Chapter Text
Day Four: Jacket
Dabi sighed, leaning against the cold metal of the warehouse. A cigarette hung loose in his mouth, burning slowly as he inhaled the addictive smoke of it all. Next to him, shivering in the cold of the salty breeze that rolled into the abandoned pier warehouse, was Japan’s very own number two hero, Hawks. The night was clear with the moon visibly reflecting off the ground and water out. Stars peaked out from the dark sky, reflecting off the water in a way that reminded the burned villain of shards of broken glass. It was a cold night out, and Dabi could tell with one look Hawks’ way that if he lacked the quirk he had he would probably be shaking just as bad.
The two had met up for the usual exchange of information, and when that had finished they had simply sat for a few minutes in blissful silence. For both, this time was an easy escape away from their chaotic life, though neither had admitted it to the other. Moments where there was no screaming, no expectations and no demands. While, yes, both were here on their own jobs, both also had an understanding with the other that this was perhaps the calmest moments of their day. The fact that they just happened to share it with the enemy was an afterthought, or at least that was what both men told themselves.
There was a small fire on the floor, flames licking around wood that the villain and hero had gathered from broken crates in the warehouse being their only source of heat and light. Dabi stared at it, the crackles being the only thing that echoed in the warehouse apart from waves hitting the edge of the sea outside. Well, that and the chattering of Hawks’ teeth next to him. Dabi sighed, taking another drawl of his cigarette before lowering down closer to the small fire in front of them. Not speaking, he reached out a finger and lit the tip of it, brushing it through the soft flames. The burned man winced slightly at the stings that came with the fire on his flesh, a natural part of his quirk occupying a body not meant for it. But he didn’t pull back, accustom to the stinging after so many years of both being forced and forcing himself to learn how to wield it. Below him, the fire jumped ever so slightly higher, and the villain stood up with a satisfied smile on his face.
Turning, Dabi met Hawks’ gaze and realized that the hero had been intently watching him while he tended to the small fire in front of them. “Come on, hero. I don’t bite, and you look cold as fuck. Won’t do us any good if you turn into a frozen chicken, will it?” Hawks narrowed his eyes at the frozen chicken comment, sticking his tongue out like a child as Dabi rose back up to lean against the wall next to him.
“How many times do I have to tell that I’m not a chicken, hot stuff? Besides, I won’t freeze! Can’t take me out that easy, as much as I know that disappoints you. It’s just that not everyone has a quirk like yours. And besides, I’m used to having my wings! But most of my feathers are gone, thanks to several stupidly fast and destructive criminals earlier today.” Hawks muttered the last part, a soft glare on his face as he scooted slightly closer to Dabi. Despite what he was currently saying, it definitely seemed like the chicken expected himself to freeze to death.
Dabi just sighed, shaking his head. Tonight was colder than most nights had been recently, he would be one of the first to admit that. But it wasn’t enough to kill anybody. Sure, the hero might be missing his usual jacket because it had gotten torn to shit in a fight earlier this week and was instead opting to wear a thin coat, but still. Despite all of this and how ridiculous the villain though the hero by his side was being, Dabi still didn’t move or push the hero away when Hawks finally came to lean all the way against him in a not-so-subtle attempt to absorb the villain’s body heat. However, it was starting to get slightly annoying.
“Hey. Hero. If you’re really that cold, why not just leave? I’m sure your apartments a comfortable temperature.”
“Oh come on, Dabs! If it’s this cold by the fire, how cold do you think it is outside? Damn, I wish I had at least grabbed an extra coat or something. I have to walk home in this coat, Dabs! Walk!” Hawks whined, now grabbing onto Dabi’s arm and scooting the rest of the way into the villain’s side. Whether the motion was simply for heat or not at this point Dabi didn’t know, but for some odd reason the villain also found that he didn’t care.
“Drama queen. You’ll live. Besides, you don’t live on the other side of the city. Just shut up and put up with it, I’ve had to sleep in much colder weather than this before. In the rain and snow, even.”
Hawks didn’t reply then, simply narrowing his eyes and looking up at Dabi with a pouting look on his face, which only served to give the villain more proof that Japan’s ever praised, beloved by all, top-of-the-line number two hero was a complete and utter drama queen. When he told Hawks this, he received a slight smack to the arm that might have hurt had he been able to feel it. “You’re so mean, Dabi” the hero instead said, this time with a slight laugh. When Dabi only grunted in response, Hawks gave him a gentle shove, laughing.
“Well at least I’m not the idiot who left home without a proper coat.” Dabi snickered, now giving Hawks a gently shove back with his shoulder.
“I told you I was in a rush! You shouldn’t call me out of the blue like that, I had to drop everything I was doing and race out of the house just to get here!”
“You know why our meetings have to be as close-called as they are, birdy.” Dabi said with a sigh, going back to his place on the wall as Hawks did the same. “ I might trust you, at least more than I did at the start, but that doesn’t mean I’m taking you straight to Handsy’s front door. Knowing you, you’d say something stupid and be turned to ash by the big baby before you could even blink.”
“Hey! I take offense to that!”
“But can you really if it’s true?”
“You don't know if it's true or not! I'm a smooth talker, Dabs!”
“If you say so…”
The two leaned against each other in complete silence for a while longer, enjoying each other's presence and watching as the last of the fire light flickered out, bringing darkness back into the old building. Even after the fire had gone out, neither man moved, enjoying the peace of the moment just a bit longer before they had to move back to their lives.
Hawks was the first to pull away, smiling slightly up at Dabi as he did so. “Well, I should probably head out,” he began “hero work and all that. Knowing my Higher Ups, I'll be out in the field again as soon as the sun rises.” Dabi only nodded in agreement, looking down at his watch to see how late it was before meeting the hero's gaze one last time. After all, who knew when they would next be able to see each other like this, and what the situation would be. But that was their life, and it was what the two had come to accept- even if neither would say it out loud.
Dabi noticed that Hawks has already started to shiver again, pulling the smaller than normal red wings tight against his back as he stared up at Dabi, melancholy smile faint in his golden eyes. Dabi sighed, shaking his head with a slightly exasperated smile on his face. “I can tell you want to complain about the cold, hero.”
“Well, I mean, if you bring it up-”
“Here. Take it.”
“I- Uh. What?”
Dabi held out the jacket that he had work over, one of his nicer ones but who cared? It was pure black, with a hood big enough to cover the villain's face. Long, and warm enough for nights like these. Something that the villain made sure all his coats were like after years of living on and off the streets, having to hide his face from any unwanted attention.
Now he had taken it off to reveal a long sleeved shirt underneath, holding the baggy jacket out to Hawks with a bored look on his face. The hero, meanwhile, had a blush slowly creeping up his neck. He didn't say anything for a second, just looking between the wanted villain and the jacket he was offering out before snapping out of whatever spell had fallen over him.
“But then how would you get home? Your scrawny ass would probably freeze without that thing, fire quirk or not.” Hawks eventually said, moving to push the jacket back towards it's owner. Dabi shook his head however, pushing it back at the hero.
“Let's just say that I might have a fire quirk, but my body's also built to get by in weather like this. At least, probably better than yours. No matter how 'scrawny’ I am.”
Hawks snorted, however the hero still looked sceptical. “Even if that's the case, you'll get caught the second someone sees your face. It's not exactly something easy to hide, no offense.”
“How do you think I've survived all these years, hero? Look, do you want it or not. I'll probably never be this nice again, so I'd take advantage of it while I could if I were you.”
Hawks laughed at that, the relaxed and happy look that Dabi had secretly come to love seeping into those golden eyes of his as he grabbed the jacket out of Dabi's hands and slipped it on. Letting other a sigh at the added warmth, the hero smiled back at the burned man across from him. “Well, I guess I should take it then. Thanks, Dabs.”
“It's nothing, Chicken Wings.” Dabi replied, not able to hide a smile of his own. Hawks’ feathers (or at least the small ones that remained) puffed out in annoyance, and Dabi knew what would come out of the hero's mouth before maybe even Hawks did.
“I'm not a chicken!”
“So you say.”
________________
Hawks walked along the sidewalk alone, practically melting in the added heat that Dabi's coat provided. He could still tell at this point that the villain had worn it, the heat radiating comfortably off the jacket from the fire quirk user going straight to his core.
Around the hero, nightlife bustled this way and that with little attention shot his way. It was something that Hawks was oddly thankful for, and before he knew it the hero was boarding the train back his apartment. The inside of the train was far warmer, and he had every reason to take the now-slightly-hot jacket off, but the hero kept it on. Hawks told himself that it was just an added precaution so that no one recognized him and flocked him for autographs or the regular, but deep down the hero knew that it was for another reason entirely.
When he got home, the hero was already too tired to care about anything and went straight to his room, only really bothering to kick off his shoes before collapsing face first into the pillows and falling asleep in a second.
Hawks didn't wake up until the next day, and that was only after someone started pounding his front door so hard it would probably had snapped off it's hinges if Hawks hadn't have jumped out of bed and races to it.
Whipping open the door, he found Miruko standing there. The rabbit hero had a slightly concerned look on her face, and it deepened for what was at most half a second before vanishing to make way for one of relief.
“Hey Miruko… What's up?” Hawks asked, shooting an equally concerned look at the woman in front of him.
“Well” she began, looking him over now with an analyzing expression. “First off, you are two hours late to work. You don't even look ready now, did you just wake up? Second off, I tried calling you several times but you wouldn't pick up. Your bosses told me to come check on you. Are you okay?”
“Two hours late?!? What time is it? I mean, I got back late and yeah I was tired, but two hours!?” Hawks let out a squawk, pulling away from the door and running back into his apartment. Miruko stepped in after his slowly, looking around as she spoke.
“Yeah… Wait, why did you get back late last night? I didn't see you patrolling.”
“Uh… Surprise patrol?” Hawks said, trying to sound and look as unguilty as he could. However, Miruko had always had a knack for finding everything he didn't want to her know out, and this time would appear to be no different.
“What do you mean- wait. Hawks” she began, evil smirk setting in over her features “that isn't your jacket, is it? Because I've been over here a lot, and I don't think I've ever seen that one before.”
Shit. He was still wearing Dabi's jacket. Someone. Anyone. Smite him now.
“N-no, it's mine!” He said, hastily taking it off as if that would hide the evidence. If anything though, that made him look even more guilty. “Just- just new!”
“Doesn't look new.”
“It's a fashion thing!” He said, throwing the coat over the back of the couch. Why had they sent over Miruko, of all people? Why his best friend, who knew almost everything about him, who would recognize when a coat was was to baggy to be his and was clearly someone else's? Especially when that someone else was a villain!
“Come on, Hawks!” Miruko laughed, smiling now with a teasing glint in her eyes. “Just admit you have a boyfriend and you were late home last night 'cuz the two of you were being all lovey-dovey on a date together!”
“That is not what happened! He isn't even my boyfriend!”
“Ah ha! So it isn't your jacket!”
Shit.
Hawks sighed, burying his head in his hands with an embarrassed grown. “Fine, fine! It's not mine, someone gave it to me last night because it was cold and I didn't have a warmer coat on me, that's all!”
“Awfully nice dude, don't you think?”
“Shut up, Miruko. Please.”
At that, the rabbit hero let out a loud laugh. Meanwhile, Hawks felt a blush cover his whole face. The winged hero didn't pull his head out of his hands until he heard his phone go off. More specifically, with the buzz he had set for Dabi.
His head shot up quickly, and lightning fast Hawks grabbed his phone and opened it. Miruko snickered in the background. “Is that the man?”
“Oh shut up.”
“So it is.”
“Fine, fine. Yeah.”
Because it was. A simple text, and Hawks couldn't help but smile as he read it; Miruko be damned.
Hot stuff:
Hey. You can keep the jacket. Got a lot of others, pretty bird.
If Miruko read the text over his shoulder and processed to scream in joy for him, making Hawks jump right out of his skin, well Hawks just wouldn't tell that to anyone. Yeah, he was a little to happy over getting to keep the jacket, sue him.
Okay, maybe he was a sap. But so what?