Chapter Text
Dabi kneeled right in front of Hawks’ balcony door, hand poised upwards as he struggled to pick the lock. Usually the number two hero would leave a door or window open for him if he was expecting Dabi but great care had been taken to make sure that Hawks wouldn’t see him today or even know he had stopped by.
Finally hearing the tell tale click of the lock, Dabi let himself into the apartment carefully. He had been inside enough times to not be put off by the lack of decorations or general personality in Hawks’ home.
Besides he wasnt here to admire the hero’s interior design choices, instead looking for a place to crash for a few hours while Hawks remained busy at work.
He had been dealing with a minor headache for the past few days but it had quickly spiraled out of control, mutating into a gruesome fever accompanied by body aches and worsening congestion. Hawks got off at 10pm, giving Dabi the chance to sleep for a couple of hours in peace.
Collapsing onto the couch, the arsonist blearily set an alarm on his phone, praying that it would be enough to wake him up when the time came.
This was the fourth day that he had snuck into Hawks’ living room to take a nap while the winged hero presumably saved civilians outside. The alarm wasn’t even necessary until now but he had barely gotten out onto the balcony yesterday before Hawks was walking into his own house. Way too close of a call for him to take the same risk and Dabi would rather let Toga braid his hair again than allow Hawks to see him like this.
So here he was, breaking and entering the apartment of a top hero for what? A couple hours of sleep? No it was more than that but Dabi wasn’t ready to face the truth, especially not in this state. He had worked through enough fevers and illnesses on his own, asking for help or even letting one of his friends? Fuckbuddies? Lovers? Know about this sickness that had redered him useless was way too much.
Surely they couldn’t be just friends anymore but the black haired boy laying on another mans couch just to feel closer to him when he was unwell certainly wouldn’t be the one to bring their relationship to the next level.
Groaning Dabi turned onto his back. He couldn’t get comfortable anymore and had long since given up the idea of it getting better for him. In this moment all he wished for was for it to not get worse.
He knew how this worked. A few miserable days in the beginning where he can pretend its all fine, a simple headache or sore muscles, then the unrelenting burn of a fever, and hopefully recovery if he makes it through this stage. He’s shivering again, logically knowing he isnt cold but struggling either way.
As Dabi’s eyes close he feels a single wet, bloody tear drift down his cheek, sticking in the strands of hair that have managed to curl in front of his face.
Hawks unlocks his door quietly, he can feel a heartbeat through his wings as soon as he opens it. Cautiously, and weilding a sharpened feather, he rounds the corner to his living room, sighing in relief as he notices its just Dabi.
Having not heard from him in a couple days, a smile jumps to Hawks’ lips, uninvited and warm, almost like the villain himself. All the same he takes extra care to remain silent as he takes off his coat and shoes.
He had been lucky enough to get off work a bit earlier than he was scheduled, and seeing the arsonist curled up on his couch only amplifies that feeling.
He tears his eyes away reluctantly walking down the hall to change out of his work clothes. As he pulls his sweaty clothes off himself, cringing in disgust, Hawks thinks back to why Dabi is appearing now.
Usually Dabi will text him if he’s going to pop in and he’s never, to Hawks knowledge, shown up while Hawks is working to take a nap on his couch. In fact it’s been a struggle to get Dabi to sleep at the apartment at all, on the nights when his insomnia reaches unbearable levels he ends up staring at the ceiling or watching mindless shows while curled up in bed with Hawks.
This thought alone is enough to make Hawks wander back down the hall to find that Dabi hasnt moved an inch since he arrived. This makes his eyebrows furrow in concern, not only is Dabi a notorious insomniac but he’s also an incredibly light sleeper, even yelling at Hawks one morning because he swore he could hear the water running in the kitchen from his place buried under 3 blankets in Hawks’ bedroom.
(“Birdie I can hear you washing your hands!” Dabi yelled from across the house. Hawks tensed slightly, both incredibly freaked out and impressed that Dabi had managed to hear him. “The water Hawks!” Dabi shouted again and this time the hero turned it off, returning to Dabi who was sitting smugly in his bed. )
He reaches for Dabi’s arm, not exactly knowing what he’ll do when he gets there but hoping it’s a comforting gesture nontheless.
Before he can make contact though, a loud noise starts to blare behind him. Hawks, like any reasonable person, jumps clamping a hand over his mouth as he quickly silences the alarm on Dabi’s phone.
After a few moments of quiet where he has confirmed that Dabi is still fast asleep, his mind gains the clarity it lacked just a second before.
The alarm said “Leave”.
Hawks heart leaps to his throat. “Leave”? Did Dabi set an alarm so that he could use the hero’s apartment but then dissappear without even having a conversation with him. Hurt boils inside of him before he realizes that this is still an odd situation.
Everything about this is weird, the way he hasnt seen Dabi in days, the way Dabi’s sleeping so soundly but with a pained expression on his face, and the way he’s shivering despite being covered in sweat.
The blood still stuck to his cheeks makes the hero panic instinctively as well. He crouches down, gently wiping it away before relaxing when he sees there’s no cut. That’s when he notices just how warm the villain is.
It all clicks together after Hawks lightly presses his hand to Dabi’s forehead and realizes he is in fact running a fever. The hero sighs, no longer offended by Dabi’s strange actions, he probably just didnt want Hawks to know that he was struggling. Damn pride.
With this new revelation clear in his mind, Hawks turns and slowly walks back to his bedroom. Three things strikingly clear to him in this moment.
1. Dabi didn’t want Hawks to know he was sick
2. Dabi is extremely tired and needs all the help he can get
3. If he tries to help Dabi he will likely be shut down immediately
It is these intense and rapid fire thoughts that cause Hawks to simply pivot and return to his room. Still covered in sweat from his work day, he won’t be even slightly helpful until he showers. Praying that Dabi doesn’t awaken in the next fifteen minutes Hawks hurriedly bathes himself while trying to come up with a plan. He can’t outright help Dabi, the villain would be rushing for the door before he could even express some sympathy.
So he has to be discreet. He’ll order some cold medicine and supplies when he gets out of the shower but for now he has tea and a thermometer which he’ll have to convince Dabi into accepting.
The hot water pours over him in shimmery rivulets as he struggles to bathe himself quickly, not wanting to leave one of Japan’s top villains alone too long. How ridiculous.
The absurdity of the situation doesn’t stop the winged hero from drying himself off faster so that he can be by his lovers side once more. The irony of him calling Dabi a lover also isn’t lost on him. In fact it’s glaringly obvious that the romantic feelings he has for Dabi extend beyond sex. And a dirty selfish part of him wants to believe that Dabi showing up tonight proves that these feelings are reciprocated.
Hawks isn’t dumb though. Delusional? Maybe. But not stupid. Although falling for someone he should be turning into the police right now isn’t exactly the best decision he’s ever made, it probably isn’t the worst.
With this conclusion reached he quietly slips back into the living room, relived to find that Dabi is still asleep. In fact he’s almost gotten cuter from the twenty minutes they spent apart, one hand tucked in front of his face while the other rests underneath his chin. Yeah Hawks is fucked. He can enjoy this moment for now though. Gain some pleasure from seeing his sex partner curled up while he isn’t feeling well. Taken care of for once. Hawks knows all too well how little care Dabi gets.
(“Shit is your arm good” “Shut it birdie, I’m fine”. “You don’t look fine, here just let me help”. After a short trip to a pharmacy to pick up bandages and disinfectant, Hawks and Dabi sit on a bench together, quietly observing each other. Hawks gazing into the villain’s eyes, captivated by a single glance until Dabi winces at the tension and looks away.
“Sorry, guess I should patch you up now”. He laughs wearily “Do what you need to”. An arrogant attitude, like Hawks couldn’t see the tears welling in his eyes as he gently cleaned and wrapped the wound. However the hero has watched Dabi rip out and replace his staples without as much as a wince so the vulnerability of this moment isn’t lost on him.)
Yes Dabi was not used to such intense care. This wouldn’t stop Hawks from pulling Dabi’s legs onto his lap though. The arsonist had confessed one night, after a particularly hard day that he didn’t feel touch while asleep.
In slightly sharper words of course. He worded it like a flaw, like it was stupid that someone with as many sleep issues as he had wouldn’t be awakened by a simple touch. But Hawks had also learned that Dabi was clingy, opting to be closer to him if at all possible.
Telling him, without words, that he loved being touched in his sleep even if he couldn’t feel it. The hero runs lazy patterns over Dabi’s legs, nonsensical and winding. Putting rivers and roads all over his skin, like a fantasy map come to life. Hawks finally lets himself relax, trapped beneath the weight of Dabi’s feet and his own exhaustion, he closes his eyes.