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“I can’t let you meet the boss yet,” Dabi hums. “And that’s final. Now, get out of here.”
Hawks steps in closer. “And why not? Haven’t I done enough to prove that I’m part of your cause, Dabi? Jeanist’s corpse wasn’t enough for you? That’s Number Three, if you weren’t aware.”
Dabi sneers, stepping backwards as Hawks stalks into his space. “What if I said I didn’t believe you, hero?”
He does. Truthfully, he can’t let Hawks meet Shigaraki yet because Shigaraki is out in the mountains fighting a literal titan at the moment. But Hawks doesn’t need to know that.
“Don’t forget that I’m your only contact. I could cut you off–” he snaps his fingers and a blue flame sparks from his calloused fingertips, “–just like that. Right now.”
Cocking his head, Hawks leans in. They’re inches away, at best. Dabi’s back hits the wall and they both still. “You’ve already led me to your base. You can’t cut me off. Don’t play coy, Dabi. You know how much you need me.”
“Same goes for you, hero,” Dabi tilts his head back as Hawks draws a sharp feather, barely grazing his throat. Dabi lifts his hands in mock surrender. “I may not fully trust you, but we’re allies, aren’t we? Is this how you treat your comrades?”
A scowl creeps onto Hawks’s face and he withdraws the feather. “No. But I will do what needs to be done. Your cooperation is as important to me as my cooperation is to you. Consider allowing me to meet with Shigaraki, won't you?”
“Of course.” There’s some sort of tension here and Dabi is not willing to unpack it.
Neither of them move. Hawks stares at Dabi and Dabi stares right back.
The door bangs open and they both whip their heads around.
“Dabi! Oh. It’s Hawks! Who is that?! So this was the potential new recruit you were talking about! Why is he here?!”
Dabi blinks at Twice, who he can tell is gawking through the mask and jabbing an accusing finger at them. His hands are still up, so he lowers them, turning to Hawks, who won’t budge from the compromising position they’re in. Which means Dabi can’t move either.
“Hero, this was a great chat, but I think–”
A mess of blonde hair peeks through the door beside Twice to inspect the noise. Toga hops into the doorway, already giggling. “Dabi! Ohmygod, Hawks?! Why is there a hero in our base?! Isn’t this scandalous?! Jin, they’re hooking up! Let’s get out of here!”
Hawks leans away from Dabi. “We aren’t–”
“We are not–” Dabi starts.
The door slams shut. Muffled voices ring out outside.
“I didn’t know Dabi was gay! It was obvious!”
“Get with the times, Jin! I’m gay!”
“I knew that! What?!”
Hawks takes about five steps back. The place is small enough for him to almost reach the other side. Dabi hauls himself up off the wall.
“Well,” Dabi mutters. “I don’t think I have a choice in whether the boss hears about you or not, anymore.”
Hawks is looking in another direction completely. His ears are red. “That’s… good,” he replies. “I’ll take my leave now.”
“Get to it, then.”
Dabi doesn’t hang around the League’s base more than he needs to. Even more so considering what happened a week ago. Toga and Twice definitely blabbed to the other idiots, and he really doesn’t need to deal with that right now. Or ever.
The occasions where they’re at the base at the same time are rare, considering his constant running off and their constant battling against Machia. He’s glad, but they all do appear eventually. Since they’re attacking and resting in shifts.
Spinner and Mr. Compress don’t bother him. Sure, he gets questioning glances, but the moment Spinner opened his lizard mouth to say something, Dabi shot him a withering glare. It shut him up.
Compress didn't talk. He just looked amused, and Dabi thinks that might be even more annoying than Spinner.
Not more annoying than Toga and Twice, though. Dabi can’t really blame Twice for asking about it occasionally, but seriously, Toga won’t let him off. Dabi has stopped trying to deny it because according to Toga he sounds like an embarrassed teenager in denial and he would truthfully rather die than being seen as that. He’s taken to just telling them to fuck off.
“Dabi~!” The devil herself skips into the room. She looks a little battered and bruised. Mr. Compress steps in behind Toga and nods a greeting to Dabi. His coat is torn.
Toga kicks her feet up on the couch. “How are you, Dabi? I haven’t seen you in a while! Are you–”
“No.”
“I haven’t said anything yet!”
“Don’t.”
“Are you having fun with Hawks?”
“No.”
Across the room, Mr. Compress fails to stifle a laugh. He pretends to inspect the empty shelves lining the walls.
Dabi gets up and leaves.
“Yo, Dabi! You’re here! It’s terrible to see you!” Twice waves frantically, dragging Spinner through the door. The cold evening breeze sweeps through the room.
Dabi is regretting all of his life decisions. He should’ve slept in the alleyways a little more. Why was their new base, if you could even call it that, so small? The lack of privacy irritates him. He misses the warehouse. This is a garden shed, at most.
“Hey, Dabi,” groans Spinner from the ground. The lizard bastard. Though Dabi has grown to tolerate him because he shuts up a little easier than the rest.
Dabi decides to grace him with a reply. “Hey.”
Twice begins to ramble off a recap of the battling against Machia. It doesn’t seem like much progress is being made. Each time he sees the rest of them, they’re beat. He briefly wonders how Shigaraki is holding up.
Spinner remains sprawled out on the floor and if Dabi is being honest, he wants to do the same. He has a meeting with Hawks again tonight. Away from the base, this time. Hawks knew better than to question it when Dabi said they’d be at the abandoned warehouse where they first met.
“That Machia is really unstoppable. He’s just small fry, nothing we can’t handle! Shigaraki has been at it forever. He’s slacking off all the time! I don’t know how long it’s been since he’s actually slept.”
Dabi is slightly thankful. Because, yes, he needs Shigaraki to hurry up and beat Gigantomachia, but he also doesn’t want to talk to Shigaraki. For now, that desire wins. Not that he really thinks Shigaraki will bring Hawks up. But if he did…
He stands, shoving his hands into his pockets. Halfway to the door, Twice shuts up about Machia and addresses Dabi.
“Leaving again? Get out of here. You seem different lately, Dabi. Better, maybe? No, worse! Definitely worse! It’s Hawks! It’s not because of that hero, is it?”
Dabi pauses. “No. It’s not.”
“I’m glad. Watch out for him!”
Dabi makes a noise of acknowledgement, steps over Spinner and his raised eyebrow, and leaves. He has a meeting to get to.
Dabi taps on his phone. Eight-o’-clock. Sighing, he pulls his hood lower over his face and leans his head against the wall.
The bird is late. They were meant to arrange plans for Dabi’s next High-End testing. Dabi knows that Hawks is normally on patrol tonight, but even considering that, he’s never this late.
Then he hears the echo of stumbling, cursing, and the rough sound of debris on concrete.
He’s here.
Before Dabi can make a snide remark about his fashionably late arrival, Hawks rounds the corner and practically collapses onto him. He hates how his first instinct is not to push him off, but hold him upright.
“What the fuck–?”
If he were sane, he might hate even more how his first instinct is to kiss back when Hawks presses their lips together.
Hawks yanks him down by the coat to kiss him harder. Dabi yields.
“Shit, ‘m sorry, Dabi,” Hawks breathes against his lips. “Quirk accident.”
Dabi pulls back, his eyes asking the question his mouth can’t form. Is this okay?
Hawks meets his gaze. He looks almost feverish. “I’m okay," he says. "You tell me to stop, and I will.”
Dabi doesn't answer. His hands find the front of Hawks's jacket and pull instead.
Hawks makes an indecent noise and the floor finds them shortly after.
Hawks crawls over him, a hand on his cheek and the other tangled in his hair. Dabi allows his own to cradle the back of Hawks's neck.
Well. He finds he doesn't mind this at all.
When Dabi pulls open the door to the League base, Toga, Twice, and Spinner are huddled in the corner playing cards. Shigaraki is on the couch, staring into nothing. Compress sits on the other end of it, poking at an open can of mystery meat. Full house, today. Hopefully it means Machia has been tamed.
Toga turns and grins at Dabi. Looks like she’s winning, because Spinner is scratching his head and Twice has thrown his cards all over the place. “How was your recruiting-meeting-hooking-up session? Did’ja say hi to Hawks for me?”
“No.” He’s now realising that he forgot to make plans for his High-End.
“We were gonna feed Tomura but we forgot you were our stove! Spinner and Jin dragged him up here tonight because Machia is resting for longer than usual.” She giggles. Dabi hopes he never wakes up.
Compress waves him over. “Dabi, come cook this, won’t you? I’m not sure if it even needs to be cooked, but better safe than sorry.”
Dabi sends a streak of flame towards it. It scorches black and Compress gets to work scraping off the burnt bits. “Thanks. Please do the same for the rest,” he gestures to the two other cans on the table in front of him.
Dabi squats in front of the coffee table and opens the other cans. Only the best for the boss, right? Don’t want him to keel over from food poisoning during battle.
Though he already looks like he’s been poisoned. And a million other worse things. Dabi has seen many injuries and sores on the others over the past month. If you took all of those, added them together, and multiplied them by about fifty, it would make an accurate visual of Shigaraki right now.
After torching both the cans of mystery meat, and watching Compress meticulously scrape off the blackened surface, he decides to make himself comfortable on the floor.
Compress shuffles over on the couch to make room and is about to call out to the others when Shigaraki holds up a hand. So he is alive.
“Boss?”
“Go play cards with them for a while.”
Compress stands up and goes over to join their game. Twice is cackling madly and uncontrollably sobbing at the same time.
Dabi looks up and finds Shigaraki eyeing him already. He pats the area next to him on the couch. Dabi stands up and takes a seat. Why does it feel like he’s about to be scolded?
Shigaraki sighs. Dabi isn’t expecting good news. Is he getting kicked out?
Shigaraki folds his hands over his chest and kicks his foot up over his other knee. Okay, so, he’s setting a casual atmosphere. Now it feels like he’s about to have a heart-to-heart with him. Not kicked out, then. Dabi doesn’t know what’s worse.
“Let me just start this by saying I don’t care who you fuck.”
Spinner spits out his water, narrowly missing the card pile.
Dabi would have done the same if he’d been drinking any.
This is infinitely worse. His eyes lock on Spinner who is choking and wiping his mouth.
There is absolutely no way he is having this conversation with Shigaraki Tomura of all people. Shigaraki is younger than him!
“I’m not–”
“I don’t care as long as you’re being careful, and as long as you aren’t leaking important information. And you’d better not, considering who your… relationship is with.”
“I’m not fucking Hawks!”
There’s a pause.
Shigaraki raises an eyebrow. “I said I didn’t care who it was. As long as you’re careful. There’s always room for my comrades’ wishes, after all–”
“I’m not fucking anyone!”
There’s a beat of silence and Dabi almost sets the place alight when Toga doesn’t even try to suppress a giggle. Spinner shushes her just as loudly.
“Okay. Then, the plans for the High-End. I was informed that you met with Hawks to discuss them. Where are we testing it next?”
Ah.
Dabi coughs dryly into his hand. “I might’ve. Forgotten to ask him?”
There’s more silence. Terrible silence. Dabi can feel Shigaraki staring right through him.
He's pretty sure it’s been Compress’s turn for five minutes and yet no one has called him out. Can they please continue their game and pretend that they can’t hear him having the worst conversation of his life three metres away? He won’t take their rowdiness for granted ever again.
“Okay,” says Shigaraki, sitting up. “Let’s eat.”
Dabi arranges another meeting with Hawks upon Shigaraki’s request. It’s in a week. He doesn’t have much to do other than lounge around on the couch. He doesn’t want much else to do, either.
His phone pings and he fishes it out of his pocket. Better not be Toga asking him to buy mochi or something.
3 new messages from Bird.
Huh. He swipes the app open.
Bird
are you at the base
i need to talk to you
hello??
Me
what
Bird
im outside
Dabi gets up and opens the door. There’s no one there. He’s about to shut the door and cuss Hawks out when he literally comes flitting out of a tree. Truly a bird.
Wordlessly, Hawks steps inside, grabs him by the sleeve, and drags him further in. Dabi complies. It reminds him of something that isn’t relevant right now.
Hawks shuts the door and sighs. Dabi thinks that sighing before a terrible conversation might become a pattern in his life.
“Look, I was gonna wait until next week, but I just got the report this morning, about the quirk I was hit with, and I just wanted to let you know. Because, uh, I figured it concerns you too. Since… yeah,” Hawks bursts out. He’s staring at the ground.
“Okay,” says Dabi. He can’t think of anything else.
“So. I– I was– the quirk– the report said. It said that after they captured the villain he wouldn’t talk. Not until the next day. Anyway, the important part is that when he did, they found out he had a quirk that amplified my emotions and kinda got rid of my inhibitions?
After he got me with it, the police suggested I go get it checked out, but my patrol shift was over already, and, as you know, I had to meet up with you. So I just told them I’d be fine ‘cause I was heading home anyway. I wasn’t really feeling much until I got to the warehouse, mostly just dizzy, but. I guess it really kicked in when– Yeah. Anyway. I wasn’t– I wasn’t in control, is the point. It’s worn off now, of course, it did shortly after– after I kissed your face off?” He laughs and it doesn’t sound real.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t in control of myself and I just needed you to know that. I’m really sorry.”
Dabi’s mind runs through all the things he could possibly say. He could deflect. He could insult him. Honestly, he could just burn Hawks alive right now.
But, knowing that that quirk activated because of Hawks’s existing feelings for him. Knowing that Hawks kissed him not because the quirk forced him to, but because it removed his inhibitions. The fact stirs something heavy in Dabi’s gut and he can’t bring himself to even taunt him.
“You don’t–” he starts. “Don’t be sorry. We both know I reciprocated.”
Hawks finally lifts his head and takes a shaky breath. “I–”
There’s a thud from outside. They both turn to the door.
“Wait here, birdie,” Dabi says. He stalks towards the door, a hand lifted and ready to torch whichever intruder decided that they wanted to hike out in the mountains and rest in their base.
Hawks notices the spark of flame in his palm and stiffens. Feathers are already shooting out to drag Dabi back. “Dabi, don’t. What if they’re just–”
Dabi swings open the door and there’s a mix of cries and yelps.
“–civilians...” Hawks finishes. His feathers halt in their tracks.
Toga, Twice, Spinner, and Mr. Compress are sprawled on the ground in a heap outside.
Compress brings up the arm that isn’t being crushed by Twice and does jazz hands.
“Surprise?” he offers.
As if Compress had set off fireworks, an immediate uproar sounds from the others.
“Boss was right! He couldn’t have been more off!” Twice cries.
“Boss was right,” Spinner echoes.
There’s a squeal from beside him. “Hawks!! Hii!!”
Hawks feebly lifts a hand in greeting. He looks like he wants to leave.
Dabi does too.
And then he spots a figure hauling itself out of the pile. A gloved hand he recognises all too well sticks up.
Dabi swears this must be to spite him.
Toga shoves Spinner off the person Dabi hadn’t even noticed, shuffling aside.
“Tomura!”
“I,” coughs Shigaraki. “-was right.”
Of course he was.