I got this soul; It's all fired up

So I wrote this drabble to warm up my creative juices, and it is heavily inspired by @pointandpounce‘s absolutely amazing picture of dragon!Inasa and fantasy AU Todoroki. I have so many feelings about these two and the fact that we are two days away from Inasa being animated?? I must spread the Inatodo love.

Cut is for length, not for content.

“Oi, Prince Shouto…”

“Yes?”

“Why’re ya putting dirt on that meat?”

Todoroki glances up from where he is preparing their meal to see Inasa crouched on the ground with his chin in one hand, the long, sharp claw of his index finger tapping against his cheek. His wings open and close to feed air to the fire that’s growing just behind him, and his tail is currently relaxed, lying on the ground like a massive snake. Why can’t it be like that when they are in the castle, in the study, where he gets so excited he knocks everything down and makes a mess?

“It’s not dirt, Inasa. I have black peppercorns in a grinder, and when I turn it, pieces of it are deposited on the meat. It’s a spice.” Inasa still has a questioning expression, and he turns the mill into his palm and holds out the black flecks to him. “Now, don’t put your face in it –”

It’s too late. The dragon-man has shoved his entire nose and mouth into Todoroki’s hand, and when he rears back with a holler to sneeze, small flames shoot out and disappear into the twilight. One, two, three, four times. And of course Todoroki laughs, and even though he feels guilty, how could he not? There is so much Inasa still wants to know, and some things are going to require lessons he’ll have to teach himself.

This wasn’t at all where he was expecting his life to be at this point. Frankly, when his father sent him to slay the dragon tormenting one of their territories, he thought the bastard was finally trying to kill him. He had never fought a monster before. But, be that as it may, the Crown Prince Todoroki Shouto came straight away on his stead, and sure enough, there was the dragon. A massive black beast with wings that were creating tornado-like winds, knocking down houses, sending cattle flying.

Todoroki watched him for a few seconds, because there was something odd about his behavior. Despite how his wings would flap and his tail would take out great stone walls in the fortress, he would get down on his front feet and nudge at the houses in front of him with his nose, or push the roof up and peer inside. Sometimes he would roar, sometimes not, but there would be a moment when the people inside would flee, and the creature paid them no mind, turning instead to the next house, repeating the same.

“Please, your Highness, can’t you do something?”