"See you tomorrow, Gabrielle!"
"That better be a promise, Y/N," You laugh at that as you wave her goodbye, one hand occupied as you held this week's midnight snacks. You weren't one to cook a lot, (which is the main reason why Momo scolds you sometimes) so instant noodles and junk foods were you and Jirou's bestfriends.
You glare at the gray clouds in the distance as you walk towards your building, hoping it won't be something to worry about. No way was bad weather gonna ruin your day off.
"Floor nine for Ms. L/N?" You chuckle at your usual companion in the elevators, nodding as she presses the button with a smile of her own.
"Thanks, Flora!" You grin as you stumbled out, hands very much busy as you went to grab your keys. You stick your tongue out, trying to balance the quite-heavy paperbag on your bent leg as one hand rummages through your bag. "Gotcha," You manage to insert it with a grunt, pushing the door open as you cheer in small victory.
It would've been easier to just put the bag down, but what's done is done and you just wanted to spend your free time happily. Every Thursday you closed up early for the Friday sales that would last an hour longer, so you wanted to enjoy what little freedom you had. You loved your job and business to death but it just tires you sometimes.
You let out a small squeak as you put the bag on the counter, keeping both hands on it as you notice the yellow post-it note stuck to the smooth wooden surface.
'I'll be home before dinner. I'm buying takeout. You can eat HALF of my chiffon cake. HALF, Y/N. Stay safe, lock up.'
It was signed J.K at the bottom, and you only laughed at her cruel joke of expecting you to eat all of her snack. You probably would've, but you weren't heartless. "Classic Jirou," You chuckle, taking the ice cream out of the bag before heading towards the fridge.
The cold air hit you as you swung open the metal door, but it didn't make much of a difference to your already cold almost-empty apartment. You hummed as you saw the cake, still in it's packaging as you opened the freezer and placed the small tub inside. "Don't mind if I do," You take the dessert and turn towards the counter, softly kicking the door close as the meows of one cat make you grin.
"Sir Hamilton!" You set the cake down on the counter, bending down to pick him up and give him a quick kiss. "How's my kitty, have you been good?" He only meowed back as you giggle, giving him one last squeeze before setting him down. "Did you finish your food?"
He, of course, meows again as he turns the corner, his black tail swirling and hitting against the divider before fully disappearing. "Sassy," You laugh, before going and grabbing the plastic fork still attached to the cover of the cake. 'HALF, Y/N.' You scoff at the second post-it note, shaking your head with a smile as you lifted up the lid and awed at the delicious treat.
You grabbed a small bite, absolutely savoring the flavor as you hummed in delight. "So good." You eventually cover it back up, deciding to leave it on the counter as you turn to the brown bag. You go and open it widely, grabbing the many items inside as you slowly lay them out.
"Ramen, chips, soda. . . where is my," You turn to the bag, digging even deeper as you feel your fingers brush up against the plastic, grabbing hold of it as you look at it with much delight, "candy." You grin, grabbing it along with some other snacks. You go to one of the cupboards, grabbing a plastic bag before carelessly stuffing your selected food inside.
You pick up the instant noodles, contemplating whether or not you wanted to eat it. You were about to put it back, wanting to save it for later, but the cold wind that had decided to brush up against your exposed arms made your hairs stand, to which you decided was enough of an answer for you.
You shrugged, leaving it beside the heater as you grabbed it and went to go fill it up. You put it back and turned it on, facing the counter once again and putting the rest of the food in their rightful places, before grabbing the plastic bag and heading towards one of the almost broken windows.
"What a mess," You mumbled as you stepped over the many scattered boxes, reminding you of how much you had to clean before the move. Grabbing the blanket from the couch, you swing it over your shoulder and almost slip a few times as you went to access the fire escape.
You pushed the window open, having to force it harder than usual as it once again got stuck. "Ah great," You huff, shaking it side to side before managing to slide it up unnaturally. You stare, trying to pull it back down, only to find it now lodged and refusing to budge. "Oops," You inhaled, deciding to deal with it later as you put a leg through the opening.
You stare at your pants, realizing you were still in your work clothes. "Fuck, right," You go back inside, placing the plastic and blanket down before jogging towards your bedroom and swinging the door wide open. You grab the nearest sweatpants, lazily putting them on after tossing your previous clothes in the basket you kept by your door and kicking off your heels.
You slowly unbutton your top, removing it and leaving you in your bra. You wanted to walk around the house in nothing but sweatpants and a bra, that was what you would call an ideal day off, but you wanted to spend your evening on the roof and you didn't want to risk catching a cold and possibly even dying of hypothermia. You can never get too safe, is all.
So you got rid of the bra entirely and put on a shirt. You then throw a hoodie you stole from one of your ex-boyfriends—that was still sadly named Leonardo—on top, before running towards the window because you were quite impatient. You grab the bag and blanket carelessly, before ducking and slowly finding your footing on the metal platform.
You balance yourself, not wanting to rattle the damn thing and let the whole world know you were walking to the roof. You slowly put your leg on the next step, your home slippers not being enough to stop the cold from nipping at your feet despite your extra thick pair of socks.
"Damn you, cold ass wind," You curse to no one, quickly making your way up as quietly as possible before finally reaching the top. You grin, finding the chair you left at the top a few days ago and confirming your suspicion of whether or not people came up here.
You went and placed the plastic bag, before wrapping the blanket around yourself and walking to the steps again. You hastily make your way down, entering your apartment and heading into the kitchen to find the water had already heated.
You quickly prepare the noodles, almost messing up multiple times as you wanted nothing more than to see the sun set from a view you had all to yourself. You wanted to share it with someone of course, you weren't that selfish. But, as luck would have it, you were very much single and very much alone.
Jirou's out practicing and blessing people with her voice, Momo's probably stuck in another photoshoot, Uraraka was back in Japan— you basically had no one. You turn to see your cat just wandering around, deciding if it'd be worth getting your eyes clawed out to force him to spend the evening with you on the roof to watch the giant ball of gas go to sleep as you suffer in mother nature's cold touch with nothing but a piece of fabric to protect yourself.
. . .
Nah nevermind.
You shake your head, grabbing the small cup as you blew on it slowly. You walk towards the window, careful as to not spill the hot soup all over as you took deep breaths to try and assure yourself you wouldn't.
"Here we go," You slowly drawled, eyes dead focus on the cup as you balanced yourself on the metal landing. You made your way up the steps, thankfully no strong winds showing up to send your blanket flying off as you hurried to the top as carefully as you could.
"Don't spill don't spill," You glanced back and forth from the cup and where you were stepping, eyes darting very quickly as you took a deep breath and quickly reached the top, "Don't spill don't spill don't spill do—"
"I don't think that's how it works, princess." You scream, almost dropping the very hot beverage as you snap your head up to meet a. . . not so familiar face. You squint, "Who the fuck are you supposed to be?"
"Back where I live, we usually say hello as a greeting, babe." The way he said babe sounded very familiar, and it took you a moment, but your eyes widened in realization. "You're the dude from last night!" You gasped, wanting to point at him but your hands were a little busy at the moment.
"Two nights ago,"
"Whatever, hey! What are you doing up here?" You go towards your bag of snacks, sitting cross-legged on the cold floor as he shrugs and sits perpendicular to you a little ways off. "Bored. Felt bad for not visiting you sooner," He pauses, leaning back on his hands, "Well I mean I did, but you stayed inside the whole time."
"Wait you visited me yesterday?" You raised a brow at his masked face, slowly blowing on your cup as he nods. "I doubt that." You couldn't see his mouth, but you were quite sure he just smirked, "I did. You came home from work thankfully in a taxi, ate pizza with your roommate, talked about some party, and you stayed up until two am last night staring at the tv like a zombie."
"We were talking about a ball, and I stayed up until three actually." He laughs, shrugging as he looks at you with his—gorgeous—cerulean eyes. "Yes, and that's why you also looked like a zombie earlier today."
"Okay, I believe most from last night, but if you really were stalking me then what was I just wearing today?" He laughs again, leaning forward as he gestures with his hands. "Wide square-looking pants, a button up, some jewelry, a coat— I don't know what to tell you, sweetheart, you're the fashionista here not me."
You chuckle as you sip on the soup, a smile on your face, "So you agree that you were stalking me?"
"What, would you prefer the term paparazzi? Because I could start taking pictures of you if you want." You cracked a smile at that crude joke. You just met him, and not even properly. Yet here you were exchanging jokes about his full-on confession about stalking you. "You're funny, but I still haven't gotten your name you know."
You could tell that he frowned despite his black mask that hid most of his face save for the eyes, and you frowned at that too. You catch a glimpse of his face, not really having the courage to stare. But that glimpse was enough for your eyes to widen, doing a double take as to see if you were just hallucinating. "Your eyebags look horrible, do you even sleep?!"
Patchy skins of purple hung beneath his eyes, what looked to be like staples keeping them in place with his. . . much more normal skin to say the least. He chuckles sadly, turning away to face the slowly setting sun that gave the sky it's lovely orange and purple hues.
The lighting it gave the man was somewhat surreal, and the way it bounced off of his already perfectly-colored eyes took away your breath.
. . .
But that reaction of his didn't go unnoticed.
Once again your frown had returned, much towards yourself than the stranger. "I'm sorry, that was. . . really rude of me, uhm, I didn't mean—" He laughs, angelically, shaking his head as a. . . surprisingly genuine smile settled on his face. "No no, it's okay, dollface. It's fine. Even I've gotta admit that they look like shit."
You giggled at that, (a sound you didn't know you were physically able to make) smiling as you blew on your noodles.
Your eyes slowly looked towards him, the man still deep in thought as his eyes remained focused on the setting sun. As if he were trying to move it with his mind, with brows so furrowed you could've sworn he was actually doing it.
"Hey, you want some?" He raised a brow at the sudden suggestion, turning to see you slowly sipping on the soup as eyes remained on him. He thinks about it for a moment, the slightest look of hesitation flashing onto his face for a split second, but shrugs nonetheless. "If you have some,"
"Okay great because I still feel bad about that comment wait here," You slowly put the cup down and quickly staggered towards the fire exit, hands clutching onto the blanket as you hurriedly made your way down the metal steps with the muffled sounds of thunks slowly disappearing as you went.
Dabi chuckles as he loses sight of your jittering form, finding it amusing how easily you could be flustered. Everytime he saw you on public tv, you were always so. . . confident. And very professional.
He couldn't say that you weren't like that now, but he could definitely say that he much enjoyed this side of you. The awkward laughing, joking around, having an 'apologizing for apologizing so much' attitude the cerulean eyed vigilante—mercenary. . . assassin, guy?— could say for sure that he was having a great time just watching you trying to keep a conversation.
"A weird case. . ." He mumbles to himself, eyes boredly looking to see the cup you had set down. It was quite chilly that evening, and he felt bad for having you make him a fresh hot cup of ramen while yours slowly went cold with the weather.
He cautiously looks around, before removing the glove on his right hand and grabbing the cup with the other, carefully lighting up his index finger and having it slowly heat it up with a distance as to not cause any damage and raise suspicion of his abilities.
He had a feeling you already knew, but it didn't stop him nonetheless. After all, you could never be too careful now, could you?
He sets the cup down right before his ears perk up at the sounds of your slowly approaching footsteps on the metal stairs. "That was quick," He chuckled, observing your form that carefully handed him his own cup of noodles. "I already had hot water, so it's fine."
He hummed as you went and sat back down on your previous seat, glad to see your cup was still hot. He gives this thanks, but hesitates as his hand tries to go and remove his mask.
. . .
"L/N you might as well bang cymbals into my ears because your staring is so obvious," He states as he catches you red-handed, a whistle escaping your lips as you look away as though you weren't. "Whatever do you mean," You snicker, before continuing to eat your slowly emptying cup.
He sighs as he shrugs, before going and staring at the plastic in his hands once more.
. . .
He eventually sighs, deciding that you might as well know. He'd been. . . observing you, for a while now, and he could say for himself that his secret would be somewhat safe with you.
Yes you would most definitely tell your roommate and friend in showbiz but that was about it. He knew you have some well-kept secrets that you would gladly take to your grave, and most of them you'd most probably just forget as time went on.
. . .
But. . . this was different. Who could forget meeting someone like Dabi?
And whether that'd be good or not for certain people, he was for sure that it'd be bad with you. I mean come on, how often in one's life would you find yourself meeting a man covered head to toe in purple scars? With only staples keeping him together? You'd have to have amnesia, or even alzheimer's to forget about someone like that!
And who's to say that his judgement was actually wrong and that you weren't in fact trust worthy? Not only would he be in shit, but you!—
"Hey, hey, earth to paparazzi stalker, hey," You were snapping your fingers repeatedly in front of his face and after like, a minute of just staring at your hand he finally responds. He clears his throat, shaking his head as if to get rid of some thoughts you so wanted to learn of. "Sorry, sorry, I'm fine."
"Are you sure? Your noodles are getting cold." He remains quiet, and for a moment you were sure he'd spaced out again, but that went away as quickly as it had came. "I'm. . ." He sighs, "What I look like, behind this mask I uhm," He clears his throat, opening and closing his mouth like a confused fish as he continues to struggle forming words.
Eventually he sighs, much exasparated before finally ripping off his mask with a 'fuck it' and digging right in. You were impressed with that act, but were mostly distracted by the completely purple patch of skin he had that started at the line of his mouth and downwards.
Now many questions were running through your head, but only one you were actually able to process in your mind.
Does it look like that down there too or—
You shake your head at that incredibly crude thought, mentally hitting yourself with a metal baseball bat for even insinuating such a thing from a man that could probably kill you as quickly as he'd want to. "Uhm—"
"I know, I know I look weird you can say it." He sends a small smile, before sipping on the cup. "At this point it'd be more awkward if you stayed quiet."
You chuckle, shaking your head before turning back to the sunset. "Eh, not the weirdest thing I've seen to be honest." You could practically feel the way his face turned to confusion, giving you a raised brow. "Really now?"
"This is New York, bro! Weird things happen all the time. Plus, I think they look cool. Kind of like a weird tattoo that even laser can't fix, but it's cool so does it really matter?" You shake your head, hoping that was somewhat able to light up the mood. It surprisingly did, the man beside you smiling as you could see from your peripheral. "You seriously surprise me all the time."
He chuckles, adjusting to move his leg, "We haven't even known each other that long, and you don't even know my name. Why are you so comfortable around me?"
You shrugged dramatically, a few sips away from reaching the bottom of your cup. "I don't know I guess I trust you? I know it's risky, but you saved my life. So that's gotta mean something, right?" You turn towards him, the slightest tug to your lips upwards making Dabi stare. There was an emotion in his eyes that you couldn't quite describe, and you worried that you might've said something wrong again.
But before you could even whip out another apology faster than a youtuber who fucked up, your eyes travel down to see rain droplets had fallen from the heavens while you weren't looking. It started out not-so-obvious, small beads of water dropping to form darker marks on the stone surrounding you both. But soon it picked up pace, more and more dropping as more than a few landed on your head.
You were sad that your unspoken threat earlier today had not worked, forming a frown on your face as you continued to stare downwards at the ever increasing amount of rain droplets like a child who had their sand castle once again washed away by the sea.