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“Yuck,” Dabi retched, barely swallowing the first sip. His face was pinched with disgust, he scowled at the plastic cup, regretting the money spent. “Tch, no, too sweet.”
“You’re so boring,” Toga replied, loudly sipping from her straw, and then took a large bite of her egg sandwich. She chewed it over, smiling, texting faster than he thought her fingers should be able to, then tucked her phone away. “Okay, Mister Boring, so what are ya gonna do with your wasted drink?”
Dabi scowled at the plastic drink cup, the ice sloshed around, and he saw the strawberries slide past the ice and swirl into the cream. The overtly sweet taste still laid heavily on his tongue, the pink liquid still choking his taste buds, and forcing him to suffer.
“I have an idea,” the elder villain said.
:::
“Here,” Dabi said, shoving the drink cup into Shigaraki’s hand before they could take something from the drink fridge by the bar. The younger villain had frowned at the cup at first.
“What is it?” Shigaraki asked, hesitating before they reached out to grab the cup from the bottom, holding it between their ring and forefinger. Their pinky finger still pointed outwards, a force of habit, even with the gloves.
“It’s too sweet for me, you can have it,” Dabi answered instead. “Strawberry, coconut milk, passion fruit, all that sugar shit.”
Shigaraki narrowed their eyes at him, eyed the plastic cup, shrugged, and decided it would be worth the poisoning attempt. Dabi watched the initial suspicion turn to visible surprise and a large smile break out across their face. “Oh this is nice,” they exclaimed, and continued to sip at the drink as they worked over various loose papers with console button symbols and various color-coded drawn arrows.
Dabi blinked, a bit stunned at the positive reaction, but then straightened up, halfheartedly clearing his throat, attempting to leave, “Well, you’re welcome.”
“Grab me another one of these while you’re out next time,” Shigaraki tossed over their shoulder, and Dabi licked over his bottom lip.
“Uh huh, sure,” he said, without thinking.
:::
True to his word, Dabi did indeed bring the exact same drink for two months straight.
If Shigaraki asked him to stay at the hideout or meet them for a discussion over plans, Dabi brought a standard size cup of the infamous pink drink. Seeing the other villain’s face light up every time they saw him carrying another plastic cup did weird things inside Dabi’s chest that he was unfamiliar with. He had spent several nights lying awake, confused why such a split lip, face-splitting grin would randomly make a smile start to appear on his face. Initially, he had brushed off the first feelings, figuring that it was his brain just responding to the flattery, but when it didn’t taper off- he began to worry.
It was when he found himself carrying both a plastic cup and a little to-go with a decorated panda rice cake that he realized that he was in, far too deep. He swore under his breath as he stared at the front door, sighing, and opening it to reveal an empty lobby. He could hear Shigaraki playing video games in their bedroom, so he took off his boots by the door, and ventured upstairs.
Shigaraki was sitting on the floor, seated inches from the television screen, tongue peeking out of their mouth as they attempted a difficult platforming challenge. Dabi recognized the level as the very same one that the younger villain had been complaining about for a few days now. He also remembered something about how Shigaraki had tried looking at tutorial videos, gotten mad when no one directly explained how to beat the level stage, and had fumed for thirty minutes about how the online gaming community was something-something pain in the ass.
Dabi cleared his throat from the doorway, having forgotten to knock, and Shigaraki’s neck snapped as they turned their head to see who had called their attention. They had light-up blue cat ear headphones, a joke gift from Toga the previous Christmas, but were surprisingly well-received. They were good gaming headphones and the microphone was actually better than the previous headset that the villain had been using before. Dabi thought both headsets had been ridiculous on the younger villain’s head, sharp contrast to their usual demeanor, but also complimentary to how they’d cocoon themselves in fluffy blankets and demand sugar snacks like a child. It did even more weird things in Dabi’s head, a strange innate desire to take care of the other, and so he held up the cup and to-go box, “Brought ya food and drink.”
Shigaraki smiled again and Dabi tried to ignore the flutter in his chest. They reached out for the items, fingers reaching and curling in a grabbing motion, before finally snatching everything. They were already slurping down the iced drink when they asked, “What’s in the to-go box?”
“Panda cake,” Dabi answered, throwing his jacket over a nearby chair and himself on the bed. He folded his arms over his eyes, letting the day’s exhaustion finally settle over him. “Uh, sesame seeds, seaweed, tomato, and sweet cheese, I think? It’s served with that curry you like.”
“Oh, the tofurkey one?” Shigaraki asked, digging for the spare chopsticks on their desk. They had already started to tie their hair back to keep it out of their vision while they played and it gave Dabi a clear view of their smile as they ate up the makeshift dinner.
“Yeah, sure, fake turkey,” Dabi waved a hand, dismissively. His face turned slightly sheepish and he was thankful that his face was hidden in the dark room. “Uh, yeah, well, I grabbed this one because they were out of the little piglet cups.”
“This is fine,” Shigaraki said, turning back to their game. They hummed to themselves, checking over a map, then clicking out of it, and finally pausing the game instead of letting the character stand in the lag position. “Why do you keep bringing me food, anyways?”
“Uh,” Dabi started. He didn’t have an answer yet, “Dunno. It gives me something to do, I guess?”
“The errand or me?” Shigaraki teased.
“What?” Dabi blurted.
“Nothing,” Shigaraki replied, closing their game. “Just wanted to fuck with you.”
“A cruel god, you are,” Dabi recited. “Cruel gods all will fall.”
“I’ll be sure to take you down with me,” the other villain scoffed. “Thanks anyways.”
“Don’t mention it,” Dabi replied, even more thankful that his face was hidden behind both the arm thrown over his eyes and the darkness itself. But something nagged at him, “Why have you been accepting them anyways? The drinks and shit.”
“Assumed you were just throwing trash at me at first,” Shigaraki shrugged, swallowing the last of the rice cake. “Then I figured you’d just ask me out directly at some point.”
“What?” Dabi immediately sat upright, “No, wait, what?”
Shigaraki raised a brow, “That’s what Toga said you were trying to do.”
Dabi almost gaped, then thought better of it, trying to save face, deciding to take advantage of the opportunity presented to him, “Well she definitely ruined the whole surprise and buildup.”
“Nice,” the other chuckled under their breath. “Then I’ll let you sleep in here tonight, you don’t have to go wherever it is you go at night.”
Dabi licked over his bottom lip, watching how the younger villain had turned back to their computer monitor, opening up an online multiplayer and finishing off the rest of the contents in the plastic cup. He cocked his head a bit, taking advantage of his socked feet, as he crept off the bed and padded over to the villain’s chair. He settled his head by the other’s ear, “I should warn you: I’m very possessive.”
Shigaraki didn’t even flinch, “And I’ll dust anyone who even looks at you.”
Dabi saw the reflection of his grin mirror Shigaraki’s own, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”
“I don’t even know what play you’re quoting anymore,” they said, thumbing at his nose. Dabi caught the hand easily, kissing at a deadly fingertip, and he laughed when the younger villain snatched their hand back. Sheepish, embarrassed, and surprised - things that he could tease out of Shigaraki over and over.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, stretching back up. “I’ll see you in bed.”
“Don’t wait up for me,” Shigaraki called over their shoulder. “I have to show these posers how a real tank character leads.”
Dabi rolled his eyes, chucking off his pants to collapse back in bed, thankful that the other villain insisted on having multiple blankets. He was thankful for the dark hiding the inner anxiety he felt in being vulnerable with another person, Shigaraki no less. He was out in minutes, but vaguely remembered at some point much later in the night, feeling a dent in the mattress when Shigaraki came into the bed. They chuckled by his ear.
“You are not very good at hiding,” they whispered in his ear. Dabi shivered, unsure if it was just the motion of air that triggered it or the words themselves. He told himself it didn’t matter, at least the pink drink had been worth it after all.