Izuku's first day of work ran pretty smoothly after the hubcap debacle. Bakugo kept his distance and ignored him. But he had to admit, it was better than being the subject of his angry glares or incorrigible yelling. He watched Kaminari closely the entire day and took pages and pages of notes. He was familiar with the registers' operating system but their's had dozens of extra features his old register hadn't been equipped with. He watched returns, purchases, coupon scans, and even learned how to print gift receipts. He'd never done any of it himself, of course. But in theory, Izuku was now fully prepared for whatever Hot Topic had to throw at him.

Bakugo left early, leaving Kaminari in charge of closing the store. Izuku observed the closing process as Kaminari took him through it step-by-step. Once they were on the other side of the padlocked metal door, Kirishima and Sero came down the walkway with bright smiles.

"Hey, man!" Sero greeted, wrapping an arm around Kaminari's shoulders. "You thirsty?"

Kaminari shrugged him off. "Not really."

"Aaaw come on! Half off drinks tonight, remember?" Kirishima encouraged, nudging his arm. "Build-A-Mayor wants a Guinness."

Kaminari raised an eyebrow. "I thought you hated my nicknames."

"What can I say? It grew on me."

"You know Bakugo's a grump. He probably passed out hours ago. Tokoyami's at his poetry slam, and everyone else went home. You're the only one left we can hang with!" Sero said.

Kirishima walked to Izuku, warmly shaking his hand. "Hey, there! You used to work at Cinnabon, right?"

Izuku smiled, happy to be greeted so kindly. "Yes! I'll be working at Hot Topic until Cinnabon finishes up with its renovations."

"Would you wanna come with us?" Kiri asked.

Izuku shook his head sadly. "That's nice of you, but I'm not old enough to drink yet."

Sero laughed. "No problem. Just let us know when you are. Okay?"

His heart fluttered with hope. For years he'd felt left out from the rest of his peers. Now they were welcoming him with open arms and kind smiles. It was more than he could've hoped for. "I turn twenty-one on the fifteenth."

"Of next month? Sweet! We'll take you barhopping for your birthday!" Kiri exclaimed. "It'll be a riot!"

Kaminari gave Izuku a nudge. "They took me out for my twenty-first last week. Don't let them talk you into Irish car bombs."

"I'll try to remember that," Izuku said pleasantly.

"You got a ride home?" Kiri asked.

"Yeah, I drive."

"Dope. Then we'll catch you later, Midoriya!" Sero said.

"Awesome first day of work, Izuku," Kaminari shot over his shoulder. "See you tomorrow!"

As Izuku drove home, listening to Gimme Gimme by ABBA, he felt a warm excitement in his chest. He'd been scared to leave Cinnabon. Sad about Aoyama leaving. But after one day, he already had a bunch of new friends. He liked the music they played in the store. He'd get to wear more of his clothes at work, too, instead of the Cinnabon uniform. Bakugo even took him out for breakfast that morning. Bakugo. The snarling, growling, unapproachable store manager of Hot Topic was actually being sort of nice to him. In his way.

Even if all we ever become is friends, Izuku thought. Maybe I could be okay with that.

~.~

Or at least that's what he'd thought until he got home that night. In the mornings, he showered with whatever body wash his mom bought. The scent didn't really make a difference to her. So sometimes it smelled like vanilla. Or strawberry. Or flowers. Or ocean breezes. But at night...

It was stupid. Frivolous. Wasteful. But Izuku used a special soap he specifically set money away for. If he had to put a number to how much of his paycheck went to Bourbon-scented body wash, he'd have to say twenty-five percent.

His mom managed to land a clerical job but that was a recent development. Before that, she'd take whatever job she could find. One of these odd-end jobs happened to be working as a cashier and scent consultant at Bath & Body Works.

One night, two years ago, Inko talked about a peculiar customer that frequented Bath & Body Works once a week to stock up on lotion and cologne. Izuku had only been half paying attention until she started to describe what he looked like.

"If it weren't for this one boy the stuff wouldn't sell, I swear."

"Uh-huh," he mumbled, picking at his dinner.

"I've never seen him in anything but black clothes. He's a good-looking blonde boy. It's a shame he doesn't dress better. There's this one shirt with a long white skull on it he always seems to be wearing - "

Suddenly Izuku had never been more interested in a conversation in his entire life. He tried not to let it show, but he swore she could hear his heartbeat, it was pounding so hard.

"You wouldn't think someone like him would be so particular about something like lotion. But he flat-out refuses to buy anything else besides our Bourbon scent. If we don't have it, he asks us to tell him when we have it in stock again. As if we're his personal shoppers or something. Isn't that ridiculous?"

Izuku's mouth ran dry. He'd been grateful to his mother for being so kindhearted and doing her best to take care of him, all by herself, since his dad dipped on them when he was young. But he had never felt more grateful to Inko than in that moment.

Because she'd just told him what Katsuki Bakugo, the man of his dreams, smelled like.

He bought it online so his mother wouldn't know. He didn't want her to make the connection. It was silly to continue on with this ritual after all this time. She no doubt forgot all about it and even after seeing Bakugo today, it didn't seem to jog any of her memories.

But it was his own personal slice of heaven. His nightly routine. If his mother asked why he turned the lights off, he claimed it was from having a headache that caused light sensitivity. But most often, she was in bed fast asleep before he'd even gotten home.

He locked the bathroom door and stepped into the steaming hot shower, closing his eyes in the darkness. He poured the bourbon-scented body wash into his hands and ran them all over his body, pretending his hands were someone else's. Someone taller than him. With blonde hair. And piercing red eyes. Rippling biceps. Sharpened canines. Whether that was their natural shape or he'd filed them to look like that on purpose didn't matter. Izuku imagined Bakugo using them to nip the back of his neck. His shoulders. Down his spine.

When his breath hitched and he let out soft mewls, the rushing water drowned them out. Even when he got to the part of his fantasy where Bakugo used his soapy hands to jerk him off, and his breathing turned into broken gasps of pleasure, no one could hear a thing. In such a small, thin-walled apartment, this was the only way he could give himself total release without holding anything back or being caught.

He'd spent years perfecting this routine down to a science. The moment he knew he was about to cum, he'd sink down to the floor of the tub and stuff his left hand into his mouth as far as it would go to stifle his cries. Then for a blissful twenty minutes, he'd let the water pound down on him as he relished in his afterglow.

He'd stay there until the water ran cold and his fingers pruned. Then, reluctantly, he'd struggle to get back up to a standing position and dry himself off.

He double-checked that his bedroom door was locked, not that his mother would've come in without knocking anyway. Ever since he was young Inko had been respectful of her son's personal space. A small courtesy Izuku did not take for granted.

The next part of his ritual was arguably the best. In his mind, he'd just finished having shower sex with Bakugo. Without wearing any clothes, he'd slip into bed, cuddled under his blankets, and curl up against the body pillow he'd shoved against the wall, pretending he was snuggling into Bakugo's chest. He spritzed the pillow regularly with the bourbon cologne to make it easier for him to visualize it. By this point, it was a matter of seconds before Izuku passed out cold.

That had been his nightly ritual for the past two years.

~.~

Due to Dabi's discretion, he'd put Keigo under the impression that he didn't stick around long after they'd had sex. But what he didn't know was Dabi stayed in Keigo's bed every night, holding him close. He just woke up before Keigo. By the time the ash-blonde rolled out of bed, Dabi was showered, dressed, and pouring coffee. But few and far between were the nights Dabi hadn't shared a bed with him.

After just twenty minutes of lying in bed alone, this was already the longest night of his life. After an hour, he couldn't stand it anymore.

I'm sorry, Keigo, thought. I want to give you space, but you don't understand how much I need you.

Or maybe he did.

When Dabi crept out of his bedroom, he froze in his doorway when he saw Keigo standing in his, doing the exact same thing.

"I...I can't sleep," Keigo whispered, hugging himself. "I know I said I wanted - "

" - Me neither," Dabi admitted, swallowing nervously.

Even in the dark, they saw each other perfectly. Dabi only had on sweatpants, no shirt. Keigo wore one of Dabi's tank tops and a pair of athletic shorts. He sniffled quietly like he'd been crying.

"Can..." Keigo began brokenly, "Can we have...one more last time?"

Dabi nodded, soundlessly making it to Keigo in one stride and taking him into his arms. Keigo eagerly wove his fingers into Dabi's hair and pulled him close, joining their lips together. It had been too long since they'd been intimate like this.

They didn't make it to either of their beds, or even the couch. They collapsed on the carpet of the living room, tearing away at each other's clothes desperately. As they kissed, Dabi felt around blindly. Whether because they fooled around everywhere, or because working at Spencer's had its occupational hazards, there were random packages of lube all over their apartment. He finally found one in between the couch cushions and ripped it open with his teeth. "I have condoms in my room - " Dabi mumbled desperately but Keigo clawed into his shoulders, keeping him from moving.

" - Don't care," Keigo moaned. "Need you. Now."

He tried his best to warm Keigo up with his fingers but his lover could barely keep still.

"Please!" He begged.

He had to make sure. "What about the guy you're - "

" - I DON'T FUCKING KNOW!" Keigo yelled, tearing up. "I just...fuck I need you. Please. Please."

Dabi knelt down and kissed away Keigo's tears. "Ssshhh," he soothed, planting more kisses on his neck. "Okay, baby," he whispered. "Okay."

They messed around a lot but in terms of actual sex, they didn't do it as much. It was usually on a weekend when Keigo had time to recover. Even when Dabi was careful, Keigo had a difficult time moving afterward.

They had work the next day. Ordinarily, Dabi would've talked Keigo into settling for something else. But they were both at their limit. They didn't have words anymore for how badly they needed this. Each other.

Dabi entered him at a snail's pace. Before he was halfway in, Keigo cried out, clinging to him. "Jesus - "

" - I'll go slow," Dabi promised, kissing his neck.

"Fucking hell, Dabs!"

"Are you okay?"

"It hurts."

"I know, baby. I'm sorry."

"N-no, it's okay, I just...need a sec..."

When he'd made it two-thirds of the way in, Keigo groaned, throwing his head back. Dabi shuddered. He wanted to move. Badly. But for Keigo's sake, he had to take it easy. He thrust slowly, continuing to kiss him. Keigo groaned each time he tapped his sweet spot.

Dabi moaned quietly when he found a rhythm. Even with his slow, gentle pace, he'd found a way to work himself up towards a climax.

But of course, Keigo started squirming when this happened. "I'm okay now," he whined, thrusting against Dabi. "You can - AAAH - Go f-faster n-now - "

" - No, baby, I need this slow," Dabi whispered. He held Keigo close in his arms as his kissing became more passionate.

"Dabs, I'm b-begging y-you - "

" - You'll be sore tomorrow - "

" - Please please please I'll d-do anything - "

" - I don't wanna hurt you, baby - "

" - HURT ME!" Keigo screamed. "P-please I can't take it anymo - AAH!"

Dabi picked up his pace, ramming into Keigo harder than before. You asked for it, he thought. What was once a slow buildup became something rushing at him so fast it was blinding. Oh baby you feel so good. Jesus. Christ. Fuck. Ahhhh.

"Yesss," Keigo hissed, gritting his teeth. "Yes. Yes! YES! FUCK!"

"Shit," Dabi gasped.

He bit into the side of Keigo's neck to stifle his growling. Keigo tilted his head back, clinging to Dabi's shoulders. They found their release together as their bodies tensed against each other. When their climax ran its course, they were both left feeling dizzy. Numb. Dazed. Dabi pressed his forehead to Keigo's as they both worked to catch their breath.

The living room floor wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep but neither of them could move very far. Dabi cradled Keigo against his chest, rubbing his hand up and down Keigo's back. His lover didn't try to pull away. He cuddled deeper against him, burrowing his nose into his collarbone.

As Dabi fell asleep, holding Keigo in his arms, he prayed. Something he rarely ever did.

If anyone is listening...please give me one more last time with Keigo. And one more after that. And one more after that...