Of Wings and Flames - Dabi x OC x Hawks

Rekindled [8]

My body ached all over, pulsating with the phantom flames in my veins. Breathing felt like I was swallowing acid, moving was as though I were under drying cement. Every time I closed my eyes, visions of all-consuming blazes plagued my mind. Far away words of reassurance from Keigo were the only things keeping me tethered. I knew that behind his strained smile was his own pain. My skin was scalding hot, but he held on to me tightly and never once let me go.

Despite the pain, a flicker of warmth birthed in my heart.

I grabbed on to his shirt weakly, gritting my teeth as my muscles cried out against the movement. He looked down at me as he entered his house, already making his way towards the washroom. "C-Cold water," I wheezed, my chest seizing as a wildfire spread through it with every word. He hushed me and smiled kindly, kicking aside the door.

"I know, cutie, I know. You're almost there," he murmured and fumbled with the drain in the tub. He gently set me down on the cool porcelain, and I would have sighed if it weren't for my fried throat. He turned on the showerhead to the coldest setting, and once the frigid water hit my boiling skin it sizzled and steamed, quickly filling the room with fog. He whistled as he watched the bathroom fill up, and touched the water. It was already hot. He continued to let the shower pour over me and left to go grab me a glass of water.

I swallowed deep breaths of air, slumping over against the lip of the tub. At this point, I was completely drenched in icy water, but it wasn't enough to cool my limbs. I groaned as I slipped further into the water, wondering when my bird would return with another gift of salvation. Thankfully he appeared right then, with not only a cold glass of water but a heaping bowl of ice cream as well. I whimpered as he came towards me and lifted my chin, slowly pouring in the water in my mouth. It felt like a sweet slice of heaven, and I sighed in satisfaction. When I drained the glass he brought forward the ice cream, which I eyed with unhidden desire. He chuckled as I made an effort to near the spoon and chomped down on it, relishing the cool cream.

"This is definitely something I never thought I'd be doing with a cute girl," he commented as he fed me another spoon of ice cream. I relaxed as it slowly lowered my temperature, the pain was less severe in my body. I didn't even pay attention to his compliment, choosing to instead indulge myself in the sugary goodness that was ice cream. My eyes slowly began to droop, exhaustion corrupting me. Eventually, I fell limp over the side of the tub, completely out cold.

His easy smile fell when she watched her fall unconscious, waist-deep in warm water. He took a cup and began to pour the water overtop of her head gently to draw out the rest of the heat. His hands and arms still hurt from carrying her, and remembering the scalding heat of her skin, he bit his lip. Why would she risk her wellbeing like that? Why would she deliberately harm herself, and not rely on him? Or even Dabi, he must've been able to do something, but she took it all on her own shoulders.

He gently ran his fingers through her hair and she sighed comfortably, leaning into his touch. He blinked and retreated his hand, before returning and continuing the motion. A small smile curled on her lips as he did so, and something in his stomach fluttered at the peaceful look of bliss on her face. This was the only time her guard had ever been fully down around him, and it took his breath away.

It still hurt him though, that a girl that could look this fragile would wreck herself to save people. He remembered the anxiety as he watched her be submerged under the water, his forgetting to breathe as she narrowly escaped his maws. How once she had beaten the beast, her wings had given up and she tumbled from the air, unable to do anything. He gritted his teeth. How could she put herself, and by extension himself, through such agony? She shifted and he froze, and her brows knit together as she began to murmur in her sleep.

"Mom," she whispered under her breath, the inflection in her voice wavering. A tear in the corner of her eye formed and fell, and her features relaxed again. Her breathing steadied, and her face smoothed out into calm tranquility. Whatever pain she was in was gone now. She just had to rest.

Still, her whisper bothered him. What was she dreaming about? What about her mom was she dreaming of? Why did her face scrunch up like that, as though it were serious?

His stomach twisted as he realised he knew basically nothing about the girl he was becoming more intertwined with and wondered whether or not he'd ever know more. He sighed and stood up, casting one more longing look to the girl sleeping in his tub before he wandered out into the living room. He couldn't just sit there and watch her after all; he had some work to do.