Vriddy writes

Dabi's sick and misses the sheep. Hawks tries to help.

Hawks does his best to wedge the torch into the hay rack so it sheds its light inside. Sheep is lying on the ground, eyes closed. After checking curiously when Hawks came in, she lost interest and went back to resting. This shed is the furthest from their house, but that side of the field is also in direct line of a cell tower and thus it usually has the best reception.

"Does it work?" Hawks asks, squinting at his phone. "I can't see you."

"Yeah, light's off. Sorry."

Dabi starts a flame and for a brief moment, his face lights up on the screen, in all its tired, snotty glory. Then he starts coughing up a storm, and it all gets dark again.

"What did you even do that for?" Hawks is so done. Dabi is the worst patient ever, and Hawks is saying that as a former titleholder. "Quirk Flu is no joke. Just stop using your quirk for a bit, or you'll never get better."

"I was just trying to light a candle," Dabi grumbles.

That the screen is entirely dark shows how successfully that went. Hawks doesn't comment because he doesn't need to.

"It's like you don't want to ever see the sheep again," Hawks says sadly, curling beside Sheep until his face touches her wool. It's actually quite rough and not very pleasant right now, but it's their sheep and their sheep's wool, and that means it is the best texture and feeling in the whole entire world. He extends his arm to make sure Sheep is well into the shot, too.

Electric light fills his screen, and Dabi's tired, snotty face appears, now with bonus sadness. It tugs at Hawks' heartstrings a little, but at the same time Dabi is the worst patient and brought part of this onto himself, too. If he'd actually taken it easy, he would have gotten better at least a week earlier.

Dabi adjusts his phone so his face isn't as much in a close-up, and Hawks can see the non-flammable bed sheets and non-flammable sheet they hung on the wall behind the futon. The non-flammable bedside lampshade looks slightly darker than it was the last time Hawks was in that room, about half an hour earlier. There's a small candle beside it, looking brand new and untouched.

"A candle," Hawks notes. "How romantic. When you're in bed. Alone."

They chat and tease each other for a little longer, while Hawks makes sure to get lots of angles of Sheep, sometimes bringing the phone close enough for Dabi to hear her breathe.

Sheep wool might be fire resistant, but it isn't fireproof, and Dabi got too scared to get near the sheep after a sneezing incident when standing next to Crusty. Then there was another one next to a shed. And of course, The Fence Incident. Better left unmentioned.

Anyway, Dabi has been in a state of self-isolation since then, and Hawks' stress levels subsequently decreased enough for him to take care of all of the chores on his own. The only stress that remains is taking care of the Worst Patient In The Entire World, once all is said and done.

Nonetheless, it was no hardship to sneak into one of the sheds in the middle of the night in order to get Dabi a remote dose of sheep, and himself a direct dose of sheep ASMR straight from the source. With a happy sigh, Hawks runs his hand on Sheep's wool again, when the unlocked door slides open with a creak. Bright eyes flash in the new opening.

Fox? He hardens his feathers.

With another head bump, Tama finishes pushing the door open.

Nope. Cat.

Tama haughtily ignores Hawks and trots over to Sheep, climbing on top to start kneading and turning in circles. Sheep makes a noise but doesn't otherwise react.

"Look at that," Hawks whispers, making sure to record it for Dabi.

Eventually, Tama curls up to sleep just like a little lamb would, although with a lot more purring.

"This may my cue to leave them alone. I wonder if this happens often."

"Probably. Tama likes the sheep better than you."

"I'm told there is picture proof that this isn't true."

Dabi smiles, and Hawks' heart gets pulled elsewhere again. He likes their sheep a lot, but he also likes his husband a hell of a ton of a damn whole lot.

"Maybe I can bring some wool to wrap myself in before going to bed," he jokes. "Best of both worlds."

"Don't be stupid. You'll never be as cute as our sheep."

Hawks pouts. It hurts, but it's true.

"Come back to bed," Dabi says fondly. "Baaa-ka."