Caged

Are you crazy?

"Y...you're fucked up. There's...something seriously...wrong with you." Dabi was heaving, his head hanging over the toilet bowl, Hawks, sitting on the side of the bathtub, was rubbing his back tenderly as he emptied the rest of his stomach into the porcelain.
"Well, if that's how you want to be then I can be unreasonable and demanding too." The hero muttered bitterly. Another choked sob from the villain.
"You've been nothing but that this whole time." His voice was so quiet that if Hawks didn't have his keen senses, he wouldn't have heard him. But he did.
He rubbed his temple with his free hand while still keeping the soothing pattern on Dabi's back with his other palm, sighing. He was really running into a wall here with trying to get through to the raven. If he hadn't tried to manipulate him and adapted, this would all be fine and it wouldn't have to be rushed like this. They could take their time. But no, Dabi had to be difficult. And he pushed Hawks to this, so why was he surprised it was happening? It was bewildering to the hero. The patched man was truly an enigma. A mosaic puzzle with pieces hidden in various places of a library filled with amazing books. It was all so intoxicating.
Dabi, himself, was intoxicating.
But also sometimes bratty and difficult to deal with. Hawks leaned over a bit more, still rubbing, and placed his forehead between Dabi's shoulder blades.
"I'm sorry baby." Hawks murmured softly, "But you left me no choice. I love you and I'm sorry."
"You don't have to do this, you're choosing to. You're deliberately doing things that hurt me." Dabi sniffled, nothing left for his insides to force out but tears, as his shoulders shook and his breath was ragged. The blond shut his eyes tightly for a minute, mulling over a response in his brain.
"...then I won't, we'll take our time. But no more gaslighting me or I'll make the call. Are we clear?" He demanded, almost gently, and Dabi nodded, hiccuping and trying to compose himself. His voice was wracked and broken when he awnsered; "Crystal clear, Keigo."

The next few days had been a bit, well, off in Hawks opinion. Dabi didn't leave the bedroom for the first two days after the incident, and finally, on the third day, Hawks decided he'd had enough of giving Dabi his space, and slipped into their room.
The raven laid soundly, curled up in a warm blanket under a soft comforter, his face hidden beneath the mound of a fluffy sky blue. Creeping closer, the hero peeled the top part away ever so slowly, just to peek at how Dabi was doing, and his heart sank. Dabi was wrecked, under his eyes were stained with hours of sobbing and no sleep. Up his cheeks, some of his staples had torn a little, and his hair was in a messy tangle. Poor thing.
Hawks huffed in frustration, mostly at himself for not keeping more of an eye on his love and very little towards Dabi for not understanding, before undressing to his boxers and climbing in next to his despairing lover, hoping to ease the pain he was feeling at almost any cost.
When the bed dipped, Dabi jumped up, startled and whirled around, gasping and panting, sweat trickling down his temple and evaporating. Even with the collar, his skin had gotten so hot that it could evaporate liquid.
"Hey hey hey, " Hawks put his hands up and tucked his wings away to lessen any threat he may pose, "it's okay babe, it's just me. You're safe, I promise."
It took Dabi quite some time to finally catch his breath. Jesus, he had been so close to a full blown panic attack. It had been years since a nightmare had induced that onto him. He looked over at Hawks, chest still heaving, his eyes cautious and fearful of the hero. Hawks slumped down a little, disheartened and disappointed by the aversion in the eyes of the one he loved so deeply.
"C'mon baby, don't be like that." Hawks was practically begging, "Come here and let me hold you." He stretched his arms out, wanting Dabi to come the rest of the way himself. But to his dismay the villain just squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away, shaking it and hiccuping. Hawks moved forward, intending to pull him into his embrace, but stopped when the violent flinch of recognition hit Dabi's frame, alerting Hawks he was bracing himself. He was afraid.
What had he been dreaming about that could illicit such a reaction? And why was Dabi cowering from him now? He knew he was a prideful man, never one to beg or bend, but Hawks found ways to force those out of him, among other things. He may not have gone about what he wanted in the right way, but he definitely didn't think he'd done anything to earn fear from Dabi's end. He loved him, he would never put him in any danger. Why was he scared?
"Dabi..." he spoke softly, disarming, as if trying to calm a precious trapped animal, "baby, talk to me. What's wrong?"
"Please go." Dabi's voice was cracked from not eating or drinking a single thing in two days, his eyes hallowed and dead as he slumped back down onto the bed, fully aware of his surroundings now. He closed his eyes and felt the weight of another body lie directly in front of him. Dabi sighed, he often wondered why he still speaks. It's not like Hawks ever listens anyway. He felt something crack inside him and could swear it was either his mind, his spirit or his heart.
"Hey." The blond mumbled, his lips pressed against the black tuft of hair across the damp forehead, "Don't be like that gorgeous, you know you can-"
And then, it seemed to cave in all at once. Everything collapsed inside the villain. His strategy, his confidence, his will, his control, his hope, his dreams, his determination, his sanity and any possibility of future freedom.
The walls he had taken so long to enforce and build up to be unbreakable and impenetrable had finally crumbled and he came undone.
Now Hawks had never really heard Dabi sob before. Like yeah, he cried, like tears and little sounds, but he'd never ever heard anything like the mournful wail of pure despair that Dabi let out at that moment. What followed wasn't much better as his raven shoved his face into a pillow and broke down completely. The pro hero was stunned, shocked into silence and stillness. He just stared at the pillow case shoved firmly against Dabi's face, absorbing his violent sobbing as his body shook with the force, hiding him from everything. Even Hawks. He was shaking himself now, just a little, as he reached out and pulled the raven against him, shushing him sweetly with praise and soft kisses, cooing softly until Dabi fell back asleep, letting Hawks finally follow soon after.

Of course, the bird was the first one awake the morning after, his face heavy with concern and a tinge of guilt. Dabi didn't speak, just lazily blinked, his aching eyelids fluttering his long lashes. Hawks raised his hand to gently cup the half scarred, half pale cheek, stroking it sensitively with his thumb.
"Let's make some compromises." The hero mumbled groggily, moving his palm to use his knuckle to resume his gentle touches, "I don't want you to suffer anymore or at all. I love you so let's talk this out."