Work Text:
Back from an evening patrol route, Katsuki sighs at the hour listed on the microwave. Not much time left before you have to leave for yours. It’s his least-favorite patrol cycle, where you two are working opposite each other; but it only happens every two months -lasting only about five or six days each time. It’s enough to put him in a soured mood, but fortunately he’s been working on his attitude at your insistence.
Best to enjoy what time he can, rather than be a grump about what he’s missing. Your routine has been disrupted too, after all.
However, the sight he comes home to flares up his disappointment even more: though this time, irritation sits in his chest because of you .
Finding you situated in the living room this way is becoming a bit of a habit; and not one that Katsuki loves. You’re stretching out your leg with a wince, which you’ve no doubt sat on for too long again. He really outta chew you out for this.
–at least he would, until he got a better angle of your face: tightness and tension seep from every pore, sinking your eyes and draining your usually enduring spirit by the minute.
Now of course, he was primarily concerned if you were having a charlie horse or circulation issues, because he reasoned that could affect your quirk. But moreover, you did not look comfortable. An 'I told you so' was also out of the question. It would hurt your feelings– not be a swift kick in the butt that would motivate someone like Izuku.
So the questions remains, how to best help you… He's getting too damn soft around you.
This was a key difference between your work habits– not worthy of a fight, but a point of debate you usually opt to table for another time whenever he brings it up. Katsuki liked to get the back-end, post-mission paperwork done on-site at the agency, even if it took him longer after the fight to get home. Meanwhile, you liked to take your time, get ahead of the mad rush at the office after your adrenaline leveled out, and chose to work on it from the comfort of your couch. The latter would spare you the mental space after a battle, but opened up potential procrastination of the job entirely.
In both instances, he prided himself on his method and would defend it, even now. That said, he sure hated seeing you like this- when you fall on your method with a fumble.
Instead of a snark or a sigh, Katsuki comes up behind you with remarkable stealth for his character, interrupting your tired typing flow with his reflection cast faintly on your screen. He arrives just in time to get you back on track, reaching over the sofa and bringing your shoulders back with warmed hands.
"Those are some tired eyes, wifey ."
Katsuki kissed the crown of your head firmly. You may not be his actual wife yet, but he can’t help trying out the name. Lucky for him, you haven’t had the heart to correct him yet, so he gathered it’s enough of a sign to keep it up.
The day he finally makes it a reality will be a fully-realized dream come true. But for now, he’s set to save for the perfect ring, the perfect moment, and build up the skills needed to take care of you. Why not get a head start?
You exhale at his touch and freshly washed-up smell-- immediately regretting working for this long of a stretch, because the second your eyes shut, they stung .
"Got more left?"
" Mhm ."
"Wouldja rather dictate?"
" You would be my secretary ?" you couldn't believe the offer, despite his amused huff across your pinned up hair at the idea. He took it out, to run his hands through instead.
Feels ungodly good, those hands– when they're not overworked and overheated, Katsuki keened when you told him so the first time he took to this method of relaxing you.
"If it would get your ass in bed sooner,” Katsuki snarks, “then yes. How long you been up.”
“Got up a few hours ago, to finish up~”
Katsuki chewed the inside of his lip with a scowl. So you didn’t get as much sleep as usual, it seems. Getting up early ahead of your 12-hour shift in order to finish your previous day’s work wasn’t best practice, and that’s exactly where he’s found you.
This didn’t please him at all, but the blonde keeps his tongue from clicking its displeasure at you.
You sink into the movement of each fingertip, "It's more the eye strain getting to me than the lack of brain power, now."
"Well, you know what fixes those problems..."
Eye drops: which you hated, or coffee: which got you wired, not rested. Neither were a pleasant option at this hour, and made you groan.
With his long reach, Katsuki double swiped through what comment fields were left on your laptop, and simply made an executive decision to 'Save Progress' and shut the laptop down. You’d fallen prey to his massaging hand and whined once you registered what he did.
" None’a that ,” he gripes at your moan, “C’mon. Off to bed."
"It's work, Katsuki. I need to do it."
"You NEED to set a timer. Barely ten minutes left’a work. Set it for after a nap." Katsuki rounded the couch and appeared before you as you tried for a spinal twist in his absence.
"Thirty, if you're me,” you reply, “ You rush. I’ve read your sum-ups…"
You say it with a smirk, but Katsuki is hardly in a joking mood.
"Says the woman working herself into an early grave. I think I'll stick with my ‘Sparknotes’, thank you very much," he crossed his arms.
Works for him, after all . You stared off at the offending computer in a way that Katsuki could only hope was you mentally running through the possibility that maybe there was something to his strategy that you could adopt in your favor.
Katsuki scoffed, then simply took your phone up without a fight from you, " Fine, I'll set it."
By the time he’s done, he centered back to you, but to a sad sight. You’re zoned out and defeated, exhausted. Summoning the grace you offer him in droves, Kats decides to soften the blow of his arrival home with a compliment, to ease your clear regret. No need to add lemon juice to your self-inflicted wounds.
"You take your time, and it does get ya results. It's good work. I'll give you that," Katsuki stuck your phone back on its charging pad, then squatted with his hands on his thighs, "-- it aint worth all this ."
No fight left in you on the matter, you thankfully agree, "... okay."
"Okay?"
"... I'll take the stupid eye drops ."
“Good start ...”
A hint lies unspoken in his tone. Just a pause, waiting on you to read into the rest like he knows you can…
“ And -” you sigh and place a hand over his on his knee, “I’ll rethink this whole remote work thing.”
- Perfect -
"Atta girl," Katsuki chipped your chin up, and snuck a couple fingers to his back pocket. Taking a knee on the couch between your thighs, he stayed situated above you and into your space so you’d have no way to back out of what’s needed right now. "Four eyes, off."
You look shocked he has a bottle of eyedrops on demand. What do you take him for, a stupid extra? Of course he’s prepared. What do you think all these pockets are for, tictacs?
"-What, now ?"
"Yes, now."
Shedding your blue light glasses, you tisk away your trepidation, "You were gonna make me use ‘em anyway."
"Cry me a river. Oh wait– you can't, cuz you don’t listen to your own frickin’ eyelids . Now c'mon, don't be difficult, dummy -look that way- dammit, do you ever blink ..."
He kept your jaw up gently at first, knowing he’d likely have to borderline hold your entire throat in place when you blinked like mad and flail back after just one squeeze.
You’d figured out a little trick by looking off into the corner of a room to help with the anticipation; Katsuki even used to make you count down to ‘zero’- only to execute the drops early, as a psych-out. You knew all the tactics now, so little worked to distract you, but whether he had to pull out all the stops or not, you still hated this process.
Katsuki snarked through this little task with the bottle’s topper wedged between his teeth. The drops’ sting fortunately did lessen and give way to some cooling relief once he capped it again. Unsurprisingly, he sassed that you shouldn't wipe it all off, but he did take a surprisingly gentle touch at swiping away the excess from your lashline and cheeks for you. With more blinks, you were happy to give him a little apologetic smile.
"What do we say?" Katsuki purred with a smirk.
"Thank you."
"Thank you, what ?"
" Thank you Lord Explosion Murder God, Dynamight, the Ultimate and Benevo -"
Stocked up with your praises, Katsuki kisses you: gentle in entry, but with a passionate tongue to shut you up.
"You're welcome,” he nudged noses with you, “- now come cuddle your murder god before you and I both pass out ."
By his count, you’ve got two and a half hours before you need to scoot on out the door. He compromised on your cram time to an even twenty minutes to finish your report, fully confident you’ll be just fine with what you turn in. You’ll give him another sleepy kiss before he settles back into bed, you’ll take your dinner to-go, and he’ll take care of the rest of the chores around the apartment when he wakes up. May not love these wacky arrangements, Katsuki thinks, but the payoff will be more than worth it come Monday.
He’s a hero; he can handle a few nights without you nestled in as his personal weighted blanket. For now, a quick cat-nap will do– for both of you.