Don't Judge a Book

and god saw the light, that it was good

It had been a couple of years. Just the two of them watching over the antichrist, no big deal, except for the small fact that the kid was attached to them more than his own adopted father. That's to be expected. The guy, pretty as he was, wasn't great at being a father. He just adopted someone to make the press think he was a family man. But he wore a face mask constantly (as well as gloves). He never touched anyone and never got closer than a couple of feet either, let alone his own son. The two rarely associated with one another. 

"Touya," Kota, as was the kid's name, looked up at Dabi. "Are you sure you're supposed to be cutting that like that? It looks a bit..." he tilted his head, squinting at it. "What is it supposed to be?" 

"It's obviously a Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon," Dabi gestured. "What else would it be?" 

"It looks like a di-" 

"Ahahaha! There you are!" Izuku cut him off. "Come along now, Kota, we have to get back to your lessons. Touya is busy making his Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon." 

"It's a di-" 

"No, it's a Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon. Would I lie to you?" Izuku raised an eyebrow. 

"What is a Neo Armstrong...something something cannon?" 

"It's a di-" Dabi smirked. 

"No! No, it's not!" Izuku refused to allow Kota to use such indecent language. "Stop teaching him bad words." 

"Fine," Dabi shrugged. "It's a peni-" 

"Nope!" Izuku cut him off yet again. "He is too young to learn about human anatomy! Come along now, Kota," he grabbed his hand and led him inside. Dabi, completely proud of himself over his handiwork, turned back to his hedge. He was engrossed in the finer details of his masterpiece and didn't hear the footsteps behind him. 

"What is that?" the voice he'd only heard a few times before caused a shiver to trail down his spine. Well, fuck. That's the boss. Dabi slowly turned around to face him. 

"It's a Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon, sir," his voice barely audible. 

Kai brought his hand to the edge of his brow and sighed. "Look, I know 'modern art' is all the rage nowadays but you and I both know that's just a giant male appendage in my lawn," he pointed. "Are you trying to get yourself fired?" 

"Sorry, sir, I had no intention of keeping it this way..." he lied. He was totally going to keep it like this until someone noticed. Well, someone noticed. Time to fix it. 

"Why haven't you been fired yet? You pull stunts like this all of the time." 

"Because you like me?" Dabi tried to flirt his way out of this. He smiled a lopsided grin and tilted his head just a tad. The face mask covered most of Kai's face. If he was blushing, Dabi wouldn't know. He didn't seem the type to get flustered. Kai gave no reaction so Dabi went with a different tactic. He scratched the base of his neck and averted his gaze, laughing a bit nervously. "Kota seemed kind of down. I wanted to cheer him up with a joke. I wasn't going to leave it like this, I swear." 

"You-" Kai took one step forward and tripped over the garden supplies. He panicked a bit, not wanting to land face-first into the dirt, so Dabi caught him as best as he could. His face right in the crook of Dabi's neck. His long lashes flickering against his skin giving him butterfly kisses. Kai, not sure how to respond, simply stood up and tried desperately to wipe away what dirt he got on himself from Dabi's clothes. 

"Sorry, sir," Dabi apologized. "I figured between me and the ground, I would be less dirty." That couldn't be more wrong. Dabi knew how filthy he was, inside and out, but he didn't want Kai to land on one of the tools. 

Kai looked down at his wrists. Dabi had grabbed them to steady him but there wasn't a reaction. "Touching people makes my blood boil," he muttered, staring at the clean skin. He knew there was something different about Touya but now he was certain. 

"Really? Ah, geez, I thought you didn't like germs or something but it's really physical contact that you hate? I'm really sorry, sir. I completely misjudged that. I'll get this hedge fixed and take my leave." Dabi hastily searched for the right tool to get back to work but Kai continued to stand there. He took off his glove and poked Dabi's neck. Still no reaction on his skin. He did it again. 

"That's... so strange," Kai's eyes lit up with an intense fascination. "I'm not going to fire you, Touya," he cleared his throat and returned his glove to his hand, trying to settle the childlike curiosity. But, it was still clear in his eyes. "Just fix this," he gestured to the hedge. 

"Right, no more Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon. Got it," Dabi nodded. He couldn't help but smirk a bit. 

"Sir, there is someone to see you now," his secretary took one look at the hedge and ignored it completely. "Are you going to keep them waiting?" 

"No, no, I'm on my way," Kai nodded and followed his secretary inside. Once they were inside, safe and sound, Dabi snapped his fingers and the Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon turned into a majestic plague mask. One identical to Overhaul Industries' logo. 

"That should keep him satisfied," Dabi shrugged, picking up tools and going towards the shed. 

"So this is where you were, aloe vera," the shed's door slammed shut causing Dabi to jump. He turned around to see Tomura. The chapped male pushed him up against the wall and slammed his hand down right next to his face, disintegrating a hole into the wood. "I've been looking across this entire damn earth for you and you couldn't have left me a fucking note? Do you know how worried I was? But no, here you are, playing parents with your angel buddy not bothering to tell me a damn thing. You asshole! Now I get here, after finally finding out your okay, and see you have yet another guy clinging to you. When are you going to cut me a break?" 

"Aw, chapstick, you care," Dabi was touched, truly, but still had to be a little bitch about it. "I didn't want to get you involved. If any of the others find out I could really get deep-fried, you know? You're still on their side. You don't have to get hurt too."

"You fucking idiot!" Tomura grabbed Dabi's shirt with four of his fingers to pull him down a bit. "I'm on your side. I don't give a shit about angels and demons!" 

"It's okay," Dabi placed his hand on Tomura's head and lightly patted him. "You can cry now. I'm not dead or injured or in prison. I admit I am an asshole for not thinking about you these last few years." 

"That's right you are," Tomura's tears flowed out in a steady stream. He sobbed into Dabi's chest and lightly hit him with his fists. "You're an asshole." 

"It's okay..." Dabi repeated, still patting Tomura's head. He comforted him as best as he could until the demon calmed down completely.