Disdain [Dabi x Reader]

XII

With the tenderness and swiftness of a swaying feather, (y/n)'s palms glided against the quiet boy's skin, or rather the skin sewn unto his back-- spreading moisturizing lotion across its surface. Their hands roamed with familiarity, relying mostly on muscle memory to guide them. It was clear that they had done this many times before. His back was warm. Warmer. (Y/n) smiled at the sensation, their muscles untensing in relief. The increasing warmth from his scars only meant that the skin was more than well-suited for him now. And hopefully, soon enough, he would be able to wield his quirk as he used to before the incident.

The caretaker expelled a silent breath as they gently pulled down Touya's shirt, pausing with their eyes fixated on the boy's back, embracing the tranquil silence surrounding them. Their gaze moved to grace over an item on the worn-out shelf: a jar, a large one. A handful of ashes sitting discarded at the bottom of it. (Y/n) squinted at it, a ghost of a grimace flashing across their features, then they turned back to Touya who sat facing away before them. The tranquility enveloping them quickly turned into uneasiness once they finally took note of his unusual silence.

Usually whenever (Y/n) aided him with his daily 'medicine', he often rambled about whatever had crossed his mind that fine morning. It could be the most random of topics, like 'How were new colors discovered?' or 'How come nails grow but if I cut off my finger the bone wouldn't grow back?' or 'The bottom of my toe looks pointy' or even more bizarre conversations.

(Y/n) got up from their chair and made their way to the cabinet, pulling out a container of eye drops.

"So" they began, eyeing the eyedrops thoroughly for no apparent reason. "why so quiet?"

"hm?" Touya hummed. His back straightened as he was pulled away from his trance. "Oh, just thinking." He shrugged.

"Of...?" They pressed, walking over to him while they twisted the cap open. He made a face. They knew that face, it's the face he made whenever he was contemplating refraining from saying something or just saying it. (Y/n) raised an unamused brow at him as he continued to make the face.

"I would've never believed you were a villain if I didn't know before." He admitted. "I mean-- You're so nice... sometimes. And you take care of me and stuff without anything in return, you know?" 

"Well, I suppose it is hard to believe." (Y/n) validated. They looked at him with the eyedrops stretched toward him. "You want to do it?" They asked. He shook his head.

"It's also hard to imagine that you're still a villain. I know you do villainess things and stuff when you're away, but still..." Touya blinked aggressively once they put two drops into his right eye. "What do you do anyway?"

"I do what I'm good at. Surgeries." They said, holding open his left eye to place the eyedrops. 

"What's so villainess about that?!" He blinked aggressively again.

"I do the illegal kind of surgeries, Touya." they explained, closing the container as they headed back to the cabinet. From the child's silence, (Y/n) could tell that he was confused by their statement. He opened his mouth to speak.

"I'd rather not elaborate further." They declared. Touya closed his mouth in a pout. Silence fell between them as (Y/n) went to the sink to clean their hands and as Touya sat wordlessly in thought.

"How did you become a villain? going from a doctor to a villain is a pretty crazy transition." He spoke. (Y/n) frowned, their hands freezing under the flow of the cool water. after a few moments of stillness, they finally moved to close the water tab. "...was it cause' of your family, maybe?"

They let out a short laugh at his guess. "My family? no, no. My parents were far from the reason. They were amazing people. Kind, honest, supporting, proud." 

"Then?" Touya pushed further. (Y/n) turned to him, smiling at his eagerness.

"I never planned to be a villain, I had to be one... Because of a grave mistake I made. I hadn't meant to do it, it was all in the heat of the moment. Hell-- I didn't even know what I was doing until all the damage had already been done." 

"That sounds a lot like me." Touya said. Quiet fell upon them once again as they both stared into each other's eyes, each trying to figure out what the other was thinking. (Y/n) cleared their throat, breaking the deafening silence.

"How about you tell me about your family?" They suggested cheerfully.

"Uhh I wouldn't know where to start..." He trailed off.

"How about with your father?"

"Ugh!!" Touya stuck out his tongue in displeasure. "He sucks! He just wants a child who will become a great hero, and it was going to be me. He ignored all of us once Shoto showed up, and he became even meaner to mom after that! And he doesn't even give me the time of day, or any of us really... Speaking of mom, I need to apologize to her... I said some pretty mean things to her while all she was tryna do was to protect me, I feel really bad about it. And my siblings, Fuyumi and Natsu. Fuyumi is the first youngest to me. She's pretty girlie, which makes sense, of course. She's always the one getting us to hang out together and play. Natsu's the second youngest, he's calm most of the time, but can be really loud when he's excited about stuff. I always went to him when I had something I needed to get off my chest." (Y/n) grinned at how talkative he was being.

"How about Shoto?" They blurted. He perked up at the name.

"I don't really know much about Shoto... Last I really saw him was when he was a baby." He shrugged.

"How come?" They asked. A sudden saddened look spread across his face, and his eyes fell downcast.

"I tried to hurt him when he was really young, I was jealous cause' dad chose him over all of us. I should probably apologize to him too... Dad didn't let any of us near him after that." He admitted. (Y/n) gave Touya a sympathetic look as they patter his head.

"You'll get to apologize to them." They said. Touya's as continued to stare down at the tiled floor, then his head snapped up once he fully took in their words. His eyes brightened as he looked up at them.

"That makes me think you're planning something!" Touya jumped out off his seat, trying to hide his excitement. (Y/n) began walking to the other room to get their coat.

"Is that so?" 

"Are you??" He followed behind them.

"Am I?"