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It isn't often that Izuku has trouble falling asleep.
He supposes it's because this is the first night he's spent in Otheon since the World Heroes' Mission. He had trouble falling asleep then, too, his mind whirling with anxieties about the empty bases, what Humarise's next move could possibly be. That was business. Now, he's here for a friendly visit, staying in his friend's home, sleeping on his couch.
There aren't any world-ending stakes to keep him up this time, but… he can hear the walls settling, the quiet chopping of the fan, the couch creaking underneath his back.
Izuku thumps his head back against the pillow and groans, glancing outside at the billowing clouds overhead. He feels around for his phone, wincing when his lock screen glares in his face. 2:14am. It's been a few minutes since he last checked his feeds. Surely there'd be some new articles by now…
Nothing.
He sighs, setting his phone back down on the table. The morning commute back home was always rife with villain activity. Usually small crimes, things like thievery, misdeanors, what have you. Small crimes often gave lesser known heroes a brief moment in the spotlight, and Izuku was always looking to make new additions to his notebooks.
Right now, he supposes all he can do is close his eyes and hope the mercy of sleep will finally grace him.
The universe has other plans, of course.
It is as Izuku feels himself starting to drift off that something brushes against his face. He ignores it at first, but then it happens again. And again.
He cracks his eyes open, squinting at the small bird that stands before him. "Hey, Pino…" he mumbles, eyes falling back shut. Wait… Pino?
Izuku opens his eyes again, studying her. It isn't an easy thing to see in the low light, but she appears to have dwindled in size, her wings pressed flat against her body as she bows her head with a sad little coo. But… why? What could be upsetting her? Could she have had a bad dream? Or is Rody—?
Something resembling alarm stirs in his chest when he thinks of Rody. Pino acts on what he's feeling. If she's here, then that can only mean one thing, but… Izuku hasn't heard any movement in the house. Is it possible that Rody is still asleep? Should he check on him?
Seeing the big tears welling in the corners of her eyes gives Izuku an answer for that last question.
Now more awake, Izuku pulls himself up from the couch, gently scooping Pino up. Somehow, she seems even smaller within the palm of his hand.
The floor creaks, cutting into the quiet air as he walks over to the other end of the trailer. Izuku can't help but be thankful for the lack of doors; he doesn't want to imagine how impossibly loud opening a door could be.
The other room is cast in blue. Silvery moonlight pours in from a gap in the curtain, catching on the locket that Rody typically wears around his neck. With a glance, Izuku can see the answer to his other question. Rody's quirk really is amazing, to have even the emotions from his dreams be articulated.
But… this isn't the time for analysis. With the adequate lighting he has, Izuku can see the subdued look of torment on Rody's face, brows drawn together, hair stuck to his face, mouth twisted into a frown as heavy breaths hiss out from his nose. He's in the throes of a nightmare.
Izuku can't leave him like that.
He kneels down, reaching for Rody's shoulder and gently shaking him. "Rody?" Izuku waits. Nothing happens. He shakes him again, firmer this time. "Rody, wake up." This time, he's met with a quiet groan and a twitching face. A bead of sweat curls down his cheek. "C'mon, wake up…"
"Ghh!" Rody jerks awake with a grimace as Pino similarly jolts, flying to Izuku's hair. He sits up, eyes darting every which way around the room before landing on Izuku.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
Rody stares at him for a few seconds, his brow furrowing as he squints. "… Deku?"
"Oh, uh—" This is awkward. Izuku realizes he should've expected this. Rody wouldn't have known that Pino woke him up. Yes, she was acting on his distress, but that was still something she ultimately did of her own accord. He fiddles with his hands, leaning back on his legs. "Hi. Um. Pino seemed stressed and you looked like you were having a bad dream, so…" he trails off, letting Rody fill in the blanks.
"… Right." Rody averts his gaze, rubbing the back of his neck. He takes a deep breath, shaky on the exhale. Izuku doesn't need to see Pino to know that he's embarrassed.
"Do you need anything? I can get it for you."
"No," comes his quick response. Rody sighs, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and getting up. "I'll be fine, just… go back to bed, 'kay?" Pino flutters over to Rody's shoulder, leaning against his neck. Izuku watches them disappear into the kitchen.
The hallway lights up, warm light stretching into the bedroom. He hears the faucet turn on.
Izuku lingers for a moment, turning the past couple of minutes over in his head. Rody said that he'd be fine, not that he was fine. The distinctioned mattered, an escaped sliver of honesty. He curls his fingers inward, following him into the kitchen.
He winces as the bulk of the light hits his eyes.
Rody is leaned against the counter with a stern expression, eyes closed as he drinks from a mug. Pino turns to look at him, shifting awkwardly and fluttering her wings.
Well… it's not like he's going to be able to sleep, anyways.
"Mind if I get a cup?"
"Help yourself." Rody steps to the side, giving him access to the shelves.
Izuku reaches up and selects a green cup, filling it up about halfway before taking a sip. The water's warm, nice on the throat.
He glances back at Rody. The rim of his mug is pressed to his lips. He's looking ahead, but his eyes are somewhere else.
It's a look he's familiar with. One he's worn himself, bound to a hospital bed with bandaged arms.
Izuku taps his finger against his cup, searching for something to say, the right thing to say, but nothing feels right. He wants to ask if Rody's okay, but he already has an answer for that. He wants to ask about the dream, but… no, it's too fresh, there's no way. His eyes drift over to the wall.
"Are those Lala's? They're really good."
Rody glances over at him, following his eyes to the drawings pinned to the wall. "Oh, yeah, they are. She's quite the artist," he answers, level but not without a note of fondness. That's a good start.
"I bet it's pretty strange being home without them, huh?"
"Kinda. Definitely not used to the empty spaces in bed but it's nice that they're at a sleepover being normal kids."
Normal. Izuku fixes on that word with a sympathetic smile. He doesn't know all the ins and outs of their collective childhoods but, with the little Rody had told him, he knows how unstable it was. He couldn't imagine being in the position Rody was in, trying to fill two roles for the sake of his little siblings (he could hardly imagine what it was like to have siblings). It was an insurmountable task for someone of his age; Izuku often forgets that Rody is only a few months older than him because of it.
"Did you ever have sleepovers as a kid?" Izuku asks, pushing the conversation.
"Eh… not really, no."
"No?"
Rody shakes his head. "Couple reasons." He lifts up a finger. "One: my mom was pretty sick. Because of that, my dad wasn't really too keen on having other kids inside the house."
"That makes sense."
He lifts up another finger. "Two: I didn't really trust the other kids to behave around Pino. Didn't want them to try and pet her or worse, grab her." Pino shudders at the thought.
A question surfaces on his lips but Izuku pinches his mouth shut. Now's not the time for that, he tells himself, logging it for later.
"Three…" Rody trails off. His brow pulls together with the weight of something on his mind. He turns back towards the drawings, the corners of his mouth pulling up into something like a grin. "To tell ya the truth, I… kinda struggled making friends."
"Really?" Izuku asks, he's hardly able to cover his surprise.
"Mm." Rody takes a long sip of his drink before elaborating. "It's kinda embarrassing, but the people I considered to be my friends were really just my brother's. I never really knew them beyond the games we'd play waiting for our dad to get home from work. With the kids at school, well…" he chuckles. "They all seemed to have this… I dunno how to phrase it. This understanding of something, like I missed some all-important memo on how to fit in, how to be… normal, I guess."
It isn't something Izuku expected to hear. But it resonates with him, a deep-rooted ache that throbs in his chest.
"I struggled with making friends too, growing up," he says quietly, as though saying it any louder would make the ground fall out from beneath him. It wasn't something that particularly bothered him. But, well, sometimes…
"Yeah?"
"Mm," Izuku nods. "I met Kacchan in preschool. We had a shared interest in All Might and started seeing each other a little more when our moms became friends but… well, he heckled me a lot." He stares at his reflection in the water with a lopsided smile. "… A lot of kids did. I didn't really fit in anywhere. At least, not until I started going to UA."
"Well, I'm glad you found someplace to belong." There's a hint of resignation to his words, the same worn tone he held in the cave that night, talking about his dream.
Izuku wants to protest, to assure Rody that he has a place to belong too, but… his bitten refusal of pity echoes in his mind. All he can do is steep in the awkward air between them.
An excrutiatingly long minute passes before Rody clears his throat. "How 'bout you?"
"Huh?"
"You have sleepovers as a kid?"
Izuku thinks for a second. "Rarely. Only when Kacchan's parents were out of town, and only if his other friends weren't available." And only before his Quirk developed, but that information wasn't necessary to this conversation.
"Last choice, huh? Yeesh."
"It didn't feel great but… I don't know. It was the only time we really didn't bicker about anything." Izuku closes his eyes, combing through the recesses of his mind for those memories. Watching All Might's debut had been a ritual, both of them huddled around the computer as his mom pulled up the footage. It was the only time Kacchan wasn't running his mouth off about how he was going to be the greatest hero. That silence never lasted, of course, but Izuku hadn't minded then. The memories were a little tainted but… they were still positive memories all the same.
"Small victories?"
"Yeah, small victories." Izuku softly laughs to himself. "If you think about it, we're kinda having a sleepover right now."
Rody makes a thoughtful noise. "What makes it a sleepover, ya think?"
"Hm, well…" Izuku sips his drink. "I think the act of sleeping over is enough to classify it as one but I suppose people normally do things together, like watching movies or playing video games. That's what I'd see on tv, at least."
"Well, why don't we make it official, then?"
"Hm?"
Rody slings an arm around his shoulder, pulling him close. The sudden contact makes Izuku tense, but he soon relaxes. He isn't sure what it is, but something about it being from Rody makes it weirdly comforting.
"Let's have a sleepover," Rody declares, wearing a Cheshire grin.
"At 3am?"
Rody shrugs. "Sure, why not? People stay up late at these kinds of things anyways, don't they?"
Izuku furrows his brow. The thought of doing something certainly sounds better than the potential of another few hours of sleepless rest. Besides… Rody probably needs this, judging by the hopeful look Pino's giving him.
"What do you want to do?" Izuku asks.
"I'm sure we can find something on the tv. If not, I mean, you got your phone, right?"
"I do."
"So, unless any arrows come flying out of the blue, I think we're golden."
The joke gets a snort out of Izuku, his chest twinging with the memory. It's good to see he's somewhat back to his usual self.
Rody's arm slides off his back as he steps around him, setting his empty mug down into the sink. Pino glances over at him, a soft look in her eyes.
"Here, why don't you get comfy? I'll join ya in a sec."
"Oh, alright." Izuku watches him turn off into the room, hovering in place for a second before returning to the couch.
It feels… different somehow. Lighter.
Izuku hums, folding the blanket he previously used over his lap. He can still hear the material of the couch creaking beneath him, the fan chopping away at empty air, the walls groaning from the rustle of a breeze outside, but… it doesn't bother him this time.
It doesn't take long for Rody to join him, partially obscured by a bundled comforter. Pino flies over to the light switch as he walks over, flicking it off before coming to roost on his head.
"Scoot over, will ya?"
Rody drops down next to him as he does, draping the blanket over the both of them as best as he can. It's heavy, definitely heavier than what Izuku is used to, but the fabric has a nice chill to it.
It takes them a few rounds of adjustments, a few rounds of bumping knees and elbows before they get comfortable. Izuku's no stranger to having to share space on a small couch, but, much like a few minutes before, he finds that that something feels different. A pleasant warmth that derives from their closeness to one another.
Comfortable, he deduces. A different sense of the word, but comfortable in a way he hasn't felt in… ever.
Rody pats around the table for the remote, humming when his fingers close around it. The tv turns on, an outpour of blue light flooding into the living room as the screen depicts a vast ocean. Izuku strains his eyes, giving them a moment to adjust.
"Is this a documentary?" he asks.
"No clue." Rody opens up the channel directory. "Seems like it, yeah. Wanna watch?"
"Hm, maybe. What else is on?"
As it turns out, nothing. At least, nothing asides from sitcoms, dramas, and reality tv, none of which hold any particular interest for either of them. Nature documentries weren't particularly interesting to him, either, but Izuku figures that now is a good time as any to learn about the Pacific Ocean.
But… Izuku isn't sure if they even manage to make it through. Minutes of commentary between them fade into passing remarks, and even those dissipate into quiet hums of acknowledgement.
It isn't long before he finds himself stifling a yawn, tears welling in the corners of his eyes. His eyes grow heavy, a welcome feeling compared to the incessant need to be open from earlier.
There isn't enough room on the couch for him to lay down but gravity still pulls him down anyway, his cheek squishing against his friend's shoulder. He's only numbly aware of Rody leaning against him as he drifts off, lulled to sleep by the sound of a whale song and low, monotonous narration.
Izuku doesn't want to admit it but… maybe he needed this, too.