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“You’re sure you don’t mind?” Spinner asked, for what felt like the millionth time as he and Dabi got settled on the twin sized mattress in Shuichi’s room, sitting on the edge of the bed as he started up the game system that he got outta the MLA’s budget. Dabi sitting cross legged in the space behind him.
“I told you I, like, want to.” Dabi insisted again, “now quit being all shy about it and take your shirt off already. I know it’s been buggin’ ya, and it don’t look comfortable trying to scratch your own back and all.”
Shuichi rolled his eyes, but he knew his boyfriend was just teasing him. If anything, he was right, too. Shuichi had begun to shed, and while he could normally get his arms and chest and other areas just fine, spots where he couldn’t reach like his back were a real problem– They’d itch like crazy, and short of rubbing his back against the corner like a bear trying to scratch his back on a tree (a comparison Shuichi hated catching himself make, by the way) it was hard to get the dead scale skin off.
Dabi, however, seemed more than eager to help.
Shuichi tried to avoid pointing it out, it felt vaguely embarrassing and growing up being told how gross it was that he shed like a snake, he learned to keep it to himself, wear long clothes and try not to pick when people were looking. He couldn’t exactly hide it from Dabi though, especially now that they’d been in sort-of-kind-of-boyfriends-or-whatever for a few weeks now. Dabi first noticed the shedding on Shuichi’s arm one night after sex, and had reached over with careful fingers and a concentrated expression as he peeled it off.
Spinner expected him to be grossed out by it, but Dabi’s only comment was asking if it hurt when he peeled it off, seeming more curious than anything. Shuichi explained it was just how his scales worked, just shedding, and it happened often enough by now that Shuichi more found it annoying and uncomfortable than anything– But it felt better once it was off and the new scales could breathe. Dabi had hummed with vague interest, scanned him real quick as if looking for more, then didn’t bring it up again for a few days until he noticed Spinner scratching at himself through his shirt, or shifting uncomfortably, and asked if he could help him shed.
“I more just dunno why you want to,” Shuichi said, only really hesitating for a minute or two before he took his shirt off. Dabi’s eyes scanned him with arousal like usual, lingering on his firm muscle built up on Shuichi’s back and biceps, but he had childlike fascination in his gaze too, almost excitement at the peeling shed. “You don’t think it’s, like, weird or gross or nothin’?”
“A lil’ weird, I guess, but not gross. It’s satisfying, and the scales underneath are so smooth and nice.” Dabi replied, “Can I?”
“Yeah, go ahead.” Spinner brushed his hair out of the way, letting it fall over one of his shoulders so Dabi could see more of his back and watching him in the screen of the TV. Dabi stimmed a bit with his hands, shaking them as his eyes scanned the span of his back. Shuichi couldn’t help but smirk a little, it was funny to see somebody like Dabi acting like an excited kid, and pretty damn cute too, it at least put him at ease some.
“I pick at my own skin a lot, anyways, and that’s a lot grosser, so I ain’t gonna judge.” Dabi said with a shrug as he started at a corner up by Shuichi’s shoulder, “It comes off clean, too. No blood or nothin’ like when I pick at my burns.”
“Well, yeah, you probably shouldn’t be pickin’ at those, anyways.” Shuichi pointed out, scrolling through the list of games before settling on Elder Scrolls to play while Dabi worked and at least keep him occupied. They usually played games whenever they were hanging out, anyway, or more Spinner played games and Dabi watched– Dabi wasn’t very good at them, and his chronic pain and issues with his joints usually made it hard to play for long periods before his hands started hurting. He normally just liked watching Shuichi play, and Shuichi liked being watched.
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Dabi scoffed, “It’s just, y’know, that urge to pick sometimes. This is way more satisfying though.”
Shuichi hummed in response, and Dabi peeled the little patch he was working at free and set it down on the bed neatly beside the two of them, going back and picking at another spot. Dabi’s hands felt warm against his scales, gentle as he picked at the shedding with his nails. It was a relief to let the fresh scales breathe, and Dabi always ran his fingertips over them lightly once he got the shed off.
“The red spots are pretty,” Dabi commented after a moment of silence, and Shuichi paused, his character stopping on the screen as his heart skipped a little beat at the praise. “And the new scales are so damn soft.”
It wasn’t like Dabi didn’t praise Shuichi, or Shuichi didn’t know Dabi was attracted to him– The fact they were sorta dating aside, he went on about how hot he thought he was all the time in bed. It was just a little different hearing it outside of sex. They were both kind of new at this type of thing, and it felt… strangely intimate in the moment.
“Thanks.” Shuichi muttered, trying not to get too flustered. “That feels a lot better already, by the way. It was really buggin’ me.”
“Yeah, you kinda can’t reach back here.” Dabi said, picking at another spot, his brows pushed together in concentration. “How’d you normally get hard to reach spots?”
“I mean, kinda just try, I guess. Not much I can do besides rubbing my back against stuff, or letting it fall off naturally, but that’ll take a while.” Shuchi said with a shrug. “It always gets real uncomfortable and itchy… Sometimes I’d ask my Mom to help, but she acted like it was a bother. I’d usually have to, like, beg.”
Dabi frowned, his hands stopping for a minute before he went back to picking, carefully peeling off more shed bit by bit, trying to keep it in one big piece. He felt a rush come over him when he managed to get the patch off in one strip, still intact, and the scales underneath were so smooth and cool, he couldn’t help but stroke them for a minute, watching Shuichi’s back muscles flex under them. “I don’t see why, to be honest. I’d help anytime you need me to.”
“Really?” Shuichi asked, glancing over his shoulder. He half expected Dabi was kidding, or just saying it because he felt obligated since they were an item now, and Dabi kind of had some not-so-great ideas about obligation in relationships Spinner was trying to get him to work through. “You know you don’t have to, right? You’re not doing this ‘cause you think you have to, do you?”
Dabi made a face at that, “Huh? No? I wanna. Like I said, I asked to.”
“Yeah… But… I don’t know why you’d want to.” Shuichi said. It just felt like a hassle, or a bother, or gross, or weird, but Dabi was genuinely acting like he was having the time of his life. Making little noises and happy little stimming motions with his hands as he picked at the shedding. Shuichi couldn’t really wrap his head around it.
“I dunno,” Dabi shrugged, “Like I said, ‘cause pickin’ at stuff calms me down. Skin, paint, the little labels on things, I don’t even notice I’m doing it all the time, but I like doing it. And this is, like, perfect texture to peel off! It’s peeling so nice, and the scales feel so smooth underneath, and like… It’s helpin’ you too, so, it’s a win-win, ain’t it?”
He supposed that made sense, he did notice Dabi picking at his grafts or staples a lot, or he’d pick at the peeling paint on the walls sometimes, or the steams in his clothes. It seemed to be some kind of subconscious habit of his, and he did seem to enjoy doing this… As strange as it seemed.
“Don’t be so down all the time,” Dabi said after a minute, and Shuichi felt him press a tender kiss to his shoulder, right on the newly revealed fresh scales. It made him shiver a little. “I like it. Don’t think it’s gross or a bother or nothin’.”
“Oh… Thanks.” Shuichi felt a little stupid, but he was happy. Even if it was kind of new territory for him, it was a nice gesture for Dabi to do, and Dabi did seem to like doing it and find some sort of relief in the action just as much as Shuichi did. “So, it happens every month, you’re sayin’ you’re cool with helping me with it?”
If anything, Dabi just seemed excited about it. “Every month? Hell yeah, I’m more than cool with helping with it.”