You were all cozy on Dabi's bed, wrapped up in his blanket like a little burrito watching Spirited Away while he worked on patching up his wrist.
You'd offered to help, but he didn't seem very eager for it, telling you to 'just sit down an' behave'.
It looked pretty straight forward, it was just a little contraption that'd staple his skin, but you didn't push the subject in fear of annoying him.
In fact, he'd seemed more in pain pulling them out properly and cleaning the blood left behind.
You tried not to look because it made you feel a little sick and worried.
Instead, you tried focusing on the movie instead of what Dabi was doing at his desk. You knew the movie so well that you could practically quote it word for word, after all, you'd watched it on a loop for two weeks one time when mom was sick once.
When Dabi's finished, and climbs into his bed beside you, he chuckles a little as you silently mouth the lines.
"Y'really like this film, huh?" He asks, wrapping an arm loosely around you as you allow yourself to lean on his side.
You nod. Whenever you needed to escape, you could always trust this film to relax you and take you somewhere else for a little while.
Mom wouldn't wake up because she took the sleepy stuff again? Spirited Away. Mom was arguing with her boyfriends? Spirited Away. Feeling lonely? Spirited Away. Sad? Spirited Away.
Sometimes, you'd even put it on when all the food was rotten and pretend that you were eating the food in the movie. It always looked so fluffy and tasty.
"Who's your favourite?" He asks, leaning his head on yours.
"Haku." You reply without even thinking about it. "He always looks after Chihiro, even if it makes him hurt. And he's a pretty dragon sometimes."
Dabi 'hm's, rubbing his cheek against the top of your head, the staples lining the skin there scratching at your scalp slightly.
You both watch quietly for a little while, you still wrapped up in his blanket despite his body always giving off a higher-than-normal warmth. It's almost enough to make you a little sleepy.
Eventually, Dabi seems to find something the main character does funny, the snort that leaves him tickling the top of your head.
"Y'know, I ain't watched this for years. But you're jus' like that little kid." He comments teasingly.
And boy, you wished.
Chihiro was strong, and only cried a little bit during the whole movie, even though her parents got turned into pigs and she nearly never saw them again. She even got chased by a scary monster and didn't cry about it once!
Whereas you cried nearly whenever you thought about your mom.
"Uh-uh." You deny, a little sadly.
"Aw, yaknow? Maybe you're right. You're like No-Face." He teases even more. "Givin' those ducks all those seeds like No-Face gives out the gold."
You puff your cheeks out in annoyance, and he laughs a little more, kissing your head.
You still weren't used to him doing that, but you weren't going to complain. It made you feel a little more wanted and a little less like a burden whenever he did it.
"I don't wanna eat the duckies though... just pet them a little." You murmur.
"Pretty sure Kurogiri fed ya a duck onigiri the other day." Dabi teases, and you mumble at him to shut up.
For once, he listens, giving you a little squeeze with the arm that's wrapped around you but moving away after, opting to sit over at the window, perching on the windowsill and craning his neck so he can still see the movie as he lights a cigarette.
A knock at the door draws his attention, his eyebrows pulling together.
"What?" He calls.
The door opens anyway, revealing Toga's excited face, her pink tongue running along her sharp teeth.
"Ha! I thought I could hear the music! I wanna watch too! Movie party, movie party!" She says excitedly, jumping onto the bed and wrestling you for some of the blanket.
"Crazy ass..." You hear Dabi mutter as he shakes his head, flicking ash out of the window.
You ignore it, because you probably weren't meant to hear it.
You unwrap yourself in the blanket so that Toga can have some, and she cuddles up close next to you, giggling all the while, nuzzling her soft cheek against your own.
At first, being so close to Toga is a little jarring, you still weren't one hundred percent comfortable with her yet, finding her a little hard to read and erratic. But you soon warm up to her embrace, cuddling into her shoulder as you watch the movie.
She's warm, but more of a comfortable warm than Dabi's heat, and she smells nice. Like flowers if you ignore the slight metallic hint you catch from time to time.
"Don't get too comfortable, Star's goin' to bed after this." Dabi informs her from the windowsill.
"Can't I stay here tonight?" You ask, really feeling the need for company tonight.
You kept thinking about what Giran said, and now you were wondering what timber was and why Jin had gotten so angry at Imasuji for saying what he said.
You were convinced you were being a burden by existing again, and you just needed to be sure that Dabi wasn't going to leave you.
Dabi gives you a conflicted glance, turning his head to blow smoke out of the window.
"Alright. Sure, doll."
"Whaaat? No fair! I wanna sleep over too!" Toga whines.
"Hell nah." Dabi snorts, smoke leaving his nose like a dragon. "Me and Star like ta starfish. How'd ya think she got her name?"
Toga huffs, a frown settling over her features for a half second before Haku comes on the screen again and her face softens once more.
She leaves the door wide open, and suddenly, Shigaraki's in the room too, scratching angrily at his neck as he looks over every person in the space.
Dabi freezes at first, as though he was caught doing something he wasn't meant to be doing, but you catch him shrug a little to himself and take another drag of his cigarette.
"I told you not to do that again." Shigaraki snaps at Dabi.
"Musta slipped my mind." Dabi replies in a bored manner, flicking ash onto the floor in a way that definitely doesn't look accidental.
The two stare at each other for a second, and you try to focus on the film instead of the impending conflict that was about to occur.
Unfortunately for you though, you automatically pick up on everything happening around you without really meaning to. You'd learned to do that pretty young after spacing out for a second and nearly having a glass bottle thrown at you because mom ducked out of the way.
So when Shigaraki's eyes roll to where you and Toga are, and then move straight back to looking at Dabi as he tilts his head ever so slightly, you don't miss it.
It also means when Dabi gives a very very slight shake of his head, you don't miss that either.
They stare at each other for another silent second, Dabi breaking eye contact with his pale-haired counterpart to breathe smoke out of the window again.
"I've planned it so Muscular won't be coming back next time." Shigaraki announces, glancing over at you, his nails digging even harder into his neck, drawing blood now. "Game over for him."
"Oooh! Are you gonna ki-" Toga begins to ask, sitting up in her excitement.
"Toga." Dabi warns, his cyan eyes sharp as he glares at her.
She huffs, scooting away from you, and off the bed.
"You guys are so boring." She snaps. "I miss Jin!"
She storms off past Shigaraki, her leg coming dangerously close to brushing his fingers, had he not bunched his hand up into a fist.
The two men watch her in complete confusion, Dabi shrugging before flicking his cigarette out the window.
"He'll be gone?" You ask Shigaraki quietly, ignoring Toga like the other two had. You didn't want to make another fuss.
Shigaraki grunts an affirmative at you, watching as Dabi joins you again on his bed, wrapping you up tight in the blanket again.
"Thank you Shigaraki." You say with genuine appreciation in your tone.
Shigaraki shrugs, but yet again you pick up a quick glance at Dabi, who was preoccupied with tucking you in now the movie was nearly ending.
He doesn't stay for much longer, spinning on his heel and leaving, actually closing the door this time.
The sound of the door closing catches Dabi's attention, and he turns his head to look, shrugging and looking back down at you.
"A lil' Star burrito. My finest creation." He teases, pinching your cheek now you're unable to fight him off.
You wiggle, grunting as you try and free your hands so you can grab his wrist.
This just makes him laugh even more, his contrasted face splitting into a wide smile as he continues shaking your cheek with his thumb and forefinger.
"Stop! Stop it!" You half-squeal, half-giggle.
You're being distracted from the movie, but it's nice.
You'd never been distracted from any movie before, in fact, there was one time where you'd been left alone to watch movie after movie completely alone and undisturbed for a whole day. Mom had even forgotten to give you food and a drink that day.
You try kicking at him from where your legs are wrapped up, but you can't.
Dabi's grin splits even further, and he gives a false evil laugh as he goes to pinch the other side of your cheek too.
"Can't escape the evil villain now, can ya?" He asks playfully.
"Let go! Let go!" You continue to squeal and wiggle, until you eventually get tired and give up.
The second you give up, Dabi relents too, letting go of your cheeks and rubbing them gently with his thumbs.
The movie's over by the time you're done, and you're not even mad about it. You were having fun for the first time maybe ever.
"Alright little Star." He says, bumping his head against yours gently. "Ya all ready for bed?"
You nod, and he grins.
"Attagirl. Y'stay here okay? Back in a sec."
He turns the lamp on, turns the TV off, grabs a random couple of items of clothing, and turns the main light off, leaving you alone in the dimly lit room.
You begin feeling tired, the playfighting with Dabi having finished you off for the day, so you wiggle more to the side of the bed and close your eyes.
He takes longer than usual, but does come back, quietly coming in, placing his clothes on the chair by his desk and slowly getting into bed too.
The second he's in bed, you cling to him, wrapping your arms around his arm and pressing your face up against the scarred skin there.
He freezes at first, clearly thinking you were asleep when he came in. But he soon relaxes again, his other hand going to your hair, running his fingers through it.
"Wha's up, cuddle bug?" He asks quietly, using that dumb nickname from the other day again.
After all, it wasn't totally like you to initiate physical contact. Usually you both shared small forms of touch, like Dabi's incessant need to pet your hair, but now you felt a lot more comfortable with him, you were a lot more openly needy with him.
"Can we hug?" You ask, ignoring his previous question.
"'Course we can." He chuckles lowly, wrapping the arm you're hugging around you, and pulling you to him.
You're thankful that he rarely ever denies you, and you can catch up on the hugs you should have had with mom, with Dabi.
You cuddle into his side as much as you can, soaking up the heat he gives off.
"Is somethin' the matter?" He asks close to your ear, his hand going back to your hair.
You're quiet for a second, thinking over what you want to tell him and what Giran said.
"I don't want you to like Shigaraki." You mumble, the words a lot clumsier than you'd prepared in your head.
"Hm? And why's that, littlest Star?" Dabi asks, his body heat not even rising a little.
His hand continues carding through your hair, completely unphased by what you said. "He say somethin' to ya? Do somethin' that upset ya?"
You shake your head, cuddling even closer to him, as though you could hide yourself in his side.
"Then what's the problem, babydoll?" He sighs, trying to tip your head back so you look at him.
"If you start loving each other..." You begin, and Dabi snorts as if the idea is ridiculous. You ignore him and continue. "Then you won't want me anymore because I'll just get in the way."
Dabi sighs, tapping your head a little bit. "Look at me."
You shake your head again, scared of seeing whatever expression he may be wearing. He wasn't yelling... yet. So there was a chance that he wasn't mad, but he could always be disappointed, or sad.
"Oi." He pokes you gently in the ribs, tickling you enough to make you wiggle slightly. "Stop ignorin' me."
You giggle a little despite yourself when he pokes you a little harder where it'd tickled.
"See, this is why we need a few secrets kiddo." Dabi sighs, kissing the top of your head. "You've made yourself all worried over nothin'."
"It's not nothing." You defend, gripping onto the loose shirt he's wearing a little tighter.
He's silent for a split second, before nodding. "You're right. Sorry kid."
He pulls you close, burying his face in your hair and taking a deep breath.
"If it makes ya happy, I'll stop rilin' him up." Dabi promises. "Promise."
"Riling him up?" You ask, confused.
Dabi chuckles. "Yeah. Ain't nothin' serious, Star. Jus' like puttin' him in his place so he knows he ain't all that tough."
"Really?" You ask, still confused and a little distrustful. Shigaraki was pretty tough, after all. And it sounded a lot like his heart was beating quicker than usual.
"Yup. Anythin' to make ya happy, Starlight."
That was a new one.
You fall quiet, thinking about how easily he seemed to promise leaving Shigaraki alone for you. Maybe Giran was right about it all, just like he said he would be, because he was basically Dabi's dad.
It's bittersweet, knowing you had someone that would choose you first every time, and it wasn't your blood parent.
"It's okay." You eventually say, your voice piercing through the silence. "I want you to be happy too."
He stiffens ever so slightly for a moment, and you hear him give a huff of amusement, his face being buried into your hair again.
"I wantcha to listen properly okay?" He asks, giving your head another kiss. "'Cause I keep tellin' ya this an' ya still ask every night you're in here."
"Okay." You reply, your voice muffled by how pressed against him you are.
"I ain't goin' anywhere, an' neither are you." He says, quietly but firmly. "I'd drop everythin' for you, 'cause you're jus' a little kid, an' you need lookin' after."
He rubs your back with enough pressure for it to feel grounding.
"You're my lil' Star, an' always will be. No-one will ever stop that from bein' the case. I know your mom...well, we look after ya different, so you'll hafta get used to it. But I promise ya, I'll always be here for ya."
He squeezes you tight.
"I ain't leavin' you. Ever, ever, ever." He promises. "An' if anyone ever tries takin' you, they'll have to pry ya from my cold, dead hands, kid."