You ended up kind of bullying Dabi into letting you stay in the bathroom until he was done soaking his burns. You didn't beg, just pleaded once with tearful eyes and he had caved.
He made you sit with your back to him the entire time, but you didn't care too much as long as you were allowed to be near him. The sounds of water splashing occasionally was enough to soothe you that he was still nearby, that he wouldn't let anything happen to you.
After all, you were still paranoid that Shigaraki would eventually come fuming from his room and try to find you, to yell at you, or worse.
Whenever it looked like you were going to turn around, Dabi would verbalize a warning. It wasn't snapped, or yelled, just a reminder for you to remain with your back turned. You were good, and didn't try to push your luck. Dabi had made it clear that he didn't really want you in the room with him earlier.
You'd been anxious the entire time, staring at the door, listening out for any sounds of distress that could be coming from outside your room. It had felt like forever that Dabi had carelessly stayed in the tub, despite your urges for him to go and check on Shigaraki.
You don't know why he was being so stubborn about it, you knew he liked Shigaraki, so why didn't he seem to care now?
When Dabi asks you to hand him his towel, and demands you absolutely do not turn around, you hold the towel in front of you up, keeping your eyes fixed on the wall opposite. The sound of water draining, and his wet feet hitting the ground tell you that he's finally done bathing, and you feel your body loosen with relief.
"Can you go and check now?" You ask quietly.
"Quit pesterin'." Dabi replies coldly. "Aren't ya mad? He yelled at you."
He pauses, before spitting: "I'm fu- I'm mad."
You shake your head. You weren't mad. You were sad.
And you were more worried about Dabi's reaction if something bad did happen to Shigaraki. You didn't want him to feel as broken and lonely as you did when you'd found mom.
"I don't want you to be mad, or sad. So can you go and check on him? Please?" You continue to pester, wanting to reach out and grab one of his warm, scarred arms for extra grounding and emphasis.
You don't though, not even paying attention to his silhouette in the corners of your eyes as he starts picking up his clothing.
"I'll check on him when I feel like it." Dabi replies in a gravelly voice, making the corners of your mouth fall ever so slightly, burying your face into your arms as you hug your knees.
There's a short silence between you both, the only sound filling the bathroom being the sound of the water draining. Eventually, Dabi seems to huff.
"Fine." He grunts, his hand landing in your hair. "You stay in here."
You raise your head instantly, cautiously looking up at Dabi. Now redressed, he looks down at you, a look of concern hiding behind dangerously cold eyes.
"Want me to put a movie on for ya while I'm gone?" He asks. "A show? You gonna nap?"
"Can I choose?" You ask, watching as he hangs his towel over the door, getting up and following behind him as he exits the bathroom.
"Nothin' outside of the children's profile." Dabi warns, pinching your cheek.
"Promise." You reply, hopping onto the bed and crossing your legs, hauling Ducky onto the bed with you.
Dabi gives you a once over before humming a little, grabbing the controller and pressing a few buttons, loading up the kids profile for you.
He hands you the remote, kissing the top of your head quickly before standing straight.
"Stay here. Got that?"
You nod again, transfixed on the TV screen. He'd never let you choose what to watch before like this, usually you would tell him what you wanted to watch and he'd just put it on for you, no questions asked. Mom never did that for you.
Dabi pads out of the room, hands in pockets, his black mess of hair briefly blocking the screen as he walks past.
You ended up settling on something you'd never watched before, another Studio Ghibli movie that had almost instantly entranced you with the magical themes and stunning sceneries. You were cuddling Ducky, one leg hooked over its body and your thumb in your mouth as you stared at the scene.
You almost forgot about Dabi and Shigaraki.
You jolt a little when, almost at the end of the movie, Dabi reappears, his hair messier than it had been when he'd left. You immediately take your thumb out of your mouth and sit up properly.
"Is he okay?" You ask, bringing Ducky to your chest.
"Yeah, you were all worried for nothin', Starshine." Dabi replies, ruffling your hair.
"But he still did something bad." You point out quietly, peering over Ducky at Dabi.
Dabi pauses at the bedside for a second, a look of conflict passing over his face. He shoos you to one side of the bed, climbing on top of the covers and laying on his back, one of his arms lazily draped over his stomach.
"N'aw. He wasn't doin' anything bad, doll. Was just' a misunderstandin'." Dabi tries to reassure you, closing his eyes.
"He did. He took bad medicine, and then he yelled at me." You remind him, trying not to feel hurt at the dismissal of your feelings when he'd bellowed at you.
Dabi sighs, throwing his other arm over his eyes. "He didn't take bad medicine. It's good medicine. Ain't gonna hurt him, princess."
"But-"
"An' I told him not to yell at you again. Ever." Dabi continues. "He's sorry, Star."
You huff, crossing your arms over your chest. You didn't want an apology from Dabi, you wanted to hear it straight from Shigaraki himself. He'd really scared you, and had made you think about things that made you sad, and you were sure that if Dabi liked him as much as you thought he did, he must have had an inkling as to how much you disliked people raising their voice at you.
After all, Dabi was right when he'd told you that Shigaraki was smarter than most people. He was perceptive. He must have known.
"He panicked, 'cause he doesn't want anyone knowin' he takes that medicine, 'kay?" Dabi explains.
"Why?" You ask, intrigued.
Dabis lips press into a thin line. "Because it's his business an' no-one else's."
The answer's a little blunt, and doesn't really tell you much. You wanted to know the proper reason. Why would anyone not want people knowing they have to take medicine?
"But if he's poorly and he has to take medicine surely people have to know?" You ask, tilting your head thoughtfully. "What if he gets sick and no-one knows he needs to have medicine?"
"Star." Dabi sighs, lifting his arm and squinting at you with one eye.
"What?" You ask defensively. "He needs to tell people! It's important! He's the boss!"
Dabi groans, hiding his eyes with his arm again. "That's exactly why-"
He stops, catching himself and changing the subject.
"It ain't that kind of medicine." He shrugs.
"What kind of medicine is it?" You reply instantly.
"Full'a questions today, aren'tcha, Star?" He asks dryly.
"Well what is it?" You ask in return, confused.
"Jus' drop it, yeah?" He replies with a sigh. "Watch yer film."
You frown at him, displeased with the utter dismissal and his non-answers leaving you more confused than you had been at the beginning.
"You're breaking the rules." You accuse. He was keeping secrets.
Dabi groans, rubbing his face with his hands, it looks like the action should be rough, but on account of his fragile staples and skin, he's pressing on himself lightly.
"Star. I'm in a lotta pain, an' I've just-" He cuts himself off once more, taking a deep breath. "I'm hurtin', and I just need to relax today. 'Kay?"
He sounds tired, the most tired you'd heard him, and kind of like he had given up.
He doesn't even yell at you, but you feel like he may as well have anyway.
"Sorry sir." You mumble, just as you had when you had upset him when you grabbed ahold of Shigaraki that one time.
"Ain't sir. I'm your pawpaw." Dabi says, removing his arm from over his eyes to frown at you. "An' you don't need ta apologise."
"Sorry pawpaw." You whisper sadly.
He stares at you in silence for a moment, before exhaling loudly out of his nose.
"C'mere." He pats his shoulder. "Gently."
He doesn't have to tell you twice, and you immediately place your cheek on his shoulder, making sure to only press down a little on him, and keeping your arms away from him.
If it hurts him, he doesn't tell you, his arm going back to cover his eyes.
You both lay there silently for a while, and you take it that Dabi was done talking to you now, so you slowly and gently shift your head to watch what little remained of the movie.
"Star."
You jump a little, the silence having stretched so long that you thought he'd fallen asleep.
"Yeah?" You reply, not taking your eyes off the TV.
"You can't tell anyone I get like this. 'Kay?"
The request for you to keep it a secret throws you off guard, Dabi being in pain feels like something that shouldn't go unknown, especially now the heroes are bored of looking for you all and Dabi and the others have gone back to working.
"But-" You begin.
Dabi shoots you a sharp look, and you have to brace yourself to ignore it.
"But you can't work and be hurting." You continue firmly, although you want to curl up into a ball and hide.
"I can handle it." Dabi replies coldly. "It's nothin'."
"But what if you get hurt and no-one knows, like what Shigaraki's doing?" You worry.
"Star."
A warning tone, again.
He's picking one of his facial staples again. You're pushing his temper, and you don't want to upset him any more, so you do what you do best, and just keep your mouth shut, placating the situation before it blows up.
Your movie ends, leaving you in the heavy silence alone with Dabi, who's mood was already undoubtedly sour before you started asking questions and defying his request to keep his pain quiet from the others.
You stop resting your head on his shoulder after a little while of the painful wordlessness between you both, putting on some random show just to fill the space and to hopefully distract you.
"Shigaraki ain't sick." Dabi eventually says, although he sounds a little sleepy this time.
"Then why does he take medicine?" You ask.
Dabi sighs, turning his head to look at you.
"You're not gonna drop it are ya?"
You shake your head.
You were worried. You weren't as comfortable with Shigaraki as you were with the others, but you still didn't want to see him hurt, or have a repeat of what had happened with your mom. The memory of her was enough to turn your stomach, so you tried not to think of it too much.
You also knew Dabi liked Shigaraki more than he was letting on, and that he didn't really want to see him hurt either, even when he pretended he didn't care.
Dabi looks at you as though he's sizing you up, a strange emotion behind his eyes.
"You gotta promise to keep this to yourself, ya hear? I'm only tellin' ya cause you walked in on him, an' I don't want ya stressin' over nothin'."
"Promise." You reply with a nod.
"I mean it, Star. Ya can't tell anyone." He repeats. "It's important to him tha' it stays between us. 'Kay?"
"Okay." You agree, scooting a little closer again.
He still looks a little conflicted, but does take a deep breath, resting both arms over his stomach, his blue eyes staring at the ceiling.
"Yaknow when I was tellin' ya about Magne? An' how sometimes people can get help from doctors so they feel... more like themselves?"
"You said it was expensive." You nod.
"Yeah. Exactly." Dabi clears his throat. "Well, some people like Magne hafta inject stuff in 'em to help their body change, so it's a bit more comfortable for 'em."
You wince. "Ouch."
"Yeah. Well, that's all it was." Dabi says simply, but his eyes flicker over your face, looking as though he's waiting for a reaction.
"Oh." You hum, thinking about it for a second. "And that's why it has to be a secret, because you have to wait for them to tell you if they wanna... Like with big sis Magne?"
Dabi nods slowly. "Except he doesn't want people to know. Ever."
You hum thoughtfully.
Dabi's still looking at you as though he's expecting you to do or say something. Except you don't, you just shrug it off, glad that Shigaraki wasn't in danger of being hurt and subsequently upsetting Dabi.
You return back to watching the television without another word, pulling Ducky close again as you lie on your side, the giant plush practically a wall between you and Dabi.
You see the corner of Dabi's mouth pull upwards a little, and one of his hands musses your hair.
"You're a good girl, Starshine." He praises. "I love ya."
You don't know why it doesn't feel right for him to say that, but it doesn't. You weren't used to hearing it. You weren't used to hearing people say that you were good, either.
Not even mom.
"Love you too..." You reply shyly, trying to ignore the little part of your brain telling you that what he said isn't true.