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WHO: Izuku & You!!
WHERE: Around the town!
WHEN: Throughout August
WHAT: training, feeding people, making friends, and probably quests later
WARNINGS: None for now!

A. Training

[After his brush with the creature in the forest going incredibly wrong, Izuku throws himself back into training, knowing that he has to get stronger and be able to hold his own in similar fights. Guren isn't going to conveniently be there to take a hit for him every time he's in danger, and he shouldn't have to be.

And so, anyone passing by the edge of the forest near Flavo might see Izuku training in the open space, wearing a dark grey tank top that doesn't cover the many obvious scars on his arms for once. They'll find him sitting on the ground, eyes closed, as green energy sparks over his skin. Instead of looking relaxed, though, he's clearly shaking from the effort of keeping his quirk activated at this level. There's even a pained sort of grimace on his face.]

B. Sharing the goods

[Being able to grab some things from the portals means that Izuku had access to a lot of things that he hasn't been able to in a while. Of course, that means...making sweets and sharing them!

Once the candy apples are done cooling, he'll be walking around the town with a tray of them and waving down the people he comes across.]

Would you like one? [With a bright smile, Izuku offers one of the apples, keeping a tight grip on the tray with his other hand.] I just made them! You should eat it while it's fresh.

C. Sew, a needle pulling thread

[When Izuku isn't running around town to feed people or training intensely, he finds a shady spot in the Flavo gardens that he settles down in to work on another project of his. This time, he's surrounded by a little pile of fabrics--mostly in various shades of grey.

Of course, it's not easy to sew when the fingers on your dominant hand are a bit crooked. The little plush (is it a bunny or a cat? It's hard to tell when it's kind of lopsided...) is coming along, but every so often, Izuku hisses and shakes out his left hand when he accidentally pricks himself with the needle.

It's been happening a lot. He might need some guidance with this.]

D. Wildcard!

(If there's something else you'd like to do, just send me a PM! I'd be happy to plot!)

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[For now, this way is fine. He's not use to apologizing, but he'll apologize later for getting up in arms about a look when his pride is sensitive and using it as fuel to get Izuku to finish the pit fight.

Maybe this spar was a long time coming.]

Stop talking and start fig--

[Oh. As soon as Izuku lights up, he realizes his mistake. The trip startles him, and he lands down on the ground in purposeful roll, hopping right back up to his feet and swinging his arms around at the ready. Guarding his chin, his neck.

There's a new fire in his eyes. A little excitement, a little paranoia.]

Why are you running, Midoriya?! [The only pressing forward he does amidst a cacophony of cheers is a slow walk.] Are you scared? Have you ever even been in a fight? [Having a smart mouth has always been a part of Damian.

But now he can use it to his advantage. Is Izuku the type to be easily goaded?]

Maybe your powers aren't all they're cut out to be.

[The first few taunts roll off of him easily--it's nothing that Izuku hasn't heard before, nothing as bad as what he's had thrown at him while he was growing up. But as soon as he hears the jab at his power--All Might's power--something in his expression shifts.]

Take that back. [With his voice dropping low, it's all the warning that Damian gets before Izuku's launching himself forward. With the blink of an eye, he's closed the distance he put between them before, aiming a kick at Damian's midsection.]

[Better.

Already knowing he won't be fast enough to dodge Izuku completely, he plants his feet solidly into the ground and braces for the impact. He uses both forearms to block instead of one, but the power behind the kick is too strong for him to have time to hook the leg and lift it up.

He goes flying to the side, scraping his feet to slow him down, stumbling, digging his feet back in steadily.

So the powers--Izuku is sensitive to them being ridiculed. Because they were late? No, Damian had taunted the strength of them. The usefulness. Getting defensive means Izuku struggles sometimes not with tardiness, but the result of tardiness: control.] Guess I was right.

Your kick wasn't strong enough. I'm still standing.

[Damian earns himself a sharp glare this time, even if Izuku doesn't lunge at him immediately like before.]

What's going on, Damian-kun? Why are you acting like this?

[Though Izuku had wondered if Damian was simply goading him into fighting for the quest like before, that doesn't seem quite right. It feels like there's something else, another reason for Damian's sudden and sharp change in attitude.]

I always act like this. [For now, he won't relent. Not when Izuku is showing him some determination.] You're just gullible.

Haven't you ever heard the saying, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer"? [It's frustrating to him that Izuku is actually taking the time to bother asking--not just deter him, not just fight him. Wanting to know how he's feeling.

He hates it because it's so pure.] In here, you're my enemy. Only one of us is going to crawl back out of this hole, and it's going to be me because your powers are a fraud. [Not that he would ever leave Izuku behind, even unconscious... but Izuku doesn't have to know that right now!!]

If you're a hero, start acting like one!

[Despite the strong friendships he's formed with the people here in Chroma, a part of Izuku still struggles with the fear that something, even the tiniest mistake could lead him to losing them. Or worse, he fears that the people he's grown to care for don't feel the same way. Damian's words easily find their way through Izuku's defenses, leaving wounds that hurt more than they should.

But...no. Damian wouldn't have told him his identity if he didn't trust him to some extent, nor would he have shown him the batcave just a few weeks before either.]

...I don't believe you. [He'll just have to go with his gut on this one.] What part of being a hero involves fighting like this?

[If anything, if there's real danger involved, wouldn't it be more like a hero to let Damian have the win?]

[God dammit. Now isn't the time for Izuku to start going Jon on him! He hates when softies can somehow read right through his bullshit.]

Shut up, and let's finish this! [He's just going to have to do it himself, he guesses, rather than allow Izuku the opening for initiation.] I'm tired of hearing you give me excuses!

[Time to pressure. When words don't work, Damian uses his fists. He drops his arms a bit, becoming stream-lined, and he takes off across the distance toward Izuku without hesitation. His attacks aren't as powerful as most Izuku has probably dealt with--he's got no abilities, but they're fast and accurate, and he gives them in long streams of combination without letting up.

If Izuku won't attack back, he'll just have to focus on defense. Damian doesn't look like he's intending to give up.]

They're not excuses! [Izuku cries out, frustrated that his words aren't reaching Damian. He barely has time to throw his arms up and block the first flurry of attacks, gritting his teeth as he's pushed back.

His words aren't getting through to him, so what options does he have right now? For some reason, Damian's convinced that Izuku doesn't take him seriously. Is the only way to prove him wrong to fight him with all that he has? Izuku hates it, that the quest would force his hand like this.]

Let's finish this, then. [Energy sparks over his skin again, and before Damian can blink, Izuku's launching a stream of blows himself, teeth bared. Fine. He'll finish the stupid quest! But if the faeries don't let them go even after that, Izuku won't hesitate to take them all down, too, if that's what he needs to do to get them both out of here safely. He's not leaving Damian behind.]

[The call of power gets Damian to grin. He can take a few of the punches in certain areas, but it's generally too strong. Instead, he's forced to focus on defense himself now, dodging the blows or rounding them away so he isn't hit.]

Don't underestimate me, Midoriya. [He gives Izuku a single, wake-up sock to the side of the chin, but the strength of it is barely anything at all. He's having to sacrifice so much of his wind-ups on protecting himself.

But if he can at least get that one in, it's fine.] I've taken so much more than your silly hero school punches.

[Hit him good, Izuku!!]

Who says I'm underestimating you? [Even as he blocks Damian's hits and returns the favor with his own attacks, Izuku watches and catalogues the movements with sharp eyes.

If there's anything Izuku's good at pinpointing, it's patterns in someone's attack style, and that's exactly what he does now. Patiently, he waits and waits for the right moment--there!

When he spots an opening, Izuku puts on an extra burst of speed and delivers an upper cut right to Damian's chin, hoping for a clean knock out.]

[For someone lacking any kind of special abilities or alien form, Damian seems to have a vast amount of stamina. He's barely begun, but even he can't withstand a well-aimed sock to the face and subsequent blackout.

Damian doesn't know how Izuku works the ability, not fully, and it's his mistake. His block is enough for a standard scuffle, but Izuku ramps up the power, and Damian isn't able to plan for adjustment.

The fist careens off his arms and slams him in the side of his jaw. His teeth clack painfully, and his head rings from center to edges as he flies up and back then down. There's no time for dry, bitter words; his vision explodes with spotted white before being quickly consumed by black all at once.

Huh!! The one time Damian Wayne is actually tolerable: when he's lying there unmoving and unconscious!]

[As soon as Damian starts dropping, Izuku reaches out to catch him, one hand cradling the other hero's head gently. Once Damian is safely gathered up in his arms, Izuku turns a glare onto the stands, where the faeries are cheering.]

Hey! We did your quest. Now let us go back!

[No sooner than those words are out of his mouth, Izuku blinks and finds himself back in the forest again, where he and Damian had first started out. Something in him relaxes then--quest or not, Izuku hadn't been sure if the fae would let them go, and he can only let the relieved sigh escape now.

It's no trouble carrying Damian back to his cottage in Flavo, light as he is--though to be fair, anyone would seem light after Izuku carried All Might on his back during training. After Damian's been carefully set down on the couch, there's nothing to do but wait for him to wake up. It might seem cruel, springing a serious talk on Damian after that fight, but Izuku has some questions swimming around in his head that need to be answered.]

[The hit was rough, but Damian has been through a lot worse. His vision spins briefly when he comes to, and he's not even sure what happened last in order to begin stacking up befores and afters.

In the secret fortress beneath the ocean. Him and Jon, and Kid Amazo had burst in through the side, flooding everything. He thought Jon was going to drown. Did half-Kryptonians have the same capacity of survival that full ones did?

He couldn't swim fast enough on his own, running out of oxygen.

His eyes open again, a little more steady this time except for the fact his jaws and teeth hurt, his head is throbbing, the light is a little bright. No, too far back.

This is Chroma, and he was still here, remembering this place, and he had been in the forest with Izuku, and they had run a gauntlet of a pit fight. A tight moan squeezes in the back of his throat as he pushes himself up.]

[Soon enough, there's a hand at his back, supporting him.]

Easy, Damian-kun. [Izuku says softly as he helps Damian sit up on the coach. He backs off as soon as Damian looks a bit steadier, his eyes lingering on the bruise forming on Damian's jaw with no small amount of guilt.]

How are you feeling?

[Izuku gets a half-startled, half-unsure blink, and then his brows furrow gently. Midoriya...? Glancing around, he realizes this must be Izuku's place for the kid to be here, not unless Izuku ducked into the first house he knew.]

I'll live.

[Though he doesn't look exactly fine, he's at least coherent and sitting up. His eyes lift to Izuku's face again.] How long has it been?

Not long. Half hour, tops.

[Gingerly, he sits beside him on the couch. Waiting for Damian to wake up was the easy part--now he's the talk that he knows they need to get over with, even if Izuku's wary of what answers he'll get.]

So... what was all that about? Back in the pit?

[Thank God. He was almost worried he had been unconscious for a day or more, and that would've sucked a lot. He reaches up to tenderly touch his jaws, squeezing only enough to feel the soreness.]

I don't know what you're talking about.

[Damian please. Izuku gives him the flattest look he's probably ever seen--and coming from Izuku, that says a lot.]

So the part where you kept accusing me of not taking you seriously was just something I imagined?

Tt. [The look says enough, but Damian takes it in stride without faltering at all. He's been given that look more than a few times, honestly.] You don't take me seriously.

People with special abilities never take normal people seriously when it comes to a fight. You don't want to fight with your true potential because you're too worried about hurting someone.

[He gets it, really, he does. If Izuku had stayed quirkless, and somehow become a hero like Damian and Batman in spite of it, it would've eaten at him, too.]

Damian-kun. [Izuku turns toward him fully, voice low and serious in a way that Damian's probably rarely heard.] Look at me.

[Naturally, Damian doesn't want to look at first, assuming by the tone and the words, it's going to be some kind of tragic, inspiring dump of wholesomeness.

But Damian has pride and honor, and that means looking people in the face when they're talking to you, when they have something important to say. So he lifts his head and levels Izuku with a steely gaze.]

What?

[Damian's meeting his gaze head on--that's good. Izuku makes sure to hold it, so that Damian can see there's no hint of a lie on his face.]

It doesn't matter that you're quirkless. I would've reacted the same way in the pit if it had been Shouto or Ochako-san, or anyone else with powers.

[He pauses, just the slightest hint of a frown on his face.] If you'd asked, I would've fought you with everything in the beginning. I...just don't like it when I'm forced to fight my friends without good reason.

[For a long time, he's quiet and contemplative. If he had just asked, huh? Personally, he doubts it would've been that simple, but... he never bothered to try asking, did he?]

Your friends are who you should be the most willing to fight when the time comes.

[He knows Izuku said "without good reason," but he wants to point out his belief that friends make the toughest enemies sometimes. It's a Bat thing. Betrayal insurance. They suck.]

Besides, no one even said we were even friends.

[Hmmmmmmmm. Sure is a suspicious bracelet Damian has there wrapped around his wrist!! Mr. "Sure, I'll Call You Izuku" Wayne.]

[If Izuku knew the things going through Damian's head right now, he'd be so concerned... Actually, he's already concerned. Hard not to be with the way Damian had phrased that. Izuku's brows draw together in confusion.] What do you mean, I should be willing to fight them the most?

[Huh, so that's how it is. Izuku can't bring himself to even be hurt by that jab, not like when he'd listened to Damian's accusations in the pit, because he can see the bracelet on Damian's wrist.]

If that's true...then why are you still wearing it? [Izuku lifts up his wrist, the one wearing a bracelet that matches Damian's exactly. He knows Damian is too observant to have missed the letters "BFF" on there.]

[The quick, pensive draw to his face means nothing short of Izuku being right. Obviously, Damian doesn't want to admit it, not even remotely.]

I--simply haven't had time to remove it is all. [That'll do, right? IT'S FINE. Izuku isn't an idiot like Jon (even Jon isn't an idiot) and can see right through him. ABORT.] Thanks for your "help" with the quest, but I'm leaving.

[Except... when he stands up, it's too quickly and too soon. Vertigo spins his vision and his head, and he staggers one foot over before falling right back down on the couch.

Well, nevermind. His getaway is a bust.]

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