Rough Hands - A T.ShigarakixReader Story

Living, Learning.

"He's so cute!" Toga whines, throwing her head back dramatically.
All he'd done is yawn, which he does a lot.
"You've been blessed with a baby that sleeps a lot." Compress agrees, cradling Tomo in his arms, looking down at the squirming boy with a fond smile.
Dabi watches from his perch on the windowsill silently, staring coldly at you all as you congregate.

You were still trying to corner him, but he was being even more avoidant of you now that Tomo had been born.
You missed him. He was the person you'd been closest to out of all of them, even if he was a pain at times.
You keep trying to catch his eye but whenever he even meets your eyes for a second he immediately looks away.
It was making it worse than if he just behaved like nothing happened. Not talking to you makes it so much more worse. Tomura had assumed it was because he wasn't a fan of babies, luckily, but the change in behaviour was so obvious.

You wanted to talk to someone about how you were feeling. Tomura kept asking if you needed to go to Garaki whenever you expressed anything that wasn't clear joy about Tomo, and understandably, you were more than wary of the doctor now.
Dabi always had a way of listening and sharing his view on things as well as giving pretty sound advice. You needed that right now.
While Compress is cradling Tomo, with everyone cooing over him, you take the chance to tap Dabi on the shoulder.

"What is it?" He asks dryly.
"Can we talk?" You ask, trying to give him a pleading look, but he's turned his face away.
"Busy." He dismisses.
You blink. "You're sat doing nothing."
"I'm on guard duty."
"Inside?"
"Yup."
"Right." You reply, making your disbelief clear. "When are you off, then?"
Dabi shrugs.
"I'll have a word with Tomura and see if he can swap shifts." You say, trying to call his bluff.
"Get the hint, Fireworks." Dabi sighs, sliding himself off the windowsill and skulking off, everyone watching as he leaves without paying Tomo any mind.

"What's with him?" Jin asks, jutting a thumb towards the door. "Asshole!"
"He's been grumpy since his girlfriend broke up with him." Toga replies, poking Tomo's nose affectionately. "I think he's sad."
"His girlfriend?" You ask.
"Mm. Nezumi. I said I'd make her bleed if he wanted but he said no." Toga pouts a little. "Lemme hold Tomo!"
Compress passes the newborn to her without complaint, Toga lifting the little boy up in the air with a giant grin before holding him to her chest.
"So cute." She whispers to herself.
"So, how come they broke up?" You ask, not caring what it made you look like.

"Dabi did something bad." Toga giggles.
The answer doesn't soothe you, but you decide to leave it there. Tomura reappearing helps with the decision, honestly, too.
He immediately corrects the way Toga's holding Tomo, wordlessly and effortlessly. You hadn't even been aware that there was an issue with the way that she'd been holding him.
That little voice in the back of your head that had been making itself apparent since the birth of Tomo reappears, cursing you out for being a useless mother.
"Are you okay?" He asks as he approaches you, cupping the back of your head with his hand.

You nod, although it's a lie that you were getting far used to telling these days.
"Did you tell Dabi to guard today?" You ask.
Tomura looks at you, confused.
"Guard what, exactly?" He asks.
"Yeah. I thought so." You reply quietly.
Tomura rubs the back of your head with his thumb thoughtfully as crimson eyes bore into you, even as you keep your eyes on Tomo and Toga.
He doesn't push the matter, instead choosing a different subject to chastise you about.
"You should be in bed." He says lowly.