Rough Hands - A T.ShigarakixReader Story

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One week. That's what he'd said. And one week was no time at all, really. You'd gone so much longer without Tomura before.
But this time, with the fact that you were working so well together, and that you were managing the parenting so well together, you were missing him dreadfully.
The down moods that you'd been doing so well to ignore with his help and guidance, you find yourself slipping back into, randomly crying during the days, to the point the others had just automatically begun to take Tomo off of you the second the tears started to spill so you could collect yourself.

Around four days into the week-long absence, Dabi seems to get sick of you moping, and takes you to Garaki's lab, despite your excuses not to go, putting Tomo into the car seat with practised ease as though he was a father himself.
"You need to pull yourself together, Fireworks. You can't just go to pieces whenever he's away, I've told you this before. Utilise us." He nags at you as he drives, consistently keeping an eye on Tomo through the rearview mirror.
You nod as you cry, wiping your tears with the heel of your hand.
"Please stop crying. Jesus christ." He sighs, reaching out to wipe the back of his warm hand against your wet cheek.

"You're yelling at me." You whimper, pathetically.
"Well, nah, 'cause I don't yell at women. Try again." He says with an eye roll.
This just makes you sob even harder, which then sets Tomo off, and Dabi ends up having to pull over to get Tomo out of the chair and shove him in your arms so you can hold him until you both calm down again.
Once you're both settled, you pass him to Dabi, embarrassed, and he puts him back in the car seat.
"You done?" Dabi asks dryly.

"For now." You reply, trying to joke weakly.
"Yeah, Garaki can deal with it next time." Dabi grumbles. "I'm worried about you."
"I'll be fine, I'm just being a fucking loser." You huff, rubbing your cheeks angrily again.
"Listen, I know it's a touchy subject, but maybe you should bring it up with Garaki." Dabi suggests carefully.
"Absolutely not." You say simply.
"What if I find you a different doctor? I know a few." He gestures at his scarred and sutured body loosely.
"I'm fine. Hormones are out of whack, that's all." You sniff, trying to pretend you're cool.
"You're fine. Right." Dabi rolls his eyes.

When you get to the back doors of Garaki's lab, Dabi stays outside, smoking. You carry Tomo in with him strapped to your chest, walking straight up to the lone specimen container with Tomura inside, submerged in water and attached to several pipes, supposedly keeping him alive while he's underwater.
It was the first you'd really seen of his experiments. It wasn't any more relieving to see it like you thought it'd be.
You gently place your hand on the glass, wondering if he would be able to feel the vibration through the water and wake up.

He doesn't, and your face falls slightly.
"Don't touch the glass." An older voice says from behind you and you screech,  spinning around in alarm.
Garaki raises an eyebrow at your reaction, looking up at you with his fists on his sides.
"It was a simple request. No need for the dramatics." He says. "Why are you here?"
"Tomo misses his dad." You excuse.
"Let's see." Garaki says, grabbing at the sling wrap that Tomo is in.
"Get off." You snap, smacking his aged hands away from you.
When you feel unnatural heat behind you, you know Dabi has rejoined you just at the right time.

"What're you doing, doc?" Dabi asks casually.
Garaki immediately retracts his hands, grabbing his wrist with one hand behind his back. "Never mind. Have you retrieved Hoods body yet?"
"You're still harping on about that?" Dabi asks, rolling his eyes. "It's gone. The heroes probably have it now."
Dabi seems to be providing a distraction for Garaki so you can turn around and show Tomo his dad floating around in the giant test tube to the best of your capabilities.
The second he sees him, Tomo coos, and starts babbling. You can even feel his little hands grabbing against your torso.

"It's your daddy." You say quietly. "See? He's still here."
Tomo stares at Tomura, his little pink eyes wide and his mouth agape.
"Weird isn't it?" You ask him, having a one sided conversation with yourself. "Uncle Dabi thinks seeing him will make us feel better."
And annoyingly, it was working. You would never admit it though, you didn't want to be on the other end of the 'I told you so' you were bound to receive for that one.
Tomo gargles again, looking at you for a moment and then back at Tomura.

"Woah, big words, little man." Dabi says from beside you, petting Tomos head softly.
"What do you think he's saying?" You ask Dabi, although it was probably a boring conversation for someone who isn't a parent to the baby in your arms.
"He's saying: 'How come dads in an artificial womb?'" Dabi replies with a smirk.
You roll your eyes, although his response is more fun than the ones you and Tomura would give each other when you asked each other the same question.
"He's saying: 'I wanna swim with daddy too!'" You join in.
Dabi snorts, looking at Tomura as he floats behind glass with you by his side.

"If you're both done, I have experiments to run." Garaki says, his displeasure at your, Tomo's and Dabi's presence clear on his face.
Tomo answers before you or Dabi can, nonsensical babbling coming from against your chest.
"Little man says 'five more minutes'." Dabi says calmly, but there's an edge to his voice that says: 'don't question me'.
Garaki stares at your scarred companion coldly before turning on his heel and grabbing a clipboard, retreating off into the actual hospital his laboratory is attached to.
Dabi seems unphased, not even paying the man a second glance, looking down at Tomo instead.

"Wanna take him out of there so he can touch the glass?" He asks.
You nod, and Dabi gently helps you move the material so you can pull Tomo out carefully. You cradle him in a way that he can reach out and touch the glass in his curiosity, him being completely silent in his amazement as he does so.
"See? It's your dad. He's having a little nap." You say softly, pointing by Tomo's hands.
"If you tap the glass real hard you might wake him up." Dabi says with a smirk.
"Never letting you near him when he's a toddler, noted." You tease, feeling better even with a layer of glass between you and your partner.

"Pfft, I'll be the fun uncle." Dabi shrugs, still looking amused.
"You'll turn him into a trouble maker." You respond, rolling your eyes.
"Oh the horror!" Dabi responds, pretending to faint.
"Theatre kid." You scoff.
"Nerd." He responds.
"Asshole."
"Dweeb."
"Walking ashtray."
"Coming from the one that made a baby with a walking duster." Dabi scoffs.
You nudge him with your shoulder, and he chuckles to himself.
"Are you ready to leave yet?" Garaki asks tiredly, still clinging to the clipboard he'd left with earlier.

"Listen you Eggman lookin'-" Dabi begins to seethe.
"It's fine, we'll go." You say to Dabi, and then look down at Tomo in your arms. "Say goodbye to dada."
Dabi gently grips Tomos wrist and waves one of his small hands at Tomura through the glass.
"Bye dad!" He says in a poor attempt of a squeaky voice.
Something told you that Dabi was trying really hard to cheer you up, and it's kind of working, as you catch yourself smiling at his antics.

Dabi helps you slip Tomo back into the sling and you make your way back out of the laboratory, feeling a lot cheerier.