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spookyxsprinkles · 6 months

Text

Happy Birthday

dabi × afab she/her and poc friendly reader

safe for work // 1,633 words // AO3. warnings: smoking, swearing, cheesy, dabi has an avoidant attachment style, self-harm mention but nothing happens.

summary: He wanted this conversation to be over and done with, snuffed out like a cigarette under his boot. It'd be easy enough to end it himself, all he had to do was be an asshole and leave you behind. Nothing he hadn't done before.

"Knock knock, mind if I join you?"

"Yes."

"I brought cake."

He turned his head slightly towards you, eyeing the paper plate in your hands. In it sat a pretty little slice of glazed strawberry cake with a plastic fork stabbed into it. You had made sure to pile on a bunch of strawberries, just for him.

You may have been the newest addition to the League of Villains, but it wasn't hard to figure out that he was intentionally a loner. Criminals were usually careful not to form close connections with others and the League was no exception. Although, that didn't stop you from being on friendly terms with the other members. They even threw a birthday party for you tonight. With karaoke.

Whereas, Dabi evacuated the mansion at the first sign of a celebration. He rose from his chair when Toga and Twice carried out the cake hidden under a mountain of candles and he was out of the building by the time Mr. Compress enthusiastically accompanied their vocals with a spirited harmonization.

His eyes glanced down at you as he blew smoke out of the side of his mouth and flicked his cigarette away. You frowned.

"That could start a forest fire."

"I could start a forest fire." There was a subtle twitch of his lip that would have went unnoticed had the clouds not cleared from in front of the moon in time.

You offer him the cake, which he wordlessly took, ignoring you as you snuffed out his cigarette. Once no longer lit, you shoved it in your pocket to properly throw out later. You crossed your arms and leaned against the tree, staring out at the umbrous silhouettes of the coniferous forest.

"Being this far out from the city is so nice. Fresh air, no noise pollution. Bunch of stars."

"There's noise pollution," Dabi swallowed down a strawberry. "Y'make it every time you open that dumb mouth."

You snorted in amusement. "I guess you're right about that, but I know you'd miss me if I stopped talking to you."

"If I never have to hear you yappin' at me again, it'd be too soon."

You playfully blew a raspberry at him in fake-annoyance. "You'd have to find someone else to bug you." You pursed your lips. "He's already got Toga, but I'm sure Twice could squeeze in a second best friend," you teased.

He rolled his eyes as he took another bite.

"Spinner?"

"The hell am I gonna talk about with that lizard?"

"First of all, it's a gecko quirk and you know that so don't be mean," you declared in defense of your comrade. "Though, you're right -- what would you talk about? I assume that also means no Tomura? I don't think I've ever seen you guys talk casually before -- aside from the dryest conversation about the weather… Maybe if we find some common ground between you two--"

"Fuck no."

"Aww, hey, he's not that bad. He's just…"

You rubbed at your neck unsure of what to say to that. Nothing you could say would change his thoughts on the matter. You weren't particularly close with Shigaraki, he had his own way of going about things which could be off-putting to most, but he just struck you as an awkward person who grew up without much social contact.

"The League sure is full of lonely people, huh?" You looked back up at the star-filled night for a few minutes, the both of you settling into a comfortable silence. An owl hooted in the distance as a cricket began to chirp from somewhere nearby. "I've always wondered if shooting stars ever got lonely."

"Sorry," you shake your head and laugh in embarrassment. "I like stars. Do you?"

"Stupid question."

You wondered if it really was and thought about how stars must seem miniscule to someone capable of burning as brightly as him. You leaned your head against the trunk and watched him finish his cake.

Earlier in the day, while writing down a list of necessary ingredients to bake and decorate the cake, there had been a conversation about birthdays. You couldn't remember who exactly brought up the topic, but you certainly weren't expecting the other members to easily give away that information. Unsurprisingly, Dabi was the only one that didn't share his.

He followed a gust of wind that swept through the night and as he passed you, flicked his plastic fork at you. You clumsily caught it and complained, only earning his indifference in return. He turned his back to you and set the paper plate ablaze. You opened your mouth to remind him of trashcans and how they still exist, but the words died in your throat as you watched the smoke get carried away by the breeze, away from you. You were secretly grateful that he was too busy making his way to an adjacent tree to notice you bite back a smile.

"Dabi."

"What is it now?" He leaned against his new tree and lazily shoved his hands in his pockets. He was always good at keeping his distance.

"You don't have to tell me your birthday."

He scoffed, "Way to state the obvious."

"We can share mine."

He narrowed his eyes at you, analyzing you for any sign of a punchline but your face was earnest. Annoyingly so.

"What makes you think I want your dumb birthday?"

"It's not that I think you want it, but wouldn't it be nice to have a day to celebrate… you?"

"What's there to celebrate," he sneered. He didn't mean for it to be taken so seriously, but the dopey look of concern on your face made him regret he said anything. Your brows furrowed.

"A lot. There's a lot to celebrate."

"Don't get all mushy, you're creepin' me out."

"Am I?"

"Yes," he growled. He wanted this conversation to be over and done with, snuffed out like a cigarette under his boot. It'd be easy enough to end it himself. All he had to do was be an asshole and leave you behind. Nothing he hadn't done before.

Deep, deep down there was a hungry part of him that ached. It belonged to the part of him that he had refused to acknowledge for the past seven years. He continued to ignore it's existence despite it being the very thing that kept him rooted in place, as though he were one of the trees in this giant fucking forest. The frustration it filled his chest with made him want to light himself on fire.

"At the expense of sounding like a creep…" You chewed on your bottom lip as you stared back up at the stars. Your fingers fiddled with a loose thread on your clothes. You were so easy to read.

"I'm really glad you're here."

Another breeze passed between the two of you, carrying your words along and rustling leaves. You looked over at him with eyes that overflowed with a depth of sincerity that made him want to start a wildfire and let himself get caught in it. He felt physically ill.

"You're gonna make me sick."

One of Dabi's eyes squinted more than the other as his tongue poked out of his mouth enough for you to see his piercings. The way his face scrunched reminded you of a cat's Flehmen response. You would've thought it was cute if you didn't feel so offended right now.

You huffed, staring at the grass as you tried to ignore the heat that crept up to your cheeks. "Was it really that bad?"

"Cheesy as hell. Keep that shit to yourself."

You shook it off and sighed exaggeratedly. "Well, since you seemed to like it so much, I might have to do it again for you some time." You stuck your tongue out at him playfully.

"Don't you fuckin' dare or I'll roast you on the spot."

You grinned and opened your mouth to offer a lighthearted retort when you heard your name being called in the distance. You turned to look around the tree and saw Toga waving you over for your turn at karaoke. You waved back at the younger girl in acknowledgement before she hopped back inside the mansion.

"I'm surprised they managed to pry the mic out of Mr.'s hands long enough to give someone else a turn," you laughed. "See you later. I'm glad you liked the cake."

"Yeah, yeah."

He pulled out a pack of smokes from his jacket and stuck a cigarette in between his lips. He lit it and watched as you fiddled with the plastic fork he flicked at you earlier. "What're you still doing here for?"

You smiled at him.

"Happy birthday."

"Tch, cheesy," he spoke humorlessly as you turned away. "By the way..."

You looked back at him and felt your face burning up as you saw his gaze drop from your eyes down to your lips.

"…Dabi?"

He smirked.

"Y'got cake on your face."

You blinked a few times as you processed his words before swiping your mouth. You looked at your hand to see the vivid scarlet of the strawberry glaze.

"Oh." You looked at it for a moment before wiping it against your clothes and giving an awkward laugh, "Um, thanks."

"You got a room full of ears to make bleed, mine've had enough. Get outta here."

You laughed before you jogged back to the mansion. He stared at the ground where you previously stood and took a drag. With each inhale, the toxins purged his body of a restlessness that had been stirred by the zephyr of your words.

You talk too much.

He looked up in time to see you wave goodbye at him before you disappeared inside. He breathed in another lungful of fumes before exhaling it up at the same sky that always seemed to captivate you.

"Happy birthday."

#dabi x reader #dabi x you #dabi #todoroki touya #grumpy sunshine #if you squint #it's a scene from a longfic i've been working on privately #first post i dunno how to tag this #i havent even set an icon or changed from default tumblr theme #fuck it we ball #edit nov 8 2023: um i waited a week before rereading and editing and other than cheesiness its not as bad as i thought it was when i posted #i got some new ideas last week but i take 1000 years to write and edit so hopefully i can post one of them in time for his birthday in jan #SpookyxSprinkles #edit april 5th 2024: cleaned little mistakes + wordings that've been bothering me. there's a paragraph i wanna fix SObad but i dunno how ye

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