Work Text:
kunikida doppo enjoyed having a schedule.
correction.
kunikida doppo depended on his schedule.
without it his life would be in utter disarray.
every bit of his day was
scheduled
. at least, in an ideal world it was. the only thing that truly felt consistent about his day were his lunches.
“don’t you ever eat anything else?” dazai asks, plucking the carefully packed wrap from kunikida’s bag.
kunikida didn’t want to give dazai the attention he wanted. he needed to stay on task after all, lunch was not
scheduled for another hour. he does not reply, only snatching the wrap back from dazai’s bandaged hands.
“no seriously, i feel like you’re going to get sick one day. you can’t have the same meal every day.” kunikida’s typing stopped, the first sign of his frustration.
“then i’ll have something different.” kunikida had already planned for a situation like this, it happened every year or so, he would choose a food he enjoyed, perhaps even one he was hyperfixated on, eat it daily as apart of his schedule, then he would eventually stop enjoying it, or the hyperfixation would fade, and then he would become repulsed by the food, never to eat it again. then he would repeat the process with a different food. it’s quite simple really.
“it can’t be that simple can it?” dazai hops up onto kunikida’s desk, sitting down on some loose paperwork.
kunikida grunts before returning his attention to his work. time was of the essence, he could not waste his work time. a short lived silence falls over the office.
“what’s that string around your neck?” dazai asks,his voice teasing, leaning towards kunikida.
kunikida does not check, he is already sure of what dazai is speaking of. “that is my ribbon, i wear it everyday dazai. today is no exception.”
“not that! the other one.” kunikida stops working abruptly, bringing his hand up to his neck, feeling around gently.
the smooth familiar string of the chew stim around his neck greeted his fingertips. “it’s nothing.” kunikida says as he swifty tucks the string away.
“that sure is something.” dazai comments, leaning in further, bandaged hand outstretched.
kunikida pulls his chair back, the bottoms scraping against the tile floor of the agency office. he winces at the sound, repressing a stim. “dazai, it’s nothing.”
dazai’s eyes light up as he leans back onto kunikida’s desk, a teasing smile forming on his face. “kunikida-kun wears jewelry!” he announces, his voice teasing.
“dazai. it is not jewel-” kunikida attempts to defend himself, but is cut off.
“kunikida-kun likes to wear jewelry.” dazai repeats, a shit eating grin spreading across his face.
“dazai.” kunikida’s voice is firm. “this” he pulls at the string around his neck for emphasis. “is not jewelry.”
“prove it.” dazai has a smirk all across his face.
kunikida knows that this is just more of dazai’s antics, that he should return to work and forget about the whole thing, but it feels wrong to just let dazai get away with this. pulling at the string around his neck, he reveals the entire string.
dangling from his hand is a dark string with a red rubber piece at the end. “see?” it sways as he moves towards dazai.
the older man hums. “so that’s all it is then?”
kunikida nods, not finding himself wanting to speak.
“why hide it?” dazai has grown serious, looking at the other man with curious intent.
“it is.” kunikida pauses, why did he hide it? perhaps because that was how we were raised, or because he was afraid. there were many reasons. “i believe it is unprofessional.”
dazai looks at him with an expression he cannot read, “if it’s what helps you out, then it is not unprofessional. that's the truth.” dazai then slides off kunikida’s desk, departing from the room.