Work Text:
Todoroki trudged up the stairs to his floor. His feet dragged. Last night had not gone well. He’d meant to get home hours ago, had been on his way back when the villains attacked, but now the early morning sun accompanied his retreat home. Bruises bloomed under his stained, torn costume—he’d have to get that mended quickly. Even though his nose had grown used to it, he knew he smelled like garbage after one of the villains threw him into a dumpster. It was nice to work with Tokoyami again, but neither of them were suited to fight the villain with a teleportation quirk. Thanks to Dark Shadow’s defense, the other hero hadn’t sustained many injuries. He’d offered to accompany Todoroki home, to make sure his former classmate made it safely, but Todoroki declined. He just wanted a hot shower and his boyfriend.
Iida was off today, so he was probably still asleep. The other man woke with the slightest noise, so Todoroki tried to slip his key into the door as quietly as he could. Slowly, he opened the door to the dim apartment.
“Shouto?” Iida’s voice called from deeper in the apartment. The living room, most likely. His heavy footsteps started towards the entryway.
“Yeah, it’s me.” Todoroki slipped off his dirty boots and socks, reveling in the sensation of his bare feet touching clean floor.
He froze as Iida threw his arms around him and held him close. He felt cocooned, protected. They had always fit together so well. Belatedly, he realized Iida was shaking around him, his breath heavy and wet. The other man wouldn’t let him go, so Todoroki leaned his head back as far as he could. He couldn’t get far enough away to look at Iida’s face. “Tenya? What’s wrong?”
Iida sniffed once. “You were late and your phone went straight to voicemail. I called Midoriya and he said you’d left hours ago.”
Todoroki pressed his forehead to Iida’s clavicle. He could feel the bone through the thin shirt. The other man’s heart was frantic in his chest. The tension in Todoroki’s body settled. This was home. “I ran into some villains on the ride home.” The best thing about riding his motorbike was how easily he could stop to apprehend a villain if needed. “The fight got out of hand. My phone broke. I guess I should have asked Tokoyami if I could use his after the arrest, but I wasn’t thinking.” He answered bluntly but Iida could hear the guilt in his voice. “I just wanted to get home.”
“You ran into Tokoyami?” Iida was deflecting, trying to distract himself from his fear.
“Yeah, I ended up chasing the villains to his patrol area.”
Iida huffed a soft laugh. “Bad luck for them.” Indeed, it was lucky for Todoroki that Dark Shadow’s power increased at night, and that Tokoyami and Dark Shadow’s partnership was much stronger now than when they were in high school.
Todoroki had his arms around Iida and absentmindedly rubbed his back. “I’m sorry.”
Iida stopped trembling. He let the smaller man back off a couple steps. His arms lowered, fingers tracing along Todoroki’s arms until they held hands. He kept a loose grip as he assured himself by visually checking Todoroki over. Todoroki could see his reddened eyes over dark bags. He didn’t look as if he’d slept. “I was scared, Shouto. Tensei—” he went quiet.
Heroes were human. They wanted to have relationships and families. But their loved ones never knew if a missed call or an ignored text was due to them not hearing the phone, or because the hero was dead. They lived with that fear. Every hero’s family did. Other heroes could understand that sometimes, things happened, that you ran late due to a villain attack going on longer than anticipated.
But the last time Iida hadn’t received a timely response from a hero, his brother almost died. Todoroki couldn’t imagine how terrified Iida must have been, only knowing that he had left work and not been heard from since.
Todoroki freed one of his hands and cupped Iida’s warm, wet cheek. His fingers brushed blue strands aside. “I know, Tenya. I’m sorry for worrying you.”
“Don’t scare me like that again. Please.” The last word came out like a gasp. Todoroki hated to see him like that. Iida was always so composed. He felt guilt at having reduced the other man to this state.
“I won’t,” Todoroki promised. “I love you.”
Iida leaned down to press his forehead against Todoroki’s. Eyes closed, he focused on taking deep, measured breaths until they were no longer ragged. He could smell Todoroki’s shampoo and— “You smell horrible.”
Laughing, Todoroki lightly butted Iida’s forehead with his own. “I ended up in a dumpster.”
Iida stood straight again, rubbing the spot where Todoroki headbutted him. “Go shower. I’ll fix some breakfast. You must be starving.”
He was. Todoroki was tired and hungry. He quickly walked to the bathroom and shed his clothes. They would have to do laundry that day. He made sure to scrub under hot water until his skin was red. He washed his hair and finally, finally felt clean again. He slowed down then, enjoying the warm water running down his body. His muscles loosened. Everything would be okay.
Shower finished, he toweled off and dressed in a pair of shorts and a white Ingenium T-shirt. It was his favorite shirt to wear during lazy days around their apartment—not just because of his personal bias and how flustered Iida got when he saw him wearing it, but because the fabric was soft and comfortable.
Todoroki didn’t smell anything cooking, nor did he hear Iida in the kitchen. That was unusual, because Iida was usually easy to hear, especially when cooking. He came around the corner and stopped. Iida was curled on one side of their couch, asleep. Todoroki smiled lightly and retreated to their bedroom to retrieve a blanket. He sidled in against Iida’s side and threw the blanket haphazardly over them both. He closed his eyes with a long sigh. Iida muttered something incomprehensible and moved an arm around Todoroki’s shoulders. They could eat later, maybe order take out. Right now, Todoroki would revel in the feelings of warmth and safety that Iida gave him. He was home.