Chapter Text
The wind, chilled with the height, felt amazing against Katsuki’s always-hot skin. The red scales and leather saddle beneath his legs were cool to the touch, the mighty muscles rippling with every downward push of the large wings. He looked out over the mountains, arms crossed and head raised high to squint at the ground below with a sense of dignity. With the dragon’s help, he enhanced his vision to see every miniscule detail on the ground: every pebble, every blade of grass was as clear as day to him despite the meters separating them. The stream water shimmered with the setting sun, and the sky turned a pinkish-yellow through the break in the clouds.
Oi, lizard. Katsuki spoke but his mouth moved not. The dragon rumbled in response. I’m hungry.
Head down, the dragon immediately began descending, aiming towards a herd of deer near the stream. Katsuki loosely hung onto the short saddle horn, long used to the feeling of being on a dragon. However, when the dragon suddenly snapped its wings open to halt their descent, Katsuki’s balance was thrown off and he hung over the side, the strap around his waist being the only thing keeping him still mounted.
What the fuck, you big dunce?!
A voice answered him in his head. There’s an intruder.
Katsuki righted himself in the saddle and smirked. Well, let’s show the dumbass they walked into the wrong valley.
With a strong thrust, the dragon quickly set off in the direction of the valley opening. Katsuki’s cape swirled through the air behind him, the fur around his shoulders whistling in his ears. Upon seeing a dark silhouette on the ground, Katsuki placed a hand directly on the dragon’s scales and pulled the magic into him, magnifying his vision. His smirk grew.
Now.
The dragon roared and the stranger’s head snapped up, his entire body jolting with fear. Katsuki could see the exact moment the man’s eyes began to fill with dread and- tears? He began scrambling to pick up his stuff that laid spread out in preparation for a nightly camp, leaving a few items behind as he sprinted away.
The dragon made a cough-like noise, repeating it a few times. A laugh. Smoke curled amusedly out of its nose. It turned its head to look directly into Katsuki’s eyes, an unspoken agreement between them.
“Let’s have some fun!” Katsuki yelled, out loud and telepathically. The dragon roared again and in one swoop, dropped onto the ground in front of the unsuspecting stranger with a loud thump and a show of kicked-up dirt. The man screeched and fell to the ground, staring up at the red dragon and its frightening master. Katsuki stood up in the stirrups and sneered down at the poor soul.
“Why did you come here?” His voice boomed. The man shook, a few tears slipping down his cheeks. Oh great, we’ve got a fucking wimp.
The dragon made the presumable laughing sound again. Katsuki groaned
“I said…” He swung a leg over the saddle and jumped to the ground, landing neatly before stalking over to the stranger. “Why did you come here?”
The man squeaked. “I-I-I’m just- I’m traveling and- I mean no harm, I swear! I didn’t- I-” He broke off into sobs. Katsuki rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, heard it all before. Still don’t give a shit.” He held a hand out. “Give me your junk.”
Katsuki was mildly impressed when the stranger glared with defiance even though he looked utterly pitiful. “No. I can’t- I can’t do that.” He held his bag to his chest, clutching to it like a lifeline.
“You can’t?” Katsuki pulled his hand back to cross his arms, glaring harshly. “You can’t?”
The dragon stomped a foot and growled, baring its teeth. The man jumped but held fast to his bag, clenching his eyes shut and shaking his head so hard Katsuki amused the thought of it just rolling right off his neck.
“Please! Please, I can’t let this go!” Katsuki was taken aback by the stranger’s yells. Wasn’t he just sobbing a moment ago?
His dragon seemed to be just as surprised. What’s with this guy? Usually they’ve thrown their stuff at us and ran by now.
Katsuki made sure his annoyance could be felt by the dragon through his mind. You think I don’t know that? Stupid ass, I’ll deal with it. Fuck off. He could almost feel the dragon rolling its eyes at him. With a grunt it walked away to lay under a tree, keeping a watchful eye on its master.
The stranger opened his eyes and gazed at the dragon with… amazement? The fear seemed to have completely vanished.
Katsuki nudged the bag with a foot. “What is that, a lame-ass nametag?” He leaned down to get a closer look. “Deku? What the actual fuck kinda name is that?”
The stranger sniffled, looking confused. “My name? T-that’s not my name, it’s-”
Katsuki cut him off. “Don’t care. Either give me your shit or I’m takin’ it from you.” He reached a hand out again, but surprisingly Deku stood up and backed away.
“Can’t you just let me leave?” He pleaded. “I-I’ll do anything, so please.”
“If you’ll do anything then give me your fucking shit.”
“Anything but that!”
“What the fuck’s in there that’s so damn important?”
“I can’t tell you!”
Deku was breathing hard, visibly agitated. They glared at each other heatedly for a moment before Katsuki lunged forward.
“Give it to me!”
“No!” Deku jumped out of reach and ran. Katsuki followed.
“Give me your fucking- why the fuck are you so fast?!”
Katsuki chased Deku around like a complete moron, the two yelling at each other back and forth like a couple of children. The dragon chortled as it watched.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this, Bakugou!
Shut the fuck up! Give me a hand!
A cloud of smoke was gathering around the dragon’s head. I don’t have hands.
Katsuki stopped running, panting, and faced the dragon with his scariest face, the one that caused random travelers to piss themselves as they ran away with their tail between their legs.
“You stupid reptile! I fucking hate you, y’know that?” He shouted, red in the face from over-exertion. He emitted his feelings of anger into the dragon’s mind, only getting amusement back. Deku stared on with a mix of confusion and awe.
The dragon stood up and made its way over to Katsuki, moving its head to look between the two men. This Deku… he said he’d do anything, right?
Katsuki put a hand on his hip, pushing his hair off his sweaty forehead. Yeah, so?
The red beast stopped before Katsuki and dropped its head to his level, staring into his eyes. Katsuki brought a hand up to its large forehead, the magic calming him down immediately. He breathed out slowly and glanced back to where Deku was standing with a goofy smile on his face. The sun was completely hidden by the mountains now; dusk was beginning to settle around the strange trio.
So… you said you were hungry…
A grin slowly grew on Katsuki’s face. That I did. Katsuki turned away from the dragon and marched toward Deku, who cowered for a second before standing his ground, still tightly holding onto his bag.
“I don’t know what you just did,” he started, shaky voice betraying his nerves, “but I’m still not giving this to you.”
“Oh, no, Deku. We’re done playing that game.” Katsuki smirked. His dragon came up behind him, towering over the two. Deku didn’t hide his cowering anymore, a feeble noise slipping past his lips. Darkness was closing in.
“You’re gonna do something for us.”