground, you might even survive.”

He taps his boot heels against Kirishima’s scaly flanks, a silent demand for the dragon to drop lower. They’ve flown far enough that they should be able to make camp without having to worry about any more uninvited guests.

Kirishima spreads his wings, slowing as they descend. They circle lazily over a patch of forest until Katsuki spots a clearing—large enough to disguise a full size dragon, and a good distance from any village.

He waits until they’ve landed, unloaded the gear, raised the tent, started the fire, sent Kirishima off to hunt his own dinner, and trekked over to the nearest pond to wash their gear before he addresses the silently stewing Izuku.

“I used it because I had to,” he grunts,

loosening the knots that secure his cape to his shoulders. It falls to the ground unceremoniously. “It was the quickest way to end things.”

“But your hands!” Izuku shouts angrily, loud enough to startle some birds resting in a nearby tree.

He pauses scrubbing the muck from his leather pauldron, turning to glare fiercely at him.

Katsuki scowls. “They’ll heal just fine. Always do.” In the hour or so since the skirmish ended, the reddened flesh of his palms has already stopped throbbing. “It’s pain. So what.”

“It’s…! You can’t just say it’s pain and tell me to forget about it!” Izuku hisses.

“Why? *You* always do!” Katsuki snaps back at him. He regrets it instantly. Not because he’s hurting Izuku’s feelings—the human isn’t as soft as he looks—or because he’s spewing falsehoods.

On any given day, Izuku is a hundred times more reckless than he is.

What he regrets is that he’s only escalating the argument. It’s the last thing he needs to do right now. They’re both tired and covered in filth.

All Katsuki wants to do is eat and sleep, but he can’t rest easy until he sees Izuku smile. At least once.

“Oi. Okay, listen.” Katsuki crosses his arms over his chest. “I won’t do that again.”

“Good—!”

Katsuki barrels onwards, ignoring Izuku’s interruption. “But you gotta stop trying to throw yourself on every sword pointed at you.”

“I do *not*—“

Katsuki closes the distance between them. The human is kneeling by the water’s edge, back to him, his dirty armor in hand.

Taking advantage of Izuku’s prone position, Katsuki crouches behind him, encircling him in his arms.

“If you die, I’ll kill you.” He presses his forehead into the span between Izuku’s shoulder blades, closing his eyes.

The man in his embrace stills.

Then he lets out a soft sigh. “Alright. I’ll be more careful. We *both* will.”

And Katsuki doesn’t need to see his face to know Izuku is softening up to him. He can hear it in the fond tone of his voice, and feel it as he melts back against him.

//Good. The perfect time to strike.//

Without warning, Katsuki picks him up, using his superior strength to hurl him bodily in the water.

Izuku emerges seconds later, spitting and gasping. He has zero time to recover before Katsuki is landing next to him in the pond,

the wave from his impact smacking him in his freckled face.

“K-Kacchan!” he sputters. “What the heck?”

Izuku’s still not smiling yet, though the corners of his mouth are twitching like he’s doing his best to suppress one. So close.

“You stink. Time for a bath.”

Katsuki smirks lazily as he shifts to float on his back.

He’s expecting the counter attack and allows Izuku to dunk him. Mostly because it makes it easier to grab hold of him again. When the dragonkin resurfaces, it’s to the sound of tinkling laughter filling the air.

//Gotcha.//

“Feeling proud of yourself, nerd?” he grouses, pulling Izuku closer until they’re chests are brushing together.

Izuku grins at him. It’s an expression that’s so filled with warmth and affection, it makes Katsuki’s heart skip a beat.

“I just one upped a dragonkin… so yeah. Pretty proud.”

“I *let* you do that!” Katsuki declares grumpily, shaking his head in revenge. Water droplets fly, spraying everywhere. He grins when he hears Izuku yelp, but then stops a moment later when the human gently cups his face.

Then they’re kissing and Katsuki forgets everything except the feel of Izuku’s lips against his own—the ambush, the argument…even the splash war he started.

“Kacchan…” Izuku murmurs when they part, eyes half-mast but focused on him.

Katsuki hums, not really paying much attention as he eagerly tries to close the distance between them again.

“You missed a spot.” Izuku presses him down under the water again, for once catching him by surprise.

When Katsuki resurfaces this time, all he sees is Izuku swimming as fast as he can away from him.

“Get back here!”

They’re both grinning as Katsuki gives chase.

/end

Meanwhile, Kirishima is just: 🙄