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Katsuki wakes up with a flat little nose pressing into his cheek and little mews chiming in his ears. He groans and yawns, far too tired to already be awake.
“Mnn.. ‘Zuku?”
He gets another little miaow in response. His heart tickles his chest, fluttering at the adorable noise.
Katsuki turns his head carefully to press a kiss to Izuku’s fuzzy face. “G’morning.”
A rough tongue laps at his chin, returning the good morning kiss. No matter the form he takes, Izuku always sticks to routine, the sap.
“You were bigger last night.”
Izuku ignores Katsuki, climbing on his shoulder to curl up on his chest. A quiet moment passes before Izuku lifts his head to look expectantly at him.
Ah, always so demanding. With a put-upon sigh like he doesn’t love petting his boyfriend, he brings a hand up to stroke down the soft green-black fur of Izuku’s spine. Contented purring fills the air.
Happy and peaceful as the gentle sunlight shining in through the window, Katsuki and Izuku stay like that for many long minutes, simply enjoying the peace of the morning.
Izuku had transformed right after coming home from work the previous day, only returning to his human form at bed time so he could cuddle with Katsuki. Not a particularly uncommon occurrence, but when the shifter wants to stay in his animal forms for longer, there’s usually a deeper reason.
“Not shifting today?” Katsuki asks, shifting his hand to scratch beneath Izuku’s ear. Izuku twists his head to press into the contact.
The purring continues as Izuku looks to him and pinches his face. It doesn’t quite look like a pout, but Katsuki has no doubt that’s what the expression is supposed to be. A low, rumbling laugh rocks the feline body on his chest and Izuku’s furry expression returns to a relaxed look of happiness.
If Katsuki recalls correctly—which he usually does—Izuku is currently a Turkish Angora. He’ll have plenty of jumping power to get around without Katsuki’s assistance.
“Alright, alright. We’ve got that tuna you like, you want that for breakfast?”
The purring intensifies, vibrating through Katsuki’s chest like a pleasant, ticklish massage.
“Great,” Katsuki continues the not quite one-sided conversation, adding another hand to up his petting game. “Am I allowed to get up and feed us?”
Izuku whips his head around and nips Katsuki’s fingertip. “Shit,” Katsuki hisses. Izuku closes his eyes against Katsuki’s glare and snuggles back into his chest.
“A simple ‘no,’ would’ve worked just fine, asshole.” Despite his words, he continues to lavish Izuku with attention. They both have the day off, anyway.
Izuku contents himself with continuing his purring full force, eyes closed in bliss as Katsuki continues his attentive scratching and petting.
It’s afternoon by the time Izuku transforms back, and even then he only does it for food. “I want something fatty and salty that only a human stomach can handle,” Izuku explains, sagging against Katsuki’s shoulder as he lounges on the couch.
Katsuki hums and presses a kiss to his temple.
When Izuku’s stomach begins to grumble, he sets down his book and gets up. It’s about lunch time, so he ought to get to cooking. Katsuki isn’t quite sure what he can make for Izuku that both satisfies his boyfriend and doesn’t make Katsuki’s skin crawl. He’s about to ask for suggestions when he makes his mistake; he meets Izuku’s eyes, round and emploring and locked on him intently.
Let it not be said that Katsuki is a weak man. He is strong against any manner of foe, be it tightly sealed jam jars or assholes who think cat-calling is okay. Despite this, he has a single, glaring weakness, and it’s staring at him with award-winning puppy-dog eyes.
Katsuki sags. It’s best not to fight it. “You want fast food, don’t you,” he says flatly.
Izuku flutters his eyelashes, a sparkle of genuine happiness appearing in his dumb green eyes. “Mhm!”
“McDonald’s?”
“Mhm!”
“Your usual?”
“Mhm! With two large fries, please! And a hashbrown. They have the best hashbrowns..”
Mumbling now about the salty, health-destroying foods McDonald’s serves, Izuku is quick to forget about his boyfriend’s existence.
Katsuki pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes for a moment. “Got it.” He gets out of there quickly, before Izuku can convince him to pick up ice-cream or cake or something.
When Katsuki returns with a big bag of hot food in hand, he finds Izuku swaying his hips to music from the radio, elbow deep in suds and washing the dishes.
Despite exchanging greetings, Izuku focuses on his chore, continuing his dancing as if Katsuki isn’t watching. And Katsuki is certainly watching, unable to look away from his boyfriend as he loses himself in his work, humming and dancing without care. It’s the most energy he’s seen from Izuku all day, and it’s beautiful.
Izuku finishes up his chore shortly and proceeds to inhale the pile of grease and carbs Katsuki had so kindly gotten for him. When he’s done, he gives Katsuki a greasy, salty kiss of thanks and goes to wash his hands. Katsuki cringes and curses after him, Izuku giggling all the way.
Izuku spends the rest of the day in his cat form, lounging about and following Katsuki from room to room, occasionally asking for pets.
Dinner is a quiet affair, with Izuku settling in Katsuki’s lap after he’s finished his own food to steal the chicken from Katsuki’s plate. He allows it, but tells both himself and Izuku it’s only because of their unhealthy lunch.
Finally, at bed time, Izuku shifts back to human, and they chat airily about nothing in particular as they get ready for bed.
Katsuki stops Izuku as he tries to cuddle up to him in bed, holding the smaller grabby hands. “Izuku.” Katsuki looks at Izuku, whose gaze is locked on their joined hands, linked just under the covers. His hands go limp, letting Izuku play with his fingers. “What’s up?”
“Dunno…” Izuku murmurs, poking into the meat of Katsuki’s palm, other hand wrapping around three of his fingers to move them about. Though it’s not focused on him, Katsuki can’t stand the sad look clouding his eyes. “Just… kinda sad. It’s not that bad, but it’s. Bad enough.”
Not unexpected. Still shitty.
Katsuki brings his free hand to cup his boyfriend’s cheek. He idly strokes the soft, freckled skin. “Just keep talking to me, okay? Don’t isolate yourself or lock me out, ‘cause that’s never worked for either of us. I’ve said that before, and I’ll say it every time if I have to.”
Out of sight but consuming his every sense regardless, Izuku clasps their hands together. The finger interlock and fit perfectly together. Izuku meets his eye, relievingly dry-eyed. “Mm’kay, Kacchan.” A pause. “Can we take a walk tomorrow? I promise I won’t run off, just wanna enjoy the fresh air with you.”
Humming, Katsuki agrees; it sounds nice. Maybe he’ll even be able to wrangle Izuku into wearing his collar.
“Good night.”
They kiss, slow and familiar and perfect. Izuku turns over to allow himself to be cuddled to Katsuki’s chest and soon, they fall asleep.