Viper Tongue

Breath of evil

The next morning
To say nothing felt real was an understatement, it felt like a dream or augmented reality. Dabi's shirtless figure in the bed beside me, the sunlight streaming in through the window, the distant sound of birds breaking the silence. Who knew being a villain could be so peaceful?

I went to stand by the window but Dabi's arms wrapped around my waist and his head further into my side considering I was already sat up against the headboard "Stay" that one word caused my cheeks to heat up "Tell me, where can I possibly go?" His eyes narrowed up at me as he once again pulled me closer, I loved the soft side of Dabi with my heart entirely but it didn't hit as different as when he's on a war path for me, it's hard to believe they were both the same person.

"You're no one's prisoner" with my free hand, I tilted his chin up to look at me "what a shame" my tongue ran across my bottom lip causing a spark to ignite in his eyes. As we did nothing with that spark, it slowly died down into a slight glow "it's a good thing your back. The bed was getting cold" I scoffed "it's nice to see you don't change"

My hands ran through his jet black hair as he snuggled onto my chest. I took in his scent of smoke and cedar wood, pure bliss. "Today is the day we eradicate your fear of water"

My hands shoved him off playfully as I sank down into the bed rolling away from him in protest "so tell me again, why is a little thing like you afraid of a puddle?" He had an arm either side of me trapping my body on its side "suprise, I hadn't done anything bad in awhile so they thought they'd fixed me. So they proceeded with the ceremony" he let me sit on top of him while he leaned against the headboard.

"The ceremony is where they almost drown you in a lake. Mine was interrupted and they got careless, I got scared and almost killed a fellow student after she attempted to continue the ritual...I haven't stepped in any body of water except the shower since"

He'd snuggled his head into my bare shoulder "I'll be right there by your side. Just say the word and we can do something else, anything else" I couldn't help but smile into his neck "I want to do this, I want to move on from that ritual," I bit my tongue "but neither of us know what's going to come forward in that bathroom"

He held me close "why do you think we haven't been yelled at yet? I chose the day I knew the league isn't around. They're trying to find that ex of yours"

I smiled slightly "Karma won't go with anyone he doesn't recognise, or without some kind of fight" he pulled his head back smirking "you knew we wouldn't be able to get our hands on him without you" i didn't think he'd figure it out so fast.

I let me head fall backwards "I guess I just wanted some 'us' time without Shigaraki threatening to 'father' me" before I knew it, Dabi was on top of me grinning "then why are we wasting time? Why don't I go start the water and you wait here?" I poked my tongue out not expecting him to grab it then shove it back in my mouth "Hey! You said you liked my tongue!"

I saw a middle finger appear in the doorway before my eyes drifted down the room, he'd actually cleaned up for once. We weren't usually the 'tidy couple', and it annoyed Tomura so much to the point where he attempted to sent Kurogiri in here to 'sort us out' but the warp gate didn't even try.

"Aww you really do have a baby face" a red flush spread through my cheeks as Dabi returned "I do not!" His hands squished my face "then how come I can do this, and you're still hot?" I pulled his hands off my face and pressed kisses all over his face "the magical powers of childhood trauma, of course!"

I felt his hands run over the scars on my arms "So do I need to worry about this ex of yours?" I scoffed looking away. I hated Karma more than anything else in the world, and I had a good reason to! But how would I explain such a psychopathic being to it's complete opposite?

"Karma's a cocky little bastard who always gets what he wants...at one point, he wanted me. I was the only girl who didn't fall head over heels for his antics...I don't feeling anything but loathing for that idiot" a smirk appeared on Dabi's face "so I'm allowed to burn him to a crisp?"

My eyes lit up with excitement "Oh yes! I'll be cheering on at the sidelines just throwing fuel to the bonfire! Once we're done with him, please?" I stood as I heard the timer go off, the water was done filling up "We'll see what everyone else says"

Dabi opened the bathroom door slowly letting me adjust to the sight of a body of water. I just froze watching the petals float around, it was beautiful how he'd tried to make it as romantic as possible with the time he had "It's beautiful"

My mind constantly flickered between the body of water before me and the crimson one I walked into as a child. I couldn't move, I didn't know which was real! Dabi kept his word, he didn't make me doing anything I wasn't comfortable with, not that he ever did. Despite what people thought, Dabi was a very consensual man and he cared deeply.

After a while, I stripped out of my nightwear taking a few steps closer "You're not gonna make a run for it if I take too long, right?" He brought my hand up and kissed the back "I'm not going anywhere" he too was naked but just because he didn't want me to feel alone.

I think that was one of Dabi's biggest fears, for me to be alone. It's not that I don't fear him going on a mission and never coming back, I just hope he'd be smarter than that but we all only had so much luck on our side

"I-I think I wanna try getting in?" It was a big step for me to even be this close to the tub "I'm right here if you need me" he held his hand out for me to use.

The second my foot touched the water, i immediately saw images of the lake from my childhood. Was it too soon? No! It's been 5 years at least! I should be ready! I lifted my foot off the surface off the water "is the temperature okay?" Dabi was standing in the tub with my hands in his

"No, it's perfect. There's just something holding me back" his lips gently made contact with mine but as he began to pull back, I stepped in without thinking. "You're overthinking it, just imagine you do this everyday" I drew in a deep breath closing my eyes as I let him guide me down into the tub

"Ah look at that! She's in water" I laid back against him trying not to think about what I was doing. There were aspects of it that felt like the lake however the sensation of being safe with Dabi seemed to drown out all the negatives. All my scars were displayed for him to fully indulge in, the pretty ones, the ugly ones - all of them...and he was the cause of none of them

I felt at peace here, like nothing could hurt us, like we weren't the villains in everyone else's story, like we were bulletproof and everything was endless! I wanted to stay here for the rest of time, just here in Dabi's arms. He'd even brought olives! How could a man know me so well and not take advantage of that? Dabi wasn't Karma, that much had become clear.

Karma lived on the edge searching for the thrill and adrenaline of proving others wrong, but Dabi...I'd yet to figure him out completely but he had this harsh frightening exterior that pushed people away but on the other hand, he was sweet and gentle as if he would break me

We could communicate without words, part of me thinks that's why Shigaraki doesn't like us working together, because we don't tell everyone else what we're thinking so the plan goes wrong or something like that?

I felt like if I fell through the sky, Dabi would be there to catch me whereas Karma would die of laughter while watching. That's normally how I figured out if a relationship was healthy or not, I'd imagine a scenario and think whether they'd actually save me or not. And the way I saw it...Dabi was my guardian demon