Blue Flame |Dabi x Reader|

roommates, iii.

A little after 7 p.m., the phone buzzed on the floor in front of me. The sound was an unpleasant disturbance to the peace I'd most of the day, given that I hadn't heard from or seen Dabi since that morning. I glanced down at the notification and saw that he had opted to text me instead of call me. "Who's learning now?" I thought to myself, the shadow of a smile creeping onto my face, even if only for a minute.

"Is texting you better?"

I thought for a moment, my fingers dancing above the screen, before deciding that I needed to continue the silent treatment even through messages.

I tapped back:

" :-)"

Before I could set the phone down, it buzzed with his reply.

"Dont be like this Bambi"

He was unamused. I could read the message in his voice, the hollow sound of his raspy voice playing back in my head. I could hear his annoyance. I could feel it through the phone.

The phone buzzed again:

"Are you still mad at me?"

I inhaled, wondering how to reply to him in smiley faces. A smile wouldn't do, because I wasn't exactly happy with him, but anything else would likely upset him. I didn't want to upset him. Every time I upset him he found a way to retaliate against me. I was getting tired of him bouncing my head off of things.

I decided silence would be best.

I looked back to the cheesy soap opera on TV and tried to get re-involved in the tacky plot, but the phone buzzed again. He wouldn't take no response as a response, either.

"Im coming back soon. See you in 10"

My entire body tensed as I retreated into the blanket wrapped around me. I'd upset him again, I knew it. I closed my eyes, pulling the blanket over my head and face, and started to cry again over the thought of him coming back up here. I didn't know what he was going to come up here and do; there were so many variables when it came to Dabi. I could never fully read him. His emotions changed in an instant - the only constant with him was that he was always ready to intimidate me, to belittle me.

To hurt me.

My stomach grumbled.

I watched the numbers on the phone screen slowly tick by from my blanket cocoon. After about ten minutes or so, I heard the front door open and close quickly. His boots echoed on the linoleum. The other apparent constant was that he was a man of his word.

I heard his footsteps grow closer and stop outside of the bedroom door. He sighed loudly from outside the room. I pulled the blanket tighter around myself. He softly tapped on the door. "Hey, mouse," his voice was gentle, apprehensive - maybe even apologetic, "I'm back." There was a long pause. "Like I said I would be." Oddly enough, that didn't sound like a threat. It sounded strange and stiff, sure, but it wasn't threatening.

And yet, I said nothing, shaking like a leaf in my blanket cocoon. What was he playing at now?

I heard the door click and unlock, then swing open. I could hear him walking over to me slowly and hesitantly. "Little mouse?" His raspy voice was soft and low. I felt him sit down in front of me. He took a deep breath and sighed again. "Look-" I felt him grab part of the blanket in front of my face and I whined, pulling the blanket tighter around me, shaking. He kept his fingers on the blanket, but didn't pull it off of me. He only tightened his grip, his hand brushing mine through the soft fabric. He sighed softly again. "Can you look at me? Please?" His voice was strained, like he was struggling to continue to speak to me gently.