Work Text:
“Can you tilt your head a bit more sideways, Kacchan?”
Following his request, Katsuki tilted his head while barely adjusting his current position on his bed, slightly grumbling from how sore his arms were.
He doesn’t know how much longer he can uphold his pose, as the shitty nerd had instructed him to prop his elbows on the bed with crisscrossed legs; a weird ass pose that Katsuki had initially argued against before Izuku flashed him a pleading look that silenced further rejection.
All Katsuki wanted to do was shut the amber lamp beside him, tuck Izuku under his shoulder, and let himself fall into sleep’s tantalizing arms after today’s thrilling yet tiring spar against the damn nerd. However, he couldn’t bring himself to stop Izuku from where he sat at Katsuki’s desk chair.
Not when he seemed so intent on capturing Katsuki’s figure in his sketchbook.
Near Katsuki’s bedside was Izuku constantly peering up toward him and back at his paper, a scarred hand clutching his sketchbook while the other drew away.
Perhaps it was simply because Katsuki was on the verge of succumbing to his exhaustion, but the serious expression splayed across Izuku’s face paired with the warm lighting coming from his lamp made him look…pretty
Fuck.
Izuku must have noticed his drowsiness, as he momentarily paused his sketching to fix Katsuki with a soft expression. Despite how often Katsuki sees that look on his face, it never fails to make his heart blossom with a strange and filling warmness.
“I’m almost done, Kacchan. Gimme two more minutes,” Izuku whispered with an apologetic smile. He only continued to complete the drawing once Katsuki grunted in response.
After those two long minutes passed, Izuku stood from his spot and padded toward Katsuki’s bed, taking a seat beside the blonde. As Izuku sat near the edge, Katsuki scooched closer while sitting his body upright to peer over Izuku’s shoulder at the finished product in his hands.
“What do you think?” Izuku asked, looking directly at Katsuki’s face to see his reaction. From their current position, Katsuki could feel the heat of Izuku’s presence pressing against his shoulder and his bated breath wash over the side of his face. How the fuck was he supposed to properly appreciate Izuku’s creation if his proximity was damn distracting?
However, it was pointless to worry about such a thing, as the drawing before him made his next breath catch in his throat.
On the paper was a portrait of Katsuki in all his glory; drawn with such delicacy and attention to detail that brought the sketch to life. Although the drawing was done in pencil, Katsuki can see how the lamp’s soft lighting was translated onto the sheet, adding dimensions of realism to the piece. But, even with all of these technical skills displayed, the element that brought awe to Katsuki was the emotions poured into each present line on the portrait.
Katsuki had always known how much Izuku revered and cared for him—almost to the point of deluding Katsuki into thinking the other may see him in a romantic light. But to see that admiration manifest itself in his art… it was doing shit to Katsuki’s already bruised heart.
It seemed like he had been silent for a while because Izuku had called out his name a few times until he finally heard the last worried ‘Kacchan!’, his eyebrows furrowed in concern at Katsuki’s lack of response.
“Kacchan, are you okay? Did you like it?” Izuku inquired as his face relaxed a bit after Katsuki snapped out of his trance.
“Yeah, I'm fine, nerd. Js’ tired from earlier. It's pretty damn good though,” Katsuki earnestly states, gently swiping his finger over the artwork to prevent any smudging from ruining Izuku's efforts.
Instead of responding with disbelief (Katsuki had drilled it into his brain from previous sessions that he does not lie about his compliments), Izuku simply mouthed an overjoyed thank-you, large green eyes sparkling from the blonde’s approval, before bidding Katsuki a good night and slipping out of his dorm room. Katsuki huffed a breath from the amusing sight, as Izuku looked like a dog that had just been awarded a treat.
Now surrounded by quiet, Katsuki turned his lamp off and tucked himself beneath his covers, allowing his body to finally get the rest it needed. While the blonde crossed over onto dreamland, his last thoughts before teetering to sleep were of viridescent eyes, freckled skin, deft and scarred hands, and the soothing sound of graphite against paper.