Chapter Text
The sun was warming their backs while slowly disappearing behind the horizon. It was late evening when they finally got back to the clearing and the entrance to Katsuki’s cave. Both were smeared head to toe in mud, Izuku carrying a handful of dead swamp fish and the blond having a hollowed out corpse on his back. The human was exhausted by the eventful day and was very bothered by the smell surrounding them.
He hasn’t showered since the day Katsuki captured him, too afraid to ask for such trivial things when he had more pressing matters to worry about (mainly trying to understand his position as an alien’s mate). But now the days old stench of layering dirty combined with the stench of rotting swamps and the result caused Izuku to gag notoriously.
When they entered the cave and Katsuki made a beeline to the storage room, Izuku finally gathered some courage and voiced his discomfort.
“Um- can I… can I clean myself maybe? I mean, wash off some of that dirt, it’s really itching me where it dried on my skin- but if not, that’s okay! I-I’m not complaining, besides I don’t know how your species does-“
“Of course we bathe, idiot. Who do you take me for, some kind of disgusting animal?!”, Katsuki sounded offended and the freckled man instantly backed off, feeling bad about his accusation. He pretty much viewed the alien as such until he proved himself to be capable of intelligent thinking. Shame washed over him. It’s true. Katsuki might not have technology at his disposal, huge cities overflowing with people or even wear clothes (Izuku will be forever thankful that he seemed to have sheathable genitals like other lifeforms). Yet that didn’t determine where he stood according to the human.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Tsk, just give me those and hop in the lake.”, the other responded, while freeing his arms from the stinky fish. Izuku furrowed his brows and glanced at the huge glowing lake. It was so beautiful, he didn’t want to dirty it. But if even Katsuki washed himself in it…
Once he was sure the other was gone into the deeper parts of the cave system, he slowly moved closer to the water body. Small glowing bugs buzzed above the water, tall grass swaying gently near the banks. The clear surface was tempting him with an offer of long overdue bath.
He tentatively started to unzip his suit, looking behind his back every minute to make sure he was alone. Despite everything the need for privacy during undressing himself and bathing remined the same. Once he was fully naked, Izuku gently put down neatly folded clothing near the edge, observing his distorted reflection. All the dirty and bloodied smudges stared back at him, ugly scars cutting his skin, earned by tough years in academy. He couldn’t stand to look at it, seeing only a broken body of a broken person. Once Katsuki realises it too, he will surely change his mind about the whole mate thing.
The green-haired man dipped his foot in the water, finding out it was pleasantly warm, unlike the chill air of the upcoming night. He quickly submerged himself completely, only neck sticking out above the surface. His hand found a jutting out rock bench he could sit himself on since the lake’s bottom was deeper than he anticipated.
Izuku allowed his shoulder to relax, body unwinding after the recent stressful days. He swinged his legs idly underwater, letting its warmth ease the ache of his tired muscles and wash away all the residue mud. A sigh escaped his lips, eyes growing tired of watching floating lights above the lake and closing themselves in content.
They quickly flew open when he heard water splash right next to him though.
Turns out Katsuki decided to bath together with him, sitting himself right next to the shorter male. Up close Izuku could see the overwhelming heigh difference between them, as well as feel the alien’s unnatural body heat and count glimmering orange and black scales scattered on the smooth skin. His face rapidly gained color as he let out an inelegant squawk.
At that the blond only lifted his eyebrow, long tail splashing water on the human’s face.
“You have dirt on your mug too, Deku.”
Embarrassed, Izuku dipped his whole head underwater, emerging a few seconds later and furiously rubbing his freckled cheeks. When he opened his eyes he was met with a scorching red gaze trained on his right arm. Feeling self-conscious about his most prominent scars, he covered it with his other hand, head turning away. He heard enough comments about them already.
But Katsuki grabbed his left arm and with surprising gentleness moved it away, carefully studying the marred skin.
“Why are you hiding them?”, he asked, his tone lacking the usual bite. Izuku was too stunned to properly process it.
“I- it’s just, you know, other humans don’t like seeing a destroyed body like that. It’s considered rather ugly-“
“Well, then they are fucking stupid themselves!”, barked the blond. “Scars are a sign of a warrior! Means you went through some shit and survived. They should be worn with pride.”
His words moved something deep within Izuku. It was the first time he was met with a more positive response to his scars, rather than distaste and averted eyes. His heart fluttered.
“So. How did you earn yours? Did you fight some fucker over your territory? Protected your pack?”
“N-no, humans don’t really do that.”, Izuku sheepishly scratched his nape. “I got those trying to protect someone, yes, but they were a stranger to me back then. Where I came from, sometimes we have to train certain things before we do them properly.”
“Obviously, you won’t catch a big prey without perfecting your hunting skills.”
“Erm, yeah, like that. So, when I was younger we were training how to operate spaceships-“
“The flying rock?”
“Yes! It’s uhm, it’s a machine that allows us to travel through space.”, the freckled man explained patiently, checking if Katsuki understood what he was saying.
“Machine?”
“A manmade thing.”
“It’s not alive?”
“No, we make it move using different sources of power. It’s fully artificial.”
“Fucking weird.”, Izuku giggled at that lightly, it was… odd but refreshing introducing someone to the world that for him was completely normal. He supposed that’s what the alien felt too while talking to the human.
“Well, anyways, during this training there was an accident that caused machines to fall down on us. They tried to evacuate everyone in time, but when I was running away I saw someone stuck underneath the debris. Later I got an earful for that, as I said, my action was considered rather irresponsible. But I couldn’t help it, it was as if my body moved on its own…”, he trailed off here, an invisible force making it hard to continue talking. Katsuki kept staring at him intensely, tendrils twitching all over his body.
“You saved that human?”
“Y-yeah, I did. But in the process more debris fell on us and that’s how I ruptured bones in my right arm rather heavily. But hey, at least I got a friend out of that?”, Izuku laughed airily, mindlessly massaging the rough skin of the scars. He waited for the alien to mock him, to call him useless. None of that happened though. Instead, Katsuki looked at him with barely visible pride in his crimson eyes, then he let out a quiet trill as his tail splashed some water on Izuku.
“H-hey, what was that for?!”, the freckled man whined while scrubbing his eyes.
“You looked dumb.”, quipped the taller male, turning away his face. “Enough of that human bullshit, you have the best fucking dinner to eat. Prepare to be swooned the hell out!”
In the tranquillity of their shared bath, Izuku completely forgot that today’s whole work was necessary so he could eat “the courting dish” Katsuki bragged so much about. He couldn’t say he wasn’t equally curious and apprehensive, but when the blond scrambled out of the lake some part of him missed the additional warmth. He tried to reason it as him being extremely touch starved.
Soon Izuku realised he had another thing to worry about. He didn’t have any spare clothes. His only suit was still dirty and smelly, and he couldn’t just walk out naked.
“Oi, what’s the holdup?!”, yelled Katsuki as he came back to the main room. “Hurry or it’s gonna get cold, I didn’t work my ass off for you to not eat the best damn food of your miserable life!”
“Y-yes, sorry! But… do you maybe have any clothes I could borrow until I wash mine?”, the freckled man asked sheepishly.
“What the fuck do you need those rags for?”
“Well! I can’t just… not wear anything, that’s rude.”, at that Katsuki grimaced and pointedly stared at his own naked torso, which in turn made Izuku blush heavily. “In human terms, at least.”
“Fucking, fine!”, grumbled the other and disappeared once again, only to come back with one of the furs from his den. “That good enough for you?”
Izuku thanked him and reached out for the fur, but as he was about to climb out and wrap it around himself, he felt those heated sharp eyes still locked on him. “Could you, um, turn around while I do it?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake!”
✩
When he was finally ready and swaddled in heavy white fur smelling like smoke and caramel, he started walking towards the den where he presumed his dinner was waiting for him. Until Katsuki grabbed him in the middle and threw over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, heading towards a different room that he hadn’t explored yet.
Inside was well lit with yellow glowing gemstones hanging from the ceiling, hard floor covered by animal skins and dried grass. Rock shelves protruded from the walls, littered with bowls and other questionable objects. In the middle there was a huge round stone slate on which a tray with more covered bowls were put.
Katsuki placed Izuku on one side of the table, then sat on the opposite. The green-haired man glanced curiously at the bowls and went to grab the biggest one but the blond swatted his hand away.
“Start with this.”, he instructed, pushing a smaller bowl towards him. When Izuku lifted a flat stone lid, the contents turned out to be small evenly cut cubes of something swimming in a deep brown broth. Since there was no spoon or any other utensils, he lifted the bowl and tentatively tipped towards his lips. Immediately his taste buds exploded under the onslaught of different flavours, all combined into a deadly hot composition. His tongue was burning and found little relief in cubes that despite having meaty texture tasted more like tofu. He quickly put down the dish and drank the whole bowl of water that Katsuki offered to him while snorting.
“Dumbass.”, he chuckled without any actual meaning behind it, reaching for the bowl and sipping some of the broth. “Mm, it’s better than the last one. Changing for the swamp meat was a good choice.”
Hearing that, Izuku slowly put his water bowl down.
“These cubes… are the fish?!”
“Duh, obviously. Despite living in the trashiest part of the forest, their meat is very tender and delicate.”, stated the alien matter-of-factly, sliding the bowl back towards Izuku. The human suddenly lost appetite thinking about slimy creatures covered in muddy water, but he didn’t want to offend Katsuki. He worked hard on preparing the food for him, after all.
He finished the broth in few gulps, washing them down with more water. Then, he glance unsurely at the main course. It probably contained the meat from the poor two-headed ponies. Izuku took a deep breath and lifted the lid. The delicious aroma of meat and vegetables clogged his nose. The dish looked like classic donburi, and the similarity made him wonder how Katsuki actually made these.
The other didn’t give him much time to ponder on it though, letting out an urging growl, nonverbally saying “eat it before it’s cold”. He brought the bowl to his lips and used his tongue to gather the strips of meat on top together with other things beneath it into his mouth. When he finally properly could taste the dish, he ceased chewing.
It was exactly like his mother’s katsudon. Even though the ingredients used were completely different, he would recognise the taste anywhere, even after years of not having it.
Tears welled in his eyes and fell down, snot running from his nose as he stuffed his cheeks full of the dish. It was delicious but he had a hard time focusing on the masterfully crafted meal when his mind was swirling from the amount of emotions igniting in him. The world was blurring, Katsuki’s cave momentarily replaced with his old house, smelling of chamomile and rosemary, hearing his mom’s warm voice and clinking of plates in the kitchen. He was back to those simpler times, when he didn’t have much but what he did have was enough.
It was enough to make him happy.
Katsuki was watching him the whole time with a panicked expression, hands outstretched but hanging in the air, unsure what to do. When Izuku let out a particularly heart-breaking sob, whole body wrecked with tremors, the blond curled his tail around the smaller male, trying to comfort him somehow.
“Fuck, it is that bad? Shit- just give me the bowl, I’ll make you a new one-“, gone was his bravado, tone laced with worry and a hint of insecurity. But the freckled man only shook his head in response, trying to calm his breath.
“It’s not that- I-I’m not crying because it’s bad.”, he croaked out between hiccups. “It’s very good, actually. I was… it just reminded me of someone important to me.”
The other slowly moved to his side, wrapping him tighter with the fur and tail, pointy ears still flat against his head.
“Is that person… no longer with you?”, the alien questioned and Izuku could only nod in response, unable to find his voice in that moment. Katsuki hummed at that. “I’ve been told that when we die, our body stays on the ground and feeds the new life, but our spirit persists, goes back from whence it came.”
He went silent for a second, prompting Izuku to glance up at him and lock his watery emerald with blazing vermillion.
“The stars.”
✩
That night when they went to sleep, Katsuki was able to freely enter his den again. Huddled under the soft materials, Izuku tried to drift off to the land of dreams, but found it hard to after the emotional whiplash. After minutes of tossing and turning, he felt heat pressing itself to his back. The blond was barely touching him, as if waiting for his reaction. Too tired to overthink it, Izuku faced him, eyes at the level of his collarbones.
Both laid there, silence filled with their slow exhales and inhales. Izuku noticed how Katsuki’s eyes traced freckles dotting his whole body.
“Are all human’s like that?”, he asked suddenly. “Marked with galaxies? Or is it only the ones traveling to other planets?”
Izuku felt his skin tingle. Is this how the other saw him? A being that had whole galaxies etched into his skin?
“N-no, it’s also a type of abnormality. Sometimes certain humans just have markings on their body but it doesn’t really mean anything.”
“Huh. Our younglings manifest facial marks after they claim their territory.”, Katsuki answered, pointing at the deep red strokes on his face. “This way each of us knows where the other belongs.”
Izuku nodded, studying the others sharp angles bathed in ethereal moonlight. He would be a liar if he said Katsuki wasn’t stunning.
“That would be nice if we also had that.”, he commented with a yawn, turning back to the other side. “Would make my life a lot easier…”
When he finally started to fall into sleep’s embrace, he once again felt the blond’s heat, this time much closer, back pressed firmly to the warm chest, heavy arms securing him in Katsuki’s hold. He decided to let it be, indulging in the bubbly feeling blooming inside him. Just this once, he thought, just this once he wanted to feel like he belonged.