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Dabi's breath tore out of his lungs like fire, though it wasn’t the kind he could weaponize. This was the gritty, painful kind that burned your lungs as if they were on fire. The kind you feel when you’ve been running for too long, zigzagging through the darker corners of the city, burning through alleys and rooftops while three different heroes tried to hunt you down to arrest you.
They’d been expecting a fight. But Dabi wasn’t stupid enough to play that card when he was running low on energy. So, instead, he played the next best hand: disappearing.
His boots hit the wet concrete of an alley with a sharp slap, and he ducked under a rusting fire escape, chest heaving. He was half-shadow, half-wild animal. Blue fire crackled faintly at his fingertips, but he snuffed it out. Too bright, and definitely way too obvious.
Voices echoed from the street.
“He went this way!”
“No—split up! Check the alleys!”
Dabi’s lip curled. "Of course they’re checking the damn alleys."
He glanced around, looking for a trash pile or some unlocked back door to melt into, when movement caught his eye. There was someone already in the alley. Silhouetted by the ambient city light, back against the wall, face obscured by a hoodie and the tilt of their head.
Not ideal.
Unless…
Dabi’s mind moved fast. Heroes were thirty seconds away, tops. He could try to fight, to run, to burn something down.
Or he could gamble.
Within a few seconds, Dabi had rushed over to him, and pushed him further into the wall.
“Play along,” he growled low, and before the other man could react, Dabi slammed into him. One hand braced against the wall by his head, the other curled tight around the stranger’s waist as he crushed their mouths together.
Shock froze the guy. Just for a second. But Dabi was committed, no hesitation, no falter. He bit at the other’s lower lip, dragged in a breath that wasn’t his, and pressed their bodies together until there wasn’t enough space left for air.
Boots clattered past the alley mouth.
“There’s nothing here. It’s just some couple making out!”
“Check the next block!”
Dabi didn’t stop.
He was too good at lying with his mouth. The press of his tongue, the way he angled his hips just enough to make it look like this was something heated and secret, not just a distraction. His heart was hammering from the chase, but the kiss fed something else.
Something hungry.
The man under him shivered, and then moved. Responded.
Hesitant at first, like he wasn’t sure this wasn’t a fever dream. But then his hand curled into Dabi’s jacket. A muffled sound broke between their mouths, half moan, half gasp. His lips parted, and Dabi took it for what it was: permission.
The kiss turned molten.
Tongues slid, teeth grazed. Dabi pressed his thigh between the stranger’s legs and was rewarded with a stuttered gasp. Their mouths broke and rejoined in ragged rhythm. Dabi didn’t even register that the street had fallen silent.
He was distracted. Overwhelmingly, entirely distracted.
By the way this guy kissed. Like he wanted it. Like he needed it. Like he knew how to push Dabi’s buttons without even trying.
And Dabi, well, he never knew when to stop.
The guy moaned softly, hips tilting forward, grinding down against Dabi’s thigh, and Dabi groaned against his lips. Fuck, it was hot. So hot he didn’t care that this had been an accident. Didn’t care who it was. Didn’t care that they were in some grimy alleyway that smelled like piss and rain.
Dabi only cared that he was winning.
He slid his hand under the guy’s hoodie, palm skimming over surprisingly defined abs. “Shit,” he muttered against the kiss, grinning. “You work out, pretty boy?”
The man pulled back slightly, just enough to breathe. And that’s when Dabi saw it.
Saw the shadow of blond under the hood. The glint of amber eyes. The faint stubble across a jaw he knew too damn well.
Everything stopped.
“...Hawks?” Dabi asked, dumbly. His voice broke a little on the name, confusion and adrenaline tangling in his throat.
The man blinked. And then flushed.
Red.
The colour spread all the way to the tips of his ears.
“Oh my god,” Hawks said hoarsely, eyes wide. “You’re—you’re such a bastard—”
Dabi jerked back like he’d been slapped. “What the fuck are you doing in this alley?! Aren’t you meant to be doing some hero shit?”
“I was on patrol!” Hawks hissed, his voice pitched high in embarrassment. “I just stopped to take a second—god, why do you kiss like that?!”
“I didn’t know it was you!” Dabi shot back, shoving his hand through his messy hair. “You were just standing there, looking anonymous as hell, and i needed to hide from some heroes, what was I supposed to do?!”
“Probably not fucking kiss me!?"
“You kissed back!”
“I thought I was dreaming or something!”
They both stared at each other.
Hawks' hoodie had fallen back slightly, his messy blond hair sticking up in different directions. His lips were swollen, pink, and slightly parted. His chest rose and fell in staccato breaths.
Dabi… did not look much better. His cheeks were flushed, eyes wild. His stitches tugged with every sharp breath he took, his jaw tense.
They stood like that for a beat. Two idiots in an alley, chest to chest, too close for this to be anything less than indecent.
“Okay,” Dabi muttered, tongue dragging over his bottom lip. “Okay, that’s actually kinda hilarious. And hot.”
“Shut up,” Hawks mumbled, tugging his hoodie down. “Just… god, you’re the worst. That was so uncalled for.”
“Yeah?” Dabi leaned in a little. “Didn’t hear you complaining when I was shoving my tongue down your throat, birdie.”
Hawks face flushed even more, and he gave Dabi a look. Half-exasperated, half-murderous. The red colour was still bright on his face.
“I was playing along,” he said stiffly. “You literally said “play along”.”
“Yeah,” Dabi said, voice low. “I wanted you to kiss me back a little. Didn’t know you’d play so enthusiastically.”
Hawks opened his mouth to retort, and then paused. His eyes flicked toward the alley entrance. The heroes had moved on, but their voices were still faint in the distance.
Dabi could tell what he was thinking.
“I’m not turning you in,” Hawks said after a moment, clearly pissed about it. “Even if you do deserve it, you bastard.”
“Why not?” Dabi teased. “Scared I’ll tell everyone how into kissing me you were?”
Hawks groaned, burying his face in his hand. “I hate you.”
Dabi grinned. “You wish you hated me. You’re just mad you liked it.”
“I didn’t like it—!”
“Didn’t you?” Dabi stepped forward again, slow and deliberate. He was crowding Hawks against the wall, back in that space, just a breath away. “Could’ve pushed me off. Could’ve flown off. But you didn’t. Instead you were moaning and grinding on my thigh.”
Hawks’ pupils dilated slightly. “That doesn’t mean—”
“Wanna go for round two?” Dabi murmured. “This time I can touch you properly.”
Silence.
Long. Loaded.
Then Hawks exhaled sharply and shoved Dabi away with a single hand to the chest. “Go, before I change my mind and turn your smug ass in.”
Dabi chuckled, backing up with a swagger in his step. “You know where to find me if you want another taste, sweetheart.”
He turned, walking out of the alley like he hadn’t just made out with the number two hero against a brick wall for five minutes straight.
Behind him, Hawks cussed under his breath.
And Dabi’s grin stretched like fire across his face.