Build Me a Funeral Pyre

A Game of Cat and Mouse

Silence stretches between the two men and Dabi can almost feel how tangible it is. The static that thrums in the empty space and the still unbelieving eyes of Hawks narrow. There is something nearly poetic of his current state of affairs, ever the man to always find himself standing in boiling water and not knowing when to jump out.

It's a good thing that he's well accustomed to the wrathful bite of the heat.

Seconds bleed into what feels like forever and Dabi finally allows a lopsided grin.

"I believe that you must have me mistaken for someone else." Those too sharp eyes seem to pierce through his soul.

"Don't play stupid with me, Todoroki." Hawks clenches his jaw and dares to take a step closer. It's a bad thing for Dabi that Hawks had learned long ago how to tempt and dance with fire. Dabi holds his breath as Hawks takes another step and then another until they're nearly nose to nose.

"I know a Todoroki when I see one."

"Is that s'posed to scare me?" What once had been honey sweet eyes of his first love is now only cold, like gold that had been tempered by the fires of a forge and beat to a razor sharp point- ready to cut at a single fumbled and careless misstep.

"I don't know, should the truth scare you?" Long ago, Hawks had a soft baby face and an eager smile, ready to bring smiles to those around him. Seeing him now, as an adult and as a hero with sharp and proud cheekbones and a frown tugging at his lips makes Dabi want to laugh. He can see years of stress in the way that Hawks holds himself. He's always been too fast for his own good- it seems that he's finally starting to pay the price from all of his boasting. Being stretched to thin by an ever demanding government and adoring fans can force even the strongest to take knee, like water slowly but surely eroding away at a rock. Regardless of the exhaustion that dwells within the hero's gaze, Dabi knows nothing can go undetected by him.

"How 'bout this, we go our separate ways and forget that we ever ran into each other." Hawks raises an eyebrow and looks unimpressed.

"Or," Hawks drawls with a wry grin, taking out one of his primary feathers and sharpens it to a fine point, deadlier than any sword. "You answer my question and I decide what to do with a supposed dead man." Hawks levels the feather and the tip of it rests just above his heart.

"Is this how you greet all of your childhood friends?" Dabi coyly asks and bats away at the feather, his burnt flesh grazes against it and doesn't flinch when it slices open his skin. He had lost feeling in his scarring long ago, he's dimly aware of the warm blood that flows from his cut and down to his fingers.

"Only those who should be six feet under the ground."

"Got a lot of those?" He knows that he's only stoking the fire of Hawks' thinning patience but riling people up is one of his strong suites and he's not going to give up anything without a fight. Hawks' grip on his feather tightens and re-centers it, this time tucking it under Dabi's chin and tilting it- forcing Dabi to follow the motions and he looks down his nose at Hawks.

"You're an asshole, you know that?" Hawks starts, there's a bitter smile on his lips. "We held a funeral for you. We mourned you. Your sister wouldn't stop crying and nobody could console her. Everyone had missed you and wished more than anything with every fiber of their being that you would come back. How ironic that this whole time, you've been alive. I can't believe that we were such fools to think that you honestly died. I should've known that you had just run away. Always running, Todoroki Touya, you always run because in your mind, that's all that you can do to solve your problems."

"Touya is dead." Dabi motions to himself, "I survived because the fire within me burned hotter than the fire around me."

"We could've helped you."