Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Katsuki walks through the castle with a letter in hand and a lump in his throat, and he doesn’t stop until he finds his parents in the solarium, the part of the castle where his family prefers to spend their few leisure hours.

Sometimes there are guests here or dignitaries from foreign lands, but today Masaru and Mitsuki sit alone at a stone table covered in small wooden pieces for a game played to keep the mind fresh, a game Katsuki has never lost to any other person—except for one.

He presses his finger against the edge of the paper, but it doesn’t cut him, like it was somehow enchanted not to do so from thousands of miles away.

“Mom,” he says, his throat unusually dry. “Dad.”

They look up at him, and Katsuki approaches, and from what he can see of the board, it seems his mother has gone for the assault while his father dutifully defends his queen behind a row of soldiers. Both methods have their merit, and today he wishes he was seated across from either of them instead of standing before them like this, like a child trembling in the dark as his heart pounds wildly in his chest.

He hands the letter to his mother, their nation’s sovereign, and she reads over it before she passes it to his father, her most valued advisor. Katsuki was born to them as rulers ascended shortly before, so he doesn’t know any other way of life, but he does know that what they expect from him is a mirror of themselves that he’s always thought—sometimes too proudly—he would never be.

But the gods will have their way with him if he is to be king, and he will be, there’s no doubt about it, and now his ascension is closer than he ever truly imagined before.

They both look at him, and Katsuki doesn’t see any pity at all but a wariness like they don’t quite know what to expect him to say or do about it, but then again, it wasn’t too long ago that Katsuki wouldn’t have reacted in a way suitable for a conversation indoors. Perhaps their hesitance was earned.

“Are you ready,” Masaru asks finally.

Katsuki nods silently.

He is.

He has been for a while now.

“Then does that mean you’ve finally accepted the gods will,” Mitsuki asks with a raised brow, and he’s only annoyed with her because she’s his mother, and it’s her job to make him prickle.

“Yes, mom,” he says. “I didn’t burn it, did I?”

Mitsuki smiles at him, all warmth and knowing, and Masaru jumps from his seat and flings his arms around Katsuki’s neck, blubbering just as expected. “Oh, I’m so happy!”

“Is this your king,” Katsuki strains as Masaru squeezes the air from his lungs.

“I’m your father,” he chides him.

“I imagine you’ll find yourself in a similar situation as I have soon,” Mitsuki says, amused. “Try to get used to it.”

“People change,” Katsuki says.

“I hope not always,” she says, and Katsuki lets out an anxious breath. He hopes not too.

Masaru releases him and takes a step back, and Katsuki gathers himself. There are few people in this world allowed to hug him, and even if it makes him roll his eyes, his father will always be one of them.

Mitsuki steps forward and takes his face in her hands.

“You will make a good king,” she says.

“You know this means that day is coming sooner than later,” he says, squirming to move away but with barely any real effort. “I’m taking your throne away from you.”

“I know that,” she says. “And I’m saying I think you’re ready.”

Katsuki takes another breath and nods, and she steps back to stand at Masaru’s side.

“We’ll send a ship as soon as possible,” she says. “I’ll let the steward know to pack enough supplies for an extended journey just in case. We’ll send our best warriors as an escort party so there won’t be any delays.”

Katsuki shakes his head at that. No one will argue that he’s the best warrior they have, so sending someone else is absolutely out of the question for more reasons than one.

“No,” Katsuki says. “I want to go myself.”

They both look at him like him saying this is something unbelievable.

“The gods may have willed this, but if I’m going to be a warrior king of a warrior people, then I can’t accept my fate passively,” he says. “I have to do this myself. I’ll go.”

Mitsuki looks over him before her eyes narrow. “You’re not going to scare him off, are you?”

“No?!”

“I’m not sure it would work even if he tried,” Masaru muses, and Mitsuki grins.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right.”

Katsuki rolls his eyes. “I’m glad we all know what to expect then.”

Their steward makes all of the necessary arrangements for the journey, and Katsuki sends a letter ahead of himself, which means that there will be exactly one month before he sets sail.

One month to prepare what he’ll say.

One month before the atmosphere of this castle changes to something else, something he isn’t used to anymore, and one month before his life changes forever at the will of the gods and his own acceptance, even despite his past wishes.

But there are still things he has to take care of before any of this comes to pass, and there’s a person who has yet to hear about this journey, one who will be very upset if he isn’t given enough time to prepare.

He finds Eijirou at the stables, petting Katsuki’s favorite mare and spoiling her with carrots like he has ever since he first came here with him years ago, and she accepts her treats greedily from his ruby and onyx claws. Some of the guards have joked that she likes Eijirou better than him, but Katsuki won’t hear it.

Fury knocks her head from side to side at the sight of him, and Katsuki grins victoriously. See. She knows who her father is.

“Oh, Katsuki,” Eijirou says as Katsuki approaches them, his cadence softer now than it was when he first came here, and Katsuki rubs Fury’s cheek as she chews on her snack. “Are you going out for a ride?”

“No, I was looking for you,” he says, and he takes one of the carrots and breaks it in his fingers, preferring to feed her in small bites than let her have the whole thing at once. “I wanted to tell you that I need to go to elf lands in a few weeks.”

“Oh?” Eijirou’s eyes widen curiously. “What for?”

Katsuki knows he should tell him. They’re best friends, closer than blood, and no one is more loyal and understanding than Eijirou, but one of the benefits to Eijirou being an outsider is that he doesn’t have to hear about prophecies and the will of their gods, and so for the duration of their friendship, not a soul has spoken of Katsuki’s birthright to him, which has given him plenty of time to make peace with it on his own.

And saying it out loud would make it real in a way he isn’t quite ready for yet.

“Is it a secret?” Eijirou asks when he doesn’t answer.

“For now,” Katsuki says. “I’ll need you to trust me and not ask too many questions until it’s time for me to tell you.”

“Of course. Whatever you say,” he says before the corners of his mouth tug down a little.

“Oh, don’t pout.”

“I’m not,” he says. “I get it. You’re the prince here, and you have secrets. I’m just really nosy, is all, and we always share everything, and now you’re going somewhere amazing, and I don’t get to know why.”

Katsuki exhales, and Fury takes another piece from his fingers.

“I promise I’ll tell you soon,” he says. “Maybe after we get there, I’ll get us some of that shitty sweet wine they love so much, but I just need some time first.”

Eijirou nods in understanding before his head jerks towards him in surprise. “We?”

“Yeah, idiot, did you think I was leaving you behind?”

Eijirou flushes and looks away. “Well, it seemed like an important trip for princes and not for dragons.”

“The dragon goes where the prince goes,” he repeats, an old message his parents had spread through the castle after Eijirou first came here, and Eijirou grins at him until one of his fangs clips over his lip.

“Oh, we’re going on an adventure!” Eijirou cheers before planting a quick kiss on his mouth, one Katsuki should have seen coming to defend himself from, but he never quite moves away from it in time to stop it. “I’ve always wanted to see elf lands! This is so exciting, I hope we make friends.”

Katsuki huffs a laugh and wipes his mouth, a sound mirrored by the snort of his horse who has her eyes set on the carrot in Eijirou’s hand.

Friends.

He thinks about Eijirou meeting him—meeting them— and his chest tightens a little. They’ll love each other, there’s no doubt about it, and with a pang of guilt he wonders why he ever kept them separated at all.

“You’ll need to be fitted for a few shirts and longer trousers,” he says, and Eijirou doesn’t just frown at that, he scowls, and Katsuki barks a laugh. “Elves have a dress code.”

“Are you sure you don’t need me here to look after Fury?”

“Tch,” Katsuki says and side eyes him, and Eijirou beams back at him with all of his fangs on display. Yes, he has to take him with him, there’s no doubt about it, and besides, what would a dragon do all by himself with no one but a horse to play with?

Eijirou follows Katsuki across the sea to the elf lands, a place he’s never been before and never imagined he would see.

His people come from the mountains in the north, and the warrior kingdom Katsuki belongs to covers all of  the land below, all the way to the waters they set sail on a week ago.

Katsuki won’t tell Eijirou why they’ve come here, but lately he’s been taking his responsibilities as the future king seriously, so Eijirou assumes it involves some kind of diplomacy with the elves. He hopes this means there will be a celebration. Eijirou loves parties.

They arrive in the middle of the night, and he and Katsuki rest with the crew on the ship at port until dawn with Eijirou taking no indulgent trips into the sky to get a peek, unsure of how the elves will feel about dragons, if they even know they exist.

Eijirou is so excited that he can only manage one breakfast, and soon he and Katsuki are walking through the city together with Eijirou as Katsuki’s only official guard. Although, all he’s ever really needed to protect himself is the sword that is notably missing from his hip, a sight Eijirou has never seen before.

They are far from home, though, aren’t they?

And the elven city is beautiful.

Vines stretch over marble walls spotted with soft purple and pink flowers, and beyond them Eijirou can see the crystalline structures towering over the city like gemstones cut to absorb the sun’s light.

They’re just regular buildings Katsuki says and points off to the side towards a small glassy box with ribbons hanging in the windows, and Eijirou can smell the warmth of fresh bread coming from within. It’s just a bakery, and yet it looks like the sun reflecting off the lake.

“Everything is so pretty and shiny here,” he says. “I wish your castle sparkled.”

“I thought you said my castle was manly.”

“It is! But I think I like this place better.”

Katsuki sucks his teeth. “Then I’ll leave you here when we go back home.”

“You would not!” Ejiirou frowns, betrayed.

“I would! Let the elves have you since you prefer pretty things!”

“Maybe when you finish your business, we can come back.”

“No.”

“You’re being unfair.”

“Don’t argue with me,” Katsuki says, and Eijirou ignores him in favor of the massive statue he sees approaching in the distance.

A woman stands above the city like she was carved from glass, and her hair looks like it’s made of water that wraps down her arms, pouring down from her palms to a large pool below. It’s a fountain, he realizes with a gasp, like the castle has for birds, but it’s more.

“It’s–.”

“Elves fight with magic,” Katsuki explains easily. “Not swords.”

“Magic,” he says in a breath. “Wow. Where is the water coming from?”

“I don’t know, I said they use magic, didn’t I?”

“No, you said they fight with magic,” Eijirou says.

“Well they use it for other shit too,” he says and grabs his arm. “Come on, we’re gonna be late.”

“Late for what,” Eijirou says, trotting after him. “Are we meeting someone?”

“Yeah,” he says, gruff.

“Oh good! Who are we meeting?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Eijirou follows Katsuki up the hill towards a cluster of crystal towers that all seem to belong to one place. The gates open for them with no guards in sight, and Eijirou looks around in wonder at the massive gardens and marble paths that context each point to the other.

A gathering place, he imagines, with soft grasses and plenty of shade from all the different trees. He hears birds, and not much else, even though the city around them is quite lively and vibrant.

Katsuki tenses next to him, his shoulders stiff and hunched, and Eijirou’s eyebrows raise.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he says, stiff. “Don’t worry about it.”

Eijirou frowns. “Are we expecting danger?”

Katsuki shakes his head. “Nope, this is the safest place in the world.”

“What is it?”

“The Academy. It’s like a place for studying magic, but they do other stuff here, so it’s not a school,” he says and nods towards an orb at the center of the garden. “Anyone who tries to fuck with anyone else gets zapped.”

“Oh my,” Eijirou says, making sure to look as non-threatening as possible. “And we’re welcome here?”

“Yep,” he says like he almost doesn’t want the word to come out. “They know we’re coming, so don’t worry about it.”

“Oh? So your secret business is at the magic school?”

“Katsuki!”

They both turn in time to see someone too short to be an elf running towards them with green hair, large eyes, and a dozen freckles over his cheeks, waving his hand high above his head like an old friend, and the aura next to him immediately shifts from on edge to relieved.

But when Eijirou looks at Katsuki, expecting a brotherly smile like he gives him after a hunt, he instead finds a sturn, annoyed scowl.

Why is he lying?

The little green one comes to them and throws his arms around Katsuki’s neck, seemingly unaffected by the expression. Maybe he knows he’s lying too.

“Get off of me,” he grumbles, wiggling away from the embrace, and Eijirou frowns. This new person was so happy to see him, and Katsuki was happy to see him too. Shouldn’t they hug? Dragons would certainly kiss.

The new person steps away with a bright smile aimed towards Eijirou, and Eijirou returns it easily, already fond of this person just from how good he makes his friend feel on the inside, even if begrudgingly.

“Hello! I’m Izuku from clan Midoriya,” he says warmly, the introduction familiar to Eijirou from spending time in Katsuki’s kingdom.

“You’re human,” Eijirou says, surprised.

“Yes,” he says. “The only one here, I think. Or, I was until Katsuki came, but I’m the only human who lives here. I’m a mage, just not an elf.”

Eijirou looks at Katsuki for an explanation, having never met a mage because humans back home don’t use magic at all, even in their fairy tales.

“He’s good with books, but not so much a sword,” he says, not explaining any further.

“You’re a dragon, aren’t you?” Izuku asks, and his excitement bubbles out so easily that Eijirou finds himself immediately wishing to return it. “Oh, I’m sorry if it’s rude to point that out, but you only ever see elves around here, so this is kind of amazing.”

Eijirou nods enthusiastically. “It’s not rude. I am a dragon.”

“Wow,” he smiles brightly. “Can you fly?”

“Of course,” he says. “Would you like to go to the sky with me?”

Izuku’s eyes widen in amazement. “Really?”

“Later,” Katsuki bristles. “Don’t want the elves trying to shoot you down by accident.”

“Oh yes, that’s true,” Izuku says thoughtfully. “I think the people in the city might panic if they suddenly saw a dragon flying around.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want them to be scared of me,” Eijirou says, distressed. “Oh no.”

“Maybe after a few people see you first, they’ll know what to expect,” Izuku says. “But that’s so nice of you to offer. I’ve never had anyone ask to take me to the sky before.”

“A friend of Katsuki’s is a friend of mine,” he says, and he catches Izuku and Katsuki glancing at each other wordlessly.

“Speaking of your friends,” Katsuki says to Izuku. “Where is that half and half bastard you’re so fond of?”

“Oh you know,” he says, waving towards one of the towers. “He’s busy, but he’s around here somewhere.”

“Half and half?” Eijirou asks.

“Yeah, he’s–,” Katsuki says. “You’ll see soon enough.”

“Oh wait, I think he might have gone to the arboretum actually,” Izuku remembers, and Eijirou looks at Katsuki for an explanation.

“It’s like a place with a bunch of plants,” he says, holding his hands apart to emphasize the size. “They study them too, I guess.”

“Is it bigger than this,” Eijirou says, looking around at what he already thought was a large garden.

Izuku laughs, not unkindly. “Would you like to see it yourself? I can take you.”

Eijirou looks at Katsuki with hopeful eyes.

“Well don’t look at me,” he says. “If he says it’s okay, do what you want. The dragon goes where Izuku goes.”

Eijirou looks back at Izuku, his hands clasped together with a wish that he doesn’t change his mind, and Izuku smiles at him like he’s the sun itself, and Eijirou knows for sure in that moment that Katsuki’s little green friend is a good person.

“Here, follow me,” he says, taking him by the elbow. “I’ll give you a tour.”

Katsuki raises an eyebrow, but he doesn’t mention their important meeting they were going to be late for, and so soon Eijirou is being led towards the most magnificent garden he’s ever seen.

It seems to stretch on for miles, and everywhere he looks, he sees a different flower, tree, or vine, all unique and wonderful. Golden butterflies and plump little bees fly from bloom to bloom, and it takes everything Eijirou has to not give into his instincts and swat at them.

He thinks of the smoking mountains of his homeland and the jagged rocks spread across the landscape that used to nick the pads of his feet, and he thinks that this place must be paradise. 

Gods must live here.

And one approaches.

Eijirou watches in awe as he steps towards them, sharp like glass and as graceful as running water. Long pointed ears appear from beneath silken, wind-tousled hair that on one side looks like unmelted mountain frost and the other is Eijirou’s favorite color.

He hasn’t seen every flower here yet, but he already knows that none of them could compare to him.

“Close your mouth,” Katsuki says under his breath before addressing the elf. “Finally ready to make your grand entrance?”

“I would have waited near the gates with Izuku, but there was too much work to do,” he says, and Eijirou catches a quick flush to Izuku’s cheeks. “I’m finished now though.”

“So where’s your parents,” he says. “I want to get the greetings out of the way.”

“They have trusted me with this for now,” he says.

“Really,” Katsuki says, suspicious.

“Yes,” he says calmly, like it would be impossible to insult or startle him. “They said because we’re such good friends.”

Eijirou glances at Katsuki, who looks like he might be trying very hard to hold in a laugh, and Eijirou smiles, relieved. Oh, they are friends.

Since when does Katsuki have so many friends? Why hasn’t he told him about them?”

The elf looks directly at Eijirou, his head tilting slightly as his eyes rake over him like he’s taking him in, and suddenly Eijirou is very conscious of the scales over his arms and the claws on his fingers. Do elves like dragons? He’s never met an elf before, so maybe this elf has never met someone like him either.

“Hello,” he says.

“H-hi,” Eijirou says with a smile, one that is not mirrored directly, but he can feel it the way he can feel Katsuki’s inner thoughts.

“Oh!” Izuku says. “Shouto, this is Katsuki’s dragon friend, Eijirou. He’s been staying with him at the palace for the last few years. Eijirou, this is my best friend and favorite teacher, Shouto.”

“You’re a teacher here?” Eijirou asks, amazed.

“Izuku is exaggerating my role a bit,” Shouto says. “My parents are the academy’s lord and lady, and I have tutored Izuku outside of his regular lessons because I am more familiar with the advanced material than most of the others. Izuku and I studied together when we were young though.”

“This is just a research center,” Izuku says. “But I am allowed to study here, and I help Shouto’s siblings and some of the other elves with their research in exchange for more training.”

Katsuki eyes him. “I thought it was supposed to be just Shouto, Lord Enji, and Lady Rei.”

Izuku flushes and looks away. “I was curious about the other specialities.”

“Izuku.”

“I know what you’re going to say, but I promise I’ll never use that on a human being without their consent,” Izuku says earnestly. “Unless it’s an emergency.”

Eijirou looks at them all anxiously, unaware of what these strange magics could be or what that is. “What’s he talking about?”

“Well, one of Shouto’s brothers is a healer,” Izuku says.

“Oh that sounds like great magic to have,” Eijirou says, excited. “Isn’t it?”

“Izuku,” Katsuki warns.

“And his sister is a very talented alchemist,” he says. “She’s taught me how to make so many useful potions like for healing and for sleep.”

Eijirou’s eyebrows raise.

“Izuku…”

Izuku frowns and looks away like he’s been scolded, and the corner of Shouto’s mouth twitches.

“And you let him study with him?”

“I do not let Izuku do anything,” Shouto says. “And neither do you or anyone else.”

Katsuki’s mouth thins. “I know that.”

“Do you?”

Eijirou clears his throat, aware of the sudden shift between them on top of Izuku’s anxiety, and he thinks it would be a real shame if one of those magical elf balls zapped someone right now.

Katsuki takes a breath, calming himself. “Shouto’s eldest brother is a necromancer.”

Eijirou gasps in shock, and Izuku physically winces.

“Oh no!” Eijirou says, horrified. “What’s a necrodancer?”

Izuku erupts into a fit of giggles, Shouto covers his mouth with one hand, and Katsuki looks at Eijirou like his eyes might explode.

“Necro mancer, you idiot,” he says. “Not necro dancer.”

“No, I think what he said may be closer to what it looks like,” Shouto says, amused, and Eijirou preens that he was correct, earning an elbow to the side.

“No,” Katsuki says.

“But what is it then?”

“He raises the dead,” Katsuki says. “Isn’t that right, Izuku?”

“Well.”

“You can do that?” Eijirou asks. “Oh, no, I don’t think I like that kind of magic. No, no.”

“It’s– forbidden in most places,” Izuku admits. “I wanted to learn because I was curious, but I’ve only ever practiced on plants. No living creatures, I couldn’t live with myself if something went wrong.”

Katsuki relaxes next to him. “Oh.”

“Izuku’s practice with resurrection under Touya’s supervision has done wonders for the arboretum,” Shouto says. “But his true talents you’ll have to see for yourself when he decides to show you. He is an incredible mage.”

Izuku looks at Shouto with a shy smile, his admiration for this elf reminiscent of the way Eijirou so often feels when Katsuki praises his sword fighting. “You don’t have to say that.”

“I do have to,” Shouto says. “He should know it.”

“I guess I’ll have to see it for myself then,” Katsuki says.

“I’m sure you’ll have plenty of opportunities.”

“We should walk around some more,” Izuku says suddenly. “There’s still so much left to see, and Eijirou’s never been here before.”

“Have you taken them to the Pavilion of Resonance yet,” Shouto says, and Eijirou perks up with interest.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, you’re gonna love this,” Katsuki says.

Izuku and Shouto lead them away from the garden towards a raised terrace, and the four of them climb the steps up to a large, flat plateau covered in square stone tiles, and when Eijirou steps onto it, he hears a deep rumble that seems to come from everywhere.

He covers his ears with a frown, but it doesn’t seem to bother the others.

“What is this?” Eijirou shouts over the noise.

“Magic,” Izuku shouts back with a smile. “All the ley lines converge here at the center, and it gets sent out to the rest of the city. Everything here is created with magic.”

Eijirou turns to Katsuki.

“It’s like underground rivers, and this is the well.”

“Oh!” Eijirou shouts, finally understanding. “Why is it so loud?”

“It’s a lot of water,” Izuku laughs.

Shouto raises his hand and snaps his fingers, and the painful roar dulls to a soft, tolerable murmur. Eijirou lowers his hands, relieved. “You may stand at the center if you wish. It is an interesting sensation to experience.”

Eijirou looks at Katsuki, unsure, and Katsuki gestures towards it. “Go for it.”

Eijirou walks towards the center, checking over his shoulder to see if the other three are watching, and once he approaches what seems to be a stone star, he feels those earlier vibrations tickle the ends of his claws.

When he taps his fingers together, there are sparks.

Shouto approaches him, leaving the other two at the edge. “It’s safe. It’s like static in wool.”

“Ah, okay,” he says, suddenly very anxious, and not from the sparks.

Shouto extends his hand, his fingers graceful and brilliant as they pluck threads of magic out of the air and weave them into a ball. He cups it in his palms, and Eijirou watches in amazement as a tiny blue sphere floats there attached to nothing. “Hold out your hands.”

“Will it hurt?”

“No, it will not.”

Eijirou cups his hands carefully like he’s accepting a baby bird, and he watches the orb float towards him and hover just above his skin.

It feels cool like flying over snow, and Eijirou’s smile widens.

“Can you eat it?”

“I have never tried before, but I suppose you could.”

Eijirou frowns at himself. “That was strange to ask, wasn’t it.”

“I don’t think any question is strange,” he says.

“Is this the water they were talking about?”

“Yes, but it can be other things too,” he says. “Above the pavilion it is air, and below it is like water, and in the arboretum it is earth.”

“Oh wow,” he breathes just before Shouto waves a hand over his palms, igniting the ball into a scorching, flaming red.

“And when it is used like a sword, it is fire.”

Eijirou stares at the small ball of fire in awe until Shouto plucks it out of his hand, making it vanish into a puff of smoke inside his fist.

“This is our magic.”

“Will you quit showing off,” Katsuki says as he and Izuku approach.

“You were just as excited when we showed you the pavilion,” Izuku says.

“We,” Katsuki says. “I remember Fuyumi showing me. Not you two.”

Izuku frowns, his ears darkening as he looks away.

“You can do that too,” Eijirou asks. “You can pull the magic out?”

“Not as easily as Shouto can, but yes, everyone who studies here can in some way.”

“That’s amazing,” Eijirou says. “I love magic.”

Katsuki snorts. “Of course you do.”

Shouto turns and looks off, and Eijirou sees an elf standing on the opposite side in robes with wild white hair, and Shouto nods at him. “If you’ll excuse me.”

“Where are you going,” Izuku asks before he sees him too. “Oh okay. I’m going to take them to the Residency, if that’s alright?”

“Yes, of course,” he says. “I’ll be there soon.”

Shouto leaves, and once he’s gone, the loud roar of magic returns, and Eijirou covers his ears again with a pout. He doesn’t like this part at all.

“Come on, before it gives him a headache,” Katsuki says.

“What?!” Eijirou shouts.

“I said we’re leaving!” Katsuki shouts back.

“Oh yes, sorry, Eijirou,” Izuku says. “Follow me.”

There are more marble buildings where Izuku takes them, and Eijirou can see small pink and yellow crystals in the windows glowing with light where torches and candles might be.

Living quarters, he guesses. The other mages must stay here, especially if they’ve traveled as far as they have to come to this place, and with a bubble of excitement he wonders if they’ll get to stay here too or if they’ll spend the night on the ship again. Either would be fine with him though.

“Over there is where our rooms are,” Izuku says, pointing towards the left. “Someone should be bringing your things to where you’ll be staying soon, if you’re tired from your journey.”

“We’re not tired,” Katsuki says, declining the dismissal, and Eijirou agrees.

“Good,” Izuku says, pleased. “I mean, I’m glad the trip didn’t wear you out.”

“The seas were calm this time,” he says, and Eijirou nods.

“Good,” he says again and turns around. “This way, if you don’t mind.”

Eijirou follows them around a corner, and Katsuki seems to know where he’s going, but he also seems content to let Izuku lead them around.

There are statues of elves everywhere here. Some look like they were frozen in the middle of a dance, some stand elegantly with birds on their fingertips, and some pour pitchers of running water into ponds filled with large spotted fish. Eijirou wonders how much trouble he would be in if he ate one of them.

“And over here is the library,” he says. “I spend most of my time there, but I don’t suppose you would be interested in seeing a bunch of books.”

“I can only read runes,” Eijirou admits shyly. “I’m sorry.”

“No, no! Dragon scrawl is amazing! We have several tomes written in it, but I’ve never believed in their translations enough to study them myself, but they are incredible to look at! Actually everything about dragons is so interesting to me. I especially think it’s fascinating the way your hatchings work. Is it true that you remember coming from your shell?”

“Of course,” Eijirou says, surprised. “Don’t you humans remember your births?”

Katsuki grimaces. “Do you think I could look my mother in the eye if I could remember that?”

“If you don’t remember being born, then why do you celebrate your birthday?”

“Because I was still born, I just don’t remember it,” Katsuki says, and Izuku giggles at them both.

“I’m so happy to see that Katsuki has made such a nice friend,” Izuku says. “You two make a good pair.”

Katsuki prickles at that, which Eijirou decides was the intended result, and he imagines that Izuku must really have known him a long time.

“Tch, don’t say weird things,” he says before turning back to Eijirou, his face shifting to something serious. “Look, I need to talk to him for a moment.”

“Now?” Izuku asks.

“Yeah, now,” he says to him before raising his eyebrows to Eijirou.

“Oh, okay, sure,” he says with a nod. “I’ll be here if you need me.”

“Thank you, Eijirou,” Izuku says, so kind and polite.

“Don’t wander off too far,” Katsuki says.

“I’ll stay close,” he promises, and that’s exactly what he does.

Katsuki and Izuku disappear into one of the buildings, and Eijirou walks around a bit, staying in shouting range but just far enough that he can see what kind of place the elves live in and maybe get a peek into some of their rooms.

There are plenty of benches and fountains with raised sides, but Eijirou decides that since he is not an elf, he should not use them. Instead he finds a nice spot on the ground next to one of the walls and has himself a little sit.

There are no people walking around at this hour, all probably working or studying, but he does enjoy the sounds of all the birds in the trees, and there are so many trees here with bark like winding rope and bunches of leaves like water bubbles. He is quite happy to spend an afternoon here.

After a while he’s joined by a cat with soft silver and black stripes who has absolutely no qualms at all about climbing into his lap. Eijirou’s smile stretches happily across his face, his eyes watering as he’s blessed by this little visitor, who turns over onto its back to present its delectable tummy.

Oh this is the most wonderful day of his life.

He carefully scratches its chest with his claws, and it purrs loudly, angling its little head to direct him towards its soft, pointed ears. The castle at home should have cats, he thinks. It would make the place more wonderful than it already is.

“I see you’ve made a friend.”

Eijirou looks up to see Shouto standing a few feet away. “Oh, hi!”

“Please don’t get up, you’ll disturb her,” he says.

“Ahhh,” Eijirou says, scratching beneath her chin. “So you’re a little lady.”

Shouto hums, seemingly pleased. “So have they left you to fend for yourself?”

“Just for a little bit,” he says. “Katsuki has private business with Izuku, I think. That’s why we came here. I don’t actually know why we came here, but I think that’s why.”

“I see,” Shouto says.

“Your kingdom is beautiful,” Eijirou says. “Everything is so beautiful here.”

“Thank you,” he says. “So this is your first time here?”

“Yeah,” he says with a shy smile. “I’m surprised Katsuki brought me with him.”

“I’m glad he did,” Shouto says. “We’ll have to treat you to a special meal. You have to sample all of our local delicacies since you can’t get them anywhere else.”

Eijirou thinks about what he said carefully, unsure of some of the words but not interested in making a fool of himself by misspeaking, and then Shouto repeats what he said in a clumsier iteration of a familiar language, and Eijirou smiles brightly.

“You speak Dragon Tongue,” he says, excited.

“Just a little,” Shouto says. “Not enough to hold a conversation though.”

“That’s amazing!”

“You speak human and dragon,” Shouto reminds him.

“Only one well,” he says. “I should probably warn you in advance that I may say something offensive, but it’ll be an accident, I swear.”

“Did Katsuki teach you?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I will know what to expect,” he says fondly enough for Eijirou to believe him. “I would like to learn more dragon words from someone who speaks them. Would you teach me some while they talk in private?”

“Oh sure, of course,” Eijirou says. “Anything you wanna know.”

Shouto sits on the ground next to him, folding himself together all elegant and beautiful, and he reminds Eijirou of a crane or a–.

Cat.

Shouto reaches over and scratches the cat’s head, who paws lazily at his hands.

“How would you address her,” he asks, and Eijirou says what might be closer to kitty than cat, but it probably doesn’t matter.

Shouto smiles and repeats it, sounding out the word like it’s something wonderful. “Kitty.”

Oh he’s never been so happy to hear a person speak in his life.. “Yeah, that’s it. Perfect.”

Shouto says it again more confidently as he gives the cat another head scratch, and Eijirou has never loved hearing a single word more.

“They call you Eijirou,” he says.

“Mhm.”

“How do you say your name in the dragon language,” Shouto asks, and Eijirou takes a deep breath, not sure how he would react to hearing his name coming out of Shouto’s pretty mouth if he decides to repeat it.

But he says it anyway as requested, the feeling of the breath on his tongue almost unfamiliar because of how long he’s spoken like a human.

“Kirishima Eijirou,” he sounds out carefully once, and he says it against like fire crackling in a hearth, and it takes Eijirou’s breath away. These are words a mortal mouth should never know how to make, and yet... “Like that?”

Eijirou swallows, his heart pounding painfully. “Perfect.”

Shouto smiles at him like he’s pleased to know he did a good job, and for that, Eijirou almost tells him again.

“How do you say your name,” he asks instead.

“Shouto,” he says simply, and Eijirou laughs, delighted. “I mean the way the elves do.”

Shouto grins slightly at his own joke. “I’m sure it must sound similar.”

“Let me hear it,” Eijirou says, so eager that he startles the cat. “Please.”

Katsuki and Izuku are nowhere on his mind.

Katsuki follows Izuku into one of the academy’s libraries, packed floor to ceiling with tomes and ancient scrolls, and finds to some surprise that it’s completely empty.

“Is it okay for me to be here,” he asks anyway.

“You’re the future king of a friendly nation,” Izuku says. “I can’t imagine anyone chasing you out of a library.”

“This is a quiet place, and I’m not known for being that,” Katsuki reminds him.

“It should be just the two of us for now,” Izuku says, a flicker in his eye that has Katsuki pacing away towards someone else’s workspace, their ink and parchment remaining exactly where it was from when they left it. Or maybe it just belongs to Izuku. Katsuki doesn’t ask. “I’m sorry Shouto was kind of intense today. He was looking forward to seeing you, though. I just don’t think he can help himself sometimes.”

“It doesn’t matter to me,” he says. “He likes pushing my buttons, but he’s always looked out for you more than anyone else did, so I can see why me being here would’ve put him on edge.”

“Yeah,” Izuku says, the word catching in his throat, and Katsuki turns back to see him leaning back against one of the tables, much farther away than when they first came in, and although he did the same, he doesn’t like it.

It’s not… like Izuku, especially when it comes to him. For their whole lives, he was always a little too close, the only person who dared to touch the prince, and Katsuki cursed him for it every single time, even when it stopped being something he didn’t like.

But he supposes there wouldn’t be a way for Izuku to know the difference, especially since he never told him.

What was he supposed to do? Fall on his knees and tell him he’s changed? That’s why he’s here isn’t he? This is the proof.

“Why are you standing over there?”

“I guess because I missed you,” Izuku says, and Katsuki’s eyebrows raise in surprise. “We’re adults now, and I told myself that when you came I wouldn’t run to you, but then I did that, and then you–. But you’re here, and you came for me, and I’m afraid that if I come too close again, I’ll do something even more embarrassing than hug you, and I don’t want to make things hard for us.”

Katsuki pauses, unable to speak for a moment. Izuku has always been so damn honest with him, more than with anyone else, and so of course he can just say that with a straight face like it’s conversational, but it twists Katsuki’s stomach in a knot, both because even after all this time, Izuku still wants to and because he believes he still can’t.

What does he think he could do that would be something to be ashamed of?

Anything, he reminds himself, and then he mentally wraps his fingers around his younger self’s throat, and he calls him the wretched, undeserving little bastard that he is. The gods were too merciful for not striking him down, or maybe they weren’t merciful enough.

“Do you think I’m still like that?”

Izuku shakes his head.

“Then come here.”

Izuku shakes his head, and Katsuki frowns. “Then you think I’m the same.”

“You came all this way, and you brought Eijirou with you,” he says.

“I did,” Katsuki agrees.

“I don’t think you would have let us meet if you planned on leaving me here forever,” Izuku says, shaking his head.

“Because leaving you here isn’t an option.”

“It is, actually,” he says. “I gave you that option. I made it to where no one would know about it but us. Did you not read my letter?”

“Of course I did,” he says. “Both of them, thank you very much. The one my parents saw, and your sneaky little mage paper hidden beneath it.”

He read that one more times than he could count.

“Then you know you could have left me,” he says. “You didn’t have to come here. You could have–.”

“No,” Katsuki says, cutting him off, and Izuku frowns. “No, I couldn’t have. I can’t. Our parents may have–. I know why I had to come here, but that’s not why I did. You said you wanted me to come, didn’t you?”

Izuku swallows. “Yes.”

“Did you lie,” he asks. “Did you tell me you wanted to come home so I would be the only half of us who disobeyed our gods by accepting your offer?”

“No!”

“Then there was no other option,” he says. “And now I’m here, and I brought Eijirou with me so he could meet you because you’re right, if I didn’t plan on bringing you back, I wouldn’t have. It doesn’t matter that the gods chose you for me, I’m not here for them, so don’t assume that.”

Izuku looks at him seriously, and Katsuki can see then that he hasn’t gotten through to him. He turns away, frustrated with himself because he can’t say what he wants to without dying of embarrassment.

“It’s been a long time,” he says, and he hopes it’s enough.

“Yes, it has,” Izuku says.

“Did you not want me to get you,” he asks. “Did you need me to say no?”

“No, it’s not that. I just didn’t think that you would,” he says. “I mean, I knew I had to go back sometime, but I expected to be sent for. I thought you would write me back and tell me to pack my things, or your parents maybe, or maybe my mom. I didn’t expect you to come yourself. I didn’t think I would see you here like this.”

“Well, I’m here.”

“Why,” Izuku asks, his eyes filling with tears. “Why did you come for me?”

“Because I wanted to.”

Izuku shakes his head, his eyes welling up like he doesn’t believe him, and Katsuki finally steps towards him.

“Izuku,” he says. “I want to bring you back with me. No one sent me here, and I’m not leaving you here unless you want me to, and I’m going to warn you that Eijirou is a terrible liar, and it probably won’t work in the end.”

He wipes a tear off of Izuku’s cheek with his thumb as Izuku shakes his head at the suggestion, and he watches as the corners of his mouth tug away.

“I can come home,” he asks softly like the answer to that was ever out of his own hands.

“Yes,” he says. “You can come home.”

“Okay,” he sniffles. “I’m so glad.”

“You don’t look happy.”

“I am, I promise,” he says, managing a smile. “I just didn’t– I’m–.”

For once Katsuki gets close enough on purpose for Izuku to do what he wants, and this time when he throws his arms around him, Katsuki doesn’t have a reason to stop him or the need to pretend like he does.

“You’re wearing a shirt,” he wails against his chest, and Katsuki rolls his eyes.

“The elves have a dress code, don’t they?”

“Yeah, they do, but it’s weird,” he sniffles.

“And you’re wearing robes,” he says. “Someone might think you were a Todoroki.”

Izuku shakes his head, and Katsuki pulls him closer. “No, that’s not possible.”

“It’s not,” he asks, not expecting an answer, and he closes his eyes and lets his nose rest into a field of green.

He smells exactly like he did when they were children, stirring a memory that turns the dull ache in his chest into a searing brand. Izuku should have chosen to stay here.

He was ten years old when his parents told him, and Katsuki smashed three of his toys, including the practice sword his mother had given him. He flew into a childish rage that thinking of now as an adult always makes him sick for more reasons than one.

“I don’t want to marry him,” he shouted at his parents. “He can’t even hold a sword! He’s weak!”

“Katsuki, that’s enough,” Mitsuki warned, and gods does he wish now that he had listened.

“You’re fated,” Masaru tried to explain. “The gods chose him for you before you were born. This is their will just like I was chosen for your mother.”

“Well, the gods chose wrong,” Katsuki shouted. “Maybe they’re stupid! I don’t need them!”

“Katsuki, don’t speak of them like that,” Mitsuki said.

“Why shouldn’t I when they’ve cursed me,” Katsuki demanded. “How am I supposed to be the next great warrior king of our people if the gods gave me him?”

“The gods know more than we do,” Masaru said. “They see something in him there you don’t yet, but you will. Izuku is a good boy with a strong mind, and a great warrior king will need an advisor he can trust. Izuku is loyal, and you’ll need him.”

“I don’t need him,” Katsuki said in a rage. “I don’t need anyone! I can be king all by myself! You’re all so stupid for believing in that garbage. I won’t marry Izuku because I hate him! I hate all of you! He can go die for all I care! Let the dogs have him!”

“Katsuki?”

Katsuki turned around to see Izuku watching him, holding Inko’s hand, and he’d seen him cry a thousand times for a thousand different reasons, but this time was somehow different. Katsuki didn’t understand then, but as he grew older, he learned that he may as well have cut Izuku’s heart out instead. It would have been quicker.

Izuku turned and ran away, and Inko called after him before turning back to apologize to Katsuki’s parents.

“No, we’re sorry,” Mitsuki said, which at the time Katsuki considered a great betrayal.

“Katsuki, go tell Izuku you’re sorry,” Masaru said, and Katsuki scowled at him.

“No. Only weak idiots run away. If he can’t stay and fight, then he isn’t one of us.”

It was the first time his father ever looked disappointed in him. It’s a look that still gnaws at Katuski’s thoughts today.

A few months later, an elven envoy came, which Katsuki learned was the Todoroki family, a powerful clan of mages, and with them came their youngest son, a boy younger than both Katsuki and Izuku who could wield fire and ice from birth and was considered a master by anyone who met him.

Katsuki wanted to fight him. He wanted to defeat him in combat and have his own name spread across the world like his was, but Shouto took absolutely no interest in him, finding his challenge strange like he couldn’t conceive a reason to exert himself for no reason.

Katsuki had never been more insulted, and when he demanded his parents do something about it, they both laughed.

Shouto and Izuku, however, took to each other immediately, and Katsuki couldn’t understand it. Shouto was a powerful mage, even at that age, and Izuku was weak, and yet they were inseparable.

Katsuki watched them play through the castle windows, Shouto chasing Izuku in one direction, and Izuku chasing Shouto in the other. He couldn’t hear their laughter, but he could see it. He watched as Izuku tumbled through the grass, and Shouto dropped down next to him in his strange elven robes that floated to the ground like water.

“Why don’t you join them?”

It was Inko who asked, and Katsuki shook his head, unable to speak to her after what he’d said. Yes, he was a prince, but Inko was a clan head, and he had wished her son death and a dishonorable burial in the same breath.

She put a hand on his shoulder and gave it a supportive squeeze, and Katsuki’s eyes stung in a way he didn’t like.

“Why would I wanna play with them?”

And then it was time for the Todoroki family to return to the elven lands, and to Katsuki’s complete surprise, Izuku left with them. It was his own choice, and Katsuki was stubbornly glad to be rid of him, but a part of him he didn't understand didn’t want him to go. It wasn’t fair. Izuku left, and Katsuki had to stay behind, and they would have to grow up and get married.

The gods chose them for each other, the only sons of two great warrior families, and it was a cruel joke because Izuku wasn’t even a warrior. He was born without any strength at all, and Katsuki knew when no one else could see it that if they joined together, their legacy would be disgraceful.

Izuku left for the elf lands to train in magic. It isn’t impossible for a human to learn, but none of Katsuki’s people are mages, so his decision itself was baffling. Perhaps the elves coming to their home soon after Katsuki rejected him was part of the gods’ will as well, because otherwise Katsuki isn’t sure Izuku would have ever known it was an option.

Katsuki has often wondered what Izuku’s magic looks like because he refuses to show him, but for them to get married, Izuku will have to pass a warrior’s trial to be considered worthy. Even if the gods fated them, their people will reject him if they think he’s inferior, and he won’t even be allowed to be laid to rest with them when he dies.

A young and stupid Katsuki thought if Izuku failed—which he would have because he was weak—or if he miraculously died, he would be free and he could rule their people without him.

But he hasn’t had a thought like that in a very long time.

They have written to each other constantly for the last few years, keeping each other thoroughly informed of their lives, but it was this last letter that set all of this in motion.

I’m ready.

It was all Izuku said—or at least, it was all Izuku wanted anyone else to think he said—but there was another page, a message hidden inside that only appeared when Katsuki touched it, and as soon as he let go, the writing vanished again.

Katsuki,

If you want to end our engagement, leave me here at the academy. I won’t force you to marry me, no matter what anyone else wants. You will be an amazing king one day, and it would be an honor to watch it happen, but I can’t live a life knowing that you resent me. We were fated by the gods, but your heart is the only thing in the world that matters to me. 

I have used the magic I learned here to conceal this message so no one will know what it says but you. I had Shouto and Touya check it for me several times, and neither of them could make the writing appear, which means I think it worked, but I guess I won’t know unless you respond to me. 

Regardless, this is important. If a part of you still hates me as much as you did when we were children, you can tell our people that I have turned my back on our ways and have chosen to remain here with the elves or whatever other lie you find the easiest to tell. You’ll be able to find someone your heart wants, and then maybe one day we can have the friendship I have always wanted. But if you’ve somehow changed your mind, it would make me so happy to get to come home and take my place at your side. 

I miss you, Katsuki. I’m sorry to tell you like this, especially if it’s something you don’t want to know, but there has never been anyone in this world that I’ve ever loved as much as I have you. I don’t know if that’s the will of the gods or if it’s from my own heart, but I want you to know that whatever you decide to do, I will accept it, and I will never tell a soul the truth. 

I hope you’re in good health, and I hope I get to see you again, even if it’s only to say goodbye, but I also hope that it isn’t. I’m sorry, I have so much to say, but I’m running out of enchanted ink, and I don’t want to have to borrow more.

As I always have been,

Your Izuku

Katsuki folded up this letter and tucked it away in a box for safe keeping, wiped his eyes, and brought the other message to his parents, not willing to waste any more time. Izuku was ready to come home, and he had to go get him.

Now they stand together in a place that Izuku considers safe and comforting, his own personal armory, and Katsuki lets him soak his tunic, which is exactly what Izuku is best at, while he runs his fingers through his unruly hair.

He wonders if Izuku actually thought Katsuki would leave him here, if he really has that little faith in him, and if so, why would Izuku still want to marry him?

Izuku inhales a sharp breath and steps back, his face swollen and flushed, and he laughs weakly at himself as he wipes at his own eyes. Katsuki pulls a handkerchief from his pocket and dabs away some of the tears from his cheeks before handing it to Izuku, who accepts it with an awkward smile before loudly and wetly blowing his nose into it.

Katsuki grimaces.

“Sorry,” he says sheepishly and doesn’t give it back.

“You and my dad could fill a reservoir,” Katsuki says as an offering.

Izuku sniffles. “Our kingdom’s crops would flourish.”

“The people would worship you like gods.”

“Oh no,” he laughs.

“Praise Izuku and Masaru,” he says, moving close enough to brush a finger along his sleeve. “They have saved us all from the drought.”

“You don’t have to tease me this much,” Izuku says.

“Yes, I do.”

After all, we’ll be married soon, he doesn’t say. Izuku is his to tease however much he wants. The gods decided it.

“We won’t leave immediately,” he says instead. “ This will be a big change for you, and we don’t have to rush it.”

Izuku nods. “Thank you, Katsuki. I appreciate that.”

“And Eijirou likes it here, so I’d rather not watch him pout the whole way home because he didn’t get to see everything,” he adds, rather than pointing out that leaving this place will break Izuku’s heart probably more than leaving home did. At least then he was determined and maybe a little angry, and he was free from having to look at Katsuki, who refused to look at him.

Stupid, horrible brat…

Izuku wipes his eye and laughs. “I’ll try to show him everything I’m allowed to, don’t worry.”

“I need you to do me a favor,” he says quickly, and Izuku looks at him, surprised.

“Of course,” Izuku says. “Anything.”

“I need you to not mention this to him yet,” he says, and Izuku frowns, confused. “I told him that the reason I’m coming here is a secret, and that I would tell him why after.”

“But everyone knows we’re getting married,” he says with a confused frown. “It was prophesied.”

“Yeah, that’s the thing about dragons,” Katsuki says. “No one really tells them what the oracles say, and I needed– I just need a few days, okay?”

“Okay, Katsuki,” Izuku says, always so damn understanding. “Whatever you want.”

“Thank you,” he says relieved.

A small puff of a laugh leaves Izuku’s lips that Katsuki can’t tell if it’s real or not. “Wow.”

“What?”

“You say thank you now.”

Chapter Text

They soon leave Izuku’s little sacred space and find Eijirou and Shouto nearby with three cats, both of them looking too content to be bothered, and Katsuki and Izuku would have both gladly left them alone, but Eijirou’s nose is too sensitive for his own good.

He looks at them and smiles brightly like he always does, and Katsuki and Izuku walk over towards them. Izuku kneels for the cats while Katsuki stands nearby, offering a small pillar of shade for the others below.

“I was just telling Eijirou about our guardians,” Shouto says.

“I think your castle needs guardians,” Eijirou says to Katsuki.

“Why? I’ve already got you.”

Eijirou puts his hand over his heart solemnly and looks at him like he’s about to utter the most innocently presented bullshit Katsuki has ever heard in his life, and Katsuki raises an eyebrow. “I need them to guard me.”

Izuku laughs, delighted by him already, and Katsuki catches the tiniest twitch of Shouto’s mouth, and he realizes then that he may be his kingdom’s future sovereign, but with them he is severely outnumbered.

“If you want a cat that bad, go ask one of the farmers the next time one of theirs has kittens,” he waves. “If they’ll let you have it, then fine, but you’ll have to take care of it.”

“I will be such a good dad to them, I swear,” he promises.

“They will rid your castle of rats,” Shouto says, almost smuggly for how well Katsuki knows him.

“My castle doesn’t have rats,” Katsuki scowls, and Shouto looks up at him, clever and catlike.

That bastard.

“Yeah, it does,” Eijirou says casually. “Real big ones.”

“Oi!”

Izuku particularly seems the most amused about this, so he allows it, even at his own kingdom’s expense.

But they do not have rats.

But he guesses they’ll have cats in the castle back home soon nonetheless since Eijirou is going to pitch a fit (pout as a human, and let his wings sag as a dragon) if they don’t.

Fine.

His parents will have a few things to say about that, but fine.

After a while, the four of them set out on a tour led by Izuku and Shouto, who have decided to show Eijirou absolutely everything since he’s never been here before, and even though Katsuki is long used to it all, he follows along, explaining things himself every once in a while when the places and their purposes become a little convoluted.

The academy is a large maze, but impossible to get lost in as long as you know where you want to go. Katsuki doesn’t understand how the magic works, but as long as Shouto walks easily in front of them while Izuku talks, Katsuki doesn’t have to bother keeping up with his surroundings, knowing that the path he needs will form in front of him.

Izuku explains the purpose of the research center and also how although it isn’t a school, many elves do come here to learn how to use the elements and practice with different experts to find which branch of magic speaks to them and how to safely use them in the most powerful ways, which is how he was permitted to learn here.

“What kind of magic spoke to you,” Eijirou asks, and Izuku laughs nervously.

“Oh, I’m not an elf, so…,” Izuku says, avoiding the real question, and Katsuki squints at that, but he doesn’t say anything for now. If Izuku isn’t ready to talk about it, then he won’t, and neither he nor Eijirou will make him. “Shouto mastered two elements, which is super rare. He can use all of them though, along with a few other types of magic that he could spend all day listing I think.”

“I don’t know if it counts to use me as an example,” Shouto says.

“Why not?” Eijirou asks.

“Because my mother is the greatest ice conjurer who ever lived, and my father is the most powerful fire summoner,” he says.

“He was born for it,” Katsuki supplies.

“Ohhhhh,” Eijirou says. “That’s amazing! I got my nest mother’s horns.”

Shouto grins at him, more warmly than Katsuki is used to seeing, even towards Izuku. “Yes, it is like that.”

“What’s the difference between a conjurer and a summoner?”

“A conjurer requires the use of a material in exchange for access to the elements, and a summoner can create it from nothing.”

“You could argue that Shouto summons the water for his ice, but Shouto says since he takes it from the atmosphere, it doesn’t count,” Izuku says.

“Where does the fire come from?” Eijirou asks.

“My blood,” Shouto says, and Katsuki glances at Eijirou to see what he thinks of that.

“Then isn’t using your blood to make fire an exchange too,” Eijirou asks, and Shouto looks at him like he’s pleased by the observation. Personally, Katsuki doesn’t have a damn clue how all of this magic shit works, but good for Eijirou for trying.

Two elves with dark hair and even darker robes pass by them on the courtyard, and Katsuki only notices them because the shadows seem to reach for them both, although neither of them scream dangerous with their tired eyes and bookish posture. Izuku notices them not long after Katsuki does and waves at them above his head.

“Kyouka! Hitoshi!”

The two of them stop and look, and Katsuki is surprised to see both of their faces light up with genuine joy from being called to, and something strange moves in his chest like he’s peeled back a patch of old leather to reveal something soured and ruined beneath.

Izuku is loved here.

The two elves approach, both with violet features but not at all similar, and before he can decide something about elven cultures outside of this city, Izuku reaches back and grabs his arm.

“This is my friend I was telling you about,” Izuku says. “Prince Katsuki. Katsuki, this is Kyouka and Hitoshi. They helped me train in exchange for some help with translations. Oh! And this is friend Eijirou.”

“Hello!” Eijirou says for them both while Katsuki… processes.

This is my friend Katsuki.

He is good at keeping his word, but the introduction makes him stomach coil.

“The warrior,” Hitoshi says, eyeing him, and Katsuki blinks at that.

Izuku laughs nervously. “Everyone in our country is a warrior, except for me, but yeah, this is him.”

“What did you teach Izuku,” Katsuki asks, unsure about this one. The other elf isn’t nearly as suspicious though. He’s sure she’s fine.

Hitoshi’s mouth quirks. “Why don’t you ask him?”

Katsuki blood boils in his veins, and he feels the heat rise to his cheeks quickly enough that the bastard laughs. Kyouka shakes her head and nudges Hitoshi with her elbow.

“Don’t make it weird,” she says. “We don’t know them.”

“I’m not,” he waves. “Anyways, Izuku, if you have time later, I’ll bring the reagents you asked for to your room.”

Katsuki does not miss the immediate flush at the tops of Izuku’s ears, barely concealed by his hair. “Oh- sure. Thanks. I’ll meet you at the, umm, usual time.”

He smiles at him with a wicked curve to his mouth, something Katsuki does not appreciate, before he makes a similar expression at him, with a flicker of his eye that makes Katsuki feel like he’s being sized up.

No one in his kingdom would dare.

Kyouka tugs Hitoshi away and pulls her hood over her head, and he hears him laugh to himself as they walk away, earning another jab.

So it seems Izuku has had a better time here than he realized. He’s surprised he isn’t trying to stay longer.

“What’s that building,” Eijirou says, pointing towards one of the spires, wound by a marble staircase that makes Katsuki's knees hurt just thinking about it.

“That’s the astrology tower,” Shouto says.

“There’s two ways inside,” Izuku says, completely oblivious to the dread settling in Katsuki’s stomach. “You can either walk around the outside and get to see the rest of the academy and how awesome it looks at night, or in the day too, I guess, or you can go inside and take the portal to the top.”

“The portal,” he asks, curious, and Katsuki wonders if he should have sat him down before coming here and gone over all the fancy elf magic words instead of leaving the poor bastard hanging. Dragon, to human, to elf wizard, back to human, and back to dragon, his brain is going to fry like a goose egg.

“It’s like a magic door,” Katsuki says. “You go in one side and come out somewhere else.”

“Oh,” he smiles, understanding before his face drops at once. “Does it hurt?”

“Nah,” he says. “Kinda feels like flying.”

He doesn’t miss the way Izuku looks at him then, his eyes wide and unreadable, and an unusual heat rises up his neck, forcing him to look away. A first for him, someone who has never been known to back down to anyone.

“Would you like to try it,” Shouto offers. “That building is open for visitors at any time, day and night.”

Eijirou scratches at one of the scales on his cheekbone in thought. “I dunno. I kinda wanted to go up those stairs so I could see everything.”

Fucking dragon.

Shouto’s mouth quirks in amusement at Eijirou, his big gray and blue pupil-less eyes sparkling like a cat’s before it latches onto your leg. “We can do both.”

“Oh can we?” Eijirou says, excited.

“Yes, of course,” he says. “One will take a moment and the other will take significantly longer.”

“Okay, let’s go,” he says and grabs Shouto’s hand, eager to take both the portal and the stairs like this is the great adventure of the day.

Again, fucking dragon.

“Are you kidding me,” Katsuki says to himself, and Izuku giggles next to him. He actually kind of forgot he was there for a second. “Don’t you wanna go with them?”

“Oh, I thought I would take the stairs with you,” he teases, and Katsuki huffs and stomps off towards the spire.

“You can kiss my ass,” he says, earning a delighted laugh.

“Would you like to hold hands too?”

“Fuck off.”

Izuku laughs harder, quickening his steps to catch up with him, and Katsuki slows his to let him. Eijirou and Shouto make their way up the outer spiral first, and Izuku leads Katsuki to a small arch at the base of the spire that looks like it would cover a door that has since been sealed with stone.

Eijirou’s voice carries enough for Katsuki to know he’s talking Shouto’s ear off, and Katsuki’s mouth tugs in amusement. Seems Shouto’s found himself another big mouth to keep him company.

Izuku looks up at him expectantly.

So what does that say about me?

“This way,” he says, guiding him like he’s showing him around his home for the first time, and Katsuki remembers with a pang that he basically is. Izuku pushes his palm flat on the stone, and Katsuki sees it ripple before giving way to a puff of smoke. “It’s open for guests, but in case the elves have to lock it down, it still has a ward in place, but you can touch it to make it go away.”

Katsuki hums and follows Izuku through.

The spire itself is hollow all the way up to a glass ceiling at the top, too far up for sunlight to reach the bottom. Mage lights wind up the column like the stairs outside, illuminating thousands of scrolls tucked away in small carved niches. Katsuki’s eyes wander up in quiet amazement, wondering if a strong enough wind could bring the whole thing crashing down.

“They’re star charts,” Izuku explains, assuming he’s looking at the scrolls. “Every day at noon and midnight, one of the mages here records the sky on a piece of parchment and tucks it away into one of these cubbies.”

“Why?” Katsuki says.

“Elves believe that the stars can speak to them the way our ancestors speak to us,” he says. “We don’t share gods, but they believe that the sun and moon are divine, and the stars are celestial guides. Elves record the stars the moment one of them is born too, no matter what time it is because they believe their destiny is written in them.”

Katsuki looks at him, not letting his face give away any real interest he may have. “And have you looked at your own birthday?”

Izuku flushes, his eyebrows moving in a most guilty way, and the corner of Katsuki’s mouth twitches. “You think I’ll call you a heretic?”

“You could.”

“You’re too nosy for me to believe you would look for any other reason than wanting to see it because it exists,” he says. 

“Please don’t tell Father Toshinori.”

Katsuki snorts, and then he laughs a little harder, a little more at Izuku’s expense, and then he folds his arms across his chest, earning a look like a puppy who knows it’s chewed its master’s shoe.

“And did you look at mine?”

Izuku doesn’t answer him, which is all he needs to know.

“What did it say,” Katsuki says.

“Would you like to see it?”

He nods that he does, and Izuku smiles brightly before walking around to the opposite side of the spire behind a center column of shelves covered in small bronze compasses and bottles of ink.

That’s when Katsuki sees the tall, dark-haired elf with pieces of thin crystal over his eyes held together with metal, hunched over a desk with pieces of parchment unfurled before him.

“Excuse me, Tenya?” Izuku asks quietly to get his attention, and the elf looks up at them like he couldn’t have possibly heard them talking just twenty feet away.

“Izuku! What brings you here?” Tenya says before he sees (notices?) Katsuki next to him, and he jumps to his feet, giving Katsuki a sharp and rigid bow that looks like it could snap his waist. “Prince Katsuki of Clan Bakugou. It is a great honor to meet you.”

Katsuki looks at Izuku, confused because as far as he knew, the only elves who know who he is are the Todoroki family, which was kind of the point of him coming here without forty guards and all of their banners. Izuku looks back at him like he doesn’t know either.

“You know me?”

“Of course, Your Highness,” he says like it’s obvious, and he wonders if there was something about him coming here in the stars, a thought he considers with a slight prickle up his spine.

“Oh!” Izuku says before a laugh, and he looks at Katsuki like he’s solved a puzzle. “Tenya’s older brother is Fuyumi’s companion!”

Katsuki’s nerves settle at once with a breath of relief. So the reason he knows what only the Todoroki family should know is because he’s in the Todoroki family. That’s… fine.

“Arcanist,” Izuku says addressing Tenya by a title, a distraction Katsuki is already intimately familiar with. “We were wondering if it would be possible for Prince Katsuki to see his birth chart.”

Tenya frowns. “His moment of birth wouldn’t have been recorded, but will the noon archive suffice?”

“I think so,” he nods, and Katsuki nods too, even though he doesn’t think it’ll matter either way. Stars are stars, and they have nothing to do with him. He has king’s blood. “Will that be too much trouble?”

“Of course not,” he says and snaps his fingers. One of the scrolls releases from the shelves like an arrow, and Katsuki ducks as it whips past him right into Tenya’s hand. Tenya unfurls it, and Katsuki sees what a sailor might call a star map. “Yes, this should be yours.”

He passes him the map, and Katsuki takes it in his hands and notes the different stars with elven script elegantly placed next to them with neat lines drawn beneath each worth.

But other than that, it’s meaningless.

“It’s just a bunch of dots,” he mutters under his breath, thoroughly unimpressed.

“Yes, it would have to be interpreted,” he says, pushing his crystal eye piece up his nose. “It would take a substantial amount of time and materials to reference each day twice on anything larger than this, but your chart was drawn to scale with the necessary references. You see here, these three marks represent the Celestial Eye, one of the seven great constellations, and this cluster represents the birth sign of someone with a headstrong and disruptive personality.”

Izuku snorts, and Katsuki squints at him.

“The sky was moonless, which means you are ruled by the sun,” he notes, and Katsuki only hums, ignoring a  shiver down his spine. “Many powerful elves were born under the sun. Great Lord Todoroki is one of them, I believe, but many powerful elves were born under the moon as well.”

“Let me guess,” Katsuki says. “Todoroki Shouto is one of them.”

“No, he has a different type of chart, but his Lady mother was,” he says. “Did you want to see their family charts as well?”

“I don’t think we’re that curious,” Izuku says for him kindly, and Katsuki doesn’t bristle for it. “I just wanted Katsuki to see his since we have nothing like this at home.”

“Of course,” Tenya says and looks at Katsuki. “I’m not an interpreter myself. I’m just a records keeper, but if you would like someone to read yours for you, I can summon them.”

“That’s okay,” he says and rolls it back up carefully, not willing to destroy a piece of someone else’s archive on this particular journey. “I’ve spent my whole life being told what to do by a tiny piece of paper. I don’t need to know what it says.”

Izuku’s shoulder moves in the corner of his Katsuki’s eye, and when he glances at him, he sees the new pinch of his brows at the sickly gray taking over his complexion, all of his earlier joy and mischief drained at once

Katsuki, you bastard.

“Well,” Tenya says, a crash of thunder in the silence. “It was nice meeting you, Your Highness, but I’m afraid if I don’t finish these charts, we may lose record of the entire day.”

“Charts,” Izuku says, like it means something. “Was there a birth?”

“Twins,” Tenya confirms. “A boy and a girl born seven minutes apart. One under the Stag and one under the Seven Rivers. It’s remarkable.”

Izuku smiles brightly like this is the most wonderful news he’s heard all day, and Katsuki stands next to him about as out of place as he can be. “Oh, that’s wonderful! We’ll let you get back to work. Please, don’t let us keep you!”

Tenya bows again, the movement just as sharp and sudden as his arms mirror his waist. Izuku leads Katsuki away, putting them on the other side of that case of inks again like Tenya no longer being able to see them means that they aren’t there.

He thinks about the light fading from Izuku’s eyes and frowns. “Izuku–.”

“So, ummm,” he said suddenly. “Was there anything else you wanted to see?”

Katsuki looks around at the thousands and thousands of scrolls and sighs. “This is it, isn’t it?”

He nods. “Afraid if you’ve seen one scroll, you’ve seen them all.”

“And there’s more at the top of the building?”

“Oh! Right, sure,” he says. “Let’s go up top.”

Izuku leads him to a crystal carved into the floor, a large piece of tourmaline that glows just softly enough for Katsuki to wonder if it’s alive. Izuku stands on it, and Katsuki looks at his feet to see a soft magenta light reflecting against his mage robes. He looks well suited here, like if Katsuki wasn’t here, he would move through this place like the elves do with a natural ease and a thoughtless purpose.

Would it be like this at the castle? Would he go where he wanted and do what he wanted to without having to ask permission? How long would it take for him to learn that on his own, or would Katsuki have to remind him over and over again that every room that doesn’t belong to his parents is his and so is their kingdom? When will he know that that privilege extends to Katsuki too?

“It’s, umm, faster if we go together,” he says, and Katsuki blinks, yanked out of his thoughts. He finally sees the notable space next to Izuku, and he steps onto the crystal with him, trying not to react to how uncomfortably warm it is even through his boots.

They stand chest to chest in the small space, and Izuku doesn’t look at him, especially when his hand goes to his back for balance. “Now what?”

“Just, umm,” Izuku starts and takes a nervous breath before his hands settle onto his waist. “Ascend.”

He feels something suck him through a pinhole, an unnerving sensation that always feels like in the moment will never end, and then it spits him out, and Katsuki desperately grabs Izuku to keep from falling over, even though Izuku hardly seems unsettled, blinking up at him like the movement never happened at all.

Once he realizes they’re on the roof of the spire, he pulls away and stumbles off of the portal stone with a shameful flush to his cheeks, but thankfully no one is up here to see them.

“Gods,” he gasps, and Izuku takes his place at his side and touches his arm in a way meant to be comforting, and Katsuki resists his natural instinct to shove him off. Izuku is supposed to touch him as much as he wants, he reminds himself. He wants him to.

“You get used to it,” he says and steps back, giving Katsuki enough space to gather his bearings.

“It was nothing,” he lies, and he turns his attention to the top of the spire.

The midday sun beams down at them uncomfortably at this height, reflecting off of the marble and glass at his feet in an almost blinding intensity. Large bronze devices and crystals are positioned in different places, objects he assumes aids the elves in their records. Eijirou and Shouto are nowhere to be found.

“So we have to wait for them to make it up here, huh?”

“Looks like it,” he says. “It’s a longer walk than you would think.”

Katsuki only hums.

“Oh, you can totally look around if you want to,” Izuku says. “I mean, we don’t have to just stand here, unless you would rather stand here, because in that case standing here is fine too. We can do that.”

Katsuki raises an eyebrow at him without a word, and he sees him bite his lip anxiously like he suddenly doesn’t know how to be alone with him anymore. They were alone for the last fifteen minutes.

But he gives him an out and looks away at the rest of the spire and all of the big pieces of crystal and bronze that look more like works of art than tools, all delicate and refined like if he came too close, they would break into a million pieces. He thinks about the mortar and stone back home, the soft layer of sand on the floors, and the large furs draped over the furniture, all familiar signs of strength. He never had to worry about what he could destroy with his own hands, and yet here…

“Come look at this,” Izuku says next to a long, cylindrical tube pointed at the sky, and Katsuki approaches with a curious frown.

“What is it?”

“Put your eyes here and look,” he says, and Katsuki’s eyes narrow. “Trust me.”

He bends over and puts his eyes to the opening to peer through, if only to humor him, but what he sees makes his jaw drop. The blue clouded skies of the day have been replaced with an infinite black and all of the stars he’s ever seen when traveling across the savanna but so much clearer. He can see large orbs suspended in the sky, one red, one a sickly green, and one ringed in orange, other worlds, if it’s even possible.

“You can see the universe all the time here whenever you want to, even when it’s daylight or storming.”

“Incredible,” Katsuki breathes.

“And if you turn it here,” he says before putting his hands on his waist and moving him and the whole device around to face the other side. Katsuki doesn’t appreciate being wrangled. “You can see…”

The noise Katsuki makes is a mixture of disbelief and amazement, and he doesn’t bother cursing the pleased giggle that comes from behind him. He’s seen the moon before thousands of times, but he never imagined it would be more than a small, silver sphere of light. Like this he can see every crag and crevice like he’s looking at the mountains from a falcon’s eye if they were barren and grey.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It looks like a piece of cheese.”

Izuku laughs. “Yeah, it does.”

“There’s cheese here?”

Katsuki stands up and sees Eijirou and Shouto at the edge of the stairs. Eijirou is winded but smiling from ear to ear, and Shouto’s face is mildly strained like he just chased a mischievous puppy the entire way here and doesn’t want anyone to know it. Heh. Sounds about right.

“What took you so long?”

“Eijirou wanted to see everything,” he says simply, which Katsuki gathers to mean that Eijirou made him stop and explain every single thing he could see in the distance as they wound the spire together.

Alright, he’ll give the bastard a break.

“Eijirou, come look at this.”

Eijirou approaches the device eagerly, but he stops himself before touching it and looks at Izuku. “Is this okay?”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Izuku says, gesturing towards it. “Anyone is allowed to use this if they want to as long as a birth isn’t being recorded.”

“Or at noon and midnight,” Katsuki adds helpfully, although he isn’t sure why he does.

“Oh, yes, thank you,” he says, giving Katsuki a shy glance before looking back at Eijirou. “You’re fine to look now.”

Eijirou looks at them both and then at Shouto when he approaches before saying what Katsuki was too stubborn to. “But what if I break it?”

Shouto raises a hand without a word and blasts the metal with fire from his hand until it starts to warp and discolor, a foul smoke permeating the air that has Eijirou covering his nose while Katsuki shouts in horror because Shouto is about to frame him for political sabotage without any credible witnesses.

And then he stops and the metal slowly returns to its earlier shine without a trace of destruction.

“The makers wouldn’t create something this important that could be broken by someone just touching it,” Shouto says. “I’m sure if you and Katsuki found a way to release it from its frame and push it off of the observatory it would only be an inconvenience to the people on the ground.”

“How would they get it back up here?”

“He didn’t think about that before he tried to prove how clever he is,” Katsuki says, earning a carefully aimed glare from Shouto.

“Oh, yes, that makes sense,” Eijirou says, and Izuku giggles happily at Shouto’s expense while Shouto’s cheeks reach a color very close to the vibrant half of his head. And then Eijirou puts his eyes to the device and gasps in a way that has that embarrassment immediately receding. “Whoa.”

He turns the whole thing with a screech without asking first, and Katsuki almost yells before he sees Shouto’s hand go to his mouth to stifle an amused laugh. Well if the elf doesn’t care, then he doesn’t see why he should either.

“Oh, it’s Grandfather!” Eijirou says, excited, and Katsuki and Izuku both look at each other with the same confused expression before Shouto hums like he knows exactly what he’s talking about. “And the Azure Egg!”

“Dragons trace the stars too,” Shouto says. “I think our names are different, but they believe that the other worlds are dragons’ eggs that haven’t been hatched yet, like they believe ours is.”

“And who is Grandfather?” Izuku asks.

“The constellation we call the Seven Rivers,” he says. “It represents wisdom.”

“Which is why it’s a grandfather,” Eijirou says as a matter of fact, still looking at the sky while surprisingly paying attention. “You can only see him on clear nights from the top of the mountain. The elders say he watches over us and only appears when something good is about to happen.”

“There were twins born today,” Izuku offers, and Eijirou stands up, excited.

“Oh!”

“No,” Katsuki says, and Eijirou pouts. “We don’t know these people.”

“But–?”

“What is it, Eijirou,” Shouto asks, and Eijirou’s face softens almost pitifully.

“We dragons give food to the parents to celebrate a hatching,” he says. “We help raise the whelps, of course, but we try to give the life back to the parents who gave a piece of theirs to their children. They shouldn’t have to hunt yet.”

“You wanted to give these parents a gift to help them through the first week,” Izuku says, and Eijirou nods, and for some reason Katsuki feels like the asshole here for saying they shouldn’t.

“We’ll have a package brought to the parents from the visiting Prince and the Dragon Ambassador,” Shouto says, and Eijirou’s face lights up. “It’s not one of our customs, but elves wouldn’t be insulted by sharing one of yours, especially as a gesture of friendship.”

Katsuki folds his arms across his chest and looks off, thoroughly embarrassed. “I’ll pay for it. Just have your people take care of it so it goes to the right place.”

The look Izuku gives him is one he’ll remember for the rest of his life.

Shouto shows them the rest of the equipment, a little more familiar with it all than Izuku is, but Izuku listens attentively the way he must have done the entire time he’s been here, desperate to learn anything the elves were willing to teach him even if they didn’t realize they were teaching.

And Eijirou watches Shouto with wide, sparkling eyes, and Katsuki wonders if his love of pretty and shiny things extends to people too.

Probably.

“I’m going to take Eijirou down stairs to show him his star chart,” Shouto says to Izuku. “You two have permission to go anywhere, including the private spaces.”

“Oh, sure, yeah,” Izuku says, and Katsuki wonders why they can’t just go with them, but the thought of using the portal again so soon makes his skin crawl. “We’ll meet back up then.”

Shouto leads Eijirou to the portal and turns so that his back faces the rest of them, and he looks over his shoulder at Eijirou for him to stand behind him.

“You have to be close,” he says, his voice clear like water, and Eijirou steps sheepishly onto the crystal until his chest presses against his back. Shouto reaches behind himself, taking his wrist, and speaks the elven equivalent of what Katsuki assumes would be descend.

He looks at Izuku in shock once they’re gone, and sees that his eyes are just as wide. “Did you see that?”

“I… think I did,” he says.

“When did he get like that?”

Izuku scratches his head and makes a face in consideration. “About an hour ago.”

“Huh,” Katsuki says. “That’s weird.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“He knows dragons mate for life, right?”

“I’m… not sure,” he says. “It’s not something that comes up a lot around here– or ever. But I’ll, uhh, mention it later. Just in case.”

“That would probably be a good idea.”

“And when you say mate, you mean–?”

“Uh huh.”

“Oh gods,” Izuku grimaces. “Well, it’ll be fine. Probably. I mean Shouto pretty much keeps to himself anyway, so even if he was–. I’ll mention it after dinner.”

“Good call,” he says, and he and Izuku watch each other for a moment, both waiting for the other to do or say something, anything, and Katsuki swears that it’s so quiet, he can hear the passage of time. “So what else is up here?”

“Oh!” Izuku says like he’s waking up, and he spins around so quickly Katsuki wonders how he hasn’t tripped over his robes yet. “Follow me.”

He’s never seen a human being scurry off this way before, but then again, it’s not like there’s anyone else in the universe quite like Izuku.

Shouto shows Eijirou his own stars, leaving Tenya to work on the twins’ maps undisturbed, and is pleased to find how easily Eijirou can read them. It’s a different perspective, sure. Where Shouto’s people approach the stars practically, Eijirou speaks about them like they’re legends and a piece of ancient history told as bedtime stories for whelps or around the fires after a hunt.

He is… the most lively person Shouto has ever met. Dragons live as long as elves do, a rare trait considering the rest of the people in the world, so to meet a dragon in person and have him be only a few months older than Shouto is incredibly surprising. For two people who will easily live for thousands of years, what are the odds of being the same age?

And then Eijirou insists on seeing Shouto’s stars, which is only mildly unsettling considering that now he knows for a fact Eijirou will not just see a piece of paper covered in spots, but Shouto allows it because he is his guest and partly because he’s curious to see what he would make of them.

Eijirou pulls the ends of the scroll apart gently with his claws, and he frowns slightly at the page, making Shouto’s spine prickle.

“This is an eclipse, right?”

“Yes, how did you know?”

Eijirou runs his claw along the edge of the circle, and Shouto then sees where the ring was once rimmed with red ink, a smudge he never considered twice before.

“Oh, yes, I see,” he says.

“This is the Three Mountains,” Eijirou says, pointing towards a cluster of stars Shouto’s people refer to as the Apex, the birth of magic when the stars first touched the earth and gave it life. “Lightning struck the middle mountain and shattered it, and the first dragons hatched from the rocks that tumbled into the crater.”

“Our people believe that was when magic first came here,” Shouto offers, not necessarily a contradiction.

“That must be true,” he says. “And elves were born when the magic came?”

He came to that conclusion on his own, and it takes Shouto’s breath away.

“Yes.”

Eijirou smiles at him. “Then elves and dragons must have come here together.”

“They must have,” Shouto agrees, and then Eijirou frowns in consideration.

“But why is the story written in your stars?”

Shouto points at the eclipse and two more stars nearby—seemingly innocuous little dots, but they are marks of destiny—but he can’t bring himself to say more. There are things about him, his family, and the reason the academy is theirs that not even Izuku knows about.

It’s nice to be seen as just a mage.

“Could I keep it a secret without being unkind?”

“Of course you can,” Eijirou says, and Shouto’s chest warms in a way he isn’t used to. Eijirou seems like a safe person, genuine and innocent but in a good way, and Shouto wonders if that’s why he’s so drawn to him. “But I hope it means that we were meant to meet each other.”

Shouto smiles at that. “Yes, it must be so.”

After he finishes showing him the stars, Shouto leads him through the door at the base of the spire instead of taking him back to the top with the others. He isn’t sure why he’s so eager to be separated from them like this, but an urge pulls at him that causes him to tug Eijirou away like he needs to keep him all to himself, but Izuku and Katsuki need to be alone anyway. They have much to discuss that would be difficult around others, and Shouto doesn’t want Izuku to make any rash decisions based on a single pleasant reunion. No, it’s better that they leave them.

So he escorts Eijirou through the academy, taking his time so Eijirou can look at all of the buildings, statues, and trees that Shouto supposes he must take for granted, considering he never noticed before that the marble elf in front of the divination tower has seven eyes.

He is also surprisingly (or not so surprisingly) adept at pointing out every single cat on the premises, including the ones sleeping in places they must have previously thought were undiscoverable.

It’s a pleasant walk, one he thinks he would take with him often between performing his duties here, and he wonders briefly what that would be like until he hears a soft rumble at his side.

He looks at Eijirou curiously, who makes a bashful face back at him, and Shouto swears he sees his horns droop.

“Sorry.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Oh, no, I’m fine,” Eijirou says.

“It was a long journey, yes?”

“It was… fine,” he says, managing a smile, and Shouto hums, earning a curious raise of his brows.

“Will you walk with me somewhere?”

“Anywhere,” Eijirou says so earnestly that Shouto forgets to breathe for a moment—or blink—and that warmth in his chest spreads all the way to his stomach before it finally releases him.

He clears his throat and turns on his heel in the opposite direction before any sort of relevant expression can manifest on his face. “Follow me.”

There is no reason for a guest to go hungry at the academy of all places.

The use of magic, especially as extensively as the mages here do, is something that requires a great deal of energy, therefore there are multiple cafes, bakeries, restaurants, and shops hidden between the more elaborate towers, all with a variety of options to suit any mage’s palate.

Eijirou isn’t a mage, but he is hungry enough for his stomach to growl, creating a new problem that Shouto is eager to solve.

Shouto reaches a bakery first and decides that for now, this will be the best option until he has a better grasp of his taste and appetite. Eijirou follows him inside, and to Shouto’s satisfaction, he gasps once he sees the endless shelves of pastries.

Yes, this was the correct choice indeed.

He leads Eijirou to the counter encouragingly and gestures towards the display. “You can get anything you’d like here.”

Eijirou frowns and pats at the pockets on his trousers, and he looks around like what he’s searching for is somewhere else in the shop. “I think Katsuki has the gold.”

The corner of Shouto’s mouth twitches. “You are my guest. Please don’t worry about the cost.”

“Oh! Oh, no, I couldn’t accept anything from you,” he says quickly. “Unless you would be willing to accept something from me too, which would make it okay then, but I don’t have anything with me. Oh, I wish Katsuki would’ve told me there would be things to trade, I would have prepared something before we came.”

“Is this a dragon custom?” Shouto asks, surprised, and Eijirou nods, almost distressed. “Then you can give me something later at another time after you’ve settled in here. I’ve ambushed you with pastries without warning, so there’s no way you could have prepared a gift.”

Eijirou’s face softens just a little, and Shouto takes that as an opportunity to gesture towards the display case, nodding towards the baker behind it to retrieve a small square of dough filled with a bright, golden jelly. It’s probably the most popular dessert at the entire academy and the best to start with.

He passes it to Eijirou, who accepts it with both hands, just like how he accepted the small concentration of magic, and Shouto watches as he bites into it as gracefully as anyone can.

It crumbles hopelessly, and Eijirou laughs at himself and the mess he’s made, and Shouto finds himself smiling, remembering the first time Natsuo brought him here and left him covered in sugar dust. Perhaps this could be considered a rite of passage.

“Do you like it?”

Eijirou nods, fighting back a gleeful smile as he licks the crumbs and jelly from his lips, and Shouto wonders how much trouble he would be in if he offered to buy the bakery.

But he doesn’t have to own it to make sure Eijirou gets as much as he wants.

“You can have anything you want here,” Shouto says. “Just tell them you’re my guest, and you’ll be taken care of.”

Eijirou’s eyes widen. “Really?”

Sugary dust cascades from his lips, and Shouto nods. “Of course.”

“Thank you,” he says. “That’s so nice.”

“I won’t allow you to go hungry while you’re under my care,” he says and then sees a flurry of new scales appear on Eijirou’s cheeks, appearing like morning bulbs and then disappearing just as quickly. “Should we sit down?”

Shouto directs Eijirou towards one of the tables and then turns and walks back to the counter where the baker already has a full tray of pastries ready, along with a nice drink to wash it all down with. The Todoroki family is always well taken care of, and they take care of the people here in return.

He sets the tray down in front of Eijirou and sits in the chair across from his, tucking his hands into his sleeves, satisfied that Eijirou has quickly been taken care of.

Eijirou thanks him bashfully, his sharpest tooth catching his bottom lip, and Shouto bows his head slightly in response. There may be a gift in return later for this, if Eijirou can possibly remember in the middle of the chaos of a new world, but seeing that he’s happy is enough for Shouto.

It’s a strange opinion to have, he considers, but it doesn’t exactly go against his nature.

Eijirou reaches for the glass, but he seems mildly perplexed about the contents inside.

“What’s this,” he asks.

“A sweet milk?” Shouto tries, but he isn’t exactly sure how to explain it. He doesn’t think they would have anything like this where Katsuki lives.

Eijirou frowns slightly. “If it’s milk, then why is the color like–,” he asks and gestures towards Shouto’s mouth, and Shouto feels his whole face burn, both at the fact that Eijirou associated the two and the fact that in a pinch the only color comparable to the rosy blush of the milk was his lips.

“It’s from a berry,” he says, gathering himself. “It’s big and red, and we cut it into pieces and boil it down with sugar, and then when it cools, we mix the syrup with milk. The color is not dangerous.”

Eijirou tries it at the guarantee, and Shouto watches him go from cautious to absolutely delighted by this new experience, another thing Shouto must be taking for granted, for sure. “Is everything sweet here?”

Shouto smiles at that. “No, not everything.”

Eijirou laughs. “It’s hard to believe that.”

“I’ll show you later that it isn’t so.”

Eijirou blinks at him, his eyes as wide as they could possibly be, and Shouto turns away, his cheeks flooding with hot shame all at once. What has gotten into him? Why is he speaking like this? He’s acting like a fool. Maybe he shouldn’t have been left alone with him without practice first.

“Like dinner, right?”

“Yes, that’s what I meant,” he says, and Eijirou blinks at him again before moving towards one of the moonberry buns.

Shouto takes a deep breath and steels himself.

Yes, he may need supervision.

After Eijirou has his fill and is no longer suffering from certain starvation, Shouto leads him away from the bakery and back towards–. 

He doesn’t know.

“I’m not sure what else to show you,” Shouto admits. “I don’t know what you would find interesting.”

“Are there any more animals, or is it just the cats?”

Shouto hums in thought. “Have you ever seen a peacock before?”

Eijirou makes a startled face at that. “A what?”

“It’s a type of bird,” Shouto says.

“Oh,” he says. “No, I don’t think I have. Well, maybe I have, but I didn’t know what it was.”

“I think you would have noticed if you had,” he says, and then they walk to one of the gardens where some of the elves come to relax in between their more laborious practices, and he watches with amusement as Eijirou’s eyes widen like small ruby worlds at the sight of their long cerulean feathers.

“Oh!” Eijirou says, a sharp sound of surprise that startles the birds and sends them scurrying away in a rage, and Shouto holds back a chuckle. Eijirou’s face flashes a deep hue with a flurry of scales that cover him almost completely before they disappear back into his skin. “Oh no, I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t be,” he says. “I enjoy your enthusiasm.”

Eijirou covers his face with his clawed hands, mortified, and Shouto gently pries one away so he can see him, and he lets a finger coil around his pinky before Eijirou drops the other. His skin is warmer than he would have expected, and he wonders briefly if dragons are warm or cold blooded and how Eijirou would respond to the ice in his veins or if he would prefer the fire.

Would he like either? Or would he find the magic woven into Shouto’s soul like thread too unnerving.

It’s not a natural thing, he knows. It’s natural to him because he doesn’t know any other way, but for someone so far removed from this place, it might not be desirable. More than that, it might be frightening.

“Why are you sad,” Eijirou says, and Shouto blinks himself back to the present, a little ashamed of himself, but before he can step away, the hand he didn’t realize he was still barely holding slides fully into his. “I’m sorry, dragons can sense each other’s hearts, and I forget sometimes that some people don’t like theirs to be seen so much.”

“It’s alright,” Shouto says. “This is a place for magic, and that magic is yours.”

“Were you upset about the cockpea’s?”

Shouto bites back a smile and shakes his head while he privately imagines the scream Katsuki would let out and the fit of giggles that would claim Izuku. “I was not. They are unkind, prideful birds.”

“Oh, I see,” he says. “They are so pretty, though.”

Shouto hums. “Yes, they are,” he says, and then he has a thought. He would like to see pretty things, and he prefers to be near animals. Shouto knows exactly what he should show him. “Do you like horses?”

Eijirou’s face brightens wonderfully at the question. “I love them.”

“Would you like to see a special horse,” he asks. “One I don’t believe you can find anywhere in Katsuki’s kingdom.”

“I would love to,” he says. “Is it the same color as the milk?”

The corner of Shouto’s mouth twitches. “No, she is grey, but she is quite special.”

It takes a while to reach the farthest end of the academy, a walk that would give Izuku the perfect amount of time to speak with Katsuki as much as he needs, if Shouto convinces himself of his own motives.

They pass through a marble arch with elven script carved into the stone, and if Eijirou could read it, he might know the place they’re going is much similar to Katsuki’s war stables.

They do not go towards the buildings, but instead they walk towards an open pasture as far as the eye can see, and when Shouto stops at the fence, Eijirou leans over it like he’s already at home here with no regard for getting dirt on his sleeves. 

It’s a nice change.

He raises his hands to his mouth, cupping them around his lips before his own voice thunders out louder than he ever likes to speak, but it’s necessary to make sure it travels.

“Tuna!” Shouto calls out, and the soft thunder of hooves in the distance immediately answers him.

Eijirou pushes himself onto his toes as he hangs onto the fence, and soon a grey spot appears on the horizon. Tuna charges towards them, happy to be summoned, and it isn’t until she’s close that the light finally catches the long, pristine horn jutting out from her forehead.

His gasp gives Shouto a surge of victory.

Tuna slows her gait to a proud trot as she struts around for a turn and snorts, greeting them like she knows she’s the most beautiful horse to ever exist before she comes to Shouto to have her face rubbed.

“This is my sister’s unicorn,” he says. “Her name is Tuna.”

“She’s beautiful,” Eijirou says as he runs his hand carefully over the faint ivory spots on her neck. “Is her horn real?”

“Yes, she’s a rare magical creature. Her horn can provide healing, among other things.”

“Is that what she does here?”

“No, here she grazes and bargains for treats.”

Eijirou chuckles. “Ahhhh, just like Katsuki’s horse. Fury likes apples and carrots. It’s hard not to spoil her.”

Shouto reaches for a small pouch around his belt tucked between two pleats of his robes, and he loosens the string around it. “Can I see your hand?”

Eijirou holds his palm out for him, and Shouto shakes the bag until he fills it with small brown pellets, treats he keeps on him just in case. Tuna snorts again, and Eijirou feeds her the pellets, not once flinching as her teeth graze against his hand.

“Good girl,” he coos as fondly as a person can, and Shouto is enamored.

He may very well spend all day out here with him, and with that thought, he remembers he still has to be somewhat responsible.

He pinches a spot in the air and plucks out a small, transparent butterfly that eagerly flits away but not before Eijirou can notice.

“What was that?”

“I was letting Izuku know where to find us.”

“You can do that?”

“Of course,” he says. “The butterfly will lead them here when they’re ready to find us. It’s very simple magic.”

“What if we leave first?”

“I presumed you would be happy to visit with the horse for a while longer,” Shouto says, and Eijirou almost looks embarrassed by the observation, though Shouto isn’t sure why he would be. He sits on the ground, folding his legs and letting his robes settle over his knees like a blanket, content to stay where he is while Eijirou enjoys a part of the academy that may suit him the most, which is– also a nice change. “She is a glutton for attention and will tire you out.”

Eijirou grins at that like he’s accepting a challenge. “All the best horses are.”

Shouto has not been alive for a long time—not when compared to Touya, who turned 600 before he was born or even Natsuo, who is now closer to 200—but in Shouto’s blink of 25 years, he’s never once seen someone chase a horse around like it was a large dog.

He’s also never seen Tuna so excited before.

Eijirou chases and baits her, and Tuna whinnies and kicks out but never towards him, never threatened or scared. He wonders what Fuyumi would think about this, her quiet and loyal unicorn transformed into a puppy eager to play.

It’s marvelous to see.

It’s even more so to watch him.

They’ve only just met, but Shouto’s fondness for him is already so strong that it aches deeply in his chest, it pumps through his veins, and it pulls at the muscles in his cheeks that have gone unused for so long. It’s exhausting and overwhelming, but it’s impossible to pace himself, and even if it’s almost too much to bear, every instinct he has says he should give in to it.

What would it mean for him to choose someone like this like he was someone already chosen for him? Would Eijirou find him strange? Would everyone?

Yes, this behavior is peculiar. Eijirou plays with the horse, and Shouto watches because he can’t look away, unbeknownst to his guest who has only come here as a guard for a prince who has come to claim Izuku, a companion chosen for him by ancient laws Shouto doesn’t at all believe in.

And yet.

If a piece of paper told him that he was somehow supposed to connect himself to Eijirou, he would believe it. He would need it to be true.

Izuku’s determination makes a little more sense to him now, if this is how it is for him, if looking at Katsuki feels like there’s a golden thread tugging him towards him, unable to be cut by sword or shears.

If this is how it is for him, Shouto may finally understand.

But he will need to know without a doubt that Katsuki is pulled towards him too, that he could not peacefully exist without him, or he will not allow Izuku to leave this place. Shouto will be watching them carefully.

Or he’s supposed to be.

Eijirou’s shirt sits disregarded on the ground next to Shouto as his toned and broad shoulders glisten in the sun from sweat, and Shouto finds it very hard to concentrate on anything else, such as his hidden agenda. They are very nice to look at.

He has… never been interested in such things before, and he’s never considered himself a person who wanted or needed anyone else, but he already knows he would spoil him and give him everything he wants just for a chance to touch the skin he never sees shown here amongst the elves, and then his thoughts shift to his tapered claws and arrow-like teeth, and those thoughts, he decides, can never be shared with anyone else.

Black hair that shifts into a flaming red at the ends and scales that match, appearing as a flush whenever he’s excited or embarrassed, Shouto has never met anyone like him.

He wonders what would happen if he told his family he was even considering taking a companion after spending so much time avoiding the advances of every great family’s sons and daughters ever since he was old enough to be courted, all of them craving his magic like wealth they thought they should have.

The youngest Todoroki mage—the result of a complete and finally perfect experiment concocted by the two (previously) most powerful elves—running away with a dragon who brings joy to everything he touches and does not wish for more than to run around with a horse and pet every single one of the academy’s cats.

The thought of it warms Shouto’s heart and has him bubbling with mischief because it would have a hundred different nobles both enraged and defeated.

Perhaps if any of them had ever once looked at Shouto as a person and not a font, they would have won instead.

But then again, none of those sons and daughters would have been Eijirou, and he’s decided that settling for less would lead him towards a millennium of disappointment.

But he is getting ahead of himself, the same way the other elven nobles do. Eijirou is just a visitor here, a friend of Katsuki’s, and will leave with them when Katsuki takes Izuku back to his world, and Shouto will just have to hope that if they ever return, they won’t return alone.

Eijirou trots towards him out of breath and smelling like sweat and heat, and he drops down onto the grass next to him with a bright smile that isn’t at all hard to look at.

Shouto produces a cup with ice water, and Eijirou blinks at it for a moment.

“Where did you get that?”

“I’m an ice conjurer,” he says.

“Oh wow,” Eijirou says and accepts it before drinking it all with no more questions about where the water came from. “Thanks!”

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

“Yes, I did,” he grins. “She’s so spirited.”

So are you, Shouto doesn’t say, and he waves his hand, filling the cup again and watches as Eijirou indulges in his magic as unselfishly as a person can.

“Do you play with the horses at Katsuki’s stables?”

“Of course,” he says. “And the dogs too.”

“Naturally,” Shouto says, earning a pleased smile.

“Kirishima Eijirou, where are your clothes?!”

“It’s hot!” Eijirou calls back immediately as Katsuki and Izuku trudge down the hill towards them, and a gentle breeze passes between them that Shouto didn’t create and Izuku doesn’t take credit for.

He wonders how long it will be before he lets Katsuki see what he is now, and if Katsuki will be ready when he does.

The corner of Shouto’s mouth quirks. He hopes he’s there when it happens.

Chapter Text

A full day of touring the Academy leads to dinner at one of the more formal restaurants on the premises, the kind with reservations and well-dressed patrons hovering around lavender mage lights.

Shouto walks in first and moves towards the back without an introduction, and the other three follow closely behind. He leads them to a private room with slowly swirling clouds on the ceiling and a large wooden table currently occupied by no one.

“I’m surprised we’re not having dinner with your family,” Katsuki says.

“We will tomorrow,” Shouto says.

“They’re, umm, giving us some space,” Izuku says, managing to keep his promise not to reveal too much information to Eijirou. “So we can catch up.”

Katsuki nods in understanding. This is about him and Izuku, not state business. The Todoroki family wouldn’t have much to say here.

He looks at Shouto.

Well, not all of them.

He’ll probably give him an earful the second he gets the chance, but so far, Shouto seems… distracted enough to put it off.

Katsuki can’t decide if this is going to be annoying or amusing, but he hasn’t seen Eijirou so entertained in months. He glances at Izuku, who seems more interested in his own hands than anything else, and Katsuki’s eyes trace over the webbing of scars that cover them. They’ll have to talk about that at some point.

Trays of food are brought in by five different servers, and they’re placed onto the table for the four of them to share. On the plates is an arrangement of different fruits, cheeses, thin salted meats, and flaking bread, all meant to be washed down with a large pitcher of Elven wine.

The servers leave them, shutting the door behind themselves, and Eijirou’s eyes dart over the table nervously. “Is this dinner?”

“Just the first part,” Shouto says. “But there will be plenty of food brought to us, I promise. You won’t go hungry.”

Katsuki raises an eyebrow. He’s never known Shouto to be the type of person to talk to a stranger when he doesn’t have to, let alone host them. Izuku nudges him, and when Katsuki looks at him, he sees his knowing smile.

Gods.

He would whisper a complaint, but Eijirou would hear it so he takes a piece of melon instead. Izuku shoves a grape into his cheek with an amused smile, and Katsuki rolls his eyes.

“Oh, this is nice,” Eijirou says in delight. “They’re like snacks.”

“Yes, it’s just like that,” Shouto says, and they might as well be the only two people in the world. At this rate, those two will be the ones who go back to get married, and Katsuki will fuck off to the dragonlands by himself for a few years.

Katsuki sits back with a sign, and Izuku nudges him again. This time he nudges him back.

A few minutes later, a server comes and removes two of the empty plates and arranges the rest on the table so that there’s a clear gap for more. He leaves again to call back the others, who walk in with heavy trays billowing with steam. Eijirou’s eyes widen at the procession, and Katsuki hears Izuku stifle a giggle next to him.

The new dishes are large shallow bowls filled with different sauces and stews with mountains of bread to eat them with. Shouto shows Eijirou how to gather the meat with one hand and pour on the sauces with the other. He seems quite entertained by getting to use his claws so much, and Shouto seems just as pleased to watch him.

Katsuki breaks off a piece of bread and scoops up a bite of chicken in a thick green sauce and slips it into his mouth. Everything here is cooked in unfamiliar spices and herbs only the elves can grow, but Eijirou loves food (specifically meat) enough that he adapts to it all well. It probably doesn’t hurt that Shouto is giving him his undivided attention, but that’s neither here nor there.

He wishes he had the taste for the food here. It’s delicious, and he can appreciate how much work goes into every meal, but he can only eat so much of it before the flavors start to overwhelm him. But Izuku seems to enjoy it quite well. He wonders how he’ll adjust when he brings him home.

The food they grew up with is simple yet hearty, but if Katsuki’s memory isn’t failing him, he does know that Izuku loves the hand pies. He used to teeter around the castle grounds with one in each hand, and it’s always been a fond memory—of the few of them he can come up with from when they were young.

But the gap between then and now isn’t as barren as it may seem. They’ve seen each other a few times a year consistently since he returned from the dragonlands. He and his parents sail here while Eijirou returns to his family, which is why he can consider himself a friend to Shouto these days, but those visits were always so chaperoned that they seemed fleeting at best.

But even with those visits, he never noticed how… different Izuku is.

He knew he’d grown up at some point. He knew he was taller, but not by much. He knew his hair had grown wilder and more unruly, and he’d finally caught up with his own eyes and smile, but like this, close and next to mage light without the long banquet tables or the curious eyes of his parents on them, he can finally look at him.

He has more freckles than Katsuki can possibly count on his cheeks and over his nose, a nose that’s sloped and small like a rabbit’s. His hands are scarred strangely like they’ve been ripped and burned. Katsuki knows that wielding magic is hard for a human, but he never imagined it could be agonizing to use. Izuku came here to learn how to fight so they could one day marry, and his hands are proof of his tenacity.

He hasn’t given up on him.

Or maybe he just wants to be a mage, and that’s reason enough to endure the pain.

Izuku looks at him with a warm smile with nothing artificial or postured poisoning it. It’s genuine happiness, and Katsuki knows that it has everything to do with Eijirou and Shouto and nothing to do with him. Shouto is his dearest friend, who is currently enamored with someone for the first time since they’ve known him, and Eijirou is a charming and lovable dragon who could smile away a storm.

And yet Katsuki has made him cry more than anyone else ever could, and his existence has been more painful to him than any of his scars were.

“Try this,” he says. He tears off a piece of bread and piles it with some of the salted meat and a piece of cheese, and then he spoons over a little bit of red sauce and then a little bit of the white. “It’s my favorite.”

“Are you going to feed me like they are?” Katsuki asks at Eijirou’s expense, but he’s too preoccupied to notice.

“It would probably make less of a mess if I did,” he says sheepishly. Katsuki raises an eyebrow like he’s skeptical before he leans towards him, parting his lips as an invitation, and Izuku glances at his mouth with a flush before taking his aim.

And he fucking misses.

Katsuki is able to bite the food out of the air before Izuku can drop it in his lap, but it does nothing to prevent the heavy smear of sauce across his lips and part of his cheek.

Izuku bursts into a fit of giggles he can barely conceal. “Oh no, I’m so sorry!”

“No, you’re not,” Katsuki accuses, and Izuku laughs at him harder. He swipes a glob of sauce off of his mouth and smears it over Izuku’s cheek and nose in revenge.

Izuku gasps. “Your Highness.”

“Oh don’t you call me that,” he says, earning a delighted giggle. Katsuki squints at him, flicks some of the sauce off of his freckled cheek, and sucks it off his finger.

“Let me show you something else.”

“No.”

Izuku immediately erupts into a fit of laughter, mischievous glee lighting up his face like a lantern in the dark, and Katsuki pops a piece of cheese in his mouth in amusement. Joy looks good on him.

The freedom to be a little shit with him looks better.

They spent an entire day together without supervision, and Izuku is this happy while Katsuki isn’t having to suppress his own emotions or reactions to make that possible.

Huh.

Who would’ve thought?

Dessert is brought to them soon with another bottle of wine, and Eijirou’s gasp is enough to take Katsuki’s attention off of Izuku.

“It’s cold!”

Shouto smiles at him as he spoons a bit of this—cold stuff—into his mouth. Katsuki can never remember the name of it, but it might as well be a mound of snow you can eat covered in fruit, syrup, and thick cream.

“Don’t take a big bite,” Izuku warns. “You’ll get a nasty headache.”

Eijirou looks between them in concern. “Is it poisoned?”

Katsuki takes a bite of his own to prove that it isn't and crunches the tiny snow crystals with his teeth. “It’s safe. Just cold.”

He washes it down with a mouthful of wine, and he catches Izuku staring at him, wordless and unreadable.

“Why isn’t the food at home this much fun?” Eijirou says.

“I’m telling dad you said that.”

“No!”

After everyone is fed, Shouto discreetly pays for their meal, and he walks as a shadow at Izuku’s side as they guide Katsuki and Eijirou to their rooms. It’s not customary to linger, but for a moment he wonders if Izuku will follow them and spend the night with a friend he’s obviously longed for.

Are they friends now?

Shouto’s curiosity tugs at him, but he knows better than to ask them directly. If one of them lies or tells a painful truth, it will break the other.

After they say their good nights, Shouto follows Izuku back to his room because they’ll need to talk about today and what the future holds. Izuku doesn’t ask or protest, and when they step inside his room, mage lights awaken and illuminate mounds and mounds of scrolls and notes. It’s a cluttered mess, but it reminds Shouto of Izuku’s mind, and he can’t help but smile at it.

He takes a seat on the edge of the bed and waits for him to join him. Izuku sits with a deep sigh.

“You don’t have to go back if you don’t want to,” Shouto says, and Izuku turns to him. He meant to wait a little longer, but he supposes now must be the right time to intervene. “We will give you sanctuary here. No one can make you leave without my parents’ permission, and you are a son to my father as much as I am.”

“It’s my birthright, Shouto,” he says. “It’s not just his. My family comes from kings too. The prophecy was written for both of us.”

“I know that, but that is the will of your gods. They have no reach here.”

Izuku offers him a smile, but there’s a hint of sadness behind it. “I want to go. Your people have been so kind to me, but I feel like if I stay here, I will have abandoned mine. Asking Katsuki to rule alone would be unfair. He shouldn’t have to.”

“But you will have to marry him.”

“Yes.”

“Izuku…”

“I want to,” he says. “I’ve been in love with him my entire life, and I came all this way so I could become strong enough to marry him. I can’t fight the way he does, but I’m ready.”

Shouto nods. Izuku is ready.

But he didn’t bring here to make him worthy of marriage.

Izuku smiles at him because he knows that.

“You’re a good friend,” he says, taking Shouto’s hand.

“I like Katsuki,” he says. “But it will be hard for me to forget how things were, and if you go back to that–.”

“I won’t,” he says. “Things are different now.”

“How can you be sure?”

“He came, Shouto,” he says. “No one made him. It would be one thing if he was dragged all this way, but he came for me alone, and I’m– am I being stupid?”

“No,” Shouto says.

“Are you being honest with me?”

“Elves can’t lie.”

“No, but you’re clever with your words,” Izuku says, and the corner of Shouto’s mouth twitches.

“I do not think you’re being stupid, but if you go there and change your mind, it will be much harder for me to bring you back here without starting a war, and I don’t think my parents would be very happy with me if I did that.”

He would, though. He would scorch the earth in every direction for Izuku, but he doesn’t say so.

“If I change my mind, Katsuki would get me on the ship himself,” he says. “There would be no war. We would be married to satisfy our gods, and then I would never see him again.”

Shouto nods in agreement. “Yes, I suppose that would be a plausible outcome.”

“But I do love him, Shouto. I always have.”

“I know.”

“Do you–,” he says with a pause. “Do you think he could ever learn to love me back?”

Shouto smiles at him as kindly as he can, his best impersonation of Fuyumi at her best because Izuku deserves it. “I think that it would be very hard for him not to.”

“He didn’t like me very much when we were children,” he admits.

“You were much shorter then.”

Izuku laughs and swats at him. “Hey!”

Shouto chuckles softly, and Izuku rests his head on his shoulder.

“You’re ruthless,” he says fondly, and Shouto closes his eyes as an ache in his chest grows like the air in the room is pressing down on him.

“I want you to be happy,” Shouto says.

“I will be.”

“And Katsuki is one of my dearest friends.”

“I know that,” Izuku says.

“But you are my family.”

“That means that one day, he’ll be your family too,” he says and gives his hand a squeeze. “Thank you for looking out for me.”

“Of course.”

“Be nice to him.”

“He is the one who set the precedent,” Shouto says. “I am simply playing along.”

“Just don’t become hostile,” he says. “I can’t take it if you two fight. I know you love him, and he loves you too, and you both enjoy antagonizing each other, but this is going to be really hard for me. I can handle the teasing, but if you fight–. Just, you don’t need to worry about me anymore, not when it comes to him, okay? I promise. Today was better than I ever could have dreamed of, and he–. He looked at me like–.”

His voice trails off, and Shouto raises an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“Like he did when we were young,” he says. “Before I was old enough for anyone to notice that I couldn’t lift a sword or run to the top of a hill. He and I were like one soul. We shared everything. We even bathed together. We slept in the same bed. They said I cried if he didn’t hold my hand, and he screamed when he couldn’t find me. We were–. Our gods are never wrong. Even before I was old enough to understand, Katsuki has always been the other piece of my heart, and today it felt like I finally got it back because he wanted me to have it.”

Shouto nods with an unfamiliar sting in his eyes. Elves can’t lie, but humans can, but he knows that Izuku isn’t.

But if Katsuki is deceiving him as part of his succession, Izuku’s heart will shatter irreparably. Not even the strongest healers they have here will save him, and Shouto’s friendship will no longer be enough. If Izuku chooses to risk himself like this, it will be his end.

But it’s not Shouto’s decision to make. Katsuki is his friend too, and he will have to trust him. The mistakes of children should always be forgiven, even when they’re painful. That is his people’s way.

But Shouto will not let his guard down until he’s sure that Izuku will be taken care of, even if he’ll have to remind himself to be optimistic the entire time.

“I’m sorry,” Shouto says. “I will be nice.”

“Thank you.”

This is what Izuku wants, or at least it is tonight.

“I saw you, you know,” Shouto says, and Izuku looks at him curiously. “Feeding him. Making him happy.”

Izuku blushes and turns away. “I’m surprised you were able to look away from Eijirou long enough to notice.”

Shouto chokes defenselessly, and Izuku laughs.

He will miss that sound.

“I will miss you, Izuku.”

“Oh gods,” he wails and drops his head in his hands in a sudden cry. “I’m so sorry.”

“Do not be sorry for this,” Shouto says. “I’m proud of you. You should always do what you want to.”

Izuku turns towards him and wraps his arms around his neck, and Shouto holds him close as his collar is soaked with tears. He will miss this too more than he can bear to think about.

He knew that one day Izuku would leave, but he isn’t sure he thought the day would ever really come. A small part of him thought that Izuku would grow old here in these libraries where he’s always blossomed, but no, Izuku has made his choice.

And then Izuku laughs through the sob, and Shouto blinks away his thoughts.

“What is it?”

“This is the second time I’ve done this today,” he says. “It really must be a special occasion.”

“I don’t remember another time.”

“It was with Katsuki when we were alone.”

“He held you?” Shouto asks.

“Yes, for a long time,” he laughs. “I didn’t know he could stay still for so long, but he did, and he was really nice about it.”

When finally Izuku sits up, Shouto sees that he’s smiling. He’s relieved but also a little sad in a way he doesn’t understand.

But that is a thought for another time.

“Tell me about your day together.”

Izuku talks for hours.

Izuku approaches Eijirou and Katsuki after breakfast while Shouto works elsewhere in the Academy. He’s been tasked with keeping them busy, which is a little daunting for more reasons than one. 

Shouto advised him that Eijirou would be happy enough to spend the day with Tuna, and Izuku is sure Katsuki would be fine there too, but today his motivations are a little selfish.

Eijirou waves at him, smiling from ear to ear, and Katsuki approaches indifferently, which is much nicer to see than disdain.

“Good morning, little one!”

“Good morning, Eijirou,” Izuku says before bowing slightly towards Katsuki out of respect. “Good morning.”

Katsuki nods a greeting, and Izuku bites back a smile.

“I’m in charge of the tour today,” he says, and Eijirou makes a surprised face.

“We didn’t see everything yesterday?”

“Well, we did,” Izuku says, shrinking himself as much as possible. “We saw all of the important places…”

Katsuki raises an eyebrow. “Izuku…”

“Yes, Your Highness?”

“Izuku.”

“Yes?”

Eijirou looks between them both, and Izuku bites back his shame. Yes, he knows he’s being a very bad mage right now, but his intentions are noble, he swears.

Katsuki’s eyes burn into him, and Izuku bites his lip.

Well.

“Oh, he wants something from us,” Eijirou says, quite pleased with the realization to Izuku’s relief before he turns to Katsuki with a frown. “You don’t have your armor.”

“He doesn’t want us to fight something for him,” he says with a hint of amusement that belies the furrow to his brow.

“I know this isn’t what you came here for, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for all of us here, and I think I would drive myself insane if I didn’t at least try to take it, but would you be comfortable helping me with some translations? It won’t be hard, I swear. I just need to make a list of important words so we can parse the rest of the texts. Ummm, from dragons.”

“Oh!” Eijirou says. “You want me to show you how to read?”

“Yes, please,” he says. “It would be quite helpful.”

Eijirou’s smile is as genuine as it is blinding, and Izuku’s body hums all the way to the tips of his fingers. He’s never met a dragon before, but if they’re all like Eijirou, they must be the source of all the warmth in the entire world. Katsuki tuts and walks past him towards the buildings.

“Where are you going?” Eijirou asks as he bolts after him, leaving Izuku in the dust. Izuku laughs as he trudges after them, hoisting his robes up so he doesn’t trip and not at all minding the burn in his lungs. He’ll have to get used to that again, but he won’t let it become a problem.

Katsuki leads them to the library Izuku brought him to yesterday, and he isn’t sure if his racing pulse is from the brisk walk or from the fact that he remembered where it is and what it’s for.

He sits down in one of the chairs at the table and gives the wood a solid rap with his knuckles for Eijirou to join him, and Izuku wastes no time at all retrieving an armful of texts written in draconic runes with all of his previous notes in the margins.

He’s allowed to write on them though. Shouto gave him permission.

He lays out several pieces of parchment, an ink pot, and two quills, and he’s so excited about this opportunity that he has to physically spread his fingers out of fists. Eijirou looks at him expectantly, and Izuku glances at Katsuki for a moment before he takes his seat.

He grabs one of the quills and carefully draws a rune at the top of an unmarked page, adds the elven script next to it, and then writes the word dragon in his own language.

“How do you say this,” Izuku says and points at the page, and Eijirou reads the rune aloud, his tongue flicking past his teeth in a way Izuku tries to imitate with no success.

He repeats the word, and Eijirou smiles at him. “Good job! You said it great.”

“Oh thank you,” Izuku beams, but then Eijirou turns the page towards him, dips a fingers into the ink pot, and scratches out the rune again two more times below it with the tip of his claw, and it takes Izuku a moment to notice the differences.

“This means…. Dragon who speaks? And this one means dragon who doesn’t. I don’t know if it matters for you though.”

“Oh no, it does! We never considered your records would include mentions of both, but of course they would. Do speaking and non-speaking dragons live together?”

Eijirou frowns in thought and then shakes his head. “No, we’re usually at war.”

“War?”

“Yeah, the non-speaking ones,” he says and taps the third rune with a clean finger before he speaks a new word for Izuku to scribble down phonetically in Common (he may have to ask Enji and Rei for the appropriate way to convey it in Elven later, so he adds a small star next to it). “They don’t believe that we should be friends? With humans. And elves, now, I suppose.”

“They want us to be enemies,” Izuku says.

“No, they want you to be food,” he says, and Izuku blinks up at him in surprise. “I would not eat a human.”

“Liar,” Katsuki says under his breath.

“Emergencies happen.”

Izuku laughs, delighted. “That is understandable, maybe.”

“The speaking dragons,” he says and points to the other run. “My people. We don’t believe we’re different from humans. Well, we are different, but we’re not.”

“But dragons are reclusive, yes?”

“Yes, but,” he says and then he thinks for a moment. “We don’t join your fights, and we don’t live in your cities, but we trade together, and we can bond with humans if we want to. The Unspeaking wouldn’t do that. They would want me to kill Katsuki if I was one of them.”

“For being a prince?”

“For climbing on my back,” he says, and Katsuki shifts in his seat like the truth of it is uncomfortable. They must have bonded, and if that’s taboo to some dragons, it must be important to others.

“Fascinating,” Izuku says, and then he refers to one of his scrolls, keeping himself on track. “It looks like all the runes here are the same, but I will make a note to look for the differences so that we know we’re reading about two different groups of people. “Oh! This passage! It has both!”

He turns the page to Eijirou, and Eijirou smears a swipe of ink on his nose as he reads it and thinks about how he should say it for Izuku’s ears.

“It says the Unspeaking One, Kai, made a pact with the Voice Below the Mountain to create a plague against the humans, who he saw as weak, but a Speaking One named Mirai had a vision of one thousand dragons flying over a land as flat as dragon scales and saw the great rise of all dragons with many Walking Ones with them as brothers. Mirai and Kai fought for two futures. Mirai fell, but not before he tore Kai’s wings, leaving him flightless and no longer worthy of his people. The Unspeaking retreated, leaving the great dragon mountains to us, who will call this place our home until Mirai’s future calls us away.”

Izuku gasps in awe. “Wow.”

“I’ve never heard of this,” Eijirou says with a frown before turning to Katsuki. “Have you?”

“The fuck would I know about dragon history? I’m more concerned with you having a pact giving plague bringer living beneath your mountain.”

“Maybe it’s just a story,” Izuku offers. “We believe these are histories, but that’s because we can only assume so. There’s a chance that this is all fictional. Do dragons tell tales?”

“Yes, we have tails.”

“Tales,” Katsuki says. “Bedtime stories. Making shit up around the fire to entertain yourselves.”

“Oh, yes, we do do that,” Eijirou says. 

Izuku frowns, and he tries not to be disappointed.

“You’ve got other books, don’t you,” Katsuki says, and Izuku nods. “Try one of those.”

Izuku grabs another tome at flips it open with a determined nod. “Okay. So we know what these three runes mean, and this one comes up a lot too. What does it say?”

“Mountain,” Eijirou says confidently, and Izuku is only a little ashamed that he didn’t already know that.

But this is good. It’s like a puzzle, and you have to put all of the big pieces together before you can work on the little ones. He knows that.

“And this one?”

“Ahhhh, in Dragon it’s close to hatching? But in your language you would use it in many ways, I think.”

“Like what?”

“The egg, the egg when it cracks, the day the egg cracks, and the young dragon inside it, I think? There could be more.”

“Got it,” Izuku nods as he writes them all down. “It’s a word that describes the birth process for dragons from the beginning.”

“Probably,” Eijirou says, and Katsuki tuts a laugh. Izuku finds himself smiling.

He spends more time learning about dragon births, mating, and egg imbuements than he ever imagined he would, but it’s all so fascinating. If Eijirou ever wanted to mate with someone who wasn’t a dragon, they could both transfer a bit of their essences to an egg and have a child that way. Even Katsuki didn’t seem to know that, and Eijirou only flushes a little as he explains it.

They had this information here the entire time and no one knew? Elves are so enamored with births and stars, he imagines this will be a glorious discovery that could lead to so much more knowledge than Izuku ever expected to gain from these texts.

He makes sure to write out his every thought and theory so that when he leaves, the next scholar will be able to pick up where he left off, and he bites back a smile as he signs his name in both Common and Elven at the bottom, along with the date for the records. This is so exciting.

He looks up to them both to share in this moment of elation, but he finds them both staring back at him blankly, and his face drops.

“Oh gods, I’m so sorry,” Izuku says. “This is really boring, isn’t it?”

“No,” they both say at the same time in a way that Izuku isn’t sure he believes, and his cheeks burn in embarrassment.

Eijirou sits up and dips his claw in the ink again before he draws a rune next to Izuku’s name. “This one’s important.”

“What is it?” 

“It’s you,” he beams, and Izuku’s face lights up.

“Oh!”

Katsuki leans across the table to look at it before he snorts.

“What?” Izuku asks.

“It says ‘shrub’.”

“Oh,” he says, his face and shoulders dropping. “Wait. You can read this?”

“Of course I can,” Katsuki says.

“Well, why didn’t you say so?”

“Because you didn’t ask me,” he says pointedly.

Izuku looks at Eijirou, entirely apologetic. “Oh gods, Eijirou, I’m so sorry. I completely wasted your time.”

“You did not waste my time,” he says, adding the word Izuku just learned means shrub at the end to address him. Katsuki throws his head back and cackles.

The door creaks loudly as someone pushes it open, and the three of them turn to see who it is. Shouto pauses, not used to the sudden onslaught of attention.

“Hello,” Eijirou says, and he uses another word that Izuku doesn’t know to address Shouto.

Katsuki exhales like he’s annoyed and pulls Izuku’s notes to his side of the table, grabs the other quill, and writes the rune and the word in Common without the Elven equivalent, since he likely wouldn’t know it.

He pushes it back with a challenging quirk of his brow as if to say see?, and Izuku glances at it to see what it says.

Kitty.

He looks up at Eijirou and Shouto, who are once again immediately preoccupied with each other, and he covers his mouth before he can laugh.

“He’s not wrong,” he says quietly.

“He’s not about you either,” Katsuki says, and Izuku swiftly kicks him beneath the table. “I’m your king, mage.”

“Not yet,” he whispers.

Katsuki kicks him back.

They spend several days together like this.

Shouto regrets that he can’t be with them the entire time, but he has responsibilities here that he would have to regulate to someone else, which doesn’t seem appropriate for the circumstances.

And as far as he’s aware, there haven’t been any incidents. He’s asked several trusted members of the Academy to look after Izuku and report back if he’s ever treated unfairly, yelled at, or harmed in any way, but so far, Izuku has been treated with nothing but kindness and affection from both of their guests.

It makes working away from them so much easier knowing that.

Today, though, Shouto decides to be a little bold. There are places within the Academy that are forbidden to outsiders, and this is one of them. Katsuki particularly shouldn’t be here as the future sovereign of a different nation, but Izuku was brought here long ago without regard for their shared status.

In fact, Izuku would be the real threat here, as magic is his interest, but Shouto trusts him with his life and so does his family.

The Guiding Hall is theirs for the day.

Shouto leads them into a large room shaped like a dome with thousands of drawers carved into the walls. Each drawer is locked with a different key hidden somewhere else, and Shouto will never speak of their contents to anyone.

At the center of the room is a device that is also meant to be kept secret, but for this group, he happily breaks a rule. They’re no threat, and it would be impossible to use it maliciously in only a few hours. It’s a large table that stretches twenty feet in length, and it glows with soft and bright arcane energy, the same shade as one of his eyes.

“This is a map of our country,” Shouto says as the other three approach. “The lines that cross it represent the ley lines beneath the ground and the flow of magic from the different Fonts we’ve discovered all the way back to here, as was demonstrated when you first arrived.”

“Wow,” Eijirou says, and he holds a hand above the light to test the energy. “What are these little dots for?”

“People,” Shouto says. “Every person alive is a small source. Life is magic, but we do not harvest it.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t,” Katsuki mutters, and Izuku elbows him.

“You’re just as capable of cutting off my head with your sword,” Shouto says, unbothered. “Siphoning a person is unethical.”

“And Raising one isn’t?”

Izuku pales, but no one says anything else about it.

“So you can see everyone who comes here?” Eijirou asks.

“Yes, we cannot be invaded, but no one has been foolish enough to try for a thousand years.”

Eijirou holds his hand over the Academy, which burns the brightest. “It’s so cold.”

“That’s an interesting observation,” Shouto says with mild amusement. “I will work in here today. Feel free to look around, play with the map, or find somewhere else to entertain yourselves. You have access to everywhere that Izuku does, and you don’t need my permission to come and go as you please.”

“We’re fine here,” Izuku says. “Right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine here,” Eijirou says, and Katsuki nods.

“Then I will work quickly,” Shouto says before crossing the room away from them.

Shouto takes a key off of his belt, and he unlocks one of the boxes before checking the contents. A small crystal blinks sadly inside the case, and he rubs a finger down it until it glows brightly again, giving it a small fraction of his magic before he returns it to the wall for safe keeping.

He walks around the room to another, and when he opens it, he finds that it’s dead. He swallows and crushes it in his hand until it dissolves into a fine dust. It will need to be replaced, but Shouto will worry about that tomorrow.

A great deal of magic is being used, and it’s not coming from within these walls.

It’s unnerving.

The door opens, and a mage in silver robes rushes in with a cautious glance towards the others.

“They’re fine,” Shouto says.

He nods and approaches him, pulling him to the side before he lowers his voice. “There’s been a disruption at one of the northern ley lines.”

“Is the Font dead?”

“Damaged, Third Prince,” he whispers, and Shouto exhales in relief. “We can still sense it, but if the line isn’t repaired–.”

“It will rupture,” he says with a nod. “Yes, I’m aware. I’ll take care of it.”

He bows and turns to leave before glancing at the guests again. Eijirou waves him goodbye, but Katsuki and Izuku both tense like they know something’s wrong.

“I need to leave the city for a bit today,” Shouto says. “One of the ley lines was damaged at the source and needs to be repaired before it becomes a problem. There’s no need to worry.”

“I’ll go with you,” Izuku says.

“I don’t want to pull you away from your guests.”

“This is a two person job,” he says. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself doing it alone.”

Shouto doesn’t mention that when Izuku leaves, he’ll be doing it alone for the rest of his life, so it would benefit him to practice while he has the chance.

But that doesn’t mean he wants to.

“We’re going with you,” Katsuki says, taking Shouto by complete surprise. “Four is better than one.”

A comfortable happiness spreads through him that he isn’t used to, and he reaches for it before it can slip out of his fingers. So maybe he is a fool, but he is a fool who likes being with his friends.

“It will probably be boring,” Shouto warns.

“Not with good company,” Eijirou says with a smile Shouto isn’t sure he could ever say no to.

“Why not?” Izuku says with a shrug. “They won’t disturb anything, and we’ll both work better if we’re not worried about hurrying back.”

Shouto nods in acceptance. He has a point there.

“We should leave immediately.”

Chapter Text

There’s nothing in this world Katsuki hates more than teleporting.

He’d hoped foolishly that they could ride out on horseback, but then Shouto took them to a large chamber with several of those strange glowing circles on the ground. He stood next to one and gestured patiently, and Eijirou approached first without hesitation.

“We just step on?”

“Yes,” Shouto said, and once Eijirou had both feet planted, he stepped onto it as well, but this time Eijirou grabbed onto him and held him close like Shouto had in the tower several days ago. Gods. The word Shouto spoke next sounded like a place name, and then they were gone.

Katsuki took a deep breath and swallowed down a thick lump in his throat.

“Ready?” Izuku said.

“I hate this.”

“I know,” he said. “You get used to it.”

Katsuki exhaled a bemused breath and stepped up. He wasn’t going to be a coward, not when Izuku wasn’t afraid. He extended a hand, and Izuku took it, avoiding his gaze. He spoke the same word, and suddenly Katsuki felt his insides rip through his navel, but then it didn’t stop.

It still hasn’t.

He spins for ages, melted and reformed and melted again, and when he finally lands, he drops to his hands and knees with a heave.

“Katsuki? Are you okay?” Izuku kneels next to him and rubs his back. “Are you sick?”

“I’m fine,” he waves him away, immediately regretting the swat of his hand. Izuku shrinks back. “That was fucking awful.”

“My apologies,” Shouto says, and Katsuki looks up to see Eijirou with his head between his knees.

“What happened?” Katsuki asks.

“I did not account for the fact that the damaged line would make the teleportation circle on this side unstable. We’re safe though.”

“Ei?”

“In one piece.”

Katsuki nods, and he immediately reaches for Izuku as an apology. Izuku squats next to him, and his robes pool at their feet.

“How can you stand this,” he rasps.

“Years of practice,” he says before reaching into a pouch and pulling out three berries. “Eat this.”

“They taste like shit don’t they.”

“Worse.”

Katsuki extends his hand, and Izuku drops them carefully. “Chew or swallow?”

“Chew and keep them on your tongue as long as you can stand it,” he says. “I’m going to give some to Eijirou.”

Katsuki nods and pops the berries into his mouth. He bites into them, and bitter juices burst in his mouth in every direction. He grimaces and wonders if this is a sick joke, but then he looks up to see Izuku handing a few to Shouto too.

The three of them make similar unpleasant expressions as he did, but Katsuki’s stomach settles quickly, and soon he’s able to stand on both feet again.

“The trip back will be more comfortable after I repair the line,” Shouto says with a hand over his mouth, and he finishes speaking with a small slurp to stop himself from drooling. That makes Katsuki feel better than the berries did.

He stands to his feet and walks over to give Eijirou’s head a pat.

“Brother, I have found a weakness.”

Katsuki snorts. “Izuku said we’ll get used to it.”

“I meant the berries,” he says, distressed. “These are not delicious.”

Katsuki laughs and stretches, feeling more like himself now, even despite the foul taste in his mouth. “Let’s go. They’ve got work to do.”

Eijirou nods and stands up, and when he turns to follow the others he sees Izuku spit into the bushes. Heh.

The circle is tucked inside a half-moon alcove at the edge of what he assumes to be a large temple. His boots crunch over amber leaves blown over the floor by the wind, and he doesn’t miss that Shouto’s doesn’t.

He and Eijirou stay two steps behind as the mages lead them up a marble path towards the temple, and when he gets a better look, he sees how wild and unkempt it is, like the earth itself is eager and ready to claim it.

This is who the elves are. The Academy is pristine because it has to be, but at their core, nature is a part of them. The elements course through their veins, connecting them to the magic that holds the world together. They can touch it, drink it, bathe in it, and as the elves draw their magic from it, nature too waits to take it back.

The tether holds them like the vines seemingly holding the temple in place, and one day it will claim Shouto, as is the way of his people. He isn’t so sure what will happen to Izuku, if he will one day rest beside him with their ancestors or if nature will claim him and take its magic back. A cold shiver works up his spine, and his stomach twists in a way unrelated to their recent travel.

The ground hums beneath his feet, and Katsuki looks down to see he’s still on solid stone, but he can feel it rushing beneath his soles, angry and unsettling.

It’s like water, and this is the well. Katsuki’s own words gnaw at him, but Izuku and Shouto walk easily in front of them like either they can’t feel it or they’re too used to it to care.

He looks at Eijirou to see if he senses it too, but Eijirou is too busy admiring the scenery. Katsuki can’t blame him for it. Eijirou has never seen a place like this before, glowing with magic and older than time—although he would argue that the mountain is older than the world, but this is… different.

There’s a faint cast of blue like moonlight, even though it’s the middle of the day, and the air is sweet with tea olives and jasmine, and the rolling hills trapping them in are carpeted in a dark green. None of it is anything like the savannah where Katsuki and Izuku grew up.

But then again, he supposes Izuku grew up here.

He looks ahead again, and although the mages are trying their best to look like this is an ordinary maintenance mission. The twitch in Izuku’s fingers gives him away. Shouto’s hands are tucked in his sleeves out of view, but there’s a set to his shoulders Katsuki didn’t notice before.

He reaches for his sword out of habit, but it isn’t there because he wasn’t allowed to bring it. He exhales and balls his hand into a fist, shaking himself off.

This is nothing. The Something of Resonance always makes his bones vibrate with its constant roaring, and this place is connected to it. A torrent of magic leads from here all the way back to the city where the elves can harvest it and turn it into something else without ever needing to cut down a tree or shatter a stone. He knows that. It’s been explained to him. The river has to start somewhere, and this is it.

He soon spots the edge of a lake that looks like it wraps around part of the temple, beneath a bridge, and all the way to the back. Its waters are milky and soft like a pale lavender, glowing like the lights the elves use in favor of candles. There’s so much magic here. No wonder he’s unsettled.

They follow the mages inside, and the rumble against his feet becomes almost unnoticeable. He takes a breath in relief, that based on Eijirou’s smile gets misinterpreted as wonder.

“This way,” Shouto says.

Most of the temple isn’t solid. He could climb over several of the walls and sneak out if he wanted to, and so he’s aware that anyone and anything could come here too. A pair of squirrels scamper past them, and Izuku chuckles quietly in amusement. Katsuki spots a bird nest on top of one of the broken statues.

As they walk through, Katsuki’s boots pass over both marble and soft earth, and he wonders as he notices the extent of the wear, if these are simply old ruins left behind to shelter the Font. Considering he hasn’t seen a priest—if elves even have priests—he can only assume so.

They reach a room at the very back, and this time it’s pointedly fortified. No holes, no gaps in the walls, no cracks. It’s solid stone on all sides, and at the center is a simple fountain with a basin beneath filled with the same waters as the lake.

Shouto stops them at the entrance.

“The Leywatcher said the Font is cracked,” he says. “It will take a moment for us to repair it, but I would prefer if you two didn’t wander off. We’ll give you a tour when we’re finished.”

Katsuki nods and crosses his arms over his chest, and Eijirou offers Shouto a small smile of approval, both of them silently agreeing to sit here and do absolutely nothing since they insisted on coming here with them.

The two of them stay by the door to give the others space to work, but it also makes them a barrier between Izuku and Shouto and whatever could possibly be outside. It’s ridiculous, he knows. Pieces break and fall apart all time, and the rest of this place has been crumbling apart for centuries, and if there was a chance something could explode, Izuku would have told him—not that it would’ve made a difference.

The teleportation, the berries, and the constant roar of magic beneath his feet are making him paranoid, and they’re not going to work any faster if he’s in here scanning for threats.

But still.

He doesn’t let his guard down.

“Eijirou ,” he says in Dragon. “Do you smell anything?”

Eijirou shakes his head before sniffing the air. “A dead mouse, maybe.”

Katsuki nods and relaxes with a roll of his shoulders. He’ll be happy to get back on familiar ground whenever they leave this place to where the very soil doesn’t unnerve him.

And gods, he misses ale.

Shouto speaks to Izuku in Elven, and Katsuki sees his eyes go wide.

“What?” Katsuki demands, and Shouto looks at him and Eijirou with a strain in his cheeks like he’s barely able to keep his face arranged how it’s supposed to look.

“It’s been tampered with.”

His blood runs cold as ice, and his heart hammers in his chest. He looks back out the door, and Eijirou tenses en garde, as ready for a fight as Katsuki is.

He turns back to the mages, and he sees the wild look in Shouto’s eyes, a flicker of the madness rumored to afflict a few of the Todorokis, before he plunges his hands into the basin.

The fountain drains instantly as an ancient source is severed, and Shouto’s body trembles violently like he’s being frozen from the inside out. The color drains from his face, and his eyes glow like the arcane energy he sucked inside himself is ready to burst out from the softest tissue it can find.

Izuku grabs him and screams through his teeth as the magic passes into him, and both of them strain to hold enough power to bring down legions.

Before Katsuki can move, a bright red flash catches the corner of his eye as Eijirou sprints towards them, his feet sliding over the slick marble floors. He wraps his arms around Shouto’s back, and Katsuki watches as both he and Izuku somehow hold down whatever magic Shouto took away. It splits between them, glowing through their skin the same color as the lake outside, and Eijirou’s scales sparkle like fresh droplets of blood splattered across him.

With a loud snap like a bone, the fountain cracks down the middle into two pieces, and the air itself changes.

“I have it,” Shouto shouts, his voice unnaturally raw, and Izuku breaks away first, stumbling back and gasping for air.

But he’s still glowing.

He shouldn’t be glowing.

Katsuki rushes towards him, too confused to curse Izuku for getting involved and putting himself at risk by throwing himself at Shouto without a second thought.

“Izuku,” he shouts, and Izuku spins towards him and grabs his shirt for balance. His eyes blink from a cold silver, back to green, and then to solid black as the magic pulses erratically through him, and Izuku strains, fighting it like it’s another challenge. Another test. “Izuku.”

“I can take it,” he grits.

“Give it to me,” he says, and Izuku’s face twists with a stubborn shake of his head. “That’s an order, Clan Head.”

“Izuku,” Shouto croaks out, and Katsuki’s body tenses as ice fills his veins. It burns and vibrates through every inch of him, and for a moment he can see the entire world at once from the blades of grass bursting through the earth to a dying sparrow’s last breath.

He sees the threads of time and fate, and feels the burn of the stars, and he drowns in salted waters that turn to blood in his mouth.

All of it.

All of the magic in the world screaming through his body at once, and then he sucks in a deep breath that smells and tastes only like Izuku.

Izuku slumps against him, his skin warm again and eyes the familiar shade of emerald Katsuki’s so fond of, and Katsuki’s breaths finally come. The half passes back and forth between them in crests, and slowly but surely he feels it leave him, not completely, but enough to bear.

“Tell me you’re okay,” he manages.

“I’m okay,” Izuku says. “It’s a lot, but I’m okay.”

They both look over to see Eijirou and Shouto crumpled together on the floor with Shouto tucked against his chest and held firmly in place by Eijirou’s arms and legs. Eijirou’s still in his human form, but every inch of him is covered in scales, armor against both steel and magic. He may have taken the most out of all of them, but that’s who Eijirou is. He would die for anyone he deems important enough.

Today that’s Shouto.

“Eijirou, are you good?”

“I’m fine,” he calls back, his voice muffled by Shouto’s robes.

“What the fuck was that,” Katsuki barks, and Shouto wiggles his head free enough to answer him.

“I had to take it,” he says between breaths. “Before they do.”

“Who,” all three of them say.

A horn sounds in the distance, and both Eijirou and Shouto scramble to their feet.

“We can’t fight them here,” Shouto says.

“Why not?” Katsuki says.

“The Font,” Izuku says. “The magic is too unstable. Shouto made it harder to siphon, but the line could still rupture, and if they can somehow tap into it, they’ll kill us all.”

Shouto nods a confirmation, and Katsuki’s wheels start to turn. They’re the experts for magic, but he’s the warrior here, and all enemies bleed.

“Fine,” Katsuki says. “Find us a place without a roof that you don’t mind getting broken.”

“The Moon Garden,” Shouto says. “Go.”

They leave the way they came, but then Shouto turns the corner and breaks out into a sprint. He and Eijirou run after him, but the sound of Izuku’s wheezes is unmistakable.

“Eijirou, grab Izuku,” he shouts.

“Wha–,” Izuku says before he’s snatched up and tossed over his shoulder.

“Sorry, shrub, we gotta go!”

In a blink Shouto is at the end of the hall, and he takes another left with Katsuki, Eijirou, and Izuku barreling after him.

They run out into a large opening which Katsuki assumes is the Moon Garden. It’s overgrown like the exterior of the temple but with white broken stones sticking out of the ground like forgotten statues. Shouto stands like he’s ready for a fight, and that’s all the warning they need.

Eijirou puts Izuku down and raises his claws, his eyes darting around towards the forest on the other side of the garden like he can feel someone’s eyes on them, and puts himself between the three of them and their possible attackers.

Shouto steps to his side, not needing to be shielded, and he extends both hands. Two swords appear, one flaming and molten and the other frozen like a thin shard of ice. Eijirou looks at him, thoroughly impressed, and Katsuki sees Shouto smile back at him with a small flicker of pride.

The first time he saw Shouto’s weapons, he yelped in surprise. Eijirou is taking it a lot better than he did.

That just leaves Katsuki and Izuku.

Katsuki is uselessly unarmed, but he still puts himself in front of Izuku with the temple at their back. Eijirou and Shouto can hold the line, especially if Eijirou changes, and Katsuki can still fight with his fists. He won’t go down easy. He won’t let Izuku either. Izuku is weaker and needs to be protected.

“Katsuki,” Izuku calls out from behind him in a strain, and Katsuki spins around to see a dark swirl of smoke in his hands shift into something solid.

Izuku stumbles forward from the weight of what is now an obsidian greatsword with green Elven script glowing down the blade. Embarrassment sours his face from not being able to hold it up, but Katsuki steps forward in awe. He made this from nothing.

He takes the hilt from him and raises it with both hands, finding it surprisingly light but still weighted as a weapon meant to kill. The script pulses as he moves it in the light, but the magic isn’t cold like what was in the Font.

“Incredible,” he whispers.

Izuku’s eyes grow as big as the world. “You like it?”

“I–.”

A loud screech erupts from every direction as a dozen monstrous creatures tear out from the shadows. Parts of them look like elves from their ears to their pointed features, but they can’t be. Their skin barely hangs onto their bones, and their teeth stick out of their mouths like needles. Unnatural, jagged, leathery wings jut out from their backs, curving their spins in painful twists, and their fingers stick out like talons.

These were elves.

Katsuki doesn’t know anything about dark magic, but he can feel it radiating off of them in sickly waves, and it seems they’ve come to kill them.

“You didn’t see these on your stupid map?”

“They’re not alive,” Shouto says.

Katsuki swallows.

Well.

That’s new.

“Eijirou, we’re gonna need a little boost here,” he says.

Eijirou nods, and Shouto steps out of the way, his eyes darting between him and their enemies. They’ll attack any second now, but Eijirou doesn’t need much time.

The ground rumbles beneath him as his form shifts, and his body expands in both weight and mass. Where a man once was, now stands a dragon covered in blood red scales, speckled with black along with massive black spikes jutting from his shoulders and down his spine.

Shouto barely reaches his thigh, and by the look in his eyes, he notices it.

“He can’t talk, but he’ll have your back,” Katsuki says, more to Shouto than Izuku. Izuku will be his to look out for. “What are they waiting for?”

“I don’t know,” Shouto says before he calls out to the creatures before them in Elven.

“Who is your master,” Izuku translates. One of the creatures screeches and flaps his wings as Shouto calls out again. “Who ordered you here?”

“I think they’re waiting for us to strike first,” Katsuki mutters.

“Why,” Izuku whispers. “It’s an ambush.”

Eijirou makes a noise and swings his head back and forth before he looks up to the sky. Katsuki follows his gaze, and that’s when he sees the rest of them coming towards them like a colony of bats except so much larger.

“Oh gods,” Izuku gasps.

“You move from behind me, I’ll kill you myself.”

If Katsuki expected the pause at the beginning to define the battle, he was wrong. The creatures come at them from all sides in a blur of sickly gray. The smell of fire and rotten blood soaks the ground as Shouto’s swords rip through his attackers and Eijirou bites and tears at his.

He would kill to have his leathers.

Katsuki cleaves his greatsword at one of the creatures that comes at him from the right, and it leaves a trail of dark green smoke in the air. 

He cuts back through the cloud towards another, and the smoke clings to his blade, almost immediately coalescing into something material. Tendrils stretch out from within the pommel and wrap around his hands, snaking up his arms and completely covering his skin.

It doesn’t hurt. Katsuki’s heart pounds with fear, but it doesn’t hurt.

He gives into the strange pull, and more of this magic escapes from his sword until even his throat and chest are guarded. He tests his arms for movement, and even though he can feel the pressure tightening, he isn’t constricted.

Armor, he realizes. Izuku gave him armor.

He can protect them now. He can keep Izuku safe like this, and he can stay alive long enough to get him back to Inko. This is all he needed.

The next creature surges for them, and Katsuki sneers gloriously when its claws scrape uselessly over his arms. He runs it through with ease.

“Back,” Katsuki shouts, now confident that he has what he needs to win.

He hears a screech behind him and turns in time to see Izuku launch a fireball that booms out like a cannon and rips one of the creatures in two, its legs collapsing in one direction and its torso flying off in the other.

“Gods!”

Izuku smiles back, his face covered in sweat with a pile of cutless broken bodies collapsed around him. “Yeah, I’ve got your back.”

He thought he was giving him a battle order. Not hiding him.

Izuku wants to fight with him.

He is fighting with him.

“Look out!”

Katsuki swings his sword wildly with no direction except for Izuku’s line of sight, and he takes a creature’s arm before he swings again in the other direction and slices its head clean off. “Thanks!”

The weight of the word hangs over both of them for just a moment before Eijirou’s roar rattles the ground, and Katsuki turns back to fight—with Izuku holding his own behind him.

His head clears enough to take two down with a single swing.

Eijirou and Shouto fight ahead of them with Shouto staying clear of Eijirou’s tail. Bodies fan out around them, and when he looks at his feet, he can say the same about them. There’s too many, and they seem to swarm in in droves, and Katsuki wonders how long he would have held out if he had been the only fighter here.

And what would have happened if Izuku and Shouto came here alone?

He pushes that question out of his mind before it can slow him down.

“How many more of these bastards are there,” he shouts.

“I don’t know,” Izuku shouts back. “They usually attack in smaller groups. I’ve never seen this many before.”

“You’ve fought these before?”

“All the time,” he says before a flash of heat from one of Izuku’s fireballs hits his back, soaked up by the shadows clinging to his skin.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“Because,” he strains before another blast. “This is part. Of. The job!”

A creature screeches as part of its side is ripped off, but the rest of him somehow hangs on.

“Oops!”

“Gods, Izuku!” Katsuki shouts before he takes off its head to put it out of its misery.

“Can you watch me a second, I need to focus,” he says, and Katsuki nods, stepping back until he can almost smell Izuku behind him.

“How long do you need,” he says as he swings at another creature.

“Drop!”

And Katsuki’s never been good at taking orders, especially from anyone else in battle, but by the gods, he plummets to his hands and knees just as a surge of silver energy shoots up and takes out a dozen of those little freaks in the sky.

They drop out of the air one by one, but he guesses it’s the ground that actually kills them. Either way, he’s impressed.

“Good fucking kill,” he says and pushes himself up to his feet. He braces his sword with the wildest grin on his face, and Izuku beams back at him with a look he never thought he could deserve.

It only lasts a second before Katsuki is snatched away.

An invisible force rips him backwards through the air with both of his feet flying out from beneath him. Izuku jumps after him with shadowy ribbons shooting from his hands, and the coils around Katsuki’s arms reach back to catch them.

He isn’t fast enough to stop it, but whatever steals Katsuki away, takes him with him, and as Katsuki lands on his back, Izuku plummets towards him–.

Right through his sword.

Katsuki screams in horror, but the blade vanishes like smoke as it pierces his back, and Izuku’s unharmed body lands on top of his with a breathless oof. The two of them scramble to their feet, and when he looks around he sees that all of their enemies, the corpses, the temple, Eijirou, and Shouto are gone.

No, they’re the ones who are gone.

He grabs Izuku and jerks him behind him to his back keeping, a fist in Izuku’s robes as his hair tickles the back of his neck. The two of them pace in a cautious circle, and Katsuki’s eyes burn from not blinking.

“You hurt?”

“No,” Izuku says. “Sorry for falling on you.”

“What the fuck was that,” he says, not mentioning how he’s just really fucking happy he didn’t accidentally murder him today.

“It was a rift.”

“Can we fight it?

“It’s not a physical thing,” he says. “It’s umm– it’s like a–.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m not gonna get it, just give me something to work with.”

“It’s like a door from one place to another,” he says. “The magic of the world isn’t in a straight line, it’s mixed together like a spider’s web, but if a spider’s web was a big ball with a thousand little webs inside it, and someone made a hole on one side and pulled out a piece of the middle through it.”

“So someone made a magic door and pulled us through it.”

“Yeah.”

“Got it. Why?”

“I guess to separate us,” he says.

“Shit,” he says. “We’ve gotta get back to Eijirou and Shouto. How far are we?”

“Not far,” Izuku says. “There should be a sorcerer around here, though. If we knock them out, they won’t be able to summon any more rifts.”

“And if we kill them?”

“They won’t wake up to summon any more rifts.”

“Okay, then we’ll do that,” Katsuki says.

“Right,” Izuku says, still secure at Katsuki’s back, whether or not by choice. “We’ll need to break their concentration so they can’t cast anything. I would rather catch them for questioning, but you’re right, I don’t think we can risk it.”

“Works for me,” he mutters. “And that means I have to keep them from breaking yours.”

“Ye–yes.”

Katsuki looks over his shoulder at him. “You good?”

Izuku nods in determination. “I’m fine.”

Fwip.

“Fuck!” Katsuki shouts and ducks as an unseen arrow fires straight for them, but Izuku throws up his arm and the world around them ripples, catching the dart of energy like it’s nothing, just like a massive shield.

Katsuki can’t fight this. The creatures were one thing, but he can’t fight an enemy he can’t see.

Izuku flings a ball of energy into the trees, and someone cries out in pain.

But he can.

And gods, Izuku fights like he’s one of the gods. Nothing about him is Elven. Izuku doesn’t fight with their grace or their elegance, he fights with pure, raw power and rage the same way Katsuki’s people do.

He fights like he knows if he told the earth to swallow his enemies, it would obey him. Fire, wind, light, and shadows slash around him along with an unseen force like he could wield all the fabric of the world like a warhammer.

And those tendrils. They cut through the trees, seeking out his enemies while at the same time cradling Katsuki like a gentle lover, both the executioner and protector.

His eyes glow bright, not with the cold store of magic, but with his green, pulsing the same way the sword’s script does, and when Katsuki squeezes the hilt, he can feel Izuku’s pulse pounding against him.

It thunders through him until he can feel him covering every inch of his skin down to the breath on his lips.

He watched him leave a boy, but Izuku has become a warrior.

And he’s stronger than them all.

Eijirou doesn’t understand this.

He’s fought bandits and wild beasts before, but he never imagined a world where such evil beings could exist, let alone in these numbers.

He bites and claws at them, killing them with surprising ease like their bones are made of glass, but the constant onslaught makes him feel like no matter how many he destroys, they’re still losing.

He can hear Shouto’s heart in his ears pounding wildly, but still strong. He doesn’t have to look for him to know where is, and for that he can focus on protecting them all. He will not let anything bad happen to his friends. Not today, not ever.

He’s never fought with this kind of warrior before, but Shouto holds his own like a dragon, the rage in his heart metallic on Eijirou’s tongue. He already admired him of course, but now…

A creature screeches and dives for him, and he bats it away with one of his paws. The smell of flesh charring behind him tells him that Shouto took down another. A very efficient warrior.

A strange shift in the air from behind catches Eijirou’s attention, and he turns around to see that not only is Katsuki missing from the battle, but Izuku is too. He stomps back towards where they were, sniffing wildly in every direction. The smell of sweat and magic lingers, but there’s no blood, not Katsuki’s at least.

They’ve been take away.

He needs to get Shouto’s attention, but he can’t speak to him in his dragon form in a way he could understand. Instead he does the next best thing.

He plants his feet and roars loudly enough to send a few stray creature parts tumbling away in a gust of wind, and Shouto startles and looks back at him.

Eijirou swings his head towards where Katsuki and Izuku were, and Shouto swears in Elven before he runs towards him. Eijirou lowers himself flat on the ground, and Shouto swings himself up, not afraid to grab onto one of the horns on his back for support.

Eijirou gives him one warning cry to hang on before he takes off with a mighty flap of his wings, knocking back two creatures with his claws.

They fly above the temple, and Shouto swings his weapons at anything that dives after them. Fire and ice lance across his scales as Shouto fights just as vigorously as he did on the ground, his thighs holding him firmly in place on Eijirou’s back. Eijirou worries briefly about his robes, but Shouto seems to handle himself back there just fine.

Eijirou bites one of the creatures in the air and chomps down until he hears the snap of bones in his jaws, and he spits it out, taking out the one flying below it with the impact.

“Good shot,” Shouto shouts. “They can’t be far!”

Eijirou makes a noise of you sure? and Shouto pats his neck.

“Trust me!”

Eijirou makes another noise that he does right before two more creatures attack, falling from the air as ice sticks out of them from every direction.

“Let’s just hope they’re not under the trees,” Shouto shouts over the wind. “If you see magic, follow it! I’ll cut down as many as I can!”

And Shouto does. While Eijirou soars in search of their friends, Shouto’s weapons swing wildly like he’s wielding ten at once. Eijirou has never had someone fight on his back before. He usually drops Katsuki to the ground and then covers the sky for him, but this new way is exciting enough to give him a second wind. His wings beat with a fury as the two of them take the to battle.

A dozen more creatures fall before Shouto taps the side of his neck quickly. “There!”

Eijirou sees a green explosion out of the corner of his eye and dives with Shouto holding on for dear life. 

There they are!

Katsuki swings a really big sword at two trees as they both swing their branches at him and Izuku, their roots moving beneath them like legs. What the?

Meanwhile, Izuku and a hooded figure sling balls of energy back and forth at each other, but the magic explodes against their invisible walls before it hits anyone. What a frustrating way to fight.

“Kill that son of a bitch!” Katsuki shouts below.

“I’m trying!” Izuku shouts back.

Eijirou bellows out a roar as their only warning before he dives for them, plummeting towards the ground like an arrow.

Katsuki grabs Izuku and flings them both out of the way in time for Eijirou to land on top of the enemy with a loud crunch beneath one of his paws. He whips his tail to knock the trees back, but Shouto launches two balls of fire at both of them from his back to take them out.

Shouto hops down and summons his swords before he presses the tip of his ice blade against the mage’s throat.

“Todoroki,” the elf hisses and laughs before coughing up a mouthful of blood, his body still pinned beneath Eijirou’s foot, and Shouto plunges his ice through his neck until it hits the ground.

“Is he dead,” Katsuki asks. 

Shouto nods and takes a step back. “Yes, he’s dead.”

Eijirou steps off of the lifeless body and wipes the blood and guts on his paw onto the grass. Yuck.

“What about the creatures,” Katsuki asks.

“With their leader gone, they’ll retreat. It’s not worth going after us if there’s no one to siphon the Font for them,” Shouto says. He waves his swords away before he turns to Eijirou and pets his face. “Thank you.”

Eijirou rumbles and nudges him with his snout before he catches the unmistakable tang of blood on his shoulder. He nudges him again with a concerned snort.

“It’s just a scratch, I’m fine.”

Eijirou tugs his robes away until he uncovers his skin and the fresh gash he knows will hurt when the adrenaline fades. He licks over it, and Shouto startles, but when the wound closes immediately, his face softens into a smile.

“Ah,” he says. “It feels better now.”

He rumbles, pleased to help, and he nudges his cheek, nibbling softly with his lips before he remembers he’s not supposed to do that. He moves away and lowers his head in shame. Shouto isn’t a dragon. He won’t be happy if he does things like that.

A soft hand pets one of the horns on his head, sending a shiver through his entire body along with a pleasant mrrrrrp he can’t suppress. Shouto chuckles like he likes it. Eijirou nuzzles his leg.

“Are you okay?” Katsuki asks, and they both look to see him watching Izuku, who nods while fanning himself. His cheeks are flushed, and his hair is matted with sweat and soot, but he manages a tired smile anyway.

“I’m fine.”

“You want me to cut you out of those,” he says with a nod to his robes.

Izuku laughs. “No, thank you. It was just a lot of magic.”

“It was,” Shouto says. “Are you stable?”

Izuku nods. “I’m fine. I switched through everything like you showed me so I wouldn’t pull too much from the same place, and Katsuki kept them off of me when I needed to gather my energy.”

Katsuki nods at Shouto, and Eijirou preens at his friend’s valor. They fought well together, but Katsuki always fights well.

“We should get back and warn your parents and the Leywatchers,” Izuku says. “Both for the attack and the broken Font.”

Shouto nods. “They’ll see I damaged it on the map, but you’re right. They’ll need to know why, and it will need to be repaired quickly. I’ll also request to have a few sentinels stationed here to guard the Font in case they come back.”

“Any way to send a message fast here,” Katsuki asks.

“No, we would normally just teleport, but we can’t use the circle without the Font.”

“Shit,” he says, and Eijirou stomps his foot on the ground. “How far back is it?”

“I’m not sure,” Shouto says. “Several hours on horseback, I imagine.”

Eijirou snorts to get their attention and stomps his foot again.

“Can you make it?” He moves his head up and down that he can. “Alright. We’ll fly back then. It’s faster.”

“Oh,” Izuku says, his eyes lighting up despite his exhaustion. “We’re gonna fly?”

Eijirou chirps and moves his head up and down again, and Izuku’s smile widens. It’s so nice to have so many friends to carry with him to the skies. These are good people.

He lowers himself to be helpful, and Shouto climbs up first, swinging himself with surprising ease for someone who’s only done this once before. He settles in behind the first horn on his back and gives Eijirou a gentle pat as if to tell him he’s there.

Next comes Izuku. Katsuki has to give him a boost from the ground while Shouto pulls him up from above. He’s just a little short, and his body is tired from the fight, so Eijirou expects after some practice, he’ll be climbing up on his own in no time.

Katsuki climbs up next and settles in behind Izuku, and Eijirou adjusts to the weight of carrying three people. It won’t be an easy flight, but he could tell by their conversation that getting them all back quickly could be life or death for the elves, and after being treated so kindly by everyone he’s met here, he fully believes that it’s his responsibility to help them. This is what friends do.

“Alright, we’re ready,” Katsuki says.

Eijirou raises his wings to lift them all up, and once they’re in the air, he sees the sky is clear with no more attackers. They really did flee the moment their leader died. That will make the flight away from here easier.

“We won’t fall, right?” Izuku asks nervously.

“Nah, I won’t let ya,” Katsuki says, and there’s a teasing air to it that Eijirou doesn’t miss.

Shouto gives directions back to the city, using his hands more than his voice. He apologizes a few times that he doesn’t know the direct path, having to seek out landmarks to find his way, but Eijirou doesn’t mind. His skin feels nice on his neck, and every touch is kind and gentle. If it takes them all just a little longer to make it back than planned, then so be it.

At some point he feels the weight in the center shift, and he startles.

“Eeeeerr?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got him,” Katsuki says. “Izuku fell asleep.”

“Mrrrrp?”

“I’m fine, I didn’t cast as much as he did,” Shouto says.

“How the fuck did you understand him?”

“I don’t know. The same way you did, I suppose.”

Eijirou rumbles with delight, but quietly so he doesn’t wake Izuku.

After a few hours, the city appears in the distance. His wings and shoulders burn, but he’s determined to get them there without stopping. Shouto sits up to get a better view.

“I’m going to release a cloud of smoke to signal that it’s me when we approach so the sentinels don’t attack us, but don’t worry, if they do, fly like you normally do and I will block them.”

“Mrrrp.”

“That’s a lot to do by yourself,” Izuku mumbles. “Mm, sorry, Your Highness.”

“It’s fine,” he says, and Eijirou feels Izuku shift back in place. “Don’t cast anymore. You’re crapped out.”

“No, I’m not.”

“The signal should be enough,” Shouto says. “They’re already aware one of our guests is a dragon. It would be too much of a coincidence to assume he isn’t the same one.”

Eijirou exhales and doesn’t contribute to the conversation. He wishes people didn’t have to be afraid of him. He just wants to be friends.

They land at the center courtyard, and the peacocks scatter away. Some of the elves watch them curiously the way many people who haven’t met a dragon look at Eijirou, but their gazes are only that. Curiosity. He doesn’t mind that at all, he’s curious about them too.

Katsuki jumps off first, and he turns and puts his arms up. “Jump.”

“Jump?!” Izuku says.

“Just do it, mage,” he says, and Izuku’s legs wobble as he tries to gain his footing on Eijirou’s back. He drops off with a clumsy heave, but Katsuki catches him and holds him a second before he sets him down. “You need help?”

“No, I can get down,” Shouto says. He leans down close to Eijirou’s neck and pets him warmly, sending another shiver down his spine all the way to his tail. “Thank you for bringing us back.”

Eijirou rumbles with pride and lowers himself with his wings spread as flat as he can for Shouto’s dismount. Shouto slides down along his side, and when he hears his feet hit the grass, he moves away so he can turn back to his human form.

The world expands around him as he shrinks back to their size, and if he’s a little taller than usual, maybe no one will notice. He stretches his arms and legs and cracks his neck, rolling his joints as they ache and burn in new and interesting ways. He’ll admit, he could use a nap too, but he doesn’t let it show. They all fought hard today, and he had to get them back here no matter the cost.

“I need to report to my parents immediately,” Shouto says.

“I’ll go with you,” Izuku says.

“I’ll be fine,” he says. “Take them to the healers and get you all checked out while I’m gone.”

“What about you,” Eijirou says, eyeing his shoulder.

Shouto looks at him for a moment, his gaze unreadable. “My siblings will tend to me.”

Eijirou nods. He accepts that.

Shouto disappears into one of the towers, but not before Eijirou sees several elves stop and bow to him like he’s the most important person in the world. Maybe he deserves that.

“Let’s go,” Izuku says. “I’ll show you the way.”

“I’m not hurt,” Katsuki says.

“We took an influx of magic into ourselves before the battle,” Izuku says. “It’s not a bad idea to make sure none of us get sick from it.”

Katsuki nods. Neither he nor Eijirou know anything about magic, and he would not like it if Katsuki exploded.

Eijirou puts his arms around their necks and pulls them both to his sides in a cheerful display of brotherly affection. They did well today.

“You were badass today, little shrub.”

Izuku smiles shyly. “Thank you.”

Eijirou turns to Katsuki. “Where did you get that sword?”

“Izuku, uhh, summoned it back there.”

“Oh, powerful magic! You’re strong!” Eijirou says and pets Izuku’s head. “It’s so big, I wasn’t sure where he’d been hiding it this whole time!”

Izuku winces. “I guess my memory of him was a little off. I thought it was the right size.”

“It is the right size,” Katsuki says. “This is how big my sword should be.”

“No, your sword fits in one hand, I remember.”

“It does not, it takes two hands, just like this one.”

“No, no, I don’t think so,” Eijirou says. “I would remember that. Your sword is much smaller.”

“I’ll knock your tail off, dragon!”

“No!”

Izuku throws his head back and laughs and sways in place a little like his legs haven’t quite gained their strength yet, but Katsuki is there at his side as casually and easily as if he always has been.

It’s interesting.

You know…

They seem like a good match for each other. Izuku fought bravely alongside him, and Katsuki is comfortable with him, more so than Eijirou is used to seeing him with anyone but himself.

They should mate, he thinks. He’s never seen Katsuki so much as look at anyone before, but Eijirou is sure he can convince him to for this one. Izuku would be a perfect mate, and Katsuki would be so happy with him, Eijirou can tell.

He even made him a sword.

The thrill of a victorious battle comes with a crash, and it hangs over Eijirou like a cloud. He isn’t surrounded by his dragons or Katsuki’s warriors, and although a few of the elves thanked him for protecting Shouto, there is no celebration.

Katsuki took Izuku somewhere to rest, and Eijirou told him to stay by his side because if they’re to mate, which Eijirou will insist on, that’s where he needs to be. Shouto is with his family, strategizing and planning their next move, so he isn’t with him either. And this has nothing to do with him, of course, because he’s a stranger to these lands, but his chest aches all the same, if only because he can’t be there with him. He would be very quiet and stay out of the way, but his place isn’t with Shouto.

It feels like it is though.

He misses home where everything makes sense, where the elders gather them around the fire and plan while the whelps listen and learn. He misses the smell of wild roasts and the hide drums in the night. He misses the broods and listening for the hatchings. He misses the proud roar of a dragon declaring their mate, and he misses falling asleep between his moms beneath the moonlight.

He hugs his arms and exhales, fighting back an irrational wave of tears. He knows he’s just tired and a little lonely. It’ll pass.

He came out to the pretty garden hoping to make himself feel better, but his thoughts seem to echo in the quiet.

Today was terrifying. Those people were strange and unnatural. Eijirou couldn’t sense their hearts, but he could feel the death on them like a drowned bull at the top of a stream. They had magic in them, but it was bad magic. Wrong magic. It wasn’t like Shouto’s magic at all.

No, they wanted to steal his. That’s what Shouto and Izuku were saying, and they were going to kill Shouto to take it away. He thinks about Shouto being eaten by those monsters for the magic in his bones, and he bites back the sting of tears.

That won’t happen. He’ll keep him safe. He will protect Shouto just like he pledged to protect Katsuki. He can do that, it’s what dragons are best at.

He takes a deep breath and looks out at the garden to distract himself. It’s dark now, but many of the flowers and mushrooms glow like small colorful candles. He would spend all of his time here if he could with all the nice smells and so many butterflies to eat.

Everything here is so pretty.

“Eijirou?” Eijirou turns and sees Shouto standing on the path, illuminated by a small ball of light in his hand. Even in the dark, he’s prettier than the flowers. “I thought I would find you here.”

“Oh,” he says with a bashful smile. “I like it here, it’s nice. I would sleep here if I was allowed to.”

“You can,” Shouto says. “No one would stop you.”

Eijirou laughs, but Shouto seems serious. “Really?”

He nods in response.

“I think since this is my first time in your country, I should behave myself,” he says.

“You don’t have to,” Shouto says. “You are my guest here. You can do whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think I can,” Eijirou says, and Shouto doesn’t say anything. “Will you sit with me? I’m sure you’re super busy, but–.”

Shouto sits next to him on the bench without hesitation. “My business has been taken care of. I’m yours for the night.”

His scales flutter over his cheeks as he fights back a smile, and he looks away to calm himself. Shouto doesn’t mean it like that. Eijirou knows better, even if it sounded nice.

“Do you find it easier to think here,” Shouto asks, and Eijirou nods. “What were you thinking about?”

“What… were those people,” Eijirou asks. “Where did they come from? Why did they attack us?”

Shouto smoothes down his robes. “It isn’t a pleasant thing to know.”

“I want to understand them,” Eijirou says.

“I don’t know if you ever could,” Shouto says. “Do you know that magic doesn’t come from nothing?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“We must borrow it from other things or from within ourselves, but there are some mages who take too much until they can’t live without it. It destroys their minds and their bodies, and because we live for a very long time, that rot takes hold. It can’t kill us, but it’s like… death replaces the life magic you saw on the map. It’s a very painful existence. It eats them alive, and they must feed it at any cost. What you saw today was–. The elf you and I killed was someone who opposed my family’s rule over the Academy for centuries, and I imagine the monsters we killed were his followers before the rot took them.”

“Oh no,” Eijirou gasps. “And these mages. They wanted to steal one of the rivers?”

“It seems so,” he says. “There were enough of them that I believe they intended to consume it.”

“All of it?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“To reverse the damage that’s been done to them,” he says.

“Would it have worked? Would it have saved any of them?”

Shouto shakes his head that it wouldn’t have. “No.”

“And you knew him,” he says. “And he knew you.”

“Yes, I did,” he says. “He was at a few of the council meetings I’ve been allowed to attend, but I only knew him in passing.”

Eijirou frowns. “Oh.”

“I try not to let myself become paranoid, but I believe his intention was to kill me to send a message to my parents,” he says, and Eijirou’s stomach flips. “It’s not a secret that I’m frequently dispatched to our Fonts, and I believe I was lured out this time. I think he wanted to kill me and then drain the ley line just to prove that he could, that we aren’t stronger than he was.”

“He died quickly,” Eijirou says. “Powerful or not, your sword pierced him like warm fat. He was meat and nothing more. It wasn’t fair combat, and you still won.”

Shouto nods. “It helped to have a dragon hold him in place for me.”

“I would do more than that for you if the chance ever comes again,” he says, earning a glance.

“I’m fortunate that the three of you were there with me. I couldn’t have taken them alone.”

Eijirou takes his hand, and Shouto looks at him with such a weight on his heart that Eijirou can feel it in his own chest. How can one person carry such a burden?

“I would like to call this a glorious battle, but it wasn’t, was it?”

Shouto shakes his head. “No, I don’t think it was.”

“And it’s important for your family to protect the magic,” he says. “So more people don’t turn into those monsters?”

Shouto nods.

Eijirou exhales and looks away, a heavy ache spreading through his chest that makes it hard to breathe. So this is where Shouto belongs. He has a purpose here, and this is his home.

“What’s wrong?”

Eijirou shakes his head. “Nothing.”

Shouto moves closer.

“Are you cold?”

“I can’t get cold,” he says.

“Oh.”

“Am I making you uncomfortable,” Shouto asks.

“No, of course not,” he says, squeezing the hand in his. “That’s impossible.”

“You never know.”

“I do know.”

“Please tell me what's on your mind,” Shouto says. “I wouldn’t be good at guessing, and I would like to know.”

Eijirou squeezes his eyes shut and takes a breath. “I was just thinking about you being here forever, and it makes me sad.”

“I don’t want to be,” he says, and Eijirou looks at him, surprised. “I don’t want to stay here for my entire life. I don’t want to. I want–.”

“What,” Eijirou asks. “What do you want?”

Shouto shakes his head with a pained grimace, and Eijirou knows better than to push someone who doesn’t want to talk about something. He can talk about something else.

“You know, where I’m from, fighting with someone means something,” he says. “You put your life in their hands, and they put their life in yours. You protect each other. You spill blood. Your enemies fall. You become connected for the rest of your lives.”

“Is that how you are with Katsuki?” Shouto asks, and Eijirou nods. “I see.”

“And now you,” he says, and Shouto’s face softens just a little. “I liked fighting with you. It was like experiencing fire and ice as living things. You’re strong and–.”

Beautiful, he doesn’t say.

“Fighting with you was enjoyable for me too,” he says. “And I have never been so high in the air before, and I’m surprised that falling never once crossed my mind.”

“I wouldn’t have let you,” Eijirou says.

“I know,” Shouto says. “And I have never trusted anyone implicitly before.”

“Oh.”

“I mean, I have never trusted someone so much so fast before, if that was hard to understand.”

Eijirou laughs. “I hope you don’t think I’m an idiot.”

“That would be impossible,” he says. “Your battle strategy was something I was comfortable following, and your ability to adapt to our culture is commendable when it must be so different from your own.”

“It’s easy to get along with good people, I think, no matter where they’re from.”

Shouto scowls in frustration. “I’m not good at getting along with people usually.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Sometimes they’re difficult to talk to,” he says. “Or perhaps I’m the one who is difficult to talk to.”

“Not to me,” Eijirou says. “I think you’re wonderful.”

Shouto looks at his hands with a deep breath before managing a smile. “You are kind for saying that.”

“I won’t say I don’t try to be most of the time, but that has nothing to do with why I said that.”

“Then why did you say it?”

“Because Katsuki says I should show my appreciation for people who aren’t used to me with words instead of the dragon way, so for you to know what I think of you, I have to say it.”

“I don’t want you to treat me like a stranger, if that’s alright.”

“Really?” Eijirou says, and Shouto nods.

“You may do what the dragons do with me,” he says. “I’ll learn your ways. I want to.”

Then there is only one thing he can do, something Shouto deserves.

He presses his mouth against his, softly and carefully, never fully letting their lips part before pressing again. He wouldn’t give this kind of kiss to anyone else. He wouldn’t even consider it.

“I have read that a dragon’s kiss of appreciation is brief,” Shouto says against his lips.

“It is,” he mutters. “It’s so fast you would barely feel it.”

Shouto kisses him back in a slow and languid press that seizes the air from his lungs and steals away his thoughts like they were never there. It’s all Eijirou could ever want.

“And what do elves do,” he asks quietly.

“For what?”

“To show appreciation.”

“We bow,” Shouto says.

“Oh.”

Shouto kisses him deeper, pressing his body as close as he can get, and the one hand that isn’t tangled with his moves through the hair across his scalp, pushing out a pleasant trill from his throat.

Eijirou’s mouth parts just enough for his tongue to slip past his teeth, and it feels so good he almost whimpers pathetically. Somehow Shouto steals that away too.

He holds onto him, his hands roaming along his robes as Shouto’s head tilts for him, and the smallest sound escapes from his nose that sets Eijirou’s heart on fire.

He bites at one of Shouto’s lips and tugs it away, earning a look like this elf could eat him alive, and Eijirou wants him to try.

He should take him under the moon as all dragons must do to claim their mates, tonight with Shouto beautifully spread out for him in this garden.

The swell against his pants snaps him out of it.

Eijirou pulls away with a gasp, his body scorching with shame, and Shouto looks at him with wild, questioning eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

‘Nothing,” he says, shaking his head quickly. “It’s nothing.”

“Did I do something wrong?” Shouto asks. “Did I misunderstand?”

“No, no, no,” he says, taking his head in his hands. “It’s not that at all, I swear.”

“Then what is it,” he says, searching his face. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I’m–,” Eijirou starts and pulls away. “You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, and you’re so strong, and I love being near you, and I think I want to be near you all the time, and I want to fight with you, and I want to kiss you until my heart explodes, but I can’t–.”

“Can’t what,” Shouto says. “What is it?”

Eijirou closes his eyes in shame. “If I kiss you like that again, I’m going to want to do a lot more to you that I think you would like, or if you did like it, I would–. Dragons–. We’re–. I know that humans can do whatever they want with each other and not mate, but I can’t. I mean, we– hah, dragons, umm, mate for life. If we were to–. I mean, if I were to–. I would be attached to you for a really long time, and I know others can, but I can’t, and if I kiss you like that again, I might try to mate.”

“I know that,” Shouto says.

Eijirou blinks. “You do?”

“Yes, I am familiar with many dragon customs,” he says. “And Izuku and Katsuki made sure that I was aware of this one in particular.”

Eijirou feels the prickle of scales across his cheeks. “Oh.”

“Unless this would not be agreeable for you,” Shouto says. “Because I understand that mating with someone is an important decision, and if you would prefer to wait for someone else, I will understand.”

“No, it’s not that,” he says. “That’s not what I want at all.”

“I would like to fight with you again,” Shouto says.

“Me too,” he says.

“Eijirou, do you know how long an elven lifespan is?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “I don’t, I’m sorry.”

The look in Shouto’s eyes could move a mountain. “We would be attached to each other for a very long time.”

Eijirou swallows. “Oh.”

“It would not be like mating with a human, but if you don’t want to, I’ll–.”

He stops him with an all consuming kiss that he hopes Shouto knows means that he could never think about anyone else this way. Shouto is perfect, and the problem is that Eijirou wants to mate with him. His body is screaming for it, but he knows that it would be unfair to expect Shouto to follow the same rules that he does. The humans don’t. Why would the elves?

“Don’t think,” Shouto says. “Just kiss me how you want to. Like this.”

Shouto practically crawls into his lap with Eijirou’s hold on him the only thing keeping him from falling to the ground. Heat radiates from his robes, and Eijirou wonders if he could gather them all up and sit him on his thigh without dropping him.

He runs his fingers through Eijirou’s hair, his mouth parted as he’s pulled onto his lap, and he tastes sweeter than any of the pastries here.

“Please,” Eijirou says quietly, but he doesn’t know what he’s asking for, only that he is. That he feels like he has to beg. “Please.”

A noise breaks in one of their throats, and they both pull away just enough to catch their breath. Shouto pants above him, a fist still caught in Eijirou’s hair, and Eijirou’s heart pounds painfully in his chest.

“Elves don’t mate, but we do take a companion,” Shouto says.

“A companion?”

“We can have more than one, but other than that, I suppose it’s the same. We spend centuries with each other.”

“Sharing you would be very hard for me,” Eijirou admits.

“I would never ask you to,” Shouto says. “But I’m telling you this because I don’t want you to find out my parents each have a companion outside of their marriage and become confused. Not everyone chooses to, but it is acceptable here, especially when two elves only come together to–.”

“To… what?”

“Combine their magic,” he says like he’s ashamed.

“Oh,” he says. “Is that what yours did?”

Shouto swallows and nods. “Yes.”

“And that’s why you’re so strong?”

He nods again, and Eijirou thinks he understands. Well, he doesn’t, because he couldn’t mate with someone for anything less than a deep and resounding love for them, but if it was necessary for Shouto’s parents to join together for the sake of this strange and dangerous place they’re protecting, it is nice to know that they are still allowed to love who they want to.

“And these companions… do you fight with them?”

“Sometimes,” Shouto says. “Not all elves fight. Of my parents' children, only Touya and I do. Fuyumi and Natsuo are healers, and they all have companions.”

“Oh.”

“But there is a closeness reserved for companions we don’t share with anyone else, which I suppose would make them like a mate.”

“You’re close to Izuku,” Eijirou says.

“Like how you are with Katsuki, and although I do care for him, it’s important for me to say that Izuku’s heart is taken, and there is no one else on earth who could catch his attention.”

Eijirou frowns. He doesn’t like that at all.

“What is it?”

“He gave his heart to the wrong person,” Eijirou says. “Katsuki is better for him than anyone else could be. He should mate with him instead. He’s strong, and they fight well together, and Izuku gave him a really big sword.”

Shouto’s smile widens beautifully. “Yes, they would be good together, I agree.”

“Will you tell him? He’ll listen to you I think. You’re very smart.”

He takes his face in his hands and nods. “I will mention this the next time I see him.”

“Good,” he says, pleased. “Thank you. And so these companions… do you… already have one?”

“I do not.”

“Oh.”

“It wasn’t something I considered for myself until very recently,” Shouto says. “I’ve turned away more offers than I care to count because I didn’t want them, and I thought that being alone would be better for me, but now I’m…”

“Now you’re…”

Shouto glances at his mouth for a moment before looking back up to him. “Can dragons mate with elves?”

“I think so,” he says. “We’ve never had an elf at the mountain, but I think so.”

“When you mate, do you have rituals or is it something that happens privately?”

“Both,” Eijirou says, and Shouto looks at him like he wants an explanation. “We gather with our loved ones, and we feast, and we play music, and then we trade one of our scales from over our hearts. It’s to say that I will remove a piece of what makes me strong where I’m the most vulnerable because with you I’m protected. It grows back, but our chest scales are also our prettiest, so I think it’s still nice. And then after we…”

Shouto’s eyebrows raise. “You must wait until after?”

Eijirou laughs happily. “No, I think most dragons do that part many times before.”

“I see.”

“But if we were to– it would be permanent,” he says. “The ceremony is for our friends and family to celebrate, but we are mated when our bodies join.”

“Join,” Shouto says, his eyes heavy and gorgeous.

“When one of us is inside the other, and when both are satisfied,” he says.

“And that part is necessary,” he says. “That both are satisfied.”

“Yes, you would not mate with me if I couldn’t make you happy,” he says, more to his mouth than to him. “But I would take making you happy very seriously. I wouldn’t give up.”

“That’s–,” Shouto swallows. “Admirable.”

Eijirou blinks up at him and nods. “So what do you do? Do you have a ceremony?”

Shouto hums in thought. “If an elf chooses to marry a companion, we gather our loved ones the same as you do. There’s a large feast, and there is music too, but for the ceremony, we give our companions a piece of our magic. We fill cups with the water you saw today, and then we add our own life magics to them, and we drink each other that way. You could give someone your magic directly, but it’s considered… improper.”

“It sounds beautiful,” Eijirou says.

“Do you think they could be combined?”

“If that’s not allowed, we could do both, yes?”

“I do not have scales to give you,” Shouto says.

“I don’t have magic.”

Shouto pauses and takes a breath. “Would you take mine?”

Eijirou nods without hesitation.

“Without the cup,” he says. “Would you take mine as it is and mate with me in your way?”

“Yes,” he says. “The way you’re talking makes me think you aren’t supposed to do this.”

“I’m not,” Shouto says. “But let me.”

Eijirou nods that he will.

“Take it, it’s yours.”

Shouto kisses him again, but this time Eijirou feels something throb against his lips almost painfully. There’s a current beneath it, something alive like a pulse, and Eijirou can feel it in his bones. Shouto’s magic courses through him, but unlike the cold assault from the Font, it’s so warm and lovely that it’s intoxicating. He wonders if he can breathe fire now, if that could even be possible.

Eijirou’s head swims like he’s had too much ale, and Shouto pushes more in until his head falls back uselessly.

“Did I give you too much?”

“No,” Eijirou says. “I don’t know, but no.”

Shouto puts his hands loosely around his neck, and Eijirou closes his eyes as all the stars in the sky twinkle in his veins.

This isn’t what magic feels like, this is what Shouto feels like, and Eijirou could float in it forever.

“I’ll give you my scales as soon as I can turn again,” he says. “You can take the ones you want, as many as you want.”

His head starts to clear, and Shouto kisses his cheek before moving to his mouth, and Eijirou kisses him, not as a burst of passion but as a promise that he will both mate with him and become his companion. Shouto will be in his heart, and he will be in his. This will be their way.

“Everything here is so pretty,” he says against his lips. “Shiny. Perfect.”

Shouto makes a small noise, and Eijirou chases it, parting his lips with his tongue just so he can taste him again, and he tastes him until tasting him is no longer enough.

He pulls away and tucks himself into Shouto's neck to steady himself. “Sorry.”

“For what,” he says, running his fingers through his hair in a way that makes it worse.

He bites his throat, and Shouto tilts his head to give him room.

“Sorry,” he pants and bites him again, unable to stop himself.

“Eijirou,” Shouto gasps, and Eijirou moves up to have his lips captured again. “I do not know if this is the best place for this.”

“Oh.”

“Anyone could come out here.”

“That’s true,” Eijirou says, although he hasn’t seen anyone here but Shouto all night.

“Would you be comfortable going somewhere else more private with me,” he asks, and Eijirou nods. Private or not, he’ll go anywhere with him. Whatever he wants.

Shouto climbs off of his lap and extends a hand to help Eijirou up that he doesn’t take away, even as they walk through and away from the garden.

He leads them back through the Academy, past the living quarters where he and Katsuki are staying, through a large crystal arch, and towards a massive cluster of towers that looks too important for him to be allowed at without Katsuki.

But Shouto is with him, and he’s allowed everywhere.

“This way,” Shouto says.

He leads Eijirou to a smooth marble wall with no doors or windows, but he stops like this is where he meant to take him.

“May I have some of your blood?”

“How much do you need,” Eijirou asks.

“Just a drop.”

Eijirou presses the tip of one of his claws into his thumb until a small drop appears. Shouto waves his hand over it, and he watches as it floats, suspended into the air until it reaches the marble, and it spreads across the stone, staining the shape of a door before it’s gone.

“You may enter here as much as you wish,” Shouto says.

“Are you sure that’s okay?”

“Of course,” he says, and the stone ripples as he steps through it.

Eijirou swallows and looks around. There’s no one else here, and he’s seen many strange kinds of magic today. If this is a door, then it must be a door.

He walks through with his breath held in case he crashes into the wall, but he passes through with ease right into the building. He looks up in awe at Shouto’s room and gasps at the size. It’s bigger than Katsuki’s prince’s quarters and the ceiling is high enough for both of Eijirou’s forms to comfortably fit.

It’s a large open room with many couches and cushions draped in decorative silks and pillows with two storeys of balconies holding shelves with books, trinkets, and large sparkling crystals. He even thinks he sees a table with chairs on the second floor with the faint scent of honey tickling his nose.

At the back of the bottom floor on a wide dais is a large bed covered in fluffy blue blankets with pretty blue curtains draped around it.

“Wow,” he gasps. “This is where you live?”

“Indeed.”

“It’s incredible,” he says. “Is the whole tower yours?”

“Yes,” he says. “What you saw outside was my family’s home. My parents, my siblings, and all of their companions live at this part of the Academy. If someone else were to take over, we would vacate the rooms and go somewhere else.”

“So this is a house for you,” he says. 

“Yes,” he says again, and he steps towards him and grabs his shirt. “Did you need a tour now, or could we finish what we started in the garden first?”

Eijirou kisses him without being told twice.

His hands move to his robes to take them off. They’re more complicated than Eijirou ever imagined clothes could be, but he takes extra care not to snag any of their fine threads with his claws. One by one they peel away, and he finally uncovers a piece of Shouto’s skin.

The shirt he’s wearing beneath it all is sleeveless, and Eijirou rubs his hands down his shoulders while being mindful of his bandage. He drags his claw around the skin around it, though, in a silent question.

“It’s fine,” Shouto says.

“You were hurt.”

“And you healed me.”

“I shouldn’t have let them that get close to you, I’m sorry,” Eijirou says.

“It would be very hard for me to kill something from a distance,” Shouto says. “I’m a spellsword.”

“What’s that?” Shouto extends both hands out from his sides, and his two swords appear out of thin air as his answer. “Oh.”

He puts them away just as quickly, and it’s a shame because he kind of wanted to see what the ice sword tasted like and if it’s anything like that strange cold dessert.

“There were too many of them,” Shouto says. “But I will say that I’ve never been as defended as I was today. It was the first time I had the luxury of choosing my targets.”

Eijirou’s smile widens with pride, and Shouto’s mouth curls just enough for Eijirou to know his feelings here are shared. “I want to fight with you again. Even if it’s as practice, I don’t want that to be the only time.”

Shouto kisses him and winds his arms around his neck, and Eijirou grabs and feels his body without all the robes in the way. There’s so much muscle here, he really is strong. “Eijirou.”

“Hm?”

“Did you get taller today?”

“… I dunno.”

“Eijirou.”

“Do I seem taller to you?”

“Yes, you were close to Katsuki’s height before, and now you’re mine.”

“Huh,” he says as he walks him back towards the bed. “That’s strange.”

“He’s going to take that personally,” Shouto says.

“Do you want me to go back,” he says comfortably against his lips with no one craning or stretching.

“No, this is suitable,” he says and kisses him harder, and Eijirou smiles as he’s pushed down to his back. 

Shouto climbs over him and straddles his waist like he did on his back in the sky. He pulls off his shirt and tosses it before folding over him back into a bruising kiss. His bed is as soft as the clouds, second only to his lips, and Eijirou has to fight back his smile so his mouth stays on task.

Shouto’s hands move over both the skin and scales on his chest. It feels so nice to be touched, but it’s even better that it’s him. His hands roam up over his shoulders, his neck, and his jaw, but when he reaches his horns, Eijirou’s eyes flutter shut with a groan as a hot shiver works through his body.

“What?”

“Feels good,” he says, and Shouto curls his fist around one curiously and strokes. “Oh, fuck.”

“I didn’t know dragons were sensitive here,” Shouto says.

“I didn’t either.”

“Is your tail sensitive too?”

Eijirou smiles. “What tail?”

Shouto hums, amused. “You know, you were already handsome to me, but your dragon form was amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it, but I would have known it was you no matter what. You are the same in both forms.”

Eijirou swallows nervously. “I’m much bigger like that.”

The smile on Shouto’s face is fond enough to warm him to the bone. He likes me. “Which way do you prefer?”

“In the mountains it’s easier to live as a dragon, but with humans and, umm, elves now, I think having two legs is better,” he says. “I think I like my dragon form more, but I don’t fit in many places, and it can be lonely when there’s no one to talk to.”

“I would like to learn your language better so you can stay as a dragon as much as you want,” Shouto says. “You should always be comfortable.”

“Dragonspeak is hard for Two Legs,” Eijirou says. “You would get exhausted pretty easily.”

“I could learn,” Shouto says, and Eijirou shakes his head with a smile. “You don’t think I can?”

“Katsuki can speak it perfectly, and I didn’t use it today with him because it would have weakened him,” he says. “And you could understand me without it, couldn’t you?”

Shouto nods. “I don’t know how, but it wasn’t hard.”

Eijirou smiles. “Then we’ll keep doing that instead.”

“Will you speak it in this form then? So I can hear it?”

“Of course.”

“Tell me something,” Shouto says. “Say something to me.”

“Like what?”

“Anything.”

“I will never look at the moon again without wanting you beneath it.”

Shouto’s eyebrows raise. “What does that mean?”

Eijirou smiles and shakes his head no.

“Tell me.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’ll die of embarrassment before we ever get to mate, but it was nice, I promise.”

Shouto looks over him quietly. “Will you teach me those words one day so I’ll know them?”

Eijirou nods that he will. And it might be nice to be able to say such things to Shouto whenever he wants without anyone around them being able to understand it.

Well.

Except for Katsuki. He would know, and he would scream. Maybe Eijirou will still have to be careful.

Shouto looks at him like he’s expecting something, and Eijirou pulls him down to him for a kiss. He’s more beautiful than a waterfall, more wonderful than the first day of spring, and Eijirou will never get enough of him.

Shouto sits up and reaches for a small glass vial on the table filled with a clear liquid that Eijirou didn’t notice before.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a potion,” Shouto says.

Eijirou’s eyebrows raise. “What kind of potion?”

He smiles slightly and brushes Eijirou’s hair out of his face, his fingers just ghosting against one of his horns in a way that couldn’t have been an accident. “This will allow me to take you comfortably if you wish to have sex with me.”

Eijirou’s eyes widen. “You had that ready?”

“Yes,” he says.

“Is it safe?”

“Perfectly,” he says. “Can you wait a few minutes?”

“Of course, whatever you want. What are we waiting for?”

“The potion to take effect,” Shouto says. “Is it alright that I prepared this?”

“Yes, I’d much rather not hurt you.”

“I meant without discussing this with you first,” he says. “I have never wanted to have sex with a person before, but I thought since I had these feelings towards you, that it would be foolish not to expect myself to act on them, and if I wasn’t prepared, and we couldn’t, I would regret it.”

“For what it’s worth, nothing would stop me with you,” he says. “Even without your potion, we would find a way.”

Shouto smiles at him, and Eijirou runs his hands up his chest. Yes, he would have found a solution.

“This is mating for you, yes? Like we discussed?” Shouto asks, and Eijirou nods that it is. “An exclusive rite for you and one other dragon to join your bodies forever.”

Eijirou nods again, and Shouto pulls out the cork and tosses it away. He puts the top of the vial between his teeth and tilts his head back to expose his throat. Eijirou watches as it bobs with every swallow until the bottle is empty. Shouto licks the excess from his lips, and the vial bounces away to somewhere else when Eijirou pushes himself up to him.

He kisses him, grateful and needy, and Shouto hums against his mouth.

“And if I want it to be me?”

“I want it to be you more than anything,” Eijirou says. “I want to mate with you. I want to be yours.”

Shouto pushes himself up to pull off the rest of his clothes, and Eijirou follows suit and takes off his trousers. Shouto looks at him and blinks like he’s stunned.

“What?”

“There’s two.”

“Oh,” Eijirou says with a laugh. “I guess that’s just a dragon thing, huh.”

He looks again with a twitch in his cheek. “I see.”

“Is that okay?”

“Is what okay?”

“That I have two.”

“Yes, I think it’s interesting,” he says with another look, and Eijirou angles himself so he can see them better. Shouto moves towards him and takes one in each hand before giving a simultaneous stroke, and Eijirou exhales through pursed lips. Oh, he likes that. “Very interesting, indeed.”

He pushes Eijirou back and climbs back on top of him before pressing down on both cocks with his own wedged between them while Eijirou pulls him into a kiss. He rocks against him in small, expert thrusts, but instead of finding it arousing, Eijirou’s stomach sinks. Shouto moves so easily, but if he can’t please his mate, he’ll have no reason to stay.

“What’s wrong?”

“What if I’m not good at this?”

“Then that means there will be room for improvement,” Shouto says. “And so we would have to practice.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah.”

“Are you nervous?”

“A little,” Eijirou admits.

“I’m not.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t know why,” Shouto says. “I probably should be, but I’m not.”

“Could it be that potion?”

“I wasn’t nervous before I took it.”

“Oh.”

Shouto kisses him again. “I’ve wanted you since the first moment I saw you. Waiting has been difficult.”

“I’m sorry you waited,” Eijirou says. “You don’t have to do that with me, you know. I would have said yes.”

“I went so many years without a flicker of interest for anyone, but a few seconds with you had my veins on fire. I should be ashamed of myself for my behavior this week, but I can’t bring myself to be. Is there something wrong with me?”

“I don’t think so,” Eijirou says. “I wanted you too, but I’m not supposed to act on my impulses away from dragons. It could upset people, and I didn’t want to chase you away.”

“I told you to always do the dragon way with me,” he says. “I will learn. If you’re suppressing yourself for me, you won’t ever be happy, and I don’t want that. Mates are equals, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Then I won’t see you make yourself second to me.”

Eijirou takes his face in his hands, overwhelmed with affection, but Shouto suddenly gasps and tenses on his lap. “What’s wrong?!”

“I think it’s ready,” he says. “The potion. It’s– something’s happening to me.”

“What’s it like? Does it hurt? Are you sick?”

“No, no, it’s not bad, it’s– strange.”

“Strange?”

“Describing it would be very embarrassing for me, I think, but it doesn’t hurt.”

“You’re okay, though, yeah?”

Shouto nods quickly and swallows. “I’m fine. I just–.”

“What?”

He rolls his hips over him, and Eijirou feels something warm and slick slide over his cocks. “Let me take you. I don’t think I can wait.”

Eijirou reaches between them and grabs the smaller of the two to hold it up for him, and Shouto lowers himself so easily that his body is like butter. A sigh of relief escapes Shouto’s lips as he sinks down, and Eijirou’s mouth falls open in awe at both the sight and the feel of him.

For something he has been told his whole life is a sacred and binding thing, it happened in the blink of an eye. Shouto takes a moment to adjust himself, but every movement is an earth shattering squeeze.

“How does it feel, kitty?”

“Good,” Shouto nods. “Warm.”

“Warm,” Eijirou echoes as he rubs his hand along his stomach, brushing him with his claws but careful not to scratch. He moves them over his chest up to his nipple, and Shouto clenches at the touch. “Sorry.”

“Do it again,” he says.

Eijirou’s eyebrows raise in surprise, but he does what he’s told. He takes the little bud between his fingers and gives it a little squeeze like a berry he doesn’t want to pop. When he tugs at the other between two claws, Shouto moans.

He rolls his hips over his cock, and Eijirou’s breaths grow heavier while he teases his chest. Shouto works his bottom lip between his teeth with a pleasant furrow to his brow, and Eijirou can’t help himself. He moves one hand away to Shouto’s cock and works him with his fist.

He wants to nuzzle the red and white patch above it, but that may be too much dragon behavior for their first time together, even if Shouto said it was okay.

“Do you want me to finish before you start?”

“I don’t think I care what happens to me,” he says, and Shouto’s hips stop before he brushes both hands away.

He moves towards him as far as his body can bend while still keeping him inside him. “I’m not interested in taking sex from you, just like how I would not want you to take sex from me.”

“Then how should we do this?”

Shouto looks over him for a moment before finally answering. “Like we fight.”

Eijirou pushes himself up to his lips, and he thinks about them in the air again, Shouto’s thighs holding onto him while commanding the skies without fear or waiting for permission. That’s how it should be with them. Both of them.

“Is your potion working,” Eijirou asks. “Can you take me if I fuck you?”

“Yes, do it.”

He grabs him and flips him onto his back. Shouto yelps in surprise, but Eijirou catches the sound with his lips as he thrusts himself inside him in a single easy stroke. He’s still not sure how to move his hips yet, but with Shouto’s thighs as an anchor, he soon finds a rhythm that has him gasping beneath him in bliss.

His claws press into the softest skin he’s ever touched, and Shouto’s back arches over the sea of blue. Every jerk of his hips pushes out a different sound, but when he shifts in just the right way, Shouto’s eyes fly open with a bright glow of magic.

“There?”

“There,” he gasps.

He thrusts in him again, and Shouto arches back like he can’t take it, but Eijirou’s grip on his thighs doesn’t let him get away.

He does it again and again until the tight grip around his cock becomes too much to bear, and he folds himself over to get his mouth on him. He fucks him into the bed in heavy slaps, and Shouto’s nails dig into his back.

More. He doesn’t say it, but Eijirou can smell his need soaking the air. Shouto wants more, and Eijirou won’t stop until one of them is unconscious.

It’s just like fighting with him. Feeling his pulse in his own chest, knowing his every move without having to look, having his back guarded without question. This is what the elders meant when they said he would know his mate the moment he saw them, why he loved his friends on the mountain but never wanted them like this. Shouto is everything he’s ever dreamed of.

Shouto rolls them both over so he can ride him, his hands gripping his shoulders as he chases his pleasure while pretty elven words slur from his lips. They’re unfamiliar to Eijirou, but they won’t always be. One day he’ll have him teach them to him too.

Sweat coats them both as the rhythm takes them. He doesn’t know how Shouto’s body can take this much, but what he does know is that his own is about to give. Pressure surges through him, and he clenches his teeth until he tastes blood, but can’t hold it back much longer. Then again, Shouto wouldn’t want him to try.

A deep bellow rips from his lungs as a wave of scorching ecstasy surges through him. His vision blurs into nothing as Shouto milks him for every drop, his claws scrambling over the sheets for something to hold onto. He’s never known any feeling as powerful as this, and it all belongs to his mate.

He mated with him.

He belongs to him now.

Shouto pulls off and drops down onto the bed next to him to catch his breath, but Eijirou knows he didn’t finish.

“Why are you stopping?”

“Because you–,” he starts, and Eijirou bites back a tired smile, making him pause. “What?”

“Did you know that dragons have two, and one can work just fine without the other?”

Shouto’s eyes widen. “Oh right.”

“Do you want more?”

He nods eagerly. “Yes, take me with it.”

Eijirou pulls him into his arms for another kiss, taking a brief second to gather his bearings so he can give him what he needs. “How long does your potion last?”

“I don’t know,” he says.

“Then you’ll have to tell me when to stop because I won’t before then.”

Shouto nods and melts into his hold. “I’ll try to remember to, but I can’t promise I will.”

Eijirou laughs and turns him back over onto the bed before he kisses him down his body, all of his earlier nerves gone. They will not leave this room until Shouto is satisfied, and now that he knows what it means to be with him, he’ll never want to stop.

Katsuki and Izuku sit together in his study after the rest of the Academy has called it a night.

A small mage light floats next to them, shining a faint lavender glow over their shared plate of cheese, fruit, and olives. It’s a simple meal, but it’s enough for them, especially when they’re both this exhausted.

Izuku should be in bed, but he insisted he doesn’t need to be yet—that he slept enough, he added shyly, even though Katsuki didn’t agree. But he’s fine to keep an eye on him like this. He doesn’t know anything about magic or mages, but he’s smart enough to figure out that Izuku fought like an entire army by himself today. He should be resting.

Stubborn.

Izuku brings a goblet of elven wine to his lips, drinking in its almost nectar-like sweetness without the grimace Katsuki always has to choke down. It’s nothing like the nutty ale they have at home. Katsuki can only have so much before it makes his head light, and yet Izuku is completely used to it.

It’s just another thing for Izuku to yearn for when Katsuki takes him away from here, another tether to the place that willingly and easily became his home. Another piece of his heart that will always be here, along with this library and Shouto.

What would Katsuki’s gods do to him if he left without him? Would they forgive him? Would they sink his ship for his defiance? Or would they know he did it for him, that he would give up his own place with his ancestors if it meant that Izuku could be happy.

Why does it hurt so much to think of leaving him here?

“What is it, Your Highness?”

“I told you not to call me that,” Katsuki says.

“It’s your title,” Izuku says, and Katsuki gives him a bemused look. “You should get used to it. When we go back, that’s what I’ll have to call you.”

“Eijirou doesn’t even call me that. Why do you think I would make my–.”

He stops himself before he can say the word, but Izuku doesn’t flinch. He’s used to that.

“Don’t you think it’ll be considered a sign of disrespect if I don’t?”

“The only sign of disrespect I can think of would be someone not using yours.”

Izuku looks down with a scowl. “I won’t be a clan head. You know that. You’ll take clan Midoriya into yours when we’re married. I’m the last one, and by our kingdom’s laws, you outrank me, Your Highness.”

“Yes, you’ll no longer be a clan head because you’ll be a king,” he says, and Izuku looks at him with an unmistakable flash of confusion over his eyes. Katsuki isn’t sure if he forgot or if it never occurred to him what would actually happen when they get married. Or he just never imagined Katsuki would be the person to point it out. “Do you think my mother is the queen and my father is the husband? No, he’s King Masaru, and I will be King Katsuki, and you will be King Izuku. Within the year, I should add, since you seem to have forgotten how this works.”

“I–,” Izuku starts before snapping his mouth shut, his eyes wide and unblinking.

“So no, I won’t tolerate anyone forgetting your title, but you will not use mine with me,” he says. “Is that understood?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Katsuki’s nostrils flare, and Izuku laughs, delighted. “You little bastard.”

Izuku laughs even harder.

He grabs a piece of cheese and throws it at him, but it stops right in front of his face, and Izuku opens his mouth to let it fall on his tongue.

“What the fuck.”

He grins at him like he’ll always have the upper hand now, and Katsuki doesn’t hate it. “Neat trick, right?”

“Fuyumi said to not let you cast anymore tonight,” he says.

“I’m fine, Katsuki,” he says. “And that didn’t take more energy than you throwing it at me did. You don’t need to worry about me.”

Katsuki could argue, but he doesn’t feel like it for once.

“Tell me about that sword,” he says instead.

Izuku turns his head with a shy glance his way. “What about it?”

“I want you to tell me what it is.”

“It’s like one of Shouto’s swords,” he says.

“No, it isn’t,” Katsuki says. “Shouto’s swords are his magic. They come out of him, and they disappear as soon as he lets them go. This one’s still on the fucking table.”

He taps on the hilt for emphasis.

“And even if it wasn’t still here, I felt it. It felt like–.”

“Like… what?”

“You.”

Izuku looks away from him with a tight press of his lips, and the script along the blade pulses with that familiar green.

“Izuku,” he says. “Tell me.”

“It’s not like Shouto’s,” he admits. “Shouto’s swords are summoned from the elements inside him. That’s why one is made of fire and one is made of ice. He could bathe in fire without burning, and he doesn’t get cold. He just chooses the shape of swords because he likes fighting that way, but you’re just seeing fire and ice. There’s nothing else there.”

“But this is a sword,” Katsuki says. “Like a blacksmith could make.”

“Yes.”

“But it’s made of your magic.”

“Which is what makes it a little more complicated,” Izuku says. “It took a lot of time and practice. Conjuration is tricky because you have to understand exactly what it is that you’re creating, and it requires a bunch of reagents and years of studying. I practiced on daggers and letter openers until I could make something that wasn’t brittle, and I still needed it to be more than a sword. I needed it to be different from any other weapon you could have, so I had to work with a few different schools of magic like shadow and life magic, which were already difficult to learn, and then alchemy, which, hah, that was a lot. A lot, a lot, but I thought maybe if it could be useful for you, you would–.”

He stops talking, and Katsuki doesn’t torture him by making him finish.

Shadows. Reagents.

“Hitoshi helped you do it,” he says, and Izuku nods. “Is that why he was provoking me?”

“Probably,” he says. “I’m sorry, he’s mischievous, but he’s a good person, I swear. And he’s a good teacher too, but he probably wanted to tease me by poking at you.”

“So you haven’t indulged yourself here.”

“No!” Izuku says, horrified. “I asked him to keep it a secret, and I don’t go around talking about our prophecy here because it’s not like anyone would understand it, and forgive me, but it’s a whole lot easier to study if no one is constantly asking me about my dragon riding prince fiancé across the sea, so I told him you were just a friend, but he’s not stupid. Why would I make a sword bound to my soul for anyone less than the person I’m going to– well.”

“Your soul?!” Katsuki shouts, and Izuku’s mouth snaps shut. “Izuku, what the fuck did you do?!”

“It’s not dark magic, I swear!”

“It sounds like it!”

“It’s not. Shouto would have killed me,” he says. “You saw what we fought today, he would never allow that.”

“You train with Touya.”

“To learn,” Izuku says.

“Why would you need to.”

“My betrothed! My prince! My future king! My friend is a warrior who happens to be made out of flesh and bone,” Izuku shouts. “If someone puts a sword through your heart, I should know how to put it back together! Do you think healing magic is just ginger tea and cool salves?!”

Katsuki can’t bring himself to speak.

“You can’t blame me for wanting to learn,” he says. “I hope I never have to cast those spells, but if I have to, I will, and if you think it’s dark magic then you can have me executed when you wake up, but there’s no point of me coming here at all if I can’t keep you alive with what I’ve learned. Didn’t I make that clear today? I didn’t spend all this time learning how to change the colors of my fucking clothes.”

There’s real fear in his eyes. This is something he’s thought about, something he believes can happen, and he’s found a way to prevent it. Even if the obvious solution here would be for Katsuki to not let himself get stabbed, Izuku is prepared to bring him back.

Would it be evil?

Wouldn’t Katsuki do the same for him?

He would bargain with the gods to bring Izuku back. Isn’t it the same?

“This magic,” he says and taps his sword. “Does it hurt you?”

“No.”

“Does it drain you?”

“No.”

“Did you sacrifice a piece of yourself for it?”

“No,” Izuku says so emphatically that it has to be true. “It’s a difficult spell and an expensive one. Gods, I have written thousands of pages of notes in exchange for supplies and materials—which, by the way, means that I haven’t used anything I’m not supposed to to make it. Ask Shouto. Ask Enji. But did it feel evil? Did it feel wrong? Dark magic is sickening. It eats away at whatever it touches because it needs more than what it’s been given. It’s hungry. You would hate it. It would’ve disgusted you, but did that happen? When you used it, were you unhappy?”

Katsuki shakes his head. “No. It wasn’t like that.”

Izuku relaxes and nods, but he looks sick.

Katsuki has accused him of something unforgivable in the confusion of his own magical ignorance, and Izuku doesn’t deserve that, not when he didn’t do anything wrong.

He’s right. Shouto would’ve killed him. If Izuku had pulled an evil sword out of the air today, the elves would’ve executed him before Katsuki could’ve had the idea to smuggle him back. Maybe Eijirou would have out of his loyalty to Katsuki, but Eijirou doesn’t even know about them because Katsuki still hasn’t told him yet.

“Katsuki–.”

“It felt like you,” he says. “It clung onto me, the sword’s magic. I felt like your hands were on my entire body. There was nothing sickening about it.”

“Are you calling me clingy?”

“No, but your magic protected me,” he says. “Those creatures’ claws would have cut me to pieces, but they couldn’t penetrate it. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“So… was it useful to you?” Izuku asks with a hopeful look in his eye.

He’s still that boy, the one who wanted to make Katsuki happy no matter what. The one who adored him unconditionally, and eagerly waited for any of that affection to be returned to him like he knew it eventually would be.

“We lived, didn’t we?”

Izuku nods.

“It’s a good sword,” Katsuki adds, this time earning a smile. “It was like wearing armor, but I could move like I wasn’t wearing anything at all. It would be like that, wouldn’t it? My enemies would never know until I unsheathed it.”

“Yes,” Izuku says, and it catches in his throat.

“I didn’t feel wrong,” he says. “It was strange, but it didn’t feel wrong.”

“Do you hate it?” Izuku asks, and Katsuki shakes his head.

“No,” he says. “This is my sword now. I’ll have to practice with it because it’s a different style of combat, but this is the one I’ll fight with from now on.”

How the little asshole figured out how to make his eyes sparkle like starlight, Katsuki will never know, but as long as he keeps doing it, he’ll never be able to look at him. Heat rises up his neck, all the way to his ears, and Izuku breaks the silence with a nervous laugh.

He wills himself to pull himself together.

“Umm,” Izuku says. “Do you have a minute?”

“I have all night.”

Izuku flushes and looks down, biting back a smile. “So, umm, your favorite color when we were young was orange, right? And you, umm, you wear black armor, yes? Or you used to for ceremonies.”

“Yes,” he says, amused but choosing not to tease him for now.

“Okay, so, umm, I don’t usually do this while someone’s watching,” he says, and Katsuki raises an eyebrow. “This isn’t the same magic. It’s a lot simpler. It’s not like conjuring a magical sword or anything, this is just a regular item, so I’ll probably have to do it again at some point, but, umm, okay. Here goes!”

Izuku pulls out a pouch from his pocket, and he pours out a trail of shimmering powder over the table. Katsuki sits up and watches as his hands hover over it, his eyes squeezed tight in concentration as it swirls from sand to smoke and then forms into something solid. It takes a moment to recognize the shape, but when the rest of the smoke fades, it’s unmistakable. 

A sheath.

It’s not like the kind he would wear on his belt, but the kind meant to secure a sword to his back, because Izuku gave him a monster of a weapon that’ll need it.

“It’s done.”

Katsuki picks up the leather and feels it with his hands. It’s solid black except for the fine orange suns embroidered along the band. It’s well made and sturdy, and he has no doubt that it will look impeccable with his armor, armor he’ll wear with Izuku’s magic coursing beneath it.

The Sun King, he thinks idly, and wills it away. He won’t get swept up in such interpretations.

“I’m sorry it won’t, umm, match the sword’s magic,” he says. “That’s going to be green.”

“Like you.”

“Yes,” he says.

Katsuki nods and sets the sheath down next to his sword. “And the elves won’t mind if I walk around with this strapped to my back?”

“They can sense my magic,” he says. “It shouldn’t be a problem unless you intend to use it.”

Katsuki’s mouth quirks at that.

“So yeah,” Izuku says with a breath. “That’s the sword I learned to make for you. It’s not dark magic, it’s me magic, and I’m not evil, I promise.”

“You don’t have an evil bone in your body.”

“I really don’t,” he says, relieved, like he needed Katsuki to say it.

Katsuki shakes his head dismissively. “And what will I tell the blacksmith when I have to have it sharpened? ‘Don’t worry, it’s supposed to glow like that’?”

Izuku bites back a smile. “That won’t be a problem.”

“Oh?” Katsuki raises an eyebrow, and Izuku’s smile widens with the unmistakable pride of his own craftsmanship. “A blade that can never dull or cut anyone I don’t want it to.”

“That’s the idea,” he says bashfully. The image of him falling on his sword is still too fresh on his mind, but Katsuki swallows it away. Izuku made it to where that can never happen. He can never hurt him, even by accident.

“Have you become this powerful already?”

“I promised I would,” he says. “Our clan is made of the best warriors who ever lived, and I’m going to be one of them.”

“Our clan,” Katsuki says. So he still thinks of himself as one of their people. “We fought together today.”

“For the first time ever,” Izuku says with a smile. “I don’t know how it was for you, but for me it was pretty great.”

Katsuki only nods.

“And, we did amazing, I think,” he says. “I was worried when we were separated from the others, but the way you handled those treants was incredible, and it was so much fun having a warrior at my back for once. I mean, mages are great and all, but you were so solid and strong. That’s what it’s like, right? For our clan? That’s why we’re all warriors. We were born to fight like that. I wanna go on a raid now like your mom used to when we were little. I wanna go with you.”

He catches himself with that admission and sits back like he expects Katsuki to tell him no. To call him weak again.

But that will never happen again.

“You know, for dragons, fighting with someone is everything to them,” he says. “It’s not like how it is for our clan. You and that person become tied to each other for life.”

“Is that why you and Eijirou are so close?” Izuku asks, and Katsuki nods. “I would like for that to be us one day. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not jealous. I’m hopeful. If it’s something you would be okay with, that is.”

Katsuki nods and picks up his cup, downing the rest of his wine in a series of sharp gulps before he can have the misfortune of tasting it. He sets it back down with a breath.

“Do you want to come home?”

Izuku looks at him quietly.

“Be honest with me. I wanna hear you say it.”

His eyes water as he nods. “I do.”

“You miss your mom that much?”

Izuku’s face breaks into a smile.

“Yeah, I do,” he laughs, wiping away a tear. “I miss her a lot.”

“Will you be alright to leave this place?” Katsuki asks. “You seem happy here.”

“I’ll miss it, but it was never meant to be forever.”

We were, neither of them say.

Katsuki takes a breath and pushes his cup away, having no need for the shitty elven wine anymore or ever again.

“I think it’s time that we talk about going back,” Katsuki says.

“I do too.”

“Tomorrow.”

Izuku’s eyes widen for a moment before he nods in agreement.

The desire to kiss him, to go over to him and tilt his head back to taste the magic for himself, is so overwhelming that it takes his breath away, but he doesn’t move a muscle.

For the first time in his life, Katsuki sits back a coward.

He’ll have to earn that.

Chapter Text

Shouto wakes an hour before sunrise as he does every morning for his early duties, but for the first time, he doesn’t want to.

His body is sore, and he’s still exhausted from the day and night before, but that has nothing to do with it.

Eijirou sleeps with a smile on his face like he doesn’t know how to go a moment without it, and he hugs one of his pillows so tightly that his bicep bulges. Dark scales cover his shoulders like freckles, and he’s just so… gentle. It’s not fair that Shouto can’t spend the morning next to him, or even just another hour.

Shouto brushes a strand of hair from his face and wonders how much trouble he would be in if he simply forgot and slept in, if he let his duties fall to one of the other mages, who are perfectly capable of doing it themselves.

What if he allowed himself to be selfish just this once…

No, he was selfish enough bringing him here in the first place and taking the one thing he’s ever wanted enough to make himself–.

He gave him his magic.

If his parents ever find out, they’ll never forgive him, but they won’t find out because Eijirou will never tell anyone and he will never use it. If anything, it’s safer with him. It’s all any suitor ever wanted from Shouto, including the mage he killed yesterday, and so he gets to wake up with a smile on his face because he got to make the choice on his own.

And it was given to someone who wants him, not what he could give them. Who else would be deserving? Isn’t it better that it’s Eijirou?

He wasn’t the only one who did something binding though. He may need to do some research into dragon mates when he has a free moment today, or he may have to find Katsuki and ask him so that Shouto will know exactly what he did last night.

No matter the answer, he won’t regret it. It was the right decision, and he’s never felt so sure about anything in his life. Shouto belongs to Eijirou now, and Eijirou belongs to him. This is the wah of both elves and dragons. In a single kiss, Shouto made sure of it.

They haven’t even known each other for a week. He must be out of his mind.

But this isn’t the worst way he could show it.

Shouto wipes the sleep from his eyes and resigns himself to doing the responsibilities he agreed to, maybe as a payment back to his family for this small piece of them he gave away without permission. The exchange isn’t balanced, but it’s hard to care when he finally feels happy.

That’s what this feeling is, isn’t it? This lightness in his chest? The flutter in his stomach? The careful warmth wrapped around his shoulders where Eijirou’s arms were?

Stars, he wants to lie back down.

Five more minutes.

Just five more minutes won’t make him late.

No, he needs to go.

He takes a breath and pushes himself up out of their tangle of blankets.

“Where you going, kitty?”

Shouto closes his eyes. There goes his resolve.

He turns to see Eijirou smiling up at him, so sleepy he can barely keep his eyes open. How does he stay so cheerful all the time?

“I have some things I need to take care of,” Shouto says and strokes the side of his head. “Stay here as long as you need to.”

Eijirou reaches for him and pulls him to his mouth into a warm, closed-lipped kiss, and Shouto has to brace himself to keep from falling back into bed with him. Would it be so bad if he did?

“Are you trying to keep me here with you?”

“Is it working?”

Shouto hums. Telling him that it isn’t would be cruel, so he decides not to answer, instead giving him another kiss because they seem to energize him. It must be the same way Eijirou was able to stop his wound from bleeding. “I’ll see you soon, I promise. Go back to sleep.”

“I’ll miss you,” he says, and Shouto kisses him again, unable to stop himself. The stars must have sent Eijirou to him. That’s the only explanation for this.

“I will miss you as well.”

Shouto climbs off of the bed before he can crawl back into it, and the air around him is suddenly so much colder. He’ll return soon. Once he receives the report from last night’s star reading, he can join the three of them for breakfast, and he’ll see him again. This longing won’t last.

He washes himself up from their night together and pulls on a set of clean robes, making sure to hide any possible marks or scratches that may have been left behind. Eijirou is passionate.

He smiles at the thought.

He quietly leaves his room with Eijirou still in bed, and he walks across the Academy towards the Observatory.

The attending scribe hands him a scroll with a list of all the locations of each star recording with a new birth underlined halfway down the row. Shouto starts with that one, since it’s the most important.

This isn’t the most exciting task, but the repetition is the most his brain can handle in the early hours. There are mages here who are much more experienced with reading the stars, but every bit of research at the Academy must be overseen by a Todoroki. This used to be one of Fuyumi’s tasks, but he doesn’t mind it.

He reaches the end of the list when light floods into the tower, and he looks up to see Izuku coming through the door. Well, this is certainly a surprise.

“You’re up early,” Shouto says.

Izuku folds his hands together in front of himself and rocks onto the balls of his feet. “Yeah, ummm, I need to talk to you about something.”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, no, umm–,” he starts and takes a breath, but in barely a moment, he’s crying.

No, not crying, sobbing.

Shouto stands up and darts towards him because he doesn’t know what else to do, and Izuku grabs his arms like his legs might buckle out from beneath him. Something horrible must have happened. There’s no other explanation.

“Izuku, what’s wrong?”

“You’re my best friend, you know that right?” Izuku asks in a sob. “I love you so much.”

Oh.

That’s what it is.

Of course.

Shouto’s heart shatters.

“You’re leaving.”

Eijirou wakes up in the softest, warmest, most wonderful bed in the entire world, and he stretches out with a pleased smile across his lips. He feels good. Better than he’s ever felt, actually. He wishes Shouto was here, but he understands why he can’t be. Somehow Eijirou has surrounded himself with so many important people, and he loves them all, even if he has to miss them sometimes.

He could lie in bed all morning, but then he would waste so many precious minutes with them, and this will still be here when the night comes again.

Eijirou sits up and takes a look around the room. It’s so much bigger than he remembered last night, and now that he’s paying attention, he sees the floating orbs of light working lazily around the other floors like tiny butterflies.

It’s so beautiful here. Shouto lives like a prince, and this is his castle. Eijirou would love to explore and see all the shiny things on the shelves, but he might break something important. Oh no, that wouldn’t be good at all. Shouto would be so upset with him.

No, he has to be on his best behavior. He’s mated now, he has to be serious.

He’s mated.

He’s going to have to tell his moms.

He puts his hands over his mouth and bites back the happiest smile, even if there’s no one around to see it. His moms will see he mated with the prettiest elf in the whole world, and then when Shouto shows them his swords, they’ll see how powerful he is too. Oh, they’re going to be so happy. All the dragons will be.

With this new surge of excitement, Eijirou summons the motivation to get out of bed and track down the others for their next big day. Will they tour another tower? Will they fight more dead people? Who knows? Not him for sure.

He puts the sheets back as best as he can because he’s sure that’s what Shouto would want since he’s so tidy, and he dresses in his discarded clothing, which takes a considerable amount of searching around to find after last night’s–.

If he thinks about it again, he’ll never leave this room. No, no time for that. He can wait. No problem at all.

It takes him a moment to find the door—which isn’t a door at all, but a piece of uncovered wall—and he steps through back into the outside world. There’s a sudden jolt in his chest that takes him by surprise, and he rubs his hand over it. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s kind of warm. Huh.

Indigestion, maybe.

He sets out across the Academy, making sure to wave a cheerful good morning to every elf he sees, and he’s pleased to see that all of them greet him back. Some even bow, and now that he knows what that means, he bows to them too. Everyone here is so nice and welcoming. The dragons from home would like them.

“There you are!”

Eijirou turns and sees Katsuki crossing the courtyard towards him, and Eijirou meets him halfway. “Were you looking for me?”

“All morning,” he says, and he sounds cranky. Uh oh. “Where’ve you been?”

“Here,” he says. “At, the, Aca-de-my.”

Nailed it.

Katsuki squints, and Eijirou forces an innocent smile.

“You get in trouble?”

Eijirou shakes his head. “Nope, I did not.”

He watches him for a moment with a distinct look of suspicion, but Eijirou doesn’t let his smile falter.

“Alright,” he says, unsure. “But whatever, come with me. I need to talk to you.”

“Oh, okay, sure.”

He follows Katsuki back to his room, and the first thing he sees is that all of his bags are on the bed.

“What’s going on?”

“We’re going back home,” he says. “Today. I would’ve sent you to tell the captain earlier, but I couldn’t find you, so I went myself.”

Eijirou’s face drops. “What?”

“It’s fine. He said we can sail this afternoon. The rest of the crew stayed on board, so it doesn’t matter. Apparently no one thought we’d stay this long, but fuck them, that’s what they get for betting against their next king. Hope they all lost their gold.”

“We’re leaving?”

“Yeah, I need your help getting our things to the ship,” he says. “I don’t want anyone else handling my clothes.”

Eijirou nods and stumbles back. They’re leaving. They have to go. Katsuki says it’s time to go, but he’s–.

He mated with Shouto, and this is Shouto’s home. If he leaves, he’ll leave him, but if he stays, he’ll be separated from Katsuki, and he can’t imagine not being by Katsuki’s side. He’s his sky brother. They’re battle bonded. They’re–.

But Shouto…

The burn from his morning wraps around his heart and squeezes until he can feel the press of claws digging in, and he gasps in pain.

They mated. That’s the way of dragons. You can’t share a person’s body like that and then separate, it’s against his nature. He has given up a lot of things since leaving the mountain because it was his choice, and he knew that the rest of the world would be different, but he cannot compromise on this. He won’t.

But he has to leave.

He walks away as the pain seizes his chest, nodding as he grits his teeth to hold back his tears, but a pathetic whine comes out anyway. He covers his face with his hands and paces to the other side of the room, unable to hold it in.

No, no, no, he can’t do this.

And no one here is going to understand why. Even Katsuki, who knows his ways and learned them by living with the dragons, will never really understand this. No, it isn’t fair. It can’t be right.

“The fuck is wrong with you?” Katsuki says. “If you like these sparkly towers that much, we’ll get you something shiny when we get back home.”

“No, it’s not that,” he sniffles. “I’m fine. I’m just–.”

Someone knocks on the door, and Eijirou can’t smell who it is because his nose is all stuffy and gross, but he’s sure it’s someone come to tell them that it’s time to leave, because Katsuki says it’s time to go, and they have to go because Katsuki is in charge.

“It’s open!”

The door opens, and Izuku and Shouto walk in in different clothes than what Eijirou is used to seeing them in. The robes have been traded for what the humans wear at home with Shouto in a blue high collared doublet with rings on every finger, and Izuku has on a bright green vest over a cotton shirt. He should tell them they both look pretty, but he can’t muster the words.

“We’re ready,” Izuku says with a bright smile.

“Good, I told the crew we’re leaving, but we’re not packed up yet because I spent the whole fucking morning trying to track down this idiot.”

Shouto smiles at Eijirou over their shared secret because he knows exactly where he was, but how can he smile about this? Shouto is Eijirou’s mate, but Eijrou is Shouto’s companion. Doesn’t that mean something too? Shouldn’t he be sad? Not that Eijirou wants him to be sad, but…

“I’m going to arrange to have our belongings sent to the docks so you won’t be delayed,” he says. “Izuku will stay with you and pack since he has the most to take.”

“Our?” Eijirou says and looks back at Katsuki with too much hope in his heart. “Are they coming too?”

“Yeah, they’re going with us, and I’m not about to share my clothes with the elf.”

“Your pants would be too short for me anyway.”

Eijirou’s excitement bubbles out at a chirp, but he’s too happy to be embarrassed by it.

“Oh now you’re happy, asshole,” Katsuki says, and Eijirou smiles so brightly he could burst. He darts across the room and throws his arms around his neck, squeezing as Katsuki swings uselessly at his back for him to let go. He will not. “Oi!”

And then Eijirou remembers that he gets to leave with Shouto, and when he looks back at him, he sees him smiling as happily as Eijirou feels. A warm pulse spreads through his chest like a second heartbeat, and Eijirou lets go of Katsuki to rush to him, not stopping until he has his lips on his.

He kisses him with so much fervor that Shouto’s back hits the wall, but he doesn’t dare stop. This is his mate, and he’s taking him home.

“Knock it off, idiots!” Katsuki shouts.

Eijirou pulls away and sees Izuku next to them with a fiery flush to his cheeks and his hands over his eyes. Oops.

“Sorry, little shrub.”

“No, it’s fine, I’m happy for you,” he squeaks.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re both gonna throw you a big fucking party when we get back, but we don’t need to see you sucking his face off.”

“He is allowed to kiss me whenever he wants,” Shouto says coolly.

“I will leave your ass here.”

“No you will not,” Eijirou says.

Katsuki shakes his head with a roll of his eyes and turns around to move one of his bags. Eijirou gives Shouto one more kiss (but very quickly) before he steps back to behave himself. There will be more opportunities later, now he knows for sure.

“I’ll be back,” Shouto says. Eijirou nods excitedly.

“Eijirou, go pack your shit and meet us at Izuku’s room.”

“Can I go to the bakery first?”

“Yeah, whatever,” he waves. “Just make it quick.”

Eijirou hurries off, stuffs everything he brought with him back into his bag, and then sprints to the bakery, not at all minding the odd stares from the elves he passes.

He asks for two large sacks of every pastry they can fit into them, and then makes a mental note to apologize to Shouto for how much gold this will probably cost him.

They can share them though. That would make up for it, right?

He carries his things to Izuku’s room where he finds Katsuki putting his belongings into crates. It seems to be mostly books, but that isn’t too surprising.

“Your Hi–Katsuki?” Izuku says.

“Mm?”

“How much of my… research materials… can I bring with me,” he asks carefully.

“Whatever you can fit on the ship,” he says without looking. “Eijirou, hand me one of those blankets.”

Izuku pauses. “Really?”

“And anything you’re not supposed to take with you, get Eijirou to sneak it out for you,” he says in a breath like he’s trying to keep anyone outside from hearing him.

Izuku’s face lights up. “Oh! Thank you!”

“I’ll be so sneaky,” Eijirou promises.

Izuku rolls up the parchment on his desk and stuffs them into a bag, and he starts shoving pouches and jars of magic powders into the crate with his clothing.

Oh, Eijirou is going to have to be very sneaky, isn’t he.

Speaking of sneaky.

Eijirou steps closer to Katsuki and lowers his voice. “So does this mean you took care of your secret business here?”

“Yep.”

“Do I get to know what it is now, or is it still a secret,” Eijirou whispers.

“We came here to get him,” he says in a regular voice.

“Oh?” Eijirou says, and Izuku gives him a shy smile. “You were always coming back with us?”

“Just me originally,” he says. “But yes, I’m moving back home.”

Eijirou looks at Katsuki, surprised. “We have libraries?”

“Of course we have libraries,” he says, baffled.

“Ahhhhh.” Eijirou nods in understanding.

Katsuki smacks him in the arm. “No, you idiot.”

“What?” Izuku says.

“He thinks you’re going to study there.”

“Ohhhh,” he says with a laugh. “No, I mean, yes, I probably will, but that’s not why I’m going back.”

“Oh,” Eijirou says. He doesn’t quite understand.

“I’m, ummm,” he says and looks at Katsuki. “Should I go?”

“No,” he says and rubs his face. “Fuck. Okay. We’re betrothed, alright? We’re getting married.”

Eijirou’s eyes widen in gleeful shock. “Oh!”

He grabs Katsuki and kisses him on the mouth before he pushes him away and runs to Izuku to kiss him on the mouth too. This is a wonderful day!

Izuku hides his face in his arms with a giggle.

“He’s a dragon,” Katsuki strains.

“No, no, I know, it’s fine,” Izuku squeaks. “Thank you, Eijirou.”

“Then the fuck are you acting shy for?”

“Because you told your best friend we’re getting married, and he’s happy for us, and hearing you say it out loud is still new to me.”

“Well we are, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, I know, but still.”

“Wait, why didn’t you tell me,” Eijirou asks. “I would have been super happy for you a week ago.”

“Because if I did, you would’ve kissed us both, which you just fucking did, and you would’ve pledged your undying loyalty to my future husband or something.”

“Oh, that makes sense,” Eijirou agrees. “Oh!”

He goes to kneel, but they both leap to stop him.

“No!” Katsuki and Izuku shout at the same time, Katsuki grabbing him and holding him up and Izuku waving both of his hands.

“No, no, no, it’s fine,” Izuku says. “Being your friend means a lot to me, really. No pledges, please.”

“I’m sorry if it’s not okay for me to ask this, but if you’re getting married, why did you leave?”

“Ah, Katsuki has to marry a warrior,” Izuku says. “I mean our kingdom has to be ruled by warriors, so if he doesn’t marry one, he can’t be king, and I never got the blessing from our gods, I guess. I mean, they chose me for him, but they didn’t make me strong.”

Katsuki folds his arms across his chest. “There’s more than one kind of strength.”

“Yeah, exactly, and you see here elves fight with magic, so I came here to learn,” he says. “It’s hard for humans, but Shouto’s family was super helpful and taught me everything they could, but now it’s time for me to go back, and if I pass my trial, we can get married like we’re supposed to and make our gods happy.”

“Katsuki can’t be king if you don’t pass?”

“Well,” Izuku says. “He can always marry someone el–.”

“No,” Katsuki says. “The gods said you. You’ll pass.”

Eijirou grabs Izuku’s shoulders. It is imperative that he succeeds here. “You’re gonna pass, I believe it. I’ve seen you fight, you’re very powerful.”

Izuku smiles at him. “Thank you, Eijirou.”

“You have to marry Katsuki,” he says. “It’s the only way he can be happy.”

“Gods, don’t scare him,” Katsuki says and swats him away. “Damn dragon.”

“Oh, if you get married, we get to have a party,” Eijirou says. Katsuki blinks in disbelief, and Izuku laughs.

“Yes, I think so,” Izuku says kindly.

“Good, I love parties,” he says before turning to Katsuki with a frown. “But if he doesn’t pass, what will happen?”

“It doesn’t matter because it’s not gonna happen.”

“Katsuki,” Izuku says quietly.

“It’s. Not.”

The look Izuku gives him is so sad that all Eijirou wants to do is hug him, but he may not want that right now.

“You used to want out…,” Izuku says.

“I was 10. Shut up.”

“I’m just saying, if I fail, the gods won’t bind you to me, and you’ll be able to–.”

“No,” he says, taking his face in his hands. “No.”

Izuku’s eyes well up with tears, but he smiles anyway like he means it. It’s strange. They have a friendship, but they look at each other like mates do. 

Yes, they must be meant for each other.

“Quit looking at me like that,” Katsuki says.

Izuku’s smile widens. “Like what?”

“Don’t be cheeky with me.”

“I’m not,” he says, but Eijirou thinks he might be.

They should kiss. It would make them both happy, he thinks.

Izuku’s door opens, and Shouto walks in.

“Did you know they’re going to mate?” Eijirou asks.

Katsuki huffs. “Eijirou, that’s not–.”

“Yes, I knew,” Shouto says. “I’m sorry I wasn’t allowed to tell you.”

“We’re not mating, that’s a dragon thing.”

“I don’t mind it,” Izuku says. “You being called my mate, I mean.”

“Eh?!”

“Well you flinch sometimes when I call you my betrothed, and your face gets all angry when I call us friends…”

“He does that to me too,” Eijirou says.

“I do not!”

“And me,” Shouto says.

“So maybe if I pass my trial, I could call you my mate instead,” Izuku says.

“When,” Katsuki says. “You’ll pass.”

“You will,” Shouto agrees.

“He beat you yet?” Katsuki asks.

Shouto nods. “Several times.”

“Whoa,” Eijirou says, impressed. “Good job.”

“Thank you,” Izuku smiles.

“You go easy on him?” Katsuki says.

“I would never,” Shouto says.

“Good.”

“I’m going to pass,” Izuku says, and it seems like he really believes it. Good.

“Yes, you will,” Katsuki says with the kind of pride that has Eijirou standing at attention like it’s a battle command. He believes it too.

But it’s more than that, isn’t it?

Katsuki wants him to pass. Katsuki wants him to pass so Izuku can become a warrior like he is, and then they can get married, and he wants to because–.

Oh.

That makes perfect sense. Eijirou can see it now.

Katsuki is in love with him.

And Izuku is in love with him too.

Wow, they really were meant to be together, weren’t they? That’s amazing. He’s so happy for them.

“I’ll carry these to the ship,” he offers and nudges Shouto to follow him out.

This way they can have some privacy.

The ship sets sail a few hours later once they get all of Izuku’s belongings secured. Shouto doesn’t comment on the volume of scrolls hoarded away, but Katsuki can’t imagine he would actually bother to stop him, even if Izuku came out and said he was stealing them.

They quickly get their cabins squared away with Izuku’s crates spread out in each. Thankfully there was enough room for the fourth passenger without having to move any of the crew, but it’s not like Eijirou wouldn’t have jumped at the chance to share with him.

Gods.

How the fuck did that happen?

He shakes his head at no one and walks over to make sure his hammock is secure by giving it a strong tug on each end. He’ll check Izuku’s before they turn in for the night and might even check Shouto’s if he’s feeling particularly generous by then. Who knows what could happen?

His cabin door opens behind him, and he doesn’t have to look to see who it is.

“You finish telling the captain about the elves?”

“Yep, and I gave him a pastry,” Eijirou says. “You want one?”

“No, I’m good.”

Eijirou hums and walks around the cabin a bit while Katsuki moves some of his belongings like he doesn’t know he’s there.

“So you’re going to mate with– I mean, you’re getting married to Izuku.”

Damn it.

“Yep.”

“Did you always know that?” Eijirou asks, and Katsuki nods. “Why didn’t you tell me years ago? I thought we shared everything?”

Katsuki exhales. “Because I needed to get my head around it first, and it’s different from what you’re used to. You picked your mate. First moment you laid eyes on him, me and Izuku knew what was gonna happen, but we didn’t get that choice. The gods put us together, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“There’s always a choice,” Eijirou says. “You can’t mate with someone you don’t want to.”

“I’m not a dragon, Ei,” he says. “We have to do what the gods tell us to, and they told us we have to get married.”

“How do you know what your gods want? What if they just want you to be happy and to be good to people? I think that should be enough.”

Katsuki rubs his temples and shakes his head. He knows Eijirou won't understand, but this is the way of his people, and it’s how it’s always been, and even if Katsuki fought against it as a child, he’s smart enough now to accept that they’ve never been wrong before.

“We know because the gods send us messages, and if we do what they tell us to, good things happen, but if we ignore them, they could curse our kingdom again,” he says. “They don’t send them often, but every time the next ruler is conceived, the message comes before anyone finds out anyone is pregnant.

“My mom–. They thought she was, but a message didn’t come, so everyone just thought that she would lose the baby—me—but then a message came a few months later when Izuku’s mom got pregnant, and it basically said that the last princes would have to get married. I’m one, and Izuku is the other.”

Eijirou frowns. “But Izuku isn’t a prince.”

“Izuku is to them,” he says. “Back when our kingdom was split a dozen different ways, he would’ve been in charge of the forest, and I would’ve been in charge of the savanna. The gods don’t really care that it was changed, but now we’re the last two left, so I guess– I don’t know why they want us to join our clans, but they do, and now we have to.”

“Why– I understand you didn’t want to tell me you were getting married, but you’ve never mentioned him at all, and you’re such good friends, aren’t you? I mean he was so happy to see you.”

“It’s complicated,” Katsuki says, and Eijirou gives him a look that might count as betrayal. Fuck. He can’t keep it all a secret forever, and it wouldn’t be fair for Izuku to pretend like nothing happened either, even if he probably already plans to. “They made us play together a lot when we were kids, and yeah, we were friends, I guess, but then I guess I got old enough to notice how weak he is– was. It was like his body was made out of glass, and I was going to be the strongest warrior king our people have ever had, and then when I was old enough, they told me the truth, and I rejected him.”

Eijirou gasps. “Oh no.”

“I was pretty fucking awful about it too.”

“He doesn’t seem that upset about it.”

“He’s stubborn,” Katsuki says. “He always has been.”

“But maybe it’s not as bad as you remember,” he offers.

“It’s worse,” Katsuki says. “He shouldn’t have forgiven me. I said I hated him and wanted him to die and be eaten by dogs, which is a thing we do to–. It doesn’t matter, but I said I wanted it to happen to him, and he heard me.”

Eijirou puts his hands to his mouth in horror. “Katsuki, you have to apologize to him. Did you apologize?”

He shakes his head. “It was a long time ago. Shouto took him away after, and that’s that.”

“It doesn’t matter when it happened, if you plant a seed and forget about it, it will still grow,” Eijirou says emphatically. “The strongest trees sprout from bird shit.”

Katsuki blinks. It’s like a wise old man just let out a fart.

But unfortunately, he’s right.

“He knows I don’t think like that anymore.”

“Are you sure? Have you told him that? You can’t mate with him until you do, it isn’t right,” he says, and Katsuki frowns. “Katsuki.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll talk to him.”

“Promise me, brother.”

Katsuki sighs.

Damn it again.

“Sometimes I miss when you called me porcupine,” he says. “It was much easier to ignore you then.”

Eijirou smiles at that.

“But he wants to now? I mean, Izuku wants to mate with you?”

“It seems so,” he says. “He wrote me before we left and used magic to hide a second letter. The first one was what my parents saw, but the second said if I needed to leave him with the elves, then he would accept it.”

“But you went to get him.”

“Yeah.”

“Because you want to mate with him,” he guesses, and something in Katsuki’s chest tightens that he isn’t used to. 

Does he? 

Forgetting the marriage, the prophecy, the kingdom, and all of the expectations he’s spent the last fifteen years preparing for, he narrows his thoughts to the time spent on Eijirou’s mountain. Life was simple and honest there. The people were honest with each other and honest with themselves, so much so that Katsuku felt like he lived with a wound exposed.

Mating was sacred. There were no political motivations, no families to appease, and no gods to listen to. The dragons fell in love with each other so powerfully the ground would tremble, and it was something that, although he didn’t want or need it for himself, he admired. It wasn’t a weakness. It was the ferocity of battle, as unbreakable as the finest shield, and he thought if he was a dragon, he and his mate would have been the strongest of them all.

But he wasn’t a dragon. He was an outsider who leaned against Eijirou’s mighty leg next to the fire while their kill roasted on a spit. He was the prince of a different land meant to one day put on a pretty suit and a crown and marry a boy he had been cruel to.

There was not great love between them.

He hadn’t earned that.

And now they’re on this ship, and Izuku is sailing home with him, and the thought of their marriage still sounds like something meant to happen to someone else.

But mating with him doesn’t.

Mating with Izuku.

His heart pounds a little louder, and Eijirou watches him without a hint of judgment on his face, and Katuski wonders if he really did go all the way there to get him, not because the gods told him to, but because he needed to bring his mate home.

If the ugly rot in him was really left behind on the mountain years ago, and the dragons’ honesty was what he brought back with him instead…

Honesty with each other and honesty with themselves.

So there’s no point in lying to either of them.

Katsuki swallows and nods.

“Does he know that you changed your mind?”

“He should. I brought him back with me so that should count for something,” Katsuki says, but Eijirou frowns. “What?”

“I don’t think it’s that simple.”

“Not everyone can just kiss their feelings,” he says.

“But you’ve kissed him though, yes?” Eijirou asks, and Katsuki grimaces. “No?”

“Of course not,” he says.

“Brother, even I’ve kissed him.”

“That didn’t count, and you know it,” he says. “Whatever. Go take Shouto flying or something. I don’t wanna talk anymore.”

“But–.”

“Go,” he says, and Eijirou scowls at him like he wants to say more, but he leaves like he’s told.

Katsuki drops down on his hammock and puts his head in his hands.

This should be simple.

So why did it just get a thousand times more complicated?

Izuku tugs at his vest to make sure it’s in place and straightens the cuffs of his sleeves. It’s strange to be back in clothing like this after spending so many years in robes, but he’ll admit he enjoys how weightless it feels.

The ship jerks with the sea, and his legs already ache from trying not to fall over, but this is good for him. He’ll be stronger after this challenge, and strength is what he’ll need the most for when he does his trial. It might not hurt to ask Katsuki about his experience with his, but maybe he shouldn’t because he’ll be comparing himself with someone who was born for it.

He grabs a pinch of conjure powder from his belt bag and summons a small, soft and squishy orb to squeeze in his hands, and immediately he feels a little better.

A knock at his door startles him, and Izuku jumps, tossing his ball over his shoulder out of sight.

“Come in!”

His cabin door opens, and Katsuki of all people walks into his room.

“Your Hi– hey,” he says, more casually, and Katsuki snorts.

“You got a minute?”

He wishes he could say something smooth like I’ve got all night, but it’s the middle of the afternoon, and he would just look like a doofus, so he decides against it. “Yeah, sure.”

Katsuki closes his door and steps closer before nodding towards his hammock for Izuku to sit down. Izuku does while managing to not flip backwards, which he considers to be a personal achievement.

“Look,” he says before rubbing his face with his hands. “Fuck.”

Izuku’s stomach flips, and a million different disastrous possibilities pass through his mind from a hole in the ship to Katsuki wanting to turn around and take him back, and he’s not sure which prospect scares him more. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he says. “It’s not like that, I’m just–. I need to talk to you about something, okay, and it’s gonna suck big time for both of us, but I guess I have to or we can’t ma– get married.”

“What is it?”

Katsuki exhales a deep breath through pursed lips. “What I said to you…”

Izuku frowns. “When?”

“When we were kids,” he says. “I mean, I guess I didn’t say it to you, but I still said it and you heard me, but–.”

Izuku’s stomach stops flipping in time to drop down to the floor. “Katsuki.”

“I wanted to say I shouldn’t have said that, and I’m sorry I did it. I don’t think like that anymore, and I should’ve gotten my little ass kicked for it.”

Izuku’s eyes water, and he looks away. It’s his worst memory, one he cried himself to sleep over more times than he can count. It’s not just that Katsuki didn’t want to be his friend anymore, because he’d already grown used to that, but it was that he hated him so much that he wanted Izuku to spend his afterlife alone without even his parents. That’s what a death like that means for their people. It would have been easier to have never been born. 

He doesn’t know what his life would’ve been like if the Todoroki family hadn’t offered to train him, and thankfully he will never have to, but this was not a memory he ever expected Katsuki to stir on purpose. Or apologize for.

“You didn’t deserve that,” Katsuki says.

“We were just kids.”

“That makes it worse,” he says, and Izuku sniffles and wipes at one of his eyes. “I’ve spent the last 15 years wishing I could take it back, and I can’t, but I don’t want you to think I’ll ever say something like that again.”

“I know you won’t,” Izuku says. “It’s not something I’m worried about.”

“I don’t want you to marry me with that on your mind,” he says, and Izuku nods. “Or did you forget…”

“No, I don’t think I could have forgotten that, Your Highness,” he says with a little more bite than he means to, and Katsuki doesn’t deserve that. He’s trying here, and he’s been nothing but kind to him this whole week, and they’re friends now. Friends can forgive each other. “But it also means something to me that you never said it again, even when you still hated me. That’s how I knew you didn’t mean it, and we were friends before. I don’t know if we were too young for you to remember, but those were the happiest memories of my life. I won’t be thinking of that when I marry you, I’ll be thinking of those times, and–. I understand why you were upset. No one wants to be told what to do, and at that point you had already made up your mind about me, and I don’t know why the gods did this. It doesn’t make sense to tell us to bind and then not bless me. I don’t know why my lungs are like this. My heart was too, you know. The elves found it a year after I moved there. It made a strange sound like beating was too exhausting sometimes so it just wouldn’t how it’s supposed to, I guess.”

Katsuki’s face drops.

“You didn’t break it like that,” Izuku says. “I was born this way, and it took several healers a couple of years to fix it, but it’s strong now. It beats just as well as yours does, probably, but it’s strange. If I didn’t go there–, if you hadn’t said what you did and Shouto didn’t have a reason to take me home with him, I might have died before we were old enough to marry. Maybe there’s a reason they didn’t bless me. Maybe everything that happened between us happened because it was all necessary in some way. How many pieces of our past are we supposed to regret before we take away the future we have now?”

Katsuki sucks his teeth and turns away with a scowl.

“What?”

“I’ve got two wise old men on this ship,” he grumbles. “If Shouto pulls me to the side today to make it three for three, I’m taking the fucking dinghy home.”

“What did Eijirou say?”

“He said I needed to stop thinking you would know I was sorry if I never told you,” he says. “He said we can’t mate until I do because ‘the strongest trees grow from bird shit’.”

Izuku’s laughter bubbles out before he can stop it, and even covering his mouth with his hands doesn’t help.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Katsuki says like he’s tired. “I wanna say you get used to it, but he almost took me out with that one.”

“He’s very wise, you’re right, but he’s not wrong,” Izuku giggles.

“No, he’s not.”

“It probably sounds better in Dragon,” Izuku offers. Katsuki thinks for a moment before he repeats the phrase in Eijirou’s language as well as he can, and Izuku’s body flashes hot with full body tremor levels of heat that has him skipping a breath. Oh my gods.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he says and jumps to his feet. “I, umm, need to see if Shouto brought his– I need to check on Shouto.”

He moves to dash past him, but Katsuki stops him with an arm out and a curious furrow to his brow, and oh gods, he’s not wearing a shirt. Izuku didn’t even notice before because he was so surprised to see him come to his cabin, but he’s gone back to dressing like the warriors back home do, and now Izuku is going to have to see him every day with his massive biceps and his chest out, and don’t look down. Whatever you do, do not look down.

“Shouto is up in the air with Eijirou,” Katsuki says.

Izuku swallows as he looks up at him. “Oh. Umm.”

Katsuki clears his throat and looks away as he moves to the side. Izuku steps past him to leave, and he only peeks a little as he slips out the door. He catches a glimpse of two dimples in Katsuki’s lower back and decides he might not survive long enough to make it to the wedding.

They’re going to get married…

And if they mate, like Izuku was very clearly and openly in favor of just a few hours ago with multiple witnesses who all know what mating means, they’ll have to…

Oh.

Oh gods.

His cheeks burn hot, and he buries his face in his hands.

What is he going to do?

After the sun sets, Eijirou walks alone up to the ship’s deck, thoroughly exhausted but pretty happy about it. He carried as much as he could of Shouto and Izuku’s belongings to the ship, even if flying them would’ve been faster, and he even got to take Shouto to the sky again, this time without either of them being attacked.

Now it’s time to sleep. The others have gone to their cabins, but he’s here where the salted air is cool against his chest and the sea stretches out endlessly into a blanket of night all around him.

He cups his hands around his mouth and calls up to the sailor in the crow’s nest. “Excuse me! I’m going to change, so please hold tight!”

“Aye, Eiji,” the sailor shouts back.

Eijirou stands away from the mast on the most open part of the deck before he shifts back into his dragon form. The ship wavers beneath him from his weight, and Eijirou plants his paws steady as he waits for it to settle back in place. He hopes he didn’t break anything.

He toddles around in a circle until he finds a nice open spot, and he curls up comfortably, happy to finally get some proper rest. He slept on the deck the whole way to the elven lands, and the crew didn’t seem to mind it, but he thinks it may be because he promised to help keep watch at night and defend the ship.

It’s easier to sleep like this. He feels more like himself, and he doesn’t have to worry about expanding in his sleep in a small space. Although, Shouto’s bed was wonderful.

A newly familiar scent catches his nose, and Eijirou lifts his head to see Shouto walking towards him. A small ball of light glows in his hand to help him find his way, making Shouto look like one of the midnight flowers from the garden.

“I was looking for you, but Katsuki said I would find you up here,” Shouto says, and Eijirou nods. “Do you care if I join you?”

“Mrrrrrp,” he says, shaking his head at the deck. It won’t be comfortable.

“I don’t mind it,” Shouto says. Eijirou adjusts to give Shouto room to sit with him, but Shouto curls up with him like he means to sleep here too. He rests his head on his arm like a pillow, and Eijirou tucks him into his wing to keep the wind off of him. Shouto reaches up and traces his scales with warm hands, and it’s so nice that Eijirou purrs. “Can I tell you something?”

“Mrrp.”

“It upsets me to be separated from you,” he says. “Not in a usual way because I also don’t like to be separated from Izuku or my family, but there’s been an uncomfortable tugging sensation in my chest all day. Is that because we mated or because I’m attached on my own?”

Eijirou rumbles that he doesn’t know, but he can’t help but think about the burn this morning and how the thought that he would have to leave him behind almost ruined him. Is it the same?

“Does that make you like me less?”

Eijirou rumbles again and nuzzles his cheek. There’s nothing that would make him like Shouto less. He could be an evil death wizard bat, and Eijirou would still want to keep him under his wing, although he may have to keep that particular thought to himself.

Shouto laughs to himself, his smile widening in the most beautiful way, and he kisses Eijirou’s snout in response. A happy trill escapes Eijirou’s lips, and if he was human, he would blush.

“Oh, you enjoy that, yes?” Shouto teases, and Eijirou nuzzles him again. He kisses his cheek and along his mouth in small loving pecks that have Eijirou’s tail thumping against the deck. It’s so hard not to lick him, but Shouto might think that’s gross. “Will it bother you if I speak even though you can’t?”

Eijirou nudges him to say what he wants.

“I wasn’t supposed to leave with Izuku,” he admits. “I was going to visit for the wedding, of course, but this morning after I left you in bed, Izuku came to tell me that he and Katsuki were ready to leave, and I’ve never been so scared in my life. I thought of you both not being near me anymore, and Katsuki too, of course, and I–.”

Shouto’s voice cracks, and Eijirou nuzzles him again with his snout.

“I begged him to take me with you like a child,” he says. “It’s so embarrassing to think about, and if it had been anyone but Izuku, I would be truly ashamed of myself, but I did, and he said yes before I could finish asking, and then he cried for a long time, and I was so relieved, I–. Why did it scare me like that? What was that feeling?”

Eijirou rumbles sadly and tucks him closer. He doesn’t want him to be lonely. Shouto should never be lonely. A good and fair world wouldn’t allow that.

“Is that what it was?” Shouto asks quietly. “I want–. I don’t want to be away from the three of you. I want to go where you go.”

Eijirou nuzzles him again.

“Is it okay that I came too?”

He huffs out through his nose, unable to believe that Shouto could think it wouldn’t be. Of course it is. He belongs with them.

“I’m sorry, I’m not normally this emotional,” he says. Eijirou nudges his chest, and Shouto wraps his hands around his snout with a relieved laugh. “You have puppy tendencies, I think.”

Eijirou chirps in approval, and Shouto kisses him again. He seems a little calmer.

They lie together like that quietly for a long time, both content to settle in for the night. Eijirou has never had anyone want to sleep outside with him on purpose before, but Shouto is determined, and now that he knows this is an option, he selfishly doesn’t want him to leave.

Shouto rubs his hands over his heart scales, not plucking them away like Eijirou said he could, but feeling them like he wants to learn them. They’re his anyway. He can do what he wants with him.

And soon Eijirou hears a soft sound coming from Shouto’s lips that he quickly realizes is singing. It’s in the Elven language and barely audible over the wind and sea, but it’s the most beautiful song he’s ever heard. It has the cadence of a lullaby, and his eyes grow too heavy to listen to the rest.

It’s a shame because he loved it so much.

The next morning they both wake to the sound of the crew shouting orders, and Shouto blinks his eyes open to almost blinding sunlight. He shields himself with Eijirou’s wing, but Eijirou nudges him to let him know he has to change.

He shrinks and warps next to him back to the shape and size of a human, and he helps Shouto to his feet with a tired smile. It’s their first proper morning together, and Shouto could almost laugh that it happened here and not somewhere at all private.

But this is the relationship he’s chosen for himself, and it seems like it was the right decision. No one has ever made him feel as grounded as Eijirou does, and it’s ironic considering no one else has ever made him fly before.

He smooths down Eijirou’s hair for him and lets his fingers run through the red strands. There’s more of them than there were the day they met, some of the pieces now reaching all the way to the root in ribbons, but it suits him. Then again, everything would.

It’s hard not to kiss him, but there are too many people around for Shouto’s personal comfort.

The two of them walk together down into the ship to find Izuku and Katsuki for breakfast, and Shouto rubs idly at a sore spot on his back with an uncomfortable grimace. He hopes that doesn’t last all day.

Katsuki notices immediately.

“Did you two idiots sleep on the deck?”

“Yeah, it was great!” Eijirou beams.

“Well for you,” Katsuki says.

“I’ll adjust to it,” Shouto says.

“Stubborn.”

“I think it’s sweet,” Izuku says, and Katsuki looks just about as embarrassed at the statement as Shouto feels. At least they have that in common.

“Yeah, you would,” Katsuki says, casually ruffling Izuku’s hair in a way that has Shouto raising his eyebrow.

Shouto glances at Eijirou, who bites back a smile and looks away like he didn’t see anything.

That’s interesting.

It will be impressive if the two of them can somehow maintain their composure with each other until landfall.

Shouto has doubts.

Chapter Text

Izuku and Shouto stand at the ship's railing and watch as Eijirou soars above them, his wings spread out as wide as they can reach. Shouto mentioned when they first walked up to the deck that Eijirou said he missed the skies. Izuku’s only flown once, but he can understand why he would.

Since they set sail, Eijirou has taken Shouto with him for every flight, which Izuku thinks is nice. It’s hard to get any privacy on a ship, and that’s what a budding relationship needs the most. He supposes now, though, it’s Katsuki’s turn, and they need their privacy too for the same reason that Izuku is relieved to be standing there with Shouto.

“I’ve never met a dragon before,” Izuku says as he watches him above. He wonders what happens to his clothes when he changes, but it might be rude to ask.

“Neither have I,” Shouto says.

“I think there should be some books on them at the castle,” he says, careful not to call it home just yet. They’ve always known this day—or time, he supposes would be more accurate—would come, of course. It was planned this way, but when Shouto begged Izuku to take him with him, his heart broke in a way he wasn’t used to. He can’t do this without him. Not yet, at least. They can stick together a little longer, as long as it’s okay. He takes a breath to clear his thoughts. “I think it would be better to just ask him questions directly though.”

“I agree,” Shouto says. “Eijirou will tell you anything you want to know. I think he knows how happy it makes you to learn things.”

Izuku blushes at that. “I’m not the one who he should be worrying about making happy, I don’t think.”

“Eijirou knows I’m happy, but he sees you as Katsuki’s mate and someone who could potentially be a dear friend to him too. I’m not deeply familiar with all dragon customs, but from what he’s told me, dragons choose their families. Their clans are affectionately close, and I believe that he would consider you an important person, as he considers both me and Katsuki.”

“You say that so confidently,” Izuku says, with more amazement than judgment. It’s not like you, he doesn’t add.

“I can’t explain it, but the bond– he spoke about it like it was a living, breathing thing, and I think even then I considered it to be ceremonial, but it’s not,” he says as he watches Eijirou circle above. “There’s something in my chest, I think. It’s tangible. I can’t feel what he feels, and he can’t feel my emotions either, but there’s a strange tether from me to him, like a part of my soul has latched onto him. I am sure it will need to be studied and examined, but for now I’m content with it as it is.”

“I won’t mention it to anyone,” Izuku promises. 

“And as far as I’m aware, all of those research materials stored below the deck were obtained legally and through traditional means by Katsuki for his own reasons.”

Izuku covers his face with a groan. “Oh no.”

Shouto chuckles softly in amusement. Truthfully, Izuku knew Shouto would find out what he’d done. It’s barely a secret, but shame scorches his cheeks just the same. He’s a thief.

“Did you remember to bring copies of your birth charts?”

Izuku gasps in horror. “Oh gods! There wasn’t time, I forgot!”

Shouto hums. “I’ll have Touya bring them with him for the wedding. I believe he’s the least likely to mind, but Tenya might startle if he sees him. Maybe Fuyumi, with enough sentimental reasoning.”

“You’re a good friend,” he says.

“Yes, I know.”

Izuku giggles happily and elbows him, and Shouto smiles. Eijirou bellows out above—a happy noise, Izuku thinks, and by the content look on Shouto’s face, it seems his guess is right. He watches Eijirou with a fondness Izuku isn’t used to seeing, and he wonders if his dear friend always had the capability to feel this way for a person, or if Eijirou appearing manifested it.

Shouto has never been cold, of course. Quiet and thoughtful, always, but anyone who knows him knows he’s passionate, and he has the love of a thousand kingdoms in him, given to the few he deems worthy. Izuku hooks his arm around his and rests his head on his shoulder. He deserves this. He’s glad Katsuki brought Eijirou with him for many reasons, but especially because of this.

They will live for thousands of years long after Izuku and Katsuki are returned to their ancestors, and they will have each other with smiles upon their faces. What more could Izuku ever want for him?

“He didn’t tell me how they became friends, but I think he’s his Dragon Rider,” Izuku says before those kinds of thoughts consume him. “I remember hearing about them growing up, that warriors from the ancient clans and dragons would bond with each other to become battle partners, and I haven’t asked because it seems too personal, but I think that’s what happened with them. I mean, they’re friends, but I think it’s more than that. Eijirou calls him brother in the dragon language.”

Shouto hums in agreement. “They are exceptionally close.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“It doesn’t change anything for me,” he says. “I understand how people can grow attached to others for their own reasons.” Izuku nods silently, deciding that a comment wouldn’t be necessary. “Is it alright that I came with you?”

His smile widens as looks up at him. “I’m really glad you did.”

“You are,” Shouto says, unsure, and Izuku nods. “You will do well.”

He laughs weakly at that and looks back out at the sea. It’s exceptionally blue today with the occasional dragon shaped shadow swooping over it. They’ve been blessed with a trip without storms, and Captain Kuugo says there won’t be any for the rest of the way.

But there’s a saying amongst Izuku’s people that goes a storm missed now, is a tempest tomorrow. If the trip home is easy, then Izuku’s trial…

He shakes away the thought. His people also say that no walls or gates can stop a storm either, and if it’s meant to come for him, then it’s his job to weather it, just like the birds and the livestock do.

“You bested all six Todoroki mages,” Shouto says. “There aren’t many out there who could ever say the same. Certainly no other humans.”

“Your family was kind to me.”

“If my father ever heard you accuse him of letting you win, he would scorch the ground where he stands,” he says, and Izuku smiles sadly. “You will win.”

And if he doesn’t?

“Do you think–,” he starts before snapping his mouth shut.

“Do I think what?”

“Do you think Katsuki actually wants to marry me? I mean, if I don’t win, he won't have to anymore, and then he could find a suitor who makes him happy. Someone strong like he is. Anyone better than me.”

“Izuku,” Shouto scolds, and Izuku bites back a wave of tears. “If Katsuki heard you say this, he would throw you overboard.” Izuku laughs at that and wipes his eyes. “He is fond of you now.”

“Now,” Izuku echoes.

“Pretending the past doesn’t exist won’t change it,” Shouto says.

Izuku nods. “I know when we were younger he resented me for not being a warrior because our clans take that kind of thing seriously, and then I left, and I think things got better between us. I mean, I know they did. I feel like we’re actually friends now, like we can trust each other. Like we could rule together like we’re supposed to, but I don’t know. Maybe he’s just accepting things the way they are. Like he’s just doing his duty as the future king, and I’m just–.”

“Just what?”

Izuku and Shouto both turn around in surprise to see Katsuki standing there on the deck, a furrow to his brow that makes Izuku’s stomach flip.

“Your Highness,” Izuku gasps. Shouto doesn’t say a word.

“Finish what you were going to say,” Katsuki says. “I want to hear it.”

Izuku looks away, embarrassed. “I thought you were flying with Eijirou.”

Katsuki gives him a look that says he’s not impressed.

“I’m going to go speak with the navigator,” Shouto says and leaves, walking briskly enough past Katsuki to be considered scurrying off.

Izuku waits for a moment, but when Katsuki doesn’t say anything, he turns back around to face the sea. It’s forbidden to turn his back on the prince, but for now, Izuku will just have to ask for a little leniency until he gathers his bearings.

Katsuki’s boots tap against the deck as he walks towards him and takes his place next to him, battle-scarred hands resting on the railing.

He’s a warrior, Izuku’s a fool.

They stand quietly for a moment. Izuku doesn’t say the rest, and Katsuki doesn’t scold him for it. He also doesn’t ask how long he was listening because he’s not sure he could bear to know.

“Should we turn the ship around,” Katsuki says, sounding more tired than angry.

Izuku looks at him in surprise. “What?”

“Would you rather stay with the elves than with me?”

Izuku’s eyes burn and he turns away, shaking his head. “I’m just–. You deserve someone strong.”

“You are strong.”

“Someone who can help make you a good leader,” he says. Someone who can make you happy, he doesn’t.

“And you can’t?”

Izuku’s eyes prick, and he lets his head fall back as he takes a deep breath. Katsuki steps behind him and puts his chin on his shoulder, a gesture unfamiliar for them but not at all strange. His breaths steady, but the ache in his chest remains.

“Look at him,” he says, and Izuku looks up to Eijirou, still happily soaring like the world itself is as simple as flying. “When I was fifteen my parents sent me to the dragonlands to train.”

“I remember reading the letter,” Izuku says.

“I didn’t want to go, but they didn’t give me a choice,” he says, and Izuku only hums, content to listen to his story. “I didn’t know shit for dragon tongue. I could say hello, and goodbye, and thank you, but that’s about it, but it doesn’t matter because dragons won’t talk to you if they don’t have to, at least not like that. And most of them wouldn’t switch to two legs, so I couldn’t fucking talk to anyone. I missed you bugging me all the time, asking questions, wanting to know everything about everything. But you were gone, and I was on my own trying to learn how to live like them, and it’s not like getting letters back home was easy.”

Izuku closes his eyes against the ache of thinking about Katsuki alone on a mountain with no family or friends and how awful it must have been. The elves were so kind to Izuku. Izuku ate every dinner at the Todoroki family table, and he and Shouto wore matching robes and played in the gardens, and Katsuki was all alone a world away.

Katsuki’s hand slides over his stomach to rest over his waist as he takes a deep breath, the memory obviously more painful than he would usually ever let on.

“A few months in, I met Eijirou, and he didn’t shut up either. Oh, he was more than happy to walk around with me, which was a great change, but it was all that tricky dragon language. I couldn’t understand a damn word he said until he started talking back at me. ‘Will you shut up!’ ‘Will you shut up!’, gods, it drove me crazy, and Eijirou smiled like he’d done something amazing.

“Then we started with the basic shit. Meat. Fucker loves meat. Ale. Egg. Apple. Water. Fire. Wing. Sky. Sword. Friend. It took us a few years, but eventually we both got each other’s languages down without any teachers. He taught me how to read runes, and I taught him our writing, so now we can use both when we need to. Makes keeping secrets easier.

“I turned nineteen and was summoned back home, and Eijirou cried his big fucking eyes out, and it reminded me of how fucked up I was when you went off with the elves, except I didn’t know I was sad. I just thought the whole thing was unfair. Why did you leave without me? Someone probably should’ve told me what I was so mad about, but I probably would’ve told then to fuck off.”

“Probably,” Izuku says quietly, not quite sure what to think about the admission.

“I asked him if he wanted to come back with me and spend a year or two training with some of our warriors, and the fucker kissed me on the mouth for it,” he says, and Izuku giggles at that. “Disgusting.”

“It’s endearing,” Izuku says.

“Yeah, whatever,” he grumbles as he slides his other hand over Izuku’s chest, holding them both together with a closeness Izuku has never experienced before with anyone. He steadies his breath, but Katsuki seems too distracted to notice he’s having an effect on him at all. “So he didn’t go back home.”

Izuku swallows. “I see that.”

“I didn’t tell him why we came here because I knew he would be annoying about it, and I wasn’t ready for it. He would’ve had a lot of questions I didn’t know how to answer, and I wasn’t about to make you do it, but I couldn’t leave him behind. I can’t do that to someone. Our people like him, but–.”

“You didn’t want to leave him so far away from home without you,” Izuku says, and Katsuki hums an affirmative next to his ear.

“Not telling him probably didn’t sell me very well to you, did it.”

“You don’t have to be sold to me, Your Highness.”

“Don’t do that,” he says. “Don’t shut yourself off to me because of a piece of paper. What you think matters, whether you believe it or not. I didn’t change my mind, and I’m not accepting my duty or whatever else you think this could be. I came here because I wanted to, and I’m bringing you back because I want to, and I’m marrying you because I want to. It’s my right. The gods gave you to me, and I am here to collect on that promise.”

The tears come so quickly he could curse himself, and Katsuki takes a step back to give him a little space. He sniffles hard and wipes at his eyes, refusing to crumble like this. It shouldn’t be so easy, but it always is. He’ll never pass as a warrior, not in a million years.

“Don’t cry.”

“I can’t help it,” he says and turns around to face him. “Why do you want to marry me? And don’t say it’s because of the prophecy. I know that’s why you have to, but if you claim you want to, I need to know why.”

“How many letters have I sent you since I left the mountain?”

“Hundreds,” Izuku guesses, but there’s no way to be sure without unpacking them all. “But you were answering mine.”

“So were you,” he says. “I spent a small part of my life angry at the gods, and yet the moment you went away, you were all I could think about, and that was five years before I was sent away, and then when I was, I thought I was losing my mind. I would go up to the mountains to look for food, and I would pretend you were running along behind me trying to keep up. I would brag about how big my stupid sword was in my head and pretend you were fawning over me like you used to, and I would pretend I was hunting to feed us both because that was the only way I wouldn’t think about starving.

“And then when I was sick, I would pretend it was you feeding me apple porridge from home and not that viscous marrow sop the dragons made me eat, and then just like that, years passed, and I went home, and you didn’t greet me because you were across the sea becoming a warrior of your own, and I want to marry you because the gods gave you to me, and I won’t let anyone take you away again.”

“You were never good at sharing your toys,” Izuku says.

“I don’t have to. I’ll be king.”

“Yes, you will be,” he says. “And you’ll be a great one.”

“With you,” Katsuki says. Izuku pauses for a moment before nodding. “Swear it. Take an oath. Your first with me.”

“I swear,” Izuku says. “Your Highness.” Katsuki grimaces and looks off. “You just told me to take an oath. At least I didn’t kneel.”

“I told you I want you to use my name.”

“I know, but I like calling you that,” Izuku says.

“Use my name,” he says. “Be the only person in our kingdom allowed to. Besides Eijirou, who I’m not in charge of, and our parents. And Shouto, because that would be fucking weird. But with so many exceptions, the purpose may be lost.”

“It’s not,” Izuku says and takes a breath. “I will try to use your title less.”

“Thank you.”

“To your face.”

“Hey now,” he says, and Izuku giggles. “Actually, that would be kind of a power move for you. Use my name to anyone because they can’t. Use it when I’m crowned. Make them uncomfortable, I’ll have every guard and authority made aware that no one can stop you.”

Izuku’s cheeks warm, but he nods that he will. He imagines himself being so bold as to call their king Katsuki, and it’s a little ridiculous, but the prospect makes his pulse rise.

“I want you to answer a question,” Katsuki says suddenly.

“What is it?”

“What do you want from me?”

Izuku’s eyes widen, and he shakes his head quickly. “I don’t want anything from you. I would never–. No, that’s–. No, Your Hi–tsuki.”

“Izuku, I’m not asking as your prince, I’m asking as your–.” He stops himself before finishing, and he swears and looks off. “How am I supposed to ask you this when I can’t even say that out loud.”

“It wouldn’t be like you,” Izuku says. “I don’t want you to suddenly talk like Prince Charming.”

“Oi.”

“What?”

“You think I’m not charming? I’ll show you charming.”

Izuku laughs. “No, no, I didn’t mean it like that. You are to me when you’re being yourself, but if you suddenly started calling me your betrothed like it’s easy, it would seem like you were pretending for someone else’s sake. I like you how you are.”

“Then answer the question like it was asked by me exactly how I am,” he says.

Izuku shakes his head. “I still don’t want anything from you. I like our friendship. It doesn’t feel forced or strained, and that’s really everything I’ve ever wanted anyway. You could call it a dream come true, maybe.”

Katsuki takes a deep breath. “Then what do you want from me as the person you’re going to marry?”

Izuku rubs his face and laughs weakly. “So that’s the question then. Not as my prince, not as my friend, but as my soon to be husband. You really want an answer for that?”

“Yes.”

He squeezes his eyes shut tight and nods. “I would want to know without a doubt that this isn’t just us doing what we’ve been told to do if it’s not and that you don’t resent me at all, not even a little bit. I would like to know for sure that this is what you want, not as the prince, but as my friend. And I know that’s unfair. 

“There aren’t any words anyone can say to remove the doubts in my mind, because I will always worry. I think anyone would in my position, and that’s without our history. But if it was possible, I would want to know that you want me. Me. That if the gods said we don’t have to get married anymore and that this was all just a test, that you still would. And I think that even if that’s what I would want, it’s too selfish to ask that of you, because you’re–.”

Izuku’s words break with an mmph as a warm pair of lips press against his for the first time. He squeaks in surprise, his eyes fluttering open, but Katsuki kisses him again, taking Izuku’s face in his hands like he means to keep him from running away until all he can do is fall into it.

He never imagined this, not in a million years. Even when he pictured their wedding, he assumed that this part would be skipped over to spare Katsuki from having to kiss someone he didn’t want to.

But for him to do it himself?

Like he wants to?

It’s hard to keep up at first. Izuku has to will his own lips to move, to follow his directions. This isn’t an act of one person, but two, and as soon as he successfully reminds himself of that, it becomes so easy that it could be accused of being a type of magic, the kind that squeezes a person’s soul and makes them do maddening things.

Like throw themselves at their prince and kiss them like they’d stop breathing if they didn’t.

“I do want you,” Katsuki says against his lips. “No matter what the gods say, you’re mine.”

Izuku surges towards him, completely overwhelmed, but when he reaches to grab onto whatever piece of him he can get his hands on, he’s once again reminded of how many of the warriors from home feel about… clothing. 

Stars.

Warm, firm flesh fills his palms, and Izuku slides his hands from his chest, up his throat, all the way into his hair until his fingers are completely tangled into the blond spikes he’s dreamed about his entire life.

Is this a dream?

Will he wake up atop a pile of notes at the Academy?

Katsuki’s fingertips press into his back as his grip on him tightens, and no, it can’t be a dream. In none of Izuku’s wildest thoughts did he ever imagine him holding him like this, like he’s just as afraid to let go.

All at once Izuku’s doubts and worries fade into nothing because no one could fake a kiss like this. Katsuki kisses him like he can read his thoughts, like Izuku is a puzzle only he can solve, and Izuku’s chest tightens until he can no longer breathe.

It’s so warm and consuming, the world around them melts away. Every muscle in his body tenses and every nerve and vein is set alight, and the sensation is stronger than any magic he’s ever felt. Some mages lose themselves searching for more, but now Izuku knows that could never happen to him. He’s found the source of it all, pure as light and as strong as a warrior.

His warrior.

His prince.

His Katsuki.

“How can this feel so good,” Izuku says in barely a whisper.

“‘Cause I’m damn good at it,” he says. Izuku pulls away with a furrow to his brow that even the flush of Katsuki’s cheeks can’t soften. “What?”

“You weren’t supposed to have anyone but me,” he says. “Well, I guess you could have, you’re the prince, but I thought–.”

“I haven’t,” he says. “I’m just good at everything.”

Izuku puts his face in his hands and laughs, both at himself for being such a sensitive fool and at Katsuki for being… himself. Exactly how he is.

He grabs Izuku’s hands and peels them away, holding them between them as he bends towards him until they’re almost nose to nose. “Do you think someone would have to show me how to kiss you? Wouldn’t I already know how to do that?”

A panicked laugh bursts from Izuku’s lips, and Katsuki winces slightly like he knows how ridiculous he must have sounded, but still it was the right thing to say. They were god-matched, and Izuku has spent his entire life believing in that.

“Maybe,” Izuku says with a smile, his neck and ears burning a little more. He’s either seconds away from dying from embarrassment on Katsuki’s behalf or from swooning, if that’s a thing a person can actually do.

Maybe.

Possibly.

Katsuki glances at his mouth, the memory of what they just did apparently still fresh on his mind, and Izuku’s tongue darts to wet his lips, an instinct he’s surprised to find he has. He tugs him slightly, urging Izuku forward until their lips are pressed again.

This time his mouth parts, his kisses no longer uniform in any way, and Izuku’s head spins. The flick of his tongue urges out a sad little whimper that Izuku would be ashamed of if it wasn’t immediately swallowed up.

Katsuki doesn’t care.

He doesn’t care how gone he is for him.

Because he’s fine with it, and for some reason that’s what almost breaks him.

“How do you expect me to not use your title now of all times,” he asks.

“You still want to?” Katsuki asks quietly.

“Yes, Your Highness,” he says, knowing he hates it, but it feels… right like this. Reverent, even. Most of the times he said it were to tease him, but….

Katsuki makes a low noise in his throat, and suddenly Izuku’s back is pinned against the railing, but he’s not worried about falling overboard. If Katsuki doesn’t catch him, his dragon will, and oh gods, that’s so–. Never mind the fact that he can just cast a water walking spell and be fine. Gods, gods, gods….

“Don’t doubt me,” he says, his body impossibly close to his.

“I won’t,” Izuku says. “I promise.”

“I was a spiteful and selfish little bastard, but it’s only ever been you for me,” he says. “The gods gave me you because they knew no one else would ever be good enough.”

Izuku flings his arms around his neck, completely overwhelmed. Hearing this from him means more to him than anyone could ever understand. Katsuki isn’t a romantic. He doesn’t write poetry or songs, and he would never try to court him, even if it was necessary, but this admission, the acknowledgment of Izuku being someone he agrees is the right match for him is worth more than all the flowers and jewels in the world.

Katsuki doesn’t want their engagement severed.

He wants to marry him.

He wants me, Izuku thinks with a sudden rush that has him melting into him. Katsuki’s grip tightens as he pulls him as close as their bodies can get to each other until Izuku can practically feel Katsuki’s pulse hammering against his own chest.

He’s so strong, and powerful, and gorgeous, and amazing, and he’s all Izuku’s. Want surges through him so powerfully that not even the gods could stop him from–.

“Your Highness?”

Izuku and Katsuki push away from each other at the sound of the sailor’s voice. Katsuki swears, and Izuku’s cheeks flare in embarrassment. He can’t believe someone just saw them doing that.

On the deck in the middle of the day where most of the crew usually is.

Oops.

“What is it,” Katsuki says, discreetly wiping his mouth.

“We’re stopping at port for supplies,” he says. “Captain wants to see you to review our stocks.”

Katsuki nods. “Right, gold. Sure. I’ll be right there.” He looks at Izuku, who stands with his arms folded across his chest, suddenly too aware of his own frivolity. “I need to find out how much the trip back will cost us since the crew was docked longer than expected.”

“Do you need help with the math?”

“I can do the math,” he says, and Izuku flashes a smile. “We’ll get off at Sever’s Bay tonight. Tell Shouto so he won’t be surprised.”

“I’ll get Eijirou down too,” Izuku says. “If you want.”

Katsuki’s eyes widen. “How?”

Izuku smiles shyly and holds out his hand. Two butterflies made of light flutter from his palm and up towards the dragon flying above. Katsuki’s face softens in understanding as he watches them fly away, and even the sailor who came to retrieve him looks up in awe.

Pride bubbles up in his chest, momentarily making him forget that he was just horribly embarrassed—not long enough, though. The sailor looks back at Izuku, and Izuku’s cheeks flash hot before Katsuki does the merciful thing by chasing him away, leaving Izuku to give Eijirou the news when he lands.

The news that they’ll be stopping for the night. Not of anything else.

His lips tingle, swollen and raw, and he presses them with the tips of his fingers.

He kissed him.

He kissed him because he wanted Izuku to understand.

And all Izuku can hope is that that’s what this is and not just wishful thinking.

The tavern is loud and unruly, the exact opposite of the quiet and private elven rooms they dined in before setting sail. Even the men on Katsuki’s ship tend to keep to themselves out of respect for the three heirs on board.

But this?

This gets Katsuki’s blood pumping.

He and Eijirou clears the way to a table, both more comfortable with elbowing their way through a crowd than the other two are, and a woman in a low cut dress brings them a tray of pints Katsuki is more than happy to indulge in.

Shouto sips at his, as prim and proper as always, but this is the taste of home. They aren’t home yet, of course, but it’s close enough to put a smile on his face. He takes a glance at Izuku, who left when he was far too young to get a taste of ale, and he holds his breath, worried it might taste more like piss to him. Izuku drinks and makes an odd face before turning to Shouto.

“Can you make this a little colder?” Izuku asks, having to shout his question over the noise in the room. Shouto reaches his hand beneath his tankard, and Katsuki watches as frost creeps up the sides. Izuku drinks again and smiles like he couldn’t love it more. “Perfect!”

“Can I try that?” Eijirou asks, and Shouto reaches for his tankard rather than making Izuku pass his across the table. He tries his chilled ale, and his eyes widen with an excited nod. “Katsuki, you’ll like this!”

He bristles at being the last one to try it, and a stubborn part of him wants to refuse because ale is meant to be as warm as the room it’s poured in, but Izuku takes it upon himself to steal his tankard away before he can object. Shouto cools it, and Izuku passes it back, and he looks so damn hopeful that Katsuki drinks it anyway. It can’t be that good–.

Oh.

Well fuck, that is better.

“You two and your damned magic,” he says before he takes another drink, the cold fizz tickling the back of his throat.

The tavern woman comes back with a large tray of food that has all four of them sitting up with interest. It’s the island’s specialty, and they wouldn’t waste the night with anything less—a heaping pile of soft and flakey fish, battered and fried in oil, and an even higher mound of crispy potatoes covered in salt and a red powder that makes you reach for your ale. Shouto’s people may have been the ones with all the bowls of things to scoop your food into, but the creamy white sauce and the sharp tomato and horseradish mix have always been some of Katsuki’s favorites. 

She also brought a big bowl of corn and island-pepper croquettes that release a thick plume of steam whenever pulled apart. She sets down a bottle of spiced vinegar for the table and a bowl of lemons to squeeze over the fish, and then because the gods are good in all things, she leaves and comes back with a plate of fired prawn skewers. It’s a feast fit for a king—or two—a dragon, and a dragon’s mate slash war mage.

Izuku puts his hands together and closes his eyes. “I don’t know where to start.”

Katsuki grabs one of the skewers and bites off a prawn, tail and all. “Eat while it’s hot. You won’t get anything like this on board.”

Shouto pulls apart a croquette and dips it into the tomato and horseradish sauce. “Do not underestimate the power of a mage who wants something.”

Katsuki’s eyebrows raise, and Izuku flashes him a smile as he bites into one of the potatoes, a flare of mischief in his eyes that makes him want to drag him off to somewhere a little more private.

Gods, what has he started?

This is all he’s going to think about when he’s near him, isn’t it? And away from him too.

Izuku glances at his lips and licks his own before turning away, his thoughts as obvious as the high noon sun, and Katsuki feels a new kind of heat in his chest, an untapped hunger that makes him feel like one of the savannah cats that's just caught sight of its prey.

They tore down a wall today, and with it went all sense of propriety, and gods be damned if he can bring himself to care. That quick taste of him wasn’t enough, and they both know it. It’s going to be hard to behave himself.

He doesn’t see why he should have to.

Katsuki reaches out and kicks his foot, a childish maneuver to get his attention, but he gets absolutely no reaction at all. 

He kicks again, harder this time, and Eijirou yelps.

“Ow!”

Katsuki’s cheeks flush hot, and he sinks down into his seat. Izuku bites back a smile, and Katsuki feels a playful tap against the toe of his boot. He raises an eyebrow, and Shouto somehow distracts Eijirou with a piece of fish long enough to make him forget he was ever kicked at all.

Somehow Shouto has managed to become completely attuned to Eijirou, which is strange, but it’s not something he would advise against. Fuck it, why shouldn’t they mate? It would probably be more convenient for everyone if they did anyway because he doesn’t think Shouto actually has any plans to return back to the elves.

He thinks about the look Izuku will have on his face if Shouto ever does, and his stomach twists in a knot. It will be as bad for them as abandoning Eijirou would’ve been for Katsuki. But that’s a problem for another day.

“What country is this,” Eijirou asks.

“It isn’t one,” Katsuki says.

“Oh?”

“Back when our clans came together, one of the families decided to come here instead. They said they would be a ‘friend at sea’ but they wouldn’t be governed by another clan, and it was more beneficial to Katsuki’s ancestors to let the clans who didn’t want to join remain outside allies,” Izuku says easily, reciting the old history like it’s something he would have an every day reason to think about.

“My parents and Shouto’s give the island a sum every year to support the port, and it makes trade between our countries easier. Instead of having to sail all the way back and forth every time, we meet here. We stopped here on the way back so the Quartermaster can get more food and water because Shouto’s docks aren’t supplied for travelers, and I’m not about to fuck with their resources when this is good enough.”

“I appreciate that,” Shouto says. “Although a few more crates of wine would’ve been nice….”

“If you wanted more, you should’ve planned better,” Katsuki says, and Shouto narrows his gaze. He laughs and bites into one of the potatoes.

“So who’s in charge here,” Eijirou asks. “Do we have to meet them?”

“No, it’s not like that,” Katsuki says. “The captain gave a tribute when we docked. Seventy gold pieces. Me marching up to the leader’s house would just piss them off.”

Eijirou nods thoughtfully. “I guess you do have that effect on people sometimes.”

“I meant because of the clan ways! Acting like some hoighty toighty little princeling and making some guy I’ve never met kiss my ring just because I’m royal would be like a big fuck you to the other clan heads who left. I mean, yeah, if I knew him maybe, but we’re just stopping for supplies. I’m not getting anyone out of bed for nothing.”

“Are clan heads like kings?”

“Kind of,” Katsuki says.

“I thought you were the only one,” he says. “I mean the next one after your mom.”

“Nah, Izuku is one,” he says, taking a bite of his fish.

“Oh, nice to meet you, Your Majesty,” Eijirou says sincerely. A delighted laugh bubbles out of Izuku’s lips before he can help himself.

“No,” Katsuki says.

“That’s how you told me to greet your mom,” he says.

“Because she’s the queen–. Look, don’t worry about it. Some of the clans pledged to my family like Izuku’s did so we’re in charge of them, but some didn’t so they got to fuck off to wherever they wanted to, and this one chose this island between my kingdom and Shouto’s.”

Eijirou furrows his brow. “Human politics are confusing.”

“You’re telling me,” Katsuki says.

“Elven is worse,” Shouto says, tired, and Katsuki nods his head in agreement. Fuck being in charge of the elves. If he had to choose between them and fucking off to his own island, he would’ve chosen the island too.

“Who gets the Academy when your parents step down,” Izuku asks, and Katsuki is surprised that he doesn’t already know. Well, Katsuki doesn’t know either, but Izuku lived with them.

“Touya.”

“Oh gods,” Izuku balks.

“Is that the one who does the–,” Eijirou starts before leaning over the table into a whisper. “Death magic?”

Shouto smiles at him fondly like he could kiss him for asking, and Katsuki squeezes his eyes shut in dismay.

“That’s Shouto’s brother, dumbass.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Eijirou says.

Shouto’s smile widens. “I understand your apprehension, but I assure you, Touya is a talented mage.”

“Who will probably leave Fuyumi and Tensei in charge while he focuses on his research,” Izuku adds, and Shouto nods in agreement.

“Or you,” Katsuki says with a quirk of his brow.

Shouto shakes his head slightly like that was the wrong thing to say, and Eijirou sits up with wide eyes.

Interesting.

So he may have to go back if his parents name him the heir instead of one of his siblings, and that’s not just an idea, but an actual possibility.

And Shouto doesn’t want it.

Very interesting.

Is that because of Izuku or because of Eijirou?

Or is there something else, a reason why Shouto wouldn’t want to be in charge?

Izuku would know. He would know, and he would never say a word, even if Katsuki asked, but that’s not true, and he knows it. If Katsuki asked, Izuku would tell him. It would tear him apart, but he would tell him.

Good thing the answer doesn’t matter. Shouto is going back with them regardless, and as long as he doesn’t murder someone or burn the castle down, Katsuki has no reason to send him back.

“More ale?” 

Katsuki looks up to see the tavern woman with more tankards in her hands.

“Yes, please,” Izuku says, and Katsuki finds himself smiling. Izuku is coming home.

They spend a fortune on dinner, indulging themselves far more than what is probably necessary, and that doesn’t include the sack of gold he gave the captain to make sure the crew was all fed and happy. If there’s one thing he can do as their prince is not make them resent having to ship him around, especially when his cargo is so especially… precious.

The four of them step out into the moonlight, the sea air cool on Katsuki’s cheeks. It smells like salt here, and he can understand why a clan would want to break away and make this island a kingdom. Although, he would never give up his own.

“We’re going to walk around,” Eijirou says, a small plea for a little time alone with Shouto, and Katsuki is tired enough to not even pretend to argue. Izuku may want to walk around too, though, and Katsuki won’t stop him.

“Fine by me,” he says. “But be back on the ship by daylight, or we’ll sail off without you.”

Eijirou grins mischievously. “We could catch up.”

Katsuki rolls his eyes. “You don’t know the way.”

Eijirou’s face drops. “Oh.”

He points at them both. “By daylight.”

“Of course, Your Highness,” Shouto says with a bow that might just be sarcastic. Izuku giggles. It is sarcastic.

“Go,” he waves. “Get outta here.”

Eijirou and Shouto turn to leave, but Izuku stays by his side.

“Wait!” Katsuki calls towards them, and he marches up the hill after them. “Here.”

He holds out his coin purse and what’s left inside it towards Eijirou, who takes it with a surprised look on his face.

“Can’t send you off empty handed,” he says, and then he leaves before anyone can say anything about it. Izuku, fortunately, trails after him.

“That was so nice of you,” he says, and Katsuki bristles.

“Shut up.”

Izuku laughs happily.

He looks over his shoulder, and once he sees that Eijirou and Shouto are long out of sight, he turns and catches his lips with the view of the docks below them. Izuku sways, something he did the first time too, and Katsuki wonders if it’s something that he’ll always do, if just being kissed a little is enough to set him off balance.

“Oh wow,” he gasps, awestruck, and Katsuki takes his face in his hands.

“Good?”

“Really good,” Izuku nods. “Can you do it again?”

He presses another kiss, indulging him. It’s not as… consuming as the one of the ship had been, but that was a culmination of every feeling Katsuki’s ever had for him breaking free from a carefully guarded surface. This is adoration for his little mage, and it presents itself just a little quieter.

Izuku makes a small noise, almost like a mouse.

“What,” he says quietly.

“I don’t know, I’m just really happy right now.”

Katsuki smiles and kisses him again. “The ale on your breath gives me an idea why.”

“I’m not drunk,” he grins.

“You’re not,” Katsuki says skeptically.

“Uh uh,” Izuku says, and Katsuki only hums. “I like kissing you. I’m going to do it all the time now, and you can’t stop me.”

“Is that so.”

“Yes.”

“Greedy.”

“Yes,” he says again, smiling up at him with a shamelessness Katsuki hopes he wears forever. He hums and indulges him once more.

“Did you want to explore the town too?”

Izuku steps back with a yawn and stretches his arms high above his head. “Not this time. We’ll come back.”

“Probably,” he says.

“Plus I think it’s nice to give them some time alone, and I think this is the most time off Shouto’s ever had.” Katsuki hums in agreement. “And, I think it bothered him that he couldn’t spend more time with Eijirou because of his responsibilities. I’d like it if he could be a little selfish for once, even if it wouldn’t really be.”

“So you’ll go back to the ship with me then,” Katsuki says, and Izuku nods. He turns around to put his back to him. “Alright, hop on.”

Izuku looks at him, startled. “You can’t carry me all the way back!”

“Why not?”

“It’s too far,” he says, like it matters.

“I held you for hours on Eijirou’s back. Do you think that was easier?”

Izuku pales. “You what?”

“You slept hard,” he says. “It was either that or let you fall.”

He puts his hands to his own cheeks. “Oh gods.”

“What? It was only the four of us,” he says, not sure what Izuku would have to be embarrassed about.

“But you held me.”

“So? And I’ll do it again. Hop on,” he says. Izuku frowns. “Izuku. Hop on.”

Izuku takes a deep breath and steps forward, and Katsuki lowers himself to make the jump a little easier. Izuku uses his shoulders to pull himself up, and Katsuki gives him a hop to push him up over his waist. He has hunting packs that are more difficult to carry than this.

“You good?”

“Yes,” he says, as Katsuki hooks his arms beneath his knees. “Wow, I didn’t realize how much I missed wearing pants until now.”

Katsuki snorts and sets off towards the docks.

“You know how the prince isn’t supposed to go anywhere without a guard,” Izuku says next to his ear,

“I don’t have to follow that rule as long as I’m with Eijirou,” Katsuki says without a reason to have his pride insulted by it. He’s a capable warrior in his own right and able to defend himself, but it’s easier to fight off an ambush with someone whose focus is to keep him from getting killed instead of being on his own. And sorry to his guards, but a dragon trumps just about everyone else when it comes to a fight. He and Eijirou have never lost.

“Yes, but he’s with Shouto right now,” he says.

Katsuki blinks, suddenly aware that both of his swords are still on the ship. “Yes.”

“Well,” he says, lowering his voice. “It's a good thing you’ve got me to protect you.”

Katsuki rolls his eyes.

“Uh huh,” he says, bemused.

“If someone attacked us, I could blow them up,” he whispers. “Isn’t that exciting? You wouldn’t even have to put me down.”

“Are you coming up with strategies up there?”

“Of course,” he says. “One should always be prepared when one’s betrothed is the prince.”

“Gods help the poor mugger that dares to cross you.”

“Especially when you don’t even have your coin purse,” Izuku says, and Katsuki snorts. “But I should admit something to you, Your Highness.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m not as good with fire as Shouto is.”

“You’ll be better than him,” Katsuki says easily.

“You think so?”

“Of course. You’ll train while he’s distracted with the dragon,” he says, and Izuku giggles happily.

“Yes, Your Highness,” he hiccups.

“Oh, you are drunk aren’t you.”

“I am not,” Izuku insists. “Wow, your shoulders are so nice. Has anyone ever told you that? You’re so muscular. I mean I knew that, but feeling it myself– so does this mean you’ll get stronger than Eijirou since he’s distracted too?”

Katsuki huffs. “Go back to complimenting me.”

“What would you like me to compliment you for?”

“Anything that doesn’t make me second to a damn dragon.”

Izuku squeezes his arms around him and laughs. “Oh right, I suppose that would give someone an unfair advantage. Being a dragon.”

“You’re telling me.”

Izuku hums. “I like the way you smell.”

“The way I smell?”

Katsuki’s back straightens. He could work with that.

“Yes, you smell kind of like honey.”

“Honey?!”

“Mmm, like warm sugar buns,” Izuku coos.

“Alright, no more talking until we get back to the ship.”

Izuku laughs at that. “Would you like me to tell you a story?”

“No.”

“There once was an ogre who lived in a swamp.”

“Stop it.”

Izuku laughs harder, his voice echoing throughout the town, and Katsuki smiles wider than he has in a long time. He’s not sure if he’s ever felt this good, but if there’s one thing he’s confident about is that the gods were right.

He needs Izuku.

Somehow, knowing that doesn’t bother him.

He carries Izuku back with him to the ship so he doesn’t have to walk in his present state, but Izuku is more than happy to bother him from his new vantage point. It’s… nice. Izuku is warm against his back, and his hair tickles his cheek enough that his mind can’t wander too far, and although they both smell like ale and fried fish, there’s something pleasant about it.

Izuku talks his ear off, either explaining the history of the island (which he knows) or about the colony of sea elves who live in coral homes beneath the water just a few miles out (which he did not know). He asks just as many questions about dragons, and Katsuki finds himself speaking the language more than he does when he’s with Eijirou—Izuku refuses to explain why he needs to know how to say there are two baskets on the barrel over there or no, that’s not a seagull, it’s a regular pigeon. Who is he to question a scholar?

Some of the crew stayed behind rather than roaming into town for dinner and drinks, and as Katsuki carries Izuku up to the deck, Izuku waves at them all.

Drunk.

He’s drunk.

But he’s a happy drunk and not an angry one, so Katsuki will take it. And he will take him all the way to his cabin so he doesn’t make a fool of himself before the night ends.

He manages to carry him below deck without tripping down the stairs or knocking Izuku’s head against anything, and Izuku’s cabin door flings open with just a twitch from Izuku’s fingers. Now, that’s an interesting trick.

The lanterns were put out before they left to avoid a fire, but Katsuki can still make out the faint traces of Izuku’s room through the porthole window. There’s parchment everywhere and a few books strewn about, and it’s nice to see that even if he’s been cooped up here for several days, he’s still managed to entertain himself.

“Is it too late to say I’m not tired?”

“Yep,” Katsuki says before depositing him onto his hammock. He’s tired, he just doesn’t know it yet. Izuku reaches for him to pull him down to him, and Katsuki swats him away. “No.”

He scowls up at him, and Katsuki presses a kiss to his forehead.

“Don’t make me have Eijirou guard your room.”

Izuku laughs. “I’ll be good, I swear.”

“Stay away from the sides of the ship.”

“Don’t tell me what to do,” he says, and Katsuki sucks his teeth like he’s peeved by it. (He’s not). Izuku grabs his wrist before he can pull away again. “Stay with me.”

“I can’t,” he says.

“Why not?”

“Because we aren’t supposed to be alone,” Katsuki says.

“Will the gods unbind us for it?”

The corner of Katsuki’s mouth twitches. “You are drunk.”

“No,” he laughs.

“You are,” he says. “The Izuku I know would be terrified.”

“I believe they can be forgiving sometimes,” he says. “I’ve been faithful to the person they fated me to. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if we were friends.”

Katsuki hums. “Is that what we are?”

“I want to be,” he says. Katsuki leans down and kisses his lips, and Izuku’s grateful fingers trail through his hair, tugging him closer. “The gods didn’t unbind us when I was born without their blessing. They shouldn’t unbind us for this.”

“Izuku,” he scolds, but it’s so half-hearted he doesn’t know if anyone would believe it. How is he supposed to deny him when he doesn’t want to? If their parents find out he did anything more than bring him home, they’ll kill them both. There’s too much riding on this, and they’re not two regular people who get to enjoy the privilege of doing whatever they want. Izuku knows that more than anyone.

“Please,” he says softly. “Just tonight. I don’t want to be separated from you.”

Suddenly he’s a boy again trying to start a fire in the misty mountain air just to warm his hands without any idea of what Izuku is doing a world away. That doesn’t have to happen again.

He climbs into the hammock with him, careful not to tilt it over, and he prays to both the gods and Shouto’s stars that it can hold them both.

Izuku’s arms go around him easily, drawing him back to his lips as the shape of the hammock pushes them together. Izuku’s warm body curves against his as the kiss chases away all the conflicting thoughts he could have.

“How can I want you this much,” he whispers, his voice trembling with a hidden plea. It sends a distinct shiver up his spine because if he knows him as well as he believes he does, he knows what he’s asking for, and Izuku wouldn’t dare if he wasn’t dying for it.

“I can’t here,” Katsuki says somehow. “Not on a ship. Not with you.”

“I know,” he says with a breath. “I know, I’m sorry. We should wait until after my trial.”

Katsuki nods. At least if his resolve is thin, they’re on the same page because truly if Izuku asked, he wouldn’t tell him no. He wouldn’t want to.

“It would be too cruel if I had you once and then lost. I think it would kill me.”

“You won’t lose,” Katsuki says. “I’ve seen you fight. You’re a warrior now.” Izuku shakes his head, his eyes watering. “You are. Don’t argue with me.”

Izuku frowns, and Katsuki kisses him again because it’s all he knows how to do. Fighting is easy, but they can’t spar for this. Talking is like pulling teeth, and he would never say the right thing. But with this, at least Izuku seems to understand him more.

“I wish we did this before,” Izuku says. “Do I want to too much? Is it annoying?”

“I’ve kissed you every time,” he reminds him.

“Oh.”

He shifts until he’s over him, and he pulls away so there’s a notable gap between them, giving Izuku the option to close it if he wants to.

Izuku pushes himself up and bravely presses a kiss this time, and if Katsuki wasn’t still a little sick with nerves from earlier, he might tease him for it.

But the reality of being kissed by him hits him too powerfully, and all he can do is push him down against his pillow and work into his eager mouth.

Why can’t he have him?

What law is it that would deny him?

The gods said Izuku belongs to him, and Izuku wants him as much as he does, if that could even be possible.

He should just–.

A sound between a moan and a sigh slips from Izuku’s throat, and Katsuki pulls away before he goes too far. He takes a frustrated breath and closes his eyes so he can force himself to think about anything else. Mud, sour milk, wet bird shit.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m going to keep going if I don’t stop myself,” he admits with a ragged breath.

Izuku pushes himself up to kiss him, but only once before he stops. “I just needed one more.”

Katsuki nods. He can accept that.

“After the trial then,” Izuku promises.

“Yes.”

“And how long will I have to wait for that?”

Katsuki laughs fondly, and Izuku looks up at him hopefully before his eyes flicker back to his mouth, a haze forming over his face as he watches it.

“Izuku…,” he half scolds.

“Hmm?”

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” he grins. “What are you doing?”

“Izuku.”

He hums again dismissively as he moves towards him, and Katsuki allows it.

Is this who they are now with each other?

Katsuki, who just a week ago was terrified that Izuku would never see him as more than the brat who chased him away, and Izuku, who just this afternoon told Shouto that he thought Katsuki was only doing his duty.

That may be the exact opposite of what he’s doing here. The gods said they had to marry—which means there will be a certain future expected that they’ve both already come to terms with—but the gods never said they had to love each other, and Izuku always has. Katsuki knows that. It’s one of his earliest memories, so there was never a reason for Izuku to confess it, but Izuku also never expected him to return those feelings. He was fine to have nothing, but what Katsuki needs him to know is that he has everything.

Trial or not, fuck the gods and all their glory, Katsuki is his, and so they will live that way.

No ceremonial bows.

No politically appropriate seating arrangements.

No escorted walks around the fucking gardens while they pretend to get to know each other.

The gods gave him Izuku, and the gods gave Izuku him.

He kisses him harder, with more purpose, and Izuku’s voice breaks against his lips, a soft and needy sound that has him surging for more. Izuku winds his arms around his neck like if he tries to pull away again, he’ll have to take him with him.

“I’m sorry, I can’t stop yet,” Izuku gasps. “I’ve waited so long, and you’re so–.”

He presses against him again, parting Izuku’s mouth so he can taste him. Izuku moans a mixture of want and surprise, and it’s the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard. He’ll hold his resolve for Izuku’s sake so he won’t be afraid of his trial more than he already is, but they also need this. It’s about balance, probably. Fuck it, he doesn’t know.

“I will have you the day you pass your trial,” he says. “As soon as we’re alone, I’m taking you apart.”

“Okay,” Izuku says with an eager nod. “Let’s do that. As soon as we’re alone. After my trial, we’ll–.”

He cuts himself off as he surges up to his mouth, this new shared delirium taking over, but it doesn’t matter. The agreement was made, and they’re both smart enough to not fuck it up. They can enjoy the outer boundaries.

It’s enough to make him dizzy. Katsuki puts a hand down to brace himself, but it slips right between Izuku’s thighs, and his wrist presses right against Izuku’s warmth.

Izuku’s breath hitches, and they both pause in surprise. He should move away, he knows. He’s not supposed to touch him there, but…

He presses the heel of his palm against him, drawing out a heavy breath and a shudder that’s almost palpable.

But Izuku doesn’t flinch away.

He doesn’t squeak in horror or squirm.

His thighs shift slightly as if to give him more room, and this time when Katsuki kisses him, it’s careful, cautious almost. He can hear the boots of the crew walking above, but it’s nothing compared to the hammering in his ears or the quiet and soft little sounds their lips make.

He pulls back again just a hair so he can feel the shallow breaths on his lips as he rubs between his legs. Izuku pants softly, and he moves his hands up Katsuki’s chest, a touch he’ll probably never get out of his head.

He lets himself be pulled to his mouth, and he rubs him through his trousers until Izuku is gasping against his lips, the rise and fall of his chest almost frantic. Izuku getting off is a thought he guiltily pretends he doesn’t have out of respect or something ridiculous like that, but now it’s all he can think about.

“I want you so bad, this isn’t fair,” Izuku says against his lips, shifting to rock against his palm. “Can I–?”

“Can you what,” he rasps, although he should have just said yes because that’s going to be the answer no matter what it is. Gods, this would be dangerous if used by anyone else. “Touch you. You’re the prince, I can’t just–.”

“What can’t you do,” he says. “Tell me. Who would stop you? Kill them.”

“Katsuki,” he laughs.

“Do what you want,” he says. “Fuck. Yeah, touch me.”

Izuku makes a small noise before he reaches for him, and gods, he didn’t know he needed this. He’s cautious as he feels along his length, taking in the shape of his cock for the first time, and Katsuki kisses down to his throat. He bites him with a groan, and Izuku gasps as he squeezes him.

“Inside,” he says, and he immediately regrets it because the last thing he wants to do is push him into more than he’s ready for, but Izuku doesn’t hesitate to reach for the ties of his pants.

It’s like he was waiting for permission the whole time.

The hand that wraps around him is a little too cold, but fuck, he doesn’t care. He bites at him and yanks at Izuku’s ties until they’re loose enough to reach his own hand into his pants as well. Fuck it, they’re doing this. There’s no going back now, he’s getting him off, and he’s not being a coward about it.

He moves back to his mouth as he reaches down through a soft cloud he hopes to the gods is just as green as the rest of him, all the way to the source of that earlier heat. He’s sopping wet, more than Katsuki ever thought a person could be, and his middle finger presses into him like butter.

“Oh gods,” Izuku gasps, one hand clumsily stroking Katsuki’s cock while the other knots in his hair.

Katsuki’s palm presses against where he’s hard as his finger thrusts into where he’s soft, and he wonders how long it’ll be before he’s able to get a second in. Or a third. One day soon it will be his cock splitting him open, a realization that makes him groan.

Izuku’s mouth falls slack, and his body tenses as every breath fights from his lungs. Sweet little noises slip their way out from his lips and nose, drawing Katsuki closer faster than he’s ever managed to do himself.

They lie tangled together, each with an arm trapped between them, and Katsuki can barely think about anything but Izuku and what Izuku needs.

“Ka– ah,” Izuku gasps with a hard jerk against his palm. “Oh gods, oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!”

He works him until his wrist burns, Izuku’s grip on his hair almost punishing as the hold around Katsuki’s cock loses its rhythm. He clenches around his fingers, his walls clamping down on him as slick soaks his fingers, and he feels Izuku twitch against him as he comes, a breathy cry ripping its way out until Katsuki thinks to cover his lips with his own.

The world flashes white as he follows. Izuku strokes him through it with the last of his energy until he’s almost too sensitive, and Katsuki slumps against him as he comes into Izuku’s hand.

“Oh gods,” Izuku says, out of breath.

Katsuki collapses with a final jerk, and Izuku pulls his arm out, carefully sliding his palm against the inner lining of his pants. “Fuck.”

He kisses where his vest doesn’t completely cover his collar, and when that isn’t enough, he inches up towards his neck until he finds an even plane of skin.

“I’m going to lock us in a room in the castle for days,” he says. “They won’t be able to find us.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” he says, a little delirious, and Katsuki snorts as Izuku dissolves into a fit of giggles.

He will sleep better tonight than he ever has before, there’s no doubt about it.

They both will.

His eyes grow a little heavy.

“Oh no, Katsuki, we just–,” Izuku says suddenly with panic in his voice, and Katsuki pushes himself up, alert. No, he will not regret this, not for anything less than not wanting it.

“It didn’t count,” he says.

His eyes widen. “It didn’t?”

“Not until I’m inside you,” Katsuki says. “Cock or tail, that’s the dragon way. There’s no rules about hands and fingers.”

“Oh, okay,” he says, nodding. “Yes, that’s good. We’ll do it the dragon way. Sure. Tail?!”

Katsuki shrugs. “They make it work their way.”

“Wow,” he says. “So if I had a tail, we could–?”

“Uh huh.”

“Wow,” he says in awe. “That’s… good to know.”

Katsuki raises an eyebrow. “I can smell you getting ideas.”

Izuku bites back a smile. “I’m not getting any ideas.”

“Mhm,” he says, not buying it. Izuku looks up at him, his hair a mess and his cheeks flushed. This wasn’t just the first time Katsuki’s ever touched anyone, it was the first time Izuku’s ever been touched, and Katsuki just kind of went for it. “Are you okay?”

He gives him a shy smile with a nod. “Better than okay.”

“Good,” he says. “That means I’ll be doing that to you every night until your trial. That’s your punishment for putting those sounds in my head.”

Izuku laughs and turns away. “Oh gods, that’s so embarrassing. I was trying to be quiet.”

“I love it,” he says with a kiss to his cheek. “Don’t make them for anyone else.”

“I can’t, that would be treason.”

Oh.

Right.

That’s the law, and he would be executed for being with anyone else.

How is that fair when he didn’t get a choice?

Katsuki pulls away and sits back up. “You know if you needed someone else, I would let you, right?”

“Stop.”

“You lived with the elves a long time, and they’re very–.”

“Stop,” Izuku says firmly as he sits up.

“We were told to marry, but I won’t own you–.”

“Stop it,” he almost shouts. “Katsuki, I have always belonged to you, yes, but you have always belonged to me too. I’ve never thought of anyone else, or looked at anyone else, and I’ve never even considered the possibility of there being anyone else. You’re what I get for passing my trial, and I worked so hard so I could win, and I can’t– even if you took another or had a whole castle of concubines, I wouldn’t–.”

He puts his hand behind Izuku’s head and pets him. “Now you stop.”

Izuku sniffles and wipes at his eyes.

“Izuku,” he says, and Izuku makes a sharp, bitter noise as his face twists in dismay. “Izuku…”

“I’m sorry,” he says with a sob, and Katsuki folds himself over onto his lap.

“I told myself I would never make you cry again, and now here I’ve done it.”

“You didn’t. I’m just–. It’s so hard to explain how much you mean to me,” Izuku says. “I love you so much. I couldn’t want someone else. If you think I could, that means I’ve failed.”

Katsuki sits up and tries his best to soothe him. It’s not in his nature, but he has to try. He pets him and kisses the salt from his cheek, and Izuku sniffles.

“Do you know I mean it,” he asks quietly.

“I do know,” Katsuki says. “I promise, I believe you. You did well, I read your last letter a thousand times before coming here, and I am going to marry you as soon as we’re allowed to.”

Izuku makes a sound like a whimper and cries in his arms. This is something he’s going to have to get used to, but by the gods, it’s worth it. Izuku may be a crybaby, but he’s his crybaby, and he’s never letting him out of his sight.

“I don’t know how to make it better, I’m not Eijirou,” he says.

“No, I’m fine, I’m just–. I have a lot of feelings.”

Katsuki snorts, petting the back of his head. “I know.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Then should I be selfish with you?”

“Yes.”

“Possessive?” Katsuki asks, and Izuku nods. “Chase away any man or woman who admires you too much?”

Izuku nods again. “Yes, Your Highness.”

He turns and kisses his cheek. “Okay.”

Izuku sniffles. “Thank you.”

“Then we’ll be the way dragons are,” he says. Izuku nods and hiccups. “You can only have me, and I can only have you.”

“Thank you,” he says again in a whisper.

He holds him until his breathing steadies, and then he coaxes him back onto the hammock, careful not to let it tip over and send them into a nightmare.

“I should change,” he says with a grimace.

“You’ll come back?” Izuku asks too hopefully.

“Do I look like I can stay up all night? I’m barely awake now.”

“No, to sleep with me,” he says, reaching out to him. “Just this once.”

“Where?”

“Here,” he says. “We can share. Please? What opportunities will we have when we’re home?”

When we’re home.

Katsuki takes a breath. “Alright.”

Izuku’s smile widens. “Alright?”

“I’ll sleep with you in your hammock,” he says. “But if you flip us, you’re off to the deck with those two idiots.”

Izuku laughs happily at that. “I won’t flip us, I swear.”

Katsuki squints like he doesn’t believe him, but the smile Izuku gives him is worth all the gold in the world.

They separate long enough to get cleaned up and changed, and Katsuki keeps his word, returning to Izuku’s cabin because this might truly be their only way to spend a night together before the wedding.

It’s horse shit, if you ask him. They’re going to be married. The gods said so. What’s the point of living like they aren’t already?

It’s ridiculous, but it is what it is. At least his parents aren’t here to scold him for it, and Eijirou is more loyal to him than any of the guards ever would be, wherever he is.

He sighs and slips into Izuku’s room, now lit with a candle so he can see his way. The blankets have been arranged, and Izuku waits nervously in his sleep clothes. They hang looser around his body than what he normally wears, and Katsuki thinks he must be able to breathe so much easier now.

“After you,” he says and gestures towards the hammock.

Katsuki raises an eyebrow, but he climbs on and lays himself in the middle. Izuku joins him shyly, reclining into his arms so his head is back against his shoulder.

“Is this okay?”

“Yeah, it’s good,” he says. Izuku waves a hand, putting out the candle on the other side of the room with a gentle gust of wind and leaving them in the dark. He settles back against him, and Katsuki wraps his arms around him, holding him close. “You’ll sleep soon.”

“I will,” he says. “I promise.”

“Don’t lie to your king.”

“You’re not the king yet.”

Katsuki moves to his ear. “That’s not what I said.”

Izuku covers his face with his hands, shrinking himself with a gasp. “Oh, wow.”

“If you tell anyone I said that, I’ll kill you.”

“Oh no, that’s for me,” Izuku says. “I’m saving that for later.”

Katsuki laughs and kisses his temple. It’s strange. He isn’t the kind of person who does things like this, and yet now he can’t stop himself from doting on him.

But something feels different about all of this, especially when it’s just the two of them.

He won’t say he feels complete or anything else so ridiculous, but he feels good in a way he never has before.

It’s a light feeling like being in the air, euphoric like a won battle, and peaceful like falling into bed on an autumn night.

He squeezes Izuku to his chest and closes his eyes, turning his nose into the unruly forest he calls hair. He thinks about Eijirou calling Izuku his mate and takes a deep breath.

He’s probably right.

So be it.

Meanwhile.

Eijirou walks through the nice boat-people town with Shouto’s hand in his and a happy smile across his lips. He flew for most of the day, but it’s nice to get to stretch his legs too.

“Have you ever been here before?”

“Yes, a few times for supplies,” Shouto says. “Have you?”

Eijirou frowns. “No.”

“Is that something you’re unhappy about?” Shouto asks, and Eijirou shakes his head. “Tell me.”

“I just didn’t know there were so many places in the world,” he says and looks at Shouto. “And so many people.”

“You’re worried that the three of us have had too many experiences without you, and you’re feeling left out,” Shouto says. Eijirou looks away, his cheeks burning. “I understand that feeling.”

“Yeah?”

“My oldest brother is almost 800 years old, and I am a few months younger than you are,” he says. “Two of my siblings are older than Katsuki’s kingdom is. They talk about wars and eras of magic like they happened yesterday, but they were centuries ago, and I’ll never know what the world looked like before, outside of paintings. And sometimes when they talk to each other, I remember they’ve known each other for centuries, and I must feel like a stranger to them.”

Eijirou nods thoughtfully. He supposes it’s the same for dragons, but he was hatched with so many others during his brood year that he’s never had to think about the difference between himself and the elders, but those are Shouto’s siblings.

“I wish that we had met before,” Shouto says. “I would’ve liked to come here with you. I’ve heard that the rest of the island is beautiful, but we never stayed long enough to explore it.”

“You came with Katsuki and Izuku?”

Shouto shakes his head. “There’s an herb good for burn treatment that grows on the island, and it’s difficult to cultivate at home. I’ve come with Natsuo and Fuyumi to trade other potions for raw materials. Katsuki has only come to see us a few times. We mostly corresponded through letters. This trip was the most time I’ve spent with him at one time since I’ve known him.”

“Oh,” he says. “That makes sense.”

“I am glad to have met you now and not at the wedding,” Shouto says. “I want to know you for as long as I can.”

Eijirou smiles and turns towards him before tugging him close. “I’m going to know you for longer than 800 years,” he says before he kisses him, grateful that he was lucky enough to find a mate so soon so that they won’t feel like strangers. Maybe it does burn a little that Katsuki had these secret friends, but as long as Eijirou doesn’t think about it too much, it’s probably okay.

Shouto hums pleasantly against his lips, and Eijirou smiles as he pets the back of his silky head.

“I promise not to keep any more secrets from you,” he says. “I wouldn’t have this time, but it wasn’t my decision to make.”

“I understand,” he says. “Really, I do.”

“I’m glad I got to come here with three of you,” Shouto says. “I didn’t know the food was so delicious.”

Eijirou’s smile widens. “It is, isn’t it?”

Shouto nods. “I don’t think I’ve ever had more than a sip of ale before, but I may have indulged myself tonight.”

“Should we go back and get more?”

Shouto laughs and shakes his head. “No, I think I’ve had enough for a night. Forgive me if I have to hold onto you when we walk down the hill.”

“You can hold onto me any time you want,” he grins before kissing the corner of his mouth. “That would make me very happy.”

Shouto hums again, turning into him. Eijirou trills as he’s kissed, a sound he’s not used to making in this form, but something about Shouto just draws it out of him.

Shouto takes his face in his hands, deepening the kiss, and Eijirou holds onto his waist, careful not to let his claws press too hard. It’s so much easier to feel him now that he’s no longer wearing his robes, but nothing will ever beat having Shouto naked. He wonders how long he’ll have to wait before he can see his pretty little behind again.

It’s so tiny for such a tall person. Easy to hold in one hand.

“Eijirou,” he says, his eyes flicking up to his. “Are you in a hurry to return to the ship?”

“Not yet,” he says. “As long as they don’t leave us, it’s fine, I think.”

“There isn’t a lot of privacy there, and out of respect for the crew, I have restrained myself with you, but it has been… difficult,” he says, and Eijirou’s eyes widen. “Would you be opposed to taking advantage of our few hours on land with me?”

“Of course not,” he says. “What do you want to–?” Eijirou stops when he sees Shouto pull out a small vial hidden beneath his shirt, one that stirs a recent memory he wouldn’t mind repeating. “Is that…?”

Shouto pulls out the cork and drinks the contents, swallowing it down with a gasp. 

“Yes,” he says, his voice hoarse.

“Oh boy.”

“I hope not to waste it,” he says.

“Of course not,” Eijirou says before taking his hand. He drags him into an alley outside of the moonlight’s reach, and he pulls him into his arms, tasting the new splash of bitterness on his tongue.

They have to wait for the potion to work, but Eijirou is perfectly happy doing this until he’s ready, running his hands over Shouto’s body as his own cocks harden in his trousers.

He moves to his ear and nibbles on the sharp point. “You know, if it’s the crew you’re worried about, I can always hide you beneath my wing.”

A small noise catches in Shouto’s throat. “That doesn’t seem fair to you.”

“Oh, no, I think I would like it too much,” Eijirou says before he kisses his ear, relishing in the way the warmth of his breath makes Shouto shiver. “I would sleep so much better if you did that with me. There won’t even be a mess, I promise. I’ll take care of it.”

“You will,” Shouto says. 

Eijirou moves to his neck and presses his teeth into him like he means to bite, and Shouto groans. “Mhm.”

“Is that because you’re a good mate?”

Eijirou straightens and turns his jaw towards him and kisses him hard for that, pressing him against the wall so he can anchor him in place. Oh, he doesn’t know what that does to him, he has no idea.

Shouto reaches between them to palm Eijirou through his pants, spreading his fingers wide to make sure he  gets both cocks with one touch.

“Fuck me,” Shouto whispers, and it’s not in human or elven.

Eijirou’s blood pulses hot, and he freezes in place. “Where did you learn how to say that?”

“I called in a favor with a prince with a foul mouth,” he says. “He was horrified, but I hope the answer he gave me was correct.”

“Oh, it was super correct,” he says. “Say it again.”

“Fuck me,” Shouto repeats a little bolder this time, the words flicking off of his tongue like crackling fire. Eijirou squeezes his hips and rocks their bodies together. Yes, being trapped on a ship with so many people has been a problem. As soon as they’re home, he’s flying him away. Far, far away. “It’s working. I’m ready.”

He steps back so Shouto can turn around, and he makes himself useful by pulling his pants down for him, exposing his cute little ass to the salted air. Such a small little thing…

Oh, he could just sink his teeth into him.

Not here.

Eijirou pulls himself from his trousers and presses against him. Shouto’s breath hitches as his body tenses for a moment, and then Eijirou feels the effort he takes to relax himself. He pushes in little by little, Shouto’s body giving way by magic like a warm sheath fitted just for Eijirou. He briefly wonders if he could manage to get both in at one time, but it would probably be best to try that at home in a more private and comfortable place.

Having one cock in him while the other nudges against Shouto’s balls is nothing to complain about though. 

Shouto keeps his hands flat against the wall, bracing himself as Eijirou pushes in all the way.

“I have to hurry,” he whispers. “Someone might see.”

“I know,” Shouto says. “Do it. I’m okay.”

He pulls out and pushes back in with a snap of his hips, and Shouto gasps. Yes, they have to be quick. He can’t take his time with him this time. He has to–.

Shouto bites back a moan, and something in Eijirou cracks. He gives into him in quick, rapid thrusts that send wet slaps echoing down the alley. He’s seen dogs fuck this way, and maybe that’s what they look like, but moon above, it feels too good to stop.

He buries his face in his neck as he wraps his arms around him, jerking his hips into him while one hand clumsily grabs for Shouto’s dick. He huffs against his back, but it’s the sound of Shouto keening that sends him over the edge.

One of his cocks spills inside him while the other paints between his thighs, and with a gasp Shouto comes on the side of the building in a foray of heavy spurts timed with Eijirou’s last thrusts.

He collapses against his back as his softened dick falls out, and Shouto gasps for air as he braces them both up. Eijirou almost lets out his wings to help.

“I needed that,” Shouto says. “Thank you.”

Eijirou laughs and kisses his shoulder. “We will make more time on the boat even if I have to fly us away.”

“You are very kind.”

“I don’t know if that’s what this is, but yes.”

Shouto pulls his pants up and turns towards him for a kiss that has scales prickling over Eijirou’s cheeks. It’s in his nature to do anything to make his mate happy, and he thinks so far he’s doing a good job.

The two of them stop to fix their clothes with Eijirou taking extra care to smooth Shouto’s down for him, because he would not like to look ruffled, and he sees Shouto shifting uncomfortably with a slight grimace on his face.

And then he remembers he spilled in his–.

Oh no.

“Should I carry you back to the ship?”

“I would like to find a pitcher of water and an outhouse,” Shouto says.

Eijirou nods. “I can do that.”

He leaves Shouto concealed in the shadows and makes his way back to the tavern where he buys a clean tankard from the nice lady with the big boobs for a single gold coin. He then finds a nearby public hand pump and fills the tankard up with fresh water before letting his nose lead him back to Shouto.

They find an unoccupied outhouse, and Eijirou covers his nose with a grimace that Shouto matches as he opens the door.

“I’m sorry, kitty,” he says with a frown.

Shouto nods and steps inside, and Eijirou stands guard.

Oh, he was a careless dragon. He should have been more thoughtful. Shouto must be miserable right now. How could he do that to him? That wasn’t nice at all.

A few minutes later, Shouto comes out looking pale and sheepish, and Eijirou gives him a sympathetic pout before pulling him into a hug. “I’ll pull out next time, I’m sorry.”

“No, that seems like such a waste,” Shouto says.

“So was leaving so much of you behind on the ground.”

“I believe that was the wall,” he says, and Eijirou laughs happily. Shouto offers a smile and hooks his arm through his, staying close in a way that makes him preen.

“Do you wanna walk around some more before we go back?”

“Yes, being on land again feels much better to me,” Shouto says, and Eijirou can’t help the frown that tugs at his lips. He tries not to take it personally, but it does sting a little, finding out that his mate may not be suited for the air. “Flying is exciting, but being on a ship….” He puts his hand over his stomach and shakes his head.

Eijirou’s eyebrows raise. “Have you been sick?”

Shouto nods. “Izuku packed plenty of berries, but it would be nice to not need them for a few hours.”

“And… does flying make you need them too,” he asks carefully, unsure of what he’ll do if the answer is yes. Having a mate he can’t fly with… oh, that would be devastating. He would not regret him, of course, but….

“No,” he says. “I think that it’s the way the ship is never steady that makes me unwell. You fly evenly, and when you dive, I can hold onto your horns and ground myself. That hasn’t unsettled my stomach yet, and I don’t think it could unless you decided to twirl.”

Eijirou smiles, both pleased and relieved. “Then we will walk around for a while tonight, and tomorrow I will fly you above the ship while the others sail.”

“You’ll exhaust yourself,” Shouto says.

“I belong in the air,” he says. “It won’t exhaust me at all, and besides, I’ve been sleeping too well these last few nights. If I don’t fly when I can, I might get lazy.”

“You’ve been sleeping well,” he asks as they wander towards one of the shops.

“The best sleep of my life,” he says confidently, and it’s dark, but he swears he sees Shouto flush. “So much more energy for flying.”

“I suppose you have convinced me,” he says.

“But only if you want to,” Eijirou says quickly. “If you don’t like it, we’ll stay on the ship. That’s fine. Whatever you want.”

Shouto kisses him on the cheek with a pleasant smile, and Eijirou all but melts into a puddle.

Oh, he has such a good mate. He couldn’t be more perfect in every way.

“In here?” Shouto asks, and Eijirou grabs the door for him so they can walk inside.

A bell above the door chimes pleasantly, and an old woman perched on a stool in a heavy shawl smiles at them. “Welcome, travelers. Find anything you like and bring it to me. No returns. Gold and fair barters only.” She takes a look at Shouto and raises an eyebrow. “I’ll also take potions, if you have ‘em.”

“I don’t have any potions with me,” Shouto says, and then he waves his arm and the shop becomes as warm as a summer’s night.

Her checkered smile widens. “Thank you, sir.”

He nods and walks off to look around the shop, and Eijirou follows closely behind.

“That was so nice of you,” he whispers.

“It’s simple magic,” Shouto says quietly. “And I am in a pleasant mood.”

“Oh?” Eijirou grins. “I wonder why.”

Shouto looks at him, his eyes sparkling on an otherwise expressionless face, and it takes all of his strength not to kiss him. He wouldn’t want that, not in front of a stranger. Even in front of Katsuki and Izuku is pushing it. No, he’s too private. Eijirou will restrain himself.

“If you continue to look at me like that, I’ll get flustered,” Shouto says.

“I don’t know any other way to look at you,” Eijirou says, and Shouto bites back a smile, turning down one of the aisles as if to slip away. Eijirou does not let him.

They reach a table covered in jewelry made of seashells, stones, and sea glass, and Eijirou sees a dark blue pendant with milky white edges like it was carved out of a large pearl. The nearby lantern light flickers against it, and his eyes widen. He’s never seen anything so pretty before.

And shiny.

So shiny.

He picks it up by the gold chain with his claws, careful so he doesn’t smudge the pretty stone with his fingers. 

“Shouto?”

Shouto turns towards him, and Eijirou quickly puts the necklace on him so he can see what it looks like. Yes, this is perfect. Katsuki will wonder where the gold went, but the pretty elf deserves a pretty necklace.

“There,” he says, satisfied. “You should have this.”

Shouto touches the stone, looking down at it curiously. “Would you like me to wear it?”

“Yes, please.”

“Eijirou,” he asks. “Do dragons give mating presents?”

Eijirou flushes and looks away. “Sometimes…”

Shouto presses a kiss to his cheek. “I will give you mine when we reach land.”

He looks back at him, surprised. “You were going to give me a mating present?”

“I think I should,” he says. “Elves give gifts to their companions. I would like to give you something too, especially since you’re the only one I’ll have.”

His smile widens as his chest warms from the acknowledgment of their shared bond.

He understands. Eijirou knew he would.

“But I’m afraid it will have to wait, because I cannot manage to use that much magic in these conditions,” he adds, putting his hand over his stomach for emphasis.

Eijirou frowns. “Oh no, I didn’t realize the trip was so awful for you. From now on, you’ll tell me when you want to fly. It’s your right as my mate. You can even take one of Izuku’s books up with us if you want so you won’t get bored. Or maybe we can try fishing together. I can hold the net with my claws and you can look out for dolphins. I’ve heard they’re mean.”

Shouto’s face softens. “Thank you, Eijirou.”

“And you’ll be paying for that necklace, won’t you dear,” the old woman calls, and Eijirou quickly fishes out Katsuki’s coin purse, glad he didn’t drop it in the alleyway.

“Yes, ma’am,” he says quickly, and he hurries over to her to pay for it. The sooner he gets that taken care of, the sooner it will belong to Shouto.

When they leave, the bag is significantly lighter than it was when he first received it earlier this evening, and he wonders if Katsuki will be upset with him when he finds out. Oh, he hopes not.

But maybe Katsuki will be so happy to be reunited with his own mate that he won’t even notice the gold is missing.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear

But Shouto needed it. He did the right thing. Anyone who sees him wearing it will agree with him, he’s sure.

Oh boy.

They walk back together down the street, both meandering towards the docks where the ship is, and Eijirou chews at his lip in nervous anticipation. Maybe he won’t be mad. He’s never been mad at him before, not in a real way.

And he did give him the gold, and Katsuki wouldn’t have given him any gold if he didn’t want him to have it, and he would be okay with Eijirou spending it however he wants because Katsuki doesn’t like it when he asks him for permission for things.

The dragon goes where I go. The dragon goes where Izuku goes.

See?

It’s fine.

He’ll understand.

“Eijirou,” Shouto says, pulling him out of his thoughts. “I didn’t want to say so in the shop because we were in the presence of a stranger, but I wanted to tell you that my magic is yours. I’ve given it to you, so it’s your right as my mate as well, like flying would be for me.”

“Oh,” he says, pleased. “How would I…?”

“Ask me for something,” he says. “Anything you want. I do not have Izuku’s skills with conjuration, so I cannot make you a sword, but I can try something else.”

Eijirou hums in thought. “Anything?”

“Of course,” Shouto says.

“Then can I have a butterfly?”

Shouto makes a surprised face. “Hm?”

“The pretty thing that you and Izuku send to people,” he says.

“Oh,” Shouto says with a nod. “Yes, I can do that.”

He holds out his palm, and a small being of light flutters out, leaving a faint trail in the dark. Eijirou holds out a finger, and it lands on it, content to be carried as they walk.

“Oh, it’s so pretty,” he says, delighted. “Thank you.”

“Your wish is rather uncomplicated,” Shouto says with a hint of amusement.

“I like it,” Eijirou says. “I can’t eat it, can I?”

“No, I would think not.”

He hums and nods. That’s a shame.

Shouto holds out his hand again, this time presenting a large, speckled fruit on his palm.

“What’s that?”

“A snack,” he says. “If you don’t mind having some of the island fruit while we’re here.”

“Oh, thank you,” he says and takes it with his unoccupied hand. He bites into it, and too tart juices dribble down his chin all the way to his chest. “Oh no.”

Shouto casually pulls out a cloth from inside his sleeve and dabs up the mess for him so he doesn’t lose his butterfly.

“That’s so embarrassing,” he mumbles.

“After what I just had to do in a public outhouse, I don’t think this is anything to worry about,” Shouto says, making Eijirou cough. “I think we should return to the ship now, don’t you?”

Eijirou nods in agreement. “I think so.”

“I would like to get properly cleaned up, and then I’ll join you on the deck, if that’s alright.”

“Yes, that would make me very happy,” he says. “And then after we sail far enough away, we’ll fly.”

“I like the sound of that,” he says. “Is the fruit good?”

“It’s sour,” Eijirou says.

Shouto takes it from his hand and bites into it without making as much of a mess, careful to let the juices fall to the ground instead so gracefully that he looks like an angel.

And then his face twists horribly into something precious and ugly.

Eijirou laughs happily.

“I don’t think it’s ripe enough to eat yet. My apologies.”

“It’s okay, thank you for trying,” he says fondly.

Yes, he is a good mate indeed.

He hopes Katsuki is just as happy with his as he is.

Speaking of, he wonders what they’re up to.

They must’ve gone to sleep already. He should stop by Katsuki’s room to return his coin purse.

Chapter Text

Katsuki and Shouto sit at a table below deck with a deck of cards borrowed from one of the crew members. Eijirou took Izuku up to the sky after dinner because Izuku wanted to watch the sun set, and Eijirou thought he’d like the view up there better.

Shouto puts down a card, and Katsuki scrunches his nose before picking up another from the deck. He puts down one of his own, and Shouto discards another.

Shit.

“May I speak with you privately?”

“We’re alone, aren’t we?” Katsuki says. Shouto gives him a meaningful flat look. “Yeah, say whatever you want. You don’t I don’t care.”

Imagine being a prince who makes people kiss your ass. Disgraceful, if you ask him.

“You know I consider you one of my closest friends. Elves won’t go to war for anything less than the end of the world, but I would go to war for you and your people without hesitation once you’re crowned, and I would bring every ally I have with me,” he says.

Katsuki shifts in his chair uncomfortably. “I know that.”

“But I don’t believe in your gods or have any reason to obey them. If Izuku changes his mind, I will bring him back with me and hide him, even if he says you would sneak him to me,” Shouto says. Katsuki stiffens. So they’ve talked about this, and Izuku told him that. “I feel like it would be a disservice to our friendship to lead you to assume I wouldn’t.”

“You’d choose him,” Katsuki says.

“Yes,” he says without hesitation.

Katsuki nods. “Good. I want Izuku to trust me, but I don’t want him to think I’m the only person he can.”

“That’s surprising,” he says, and Katsuki frowns. “That you want him to.”

He exhales and sits back in his chair. The past doesn’t like to get too far out of sight, does it. “Izuku told you what I said when we were kids, didn’t he.”

“He did,” Shouto says, his jaw setting. “When we were children, we were playing together one evening, and I don’t remember why it came up, but Izuku told me, and he cried for hours. I had never seen anyone so sad in my entire life. It soured the magic in the air, and to this day I’ve still never seen anyone cry like that again. I told my siblings because I didn’t know what to do, and they told my parents, and my parents offered him an education somewhere else because that’s all we could do to protect him without provoking a war. You were the prince of your nation, and he belonged to you, even though I thought at the time that your gods had to be cruel and horrible for that.”

Katsuki nods and reaches for his tankard, his eyes stinging. It’s just water, but he would kill for it to be something more akin to lead right now. He knew what he’d done was unforgivable, but if it was bad enough for the Todoroki elves to get involved to save a child…

He knew they took him away, but maybe he thought they saw some unseen potential in him, like they could smell mages, and they knew that getting him a little bit of that magic water would make it come out.

No, they were getting him away because Katsuki was a monster who was going to eat him alive.

Maybe his gods are awful.

“And I believe that Izuku needed to leave your country, and that you needed to go to the dragonlands and live with Eijirou’s people while Izuku lived with mine,” Shouto continues. “You would not be who you are now if you didn’t, and Izuku wouldn’t know how capable he is if he didn’t.”

Katsuki exhales, exhausted. Fucking elves and their wisdom from living for billions of years. Well Shouto is still younger than him, in case he didn’t notice. Shouto is still the baby here all the way up on his high horse. He’s not ancient and wise yet, that’s for damn sure.

“I don’t think you’ll hurt him,” he says to Katsuki’s surprise. “I was worried that there would be some habits retained from our childhood. Impatience, at least, but I believe you love him enough for who he is and for who your gods decided he would be that he will live a long and happy life with you and will not regret leaving my home.”

“So does this mean you’re giving me your blessing?”

“Yes,” Shouto says. “You may marry him.”

Katsuki’s mouth quirks in amusement, and he coughs a weak laugh. “Alright.”

Shouto puts down another card. “It’s your turn.”

Katsuki checks his hand before drawing another. “I feel like I just took a beating.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not,” he says. “And on that note…”

Shouto looks up at him, and Katsuki sits up.

“This running away from home business,” he says, pointing his cards at him like a knife. “Personally, I don’t care. If you want to come with us, be Izuku’s best friend until the end of time, and hide from your mage responsibilities, then fine. You can have your own room and everything. You don’t need to convince me of anything, but Eijirou doesn’t know what it means to have his heart broken. Dragons don’t do that. They have no concept of it. When they mate, they mate for life. So I’m sure you’re going to be extra careful to make sure he doesn’t become the exception.”

Shouto blinks quickly and nods.

“Doesn’t feel so great, does it?”

Shouto puts down another card. “No, it doesn’t.”

“Why are you friends with me if you think I’m a bastard?”

“You call me a bastard all the time,” he says.

“You know what I mean.”

“Because elves live for centuries, but you changed in nine years,” he says simply.

“I guess that’s barely any time at all,” he mumbles.

“Indeed,” Shouto says. “And we are friends because I like the person you are now. We were children, and now we’ve grown up. But forgive me for being cautious. Izuku is precious to me.”

Katsuki nods. He’s precious to him too.

“Eijirou calls you brother,” he says. “I have siblings, yes, but they’re–. I think they would be more like loving aunts and uncles to your people, so it’s hard to be close to them.”

“Izuku is your brother too,” Katsuki says, knowing what he’s trying to say. “Not the ancient psycho one you were saddled with, but the one you picked out yourself.”

Shouto nods.

“Always put him before me,” he says. “I’m a bastard prince now, but in a year, I’ll be king, and everyone in the world is going to put me first no matter if I’m good or not. Put him first, and if he wants to run away, he’s right, I’ll send him back, but take him again if he needs it. I’d rather him be with someone who wants what’s best for him, but when he dies, send him back so he can rest with his parents. You may not believe in our gods, but that’s important to him.”

Shouto nods. “Yes, I will respect that, but I don’t think Izuku will ever want to go back with me. I believe he will be happy with you, and you will take care of him because you want to. I don’t think anyone else would suit him, and that’s not because of something your gods did. I think you became someone worthy of him on your own through hard work and self reflection. That’s admirable, and it’s easy to want to be friends with someone like that. I think you’ll be a good king one day. I don’t know any kings, but you won’t be a spoiled tyrant, which I think is probably important.”

He huffs a laugh at that before he takes another drink of water, unable to say anything. He nods, though, because he understands what Shouto is trying to say, but that’s about all he can manage.

“Will you speak frankly with me,” Shouto asks.

“That’s the only way I talk to you.”

“Then I need you to do it intentionally this time,” he says. “Are you upset with what I did with Eijirou?”

“I’m not upset, but I don’t know if you know what you signed up for. I don’t know. I know that people who aren’t married before they’re born can have one night stands and as many lovers as they want. That’s what it’s like for humans and elves, I mean, but it’s not like that for dragons. It’s really not like that. They mate for life, and they can’t live without each other, and without going there and seeing it for yourself, I’m sure that can’t mean anything to you, but it’s true. But I also know you’re just fucking weird enough to go along with it anyway, even though you just met the guy.”

Shouto looks at him, surprised.

“I would put my life in his hands,” Katsuki continues. “If you can’t say the same, then yeah, you’ve made a mistake, and I have no idea how to fix it.”

Shouto pauses for a moment and then nods.

“Would you put your life in Izuku’s?” Shouto asks. Now it’s Katsuki’s turn to pause and nod. “Then you’re smarter than you look.”

Katsuki laughs at that. “Bastard.”

Shouto smiles to himself and draws another card.

“If you’ve got any questions, now’s the time to ask,” Katsuki says. “I lived with them. I know how they are better than any book will.”

“I think for the most part I’ll learn as I go,” Shouto says. “We’ll have a long life together, and Eijirou enjoys learning about me and finding common ground. But there is something I was curious about and it may not be something either of you can tell me.”

“Well, you can try,” he says.

“This–. I don’t know what drew me to him, but it was immediate,” Shouto says. “I’ve never felt attraction before to anyone, so I had decided that I was just incapable of it, but again I saw him, I–. And it was hard to stay away. I know I must seem ridiculous to you of all people, and Izuku seems more amused by it than anything, but if I’m not near him–. It was like that when I saw him when you first came together and not after we had sex. And it’s not just a physical attraction, I mean. Yes, he’s beautiful in both forms, but it isn’t that.“ He drops his head on the table. “I don’t know how to explain this, and I know you don’t want to hear it, but I don’t know who else to ask.”

“No, yeah, as much as I don’t want to talk about your love life, with dragons, that’s how it works,” Katsuki says, and Shouto sits back up. “When they pick their mates, they just look at each other and something snaps into place. I heard it talked about a lot because Eijirou’s brood year came of age when I was living there, but I never saw it happen. I thought it was bullshit, but–.” He stops and gestures at Shouto.

“You don’t have to indulge me,” he says. “If I’m being ridiculous, I would like to hear it from a reliable source.”

“If you didn’t come with us, Eijirou would’ve stayed behind with you,” he says. “He bonded with me, but if he left you…”

He wouldn’t have survived the trip home. But Katsuki doesn’t say that. Shouto is better off not knowing how serious it is. He doesn’t understand what they’ve done, and it’s not Katsuki’s place to put that guilt in his mind. Let him think this is the most chaotic whirlwind romance of all time because at least then maybe it has a chance of growing real roots.

What happens, happens, and maybe Katsuki should’ve said something before, but he didn’t think they would mate in a week.

He puts another card down, and Shouto scowls.

“I’m not good at this game,” he says.

“Me neither.”

“Would you like to play something else?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“How long do you mind waiting?” Shouto asks.

Katsuki sits back and stretches. “The whole trip home, I guess.”

Shouto stands up and disappears back into the cabins, and he comes out a few moments later with two wooden dolls.

“Are you joking?”

“I thought you said I don’t know how to do that,” Shouto says and sits across from him. Once they’re closer, he sees that they’re two wooden knights like the kind children play with, and he wonders if Shouto is about to play an elaborate prank on him by making him go along with this. “May I have a drop of your blood, Your Highness?”

Katsuki quirks an eyebrow at Shouto using his title to mock him, but since this means they are pointedly not playing dolls, he decides he’s curious enough to let it go.

He unhooks a knife from his belt, and he presses the end into his thumb until a small droplet forms, and Shouto slides one of the dolls towards him flat on its back.

“This one belongs to Izuku,” Shouto says. “Press your thumb against its heart.” Katsuki looks at him, wary. “You wanted to play.”

Katsuki exhales, shooting him a glare for baiting him, but he does it because if there’s one thing Katsuki isn’t is a coward. He’s not afraid of a stupid doll, even if it does mean he has to use blood magic.

A shiver runs up his spine at the thought.

The droplet of blood disappears into the wood like it was never there, and there’s a strange pulse of energy like the world around the doll is rippling before it stands up on its own. His eyes widen as he watches the doll brush the dust off of itself before it turns to him and flips him off.

“What the fuck?”

“Strange,” Shouto chuckles. “It never does that when Izuku plays with it.”

“What is this?”

Shouto pricks his finger on the sharp edge of a ring and presses it against the other doll, and Katsuki watches it come to life in his hands, miming a lazy yawn. Shouto smiles fondly at it, and Katsuki’s eyebrows raise, more at the genuine display of affection than at the yawning wooden doll.

What the fuck?

“Izuku and I played with these for hours growing up,” he says as he sets his down on the table. “I’m glad he thought to bring them.”

“What do we do with them?”

Shouto’s doll raises a sword and shield and charges towards him, stomping across the table at full speed. Katsuki yelps, startled, but the doll he gave his blood to raises its shield, taking the blow, but stumbling back with its shoulders hunched the way Katsuki’s are.

Shouto’s swings again, and Katsuki thinks of how he would parry that kind of blow, and his doll matches his thoughts perfectly. Then it thrusts forward with the end of its wooden blade the way he would, and in a moment, the dolls are fighting each other as if he and Shouto were on the deck sparring against each other instead.

Every move he wills it to do, the doll executes flawlessly, and even Shouto’s doll moves and twirls the way elven fighters do. Brute force versus a dancer’s grace. He’ll show him who the superior warrior is.

“Gods,” Katsuki says, amazed.

“It’s a fun game, isn’t it?”

The two dolls throw themselves at each other viciously and fearlessly, and Katsuki laughs like an excited child, unable to force back the smile on his face. He would’ve loved to have these as a child. He would’ve played with them until they fell into sawdust

The sound of a gasp lets Katsuki know that Izuku and Eijirou are back. He looks up and sees Izuku grab Eijirou’s hand and pull him towards the table.

“Oh, you’ll love this,” Izuku says. “Can we watch?”

“Of course,” Shouto says.

“Yeah, Eijirou, come here.”

He and Izuku sit at the table with them, both pulling chairs to the exposed side not pressed against the wall, and Izuku quietly explains that Katsuki and Shouto are making the dolls fight.

“With your minds?!” Eijirou practically shouts, a sound that mildly startles Shouto and his doll, the tiny sword waving in the air in horror. Katsuki snorts. “Sorry.”

Izuku laughs and hooks his arm around his supportively, and something in Katsuki’s chest warms at the sight of it.

Keeping them apart was a mistake.

Eijirou was always going to love Izuku, and Izuku was always going to love him. Talk about two people who were practically made to be friends…

“Who’s winning?” Eijirou asks.

“I am,” Katsuki and Shouto say at the same time.

Katsuki glares at Shouto, and Shouto blinks calmly.

Izuku leans towards Eijirou. “You get used to it.”

Katsuki gives Izuku a look, and he bites back a smile. That little shit.

But that restraint only lasts for a moment as laughter bubbles out of him, and Katsuki rolls his eyes before turning his attention back to the game on the table. He’ll win this stupid game and show them all that he’s the best, and Izuku better pay attention. He needs to see exactly who he’s marrying and why he should tell every single one of Katsuki’s opponents just how incredible he is. Yes, even Shouto.

Katsuki’s doll suddenly turns and runs towards the end of the table towards Izuku.

“Hey!” Katsuki says.

It ignores him and flexes his wooden arms, making sure Izuku gets a good look at him while Katsuki watches in horror

Izuku laughs in delight. “Oh, you’re so handsome.”

Shouto’s doll sits down on the table and rests its head in its hands like it’s bored.

“Don’t worry, we’ll wait,” Shouto says.

“Go,” Katsuki orders, but the doll ignores him again. It turns around to present its backside, and Izuku laughs even harder. Katsuki drops his head on the table in defeat, and soon a tiny wooden hand pats him for emotional support. “Fuck off.”

“Why, sure, I would love to dance with you,” Izuku says to Katsuki’s doll, and Katsuki puts his hands over his head in dismay.

“Is it supposed to do that?” Eijirou asks.

“No,” Katsuki and Shouto say at the same time.

“Although, it is quite amusing,” Shouto adds.

“I said fuck off.”

The sound of several little wooden clacks is all he needs to know that he shouldn’t look up again.

Katsuki is the first to yawn, and Izuku tugs at the leather band around his wrist.

“I’m kind of tired, and my legs are still a little wobbly on the ship,” Izuku says. Katsuki quirks an eyebrow at that because that sounds a little bit like bullshit to him. “Would you walk me to my cabin?”

“Yes, you should go with him,” Shouto says. “He might hit his head and die.”

Eijirou looks about as concerned as a dragon can and sits up straight. “Oh no! Should I carry him?”

“No,” all three say, and Izuku blushes a deep red even in the low light.

“That’s okay, umm, I’m–.”

“I got it,” Katsuki says as he stands to his feet. There’s no reason to make this any worse than it already is. “You keep the elf from doing anything funny.”

“I have no intentions of doing anything funny,” Shouto says.

“I’m shocked.”

“Your Highness,” Izuku hisses, and Katsuki tuts to himself as he makes his way towards the cabins.

It’s still strange being alone with him. It was always weird when they were with their parents, and that was after Katsuki stopped being a nightmare, but without Eijirou or Shouto as a buffer, a part of him is scared he’ll say or do something wrong and all of this will go away.

Izuku can still refuse him. Would it cause a major scandal that would be sung about for ages? Yes. Would Katsuki give a fuck? Only in the one way that matters.

And then there’s this new thing between them, a charged hunger than seemed to come from nowhere. Maybe Katsuki spent too much time with the dragons, but maybe the gods made it so that they would come of age and be obsessed with each other. Or maybe neither of them were ever capable of being anything less than too much. Maybe this isn’t anything new at all.

They reach Izuku’s cabin too quickly, and Izuku puts his back to the door before giving him a hopeful look. It would be too easy to press him against it and get a good, long taste of his mouth, but this ship is crawling with sailors and even though he would dare anyone to say anything about them, he’s a pretty damn private person when it comes to Izuku.

He knows what it looks like, Izuku being brought back as a prince’s bounty to be married and made to bear his heirs and keep him entertained well enough to not need a concubine—a tradition Katsuki’s parents tossed out before he was born—but that’s not what this is. He wouldn’t need a crown to want him, and Izuku wouldn’t need a crown to say yes. Let them keep this part of them something sacred and private for the sake of getting seventy more years of it. Yes, they still have to do the rest, but that’s not who they are tonight.

“Are you…,” Izuku starts and trails off with a shy smile.

“Hm?”

“Are you coming to bed with me again?”

“I planned to,” he says, moving closer as Izuku’s face brightens with hope. “I want you to tell me more of that magic.”

“Like the dolls?” Izuku says. Katsuki nods, and Izuku bites back a smile. “Okay.”

The door opens on its own, and he backs into it with a hand outstretched towards him. Katsuki takes it and lets himself be led inside. It should be embarrassing, but maybe because no one is around to see them, he can’t bring himself to mind.

Distantly he hears the door slam shut, but he’s too occupied with Izuku’s mouth to pay attention to it. Izuku throwing himself at him is a miracle, one he won’t be taking a break from as long as he can help it.

Their bodies spring towards each other, pressing until there isn’t a single breath of air between them, and Izuku rubs against him pointedly in a way that could start a fire. He’s not even trying to be subtle. Katsuki was perfectly ready to be on his best behavior, but his little mage is just as mischievous as he is passionate.

Izuku has no idea what Katsuki and Shouto talked about tonight, the heavy blows traded and the rightful worry Shouto expressed that Katsuki won’t be good to him, and yet Izuku kisses him with complete faith that he will be.

He can be good, can’t he?

He’s capable of that.

He doesn’t have to die a bastard just because he was born one.

Izuku pulls away with a smile as bright as the sun and gasps once for a breath before he excitedly begins to speak. “Eijirou took me as high as I could breathe! It was so beautiful up there!”

“Was it?” Katsuki asks. Of course he knows it was.

“Yeah, I think I could see the end of the world,” he says.

Katsuki hums and plucks out what might be a seagull feather from his hair. “Do you like flying?”

“I do, it’s incredible! Eijirou is so fast, and then he flew so close to the water I could see myself and everything!”

“If he starts to prefer you as his rider in battle, I’ll never forgive you,” Katsuki says with no real bite at all, and Izuku grins as he moves back against his body.

“I could launch some pretty big fireballs from up there,” he says.

“Hey,” Katsuki warns, and Izuku laughs happily at his expense until he’s silenced with a sudden press against his lips. Izuku makes a soft noise in surprise, but instead of jerking away, he moves his hands into Katsuki’s hair.

“I’m so happy to be back here, though,” he says.

“You like the ship that much?”

“No,” he says.

“So, does this mean you’re about to take your flying adrenaline out on me?”

“Of course not,” Izuku says bashfully.

“Liar,” he says before moving to kiss along his jaw. His cheeks may be as soft and squishy as sugar buns, but this part of him could slice a man in two.

Izuku makes a small, pleased sound as he angles his head for him. “Am I taking advantage of you, Your Highness?”

“I hope so,” he says. “And quit calling me that.”

“When will you learn that I like it?”

He pulls back and raises his eyebrows at that, and Izuku’s blush deepens as his eyes dart away from him. “Explain yourself.”

Izuku laughs and shakes his head.

“Izuku…”

“If you think about it, I was your first subject,” he says, keeping his hands on him, even if his eyes aren’t. “And you’re going to be king soon, and you’re the greatest warrior our clan has ever had, and I’ve always known you were going to change the world even before they told us about the prophecy, and now– you’re mine. The greatest soon to be king in the world is my friend, and my–.”

“And you… what?” Katsuki asks, moving closer to his lips.

“Betrothed doesn’t sound like the right word anymore,” he says quietly.

“It probably isn’t.”

Izuku looks up at him, worrying his lip as a light flush spreads across his cheeks. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

“Oh yes,” he says, and Izuku makes a pathetic noise of pure embarrassment. So he kisses him instead, so deeply he almost makes himself dizzy, but the sudden gasp for air has him stopping almost immediately, scared he’s taken it too far. But Izuku is fine. Heart-wrenchingly eager, actually, and he surges back towards Katsuki with enough excitement that he could blast a hole through the cabin floor.

He moves his body against him like he wants Katsuki to do whatever he wants with him, and Katsuki is pretty sure, knowing Izuku, that none of it is on purpose. He just knows that he’s in good hands and that he’ll be taken care of.

How could he possibly know that? What has Katsuki ever done to prove it?

Then again, they’re both men with needs and only one person in the world allowed to help them with those needs. But he can’t discredit Izuku like that. Even if he pretends that’s all this is inside his own head to make any sense of it, it would be an insult to the feelings Izuku hasn’t bothered to hide since they were children.

He wants this because it’s him. He wants this because Katsuki finally wants him back.

He moves his hands over Izuku’s body, grabbing and squeezing as he sees fit, and Izuku arches into him, his body presses against him without bothering to hide the fact that he wants to get Katsuki hard, and Katsuki allows himself to groan against his mouth.

Neither of them are subtle, but he doesn’t care. If he’s to be king, he can have and do whatever he wants, and tonight, all he cares about is turning his little mage inside out for him.

Izuku smiles against his mouth as his greedy little hand wanders between them because he knows he can do this. He knows Katsuki’s body is open to him, an unfulfilled promise that will give and give and give until the two of them are no more than skeletons. Except when he gives Katsuki a little squeeze, Katsuki jerks away.

“Wait,” he says.

Izuku recoils immediately, his hands up in surrender as he stumbles back. “Oh, gods, I’m so sorry, I–.”

Katsuki quirks an eyebrow as he unfastens his pants, making enough of a show of it to make Izuku tongue tied. “I’m not soiling all of my clothes before we reach land when they’re so godsdamned hard to clean like this. If you want me, you’re getting me like this, and that’s final.”

Relief washes over Izuku’s face before an amused giggle escapes him since only one of them has this kind of problem. Bastard.

“Don’t you laugh at me,” Katsuki says.

“I’m sorry, I can’t help it,” Izuku says. Katsuki gives him a flat look as he drops his pants, revealing himself in all of his swollen glory and making Izuku’s breath hitch.

“You see what you do to me? One kiss and I’m ruined. I can’t even bring myself to be ashamed of it when this is my only solution because you can’t keep your greedy little paws to yourself.”

Izuku bites back a smile, his eyes two mischievous pools of emerald Katsuki plans to call his first treasures. “Oh, no, how terrible for you.”

“It is,” he says as he reaches for Izuku’s vest. “It’s fucking awful.”

He works away the strings with deft fingers, letting the body trapped beneath it breathe a little. Gods, this can’t be comfortable. But then again, Katsuki finds the most basic of shirts to be stifling.

“Are you undressing me too, Your Highness?” Izuku asks, amused.

“Yes, I want you to tell me of your magic, but you’ll have to be naked too or I’ll ruin your clothes and I won’t be sorry.”

Izuku gives him a delighted laugh, smiling so brightly he may as well have brought the sun down inside the ship, but before Katsuki can get Izuku’s shirt off, he stops his hands, his face turning serious. “Is this okay?”

“Of course it is.” Katsuki frowns. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because I’m…,” he says, his voice trailing off with the answer.

“Yes, yes, I’m not supposed to see you before the wedding. Put the lanterns out then.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Izuku says meaningfully.

Katsuki frowns. “Then what?”

“Because I’m different,” he says. “You know…”

“Not that different,” he says, earning a small frown. “Did you not like how I touched you? If I need to do something else, you’ll have to tell me. In case you missed the part where we’re both idiot virgins.”

“No, you were–,” Izuku says, moving towards him until his hands are on his chest. “No.”

“The gods made you for me, didn’t they?” Katsuki murmurs as he continues where he left off removing Izuku’s clothes. “So did you want to play with your king, or was straddling my dragon enough for you?”

Izuku makes a displeased noise at that, and Katsuki kisses his jaw, tracing a line up to his ear with his mouth before he flicks it with his tongue.

“You are mine, Izuku,” he breathes, pushing the shirt off of his shoulders. “Your body. Your mind. Your magic. Your whole fucking future. Every inch of you belongs to me, and when I fuck you, there won’t be a thought in your pretty little head that isn’t me, so don’t waste our time thinking too much before I even get your pants off. Now help me with these blankets.”

He pulls away, leaving Izuku wobbling on his feet from the disorientation of arousal. He grabs his bedding and drops it to the floor, making a makeshift bed for the two of them.

Izuku watches him, pointedly not helping, but Katsuki doesn’t actually need him to. He just needs him to get over the fear that he isn’t exactly what Katsuki wants in every way, even if they are different. That shouldn’t even be a question since Katsuki is dragging him back home for a wedding he’s tempted to demand happen as soon as they land, trial or not, but proving always works better than promises.

“Put out the lanterns and come join me if you want to come tonight,” he says easily, shifting Izuku’s thoughts from the what if’s they don’t need to the throb between his legs. Sure, he could get himself off if they went their separate ways tonight, but Katsuki is holding on to the hope that Izuku craves him as badly as Katsuki does.

The lanterns all go out at once.

Katsuki climbs down on the bedding and waits, giving himself a few helpful tugs while he listens to the sounds of clothes rustling and falling to the floor, discarded with a decision made.

A few agonizing moments later, Izuku joins him, feeling around in the dark until bare skin finds bare skin. Katsuki almost groans as he pulls him to him, moving his body into his with absolutely nothing between them. His skin is so fucking smooth, untouched by battle, but every instinct Katsuki would have to sneer at that is overwhelming crushed under the truth that Izuku is a god in his own right. He hasn’t been carved up by swords and arrows because he’s so powerful they can’t even touch him.

And yet now as Katsuki moves a hand down his body, feeling every angle and curve with his palm, Izuku trembles.

“Are you scared?”

“No,” he says unconvincingly.

“… Izuku.”

“Maybe.”

Katsuki’s eyebrows raise even though Izuku can’t see him. “Of what?”

“Of this? I’m– I don’t know,” Izuku says.

“We can put our clothes back on,” he says.

“I don’t think it would help,” he says. “I’m just–. This. You with me, it’s so different.”

Katsuki removes the hand plastered against Izuku’s ass, not even realizing he was squeezing it until a sudden burst of self consciousness grips him. Well, shit. Too much, too fast.

“And Eijirou said–.”

Katsuki frowns. “What did Eijirou say?”

Izuku takes a breath. “He said he was happy we battle bonded or something like that. Is that what happened?”

His brow furrows at that. “Are you asking me if I want you because of that?”

“No, I’m asking if fighting together… made me like this,” he says quietly, shy and careful.

“You didn’t want me before?”

“Katsuki, please, don’t be ridiculous.”

Katsuki snorts.

“Are you scolding me?” Izuku squirms away like he can avoid answering the question as long as Katsuki doesn’t have his hands on him, but too bad, that’s not going to work. Katsuki yanks him back to him, slinging a leg over his hip to lock him in place and ignoring the way the feeling of him so close sets his veins on fire. Not yet. “Are you asking me why you can get into bed with me like this when it was easy to keep your hands to yourself before?”

“Maybe,” he says quietly.

“Because you know you can,” he says, nipping at his head hard enough to hurt. “You’re a warrior. You’ve got fire and steel in you, and if you don’t fuck your mate, you’ll go restless. Ask the dragon. He’ll tell you.”

Izuku makes a small noise, and Katsuki follows it to his mouth, kissing him hard enough to bruise. Izuku gasps against him, the blunt edges of his nails digging into Katsuki’s flesh as he pushes him body against him.

“Is that it?”

“Yes,” he says, out of breath. “It feels like that. It feels like if I can’t have you, I’ll scream. Even if we can’t, it feels like we are, and that’s terrifying. I feel like I’m standing on the edge of everything I’ve ever wanted, and I don’t know what to do.”

“Jump,” he orders against his lips. “Fly, dragon, and claim what’s yours.”

Izuku makes a broken, wanton noise as his body curves into his, drawn to him like magic older than anything the elves could have taught him. They were chosen for each other by their gods, and where Katsuki once resented that fact, now he’s just annoyed that he has to wait.

He kisses him hungrily. Angrily. He kisses him like a curse to both their ancestors and Shouto’s twinkling stars. Fuck it, fuck the moon too while he’s at it. Fuck them all, and then fuck the younger version of himself that did not love him.

He’s always been possessive and downright childish when it comes to his things, but Izuku can’t be shoved into a treasure chest and pushed to the foot of his bed. He can’t be owned or taken, but fuck, does Katsuki want to try. He wants Izuku to taste that desire on his tongue, and he wants Izuku’s laughter in his ear, knowing that he has their next king wrapped around his finger.

He pulls Izuku onto his thigh, painting it with the wet curls between his legs as Izuku gasps for him, his body tensing at the sudden pressure. Katsuki feels him shift against him, squirming for more even if he doesn’t realize he’s doing it. It’s a heady rush knowing that no one else has ever touched him. No one else ever will. Izuku’s body can only know him, and it’s about time he accepts that. And takes advantage of it.

He presses against him harder, sliding the meat of his muscle against Izuku’s cock as he kisses him with the fervor of someone who never needs to breathe again.

It’s easy to imagine more, to see Izuku on his back for him, his body an open invitation. It’s easy to want it and to know it will be one of the most important things he’ll ever do. It’s easy to know they were made for each other, his desire for him so potent that it makes his entire body burn with elven fire.

“Gods, Izuku,” he swears, his fingers pressing into his skin as he squeezes him just a little too hard. But Izuku is built for it. He’s a warrior, after all.

“I love this,” he whispers, the kind of confession Katsuki already knew, could feel all over his thigh, but makes him preen just the same.

“You do?”

“I wish–,” he starts, his mouth falling slack as Katsuki’s hands move over his body, touching him in all the right places concealed by the dark. Katsuki hums for him to continue. “I wish we did this before. After we came of age. I mean after you left the dragons and came to visit me. I wish–.”

His thought disappears as Katsuki kisses along his jaw, moving to his throat, the perfect place to sink his teeth.

“Did you want to sneak away with me?” Katsuki taunts.

“It’s fun to think about, I think, but if you don’t think so, that’s okay, it’s not like we were like that. I mean we don’t have to be like that now. It’s fine. I understand.”

“Izuku,” he says, bemused. “I’ve had your tongue in my mouth more than my own these last few days. What do you think you’re saying?”

Izuku lets out a horrified squeak before he tucks himself into Katsuki’s neck like he means to hide from him, even though rolling a foot away would be a thousand times more effective in the fucking dark.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“An early grave,” he mumbles against his chest.

“Tell me about sneaking away,” he says.

Izuku laughs. “No.”

“Coward.”

He laughs harder. “Stop it!”

“If you want me to stop, you’ll have to make me,” he says. “Or else I’m going to make you tell me about ruining all your research by throwing you on it.”

“Shhh!” Izuku slaps a hand over his nose, missing his mouth and making Katsuki’s eyes water automatically. “Ooh, sorry!”

“Graceful was never your thing, wizard,” he says as he pulls his hand away. “Don’t break my nose unless you know how to fix it.”

“But I do know how to fix it,” he says.

“Oh? Then do your worst,” he says, earning a pleased giggle. “Now, about those scrolls….”

“No!” Izuku cries with a laugh. “No, no, no, don’t!”

“Then stop me,” he taunts. “Shut me up.”

“How?”

“You’re clever. You can figure something out.”

Izuku makes a small, unsure noise, and Katsuki can’t help the wicked grin that spreads across his lips.

“I bet you would have tasted better than that wine the elves love so m–.”

He crashes into his mouth, his aim better with his lips than his hands, and slings a leg over Katsuki like he means to wrestle him to the floor they’re already sprawled on. But the shift puts Katsuki’s cock between his legs, pressed against the pure heat of him.

He grabs Izuku by the hips and pills him closer, so close he could press inside him without having to think about it. He could have him right here, right now, trial be damned. Their bodies both go too still, too aware. Izuku’s haggard breaths mix with his own as Katsuki’s fingers press into the meat of his ass, barely restrained by anything but pure power of will.

It would be so easy…

He presses closer like he means too, slowly and carefully until the tip of him just barely–.

Izuku’s body tenses.

“I won’t,” he whispers. “I promise.”

He shifts away enough to take the temptation away from himself before he slides against him like a blade moving over a whetstone. This time Izuku doesn’t gasp, he moans. It’s a sound that makes Katsuki feel like a god. Like he’s standing on a pile of his enemies. Like he’s diving off of the back of a dragon into the sea because he is untouchable.

Like he’s happy.

He chases that feeling and Izuku’s lips all at once as he drags himself between his thighs, the warmth there more intoxicating than anything he’s ever experienced. After Izuku’s trial, the two of them are going to be locked up together for a month, he already knows it. Fuck tradition. Fuck all of it.

Izuku moans again like there isn’t a ship full of people around them. Katsuki smirks.

“Feel good?”

“Amazing,” he breathes, tilting his hips in rhythm with him.

“Better than my fingers?”

“Better than anything–. I mean–!”

He laughs and pulls him closer, spreading Izuku’s legs with a firm grip on his thigh as he thrusts against him, torturing himself with this as much as he’s torturing Izuku. “Now tell me about the dolls.”

“You want me to explain it now?!”

“Is that a problem?”

“K-kind of,” he squeaks, distressed.

“Tell me, or I’ll stop,” Katsuki threatens.

If Katsuki didn’t know better, he would think the noise Izuku just made counts as a one second tantrum. Good.

“You can enchant small—ah—creatures made from materials like wood. They just need a little—oh gods—magic to come alive and blood to connect them to a specific person’s—mn—essence. It’s temporary, but—stars, right there, please, right there.”

“Izuku…,” Katsuki warns, pulling his hips away and earning a frustrated huff strong enough to blow his hair back.

“The abilities depend on the mage channeling the magic. You can enchant sentries to guard your–.”

Izuku groans, his mouth falling slack against him as he pants helplessly with stolen breaths.

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me, I don’t care,” Izuku gasps before claiming Katsuki’s mouth in a way that can only be described as sloppy. Katsuki laughs, amused. “You’re so mean.”

“Am I? Look at me listening to you talk about your interests. Someone would consider you lucky for that.”

“You’re an asshole,” he says, making him laugh harder. “I can’t think like this.”

“Good,” Katsuki says. “Don’t think. You think too much.”

“I can’t,” he says. “I can’t.”

“I know,” he says, like he’s not in agony. Like he wouldn’t trade his entire birthright just to be inside him right now, to find out exactly what that warmth feels like and prove once and for all that it’s everything he could ever want. “Keep going.”

Izuku pauses. “I forgot what I was saying.”

“…So did I.”

Another pause, this time twice as long before Izuku snorts and slides on top of him, smiling so hard that the lips Katsuki was happily kissing are replaced with teeth.

Katsuki gets an ass cheek in each hand and smirks with an unseen quirk of his brow. “This I could get used to.”

“Your Highness,” Izuku says in disbelief.

“How mad would you be if I gave you a smack right now?”

“… I don’t know…”

“Hm?”

“I don’t know,” he murmurs, the not very left unsaid, but before Katsuki can give it a try, the ship lurches and brings Izuku down on top of him. They both grunt as Izuku lands on Katsuki’s cock, pinning it to his stomach, but instead of feeling any pain, he almost comes right then and there.

“Oh, gods, sorry!”

“Do it again,” he groans, pulling Izuku back to him. “Come here, mage.”

Izuku pauses again and then tentatively rolls his hips over him, sliding himself along the length as Katsuki’s head rolls back in ecstasy.

“Fuck, like that.”

“Like this?” Izuku whispers, a pleasant curiosity to his voice as he moves over him, finding his own pace and fluidity.

“Almost,” he says before pulling him back to his mouth. “There.”

Izuku hums his agreement against his lips as the two of them move together, sliding their bodies with Izuku’s fucking godblessed slick coating them both like a dream.

Made for me, made for me, made for me.

Mine, mine, mine.

In a matter of seconds, he goes from a future king to a mindless brute with only one need in the world. He and Izuku quickly become a tangle of limbs thrusting against each other so quickly and hungrily that it’s a wonder he hasn’t shoved himself inside him by accident.

Like this, Izuku has total control, and where Katsuki thought relinquishing that would horrify him, when something feels this good, he really could not give a shit.

This is right.

He knows it. Izuku knows it. Anything they do together from now on is how it’s supposed to be, and no one can tell them otherwise, not even Katsuki’s stupid stubborn hogshit of a brain.

He tangles his fingers in Izuku’s wild green hair as his other hand grips his ass, guiding his thrusts as Izuku grows more frantic. More eager. More–.

Katsuki swears as his hips jerk up to him, unable to hold himself back anymore as Izuku’s muffled cry dampens his shoulder. Together they shatter, the entire world igniting around them as they pant and gasp, clawing at each other like it’ll never end. He hopes it doesn’t.

And then—mercifully, he admits begrudgingly—Izuku collapses on top of him, out of breath and covered in sweat. Katsuki lazily swings his arm over his back as stars dot the darkness in his vision. Gods and ancestors, it’s never like that when he’s alone. Never. He could cut his own hand off right now and never miss it.

Alright, well, maybe that’s a stretch.

But Izuku could probably make him a new hand. One made of metal, or gold, or some kind of thorny plant he could choke his enemies with.

Izuku sighs, a sweet and pleasant sound as his body sags like a happy cat, and Katsuki rolls his eyes. So it seems he’s not the only one enjoying himself.

“So mages that focus on reanimation can store their magic in these sentries, and then–.”

Katsuki barks a laugh so loud he barely hears the rest of it, tears pricking his eyes as Izuku’s mind comes back to him like a raging army. Gods, he’s too good.

Izuku slides off of him onto his arm, and Katsuki adjusts to toss a blanket over them, keeping him close so he doesn’t do something stupid like put his pants back on.

But Izuku just cups his face, angling to him for a kiss Katsuki isn’t sure he deserves yet, one that might be worth a ship’s full of gold.

“Maybe one day when you’re king I can fill the palace with magic sentries.”

“Teach them how to fight so my warriors can train on them,” Katsuki says.

Izuku pushes himself, one of the lanterns lighting itself so they can see each other. “Katsuki, that’s an amazing idea!”

“That’s the only kind I know how to have,” he says.

“No, I’m serious. I was joking because that’s not my area of expertise, but if you give me a few years to concentrate on it, maybe you can train me in combat and then I can put the magic into them, and then we’ll have training dummies that can fight back! But I won’t have access to the Academy…”

He sags at the reminder.

“Don’t worry about it,” he says with a dismissive wave. “It’s just a sea away. I’m sure the elves aren’t going to ban you for going back home.”

“Going home,” Izuku sighs as he settles back down with him, his cheek making itself comfortable on Katsuki’s bicep. “I wanted to go home so bad, but when we reach land, this has to stop.”

“Maybe,” Katsuki agrees with a pang. Getting time alone will be damn near impossible. It’s not like this for literally anyone else but the royal line, and royal Katsuki is. Izuku, too, technically. How is that fair? “Could just be for a few months.”

“It could be years, Katsuki,” Izuku says soberingly. “We don’t know when my trial will be, and then if I pass–.”

“When you pass.”

“–it could be more years for all we know.”

“It’s not going to be years,” he says. “This shit is about to move so quickly you’ll wonder how we managed to spend so much time on a boat.”

Izuku exhales. “Maybe.”

“It’s going to be hard to get you out of this now,” he says.

Izuku frowns. “I’ve never wanted out of it.”

“I know,” he says. “But I want you to know that we’ll make land tomorrow, and everything is going to change.”

Izuku’s eyes prick with tears as he blows out all the air from his lungs, suddenly overwhelmed, not that Katsuki can blame him. He’s giving up his scholarly world to return to their home where no one cares about anything except for how hard you can swing a sword or throw a boulder. Change is going to come to him like a house fire, and if Katsuki hadn’t fallen in love with him, they could have maybe defied the gods just to put it off a little longer.

But this is their destiny, and he is selfish enough to admit that he doesn’t want to know how it feels to be king without his most important people. And that includes his future husband.

“I’m tired, Your Highness,” he says quietly.

“I told you you don’t have to call me that.”

“I don’t care.”

Exhaustion paints small rings of shadow around Shouto’s vision, but Eijirou is too happy to stop now. His wonder isn’t childlike at all, but it does give Shouto a very specific mental image of a husky chasing butterflies, nipping at the air as he hops around on his hind legs, unaware of anyone or anything he might crash into. What does it matter that this kind of magic hurts to sustain?

Eijirou’s smile is pure sunlight. He’s the most beautiful person Shouto has ever seen. Yes, his horns and claws are alluring, and yes, the way his scales give him away like a deep flush squeezes Shouto like nothing else, but there’s something else about him that has made Shouto want to be near him from the moment they met.

He doesn’t know what it means to have his heart broken.

Shouto swallows. It must be his soul. Pure, and glasslike, and uncracked, and definitely unburnt. He’s an untouched spring with waters that take the pain away along with the memories of everything that hurt you in the first place. He’s the first bloom in spring. He’s precious.

Eijirou’s claws tap against the table as his own excitement becomes too much to contain, and Shouto very subtly presses the sharp edge of a ring into his finger. Pain, although extremely ill advised, can be a cheap conduit for depleted magical reserves, and if Shouto can keep the toys toddling for a little longer, that look on Eijirou’s face won’t have to go away.

He didn’t realize how being so far away from the magical fonts at home would be so draining, but now he sees how so many elves have poisoned themselves because of it. This will just be a personal test, and like with anything else, the Todoroki elves do not fail.

Eventually the dolls give out of magic, but instead of giving them more, Shouto gets up and moves to sit in Eijirou’s lap now that they’re alone. Eijirou grins at him, the sharp edge of a tooth slipping out over his lip. Shouto presses his mouth against it, the tooth becoming more prominent as Eijirou’s smile widens.

This is the most bizarre thing Shouto has ever done, and that must be saying something because second to Touya, he has the reputation of being the strangest of his siblings. But it was like trying to deny a sunrise. He knew about dragon bonds—somewhat—and he still dove headfirst into this one because it was inevitable, maybe. Probably. It is now.

He drops his head on his shoulder and closes his eyes. This chair shouldn’t be able to hold them both, but if he falls, it won’t hurt that much. It’s a much farther jump from Eijirou’s back to the ground any way.

“I hope you don’t mind,” he says.

“Of course not,” Eijirou says. Izuku and Katsuki’s language sounds so much better coming out of his mouth, even the few times it tangles. Especially when it does. Or maybe he just likes him.

The heavy fog squeezing Shouto from the inside clears, releasing him from the beginnings of the headache he was getting from pushing himself too far. He takes in a deep breath against Eijirou’s throat like it’s the cure, and somehow it works.

He has never known what it means to have his heart broken, and Shouto will do whatever it takes to make sure he isn’t the one to show him.

“Why do you give me energy?” Shouto asks, even though he doubts anyone but his parents or a more experienced mage would know the answer.

“Because we are mates,” he says as a matter of fact.

“I thought it was symbolic,” Shouto says.

“You said you gave me your magic. Was that symbolic too?”

“No,” he says. “That was very real.”

And he will probably get in trouble for it at some point.

“So is mating,” Eijirou says. “Ask any dragon. They’ll tell you.”

Shouto smiles weakly. “You’re the only dragon I know.”

“For now,” he agrees. “So you’ll just have to trust me.”

“I do trust you,” he says.

“We have to stay together now,” Eijirou says. “But that’s alright, because I’ll take care of you no matter what. I’ll make sure you never regret it.”

“If I have to choose something in my life to regret, it won’t be you,” he says, and he means that. When it comes to his friendships, he’s never been wrong about a person, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that the one time he decides someone should be more, that person fits him like his favorite robes.

“I hope you don’t regret anything, but if something happens, I’ll be here to help, no matter what.”

Forever, it seems.

“Are you tired, Shouto?”

Shouto nods, choosing not to mention that the energy it took to animate the dolls doesn’t come naturally to him. He is made of fire and ice, his magic suited for destruction, not creation, but it’s good to know how to do more than just what comes easy.

“Here.”

Eijirou presses his palm over Shouto’s heart, his claws almost tickling the skin beneath his borrowed tunic. There’s a soft pulse like a second heartbeat, and after a moment, it merges with his own. He’s still tired, but whatever Eijirou did pushed him back from drained to just sleepy.

Shouto’s eyebrows raise. “What was that?”

“Me taking care of my mate,” Eijirou says proudly.

“Dragon magic?” Shouto asks, surprised.

“Maybe,” he says. “It helped?”

“Yes, it helped.”

If he was a good friend, he would share this with Izuku, but Izuku would want to study them, and although he doubts Eijirou would mind, something about the idea of someone else coming near this new bond makes him want to bare his teeth in a way that is very unelven. Strange.

He’ll have to address that later.

“Let me take you to bed,” Eijirou says.

Shouto shakes his head. “I don’t want to be separated yet.”

“Why would we have to separate?” Eijirou asks. Shouto looks at him wordlessly. “Katsuki and Izuku are sharing a cabin right now. It’s allowed.”

Shouto’s mouth twitches. “I didn’t know that.”

“Oh,” he says, his scales bursting over his cheeks with a flush. “Then please forget I said that.”

Shouto kisses his cheek where his ruby scales dot his skin. “I’m happy for them.”

“Me too,” he says.

“I would invite you to mine, but you’re more comfortable on the deck,” he says, and Eijirou frowns. “What?”

“I want you to invite me,” he says.

Shouto hums. “Will you stay the night with me then?”

Eijirou nods, happy, before he scoops Shouto up in his arms and lifts them both out of the chair with no effort at all. It’s probably proof that Izuku is absolutely smitten since he isn’t busy testing the biological differences between Eijirou in his mortal form and Eijirou in his dragon form.

He totes Shouto through the ship like this, careful to not let his feet hit anything along the narrow halls. Letting him carry him is shameless, but to be shameless is to lack shame, which means Shouto doesn’t care one bit if it is. He’ll admit he might be enjoying himself, and whatever magic he lost with the dolls seems to self-regenerate when they touch anyway.

When they make it back to the sleeping cabins, he hears a soft giggle coming through one of the doors. He motions for Eijirou to put him down, and he moves close enough to it to listen.

Izuku is happy…

It’s not sex. No, this is a different kind of intimacy. Quiet, but somehow even more private and personal. Something he didn’t know Izuku would ever get to have.

Shouto’s heart pounds in his chest as his eyes fill with tears. An emotion he doesn’t understand floods through him, and it takes a moment to realize it for what it is: happiness for another person. Pure and genuine relief consumes him because Izuku, his dearest and oldest friend, finally knows what it means to be loved by someone. And not just anyone, but the one person he’s always wanted to love him.

Eijirou puts his chin on Shouto’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around him as a soft and pleasant trill hums in his ear.

“You are a good friend to him,” he whispers.

Hearing it stings. He’s always tried to be. He’s always loved Izuku in a strange way that no one else has ever understood, even if they accepted it. Izuku has been the most important person in his life since they were children, and he’s never known how to make life livable for him except to push every resource he could get his hands on towards him so Izuku could have all the knowledge and power he ever wanted.

He can hear them through the door, their words too muffled to make out, but there is fondness there. Mutual fondness. Izuku laughs over the sounds of angerless shouts, a barking dog with no bite, and Shouto doesn’t even have to try to imagine the delighted smile on Izuku’s face as he’s held and adored in that brusk and fiery way that could only come from Katsuki. Stars, he deserves it. If there’s anyone in this world who can smile the way Shouto hopes he is right now, it has to be Izuku.

He deserves this.

Tears stream down Shouto’s face, and at some point he started shaking, but he doesn’t remember when. Eijirou tugs him away into his cabin and pulls him into his arms as he licks the tears from his cheeks. Somehow that doesn’t at all bother him.

“What’s wrong, kitty?” That draconic word rolling off of his tongue is as comfortable to hear as Shouto’s own name. More than that, actually. It’s probably the only term of endearment he thinks he would like.

“I need to apologize to him,” he says, his chest aching.

Eijirou’s eyes widen. “Who?”

“Katsuki,” he says, that ache deepening.

“Why? What happened?”

“I wasn’t nice to him. I was critical and mean because I thought–.” He stops himself before he can say more. Their past is their past, and the only people who have the right to talk about it now are Izuku and Katsuki. If Izuku has forgiven him, and Katsuki has become the kind of man who won’t let it happen again, then it’s time to lay it to rest.

Eijirou shakes his head. “No, Katsuki is smart. He knows people. He pays attention to them. You were protective of your friend, yes?”

“Yes,” Shouto says. “All I want is for Izuku to be taken care of. I don’t care about anything else.”

“Their people put strength before anything else. I think he would think that you protecting Izuku is just like that, and he wants Izuku to be taken care of too. He’s special to him, and he trusts you to look after his mate when he’s not around. Not just anyone can do that, you know.”

What Shouto knows is that only one of the four of them is a dragon, so it’s not actually like that, but Eijirou’s earnestness is hard to argue with. And honestly between the seasickness and the waning magic, Shouto just can’t bring himself to bother.

“It’s not just that, I–.” He stops and inhales a sharp sniffle. “I don’t think he knows I care about him too. I think he thinks there’s a line between us, and I’m the one who drew it. I think I was so protective of Izuku, I forgot to be a good friend to both of them, and now I’ve made it worse.”

“You need to tell him you’re worried about this,” Eijirou says, and Shouto looks away with a frown. “If you don’t tell people how you feel, they’ll never know. Even if it’s hard, wouldn’t it be harder if you weren’t friends?”

Shouto nods. He has a point there.

“It’s good to be honest,” he says.

“Yes, it is,” he says. “Eijirou, did you know that elves can’t lie?”

“No, I didn’t,” he says.

“But we can be clever with our words,” he says, suddenly more tired than he was before.

“Clever?”

“Mhm.” He nods.

“Then I think the best thing you can do is to not be clever.”

Shouto has no choice but to smile. It’s so easy to think when he talks to him. So easy to see how the world is and how it should be. And if their world is going to be the four of them, he is going to have to find a way to erase that line between himself and Katsuki and show him that he’s his friend too. Even if they bicker, he wants to be. Especially now that he’s getting to know this version of him, the older version that isn’t just on his best behavior in front of their parents. The one that makes Izuku giggle gleefully through the wall like the past never happened.

They are changing, and Shouto can’t be left behind. He won’t be.

Eijirou bites his lip in concentration as his claws pick away at Shouto’s collar. Shouto’s mouth quirks in amusement.

“What are you doing?”

“You can’t sleep comfortably like this, and you’re so tired. I need to get you ready for bed.”

His mouth tugs back in a smile. “I see dragons are clever with their words too.”

Eijirou nods with a wide grin, pleased with himself.

He pushes the shirt off of Shouto’s shoulder before he brushes his nose over it, breathing in his scent, his eyes closed as he takes him in. Elves would never do this, and yet he can’t imagine being treated any other way. Maybe he was always meant for him. Maybe that’s why this is so easy.

He lets his dragon undress him and very happily lets everything go as Eijirou takes over him, mind and body until oblivion finally wins in the end as it always does.

And Shouto, he realizes, is just as happy as Izuku is.

So maybe he wasn’t so reckless after all.