DABI’S NOTIONS DO LITTLE TO EASE THE TENSION IN TOMURA’S BODY , and restlessness makes room for agitation , picks itself up in the way tomura goes to dig at the slender expanse of his scarred neck ; some people have worry stones , others origami , and he has jagged nails and thin red lines and old wounds , the symbols of a body too small for what it packs inside , and usually this would not be necessary , not with another body immediately beneath him , that he could blemish at his leisure , but he is annoyed , and all of that is the tone that dabi speaks in ; the way he presumes tomura would abuse the knowledge of his lineage in such an ineffective manner .
he is not so poor a strategist that he does not know when and where and what time to strike ; hearing dabi think otherwise is nearly disheartening , and when dabi tugs tomura closer , he tugs his body back , away , presses a palm to the place where dabi’s heart’d be , if he had something like it . ❛ stop moving me around , ❜ tomura snarls , and a wall builds . ❛ i’m not your plaything . i’m not a doll you can pose however you want . ❜
the most irritating fact of all is that dabi’s right ; without stain , without the kidnapping of bakugou katsuki , without the obliteration of the people’s trust in u.a. , without the toppling of all might , none of this would matter – dabi , or whatever his name is , would just be some elite’s brood come to drink from the wrong waters ; not a threat , not a suggestion of something nefarious , but a tragedy turned the incorrect direction . but that’s exactly how tomura would have planned it .
❛ you think i wouldn’t have put the knowledge to good use ? like i wouldn’t have figured out a strategy around it ? calling me a genius and insulting me like that in the same sentence —— you just wanted to pick and choose when to drop that information in my lap ; you’ve had lots of time to mention it before … ❜
❛ or maybe you’re lying to me ? just to get a shot at getting your own name out there ? to be the villain that took down endeavor ? you’re banking on me just taking you at your word , right ? ❜ the accusation lacks heat , lacks substance , delivered quietly and without judgment , the look up at dabi through a cold , calculative stare ; a glimmer of ruby uncertainty somewhere in there . he has no reason to believe dabi . has no reason to disbelieve dabi , either , and he can pick and choose where the evidence points towards dabi telling the truth .
they both know dabi’s hair is red ; he’s pulled exhibit a out from between his teeth .
❛ you’re right – i’m not stupid . stop making excuses . the bottom line is that you didn’t trust me , or … you’re lying through your teeth . ❜ and a quiet , creaking , ❛ both piss me off . ❜
STOP MOVING ME AROUND HE SAYS , AND HE OBLIGES . he lets go , unwraps his arm from around tomura’s waist and allows it to dangle lazily off the side of the seat instead , no move made to replace the warmth and touch that is now lost . it wouldn’t be accepted if he tried , he knows , even if he has a suspicion tomura will miss feeling his palm on his side , arm against his back . a man of contradictions , every action somehow both a self punishment and personal reward ; a man of pride , happier to deny himself something to prove a point than relinquish his anger . sometimes dabi finds it funny . sometimes he’s just tired . tonight is the latter .
❛ that i told you at all should be proof enough that i trust you . no skin off my back if i’d just held onto that a while longer , and if i wanted to lie to you i woulda done it two minutes ago when you asked what was on my mind . ... but that’s not a good enough answer , is it ? ❜ of course not . he’ll rip the trauma from his bones and rot the truth in its entirety out of his chest just to spit in the wound and tell him it isn’t enough , there is no atoning for the wrong he’s committed in keeping himself safe ------ nevermind that tomura hasn’t deigned to share any of his secrets in the time they’ve known one another . ‘ we’re all equals here ’ except they’re not , really .
❛ he’s just a shit hero to you , part of a bigger plan . he’s somethin’ else entirely to me and if you wanna get on my ass about me not sayin’ shit to you about that sooner , fine . but you’ve already done a great job of showin’ exactly why i’ve been waitin’ this long . ❜ truthfully he has no idea when tomura thinks he should’ve told him , no good time displayed in their timeline thus far though the reasons for such vary and truthfully , he’s pretty sure tomura knows that . but it’s easier to be angry , self - important , than it is to worry , isn’t it ? ❛ i don’t want you to plan it . i don’t mind havin’ your input , want it actually or i wouldn’t’ve said shit , but this is gonna get set up my way . and if you wanna object to that ... dunno that you got room to be chastising me for a lack of trust . ❜