It’s a race

Heyo! I wrote this little ol' fic for the wonderful @cupcake-spice13 a while back and- much like the fic from earlier this week- forgot to post it! Hehe, it's been one of those weeks y'all. Anywho- I hope y'all like it! :D

CW: Swearing

Summary: Dabi finds Hawks during a fight for a quick chat. In the process of that, he discovers something quite interesting about the bird man.

Cloud 9 (Taglist Peeps):

@myreygn @thatbigbisexual29 @duckymcdoorknob @baby-tickles2022 @backy-san @nutzgunray-lvt @sarahmaystock5578 @rachi-roo

“No! Nohoohohohohoho, wait plhehehehhehhahhhhse!”

“Aww, can’t take it, birdy?” Dabi’s voice was a low rumble, close enough to his ear so no one else could hear him. “Such a proud hero, taken down by a few flicks of my fingers. Come on birdie, sing me a song~”

~~20 Minutes Earlier~~

Dabi doodle

Hawks is blasian. his genetics pulled a Michael Jackson on him so by the time we seen him onscreen all that's left of his original skintone is splotches (which is another reason why his hero costume covers so much of his body when it probably doesn't need to)

he straightens his hair; it's actually pretty curly (not coily curls, but definitely not just waves) but the HPSC fucking sucks so he straightens it (the blond color IS natural, tho)

this boy is a BIRB. he doesn't just fly- he chirps, perches, preens, nests, all that stuff! (or at least he WOULD, if the commission didn't torture him to the point where he forces himself to repress the instincts so he doesn't get 'punished' again)

one word: cloaca. ÒvÓ

is DEFINITELY related to Tokoyami. if not by blood, then by claim. ("finders keepers!" - Hawks, probably)

is a carnivore. he CAN eat food besides meat, it's just not that good for him.

favourite color is blue (more specifically, the color of Dabi's eyes( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) )

Dabihawks au//Single Dad Hawks//Cw: fire, being burned alive, depression, chronic pain, mentioned death

Thursday night. A living room full of tall, cream-colored candles on every free surface they have. Two half-empty mason jars full of spiked apple cider precariously sitting toward the edge of the coffee table, long forgotten in favor of slow dancing to a beaten-up record Keigo found at the thrift store one day after work.

Touya's hands wrapped firmly around Keigo's waist, chin resting atop his head. Keigo's ear pressed closely to the center of his broad chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart.

They sway slowly together, gently swinging back and forth, back and forth, soaking each other in. Keigo keeps a firm grip on Touya's shirt as they waltz around the living room. Keigo sighs dreamily and nuzzles his face further into Touya's chest. Touya chuckles.

"What's that for, Birdie?" He asks, running a hand up Keigo's back.

Keigo shrugs, "Nothing. Just love you is all."

"Oh, really now?"

"Yup," Keigo replies, popping the p. He turns his head up to meet his shiny, turquoise eyes, "you love me?"

Touya smirks, his eyes going up to the ceiling, "I dunno. I'll have to think about that."

Keigo pinches his side, "Touya!"

Touya snickers, "Kidding! Kidding!"

He turns his head down and pecks a kiss on Keigo's forehead. "I love you, Baby Bird."

Keigo closes his eyes and hums, "Damn right you do."

"Damn right, I do," Touya parrots.

Keigo chuckles, focusing back on Touya's heartbeat. It's the first thing he wakes up to and the last thing he hears when he falls asleep. It's the only way he can fall asleep. He can't remember the last time he slept without feeling the drum of his heart against his face, or without Touya in general. He can’t think of a time when he didn’t have Touya right beside him, right in his arms and molded together.

But something's… off

It’s hot.

No, it’s not just hot. It’s boiling. Scalding. It burns.

Everything about Touya burns Keigo’s skin. He has difficulty prying himself away from his chest because it feels like he’s melted into him.

“Touya, you’re hot–”

“I know,” Touya replies, voice warbling like radio static.

Keigo shakes his head. He finally manages to rip his face away from

Touya’s scalding chest and stumbles back. “No, Touya. You’re actually hot, what–?”

The question dies in his throat as he watches Touya’s entire body erupt into blue flames. They rip away his flesh and bone until he disappears into ash without a second thought.

“Touya!” Keigo screams.

The flames crawl across the floor and up Keigo’s legs. It isn’t long before the entire house is saturated in blue flames. Keigo rips off his denim jacket and smacks it at the fire but it refuses to go out. It runs further up his body, scorching his midsection, and ripping apart his chest until it finally crawls up his throat, and suffocates him.

*•.🍁.•*

Keigo’s drenched in sweat, which isn’t surprising once he realizes that he’s fallen asleep on his heating pad – which is currently at the highest setting. His heart thunders in his ears, but once the blurriness fades and his brain stops swimming, he manages to take a breath. He sighs, peeling himself from the bed. The clock on the opposite wall reads 3:30 in the afternoon – shit – and the room is already starting to develop an orange tint.

“Fuck,” he hisses through gritted teeth.

He peels back the heavy blankets. He swings his legs over the side of the bed and he…sits there for a few seconds. He scans the room. It’s cleaner than it usually is this time of day, so he’s at least done something today. He closes his eyes, draws a slow breath through his nose to asses how much pain he’s in today, and once he’s decided that he could give less of a fuck, he stands.

He switches off the heating pad and starts out the room to the hallway.

Suzume’s probably in her room, most likely surviving off either leftovers in the fridge or snacks she can reach on the bottom shelf – if she’s remembered to eat at all that is, an unfortunate trait she inherited from him.

He’ll just make instant ramen or pasta or something easy and if she hasn’t eaten herself sick on sweets, they’ll have the Neapolitan ice cream they’ve had stuck in the freezer for the past two months.

He comes up to her door and knocks, “Su! I’m up. You hungry?”

No response. Keigo raises a brow.

‘Maybe she’s asleep?’ He thinks, then knocks again.

“Suzume! You okay in there?”

Still no response.

He goes to open it. “Suzume?”

The 7-year-old’s room is completely empty. He looks around the door to see if she’s hiding behind it. He walks inside and looks under her bed and in her closet.

Still no Suzume.

Keigo’s heart rate kicks back up. He starts out of her room and down the hallway, opening every door on the second floor while urgently calling her name.

“Suzume? Suzume! Where are you?”

He opens every cabinet, checks every nook and cranny that Suzume can possibly fit in, but he comes up empty. He starts running when he heads downstairs. From there, he starts yelling.

“Suzume!” he shouts as he turns over the cushions on the couch and races into the laundry room and kitchen, “Suzume!”

He throws open the backdoor. He spots a head of blonde hair past the treeline of their backyard. He races across the grass, blood gushing in his ears. He finds her crouched under a massive tree, rooting through the pile of fallen leaves with dirt-covered hands.

He’s finally able to breathe, “Suzume!”

She whips her head around and greets him with an unassuming grin, “Hi papa!”

He falls to his knees and scoops her into a hug, “Thank god you’re safe! What are you doing out here by yourself?”

“I was getting pretty leaves for Daddy!” she exclaims, holding the pile up to him.

Keigo frowns, “Suzume, I told you not to go outside by yourself – especially when I’m asleep and when it’s past the trees. It’s not safe.”

Suzume’s smile falls along with her eyes, “ ‘m sorry…”

Keigo sighs through his nose, “Just…let’s go inside and get you cleaned up, okay?”

She nods, bottom lip trembling.

He picks her up, watching as her hands start letting go of the pile in her palms. He cups her hands and brings them back toward her. “Keep ‘em. We’ll wash those too.”

She doesn’t reply to that. He walks them back inside, immediately setting Suzume down by the sink. He grabs a salad bowl from the top shelf and motions for Suzume to dump the leaves inside. She does. He sets the bowl aside, gently takes her hands in his, and moves them toward the sink.

She keeps her eyes down and stays quiet as he washes her hands. He works his hand under her fingernails. His eyes occasionally flicker from her hands to her face, her eyes darting away each time he does. He finishes up, shuts off the water, and cups her face in his hands.

“Hey, can you look at me for a sec?”

Her eyes flicker up at him.

“I’m not angry, okay? I was just scared because I couldn’t find you. I thought something bad happened to you.”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbles.

“I know, Chickadee. Just please don’t do it again. If you wanna go outside, just wait or wake me up and ask me, yeah?”

She nods.

He smiles, pecking a kiss to the top of her head. “We’re okay, Su. We’re okay.”

“We’re okay,” Suzume parrots in a much happier tone of voice.

Keigo nods, “So, you wanna tell me about the leaves?”

Her beaming grin is back, “Ochaco and Tsu-chan said they can make a pretty flower bow… bow–”

“Bouquet?”

“Yeah, that thing! They said they could make one of those with pretty leaves so I wanted to find some that Daddy would like so I could make one with them!”

He tips the bowl toward him, looking at the collection. Leaves in different shades and gradients ranging from spring green to honey orange fill up the bottom alongside a collection of twigs and dirt, like the stuff Keigo and Touya used to play with when they made forts at school.

He smiles warmly, “Your dad’ll love these. He always liked fall.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But that’s only because fall meant we were closer to winter break.”

Suzume giggles. Keigo’s eyes travel back down to the bowl, settling on a bright red leaf peaking through some of the brown ones.

“Hey, Su. Have you ever tried apple cider?”

Suzume searches the ceiling for an answer, shaking her head when she can’t find it, “I don’t think so.”

“You want me to teach you how to make it?”

Suzume’s smile shines as she hops down from the kitchen counter.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Grab me a pot, yeah? The biggest one you can find!”

She nods, running to the opposite side of the kitchen to grab one of the pots in the lower cabinets while he grabs the ingredients that are surprisingly unspoiled (and there. He really needs to go shopping).

Suzume drags the pot and her step stool toward the stove, “Got it!”

“Good,” he reaches down and sets it down on the stove, “I’ll take care of this. Can you wash those apples for me?”

“Okay!”

Suzume happily takes her task while he boils the water. He lets her dump in all the spices and carefully teaches her how to cut up the apples with her dull, plastic knives and dump them in as well. She does it all with a shining smile.

With his shining smile.

When it’s done, he grabs the mason jars from the top shelf and fills them with cider. He doesn’t give Suzume too much since he isn’t too sure she’ll like it despite her excitement about making it. He gives her his glass while he drinks from Touya’s.

“Careful,” he says as he carefully hands it to her.

She looks down at the dark liquid with wide eyes, “Ooh.”

“Cheers,” he says, clinking their glasses together. He holds it up to his lips, watching as Suzume grabs the jar with both of her little hands and drinks from it, “Careful.”

She starts to take a sip, brows raising in surprise before she chugs it down in one go.

Keigo laughs, “You like it, huh?”

She nods happily.

“You want a little more?”

“I want a lot more!”

“Okay, okay. But I’m not gonna give you too much. Don’t want you spoiling your…?”

“Dinner!”

“Dinner. Right,” So she did eat. Good, “What do you want for dinner?”

“Chicken!”

Keigo smiles, “That’s my girl.”

He reaches across the table and grabs her jar. He goes back to the pot, starts to fill her glass with cider while humming.

“Papa?”

“Yeah, Suzu?”

“Did Daddy like cider too?”

“Yeah. He loved the stuff.”

“Should we bring him some the next time we go to see him?”

Keigo stops, a small but fond smile playing across his lips. He pours the glass and turns back to her, “Sure, baby. We can see him after you make your little flower bouquet. This stuff lasts a while.”

*•.🍁.•*

“Hey, Dabi – woah, are you cooking?”

Dabi rolls his eyes as he slowly stirs the pot of apples and allspice. “No, I’m fucking fishing. Haven’t caught a bite all day.”

Toga skips over to him, looking over his shoulder as he continues to stir, “Is that…cider?”

“Is this ask me stupid questions day or somethin’?”

“Geez, don’t get so hotheaded,” she replies with a grin, “I just didn’t peg you as the kind of guy who’d be into this kind of stuff. Always pictured you more as a hard liquor only guy.”

Dabi stops for a second, staring down at his scarred reflection in the amber liquid. He clicks his tongue and continues on. “Yeah, well –’tis the season, I guess. You gonna want some of this?”

Toga pouts, “Dang. I wanna but the Boss wants me on a job right now.”

I really like the idea that Dabi and Kirishima bumped into each other while shopping for hair dye so I made what is possibly the shortest thing I'll ever write

"I wouldn't choose that one"

Kirishima was at the hair salon again. The girls wanted to get their hair done and he decided to tag along. Mostly because his roots were starting to show again.

Sure, he could have gotten a dye job there. Momo was paying after all. But he wanted to do it himself.

Than a sudden, deep voice spoke next to him.

When he turned to look, it was none other than the villain Dabi! He wore a hoodie in an attempt to hide himself, but there was no doubt it was him. He also appeared to have a mask which was currently pulled down

Kirishima was baffled and admittedly scared. This would be the perfect moment for the villain to get the jump on them. They weren't prepared and there were no heros nearby. But to his surprise, Dabi just took the box Kirishima was holding.

"That is, if you're looking for something long lasting. This shit washes out easily".

The villain put the box back on the shelf and turned to grab another one.

"this one's better. It'll stay in for months and is easy to clean if you make a mess".

Dabi handed the box over to Kirishima, who reluctantly took it.

The two stared at each other awkwardly for a few moments.

"Th-thank you?".

"Don't mention it.' The other shrugged. After getting his own hair dye, Dabi pulled up his mask and walked out the store without properly purchasing. Kirishima could have sworn he saw the villain stop by the magazine rack and shop lift one where Hawkes modeled.

"Hey Kiri! You good over there?" called Mina, who held a handful of hair products . "we're almost ready to go"