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Rody had gray eyes.
Obviously, Izuku knew this from the beginning. Just because he avoided eye contact didn't mean he wasn't perceptive to other people's eyes.
He still was able to see Rody's eyes when he looked at his face, or when he gazed at the space between his eyebrows, or at his nose, or, if he dared, at his hooded eyelids. Izuku still was able to notice the grayish tone.
He just never tried to look him eye to eye
Until now.
The cold air breezed against his skin, the result was an Izuku absently brushing his flecked arms in hope of warming them. Even so he didn't get any closer to the fire, where Rody was in front of. He just observed him, eyes shyly going from the gray eyes to a long nose, or ear, or any place except the eyes.
It was a weird thing to do. Look into other people's eyes, I mean. Izuku could keep eye contact for a few seconds — not more than six, for sure — especially with people he got along well with.
The people which he could keep the longest eye contact with were his mom and All Might. He took months to be able to look his mentor in the eyes, and even so when he did it only took a good ten seconds. All Might eyes were interesting to gaze at. They looked like a black sea in which a blue moon reflected. So Izuku looked at them until he drowned in this hypothetical sea and averted his eyes. And his mom, he remembers looking at her eyes ever since forever, but only for like twenty seconds.
Was it weird? Maybe it wasn't normal to keep looking into other people's eyes for more than twenty seconds. Izuku would never understand. He never felt like he needed to look at anyone's eyes, and doing so always made him uncomfortable, as if it was something unnatural. When he makes himself look at someone's eyes it is always a conscious choice, always accompanied by a pressure in the maxilar and the periodically poking of his brain trying to tell him hey, this feels wrong. Why are we doing this? .
But even so…
"Deku?"
"Huh?!" Only now he noticed he'd been caught staring. Rody was looking at him with a smirk and one raised eyebrow.
Pino, perched on his shoulder, looked a little shy.
"Is there something on my face?" his voice remained unbothered. "You've been staring at me for a lil' while." Pino chirped, the sound was low and confused, she still seemed shy. Her cheeks were comically red. "Is something the matter?"
And now it was Izuku's turn to imitate Pino and turn red.
"Uh, nothing!" he laughed, a little embarrassed. Rody just stared at him, probably waiting for a decent answer. "I just…" Izuku stared at him once again. This time he didn't try eye contact, he just analyzed the other's facial structure. "You're very handsome, Rody."
He didn't need to say it. It was obvious. Izuku wouldn't even know how to describe his friend's appearance, everything about him was beautiful.
Pino shrieked, and both her and Rody blushed.
"What?" he laughed to try to cover up his embarrassment.
Then Izuku noticed exactly what he said.
"Ah!" He blushed a little. "I am sorry!" He raised his arms in a placate manner. "I did not want to offend you or anything like that!" He really should take other people's cultures into consideration before opening his mouth. Or maybe culture clash wasn't even the problem here. Yeah, if he just randomly said something like this to any of his other male friends they would probably think it was weird and get shy too.
He, well, he thought that since Rody was such an extroverted western he would take the compliment more naturally.
"Really, I am sorry." Izuku bowed a little, lowering his arms. "I-..."
"Chill, Deku," Rody laughed, raising his hand to cover Pino, who looked even more embarrassed than before. She was even covering her eyes with her wings. "I think… I mean, you're nothing bad yourself, ya know?" He tried to act impassively, but his voice cracked a little and his cheeks were still a little pink… Or maybe it was just the fire's light…
"Ah." Izuku's blush colored his ears. "Thank you…" He played with the hems of his overalls, the overalls that Rody gave to him, while the silence paired. "Um… Rody?" He risked a look at the other boy.
"Say." He was composed once again, all the embarrassment from before seemed to have dissipated.
"The thing is…" He looked at the fire. "I don't like to look at other people's eyes." He left it at that, there wasn't any reason to specify the reason why. There wasn't. "It makes me uncomfortable. But your eyes are really pretty," he looked at Rody again. Both he and Pino were paying close attention, there was no judgment on their faces, Izuku knew. "So I was trying to look at them. Weird, right?" He tried to laugh, even though he didn't think anything was funny.
"Weird?" Rody raised his eyebrow questionably. "I don't think it's weird. Or not weird," he shrugged. "It's just… something, I guess," he said awkwardly.
"Oh."
"But I don't think that you should look me in the eyes if this makes you uncomfortable." And yet he was looking at Izuku in the eyes, it didn't seem purposeful though.
"No, no, it's fine. I want to look," he reassured.
Rody looked at him for a few seconds, assessing, and then he got up. "Cool." He sat in front of Izuku. And before the confused expression on his face, he answered "This way it's easier, ya know?" he gave a crooked and sincere smile, in that peculiar way that was starting to make Izuku's stomach feel weird, lighter.
Separated by only thirty centimeters. Izuku nodded, he really could see Rody's face better this way.
His expression was light, Pino wasn't anywhere to seem — she must have been hidden in his companion's hoodie. More importantly, Rody's eyes were… soft, sure of himself. There was also another emotion there that Izuku couldn't identify, admiration maybe?
They were beautiful, Izuku felt breathless. He knew it wasn't just because of his discomfort.
He had the prettiest eyes Izuku had ever seen. He wanted to keep looking at them, analyzing them the whole night, even if it was uncomfortable.
Said eyes squinted.
"Your expression is so intense, man," he laughed, not in a bad way. Izuku blinked several times, and looked at Rody's ear.
Even his ear is pretty… God, what is happening to me?
He wondered if it would be weird to touch Rody's ear… Yeah, it would. It definitely would.
When he felt ready, Izuku tried again. It lasted two seconds and he instinctively looked the other way, until he remembered what his objective was and returned the eye contact.
It was such a beautiful tone of gray, in fact. Illuminated by the intense light of fire and soft light of the moon. His eyes moved minimally, and Izuku noticed that Rody was also analyzing his face. For some reason, Izuku felt shy and, once again, avoided looking directly at him.
His nose is cute too. Long and elegant. There's a little bump along the shaft.
His lips are charming too. They looked soft. Izuku really wished it wasn't weird to want to touch them (because it was, he didn't need to wonder). Maybe he could rest his finger above them.
No, that wouldn't be enough. That wasn't the way Izuku wanted to touch them.
Rody's mouth moved upwards in a smirk.
"I thought that you wanted to look at my eyes, hero!" Startled, Izuku raised his eyes quickly. Rody's cheeks looked warm again, even though he was acting all cheeky.
Izuku on the other hand got ten times warmer in the face, he tried to think of something to say but only gibberish stammers got out.
Rody interrupted him with a loud laugh.
"There's no problem!" he said, visibly timid. "I was looking at your freckles but…" Confused by the long pause, Izuku tried to forget his embarrassment and looked at his face. Rody pointed at his own eyes and Izuku followed his command.
Rody was staring him in the eyes, and then his gaze fell down a little. He repeated the process.
Izuku frowned, until he noticed exactly what his friend was doing.
"Oh." My lips .
Izuku got even redder, his stomach was even funnier than before, and Rody was laughing lightly, not any less embarrassed than before.
A beat of silence. Izuku wetted his lips and gazed at Rody's mouth. It was pretty and wasn't uncomfortable to look — his eyes, though, were much more pretty.
Rody imitated Izuku and wow .
Honestly, Izuku was surprised that he didn't faint with the amount of blood that rose to his head.
The two of them were running away from the authorities. A criminal organization was chasing them. They were carrying a case with something of value inside. They had so many problems in such a small amount of time that Izuku shouldn't be thinking about it, it shouldn't even cross his head, but he thought:
I don't wanna leave this place without kissing you.
The world was in danger. Izuku didn't know if he would be alive tomorrow, but if he was, he didn't want to spend the rest of his life having wasted this opportunity, and if he wasn't alive, he wanted to have enjoyed this opportunity.
They both had stayed silent for a few seconds that seemed like an eternity. "Rody…" Rody made a sound in his throat that instigated Izuku to keep going. "Can I… Can I kiss you?" He was sure he interpreted all the social clues right, but verifying wouldn't hurt anybody.
Rody's shoulders rose a little and he gave another lopsided smile, but he nodded softly.
"If that's what ya want," he tried to feign disinterest, but even Izuku could see through the disguise without Pino's help. With a soft smile, Izuku observed Rody coming forward until he was inside Izuku's personal space, his knees touching the fabric of Izuku's pants.
Izuku looked at his lips and got closer.
"I have never kissed anyone before," he declared, hoping against hope that Rody wouldn't see him as a loser.
"Me neither," was said so casually. That actually calmed his nerves, though he still was afraid of being so bad at it that he would end up looking like an idiot.
Their lips touched briefly, softly, it was a peck more than anything, but it was such an unfamiliar touch to Izuku, such a new touch that for as simple as it was, it still managed to get his whole skin up in little bumps. If he wasn't so immersed in the sensation he would have brushed his arms.
They smiled timidly, looking each other in the eyes while a happy trill was emitted by Pino. Izuku could compare Rody's eyes to a stormy sky, but the mental image seemed so lifeless when compared to what actually was in front of him. Something shiny would suit Rody better, but Izuku didn't know the name of any grayish jewel, and maybe that was for the better.
Because there was simply no fair comparison to be made, Rody's eyes would win a thousand times against any jewel in the world.
Instead of looking away, Izuku closed his eyes and closed the distance another time. Rody answered with enthusiasm, and Izuku tested something new, he pressed further against the other's lips, receiving a content sigh that made Izuku's stomach churn.
Feeling Rody imitating him, Izuku couldn't avoid a smile. He was sure that the electricity touching his skin was mutual. Rody's lips were soft, and Izuku wanted to kiss him even more. He could stop any moment, but he didn't want to. Why would he?
He just wanted more, wanted further, but he was too shy to say it and he probably should say it but he didn't know how.
Hesitantly, he opened his mouth slightly and licked Rody's lips.
Izuku was more of a horror nerd, but he read a good chunk of romance to know a few things to do.
Rody trembled and a loud, surprised chirp echoed. Izuku didn't know how to interpret any of this, he just hoped he didn't mess up everything. But it seemed like Rody didn't know how to interpret his signs either, as the only thing he did was repeat what Izuku did.
First, Izuku beat himself internally for not relishing the opening. Secondly, oh God what was that?
He felt like he was going to die any second now. A wave of electricity walked along his body and Kaminari was miles away, there wasn't any strange dark cloud in the starry sky, the only ones to blame were Rody and his warm, soft, uncertain tongue.
For sure, Izuku was going to die and it wouldn't be because of his recklessness, or All For One, or Humanise, or any villain that decided that the existence of heroes was a personal attack. The fault would be entirely of the young European delinquent. The one that, for as much of a criminal that he could try to be, only needed a simple kiss to defeat him.
They separated. Izuku felt like his body was composed of gasoline instead of water, and Rody threw a lighted match at him. He was burning . Everything from inside and outside was boiling. Maybe it was because of his hormones, maybe it was because of his red face. Izuku wasn't sure.
Rody was red too, but he seemed happy. And Pino still trilled a happy melody, Izuku just couldn't contain his smile.
All that warmth was converting in a happiness that coursed through his body, and there was nothing he could do but let it out.
He freely flapped his left hand, he couldn't do it to his right one because it would hurt a little. All along he laughed softly, so immersed in delight that he didn't even try to hide or show it in a more neurotypical way. He just let himself be.
"Are you happy?" Rody's voice grounded him, Izuku slowed his movements to a stop, embarrassment sipping through his happiness.
Rody and Pino still had content looks on their faces, the latter also had wide eyes full of curiosity.
"Yeah," he slurred. "Yes. Sorry."
At that Rody frowned slightly, "For being happy?" Izuku didn't know how to answer for a moment. For looking weird ? Yet he didn't want to say it, didn't want to admit it or show Rody the possibility that he was weird.
His mouth though had problems following his brain, "Maybe you would think it was unusual."
Rody gazed at him for a few seconds, his crooked smile seemed as genuine as always. Pino sighed dreamily on his shoulder, taking flight to perch on green soft hair.
"I," he closed his mouth, looking at his bird. "It's," another false beginning. "It's charming, I think. My brother does the same thing and he's cute, so. I think you're cute too."
Izuku wanted to kiss him again, he wanted to paint every millimeter of tanned skin with kisses. But he held himself back.
Nobody had ever called his stim cute before. Ignoring or mocking him was common. Curiosity, like All Might did, also occurred, and now he only smiled fondly, like Izuku's mom.
But given a compliment?
Taken by emotion, Izuku wanted to lay down — throw himself — on the grass and flap his hands.
He spied through his eyelashes the grayish of Rody's eyes, they were as truthful as always. He didn't need to spend the whole night wondering if Rody was talking seriously or if he just didn't wanted to embarrass Izuku. The truth bleeds through Rody's eyes.
"Rody," he sighed contentedly, raising his hand to pet the bird in his head. "If I died now I would die happy."
He was a teenager, he couldn't avoid being melodramatic, sue him.
"Don't say that!" Rody laughed. "If you died now who'd protect me?"
Izuku threw himself on the floor, covering his face and trembling his body. He could hear a surprised chirp because of the sudden movement, yet he couldn't find it in him to care.
"You okay?" the voice was soft and non judgmental, surprisingly not worried, if anything he seemed to know exactly how to deal with the situation.
"Yes." He lowered his hands, gazing at the place between dark and large eyebrows of the boy that laid by his side on the humid grass. "I couldn't be better," a silly smile graced his face.