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The night was dead still for the most part, with no life in sight.
It was not too surprising; even when it was Halloween night with most people up and about to celebrate and go trick-or-treating, this part of the town didn't really have much people living in it. There was nothing but a lonesome figure, slowly pacing across the streets.
Had someone been able to see him, they would’ve wondered why he walked so strangely, holding his side as if injured. This was that one time in a year that this detail would’ve been more peculiar to people, than the scythe attached to his back.
Not that most would be able to see him anyway.
The pale figure eventually reaches the old building at the edge of the town, tapping the door. A glowing symbol appears on it, and the door pushes itself open, letting him step in to his sanctuary; it was much bigger on the inside than outside, with rooms spiraling both up and downstairs. The main area had his fireplace, bed, and shelves filled with all sorts of trinkets and objects, as well as manuscripts. Everything a younger reaper like him needed to figure out his job.
To mortals, the old shack just looked like any old abandoned house at the outskirts of the city.
To anybody with the ability to see, would normally steer clear of the place; reapers did not like unwanted visitors.
Of course, there were those brave - or foolhardy - folks who’d try and sneak in occasionally, into his haunted house. It’d be easy to scare them off for the most part, though Tomura knew he’d probably have to eventually move his sanctuary to the nether dimension properly. He just liked keeping it on the mortal soil, namely because spooking idiotic brats who thought sneaking into an abandoned building was a good idea.
Of course, what greeted him in his house was not a mortal brat, but certainly a brat of another kind.
The tiefling lifts eyebrow at him upon noticing how he was holding his side, a light wry grin spreading across the scarred face. He was holding a deck of cards in his hand, shuffling through them. An enchanted deck, a gift from some rogue magician he’d once met apparently. He'd often used it to get ahead in life, gamble himself some money and favors.
”Naw, rough night?”
Tomura huffs and let’s go if his scythe, watching it transform into its small blade form, before eventually floating into its rightful place on the box at the table.
Reaper or not, he didn’t have to carry the oversized knife with him all the time.
”Cannibalistic poltergeist. Poked me with elongating teeth.”
”Gross.”
Tomura swats him off from the armchair, slumping down on it instead, watching the fire quietly burn in the fireplace. This month was always bit of hassle, with how many more dangerous spirits it attracted, and with how idiotic humans kept mistaking actual dangers for costumed folk.
”Wanna play?”
His companion holds up the deck, gaining a snort from Tomura, who gives him a pointed look.
”Using those is cheating and you know it.”
”Hey, they only let me cheat if I allow it. I’m not a sore loser like some people.”
"What would we even play about? I don't use mortal money and you can bet I'm not giving any of my toys to you. You'd just summon a nether demon or something."
"Well I got some ideas."
Dabi winks at him playfully. Tomura rolls his eyes at that comment and shifts, grimacing as his body still hurt.
”Need help with that?”
Dabi - he was still convinced it was not the tiefling’s real name, but at this point he didn’t care - gestures at his injury in his abdomen that was still subtly burning. Tomura looks down at it, then up at the sharp blue eyes, examining him closely.
”You’re just after the essence I’m leaking. Stop trying to pretend you’re concerned.”
The wry smile grows on the tiefling’s face, but he turns to leave the room, eventually returning with some healing salve and bandages. Tomura let’s him address the injury, amused when he notes Dabi was breathing in the wisps of faintly glowing mist that was emitting out of it. He sometimes half-expected the idiot to smush his face against him anytime he had an injury or something.
Tomura wasn’t exactly sure why Dabi seemed to have a thing for his kind of essence, but he suspected it had something to do with his past; the young reaper noted that his magic was very imbalanced since they met, and somehow his essence seemed to help fixing that. Either way, it wasn’t really an issue, Reapers had an endless supply of essence to use, and as long as their vessel would not leak faster than it got filled, Dabi doing his weird thing wasn’t an issue.
Once Dabi was done, he goes to bring the medical tools back in their place, before slipping to sit beside him on the armrest of his armchair.
”It’s always hella busy around this time of the year for you, huh. Ever thought of asking others to come and help out?”
”Most of us prefer working alone, Dabi.”
”I know, but like...Halloween’s crazy time. Surely even you all can put aside your lone-wolf bullshit to make sure hell-gates don’t open or something.”
Tomura snorts, leaning against the tiefling, until Dabi eventually allows him to rest his head on his lap. Blue eyes examine him amused, wandering off from his eyes quickly. It wasn’t exactly a surprise, he often did that, not even trying to hide it anymore like he used to.
”It’s not that crazy. Its just bothersome spirits appearing more often than average.”
Dabi let’s out a hum, shifting to subtly mingle his fingers into the messy grayish bluish white hair, scratching the reaper’s scalp lightly. Tomura closes his eyes and just enjoys the sensation for a moment. As much as Dabi could be a little infuriating sometimes, he admittedly enjoyed the company. It was a bit odd of a partnership though, given Dabi was technically a lesser spirit, someone whose soul Tomura would eventually reap just like anybody else. Just not anytime soon, Dabi’s string of fate was still very strong, which he was admittedly happy about.
”So, the cannibal ghost, did you manage to stop it before it ate anybody?”
”....kind of. It did injure some kid wearing a bird head mask or something, but he should be fine. The thing didn’t manage to infect him.”
”Kind of?”
”It disappeared before I could reap it. I need to go back out and hunt it down once the injury’s healed.”
”Well that sucks.”
Tomura grimaces, agreeing; cannibalistic spirits were nasty, for if they poked you with their claws or teeth, the person could eventually turn into one of them. First withering away into a catatonic state, before turning hostile towards everybody like some sort of rabid animal, then finally, the soul would leave the body as it morphed into the tortured spirit.
”I suppose I could come with ya the next round; barbecued munchy is better than a living munchy. Not that those things count as living but you get my point.”
Dabi had odd names for the beings Tomura had to slash down.
Predatory spirits like this one had been were munchies, average throwing-your-shit-at-the-walls poltergeists were tantrum toddlers, possessing ones he often referred to as freeloaders, and so on. Not that he minded, it was honestly refreshing to have some humor mixed in to his work.
”Forreal, I should come with you the next round, sounds like it’s gonna get rough.”
Tomura cracks an eye open, looking up at him amused.
”You just want to be there to snort any essence I might drop.”
Dabi let’s out a mock offended gasp, holding his chest dramatically. It soon dissolves into an amused chuckle though, and Tomura leans up now, an inch away from his face.
”I know you too well, Dabi.”
”Hey, just because I might like to snatch some, it doesn’t mean I’m not genuinely trying to help you. Hunting random evil spirits is kinda fun.”
Dabi protests, blue eyes flickering between his eyes and lips, making Tomura’s amused smirk grow. Before he could really say anything however, a tingle of pain from his injury hits Tomura, and he shifts back with a grimace, holding his side again.
He should probably lie down...
Dabi slips off the armrest silently, and allows Tomura to lean against him as he brings him to his bed. The reaper snaps his fingers, allowing his robe to disappear. He preferred resting without it, as wearing it always meant he could hear all sorts of whispers in his head, souls both living and dead, either nearing their fated date or having already passed, waiting for someone to guide them where they need to go. He was not the only reaper out there, but he was the only one in this area at the moment.
Tomura slumps to the bed, lying on his back as he breathes out slowly, resting his arm over his belly.
Dealing with these kind of nasty spirits was always bit of a hassle, especially if they landed a hit on you.
He could not be cursed like a mortal would, but it still hurt like a bitch to be stabbed by one of those toothy projectiles. Dabi stands there for a moment, watching him rest, before slipping away and reclaiming the comfy warm seat in front of the fireplace, throwing his legs over the armrest. Tomura rolls his eyes at the sight, but doesn’t complain. Dabi would not stop sitting like a lazy bastard no matter how many times he’d tell him not to. Red eyes close again, and he breathes out a slow sigh, hoping he would be able to rest.
A while later, something pulls him from his slumber, feeling warm fingers brush over his skin lightly. Cracking an eye open, he’s not surprised to find the tiefling checking on his injury, pushing aside the bandages to see more closely. Wisps of the glowing essence escape again, but he seems to ignore it this time around, trailing the edge of the healing slash wound with his fingers.
”Must be handy. Being so immune to most shit out there.”
Dabi mutters out, blue eyes slowly turning to look at him.
Tomura just shrugs, muttering it was a perk of the job. The tiefling chuckles a bit at that, shifting the bandages back into their place, before planting a hand beside his head, leaning closer until they were just inches apart.
The reaper now notes that Dabi had shrugged off the dark grey jacket and shabby white shirt he normally wore, exposing most of his scarring to the open air. An accident, magic spell gone wrong, that was the most Tomura knew of it all. It was none of his business. All he knew that it was likely the source of his imbalance and need to sniff reaper essence. Pale hand lifts up to trace the edge of the scarring on his chest, and Dabi remains still, subtly following his arm movement as he did so. Pale fingers move up to trace the scarring on his face now, eventually stopping at his lips. Dabi’s expression shifts into a mischievous grin, and he flicks his tongue out, brushing against his fingers.
”.....Sometimes I am convinced you’re either a big cat or a dog.”
Tomura mutters out amused, lifting his hand up now to grab one of Dabi’s horns. It naturally made him stiffen, unable to resist as Tomura pulls him closer. The horns were kind of a weak spot for Dabi, he normally didn’t like anybody touching them. He allowed Tomura to do so though, because he trusted him. It was admittedly weird given what Tomura was, but that didn’t seem to factor in on Dabi’s judgment.
It’s very slow and gentle at first, and Tomura let’s go of the horn to subtly press his hand against Dabi’s cheek.
The tiefling shivers lightly at the touch, parting his lips to deepen the kiss.
To this day Tomura wasn’t quite sure how it had ended up like this.
The tiefling had just refused to leave, and after seeing bits and pieces of his past, he’d begun to take pity on this lost living soul. Maybe it was because they both were lost souls in a sense, so they found companionship in one another in ways they couldn’t with anybody else.
Dabi eventually shifts to lie on him, both hands mingling into the messy pale locks. He tilts Tomura’s head for a better angle, clearly not in a hurry of any kind judging from how lazy the kiss was now. Tomura shifts his leg, feeling the tiefling’s tail wrap around it, making him chuckle amused.
Definitely a big cat.
After a while, Dabi shifts to rest beside him now, nuzzling his face against his neck. Thankfully his horns were pointing backwards and did not protrude up from his head that much so doing this was possible. Some of his kin had more problem shaped horns.
”.....Alright, I’m guessing you were actually a little worried.”
”....no?”
”Terrible liar still I see.”
Dabi let’s out a low chuckle, pressing closer against him, arm thrown over his waist.
”I’ll be fine, it’s no longer aching. I need a moment longer and we can head out to hunt down that damn thing.”
”You think it might’ve already eaten coupla kids or so?”
”Nah. I can step back out roughly the same time I entered, remember?”
”Man, your job comes with a lot of perks. How do I sign in?”
”You can’t. Only human souls can become death gods.”
Tomura did not know why, he only knew that this was the case. Dabi hums at that, shifting his head up lightly to plant a kiss on his cheek.
”That is discriminatory.”
”Not saying it isn’t. There’s just some weird rules of nature in place or something. Other souls would be too powerful or some shit like that.”
Tomura shrugs, turning to his side to face Dabi. He was already feeling a lot better, and having the tiefling’s hands subtly trace circles to his bare back did also help. Tomura mingles his fingers into the black hair now, just playing with it quietly for a while.
”You really want to come with me next time? You got pretty spooked facing off that last one...”
”Oi, that was some sorta demon dog, not a toothy spirit.”
”The demon dog was likely weaker than this one is.”
”Callin’ me a coward are you?”
Tomura chuckles for a bit, but then grasps his hand to rest it between them, giving him a more serious look.
”If you want to follow, you can’t freeze like you did last time. I suppose I understand your reaction given the hound wasn’t what we were expecting...”
”Exactly, I know what to expect this time around.”
Dabi points out with a confident smirk, but Tomura could tell from the way his tail twitched, that the tiefling was admittedly nervous given the being in question. The reaper hums and considers it for a moment, before breathing out a sigh.
”I suppose that’s fair, but if you start freezing up, I’m gonna teleport you back instantly. Don’t have the time to try and fight it and babysit you.”
”C’mon, I’ve been helpful.”
”Mostly yes, but with this case I’m skeptical.”
Dabi snorts at that, turning his back to Tomura to pout. The reaper lifts eyebrow at him amused, knowing the tiefling wasn’t entirely serious about it.
He gets proven right as after a moment, Dabi’s shoulders sink and he breathes out a deep sigh.
”That’s fair. M’sorry about the dog thing. Was always afraid of the big fuckers.”
”The spirits or dogs in general?”
”Big dogs. One almost bit my horn off when I was a kid.”
Tomura lifts eyebrow a bit surprised, having not known this detail yet. He shifts and places his hand against the unburnt part of Dabi’s back, just rubbing it slightly.
”I always wondered what those markings on your right horn were.”
”T’was one with a shitty, abusive owner, so it acted out when I got too close. I don’t like, blame the dog for it or anything...”
Dabi pauses, and Tomura could hear his grin from his voice.
”....I kinda relate. But as a result I just don’t wanna go near big dogs.”
”Fair enough.”
”This should be fine, it’s a humanoid thing, right?”
”With long ass sharp teeth.”
Dabi turns on his back, flashing him a light grin.
”I can handle that.”
There were kids trick-or-treating now, which wasn’t too surprising given the date. While Tomura was invisible to most, Dabi wasn’t.
He could blend right in at the moment though, given everybody who saw him just assumed he was wearing a costume. Some kids pointed at him, commenting on how scary he looked, but it was said in a positive sense, given, well, that was supposed to be the point of Halloween outfits; to look spooky. At least it had been, nowadays it seemed like many people preferred to do a “sexy” or just general cosplay thing.
Tomura didn’t understand it, but also didn’t care enough to complain.
They head towards the house he could sense the spirit in; an old abandoned one on a hill.
“That the place?”
“Yes. These things tend to be attracted to abandoned places, especially during Halloween, because idiotic people go and explore them, thinking it’s a good idea.”
“Sometimes it sounds like you just downright despise people.”
Tomura snorts, glancing at his companion.
“Do I think humans are idiotic sacks of flesh and emotion? Yes. I can’t fault them for being what they are naturally, however. That’d be like me complaining that you have horns. It’s just who you are.”
“…I’m pretty sure you can do something about stupidity.”
“Plenty of their own would disagree with that notion; there’s a reason why humans have a saying of “you can’t cure stupidity.”
Dabi let’s out a low chuckle, then quickly quiets down as his senses pick up something. Both halt their steps and listen, watching the abandoned house closely. They could hear an odd sound beyond the howling of the wind; something almost like raspy breathing.
“Stay behind me.”
“Oi, I can take care of myself.”
“Dabi.”
Tomura’s tone leaves no room for argument, so the tiefling reluctantly steps back, allowing the reaper to lead them into the house. The door was open, barely hanging on from its hinges, and the pair slips in, trying to make as little sounds as possible. It was easy for Tomura given he subtly floated above ground, whereas Dabi still had to use his legs to walk.
The sound was now louder, but what’s more, they could sense another presence in the house.
“Did some idiotic brat already sneak in?”
Dabi whispers quietly, gaining a slight nod from Tomura; he could sense a human soul nearby, and what’s more, it was in the same area as the monster.
He wasn’t sure if the creature was stalking the kid, or if it hadn’t noticed them yet.
Either way, Tomura stealthily makes his way to the room in question, peeking in through the door while keeping his aura at bay, telling Dabi to do the same. They both quickly conclude what was going on; there was a trick-or-treater hiding behind a large couch, while the cannibal spirit lurked around, just sort of standing in the middle of the room, wheezing.
It could likely sense the scared kid but couldn’t tell where he was.
“Why’s that idiot here?”
Dabi mutters out, peeking at the blond boy who was covering in fear. He could see the monster, which again, wasn’t surprising to either of them; even average humans could see spirits during Halloween. Cannibalistic ones tended to show themselves before attacking their victim in general.
“I’ll distract it, you go snatch the kid and bring him out of here.”
“Why me? I ain’t a babysitter.”
Tomura turns to look at him, giving him a pointed look.
“You wanted to help.”
The tiefling let’s out a long-suffering sigh, but eventually nods reluctantly. Tomura turns his attention back, slipping into the room while slowly pulling out his scythe. The thing still hadn’t noticed him, and if he got lucky, he could just cut it down without further incidents.
Except, it suddenly whips its head to the side, towards where the kid was; the thing had likely finally spotted him.
“Damn it!”
Tomura swings his scythe, cutting through the sharp teeth as they attempted to shoot at the kid. The spirit let’s out a screech and backs away, turning to glare at him with its eyeless face.
“Dabi!”
The tiefling quickly dives there, grabbing the confused kid’s arm and dragging him away. The creature attempts to attack them again, sensing its prey was fleeing, but Tomura blocks the attack again with his scythe, swinging it to send a blast of sharp wind at the spirit. It gets thrown through the wall, which gets sliced in half before turning to dust. Sadly, the damn thing didn’t, which to be fair he’d kind of expected; these things tended to require more concentrated hits so large sweeping attacks rarely did enough damage to exorcise them.
Tomura jumps back, dodging another barrage of teeth shooting at him, slashing them in half.
“You’re a pesky one, aren’t you?”
Tomura mutters out, tapping the floor with his foot until it starts to crack too. The ceiling was too low, making it difficult for him to fight while keeping it inside the house walls.
He needed more space.
The cracks spread all over and around the monster, until the whole floor collapses, making the spirit fall to the large basement area below.
“There!”
Tomura smirks triumphantly, dashing down and striking his scythe in the middle of the creature’s chest. It lets out a large screech, large enough to blast him back. Tomura had expected it, landing on the other side of the now wide-open basement. He could see Dabi peek down at them from one side, asking what the hell happened.
“I needed more space. Is the kid alright?”
“Keeps spouting out French nonsense. I think he broke or somethin’.”
Tomura doesn’t have time to respond, having to dodge more teeth. He was not keen on being poked by those things again. He was now floating in the air again, to be on the eye-level with the tiefling.
“Bring him away from the hillside; I’ll handle this.”
Dabi clearly was not keen about the idea, but does so anyway, grabbing the kid’s shoulder and starting to drag him away while he still muttered his “French nonsense” as Dabi put it. Tomura turns his attention back to his opponent, letting out another slashing blast. The destruction could probably be explained away by humans as a natural collapse, which was what he’d aimed for.
Now if only he could get rid of this annoying toothy bastard…
Tomura quickly slashes the teeth shooting at him, breaking them into pieces. The thing could clearly regenerate them quickly; the only way to stop the attacks was to reach the root of it. The foul-smelling ivory spears made this feat a bit difficult, as they’d regrow faster than he could dash forward.
“Goddammit.”
Tomura mutters out, and as the teeth shoot at him again, instead of dodging, Tomura clamps his hand around the nearest one, grimacing as it cut his flesh. He focuses, sending a pulse of his aura emanating through the teeth, watching as it starts to decay and crumble rapidly, heading towards the cannibalistic creature. It seems to realize what was going on, as the spirit pulls his teeth back and backs away. It was too late however, the decay had already reached it, spreading into all of its teeth and crumbling them to dust, leaving bloody stumps in their place.
The spirit screeches, loud enough to break any glass that was left. Tomura covers his ear, using his other hand to swing his scythe, sending another slash at the spirit. It hits the toothy bastard point blank, sending him burrowing into the opposing basement wall, collapsing it and the soil above, basically burying it alive.
“…Well shit.”
Tomura lands back to the ground, examining his bleeding hand. It was leaking wisps of his essence, but that was to be given.
“I really hate the munchies.”
He grumbles, then whips his head up as a sound catches his attention. The beast bursts through the collapsed wall, charging at him with the bleeding mouth wide open, clearly attempting to just chomp on him from close range. Tomura reaches for his scythe, only for a blast of blue flames to stop the spirit on its tracks, making it screech and squirm on the ground as the fire ate its flesh. It admittedly surprised Tomura, and he looks up at Dabi who was holding his hand up, a triumphant smirk on his face.
“Told you, barbecuing bad spirits is fun.”
The creature manages to turn off the flames, staggering up as its whole body smoked and smelt like burnt flesh now. The stench was so strong it makes Tomura grimace.
“Ew. This one stinks worse than that bony dude from couple of weeks ago.”
“Flesh eating spirits generally tend to smell bad when burned.”
Tomura mutters out, walking closer and swinging his scythe both hands now, finally slicing the pesky spirit in half. Bunch of black tar-like material bursts out alongside one final scream, and Tomura watches as the spirit’s shell withers away, leaving behind a faint, glowing red flickering ball.
He takes it in his hand, examining it for a moment.
“Huh. Still going down?”
“Mh?”
Dabi looks at him questioningly, then backs away as the ground beneath Tomura’s feet cracks open, and he drops the flame, watching it disappear into the abyss below. The crack closes again slowly, and he floats up from the house ruins, landing beside Dabi with a sigh.
“Apparently that man’s soul was foul already as a human. It’s ironic he was killed by a foul cursed spirit. perhaps fitting as well.”
“Damn. And I thought only innocent people get hunted by these things…”
“That is how human stories often like to portray things for some weird ass reason. Truth to be told these things don’t care if you’re good or bad.”
Tomura shrugs, then looks back at Dabi, asking about the kid.
"He ran off to his friends nearby. Apparently wind blew his pumpkin hat into the building so he went to get it."
"All this because of a hat?"
"It was a designer hat, apparently."
"Humans."
Tomura rolls his eyes amused, though he was glad the kid was okay. Brushing through his hair, the reaper grimaces as he realizes he'd just smeared blood all over his face and hair. Dabi let’s out a slight laugh at the sight, then turns to look down the hill. People had heard the collapse and were heading to investigate.
“…We better leave, yeah?”
“Probably. They can’t see me, but I won’t be bailing you out for getting arrested for vandalizing historical buildings.”
“I doubt this shack was historical.”
“You’d be surprised what humans consider of historical significance.”
“I’ve lived with humans; I know how weird they can be. We just saved a kid trying to save his designer Halloween hat from a cannibal spirit.”
Tomura snickers, then the pair quickly heads to the woods before anyone could spot Dabi.
Because getting blood off your hair could be difficult, Dabi helps him out with it, washing his hair while Tomura lied on his old bathtub eyes closed. They’d patched up his hand, though the injury wasn’t as bad as the one before; it had begun to heal already by the time they stepped in his sanctuary.
Dabi eventually lifts his head back up, rubbing Tomura’s scalp and gaining a pleased hum as a response.
“How’d you fix this before me?”
“It didn’t really matter given people couldn’t see me. I’d try for a bit then let it naturally vanish.”
“Fair enough. I guess reapers don’t mind having monster goop stuck in their hair for a while. You guys get showered by it a lot.”
“….To be honest, my fight style’s still a tad messy. many other reapers are cleaner.”
“So what’s your excuse?”
“I’m younger than most; I’m still learning.”
Dabi snorts, letting out a chuckle and pulling his head back into his lap, as he slips his feet into the water. Blue eyes look down at Tomura with amusement now, gaining a light playful grin as a response.
“Your excuse is that you’re a baby?”
“Yes.”
“Well I mean…you can be a little bratty sometimes…”
“Look who’s talking.”
Tomura throws some water at Dabi, who flinches as some gets into his eye. The pouting doesn’t last long however, as he starts chucking again, leaning down to plant a kiss on his dry lips.
“Well I suppose we can be brats together then.”
Tomura shifts and turns around to tug him into the water as well, climbing to his lap for a tad more intimate kiss now.
“I’m still the boss though.”
Tomura snickers as he pulls back, a little breathless now. Dabi shrugs and nuzzles his neck, arms wrapping around the pale waist.
“Taking orders from a baby. Now that’s a new one.”
Tomura playfully swats his head for that comment, though he was still smiling.
"So...can we play now?"
Dabi eventually mutters against his neck, gaining a hum from the young reaper.
"What's the price?"
"Who gets to top tonight."
Tomura snorts and let's out a rough laugh, turning to look down at Dabi with lift eyebrow - metaphorically speaking, for he had no eyebrows, just lot of scars on his face. The tiefling was grinning up at him playfully, having expected that reaction. He probably didn't really care how the game would go, he just liked doing it with Tomura. Both the card game and what followed that is.
"Fine."
