It came to no surprise that by the next day you had exhausted yourself to the point of almost oversleeping.

     Keyword being almost.

     Your room had no normal windows, sometimes wondering why you even decided to settle for this room the way you had. But alas there was no turning back, as your nightlight had turned itself off hours ago, the only source of life in the room being the skylight.

     . . .right, you decided to open that up some nights ago.

     You were lucky enough that it hadn't blasted directly into your eye, the decision to place your bed by a wall the right one as you snuggled closer to the cold painted cement.

     But. . . then again, why had you woken up?

     Your alarm hadn't gone off, and there wasn't enough noise around you to really bother you enough to be awake. So. . .

     Deciding to go check your phone and see if you've missed your alarm you moved to scoot closer to your bedside table, still very much half asleep and most of your senses still dead. The only sort of difference in the room was when you bumped against the undeniable feeling of a warm arm and a low chuckle.

     Snapping your eyes wide open and barely stopping yourself from shrieking to hell and back you backed up almost immediately, blankets clutched to your chest instinctively as the laughing form of Dabi came into view.

     "What the—why?! When?!" He made no efforts whatsoever into keeping a straight face, a cheeky, shit-eating grin on his ruggedly handsome features. "Good morning to you too, babe."

     "What the fuck happened last night?!" You threw up your blankets and looked around under there in a panic—somehow thinking that was a good idea when you were expecting that to have happened—mind in too much of a fogged, embarrassed frenzy to notice that you were very much still fully clothed.

     Dabi ended up laughing even harder—if that were even possible—barely catching up with each inhalation as he choked and coughed. "I'm kidding, kidding! N-Nothing," he huffed, forcing out an exhale in an attempt to keep it together enough to keep talking.

     He kept talking, but he wasn't keeping it together.

     "Nothing happened," He seemed calm enough, running a hand down his face as his cheeks ached from holding onto that experience for far too long. The red on your face was either from embarrassment or anger or both, hands clutched onto blankets that you had drawn up to try and hide it. Was this seriously that entertaining for him?!

     "Oh fuck off," You groaned, finally forcing yourself up and trying to awkwardly move past his body to get out of bed. He was right in the way of your usual route, so you decided to move by the bottom side of the bed before circling back to your bedside. Your phone still laid on it, the displayed bar on front filled to the brim with green as 'Fully Charged' blinked beneath it. You plugged off the charger, groaning quietly at the sight of barely reaching eight am. You weren't supposed to be awake until nine at the very least, a click of your tongue in frustration. Great, and you already walked and survived through your head spinning so now you had to actually start your day.

     "Plus," You zoned back in from your little bout of anger to look at him, a glare still oh-so evident on your morning face. (The same as your normal face, it just looked a lot angrier.) "If something actually happened you wouldn't be standing right now."

     . . .

     . . .

     . . .

     The silence in the room grew deafening as you released a breath, looking at Dabi with the best look of disappointment you could muster despite the redness of your face.

     Picking up the nearest pillow you threw it at his face and left.

     Downstairs, you got the pancakes Jirou had been kind enough to leave, still relatively warm and at least delicious enough to eat. She probably hadn't left that long ago, and if you made an effort you probably would've seen her in the crowd below if you actually used the big-ass window you had.

     It was blinding, really, the shadows of the couches heavy as sunlight blasted inside your apartment. It was invasive, annoying as hell, but you didn't care as long as it wasn't planning a direct attack to your retinas.

     The events of last night felt more like a far off dream, mindlessly moving around as you prepped your pancakes however you liked. Dabi probably wouldn't be eating, but you kept one of the three pancakes to the side in any case he did. You were still pissed—were you really, though?—for that little 'joke' but it wasn't like you were an all-out asshole.

     . . . that was probably a lie, but it was the truth for now.

     "And a good morning to you again," He was definitely taking a break from laughing like the idiot that he was, but the grin on his face never subsided. The shirt he had taken off as an extra sort of bonus for this prank of his rested on his shoulder, lazily tossed over like a rag as he moved down the stairs with lazy, dropping steps. And each time he did you saw the way the muscles on his arms m—

     You ended up almost dying with a forkful of pancakes stuffed in your mouth, the juice easily being chugged down quick enough to have given you brain freeze if it had enough ice in it. The phoenix didn't at all look concerned, more so amused by the fact that he had merely saw you staring at him for a few fleeting seconds before choking and coughing violently. He had no doubt that it was because of him, and that little thought just stroked even more of his already inflated ego.

     "Oy, don't go dying on me you haven't said yes to being my girlfriend yet," A pat on the back and his boyish wink made you go red again, trying to play it off as anger as you tried your best to furrow your brows at him. It didn't serve you that much good once again of course, the exact opposite happening as an almost pitiful laugh escaped him. "You're cute."

     "And your pancakes are now mine." It didn't serve much though, only getting a playful roll of his eyes and an almost inaudible 'go ahead' while you scarfed down your food. Either he was feeling generous, wasn't hungry or just downright didn't care, you couldn't complain much when you were the one getting fed.

     "So, any plans today?"

     "No Dabi I can't go on a date," You tell him, whatever disappointment you felt not at all evident on your face while he shrugs. "Hey, your words not mine. But man, now that you reminded me, I kind of want to go on one now."

     "I literally just said that I couldn't," You sigh, taking another sip of your usual morning drink. You really needed to restock, you were drinking an unhealthy amount of it way too much, way too quickly and your source was running out. "Yeah, fair enough."

     "I don't know, man, I guess I just have to go to work?" You answered his question anyway, not feeling the need to pick up your pace as another yawn escaped from you. Your body clock was messing itself up and now you had to deal with the consequences. "Why? You have a thought?"

     He shrugs, sitting on one of the bar stools while you sat by the kitchen island. "Thought that we should probably start looking for their lab now. Since, you know, they're probably expecting something from us." He shrugs, cutting you off before you could ask how that was reasonable if they were actually on the hunt for your group. "Better act quickly now, right? Plus, we wouldn't have to do anything. Just have to see where it is in the first place."

     You contemplated that a few minutes, meanwhile continuing to slowly work through your meal before you could forget about it. "Yeah, I guess?" Swallowing, you basically finished up, dragging what crumbs remained as your fork scraped against the plate. "Sounds reasonable."

     . . .

     He looks at you with a face that you could only describe as boredom, sighing as he raises a brow expectantly. "But?"

     "But I wouldn't be there, so you're going to have to do it on your own if you really plan on doing it today." He sighs, knowing that you were right, but he couldn't stop the chuckle. "Honestly expected something worse. Glad to see I was just overreacting."

     "I don't even know what you mean but I'm gonna assume that it's rude," You threw the nearest, most harmless item you could find, the crumpled paper towel hardly affecting him as it bounced back onto the floor. He, was once again in a fit of laughter, scarred fingers moving to wipe away a crocodile tear. Oh man, Fridays were the best.

     You could've thought about it a lot less sarcastically though.

     "Whatever, I'm taking a shower." You chewed the last of the remaining pancake before dumping the plate in the sink, the fork clinking against it as you ran the water a little before skipping towards the bathroom. You weren't sure what you were expecting, but the silence that came from Dabi definitely felt weirder than him flirting or something. Had he not heard you? Were you desperate for something?

     . . .

     You just went into the bathroom and got ready for that bath.

     It was going smoothly for the first few minutes, quietly enjoying the water as you tried not to pay too much attention to the small cuts and dried scars that mostly littered your upper body. These were trophies to men but flaws to a woman, and the idea of having to be stuck with them forever wasn't exactly an all-too pleasing thought. You tried to convince yourself that you didn't care, that it wasn't that big of a deal. . . yet. . .

     You huffed, the bar of soap nearly dropping from your grasp as you went on. 

     But through the sounds of running water and annoyed huffs that came from you every now and then, came the undeniable sounds of the bathroom door opening. Your heart sped up and heat rushed to your face, the realization that that wasn't Jirou making you suck in a breath. 

     And through the translucent, clouded glass you could see movement, Dabi already out of his shirt and moving to. . . unbuckle his. . .

     Oh God.

● ● ●

     The first thing you saw back at work that day was the newest pop of bright color against the white snow, almost tripping in surprise as Sims stood there sweeping it away with a new hairdo that basically begged for your attention.

    "Woah, big event?" You laughed, reminded to try and shrug off as much of the pesky weather off your sweater and scarf. She looks up, the bright neon orange of her strands bouncing as she peeked out from behind her red sweater. With a grin she waves at you, putting one last scrape for the walkway before setting it to the side. "Hey boss! Yeah, told my mom I wanted to do something special for my birthday and she agreed to this," She then perks up, "Oh yeah! It's tomorrow, by the way. Remember that club we went to where we almost lost Nylah?"

     You snickered, disguising it the best you could as a cough to try your best to not seem rude. God that was a weird experience, it was two in the morning and you spent about an hour looking for the brunette before finding her passed out on the hood of Devan's car. You were thankful that nothing happened to her of course, but the memory of five random drunk adults trying to find their friend was amusing after about a week later. "Yeah, I do. I heard they got new management?"

     "Yes, they did!" She looked so proud of that statement, a small giggle escaping her as she haphazardly pats away the snow from her shoulder. "Which is kind of why I wanted to go there. I heard it looks even better than last time," She shakes her head one more time, attention once again back to you, "So? You wanna come? If you aren't busy, of course!" 

     You didn't have much planned for the weekend, and the outcome of Dabi's little adventure with tracking down the laboratory wasn't set in stone yet. So with a nod you agreed, laughing alongside her as she cheered like a little girl in a candy store.

     Getting inside the—now properly heated building, bless whoever did that—shop you discarded your coat and jacket, making sure that the snow landed outside and not anywhere on the newly swept floors. That would be setting a bad example and would most definitely make you look like an asshole.

     "Hey, now wait a second!" You raised a brow before yelping, a hand too warm for it's own good sweeping up your hair to reveal the backside of your neck. Where sat the discoloration of the—you know what I mean.

      The shirt you wore sadly didn't cover that part of it, face once again getting that familiar feeling of embarrassment as you swatted Kevin away. "Oh my, boss lady's had a good morning!" 

     "Kevin you dinglehopper that is uncalled for!" You couldn't even laugh as Sims dived at him, threatening to hit his face with the shovel as you tried your best to settle your hair. "I'm just saying!! Was it the guy?? It was the guy—ow!" The sympathetic sigh from beside came, Devan patting your back as you smiled back at him. Or at least, tried to, the way he patted your back was more like a smack than anything.

     So with a huffing good morning to all of them—except Kevin—you made your way up the stairs and into your office, where you will no doubt either be dying in heat with a scarf wrapped tightly to hide the hickey or suffer straining your neck to do your best and conceal it. Either way, already things were feeling like a great  Friday.

     In a different part of New York that was more or less far away, who knew really, was the cause of said discoloration, idly standing with a cigarette lazily hanging by the side of his mouth. His group split up, agreeing to look around in the general area that the shaky scientist wrote down. He did a sweep of his area pretty quickly—jackass couldn't care less about it because a cocky side of him somehow just knew that where he was stationed wasn't the right place. He might've been near it, but he could just say that it wasn't in his assigned area or something.

     With the remaining of the stick crumbling he let it drop to the concrete, stomping it out and narrowly missing the foot of a passing stranger. Maybe that was one more reason he didn't feel like getting into it; Shigaraki had been petty and placed him directly beside the main road where most of the crowds formed. 

     But he still of course found a way to not care, only scowling if somebody dared to bump into him or something.

     The buzzing of his phone made him jolt slightly, but he picked it up nonetheless. He kind of hoped that it was miraculously some message from you, but the caller ID and his hilarious nickname for the crusted fuck crushed any hopes of that.

     After letting it ring for a few more seconds the call eventually died, unlocking it and reading the message sent. Something something, they found it, something something, where Compress was.

     With a huff he shoved it back into his pocket, sighing distastefully at the snow before venturing out to where he vaguely remembered he was asked to go. It wasn't that far, barely a block away before he saw the group already next to each other and talking. He joined eventually—after having to talk himself into it—craning his neck the best he could to see what they were spying at.

     Across the street was the corner of another block, the building right beside it looking gloomy in comparison. Smoke rose from parked vans, with various uniformed men pushing carts around shouting and talking indistinctly. If they weren't in the middle of the street the phoenix could've easily mistook it as a loading dock, raising a brow at the possibility of this being some sort of secret, big bad, evil lab.

     The building was on the shorter side, he estimated about three floors, give or take. The entrance where most of the men were coming from looked like a garage door, the metal gathered up in a heap at the top while the patterns of a gate were pushed to the side. It looked like any other building in the city, so he wasn't sure how and why this was somehow any sort of lead. 

     "You sure we're at the right place?" Shigaraki only huffs in response, the short brunet nodding as though he was the one addressed. "Y-Yes. . . I'm sure of it." He wanted to scoff at that, mock him about how that wasn't really something they could treat as a reliable source. 

     But he caught himself of course, there'd be plenty of time for that later. 

     "Well how the hell are we going to get in then?" Elijah flinched, possibly not expecting him to be raising his voice that much. "I uh, have a plan. But—"

     "I say we knock out some guys and steal their uniforms." Compress coolly suggested with all the remnants of a calm, collected look on his face. "Always works in movies."

     "Yeah well in real life they actually remember the faces of their coworkers, you fucking idiot." He narrowly misses the swing that came from their leader, scoffing as he did so, "As if. I saw you take about ten seconds trying to figure out who Kurogiri was once."

     He shared a high five with Dabi, then shared a yelp when Shigaraki managed to hit them both.

     But of course he had a point, and without even verbally confirming it they had all managed to somehow agree to take the uniforms of the next few guys they can pick off from where they were currently stalking. It shouldn't be that hard of course, but it still made the phoenix annoyed. What was with him today? They already found the lab—or at least, some part of him hoped that they did—so why was he so upset?

     Plus he managed to do that earlier morning so—

     He shakes his head. Now's not the time to think about that, they had a plan to execute.

note ; HIIIIIIIIIIIII SO SO SO SO SO SORRY FOR DYING I HAD TO DO SOME SCHOOL WORK EHEHEIUAHFAIHFHOIA BUT IM HERE NOW SO HEY HALLELUJAH

HOPE YALL R STAYING SAFE G'BYEEEEEEEEEEEEE