You were in a good mood.
You couldn't help but swing your little legs happily as you eat your ice cream on the bench next to Dabi, who seemed to have perked up a bit too towards the end of your gallery visit.
You'd felt his body temperature rise more and more as you'd walked around, but when you'd accidentally halted right in front of him, admiring the painting of the person looking at a galaxy, he seemed to cool back down again, stopped fiddling around with whatever was in his pockets, and returned back to continuing to ruffle your hair every so often again.
He even offered to treat you to a ice cream after, which you were more than happy to take him up on.
You just wanted to spend as much time with him as you possibly could before Shigaraki sent him back to work again.
You really, really missed having him to yourself. The others were nice, but you were attached to Dabi in a different way. You know you owe him a lot, and you missed hearing his raspy voice praise you in the subtle way he always did, tease you and call you silly little nicknames instead of your actual name.
The latest was 'doll' thanks to the phase Toga went through of dressing you up whenever Dabi left you with her.
You hated it at first, but just like 'Star', it eventually just begins to sound natural.
Now you hated the sound of your real name on the rare occasion he used it, you couldn't help but feel as though when he used 'Y/N' it was because you were in trouble.
And the idea of being in trouble, especially with someone you'd become so reliant on, makes you feel a little sick.
You're happily licking your ice cream, watching the ducks waddling around looking for left over seeds by the parks pond when Dabi finally breaks the silence.
"So, little Star." He says, leaning closer to you and resting one of his scarred arms over the back of the bench behind you. "You been bein' good?"
You nod enthusiastically. "I've not been told off once!"
He gives a half smile as he looks at you. "Attagirl."
He finishes off his icecream, looking thoughtfully into the distance.
"Ya been gettin' bored or anything? How're those worksheets?" He asks, beginning to dig around in his pockets again.
"No, I don't get bored. Jin or Toga always play with me, and Kurogiri sometimes lets me cook with him..." You muse before crunching into the ice cream cone. "Shigaraki sometimes plays too, but it always has to be a game he wants to play, and he gets mad if I'm not very good..."
Dabi rolls his eyes, his hand moving to the back of your head and rubbing your scalp with his thumb. If he has an opinion about what you just said, he doesn't voice it.
"The worksheets are okay." You sigh. "But the Japanese ones are too easy, and I'm bored of only doing Japanese, English and math..."
Dabi's head cocks to the side, but he doesn't move his eyes to look at you, instead looking over the pond like you had been.
"What wouldya like to learn?" He asks, finally glancing at you.
There was only one answer on your mind.
"I wanna go to art class, like on TV." You say simply, finishing off your ice cream.
Art class on TV always looked like so much fun. The students always wore cool clothes, and had cool piercings like Dabi and even cooler coloured hair. 'Unnatural' colours like pinks and blues, colours you weren't blessed with naturally unlike some others. You wanted to be a cool art student, too.
Dabi goes quiet, finally pulling his cigarette packet out of his pocket, tapping one of them up out of the carton and hanging it between his lips.
"An actual school might be a lil difficult, kid..." Dabi says, almost apologetically. "But how 'bout I look into paintin' classes? That's a thing... right?"
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.
"When we get back, why don'tcha try drawin' a duck, doll?"
"Okay!" You reply instantly.
You loved drawing anything from Dabi's suggestions. You loved drawing and showing him the results in general. He was always so enthusiastic, and seemed so proud whenever you showed him anything you'd drawn, even if you weren't proud of it yourself.
Something about the look he would give you really stirred you on, it made you want to draw more and honestly it was nice having someone give you genuine, positive attention.
Together, you continue scattering seeds until the bag is empty.
You're a little sad when you realise the bag is empty. That means your time alone with Dabi is coming to an end, and you'll have to go back to having to share his time with everyone else again.
Sometimes, if you let it get into your head too much, you'd find yourself missing when it was just you two on the streets. You missed his constant company, even if it was both of you just sitting in silence.
Just having him around nearby gave you a feeling of comfort and safety you'd never had before. The longer you spent with him, the more you trusted him and the more you had faith that whatever he did was for your own benefit.
He'd cared about you and your well-being and safety more than mom ever had.
And as much as that pained you, you were suddenly beginning to realise just how much that was true.
So you try not to think about it.
Dabi glances over at you, and you must not have been doing a very good job of hiding your disappointment at the fact your day with him was slowly coming to an end, because his eyebrows knit together a little. It doesn't last long though as he follows your eyes as you look over all the ducks.
"Hey, how about...When we get back, we can draw a duck each an' see who's is better?" Dabi asks, in a kind of teasing way.
You squint at him, he'd never drawn with you before. Usually that was something you just did with Giran when he could be seperated from his phone for long enough.
You weren't about to pass up on more time alone with him though, so you give a silent nod, and allow him to lead you away from the pond and your new feathered friends with one of his warm hands on your shoulder.
*•*
"You're lyin'!" Dabi exclaims as Jin delivers his verdict on your drawings.
You and Dabi had a lot of fun drawing your ducks. You had giggled at his poor artistry, and he had gently nudged you in an 'attempt' to get you to mess up while you were drawing.
Eventually, he'd given up trying to take the competition seriously, leaving his duck drawing looking like some kind of blob on sticks, drawing a bunch of little lines by what passed as it's feet, claiming it was seeds.
It was bad, but you secretly preferred it to your own.
"Am not! Stars is way better!" Jin denies, before his hand makes a swiping motion by his neck. "Both are total crap. Trash 'em."
This makes you giggle, while Dabi feigns hurt with a hand dramatically flying to his chest.
Toga peers over Jin's shoulder, her yellow feline eyes scanning each drawing seperately as though she was really taking in every little detail.
Soon, her mouth widens into a big grin, exposing her sharpened canines.
"I vote Star too!" She chimes in, her eyes glittering as she carries on looking at you with that impossibly wide grin that exposes her sharp canines.
You try not to let it unsettle you, but there was always something a little unsettling when she looked at you like that. It almost felt like she wanted to eat you.
"You're being loud."
A raspy voice from behind you says, making you jump a little.
You knew that voice well. It was Shigaraki.
Dabi doesn't seem too phased, lazily turning his body in his seat to face the pale-haired, scowling man.
"Boss." He practically slurs.
You slowly realise Spinner is with him, his lilac hair now thrown back into a ponytail. For some reason this sends all the blood rushing to your cheeks again, and you snap your head away, trying to cover your face with your hands.
For some reason this makes Toga giggle excitedly, and Jins hand moves to rub your back firmly but reassuringly.
"Wow! You drew this?" Spinner asks Dabi, looking over at the drawing you had done, but you were far too embarrassed to admit right now, instead looking over at Jins legs as they hang from the barstool and the floor.
"Nah. That's Stars." Dabi says casually, wearing the same aloof mask he always seemed to whenever the others were around.
He was usually a bit more himself with Jin and Toga, but with Shigaraki and apparently, the new worker he'd hired, he wore a cold mask, seeming unbothered and almost bored whenever they were around.
"Woah!" Spinner praises, clearly even more impressed upon learning it was yours. His snout moves even closer to the scrap pieces of paper from what you can make out in the corners of your vision.
There's an audible snort from Shigaraki.
"And that's yours?" You hear Shigaraki ask, making no effort to hide the derision in his voice.
"Can you even write, boss?" Dabi quips back, making everyone freeze, including you.
There's a tense silence for a short while, but it feels like an age as the two men stare the other down.
Eventually, Shigaraki scoffs, sitting beside Dabi and demanding for Kurogiri to bring him a piece of paper, too.
You're a little surprised that he hadn't lashed out. You'd seen Shigaraki flip out over less before, but always hurried away before you could see the conclusion.
Spinner slides into the barstool beside Toga, thankfully pulling her attention away from you. She really hadn't stopped staring at you since he and Shigaraki had appeared, and it was making your face feel hotter and hotter.
Dabi snickers a little as Shigaraki begins scribbling onto the paper, sipping his drink, the ice clinking in the glass a familiar sound to you now after a few weeks being here.
You watch in fascination at how Shigaraki holds the pen. It's delicate and careful, his pinky finger tucked in tight into his palm, far far away from the plastic casing of the biro.
You liked to watch Shigaraki handle things with his quirk. It was interesting, he always made it look so natural, as though it was a natural way of holding things, but you always wondered how comfortable it was for him to be so mindful of all of his fingers all the time.
The more you had watched him hold things, carry things, interact with people... the more you realise that time he'd gone to touch you, he hadn't really meant it. He was deliberately being slow. Deliberately allowed you to catch him.
He'd wanted to test your resolve. And clearly, your reaction had been what he'd wanted.
He hadn't tried to touch you once since.
That didn't stop you being wary of him, or his temper though, which seemed to keep Dabi happy.
Within seemingly no time at all, Shigaraki gives an abrupt grunt and pushes his drawing towards Dabi.
You peer over too, curiosity getting the better of you.
It was better than Dabi's, but that wasn't really too hard to do. You're a little surprised at his artistic ability, especially when you hadn't considered his capabilities of even being able to write with a quirk like this until Dabi had made a comment about it.
The two stare at each other.
Shigaraki's scratching at his neck, the sound of his nails raking over the scarring on his neck from previous scratches a sound you'd learned to be wary of. He frowns at Dabi, who is smirking slightly straight back at him.
There's a weird energy between the two, a tension between them that doesn't quite seem like an angry one, even with Shigaraki irritatedly scratching at his neck and scowling at Dabi, who won't let up on the cocky grin as he leans back in his chair, still holding eye contact.
You begin getting a little restless and anxious as you watch over the silent exchange between them both, your anxiety seeming to make the tension rolling off of the two feel even heavier as the seconds of silence continue, the chattering between Spinner, Jin and Toga doing little to fill the space.
"Can I keep this?" You ask, suddenly, and a little more loudly than you'd like, clumsily breaking the deathly silence in your immediate area.
Dabi half-glances over at you, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. When he realises you're pointing at his drawing, both of his eyebrows pull together.
"What? Mine?" He asks, even though the answer is obvious.
You nod your head up and down eagerly. You wanted to put it up on your wall, like he said you'd be able to all those weeks ago when you'd drawn at Girans, the rolled up artwork still in your rucksack.
Dabi's duck wasn't a good drawing, as everyone had agreed, but it was special to you. This was the first full day you'd managed to spend with him since he started working for Shigaraki, pretty much. You wanted to keep it as a little memento. A memory of how he'd taught you how to get the ducks at the park to allow you to pet them, the time you'd spent with him at the gallery, and now this silly little drawing competition that even Shigaraki had now cluelessly joined in on.
"Sure kid, go wild." He chuckles slightly, ruffling your hair and leaning forward to sip at his drink again.
This makes you way happier than anyone would probably understand. You didn't really have any physical evidence of you and your mom ever spending time together, on the rare occassion you did.
Dabi had unknowingly become the centre of your universe simply from giving you the bare minimum expected of a guardian.
Attention, a roof over your head and food and water.
But to you, he was your saviour. And you wanted to do everything to treasure that, and to make him proud and to prove that you were worth all the hassle it probably was for him to keep you around.
So you'd take his silly little drawing of a duck, and treasure it.
You pick up the scrap paper, sliding off the barstool and padding off to go and put it up on your wall, leaving Shigaraki and Dabi to continue their weird silence alone.