Work Text:
"Your parents buy you this?"
It ends up grumpier than Bakugou intended, but he doesn't apologize, keeping his torso turned and his gaze out of the window.
"I certainly didn't purchase it myself," comes the snippy reply, and Bakugou sighs. He deserves the attitude, he supposes, but it always surprises him when Iida claps back. "It's a hand-me-down," Iida eventually adds, smoothly turning them into traffic. "My brother drove this when he was younger."
His brother. Bakugou can't help darting a glance to Iida's face, but sees nothing except concentration. Still, the former pro hero Ingenium is not a topic into which Bakugou wishes to delve. "Must be nice to be rich."
Iida's only reply is a sigh, pushed softly through his nose, and the two fall silent, eyes on the road. It occurs to Bakugou as they make their way downtown, easing in and out of lanes, navigating detours and one way streets and pedestrian traffic, that Iida is good at this.
"Didn't you like… just get your license?" he mumbles, frowning at Iida's profile. The guy had just turned eighteen a month or so ago.
"Yes?"
Scoffing, Bakugou unfolds his arms, letting his thumb drum on the sill of the door. "Seem to be pretty comfortable."
Iida's quiet laugh draws Bakugou's eyes. "I suppose you could say that." Iida meets his gaze for a brief moment, and laughs again at Bakugou's scowl. "I have been driving for a very long time," he admits, grin dimpling his cheeks. "Call it ah… an Iida Family obsession."
Incredulous, Bakugou leans in, squinting. "They let you drive around before you were legal?"
Iida's chuckling, warm and intimate, makes Bakugou feel weird. Fluttery. "I invoke my right to remain silent, your honor," Iida snickers, flashing Bakugou a smile. "To avoid incriminating myself further."
Bakugou can't help the laugh that huffs from his chest. "Nerd," he spits out, covering his lapse.
"True."
"Where the hell is this place, anyway?"
Iida's fingers stretch from the wheel, gesturing at the block of buildings to their left. "Just up ahead, I believe." With a glance in the rearview, Iida pulls alongside a vehicle and flicks on the blinker.
Bakugou openly stares, mouth ajar. That spot is far too small for this car. There is no way he can…
He is still speechless when Iida turns off the engine, unbuckling and fishing his phone from his pocket. "We're here!" he chirps, squinting at his screen like he didn't just pull off the most impressive parallel park Bakugou has ever witnessed.
"The fuck-"
"Ah, it's Yaoyorozu," Iida muses aloud. "Looks like they've handled payment, so all we need to do is pick it up."
Bakugou is a tiny bit afraid of what might exit his mouth if he speaks, so he clambers from the car instead. Iida meets him on the sidewalk, and the two set off, Bakugou pretending not to notice he needs three steps for Iida's two. Fucking giant.
Honestly, he's feeling kind of unsettled about the entire trip. He doesn't generally have much reason to spend time in Iida's presence without others, but Iida had the car, and Bakugou wanted to see the cake with his own eyes before they agreed to take it.
His eyes stray sideways. Iida has always seemed most comfortable in his skin when moving, Bakugou notes, and he figures that makes sense. For such a large man, he is graceful, his movements precise and elegant. Power- and plenty of it- restrained here, but Bakugou has lost count of the number of times he's watched Iida going all-out in battle and been… kind of awestruck. More often than he will ever admit, even to himself.
Skin pebbling with goosebumps, Bakugou scowls when Iida looks over, smiling. "The hell are you so happy about," Bakugou pushes out, and clenches his jaw.
"Are you not happy?"
"It's just a cake." From the way Iida's eyes gleam as he sighs, Bakugou gets the sense he's being humored. "Quit smiling like a dumbass."
Lips flattening into a wobbly line, Iida focuses his stare on Bakugou. "No of course," he replies, voice strained. "Perhaps you could instruct me on the appropriate 'Picking up a Birthday Cake' frown."
The fucker is trying not to laugh. "Annoying," Bakugou deadpans, kicking at a pebble. "You look too happy for running an errand." An idea pops into Bakugou's head. Oh. "You and Ponytail dating?"
Iida's smile vanishes for a split-second, and when it returns, it is… different. "No," he says simply.
"But you want to."
"No," Iida repeats, and there is not even a hint of his earlier smile left. "I don't… She does not appeal to me, in that way." Something about Iida's tone hits Bakugou all wrong, and he responds instinctively.
"You're not attracted to women."
Iida stops walking, and Bakugou halts alongside him, keeping his face carefully neutral. With his eyes on their destination, Iida eventually shrugs. "I've never told anyone. Your discretion would be appreciated."
Bakugou returns his shrug and resumes walking. "I won't say shit. It isn't anybody's business unless you tell them yourself."
"I shouldn't be surprised at your understanding," Iida offers from somewhere behind him, voice soft. "What with you and Kirishima."
This time it's Bakugou who stops, and Iida, eyes on his own feet, bounces off his back.
"Me and Kirishima what."
Blinking, Iida's mouth opens on several words before anything actually makes it out. "I had assumed the two of you… Well, I just thought that-"
"We aren't dating."
"Ah." The sound puffs from Iida's chest almost comically high-pitched. "Well, then. I apologize for assuming."
Iida's off before Bakugou can respond, and even trotting, he doesn't catch up until they're entering the store. The exchange with the clerk goes well, and the cake is fine, but Iida seems strangely flustered the entire time. It makes Bakugou uncomfortable, too. By the time they head back to the car, Bakugou wishes he had one of those fancy teleportation quirks.
The silence eventually becomes more than he can bear, and he lets out a soft curse as he buckles his seatbelt. "The hell's wrong with you."
"I'm fine."
"You're acting fuckin' weird."
Iida's fists clench on the wheel. They're huge. How had Bakugou never noticed? He finds his eyes falling to his own hands resting in his lap, callused and suddenly very, very small. "I'm embarrassed," Iida whispers.
Ugh. Bakugou has no interest in discussing feelings, but he doesn't want Iida killing them both on the drive home being all weird and distracted. "About what."
Bakugou can't look away as one of those enormous hands circles weakly over the dash. "I thought that maybe you were also…" Bakugou waits, but Iida clams up.
"What? Gay?"
Iida's cringe speaks for itself. "I'm into whatever," Bakugou spouts off like it isn't a big deal, because it fucking isn't. "But Shitty Hair is… not my type."
The silence is much more comfortable, all of a sudden. Bakugou's eyes dart up, and catch the beginnings of a smile turning Iida's lips. "You have a type?"
Well shit. This is DEFINITELY territory Bakugou has no interest exploring, particularly in present company. "Whatever. Those kinda guys never like me anyways," he mumbles, hoping Iida will pick up the clue to DROP IT, and turns away, arms crossing.
They're well on their way back when Iida finally speaks, and it isn't at all what Bakugou is expecting. "I have a type," Iida nearly whispers, whipping a nervous smile at his passenger before swinging his attention back to the road. Eyebrow raised, Bakugou smirks and waits for him to continue. "I am attracted to intelligence. And I respect a man with backbone."
"No invertebrates for you," Bakugou snorts, and smiles when Iida rolls his eyes.
"I just mean a man with strength of character. Conviction in his own purpose."
Propping his chin on his hand, Bakugou contemplates his options. Does he really want to know more? Apprehension and curiosity wrestle in his mind. Iida seems to be expecting some sort of response, and Bakugou finds himself studying Iida's profile. A strong, confident chin. Attractive nose, neither too large nor too small. Lips full and pink.
Shit. Curiosity wins, then. "You got a crush or something? Someone specific in mind?" A long, slow breath swells Iida's chest, shaking on the way back out. He's nervous. Bakugou's nostrils flare.
"Yes."
"Have you like… said anything to him about it?"
Iida's eyes lock with his for the briefest moment, and Bakugou blinks at the tiny smile quirking the corner of his lips as he replies. "He and I do not have a lot of opportunity to… interact." A laugh pushes from Iida's throat, and a flicker of hope warms Bakugou's insides. "But! Anyhow. You… have a type, eh?"
Of course Iida would expect tit for tat. Bakugou glares at his fisted hands, having dug himself the very hole he's now stuck in. His type? Smart. Powerful. Huge.
Eyes sliding shut, Bakugou releases a careful breath. Nerdy.
"Out of my league," Bakugou mutters at last, unable to bring himself to lie, but completely unwilling to tell the truth.
"I find that impossible to believe," Iida easily retorts, turning them into the Heights Alliance parking lot. "I struggle to imagine anyone being out of your league."
"Yeah, well."
Bakugou makes it clear he's done talking, undoing his belt and springing from the car as soon as it rolls to a stop. Iida doesn't push it, helping Bakugou retrieve the cake from the backseat, and soon the two are climbing the steps to the dorm.
"It was kind of you to suggest a surprise party," Iida murmurs, halting with his hand on the door. His voice is so soft, his smile small and timid in a way Bakugou has never seen. Inviting. Bakugou's hands twitch on the cake box.
"We should do this again," Bakugou forces out, because maybe he's wrong. Maybe he's completely misreading this situation, and if so, he loses nothing, right? He never had a shot in the first place. But if the expression on Iida's face could possibly mean what he thinks it means…
When Iida steps closer, Bakugou has to force himself to stay still. "Do what again?"
Jerking his head toward the parking lot, Bakugou lets a shoulder lift in a lazy shrug. "Hanging out."
"The two of us." Oh, Iida is being so careful. His face is a perfect blank.
"Yeah, nerd." Bakugou wills himself to step closer, to look up and meet Iida's gaze. He's so tall. "Just the two of us."
Maybe two heartbeats pass. If that.
It is eternity.
Iida spins on his heel and opens the door, gesturing for Bakugou to enter before him. "I would like that very much, Bakugou."
Bakugou would be humiliated by the way his cheeks heat, the grin he can feel stretching his face, but Iida looks just as stupidly flustered and happy, and it's hard to find the gumption to complain. "Get that dumbass look off your face," Bakugou mutters, breezing by, and when Iida chuckles, hand coming to rest over his mouth and cheeks…
Bakugou can't help but laugh, too.