A Lost Creation

Competition

You nod. "Uncle Giran goes to those."

"He does?" Dabi says, clearly shocked. There's a quick moment of silence before his whole body turns to face you, a frown tugging his thin black eyebrows together. "Wait- Uncle?"

"He said I could call him that." You reply, unbothered.

"But he's not my- ah, alright kid. Whatever makes you happy. I'll see if I can sort somethin' out for ya." He sighs, digging into his pockets again and putting a small amount of yen into your hand, firmly pressing it into your palm. "Gonna go stand by the pond an' smoke, 'kay? Go get some seed for the ducks. They look hungry."

You nod, standing up with him. "Do you think if I have food they'll let me pet them?"

He gives a singular dry chuckle. "You can try it, kid."

He wanders over towards the pond, lighting his cigarette with a small flame from his finger, and you jog over to the honesty box, dropping the small coin into the slot and picking up a bag of bird seed.
You jog back, but allow plenty of space between you and Dabi. He didn't like when you got too close to him while he was smoking.
The ducks seem to know the sound of the seeds rustling in the bag, as they all start hurrying towards you while quacking loudly. This makes you look excitedly at Dabi, but he's too busy looking at his phone to notice.

You hum a little to yourself in disappointment, but don't make a fuss about it. He's a grown up after all, and sometimes grown ups have to focus on more important things.
At least he was more attentive than mom, she would rarely pay attention to you. You were beginning to realise that more and more the longer you stayed with Dabi and the others.
Mom definitely didn't take you to any galleries or to get ice cream because you hadn't really seen her for a while.

You try holding out seeds in the palm of your hands, but the ducks are too wary of you to get that close.
You huff a little to yourself in frustration.

"Put 'em on the floor, an' try pettin' them while they're eatin'." Dabi instructs, his voice coming from directly behind you.

You jolt a little, you hadn't heard him approach you.
You follow his directions anyway, putting a small pile of seed in front of your feet and waiting for the ducks as they cautiously approach you.
You practically hold your breath until they get close enough for you to reach out and pet them while they're distracted by the food.
The second you move, they begin moving away warily again. You give an irritated huff, and Dabi's hand appears on your shoulder as he crouches behind you, gently using it to push you lower. You allow him to do this, being gently pushed into an almost squatting position so you're closer to the ducks level.

"You're towerin' over 'em and movin' too quickly. You gotta make yourself less scary an' move a little slower." He directs, as gently as his hoarse voice would allow.

His chin is practically resting against your shoulder as he watches the ducks with you.
You nod a little, sitting cross legged on the floor, and putting another pile of seed in front of you.
The ducks seem a little more confident in walking over to you, and begin gobbling up the seeds while making what you can only assume are content duck noises.
Ever so slowly, you move your hand towards the side of one of the ducks, surprised when the little bird doesn't spring away from you.

You fight back a squeal of happiness when you manage to gently pet the feathers on its side.
You manage to give it a couple of soft strokes before it runs out of seeds and realizes you were making contact with it. It doesn't seem too offended, as you hurriedly pour more seeds down for it, returning back to petting it as softly as you can.

You begin feeling a little guilty for all the other ducks that were more wary of you, and didn't want to approach any closer for seed, so you finish petting the one brave duck before standing up again and scattering seeds for the others, earning yourself a pat on the head from Dabi.