When you wake up again, the room is dark, and you can feel the familiar warmth of Dabi's back against your own.
The more you come around, the clearer the mumbling in the room, his mumbling, becomes. Muttering something about his dad looking at him again, with a little broken whine and flinch here and there.
You really must have been dreaming, the dream so real that you actually feel tired as you awaken, as though you'd been doing exercises before your eyes had opened.
You turn around, cuddling into Dabi, your face pressed tightly against his back.
"Pawpaw?" You call quietly, not wanting to wake him too abruptly and get burned again.
He'd been really sad after that had happened before, after all.
He doesn't respond, his body stiffening as you press yourself against him. The sleepy murmuring stops, too.
"Dabi?" You call again, not even questioning why he was in your bed when you'd been sleeping separately recently.
You just assume it's because of his dreams. Maybe he had sought you out for comfort like you did when you had bad dreams. Especially now Tomura was rarely home, he probably didn't feel he had anyone else to come to.
He was always so... distant with the others.
He groans, turning over and throwing an arm over you to pull you closer to him.
"Shh." He replies sleepily.
"I had a bad dream." You inform him as though he's fully compos mentis.
You feel his chest rise and fall with a deep sigh, his breathing becoming a bit more regular and his hand moving to rub your back slowly as he seems to draw himself from sleep.
You remain wordless while he recollects himself, listening to him yawn and partially stretch himself out, while still making sure to hold onto you.
"What happened?" He asks after a while, his already raspy voice even more gravelly with sleep, making it sound as though the words were crackling in his throat.
"Some mean men took me and Giran away and took all of his fingers off!" You reply more enthusiastically now that he's awake. "And then Uncle Jin was making clones of you, 'Mura and Compress to come and save us!"
"Star..." Dabi sighs, his arm pulling you impossibly closer.
His face presses into the top of your head, his metal sutures catching in your hair in a way that tells you you're definitely awake this time.
"You're safe now." He soothes with his crackling words. "Ain't never gonna let you be taken again, darlin'."
"But it was just a dream, pawpaw." You reply. "Right?"
"Go ta sleep." He yawns. "We can talk about it in the mornin'."
"Okay, sorry..." You whisper, wishing you could see his expression, to see if he was mad at you or just tired.
You pause, fully awake now, even though it looks quite late at night from how dark the room is. Dabi still continues to rub your back, even though he seems to forget he's doing so occasionally and slows to a stop, it seems to take a small snore from Dabi for him to start picking it back up again.
You giggle quietly after the third snore that wakes him up again.
You feel his lips pull upwards slowly against your head.
"Sleep, twerp." He grumbles, squeezing you immediately after as if to reassure you nothing is meant by that word.
"Were you having a bad dream too, Dabi?" You ask quietly. "You were talking about your dad..."
"Sleep." He repeats, more bluntly this time.
You take the hint, shutting up immediately, instead focusing your attention to counting his staples through his shirt, using your finger to run over each one.
It doesn't take him long to fall back to sleep, little soft breaths fanning over your hair while he slumbers.
You're still wide awake though, counting the staples you can reach over and over again until your eyes feel heavy enough for you to fall asleep again.
*•*
"No."
"But why?!" You ask in a whine. "I wanna see Uncle Jin and Giran!"
You'd finally spoken to him properly about your 'nightmare' while he was trying to make pancakes like Kurogiri did for you.
He'd had to tell you that everything you thought you had dreamt was actually what had truly happened, even to the finer details like Giran really being injured.
Atsuhiro had marbleized you and Dabi had kept you safe while they made sure everyone else was okay and safe, too.
Apparently not just Giran was hurt. Uncle Jin, the real one, had broken both of his arms, Himiko had apparently been caught in a trap and needed really serious medical help and Tomura had apparently been really badly hurt, too.
You wanted to see them. They all got hurt trying to get you and Uncle Giran back from the mean men, and you wanted to go and thank them.
Dabi, however, was not having it.
His movements are slow and sluggish today, and he was harder to wake up than usual this morning. He was probably having a bad pain day, he said he had to use his quirk a lot to come and get you back, which made you feel a little guilty, but you were just so relieved to be back.
But the fact he was potentially in pain does stop you from wanting to argue the point too much.
Although he always apologised when it happened, he got a little snappier when his scars were hurting on days like today, and you didn't want to make him mad enough for him to leave you alone today.
Because the last time he'd left you alone, everything had gone wrong.
"I told you, where they are will just scare you. An' you're already jittery from bein' taken." Dabi replies curtly, continuing to try to make breakfast for you.
You huff in annoyance. Sure, you were being a little more jumpy than usual, flinching whenever Atsuhiro or Spinner tried to give you reassuring touches, as well as sitting and standing with your face towards the entry and exit points of each room, terrified that the second you turn your back you'll be taken again.
Your want to see everyone else overrides your fear, however, knowing that as long as Dabi went with you, you might feel a little safer.
"I won't be scared!" You exclaim with a confidence that seemingly comes out of nowhere.
After all, what could be scarier than being taken away from Dabi and seeing your grandpaws fingers being cut off?
"I said no, quit pushin'." Dabi replies in a tone that suggests there's absolutely no wriggle room around it.
You scowl at the side of his head, his messier-than-usual black locks obscuring his view of you.
"Hate to get involved, but he kind of has a point, Star." Spinner smiles apologetically at you. "It's no place for a kid."
"Especially a kid that's been kidnapped recently." Dabi mutters.
"No fair." You huff in annoyance. "I wanna see everyone. I want to make sure they're all okay."
"Life ain't fair, kid." Dabi replies, pointing the spatula at you. "An' when they're all sick, I doubt they want you runnin' around askin' 'em questions."
He slips a couple relatively burned pancakes onto a plate, shoving it towards you with a warning look before pinching your cheek gently in a more affectionate way than the look he just gave you.
"Why don't you work on drawing everyone a get well picture?" Atsuhiro asks, unmasked once again and leaning his face in one hand while the other curves around a cup of green tea.
"That's a good idea." Dabi nods, ruffling your hair playfully as you pick at the burned pancakes with a sour expression. "One of your drawin's would cheer me right up."
"Can I give them the drawings myself?" You ask eagerly, lifting your head.
You could always draw them some quick small things and then go and see them today in that case, which would be great.
"When everyone's better, maybe." Atsuhiro replies instead of Dabi.
You look at Dabi, the one who you knew really called the shots in situations like these.
To your chagrin, he nods in agreement and points at you.
"That includes you, lil' Starshine." Dabi pokes your nose, even as your face settles into another frown.
"But I'm not hurt! I don't need to get better!" You deny.
"Maybe not physically. But you definitely ain't in any place to be goin' to that hospital." Dabi argues with you. "Eat yer pancakes and stop bein' such a pain in the neck."
"But I'm fine!" You continue to exclaim.
Dabi takes a visible deep breath to collect himself while Atsuhiro and Spinner exchange a quick look.
Once he releases the breath, his mouth pulls up at one corner, giving you a slight smirk, probably the most normal expression he'd given you so far today.
"Alright. I'm gonna go for a smoke, an' then I'll think about it. Quit playin' with your food an' actually just eat it, too." He says with a casual stretch of his back.
Panic immediately grips you the second his fingers dip into his pocket to grab his packet of cigarettes. He never liked you going with him, but you didn't want to be out of his sight, and you were surprised he was happy leaving you with Spinner and Atsuhiro, what with you having been taken while in Giran's care.
Maybe it would have felt a little better if you were all still in the bar, or the hotel, instead of this still unfamiliar, mostly empty and dusty mansion. There were too many places for any intruders to hide in this place, and too many empty unclaimed rooms that you hadn't even set foot in yet.
You slip out of your seat automatically to follow Dabi.
"What're you doin'?" Dabi asks in a lazy drawl. "Y'know I don't like you bein' close when I smoke."
"Stay here and eat your breakfast with us." Spinner smiles softly, patting the chair you had just gotten off.
"We can make a start to your drawings, too." Atsuhiro chimes in, placing his mug back down on the table. "How does that sound, little lady?"
"I want to go with Dabi..." You murmur, not wanting to hurt their feelings but also not wanting to be without Dabi, either.
"Why's that, Star?" Dabi asks, a knowing smirk on his lips.
"Because I-" You begin to answer, before having a moment of realisation.
Oh.
That's it. It was a trick, to prove a point about you being scared.
You're embarrassed, your cheeks beginning to heat up, but you try to play it off.
"Because I want to be with my dad." You say firmly.
You feel a bit bad, knowing that whenever you refer to Dabi as your 'pawpaw', or 'dad', it always makes his cerulean eyes sparkle like nothing else does. And you were trying to use that to your advantage.
"I'll be back in five, Starshine. Be good for these two, 'kay?" Dabi replies, his expression softening as he lovingly pats the top of your head.
Your body reacts before you really think about it the second Dabi moves to leave, your hand flying out to capture his own.
His attention returns to you, his expression still softer than usual, an almost pitying look on his face.
"Please?" You ask quietly.
"C'mon then, Star." He encourages quietly, squeezing your hand. "But when we get back in, I wanna see you eat somethin', okay?"
"Okay." You agree, bobbing your head up and down.
"Attagirl." He praises, gently leading you out of the giant kitchen.
Apparently Tomura had banned him from smoking in the kitchen and in their bedroom, and surprisingly, he did seem to be obedient this time around. You never saw him smoke in the kitchen, even while Tomura wasn't around.
He flops onto one of the cushioned benches in the hallway, kicking his legs up and laying them over the rest of the seat so you can't sit beside him, a not-so-subtle way to get you to keep your distance.
You take a seat on one of the benches opposite, looking from side to side, checking all entry points even though you knew Dabi wouldn't let anything happen to you.
After a while of silence, apart from the sounds of him inhaling and exhaling smoke, he finally speaks up again.
"The hospital they're at ain't a normal hospital, hon." He explains, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "The...people there are a little scary. It's freaky even for grown ups like me an' the others."
This approach works better for you than outright telling you no, the idea of this hospital where everyone was getting treated being scary even for Dabi to be freaked out enough to make you reconsider how stubborn you were about going to see everyone.
"But Himiko's not a grown up." You counter, your voice a little uncertain.
"Toga's..." Dabi begins to say, his lips going into a thin line as he flicks ash into a nearby tray. "Toga's in bad shape right now. Ain't awake to be scared."
"Is she going to die?" You ask, worried for a whole new reason now.
"Naw, Starshine. She's jus' sleeping a lot right now." He replies with a slight sigh. "Plus, she's... a little tougher than you."
"I'm tough!" You exclaim, brows knitting together in annoyance.
"You are, yeah. I remember when you made me worried as all hell grabbin' ahold of Tomura that one time. An' when you made those heroes sick." Dabi smiles fondly. "Yeah. You made me real proud several times, doll. But... you're not indestructible."
He stubs his cigarette out and motions for you to come and join him, opening his arms for you.
You're over there in a flash, leaning against his side and into his arms.
"Just wanna keep you safe from any nasties, kid. Yaknow?" He murmurs into your hair. "Ya already saw too much with those pri-idiots takin' you. You been through enough already... Can you please jus' trust me on this one?"
"Okay." You reply, earning a kiss on the top of your head. "Can you give them my drawings, then? And tell them I'm sorry?"
"Ain't got nothin' to apologise for, Starshine." Dabi replies, letting go of you. "We'd all do it again. We'd come an' find you over and over if we had to."
"Like in Mario?" You ask, utilising some of the knowledge you'd gained from playing games here and there with Tomura.
Dabi groans dramatically, throwing his head back, but the massive grin on his face gives him away.
"I'm gonna ban you from hangin' out with him." He warns playfully. "One nerd's enough for me."
He rubs his knuckles against your head playfully as you squeal and giggle, trying to wrestle away from him.
After a short while, he releases you, still grinning as your giggling slows to a stop.
"Dabi?" You ask, catching his eyes.
"Yeah, darlin'?" He replies, brushing the back of his fingers against your cheek affectionately.
"Do you miss him?"
The question seems to catch him off guard, his ice-blue eyes widening for a split moment and his smile wavering.
"Where's that come from, lil' Star?" He asks, clearing his throat. "Sure, yeah. Miss the others too."
"Because we're family?" You ask.
For some reason you find yourself needing the reassurance that your family unit was definitely still solid after you'd put them out so awfully by getting abducted with Giran.
"Yeah, Star. 'Cause we're a family." Dabi replies honestly and firmly before rolling his eyes with a playful smirk and standing up. "Now, can ya please eat your damn breakfast?"