[The operation doesn't go as badly as it could have. It goes... not great, by any means, but all things considered it isn't a total disaster. All Might tries not to feel responsible, being as he wasn't even an active participant; it helps no one to blame himself for being too powerless now to help, or for what he might have said or done to lead any of them into the situation they each find themselves in when it's over.
That's what he tells himself. More importantly, that's what Nighteye tells him, on his deathbed, and All Might hasn't felt a loss this acutely since Nana. He does need time, true enough, and guiltily he's almost glad no one- Aizawa- tries to contact him when he just isn't in the mood. He eavesdrops around corners rather than check on his own students, leaves Nighteye's sidekicks to fend for themselves in the face of such an abrupt loss, it's... well, it's not his finest hour. He's having a lot of those these days.
If anyone tried to get through to him, his first instinct would be to push them away, the exact same mistake he made with Nighteye years ago. So. It's good, to be left alone.
When he bounces back- because of course he does, and he's a little more lethargic and not as quick with the encouraging advice tidbits as he could be, but no one says anything- well, then, there remains the actual, ah... relationships that he's left to stall out from work and everything else. Aizawa, specifically, again, if going out once or twice can be called a relationship, but neither of them are particularly casual people, so maybe it is.
Neither of them are particularly good at discussing these things, either, so when All Might gets the message about Eri, he at least appreciates the consideration. He stares at it for a while without responding, as is his way, and then he goes out.
Around 9:40, he sends Aizawa a picture message, with a very cute kid's blanket that he has 100% already purchased, you're welcome.
And that's it. Let him come deliver this and meet this new daughter and maybe unpack the 800 things that have happened in their lives lately.]
[There's a surprisingly short delay in his reply, only a couple of minutes later. ]
["Hey. You can let U.A. handle her expenses, alright? I'll take it, though."]
[Normally, past 9:30 Aizawa was off exhausting himself with night patrols. After all, teaching didn't leave him much time for hero work. Darkness set on the town and he went off to his other job. It gave him an edge in ambush operations. He liked working nights. The fact he's responding quickly means he's not working. He's actually lounging on the couch in the faculty area of the dorms with his phone in hand and a cat magazine resting on his chest. He was domestic now. How terrible.]
[A few minutes... he's moving up in the world. That's enough of an invitation for All Might to seek him out, anyway, eventually arriving in the faculty dorms and wondering if there is, in fact, a tiny little girl somewhere close by. It makes him pause and lean around the corner instead of barging his way in, which is only faintly ridiculous compared to all the other dumb things he could have done.
But it's almost 10, far too late for a little girl to be up, and so he just blinks at Aizawa with his magazine for a couple seconds before he actually comes into the lounge area, blanket folded up under his arm. Hello, he's here, etc.]
You look relaxed! [he's never said these words to Aizawa in that order before?? hmm.]
[At first, he's more than happy to just send his text reply and go back to flipping pages. After a few minutes of not getting a reply, though, he picks up his phone to squint at it. With the time delay and the fact All Might was an old man (and until he confessed his real age, Aizawa would continue thinking of him like that), then...]
[He's not as surprised to see that extremely tall skeletal man peer around the corner. Not even a loud "I am here!" to his name. Well, Aizawa supposed, it was late. For a normal person. He sets his magazine back down on his chest, casually, like there was no need for him to get up yet.]
I'm on babysitting duty. [Which is to say he's technically not relaxed. The main way he can feel relaxed is from the fact he's technically doing a job here. It's a job that prevents him from being out in the streets, a cushy job, but still a job.]
[(Also, since the principal gave it to him, a job he Could Not Refuse)]
Were you that excited to bring the blanket over? [since that's clearly the reason All Might is here. Nothing about the hectic week they've had, or emotions, or anything like that. The logical way to approach it was that they'd talked about the blanket, All Might brought the blanket, it's as simple as that. It's not like they just haven't gotten to see each other in a while. Aizawa would even say he was too busy to properly miss the other hero.]
[Then again, Aizawa is also very, very good at denying himself things he liked out of a sense of duty, no matter how much he could criticize it in another person.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
at long last
That's what he tells himself. More importantly, that's what Nighteye tells him, on his deathbed, and All Might hasn't felt a loss this acutely since Nana. He does need time, true enough, and guiltily he's almost glad no one- Aizawa- tries to contact him when he just isn't in the mood. He eavesdrops around corners rather than check on his own students, leaves Nighteye's sidekicks to fend for themselves in the face of such an abrupt loss, it's... well, it's not his finest hour. He's having a lot of those these days.
If anyone tried to get through to him, his first instinct would be to push them away, the exact same mistake he made with Nighteye years ago. So. It's good, to be left alone.
When he bounces back- because of course he does, and he's a little more lethargic and not as quick with the encouraging advice tidbits as he could be, but no one says anything- well, then, there remains the actual, ah... relationships that he's left to stall out from work and everything else. Aizawa, specifically, again, if going out once or twice can be called a relationship, but neither of them are particularly casual people, so maybe it is.
Neither of them are particularly good at discussing these things, either, so when All Might gets the message about Eri, he at least appreciates the consideration. He stares at it for a while without responding, as is his way, and then he goes out.
Around 9:40, he sends Aizawa a picture message, with a very cute kid's blanket that he has 100% already purchased, you're welcome.
And that's it. Let him come deliver this and meet this new daughter and maybe unpack the 800 things that have happened in their lives lately.]
no subject
["Hey. You can let U.A. handle her expenses, alright? I'll take it, though."]
[Normally, past 9:30 Aizawa was off exhausting himself with night patrols. After all, teaching didn't leave him much time for hero work. Darkness set on the town and he went off to his other job. It gave him an edge in ambush operations. He liked working nights. The fact he's responding quickly means he's not working. He's actually lounging on the couch in the faculty area of the dorms with his phone in hand and a cat magazine resting on his chest. He was domestic now. How terrible.]
no subject
But it's almost 10, far too late for a little girl to be up, and so he just blinks at Aizawa with his magazine for a couple seconds before he actually comes into the lounge area, blanket folded up under his arm. Hello, he's here, etc.]
You look relaxed! [he's never said these words to Aizawa in that order before?? hmm.]
no subject
[He's not as surprised to see that extremely tall skeletal man peer around the corner. Not even a loud "I am here!" to his name. Well, Aizawa supposed, it was late. For a normal person. He sets his magazine back down on his chest, casually, like there was no need for him to get up yet.]
I'm on babysitting duty. [Which is to say he's technically not relaxed. The main way he can feel relaxed is from the fact he's technically doing a job here. It's a job that prevents him from being out in the streets, a cushy job, but still a job.]
[(Also, since the principal gave it to him, a job he Could Not Refuse)]
Were you that excited to bring the blanket over? [since that's clearly the reason All Might is here. Nothing about the hectic week they've had, or emotions, or anything like that. The logical way to approach it was that they'd talked about the blanket, All Might brought the blanket, it's as simple as that. It's not like they just haven't gotten to see each other in a while. Aizawa would even say he was too busy to properly miss the other hero.]
[Then again, Aizawa is also very, very good at denying himself things he liked out of a sense of duty, no matter how much he could criticize it in another person.]