Top pic credit: Birf

Violet POV:

My heart should not have been pounding as hard as it was when I came back to the hotel room that Dabi and I share.

What was I even worried about? It's not as if anything's changed between us...

It's just that involuntarily thinking about someone else on top of me while I was having sex with my boyfriend-and then almost climaxing from those unspoken dirty thoughts tends to make you see people a little differently.

Especially when this person is Dabi.

I mean, sure. I've always had it in the back of my mind that Dabi was attractive. He may have the skin texture of burnt bacon and questionable hygiene practices, but hey, that just part of his appeal, I guess. Call it grungy.

But, more than just his looks, I've gotta admit that as much as he gets on my nerves and makes me wanna throw him off a building...

His persona has always unconsciously been attractive to me.

His snarky attitude is unlike anything I've ever come across before, and at the same time, it's very familiar....even....comforting. And, sure, the word 'comforting' is probably not how most people on this planet would describe one of the country's most wanted terrorists, but that fact just fits the theme of my whole attraction for him in its entirety.

The theme is 'fucked up,' in case you're wondering.

I mean, seriously. He's rude. He's blunt. He's murdered people before my very eyes. Just two days ago, we passed a dumpster in the city and he said it was my long lost twin!

But then....it's those eyes.

They're so blue. They've seen so much, but their color is so pure and deep. Beautiful, even. His eyes are more blue and vibrant than I've ever seen on a person.

Well, actually. There was one person who had similar eyes. I caught feelings for that person because of the same reason.

It's his smile-his real smile that I've only seen less than a handful of times, but apparently it's engrained in my memory, anyways. And it's his real voice that very rarely ever graces his presence, yet he sound like he's a completely different person when he uses it. He's just a little quieter when we're alone. A little more reserved and less feral looking. Not trying so hard to be menacing. And he's actually kind of funny...sometimes.

But, I'm starting to realize that a big reason for my unconventional attraction for Dabi, is that I know he doesn't pity me.

He doesn't act as if I'm made of glass and that the simplest little sentence will cause me to break. He doesn't hold back on his real opinions and conversation, because he's not afraid of hurting my feelings. He doesn't lie to me, because he thinks I can't handle the truth.

He just treats me like a person. A normal, capable person. And while a lot of his words towards me may consist of insults and blunt remarks, one thing about Dabi is that he doesn't make me feel pathetic.

If anything, he makes me feel like a badass, because I can say what I want around him, too. I don't have to worry about hurting his feelings. I don't have to worry about offending him. He'll take my comebacks and roll with it no matter what, and that just gives me the confidence to keep going out of my comfort zone around him and figure new things out about myself.

And that's not how it should be. He shouldn't be the one to make me grow and come out of my shell. That should be my own job. My boyfriend's job, because aren't significant others supposed to make you a better person, too?

Does Natsuo make me a better person? Does he help me grow?

I let out a small, deflated sigh at my thoughts, conveniently finding the action of unlocking the room door more interesting than answering such a question.

I'm sure I'm just spending too much time with Dabi, and it's making me confused for no reason. We just need to hurry up and find Midas so I can forget about him and move on.

"Yeah, that's it..." I uttered to myself as I opened the door to the room and walked inside. "There's nothing to worry about."

I inhaled deeply to calm my heart that had only picked up pace once I'd entered the room fully, feeling my hands sweaty and clammy when the door clicked closed behind me.

The sight I was expecting to be met with was, none other than, a very crusty, musty man-either smoking himself to death, or passed out in some unconventional place of the room. Maybe he'd even be murdering someone-or, possibly the room would be charred and destroyed. The possibilities are endless when it comes to him.

But, all that I found was....no one. The room was completely empty.

I groaned softly at the suspense that had suddenly leveled up when Dabi's presence was nowhere to be found. Tossing my overnight bag onto the floor, instead of the usual, neat placement of my bed or the kitchen counter, I began looking around the room with more focus as if he'd suddenly pop out at me like the feral hobo he is.

"Hello? Dabi?" I asked at a reasonable volume, not seeing the need to yell or call out to him as I could see everything from my spot in the room.

He's clearly not here-but, then again, his bed looks recently slept in and his phone is here...?

My brows furrowed in thought, before the realization hit me.

Maybe, he's in the bathroom.

I turned on my heel abruptly, intending to trek my way back to the bathroom a few feet and knock to see if Dabi would answer back.

But, in my unreasonable hurry to complete such a boring task, I began walking while also simultaneously turning around, unable to give much thought to anything that would be behind me-or, rather, anyone that would have popped up behind me.

And what popped up was....

A sharp gasp escaped my throat when I ran into something warm and bare, flinch jumping so hard my feet left the ground and got caught up in each other.

I thought no one was here!!!

Losing my footing caused me to lean forward onto this sudden obstacle for balance, making me involuntarily place both my hands atop it-which I now know is his chest-Dabi's chest-Dabi's shirtless chest, upon better inspection of my hand placement.

In order to keep himself upright, he was forced to grab ahold of me tightly, wrapping both of his arms around my waist as he stumbled backwards a bit.

"O-Oh-abs-chest-" I blurted out in a tone that was three octaves too high, before he interrupted me with a chuckle.

"Wow, alright. Throwing yourself at me this early in the morning? What, wanna kiss me, sunshine?" He drawled out lowly, before his hands clung firmly on my sides to steady the both of us.

I ignored the hitch of my breath, but unable to ignore the firm grip he had on my hips.

That's what I imagined last night. His hands gripping me this tightly. With me all wrapped up in his arms like this...

His chest, bare just like this with my hands atop it. With him atop me...

His surprisingly addictive scent-now composed of the light, soothing smell of the hotel shampoo-shit, I just noticed that all he's wearing right now is a shower towel wrapped around his waist-

But, I also couldn't ignore his words, literally forcing myself to back out of his arms and look at him with bewildered eyes.

"H-Huh?! What did you just say?!" I practically wheezed out, feeling the side effects of a fluster forming on my cheeks, and in the hot, unnecessary pants of my desperate breaths.

This is so embarrassing. Does he even notice-

"What? I said, did you miss me, sunshine?-it was a joke, anyways. Don't be stupid about it." He defended unbothered, before a thought struck my mind for his weird sentence.

Dabi isn't ever one to say when he's joking. Does that mean he's serious?! Am I overthinking it?!!-

"What's got your granny panties all bunched up?" He followed up, after noticing how tightly wound up I was, "heh, certainly not your worthless boyfriend, I guess."

Welp, he's not wrong.

But, regardless, I've got to play it cool.

"W-What-I-a-and you-that's not-i-it's not-"

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Nice one. See, I told you you're too awkward in person for this stuff." Dabi interrupted casually, brushing past me with a subtle quickness as he made a beeline for a clean shirt that was resting atop his bed.

I don't think he likes being shirtless. I've only seen him shirtless once, and it's when he was waking up from being drunk.

Feeling a little better once Dabi hastily threw a shirt on, he looked at me as he reached for a pair of boxers, raising his brows in silent, condescending question-almost as if he was wondering if I'd watch, which caused me to quickly snap my gawking eyes away from him so he could fully change.

I swallowed thickly when I heard his towel hit the floor from behind me, realizing he was probably naked on the bottom now....

"So. W-What....what are you doing here...?" I uttered without thinking, more just trying to get my mind off of picturing Dabi naked a few feet away as I heard him rustling around with his underwear and jeans.

He gave a small snort of disbelief to my question, before I heard the sound of a belt clasping.

"Congratulations, that's gotta be your dumbest question, yet-and we all know you ask a lot of dumb ones." He pointed out, before I felt a hand rest atop my head from behind and ruffle my hair with surprising gentleness.

I quickly turned around at the action-just a second too late apparently, as Dabi was already out of his spot and making his way towards the kitchen, fully dressed.

He seemed to be pretty unbothered by our awkward moment as he opened the fridge to find something to eat. A small sigh of relief escaped my lips, now that we seemed to be past that bout of sexual tension-

I mean-not that it was sexual!!!-

"Well, I only ask because I called for you when I got here, and you didn't answer me." I huffed out slightly as I regained my composure, slowly trailing over towards the kitchen.

Dabi's head came out of the fridge holding a packaged bowl of cooked noodles, before he kicked it closed with his foot and sloppily tossed his food container on the counter.

"Oh? I didn't? Well, that's just shameful." He smirked knowingly, causing me to groan in annoyance for this human being.

Why do I even like him again?

"And what about you, huh?" Dabi called out from the sink, plucking a pair of chopsticks from the container on the counter before making his way back over.

"What about me?" I uttered, furrowing my brows as I rested my elbows forward on the marble.

"Thought you weren't supposed to be back here until tomorrow. What happened? Couldn't handle the picture perfect family another night? I don't blame you there, if that's true." He commented just a bit condescendingly, using his chopsticks to pick off the chunks of fish sprinkled atop his dish before tossing them on the container lid.

I ran a distracted hand through my hair at Dabi's words, reminded of our texting conversation last night while I was at the Todoroki dinner.

When I told him about Touya.

He seemed to get a little softer towards the end of our conversation last night. But, it was late. Now, he's acting like it didn't even happen-which is good, right? That's how it should be. Right?

"Well, I came back when I got The Boss' text message today. Apparently, he found out where this Club Norboru is located. That's what we were waiting for, right? Don't see any need to draw this out longer." I said honestly, pulling my phone out of my pocket to check the instructions list he probably mailed over by now.

And, what I said is true. The faster we catch Midas, the faster I can get away from Dabi and stop thirsting over him for no reason.

He shrugged in lazy agreement as he picked more fish out of his food, making me wonder why he even chose that particular noodle bowl to begin with if he's just gonna waste all the good stuff.

"Aw. Don't tell me you're trying to get rid of me already." He countered smugly, twirling a clump of noodles around his chopsticks before slurping it into his mouth.

I couldn't help the small smile that threatened to tug at my lips as I kept my gaze on my phone, trying to log into my email.

"Well, guess what, I am. Anddd, I don't even feel bad about it-so, hah. Looks like I can still insult you in person without being awkward." I pointed out with playful confidence, earning a small genuine chuckle from Dabi as he kept his eyes on his food.

"Mm, little sapphire. That insult was so damn weak, I take it as a compliment instead. Try again." He hummed softly, causing a small laugh to escape my lips.

It feels nice to speak freely again, without having to worry about hurting Dabi's feelings. Speaking freely is not something I can do around Natsuo.

"Besides," Dabi followed up as he took another bite of his food, "I think the real kicker of this whole thing is getting to see you at a club-a villain club, no less. That's gonna be great entertainment to watch, in itself."

My jaw dropped open in fake offense to his words, before I finally looked up from my phone to glare at him.

"What do you mean? There's not gonna be anything interesting going on with me. I'll fit in just fine! I can be bad. I can be....party." I shrugged casually, causing Dabi to slowly look up at me with a deadpan, knowing look.

"Oh, well since you put it that way, it's definitely convincing now." He reassured condescendingly, picking out another piece of fish which caused me to roll my eyes.

"You know, it's called a 'Teriyaki Salmon Bowl' for a reason. Why do you keep picking out all the fish, if you don't like it?" I questioned lightly, finding the sight of Dabi's teetering salmon tower on the lid container a little amusing.

"I just like the sauce. They don't make the chicken ones with the same flavoring." He murmured admittedly, carefully resting another crumb of salmon atop his tower before slurping up the noodles.

I nodded in understanding, because his words aren't a new revelation to me.

"Yeah, I've actually heard that's true before." I mumbled distractedly, returning my eyes to my phone as I saw a new email pop up from The Boss.

"Oo, yes, here we go." I uttered under my breath, quickly tapping on the email before scanning the instructions.

I was pleasantly surprised when Dabi remained standing over the counter while I read. Normally, he would have dipped the moment real world work came into place.

"Okay! So, it says here the location of Club Norboru. It explains how we're supposed to gather intel on these 'recruits' that Midas finds there. Akio and Kurogiri were sent the same email this morning, so we should all be on the same page for tonight..." I narrated quickly, keeping my eyes locked on my phone to drink in all the necessary information. "Ah! This seems important. It says here that club life at Norboru starts to get crazy around one in the morning. I guess, it's open until five am. That means, we should probably get there around ten-ish, right?"

Eating up the last of his noodles, Dabi finally tossed the container and his leaning tower of salmon in the trash bin, looking at me in stupid question.

"If things don't start getting crazy until one, why the fuck would you show up at ten, you damn square?" He asked, tilting his head to the side tauntingly.

"Well, because we should be early! Duh!" I defended, before he let out a slightly louder roar of obnoxious laughter this time.

Jerk. I like it better when he laughs genuinely...

"You're not serious-Look, sapphire, I know you're a nerd and shit, but you just don't show up early to a club of all places. That's like showing up early to a party." He pointed out obviously, as if that was supposed to be something meant to deter me.

I simply beamed at him in innocent excitement, speaking with a sense of pride.

"Ohhh, I actually believe that it's perfectly acceptable to show up early to a party! You know, being punctual and all-"

"Of course you do. God, I don't even know why I asked." He scoffed, giving his head a small shake.

Yet, he looked down towards the marble counter to hide his face subtly, acting as if he was attempting to conceal the genuine smile that was trying to come onto his lips.

"Look," he started off once he composed himself, turning his eyes back up at me firmly. "Once again, this shit that we're gonna be doing tonight? It's all villain territory, sweetheart. You're gonna be in a dangerous place, surrounded by villains who think they're hot shit. That means, that as much as you love to be in charge of everything, you're gonna have to listen to me at this club, if you wanna survive, alright? That means, we don't get there until fifteen minutes after one in the morning. If you get there at ten, everyone's gonna know you're a fucking narc and they'll kill you. Got it?"

I pursed my lips in dissatisfaction to his point, shooting him a small pout.

But, deep down, I know he's right. When it comes to the dangerous stuff, it's best to listen to Dabi and let him take the reigns. He's been doing this villain stuff for awhile. If there's anyone who knows how to survive in dangerous situations like this, it's him.

It makes me wonder....how long has he been doing this stuff, exactly?

"Fine..." I started off begrudgingly, before adding on to get my own little dig. "Unlike you when it comes to anything I suggest, I will actually comply with whatever rules you lay down tonight, Dabi. You don't have to worry about me making a scene or causing problems."

Dabi let out an unimpressed hum at my words, propping his chin up in his hand as he drank in my features contently.

"Oh, really? You'll follow rules? Phew, I'm glad I can stop stressing about that." He came back with snarky sarcasm, causing me to look up from my phone now with a deadpan glare of my own.

"Honestly, you're so annoying to me." I countered, before he came back without missing a beat.

"Good. I already said you're adorable when you're mad, little sapphire." He mumbled teasingly, not once breaking away from my eye contact as he spoke.

In order to stop the fluster from forming on my face, I had to remind myself that he was just kidding.

Quickly shaking off his words, I turned my attention down to the last part of the informative email, raising my brows in interest as I read it.

"It says here that for attire....we should go for club clothes-but, also clothes that make us passable for villains." I said in pondering thought, before pursing my lips and looking over towards my clothing drawers in the corner.

"That means, you and your clown clothes won't make the cut." Dabi said bluntly, speaking my thoughts out loud.

....well, I mean, he spoke it in a much more unnecessary way...

"You're wrong about them being clown clothes, but right that they won't make the cut." I pointed out nonchalantly, clicking my phone closed now as I directed my attention back to Dabi knowingly.

His eyes met mine in question at first, before slowly morphing into a small glare of annoyance as he sensed I was about to make him do something he didn't want to do.

"Whatever it is, no." He uttered bluntly, keeping his chin propped up in his hand as he spoke.

I shot him a small smile of my own victory as I leaned forward on the counter, letting my feet sway off the floor as I came closer towards his face.

"Actually, Dabi. Whatever it is....yes. See, you're right that I should follow your lead for whatever villainous stuff happens at nighttime. But, as for the non villain, normal stuff....I need to go to the mall and find a 'villainous' outfit, and I'm not allowed to leave you alone. So, get your shoes on, because you're coming shopping with me." I explained-or, rather, ordered....admittedly liking the control that rolled off my tongue.

If it were anyone else, I'd never be so comfortable as to be so assertive. But, I'm with Dabi.

And I like it.

Especially when he actually listens...

He simply rolled his eyes at me dismissively, surprisingly not putting up any fight about being forced to go shopping with me.

If this were the first few days of our partnership, he wouldn't have come. In fact, he wouldn't have even listened to the portable briefing I just did in the kitchen. He would have been long gone by now, doing his own thing.

It almost seems like he doesn't mind coming with me.

He pushed himself off the counter to get his shoes-but, not before giving a light flick to my forehead with his fingers that caused me to flinch and groan in slight pain.

"Rule number ten of my rules, sunshine. Don't tell me what to do." He uttered-yet, he stuffed his feet into his shoes, anyways.

I turned around to face him now with a look of challenge that I wouldn't be able to hold with anyone else, watching his brows raise with pleasant surprise for my growing comfortability for him.

"Well, Dabi. According to everything that just transpired a second ago....it seems that I just did." I countered confidently, causing him to scoff lightly and shake his head.

Mall shopping with Dabi, huh?

....it almost sounds like a date.

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Next Chapter Title: Vibes.