It shouldn't be this easy. Shouto is supposed to be wary of him, and shouldn't trust him at all. But he's glad that he's not, that he allows Dabi so close.
Barely two days ago he'd promised Shouto he'd let him go. Of course he had. He could hardly tell his hero-worshiping little brother that he'd have to stay, that would have only led to Shouto becoming suspicious, and trying to leave. No, it was better this way, Dabi decides. Let Shouto believe that he can leave whenever he wants. Even if he managed to leave the apartment, he'd still be too weak and hurt to get very far, leaving it to Dabi to pick him up and bring him home, and play his caring big brother once more.
But he wouldn't even try to leave in the first place. Dabi would make sure of that. And Shouto had clearly expressed his desire to stay, but he'd been just as clearly torn between his so-called friends and his brother. He could see why his friends would be so important to him, after all, their father had done his very best to isolate them from the rest of society, focused on his goal of surpassing All Might. Of course Shouto would take to some strangers showing him kindness, his brother had never understood the nature of other people well at all. Still a naive child, and believing whatever lies about friendship his classmates at UA told him.
When he unlocks the front door of his apartment, he stops for a moment to listen for his brother. Shouto had been asleep, bundled up in a nest of blankets when he'd left. He should still be asleep, knocked out from his medication, but Dabi is nothing if not paranoid. There's nothing like life as a villain to make someone realize how untrustworthy people can be. Not that he doesn't trust Shouto, no, he's predictable in his own way, but his brother had been tainted by their father, lectured over and over and over again that he should become a hero, and fight against villains. Villains like him. But Shouto loves his big brother...
"Shouto? Are you up?" he asks, moving into the living room. "Shouto?"
No response. There's always the chance of Shouto being asleep, but something about the atmosphere sets him on edge. Drawing a hidden knife from his jacket – no need to burn down a perfectly good apartment when he can take down an enemy with a single swipe of a knife – and peers around the living room. No signs of struggle, that's good. Unless Shouto went with them willingly... Dread settles in his stomach, there's no way. They couldn't have him back. He didn't belong to them.
A loud retching sound startles him.
"Shouto?" He follows the sound of someone upheaving their breakfast. That someone being his brother, who's clutching the toilet like his life depends on it. "Aww, shit."
He crouches down next to Shouto, examining his flushed face. His brother looks far from good; pale and sweaty, cheeks bright red from the fever he's running. Sighing internally he pulls Ryouta's mannerism around him like a well-worn coat. Dabi might not have any kindness left, but Ryouta still does. If only for one person.
"Is it your stomach? Or the dizziness?" he asks, brushing the bangs away from his brother's face, gently resting the back of his hand on Shouto's forehead to check for fever. He's hot, way too hot, even for someone with a fire quirk. He can see that Shouto is losing control over his quirk, ice trying to counteract fire, but somehow making the fever worse.
"Dizzy." Shouto replies, before he hunches back over the toilet and the retching starts again. His face scrunches up in disgust, luckily Shouto can't see him from where he's praying to the porcelain goddess. That was not in his plans, but he could hardly blame Shouto for being sick. Maybe he shouldn't have mixed sleeping pills in his cocoa, Dabi muses, they might not mix with his pain medication. On the other hand, it guaranteed that Shouto was sound asleep when he'd had his cocoa, leaving Dabi to do whatever he want, without having to worry about Shouto running away.
"I'm gonna get you some water." Dabi says, rubbing his brother's back before rising and heading towards the kitchen. In his head he goes over all of his options. It's quite possible that Shouto is just sick from sitting out in the rain for a long time, or maybe he's having an adverse reaction to his pain medication. Or his painkillers – or the tranquilizers he'd been passing off as painkillers every now and then – and the sleeping pills don't mix. For now he decides to go with being sick from the rain – that, and being hurt had probably lowered his immune system.
He couldn't risk not slipping Shouto the sleeping pills whenever he left. Who knows what might happen if Shouto stumbled outside for some reason? Especially running a fever like this? Someone could find him. No, it's the only way to make sure that Shouto is safe, when Dabi isn't around to watch him.
There's still something odd, Dabi realizes when he looks around. There are blankets strewn across the floor from when Shouto had probably made a dash for the toilet, an empty cup joining the blankets, but other than that everything looks the way it should. But there's something off, something Dabi can't quite put his finger on. Something smells different, he notes, kind of familiar, a bit like ashes and smoke, but he can't quite remember what that smell belongs to.
Another loud retching sound makes Dabi cringe and continue to the kitchen. There'd still be plenty of time to figure out what was different, once Shouto was taken care of.
When he returns with a glass of water, Shouto has moved to lean onto the bathtub, breathing heavily. Without a word Dabi hands him the water, watching as his little brother very slowly drinks it.
"Better?" he asks, when Shouto hands him back the empty glass. "Or do you want more?"
"No more. 'm good." Shouto replies. "I don't think I can drink anymore."
"Alright." Dabi says. "I'm going to take you back to the couch. Unless you feel like you gotta puke again?"
"'m okay." Shouto answers. Eyes slowly sliding shut. "I just need a nap and I'll be good. I promise."
With a loud sigh Dabi grabs him by the arms and pulls Shouto upright, only to have him tumble forward into his arms.
"You've been really clingy lately." he mocks Shouto, watching as his brother gives him an exhausted glare.
"I hate you." Shouto mumbles, and lets himself be dragged from the bathroom to the living room, where he collapses on the couch. After Dabi gathers all the blankets and throws them over his brother, he goes back to the kitchen.
He doesn't care about housework – never has and never will – and home remedies have always been a mystery to him. And he can't remember what their mother used to do when one of them got sick. He does know that it's possible to cool down a fever with ice or cold water, but if he were to throw Shouto in a freezing bath right now, he could kiss his apartment goodbye. No, there had to be something else he could do.
A dishtowel catches his eye. Oh, he could work with that. It feels like a long forgotten memory – and it probably is – but he knows what to do. He moves back into the bathroom, picking up a couple of towels and soaking them in cold water. When he's done, he grabs two dry towels, and takes all of them back to Shouto, who's watching him with weary eyes. He probably knows what Dabi's about to do, and is not looking forward to it at all.
"We've got to lower your fever." he says, when he sets the towels on the table next to the couch. Shooting Dabi a withering glare he pulls back the blankets, letting Dabi bend down and push up the legs of his pajamas. Dabi places the dry towels under Shouto's legs, before wrapping the cold ones around his legs, earning a hiss from his brother. Once he's wrapped the dry towels around the wet ones, he pulls back the blankets over Shouto, who has already started shivering uncontrollably.
It wasn't pretty, but it'd lower the fever a bit. It'd do him no no good, if Shouto was out of commission for too long. While that also gives Dabi more time to make his plans work, to get Shouto to trust him completely, it also hinders his plans, because Shouto needs to see Dabi being his big brother. Needs to see him as the only one he can trust.
He doesn't want Shouto to suffer, he's not their father after all – he wants Shouto to be his, to be on his side, his partner, wants his loyalty and strength. Together they'd be unstoppable – but he hasn't cared for anyone in a long time. Without all these heroes around to influence him, Shouto will soon understand. It's going to take time for Shouto to let go of his false idols, but Dabi will be right there with him. He just needed Shouto to be awake and conscious to guide him.
On the counter of the kitchen his phone chimes. It's a message from Kurogiri.
"23:00. Do not be late."
A glance to the clock on the wall confirms that it's just past 3 pm, which should give him enough time.
Kurogiri. He stops for a moment. The smell. Ashes and smoke. The smell of a portal. Inside his apartment. Kurogiri had been here. He'd been here while Dabi was gone. He'd seen Shouto.
That could prove to be a problem. But he'd deal with him, nothing he hadn't done before.
A/N: I just realized that keeps screwing up the format and doesn't save the changes I make. I'm so sorry T_T