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“This is so fucking stupid…” Chuuya muttered as he cut an apple into slices.
“Oh come on, live a little! Trust me, slug, it’ll be fun,” Dazai was sprawled upside down over the couch, his feet dangling in the air. From this angle it looked like Chuuya was walking across the ceiling of his apartment. Well, he could do so anyways without having to hang upside down.
Chuuya huffed, “Whatever, man. You’re going first though.”
“Why? So you can chicken out?”
A look of frustration and embarrassment filled Chuuya’s face, “Pft- no! It’s so I can revel in your pain and anxiety, obviously,” he walked towards Dazai, carrying a tray with an array of items. It displayed needles, a lighter, a bowl of ice cubes and a handful of apple slices.
“Nice save,” Dazai snickered before sitting himself upwards, the world spinning as he did so, “Did you watch the tutorial?”
“Yeah, yeah. Though I still don’t know why we need apple slices??” Confused, Chuuya sat beside Dazai on the couch, placing the tray on the coffee table.
“For a snack obviously! And because poor little Chu-chu is gonna need something to stop him from crying,” Dazai teased in a condescending and baby-ish tone, pinching and squishing Chuuya’s cheeks.
“Piss off! If anything, you’ll be the one crying,” He rolled his eyes and slapped Dazai’s hands away, picking up the needle and lighter, “So, where do you want pierced again?”
Dazai poked out his tongue, his words were slurred and mumbled, “My tongue! Oh and my ears.”
Chuuya’s cheeks warmed, staring at Dazai, imagining what that would look like. He sighed and shrugged, “Sure, what first?” He lit the lighter and placed the sewing needle above the flame, sterilizing it. He was pretty sure this was all going to end in a disaster, but what can he say? He was bored.
The past few weeks have been nothing but work, and work, and more work. Even after Dazai’s seventeenth birthday, they were both thrown more responsibilities than ever before. This weekend was the only break the two got before they once again get swept up in the storm that’s called working in the mafia, and frankly they didn’t know what to do with themselves. Neither had the social battery to go out somewhere or plan some prank to terrorize a naïve mafia member. As soon as Friday afternoon rolled around, Dazai and Chuuya barged in Chuuya’s apartment and have been doing nothing but lazing around all weekend. That was until Dazai came across a DIY home piercing video on God knows what website.
Chuuya had been wanting to get a piercing for a long while, ever since he was fifteen. But he never had the chance, or the guts. Just something about a needle being stabbed into him, willingly, made his stomach churn. Of course, he never told anyone his potential fear of needles, and he certainly wouldn’t tell Dazai no matter how much this situation made him want to run away. But just something about Dazai’s eager eyes and teasing smile made him give in. He wouldn’t trust a random stranger with a needle to pierce his flesh. But Dazai. He could trust Dazai.
And besides, Chuuya didn’t have a chance to get Dazai a proper birthday present. All he gave the bandaged man was a shopping cart full of canned crab and a home-made birthday card that had the words “HOPE THIS BIRTHDAY IS YOUR LAST ♡” scrawled hastily over the front. He wonders if—
“Hellooo?? Anyone home?” Hands waved in front of his face, snapping Chuuya’s train of thought. Oh, he must have been spacing out again. That’s been happening a lot lately. He looked towards Dazai with annoyance.
“I said I want my tongue pierced first! That way I can get it out of the way and focus on the pain of my ears being pierced afterwards,” he seemed proud of his little plan, determined.
“If you say so,” Chuuya reached for the bowl of ice and handed it to Dazai, who popped an ice cube in his mouth and chewed. Chuuya startled, “You’re not meant to eat it, dipshit! You have to keep it on your tongue!”
Dazai’s laughter filled the room as he grabbed for another cube of ice, properly doing what he was told for once. Dazai knew what the ice was for, he just found it hilarious when his slug got all riled up over nothing.
Chuuya finished heating up the needle and began to sit closer to the brunette, borderline sitting on his lap. It was an awkward angle, one where Chuuya wasn’t even sure he would be able to pierce Dazai’s tongue.
Dazai took notice of the scepticism in the ginger’s face and with pink cheeks he pulled him up in his lap. Chuuya’s face flushed, but he otherwise said nothing. Dazai’s hands rested on Chuuya’s hip’s and they both paused for a moment before Chuuya spoke up.
“Alright. Ready?” His brows furrowed, a hint of anxiety swirling in his gut as Dazai childishly poked out his tongue.
Dazai noticed the pinch in Chuuya’s eyebrows, his eyes filled with mirth, “What’s wrong, Chuuuuuya? Getting cold feet? If I knew any better, I would have thought you were scar--,” his patronizing words were cut short as the needle plunged through his tongue. Dazai let out a yelp, his face wincing in pain. Chuuya reached over for the tongue piercing Dazai had chosen and quickly placed it in after removing the needle.
“Jesus! Warn a guy, would you?” Dazai grumbled before reaching for the backing.
“Deserved it,” Chuuya smirked, hopping off Dazai’s lap to gather the ear-piercing materials.
They repeated the piercing process twice. Chuuya sterilizing the needle, Dazai whining over how cruel Chuuya had just been, Chuuya handing more ice cubes over, Dazai whining over the blood in his mouth, Chuuya sitting on his lap, Dazai whining over the metallic taste of the piercing, Chuuya placing the apple slice behind his ear, Dazai STILL whining. And whining. And whining. All until Chuuya couldn’t handle the grating voice of his partner anymore and once again plunged the needle right through Dazai’s flesh.
It wasn’t until Chuuya was cleaning the needles and tidying up the mess did he realize that all of Dazai’s whining and complaining… actually helped. Although really fucking annoying, it took his mind off of the needles and the anxiety inducing process of it all. Huh.
But. Now it was his turn. He swallowed anxiously.
Chuuya sat there lost in thought, when he felt two bandaged arms wind around his shoulders from behind.
“Your turn,” Dazai said in a sing-song tone, taking the needles off Chuuya and walking around the couch. Earlier, after Dazai had all the piercings he desired, he went to the bathroom to inspect the new additions to his face. The bandaged man was quite happy, ecstatic to see the faces of the other executives and Mori.
“So! Where would you like to be stabbed today, shortstack?” Dazai cheerfully asked.
“My lips.”
Dazai’s eyes widened, just a fraction, “Oh?” he smirked, conjuring all the different nicknames he could within a second, “That’s fun.”
If the ginger had been paying attention to his partner, then he would have noticed the way Dazai’s cheeks tinged red, or the way he stared at him for a little longer than necessary.
Chuuya tensed as Dazai shifted beside him. His palms began to sweat, a lump formed in his throat.
Dazai began to sterilize the needle. His heart rate accelerated.
As seconds ticked by, Chuuya’s breath came faster, borderline hyperventilating.
His senses were muffled.
Dazai looked up from the needle and startled. A rare look of confusion and worry flashed across his face.
“Woah. Hey, Chuuya, calm down.” His voice wasn’t gentle, but it soothed Chuuya’s nerves just a touch.
His breathing slowed down but his palms were still shaking like a leaf, his eyes were wide and unfocused. Memories of cold and sterile white rooms filled his vision.
Dazai pressed his lips in a thin line, gently grasping the sides of Chuuya’s head and turning him towards himself.
“Hey. Look at me,” Chuuya flinched, barley, and glanced at Dazai, “You don’t have to if you do want to. No-one’s going to force you to get these piercings. If someone asks why I got some and you didn’t we could say that I was too lazy or that you would have rather it done by a professional.”
This rare display of care seemed to bring Chuuya back down to Earth. He reached up for Dazai’s hands, still shaking, and pulled them into his lap.
“No. I still... I still want them done.” Chuuya muttered. Although he felt like he was going to throw up, he wanted to do this. Like he said earlier, he’d rather trust Dazai with this than a stranger. Even if it’s going to hurt more.
Dazai squinted, searching his face, and ultimately decided what he saw was good enough.
“Alright! Then, I’m gonna need you to lie down, pipsqueak,” he said nonchalantly, though not without a small hint of care. It was obvious he was pretending like that small moment of vulnerability between them didn’t happen. But why? That was perfect mockery material.
Nonetheless, Chuuya did as he was told as Dazai silently sterilized the needle once again. He waited.
Huh. No condescending remarks? Or cruel teasing? Strange.
Deciding to not look a gift horse in the mouth, Chuuya reached for an ice cube (how they were not completely melted baffled him). He placed them over his lips, the cold sensation grounding him. Closing his eyes, he focused on the chill and the condensation of the frozen cube.
However, his eyes snapped open when he felt two lanky legs straddle his thighs. Chuuya placed the ice cube aside and rested his hands on Dazai’s hips, resisting the urge grip on for dear life.
“Ready?” Dazai leaned in close, needle prepared.
“Yes.” No. The dread was eating at him.
Chuuya took a few deep breaths and squeezed his eyes shut. Tightened his hands around Dazai’s hips when Dazai gently held his lip. He braced for impact. Dreading that sharp painful sting when---
___________________
Chuuya stood there in front of the mirror, admiring the two protruding metal balls poking out from beneath his lip.
A day ago, he was petrified. He had considered chickening out but the determination overpowered the fear. He overestimated how much it would have hurt, the sting wasn’t even that bad.
Although this didn’t completely eradicate his fear, it certainly lessened it. A few years ago, and Chuuya was 90% sure he would have fainted just from the thought of being near a needle, medical or not. The sheep used to tease him for it, so Chuuya would always steer clear of the topic.
Speaking of teasing, surprisingly Dazai still hasn’t made any jokes on Chuuya’s very obvious phobia of needles. Don’t get him wrong, Chuuya’s eternally grateful for it, but it just seems a little confusing.
“Done checking yourself out, Slug? We have a meeting to get to, and frankly I want to show off our new accessories,” Dazai snickered.
“Oh god. Ane-san is going to rip us to shreds when she sees us.” At this sudden realization Chuuya grimaced.
“Correction. Rip you to shreds. She could care less about what I do with my body.”
“Oh fuck off,” Chuuya punched Dazai in the arm, rolling his eyes as he did so.
The two exited the apartment together, proudly showing off probably one of their most stupid ideas ever.