Went and Googled a February Prompt list and am using it to practice writing daily (or more often at least) and learning how to characterize these guys, since I've never written for this Fandom before. This whole month is going to revolve around Dabi and Hawks. A hotwings AMV kicked me down this rabbit hole of a pairing, and I came just in time to watch them burn (not gonna stop me from pairing them anyways).
Day 6: Bubble
He had been sleeping on the couch before he wakes up to the air squeezing out of his lungs as someone flops on top of him. His eyes fly open and red blocks his vision.
"Ever heard of personal bubbles?" he groans, plopping his head back onto the arm of the couch and closing his eyes. Hawks huffs, then shifts. Dabi winces when Hawks' elbow digs into his side.
"You know you love me hanging around," Hawks says, his breath way too close to Dabi's face. He glares as he opens his eyes, trying not to react to Hawks' proximity. From this close, Dabi can see bags covered with makeup under Hawks' dulled golden eyes.
"Around," he emphasizes. "Not on." Hawks chin lands on Dabi's collar bone.
"Shouldn't be so comfy then," Hawks mumbles as his eyes slip shut. And Dabi isn't sure if Hawks knows what he does to Dabi. Dabi tries not to feel warm as his head falls back, his own eyes shutting.
His hand twitches at his side, wanting to rest on the small of Hawk's back, but he doesn't move it. Even if Hawks doesn't understand the concept of a personal bubble, Dabi does. He's recently noticed Hawks shying away from people's touches, specifically near his back. Once, even flying up to the ceiling to avoid Twice when he was going to pat Hawks' shoulder as a greeting.
Dabi isn't certain if Hawks got punished again and is just too stubborn to say anything because of the injury(ies)'s origin, or if Hawks just doesn't want people to touch him right now. Dabi gets it. He goes through times like that when his chronic pain starts to kick in and the painkillers aren't helping like they're supposed to.
"Want me to get off?" Dabi peeks an eye open at Hawks' groggy voice. He's convinced he really can feel Hawks' breath on his neck through the scars.
Dabi looks down, and Hawks eyes are open but averted. It's not like Hawks. In fact, he's been off for a while, but Dabi can't figure out why.
"What gives you that idea?" he deadpans. His fingers twitch again, against his wishes.
"That's why," Hawks says. "Your hand keeps twitching."
Dabi hums. Does he explain or brush it off? Hawks shifts, and Dabi meets his gaze.
"Am I… making you uncomfortable?" His brows furrow, and Dabi wants to smooth the wrinkles out. Dabi looks away.
"No." He glances around the room before looking back at Hawks, certain no one else is anywhere nearby. He isn't even sure what time it is, nor if anyone else is even awake. He doesn't want anyone to accuse him of getting soft, especially where a hero is concerned. "Did you get punished?"
Hawks' wings make an aborted movement, answering Dabi's question, when it looks like Hawks won't.
"Need help?"
Hawks plops his face onto Dabi's chest, so his reply is muffled, "No." Dabi feels like Hawks wants to say more, so he stays silent, his eyes tracing Hawks' feathers while his fingers can't. Dabi coughs when Hawks sits up abruptly, his hands slamming down onto Dabi's chest. "Why are your fingers twitching?!"
"Fuck, birdie," Dabi chokes. He wants to sit up, but he knows Hawks will move, and (while he won't admit this aloud ever) Dabi doesn't want Hawks to move. Hawks must have felt Dabi shift, because Dabi grabs the sides of Hawks' thighs when he goes to stand. Dabi clenches his jaw, scowling at the wall behind Hawks.
"I wanted to…" he grimaces "…run my fingers through your feathers. But I've noticed you haven't wanted people to touch your back recently, and," Dabi mumbles, turning to look down at the floor beside the couch, "I didn't want to hurt you."
Dabi's caught off guard, hissing, when Hawks' hands clench, his fingertips digging into Dabi's chest. He looks at Hawks, and the latter's face is scrunched up. Hawks won't look at Dabi.
"What do you care?" Dabi's eyes widen at the venom in Hawks' voice. Hawks then glares down at him, leaning until their noses almost brush. "You're a villain," he hisses. "You don't give a damn about the people you've hurt."
Dabi blinks and finds himself standing over Hawks who is on the floor with a stunned face. Dabi had moved before he realized, dumping Hawks to the floor before rising. Dabi's breathing is rapid as his fists clench and unclench at his sides. His mouth tastes of ash, and fire pulses in his veins even as he's painfully cold.
"You're right," Dabi growls, sneering down at the hero. "I don't give a damn. I don't know what's crawled up your ass and died, but get it out before you fucking talk to me." Dabi's shaking. "What did you even come here and wake me up for, anyways, hero?"
Hawks blinks up at Dabi, having made no move to rise from the floor. Dabi simultaneously wants to haul him up by the collar and kick him while he's down. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, but it doesn't calm him like it normally does. His face is starting to burn like it does before blood leaks from the scars under his eyes.
He turns and stomps towards the doorway. He sure as fuck doesn't want to be around Hawks of all people when that happens. He pauses at the door and glances back. "Read up on personal bubbles and stay out of mine."
He walks up the stairs and takes pleasure in slamming the door to his room behind him. Toga yells something from her room, but he ignores her to flop face-first on his bed.
…He was comfier with Hawks resting on him.
He groans into the mattress and turns, yanking the sheet over him and burying his face into the thin pillow. It smells like smoke and death. The opposite of Hawks who somehow smells like fresh air and life. Dabi's head raises enough to glare at his right hand, at the place that feather drawing had been before it wore off.
Fucking heroes.
You think I'm late. Truth is, I am, and it's an awful habit of mine, but here it is regardless XD
