[Open] 🚬 April Flames

[burnitblack]

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 (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.

Comments

[swellter]

[ The address leads him to Prufrock away from the city center and closer to the woods where few venture from fear of the beasts roaming the area. Instead of residing within the heart of Hunter territory, Shouto's residence lies away from the crowds in a dangerous location yet peaceful. Touya is lead into the woods heading for the hum of water and in the distance, a small abode can be seen nestled near the water, raised off the ground, and carefully integrated into the landscape.

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*

[burnitblack]

[prufrock. not surprised. he's been around the place a few times, getting a lay of the land and exploring. spying on his brother's house once or twice in the month he's been here. but touya's never gone near it enough to see the details he's seeing now. perhaps it's due to shouto's dual nature that the place is seemingly divided between "dry" and "wet" sides, with paths leading to the house from the ground and the pond. he doesn't think it was done accidentally by the original builders...

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!!!

[swellter]

[ He didn't get lucky. He scouted Trench for a month before finally choosing a place he could 'fix up'. Of course, it's simple and a little pretentious but he likes it. Your brother may have also spent a few months redecorating an old house to his specifications. He's never shied away from hard work and building a place he could be comfortable in was worth it. It's been three months since he stopped doing any major work on the place, coinciding with how much more time he's invested into his Hunter work and friends. Funny how that works. As for the dual nature of the place... we don't talk about that. Let him have his little pleasures. He likes sitting on the ledge of the wood on the waterside watching the fish. Two are koi. Did he purchase five of them, each one for ten vials of his blood? We don't talk about that either. Or the fact that two of them swam up the river never to be seen again within the first day. The third got eaten by a hungry bear just up the stream, but two stayed. He's pleased about that. Their coloring is also pure coincidence.

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

[burnitblack]

[maybe one day shouto'll get to see the place dabi staked out for himself. if he bothers to stay in it. being on the run as a street kid and then a villain meant you didn't stay in one place very long. it wasn't safe to do so. hard to shake that kind of habit and lifestyle, even in such a place as this. actually, a place like trench might even encourage that kind of life. unfortunately, touya doesn't really know his little brother's got a stubborn architect side to him, so he (somewhat foolishly) thinks this house was just a lucky find and the brat's simply kept good care of it. let him live in his misunderstanding. hmph. 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.

[swellter]

[ Maybe one day, Kizu will stalk him all the way to his house and tell Shouto where he lives, so he can barge in there whenever he thinks something might have happened to him. For his part, he's always stayed in one place for long periods of time. He's used to making the place around him comfortable because it's the only thing he's got. Give him enough time in one place and he'll start changing it to fit his comfort level; another way in which they differ.

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...

[burnitblack]

[problem is, he has his own omen now. if he gets the inkling he's being stalked, he'll be siccing his omen on shouto's until she gives up. and obviously not going to his main crash for a day or so. though really, some piece of his brain knows the reality that his brother'll figure out where he's living sooner or later. touya's still not sure if he's going to stay or move. he's very new here after all. being around all this formal japanese style doesn't sit well with him either, since it reminds him of...

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.]