Midoriya was amazed. He never expected to see so many dragons in person in one place, but he also did not expect them all to look like humans. Well, they were all just currently in their human form, but still, this was incredible!
Their village was a carved out clearing, shielded by a few taller trees to keep it hidden, but otherwise it was open to the skies. It was no doubt to provide easy access to the flying dragons.
In the center was a large bonfire and on the side of the steep mountainside of the clearing were several holes, nooks and crannies that must serve as their nests, places to sleep. This was all on the left backside of the clearing. On the opposite side was makeshift shanties that looked like was used for some storage, organizing and working on things for the village. In one of the huts, Midoriya could see Sero setting Kirishima down into a nest while others crouched over his still body.
When Bakugou led the way into clearing, there were already people standing in near the fire, waiting. Others were peaking out of their nests, watching Bakugou, Midoriya and Kaminari as they came into view.
Midoriya stopped in his tracks, watching from a distance as a tall figure immediately approached Bakugou. This man probably wore the most clothes of the village, shrouded in black material and loose white bandages around his neck. His jet-black hair spilled over his face as he looked down Bakugou with his sunken eyes. He didn't say anything, just closed his eyes slowly and sighed.
Bakugou's face twitched into pure annoyance. "Yeah, yeah, fuck off. Save the lecture for later," Bakugou snarled, pushing past the man and heading in the direction of Kirishima.
The tall man's eyes followed Bakugou's movement silently before his gaze flicked over to Midoriya. Midoriya jolted, his whole body going rigid. The man then glanced at Kaminari. "Who's this?" he asked, his voice lazy.
Kaminari tilted his head at Midoriya. "Bakugou said his name is Midoriya. He's a human by the smell of it. Bakugou said he's harmless and he seemed to trust him." Kaminari's lips quirked just the slightest upwards. "Which is a miracle, because he trusts like literally no one-OW!" Kaminari rubbed at his head from where the taller man had whacked him lightly.
"Um," Midoriya hummed. "Yes, I'm Midoriya. Bakugou, he—" Midoriya faltered. He wasn't quite sure how to describe the relationship he and Bakugou had built. He wouldn't call it a friendship; Bakugou clearly didn't like him all that much and he had almost killed Midoriya in the past… But Bakugou was someone to be admired and he felt that maybe he tolerated Midoriya just enough… maybe? "Umm, he…"
"Don't worry about it kid," the man said. "I'm Aizawa. I'm running things in the village as of now." Aizawa paused, tilting his head to look over the boy in front of him. Midoriya shifted uncomfortably as the man's gaze raked over him. "It looks like your hand needs some attention."
"Huh?" Midoriya looked down at his hand and sure enough there was a purplish bruise forming over his pale knuckles. He flexed his hand, wincing at the twinge of pain that shot through the ligaments.
"Deku!" Midoriya turned to find Bakugou glaring at him from where he was standing beside Kirishima. "Get your ass over here so we can treat you."
Glancing back briefly at Aizawa, who was looking between the boys with a just a twinkle of interest, Midoriya decided he was better off near Bakugou instead of under Aizawa's judging eyes. Midoriya hurried away, averting his eyes from Kaminari as he went.
Bakugou had turned away, looking down at Kirishima on the table. Sero was across from him, along with a few other nameless people. The others were taking what appears to be sparkling dust and sprinkling it down below Kirishima's nose. Slowly the boy was breathing it in. Nothing was happening visibly but it appeared to putting Kirishima into a more restful sleep. His eyebrows were no longer furrowed.
"Give me your hand," Bakugou growled, holding out his own. In his other palm, he was holding the same kind of salve Midoriya had used earlier.
Midoriya gave him his hand, trusting Bakugou completely with his wounded knuckles. Bakugou's hand was warm against his. "The medicine works for this kind of injury as well?" Midoriya asked, eyes filling with wonder as he felt the almost instantaneous relief from the cool ointment being smeared against his smooth hand. Bakugou's calluses caused a small shiver to race up his arm and into his neck.
Bakugou pursed his lips. "Pixie dust-infused with herbal plants. It can treat any of the most basic and minimal wounds." His eyes caught Midoriya's intensely. "It will not heal your mother's wound," he said shortly.
Midoriya tensed. It was almost like he could read his mind some of these days. Midoriya glanced down at their entwined hands; Bakugou was still rubbing the salve in with a soft stroke of his thumb.
Sero cleared his throat. "Bakugou, don't forget to put some of that salve on yourself. Your head wound is still bleeding."
Bakugou snorted, snatching his hand out of Midoriya's and put the salve down by Kirishima's side on the nest. "Just worry about Kirishima."
Midoriya caught Bakugou by the wrist before he could slip away. Bakugou looked down at him incredulously. "You can't let that wound go untreated!" Midoriya scolded him. "It could get infected or scar. And I can help you if you need it!"
Something flickered in Bakugou's gaze, but when he glanced at Sero and the others, his face hardened. He yanked his hand from Midoriya's but snatched up the salve again. He flicked his head in the direction of the entrance. "Let's go, Deku."
"Okay, Kacchan," Midoriya said eagerly. He wondered where this boy was taking him. He sent a small wave goodbye to Sero and the others.
He followed Kacchan wordlessly out into the clearing again, watching as the others parted a bit to let him through. There were a few whispers as they passed the small crowd and Aizawa was once again watching the two of them closely.
Ashido was the only one who seemed to dare to step in front of Bakugou's path. "Hey! I put your blankets and things in your cave," she said, turning to keep in step with Bakugou as he marched towards a cave to the far left. His shoulders stiffened, Midoriya noticed as he walked behind the two. "I couldn't help but notice, Bakugou, but your blanket in particular smells like Deku," she said, her voice taking on a playful tone that Midoriya could not quite understand. He wished he could see what kind of face Bakugou was making. She chuckled to herself. "Are you going to sleep with it like that?" she asked. She glanced back Midoriya, her smile growing. "Or are you going to let him sleep with it again?"
"Fuck off, Pinky, it was the blanket Kirishima gave him."
"Okay, okay," she said, putting her hands up in front of her in surrender. Her face morphed into something more serious and somber. "I'm going to check on Kirishima. I'll let you know if he wakes up, okay?"
Bakugou relaxed at her words and he stopped to look at her. "Thanks," he murmured so quietly that Midoriya almost missed it. Briefly, his eyes landed on Midoriya and he once again composed his face into his usual glare and snatched up Midoriya's wrist, pulling him harshly forward. "Now leave us alone, I need to find Midoriya a place to sleep."
Ashido grinned at them as they passed. "One of the spare caves are open!" she called after them.
"No, that place is shit in compared to my cave," he growled, tugging at Midoriya to walk even faster. Midoriya stumbled just a bit but he didn't miss the smirk and fond look Ashido had tossed at the back of Bakugou's head.
A moment later they were making their way into the dark cave. It had a narrow mouth but it hollowed out further when they came walked deeper inside. It was cold. Maybe Bakugou could make a fire?
He turned his gaze on the dark silhouette of the boy ahead of him, growing curious once again. "Can you breathe fire?" Midoriya blurted out.
Bakugou halted, looking down at the shorter boy. "Of course I can. Do you think I'm that defective?"
"Oh no! I didn't think that at all! It's just dark in here and I was wondering if you were going to light a fire."
He seemed to consider these words, hand flexing over Midoriya's wrist. "I usually find myself around the cave by scent. But I'll make a fire for your dumb ass." He dropped Midoriya's wrist and Midoriya brought it to his chest, running his fingers over the spot Bakugou had gripped. Midoriya breathed in deeply, only smelling the slight staleness of the damp cave. He wondered what exactly Bakugou smelled to get around.
Bakugou's shadow crouched down. And then a second later, the dragon breathed in deeply and then blew a gentle flame onto a piece of wood he held in his hand. The fire flickered and sparked around Bakugou like fireworks, illuminating the boy's face in soft light and reflecting in his expressive eyes. Midoriya found himself enthralled by the sight.
Bakugou dropped the piece of wood into a small campfire Midoriya hadn't noticed and it grew to light up the cave. Midoriya glanced around. It was quite simple in the cave—a large nest towards the front of the cave on the right. On the left, a smaller nest was settled towards against the back stone.
Bakugou stood and took his red cape off, revealing his broad shoulders. He turned just slightly to Midoriya as he dropped the material to the floor. "Come hear idiot."
Midoriya followed Bakugou cautiously to what he realized was the dragon's own nest. It was an intricate pile of soft fabrics and twigs that impressively held together. He wondered if it was comfortable.
Bakugou sat down to one side of it and watched as Midoriya slowly approached the nest. He felt awkward. Now that he knew Bakugou was a dragon, he was suddenly hyper aware of how he acted around the other. Bakugou was not human and surely some things could be lost in translation.
He took one light step into the nest and it creaked softly under the weight of his foot. Relaxing when he saw Bakugou's face make no change, he stepped into the nest completely and sat down opposite of Bakugou. Bakugou scooted closer and he set the salve bottle into Midoriya's hand and quickly looked away but held still.
Ah. Suddenly Midoriya understood. Bakugou hadn't wanted anyone to fuss over him, but the fact that he was still asking Midoriya to do so told him that Bakugou trusted him in some small way. It was… endearing.
Midoriya smiled privately to himself as he looked down to scoop a small amount of salve onto his pointer finger. He brought it up to Bakugou's head, first taking the time to once again sweep blonde locks away from his forehead. He surveyed the wound. It had clotted, not bleeding anymore but still glistening wet. A trail of partially dried blood had drawn a crooked line down Bakugou's cheek, not to mention the smear Midoriya had made himself earlier on.
Carefully, he pressed the cool medicine to the other boy's head, who winced just the slightest at the contact. Midoriya swept his finger allong the rigid line, taking care as he treated the wound. Bakugou's eyes fluttered, looking away just as Midoriya withdrew his hand.
"Do you want me to treat that too?" he asked Bakugou, gesturing at the bruise forming on Bakugou's stomach from where Kirishima's punch had connected.
"Nah, that'll be fine," Bakugou murmured. He took the salve jar out of Midoriya's hand, corking it and putting it to the side.
Midoriya watched as Bakugou reached for the blanket Ashido has discarded near the edge of the nest and he moved it to set down by Midoriya. There was only one blanket in the nest.
"Am I sleeping here?" Midoriya asked the dragon.
He was only answered with the mildest of glares.
Midoriya took that at a yes and worked at taking off his shoes, putting them down by his vest and gloves Ashido had placed there for him. He peeled off his socks and shoved them into the shoes.
Midoriya didn't make a move after that and neither did Bakugou. Instead Midoriya asked a question he was burning to know the answer to, "What does your dragon form look like?"
Bakugou avoided his gaze. "It's ugly. That's why I don't show it."
Midoriya frowned at his words. Bakugou didn't transform in his presence so far, so he couldn't know for sure, and he really couldn't trust Bakugou's words more than he could throw him. He wondered what Bakugou's secrets were.
"Was Kirishima that dragon I first saw you on?"
Bakugou seemed to appreciate the change in subject. "Yeah, that's him," his face lighting up significantly. "That idiot."
"Is he your mate?" Midoriya asked, unable to stop himself. Sometimes he could really punch himself in the face.
"Hah?! You're as stupid as you look!" Bakugou roared. He crossed his arms and flopped backwards into his nest and looking off at the fire. "He's like a brother to me. I saved him once and he saved me once. He's… important to me."
"What did he save you from?"
Bakugou didn't answer and his face was still hidden from Midoriya.
"What did you save him from?" he tried again.
This time the other boy looked at him, but his eyes were dancing with pain along with the dancing fire. God, Midoriya could really hit himself. Why was he always prying at this kind of things? He just… he just wanted to know more about Kacchan. He knew without a doubt that Midoriya would pour out his whole life story if Kacchan would ask.
When the dragon didn't answer him, Midoriya sighed and laid down as well. He was close to Bakugou but not enough to touch unless he rolled over.
Silence stretched over them. The sound of the crackling flames and their breathing kept them company. But as Midoriya stared at the ceiling, all at once Midoriya realized that Bakugou's breathing had evened out. Midoriya leaned up onto one elbow to look at his sleeping face. His chest was pounding as he looked at the other boy; his features were soft and relaxed in his sleep. He looked younger and more at peace.
Midoriya leaned back again, settling in and dragging the blanket over himself and, on a whim, scooted just the slightest bit closer to Bakugou to drape the blanket around him as well. Then he too fell into sleep soon after, comforted by the firelight and the breathing beside him.
He slept the soundest he had in a long time. He felt… warm… safe…protected. But… that might be just because he awoke in the middle of the night to darkness, a warm body pressed against him and an arm wrapped lightly across his chest. He fell back to sleep soon after with a strange fuzzy feeling in his chest.