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Blinding lightning flashes and ear splitting cracks of thunder followed the two men as they burst into the motel lobby, completely drenched, trailing puddles after them as they headed toward the counter. The young lady that worked the front desk nearly choked on her gum as she was startled by their sudden appearance, the magazine she’d been reading falling from her hands. Looking them over though, she couldn’t say she was too surprised - nor was she ungrateful for the interruption of her regularly scheduled, nighttime boredom.
The blonde man with spiky hair dripping rivulets down his face and running off his black leather jacket lead the way, holding his motorcycle helmet under one arm, using the other to pull his shivering companion along after him. His fierce expression and determined eyes should’ve been enough to warm the jacketless man behind him - they certainly warmed the front desk clerk as they caught on her - but the slightly shorter man appeared to be frozen to the bone. Ladened with a large duffel bag over his shoulder, he was completely soaked through, without any protection except for the helmet he still wore on his head. Neither of them were from around here, that was obvious. The counter girl would have remembered a pair of intense, red eyes like that as they held on her.
"You guys got hot showers here?"
Needing to shake herself from that line of thought, she nodded at the man, feeling like her words were trapped in her throat. Relief just visibly replaced the tension in the young man's shoulders, and he spared a half glance back at his friend, seeming to realize then that he was still holding on to the other. As he let go, the blonde returned his gaze to the clerk.
"We need a room for two."
That was obvious, but, unfortunately, it wasn't possible.
"Sorry, but...we only have one full size available."
The shorter man that stood slightly behind his fierce friend caught her eye as he tensed up. She hadn't paid him much attention, but now she could see the dark curls squashed beneath his helmet, and the round, verdant eyes centered among a splash of freckles. He had a pretty face, but the fierce blonde drew her attention with a simple breath, having taken a moment to contemplate their situation before responding.
"We'll take it."
"Kacchan-" the helmeted one started to say, but was immediately cut off as the other elbowed him slightly.
"You can sleep on the floor," this Kacchan retorted quickly to the side before returning his hard gaze to the woman as he slammed some bills down in front of her. After counting out the correct amount, she nodded at the two, making to grab the last key from it's hook.
"I could send up some extra blankets," she started to say, tentatively, as she held out the key in front of the blonde. "If you want."
"Yeah, sounds good," he said, as briskly as he snatched the key from her. Once he had what he needed, and their transaction was over, the clerk seemed to no longer exist; those red eyes trained on their freckled companion, now avoidant as the shorter man curled into himself, even smaller than before, it seemed. A leather clad arm replaced its hold on the other’s bicep, and its owner nodded to the door that led to the staircase. Only the curly-haired man with trembling lips spared her a glance before they both disappeared into the night once again.
Well, now she had to find where they kept the spare blankets.
....................
Kacchan was silent as he navigated the halls to find their room, the rain lashing at them from the open rail, but still, it was better than riding through it.
Without a jacket, Midoriya’s shirt was soaked through, as were his pants, and his shoes, and socks. The drenched man hugged his arms as he followed after the other, well aware that his shivering was now in part due to his spiking anxiety. Walking through the threshold of their room, he couldn’t chase away the harrowing thoughts of being seen entering together, of the front desk clerk pondering their situation…
“Come on, get those damn clothes off.”
Those words pierced through his scattered thoughts, bringing him back to reality. The door had been closed behind him, protecting his back from the punishing rain, though too little too late. Now, looking around their safe haven, Midoriya saw that the room was small, but better than most they’d stayed at; the floors were clean, the sheets clearly laundered, with an open doorway to their own, private bathroom, and spotless blinds that Kacchan strode over to close immediately after kicking his boots off. As his partner moved about the room, shedding his jacket, tossing it aside with his helmet, turning on the shower and grabbing the duffel from the frozen man’s shoulder, digging through for dry clothes, Midoriya felt like he must be moving in slow motion, as he was only just able to take his shoes off.
“Deku, are you fucking listening to me?”
Midoriya’s face snapped to the other man, who was glaring at him as he began to strip his wet body of his waterlogged garments. Though he felt sluggish, Midoriya was certain Kacchan hadn’t spoken as the fierce man made a whirlwind of their room.
“Get out of those clothes, you’re gonna fucking freeze to death. And I’m not dragging your damn corpse around with me.”
“Y-yeah…” Midoriya mumbled through chattering teeth, tugging at his own shirt. Yet as he was halfway through peeling it off his chest, he froze again. “But, um...what if she comes soon with the blankets?” At that, Kacchan rolled his eyes as he ripped his socks from his feet and threw them aside, into his growing pile of sopping wet clothes.
“We’ll take it separately,” he finally responded, jumping around on one leg in an attempt to remove his pants. “I’ll go first, since you seem hell bent on getting a cold. Wear a towel if she shows up.” And with that, Kacchan’s underwear was added to the pile, the blonde then proceeding to storm into the bathroom.
Midoriya tried not to take the other’s bitterness too personally. He’d known the other boy his entire life, and for the past several months they’d spent on the road together, neither had left the other’s sight for more than a moment. So he knew Kacchan’s frustration stemmed from their half hour drive through a raging thunderstorm in the middle of nowhere on a motorcycle at night. Some sleep would do the irritable man well. With all that in mind, Midoriya stripped into his underwear, and decided to find their toothbrushes and other toiletries, setting what few they had on the sink.
Kacchan took his showers quick, luckily, so he was out by the time Midoriya was finished. Just as he stepped out and grabbed a towel, there was a knock at their door, causing the perpetually frowning man to scowl.
“Just get in,” Kacchan grumbled, nodding toward the shower he’d left running, and closing the bathroom door behind him. Now that he was alone and closed off from the main room, the bathroom felt bigger than before, emptier. The running water ate up all other sounds, creating the illusion of silence, and Midoriya tried to find peace in Kacchan bearing the burden that he himself could not.
Taking a deep breath, he discarded his last piece of clothing, and entered the shower, feeling the perfectly warm water slowly thaw the chill in his bones, and for this moment, he was free.
....................
With Deku safely in the shower, Bakugou made sure to dry off his hair as best he could, shouting out, "One minute!" to their visitor, before wrapping his towel tight around his waist and opening the door. Silhouetted by the backdrop of lightning and pouring rain stood their counter clerk, holding a stack of blankets, as promised.
"Thanks," he said gruffly, grabbing the delivered goods and making to close the door to get them both out of the weather.
He was stopped, however, when she said, "Is there anything else I can get you?"
He'd be a fool to not notice how she looked him over, standing there in his towel, fresh out of the shower, and he recalled the way she'd watched him back in the lobby when they first arrived. Bakugou scowled at her, and yet he couldn't help but look back over his shoulder toward the bathroom, the sound of the shower going just barely audible over the rumbling thunder and rain flooding the streets outside.
"Yeah," he admitted, reluctantly. "How about some more towels?"
She blinked at that, perhaps not expecting a legitimate answer, but then she nodded, and left. The blonde man was able to dry off and get dressed into his tank top and shorts before there was another knock, thankfully just as the shower was turned off. He made sure to open the door quick so Deku would hear before exiting the bathroom butt ass naked in front of their clerk.
And there she was again, this time ladened with towels, and a somewhat hopeful smile.
"Thanks," he repeated himself, about ready to dry off his dumbass partner himself, so sick of seeing the other soaked through he almost closed the door on the young woman's face.
"Um," she started off, Bakugous eyebrow raising as he waited. "You know, if you really don't want to share a single room, I- I wouldn't mind...I get off my shift soon-"
"Forget about it," he interrupted, glaring at the counter clerk in front of him. "Go find something else to waste your time with. I'd prefer him to you." Fully prepared to slam the door in that rejected face, he stopped himself, and said, "Thanks for the shit," before closing it with a little more restraint.
Once the lock was switched, he heard the bathroom door open, and Dekus voice broke through the sudden silence.
"Kacchan, that was rude." Rolling his eyes, he turned to throw a fresh towel at the other man.
"She was trying to flirt with me. You fucking get that, right?"
From behind the towel Deku used to rub his hair dry, round, green eyes widened even more than normal.
"Oh...really?" With another scowl, Bakugou threw the other towel at that stupidly, honestly, innocent face to hide his irritation.
"You need to be more jealous," he grumbled, making his way past the now befuddled man to the bathroom, brusk as he applied toothpaste to his brush. "What if I fucking said yes, hah?"
He knew it was a lame question said out of exasperated frustration, but it didn't help to hear that stupid chuckle from beneath the towels.
"Well, I don't really think you would, since she was a, a girl, and all…" The face that emerged from those towels revealed a forlorn smile to him, voice soft as he was hesitant to say that, even in the privacy of their own room in the middle of a thunderstorm.
"Yeah, yeah," Bakugou said grumpily from around his toothbrush, watching in the mirror as the other walked behind him, finishing his drying off in the bathroom. Choosing to remain silent, the blonde simply took in the stupidly, beautifully, familiar form of his partner, childhood friend, and beloved. His eyes roamed over the gentle curves of subtle muscles as they stretched, watching that fluffy white towel rub against bare skin, coated in freckles, scattered in places no one else would even know they existed. Bakugou’s eyes were lucky, indeed, and even in that irascible state, he could admit it to himself as he brushed his molars for longer than was necessary.
He was only caught staring when Deku reached over to pick up the silver ring on a chain he'd left on the bathroom counter before showering; the ring Bakugou had given him a couple months before they'd left home. Green flicked up to red, stilling in that moment.
The blonde spat his minty foam into the sink, focusing on swishing water and watching it drain, rather than his now warm Deku, who was finally changing into dry clothes.
Rising up from the sink, he let himself look at the other again, now dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, his stupid curls still too fucking wet for Bakugou's comfort, but he'd learned quickly that those stubborn, green curls dried on their own time, obeying their own laws. Dekus reflection showed him folding their towels and hanging them up, as sweet as fucking ever.
"Oi," he said, clearing his throat, his voice feeling unusually gruff. "I'm passing out." After waiting for Deku to turn at his announcement and look at him, Bakugou leaned in quickly, lightly tapping the others chin, and kissing that freckled cheek before ripping himself away, his long strides taking him to their full size bed in the middle of the room, and flopping onto his back.
...................
Kacchan kissed him so gently before heading to bed, not even stopping to observe Midoriya's reaction. He didn't give one, knowing his blonde companion just wanted to sleep, and to end this hellish day, to end this nonstop traveling, searching, one obstacle after another.
So, he simply said, "Good night," his voice soft as he watched the other lay back, beneath the covers, claiming his half of the bed.
With a light sigh, Midoriya quietly brushed his teeth and cleaned up whatever little mess either of them might have made. Once he'd finished up in the bathroom, he made his way over to the door to hesitantly flip the "do not disturb" sign, remembering their first ever discussion about it.
"Would it be suspicious? Do you think? Two men with a do not disturb sign?"
"It's only suspicious if you act suspiciously, dumbass."
Midoriya steeled himself, making sure the door was locked again, and the blinds were perfectly closed, and for a last touch, he spread the blankets on the floor, messy and imperfect, as if it had hosted one of their slumbering bodies - just in case. All that was left was to turn off the lights and join his partner in bed.
Looking back at the man already settled in, Kacchan appeared to be asleep, but Midoriya noticed how that head had turned to follow him to the other side of the room. Wordlessly he switched off the lamp, picking up his side of the blanket, and pausing, before whispering to his supposedly passed out bedmate.
"Should I sleep on the floor, Kacchan?"
"Shut up and get over here, dumbass." With a small smile at the immediate reaction, Midoriya crawled into bed, next to the body that welcomed him in, just like every other night they spent together. The arm that curled around him was familiar, as was the smell that greeted him when he buried his face into Kacchans neck. Settling into their typical sleeping arrangement, his arm draped over the other's chest, he murmured, like he was already falling asleep.
"Kacchan, do you ever get jealous when it comes to me?" The body against him shifted.
"Stupid question. Just go to fucking sleep already."
But he did not. Instead, he continued; "You know I fret a lot, but...that's probably the one thing I never worry about. You and me." He spoke contemplatively, listening to that heartbeat echoing in the chest he laid upon. "I trust you, you know. Completely. With all of me." Midoriya held on tighter to the other, squeezing Kacchan’s leg between his own. "You dropped everything for me when I was kicked out."
His beloved was silent momentarily, motionless except for the rising and falling of his breaths.
"It wasn't much I was giving up," that gruff voice rumbled above him, somehow softer still than it had been all night.
"I know…" Midoriya mumbled, his voice somber. "I just… you've done so much for me. More than I ever-"
"Deku," Kacchan interrupted, somehow gentle and firm at the same time. "The choice isn't hard when it's you."
It was Midoriya's turn to fall silent, unable to respond to that. All he could do was wonder at this emotional turn of such a terrible night. He squeezed the body against him again, afraid of the rain quieting down, of the sun rising, of letting go in the morning.
"Go to sleep," that comforting voice said again, simply this time, still rough, as his voice always was, but as gentle as Kacchan could be.
And so he did. Ensconced in bed with his beloved, Midoriya drifted off to sleep, his anchor in his arms, keeping him steady through the endless waves of pouring rain.