Chapter Text
If there’s one thing Hawks can never deny himself, it’s a morning coffee. There would have to be a many-lives-threatening crisis that would stop him from going to get his coffee. Literally, nothing else would ever stop him. His apartment is not exactly in the city center but it’s close enough for the streets to feel alive and just down the street is his favorite cafe.
Hawks has a routine, he gets up, brushes his teeth, takes a shower and puts whatever is in the closet, and then heads to the cafe. It’s placed just at the corner of the street, with see-through walls.
There’s nothing especially special about the place, the name is Dancing Bean, and there are no fancy fonts or white etching upon the glass. There aren't any tables with umbrellas outside, but the windows are see-through and there are booths right by them. Hawks can hear music from inside, soft sound of violin and piano that seems to attracts more customers. There have comfortable chairs and small tables but Hawks prefers sitting at the booths at the windows. There’s better view on the street and he likes to watch the life of the city go by. Also, so people won’t bump into his wings by accident.
However, as soon as he walks into the cafe now, he’s pretty sure he won’t get to sit at the booth, it’s Saturday and Hawks came just a bit later than usually. The place is full and there’s a line of people leading to the counter. Hawks even considers leaving but can’t bring himself to it when he’s already walked here.
He pulls out his phone, just browsing the internet as he waits till his turn. Not many people actually recognize him when he replaces his costume and goggles with jeans, white shirt, jacket and puts sunglasses on his head. People just don’t assume the 2nd strongest hero could go into the same cafe as them.
“G-Good morning, what can I do for you?” the bartender nervously asks when it’s Hawks turn.
The winged hero knows two people who work here, a silent guy Takehi and cheery girl named Ayane that always likes to chat with him and smiles especially brightly at him. This girl is neither of these, she is shorter than even Hawks is, her blonde hair is in tight ponytail and even though she’s nervous, she has dedicated expression on her face. Must be new, which explains the long line but Hawks can’t really be mad at her, can he?
“Hi!” he smiles and looks at the name tag. “Yori, I would like-”
“It’s you, birdy-boy!” Ayane appears behind the new girl - she is taller than Hawks and always leans on the counter to tower over him. “That’s going to be heavy cream latte with double shot of maple syrup, Yori.”
Yori’s eyes widen and he looks at Ayane as if she grew a second head. Hawks grins, he still remembers the first time he ordered it to Ayane and she just looked at him from head to toe and asked: “How are you so slim?”
“That’s right,” he nods.
Ayane smiles and then proceeds to show Yori how to make Hawks’ favorite drink.
“So how are things with the cute rabbit girl you’ve brought here the other day, Mr. Bird?” Ayane asks, leaning on the counter the way she usually does. Hawks has no idea what her quirk is but she is slim, with purple skin, tail, horns in black hair and claws instead of nails.
“She’s just a friend,” Hawks smiles. He never brings anyone with him here but the other day, after they got pleasantly drunk, he’d thought he would show his favorite cafe to Mirko.
“Oh, are you sure about that?” Ayane grins.
Hawks laughs, ignoring the way people behind him are getting slightly nervous. “Well, yeah, because she’s not my type.”
He moves to the side so the next person can order. Ayane starts working on it but continues to talk to Hawks. “Really, how come? She was so pretty.”
“Well,” Hawks pauses to thank Yori who brings him his coffee with a soft smile. “She is not my type if you know what I mean.” He winks at her significantly.
Ayane laughs, her hands moving without stopping working as she looks at Hawks. He stays there for a moment longer to hear her say. “Well, she is my type, so promise if you ever bring her here you’ll introduce us.”
Hawks laughs out loud, winks at her and wants to leave her to her job so the others won’t complain about her. He sips his cup as he’s looking around for a place to sit at. Well, fuck him, it looks like all the tables are taken today.
“Hey,” Ayane leans towards him one last time and points towards one of the booths, the one exactly in the corner. “There’s only one guy sitting at that booth. Go sit there, he’s a bit of a dick and scared off some guys who tried to sit there before but you’ll be fine.”
She winks again.
Hawks gives her a smile. “Cheers,” he thanks her, raising his cup before grabbing several sugars and heading towards the spot. He suspects that Ayane knows who he is, she seems smart enough.
The sun is bright outside today, yet the man is wearing long sleeves and a hood over his head. He’s practically sprawled on one of the side of the booth, looking outside. He only has a small cup of coffee, half empty.
Hawks can’t see his face because the man ignores him even though he’s standing directly next to the table and it must be clear to the man that Hawks wants to sit here. The winged hero waits for a couple of seconds, waiting to be paid some attention or being noticed but when it’s clear the man is just going to ignore him, Hawks decides there is no need to be polite. Without asking, he sits on the other side of the booth.
Finally, although too late, he gets reaction. The man stops looking out of the window and turns to face Hawks. “Oi, this seat is ta-”
He stops in the middle of the sentence. They both stare, eyes wide.
Hawks has been going into the cafe for several months now but this is the first time he’s encountered a villain here.
Dabi is easily recognizable - the purple, wrinkled skin on the lower half of his face, piercings and those turquoise eyes that feel familiar to Hawks but he can’t remember from where.
His face is recognizable, yes, but only to heroes. His appearance has not been made public or his true identity. Hawks knows that it’s weird considering how capable the man seems to be in comparison to the other villains. And, if he’s being honest, it made Hawks curious.
Very curious.
Although Hawks usually doesn’t go far to find words for any situation, it’s Dabi who speaks first.
A grin grows on his face and Hawks feels a shiver go down his spine when he sees it. “Well, I’ll be damned. If it isn’t the Number 2 hero. Hello there, Hawks.”
Hawks doesn’t know exactly how powerful this man is but he’s pretty sure he could beat him if it came to it. However, Dabi is just leaning on the backrest of his booth and smirks at him. His body is tense but only because he’s nervous to see what Hawks himself will do, there’s nothing threatening in his posture right now.
For a short moment, the winged hero glances towards the counter of the cafe. The line is gone and Ayane is talking to the new girl, Yori with a soft smile on her face.
He can’t fight here.
And so, he leans backwards, resting one of his elbows of the armrest and smiles. “Well, hello yourself. This world is full of surprises, isn’t it?”
Some of the tension disappears from Dabi’s shoulders but he does not relax, would be a fool to do so.
“I suppose,” Dabi shrugs. “It looks like I’m going to have to change my favorite cafe now.”
Hawks raises his eyebrows. He’s been going in here for months and he thinks that he would notice this man if he ever saw the villain here.
“You come here often?” the hero asks, actually curious. When Dabi looks doubtful as if he doesn’t know if he can offer that piece of information about himself, Hawks adds: “Because I’m here pretty often and I’ve never seen you here.”
Dabi frowns at Hawks as if doubting it’s truth. “This is one of the few places like this that’s opened even at the night. That might be why.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Hawks nods and then lowers his gaze to put four sugars into his drink.
Dabi’s nose wrinkles and his lips turn down in disgust. “What the hell is that?”
“This is the best coffee on this planet. Heavy cream latte with double shot of maple syrup,” Hawks looks up just in time to enjoy the expression of utter horror on Dabi’s face and laughs.
Ayane is currently walking to the booth next to theirs to take the empty cups from it as its previous occupants are taking their leave. Hawks could go there, enjoys his cup of latte on his own without distractions.
The villain frowns. “Isn’t all the sugar just gonna ruin it when you’ve already got the maple syrup in it?”
He looks back at the villain. He could go to the booth but where is the fun in that.
“The sugar, mind you, is bringing this piece to perfection you uncultured swine,” Hawks says as he sips the coffee, enjoying the way Dabi’s face twists as he watches him. “What about your coffee? What are you drinking?”
His cup is half empty and it’s not clear what exactly he had.
Dabi’s eyes meet Hawks’. “Black espresso.”
“That’s a lie,” Ayane leans towards their table. “He ordered borgia coffee.”
“Ayane!” Dabi growls but the girl is already gone.
“Enjoying whipped cream, ey?” Hawks asks.
“Still better than the garbage you are drinking,” Dabi retorts and takes another sip before continuing. “So, what do we do now?”
“Are you implying this cafe is too small for the two of us?” Hawks gasps, falsely shocked.
The corner of Dabi’s lip turns upward and he looks away. “Do I need to establish the dominance?”
“How would you do that? Corner me, doing the T-pose?”
Dabi actually laughs out loud. Hawks knows not to get too close but he can’t help laughing with him. Then, they continue sipping their coffee in silence for a while. The air between them is tense but it’s not as bad as Hawks would think it’d be. Dabi at one point pulls out his phone and seems to be occupied with it which gives Hawks an opportunity to look at him.
He probably didn’t initiate a fight because he knows he can’t beat Hawks. He might be using the phone to get here the other villains to try to take him down but that somehow seems unlikely because it would only bring here more heroes as well and generally, it would be too much trouble.
Which is not explaining why Hawks himself isn’t reaching for his phone. He could get others here, could get this man behind bars.
As he watches the villain sip his coffee, he finds that he doesn’t want to. He tells himself that it would mean a fight and the civilians could get hurt. Also, because he would like to find out why the heroes are keeping his appearance and identity a secret.
Dabi looks away from his phone eventually, those turquoise eyes piercing into Hawks’. “So, hero, aren’t you going to call your friends on me?” he asks as if he knows exactly what’s been going on through Hawks’ head.
“Nah,” Hawks shakes his head. “Not worth the trouble.”
Dabi grins. “You think I’m trouble?”
“Do you have a mirror in whatever hole you live in?”
The grin on the villain’s face grows wider and darker. “Well, trouble isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to my mind when I look at myself in the mirror.”
The silence that follows is awkward and heavy and eventually, Dabi finishes his coffee, leaving the cup behind as he gets up.
“Well, Hawks, I hope I’ll never see your face ever again.”
Hawks stares at him for a second because damn, the guy is tall . Before his silence can be taken for what it isn’t, he manages to smile and say smoothly: “Well, I’m often on the TV so…”
Dabi rolls his eyes and Hawks waves at him as the villain walks away. The man is carefully looking around as if he’s expecting Hawks to follow him or for a hero squad to appear to attack him. Eventually, he exists the cafe and then Hawks watches him through the windows going behind the corner of the street.
The hero reaches into his pocket immediately and grabs his phone. As he’s dialing the number of the agency that has headquarters only a block from here, he stops. It’s easy - they only exchanged a few sentences, nothing than strangers wouldn’t do. Or it’s supposed to be easy Yet, Dabi’s grin and his laugh. There is something special about the man. And Hawks feels strong urge to find by himself.
And so, he leaves the phone in his pocket. He watches the outside as he’s drinking his latte, slowly, enjoying the teeth-rotting sweetness. When he’s finished, as usually, he goes tell Ayane he enjoyed the coffee.
“I’m glad,” she smiles, putting some cups into the washing machine.
“Can you just tell me,” he says and waits for her to look up. “The guy I sat with. Does he come here often?”
“Well yeah,” she says nonchalantly. “I usually see him only when I have the evening shift, he always gets here after midnight. He’s a bit of an asshole but once when a group of drunk guys came in and gave me trouble, he scared them away. You know we are the only cafe that’s opened even during the nights in this part of the city so that kinda attracts all the kind of people.”
She stops and glances at Hawks with mischief in her eyes. “Wait. Why are you asking?”
“Well, he was pretty interesting,” Hawks says, knowing very well that’s not what she means. “Anyway, I gotta go. See ya!”
He turns gives her the empty cup and then heads for the exit. He still hears her saying: “You know, I’ve never seen him bring anyone in so there’s hope for you!” but he chooses to ignore that.
It’s still late morning and the streets are full with parents with their children and friends, enjoying the first day of weekend. Hawks likes going in a small crowd like this. Nobody ever notices that he’s who he is and the crowd is still small enough hat nobody bumps into his wings. Also, it’s small enough for Hawks to notice he’s being followed.
He expected that, if he left before Dabi, he would also wait around the corner to try to follow him, though it would be much harder for Hawks because of his wings. Not that Dabi is that much less noticeable but he can hide most of the… scars with hood.
Hawks doesn’t slow down or pick up the pace, he simply goes as he did before. Dabi is pretty far behind him, Hawks’ wings make him an easy target to follow.
As he walks the street, passing the people by, Hawks considers his next step. He doesn’t really feel like showing Dabi where he lives. It’s downright stupid. Hawks doesn’t want to give up his apartment. Its location is already in danger since Dabi goes to the same cafe but he doesn’t want to have to move out just because villains would know where he lives.
If Dabi goes to the same cafe, just at the different time, it probably means he lives around too. He doubts Dabi lives in the same direction though. That would be too much of a coincidence.
For a second, Hawks imagines them living in the same building and has to laugh out loud. It can’t be that right?
He quickly turns around and search for the villain. He can’t see him but he knows the other man is somewhere behind him. It’s clear that Dabi now knows that Hawks knows so he probably moved more to the side, into the shadows where most of the people are not walking.
Hawks knows he shouldn’t do it because then people could actually notice him and it would ruin the whole experience of living in peace but he uses his wings to move more swiftly than the ordinary people around him could.
When he gets to the nearest dark alley, the only one there is a cat standing on a dumpster and hissing when it sees him. Hawks rolls his eyes and goes to the other one, right behind a stand with a food where he always buys dumplings or curry rice when he’s too lazy to cook. Which is all the time. Also, it’s not his fault that the food there is so damn delicious.
He finds Dabi there, the villain not even bothering to hide himself properly, just leaning against the wall of one of the buildings, accepting his exposure. When he sees Hawks he sighs, tilts down his head and smiles: “And here I hoped I wouldn’t see you ever again.”
“That’s pretty hard to believe considering you were following me.” Why is it so easy to smile at this guy? Hawks puts on a charming grin and continues: “Never took you for a stalker. I can’t blame you though for wanting to give it a shot with someone as handsome as me.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” Dabi says. “But stalking is not really my thing. I was just going to see where you live so I could bring the others to you.”
The honesty of that statement is surprising and despite the content of it, also relieving.
“That sounds so… villainous,” Hawks comments.
“Isn’t that the point?” Dabi smiles. Every time he does, there is this dark spark that rushes excitement through Hawks’ vein because he’s never met anyone who’d have that, it’s fascinating and Hawks wants to know more. What colored his smile with the darkness and what gave him the dangerous spark.
“They’ll here soon, right?”
Hawks might be curious about the spark before but he’s sure he does not like this one. The smiles and grins before were dark, this one is insidious.
“What?” Hawks raises his eyebrows but as soon as the question leaves his mouth he figures Hawks must be talking about other heroes. Also, by the time he asks, there is blue flame surrounding Dabi’s hand.
Hawks barely has enough time to cover his face with one of the wings, deflecting the attack while swinging the other to put more power into the jump as he’s getting away. The flames just slide on his wing, easily without causing more than just a little warmth on his feathers.
“I didn’t call anyone, dude!” he hisses, glancing to the side. The people just go by the dark alley not knowing anything about the possible dangers hidden in there and Hawks wants to keep it that way.
Dabi’s right hand is still covered with blue flames. He narrows his eyes but doesn’t move to attack Hawks again so the hero continues. “Well, since you and I both enjoy going to the same cafe we probably live in the same neighborhood. You’re smart enough to know where the nearest hero agency is, aren’t you?”
Hawks places the compliment on purpose, on one hand because Dabi is smart from what he knows and also because everyone wants a little recognition. Maybe especially heroes and villains.
“I do,” Dabi nods, licking his lips. “If you called I guess they’d already be here.”
“Exactly,” Hawks says, letting his wings rest on his back.
“Why didn’t you report me?” Dabi asks, his eyes narrowed suspiciously again. The flames on his hand decrease but they don’t disappear completely. Hawks likes the color, flames that look cold.
But he has to focus on the conversation right now. Because honestly, he can’t tell Dabi it’s because he’s interested in his story and wants to find out about it himself.
“I mean we are both in civil, aren’t we?” Hawks rubs the back of his head, trying to come up with excuse. “You didn’t do anything wrong right back there and Ayane told me you helped her out with some rude guys.”
Dabi smirks, the flames perish and he puts his hands inside his pockets. Hawks gulps because he looks kinda hot, tall, black hair, piercings and the smirk on his lips.
“Is she your girlfriend or something?” Dabi raises his eyebrows.
“Ha!” Hawks bursts out a little laugh. “Nah, I’m gay, dude. But it’s nice to talk to her sometimes.”
The villain frowns before he looks at the hero from head to toe. Hawks is not anxious about his sexuality, never been, and never kept it a secret from anyone since he knew. He doesn’t understand why he should care especially what Dabi thinks but… a part of him does. Fuck him for being hot, damn it.
Eventually, Dabi just shrugs and kicks one of the rocks on the ground. “I guess since you didn’t call them I don’t need to inform the other villains.”
“Well,” Hawks smiles. “That would be cool.”
There is a moment of silence and they just stare at each other for a few seconds.
“You know, Hawks,” Dabi steps closer but there is no aggression in the movement. “I expected you to be taller and bigger.”
Hawks has to laugh out loud. Many people tell him that. He looks taller, when he’s flying and when he’s wearing his costume. It never felt like an disadvantage because ever since his quirk manifested, he could get everything using his wings.
And the several guys he dated found it rather cute.
“And you are taller than I thought you were,” Hawks says. It’s true, actually.
Dabi laughs in the same way Hawks did, it’s lighter than his grins and smirks, and he walks closer again. Not quite close enough to make Hawks uncomfortable but close enough to be within arm’s reach.
“So, you live around here too, little bird?” Dabi asks.
The only one who calls him by nickname nowadays is Mirko and that is if being called ‘chicken’ counts as a nickname. It’s nice, familiar, probably more than Dabi has any right to be with him.
“You do know that hawks are actually dangerous? One could actually bite off your finger,” Hawks tells him but keeps his tone friendly, more teasing than threatening.
“The only thing I’m hearing is that you have a thing for biting,” Dabi smirks. “Especially, since the right word is to peck, not to bite.”
Dabi winks, he fucking winks . Hawks sighs, looking away from those beautiful eyes.
“Yes, I actually live here,” He says instead, keeping himself from flirting because contrary to popular belief, he’s smart enough to know that to flirt with a villain is a bad idea. “And so do you, don’t you?”
There is only a short moment of hesitation before Dabi nods. “Yeah, it’s in the same direction you were going earlier.”
Hawks groans. “If I find out now that you and I live in the same building, I’m going to jump off a roof.”
“You have wings.”
“That’s the point,” Hawks winks.
They stare at each other awkwardly for a while. Hawks is the first one to move, he goes slowly walks out of the alley, careful because he can feel Dabi’s gaze on his back. It’s stupid to show his back to the other man but nothing bad happens. Dabi walks to him and walks by his side.
It’s so surreal - Hawks wants to laugh maniacally. He, Number 2 hero, is walking side by side with a villain to his own home. It’s so stupid and short-sighted, and honestly, it’s probably the definition of Hawks’ life.
“You are not what I expected,” Dabi breaks the silence eventually.
Hawks puts on a charming smile. “Well, it’s truth that I look even more dashing without the costume-”
“That’s not what I meant,” Dabi shakes his head. “I meant that you aren’t like All Might and Endeavor.”
“Wow, it’s like we are completely different people, isn’t it?”
Not many people like when Hawks is sarcastic or ironic and he expects Dabi to be one of them. The man just has the no-nonsense aura around himself. Yet, he grins and says: “Point taken,” and it’s honestly ground-shaking.
Dabi is a villain. Aren’t they supposed to be narcissistic assholes who only care about doing evil and think they never make any mistakes. Hawks knows that’s not how people work but it’s hard to let go of stereotypes he’s seen around himself since childhood - that evil is evil and there’s nothing good about villains.
It also doesn’t help that he’s much taller and Hawks can see a defined muscles on his stomach because of his tight white shirt. Just the way Hawks likes and god his eyes are beautiful.
The hero quickly needs to come up with something to busy his mind with before he can think more about this.
“Are we really going to show each other where we live?” Hawks asks unbelievably.
“It’s stupid,” Dabi confirms.
Neither of them stops walking.