Taking a Chance
You want me to leave it there,
afraid of a love affair
But I think you know
That I can't let go - Take a Chance on Me - ABBA
3 Months After That - Dabi
I sighed as I looked out over the deck of the artillery bay, it's machinery in seeming disarray, the shelves a jumble of tools of every size and function, not organized. The view held my attention. The clouds scudded along my ports, making sunlight dapple or streak over my railguns. The ones that didn't need fixing, at any rate.
One railgun was in it's parts, a pile of metal seemingly scattered across the deck on little scraps of canvas. I fingered the sight, it's crystal inset cracked now. I pulled a sheet of paper from my coveralls, a pen from a different pocket, and made the note. It wasn't the only thing I needed, but if they needed guns, it was the most important.
Light footsteps sounded in the bay, and I turned to see Ochaco standing there. Her knickerbockers pressed and neatly buttoned at the knee in a double row of brass. Her white cotton shirt billowed like a pristine cloud, enshrouding her curves. Her leather boots were polished, though there was a scrape over one, making me wonder where she'd been working this morning.
"Reporting for duty!" She smiled and came forward, "Hey, wasn't this a railgun yesterday?"
"It still is a railgun." I held up the sight, "It's a railgun that won't fire correctly without this."
She pulled it from my fingers, her brows scrunching as she studied it, "What does it do?"
"It's the sight." I held out my hand, though she ignored me. "Technically, I don't need it, but our rails aren't as efficient as military grade, so the sight is pretty important." I tapped my palm with a hint of a smile, and she placed it in the center, her fingers brushing my skin, making a little spark jump in my blood.
She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, still oddly naked, and smiled at me, "Well, here I am, anyway. Am I going to learn about the railgun today?"
"You want to?" I was going to have her inventory the artillery, but the chance to keep her here, to sit next to her and talk was too good to pass up. Shelves can always be organized later.
She plopped down, "Yeah!" She blushed slightly, "Your lessons are interesting at least."
I joined her on the deck, pulling one of the scraps of canvas closer. "I thought you were learning anatomy from Midnight."
Ocacho winced, and let her eyes linger on the portholes before she shifted to get a more comfortable seat. Her hair was now being colored and highlighted by the sun, and she looked just as radiant. She seemed to notice my attention, and she flicked her eyes toward me again before continuing.
"Yes. But Tsuyu is so much more interested, and I know enough about the body to keep my blood in." She made a face, "I don't mind the science of the body, but, really, I don't want to be a medic." She shot me a look that I couldn't interpret, "Besides, I miss talking to you."
"Hmm." I ran a finger over my staples on the right cheek, scratching the soft skin betwixt the ruined, "Tell me about the railgun. Let's see what you know."
I started putting the gun together as Ochaco stumbled though the basics of how a rail gun works. It was really quite advanced, considering her educational level when I first met her. But she was correct, for the most part, and I nodded along.
We worked together, her asking questions and me explaining the science for quite some time. She was such a good student, and always listened carefully before asking questions. It was the first thing... Well, amongst the first things I loved about her. When the gun was half-done, I motioned her to stand, she'd been screwing in the tiny delicate fastenings that held the copper in place. "Use your quirk and lift the coil."
She pressed her unique fingers to the housing, making it float to my hand. She steepled her fingers, and it dropped into my grasp. She leaned in at the same time as I did, and we bumped heads. At first, I was going to step away, but her brown eyes just caught me fast.
"Sorry." Her smile was slow, making my heart beat like a marching band gone insane.
I reached for her cheek slowly and she rubbed against my hand like a kitten. My fingers curled, catching a few stray hairs. She allowed it, and I cautiously took the next step. With a sweet gentleness, we touched lips, a soft question.
Her hands reached for my face, and I tried to back away. That had scared more people than I wanted to admit. It was also sensitive, and the wrong touch, no matter how well-intentioned would hurt like the devil. She had reflexes honed from a hard life and she caught me, holding on with the same determination and compassion as you might a prized butterfly.
Her eyes lit, glowing like banked coals, "Did I hurt you?"
"Not yet."
Her mouth quirked into a small smile, "Do you want me to?"
"T-that's not what I meant." I chuckled weakly, "But, no. I don't."
"Is this okay?" Her mouth poised above mine, the first time in what felt like forever - since the actual first time - that a woman had initiated a kiss after the first touch. I felt the last three months of wanting, of waiting, hoping fall away like so much cobwebbing. I slipped my hand into the thick mass of hair, pulling her that last, final breath to connect with me. Our breathing mingled as we explored each other delicately.
"Maybe over the railgun isn't the right place." It's cold metal tubes and wiring was barring our bodies from coming closer. She nodded, and stepped around, and I once again allowed her to capture me. Hands, suddenly on auto-pilot, stroking, touching, gripping at everything within reach. Heat swept my body, tightening my stomach and making me feel like my quirk was crawling though me, setting my senses ablaze in a flare of passion.
"Dabi," she whispered into my ear, and I repressed a shudder that would have shaken the entire Magdalene.
I squeezed her tightly , nuzzling into her hair, "Ochaco..." I took a breath, "Is this what you want?"
"Absolutely." She angled her mouth closer, "Ever since you came back for me."
6 Months Later - Ochaco
I cracked an eye open, weak sunlight illuminating our bunk. The overhead clock told me it was still early, yet. I sat up, flipping back my side of our blankets, putting bare feet on the cool decking. I felt movement behind me, and it wasn't Dabi waking, but instead, his fingers curling and his breathing coming harder.
I sighed sadly, diving right back into the bed, snuggling under the blankets, and rubbed his arm, trying to wake him gently. His nightmares, or memories, or whatever these spells were are hard on him.
"Dabi?"
His fingers scrabbled over the crisp sheets, a low groan making me tense. I watched unmarred skin strain against burned, mangled skin and his silver staples. I swept fingers over his face, smoothing the tightness that marred his countenance.
At first I'd been shocked to see the devastation, but he'd been Forgotten like me. Not a big surprise that when his quirk had burned his own body he hadn't received the help he'd needed. And after a bit, it was just.. Dabi. I had fallen in love so completely that seeing pale, unbroken skin after the wonderland that was his body was a bit of a let down.
"Sweetling?" I nudged him, pressing my body close to him, feeling his heat seep into my skin, "Dabi, you're fine."
"Never again," he groaned turning toward me, his fierce gaze going soft as he woke and refocused on me. He took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly, "Ochaco."
"Morning." I kissed the tip of his nose, "You okay?"
"I could be better." His eyes darkened in a deliciously wicked way, and his grin split the skin under his staples, lending a certain macabre aspect to my sudden desire to let him consume me.
I pressed into him, arching my back as he growled, rolling me under, pulling the thick quilt over us, a cocoon of warmth, our scents mixing in a mind-numbing way. I ran eyes over his body, so perfect in all the ways that mattered. I swept my fingers over the patches of scarred flesh, ridged to my touch and I knew to be very sensitive. He lowered his mouth, warm and sensual, another textural delight to mine.
With a reverent slowness, he ran hands up my sides, catching my chemise betwixt long fingers. Dabi slipped off the silk, tossing it out before reaching between us to help me remove more cloth. Those slender fingers making traceries over my skin, their inherent heat making goose flesh rise in their wake. We made love, chasing his darkness away with the delight of life, pure and simple.
"Thank you," he breathed into my ear as he finished, his chest heaving still. His cheek sliding on the four piercings I had there, mirroring his. My heart was still in my throat trying to beat it's way out. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
I smiled, "I love you too. Now get off. I have to report to Toshinari in..." I flicked my eyes to the brass bound clock that was built into the console that dominated the wall facing the window, "Half hour! Oh, gods, let me up, I have to shower, and I can't be late!"
His heavy leg which had trapped me moved, and I scooted out of his bunk. I grabbed my thickly quilted robe, and snatched up the towel I'd used yesterday, dashing out to the communal bath area for officers. I was thankful that he'd gotten me permission to use them, or I'd have to go all the way down two decks to the crew bath.
My shower was well underway by the time he slid into the stall next to me, "Where are we today, Kitten?"
"Hunterston. In Scotland Protectorate." It wasn't a black site, known only to smugglers and pirates, but it was very secluded and catered to a certain kind of captain and crew. "Toshinari needs me to get some things for Midnight. I'm in charge of gathering medical supplies and whatever stock of candy I can find. Along with fresh ginger, dried apricots," I ticked the list off on my fingers, "and dried figs if I can find any in town." I giggled, filling my hand with shampoo, "Condoms."
"Hunterston," he mused as I heard the shower start, "That was very good. What should I get while we're here?"
It was part of my continuing education. Dabi had finished his schooling, even after having run away from home when his quirk made his parents too nervous at age 12. He'd faked a Middle Class Ident Chip and had finished school the same year that he lost control, for whatever reason, of his own quirk. He was still reluctant to talk about what had happened to give him such horrific scars.
"Coal!" I smiled, rinsing out my hair, "This landing is best known for coal. But we're refueling and taking on water and food stores as well. It's a good port. The people are friendly." This was my second time to this particular port. I turned off the water, and ducked my head around the corner to watch him rinse the suds off his lean body. "I've been given permission to go to Irvine for supplies. I was going to go unless you wanted me to stay in Farlie."
He turned serious eyes on me, "Irvine might be lesser known than Edinburgh or Glasgow, but Japanese crew do still show up there from time to time. I know the risk is minimal, but please be careful." I could practically feel the worry rolling off him, with his face being instantly recognizable, and virtually impossible to hide, he couldn't go into larger towns.
"I will," I promised. I didn't want to be caught either, though as a boatswain, there was nothing the King's men could really charge me with. But depending on which crew, treason was sometimes handed down as the sentence. The punishment was beheading. Cruel, and what we pirates fight against. "I have to run, now." I grabbed the robe tossing it on over the towel before running back to his room to dress and go.
He came back before I was ready to leave, and watched me slipping into my only dress, a long sleeved velvet frock that reached the ground in a rich wine that I'd bought at a thrift store in America the time we'd crossed the Atlantic. The American Federation was on good terms with Japan, and so we were careful, but it'd been both fun and profitable.
"I was cleaning the artillery shelves, and noticed that the copper pipes behind A2 were starting to warp. You should have Izuku look at them today, too." I pinned on a bustle, it's dark grey fabric dripping with hand pinned rosettes that contrasted nicely with the dress, it had been a present from Dabi from the same trip. I blew him a kiss as he groaned and pulled on his dark, thick cotton work pants. I picked up my empty canvas bags that'd be bulging with treats and medicines soon, and ran out of the room to the bridge.
AN/ Internal screaming. Why you be this way, chapter? Thank you to my beta, Mr Mosevic. And thank you too, readers! If you're feeling it, please leave me a note, they really make my day!
