Ultra Blue Violence (Dabi)

Chapter Seventy: Galactic Nucleus

There was a soft purr in her ear. It was warm and comforting and LOUD. In her dream it was the rumbling of water, but the more it persisted, the more she began to wake up. She wasn't submerged in water. It was a spotted orange cat kneading the pillow beside her head and purring in comfort. (Is that real?) Miya licks her parched lips taking in a deep breath. She felt horrible, like her skin was crawling.

She was in a different smaller room than she remembers from the dark place she was in with Dabi. The walls were painted olive green, and decorated with fake dusty plants. The single futon bed was pushed against the wall under the window. Above her head was a large traditional painting of a naked woman and a tiger wrestling. What an odd place.

Miya yawned, stretching out her cramped body. "Hey, kitty." cooed Miya, lifting her hand to scratch the back of the chubby cat's ears, and he pushed his head into her hand purring louder. "Where did you come from?" her voice was groggy, and dry. The bedroom was dark, and judging by the block-out curtains and dust, this place was unused. She lifted the curtain and the orange afternoon glow of the sun blinded her.

She dropped the curtain rubbing her sore throbbing eyes. Another yawn forced its way out of her mouth. She was awake, but she was too tired to move or roll onto her side.

Dabi was asleep in the corner of the room on a lounge chair. His arms were crossed, and his head resting on his shoulder. It was like he remembered to breathe and a snore rattled his body. Why is he over there? Miya rubbed the sleep out of her sore eyes and tried sitting up. Her whole right arm (free of her costume) in a sling, was a throbbing, tingling pain like pins and needles. She could wiggle her fingers a little bit. That was good. Miya gently rolled back her right shoulder and found she was able to move it. (The Doctor pulled through, huh?) She had fresh bandages and all.

The chubby cat rubbed his cheek across Miya's arm and moved over her lap, flicking its tail into her face. She spat out the fur and pushed the cat away. Miya slipped out the bed finding her feet were sensitive and sore. She padded over to Dabi stepping over his outstretched leg gently shaking his shoulder. "Hey, Dabi?" she says, softly. "Lay in the bed." she tells him.

His body moved on its own with the guide of Miya, half awake, he got to his feet slumping over the short distance of the room and fell face first across the futon bed and bounced a few times. Miya huffed, pushing his legs onto the thin mattress and removed his boots, which smelt sour, and tossed them to the far corner. She somehow managed to slid off his coat and put that aside to let him sleep more comfortably. The cat walks back onto the bed, smelling Dabi's pants before curling into a ball at his knee.

He was so exhausted. Miya tucked her legs under herself and caressed the back of Dabi's head with light fingers. He continued to snore in his sleep with the cat purring at his knee. It's been an absolute crap week, in her opinion, the shittest week on her top five.

Miya moved her hand down Dabi's neck to his shoulder where she touched something wet. She recoiled seeing blood on her fingers. Miya leant over moving the old tattered white shirt away. He was bleeding from some staples in his shoulder. She took care of him like he did for her; and swapped out the staples and cleaned the blood.

There was a soft moan from Dabi and he turned his head peeling open his eyes to see Miya when she pinched a fresh staple into his skin. "You're awake?" his voice was rough and groggy. Miya found it attractive. She nodded, massaging the back of his head. He closed his eyes with a deep hum. "Why do I feel so fucking hot?"

Miya put the back of her hand to his forehead. He wasn't overheating, nor had a temperature. She tilted her head, "You're fine."

Dabi chuckled deeply. "No... the other kind of hot."