"No."
Iida went all slack like a dog that had been left out in the rain.
"But-it's for the greater good-"
"Greater good my ass, you just want revenge for your brother, just like last time."
Iida blinked several times, furrowing and unfurrowing his eyebrows in rapid succession as he decided which part of the sentence to address.
"But didn't you-I'm sorry, I only have one brother, what last time are you referring to?"
Izuku chimed in then. "Don't worry about it, Kaachan just says stuff sometimes, ha ha, but he's right, we're focused on getting my dragon right now not politics or…revenge."
For that had been exactly what Iida had brought up the moment he'd found their little encampment in his family's hunting grounds. After taking a moment to gape at Eijiro, big and red and coiled around Katsuki like a building, and then Mina in her pink, snakey glory (because apparently human legs were effing uncomfortable for long periods of time), he'd taken it in stride with a squeaky voice to address the two humans in the group.
Apparently, his elder brother and heir to their little realm had led their calvary. And, since Katsuki had given no promise of survivors, he too had lost family in that poorly led altercation (his words, not Katsuki's). He'd looked at Katsuki as he said this, voice betraying his emotion ever so slightly. Rather than begrudge Katsuki, as Katsuki did him and his stupid horsemen, he'd sought to somehow bond with them over this injustice…and get them to come with him to the capital to get at the emperor.
Katsuki didn't even let Iida start explaining his plan to dethrone the tyrant who sent an entire regiment to die. He shut him down hard.
Iida trembled in shock.
"What? Did you think us 'barbarians' would just be up in arms at the first chance of a fight?" snarled Katsuki. He hadn't wanted to see the stupid Toaster's face that morning anyway. He'd been doing just fine moping in his dragon's warm scales, thank you very much.
"Ah, no, n-n-not at all."
"Wow, that sounded convincing," said Mina sarcastically from where she stripped meat off a raw fish with her sharp little teeth.
" You don't want to fight?" said Eijiro, not bothering to hide his surprise.
Katsuki slapped Eijiro's side that he lay against.
"I've seen that play, read that book, whatever dumbass revenge plan into politics will just end up with one of us dead, all of us miserable, and a shit-load of stress." And he'd had enough of that flashbacking like a bitch and blowing up a clearing. "I get it, what happened was some bastard king's fault, but there will always be bastard kings and sitting a good one on the throne won't get the people I've lost back."
"But-but you'd be a hero-"
Katsuki snorted. Izuku made a private little smile.
"Been there, done that."
Iida gawked at them, but quickly cleaned himself up, as he had been so good at doing in the past life. He straightened into his 'leadership pose' and cleared his throat.
"Then, perhaps it will entice you to get your people down out of their banishment in the barren lands. Surely it can't be easy to live on lands no one but the fire dragons want."
Katsuki was quiet for a bit, long enough for Izuku to glance back at him uneasily.
"It's the price we pay for freedom," said Katsuki. "If we left to live in greener lands, we'd just become a target again for some greedy asshole. We already were a target just because we got one measly dragon tamer."
Iida gave Katsuki an odd look, as though he hadn't expected such depth out of the guy who just blew up half his backyard. Katsuki didn't blame him. They hadn't technically been his words.
Izuku, however, looked satisfied and turned back to give Iida his full attention.
"So, if you could tell us anything you know about where the storm dragons live, will be on our merry way," he said. "Oh, and sorry about the trees."
"Take it as a reminder to not listen to asswipes who try to get you to fight our tribes," said Katsuki.
"As I said, we had no intention-"
"Forget these guys, my people will knock you out without question if you come all armed to the teeth like that," said Mina, once more popping into a conversation where she wasn't invited. "It's best to encroach on your neighbor's territory with gifts rather than swords. Just, you know, future advice."
"Ah, yes. Thank you." Iida fidgeted a bit more, every bit a man still trying to find his footing where he thought he had some. "So, um…your people have literature?"
"Oh my god," Katsuki dropped his head against Eijro.
Iida flinched. "What?"
"You're thinking of us as savages again," said Izuku gently.
"Well, I-he's half-naked!"
"I burned off my shirt on accident fighting some naga, okay?" snapped Katsuki. "Clothes don't exactly grow on trees, dipshit."
"I could remedy that."
"I don't want your damn charity!"
"That would be very kind of you!" Interjected Izuku over Katsuki.
Katsuki scowled at Izuku, but settled for folding his arms over his chest with a loud "Tch!"
"I'll inquire with my…advisors, about the dragons, that is," said Iida. "While I see to that shirt." He glanced down at Bakugou's more than a little charred pants. "And maybe some trousers. Feel free to continue using this clearing to rest. If there's anything else I can do for you-"
"Stop acting like a kissup, you're in the same position as us, what do you want?" said Katsuki.
"What he's asking is if there's anything we can do for you," said Izuku quickly. "He sounds a lot rougher than he is, I promise."
"Like hell," but Katsuki didn't say it as loudly as he intended.
Iida gave Katsuki a very odd look which ended in something like a smile that Katsuki didn't like. He didn't like people smiling at him in general.
"I'm sure we can find something, if nothing else a dragon scale or two could make our court wizard rather happy."
Izuku perked up like a kid to candy. "You have a court wizard?"
"Well, yes, I know it's rather unorthodox and we had to hide her from the king's men, but it's a necessity when one lives on the borders of the Forbidden Forest, and I actually don't much understand all the prejudice against magic."
"Oh! No, you don't have to excuse yourself, my mother is a witch. My father was a wizard too."
"Ah, so I guess you're rather happy to hear about others of your ilk being treated, well, humanely. Really, there's a lot in our empire I rather disapprove of." Katsuki hated Iida's wishy-washy way of saying there was some messed up evil shit going down. "Would you like to meet her?"
"Yes! Please! Oh, but only if we're not imposing."
Katsuki groaned and curled back under his cloak, tugging Eijro's wing back down over him. He was so done with this tight-ass meeting.
"Not at all. If anyone were to know where the storm dragons were, it would be her."
"I'll just, um, clean up my breakfast first and then we can go?"
Katsuki got an uneasy feeling and squirmed around to poke his head out from over Eijro's thigh, where the edge of his wing ended.
"Just because he has his face doesn't mean he's your friend, nerd," he said. "Don't let him talk you into shit."
"I won't."
"No, promise. I know how you are with friendship sap, so look at me and swear it."
Izuku rolled his eyes, which Katsuki did not appreciate, but he did as he was told and looked up to meet Katsuki's gaze, so he let it slide.
"I swear I won't let him talk me into storming the castle."
"What castle?"
"The king's castle, though isn't he more of an emperor?"
"That would be correct, but his orders go through the king of our territory to get to us," interjected Iida.
"You're not a part of this conversation, Toaster."
"Toaster?"
Izuku giggled beneath his hand but schooled his features to look serious for Katsuki.
"We'll get my dragon and then we're going home."
Katsuki gave Izuku one lifted side of his mouth. "Fucking right." Then he retreated back into the warm, dark red little den he'd made himself.
"Is Toaster a word unique to your people?"
"More or less," said Izuku. "Now, this wizard of yours…"
Mina and Eijro waited until Izuku and Iida were out of earshot before tucking their heads together to jabber, as jabbery brats were prone to do.
"I'm really surprised. I thought your tamer would be all 'Yes! Violence! Let's rule the kingdom!"
" Me too. He's always gone on about taking over a kingdom or two whenever he got around to traveling."
"Maybe it's because it's an empire. Even animals know better than to take more than they can chew."
"I'm right here, you bastards," growled Katsuki.
"Oh hush, we're not saying anything bad about you," said Mina.
" Yeah, I'm actually proud, that was really manly of you!"
"Sure as hell doesn't sound like it."
And perhaps because they weren't as kind as Izuku to not pity him after his whole mental breakdown, they turned their conversation to more mundane things, like how they didn't think Izuku and Katsuki would be able to finish all the carrots and apples they'd bought before they'd gone bad and how Eijro was technically an omnivore.
Katsuki found himself unexpectedly nodding off to the low murmur of their voices, soothed by the warmth of dragon scales and the musky fur of his cloak.