All These New Beginnings

35. The Growing Family DLC?

Keigo elbowed the young Omega, “The Symbol of Fear wants your attention, broccoli boy.”

Izuku rolled his eyes at the Avian but waved down to Tomura excitedly, a huge bright smile on his face. They had made so much progress in getting the Alpha more comfortable using his own quirk.

Dabi and the others were finally on their way back up to the deck after finishing their reviews with Eraser and Ectoplasm. The fire user gave a small obviously embarrassed wave over to his Mate. Keigo grinned and sent a few feathers to brush through his hair and along his cheek affectionately.

Once freed, the rest of the class hurried over to the instructors. Including Shigaraki and Dabi.

Izuku spent the time finalizing his notes, adding more detail to points he’d rushed through while they were still fresh in his mind.

Keigo was satisfied just to just rest. Growing a baby in an egg was quite taxing on the body. He was doing well, according to his Doctor. It wouldn’t be much longer before he laid.

Soon the bell chimes and the students are dismissed, the waiting pair go to meet up with their Mates. 

“It was super cool to watch you both!” cheers Izuku, running over to hug his partner switching to communicating through their bond,

“And you got the students to cooperate with you!”

“It wasn’t a big deal.”

“It really was! And so much better than when you attacked the USJ that first time.”

Tomura made a choking noise and felt his face turning bright red. Dabi gave them both a funny look.

“Oh my god Izuku noooo.”

The Omega grinned mischievously.

Dabi laughed at the younger Alpha’s embarrassment even though he was unaware of the private words the two had shared, “Whatever he said, I agree.”

“Shut up,” grumbled Tomura as he hugged his Mate, hiding his blush behind green curls.  

“Ooon another note, isn’t it about time we get something for lunch?” said Keigo as he slung one arm around his Mate’s waist, the other over his round stomach. He could not wait until he didn’t feel like a walking zeppelin anymore.

It had been strange, to be gravid with a baby inside an egg. He didn’t feel movement like kicking or punching, instead what he felt was more like a rolling sensation. 

“Oh yes, we should all go get something to eat,” says Izuku, graciously accepting the change in topic. 

Thank god for the interrupting chicken, thinks Tomura, “You two figure out what we’re getting while we hit the showers, Freckles.”

—

Shouta had confirmed with Midoriya they could come over. Iguchi and Atshurio were home but that shouldn't be any issue.

The Omega and Alpha heroes walked down the hallway to their spare room to give the little pup the good news.

“Hi Mr. Zawa! And Mr. Yamada!” Eri looked up at them with wide eyes from where she was sitting on the floor.

“Hello little listener. What are you doing?” asked the blond as he crouched next to her. The couple kept this room set up for guests, or any wayward pup that came to them for help. Right now that was Eri.

She was playing with a new set of crayons and a coloring book of fuzzy kittens to fill with greens and blues and every color of the rainbow.

“I’m coloring these two kitties like Zuku and Tomu!” she said proudly. Sure enough the smaller fluffy kitten was green with green eyes, and the Taller thinner cat was a periwinkle with red eyes.

The two men sat down next to the Pup, who continued to work on her art. Shouta said, “Can we ask you something?”

“Okay?” she said shyly.

These two heroes had been super nice to her, but they weren’t the ones who rescued her. She missed the scarred Alpha with a woody scent who called her Princess. She missed the warm lemony scent and the freckled smile of the green haired Omega. Most of all she missed the way she felt when they held her. It was even better than being here with Mr. Aizawa and Mr.Yamada.

“Do you still want to visit your heroes?” asked the Shouta. He didn’t need to specify who.

“Zuku and Tomu?” 

They nodded, and the little girl lit up like the sun, “They saved me! Yes! I still want to see them! Oh please, oh please?”

The Omega hero smiled as his Mate’s eyebrows went up at the young pup’s enthusiastic response. 

“Ok sweetheart, we’ll arrange for you to visit,” confirmed Hizashi. He still felt somewhat reluctant about this, but Eri was more animated right now than they'd ever seen her. How could he say no to that? 

“Really? Can we go now! I want to see them now! Right now,” she jumped up into Hizashi’s lap, hugging and begging.

Shouta laughed, “Not today, we can bring you over tomorrow night.”

“Tomorrow night,” the little girl pondered, “How long from now is that?”

“Well. First you need to go to bed. Then tomorrow we are going to go to UA for school, then we come home and Shouta will take you to visit them,” said the voice hero.

“School takes ALL DAY! That's such a long time!” she says pouting.

“It’s not too long,” assures the Omega, releasing some of his calming scent, “We’ll be there before you know it.”

—

It was always weird to be in the Principal’s office, thought Izuku. 

For one thing, all the furniture was human sized. Which sort of made sense since the only one smaller than the average person here was the Principal himself.

As a result, the stoat-like creature often stood on his desk to speak with people. He was there right now pacing back and forth as they waited for the phone call from the Hero Occupational Safety Board. 

Mr. Aizawa said that was a good sign. They normally didn’t bother calling you down in person unless they had more questions or were going to make an arrest.

Izuku thought the force Tomura had used was fitting given Overhaul was about to rip a little girl apart atom by atom. And that was what he’d said in his after-mission brief, even though he could not testify in person and his report would be viewed as biased.  

Tomura sat there like a teenager waiting for punishment. He’d been through the questioning and given his testimony of what had happened. He didn’t lie, knowing one of them likely had a quirk that could detect that. 

Afterward none of the people on the board gave him any indication which way they were leaning. They had asked a few follow-up questions, then quietly filed out of the room. It left the reformee feeling helpless. He fucking hated it.

Tomura’s knee was bobbing up and down, he mumbled, “I am so screwed.”

“Your quick action saved a little girl’s life and prevented who knows how many others from dying, including Izuku and a number of other heroes,” argued Principal Nedzu seriously.

The Alpha’s fingers kept twitching, wanting the controlled relief of digging into his neck. All Tomura had cared about at that moment was Izuku and Eri. His Alpha insisting, 

“Ours. Protect ours.”

“Don’t condemn yourself just yet troubled young adult,” said Eraser from where he was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. How could the man appear so unfazed? Oh right, it wasn't his ass on the line...

The phone rang and the sentient rodent pattered over and picked it up. He greeted the person on the other end of the line, said a couple words, paused to listen, said a couple more words, reached down and put the caller on speaker. 

“This is Miss. Hamamoto, second chairperson of the Hero Occupational Safety Board. May I ask who is present?” came a woman's voice over the phone.

Nedzu dutifully said his name and gestured for each of them to announce themselves.

—

“Very good, we can do this quickly then. Let’s see, ah yes. Here’s the paperwork. Ah hem. Due to the fact that a child was clearly in danger of being killed, and having several reputable witnesses,” the chimera clasped his paws together, Tomura leaned forward while Izuku gripped his hand and Eraser betrayed no judgement, “The injury inflicted by one Shigaraki Tomura, holding a preliminary hero license and permitted to engage by Hero Ryukyu, has been deemed a justifiable defensive measure against one Chisaki Kai aka Overhaul during an active villain attack.”

Tomura leaned forward with his head in his hands and let out a shuddering breath. 

Oh thank fuck.

Izuku rubbed his back and murmured encouragement for his Mate to breathe, nice and easy. 

“How does this affect the Dragoon Hero: Ryukyu?” asked Eraserhead.

“Her review was dismissed with this ruling.”

“Very good, thank you Miss. Hamamoto,” said the Principal, ending the call.

That was even better, thought the green haired Omega, releasing calming pheromones to everyone’s benefit.

The phone rang again moments later. Tomura and Izuku looked up, curiosity on their faces. 

Seeing the caller ID, the Principle smiled and put the caller on speaker phone, “Good day to you Ryukyu, I have you on speaker with Eraserhead, Shigaraki and Deku here in my office.”

Why did he give their hero names? Wondered Izuku.

“Principal Nedzu, and just the people I’d like to speak with. Firstly, I want to thank you for your quick decisive action Shigaraki, and let you know I will not hesitate to say yes should we ever have the opportunity to work together again.”

There was a pause, Tomura blinked at the phone. Oh. That was um, he really didn’t know how to feel about that right now.

“Say thank you!” urged his Omega through their bond.

“Thank you.” 

Ryukyu continued, “Deku, you are going to be an incredible hero. When you graduate please consider joining the Dragoon Agency. Regardless of where you decide to do your sidekick work, you may always call me to fight beside both of you.”

The Omega turned bright red as he stuttered out, “O-oh! Th-thank you so much Ryukyu. It was a privilege to work with a professional like yourself!”

“The privilege was all mine, take care now!”

With that the call was over. 

The rodent creature looked pleased as a peach. A warm firm hand landed on Izuku and Tomura’s shoulders. Looking up they saw one relieved underground hero.

—

Izuku sat with Himiko as they set up social media accounts. 

One for the whole Pack called LeagueOfRecovery, then one for Dabi/Hawks and Tomura/Izuku, as well as individual accounts for everyone in the League Pack so they could all post and comment together. 

Her tendency to obsess over people made Himiko a gossip queen. 

When she learned that could be a legitimate career in PR and Marketing, she was hooked. Unfortunately Mic couldn’t take on another reformee, but he reached out to a few of his friends and Mt. Lady agreed to mentor the young woman. 

Each media account Himiko set up for the League was to give them both the opportunity to tell their stories and offer different perspectives and support on topics important to them. They were building an audience, and fast. She made it clear the Tomura/Izuku account would be the guiding force for all of them, the rest would support the Pack Leaders in whatever they decided. 

Tomura insisted they should agree on the direction they wanted to take issues before posting on social media. They could all get behind that. The only other rule Tomura was firm on was that social media was for social events, keep your private life private. Otherwise they were told to go nuts.

Tomura’s exact words were, “Post a million pictures of your feet for all I care.”

That resulted in their growing audience spending several confused days wondering why the League and then Bakusquad were all posting feet pictures and tagging each other. That trended until Shouto posted pictures of himself and Bakugo at a cat cafe.

Cute cats trump feet, obviously.

Himiko ordered Izuku to send her pictures at least once a day for a little while. Once she got the rest of the group participating enough she only bothered him for new content once in a while. He was doing enough on his own now apparently. Sometimes he just commented on a new post from Class-A, or the League, or even UA Teachers.

Today at lunch the eager Omega woman was again checking on socials. Tapping her shoe on his foot, Izuku looked up to meet honey-colored eyes. 

“You need a bump! Post a pic of you and Shiggy together! And make sure you are being cute!”

“Being cute?” Izuku scrunched up his nose, “How do I do that?”

She laughed, “You’re doing it right now. You are just a natural cutie Izuku-kun!”

—

An alarm went off on their phones, medication time. 

Tomura grabbed their pill trays, while Izuku poured them each a glass of water. They had added a new med recently, suppressants. I know, I know, we talked about how they aren’t good. That’s if you abuse them. Their purpose is to temporarily delay a Heat or Rut. And that was exactly why the couple was using them. 

With the dance coming up, Izuku and Tomura decided to rent one of the secure rooms designed for couples to share their cycles. It had been a gift from Shouto, he’d gotten one for him and Kat, and the other couples in the squad. All on Daddy’s credit card…

~~~ 

“Won’t you get in trouble for that?” Izuku had fretted. 

His friend had shook his head no, “He thinks he can buy my forgiveness. Said I could do whatever I wanted this weekend. And I want to give this to my friends.”

Izuku had hugged Shouto so tight his friend couldn’t breath for a moment. It felt good to have friends, thought the heterochromatic Omega.

~~~

Because they only needed to be on the suppressants to push their natural cycle a few weeks, Recovery Girl had approved.

She explained they were fine to use once in a while, but stressed they not make a habit of it. And yes, the resort had been fully vetted by several top hero agencies. This hotel did not have anything to do with the current investigation into Izuku and Tomura’s kidnapping.

Tomura was putting the pill trays away when there was the brisk sound of knuckles rapping against their door. Tomura went to open it. The Alpha found himself face to face with a familiar underground hero.

“Eraser, and…?” he leaned over to see a small pup with bright red eyes looking up at him from behind a baggy gray hero suit. Tomura looked back at the raven haired Omega.

“We’ve tried everything else. We are here with the hope that meeting you two helps.”

“Is that them?” called Izuku from inside.

“Eraserhead and Eri,” confirmed Tomura.

Izuku put the trays of food in the oven and set the rice makers. They needed several to feed the whole Pack. He called out, “Hello Sensei!”

“Good evening Midoriya."

The Alpha, curious, again tried to peer around the erasure hero to blink at the small girl. His scent warmed and Shouta looked over at him with eyebrows raised. Well that’s interesting. Clearing his throat, the older Omega said, “May we come in?”

Tomura muttered an affirmative and stepped out of the way, closing the door behind them.

Jin and Atsuhiro were in the living room. The magician silently slid a bookmark between the pages of the novel he was reading, while the other Beta turned off the TV.

“Would you mind giving us some privacy?” Tomura asked. 

The two nodded, getting up and going down the hall to their own Dens. Shouta was still impressed by the casualness of the Alpha’s leadership. He didn’t order them to leave, he asked them to leave. They chose to do so out of respect for Shigaraki. Taking a deep breath allowed the erasure hero to detect there weren’t any aggressive or angry scents in the home.

In fact what he smelled was warm and inviting. That was important if a pup was going to be around.  

Izuku was drying off his hands when he turned around and saw the small pale girl, “Eri!” 

“Zuku!” she called, slipping around Shouta to run over to the green haired Omega who was now kneeling with open arms. 

The little pup squealed as Izuku picked her up and spun around before hugging Eri close and nuzzling their noses together. 

To avoid using her quirk since she was still learning control, the young pup wore similar artist gloves to Tomura’s, except hers were bright pink with white stripes and the buttons had little unicorns on them. No doubt a Momo special, thinks Izuku.

Tomura himself didn’t really need gloves anymore, having quietly mastered turning Decay on and off. All it took was four weeks of disciplined dedication and the destruction of around ten thousand number two pencils, Izuku had joked.

They hadn’t made any kind of official announcement about it, as Tomura still had to wear the quirk suppressing cuffs in public. The gloves were now more a decision of style as well as the fact the Alpha could see how much less hesitant people were when interacting with him with them on. 

Eri smelled much cleaner and happier than she had the last time Izuku had seen her. No more bandages, and she had on a cute pair of pink glittery sneakers and a pretty yellow dress with little white daisies on it. Now he could tell her first scent is earthy sweet amber. 

Pups developed their first scent when they weaned off their Dam’s milk, their second scent came in with their secondary gender.

The little girl took a deep breath of his cedar and vetiver and gave a huff, because someone was missing. Twisting in his arms she made grabby hands for the Alpha across the room.

Tomura rolled his eyes and slogged over as if it were a total inconvenience to do so. When he got there however the Alpha reached out and took her hand giving it a kiss and a deep exaggerated bow as Izuku watched with mirth. 

“Hello again fair princess.”

The young pup giggled, “Hello!”

“How are you?” he asked, looking back up at them both, direct as always. 

“Better!” she said proudly, “I’m so happy. I missed you both so much!” 

"Ah, we missed you too!" he says.

Tomura wrapped his arms around the two of them in a hug, rocking them both back and forth in a wide arc. Both his Mate and the pup were giggling again. The Alpha couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from going up.

A series of very familial sounds were shared between the three before his Omega looked up, a slight blush on his face. Tomura didn’t know what this was, but oh boy did he want more of it. 

Izuku backed away slowly and took Eri to play. 

The Alpha immediately regretted the new distance between them before soberly heading past the eraser hero to the kitchen.

—

Shouta observed quietly. He wanted to take a picture to show Hizashi, but felt like this should be a private moment.  

“Let's go play while they do boring adult talk ok,” said the younger Omega, carrying Eri on his hip to a pile of plushies, spare pillows and blankets stacked in the corner of the living room. 

Izuku pulled a few out he thought she would like, a turtle whose shell could light up and play calming music. A puppy that projects stars onto the ceiling. A parrot that was All Might colored (shhh), and a white unicorn with sparkly rainbow hair. This time Shouta did snap a few photos. 

“At least she’s got you two,” said Tomura with surprising bitterness. He'd returned with a tray of tea and accouterments for their guest.

The older Omega helped himself before asking, “What do you mean?” 

“I mean, I’m a dangerous villain in an as yet unproven reform program,” he snapped, “I’m not like you, or Mic, or Izuku. You’re well respected, heroes, responsible, trustworthy, blah blah blah.” 

Tomura went silent, and Shouta watched as he visibly deflated. Shigaraki ran a hand over his shoulder, where Izuku’s mark on him could be seen. 

“It’s just one more thing I’ve fu…” the Alpha quickly censored himself, “Messed up for him.”

Shouta had felt like he was missing something before. In seeing how the three interacted it dawned on him what it was. He put his hand on his reformee’s shoulder, Shigaraki turned to look at him.

“I need you to be honest with me…” Shouta paused, then asked the question he felt he already knew the answer to, “What is really bothering you?” 

The Alpha shifted and turned away. It was stupid. He shouldn't even bring it up. It was never going to happen… 

“My quirk is erasure, not mind reading,” bated the underground hero.

“Izuku and I talked about Pups,” admitted Shigaraki, cheeks flushing bright red, “After we found about, you know, about Dabi and Keigo.” 

Shouta nodded, it was only logical they would have had a conversation about that. The underground hero waited patiently for Shigaraki to continue, “We agreed we’d prefer to adopt, for a lot of reasons, but with my history...”

Shigaraki stopped talking and shrugged.

The older Omega sat back, taking a minute to ponder.

Shouta had no idea the young couple would be interested in caring for a Pup, let alone an abandoned one. He should have figured though, both Midoriya and Shigaraki have strong familial values and abandonment issues. They'd want to prevent Eri from having the same fate.

He knows many would argue the pair were awfully young. Yet, the League Pack was a solid one. Had a good backbone of support. And a kid, while not easier than a baby, is certainly less fragile, and can take care of most body functions on a semi-reliable basis. 

Did Shouta think the League Pack could provide a nurturing stable environment for a Pup. Pups really, including Keigo and Dabi’s. It felt hypocritical to say Dabi & Keigo's freshly born pup would be safe with them, but not Eri.

He watched as Tomura’s eyes tracked the little girl and his Mate from across the room. 

The younger Omega had dug out some plushies for the young girl to play with, including a large white unicorn with a rainbow mane and tail she was hugging. An obvious instant favorite.  

Why does Midoriya even have things like that? thought Shouta, recalling the stuffed penguin he’d given Keigo. The erasure hero’s mind flashes to his own nest, filled with cat plushies… you know what? Nevermind, back on topic... 

“Of course you could adopt,” Eraser said as he leaned back, “Maybe not right away, but down the road why couldn’t you?”

Was the hero going deaf from over exposure to his Mate’s quirk? thinks the Alpha. 

“Villain,” Tomura says with a frown, gesturing to himself. And that was the end of the conversation. 

For now.

—

They were laying together in their nest, naked. At some point Keigo became deeply offended by clothing and insisted they both strip. So Dabi was there on his side playing a card game on his phone completely in the buff.  

“How are you doing Kei?” he asked, petting the lump of blankets next to him.   

There are several chirps and twitters before his partner peaks out from underneath the big striped blanket he’d been favoring. 

When Dabi had asked his Mate why that blanket his cheeks had grown rosy as he admitted it reminds the bird part of his brain of sticks. 

“Crampy. Achy, hurts. Egg’s moving,” Keigo said with a pouty frown.

“You’re almost there my Dove. Love you.”

Keigo gave him  four song notes back, which Dabi took to mean ‘I love you too’. The more the avian dropped into a feral state the less words he used. 

He’d kept most of his feathers on, except for the fluffy downy ones he’d begun plucking from his wings a couple weeks ago. These could be found all over their nest and were mostly a soft white color with just a few of the tips being red. 

Dabi was doing his best to remain calm. From what he’d read, their egg would move downward, rotate 180 degrees, and actually come out wide end first. That didn’t sound like it would feel great to him but he understood the geometry of it, and his birdy’s body was built to handle this. 

Some Avians described it bluntly as being like period cramps, and then, well, it was like taking a giant crap.

Moving so he was behind Keigo, Dabi warmed his hands and slid them under the blanket to press into his Mate’s back and along his hips, the heat seeping into the soreness there.

The Avian warbled his thanks as the warmth helped calm his spasming muscles. 

His diet had changed too. For dinner the other night Keigo had an entire raw chicken, bones and all. Dabi had whatever the Pack made for dinner, unless it was fish, then he was given some terakai chicken instead. 

The fire user drifted off to sleep as he lay on his side, gently massaging his birdies feet.

When movement stopped Keigo stayed still. After several minutes the Avian cocked his head to the side and let out a quiet affectionate coo at the sight of his Mate napping.  

Dabi had been with him all day, as he had for the past several days. The Alpha had tended to his each and every need. Fed them, helped them wash up, helped tidy the nest. Often he could hear noises on the other side of the rectangle that sometimes opens. His Mate made sure no one else ever made it inside. Made sure they were safe. 

Red wings puffed up with pride, he had the best Mate. 

Keigo let his partner sleep. He couldn't help with this next part.  

The egg had begun shifting down about an hour ago, it was nearly time.

Moving around in the nest delicately so as not to wake his Mate, Keigo instinctively arranged a pile of blankets and soft down that would be a safe place for their egg to land while he used several pillows to support his knees as he crouched in position.

Keigo settled himself into place and prepared for the next step. Soon a strange torquing sensation graced his lower region and he felt full, too full. 

He braced his arms on the rim of their nest. A few grunts later and the egg began to slowly and methodically twist out of his body.

—

Feeling the disturbance across their bond in his sleep, Dabi woke up just in time to get a good look at his Mate in front of him. Wings splayed out above him, sitting naked, shoulders pinched up with his exposed partially prolapsed anus facing him with something waaaayyy BIGGER than he thought could ever be coming out of it.

His head tilted to the right as he whispered, “How in the hell…?”

Jesus.

Then his brain caught up with the program and Dabi realized what he was witnessing and freaked out a second time.

Fucking Christ!

As the arsonist rushed to sit up their egg dropped as gracefully as it could into the pile of pale downy feathers beneath it, a few floating into the air and then settling. Looking up Dabi is witness to his partner's gaping man cavern. He wonders if Keigo opened his mouth would he see a light at this end?

Ok, allright, it’s not that bad. At least, he will NEVER tell Keigo how bad it looked. What if it’s stuck that way? If he reached inside right now could he get up to his elbow?

Keigo twitches in front of him and the opening flexes. Each movement from the Avian after that slowly tightened his anus back up until it pretty much looked like it does after they'd… How in the fuck?

Dabi rubs the heels of his palms over his eyes. That sight will be burned into the back of his retinas forever.

Keigo lets out a groan in relief and slumps forward.

“You ok Kei?” Dabi managed to rasp out, voice still rough with sleep.

The Avian trilled and nodded, so the fire user took a closer look at their… egg. It had been kind of narrow before, but as it sat the shape had rounded out more. Dabi didn’t know why he'd expected it to be white or brown like a common chicken egg.  

It wasn’t.

Instead, their egg was dark deep red with bright blue speckles over the top that spilled down the sides.

Dabi took out his cell phone and snapped a picture, careful to exclude anything embarrassing before his Mate ruffled his feathers and fanned the egg dry. He’d message everyone later. His Mate settled back down to begin incubating. In the meantime Dabi mumbled…

“So pretty,” he says, and he meant it about both of them.

The avian let out a chirp. Keigo turned around, insistently trying to pull Dabi closer.

“Ok, ok, I’ll move!” he only stopped trying to manhandle him when the Alpha complied.

Shifting to where he was wanted, the fire user leaned back against the rim of their nest, letting Keigo rest his head on his stapled chest.

“I’m so, so proud of you Dove,” whispered Dabi as he ran his fingers through sweaty golden hair, breathing in sweet vanilla and roasted coffee bean. His frost and earthen ash swirls together with his Mate’s scent. Cocooning them in its comforting embrace. 

Keigo snuggles into his Alpha’s chest and lets out a little, “Cooo.”

—

Over the next few hours Keigo’s instincts begin to recede. Dabi will never admit how happy he was when the man got up and said, “Ugg, I feel all gross. I totally need a bath.”

“Keigo?” 

“Hey Dabs, it’s me,” said Keigo, looking unsure. Dabi grinned and pulled his partner into a kiss. 

When they came up for air, the blond wore a lopsided smile, “Wow. I missed you too baby.” 

“You should go wash, I can mind the egg for a while,” he knew what to do. Rotate 180 degrees lengthwise every four to six hours. The rest of the time the job was just, sitting there keeping it warm. Dabi could totally do that. He wanted to.

“Uh huh. Have you touched it yet?” 

“Didn’t want to risk upsetting you, pretty bird,” said the fire user, running his thumb over Keigo’s bottom lip.

He watched the blond’s eyes dilate at the attention. 

“H-here, give me your hand,” Keigo reached out. Dabi moved forward, letting his partner place his palm and five fingers on their egg for the first time. 

The surface was smooth and had a powdery feeling. Dabi knew that it was from something called a ‘bloom’ that protected the chick from infections, but also…

“It’s so warm?”

“I think it’s because of your quirk,” said the avian with a small smile, kissing his Mate’s cheek, “He likes it warm.”

Keigo helped the fire user move into position. Dabi couldn't rest his entire weight on the egg, his bones weren't hollow like his Mate’s. They'd come up with a few ways of doing this so the Avian could take time off the nest as well.

Grabbing a bunch of blankets and pillows, Keigo piled them up under the Alpha’s front so Dabi could comfortably lean forward and lay his weight on them but still use his phone while incubating. He draped the purple blanket over his partner and passed him his device. 

“Ok, all right,” Keigo babbled nervously, “I won’t be gone for more than an hour. I'll just take a quick shower. Grab something to eat, and come right back. Then we can switch...”

“You’ve been hogging him, it’s my turn.”

“Really, it’s ok…”

Dabi was having none of it. He was not going to be anything like his Father. Brooding was meant to be an equal partnership. They were both supposed to care for their son, egg, egg-son, son-egg? 

Offspring.

“You need to take a break, Dove. We’re fine. I have my phone right here. If I need anything, all I have to do is call or reach over the bond.”

The avian fidgeted where he stood next to their nest, “Promise?”

“I promise.” 

He watched as his Mate went over to their dresser, pulling out a fresh shirt and sweatpants. Hand on the bathroom doorknob he looked back at Dabi, “Ok?”

The fire user made a shooing motion and Keigo did as he was told.

Now alone, Dabi brought up the chat that included the League and Bakusquad Packs and sent the photo.

—

At his Mate’s insistance Keigo took his time in the bathroom. He washed every nook and cranny, scrubbed his greasy hair, exfoliated, rinsed off under the hot water, and soaked in the bath.

After drying off he took a look at himself in the mirror. He didn’t look much different, he thought. He’d just laid an egg but he was still, himself. Shaking his head he pulled on the sweatpants he’d brought with him, as well as the t-shirt. 

It also felt great fitting back into his usual clothes. 

He was lucky, Avians due to the need to fly, don’t really gain much in the way of adipose tissue (fat). The egg had been most of the bulk. He’d lost some muscle mass, but was confident with his improved diet and getting back to working out he would get himself back into shape in no time.

Keigo wasn’t sure who he’d see first when he stepped out of their Den. 

He sent small feathers ahead of himself but didn’t find much until they bumped into someone familiar seated on the couch.

His talons click-clacked over the tile floor as he made his way to the coffee machine. He should trim them before they get too out of hand. 

“Good morning deer, how are you feeling?” asked Kenji from the living room. She had been reading, and a cup of tea sat on the table beside her. 

Keigo tilted his head and said, “Lighter.” 

The League member chuckled warmly, “I’d imagine so. It’s good to see you, you have been missed.” 

“Shouldn’t you be… I don’t know… Why?” Keigo fumbled awkwardly. He wasn't making much sense and he knew it.

“Our fearless Leader has had one of us here for you two the entire time, just in case you needed anything,” she said, without missing a beat. Getting up Kenji walked over to join him in the kitchen. 

Keigo felt bad about that. He was never supposed to be a burden, “I’m sorry for…” 

“You will be nothing of the sort, young man," says the Alphan woman, "It was an honor to be able to assist you two with your egg. Besides, there’s only seven days in the week. Shiggy and Izuku took the weekends, the rest of us at most were here one day a week.”

Keigo’s cheeks went pink as he stammered out, “T-thank you.”