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The sun set low over the mountains, rays reaching out to lay tendrils along the land and light up the fields as Katsuki hiked up the thin mountain path, his haul tied onto a small sled behind him.
The snow was almost all gone now, though it still gathered in shadows and at the base of rocks, where the sun couldn't reach to melt it, but the sled worked just as well on dirt, as long as you were ready to tug it over a particularly stubborn rock now and then. Besides, the times that it got stuck just gave Katsuki an excuse to get angry at something.
Katsuki paused at the fork, looking out over the fingers of fire from the sun dragging across the view, the long shadows stretching from the peaks on the other side of the valley. Down below the forest was starting to darken, the tall grasses were starting to become a place where things could hide, where creatures were starting to emerge. It was still right in that transition time, larger predators still asleep for the winter, but the smaller animals coming out, enjoying peaceful freedom while they could. Of course, they were never safe from Katsuki, who had to eat even during the winter, but they didn't have to worry about jaguars or bears or dragons yet. Soon the bigger creatures would be coming out as well, and then it would become harder to find prey, but for now, Katsuki had quite the haul tied up in a sack underneath the other things on his sled. After all, he wanted to have extra food for tonight.
Speaking of tonight—and of larger predators—he had to get moving.
The path steepened but Katsuki was used to it, boots sure and steady on the dirt and rocks, sled rattling behind himself as he hiked up the last portion and then ducked off into an entrance broken in the rocks, lichen growing half-over it to create a bit of daytime darkness. For now he left it swept aside, so the dying sun could reach its final exhales inside and light up his work. First cleaning and preparing his kill, setting it to roast and hiking round the summit to the spring to fetch water for stew, and then more water just for drinking. The sun said its final goodnight and the stars started to poke out of the orange as it leaked to violet, constellations coming into view like eyes opening after a long sleep.
Katsuki checked for eyes again as he got back to the cave, though he didn't have to. The snoring was enough, usually, to indicate that hibernation still had a grasp.
The meal was pretty easy to finish, but he didn't eat yet. Instead he wrapped it in the large leaves he had brought in from the deep forest today to keep it warm and then he cleaned and washed the good pelts he had gotten today—small, but still soft—and then some of the feathers he had pulled from the nest of a bird that hadn't been too happy about it. He still had little beak-wounds on his fingers from that cursed bird. Then he stripped some of the lavender from down by the far river, and pressed it into the grasses that he had brought up as well, setting them off to the side. Then he took out the large tooth from the saber he had taken down earlier and set it among the horde. Their winnings—spoils from victorious battles, trinkets, badges, treasures—things like gold, a necklace, a jewel or two, tusks and teeth and claws and bones, all splayed out above the head of the nest that took up most of the back corner of the cave.
Katsuki gathered up the pile from before, all of the soft things that he had brought, and moved carefully to the nest, kicking off his shoes before stepping into it. Curled up on his side, snoozing peacefully—just like he had been all winter—was Katsuki's mate. Red wings fluttering softly with dreams, arms clutching Katsuki's cloak whenever Katsuki had to get up to leave the nest, he snored away in their nest like he didn't have a care in the world. Carefully, as to not disturb him, Katsuki knelt and set down his load, running his fingertips along Eijirou's hair, where it was splayed out over one of his horns. Gentle fingers moved the disturbed hair back into a gentle wave over his forehead, where it rested softly, quivering in the air that Eijirou huffed out on every snore.
He leaned back on his heels for a moment to admire him, feeling a self-satisfied smirk coming on. It was just so endlessly rewarding to know that this was his. The hybrid—this doof, drooling a little as he snored away for months on ends—belonged to him, and may be his greatest and most beloved prize.
Bare from the chest up, he was visibly skinnier than when he had first settled down for hibernation. That was the reason for the feast that Katsuki had prepared, of course. They had been through this before, more than once. Katsuki would die before he let even one thing be out of place when his dragon awoke. He would want to eat four times his own weight, resettle the nest, look over the horde. He would want to hold Katsuki close. He would want to cuddle.
Katsuki put up with that. He didn't crave it. No sir, not a big, scary barbarian like him. He fought stuff and scared off other humans and protected his dragon while he was resting. He absolutely did not hover over his dragon and wait for him to wake up because he wanted to feel those arms give him a big too-tight hug again. Absolutely did not tuck himself into them every night like a touch-starved man. Absolutely did not pout as he sat in the nest, thinking he should be awake by now to tell Katsuki that the spoils he had brought back from fights were satisfactory.
Realizing his smirk had melted and his bottom lip was stuck out a bit, he sucked it back into his mouth and bit down as he scowled at his gathered pile of nest lining. There wasn't enough, but there wasn't time to get more. So he sighed and began to tuck it into the spaces around Eijirou, leaving the big fur pulled around his shoulders, but pressing the pelts and grasses into the corners, replacing the worn out furs with new ones, burying the old ones for cushion—no longer useful for their texture. Eijirou liked things in the nest to be soft, to smell nice and be warm.
Apparently, Katsuki also fell under all of those categories, though he cursed out the dragon when he had first been told this.
Eijirou didn't stir as Katsuki settled down next to him, knees up to his chest, pulling some of the large fur around himself to ward off the gathering cold. The light from his one lantern flickered softly, the embers of his cooking fire near the entrance just smoldering at this point. Pretty soon the dragon would wake, all bleary eyed and warm, with lazy smiles and big, graspy hands. Wanting to pull Katsuki into a (possibly much needed) hug.
Katsuki didn't need physical affection. He was a warlord. People screamed and ran at the mere sight of him, bones hanging from a string around his neck, saber teeth made into studs in his ears, his cloak hung round his shoulders. That kind of person didn't sit and wait for somebody to wake up like a child waiting for their guardians to rise on the morning of a great journey. That kind of person cut down enemies, won battles, gloried in the thrill of the fight. He definitely didn't nudge his toes under his mate’s arm and wiggle them, grumbling about how he should be awake by now.
But apparently it was one of those years where the dragon was slow to rise, and before he could open his eyes, Katsuki’s had slipped closed.
"Hmm, wow. I'm never the first one awake."
Something warm brushed across Katsuki’s cheek, and he blinked his eyes open, trying to focus on the dark shape in front of him. The lantern must have gone out, and Eijirou was nothing but a winged silhouette hovering next to him, eyes glowing just softly enough to be seen. Eyes that Katsuki hadn't seen in months, finally open again, focused on Katsuki like he was the most beautiful sunset in the world.
Scowling, Katsuki reached up to grab the hand against his cheek, palms warm. "Took you long enough to wake, scale-brains."
A chuckle echoed softly in the cave as Eijirou leaned away, and with a puff of flame from between his teeth, the lantern illuminated the cave once more. It showed Eijirou's wide grin, sharp teeth just as white as always, eyes warm like a cup of tea on a chill morning. His hands were nearly as hot as the flame he had just barfed out as he wrapped them around Katsuki’s shoulders, pulling him closer. "Good morning to you, too."
He accepted the hug, tucking his face into Eijirou's chest and closing his eyes, arms snaking to retaliate. His fingers were just able to lace on the other side of this broad back, half-under the protruding wings, which came around to wrap in a hug as well—a habit of Eijirou's. One set of limbs giving a hug wasn't enough; he had to hug with his arms and his wings, and sometimes his tail got in on the action as well, winding around your legs like rope around a bundle of firewood. Katsuki could feel it now, winding around one of his ankles as Eijirou buried his face into the junction of Katsuki’s neck and shoulder.
“Not very talkative this morning?” Eijirou asked—though it was more of a purr, voice still thick with sleep—as he rubbed his face up the side of Katsuki’s neck to his chin, chuffing softly in contentment.
“Missed you,” Katsuki grumbled, as though he were admitting some deep dark secret. Eijirou chuckled, pulling him tighter with arms and wings and flopping back against the nest.
“Me, too. Do you want to hear about my dreams?” Eijirou asked, settling into the furs and hauling Katsuki up so he was more comfortably settled half on top of Eijirou, half tucked into his side. A warm hand rested on his waist, and Eijirou gave him a quick kiss on the nose before shuffling back to get comfortable again.
“Tch,” Katsuki grumbled, running his hand up a burning torso to settle on the dragon hybrid’s neck. Eijirou always made him feel rather small—which was ridiculous, as Katsuki stood nearly a full head above most other people he met. “Of course I wanna hear about your stupid dreams.”
Chuckling, his dragon pulled him a little closer and began to detail beautiful worlds, purple skies to admire, lots of riches to be won, open fields to wander, and mountain ranges to fly along. Snowy peaks and crystalline rivers in deep valleys, flying along with Katsuki in tow. He always had lots of dreams about bringing Katsuki along on flights—though it was near impossible to actually do so, unless it was a very short distance. You’re not fat, Eijirou would always say. I just don’t have a wide enough wingspan for much more than myself. Stop pouting!
It wasn’t as though Katsuki had ever spent a whole lot of time wondering what Eijirou had been dreaming about, but he always let Eijirou tell him when he woke up. It was worth it to be able to lay there with his warm dragon, to listen to him get excited and tell Katsuki that he would have loved it! And there were worse places to be, than here in the arms of his mate, a bright smile just inches away, the sleep that clung to his voice fading away slowly until it was just a trace lingering in his elongated vowels as he continued to talk.
“I wish you could have seen it,” Eijirou hummed, tucking his face down to rub his cheek against Katsuki’s. Like a cat, excited to see you, nuzzling and rubbing and purring.
Katsuki grunted, hiding the smile that wanted to break free with a tiny frown, his top lip pulled between his teeth.
“Aw, don’t be grumpy,” Eijirou chuckled, kissing his nose again. “I’m awake now.”
“I’m not grumpy.”
“Of course not,” Eijirou grinned, reaching up and touching Katsuki’s protruding bottom lip. Katsuki swatted his hand away, and Eijirou laughed. His teeth glinted in the firelight, and Katsuki was reminded of the gold and the treasures he had brought home for his dragon. He had been waiting months to show them off, to see Eijirou smile at the prizes and tell him he was the best provider that a dragon could ask for.
“I brought you my spoils,” Katsuki said, starting to push himself up, but Eijirou wrapped his arms around Katsuki’s stomach like two over-friendly snakes and dragged him back down. “Hey!”
“It’s cold without you,” Eijirou complained, and Katsuki snorted, elbowing him as he tried to squirm away.
“I wanted to show you the treasure I brought home for you,” Katsuki snapped, though it was hard to keep the heat in his voice. Sure, he was big and scary and whatever—a warlord known far and wide, blah blah—but this was who he was. Who he could be with Eijirou was the right person, rushing into battle side by side and still coming home to share a nest and a hug that could nearly engulf three people. Eijirou’s scale-enforced skin held up beneath his hands, and his wit and attitude held up against Katsuki’s temper. Eijirou was perfect for him, and he held Katsuki like he was something special.
Eijirou’s arms slid easily up and belted around him, dragging him into the nest and keeping him there despite the struggles. “Okay.” A smile on his lips, Eijirou half-pinned him and nuzzled his face back into Katsuki’s neck. “And I’ll be happy to see them, but in a bit. For now I just want to be with my treasure.”
Heat blooming on his cheeks—despite years of being together, having Eijirou say stuff like that would always bring the same reaction—Katsuki bonked his fist on the top of his dragon’s head. “You sure I’m with a fearsome dragon, and not some sappy little house-pet?”
“Kaat-suki,” Eijirou whined, and Katsuki chuckled, his crooked grin widening at he wrapped an arm around the dragon’s neck and pulled him in.
“Yeah, yeah. Come here, you big lizard.”
Grin on his face, Eijirou leaned in for their first kiss of the year. There were thousands more to come throughout before the dragon went back into hibernation, but these few—in the warmth of their nest, Eijirou’s eyelids still a little heavy from sleep, Katsuki’s temper soothed by finally being able to be together again—these were always the sweetest.