Feathers and Flame // Dabi x Reader x Hawks

10: Strawberry Shampoo

Waking up was never really that difficult for you. Obviously, you were fond of your bed like any normal person, but you disliked wasting precious sunlight laying about. But today — oh, today — you would have stayed buried beneath your blankets for as long as humanly possible to avoid the pure shame of your drunken words.

Blankets... I'm in my bed.

Yes, you were in your bed. And it took you a stupidly long time to realise that, along with the fact that you most certainly hadn't fallen asleep there. Which would mean that either you'd taken up sleepwalking — and you prayed it was that — or your villainous companion had done something chivalrous, and completely uncharacteristic. Two equally impossible answers, and with your head pounding the way it was, you couldn't spend too long dwelling on what the real answer was.

If the universe was kinder, you would have forgotten all that transpired and all you had said. But you didn't. You remembered it all. There was no easy way out. No alcohol-induced amnesia to save your ass. In fact, the events played like a high-definition movie-reel in your head the moment you regained consciousness. You'd all but admitted to Dabi that you jumped to fight for him because you wanted to. And that wasn't even the worst of it.

You wouldn't have to kidnap me to make me stay.

Oh, that one was your personal favourite. Suddenly, being decayed by Shigaraki seemed appealing. The number one on the list was followed swiftly by when you called him pretty. Big, bad, dangerous Dabi and you'd called him pretty. And you totally meant it, too.

So, for a brief moment of pure self-pity, you stayed beneath your soft blankets and hoped the universe would rewind and set everything right. Of course it didn't, but a girl could dream. After enough time had elapsed and enough courage had been mustered, you rolled yourself out of bed, head throbbing and stomach churning like a cement mixer.

This is usually the part where you would vow never to drink again, but that would be a blatant lie and you knew it. Some fleeting gladness could be taken by the fact you were still fully dressed in your catsuit, though that would also mean you were acknowledging something else could have happened in your drunken stupor. Admitting you actually wanted Dabi wasn't on todays bingo card, so you shoved that one down for later.

"Fuck," you cursed as you stumbled towards your bedroom door, dragging one lead-heavy foot in front of the other.

The mission objective was obtaining water and painkillers, and the major conflict was avoiding the scarred villain likely lurking around your apartment, if he'd even stayed.

Unfortunately for you, today wasn't going to be easy. No, you were paying dearly for every little secret you'd uttered and the universe was laughing in your face. It took approximately one second after you stepped out of your bedroom to find Dabi. One second and your mind had completely emptied at the sight of him.

There he was, standing in your hallway in nothing but a grey towel hanging from low on his hips to his knees. If you had any sense of restraint you would have peeled your eyes off immediately, but you didn't. You couldn't. You wanted to drink in every little detail like it was the water you so desperately needed.

You were shameless in your exploration. The scarred throat that usually led beneath a t-shirt now showed you the expanse of his skin. Half ruined and half perfect. From the broadness of his chest to the lean abs protruding through scars, to the delicious sloping lines that cut beneath his towel like a road to a prize. He was beautiful in a way that was visceral, and you wanted so desperately to reach out and touch him. To run your fingers over his stapled skin and claim every little piece of him. And the shoulders, those were your weakness. Large, thick pads of muscle curving into perfectly defined biceps and his wide, expansive chest.