CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE - MOOD

"Is that all you're going to eat, baby?" Dabi questioned before stuffing a large piece of spicy barbecued pork into his mouth.

Shigaraki tilted his head slightly to the side to look at Dabi but otherwise kept his lax pose, slumped back against the hard wooden bench they were sitting on.

"I'm not that hungry."

His chopsticks had been laid down for quite some time already and his plate, although empty, clearly showed evidence of a meal. He had eaten, but in comparison to his companions you could say that he had barely touched any food at all, especially for an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ restaurant. He just didn't have an appetite following his intensive conversation with Mr. Aizawa that afternoon. His head was a mess of thoughts and his stomach was suffering from it; all twisted up with anxiety.

Slowly, Dabi put his utensils down and moved his arm around Shigaraki's back, hesitantly laying it down against his shoulders. He swallowed dryly, the sharp ache of suppressed longing gnawing at his stomach as Shigaraki immediately tensed up at the touch. He couldn't help but frown a little. Ever since those unfortunate events at the dinner with his family, Shigaraki's demeanor had completely changed. Whenever Dabi tried to offer him some resemblance of affection, Shigaraki immediately shut it down, only allowing brief moments of intimacy like holding his hand at school or sharing a composed hug before they drifted off to sleep at night. It was almost as if they were returning to their pre-relationship life with a few small exceptions that Dabi was desperately trying to hang on to, and he hoped that eventually they would get back to that place where Shigaraki wasn't opposed to his affections.

But this? This wasn't that. This was something entirely different. Shigaraki was even more reserved than usual and Dabi was sure it had something to do with the private conversation he had with their teacher earlier. Shigaraki didn't want to talk about it and hadn't really said more than a few words since. Dabi had caught him lost in his own thoughts, staring blankly at, well, nothing, several times too.

"That's not like you," Dabi said, attempting to pick-up his mood. "You're always hungry. Do you want something different? I can order you whatever you like."

"No." Shigaraki shook his head.

It was true that Shigaraki never turned down food. They were all being overly indulgent, gluttonous even, trying to get the most out of their money. That was all pretty normal, especially at the end of an extremely long and arduous week of school and training, and usually Shigaraki would have eaten equally as much or more than any of the boys at the table so it was definitely out of character - even if was still upset with Dabi.

"So, he doesn't want to eat." Takami interjected in what was supposed to be a semi-private conversation between Shigaraki and Dabi, "More for us!"

"You're not supposed to take all-you-can-eat as a personal challenge, bird brain." Dabi teased with a chuckle.

Shigaraki only glared at him from across the table.

"Hey, I paid for all-you-can-eat so that's what I am going to do." Takami licked his lips, grinning like a fiend.

Shigaraki scrunched up his nose in disgust.

"I don't think this place anticipated our group when they came up with this concept." Dabi said.

Takami snickered and placed several more varying pieces of marinated meat onto the grill.

Soon afterwards, Takami lost interest in criticizing Shigaraki's food consumption, and defending his own, and everyone resumed their previous conversations around the table. Dabi was surprised at how well everyone was getting along; there was no casual fighting or cursing and no one was bickering. Maybe it was the food combined with it being a Friday night that put them in good spirits. None of them had any more obligations and they didn't have school the next day. The only one at the table that didn't seem to be having a very good time was Shigaraki, who was again staring off into space. Dabi squeezed his shoulder gently, drawing his attention over to him and smiled when his boyfriends pretty red eyes met him.

"Hey," He prompted, brushing away some light flyaway strands of hair from Shigaraki's face. His hair was so long now, and almost pure white. Dabi was always taken aback at how fucking pretty he was.

"Hm?"

"You're a million miles away."

"Sorry."

"It's fine," Dabi laughed softly and then leaned over to press a quick kiss against Shigaraki's cheek, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Shigaraki sighed, his shoulders deflating, "Just tired."

"Mm." Dabi nodded in agreement. It had been a long week. Actually, a long two weeks with finals preparation officially underway and although they were all feeling the pressure, Shigaraki seemed to be affected moreso. "Maybe after this we can go back to my room and watch a movie. Or something."

The something came with another suggestive squeeze, his fingers playing delicately along the edge of Shigaraki's shoulder. Dabi was hoping he would catch his shameless drift. They hadn't been sexually active for almost a month now and it was really starting to get to him. And admittedly, he thought some sex or at least some intense foreplay would be a huge benefit to the both of them.

"Okay." Shigaraki answered simply.

Dabi wasn't sure if he clued in on his cues for intimacy but regardless it made him extremely happy. And horny; his body receiving an instant kick of dopamine and testosterone concurrently. He missed having that connection with Shigaraki. So much. And he knew it was his fault that they were at that point in their relationship, but he couldn't think about that now. All he wanted to do was get Shigaraki back to his room and get him naked.

"I'm finished eating so…" His words trailed off and he grinned instead, dropping his face down against the side of Shigaraki's head, nuzzling his soft hair. He then peppered subtle kisses down to his neck.

Unfortunately, or luckily depending on who was asked, his advances were thwarted by the stiff collar of Shigaraki's UA shirt. And Shigaraki's grumbled protests.

"Seriously?" Takami sneered at them, "You're ruining our food. Ew."

Dabi snickered at his best-friend. "You're the only one still eating, bird brain."

"Well, I'm done now. Ruined my appetite." He huffed derisively.

"Oh yeah, we ruined your appetite. Not the previous hour of binge eating." Dabi teased and the rest of the table shared a laugh at Takami's expense. Again, except for Shigaraki who didn't seem all that impressed.

"Whatever. Get the check."

Dabi shook his head and then hit the little button on their tabletop to call their waitress over.

After paying their bill, the five boys left the restaurant much more sluggish than they had entered. With their stomachs full and the weight of their school week finally catching up to them they were ready to call it a night with the promise to go out and actually do something fun together the following day. The weekends were short, so they had to make the most of it.

Dabi didn't really give a rat's ass as to what they were or weren't doing, or what plans they had for their Saturday either. He had already created an extremely detailed agenda with Shigaraki in his head and was more than eager to return to his room and spend some quality alone time with his boyfriend - who was baffled by Dabi's rush to get back to the dorms.

"Is there anything good out?" Shigaraki said as he plopped down onto Dabi's bed. His shoes were already off and his school jacket and tie were laying over the back of a chair along with Dabi's.

"I don't know, I haven't really looked." Dabi replied as he joined his boyfriend on his bed with the remote. He fired up the movie app so they could scroll through and find something.

"What about Uncharted? That's a game, right?"

"Yeah." Shigaraki nodded and then covered a yawn with his hand.

Dabi grinned and swept his hand over the top of Shigaraki's head, thinking his yawning was really fucking cute. He was sure Shigaraki wouldn't make it through an entire movie though, he looked exhausted. Not that Dabi minded, the movie was just a ruse and he didn't mind spending the money to rent it. What he really wanted would take him a little time to prevail upon, maybe once Shigaraki felt more relaxed and at ease.

"Good with me."

Shigaraki scooted back on the bed, preparing to get comfortable for the movie and Dabi almost groaned in longing as he laid down with his head comfortable against his pillow. He badly wanted to crawl right over Shigaraki and carry out his carnal urges. Well, at least that's what his body was telling him, his mind was a lot more rational. He just needed a little patience to get his boyfriend to come around.

"Lights off?" Dabi suggested, grinning fondly at Shigaraki who nodded silently again.

Dabi quickly got up to switch out the lights and then returned to the bed just as the opening credits began to play. He slipped in behind Shigaraki and pressed his chest firmly into his back and then tentatively laid his arm over Shigaraki's waist. When that was met with no resistance, Dabi shuffled even closer still to spoon him, his arm moving further around his boyfriend to hold him more soundly.

For the first half hour, they laid just like that in silence, watching the movie and enjoying each other's presence. Though Dabi could tell that Shigaraki was starting to drift off, his breathing became slower and more even, his body completely still. Dabi lifted his head and stole a quick glance, seeing that Shigaraki's eyes were almost completely closed.

"Baby?" Dabi whispered close to Shigaraki's ear.

"Hm?" Came a soft murmur in response.

Dabi breathed in, running the tip of his nose along the shell of Shgaraki's ear before he buried his face into that wonderfully soft hair, nuzzling. Shigaraki smelled so good, it was intoxicating and induced an insatiated groan from Dabi as he wiggled restlessly against his boyfriend. He couldn't help it. He was losing his will of patience and now that he was completely turned on it was hard to turn off. Pun intended.

"What are you doing?" Shigaraki asked, his words laced with fluster as Dabi's hand migrated down from his stomach to the buckle of his belt.

Dabi dropped his face into the crook of his neck and initiated a round of soft, slow kisses, his lips brushing the warm skin and climbing higher towards the edge of Shigaraki's jawline while his fingers fumbled to undo his boyfriend's pants.

"Dabi."

"I want you." Dabi said, almost breathless. His hand finally conquered the button and fly of Shigaraki's pants which was a bigger feat than it sounded like, but he was only using one hand.

"We're supposed to be watching a movie." Shigaraki's voice was a husky mumble as Dabi's adept fingers breached his clothing to touch him. His body jerked, flinching at the brush of his hand and then he recoiled attempting to get away.

"Uh huh. Sure." Dabi replied, lifting his chin, and shamelessly regarding Shigaraki, unwilling to take the entire blame for what was happening. Dabi had been pretty clear about his motives earlier and heard no complaints from Shigaraki when he was kissing his neck or dry humping him just minutes ago.

"I'm really not in the mood, Dabi." Shigaraki replied as he gripped Dabi's wrist to wrench his hand away from him.

"Please? I need this. I need you." Dabi almost begged, desperately clutching Shigaraki's waist to keep him from moving away

Shigaraki breathed a weary sigh in return, but he didn't object when Dabi's hand drifted back to his abdomen and those nimble fingers began plucking at the buttons of his shirt. One by one, Dabi popped them open, growing more excited with each button until Shigaraki's shirt was loose and falling off one shoulder with a simple sweep of hand.

He didn't think it was possible to be so totally and completely turned on by a bare shoulder but there he was, pushing his erection feverishly against the ample swell of Shigaraki's ass. To be fair though, Shigaraki had bulked up significantly in the last couple of months so his shoulders were more prominent than before. He had always found Shigaraki attractive, no matter his size, but the new muscle tone just added a little more fuel to Dabi's already burning desire.

"You're so fucking hot." Dabi mumbled, assailing Shigaraki's bare shoulder with his lips and his teeth.

"Dabi, stop," Shigaraki grumbled, "I'm tired."

"Me too. Not a good excuse. What else do you have?" Dabi said, a meek attempt at humor. He didn't pause his ministrations and continued his advances, using his eager hand to tempestuously turn his boyfriend onto his back.

"Isn't that enough?" Shigaraki asked, passive as Dabi succeeded in maneuvering him. He didn't really put up much of a fight.

"Mm no," Dabi chuckled softly as he re-positioned himself to straddle Shigaraki's thighs. "You know, orgasms have been proven to help with sleep so…"

Shigaraki didn't find that funny. Actually, he looked up at Dabi unamused with the banter.

Dabi grinned and began to unbutton his own shirt, thinking his boyfriend might need a little incitement to get things moving. He did it slowly, his eyes locked onto Shigaraki as he exposed his torso, little by little, until he shrugged the material off from his shoulders.

"Baby?" Dabi prompted again.

"Mm?"

Now that they were both naked, well mostly, to their waists, Dabi's eyes panned downwards and then back upwards again, admiring his boyfriend's hard body and his handsome face. With the glow from the television pouring soft light over his strong features, Dabi thought he looked almost ethereal.

"I love you. I don't think I got a chance to remind you yet today."

"You didn't." Shigaraki murmured.

Dabi chuckled again, "I love you." He breathed leaning over to kiss Shigaraki's forehead, "I love you.' He said again, this time brushing Shigaraki's cheek with a kiss.

Shigaraki didn't respond right away and Dabi paused, waiting to hear the words repeated back to him. He needed to hear them, and he waited with baited breath, however, the longer the silence stretched on, the more worried he was about what Shigaraki's response was going to be. Did he still love him? After the shit show with his family, Shigaraki hadn't been nearly as affectionate towards Dabi but he hoped that it didn't change the way he felt about him. And them.

Neither boys said a word and for a moment they both remained silent and still, the only sounds coming from the TV and the movie that was still playing in the background.

"Tomura?"

Shigaraki's eyes flicked open, as if knew what Dabi was waiting for but he seemed hesitant. Or maybe that was just Dabi's imagination running wild.

"I love you." Dabi said again, this time against Shigaraki's mouth.

Shigaraki sighed in response to Dabi's lips, leaning in for a kiss. It was sweet, the innocent expectation, but Dabi didn't grant him the request. He needed to hear Shigaraki say it first.

"I love you too, idiot." Shigaraki finally grumbled.

Smiling slowly, Dabi leaned in closer to claim his boyfriend's mouth, sucking Shigaraki's lower lip between his teeth and was delighted when Shigaraki arched his hips in response to meet him. Dabi groaned, his tongue infiltrating Shigaraki's mouth to play against him in an expression of pure excitement, trying to channel some of the charged energy into the kiss.

He wasn't sure if Shigaraki felt the same spark of lust and longing that came from their physical distance and lack of intimacy in the last month but Dabi couldn't control his emotions, he never wanted to lose that feeling again.

It was everything to him.