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Dabi was not exactly a fan of recruiting for the league. He found it boring as hell and most of the recruits sucked. The only even vaguely interesting recruit was Hawks.
Dabi definitely didn't trust the hero, but he was useful. He was great for what Shigaraki called 'fetch quests.' Dabi appreciated how much easier his job got when he could just hand everything off.
Speaking of:
"So," Dabi called, stepping into an alleyway. "You got what I asked for?"
The man in the alley smiled, one hand resting on a backpack strap. "Of course. Who do you take me for?" Hawks made no motion to hand it over.
Dabi rolled his eyes and strolled forward, holding out one hand.
Hawks sighed, a playful pout appearing on his face. He pulled the backpack over and held it out.
Dabi took it, avoiding contact with Hawks' hand. "It's all here?" He confirmed.
"Last I checked."
Dabi opened the bag and skimmed through the pages inside. Financial statement, financial statement, incident report… everything seemed to be in order.
He put the papers in his own bag and tossed the backpack at Hawks' face. Hawks caught it easily.
"I have another list of things," Dabi said. He pulled a paper from his pockets and handed it over. The League had some actual information they needed from him, but most of what they asked for was meaningless, intended to disguise intentions from Hawks, whose loyalty was still uncertain.
"Cool," Hawks said. He looked at the list and then back up at Dabi. "Why do you need to know the favorite toothpaste of every top twenty hero?" That was on there? Must be either Toga or Twice's doing.
"Don't worry about it," Dabi said.
Hawks laughed. "Sure, okay. My favorite toothpaste flavor is cinnamon, but I don't know about anyone else. What's yours?"
"I don't have one," Dabi said, looking away. "I use mint, like a normal person. Anyway, get all that to me next Tuesday."
"Great," Hawks said, smile wide. "It's a date." He shot finger guns at Dabi and strutted out of the alleyway, leaving Dabi staring after him with wide-eyes.
A date. Was Hawks under the impression that that was the kind of interest Dabi had in him?
How… why… whatever. Dabi could use that. If Hawks had feelings for Dabi, he was more likely to develop loyalty to the league. All Dabi needed to do was encourage it.
Dabi did not mention any of this to the rest of the league. They had no reason to know and, besides, they would definitely make fun of him.
As part of this encouragement, Dabi started off his next meeting with Hawks by calling him 'babe.' Hawks had stopped dead in his tracks and stared at him for at least five seconds before recovering, a charming smile on his face.
What a weird guy, Dabi thought. Whatever.
He continued escalating the flirting as their meetings went on. Hawks matched him in intensity. Dabi had never really enjoyed anything romance-adjacent, but he was starting to see the appeal.
Unfortunately, this backfired spectacularly when Hawks introduced himself to the league as Dabi's boyfriend.
Everyone laughed, but then the laughter died out slowly as everyone realized he was being earnest.
Dabi very intently avoided everyone's eyes. This was very successful, until it wasn't.
Twice was first to speak. "I'm so happy for you!" He said. "I hope you break up!"
Then, Toga got right in his face. "Wow," she said. "I thought you said romance was for sissies and boys were stupid!"
"Shut the fuck up," he said, shoving her away.
"Aww," Hawks said. "Did I melt your frozen heart?"
Dabi glared at him.
Written by a human in Ellipsus.