A Lost Creation

Behave

"Huh. Never knew he had a kid. You don't look like him, but I guess it's kinda hard to tell, right?"

You scrunch your nose up a little. You knew she wasn't deliberately being mean, but you couldn't help but get a little offended on his behalf when people made blatant references to his scars. He never seemed to think too much of it when it happened, his facial expressions never really moving outside of the look of boredom and indifference, but you knew that if it were you, you wouldn't want people making comments about it all the time.
He hadn't explained them, but he didn't need to. You'd seen the way they traveled up his arms, and when he took his hoodie off, you could see that it covered most of his chest too. His exposed ankles were scarred, and you were just assuming at this stage that most of his body was covered in the purple marks.

You walk off before she can say any more, cradling the basket of toiletries she handed to you moments ago. You were nervous, but if something was happening that Dabi deemed important to you both, you would put up with the anxiety for now.
At least there wouldn't be any men around in this side of the building.
You shyly take off your belongings, placing them in a locker, wrapping the towel tight around yourself and padding off to the baths.
The second you enter that room, your body is enveloped in a comforting warmth, not too different from the heat that would radiate off Dabi when he was asleep. You learned that his body ran a lot warmer than most other peoples thanks to his Quirk, and sometimes at night, when he started sleep talking, steam would start pouring out of his body and wake you up. When you'd wake him to get him to try to regulate his temperature, you always scared him. It made you feel guilty every time, but sometimes if you drifted a little too close to him during the night, the steam would burn you a little bit.

Sometimes he'd get confused and call you Fuyumi, but you just assumed that was someone he knew, and that he was still half asleep. Sometimes if he was really scared you'd pat his head softly. That tended to bring him around a little more, and stop the hot air from streaming out of the skin between his scars and clear areas.
When you saw how quiet the bathhouse seemed to be, only a few older women roaming around, you felt a little more relaxed. None of them paid you any mind, which was nice. You'd been a bit more relaxed since Dabi had taken you under his wing, but in this enclosed space, with the heat, and a few older and aged women around that didn't seem to care about what you were doing in the slightest, you felt a lot more relaxed, the anxiety that had been gnawing in your stomach earlier dissipating slowly.

And sure enough, Dabi was right.
The second you were brave enough to remove your towel and sink into the warm bath water, you really didn't want to get out.
You hadn't realized how much your body ached from all the walking until you'd been embraced by the warmth. You'd curled up, hugging your knees as you got as much of your body underneath the water as possible, trying your best to let it soothe your aches. You even had a few cuts on your legs that you hadn't noticed before getting into the water, and took a little extra time scrubbing them.
You could have stayed where you were for hours, but took the sweat sheen on your body and the slight lightheadedness you were beginning to feel as a sign to get out and rejoin Dabi if he was already done.

When you gather yourself together and leave the bathing area, there's no sign of Dabi at the reception area.
The anxiety returns, and you begin to fear the chances of him having left you behind. He was young himself, you could tell. He wasn't anywhere near mom's age. He probably didn't want to have to look after an annoying young kid like you as well as himself.
The nervousness you're feeling must show clearly on your face as the nice lady on the reception peers over the desk to look at you.
"He takes a little while, love." She says softly, her brown eyes warm and kind as they look down at you. "You know, because of all your daddy's scars? He has to be super careful. I'm sure you know that already though, right?"