defendure | Noctium Inbox

T-that wasn't on purpose! But...if someone's specifically targeting you, she's better off not knowing about it.

[ Speaking of: ]

What happened?

[Yeah yeah, he knows.]

I was shopping. [Nodding towards the long black duffel he uses for groceries, lying by the wall.] Some asshole came up and started pestering me with shit questions. Told him to piss off, but he wouldn't leave.

Started talking weird, referring to people as "humans" and saying crap about them. When he mentioned me having someone I live with---I didn't say shit about you---I figured he's been stalking. He said it was "harassing" instead.

When we got far enough away, he started bitching about me stalling for time, then said I was a target. So I blasted him.

[As far as Katsuki's concerned, with all that said, he was being hunted and like hell was he going to let the predator go first.]

What did he say specifically about you living with someone? Was it a gembonded or...?

[ A native? ]

That's all he said. That I was shopping because I couldn't turn down the person I was living with.

[Annoying as it is to say that, he wants to be clear since this sounds like it involves Izuku too.]

I never said shit about living with anyone before he said that. If he knows about you too...

Che. That's why I didn't want you going home without me.

If he actually knew anything about us, that wouldn't really make much sense to say. You turn me down for about ninety percent of things.

[ He's using some suture bandages to help close things up, though he's wondering if actual stitches will be needed. ]

You said he was asking a lot of questions...was that among the first, or among the last when nothing else worked?

Why the hell would someone just assume I was living with someone?

[He certainly doesn't exude a fucking "roommate" aura about him! Luckily the slash isn't extremely deep. But it will definitely require some stitches.]

Wanted to know what made the fruit I picked up "so special" compared to all the others. Then started talking about how prices were "greedy" and "dishonest" if they were higher or something. Stock villain shit.

If it really was stock villain stuff, he might have just been trying to get a rise out of you. You're the only person I've ticked off here, so I doubt it was about me, and if you didn't know him by sight it probably wasn't about you. Stalking...it'd need a personal stake, wouldn't it? Or if it's true, it's not about either of us.

[ He's fussing as he wraps the bandages, rambling as he works through it mentally. ]

He was. Pretended he didn't know how prices and marketing worked, then started talking about how people "fall" for marketing ploys. Not like some teacher giving a damn lecture, but how someone would talk if they saw people as trash.

He started weird, but by the end, it made my fucking skin crawl. I felt like I was being stalked. Some... fucking entertainment for some bored asshole.

[He's cleaned the wound enough Izuku didn't have to do too much, but it's gonna kill in the shower...]

I dunno if it was premeditated stalking or if he just saw me and decided I'd be "fun" to harass.

If he likes getting a rise out of people...maybe. Either way - should we stay away tonight?

[ Or is it safe to go home? Izuku's frowning, unsure. There's that charity thing later too, but is it safe to risk it?

Not like he's totally sure they're going or not; he's hesitant to ask. ]

Yeah. I'm not gonna go back to the house for a little bit.

[Despite it being "just a house", their home was his personal residence, a tiny little piece of "home" he created with Izuku. Some place he can go to and retreat from all this Noctium shit. A place they can both be a ease within.

To have such a place invaded or threatened... He doesn't want to risk it.]

Could just stay in the hospital for the night.

I can probably find someone to stay with.

[ If worst comes to worst, there's always a hotel or something. He moves on to check out Katsuki's arm and shoulder. ]

But first we should definitely get you to the hospital.

Stay with me.

[The bandages and cloth get pulled away and reveal the pierced hole within his arm. Recovery Girl's not here, but it's likely the hospitals and GemSci can repair things without much issue. He mostly wants to get patched up so he's not bleeding out. Then he can go to the hospital once he gets some strength back.]

[ This is all gonna scar...well, maybe not. They just need a doctor with healing magic. But even then - it might.

Izuku's fingers pause for barely a second. Then he's cleaning again, before he can bandage it up. ]

...okay. [ Is Katsuki worried about him, or is this fear? ]

[Caution. And... yeah, concern for Izuku. Why the fuck else would he call him and tell him not to go home? Katsuki lets him deal with his arm, scowling and tensing a bit from the pain, but he's been trashed before (thanks All Might).

He's not sure what the pause was for... actually, no he knows exactly what the pause was for. It brings some troubling feelings. For a while, he lets him work in silence before finally finding some voice.]

There's a lot about you I don't get. Don't agree with.

But... I know I should treat you better. You've sacrificed and adjusted a lot for me... I want to pay more attention to what you want and need. I don't want to be the source of your unhappiness.

I don't want to be the source of yours either, Kacchan.

[ It's the first thing to come to mind, and he feels immediately like maybe it's the wrong thing to say, because he never quite explains right but... ]

I haven't treated you all that well recently either. I'm not really happy about it.

You've treated me better than you should.

[But he's too kind-hearted and holds him too highly to do so.]

I can't promise I'll ever understand some things about you. And you piss me off and frustrate me to no end. And maybe you'll never see it. But...

[ but ]

You make me happy, Deku.

[ That's...it's not quite embarrassing, exactly, although Izuku flushes red, flustered. But maybe it feels like something heavy and more straightforward and honest than Katsuki usually is about his emotions, and that feels somehow fragile. Or important. Or both.

Katsuki doesn't lie...usually. When he does, it's usually to say he doesn't have those kinds of feelings for his friends, or to disparage people he likes and respects - Izuku's well aware their parents and All Might tick Katsuki off a lot of the time, but he's never doubted the other hero cares for them deeply. Just...you know, the bit about him.

So he trusts it, but it's a little hard to internalize...even so... ]

It's been almost half a year since you got here, and I can pretty much count on one hand the number of times you've actually made me genuinely unhappy. The rest...despite all of it, this place and everything weird, I can't count on anything how many times you've made me happy instead.

[ They just have, uh, pretty memorable fights. And Izuku gets twisted up over those. ]

I like being with you even when it's hard.

[It's all of those. Embarrassing. Heavy. Straightforward. Honest. Fragile. Important. He knows there are so many things between them that can never be completely addressed, and he'd be a fool to think a single work or comment would erase, cover, or make up for everything. But even if this isn't touching on the real shit between them, the things that have happened over the past few weeks, the numerous breakdowns and staggers that led to frustrations and stops... Those are things he can address.

One at a time. One piece at a time. It's what he can handle without completely swamping himself. He doesn't expect this to change anything and would be stupid if it did. Too many ingrained things that are as embossed as reflexes and habits. Not just himself, but Izuku too. There's no way what he said just now has done anything except splat against the walls all around him. It'll take time for those things to sink in and be absorbed, if the guy can even find it in himself to do that anymore.

But at least... at least he's getting this part out...]

Okay.

[What makes Izuku genuinely unhappy. What makes him truly happy. What he brushes off and covers with his happiness rather than address it or confront it. Katsuki doesn't know the answer to those questions beyond the surface and a few deeper truths they both share. But arguing about it... That's gotta stop.

Even if he doesn't get it, may even be struggling to believe it, he has to trust Izuku.]

[ Katsuki can recognize those smiles that aren't quite genuine, but then there's those things that do make him happy that seem alien - they're both motivated by slightly different things, even if their end goals are the same exact place. Like speaking a different dialect, almost exact but not quite.

A lot of the time, Izuku gets frustrated and can't quite understand Katsuki either when they come to a head - he'd never even considered Katsuki thought he was looking down on him, back then - any more than Katsuki can understand some of Izuku's internal motivations even if he can recognize them in action.

There are things Izuku has to learn to trust as well. He's finished up the emergency patch up, so he's just sitting there, gnawing his lip as he turns that single word over in his mind. ]

We should really get you to the hospital, Kacchan.

[Trust is a hard thing. Just knowing someone really well doesn't always mean you can trust someone really well. Hell, it might even be why you can't trust someone. Katsuki doesn't trust Izuku in some areas, though he trusts him in most of them. The "I'm fine" and that self-sacrificing part being the most obvious cases.

But that's for another time. Right now, there's this to deal with.]

I know. But I want to wait a few hours.

Mm...maybe we should at least switch to an empty apartment. If someone does come looking for you, it'd be better if we didn't have to split our focus.

[ Seeing these wounds, he's unsure they'd be able to effectively defend the civilian. ]

Yeah, we can do that. See if either of our old rooms is open. Might let us crash for a bit.

[Katsuki curls his arm a little, testing the injury. Fuck, hurts...]

I know I should've called you; we agreed on that. But the fight started before I could and ended before I had the chance to contact you.

[Could've called him while they were walking, but... he hadn't planned on getting into a fight until the creep labeled him a "target" and then it turned into "advantage = who strikes first" deal.]

[ Izuku shakes his head. He's upset he wasn't there, but...helping bandage Katsuki up and being called after did address those concerns for him. ]

It's not your fault, Kacchan. [ He's pretty sure Katsuki would have admitted if it were, for starting a fight. It's not like he ever hides that kind of thing, so the retelling is definitely accurate. ] As to rooms...let's just grab one of the ones they let new people stay in. I don't know that the other guys are in the same place, but they wouldn't be useful in a fight even if they were.

[It's still a bother to him to have broken that promise after he made such a big deal about Izuku holding to it. Che... well if Izuku ever does the same, he'll be able to call a one-for-one "we're even now" and Katsuki won't be able to do shit but growl at him without argument. Luckily instances that call for that will be rare.

Hopefully.]

Okay. [Katsuki tests his side before pushing himself up to his feet.] Let's go. Get the woman; got something to tell her too.

[With that, he goes for the groceries.]

[ Izuku doesn't argue, although he closes up the kit and throws out the used items that need to be thrown out before he retrieves the gem woman. ]

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