strangled

³²cause for careful steps

Hawks wakes up to the smell of pancake batter.

The first thing he sees when his eyes open is a steamy plate of the delicious breakfast food he has always loved. Thick brown syrup is drizzled over the stack of five pancakes. Along with the syrup, a white fluffy goodness-known as whipped cream-is covering most of the plate. The sweet smell wafts up into his nostrils causing him to groan. He can't stop his wings from perking up behind him in delight, the anticipation of how the food must taste making his mouth water.

Hawks can't remember the last time he had a full meal for breakfast.

"Wake up birdy, it isn't a dream." You laugh while placing a hot cup of coffee in front of him on his desk. He feels your soft hands begin to massage his shoulders and another groan slips from his mouth. "It's not good to fall asleep in that position, you know? Your body hunched over your desk like that all night must suck the next morning."

"Punch me." Hawks says, voice deep from just waking up. "I know you said it isn't a dream but it sure feels like it is."

"I would but I don't want to bruise that pretty face." You joke. "I made breakfast from some stuff I found in the fridge. Don't worry I checked the expiration date. I thought I couldn't spend a night at your house without giving you some kind of thank you present."

When your fingers press into a certain spot near his neck his body stiffens then relaxes.

"Oh right there feels great. God, can you stay over more nights? Or forever?"

You chuckle, "Is this your way of flirting? Sorry but I'm married."

"Yeah your husband is a really lucky guy if he gets this treatment every morning."

"Ugh, I would if he wasn't an ass."

Golden-brown eyes look back at you. "Are you sure you want to go home? Don't think I forgot about the burn mark on your arm. If your husband is abusive in any way I hope you know that you can go to the police about it."

"As if they would believe me." You scoff. "Sure, they'd believe a girl who says the number nine hero of Japan is actually a bad person. They would just send me away."

Hawks frowns, reaching for his cellphone. "I hate to say it, but you're right-oh shit there was a break in at Tartarus last night. The commission called me and I was too asleep to hear it." He quickly stands to his feet as the stress returns back to his body. Your hands get knocked off of his tense back in the process. "Dammit!"

Your eyebrows furrow as you watch him straighten his clothes, hurrying to leave and-most likely-go investigate the scene. "Hey, relax. You said something about a break in? What is Tartarus?"

"Tartarus is a prison where the worst villains go. According to this message, a really bad guy named All For One got out along with so many others. Shit! I shouldn't have fallen asleep. What the fuck is wrong with me? Listen, I appreciate the breakfast but it doesn't seem like I'll have enough time to eat it. You can enjoy it for me, okay?" Hawks hurries to run out of the doors even though he hasn't even fully waken up yet, nearly tripping over his own foot.

You silently watch him run out of the front door, shut it behind him, then take off flying. Shrugging, you let out a sigh.

I almost feel bad for being the cause of his stress.