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One sheep… two sheep… three sheep and then a white tiger that launched towards the woollen creatures and four sheep… five sheep… six sheep and—no, counting sheep wouldn’t help her fall asleep either, not this time. Even though her breathing had already slowed to a rhythmic series of inhaling and exhaling, all that Atsuko got were little bouts of unconsciousness until her eyes blinked open and the dip in the space beside her became prominent yet again.
Atsuko glanced over at where Dazai was perched next to her. He was certainly doing better than her, or at least, he started to fall asleep earlier than her. Startling in and out of sleep, mostly. He was never been much of a deep sleeper as Atsuko found out ever since they started to sleep with each other (in, well, both senses) and now was no difference.
In another fit of half-consciousness, Dazai rolled over until he was flat to her back and pulled her closer, until she was nicely curved into him and he could comfortably reach around her. His hand found her arm, fingers trailing up and down over the length, teasing towards a tickle. Atsuko sighed, from both the exhaustion of not being able to fall asleep and fondness, but primarily fondness, she daresay.
Dazai leaned forward, his breath on her lobe, and whispered in her ear, “I love you so much…”
Atsuko fought a smile at that, not knowing why because there was no one around to catch her beaming. And what a crime it would be, for one to be happy with their boyfriend’s reaffirmed love. Her saviour turned mentor turned friend turned boyfriend, it still made her heart skip a beat.
“I love you, too,” she replied and Dazai emitted a sound that came adorably close to a purr. He kept her in his embrace until real sleep overtook him once more, and then his slack muscles made him to roll backwards. It was his breathing that allows her to know he was gone somewhat back to sleep.
Atsuko reached out for her phone, turning the brightness down low so it wouldn’t bother Dazai and opened her photo album. She scrolled through a few adorable bunny pictures Kyouka sent her and found a few work-related ones too. Eventually, she set her phone aside again, figuring that she already had enough excitement the day before and being too active wouldn’t help her fall asleep.
Minutes pass and Dazai’s quiet snoring ceased. Atsuko stilled, anticipating him rolling over to spoon her again, and when he did, she immediately snuggled closer on her own accord. Dazai was a lot of things, and often enough, he could be quite cute, too. His hands went from her sides to her stomach, stroking the bare skin of her belly where her shirt rode up with his thumb.
His lips brushed against the shell of her ear and then he said, “I love sucking on your tiddies so much.”
What?
Atsuko’s eyes snapped open and she froze, staring at the ceiling above her without truly seeing anything. What was—? What did he just—? He loved what now, exactly?
She squirmed out of his grip and turned over, her hand lightly shaking at his shoulder until his eyes blearily blinked open. “Mmm? Something going on?” He asked, fresh sleep laced through voice.
Atsuko frowned, sitting up. “You—You just woke up?
Dazai pushed a few strands of hair away from his face. “Yeah,” he replied groggily, sitting up as well.
“So… So, you weren’t awake back then?”
“No, you just woke me up there, didn’t you?” Dazai tilted his head to the side, squinting to make her out in the dimness of their room. “What about it, though?”
Atsuko felt faint, stunned, like her head was as red as a tomato but also that all blood had drained from her face. “You have no idea what you just said to me?” She inquired, just to be sure, and swallowed.
Dazai wasn’t anything if not perceptive and he reached out to touch her shocked self’s arm. “No, I’ve no idea. I mean, what did I say?” He asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
“You—you said—” Atsuko wavered, realizing what it was she must say to him. She buried her face in her hands, feeling heat crawl from the tip of her toes to the top of her head. “You said that you love… that you…”
“That I love what?” Dazai implored, instinctively leaning closer when Atsuko’s words became unintelligible.
She averted her eyes from Dazai’s gaze and swore that no person was as crimson as she was right now. “That you 'love sucking on my tiddies’,” she finally squeaked, choking out the words to just to get them out there already.
A beat of silence.
Then, Dazai’s loud laughter rang through their apartment and Atsuko winced, as it would most likely bleed beyond that, to their fellow detective’s dorms. “I said what now?!” He exclaimed through peals of laughter.
Atsuko panicked, flailing her hands around in an attempt to get him to quiet down, which failed tremendously as Dazai was long gone. “Shh! You’re going to wake our neighbours!”
Dazai couldn’t have stopped laughing if he tried to, and nor would he have tried to do so. “Did I really say that to you in my sleep? I think that’s the smartest thing I’ve ever said!”
Atsuko resigned herself to her and their neighbour’s fate and simply waited until his laughter had died down to quiet chuckles. In the meantime, she couldn’t help her albeit apprehensive curiosity—what exactly had spurred him on to—unconsciously—say such a thing? “Why did you even say, well, say that? What were you dreaming about?” She wondered aloud.
Dazai scratched the back of his neck, mouth twisted in contemplation rather than grinning in glee at his inappropriate late-night musings. “I can’t really remember. I think it was about that seagull that was attacking us on that mission earlier?”
“Yeah, that was kinda funny now that I look back on it, wasn’t it?” Atsuko smiled inadvertently at the memory. Her smile fell just as far as it came, however. “Hold up—wasn’t that seagull chasing after Kunikida-kun? Kunikida-san makes you think about sucking on my—on my boobs?”
If any moment marked Dazai panicking, it was now. “No, no, no, no, no. Atsuko-kun, love, I’m always thinking about sucking on your tiddies—”
“Can we please stop saying it?” Atsuko asked desperately, feeling she might just die from the embarrassment of it all.
“It’s hardly my fault!” Dazai whined. “You just asked me what I was dreaming about and that seagull was the last thing I remember.”
“How is it not your fault? You said it to me in the first place!”
“Yes, but technically I was asleep, but… perhaps I would’ve said it when I was awake, too,” Dazai admitted, turning thoughtful near the end.
Atsuko, who decidedly did not want to entertain that conversation right now, laid back down on their futon and pulled the blanket back over them. “Alright, alright. I’m sorry for waking you up, can we just go back to sleep already?” She said, suspecting she wouldn’t get much sleep anyway, not after what had just occurred.
Atsuko was infinitely relieved when he complied without much of a fuss. It was only short-lived belief that he had his fun, however, because his head immediately went to rest on her chest. While she knew he just generally liked resting his head on her chest, she was pretty sure he was doing it on purpose now as he cuddled up against her. It didn’t prevent her from gently waving her hands through his hair, however.
And her ministrations ceased immediately when he said, “I don’t want to give you the wrong impression, though. I really do love—”
“Stop.”
“Honestly, why are you so flustered? You do realize that we’ve had—”
“Stop.”
Atsuko had initially hoped that the walls had blocked Dazai’s late night liveliness but knew as soon as they stepped into the office together that was not the case. Tanizaki, with bags under his eyes much like she had, approached them soon enough and after polite good mornings were exchanged, asked about it.
“So, Dazai-san, uh, Naomi-chan and I heard you last night and we, ah, couldn’t help wondering… what was so funny?”
Dazai leaned on his desk, grinning and looking more than ready to provide an answer. “Well, Tanizaki-kun, I’m glad you asked because—”
“Nothing,” Atsuko cut off, her voice a few pitches higher than usual, her cheeks redder than usual and her eyes fixed on a splash of coffee on the support beam behind Tanizaki so she wouldn’t have to make eye-contact with anyone. “There was—there was absolutely nothing that’s worth mentioning.”
Naomi caught Dazai’s eye. “Just some normal 2 AM fun, hm? Couldn’t sleep, too hot? Trouble taking your clothes off? You know, it can be quite hilarious when you can’t take your shirt off and you're just dumbly stuck in it…”
Dazai shared Naomi’s knowing eye. “Ah, yes, I’m familiar with what you mean but that’s not what was going on last night, unfortunately,” he replied, shaking his head wistfully.
Atsuko and Tanizaki did themselves the favour of pretending they had no idea what they were talking about it and started their workday.
And eventually, when Atsuko was out the office for a bit to attend to an errand, the first thing Dazai did was corner Kunikida at his desk. “Hello Kunikida-kun,” he called in a sing-song tone as Kunikida turned to him and eyed him warily. “Why don’t we play a game of guess what you remind me of?”