Top pic credit: Sere_art.

Violet POV:

"It's fine. It's fine...." I rambled to myself softly, brows furrowing and teeth chewing on my lip as I strode back and forth between my dresser and my suitcase.

Dabi rolled his eyes at my quirky chaotic mood, continuing to lounge comfortably in his own bed and toss his phone up into the air repeatedly.

"Yeah. You said that already. But, then again I couldn't really hear it over all your annoying stomping." He pointed out boredly, alternating his gaze between watching me stalk back and forth across the room and his airborne phone.

I ignored his snide comment, feeling too nervous and overwhelmed about going to the Midas Mansion for the weekend to respond. Instead, I continued grabbing clothes for my overnight bag, not even paying attention to what I was packing as I continued to mutter.

"It's totally normal. Everyone does it-yeah. That's right. Everyone does it. D...Duh." I reassured myself in anxious exasperation, hearing Dabi's obnoxious chuckle cut through my thoughts.

"What? Everyone is forced to stay at a mass murderer's house for the whole weekend? That's rich." He snickered, causing me to plop a pile of clothes onto my bed with a huff and glare at him.

"Oh, will you be quiet? You interrupted my thinking process." I grumbled, causing him to lazily turn his head towards me with a smirk.

"Tragic. How will I ever survive now, if I'm not able to hear you talk about blah, blah, blahhhh." He drawled out dismissively, tossing his phone up and catching it once more before he lost interest in the little game.

I placed my hands on my hips with discipline as I watched him do his usual-aka, nothing, before giving my head a shake and turning my attention back to my own bed.

"Frankly, I don't know how you plan to survive at all, considering we're supposed to leave for Midas' place within the hour-and you're not even packed yet!!" I reprimanded, waving my hands at Dabi naggingly as I kept my attention on the mess of clothes atop my bed.

The stitched man let out a hum of content to my words, only relaxing further into his bed as he placed both hands behind his head.

"Well, sunshine, I'll let you in on a little secret of why I don't care," he started out, before whispering his next words mockingly. "It's part of my brand."

I scoffed at his smugness, continuing to neatly fold some shirts before carefully packing them away into my suitcase.

"You try sooo hard not to care." I pointed out, not missing the look of sheer pride on Dabi's face as if I just gave him a compliment.

"That's because the majority of the time, I really don't give a fuck." He smirked, before a certain word caught my attention.

"Oh yeah? And what about the other minority of the time?" I questioned with my own smug reply, thinking I might have actually caught him in something.

Until...

"That's when I sleep." He said stubbornly, causing me to groan.

"You're impossible." I huffed distractedly, more focused on packing to ensure I wouldn't forget anything-

"Oh, please. You fucking love me." Dabi snickered without a second thought, before relaxing his head further against his comfy pillows.

And while he didn't mean it in that way, I cursed the hot feeling rising to my cheeks at his harmless tease, letting out an inaudible, inhuman flustered wheeze, before quickly focusing my attention back on my packing.

"A-Alrighty. Anywaysss," I started off shakily, before noticing that something looked off about my suitcase. "Wait, what am I missing. What am I missinggg?"

I rambled to myself in confusion, stroking my chin with my fingers as I looked down at my packed bag expectantly, before Dabi broke my focus.

"A brain." He proposed unhelpfully, slapping his knee and cackling so stupidly at his own joke as if he'd just showered the world with broody rainbows of glee.

"Ha. Ha. Is that so, Clown? Well, if I am, it's because I'm spending too much time around you." I came back snarkily, causing Dabi to put a hand over his mouth dramatically and feign a shot to the chest in an attempt to mock my non-intimidating comeback.

But, really....I could see that he only covered his mouth to hide the smile that unwillingly crept upon it.

"She. Didn't." Dabi taunted in fake shock, causing me to dust my shoulder off proudly as I sauntered back to my dresser.

"She. Did." I grinned smugly, eating up his hype for my insult even though I knew it was fake.

"How the fuck am I gonna recover from something so villainous? Take her to Tartarus." Dabi drawled out in a fake whine, causing me to genuinely laugh now at his rare moment of animation.

He's always so passive about everything. It's nice to see him with some good humored character.

And the mannerisms. They're familiar.

"Well, I'm not sure. Maybe I should tell Midas the same joke this weekend and see how he takes it." I giggled, causing Dabi to release his hands from his mouth and unintentionally show his pure grin.

Of course, it's a pure grin concerning Midas destroying me.....but, you know, I take what I can with this one!

"Heh. Now, that's some entertainment I'd like to see. I'm stealing your wallet when he turns you to a fucking rock." He laughed, causing me to catch the infectious actions myself and join him.

"Please. As if you'd wait to steal my wallet when I'm dead! I'm surprised you haven't stolen it already." I countered with a fake glare, wandering around our room in thought as to what I was forgetting to pack.

Dabi hummed in acknowledgement to my point, stretching his arms atop his head as he sprawled out more on his bed.

"Mm. I did. But, there was nothing to steal cause you're broke as fuck." He grinned ferally, causing me to stop in my tracks and turn towards him with scrunched lips of light annoyance.

"You didn't." I challenged, watching him shrug.

"A coupon to Plants Emporium," he announced with proof, causing me to groan and throw my head up to the ceiling. "Sounds like some reaaal kinky shit."

"You feral hobo!" I called out, causing Dabi to nod.

"I've been called worse." He followed up, without missing a beat.

"Stop going through my stuff-and Plants Emporium is out of this world! I bought a cacao tree there last year on Earth day!" I beamed proudly, causing Dabi to scrunch up his nose.

He gave a dismissive wave of his hand, continuing to lounge on his bed before extending one of his arms up towards the ceiling.

"Eh. Earth day. 420. Same thing." He commented, boredly studying the scars on his wrist.

I pursed my lips in thought to his words, shrugging my shoulders dismissively a few moments later.

"A far stretch. But, if that's what motivates you to love the earth, then go for it." I encouraged, furrowing my brows in annoyance with myself as I couldn't figure out what I forgot to pack.

Dabi stuck his tongue out and made a small 'blegh' sound at my words, rotating his burnt, stitched wrist above his head to inspect the other side.

"Fuck the earth." He countered for the sole purpose of being a jerk, causing me to grab the shirt I was holding and toss it at his face.

Dabi didn't even bother to remove it for a moment, lethargically bringing his hands back down to the bed before peeling the item off his nose.

"Ah. I've had a lot of clothing thrown at my face before. Normally, it's panties though." He commented shamelessly, letting the pure grin on his face turn wicked as he studied my reactions closely.

And I don't know what reaction he was expecting, but I simply rolled my eyes and walked up to his bed, hovering over his frame, and extending my hand out for the shirt.

"Well, since I know you have no interest in seeing my panties, I spared you the misery and went with a shirt instead." I said smugly, waving my extended hand around in Dabi's face, so he'd hand me the shirt.

But, I gotta admit....standing so close to him while he lays on his back like that-and by that, I mean....all sprawled out....looking up at me with challenge....

Frankly, it makes me wanna climb on top of him-

"It's all yours." He drawled out tauntingly, keeping his eyes locked on me watching him as he slowly held the shirt out for me to take.

I couldn't break his mesmerizing gaze, dazedly reaching out and getting a grip on the shirt...

.....before he involuntarily pulled his half of the shirt forward and caused me to stumble onto him.

Well, almost onto him.

I let out a small gasp as my thighs hit the edge of his bed, placing both hands on the headboard to catch my fall, and unintentionally cage him in between my arms.

His icy orbs widened a bit when my face was inches from his, seeming as if he didn't necessarily mean to pull me so close....but, he just did, anyways.

But, now that I'm here.....so close....

I never realized before....how much emotion he truly shows in his eyes.

Like I said before, Dabi always seems so passive. But, I came to that conclusion from his body language and voice.

Not his eyes.

Because up close and in his vulnerable space, now I get to see all the detail and changes his eyes subtly make every few seconds.

The initial moment of flustered surprise when I was practically thrust onto him. His pupils had widened right then and there. But, then they relaxed once more when he registered that my warmth had invaded his personal space. When his nostrils flared a bit to inhale my scent, his eyes became ever so slightly half lidded. And when the vapor of my slightly shallow breaths puffed onto his ajar mouth, caressing and tickling his lips with every taunting movement...

Then, his eyes trailed to my lips. His pupils darkened and dilated ever so slightly, and despite what he told me last night, my god, it truly looked like he wanted me, the same way I want him so damn bad.

I don't have a lot of experience with men looking at me so desirable. But, the reason I know that Dabi is portraying those signals...

...is because of the heat I feel in the pit of my stomach every time I see the gaze. The hungry gaze that makes me want to commit a million sins with him, right here on his bed.

The gaze that makes me wanna let loose like I haven't been able to before, and explore a new side of myself I didn't even know I craved. A side that I want him to bring out of me.

I couldn't bring myself to move away so quickly, digging my nails into the soft cushion of his headboard to restrain myself from slamming my mouth against his and closing the remaining distance.

Dabi's teeth grit down in self control as he saw how badly I wanted him.

And I couldn't deny the wave of wetness that washed over my core when a low, guttural growl of sexual frustration sounded from his throat, causing his palms to start smoking against his will as dark pools of lust swirled in his eyes.

Those are not the eyes of a man who doesn't want me. I know I don't have a lot of experience to say so...

But....I just know.

I felt my arms starting to shake as shots of arousal and adrenaline began coursing through my veins. Involuntarily, my face slowly started leaning down closer to his-and I was surprised when I could hear Dabi's breaths be the one to hitch and turn to heavy slow pants as he watched me come closer.

His warm hand gripped my shoulder abruptly a few seconds later, causing me to slowly stop my ascend towards him, but also not create any new space. Especially, because his grip was firm and needy, threatening to pull me closer and push me away all at once.

Half lidded eyes of blue took one more drink of the sight of my lips, before he found my lusted gaze with his own.

When he spoke, his breath hit my face in an addictive way that only made me want him more.

But....

"You should....finish packing, little sapphire," he started out in a raspy whisper, letting his eyes close for a moment to savor the warmth of our bodies that had molded as one. "Wouldn't want to forget anything, right?"

His voice held hints of smugness and mock. He sounded a little uninterested and bored, the way he always does.

But, under that....he sounded desperate. He sounded needy and horny, and just from the way he's gripping my shoulder....from the way he's sounding softer and more caring than he wants to be...

I can tell he's fighting everything within himself to stay away from me. And I can also tell he's losing that battle, and starting to break.

Still....he did technically say no, though. Sure, not flat out. But, it's implied.

Swallowing thickly, I forced myself to pull away-trying and failing to ignore the the heat in my stomach and the wetness between my legs with a breathy sigh.

"Yeah, you're right. I wouldn't....want to forget anything." I whispered in a voice that was so obviously needy, trying to compose myself as best I could when I slowly rose from Dabi's bed.

He let out a tired sigh when my warmth left with me, throwing his head back in the sheets once more to relax, before his gaze found me walking back to my side of the room.

The space was quiet for a moment, thick with the unspoken attraction and sexual tension we both knew was obvious.

But, Dabi broke it a few seconds later, clearing his throat and changing the subject with a nonchalant voice that hadn't been there previously.

"So. What is there to forget, anyways? If you can't fucking remember it, then it's probably not that important." He nagged, bringing the air back to normal as my lips pursed in agreement.

"Agh. I know. I dunno, it's just precautionary. I always have a checklist of important things to bring, whenever I go on vacation." I explained casually, causing Dabi to snort in amusement now as he gave me a deadpan look.

"Sure, because getting turned into a rock sounds like a wonderful vacation." He teased, causing me to roll my eyes.

"Yeahhh, well a girl can dream-and try to make herself feel better, before you have to go and ruin it." I discipline lightly, catching Dabi's obnoxious laugh.

"I've gotta pack as many dickish comments in as I can before we go. Especially, since we're supposed to act like bitches in love when we get there." He justified, before one of his words caused a lightbulb to go off in my brain.

That's right. Of course!

"Ahhh-hah!! Wait a minute! That's it! Pack. That's what I'm forgetting. My pack!" I exclaimed in epiphany, quickly running to the closet to grab the item I almost forgot.

Dabi furrowed his brows in confusion, looking at me as if I'd finally gone insane.

"Your pack of what?" He questioned in disbelief, watching me throw open the door to the closet with vigor.

I ignored him for the time being, feeling my wheezes of excitement sound through the room as I climbed onto my tippy toes to reach the top shelf of the closet, remembering when I stored the item there upon my first day of arriving here.

"Of course! Yes!" I rambled out excitedly, quickly getting my fingers around the item before dragging it into my hands.

I spun around to face Dabi at lightning speed, watching his level of boredom match my excitement as I displayed the item in my hand with pride.

"My Fanny Pack! A must-have for every vacation!" I announced triumphantly, dangling the fanny pack around in my hand.

Dabi stared at the fanny pack blankly for a moment, alternating his empty gaze from it, to me, in disbelief before his eyes landed on me once more.

"Oh, you've gotta be fucking kidding me, right now." He stated blandly, letting out a scoff of annoyance for the item before slapping a hand over his face.

I let out an unbothered chuckle, strutting back to my side of the room with my pack in hand as I spoke.

"Noooope. No way. Not kidding you. I can't believe I almost forgot this baby!" I said in relief, giving a little happy sway to my hips as I walked.

Dabi's eyes trailed to my curves as I sauntered past his bed, finding my face again a few moments later with stubbornness.

"Well, forget it again. Cause you're not bringing that stupid thing on the trip." He ordered, causing me to scoff and sneer as I turned my eyes up at him with playful challenge.

"Well, we're already bringing one stupid thing on the trip," I alluded teasingly, gesturing to his slack frame on the bed before continuing. "So, what's the harm in bringing one more stupid thing?"

Dabi shot me a deadpan glare, causing me to press my lips together to conceal my laugh.

"Oh, you just think you're hilarious, don't you?" He mumbled in soft amusement, letting the corners of his lips curl up when I broke out into giggles.

"A little." I cackled, feeling shy when Dabi's eyes never left my smile.

You know, until he spoke.

"I wonder how hilarious you'll think it is when I burn that thing." He threatened casually, gesturing to the fanny pack I had clutched to my chest.

I simply shrugged and shook my head nonchalantly, blatantly tossing the pack into my suitcase.

"You don't scare me, Dabi. And, besides, since when were you allowed to tell me what to do?" I countered sassily, causing his brows to raise in pleasant surprise for my little spice.

He can pretend it annoys him all he wants. But, he always seems to enjoy my little moments of attitude.

"Now, little sapphire, didn't we already establish that I'm the boss of you...." he started off smugly, purposely pausing after that part before continuing, "...during these little diabolical outings?"

I rolled my eyes at his connotations, placing my hands on my hips stubbornly as I spoke.

"Mhm, well last time you were 'the boss' of me, forty-seven people were murdered in a fight that you started." I pointed out with proof, causing Dabi to smirk smugly.

"Heh. A job well done, if you ask me." He snickered, earning an eye roll from me.

"Good thing I didn't ask you then." I retorted, closing my suitcase with the fanny pack inside which caused Dabi to groan.

"No." He simply ordered again.

"Yes." I sang out with a grin.

"Then I'll burn it." He reasoned casually, yet his voice held no malice or actual aggression.

"That's fine. I've got others." I countered, causing him to mumble defeated insults at me under his breath.

Lethargically, he rose to sitting on his bed now, letting his feet rest on the ground as he leaned back on his hands.

"Look, to these jeweled bitches, we're supposed to be fucking, and there's no way in hell I'd fuck someone who wears a Facky Pack-" He said, causing my jaw to drop in offense at his miscorrect.

"Fanny Pack!!-"

"So, take that shit off. It's a boner killer." He simply continued on.

"Ooo, what? I'm sorry, is the Fanny Pack not villain enough for you? Is it sooo anti-villain to come prepared?" I mocked, wiggling my fingers around to emphasize my point.

Dabi pursed his lips in fake thought for a moment, before coming back with an answer.

"Yeah."

"Oh." I started out in surprise, before it quickly turned to a laugh. "Well, no wonder us heroes always catch you."

Dabi raised his brows with challenge now, letting a feral grin splay on his face as the conversational insults started turning more personal.

"Last I checked, the clown committee came to me, asking for my help in catching jeweled bitch-" Dabi started out, before I couldn't stop the cackle from falling out of my mouth.

"But, didn't Gran Torino rock your noggin last year when you attempted to kidnap Katsuki Bakugou?" I muffled out through my cackle wheezes, trying and failing to hold it together-especially, when Dabi's eyes widened uncharacteristically at being called out.

Heh. I'm really giving him a hard time today.

"....he just caught me off guard-" Dabi mumbled bitterly, letting a sour glare show on his face when my cackles got louder.

"He's like a million years old, Dabi!" I pointed out, watching his hands starting to smoke in annoyance as he growled.

Even so, I've seen Dabi kill people first hand. I've seen the look in his eyes when he did so. In other words, he doesn't wanna kill me.

"I was also tied up with tree branches." He justified again, voicing sounding blander than before over my obnoxious laughter.

My cheeks puffed out tauntingly, before I gave him a mocking thumbs up, causing him to groan at the argument he realized he lost.

"Yeah. That explains it." I reassured fakely, before continuing. "The point is, the Fanny Pack stays."

"What are you even putting in there?" He asked in defeat, looking at my suitcase in disgust.

My eyes beamed are the question, causing me to give a little snap to my fingers as I educated.

"Oh, oh, oh, well I'm glad you asked! All the necessities, you see! Hmmm, some tissues. A phone charger. Hand sanitizer. Allergy medication. Oooo, some stuff for when that time of the month strikes. Ugh, that's the worst. You know, my Fanny Pack saved me from that at Disneyland last year, when I-" I babbled on, before Dabi cut me off by putting his hands over his ears like a child.

"Gross. Stop." He grimaced out, scrunching up his nose awkwardly in a way that caused me to laugh.

My brows raised in surprise to his unexpected reaction, causing me to cross my arms stubbornly.

"Oh. You're kidding me. You literally kill people for a living with your bare hands, and you're telling me the thing to get you queasy is a woman's period?!" I questioned in humorous disbelief, causing Dabi to roll his eyes and remove his hands from his ears now.

"Whatever." He uttered with finality, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly to try and move on.

Hilarious. The guy hooks up with intimidating women like Euphoria, but gets flustered when talking about periods.

"You just surprise me more and more everyday, Dabi." I hummed out in amusement, giving my head a shake of dismissal to move on for his sake.

And judging from the snarky laugh he rebounded with, he was more than ready to move on.

However, our comfort levels simply switched with his next words.

"I know you love it." He murmured smugly, voice smooth and playful in a way that sounded like he was flirting.

But, how can that be, coming from the man who claims to have no interest in me? Sure, I can think Dabi is attracted to me all I want.

The bottom line is, though.....that he told me to stay away from him. Those words came from his own mouth last night.

And I don't want to chase after someone who verbalized that they don't want me. After all, I know how it felt to be in a relationship with someone I wasn't attracted to. I don't want to be on the other end of that.

But, at the same time....Dabi's words from last night, and his actions these past few weeks don't match up.

There need to be some boundaries, so I don't get confused. Especially, for this weekend where we're supposed to act like a couple.

I cleared my throat a bit uncomfortably as I sat on the edge of my bed, feeling Dabi's eyes studying me in question.

"Sooo..." I started off, suddenly unable to meet his gaze as I twiddled my thumbs. "I think.....I think we should....you know....go over some ground rules. For this weekend."

....so that I don't misconstrue his actions as flirtatious, like I did at the club. Because, according to him, it was all in my head.

Do I sound bitter? Good.

But, Dabi didn't seem to pick up on that as he simply laughed, rolling over onto his side to face me as he spoke.

"And shes back with the rules. Good thing, too. I was starting to miss them." He pointed out lazily, causing my eyes to widen in surprise.

"Really??" I beamed, before he rained on my parade.

"No. Shut the hell up." He corrected blandly, smirking in content when he saw me getting annoyed.

"I will not!" I started off, standing up from the bed in irritation. "Listen, we need ground rules for how we're supposed to act like a couple."

Dabi rolled his eyes and muffled his face into his pillows, sighing obnoxiously at the boredom.

"What's there to know now? We'll just do what we did at the club." He justified, causing my brows to furrow in overthink.

Wait. Is he indirectly saying that everything that happened at the club was an act? He didn't tell me it would be an act beforehand. Wow. Maybe I really have been reading his feelings wrong all this time?

But, what about after the club? Back at the hotel room when no one was around, he wanted to kiss me.

Or, did he?

Now, I don't know-

I inhaled a sharp breath of frustration at my confused feelings, looking at Dabi with a new sour glare, considering he's the source of all my internal strife at the moment.

"The Strictly Business Rules that apply for this weekend are as follows," I began firmly, ignoring his earlier comment as my mood started to turn more foul.

"Oh, this should be good." Dabi grumbled out, yet he removed the pillow from his face so he could listen to me talk.

I began pacing back and forth in our room as I thought about how to proceed, trying to work these terms around my confusion from the club.

"Rule number one....you may touch me where a boyfriend would touch his girlfriend in public. Examples being, the waist....and the arms slash shoulders area." I explained seriously, hearing my formality for the matter become cut by Dabi's condescending 'psh.'

I turned my eyes to him with a glare, watching him not take this seriously.

"You think highly of yourself. Not like I was gonna touch you anywhere else, sunshine." He waved dismissively, relaxing further into his bed as he prepared to sit through all my rules.

And, yeah. He can say that...

But, my mind flashed back to the night at the club....

When we were on the dance floor, sweaty and hot, with his face buried in the sweet spot of my neck. His hands void of their quirk, yet they seared my skin from the aura of passion I could feel packed into his touch when he roamed my body.

"Fuck. What are you doing to me, little sapphire..." he had panted out so genuinely into my ear, causing my core to clench around nothing from the pure lust of his voice-

"Okayyy, is that the only one of your stupid rules? I don't grab your ass? Whatever then, good talk. Wake me up when it's time to leave." Dabi drawled out cluelessly, rolling over onto his back once more as he prepared to blow me off and take a nap.

I harshly rubbed my cheeks to get rid of the blush that had been thrust upon them at my memories, turning back to the stitched man with vigor as I wagged my finger around at him.

"No! That was only rule one! We're just getting started!" I defended, causing Dabi to make a mocking gesture with his hand at the sound of my voice.

"Well, you better talk quickly then. I'm already halfway asleep now. Your clock is ticking." He mumbled, yet I knew he wasn't really half asleep.

He's just being annoying. Like usual.

And, yet, I wanna slap and kiss that annoyance off his face all at once-

"R-Rule number two," I huffed out exasperatedly, finding it a little funny-not-funny that I was literally standing in the middle of the room, getting myself worked up over nothing....while Dabi is cluelessly face deep in a pile of satin.

He kept his face in the pillows upon hearing my announcement of rule two, looking as if he was asleep-or, even dead, as he remained unmoving.

Whatever. I know him well enough to know he's actually listening, even if it doesn't appear so.

"Since this is a getaway weekend, and we're supposed to be a loving couple, we'll probably be sharing a room, and most likely a bed. Rule number two-no sharing a bed. That's something reserved for real couples. And that's not us." I clarified more for myself-

"Oh? It's not? So, you're saying I've been living a lie the whole time?" Dabi gasped in fake surprise, causing me to scrunch my lips up and rip the pillow off my own bed, before chucking it at his butt.

"Stop annoying me and just shut up!" I pouted slightly, watching Dabi remain limp as the pillow hit him in the ass.

"Nah. I like annoying you. So deal with it. Next." He ordered, trying to be serious and failing as I heard his statement trail off into a chuckle as he knew he was pushing my buttons.

Well. I'm glad one of us is having fun.

Becoming annoyed with his passivity to this whole thing, my next rule was admittedly not a real one. It was one meant to provoke a reaction out of him.

And based on his actions at the club last night, I had a feeling it would.

"You know what!?-rule number three-if creepy men wanna touch my butt, then you can't do anything about it! No bar fights!" I exclaimed, not even feeling guilty at the satisfaction I felt when Dabi quickly rolled back up to sitting now.

"Now, that's a stupid fucking rule. Declined." He snapped, looking at me through tired, annoyed eyes.

Yet, the tables had turned a bit and it allowed me a smug grin as I crossed my arms and looked at him, purposely provoking him further to get another reaction.

"You can't decline. I never said you could go around punching people who touched me. Forty-seven people are dead, because you couldn't control yourself, and I'm perfectly capable of handling myself." I justified, not necessarily lying about the last part.

Dabi got angry and started a bar fight that almost got him killed. Truly, I don't want him doing something like that again, and putting himself in danger for me.

But, of course, I'm not gonna tell him that, because why would he care-so, instead, I watched him finally stand up from the bed and walk over to me.

"You sure don't fucking act like it." He uttered lowly, trying to intimidate me by coming close.

However, he didn't scare me, causing my feet to remain planted in my spot as I looked up to his frame that towered over mine.

"Yeah? Well, that shouldn't matter to you, because you don't care, remember?" I asked a bit sarcastically, indirectly trying to call him out for whatever weird thing we have going on between us.

My words seemed to snap Dabi back to reality as his gaze flashed with something undecipherable, causing his teeth to grind down on each other as he looked at me.

Once again, being so close to Dabi allowed me to get the perfect view of his eyes. It gave me the perfect view to see all the conflicting emotions that stormed around inside them.

First, they flickered with something soft. An immediate, involuntary reaction to my words that he couldn't control. Obviously, not wanting me to see that part, they quickly closed for no longer than a second to compose themselves, before opening once more with blankness.

Blankness and unfeeling. Those always seem to be his default moods. After all, Dabi's the one who said he's not capable of feeling anything. Not only that, but Dabi also said that this is how he likes to live life. Feeling nothing for anything or anyone.

But, the more time I spend around him, the less time he spends in this default mode. The more animated he becomes. The more he smiles and laughs. The more genuinely calm and content he seems to be...

The more time I spend around him, the more he shows his true emotions without realizing it. The more he shows that he cares.

So, unable to hold that gaze of blankness and unfeeling, Dabi's eyes involuntarily morphed to pure frustration. It didn't even seem like he realized the subtle change in his mood that was so obvious to me, considering he didn't try to clear it away. But, my god, he was frustrated.

I don't know which part he was frustrated about. I know he's not about to tell me, either. I just know that some part of this conversation has made him care enough to be frustrated.

When he spoke a few moments later, the tone of his voice and his words betrayed the silent language of his eyes, leaving me to decipher which piece was true and real.

"I don't give a fuck what you do, little sapphire. I was just drunk and tired at the club. Anything would have set me off, so don't think yourself so special." He leered wickedly, giving me a signature Dabi grin as he leaned in just a little closer.

I didn't really even register what he said, looking nowhere else but his eyes to see the obvious frustration that was still ground in them.

But, his closeness-incredibly close closeness reminded me of one more rule that should be said. One more rule that needs to be said for my own sake, so I can remember it, in case the time for it ever comes.

"Rule number four," I coaxed patiently, trying to calm him down as I no longer had any interest in messing with him.

And, it did calm him down as I watched the anger fizzle away from his eyes at my tone of voice, orbs flickering to curiosity while the rest of his face remained uninterested.

I let out a small sigh at what I was about to say, already feeling emotionally exhausted from the weekend and it hasn't even begun yet.

"Rule number four. You're allowed to kiss me. On the lips. But, only if you absolutely have to." I stated clearly, knowing that there may be a chance that Dabi and I will have to kiss to show our pda as a couple.

So, I give him permission to kiss me. For the mission, I do.

Dabi was uncharacteristically quiet now as he looked down at me, piercing his orbs into mine like he was attempting to read me, the way I'm so obviously reading him.

His fists clenched in annoyance, when he couldn't control his gaze from resisting the tempting sight of my lips, before he snapped his attention back up.

Once again, he looked frustrated. I don't know why.

"It..." he started off lowly, voice void of any teasing now as he was completely serious. "It won't...mean anything."

The words, so obvious for our situation seemed to be more of a reminder to himself, as he was already inches away from my face, no doubt envisioning the possibility of kissing me when his tongue barely came out to wet his bottom lip.

His eyes looked like they were drowning now. Drowning in what? I don't know. But, drowning, nonetheless. His orbs looked as if he was crumbling and losing the battle he had going on with himself.

"I know." I simply said, feeling my words come out blankly as I truly didn't know how I felt about them. "It won't mean anything. I'm just saying, that if a point arises where you need to kiss me, I give you permission to do so."

Even though I clarified the rule again, Dabi didn't give any hint that he agreed with it, like he did the other rules....seeming lost in his own thoughts about the idea.

For a man who hooks up with anything that moves, I didn't think a fake kiss would be the thing to make him so conflicted.

All for the mission. It's all for the mission.

Regardless, I had nothing else to say. All the rules I could think of have now been said, causing me to let out a tired sigh and simply brush past Dabi to break our tense moment.

He remained in his spot for a few passes of time, before composing himself and turning around to find me texting in the kitchen.

Strange silence loomed over the two of us as I sent the text. I wouldn't say the silence was awkward. More unspoken.

"Akio said he'll meet us at the mansion, unless you wanna portal with him." I explained distractedly as I texted my best friend back.

Dabi's groan of annoyance actually helped dissipate the tension as he practically stomped towards the kitchen now, running a hand through his spiky hair in annoyance.

"You're fucking joking-that fucker again? I thought we were done with him." He mumbled begrudgingly, causing me to chuckle a bit at his logic.

"Did you forget he was also at the club with us? We aren't the only ones who got invited to Midas' little party." I explained, pressing the send on my text before scrolling my thumb up the screen to check the time.

11:54am.

My anxiety stirred uncomfortably at the realization that Dabi and I had to be out the door in six minutes to make the trek to Midas' place, admittedly running through all the possible worst case scenarios in my head.

"Now, might be a good time for you to start packing." I mumbled to Dabi dryly at his procrastination, causing a small smirk to appear on his lips as he leaned tauntingly close to my face.

"Perfect. Right on time." He drawled out purposefully, giving me a snickered grin before slowly turning around to start packing for our trip.

I simply rolled my eyes at his defiance, chewing on my lip distractedly as I tried to mentally prepare myself for the weekend.

A weekend of being in a fake relationship with my partner-the villain man I hate-but, also have feelings for-the same man who claims he doesn't have feelings for me, but acts like he does-alongside my best friend who doesn't get along with this man, and threatens to kill him every chance he gets-all at the mansion of the most notorious gang leader in the entire country-where one screw up from any of us will result in death, mission failure, and possible Midas domination?

Yeah. What could possibly go wrong with this scenario, right?

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Next Chapter Title: An Eye For The Arts.