The bar at the hotel was so loud and cheerful in comparison to how it had been earlier when you'd been left with Kurogiri for a little while.
Jin and Big Sis Himiko were back again, and everyone seemed in high spirits, Kurogiri was making them fancy looking drinks and allowing them to play music loudly.
You knew they were drinking the funny juice that used to make mom and her boyfriends mad because you could smell the scent that used to once serve as a warning for you.
So at first, you cling to Dabi, who was only drinking a beer at the beginning, he seemed to notice your anxiety about the whole gang of them drinking straight away.
He makes sure to rub your arm and back while you hold onto him, curled into his side on one of the big chairs in the bar. He checks on you routinely, his voice a low rumble that only you can hear.
You end up slowly feeling more and more at ease, seeing the others only really seeming more and more giggly and getting more and more cheerful with every new drink, a complete opposite to how your mom would get when she drank.
Even Atsuhiro takes off his balaclava to everyone's amazement, and you can see his face clearly for the first time.
He looks younger than Uncle Jin, with brown messy hair and a warm grin. He looks like he should be an actor on TV and you find yourself blushing and hiding your face in Dabi's side when he addresses you as kindly as usual, trying to pull you into conversations to make you feel more at ease.
Dabi chuckles every time, leaning his heated cheek atop your head and petting your hair lovingly.
You do eventually allow Kurogiri to make you one of the drinks that he'd been making Himiko after a lot of reassurance from everyone that it didn't have funny juice in it.
It's sweet and having something to sip at and distract yourself with eases you into the situation a little more, and you find yourself enjoying looking around and watching them all have excited conversation and singing along to the music playing.
When Shigaraki eventually slides into the booth next to you, even he seems more at ease than usual, his cracked lips pulled up on one side at everyone else's antics.
Kurogiri gives him his usual drink of honey coloured liquid and ice, something Shigaraki thanks him lowly for, his eyes catching yours from the side and his smirk pulling up even more.
"Are you okay, Starlight?" He asks, thumb brushing over your cheek softly.
"Mhm!" You reply. "Kurogiri gave me a fancy drink too!"
"He did?" Shigaraki asks, still smirking. "How is it?"
"Yummy!" You chirp, moving away from Dabi and closer to Shigaraki.
You and Shigaraki are getting on a lot better now. You played games together a lot, and you weren't uncomfortable with being left with him instead of being taken to Uncle Giran anymore. He helped you with your math work and your quirk training without being grumpy, and often gave you more soft and affectionate touches than just fist bumps now.
"Can I try?" He asks, gesturing at your drink.
You bob your head up and down, pushing the drink towards him, earning a small 'attagirl' from Dabi and a kiss on the top of your head.
Shigaraki sips your drink, wincing a little.
"It's sweet." He comments with a nod, pushing it back toward you.
You hum, sipping your drink and returning your attention to the others, half-feeling Dabi reach behind you to touch Shigaraki.
Jin is probably the cheeriest of them all, being playful with Himiko and Dabi in particular, and chatting excitedly with the others.
He's mid conversation with Spinner when a new song comes on and he lets out a loud 'oooh!'
He yells for Kurogiri to turn it up, his second voice snapping to turn the music off.
When the music turns up he leaps to his feet, catching your eyes and grinning.
"Come dance with me little Star!" He encourages, holding his hand out for you.
You blush at the attention of everyone's eyes on you, gingerly taking Jin's hand and allowing him to pull you out of your seat and away from Dabi for the first time tonight.
Everyone cheers when you get up to dance with Jin, the older man hauling you up into his arms and making you giggle.
"Thank you for treating me to a dance, lovely little lady." Jin kisses your cheek, his stubble scratching at your skin slightly.
He lowers you down, placing your feet on top of his own and holding your waist gently, leading the dance by moving your feet with his own, grinning down at you with a sad look in his eyes.
You enjoy the 'dance', gripping his arms for extra support, and watching your feet move together. Even Himiko joins in, dragging Atsuhiro with her.
Spinner, Shigaraki and Dabi all watch, even Shigaraki grinning, as the four of you dance together, Himiko and Atsuhiro's dances are a lot more fluid and spin-filled than yours and Jins are.
Dabi seems to take the opportunity of you being a decent distance away, enough for him to smoke inside the bar. He holds a lit cigarette in one hand and his other hand rests under Shigaraki's shirt, pressed against his back.
Shigaraki doesn't seem mad at him for smoking inside tonight either, too busy smiling as he watches you all dance.
You wonder what has them all in such a good mood. Usually it was pretty loud whenever everyone was home, but tonight was particularly energetic, even for their standards.
After the song is over, Jin gently coaxes you off his feet, before beginning to do a silly dance to the new song playing instead. You beam at him, enjoying having him and Himiko back in the hotel, the massive building feeling a lot less empty now they're home. You soon follow his lead, starting to dance less seriously too, giggling when Himiko takes your hands and starts dancing with you instead of Atsuhiro.
Spinner eventually joins in too, bouncing and bopping his head, violet hair flying around as he does so. You even manage to be brave and copy his movements, making him grin as you dance with him in your own little way.
After the second song is over, Dabi calls you back to him, something you immediately do, your respect for him manifesting in unshakeable obedience a lot of the time.
Shigaraki moves slightly so you can pass him and get to Dabi, slightly out of breath and your eyes wide.
A warm hand ruffles your hair playfully.
"Cool dancin' kid." He grins. "But it's gettin' late, so I need you to start settling down now. 'Kay?"
"But I wanna dance with everyone some more." You pout ever so slightly.
You hadn't had this much fun in... well, ever.
It was the most joyful they had all been since Magne passed, and you wanted to treasure and soak up all the positivity surrounding you while you could.
You were enjoying being in a loud environment without being scared. You wanted to cherish the fact that they were all safe to be with even when they were drinking the angry juice.
"One more dance and then you gotta sit and settle." Dabi agrees, to your surprise.
"Thank you!" You exclaim, lunging forward to give him a hug.
He freezes momentarily, but soon laughs and wraps his arms around you, too.
"Go on then." He encourages with a grin pulling at one side of his stapled mouth. "Before I change my mind."
You nod, running off to go and dance with the others again. Atsuhiro grabs your hand with his metallic hand this time and makes you spin, the act making you giggle madly.
He grins, leading the whole dance while holding your hands.
The final dance you're allowed seems to last a lot less longer than the others and you're a little saddened when you catch Dabi's eye and he motions for you to come over to sit with him again.
You rejoin him, sitting beside him, and leaning against him, beginning to feel a slight ache behind your eyes.
"Nice dancing, Star." Shigaraki praises, the grin evident in his voice.
"Thank you. I wanna dance with everyone more." You reply, leaning more into Dabi as he throws an arm around you.
"We can dance more on your birthday." Dabi reassures, kissing the top of your head.
You go quiet. You knew about birthdays but you'd never had a birthday.
"When's your birthday, Starlight?" Shigaraki asks, brushing his knuckles over your cheek faintly again.
"Um..."
Dabis demeanor changes immediately, but Shigaraki remains as nonchalant as ever, looking down at you with his usual stoicism.
"You don't know when your birthday is, do you?" Dabi asks quietly.
You shake your head, and Dabi's body temperature spikes immediately. Shigaraki gently tugs you more towards his chair, pulling your previously abandoned drink to you, and gently reminding you to finish it.
You nod, sipping your special juice and looking over at the others as they all continue dancing and singing together, only half picking up on Dabi and Tomura speaking in hushed tones, Shigaraki's hand carefully placed on the back of your neck.
Shigaraki motions for Kurogiri to come over, quietly requesting something, his thumb coasting over the skin on the nape of your neck.
Within no time at all, Kurogiri returns with a cup of cocoa and two pills for you.
This has slowly become your bedtime routine too. Kurogiri had started giving you tablets because he said you had anemia, which apparently meant your body didn't have enough iron for your blood.
You thank Kurogiri politely like Dabi had taught you, taking the cocoa and immediately swallowing the tablets he'd given you.
"Please can I have some water?" You ask quietly.
"You okay, Starshine?" Dabi asks, moving a little of your hair out of the way.
"My head hurts a little." You admit, sipping your cocoa.
"Guys-" Shigaraki begins to call but you shake your head and grab his arm a lot more fearlessly than you used to be with him.
"No! They're having fun!" You exclaim. "I'll drink my chocolate and go to bed! It's okay."
Dabi strokes your hair lovingly as you slowly drink your cocoa, occasionally sipping his own beer, his eyes on the others who were all still giggling and standing around chatting, Jin seems to be emotional and giving Spinner a hug now.
You down the water quickly, reaching for Dabi the second you're done, wanting a hug suddenly.
"Aw, hon." He sympathizes, allowing you onto his lap. "Everyone's so excited. Got ya all tuckered out, huh?"
You nod, clinging to him, one of his arms wrapping around you and the other running flat down your now shorter hair.
You feel another hand rub your back a couple of times gently, assuming that it's Shigaraki. You allow it, your head beginning to hurt too much for you to interact with the two of them.
It's nice listening to the music, the chattering between them all, the sounds of joy and it's always nice being held in the warmth of Dabi's arms.
You begin to doze off without even noticing, your face pressed against Dabi's chest, your arms loosening around his waist.
You fall asleep to the sound of everyone having fun, feeling safe and stable regardless of the fact that they'd all been drinking.
*•*
When you wake up your belly hurts, your body curls up automatically, your knees pressed against your tummy and your face buried into Duckys body.
"Pawpaw." You whimper, reaching for him.
But he's not there.
You pat around where he usually lies, the blankets flat under your fingers.
You call out for him again, louder, assuming that he may be in the bathroom, but you don't hear him respond.
You typically know now that when Dabi's not in your room it's because he'd snuck off into Shigaraki's room during the night.
Usually you tried to be brave and not go and find him to bring him back, even when you had a nightmare.
But this belly pain was familiar and painful and you needed the comfort of your pawpaw.
So you manage to peel yourself from bed, pad to the bathroom with your teddy to clean up and change your pyjamas, hiding the stained ones away under the bed in embarrassment and checking that you hadn't leaked onto the bed.
You carry your teddy all the way to Shigaraki's room, whining quietly whenever a particularly painful cramp takes hold of your lower stomach.
You were a little worried that he might be mad at you for interrupting his time with Dabi. They didn't really get a lot of time together without you around, something that always used to upset mom and her boyfriends too.
Nervously you knock on the door, holding your teddy tightly to your tummy like Shigaraki had taught you nearly a month ago.
No-one answers, so you knock again, making a slightly distressed sound when you begin to panic that maybe everyone had left the hotel behind, including you, and that's why they were all celebrating.
This time the door opens a crack, red eyes appearing as well as long locks of blue hair, he takes a moment to realise that he needs to move them downwards to see you.
"Star? What's wrong?" He asks, seeming a little caught off guard.
"I'm bleeding again." You sniffle. "I want Dabi."
"Ah." Shigaraki replies, sighing, and his eyes seem to soften.
He opens the door a little more after checking no-one else is around, revealing a bit more of his pale skin. It looked like he might be topless, but he keeps himself hidden behind the door for the most part.
"Dabi's in here. Come in." He encourages, seeming completely unbothered by the fact you'd asked for him.
Mom always used to get mad about that.
You waddle into his room awkwardly, clutching your teddy tight.
Shigaraki closes the door quietly behind you, his hand quickly placing itself atop your head reassuringly.
He passes you, knocking on the ensuite door with two fingers. You can hear water running in there.
"Star's here." He warns through the door, walking to retrieve a shirt from the floor.
"She is? Is everything alright?" Comes the instant concerned reply from Dabi.
You're a little taken aback, you weren't expecting to be welcomed so openly. You were expecting at least a little fight with Shigaraki. Mom and her boyfriends always used to yell at you at least a little bit if you interrupted them at night.
You catch a glimpse of a scar on Shigaraki's chest as he lifts the shirt over his head quickly, and notice there's another one that matches on the other side of his chest.
"How did you get those?" You ask curiously.
You were used to Dabi's extensive scarring, and the sight of Jin's forehead scar, but you hadn't noticed any real scars on Shigaraki apart from the ones on his face and the odd glance at a red scar on his shoulder when his shirt slipped slightly.
He looks a little uncomfortable at first, but eventually glances at you with warm red eyes.
"They're from before you knew me." He replies, cocking his head at you as he answers. "I had to have an operation to feel better. I'm okay now, though."
He drops to a crouch, his expression changing to a softer one.
"Do you want a hug?"
You pause, thinking about his answer, and his own question to you.
Eventually, you nod, dropping teddy to hold onto him instead.
He opens his arms, and you thump your face into his now clothed chest, wrapping your own arms around his middle. You're surprised by the show of affection from him, and want to take advantage while you can.
He rests his chin on top of your head and rubs your back with one hand wordlessly.
You hear a door open, drawing Shigaraki's attention to Dabi, his cheek leaning on your head as he looks at his raven-haired counterpart.
"Star? What's up?" Dabi asks, gently pulling you from Shigarakis' hold.
His hands brush your hair out of your face, and his worried blue eyes scan over your face, looking for signs of distress or for any injuries.
His hands splay over your cheeks as he waits for your answer.
"I'm bleeding again." You explain, your lip wobbling slightly.
"Again?" Dabi replies with a frown, his eyes following Shigaraki as he stands to his full height. "S' not been a month yet has it?"
"They'll be irregular for a while." Shigaraki replies matter-of-factly, shrugging slightly.
Shigaraki scratches the top of your head gently, passing you teddy carefully.
"Right... right." Dabi replies, his thumbs grazing over your cheeks. "Your tummy hurtin'?"
You nod.
"My poor little Starshine." He sighs, sounding genuinely upset. "Come here."
He hauls you up, even though it sounds like a bit of a struggle for him, sitting with you at the edge of Shigaraki's bed, his hand resting on your stomach and heating up slightly.
"I'll get her duck." Shigaraki says calmly. "And some painkillers."
"Thanks." Dabi replies, allowing you to bury your face into him.
Your eyes are closed and your face is pressed tightly into your adoptive dad, so you don't see it, but you hear what sounds like a quick peck between the two.
"Gross." You murmur into Dabi's bare chest.
He laughs slightly, squeezing you tight for a moment.
"Don't be a hater." He teases. "You'll probably have yer fair share of kisses when you're older."
"Nuh-uh!" You argue.
He kisses the top of your head with a throaty chuckle.
"True, they'll hafta prove themselves worthy t'me first, an' I'm not sure anyone's ever gonna be good enough for ya." He replies, continuing to chuckle to himself. "Shigaraki will be even harder to work over, too."
"Good thing ya think kissin's gross, kid, 'cause between us you're probably never gonna have a love life." He continues to tease as you scowl up at him, dipping his head to rub his nose against yours.
"What about Spinner?" You ask without thinking, your eyes widening and your cheeks heating up when you realise you said it out loud.
Dabi's own eyes widen, and then narrow slightly.
He shakes his head. "Naw, kid. Spinners too old for ya."
"But what about when I'm older?" You ask curiously.
"He'll still be too old for ya." Dabi replies bluntly, tapping your nose. "Maybe he has a little brother, though.."
"You think?" You ask hopefully.
Dabi grins, rolling his eyes. "You're a strange kid, little Starshine. Don't you want a non-heteromorph? Most kids would bully someone like Spinner, not crush on him."
"But you said not to treat Spinner differently, because he's still a person." You argue.
Dabi shakes his head with a grin. "I know that, little Star. You're a good girl."
He kisses your forehead, still smiling. "M' so proud of you."
The words make your heart lift instantly, and you hold onto him a little tighter. That had reassured you that he wasn't mad about you bringing up Spinner, and helped you feel like he still wanted you, even though he was Shigaraki's boyfriend now.
The door opens and closes again, and Shigaraki appears in your line of vision past Dabi's wet messy hair.
"Here. It's warm." Shigaraki says, handing you the warmed up duck plushie Dabi got you.
"Thank you." You reply politely.
You hold the duck to your lower stomach, and happily take the painkillers from him, straightening yourself up to take them. Dabi passes you a glass of water from the bedside table to help you swallow them.
Shigaraki climbs onto the bed casually, wearing gloves this time.
Once you take the pills, Dabi pulls you down onto the bed next to him too.
"Aren't we going to our room?" You ask, allowing Dabi to wrap his arm around you, him taking over holding the warm ducky for you.
Shigaraki places your other teddy by your head, stroking your cheek softly as he retracts his hand.
"Let's stay here, Starshine." Dabi soothes, burying his face in the back of your hair as he holds you. "You comfy?"
"Mhm." You yawn, your eyes half lidded already.
"Then let's get some sleep." He murmurs, scarred arms bringing you closer.
"Goodnight Starlight." Shigaraki says, turning off the lamp, and you feel his gloved hands behind you as he begins to hug Dabi. "Night, Dabi."
"Night night, Shigaraki." You reply sleepily. "Thank you for letting me stay."
You feel two ungloved fingers stroke your back in response before they settle back completely onto Dabis' stomach.
It's not long before you fall asleep again, warm, comfy, and feeling safe with both Dabi and Shigaraki in your company, with no fighting or yelling to stay with them for the night.