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Dabi always takes his showers on the coldest setting. He sits in front of the open freezer door on nights that he can’t sleep, when the nightmares become too much.
He sits in front of the open freezer door most nights.
***
His favorite season is the winter, he loves the cold weather, hardly ever wears a coat. Says he doesn’t need it.
Summer is worse for him, it’s suffocating, it’s painful, the old scars feel new and the nightmares become more frequent.
He sits in front of the open freezer door.
***
“What are you doing?”
He doesn’t remember who asked, who found him sitting there, he doesn’t care. “None of your damn business. I like the cold.”
“You’ll spoil the food, we don’t have much of it.”
He nods. Dabi stands up, closes the freezer door, and walks away.
***
Time passes, it’s winter again. He hears wings flapping, a shadow flies overhead.
“Why do I always find you sitting in the cold, you got a death wish?” Keigo asks, red wings pulling in towards his back as he lands.
“Maybe I do, now fly away like a good little bird.”
His old friend laughs, takes a seat beside him. A few feet’s distance.
He knows him well enough know to avoid contact, avoid the body heat.
They sit in silence, watching from afar the view of the city. Christmas lights and smiling people, too small to see or hear.
Hot cocoa and warm sweaters, everything so warm, heat, heat, heat- he just didn’t get it. Why would anyone want that?
“Most people aren’t built for the cold.”
Dabi hadn’t even realized he’d been speaking out loud.
He turned to look at Keigo, an eyebrow raised. “Everyone’s built for the cold. Some people just haven’t felt enough heat to prefer it.”
“Not everyone should. No one should.”
Hah. That was targeted. Dabi didn’t have to see Keigo’s face to know he was looking right at him.
And he didn’t like it in the slightest.
“Go the fuck away.”
“No.”
“Fly away, like a good little bird. Before I burn you to a crisp.”
Keigo, knowing Dabi wasn’t one for empty threats, raised his hands in surrender, and flew away.
***
“What are you doing?”
“Why are you sitting there?”
“Don’t you think it’s a little too cold?”
“God, it’s freezing in here!”
They wouldn’t shut up. They wouldn’t shut up.
The cold was all he had left, it was all he could bring himself to remember without the thought of revenge.
The cold reminded him of his mother. Of Fuyumi and Natsou.
He still liked the cold. It was the only thing he still liked.
That night, Touya sat in front of the open freezer door, and did something he didn’t realize he could still do.
He cried.