Work Text:
Dabi couldn’t help but stumble a few times, as dangerous as it was, climbing up the fire escape.
He had to be quiet, he couldn’t damage his relationship with the bird or else he might get more insistent on meeting the league. And Dabi couldn’t let a spy meet the league. Aside from the practical aspect of Hawks being a spy , he didn't think that Twice, Spinner, or Toga’s psyches could handle a betrayal like that.
Shigaraki would be fine, he had Kurogiri. Compress as well was self sufficient like Dabi, but those three Dabi was definitely worried about. Twice and Toga especially with how quickly those two latched onto new people in their social circles. Hawks would no doubt play into that. Endear himself as much as possible to the group. Spinner would fall for the act likely at that point, while one of the saner members he was noticeably unsocialized and silently leaked desperation for positive connections.
That was what Dabi had seen every other infiltrating commission agent clumsily entering the underworld do.
So he had to keep Hawks from getting more insistent on finishing up their business. The fact that he quite liked the bird brain was only a bonus, but he still had to be careful.
He couldn’t make too much noise and wake up the hero.
Then he tripped over the most gaudy yellow and olive curtains he’d ever seen while he climbed through Hawks’ window with a loud yelp. Dabi instantly curled in on himself, preparing for the flying feather, hard and dagger sharp, that would fly towards him.
Yet, even after thirty seconds, there was none. Dabi uncurled and steadied himself on the wall as he got up, and pressed his hand to his side again. It was a futile method to staunch the bleeding of the massive gash that ran down his side, thankfully on his less burnt side and only over healthy skin. He let out a soft curse when he saw the small puddle of blood he left behind on the thankfully wooden floors.
“Dabi?” The voice was tired and a bit wary but Dabi’s head shot up to see Hawks standing in the entrance of what must be his bedroom.
How did he not notice him coming? Shit, was his hearing going now too? Dabi shook his head he couldn’t let Hawks get mad about this, he had to-
Then there were gentle taloned hands on his shoulder and back and Dabi flinched.
“Easy baby,” Hawks’ voice was gentle and he pulled away slightly and only then did Dabi notice that he was kneeling next to him, now with hands hovering in the air. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
Hawks sounded like he actually gave a shit and wasn’t about to get mad or hurt Dabi further so he nodded. Hawks looked at him, eyes darting to his side with an unspoken question in them and Dabi nodded again.
Then the hero offered him a hand and he took it, letting the winged man help him up off the floor. He couldn’t help but look down at the puddle of blood he left on the floor. Hawks must have noticed, because he pushed Dabi’s cheek gently in his direction with a feather. Dabi turned to look into tired honey eyes.
“Don’t worry about that, I’ll clean it up later, it's no big deal.” The hero actually laughed for some reason then. “It’s nothing worse than any messes I’ve made.” Then he pressed a gentle kiss of all things to Dabi’s nose and started guiding him away from the window. “Let’s just worry about gettin that wound cleaned up, yeah?” Dabi let himself drift a bit after that, riding the wooziness and adrenaline remnants from the blood loss as Hawks half carried him to wherever he kept his wound care supplies. Dabi doubted the same sort of mini infirmary that Endeavor’s estate housed could fit in an apartment, no matter how big.
He was proven right when, a short eternity of pain and dizziness later, he was seated on a toilet in a small bathroom. Looking through the door he could see a bed so Hawks kept his wound care in the master bathroom. That made sense, yet was so pedestrian and normal that it felt wrong for a hero to do it. As extravagant and needlessly pompous as most of the ones Dabi interacted with as a child had been. Then again Endeavor’s suck ups and acquaintances he actually paid semi-attention to likely weren’t a very good sample size. It was still mind boggling to think that some heroes were so… Normal as to just take care of wounds in the bathroom.
Dabi almost jumped out of his skin at the fingers that came in front of his face, snapping twice. Only then did he feel a gentle hand, already pressed to his side and warming the normally chilled skin.
“Dabs, I was asking if you were allergic to anything?” Dabi nodded.
“Mild shellfish allergy, nothing medical though.” Hawks nodded and went to grab whatever he would treat Dabi with from below the bathroom counter. Not having any medical allergies was a slight lie, Dabi knew, but just like shellfish a little bit of lidocaine wouldn’t kill him. Just leave him uncomfortable. His father had the great joy of proving that many times over during his childhood. His skin in the area would just be red and bumpy for a few days. One of the many joys of his nervous system being fucked now was that he wouldn’t even itch anymore.
It also numbed a bit of pain now Dabi had learned being treated one of the few times he’d gone to a clinic since being on the streets. It was way more effective at that with the overwhelming itching being suppressed. Dabi didn’t seek out anesthesia though, pain was one of the few things left he could actually feel along with temperature. It felt odd to make that go away. Like he was ungrateful, no doubt another issue in the pile his father had given him.
Then Hawks was back.
“I’m gonna need to cut your shirt, okay?” At Dabi’s staring towards the scissors he held in his hands Hawks continued. “I’ll get you a new one though- not going to send you back to wherever your staying without a shirt.” Dabi nodded then, he guessed the League’s shitty warehouse they were squatting in barely counted as somewhere he was ‘staying’ but he wasn’t going to mention that to Hawks.
Hawks cut Dabi’s shirt away. He didn’t just pull it up from the wound that it’d plastered into either. Instead he cut around it first, leaving the spot with slowly drying blood there before getting up starting the faucet, likely to wet something. Dabi was distracted by the fact that Hawks didn’t comment on his scars- practically everyone else he’d ever let see him with his shirt off had. He didn’t exactly like it either, hence why he’d kept it on during their previous… encounters. The faucet stopped, and Dabi looked beside him at Hawks, who was kneeling down with a wet rag in hand.
“Fair warning this might hurt.”
“‘S fine, doesn’t bother me.” Hawks looked at him oddly then. Not like he was mildly insane but more with a worry in his eyes. It was weird. But a good weird , Hawks was a weird Dabi was coming to like. Then the hero started slowly pulling off the remaining piece of cotton shirt, pressing the rag gently over the exposed skin in its wake. Dabi didn’t outwardly react, and Hawks didn’t comment.
When the piece of cloth was fully removed Hawks tossed it into the near empty bathroom trash can.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take it out tonight.” He said unprompted, in some attempt at reassurance. It wasn’t needed really, but Dabi supposed it was a nice gesture.
Hawks made a lot of nice gestures, enough that Dabi was starting to find himself thinking they weren’t hollow and instead were actually genuine.
A comfortable silence hung between them as Hawks cleaned his wound. First with water then he went over it with a disinfectant of some sort, it stung mildly but the sensation was nowhere near as bad as the muscle deep ache Dabi had felt climbing the fire escape up to Hawks’s windows. He still busied himself with studying the Hero’s choice of bathroom paint. The walls were primarily white with splatters, feather shapes, and brushstrokes of different colors smeared all over it. It wasn’t something Dabi would have pegged a top Hero as having in their home but he supposed Hawks wasn’t a normal Top Hero either way.
At the slight repeated pressure he vaguely felt on the healthy skin of his thigh Dabi turned to look at the man beside him. He lifted up a sealed, clear package. Within it Dabi could see forceps, a needle, and black thread.
“I’m gonna suture this up now before I bandage it, okay? I’d give you anesthetic but I don’t have any right now.” Hawks’ voice was gentle and quiet, as if trying not to disturb him for some reason. He nodded and then Hawks opened it and busied himself with Dabi’s wound once again. Dabi took the opportunity to go back to studying the wall and drifting amidst his own thoughts.
He felt a vague appreciation when Hawks didn’t just do a running suture all the way through, choosing to do individual knots that weren’t connected by thread. Good. That would be far easier for Dabi to take care of. He didn’t like using staples on skin he didn’t have to. They weren’t exactly comfortable but he might only have to use a few of them to replace broken stitches now instead of having to pull out the entire thread. Before he knew it Hawks was tightly wrapping clean smelling bandages around the suture job then helping him off the toilet.
Dabi leaned into Hawks after he wrapped Dabi’s arm across his shoulders and then his own under Dabi’s arm, leaving the wound facing outward and exposed to the air. It was pleasantly just slightly chilled. He let Hawks lead him to the bed, and sit him down. He was surprised however, when Hawks turned back around to walk to his dresser.
Did he have a new toy or something he wanted to try out? That was the only reason Dabi could imagine that he was being allowed to sleep in Hawks’ bed after making a mess. It would be worth it though, even if he did have to do wound care in the morning after returning to the :League base.
Hawks had a nice bed.
Dabi was shocked when the winged man however turned around with only a plain white shirt and a pair of sweatpants.
“Alright hot stuff, this might be a bit short but it should fit you.” Dabi just stared at Hawks as he held out the shirt. Hawks reoriented it in his hands before asking. “Do you need help putting it on babe?” Dabi shook his head and accepted the offered garments. Hawks smiled gently and pressed a kiss to Dabi’s cheek before walking back to the bathroom, probably to tie up the trash.
Dabi pulled on the shirt which was unsurprisingly too big before standing up and unfastening his belt and letting his jeans slide down his legs before stepping out of them. He folded them, and left them at the foot of the bed before pulling on the sweat pants. They were a bit short, also unsurprisingly. But only barely. The width of the legs drowned Dabi which was good considering his staples. He sat there at the edge of the bed and waited for Hawks to come back. Hawks came out of the bathroom with the trash, and left through the bedroom door. Dabi heard the trash fall, likely into another trash can given Hawks used grocery bags instead of actual liners in the bathroom.
What surprised Dabi was that Hawks came back into the room with a juice box of all things. Dabi thought he made it clear that one of his few lines was no food play- he couldn’t afford to get anything he didn’t have to into his seams. He still accepted the juice box that was pressed into his hands, even as dread filled his stomach.
Hawks pressed a kiss to his temple.
“Drink that baby, then you can go to sleep, it’ll help your body replace blood.” Dabi nodded. That was slightly better then he supposed, maybe it even meant Hawks wasn’t expecting pee play. The man had thankfully never expressed an interest in it and this certainly wasn’t enough liquid for that. Dabi stabbed the flimsy straw into the hole covered in metal foil, and started slurping up the contents. He was surprised to see Hawks place his belt on the end table, his jeans in the other hand.
“I’m gonna go put these in the hamper, I was going to do laundry tomorrow anyway and I don’t mind washing your pants with them.” Hawks reached out and brushed a piece of Dabi’s hair behind his ear. “You okay with that hot stuff?” He nodded and the hero left again. Another nice gesture on the pile, even if the cold dread of the inevitable sex drowned out the gentle warm bloom in his chest. The juice box finally emptied and Dabi looked down at it in his hands.
Suction had squeezed the sides in.
The sight of that, the evidence of the contents inside having run off, evoked an uncomfortable emotion in him that Dabi didn’t want to dwell on too much. So he didn’t, instead just staring down blankly. Hawks came back a few seconds later and took the juice box from him before sweeping out of the room again, likely to wherever he’d tossed the bathroom trash.
Dabi was left to sit there and mentally prepare himself for the performance he was about to put on. He normally didn’t have to act- he normally loved sex with Hawks- but today he was tired and aching. After a few seconds of allowed respite he started pulling sweatpants down. He left them in a pile on the ground and sat straight up in the bed. Hawks had never disliked his posture before but Dabi already needed to pay a lot back, he wasn’t taking any chances.
“Dabs?” He turned to look at Hawks, who looked as confused as he sounded and was lingering in the doorway. “What’s wrong, were the pants not comfortable? Did they catch?”
“No,” Dabi’s voice was hoarse and wary, too wary- he needed to cover that up fast. He needed to be good. “There wasn’t anything wrong with them. I just thought you would want me ready.”
“Ready for what?” Hawks was still lingering in the doorway, worried expression still pinching his angular face.
“Sex.” Hawks looked at him, as if studying his body language. Maybe even listening to his heartbeat with the feathers he always kept in his bed after a stalker broke in one time and… Defiled it.
“Baby you’re hurt, and you’re not excited. Why would you think I wanted to have sex with you. ” Hawks’ voice was gentle and dripping with care. Dabi didn’t quite understand that though, and with the way Hawks walked over with a broken expression, it showed.
“But I need to pay you back somehow?” The formerly sure sentiment in Dabi’s mind came out as a question. Confused and jumbled from the odd signals Hawks was giving him. Or not giving him rather. Hawks sat down next to him on the bed and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.
“You really don’t Dabs.” Dabi turned to look at Hawks, he could feel his turning down.
“But-”
“No, Dabi I love you,” Hawks’ voice was soft as he reached out and cupped Dabi’s cheek, careful of where the numerous staples were and with a feather light touch. “I don’t need any payment from you. I just want you to be okay.” Dabi tried to turn away, and Hawks let him. “You can wear or not wear the pants to bed- it’s your choice.”
He stared down at the pants on the floor and Hawks just sat there next to him and let him think.
“They’re comfortable,” Dabi’s voice was hoarse to his own ears. Filled with tears of unknown emotions he could no longer shed. “I want to wear them.” Hawks pressed a kiss to his shoulder before getting off the bed and kneeling between Dabi’s legs.
He held up the sweatpants and gently guided Dabi’s legs into them. Then he helped Dabi stand and pulled them up past his thighs before pulling the string taught once again, so they stayed up past Dabi’s narrow hips. Hawks just held Dabi after that, in a gentle hug, as they stood beside the bed. Dabi buried his face into Hawks’ neck and Hawks’ hand came up to stroke through Dabi’s hair, as Dabi turned what had just happened over in his mind.
It was nice. More than nice really, this was far more pleasurable than anything sexual could be at the moment.
After a while Hawks broke the silence.
“I don’t know how long this has been the thought process behind whatever we are but we can talk about that in the morning, or afternoon since I have the day off. Right now we’re both tired and I want us to have this discussion when we are both fully awake.” Dabi nodded and Hawks led him to the bed.
He slept in Hawks’ arms and under a bright red wing.
He slept better than he ever had in Hawks’ bed.