Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back, and reasons to stay.
~ Dalai Lama
Track 6: 100 Moons, by Savannah Saturn & Jonmarco
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Hawks' penthouse was luxurious. The moment you first walked through the door you realized that he had a wonderful taste with interior design. It was surprisingly tidy and had a minimalistic feel to it. He primarily used muted monochromatic colors besides a splash of red and gold here and there. You had your own bedroom with just a wall separating yours from his. The extra bonus was a private full bathroom attached to your room and a decent closet. The only thing you weren't comfortable with was how exposed the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room and dining room made you feel.
Hawks was kind enough to cover the windows with the large cotton curtains, always making sure you were comfortable every morning before he went off to work. Unfortunately you hadn't been able to keep control of your emotions since you had arrived; three days of inner turmoil. You were thankful that Hawks had been there when Yoshio sounded the alarm about the disaster downstairs. It gave you enough time to grab clothes to cover you for a few days, Yoshio's food, a family photo album, and a few extra miscellaneous items that were important to you such as your mom's picture frame and the jewelry box she'd given you as a child. If he hadn't been there you probably would've had a panic attack and perished with your cat in the fire.
The cause of the ordeal was still under investigation as they scavenged through the ashes of what remained. Aizawa mentioned that he was one of the hero's partaking in the case, seeing that he was assigned to keep an eye on the crime scene in case a criminal showed up to relive their doings.
You felt awful for not exchanging many words with Hawks over the few days you'd been living in his house. He had saved your life. He was kind enough to let you stay until you got back on your feet again. You felt indebted to him; he felt the same way towards you seeing that you had pulled him off of the street those few weeks ago. You were thankful for his kind and giving heart, unsure of how to repay the favor he had done for you. How in the world do you pay back a man that saved your life and invited you into his home?
You didn't have much to do in regards to keeping yourself busy around the place, unfortunately. So you opted to silently scroll through the channels on the television, nothing at all catching your interest. You would turn it off and stare at the wall while petting your cat, numb to the world until a certain winged hero dropped through the skylight after work. He always brought back different types of takeout food when he arrived home. He made sure to not get any chicken for you and kept to himself and away from Yoshio while he ordered that for himself. Then after that he'd usually wrap you up in a large blanket on the couch in front of the tv and show you movies that you hadn't seen before.
Yoshio settled in surprisingly quickly for what had just happened to the only place he's lived for most of his life. He enjoyed being able to bound around the penthouse and have more room to audition for cat NASCAR during the middle of the night. He was surprisingly fast for a twenty pound cat but thanks to his burly paws you were sure the neighbors below you had to listen to what sounded like a herd of elephants running across their heads. Needless to say he was also the epitome of a bull in a China shop when it came to him being fed. He'd also thankfully bonded well to Hawks, though the winged hero was tormented relentlessly by the Maine Coon at the same time.
After going through your usual process with the cable channels, a small spurt of courage inside yourself caused you to push aside the curtains in the bay window seat, watching the people going about their day below. Yoshio quickly made himself comfortable in your lap. Your mind was absent from that moment on; an unknown amount of time had passed when Hawks arrived at home, dropping through the skylight with a smile on his face. In his gloved hands he was carrying a takeout bag, swinging it as he walked towards you after taking his boots off.
"I got yakisoba for dinner, I hope you don't mind." He spoke up, petting Yoshio as the grey cat left your lap.
You shook your head. "It sounds good, thank you."
He sat down on the seat across from you and copied your position of having the leg that was closest to the window tucked underneath you, your other leg hanging over the seat. His knee touched yours as he got comfortable; opening the bag and handing you the styrofoam platter labeled beef and tucking the plastic bag into his pocket after placing his own dinner in his lap. "No problem, I hope you like it."
He handed you some chopsticks and when you reached up to take them from him there was a static shock when your fingers touched his. You flinched slightly and took your hand away while he left his hanging in the air for a split second before retracting it. He suddenly felt himself get nervous, his feathers subconsciously twitching in display. Thankfully you didn't see it since you were taking the first bite of your yakisoba.
"Sorry," he said after he cleared his throat. "I guess we have a spark of a connection."
You put your hand over your mouth to not scoff out your dinner. That was the smoothest yet dorkiest pickup line you had ever heard. After swallowing your bite, you lifted your head and smiled softly at him. "That was cheesy."
"Good thing I love all types of cheese." He replied, breaking his chopsticks apart and taking a bite.
You shook your head and continued eating your dinner, beginning a comfortable silence between the two of you when you looked back out the window. The sun was descending over the skyscrapers in the distance, streams of orange and purple hues blending together as if it was a painting; it emitted a golden light upon your skin and you relished in the beautiful sight.
"The sunset is breathtaking." You pointed out in a soft voice, causing Hawks to raise his golden brown eyes from his yakisoba.
He only took a glance at the sky before he had to look back at you. "Yeah, it is." Your (e/c) eyes met his and he looked down to his yakisoba quickly, not sure if he was caught staring at you.
"If you have something on your mind you can tell me." You encouraged his thoughts, not so subtly saying you caught him in the act.
"Let me take you shopping." He spat out, locking gazes with you once again.
You gave him a smile and shook your head. "No thank you. I appreciate the thought though."
"Why not?" He questioned as he lowered his chopsticks to his styrofoam platter.
"I'm already indebted to you for saving Yoshio and I's life, not to mention that I'm living with you until I can find a place of my own." You pointed out. "You've already done a lot for me and I'd feel guilty if you went and wasted your money after all of that." You looked out the window, your face feeling a little bit warmer. "That would just make me owe you even more-"
His laughter cut you off and you gave him an incredulous look. "You don't have to worry about paying me back anytime soon, or at all, actually." Your shocked expression dropped when he smiled at you. "Just let me help you until you're up on your feet again, yeah? I'm sure you'd do the same thing for me."
How could you say no to a person that was somehow breathing life back into you? You'd only known him for maybe 2 ½ weeks yet he was already one of the main anchors keeping you ashore in a brutal world.
You heaved a sigh, unable to locate the word "no" in your dictionary at that moment.
"Alright, fine. But I won't let you go all out on me."
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words; 1455
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