An hour well spent [Threadvember]

This one is for Mel who requested "Bkdk fluffy/awkward 1st date" 

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Katsuki had confined himself in his room with an hour to spare, after a long, hot shower to make sure he was clean and relaxed. He'd scrubbed every part of himself just in case he'd missed a smudge of dirt or blood after his morning spar with Eijirou, then begun the long process of staring blankly in his closet and cursing himself for not subjecting himself to more of the old hag's "mother-son bonding time" that always came in the form of shopping trips to buy him clothes he'd never wear.

First he tried his only button-up shirt that wasn't part of his school uniform, but even with the collar hanging open he still looked like a stupid nerd. Then it was the myriad of tank tops he owned, to show off his biceps, but they all just looked like he was about to fall into bed. It was maddening: why were clothes of all things so difficult to pick out? He almost wanted to text his parents for advice, but he wasn't quite that desperate.

Okay, fuck it, yes he was.

He pulled out his phone, electing to go with his father's tears rather than his mother's interrogation, tapping out a quick text as he continued to stare.

"What do guys wear on a first date?"

It didn't take long for him to reply, and sure enough he was much more casual about his prying than his mother would have been,

"Unless you're going to a fancy restaurant you just need to be clean and comfortable. Something new-ish, no rips and holes. Unless they're intentional, I suppose. Fashion is a fickle thing."

"It's not anything fancy, just want to look ok."

"You always look good, Katsuki. Try just some nice jeans and a t-shirt that fits well, I'm sure he'll think you look amazing. If you feel like something a little more special, add a nice jacket instead of an old hoodie."

"You're such a sap." He paused, drumming his fingers on the phone as the message sent, then quickly tapping out an addendum. "Thanks."

"Any time!"

He set it down and returned to his wardrobe, sighing as he dug out a pair of new black jeans. He'd bought them a while ago then almost immediately come across the torn pair he knew his father was trying to subtly advise against. He'd loved those things when he saw them, had felt like a badass when he put them on, but as he spent the day walking around in them he began to feel weirdly exposed.

Of course, the looks Izuku kept shooting toward one particularly long tear across his inner thigh had been more than worth it, but his father was right, for their first official date he should be a little classier.

So, the brand new ones it was.

He pulled them on and zipped them up, pulling a face as he adjusted them a little to get comfortable. It was pretty rare for him to wear anything particularly form-fitting, let alone in pants form, so it was going to take some getting used to.

His shirts were another story all together, his favourites all stretched and faded, worn down by love, definitely not the clean and fresh image his father had suggested (and while he would never admit it, he also wanted to project). There were a few newer ones hanging off to one side, but most of them were untouched for a reason: bought on an impulse, don't actually like it; doesn't fit right; covered in curse words that he thought were cool but quickly realised there was no appropriate situation for.

Finally he settled for a plain navy-blue shirt with a v-neck, not low enough to show off his chest, but a little nicer than his plain old scoop necks. There was a plain, dark coat buried in his hangers too, slightly heavy with a row of buttons instead of zips – that seemed "nice" enough to do the job.

The mirror was next, hands and brushes attacking his stupid, uncooperative hair. He didn't want to look all gross and prissy like he'd had to with Best Jeanist as his mentor, but there was something to be said for at least neatening it up a little, which his unruly spikes seemed to adamantly refuse.

He was ten minutes late by the time he hurried down the stairs, only to run into Izuku looking frantic, searching every corner of the common area with wide, terrified eyes.

"Sorry I'm late," he spoke up, watching Izuku whip around in a hurry, tears pricking at shiny green eyes. "I got, um..."

"No, me too!" Izuku assured him. "I was worried you got bored and left! I'm so glad you're here! And you look... Wow, Kacchan."

Katsuki knew right away why Izuku had been running late too. His curls had been tamed into something that could actually be called neat, combed carefully into place and sealed with gel and hairspray. Katsuki could almost call it formal, and the nerd had clearly spent the better part of an hour getting it just right.

"You look good too," Katsuki admitted, blushing. "Um, let's... Lets go."

"Yeah!"

They both relaxed a little when they stepped outside, away from prying eyes and ears that wanted so desperately to watch and hear every moment of their date. Everyone they'd told had only responded with finally so it had clearly been a long time coming in their minds – and, okay, in Katsuki's too. They'd been together forever, after all, it had just taken a while for Katsuki to finally suck it up and demand "date me, nerd."

"You look good," he said again, a little less stilted this time. "Like... Um, handsome. You look handsome."

"Thank you, Kacchan! You look handsome too! Your outfit is so nice and suits you so well, you look like such an adult, I feel like your little brother or something just tagging along with his cool sibling for the weekend. And your hair? I mean, I love your spikes, but there's something so nice and cool about this sexy bedhead look you've got going on and it's just wow and I can't even compare, and-!"

"Deku," Katsuki cut in finally, grabbing his hand and squeezing it a little too tightly. "Enough muttering, I get it."

"S-Sorry!"

"Ugh. You don't need to apologise. I mean, th-thank you. For the compliments, I mean. Ugh I hate this."

"S-"

"Don't apologise, that's not what I meant."

Izuku smiled softly, shifting his hand a little to grip Katsuki back.

"I'm really happy you asked me out!" Izuku said instead, stepping a little closer as they walked. "But also, I think we both spent way too long getting ready today."

"Yeah," Katsuki admitted sheepishly. "And I'm willing to bet I'll get a solid ten minutes before my hair pops back up anyway."

"It's okay, I love your hedgehog spikes!" Izuku assured him. "Kacchan is always handsome! But it makes me really happy that you went through so much effort to look good for me, and you really do! But maybe, um, this can be like our one-time special event thing?"

"Yeah," Katsuki smirked. "First date and wedding, between the two we go casual."

"Perfect!"

Izuku had chosen a button-up shirt for the occasion, though it looked better on him than Katsuki's experiments with his own had – maybe because Izuku was a nerd, so looking like one didn't matter so much. Thankfully there was no All Might merch in sight, he was hardly even wearing All Might colours except for his red shirt. It was an odd colour for him, not his usual blues and greens and greys, but it actually looked pretty good on his skin tone, not to mention...

"You're wearing my colour," Katsuki blurted out, blushing when Izuku's eyes widened. "I just- It um, looks good on you."

"Thank you! That's uh, kind of why I bought it," he admitted. "Not because it looked good! I mean, I hope it does, but I'm not really the best judge of- anyway um it was the same colour as K-Kacchan's eyes, and I couldn't resist, so um- It seemed like a good occasion to wear it?"

"Yeah," Katsuki agreed, his simple response setting Izuku a little more at ease. "Maybe you should do it more often. You know, tell people you're accounted for."

"Are you already getting jealous?" Izuku giggled. "No one flirts with me Kacchan, it's fine!"

"They do," Katsuki growled. "I do, and you never noticed that shit either."

"You do?"

"Obviously, asshole."

"Aww, I'm sorry!" Izuku released the warm hand, instead wrapping his arm around Katsuki's to hold him a little closer. "I just thought it was too good to be true!"

"Sappy nerd."

"But you liiiiike it," Izuku sang, grinning when Katsuki shot him a warning look. "Don't you, Kacchan? You like it when I'm cheesy, right?"

"Yeah," he sighed, caving for once in his life. "I guess I do."

"So you don't mind if I'm all sappy and gross on our dates?"

"I guess not. In moderation."

"Yay!" Izuku leaned his cheek on Katsuki's shoulder for a moment, watching the cheeks above turn pink again. "But also, Kacchan?"

"Yeah?"

"I think we walked past the cafe."

Katsuki froze in his tracks, looking back at the street they'd walked all the way to the end of, distracted by their awkward and stupidly cheesy conversation.

"Motherfucker," he grunted, turning around. "You're such a distracting piece of shit."

"I like you too, Kacchan. Look on the bright side, we spent some extra time together!"

Katsuki didn't answer right away, and for a moment Izuku wondered if he'd said something wrong.

"Let's keep walking," he suggested finally, blushing impossibly redder. "We can eat a bit later."

"That sounds perfect, Kacchan!"

They crossed the road and continued their path, the sun sinking lower in the sky before them, and Izuku couldn't resist another little giggle.

"We're walking off into the sunset, Kacchan."

"Shut up, nerd."