Open Contact

[burnitblack]

Open Contact

"What?"



Call him to chat? Text him a message? Try to video? Contact threads.

Audio      Text      Video      Action

Comments

texting;;

[firesplay]

Certainly the show you pulled, boy.

[burnitblack]

Didja like it? It was all about you.

this got away from me a LITTLE bit 😅

[hokusu]

— continued from here

[ he frowns at his phone when dabi responds. he doesn't know what he expects from him sometimes, or why it's almost never exactly what he gets. it's not that he necessarily expects better -- he understands the nature of their 'friendship' and that it's very, very far from even being something that can rightfully be called a friendship -- but sometimes he feels like they're saying the same thing, except dabi isn't listening to him.

there's a wall between them that's been firmly erected simply by the fact that hawks is a hero and even when he tries to throw a little bit of leniency to dabi by peeking over the top of it, he just gets his face spit in. it's unusual, the ferocity with which dabi hates heroes. he's dealt with a lot of villains, but the animosity that seems to bubble just beneath the surface with him is... unique, to say the least; scary, to say the most.

he's not used to being afraid of people, but dabi's quirk just happens to be his only real weakness, and his disdain for him has been made incredibly clear over time. the only reason he leaves their clandestine meetings alive is because dabi needs him right now, and deems him useful. if that changed...

it's not that he would just give in, either. he would fight, no doubt about it. it wouldn't be easy, though. speed doesn't do much in terms of compensating for an outright weakness. he doesn't even know exactly what dabi has on him in terms of that anyway, how competitive his speed is with his own. he's never seen his full capabilities any more than dabi has seen his.

as much as they've spoken, as much as they've spent time staring at one another menacingly through the shadows, they don't actually know anything about each other. that's the nature of all of his relationships, no one knows him by design, he has no distinct personality or backstory or any depth to him whatsoever in order to allow others to just project onto him and yet, this one sticks out.

maybe it's because of the fact that... ]

We ARE different, but... You're wrong. You, specifically, Dabi. Maybe not about heroes, but about me. Everything you've said so far about heroes doesn't have a damn thing to do with me.

[ it's the closest he's come to being sincere with dabi, it's the nearest to the surface that keigo has come, and it makes him clamp down immediately. hawks has to stay, it's integral. he just hates being compared to other heroes, being lumped in with them. he's always speaking against them and their society whenever he's handed a microphone, always arguing with them, pushing back against their plans. he's trying his best to make a difference from the inside. he doesn't fit in with all the other pros either.

he vaguely recalls endeavor telling him so, with his hands holding the lapels of his jacket as he shook him menacingly, his flames dangerously close to hawks' feathers. he remembers the malice in his gaze, the lack of amusement from the other pros when he announced that he didn't care much for the rankings. but he doesn't. he really doesn't. he's always spoken out about them and stated that he thinks they should be based off of effectiveness, not popularity, because it encourages useless heroes that don't actually do what they're supposed to do as much as they play a role for the camera. that seems like it would link back to his praise for endeavor, and sure, maybe on some level, but. objectively, the fact that he's a better hero than all might and yet he's ranked lower than him just doesn't feel fair, and that's part of the problem with hero society, too: the hero has become the celebrity.

he wonders how much dabi actually knows about what he's talking about, how much he knows about hawks or his career or his public image, compared to how much of it is just his feelings. ]

... Furthermore, if I didn't like the color of my walls and I re-painted them, I would consider it fixed. We're arguing semantics because you're sensitive and take everything personally. You make everything about yourself.

[ he shouldn't be so blunt, so cutting. it could jeopardize the entire purpose of him communicating with dabi in the first place.

but something about it just bothers him.

dabi's words couldn't be more inapplicable to hawks, to keigo. he doesn't think that all villains are a lost cause, doesn't think that all heroes are inherently good. he's somewhere in the middle on things. he just believes that there's always the capacity for things to grow, for things to change -- including people, including villains. he doesn't think anyone is bad at their core, that anyone couldn't make different choices and change the trajectory of their life, even without time travel.

he's far from fitting into the heroic mold, himself. he was sired by a villain and raised in a non-descript place that he's pretty sure they weren't even meant to be in, then thrown out onto the streets by the very thing that saved him from his father, by a pro hero that didn't bother to check if the villain he arrested had a family, rendering him and his mother homeless. their sudden descent into an even deeper poverty left him with no choice but to steal, to lie, to do whatever he had to do to survive and help his mother along, until the government gave him a chance to sacrifice everything about himself in order to be like the hero he admired -- because he had to. if he questioned the fact that endeavor left him and his mother out in the cold because hero society never stopped to think about the fact that villains were people with families they were taking care of in their own fucked up way, something inside of him would break, and he would never recover, so he doesn't.

... the point is that he's not exactly what heroes are meant to be, what citizens want heroes to be. not really. not on the inside. maybe on the outside, because he wanted to help people and this was the only way for him to do that, but not on the inside. the shell around him is just so damn thick, though. he's a lot of smoke and mirrors, and dabi's words do little more than indicate that he's doing a great job at his facade, but...

it hurts him, maybe, to be looked at like that. sticks in his side like a thorn. he speaks out when he can speak out. he does what he's able to do. he's trying. ]

You're the one who's sitting here making things into Y'ALL vs US... I never said anything about villains. Or heroes. I asked about people. You added the distinctions.

[ after jabbing the send button, he places his phone down onto his desk with a harsh smack -- which makes him cringe because he'd intended to be gentle, really -- and forces himself away from it.

he wants to say more, so much more. but he can't. keigo has to shut the fuck up and let hawks take the wheel. as much as it physically pains him to allow it. all of his government training never prepared him for being compared to the kinds of heroes that he personally advocates against every time he's given a platform. he hates that the hpsc has put him in this situation, that he wasn't allowed to just say no, because now he has someone who's shown himself to be considerably malicious against innocent people and heroes alike -- which goes against the whole spiel about how his goal is just to reshape hero society and renders a lot of what he says null and void in keigo's head -- questioning his integrity and it's slowly driving him over the edge. he's going to end up on a grippy socks vacation before this is over. ]

*vomits all the words back on you*

[burnitblack]

[he's made a point of being unpredictable. sure people can expect things from him. the other league members know he's lazy and not as loyal as others. he goes out for his own plans and won't say where or what. he does things his own way and participates if he feels like it. they know how he acts, but no one can ever say they truly know what he's doing to. that's the way dabi likes it. truth is, he listens to every word hawks says, but the stone wall response is better for multiple reasons.

dabi is a man who was horrifically scarred and betrayed by the heroes of the world. he saw firsthand what trauma comes behind the light the heroes produce, experienced the sacrifices heroes make to keep their positions. all while too young and impressionable to ever lose those habitual reactive thoughts. just as hawks can never see a poor beggar by the roadside without knowing exactly how it feels, dabi can never see a hero without the intense stain of darkness endeavor forever infected his son with. no matter what the heroes do, the damage has already been done. dabi's body will never be healed, the scars of his burnt flesh will never vanish, and the same goes for the wreckage that is his heart, soul, and mind. all might himself could kneel before the villain and beg for forgiveness over being unable to help save touya from that burning mountain... and all dabi would see would be a failed hero trying to make himself feel better by apologizing for someone else's problem and pretending he has any idea what dabi's gone through. aka: a selfish action that reinforces one more thing he hates about heroes.

a rape victim will almost always flinch away from touch no matter how much time has passed. a victim of paternal abuse will be unable to see even the idea of "father" without scoffing. the one who was victimized by lies will almost never be able to trust the words of another. hawks himself bears scars of the same kind. his thoughts, his actions, his instincts, they'll tell him the same.

dabi's simply makes itself known via his vitriolic hatred towards heroes.

of course, some of that also comes from the fact the villain never bothers to trust other people. it's too risky for his safety and the well-being of his ambitions. he's a self-preserving asshole who cares about no one but himself. hawks is a rare exception to that. he's someone dabi finds himself taking notice of more than he should. though he doesn't trust him, he'd be lying if he said he didn't like being around him. like a fish momentarily surfacing in the pond, hawks' presence summons the dangerous pondering of "what if's" in dabi's mind. things he knows he shouldn't think of. which remind him of why "what if's" are foolishness, which churns his hatred again, which flows back into his body and reinforces how dangerous heroes are and why he despises them. a vicious cycle that poisons every new experience that enters the villain's life. it's not hawks' fault... it's endeavor's.

there is envy too. despite what hawks thinks, dabi knows about him. took a long time and a lot of work, trial and error, process of elimination, but he found out who he was. his past. to think that this man, the No. 2 hero in the world, was the complete opposite of him in life. touya had been born to a hero in a proverbial lap of luxury with high hopes placed upon him to be the best. keigo had been born in the slums to a villain with nothing to his life but a pain to his family and zero expectations placed on him. and then... their lives flipped over. keigo took wing as the hero with dreams living in wealth and fame while touya disintegrated into an agonized villain living in the filth of the world. of course he hated him for that. because hawks never admitted to it, never told anyone, hid it away so he could keep his glamorous new life kicking around those who weren't "correct" in his righteous facade. everything out of his mouth was asinine hypocrisy and all that talk about dissing heroes and trying to come off as some edgy "my own type" hero amid the rest of them was merely part of his act. if he did have some leniency towards villains, some empathy, it was naught but fucking pity. looking down on the scum he was born into but had escaped from. no, his character, actions, and words could fool many, but dabi saw straight through him and condemned him to hell like every hero he ever saw. consumed by endeavor's flames.

it's because he knows hawks is so affected by the other heroes and his own life of lies that dabi takes great pleasure in lumping him in with the other heroes. because it ruffles the man's feathers and makes him uncomfortable, forces him to rub against the bristles of his falsehoods and remember this isn't who you are all over again. he loves to see him squirm. a predator who plays with his food. few things are as enjoyable as being in a room with someone and knowing things about them they're so sure you don't.

narrowing back in on the message on the screen.]

oh yeah? ya gonna give me some examples or do i gotta guess? cause i've seen plenty of ya interviews and advertisement pieces. ya so like the rest of ya ilk, it's painful.

[look where your sincerity gets you. dabi's scarred mouth curves into a slow smile on the other side of the screen. what's hawks feeling right now? trying so hard to seem like he's not one of the "typical" heroes he's surrounded with. begging some validation from a villain to absolve him of the crimes and hypocrisy he's steeped in and doesn't want to admit. "i'm not like them" he says as blood drips from his hands and lies bleed over the very same lips while cash and limelight grace his life every day. a pile of villains and ne'er-do-wells groan under his feet.

yeah, be sincere, hawks. give him the sincerest lie you can fucking muster. one day, he's gonna burn you to a cinder. along with the rest of them. no matter what he says into the microphone, what he argues behind the scenes, or even what he does on the inside of that society, in the end, hawks throws his lot in with the heroes at the end of the day and that's all dabi needs to hate him. because allying with the heroes means allying with endeavor, and anyone who allies with that man can fucking go to hell with him. he already sent his son there.]

ya speakin to me right now. why wouldn't i take it personally? in the end, the only thing i got is me. my life. so everythin's already about me.

ain't it the same with ya, hawks? each time ya save someone, that's another pats on the back for ya, more money for ya sponsorships, more proof why ya the no. 2 hero. every good deed ya do makes ya a fuckin celebrity. and that's what ya care about, ain't it.

i like watchin ya argue with the other heroes to make yaself seem different. carve out ya own crowd with that adorable asinine cheek. but i think ya just playin people for fools. cause ya a hero.

[how far inside him can he twist this knife? unlike hawks, dabi has no fears over jeopardizing things. fact is, hawks is already hooked. he's in too deep to pull out now. losing dabi is far more dangerous a loss to hawks than losing hawks is to dabi. besides, the villain can excuse all his nasty remarks because he's a villain. being with hawks is a personal masochism. scrubbing a painful itch on a rough surface. it hurts, he shouldn't do it, it's not healthy... but it feels so fucking good. even if hawks has managed to somehow unshackle himself from some of the stereotypical hatreds the villains hold against the heroes, dabi has no intention of giving him that peace of mind. he'll keep dumping "hero society" on him, pouring oily muck over a crimson hawk. it's the dirty golden life hawks chose for himself. so have some more.

even if he doesn't believe it. try all he wants to fly with those wings stuck together with filth, he'll crash into the ground sooner or later. dabi's merely waiting for the time that crash ends with burn.]

nah, i think that was decided for me---maybe for both of us---long before we started talkin. still, guess ya welcome to keep tryin to "fix" my mind.

[the response earns silence and it's after a few minutes of such that dabi realizes hawks has abandoned the conversation. heh. he flops back on the bed and tosses the phone to the side. as always, conversations with the man are a two-pronged event. amusing enough to make him want to laugh under a fuzzy feeling, but pissing him off enough to make him want to crush the phone in his hand and pretend it's hawks' heart squishing between his fingers.

what a man. fun thing is, for all dabi's talk about reshaping hero society... he could give a shit about it. that's simply a useful umbrella to stand under, a mask to wear to gain access to things he finds useful. hawks should know all about that; he does it plenty himself. eventually the man may find out about dabi's true desires. society. shigaraki. stain. hawks. the league. heroes. villains. he doesn't give a fucking shit about any of them. they can live. they can die. heroes can win. villains can lose. the world can invert itself for all he cares.

none of it matters to him. so long as he can wrap his burning hands around endeavor's throat and drag todoroki enji, his father, down to hell with him in the most agonizing way possible. dabi kind of hopes hawks is there watching it happen. hopes his father sees the no. 2 hero's eyes fill with disgust at just what kind of monster the man he admires truly is.]

g'night, pretty bird.

[ah who's he kidding. dabi's pretty sure he'll murder hawks before that chance comes. too bad.]

texting 🚬 for "apshot"

[burnitblack]

[ooc: continued from here]

nope. i never woulda put ya in my mouth.

[apshot]

[ if you thought that this wouldn't come back to bite... ]

That's not what you said last night

texting 🚬 for "antiformal"

[burnitblack]

[ooc: continued from here]

you could start with a video...

[antiformal]

Great idea! I'll do that~

texting 🚬 for "pathologics"

[burnitblack]

[ooc: continued from here]


but ya still got datin and marriages goin on over there?

[pathologics]

Dating, sure. You don't? I suppose you all consider yourself a family.

texting 🚬 for "plantcifist"

[burnitblack]

[ooc: continued from here]

urusei. just felt like doin it.


though i did kill the guys who robbed ya.

🍰🎉🔥

[hairsplit]

Am I allowed to say it?

staaaahp...

[burnitblack]

say what?

texting 🚬 for "inmyweb"

[burnitblack]

[he doesn't have anything better to do. lounging on a grungy bed, half-propped on two bad pillows and a headboard, heavy lidded eyes lingering on the small television squatting atop a crappy dresser. the league's in a rough patch, but he doesn't really give a shit. let them deal with plans.

he's watching a game. hanamiya said he'd be playing today. took a bit to find the time, but what do ya know, success. it's not like he ever had the chance to play on his school's sports team as a kid.

dying does that.

gonna wait til a break, or at least til he sees hanamiya on the bench.]

ya ain't lookin too good out there.

actually gettin a challenge or ya tryin a false sense of security?

Re: texting 🚬 for "inmyweb"

[inmyweb]

[They weren't doing that bad, really. It was part of the strategy to let the other team have a bit of a lead in the first half, but they had gotten a bigger lead than he wanted them to have. He was a little pissed off, and the fact his phone was going off in his bag did nothing to improve his mood. He didn't recognize the number, but the tone, semantics, and lack of proper grammar meant it was Dabi.]

False sense of security

[He typed quickly, then looked at his team telling them to drink water so they stay hydrated and to pick it up a notch for the second quarter.]

Just watch. We'll win. This team was a bunch of pussies last year.

B is here:

[antiformal]

Do you want to play a game~?

Oh, I should have asked. You're not busy, are you? It's late.

B for Bug. Or Bitch.

[burnitblack]

[what's this? he was napping... was.]

kinda late to ask now.

what'm i gettin outta it?

harassment 🎄 bitch time

[antiformal]

Do you think the spicy bucket will actually be spicy?

( of course he's thinking about christmas chicken while he's patrolling. helps keep him awake. doesn't mean this message has any context whatsoever for dabi. )

bitch wish

[burnitblack]

[he's lucky this message didn't wake him up. he would've ignored it. villains are rather active under the cover of night.]

new place?

harassment 🎄 brother time

[hairsplit]

What did one snowman say to the other?

( he knows that he's going to get some smartass unpleasant reply, which is why he says it before he can be interrupted: )

I only have ice for you.

oh no, he's adorable

[burnitblack]

[letting shouto have his number was a mistake. a phone destined for the trash soon if this monstrous annoyance continues.

this kid doesn't even know how to tell a joke.]

ya supposed to let the other person answer, shouto.

harassment 🎄 ...well i guess bitch time again

[drying]

Naughty or nice, this year?

this is a surprise, oh ho

[burnitblack]

nice. i tried lightenin ya class load.

harassment 🎄 so it begins

[pathologics]

How do you prefer your scolding? Physically, or verbally?

prepare for rejoinders

[burnitblack]

depends on what i did, mr clean.

harassment 🎄

[antiformal]

I found a gift that reminds me of you~

( attached is a picture he took at some kind of stationary store. )

[burnitblack]

i ain't seein a resemblance.

explain it to me.

harassment 🎄 little sister this year instead of little brother

[bloodspots]

Tomura-kun said you asked for socks. I don't want to get you socks.

rest his soul, the noise...

[burnitblack]

then don't.

didn't ask for any.