Work Text:
The word Late was a staple in every Pro Hero's vocabulary. It practically came with the registration. Not even a punctuality quirk could save you. It was basically a right of passage, the day you had to either cancel plans or inform someone you were called in. It was a universal "You Made It" for every sidekick. Of course, that didn't mean you could just expect everyone to let it go. Hence the infamous Pro Hero advice: Communication is key. Communication truly was the key to every Pro Hero's success, both in their career and home life. You couldn't have a fruitful relationship without communication. Even mutes communicate in some shape or form. Therefore, there is no excuse to not have some form of it.
The lack of communication was the explanation for Bakugo Katsuki's current irritation. It was 8:00. His husband was currently an hour late. Katsuki had sent one warning text forty-five minutes ago. He had called him three times now, each going to voicemail. He turned on the news ten minutes ago, where they were discussing a villain attack that his husband had assisted in. Katsuki briefly considered calling the agency but had the sudden paranoia he was being clingy so that idea was on the backburner. As was the dinner Katsuki spent an hour making. His red eyes narrowed on said dinner as he continued to mull over why his husband had not called or texted and where he could be. Part of him really itched to get his hero costume on and start searching. The lack of communication was nerve-racking and completely unlike him. His husband usually never shuts up. Katsuki is always getting constant updates on his day when they are not patrolling together or their days off don't coincide. He did have a message saying that said husband had made it to the agency and was cleaning himself up at 6:15, a whole fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. Tardiness didn't make sense.
Katsuki had just picked up his phone to try calling his husband again when keys clinked together in the entryway. The door was opened forcefully then slammed shut, heavy breathing echoing through the apartment. Katsuki frowned, twisting on his heel to face the doorway. There stood his husband, covered in sweat, looking dead on his feet. His phone was pressed to his ear, an enraged snarl visible on his face.
“I’ve made this clear multiple times. It’s a non-negotiable part of my contract and Dynamight’s contract. This is the third time I’ve been contacted this month and I am sick of it. The answer is no! Dynamite and I are not comfortable talking about our home life on national television much less with Convincer. Whether or not she can only ask approved questions. Her quirk literally compels people to spill intimate details and neither of us are comfortable with that. It is our private, home life. If people want to see our life they can follow our official social media,” Katsuki blinked as exhausted green eyes clashed with his own. It only took him a few steps to be before his husband and a quick flick of his wrist to snatch the phone.
“Hero Deku, we understand your reluctance on the matter but this is an excellent PR opportunity that would boost your popularity as well as Dynamight’s! We can go through questions and answers the day before to make sure nothing private it leaked and you will get-,”
“Deku said no. I’m saying no. Pressure Deku again and we’ll find a new PR team,” Katsuki snarled into the phone before hanging up. Izuku collapsed against him, tucking his head into the crook of Katsuki’s neck. A sigh of defeat escaped him. Katsuki hummed and snuggled into the embrace. “Deku, you’re late,”
“I know,” Katsuki blinked in surprise at the vicious hiss escaping Deku’s lips. “I know I’m late. I wanted to be home early to cuddle and watch the All Might documentary re-run with you. Instead, I got hounded at the agency by the PR manager all day demanding I sign papers we supposedly forgot to sign for our joint merch line. Thank god I fucking read them because it was actually a fucking interview contract!” Katsuki wrapped his arms around Deku’s shoulders, prompting the greenette to pull away so he could look down at Katsuki. Damn his One-For-All growth spurt . The blonde knew the moment a curse leaves his nerd’s lips that it was time to bust out all his ultimate comforts. Deku never swore. Just wasn’t in his routine.
“That’s bullshit. I’ll take care of that tomorrow when I go in,” Katsuki tugs Deku closer, pressing a kiss to his jaw. Deku unceremoniously dropped his bag and coat, kicking off his red shoes into the corner. Katsuki can't bring himself to snap at him for the mess. It's clear Deku is exhausted and irritated beyond belief. As much as Katsuki prefers the nerd clean up his shit, this isn't the time to nitpick. Instead, Katsuki moves to the kitchen to dish up their dinner. It's an elevated stew recipe Katsuki was developing for Kirishima and Mina. Whenever Mina found a recipe she liked but just couldn't figure out how to cater it to her tastes the way she likes, it's passed to Katsuki for him to work his magic on it. Currently, the stew was practically perfect, spicy and warm in the best ways. Granted it needed a lot more spice for it to cater to his pallet but Izuku would keel over.
“I’m sorry I’m pissed off,” Izuku grunted into his half empty bowl some time into dinner. He had wiped himself down with a warm towel provided by Katsuki and changed into some shorts. The greenette couldn't be bothered with a shirt and honestly, Katsuki wasn't complaining. He'd never complain about such an attractive view, but he absolutely would about the PR manager's antics. How dare that asshole piss his husband off and ruin what could've been an amazing movie night.
“Don’t be, it isn’t your fault, shit-nerd,” Katsuki took a sip of his beer. He cracked out the good beer Izuku liked when the nerd wasn't looking. Izuku liked to hide it, but he really liked the "after work beer" on a rough day and Katsuki wasn't going to let him deny himself the beverage. “I’m gunna give em a piece of my mind for bugging you like that the whole fuckin' day,” Izuku chuckled, hoarse and dark. Another new development that came with age: Izuku’s voice. It was smooth like butter and rich like chocolate. It always sent a shiver down Katsuki’s spine in the most delicious of ways. The way his husband could let out such a laugh was seriously killer. Katsuki considered if one could die from just the sound of someone’s voice then remembered Present Mic and dismissed the question.
The rest of dinner was spent chatting about mundane things like the storm coming up, a new hero rising through the ranks, and playing a soft game of footsie under the table. Izuku had thrown back two beers now, alerting Katsuki just how rough his day actually was even if he was saying it wasn’t too terrible. A sly plan began to form in the blonde's head - the perfect way to get the nerd to just relax after such a rough day.
The key was being subtle. Izuku didn't like to let Katsuki pamper him. He preferred spoiling Katsuki and treating him over the reverse. It had originally irritated the hell out of him how attentive Izuku was until Uraraka of all people pointed out that Izuku has always shown his affection via words and gifts and delicate acts of service. Very much the opposite of Katsuki's harsher "eat or you'll die" and his own acts of service. Either way, they fit together seamlessly and Katsuki wouldn't change a thing about his husband.
Except the snoring. Izuku's snores could quite possibly cause an earthquake.
Shaking himself from the very straying train of thoughts, Katsuki quietly cleared the table as Izuku slipped on his glasses and began to sift through some emails relating to their quirkless charity. His fingers itched to rip the tablet from his husband and either force the man to watch an All Might documentary or make out with him but both would give Izuku time to trap Katsuki to the couch and then the plan would be in shambles. This was gunna be hard enough since his husband had his damn "Kacchan Sense". The shit-nerd somehow always knew when Katsuki was up to something. The blonde could only hope that Izuku was too distracted by the emails and slight buzz of alcohol to detect Katsuki's scheme.
He turned on the sink, grabbing his dish gloves and the scrubber. When there was considerable racket from the spray hitting the water pooling up, Katsuki slinked into the corner where the bath panel was. He pressed a palm against the little speaker before pressing Izuku's preset. Once the jingle and automated voice disappeared, Katsuki returned to the dishes as nonchalantly as he could. Washing the dishes was both therapeutic, stress relieving, and distracting. He sank into the task easily and was able to ignore the slight bundle of nerves forming at his sneaky plan.
Once the pot was in the dish rack and the bowls set to dry on the counter, Katsuki realized a slight flaw. He wasn't sure how to set up Izuku's bath the way he liked without him getting suspicious. The formula for the perfect bath was complicated and while Katsuki had it perfected, there wasn't much subtle about it. The ding of the dryer was like an epiphany. Katsuki grabbed an empty laundry basket, slinging clothes into it that had gathered by the front door. It was pretty normal for them to step inside and just strip. Neither enjoyed being super dirty around the house and showering at the agency was hit or miss. Interns were chatty, no matter where they were.
With the excuse of laundry secured under his arm, Katsuki slipped down the hall and into their main bathroom. The laundry basket was discarded on top of the toilet so Katsuki could start fishing Izuku's bath stuff from their little closet. He grabbed the nerd's preferred bubble bath, his eucalyptus bath salts, the unscented salts, a soothing honey and milk bath bomb, and the little bath tray he'd gotten Izuku two years ago.
Katsuki planted himself on the side of the tub, slowly scooping the salts to pour into the water. The ratio was 3:1 for the unscented and scented, as Izuku didn't like how strong the scent could be when it was all the scented salts. Next came the bubble bath, then the bath bomb. He dipped his hand in to stir the water, arm twitching at how cool the water felt. He didn't understand how the nerd could take such a cold bath but he was well aware that his higher body temperature made it so he preferred hotter showers and baths.
The water swirled after Katsuki’s arm, creating this mesmerizing effect of golden glitter against milky white water. He admired it for a few moments before removing his arm from the water and drying it off with a towel. He needed to get his nerd in there to allow the man to relax. Katsuki slinked out of the bathroom, silently closing the door. He snatched up the basket of clean clothes and made his way to the bedroom. He made sure to grab Izuku's favorite fluffy pajamas, his tablet, and one glass of that specialty wine. It was the wine served at their wedding. One of Izuku's favorites and Katsuki always made sure they had a bottle. Whether it's for a romantic evening or a simple night in, they had the wine.
Though, in order to get the wine he would need to… Katsuki huffed in annoyance. Scratch that, Izuku was currently clutching another beer in his hand as he glared at the TV. From what Katsuki could hear, it was some bullshit about a fight yesterday. Some UA students had stumbled upon a mugging in progress and took the villain down. Good job on those kids, but none of them had provisional licensing. It left this tricky gray area of the kids doing what was right and protecting the victim only not having proper licensing to do so. One confirmed that they used their quirk making the situation impossibly harder. Izuku was always very stuck on those things anytime they came up. He always lobbied for the kids and Katsuki tended to do the same.
Either way, Katsuki returned to the bathroom to set up the final bits before he needed to summon his husband. The lights were dimmed, one of Izuku's favorite candles burning in the corner. It was some sort of bourbon bonfire scent that he associated with Katsuki. Katsuki even managed to nick a snack from Izuku's nightstand. With everything set up, all that was left was to summon the husband.
"Hey 'Zuku?" Katsuki called from the bathroom, draping Izuku's towel over the heated towel rack.
"Yeah baby?"
"C'mere!" Katsuki demanded. It was seriously illegal for a simple "Yeah baby" to sound as attractive as it did.
Izuku's footsteps pounded down the hall, heavy thuds from his muscular frame and height. "Whatcha need Kacchan?" Izuku paused as he finally swung into the doorway, beer in hand as he anticipated Katsuki needing a towel or something. Katsuki just gestured to the tub.
"You had a rough day and I figured this would help," He included a shrug to play off the gesture a little bit. Izuku tilted his head slightly, one brow raised in mild surprise before a soft smile overtook his lips. He lumbered into the bathroom, setting the beer on the counter to gather Katsuki up in his arms. He buried his face in Katsuki’s spikes.
"Thank you, baby, that means a lot to me," Izuku murmured. Katsuki grinned his signature victory smirk. "I'm guessing you did it exactly how I like?"
"Mmhm," Katsuki pressed a couple of kisses to Izuku's jaw, the faintest of stubble becoming apparent. "To a T, Deku," Izuku let out a rumble of approval before squeezing Katsuki in one more snug hug. Katsuki accepted the affection easily, stepping out of the way afterwards so Izuku could strip. He took the liberty of gathering Izuku's shorts and boxers to throw them into the dirty basket he was about to wash. Whether or not they were only worn for a bit the man tended to be a bit messy when eating angry. The sigh of contentment brought butterflies to Katsuki's stomach.
When he turned around, Izuku was already stretched out in their oversized tub, smiling impishly in pleasure. Katsuki smirked and approached quietly to drag his hand through Izuku's mop of green curls. Izuku nuzzled into the affection easily and seemed to just melt further in the tub. Katsuki sighed, leaning down to press a kiss to Izuku's forehead before he stepped away.
"Not going to join me, baby?"
"Mmm no, not tonight," Katsuki waved his husband's concern off. "I gotta send a couple emails,"
Izuku sloshed some water around when he jerked up to look at Katsuki through the doorway. "What?"
"I gotta send out some emails,"
"Why?" Katsuki smirked, flashing it over his shoulder at his husband.
"Gotta let HR know we have some openings in the PR department,"