"Star!"
"Star... Come on."
"Star."
You don't reply, curled up in bed like a baby, squeezing your eyes shut and hoping for the pain searing through your head and knocking your stomach sick to pass.
"Star..." Dabi's hand rests on your shoulder, gently pulling you onto your back. "Hey...what's up hon?"
You groan a little, still sweating despite feeling freezing cold. You want to reply, but you feel so sick that you can't open your mouth in fear you might puke. Instead you just look at him with teary eyes.
"Oh, darlin'." He says, looking sadly down at you. "You feelin' sick?"
You manage to nod and reply weakly. "My head hurts."
He moves your damp hair out of your face gently, looking a little torn.
"I'll hafta get someone else to come check your temperature hon. I can't feel it too well if you're burnin' up." He explains softly. "S' a shame. Someone special's come to see ya."
"Special?" You manage to ask weakly.
"Your favourite uncle's here." He explains. "But if you're sick he'll hafta come another time."
"I'll be okay." You say, trying to sit up and failing.
Dabi presses you back down to the bed again gently, shaking his head.
"Stay here. Behave." He says firmly, rubbing his thumb along your cheek a couple of times before standing up from your bed again. "Love you."
"Cuddle." You reach for him.
"In a bit." He says softly. "Y'gonna hurl?"
"I'm trying not to..."
"Listen ta me." Dabi says, crouching down to look at you properly as you lay in bed. "I know bein' sick is horrible, but if you stop yourself doin' it, all that poison is gonna stay inside you an' keep making ya feel sick."
Your lips fall into a frown, and he nods sympathetically.
"Sucks, dunnit? But you gotta get all the gross stuff out. So stop stoppin' yourself, 'kay?"
"Okay..." You agree reluctantly.
"I'll get you a bucket." He pats your head softly. "Back in a sec."
He moves your hair back again and kisses your damp forehead without a second thought, closing the blinds and turning the light off in your room before leaving.
You're thankful that he leaves the door ajar at least so there's a little light in the room.
You wish that you hadn't gotten sick so you could see Uncle Giran. It had been so long since you'd seen him and you missed him a lot. You wanted to tell him about Tomura agreeing to put you in art school when you're older and you wanted to see his prosthetics in person.
At least this time you have Dabi to look after you while you're sick. Mom hadn't really done that before.
Another wave of nausea hits you and you whimper slightly as it happens, Dabi still not having returned with a bucket yet.
You curl up on your side again, squeezing your eyes shut and willing the sickness away.
You don't even register the door opening again or hear Dabi re-enter until you feel a cool hand press against your forehead.
You open your eyes, gazing at Tomura.
He's frowning slightly, deepening already existing wrinkles as he looks down at you with the back of his hand pressed against your forehead.
"She's running a slight fever." Tomura states, removing his hand from your head just in time for you to weakly sit up and lean over the bed to be sick.
"Oh, Starshine." Dabi says sadly, rubbing your back gently.
Tomura uses one hand to brush your hair out of your face and the back of his other hand to press against the back of your neck, which is nice because it feels like the cold spreads all down your back.
You sob a little when the bout of sickness passes, and you lean back against Tomura's hands.
"It's alright." He grunts, removing his hands from your hair and neck. "I'll get a flannel. And your toothbrush."
"C'mere." Dabi encourages, pulling you to him and petting your hair.
"I wanna see Uncle Giran." You complain.
"Stop fussin' and rest." Dabi replies, stroking your hair despite it being all gross and damp from sweat.
You lean against him, treasuring being held when you feel your most vulnerable.
You enjoyed being hugged anyway, but being hugged while you're sick for the first time makes you feel a whole new kind of loved and cared for.
"My mouth tastes gross." You complain after a while.
"Well, duh." He teases. "Feel a bit better though?"
"A little..." You admit.
"See? I'm a genius." Dabi kisses your head.
"Nuh-uh. You can't even do times tables." You argue quietly.
"Still got your sass, huh? Beginnin' to think you're fakin' being sick to get outta seeing your uncle." Dabi pokes your side gently.
Tomura returns with a small bowl and cloth, holding out your already-prepared toothbrush towards you.
"Spit it out in there." He says, pointing at the bucket Dabi brought up.
"Okay." You agree, taking the toothbrush from him with a shaky hand.
You brush your teeth weakly while Dabi continues to hold you, leaning his stapled cheek against your head and rubbing your back. Tomura settles on the floor, his leg now having been out of the cast for a couple of days.
He seemed a little more grumpy these days, like how he'd been before you'd been forced out of the bar. When you asked him about it he said he was stressed about work, but Himiko said she thought it was because he was sad to be leaving soon.
You found that a little hard to believe with how he was being, but Dabi said that sometimes people take out their sadness on other people.
You spit up the foam and pass the toothbrush to Dabi before leaning on him completely again. Tomura passes him a couple of tablets and motions for him to break them in half before giving them to you.
You take them eagerly, just wanting the headache to go away.
"You probably shouldn't be so close. You'll get sick if it's contagious." Tomura says to Dabi.
"F' I get sick, this little twerp can take care of me." Dabi replies, not even entertaining moving away from you for a second.
"I'd look after you, pawpaw." You say quietly.
"I know ya would, sweetpea." Dabi replies, kissing the top of your head.
You remain cuddled up with Dabi for a moment or two longer, not realising that you were slowly falling asleep, before you're gently being pulled away from his side and forced to lay down again as Tomura places a cold flannel on your forehead.
"I don't know if we should go if she's feelin' that sick." You hear Dabi worry quietly.
"Where are you going? Can I come?" You ask sleepily.
"Adults only, hon." Dabi replies, stroking your cheek.
"Aw..." You whine, reaching weakly for the teddy that Tomura's lowering towards you.
Tomura crouches beside your bed too, crossing his arms over the mattress as you cuddle your battered bear lovingly.
"We won't be gone for long. Will you be okay with the others looking after you? I think Giran's still here too."
"Uncle Giran's still here?" You ask.
"He is. 'Specially for you." Dabi replies, stroking your cheek.
"Mm... okay. You won't be long?" You ask.
"We'll be back before you know it." Tomura replies, shooting Dabi a stern look as if to tell him to be quiet.
"Okay." You agree, closing your eyes.
"Get some sleep, doll." Dabi says, and you feel his hand drag your hair back and his lips press against your head.
You hum a non-response, already halfway there, barely registering the feel of cracked lips against your forehead briefly, too.
*•*
You wake up cuddled up with your teddy just like you'd fallen asleep, and gentle hands replacing the cold flannel on your head.
You blink in confusion, clearing the sleepy haze from your eyes and realise it's Uncle Giran hovering over you, gently pressing down the cool material over your forehead.
"Uncle Giran." You say, still half-delirious.
"Hey there little love." Giran replies, smiling down at you with his gap-toothed grin.
"Missed you."
"I missed ya too, love." He sympathises, settling down in a seat next to your bedside. "Been too long. Was gettin' baby Star withdrawals."
"Wasn't your fault." You murmur, remembering how Jin had mentioned that he blamed himself for you both being taken.
You reach for his hand, moreso to touch the metal fingers that were there instead of flesh now than for any kind of comfort.
"Yer a cutie." He says, guilt still carrying through in his tone. "Bu' I was meanta look after ya, an' I did a terrible job of it. I'm sorry, lil' darlin' girl."
"You're looking after me now." You reply, running your fingers along the smooth metal. "Can you still paint?"
"I can, yeah." He taps your fingers gently with his own. "All better, love."
"I'm glad. It was scary seeing all that blood." You murmur, trying not to think too much about it in case it makes you feel sick again.
"I bet! Ya poor thing." He replies, rubbing a finger against your cheek. "Can't believe how big you've got. Every time I see ya you're all grown up a lil' more."
"I'll always be littler than you, though." You comment.
"We can hope." He agrees. "Why don'tcha go back t' sleep, love?"
"Where are Dabi and 'Mura?" You ask. "Are they back yet?"
"They're in bed, love. Sleepin'. Like you should be." He gives you a small tap on the nose.
"If they're sleeping, why are you still here?" You ask with a yawn.
"'Cause I wanted to see my granddaughter. Tha' so much t' ask?" He replies teasingly.
"If I sleep, will you stay?" You ask drowsily,
"'Course I will, darlin' girl." He says softly. "I'll even tell ya a bedtime story if ya like."
"Mom never told me stories."
"Mm. I bet." He replies a little sourly, but then changes back to his more upbeat tone. "I got jus' the story for ya, darlin'. S'about ducks."
"I'm listening, Uncle Giran." You reply, closing your eyes and reaching for his hand.
The metal is a little cold in your hand, but it's nice to have Giran next to you holding your hand and telling you a story about a very unlucky duckling who gets pushed out of their family for being ugly.
You wish that you could have caught the end of the story before falling asleep, because you felt so sorry for the little duckling who was bullied just for being grey, and you wanted to know if he ended up finding people that would love him even if he was a little 'ugly'.
*•*
When you wake up, you feel a lot better. Your headache has gone, and you no longer feel delirious or sick.
The damp cloth is gone from your head, and the bucket has been taken out without you noticing too.
You also find yourself no longer cuddled up to your teddy, but instead, curled up against Himiko, who's feline eyes are wide open and settled on you as you wake.
"Morning!" She says cheerfully as you rub your eyes. "Are you feeling better?"
You nod, moving away from her slightly and stretching, looking for your teddy. Strangely enough, she seems to have lined all your plushies up at the foot of your bed so that she could cuddle up with you.
"Giran is making pancakes!" She tells you excitedly. "Lets go, lets go!"
Reluctantly, you allow Himiko to encourage you out of bed, and force her to turn around while you change out of your gross pyjamas into a fresh set.
She excitedly chats to you about things you missed out on yesterday while you were sick, but it all sounded mostly like work stuff.
She's still chewing your ear off when you enter the kitchen and immediately get swept off your feet by Jin, who holds you up in the air, calling your name loudly.
"You're alive!" He says happily, as if expecting something else.
"You're silly." You say, trying to wiggle free, still a bit too sleepy for all the energy in the house today.
"We were all worried about you, little miss." Atsuhiro says, with messy bed hair himself. "I'm glad to see you're feeling better."
You giggle as Jin spins you around before putting you back on the ground, allowing you to hop up at the kitchen table to grab some pancakes.
Jin goes to follow suit, only for Giran to smack his hand with the spatula.
"Hey! What gives!" Jin whines.
"Y' already had six, let the kids eat." Giran says sternly before plating up another pancake.
Spinner seems to be helping by cutting up fruit on another work surface, probably meant to be toppings for the pancakes, not that Himiko pays that any mind, smothering hers in the syrup already on the table and swatting Jin's fork away when he tries to steal a bite of her pancakes.
When the fruit is all ready, you thank Spinner shyly and take a few strawberries and put them on your pancakes before spraying whipped cream on them.
They all chatter between themselves as you eat, finding yourself a lot hungrier than you'd realised.
After a while, Spinner looks at you and chuckles.
"You're definitely feeling better, huh? Dabi'll be glad to see it." He comments with a friendly smile, but it makes you feel all flustered anyway.
"You should've seen it, Tomura practically had to drag him out." Himiko giggles.
"He didn't want to leave me?" You ask curiously.
After all, mom often left you whether you were sick or not. Sometimes even for days.
"Duh. You were sick." She says with an eye roll.
"He's such a mom." Spinner snorts.
"What was that?" A raspy voice comes from the doorway behind you and you immediately spin around to see Dabi standing there with Tomura approaching behind him.
"Dad!" You exclaim, ditching your third lot of half-eaten pancakes to hug his waist.
"Hey Starshine." He greets, ruffling your hair. "Feelin' better then?"
You nod, tightening your hold on him and looking up at Tomura, who looks as tired and as stoic as ever, but there's a giant bruise on his neck, barely visible behind his fluffy white hair, but you definitely see it..
You gasp, letting go of Dabi to fuss over Tomura.
"You have a bruise!" You exclaim, pointing at the mark on his neck, which is just barely covered by the jacket he's wearing as well as his hair. "Did you get hurt?"
Everyone else titters until Tomura shoots them all a warning look, which is always a good way of getting everyone to be quiet.
You don't get what's funny, but assume it's probably the fact that you're worried about a bruise when Tomura is a very strong man, and bruises probably don't bother him at all.
You're suddenly a little embarrassed about being worried now, and it probably shows on your face.
"I'm not hurt. Don't worry, Starlight." Tomura says calmly as Dabi clears his throat. "You're feeling better?"
You nod, cautiously moving to give him a hug, which he entertains with his hand on your head, patting your head softly.
"Come an' finish your pancakes before Bubaigawara does it for you, little lady." Giran encourages, swatting at Jins' hand with the spatula again.
You let go of Tomura to do exactly that, pretending to jab at Jin's hand with your fork when he pretends to take your pancakes from you.
You're nearly done with your pancakes when you suddenly turn to face Giran.
"You never told me what happened to the ugly duck." You say.
"More like you fell asleep, kiddo." Giran smirks, but tells you anyway. "He found his people, an' made a new family. Lived happily ever after, love."