Work Text:
6th of May
You would think that being a spy would be quite an exciting affair, but in reality, it is as boring (and mind-numbing) as your typical office job. Just ask Hawks who's on his way to have yet another alley meeting with Dabi. Those meetings were a once-a-week type of thing and there was an unspoken rule about attending each one with adequate information as to not ‘waste’ any of Dabi’s precious time.
Which, by the way, as a little side note, Dabi’s idea of ‘adequate’ information is fucking bullshit. Cause Hawks would show up with the information that he’d been granted by the commissioner to give and yet Dabi would bitch and whine about it not being enough and how Hawks was getting much more than he was giving and other crap. It got so bad that Hawks eventually just gave up and started to give Dabi extra information that wasn’t approved by the commissioner. It was all good and great until the commissioner started to order Hawks to give Dabi information he had already given him the week previous, that’s the story of how Hawks while being a spy on behalf of the commission, ended up fucking over the commission because Dabi just would not shut up.
Nevertheless, Hawks still had a job to do even if he did break the rule of attending each meeting every week. The week previous he hadn’t been able to attend due to some issues that needed to be sorted out by the commissioner, after she was done with him Hawks he had to get medical treatment which took forever, by the end of it all Hawks had to start getting ready for patrol because he’d effectively spent his entire night between the electric room and the medical ward, missing his weekly Dabi appointment.
The joys of Hawks’ line of work really came to shine tonight as Dabi stood him up. And Hawks couldn’t even be angry about it since he knows this is karma for last week. So when he watched as Dabi turned on his heels and muttered under his breath “So, the bird isn’t dead,” Hawks couldn’t even follow him even though Dabi wasn’t teleporting away, because he knew that he did deserve it.
With a quiet sigh and a moment that took too long, Hawks took off into the clouds, his back burning from all the friction between his fluffy jacket and the stitches that were surrounding his wings that were taking an abnormal amount of time to heal.
Next Thursday (13/05) night went a little bit better in the sense that Dabi had only left after Hawks offered him a bite of the food that he brought because he skipped lunch, he also brought extra for Dabi. That was kinda their routine before, so it didn't feel too weird to do it again, plus it would’ve been weirder to just awkwardly eat his food in front of the villain he knows must be struggling with getting 3 meals a day.
So what if Hawks just genuinely wanted to do something nice for Dabi. He was obviously having a hard time with something but wasn't sharing anything with Hawks.
'It's not like I'd report his problems with the commissioner, that shit would be considered as unwanted information so she wouldn’t even want it.'
So Hawks wanted to feed the villain at least one meal in case he couldn't do so himself, sue him. But Hawks obviously missed some signs. Since Dabi straight up left when Hawks offered him food. Turned around and left. No information was exchanged, no excuse was given, nothing. Just a reprise of last week, or so Hawks thought.
They later exchanged the information over the phone, which was how Hawks expected every meeting to go as well. And thus, on a new Thursday night (20/05), he was surprised when he got a text from Dabi asking why he wasn't at their meeting place.
Arriving 12 minutes late, Hawks didn't bother with pleasantries and got straight to business telling secrets that weren’t supposed to be shared and barely getting enough for it to be considered a fair trade. But it’s fine, Hawks’ work is incredibly unrewarding but there is nothing that can be done about it. It's not like Dabi cares, he didn't even bother to ask why he's so late.
Not wanting to waste any of Dabi’s time, Hawks was about to turn around and leave the moment the meeting ended, but he stopped when he heard Dabi sigh behind him.
'Why are you doing this, you know he wouldn't be doing the same for you'
For the sake of the mission. For the sake of the mission, Hawks took this chance, “You ok?”
“Yes birdy, I’m perfectly well.” Dabi responds in his classic sarcastic tone, “The league's essentially homeless, all of the recruits these past few days have been nothing but worthless attention seekers who aren’t even good at bumping up our numbers since they would just die 2 minutes into a fight, I've ran out of smokes 3 days ago because some of the rats got a hold of them while I was sleeping and my usual seller is nowhere to be found, oh and you know , the fastest man alive was just a bit late to a very important meeting. So yeah, everything's just peachy.”
On a normal day Hawks would rise to the bait and extract more info, but tonight something about Dabi's tone and general vibe was off. Dabi would normally always exude an air of dominance to frighten and threaten but tonight he was lacking it. For the first time, Hawks could say that he and Dabi were speaking on even terms. “What do you mean by, 'essentially homeless' ?”
“Means our hideout was destroyed by the earthquake,” Dabi answered while cleaning the dirt under his nails. His movements were jerky as his hands would not stop shaking and he soon moved from his nails to the staples inches above his knuckles, looking for something to fidget with. The 3 days he’d accidentally spent clean have been having a clear effect on him.
'Fine, just this once.'
A secondary discreetly detaches itself from Hawks’ left-wing before flying in the direction of the corner shop closest to Hawks’ apartment. (The workers there know how to handle Hawks' last-second shopping sprees and he’d be able to pay for that pack of cigarettes the next time he goes there.)
'Back to the League'
Hawks knew of the earthquake that Dabi was talking about. It was a 7 on the Richter scale, which with today’s technology would not cause too much damage but because it hit a really poor area near Kagoshima about a month ago and it led to a huge loss of poverty. Not many people died, that can be because Hawks’ agency and a few more local ones got the warning for the earthquake in time. Hawks however, was unable to be there for the entirety of the rescue period as the commissioner pulled him out to assign him as a bodyguard of some rich young foreign royalty for the conference that was happening that weekend.
What Hawks didn’t know was that the league was also there.
“Listen, I would let the League stay at my place, but ” Hawks had to exaggerate since Dabi was starting to look somewhat hopeful, “My apartment is bugged,” the hope turned into confusion real quick. “I'm also pretty sure there are also some cameras around the place too.”
“And just, who bugged your apartment?” Dabi didn't believe Hawks for second, and Hawks didn’t even need all of his extensive training to figure that one out.
“I'm guessing the commission, but that’s just a guess. Who knows, I might have a nemesis.”
“I am your nemesis.”
“Fantastic. That just means I don't know who's listening to me 24/7.”
Dabi still looked like he didn't believe shit Hawks was talking to him. “If you don't believe me about the bugs, fine. I don't care. But for the love of chicken strips, do not. I repeat. Do Not , go to my apartment. Especially not with the league, cause it's dangerous and you will give your location away.” Hawks was very stern with this. If the League and especially Dabi ever came to his apartment then there is a high possibility that he might say something that would reveal to whatever agent of the commissioner that was assigned to watch and listen to Hawks that the League knows more than they should. That would most certainly lead the entirety of the commission to believe that Hawks is a traitor of the heroes and a triple spy, and Hawks is not ready for more rounds in the electric room. He’s not. “Please.”
“Fine,” Dabi looked sincere for once, “I'll stay away from your place.”
The feather with the pack of cigarettes made it back to Hawks, where, under the cover of the night, it slipped the pack in one of Dabi’s many pockets before attaching itself back into its rightful place. Dabi did not notice the extra weight in his jacket as he continued to think really hard about something. (Hawks did actually think that the rather calm Dabi he was seeing for the first time was attractive but he would never tell a soul.)
For once Hawks could say that he trusts Dabi to keep his promise, they've had a civil conversation and Hawks spoke up about all of his concerns and Dabi seemed to have actually listened to him, truly, and Dabi would never intentionally put himself and the League into a dangerous situation so maybe-
Dabi is a suicidal asshole.
------------------------------------------------
It's 11pm on a Saturday (15/05) and Hawks is just now leaving his office. He would've stayed for a ‘ bit ’ longer but everyone's on earthquake watch (yes, another one. Specially delightful since the league is still living in random abandoned buildings and Hawks has yet to find new accommodation for them), so it's for the best if he gets as much sleep as possible now, since he won't be getting any once the earthquakes start again.
Hawks lands not on his balcony but on the roof of the neighbouring building that towers over his own because he sees it. The light coming from the top floor of his apartment building. The light that indicates that someone is in his apartment. It can’t be that he’d accidentally left those on himself since he never turns on the lights as his vision is good enough to see through the dark.
Getting a running start, Hawks jumps off the building and allows himself to fall at max speed towards his apartment building. Getting closer, he sends feathers to open a window, which he enters through, and to turn off the lights. He lands silently just in front of the window, his visitors are in obvious distress if the panicked “AaAghGHGHGHGHGHghghghGHGh” s are anything to go by. A moment passes as Hawks allows his eyes to adjust to the change in lightning but when they do he finally sees
…the League of Villains sitting in his living room.
Dabi who was alone on the sofa, Shigaraki and Spinner who were sitting side by side on the floor beneath Dabi, Twice and Toga who were on the sofa opposite of Dabi with a bunch of magazines between them, Mange who was sitting at kitchen table with one of Hawks’ cocktail glasses in her hand and Mr. Compress and Kurogiri who were detached from the group and were hanging around Hawks’ bar in the corner of the kitchen.
They were lounging and prancing around Hawks’ apartment with no obvious care in the world, and while it seems mean, Hawks is slightly glad that he was able to scare them. And as Hawks is left wondering just how he’ll bring the League out of this mess that they’ve created for themselves, the League in question is frantically trying to make sense of what has happened and to turn the lights back on.
Hawks silently moves around them, careful not to bump into any of them as they’re all walking blind into each other, and goes for the light switches on the wall of the opposite side of the room. 'Better turn those on before Dabi remembers his quirk.'
“Dabi, your quirk,” came the exasperated command from Shigaraki.
“Shit,” was the only thing Dabi could come up with before he lit his palm on fire.
'Probably gonna have to take an aggressive approach to this, would be easier to explain to the commissioner tomorrow.' Because Hawks is 100% getting called into a meeting tomorrow that's not even a guess, he knows it’s going to happen.
“OY!” Hawks shouts as he slaps the lights back on, and he waits a second for the League to adjust their eyes (he's not as big of an asshole as someone like Dabi), “Don't burn down my apartment.” He holds prolonged eye contact with Dabi, silently communicating how pissed he was at that moment.
“What do you want from me?” Hawks asked as he took a very defensive position with a primary in his right hand and was preparing to fight as he looked over the group in his living room that were shocked at his actions.
“I'd like to know why your place was bugged?” it was Shigaraki who asked in his best confrontational tone.
“Bugged?” Hawks was playing dumb and they all knew it.
“Yeah, all those listening devices that I, oh so graciously took down for you,” Dabi answered as he pointed to the coffee table which had a shit ton of burned listening devices and cameras on it.
“Oh,” that was genuine shock coming from Hawks who upon seeing the burned mess on his coffee table dispersed all of his feathers to check every nook and cranny of his apartment for any bugs that Dabi may have missed.
Even more surprisingly there were none to be found.
That got Hawks thinking,
'How the F U C K am I supposed to explain this to the commissioner, the league breaking in, that's explainable. But this shit-’
‘It won’t bring me to my grave, nahh cause that'd be easy.’
‘This shit will land me yet another session in the training room, or even better another day spent in the electric room.’
Just at the thought of going back to the electric room set the entirety of Hawks’ back on fire.
‘And just what am I supposed to say when they ask about, How did Dabi know about the bugs and cameras?’
‘How the fuck am I supposed to act when they bring it up? Cause like I'm not supposed to know about the bugs. But I can't act too dumb and I certainly can't be angry about them, so I guess I'll have a neutral opinion bout them.’
‘That shit gets boring real quick, is there no other way to play this?’
‘I mean unless I'm willing to sacrifice my head for this, then no.’
‘ UGH are you serious? You know what, maybe I am willi-’
‘How about we deal with one situation at a time. Remember Shigaraki still asked about the cameras and shit. He also wants to know what's going on, at least you can use this as a way to gain more of his trust without giving up too much information.’
‘He's smart and he could figure out the truth.’
‘Not if you're smarter than him, don't act like the commission didn't teach you how to respond in this situation. They know nothing about you, so do what you do best and play them like fiddles.’
‘...Fine.'
“Damn,” Hawks expressed as all of his feathers returned to him, “You got all of them.”
“Obviously, I don't do things half-heartedly, Birdy.”
“Back to my question,” Shigaraki ordered, “Why?”
'Time to see if the commission's training is paying off'
“Well, let me first see who was even spying on me.” Hawks said casually as he walked over to the coffee table and grabbed a burnt camera to examine it up close. He was very well aware that his time-wasting techniques were driving Shigaraki’s thin patience even thinner but he had Dabi in the audience and a story to keep up with.
“So you don't know who done it?” came another question from Shigaraki.
“No, but I'm about to find out.” Hawks answered while still examining the camera, seemingly too nervous to look Shigaraki in the eyes.
“And all of them just appeared one day?” is another fucking question from Shigaraki.
“No, They appeared bit by bit. I found them the moment they appeared but at the time I was still an inexperienced hero so I left them there as a sign of growth.”
“Explain.”
“The more cameras and bugs appeared the more I was deemed a threat. The week I became the No.3 hero like 15 more bugs appeared.” Hawks exasperatedly replied.
“And you just let it happen.” Not a question or even an order but rather judgement from the man who quite recently got his one-of-a-kind special little monsters overshadowed by a single serial killer.
‘That’s adorable.’
“Wasn't much I could do, this isn't a common experience, and if it is then no one's talking about it.” Hawks put the camera back on the table and refused to meet the eyes of anyone in the room.
“And?” asked the inpatient hotman.
“Who's responsible?” asked, a surprisingly patient, Shigaraki.
“The commission.”
“Are you 100% certain?” it was Kuoigiri who asked from his corner in the room.
“Yes,” Hawks took the camera he was previously examining and showed the commission's logo, which was hidden by a thin layer of paint, to the group, “I'm 100% certain.”
“Well, that's them alright.” commented an unhelpful Mr. Compress.
“No shit.” came from Dabi.
“Ok, ok,” Shigaraki waves at those two to shut up, “That's all great, but once again. Why?”
Hawks shrugged his shoulders, “They don't trust me.”
“And why would that be?” urged Dabi like the number 2 hero of Japan wasn’t just entertaining a squabble of villains in his living room.
“They've never really trusted me,” Hawks reminisces, “They believe that a son of a criminal will never be able to be a hero.” Hawks paused to let the information settle.
“I mean they were right but they didn't have to be such assholes 'bout it.”
“What did your parents do?” Kurogiri asked very cautiously.
“Ohh. So,” Hawks was 'caught' by surprise, “Like my mom was mainly a bitch and your typical alcoholic nothing special 'bout her but my dad was like an 'infamous' (Hawks did the finger quotes.) thief. For one he was more of a murderer than a thief, and he also got arrested years ago, ergo he was shit at his job.”
Toga who was reaching for her phone asked, “What's your fathers name?”
“You'll find nothing if you search for him.” Toga's face contorted into an overdramatic pout. Loudly sighing Hawks goes “Takami the thief.” Toga immediately got to work on her phone. “The commission took down any articles about him years ago. Once I started to gain fame they had a meeting with me where they talked me into signing a NDA about him, they promised to keep his name off the radar so that I could 'Properly Prosper' in this business.”
Toga turned off her phone and placed it upside down on the table, effectively signaling her lack of information.
Hawks yawns quite loudly and goes, “Is there anything else you want to know?” he looked directly at Shigaraki while asking.
“No.”
“Good, cause I'm going to bed.” Hawks leisurely strolls towards his bedroom.
“Already, Birdy?” Dabi the fuckface goes, “It's not even midnight.”
“Some of us have places to be in the morning,” Hawks turns to face Dabi, “just to let you know, if I do get called into a meeting with the commissioner, I will be relying on you to come up with a reason to why Dabi, the big bad terrorist , would simply leave my apartment without setting it fire.”
“I thought that it was your job to lie to that bitch.”
“It is, but ever since you broke the promise of not coming to my apartment because it's dangerous and stupid, you know have to deal with your consequences.” Hawks replied smoothly, and that got on Dabi's nerves, the working ones.
“Try not to catch the couch on fire Dabi.” and with that Hawks was off, “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight” came the reply from everyone except Dabi.
------------------------------------------------
-Beep-Beep Beep-Beep Beep-Beep-
-Beep-Beep Beep-Beep Beep-Beep-
-Beep-Beep Beep-Beep Beep-Beep-
The noise wasn’t particularly loud but it didn’t need to be as it awoke Hawks from his slumber due to the sheer annoyance from its repetitive beeping.
Grabbing his phone from the nightstand he goes to turn his alarm off, except there is no alarm.
'OH'
'Earthquake warning'
Jumping off his bed Hawks immediately starts changing into his flight suit, years of practice mean that he go it it on in a matter of seconds. Feathers moving around the room grabbing his jacket, headphones, gloves, glasses and work phone, Hawks leaves his room ready for flight and he's even managed to silence the beeping that was from his work phone.
He practically sprints into the living room and ends up slamming into a couch that wasn't there before, he also ends up effectively scaring the shit out of everyone there (This time unintentionally).
“What the fuck, Birdy?” asked Dabi, who was the least shocked of the group as he’d spent the most time with Hawks to know to just not (heavily) question any of his actions, “What got you up this late?”
“Earthquake warning.”
Never in a thousand years would have Hawks ever imagined the impact that those 2 simple words would have had on such a notorious group of villains such as the League, and that just serves to prove that he has so much more to learn about them.
“ WHAT? ” shouted asked Shigaraki from his place on the floor in front of a PlayStation (that isn't Hawks').
At this point all of the League were staring at Hawks with nervous anticipation in their eyes, all of them preparing for the worst to come.
‘What is up with this?’
‘It’s just an earthquake warning’
“Earthquake warning,” Hawks repeated himself for the people who may not have heard him loud and clear, “I need to get out and contact my team before any earthquakes hit so you all will just have to stay here.”
“Don't panic!” Hawks had to scream over the noise and panic that grew from the group, when that didn't work he used his avian lungs and whistled a tune so loud and obnoxious that everyone was forced to stop in their tracks.
Hawks looked at Dabi who was still laying on the couch not outwardly bothered by the news or the noise, Hawks had enough experience in reading Dabi's body language that he saw how nervous Dabi really is but is hiding it from the league. Presumably to not cause even more panic.
'That's kinda thoughtful.'
Hawks says to Dabi, “The bathroom that's connected to my room is the safest place in this apartment.'' He then looked at everyone else, “Go there, and stay there. You can lock yourselves in if you want, there are emergency rations there but the earthquakes shouldn't start immediately, so grab your shit before they really hit.”
Most of the members looked around in unison before they broke off to raid the kitchen for food and the rest of the apartment for some entertainment.
Dabi who finally got out of the couch walked to Hawks before quietly explaining, “The last earthquake hit us pretty hard, the younger ones,” He nodded his head to Toga, Spinner, and Shigaraki (Who were the most frantic of them all.), “Took it the hardest.”
Hawks sighed at that, “Thanks for telling me, that explains their reaction.”
Hawks took 8 of his feathers and gave them to Dabi with instructions, “Give them all one of these and keep one on yourself at all times, that way I'll be able to find you in case of emergencies. Snap one of these in half and I'll come as soon as I can. But burn them and I’ll purposely leave you to die, got it?”
Dabi nodded solemnly. “When will you be back?” The question caught even Dabi by surprise.
Hawks who had one foot on the window sill stilled in his movements, “I don’t know,” he answered honestly, “These sorts of things can last for weeks on end.”
Dabi understood all that but that never meant that he enjoyed knowing it when it involved his new favourite play thing.
“I can feel through the feathers, so don’t do anything weird, ok?” Hawks said in an obvious invitation in something more devious which instantly brightened up Dabi’s early morning.
With that Hawks jumped out the window and began the familiar flight to his company for a very quick briefing with all the heroes and side-kicks that managed to get there in time.
------------------------------------------------
It’s been a week since then and Hawks has still to return. Now, Dabi wouldn't say that he's anxious or something about the bird dying, no, Dabi knows that his bird will live. He's seen the birdy on TV whenever the news channels thought it was appropriate to cut into the new show Dabi had just found and started to binge.
It's just that he doesn't know if he'll remember the way back with how many times he's hit his head on rubble.
The area where Hawks lives wasn't near the epicenter so nobody was hurt and the only damage to the apartment was minor. By the end of day 1 it was estimated that their area was going to be free from any aftershock and so far that seems to be the case.
The league is still staying in Hawks' apartment, all of them waiting for the bird to show up before they take their leave. They didn’t need to do this as bossman has already found them a new place to sleep but Shigaraki was insistent on seeing Hawks alive before they take their leave.
“ Dabiiiii ~ , ” whined Toga for the umpteenth time, “let me snoop.”
Her voice ringed in Dabi’s head for minutes after she had done with her squealing and it wasn’t even the driving factor of Dabi's pain, no. The driving factor behind his pain and misery were his staples that started burning around 3 days ago and have not stopped itching
“No.” Was all Dabi had to say. He'd already had this same conversation with Toga and Spinner and Twice at least 50 times in the last 3 days. They sure as fuck were getting antsy and bored all cooped up in this apartment but if they have any issues with that they better take that up with Shigaraki and not Dabi.
Dissatisfied with the answer she got, Toga turned to whine at Shigaraki, “Shi-gi,” But before she could continue Shigaraki also shut her down “Shut up, you know you can't snoop around his apartment.” he explained without taking his eyes off the game he's playing.
“But why?” she turned and whined at everyone.
Finally, Kurogiri came to rescue, “Because we are trying to build a relationship of trust between us.”
‘Good luck with that, I’m sure it won’t bite you in the ass when Hawks eventually betrays us.’ Dabi had too much respect for Kurogiri and too little patience for all of Toga’s shit to actually say anything.
“But didn't Dabi break that when he came here after he said he wouldn't come.” Toga said, and fuck her for deciding to remember that little detail but not the rule of “no snooping/stealing”. Dabi is once again reminded what menaces younger siblings are and how glad he is that his ones don't know about him.
“Exactly for that reason, we need to do more to get us on equal playing fields.” Kurogiri calmly explained.
Toga scoffed at that, “Aren't we villains?” she asked.
“We're villains not assholes!” shouted Shigaraki from his place on the floor, before he lifted his controller up in what looks to be a show of victory if Spinner's badly hidden frustration is anything to go by.
Toga was obviously still unsatisfied with the answers she was given but luckily for Dabi's sanity, Kurogiri stepped in and asked her, “Do you want to help me prepare our dinner?”
Food being more important than her curiosity (and annoyingness) Toga agreed and off the 2 went to the far side of the room which marked the small kitchen in the apartment.
'Finally,' thought Dabi as he reclined onto the couch and pulled out his phone, 'Time for some peace and quiet.'
In his mind, peace and quiet refers to Dabi's favourite pastime, which has recently become annoying his birdy and just because Hawks is out there doing his hero work doesn't mean that he gets a free pass from Dabi.
overpriced heating unit
ur place suks
its so boring here
dont u have a life
i looked in ur closet
nd am disaponted with ur sex toys
with all ur money u couldve bought urself something better
Dabi knows that he must be a high priority on Hawks’ list, with him being a spy and all, but he wasn’t actually expecting him to reply in a matter of seconds.
‘Like he’s not doing his hero work.’
‘Like he's not doing his hero work for me.’ And that thought left Dabi’s more sadistic side out into the open.
no.2 hero, no.1 piece of ass
Im sorry
I wasnt aware that u were going to look in my shoe box
is that al u went thru??
overpriced heating unit
dont worry birdy
we just ate all ur stuf
but others didnt go near ur room
no.2 hero, no.1 piece of ass
oh oh o
and why migh that be??
overpriced heating unit
bc shig is set on ‘building a relationship of trust’ wit u
an that means that we now hav to respet u an some other shit
(Dabi never claimed to loyal to the League, just as he never claimed that he believed Hawks’ act for even a second)
no.2 hero, no.1 piece of ass
U serious?
overpriced heating unit
what?
do i look lik a liar??
no.2 hero, no.1 piece of ass
U look like somone who likes to scare kids for funsies
overpriced heating unit
tnx
btw kuos been bored af so hes been cookin
uve got enoug food to last weeks
no.2 hero, no.1 piece of ass
fuck
that sounds soo god rn
did he make chiken?
overpriced heating unit
obvi he made chicken
thats the only meat he could find
no.2 hero, no.1 piece of ass
yay
Fatigue began to catch up to Dabi, he might not have done any physical movement for over 72 hours but the worry and stress of the situation that he’s in has drained him completely of energy. What he would have loved the most at this moment was for a scantily dressed millionaire to waltz in the room and be at his mercy but those kinds of fantasies that only occur in his wet dreams. And so Dabi began to drift off into the familiar scenery of warmth and comfort (that he didn't even have to pretend existed because he was laying on a barely used sofa) until it surrounded him
That was until Hawks strutted into the living room in nothing but a pair of low waist light grey sweatpants that were lop-sided on (the masterpiece that Dabi calls) Hawks' hips, Dabi could even see the happy trail that went from Hawks' belly button all the way down...
Bringing his eyes up (It took some willpower but Dabi got there in the end.) Dabi saw that Hawks was drying his hair with a towel and was talking to Shigaraki about something.
“Birdy, when did you come back?” Dabi asked, uncaring that he was interrupting their conversation.
“Like half an hour ago.” Hawks answered as he took his towel and placed it somewhere with his feathers. Dabi couldn't be bothered to look, not even to satisfy his curiosity, not when his bird was finally back.
‘Finally, something that won’t bore me.’
“I just got out of the shower like 10 minutes ago.” Hawks was still answering his question. Suddenly remembering something, Hawks chirps before asking, “Is there really food?”
'Birdy must really be hungry if he's choosing to ignore that chirp.' Dabi thought back to all those times he’d seen Hawks hide the more animalistic qualities of his quirk.
“Yeah.” Dabi sat up, “Toga and Kuroigiri are making something but I'm pretty sure there's the chicken you can eat.” Dabi watched as Hawks began to practically shiver from excitement, or from the cold, it really is too cold to be walking around half-naked.
Before Dabi could comment about Hawks' lack of dress, Toga had finally realized that her main source of all her problems had finally arrived.
“Hawksie!” she cheered, “You're back!”
“I am.” Hawks matched her energy, “What's this I'm hearing about food?”
“Ahh, yeah.” Toga cleared her throat and then she promptly yelled, “ Dinner's ready! ” She had seemingly forgotten all about her previous annoyance over the secrets of Hawks’ apartment and Dabi could not be more grateful for Kurogiri at that moment.
After they all got over their temporary deafness Spinner asked, “Already?”
“It was just leftovers from yesterday.” Toga answered before returning to her work by helping Kurogiri plate all the leftovers.
As villains without a source of steady income, they've all gotten used to eating leftovers and cold, bland food. Dabi wasn't expecting Hawks to throw a fit over it, but he also wasn't expecting to not even take a second glance at it. He just went with them, as happy as ever, and didn't complain about a single thing when Dabi knows that Hawks could be eating 5-star meals that were tailored to his every wish every day.
'Also when the fuck did he put on a sweatshirt?' Dabi did a double at Hawks' (now) clothed chest as the man followed Toga into the kitchen.
The rational side of Dabi's mind told him how it was probably just that a feather brought the shirt over and Hawks just put it on, but Dabi still thought it was weird how he didn't notice it. He was paying attention to Hawks and all, yet he still didn't see any feathers or shirts moving through the air. He didn't know what to think about Hawks' uncanny ability to be so quiet. So he filled that information for later and he also followed Toga to the kitchen.
The original plan was for the league to leave after they saw that the bird came home safely but since the food was already served they left after they ate and cleaned up.
Well, most of the league left, but not Dabi. When the others asked why he was staying, Dabi just said some vague shit about recruitment and they left him there without too much fuss.
Not that Dabi was complaining, he couldn't. Not when his pretty bird was already on his knees ready to give a proper apology to a fight Dabi had already forgotten.
------------------------------------------------
It’s not that Dabi was complaining, (but he kind of was since they were so fucking close to fucking) laying here on Hawks’ sofa, using Hawks’ thighs as pillows, and really he shouldn’t be complaining because Hawks was right. As much as it hurt Dabi to admit this it was true.
And so instead of getting head, he got a deep clean of his staples.
And, like, yeah, the staples have been bothering him for a few days but the fantasies that involve Hawks had been plaguing Dabi for the better part of the month.
“Other hand,” Hawks’ quiet command brought Dabi out of his mind and, without protest, Dabi gave his left hand to Hawks who applied some cooling cream on the burnt patches of Dabi’s skin before cleaning any and all dirt, dust, and dried blood in between the staples.
This had been going on for a while, with Hawks taking immense care to be thorough and gentle, never tugging or prodding at the burnt skin even though Dabi had lost all sensitivity in those areas. Constantly asking, “Is this ok?” and “Tell me if it hurts.”
Dabi didn’t even know that Birdy had the supplies to do something like this since they were hidden more expertly than the shoebox that grabbed most of Dabi’s attention. He even had a medical stapler and a heinous amount of staples that Dabi had begun to think that Hawks shouldn’t mind if a box or two went missing from time to time.
“Hhhmm”
“Something wrong Birdy.”
A rhetorical question, the furrow of Hawks’ eyebrows was enough of an answer for Dabi but he still wanted a verbal confirmation.
“I’m gonna have to replace some of these,” Hawks spoke as he examined Dabi’s hand more closely. A voice so full of concern that Dabi would even dare to vouch was real.
“Don’t let me stop you from your staples fetish.”
Dabi had closed his eyes, ready to just give up all hope in getting laid and focus on his surroundings to distract himself from the seeping pain that he’s learned to associate with the stapling of skin. All of that lasted for about a second before he opened his eyes in surprise when something cold made contact with his staples, “What is that?”
“Numbing cream.”
‘Where did he get the numbing cream from’
“I don’t need numbing cream. Just get it over with quick.”
“Then just allow me to enjoy my staples fetish.” The smile that Hawks was serving Dabi was what sold him to the numbing cream. Honestly, Dabi was beginning to consider a lot of things in order to see that real, snarky smile from Birdy again.
And so Dabi did as he was asked to and allowed Hawks to have all his fun with Dabi’s staples. He never tried to fall asleep again as he found the look of concentration on Hawks’ face way more fun than the faceless man that used to entertain him in his dreams.
The numbing cream turned out to be a huge success and Dabi was very glad for the fact that he’s weak for Hawks since he no longer had to deal with painful stapling.
Another thing that was a surprise for Dabi was the lack of judgement he received from Hawks. Just like with the leftovers, Hawks made no comment when Dabi began to bleed at the seams, or when he was cleaning the staples and found lumps of hair and bodily fluids stuck to the metal. He made no comment, his expression didn’t even shift nor did his hands stop with their careful movements. And Dabi knows that with all his scars and staples up in Hawks’ face he must be getting sick of the smell of a burning corpse but he never uttered a peep of it.
‘Thank Christ I burned off my tear ducts or this would get embarrassing real quick.’
“Take off your shirt will you?” Dabi’s hand was still in Hawks’ but it was clear that Hawks was finished with the way the new staples shined under the lights.
“You’re not actually planing on cleaning every fucking staple?”
“Well, what if I am. I was serious when I said that I don’t want to hurt you.”
“A couple of dirty staples aren’t gonna hurt me.”
“Pretty sure it’s a bit more than a couple, not to forget that for someone who supposedly has a body for an ice quirk your skin sure as hell seems to be burning.”
“And what if I told you that I like the pain.”
“Then I’d tell you that if you want pain I have no problem with that, but these staples are the only thing keeping you from bleeding out on my couch, so sue me for trying to prevent that from happening.”
Hawks held unbroken eye contact with Dabi and it was starting to get to him, “You serious about the pain thing?”
“You’re the one who went through my shoebox Dabi.”
Dabi's breath hitched at the mention of the shoebox and he was once more painfully reminded of the position that he had found himself in before the itch of the staples became too much for him to ignore. He had the open zipper of his pants to serve as the unhelpful reminder of that fact.
‘When did I become the bottom in this situation?’
Things were getting somewhere and Dabi needed to get things straight, even if he did do it in his own twisted way, “And what if I lied about the pain thing?”
“Then I’d tell you that it doesn’t matter since I’m fine with it either way.”
“But what would you prefer?”
“I would prefer if you would shut up and let me handle things.”
“Oh?”
Dabi had challenged him but Hawks just hummed in agreement with him, he lazily brushed Dabi’s bangs aside and spoke in the deep silky tone that Dabi will never forget.
“Now sweetheart, don’t make me repeat myself.”
And as Dabi moved his hands down to the hem of his shirt he knew that he just got into something he’ll most definitely regret later.