Archive of Our Own

"How long is it gonna take?"

"A while. Not long. " Twice said, preparing his notes to mark down the measurements.  Dabi was still standing awkwardly in the middle of his room, all his clothes and the heavy coat still on. "You'll have to take that off."

"Take what off?"

"Your coat and boots, probably the pants and shirt too.  Just strip down to your boxers, that should be fine."

Dabi made a face, crossed his arms, "what the hell do you need me mostly naked for, crazy?"

" Don't call me crazy, freak! " His other side snapped, "proper measurements, if I get the numbers wrong the clone won't be right.  I need to get exact measurements."

Dabi didn't make a move, his eyes darted to the door like he was having second thoughts.  Maybe he was uncomfortable, or just being stuck up. Dabi seemed kind of full of himself, or he was insecure.

"We're both guys, no need to be uncomfortable." Jin remarked.

Dabi squinted, made that face again, "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Twice sighed, "Don't gotta do it if you don't want to. What's your fucking problem? You said your clones would work best for the plan, but you can back out.  Not like we need you. "

The distaste fell from the other villains face, replaced with something else Jin couldn't put a finger on.  He looked away, let out the breath he was holding as he ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.

"Fine, whatever."

Twice continued preparing his things as Dabi reductively shrugged off his coat and threw it on the desk chair, pulling his shirt off over his head.  He removed his clothes quickly, like he was angry at the garments.  

The doubling villain tried not to stare.  He hadn't thought about how much of Dabi's body was scarred like his arms and face was, well actually he had wondered about it pretty often.  His mouth went dry as his gaze slipped over a few times. Dabi's cheat and stomach was untouched, but the scars on his arms reached up to his shoulders, connecting to the ones there.  His back was mostly covered too, and the purplish black patchwork also covered most of his legs, ending just above his knees.

"Would ya stop fuckin' starin' at me."

Twice flinched at the way Dabi hissed the words at him, " i wasn't, damn. Sorry." He grabbed the notebook off his desk and the pen, circling around the other villain before he reached out to begin measuring at the top of his head.

As soon as his hand came out with the measuring tape, Dabi cringed.

Jin paused, swallowing.  His eyes darted to Dabi's face, confused at the wide eyed expression that flashed across his features before he relaxed again. "You okay?"

"I'm fine.  Just get this shit over with." 

He nodded, beginning to take his measurements.  He had to be pretty through, measure around his head, facial features, neck, and get a little too close for comfort than Dabi seemed to like.

Dabi flinched again when the other man began measuring his back, cringing away on instinct, squirming in place.  Twice observed quietly as he jotted down the numbers. Dabi's a lot skinnier than he looked with all the baggy clothes, Twice wondered if that's why he wore them, to hide how thin he was.

" Do you eat? " He found himself asking as he held the measuring tape to the top of Dabi's shoulders.

"What?" Dabi asked through his teeth.

"Do you eat?" He repeated, "you're thin. Scrawny. Like… you're really, really skinny. Skin and bones more like it. It's not healthy, man."

"What are you even? Dabi looked over his shoulder, eyebrows pushed together, "so fuckin' what? Just do your damn measurements."

" The fuck are you so rude for! " Twice snapped, then, "Yeah, sure. Just curious, that's all."

Dabi squinted again when he wrapped the tape around the younger man's narrow waist, coming around in front of him to keep working.  He jotted down the numbers, glancing up at the others face for a moment. Dabi had his eyes closed, chewing on his scarred bottom lip, biting at the staple there.

Does Dabi feel uncomfortable with him touching him? He wondered,  He doesn't like him much, huh? That isn't true. He seemed… anxious in general… something was wrong.

"Are you okay?" He asked suddenly, stepping back,  "Am i hurting you? Like… the scars..."

Bright blue eyes snapped open, landed on him, confused and shocked looking almost. "Wait, what?"

"Am i hurting you?"

His hands were shaking slightly. "I… why does that even matter?"

The older tilted his head, straightening a little as his hands dropped to his side.   Why did he look so surprised at his concern? Why wouldn't it matter if it hurt? And if it did, why not say something?

"You're not." Dabi said after a minute, "I hardly feel the scars.  It's just… I'm weird about touch. That's all."

Dabi kept flinching, shivering, cringing away from Jin's hands and the tape measure whenever they touched his skin.  He was tense all over, trembling from what Jin first thought was the cold air, he looked uneasy.

"You don't like being touched."

It was more an assumption than a question, but Dabi nodded back.

"Just get it over with.  The quicker we're done with this shit the better."

Twice took a breath, looking the other villain over again. "All right… yeah… well, I'll measure around your chest now, if that's okay."

Better to ask than just keep touching.  Maybe he should have said where he was going to touch first from the beginning, would have been less surprising for Dabi. Maybe he wouldn't had been so anxious looking. 

Dabi made that confused look again but gave the okay anyway.  He watched him now, curiously, as Jin tried to be as gentle as he could as he looped the tape around, tried to not touch unless he needed to.  Why did Dabi look so confused by that?

" Somebody do something to you? "

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Too forward.

"Nothing."

He jotted down the numbers, moving on to the upper arms, telling the fireuser before he took a hold of the skinny limb.  Dabi still cringed, but not as badly as before.

"How'd you get all these scars?" He couldn't help but ask, "Don't gotta tell me. I wanna know. Just curious."

"Set myself on fire." It sounded like a joke but Dabi's face was dead serious. 

"The others?" He nodded towards the white lines and pinkish burn scars on the others chest and stomach.  There were some on his legs and back too, he noticed earlier.  

Dabi bit at his lip again, eyes narrowing. "That woulda been my Father."

"Fuck…" Jin breathed, glancing back at the collection of scars. "Why?"

"Said I wasn't strong enough.  Called it endurance training, and beat me until I couldn't move anymore, punished me if I cried.  Didn't end up getting any stronger." He replied in a monotone voice, expression blank like he flipped off a switch in there and cut the line to emotion.

Jin felt something grip his chest.  Anger and sympathy at the same time. " What a Bastard… you seem pretty strong to me."

"Heh. Sure."

"is that… why you don't like being touched?"

"Touch only ever lead to pain.  My body learned yo expect it." Dabi said simply.

That was what the flinching and tensing was, Jin realized, he was bracing himself for pain, like a child preparing to be hit.  He must have endured a lot, for his body to begin to expect every touch meant pain.

The sudden urge to find out who his Father was and beat him to a pulp overwhelmed him.

Then an urge to comfort the man in front of him too it's place.

Would he even accept comfort?  Or would be think that would hurt too?

"Why are you being so careful all of the sudden…"

He probably hadn't had anyone touch him without the intent to hurt him in years, if ever.  It seemed unfair.

Jin shrugged, "You're uncomfortable, and I don't wanna make it worse.  Other arm?"

Dabi held out his arm, squinting at him again as he watched the measurements being taken and written down.

" Dainty fingers. "

Dabi tilted his head, opened his mouth to say something but Jin spoke first.

"Your wrists are small.  Your arms are tiny in general…" He noted, jotting down the numbers, "you know… you could always come by and eat something.  I get if you don't wanna stay around the bar or live here with them, but you are allowed to eat here, you can always crash at my place too…"

He blinked, "I'm fine. No thanks." Dabi answered stiffly.

"Are you… still living on the street?"

"Yeah."

He frowned, "gonna measure your legs."

Dabi still squirmed and cringed here and there as Jin took the last of the measurements from his feet to his ankles, ankles to knee, knee to hip, around his calves and thighs in different areas.  The shaking and jerking never stopped no matter how gentle Twice was, but his face stayed focused, and he relaxed a little bit, not as tense.

He didn't know much about Dabi.  None of them did yet. He wasn't around much and didn't interact in the group's bonding talks of getting to know each other, but Twice felt he learned more about Dabi in this short hour than he learned over the course of weeks they knew each other.

He wanted to know more.

Dabi cleared his throat, "This is weird."

Twice looked up, " no it isn't! sorry…"

"Your hands are warm." Dabi noted. "But not hot, at least."

"Your body's cold," Jin acknowledged as well, "kinda weird, with a fire quirk."

"Yeah. It is."

They stared at each other for a long minute, eyes sinking into each other, both pairs blue and broken, penetrating deep.  For a minute, he could feel loneliness, regret, shame, fear, but it felt so much like his own he couldn't tell his soul from Dabi's.

"We done?" Dabi asked, pulling him out of the trance when he blinked.

"Yeah." Jin answered, shaking his head and standing back up. "Yeah, got what I need for the mission.  Your clones'll be strong, work well for the plan, that's for sure."

Dabi gave a dry chuckle, grabbing his pants off the floor. "Send them in after the pro teachers, they can be a distraction and die.  That's all their good for anyway."

"My doubles think exactly like the original, exact copies.  They think they are the original. Like my stupid ass. Fake! Imposter! We'll have to trick them.  They will not want to die."

"Your clones think like the original, huh?" Dabi pulled his coat back on, glancing over his shoulder as he held the door knob. "If that's so, then trust me they will."

His eyes widened, the meaning of the words sinking in, and that urge to comfort came back.  Too bad Dabi would only cringe away from the touch.

"Hey… stick around for a bit…" he said, "I got booze?"

Dabi paused, smirking again as he turned around. "why didn't we drink first then, made this whole thing way easier?"

" It wasn't that bad! Dramatic!  Well, I'll remember the booze next time."

They sat together in his room, sipping on hard liquors and chain smoking.  Twice told him a bit about himself, Dabi gave a bit in return. He realized then this Dabi guy wasn't too bad.  A little cold and ill-mannered, but he was lonely and broken like Jin. He could see it clearer now.

Dabi kept a safe distance between them, and Jin respected that boundary, though that huge to comfort was still there, to show him not every touch is painful.  He had to be patient, but Jin'll show him one day.

Then, Maybe one day, Dabi wouldn't cringe.