Chapter Text
Chuuya had been waiting.
And waiting, and waiting, and waiting.
For awhile, he was doubting they were even on the same page. Maybe Dazai was just that oblivious, or maybe he was just that stupid.
Chuuya never actually thought Dazai was stupid. He’s actually one of the smartest people Chuuya knows. He only goes off about it because sometimes he just can’t be assed to come up with better insults.
Was Chuuya only tricking himself into thinking that Dazai liked him in a romantic way? Was he really so desperate for attention that he was fooling himself into believing something like that?
Those feelings had lasted him a week. The next time they were alone, back at Chuuya’s apartment, he had noticed the way Dazai looked at him. The brunet probably thought he was fooling everybody whenever he wore that expression of complete emptiness; that was only the sign that he was hiding something and for Chuuya to look closer.
But he could see it.
He could tell.
Chuuya himself wasn’t stupid, and he knew what Dazai looked like when he liked someone. He had seen it years ago, when he talked about his best friend in passing. He could tell; Dazai wasn’t as hard to read as he thought he was.
…At least, to Chuuya.
When he met gazes with the other and was met with a blank stare and a bored phrase of, , “What are you looking at?”, Chuuya could just tell.
Because he watched Dazai at other times. He watched how he would trail off, stumble a little when he needed to find his words. He watched how he waltzed into Chuuya’s apartment sometimes, claiming he was “coming to keep Chibikko company” when in reality, Chuuya knew he was just lonely and wanted company.
It probably wasn’t easy to see from just anyone’s point of view, but Chuuya prided himself on knowing his ex-partner far more well than any of those ADA freaks. There were some things he could just tell.
As for now, when Dazai had shuffled into his living room after taking a shower and plopped down next to him, asking if he wanted to watch a movie.
“Are you sure you can sit still to even watch a movie, mackerel?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m actually kind of tired tonight. ~ Don’t you just wanna relax, hatrack?”
So Chuuya sighed and threw the remote in his direction and rolled his eyes when Dazai caught it easily. Dazai was actually pretty picky with movies, so he was surprised when he actually handed the remote back, telling Chuuya to pick.
“Haah? You want me to pick? You always tell me my choices are shit and make me pick a different one!”
“I’ve already watched everything I already wanted to watch! Just put something on for me. ~”
Chuuya glanced to the side, looking up at Dazai with one eyebrow raised and a questioning look in his eyes. He could see laughter hidden within the younger’s, however, searching Dazai’s coffee-colored hues for any sense of reason.
And Chuuya decided he couldn’t wait any longer. He figured if he didn’t do this now, Dazai was never going to get over his own feelings because the bastard barely knew how to even go about them, much less talk about them or express them.
His own gaze roamed over Dazai’s, taking in the way his t-shirt fell slightly off his shoulder, how there were still a couple of water droplets clinging to his hair, the way his legs were crossed and his hands were in his lap because he didn’t want Chuuya to see him fidget –
Dazai was such a lost case, staring at him with round, questioning eyes like that.
“What’s up, Chibikko? ~ Do I have something on my face?”
In the next three seconds, Chuuya had turned his body and curled his hand into Dazai’s t-shirt, then pulled him forward so he could easily meet Dazai’s lips with his own.
It wasn’t super romantic. It wasn’t on some date, fireworks didn’t explode in the background, Chuuya hadn’t gone and confessed before doing the damn thing because that wasn’t the sort of person Chuuya was, and he didn’t need to do all that.
Sure, Dazai’s lips were chapped because he didn’t drink enough fucking water, and that was okay. Dazai was cold, but Chuuya was used to that. The most entertaining part about it was the way that the detective had froze, hadn’t responded in any way other than the stiffening of his muscles and the slight catch of his breath.
At least he got it done.
It wasn’t anything special, just a press of their lips to test the waters; he figured Dazai would be skittish about this sort of thing, and he didn’t want to scare the dumbass off. After a couple of seconds, he pulled away, and was pretty satisfied with himself when he saw the expression of shock on Dazai’s face.
Nobody had ever managed to bring an expression like that around, and it was pretty damn funny if Chuuya had to say.
The brunet stared at him with wide eyes, his lips pressed shut and his shoulders hunched. He almost looked like he was trying to make himself smaller, trying to figure out what just happened, but Chuuya wasn’t going to let him think for too long.
He had always thought that Dazai thought too much.
“Hey – Don’t think too hard about it. I knew you weren’t going to do shit about it, but I can tell how you’re feeling, bastard; even if you don’t realize it,” Chuuya sighed, leaning forward and placing a hand on Dazai’s knee. He was pretty proud of the faintest blush that crept up the back of Dazai’s ears, smirking in response. Could anyone else do this to him?
To his relief, Dazai was beginning to smile back at him, despite the smile itself being a little shaky. He knew Dazai always talked about committing suicide with a beautiful maiden, and that had always ben his main goal, but Chuuya was pretty sure that thought was out the window by now.
He waited for Dazai to find the words to say because he wasn’t an asshole, goddamnit, and just watched with a curious gaze as his mouth opened and closed like a shitty mackerel.
Chuuya wanted to laugh.
Finally, “….How long were you planning to do that?”
“Like I said – I didn’t really plan it, it just sort of… happened. And I know what you look like when you’re lovesick, and must I say – kind of pathetic. I wasn’t going to stand around and wait like a –“
“Hey, Chuuya?”
“Hm?”
“Do you think you could maybe do that again?”