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Sometimes, Dabi thought too much. His little head would fill up with a chaos that left him without power or will to do anything. Sako didn't like when it happened.
He liked it even less when it caused Dabi to turn to destruction in the wake of things. Cigarettes. Overusing his quirk. Dabi had many creative ways of harming his own body in ways that weren’t quite direct enough for anyone to pay enough attention, nor violent enough on his body to show quick results.
He wasn’t sure if the rest of the League simply didn’t notice it, or if they were willfully ignoring it because the confrontation scared them.
Sako couldn’t really blame them, his own methods being far from direct either. He wasn’t sure how Dabi would respond.
He found him by the window, legs dangling over the edge as the sun set in the distance. A cigarette was in his hands, and Sako sighed.
He knocked on the open door just to announce his presence and avoid shocking Dabi into a terrible fate waiting below in the streets.
"Come in." He said.
He didn't look back.
"Baby, why don't you get down from there and come lay with me?" He asked regardless.
"I'm not feeling well. My head's no good today."
"I want to help."
Finally, he looked back. Thin trail of dried blood was streaming down his cheek from an area where the healthy skin met the scarred tissue at his eye. It reminded Sako he had to help Dabi take care of himself again soon.
"How? You can't." Dabi said. Sako would rather have Dabi scream at him, rather than this. Voice cold and monotone. As if he was trying to shut his feelings away again.
"Come to me." Sako said. Pleaded.
And Dabi answered without words, as he flicked the cigarette out of the window and swung his legs back over the edge. He jumped down to land safely on the floorboards.
Sako was worried it'd be on the wrong side of the window one day. And that’s why he had to get Dabi to think of something else.
"You might want to lay down for this one." Sako said, withdrawing a small blue sphere from his pocket and holding it between two fingers. Dabi's eyes were locked onto the thing.
"What now? Got some new candy that will sweep me off the floor?" Dabi asked.
"You could say that."
Sako waited for Dabi to lay down on his back, then kneeled on the bed beside him and pressed the marble against his lips. Dabi accepted it, closing his lips around Sako's gloved fingers and bit down lightly, catching the fabric. Sako let the glove slide off when he pulled his hand back, then pressed it against Dabi's cheek in a gentle caress.
Dabi moved the thing around in his mouth a bit, till it disappeared in place of a piece of chocolate. Dabi smiled and made a pleased sound at the sweet taste. He barely chewed it before swallowing, but Sako had learned not to comment on it.
Dabi’s heart fell together with Sako’s heart.
“That was nice.” Dabi muttered and sat up. “I think I’ll-”
“Wait.” Sako quickly cut him off, putting his hand against his chest to push him back down. “Just… Please wait for a bit. You’ll feel better soon.”
Dabi rolled his eyes, but he at least listened and laid back down on the bed. Sako laid down beside him, watching his face as Dabi allowed himself to just relax for a bit. For a moment, Sako could almost forget his woes.
Dabi had been so tense lately, more than he usually was. He’d been on high alert ever since the incident a few weeks ago that had left Dabi’s carpet a smoldering mess.
“Sako…?”
Dabi’s voice brought him out of his thoughts and he looked at his boy again.
“What’s the matter?”
“I’m feeling weird…” he cracked a smile and turned his head to look at Sako. “Gave me special candy, eh?”
“Giran mentioned it helped you relax in the past and suggested I give it a try.” Sako said, slowly realizing the magnitude of what he had just done. “I’m sorry, I should have consulted you about it before I took action."
Dabi laughed. An actual laugh, joyous and beaming, not the cold, calculated cackle Sako had become used to.
"I feel gooood~"
He raised his hand, slow and a bit uncoordinated, towards Sako, who quickly grabbed it and held it tightly.
"Try to just relax." Sako said and laid Dabi's hand down against the mattress again before he moved closer. The other man quickly rolled over on his side and shuffled closer to Sako, wrapping his arms around Sako's waist. Dabi was touch starved, but he usually did a pretty good job at hiding it - Or at least pretend to. He barely fooled anyone.
"Mhhm." Came the muffled response from Dabi, face buried against Sako's chest.
Warm… Dabi was burning up like an oven left on after cooking already conceded. Sako put his hand against Dabi's forehead, but he's just greeted by another smile from the other.
"Stop worrying. I'm fine" Dabi assured him once more, but he looked even more out of it by now. Giran had said the drug was safe. He tried to believe that.
"What got you down today?" Sako asked, letting his hand come down to rest at the small of Dabi's back. "What got my baby's head all messy today?"
“Just thinking.” Dabi said, closing his eyes as he slipped into his own mind again. “You had a nice family… right?”
They had talked about that before. Together with the other league members. A bit of alcohol in the system warmed people up, and it was hard to refuse when Kurogiri was the one mixing the drinks. Sako had learned a lot about his comrades that day - About the way the hero system and society who so indulged in it, had failed every single one of them - and how the pattern often began close to home.
Sako was no different. His parents were kind people. Loving people. But the heroes didn’t care about that. Steal a couple of things no one else needed, just to survive and you’re a criminal. Use your quirk in the process of it, and suddenly you’re a villain and a danger to society.
Sako was only eight when he saw his parents for the last time, the live TV feed announcing that Mr. and Mrs. Atsuhiro had been apprehended. It had been long after that, that the police showed up to his door. If they had been wise enough to send a hero as well, perhaps he would have been taken to the orphanage. But the police were easy to outsmart - He was an Atsushiro after all.
He joined up with a circus after he escaped, honed in his skills there. That’s till he met Giran in his late teens, but… well, that was a story for another time.
There were still two members that he knew nothing about. Their leader had seemed willing to talk, but unable to do so. He didn’t have to say much to figure out something terrible must have happened though. Complete childhood amnesia was abnormal. So was carrying your dead family member’s disembodied hands on your body, and Shigaraki checked off both of those boxes.
Dabi, on the other hand, had completely refused when it had been his turn next, and left their little, in his own words: ‘soap box party’, soon after. The rest of them had soon dispersed as well.
“They were.” he said, looking at Dabi’s face. His soft features were easy to notice despite the scarring, when the boy wasn’t putting up a front.
“Mine… Weren’t.” Dabi hissed out like the words physically hurt his throat. “My father was a real bastard, you know.”
The chuckle that followed Dabi’s worth didn’t bring any warmth to Sako’s heart like it did earlier.
“What did he do?” Sako asked when Dabi’s laughter had subsided. Dabi unwinded one of his arms to press his index finger against his own lips.
“I’m not allowed to tell.” he said.
“Why not?”
“He’d be angry.” he let his hand fall back down. “I don’t like when he’s angry at me.”
Sako didn’t know whether it was the drugs, or some old carnal fear that made Dabi unable to think of it rationally. The prospect of the latter didn’t sit well with him.
“But he’s not here, baby.”
The assurance didn’t seem to do much as Dabi grabbed onto the fabric of his shirt roughly. His whole body shivered slightly in Sako’s arms.
“He’d be so angry if he knew about you. He doesn’t like others getting close to his things. He doesn’t want others to touch them-”
“Dabi.” Sako cut him off. Dabi’s eyes were wide open but his gaze was unfocused and wild. “Breathe.”
Dabi took in a sharp breath that he had been neglecting. Sako could feel his ribcage expand under his fingers and then contract again. The boy in his arms went limp again as Dabi managed to relax. The little outburst had drained all the energy the drugs had left him with.
“It’s okay, it’s only us two here.” Sako assured him. There were buttons he knew he shouldn’t push further while Dabi wasn’t fully coherent, and this had quickly revealed itself to be one of them. “I understand, you don’t have to say more.”
“Don’t make me say more.” Dabi said, just to iterate the importance.
“Sleep if you can. I’ll stay with you.”
“Yeah sure thing.” Dabi’s eyes glide shut again. His breathing grew heavy and slow as he drifted off into sleep.
Sako had hoped to get a bit of shuteye as well, but he was left making a displeased noise when he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. It wasn’t easy navigating around Dabi’s hold on him to reach it, Dabi was now laying with his head pillowed against one of Sako’s arms, drooling onto the fabric of his shirt, and his arms wrapped tightly around Sako’s waist. Still, he could manage.
With phone in hand he turned the thing on to look at the screen, and instantly wished he hadn’t. Regardless, he opened the new message from Giran to see what the broker wanted.
[ Take a picture of him when you can. I like cute things. And don’t forget you still owe me payment for the drugs. I have time this weekend <3 ]
Sako looked from the phone to the sleeping boy before he regrettably snapped a picture of his face. He sent it together with the message.
[ I’ll be there on Saturday. I’m going home right after. ]
He put the phone away on the mattress, ignoring it when he heard the vibration go off again, signaling another message.
He’d deal with Giran later, for now he still belonged to Dabi.