Dabi (荼毘) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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deercountry2022-04-10 02:05 pm
burnitblack) wrote in deercountry2022-04-10 02:05 pm
[Open] 🚬 April Flames
Who: Dabi & others
What: April Catch-All
When: Various
Where: April
Content Warnings: Scenes and mentions of domestic / child abuse, some body horor and monstrous transformations, violence, adult language, topics of patricide and fratricide
Notes: General and specific starters will be below. Contact under cut.
If you want to hit me up for ideas on prompts or plots, feel free to comment on Dabi's plotting post, hit me up on my contacts – Plurk (![[plurk.com profile]](https://plurk.com/favicon.ico)
StarSeed69) / Discord (StarSeed#3572) – shoot me a PM, or drop an ooc comment down below, and we’ll hash it out. I'm down to write a unique starter for our threads if you prefer.
What: April Catch-All
When: Various
Where: April
Content Warnings: Scenes and mentions of domestic / child abuse, some body horor and monstrous transformations, violence, adult language, topics of patricide and fratricide
Notes: General and specific starters will be below. Contact under cut.
If you want to hit me up for ideas on prompts or plots, feel free to comment on Dabi's plotting post, hit me up on my contacts – Plurk (
no subject
the dead don't "belong" to anyone. death doesn't change anything. he saw it in his own life. those blue eyes looking at him from the picture on his shrine. never changing. never moving. a household that moved on without him. one more "chore" touya added to their lives. at least it should be easier. his vigil didn't require his mother to half-heartedly attempt to stop it from leaving the house. it didn't burn itself up and earn pity from his two younger siblings. and if shouto ever wanted to replace it, well... he'd have to die now, wouldn't he? his own family left him behind. so why not force this? life's not kind.
and yet, those flames remain away from allen. dabi could've ignited them right on the body below him, torching shouto in the process. but he didn't. instead, he's giving shouto a choice regardless. not really sure why, and he opts not to think much about it right now. allen can either be placed in the flames and consumed, or shouto can pick him up and take him wherever. neither option's difficult. just pick one so he can leave, dammit.
standing by the side, dabi holds his youngest sibling with cold eyes, regardless of the flames dancing around beside him. wiping out the ice nearby and uncovering the destroyed street with debris scattered around from the battle. considering how much allen's bleeding now that the previous flames are no longer around to cauterize the wounds and these new ones are melting the ice that otherwise would've keep his blood inside, it's a wonder how much corruption would bleed into the ground if shouto opted to bury him. isn't this the more optimal choice then?
but finally shouto decides. the body in his arms, he approaches the blue fire. red spills into it, refusing to mix into violent as the brothers' flames spiral within each other. both together latching onto the priest' offered figure as is the natural hunger of fire when given fuel. sees the shadow within the flames, the bulk of the body, almost instantly being consumed, burning away into charred blackened hollow before crumbling as the ash itself sweeps up into the flickering air. the sheer difference in their impassive faces is a dichotomy, one numb without feeling or tears due to the overwhelming sadness... the other unfeeling and dry faced because feelings were incinerated a long time ago.
it's only when the priest's body is gone does dabi yank his hand back and up, cutting off his source of the fire. without the continued feed, it'll cool down into shouto's red flames soon enough. he's not going to reach his "danger" limit of his flames for something as pathetic as a funeral pyre for some stranger. it's enough he didn't torch him right where he lay, but instead gave shouto the choice... annoying. this entire thing has been annoying. from the corruption to the soul dive to a death that could've been avoided if someone weren't so obsessed with playing a damn hero. hmph, that's what you get for sticking your nose in someone else's business.
yet as the flames subside---at least on dabi's part---he's left with the image of that coat remaining in shouto's arms. as well as some strange crystalline object left behind.]
Tch.
[there's clear annoyance in his voice, a click of his tongue and the quiver of a lip in disgust. damn bastard was still stubborn, even after his death he's finding a way to stick around and flaunt his superiority over the "humans" he deigns to wear the disguise of. that or he's someone who has irritating magical items that don't give a shit about fire. dabi brushes a few of those glowing ashes off his shoulder in a dismissive motion. on the one hand, if/when allen returns, that'll help shouto; touya doesn't want to deal with a mopey little brother. on the other hand, he certainly isn't looking forward to having to meet that angelic bastard again.]
C'mon. [again.] Let's get outta here.
1/2
Maybe that's why he doesn't stop burning.
The blood is gone, turned to ash, but the stain remains. Kizu struggles to keep his thoughts from spiraling but it's the first time corruption's crept this close to his heart and while she tries to root it out Shouto grows numb. He looks down at the heavy thing in his arm. A cloak and a gem he doesn't recognize. Why does it feel so heavy? Why didn't it burn? What happens now? He can't just move on. How is he supposed to move on? Where is he supposed to go? What is he supposed to do? Why is it so cold?!
Losing the internal fight, the snow leopard emerges bursting out of the fire, standing waist high and shimmering gold. She doesn't waste a second and physically tackles her Sleeper to the ground.
Snap out of it! ]
2/2
Let go of the fire!
It's an order. Sharp and fiercely realized when it starts to dwindle. The flames licking up his arms flicker for a few seconds before they die out under her demand. Only when they're gone does the heartache return and he reaches not for his quirk but his omen. Grabbing her despite the pain, he latches onto her heavy coat, crying into her shoulder. This is what he needed all along. Someone tangible to hold to, to pour his heart out to. He clings to her and doesn't let go, letting it all out. He'll stay there, clutching at his omen for some time, until those dark thoughts bleed out of his mind, washed away by the flood of tears. He won't succumb to the initial shock and by the time he reaches the sapling, the tranquil aura will root out the rest. ]
and this is where I dip out )o)
But Kizu appears full force, and he dips aside as she tackles the boy to the ground. Watching for a moment as she menaces him into letting go of his fire -- and as he buries his face into her fur and finally lets go. So wingbeats slow, watching that scene unfold with the subdued and quiet patience of a bystander. Good, that's good. She'll be able to reach him better than Tim could. Allen's friend will be alright.
They'll all be alright, even if it hurts.
The golem turns then to look at Dabi until he locks his gaze. With the same kind of quiet intensity as before, but not quite so fierce. Deep and soulful, studying the older brother, but also as if to ask -- and so very subtly imply -- you'll help, won't you? You're also better suited for that than Tim. Allen knew that too.
You owe Allen that.
He whisks away then, spiraling down and snapping up the crystalline fragment left behind by Allen's body with a wide and toothy mouth that splits open suddenly where before he had none. Gulping it down into seemingly-- nowhere? before quickly zipping back up and gaining height. Just like that.
Safekeeping Innocence is something he's done before, and doing so with Allen's is no different. He'll guard it until he reappears in the world and it can find its way back to him and become his left arm again then. Left and right, black and white, "monster" and human; a dual existence in precarious balance to save both. Allen would be nothing without his duality and Tim helps maintain that.
Pausing slightly before he disappears, he looks back one more time to Kizu and Shouto. Catching the eye of the snow leopard if he can and just holding it. One long, measured and important sort of moment, some kind of sober understanding-- and then he's gone. A pinpoint of yellow within seconds as he wings his way towards the Farther Shores. ]
thanks for this emotional wreck!
wonder what enji would do if he saw his perfect masterpiece wearing such a weak, unheroic expression on his face...
wrapped in his own flames, burning the fire around him over and over. without the blue flames to scorch him further, shouto's left with his own red blaze, the one he's resistant against. what a lucky man. but it's not the fire clinging to his arms and legs that's burning him up. instead, it's the overwhelming waves of sadness his little brother doesn't know how to deal with. first time he's lost a friend, huh. of course he'd be kept so pure. did he cry this hard when touya died? of course not. he'd been too young to know. but perhaps when rei was taken away and institutionalized... yeah, he probably cried real hard when he lost her.
likely got knocked down to the floor because of it, enji roaring at him to dry his tears and focus on becoming stronger without the "distraction" of his insane mother. let that scar on his face remind him of what weakness brings him. fucking monster. dabi still regrets not being able to tear the other half of endeavor's face off.
he's jerked from his thoughts when kizu's appearance abruptly surges action into the ongoing wake. for a second, he tenses, assuming she means to come after him. but instead, she slams into shouto and takes him to the ground. the hell? do these omens go rampant too? the briefest of flames flash around one finger before dabi brushes it off. not his problem. the cat's shouto's issue. it's not long before the real reason for that impact makes itself known and his eyes wander the diminishing flames. before he grabs onto her coat and buries his face into her fur. weeping in a way touya can barely recall. how long's it been since he'd even been able to cry? what'd been the reason for it? almost ten years ago... when touya died.
shards of boiled cobblestone grind beneath his boots, turning away from the bothersome sight and shoving his hands into his pockets. no point in staying here any longer. there's nothing for him to grieve, even if he had the ability to do so. all of that lay far behind him, in front of an altar with a white-haired boy looking out from the black frame. lingering with the dead isn't something he cares to do; he's already lain with walking corpses for a while now. might as well even say he is one. abandoning shouto to his sorrow is easily done.
except for three steps away, he finds himself confronted by that little golden ball, fluttering nearby. no eyes to speak of, and yet it still stares at him. the villain turns his head just enough to look at it from the corner of one eye, his turquoise gaze holding nothing but the same callous contempt from earlier. refusing to let the creature look into his soul, scorched walls and burned brambles thrown up in front of anything remotely visible. yet one or two thoughts still get through.
help him? help my "replacement"? ya fuckin insane.
i don't owe that bastard shit.
cold breeze drifts though the frozen areas of a past-burned land, tugging the tails and lapels of his coat, rustling through hair and bringing the scent of ice and smoke. those muffled sobs reach him from behind. how many times had he gone to natsuo and cried his eyes out? begging him for some sort of comfort to help him get through the night. it wasn't enough to simply have someone say something. a hand touching him. an embrace to go along with the words. the sound of a heartbeat. touya looks over his shoulder at the huddled mess that is his little brother... same one who'd taken care of him on his first day here. from procuring supplies to helping with the staples and blood.]
Che...
[those grinding footsteps continue. backwards. until dabi's once more standing beside the hero. he eyes him from above and finally takes a seat beside him. fine. he'll stay here and be a stupid big brother for a moment. this is a trade. nothing else. it's not like he's repaying allen for anything. watching that golden ball go flying off into the night, he's silent to any words of comfort or softness. instead, left to glare at the unearthed memories and feelings from the experience. but he'll be there whenever shouto finds the strength to pull his face out of his omen.]
no subject
He changed his course in life and removed himself from the path that led him to Dabi. Same direction, different son. Enji really knows how to foster great villains. Once he changed course, he lost himself the same way Touya likely did at the start. Young and alone, he walked through fire to survive the places where the forgotten ones are cut up by the strong until they gleam like diamonds. He hasn't faced nearly enough stresses; still brittle, the cuts shear off parts of his heart, and through the cracks, the corruption set in, finding purchase in his inexperience. His only saving grace: he's always been alone. Within the four walls of his little cage built of gold and ivory, no one was there to pick him up off the floor when he reached his limit after his mother was locked away, so he learned to do it himself.
Kizu, blunt and unwavering, remains a physical manifestation of her Sleeper. She lets him take what he needs until the corruption loses its footing enough to let him breathe. He holds her until he's wrung out with nothing left to give or do but pick himself up like he did so many times in that little cage. She disappears in flecks of glimmering gold to hunt down the remnants of the corruption still clinging to the apertures of his mind.
His chest rises steadily once her full weight is gone. No longer held down, he sits up sluggishly, laden with another pain. He doesn't grimace where his shoulder is mottled purple and blue, nor do his eyes linger on his brother. He stares at the ground in front of him, while he shifts his weight back on unsteady legs. Movement was always important; it gave him a goal. One step in front of the other. Back then, it was enough to get him back to his room, devoid of human life, left alone for the night. He stands now to do the same. There's a place he knows where his feet always take him. Another room like his old one just as quiet and barren but for the figure in white and red existing at its center. Almost a year now, he knows how to get to Prufrock on autopilot. No matter how tired he is, his steps lead him there every night. Holding onto a throbbing shoulder that pulses with a pain he understands, Shouto follows old instincts. One step in front of the other. He's always known how to return to that place where ice creeps past the sheets numbing the pain. ]
no subject
just how utterly deplorable and meaningless was touya's existence?
because of you, i never should've been. what you had and enjoyed should've been mine. everything you were given was taken from me. you ate the fat of our family and i didn't even get to lick the plate after you. fuming in envy and burning in jealousy. he'd desperately tried to do anything that would set himself apart from shouto, to show their father that there was still something, even a tiny scrap, that touya could do that shouto couldn't. only one simple thing he begged to have for himself so enji would acknowledge touya's creation wasn't a mistake. that touya wasn't a failure. such a miserable life... he saw death on the streets, he caused plenty of them right in front of himself. the first time he'd witnessed it had terrified him, and the first time he caused it had both gutted him and elated him simultaneously. it was nothing more than another facet of his life. no different than the pain of his burned body, no different than sleeping alone in abandoned buildings, no different than leaving behind a family who had long since left him behind.
yes, he hated him. hated that quivering ball on the floor amid the flames as their father towered over him and angrily roared at shouto to stand up. hated him for being so weak he couldn't be what enji wanted. hated him for being so pathetic he couldn't stand up and defend himself. hated him for being born into a life he never should've had... hated him for succeeding where touya couldn't. they took two different paths, seeds sown by the same hand. all of those thoughts finally breaking free as movement occurs beside him. kizu standing and leaving shouto alone before vanishing, likely to return inside where she can be of more help.
as shouto stands up, dabi pushes himself to his feet, boots scraping at the wet ground amid the icy landscape. for all the damage allen and shouto endured, he escaped with little physical trauma. mental was another story. and yet, as he watches his brother move, one staggering, zombie-like step at a time, those memories come back. a child forced to bear the weight touya could not. it wasn't fair to him; shouto had no choice over the blood in his veins or the quirk in his body. it wasn't his fault for being born. even in his insanity, touya knew that. didn't stop him from blaming him. but... one step after another. allen's final "words" to him linger in the villain's mind.]
Tsk.
[rgggh. head rolling on his neck, shoulders dropping, wrestling with himself for one last moment before he moves forward. fine. a hand claps onto shouto's less-injured shoulder, squeezing once in a manner to attempt to wrench his attention out of his dazed stupor and bring him back to reality. in time for a dark figure to move past him, tails of his coat brushing against the younger hero's lower legs. just this once. his hand swivels on shouto's shoulder, transitioning from a catch to hold him back to a hold to push him still. keeping him from going forward as touya walks in front of him. not to leave him, but to take a knee in front of his brother with his back facing him. he lets go of shouto's shoulder so he can drop his arms by his sides, reaching behind him and cupping his scarred limbs to form a harness.]
Get on. I'll carry you. [and knowing his brother probably has no fucking idea what's being offered, he motions with his waiting fingers.] Put your legs through my arms, around my sides, and your arms over my shoulders. Then hold on.
no subject
People can get used to anything. Empty hallways, burning rooms. The pain of being struck by the blunt end of a heavy weapon. Get up, Shouto! Trembling uncoordinated limbs moved to his demands with the only recourse left to him: Defiance. Only the strings remained intact, suffocating him until tried to burn them off and when that didn't work, he let winter take over.
His lungs cope with the cold churning inside him. His right side generates it and the heart pumps it; circulating the cold blood through his body. His temperature starts to drop, degree by degree, numbing the pain until a weight on his shoulder holds him back, preventing him from leaving. Hooded eyes land on a figure in black with scorched skin and teal eyes. He maneuvers him like a marionette, another puppeteer.
His skin is cold to the touch absent the heat that drives the living to action. Maybe that's why he makes no attempt to pull away. It's only when Touya does the improbable that the lights start to flicker behind heavy-set eyes. He stares. Heart numb, thoughts slow. Mouth open as if to stay something only no sound comes out.
Get on. I'll carry you.
Stunned, he's left guessing, unable to comprehend the stage he's been set upon this time. There's no script, no way to know what he's after until Touya takes it upon himself to start narrating his movements. Hesitant, he follows the pull of those strings, unable to turn down the burnt olive branch. Standing amid the blackened landscape caught in a winter storm, he takes it; open-handed and without restriction. He starts moving, following the tug at his heart and climbs ontop of his brother. Arms wrap around him, vice-like in their grip once they've found purchase. ]
no subject
yet it was never in dabi's mind to control shouto. he wasn't part of the plan in that venue. rather instead a perfect path to hurt endeavor over and over. so many ways he could do it, from eliminating shouto right after he achieved the dream endeavor envisioned or him, to killing him in front of enji during the war. both of which were put on halt thanks to events outside of dabi's control. leaving shouto free to live another day. dance to another set of strings haphazardly tugging on a wrist but never attempting to wrench him one way or another.
even now, as that cold, exhausted body took some time to figure out the directions for how to do this one simple task any sibling in a normal family should be able to know, touya doesn't force him to accept the offering. if shouto kept walking, he would've left it at that. but no, he gets one leg through one scarred arm and another leg through the other one. a weight he's certainly never felt falls upon touya's back and for a second, his brain tells him he just fucked up big time. shouto's basically the same damn height as him and weighs more for obvious (more defined) reasons. and dabi's self-admittedly weaker than most.
but... he's strong in his own ways. cupping his hand under shouto's thighs, bracing one foot against the ground, and accepting that vice-like grip over his shoulders and around his neck, the villain pushes up from the ground, catches himself once, and then straightens up on his legs. has to lean forward a bit to keep his balance and shouto's weight, but he makes it work. that's right... just like in the war, flaming with insane rage and mockery, touya hugged his brother for the first time in his life. now, amid this blackened ground of war and the weight of death behind them, he carries his brother for the first time...
it's a weird feeling, but he walks forward anyways, keeping a steady pace. shouto's freezing body doesn't bother him in the slightest, though touya's own is naturally warm, his quirk ever burning inside him with those blue flames. but he can still feel his breath close to his ear and neck whenever shouto exhales.
tsk... guess it doesn't hurt to act like a big brother once in a burnt moon. especially here.]
no subject
Uncoordinated and awkward, he slots in behind him. Once there, he grips his shoulder, then loops his arms around his neck in an embrace that soon turns desperate. Latching on like a parasite, impossible to remove without burning him off. He presses his cheek against his nape where the spiky strands of hair attack his nose for his audacity, but he ignores it and buries his face between his collar and neck smashing his hair into complacency.
Touya is warm and small enough for Shouto to swallow him up from the back, his torso likely hiding him from view from any passers-by. His legs bend at the knee, resting lightly against the arms that hold him up just off the ground. If he were to stretch, they'd probably drag on the ground, but Shouto grips his waist anytime he starts to slide, clinging to the warmth that he can't generate at the moment when his right side is still activated. He doesn't try to stop it, feeling an odd sort of balance stretched out like this with his brother's burning quirk emitting enough warmth to nuetralize the cold. It almost feels like he's using both sides of his quirk. Something he's never been able to replicate, only able to generate one temperature at a time. But here, clinging to his brother, for the first time, he gets a sense of what it might feel like to be himself.
Cold and Hot.
Exhausted, it's not long before he falls into a lull. Breath slowing, limbs going lax. He tries to fight off the cobwebs of sleep but it's no use. No matter how much he wants to savor this moment, his body starts to shut down. The moment he falls asleep, the cold stops seeping in, quirk no longer active. Wherever Touya intends to take him, he'll have to wake him up to ask for directions or do it without his aid. It doesn't help that halfway there, Shouto starts to slip, legs no longer doing their part in this endeavor. ]
no subject
so then why... the tiny word beats like a far-off heart with every step of his legs. you're heavy. even with his arms around his neck and his hands looped under his thighs, shouto still weighs more than touya and the villain himself isn't a physical powerhouse by any stretch of the imagination. yet somehow, he manages this trek. walking through the city square and leaving the frozen-over conflagration behind, with this burr of a brother attached to his back. trying to bury his face into the back of his neck. whatever. it would be easier to fly with him holding onto his back, but considering those damn butterflies are around, touya's forced to remain grounded. doesn't want to risk turning again.
maybe penance for killing that damn priest.
it's another element of this quickly-realized bad decision: shouto's size. he feels it far more intimately now than he would've otherwise. the way his legs settle around his hips means his feet are occasionally clunking against his lower shins, almost brushing the floor if he bothers to stretch or slip. his torso pushed along his back swallows up his entire frame to almost the same size. he feels the slope of muscle in his arms around his collar and throat. not the wiry narrows of touya's, but solid and athletically built from a good diet and training with a perfect blend of genes. a tangible reminder of how much a failure the eldest todoroki is compared to the perfection of the youngest. yet every time shouto starts to slide, he tightens his legs and touya's reminded that, for the moment, this perfect masterpiece is relying on the failed experiment to move. ironic... huh.
one step after the other. it's only when he notices his little brother's zoned out that touya finally summons his omen. knowing there's no directions coming over his shoulder. the inky shadows slide off him, forming into a half-realized lupine shape. a wolf, mostly composed of flickering shade like black fire, but not yet near the perfect image like how shouto's leopard styles. still, it exists and it knows what dabi wants. he got his brother's address their first meeting, shoved into his hands and mind whether dabi wanted it or not. so now... and the fact that he certainly has staked out the hero's home, that feeds into the wolf's mind and it moves forward, occasionally glancing back to touya with golden eyes. not yet developed enough to have a personality of its own, but slowly working on it as the omen and its master continue to bond.
as for those slipping legs, he readjusts his hands each time, bending forward and huffing slightly to hike shouto back up his back. so long as those arms stay around his neck, they shouldn't have too hard a time. whether it's something from trench or forcing his body to move on pure adrenaline or the heat of his quirk, touya makes his way to shouto's home through the night. it's only when they're at the door that it all comes to a standstill.
if kiza is going to let him in, then dabi'll go through the door and deposit shouto onto his bed. but... if she doesn't, then this is the part with touya has to bump a shoulder and try to wake his little brother up.
and yes, the villain is physically quivering from the pure physical exertion it's taken him to carry his sibling so far. breathing labored, sweat pouring down him, almost ready to drop where he stands. but... he's insanely stubborn. if he's pushed his dying body's existence from a projected one month to ten long years, he can stick around for this crap. but there's no way he's getting out of shouto's house tonight. he's crashing here. whether it's on the same bed he drops shouto on or the couch after shouto lets them both inside depends on kiza?]
no subject
Once he's within a few dozen meters from the home, his steps will hit stone pavement. It leads away from the barely-there road to the home tucked away from civilization, lying quiet and serene. It rises on pillars half on land, half over the water. Once he draws closer, the path splits in two. One leads to the entrance on the landside and the other leads to the waterside door. A small bridge that climbs over the water leads to the landside door. Vivid plants of every shade of green line a make-shift wall separating the forest from the home. On the other side of the split, a path of equally spaced stones set above the water level leads to the waterside door. Swimming alongside the stones lie colorful fish used to the passing and going of the younger.
The path ends at an open wooden corridor that lines all four sides of the home no matter the entrance. The abode is made of wood on the outside to keep the animals at bay, even the door is built of old wood. It's locked, of course, but if Touya waits by it, it'll open magically as if by a ghost or an omen. Kizu steps from out of the shadows and stares directly at Touya's omen, if it's still out and about, before disappearing in a shimmer of gold.
Permission granted.
It's warmer inside but not by much, the glass paneling lining the sides of the corridor isn't meant to keep the heat in, but to keep the forest in sight. As Touya moves down the corridor he'll notice an open doorway that leads into the interior of the house. There are four rooms in total. The bath and restroom are situated on the waterside, and the bedroom and living room sit over the land. The living room is more of a large open area with a tiny kitchen on the back wall that is little more than a sink, prep station, and a small stove. No refrigerator; instead, he has two zeers, and for anything else, he uses a literal icebox.
The house is small. Quaint. Fit for one or cozy for two. It won't take Touya long to figure out the layout of the house. Easier still to find his bedroom. Tatmi flooring, shogi doors, and a large futon stacked in a corner, neatly put away. ]
*just chucks him on the bed like a coat you're done with ~ FLOP*
shouto happened to get lucky stumbling across this sort of home, especially snagging a peaceful area despite the monstrous beasts that threaten the surrounding realm. not intending to go stepping across stones over water with this weight on his back, touya takes the dry route, crossing the bridge that uncomfortably reminds him of the garden bridge in their childhood estate's garden. not doubt that's what drew shouto to this place. familiarity. ugh... fish. probably as close to koi as the little puppet could find.
good thing kizu decided to open the door, because the other option wouldn't make shouto happy. black flame-like shadows forming the half-constructed figure of touya's omen flicker in the breeze of the opening door and the lupine shape turns its head to look at the snow leopard for a few seconds. doesn't seem to be expressive enough to really offer anything but a blank gaze back. before vanishing in a few lingering tongues of obsidian fire. dismissed. touya didn't need it right now.
silently taking in the layout of the small, one-person home, he carries his brother through the glass-lined engawa wrapping around the rooms. takes the first door available. damn. the living room. luckily for him, he notes the bedroom through the other door and makes for it. touya's not having the easiest time. panting, out of breath, drenched in sweat, with every muscle in his body protesting this stupid decision to carry this heroic idiot.]
Ya fuckin shittin me...
[the futon's put away. hell with that. he's not getting it out. with no couch in the living room to dump him either. options eliminated, touya merely sinks down to his knees in the middle of shouto's bedroom, not clunking his brother's feet too hard (since he's practically dragging the ground with them anyways thanks to being asleep and not being a koala) on the tatami mats. then eases backwards and to the side, using his grip on shouto's arms to lower the younger boy to the ground. ass down. back down. and finally head. he does it carefully, not wanting to simply drop him on the floor.
nope, not out of concern for hurting him. but out of not wanting him to wake up and bother him with questions or thanks or whatever else would come out of his mouth.
and he leaves him there, lying on his back in the middle of his own bedroom. touya at least (after catching his breath) pulls one of the blankets over to haphazardly drag over his body. he looks down at him from above, eyes narrowed, face still a dripping mess from the exertion he went through. back home, he would've killed him... but here...]
Tch.
[he leaves the room, shutting the door behind him. back home. that's where he's going. it's... it's... fuck, too tired. the eldest todoroki finds the darkest area in shouto's living room and slumps against the wall, sinking down to a sitting position. part of him wants to stay awake, think of what he's done in disgust. but a few seconds later, he's on his side, pillowing his head with one arm, and completely unconscious from the day's strain.]
*chucks shouto at him* You thought you could escape!!! HA! Did you forget your brother's a leech!!!
As for Kizu, she's autonomous of her Sleeper but in the end, she still places his safety above everything. It's why she's never fully trusted Dabi. Touya as Shouto calls him. Kizu isn't convinced, but he brought him here when she was busy ripping out the corruption taking root and for that alone she lets him carry him here, allowing him entry. There were few people she would have allowed to take Shouto in that state and Dabi just so happens to be one of them, not by her virtue but Shouto's. She's still his omen after all. So, when she appears in front of him to grant him entry, she finally gets a glimpse of his omen, cloaked in flame-like shadows. She stares right back at it, tail swishing behind her unconcerned by its half-constructed presence. The omen vanishes and Kizu loses interest and shimmers gold before fading back into her incorporeal form, slipping inside her Sleeper of her own free will.
A few minutes later, Kizu is having an amusing time watching Dabi deal with the weight of her Sleeper, not offering to help one bit. Shouto for his part lightly wakes up, head swimming with incoherent thoughts when Touya sets him down on the tatami mats. He grips onto him, not wanting to let go even in his sleep, but eventually sleep takes him down again and his muscles loosen just enough to let Touya slip out of his grip.
Lying on the tatami mats in his room, Shouto curls in on himself, breath coming out lightly when a blanket is tossed over him. He's still under the blanket, his breathing very slow but deep. When Touya leaves him, he doesn't move, a good indication that he'll be okay or stay put at least. Neither of which proves true when the nightmares come.
Delicate orbs of light floating in the night sky. The beat of butterfly wings. A sea of blue. Endeavor's caricature beating another kid. Icy blades. Blue flames. A cloak made of light and blood all around him. He drowns in it. Chokes. The paleblood sparkling under the red moon as another life passes on.
Shouto chokes on his sobs and the room is smothered in frost. His heart races in his chest and he sits up, curling into himself. Kizu is there, manifesting. She tries to calm him down but the corruption has its claws in him and she shoves an image of his brother sleeping in the living room into his head. It throws his thoughts into a jumble a dozen questions spring to life focused on Touya and not Allen which helps ease the burden on his heart. Kizu uses the lull to push him up to his feet and through the shoji screen doors into the living room. ]
... Tou--
[ His voice cracks halfway through his name, eyes searching for the promise of a familiar face, while his eyes adjust to the dark. He doesn't wait, barreling forward, tripping twice but Kizu is there to steady him while he heads for the reading nook he sometimes napped in. ]
one fried leech, coming up
you know, that's kinda sad, about the koi... poor fish getting eaten and lost. cook and eat the bear. yes.it would bother him more that shouto's big cat seemed more content to watch in amusement at his struggles to set shouto down on the ground rather than bluntly unlock his arms and drop him to the floor if he weren't so damn exhausted. all he wanted was to get the other boy off him and then leave. but leaving wasn't in the cards, not when his legs feel like jelly and his vision is starting to waver from the tired strain. he demanded a lot from his body today, both transformed and the trek home, and there's no way dabi's getting back to his place. even the idea of crashing in his little brother's house isn't enough to get him out the door.
so he stays, curled up in the corner of the living room, coat flopped over his tucked legs and one burnt arm beneath his head to serve as a pillow, the other left draped down his side so his hand's free if he needs to use it. and he's out like a light. the sheer strain saps everything out of him and his body finally is able to relax, legs melting into the sweet embrace of rest. fortunately touya's always been a silent sleeper, for reasons probably not wise to get into, but it also means he's a light sleeper, again for reasons that aren't very pleasant. thing is, he's a stubborn sleeper and has no problem pulling a pillow over his head to continue sleeping and ignore whatever wakes him up. plus it's not difficult for him to fall asleep, if it's an optimal sleeping environment.
shouto's house is, to be fair, extremely optimal. if he's woken by his little brother coming out of the room or not, touya doesn't show it. he's nothing more than a dark lump (white hair exception) balled up in the corner, nook, whatever. chest rising and falling in slumber as he sleeps. or goes back to sleep. you'll never know.]
/wedges self between wall and bro/ that'll teach him to be lazy.
Kizu is a snow leopard, thank you very much, and she is amused by a lot of things. It's better than the alternative which is distrust. Shouto has argued with her over this issue on multiple occasions, the only time the omen and Sleeper ever really disagree. For her Sleeper's sake, she'll 'trust' Dabi but that doesn't mean she has to make his life convenient. Besides, she wanted to see what he'd do and in what state he'd leave him. As it stands, she has little to complain about so when Shouto wakes up with nightmares that the guardian sapling isn't there to soothe, she deems it necessary to inform him of Dabi's whereabouts, and as expected Shouto seeks out his brother. Why he's so adamant about this subject - after every encounter that's left him hurt or hurting - she doesn't understand probably because her Sleeper doesn't truly know either. It's a feeling that has no logic, one she's forced to accept.
Shouto stumbles into the living room and seeing a tuft of white hair in the reading nook, he immediately heads in that direction. Tired and half-asleep, he manages to get on, wedging himself between Touya and the wall so he can feel something solid on either side of him. The press of the unyielding wall and his brother's heat radiating off of him, settles his nerves enough to let the cobwebs of sleep spin him into another dream cycle. ]
next time you can carry yourself...
anyways, he's too tired to deal with all that right now. the sudden shove and push against his back immediately wakes him up. touya's head pops off his arm, senses coming to full alert quickly due to how recently he'd fallen asleep. and what does he find? but a body wedging itself between his back and the wall. he arches slightly, lips curling in a silent snarl of annoyance at the squeezing and jostling. yeah no, he's getting and moving across the room.
... getting up and ... moving ...
... getting ... up ...
his legs are completely lead. he's not getting up. touya's already sleeping with his back to the wall anyways so with a quiet snarl of disgust and annoyance, he pulls his other arm over his head and forces himself back to sleep.
brat.]