Work Text:
"Really? I thought it was a calm mission!"
Chuuya just blinked slowly as she closed the door behind herself, then left her hat on the rack.
Fine, it was the day before Christmas, but work was work and she couldn't just tell Mori not to give her a dangerous mission because of the holiday. It was dumb. She was working—it was the mafia. And maybe it was just fair, because Chuuya worked a lot, was amazing and loyal, but business didn't wait for anyone. What had to be done, had to be done. There wasn't another way.
However, she understood that arriving home—well, Chuuya's apartment that Dazai decided to unofficially move into didn't mean it was their home—almost at midnight with her clothes dirty with blood while Dazai waited for her with food—that she didn't cook, but bought, of course, with Chuuya's money—wasn't exactly ideal. Not when Chuuya lied, saying the mission was easy, quick and calm.
Eliminating people wasn't exactly calm.
But, come on, Chuuya's job was in the mafia, Dazai had to understand; it wasn't like Dazai hadn't been in the mafia herself. So fuck it.
"Look at you! What happened to your hair?" Dazai asked in the most dramatic tone ever as she came closer. "Oh, Lucifer, did you take a blood bath or what? Such a dirty dog."
Chuuya scowled at her. "I was working. Not like someone I'm looking at right now…" she muttered, passing by her to lean against the wall and take off her shoes.
Dazai followed her anyway. In that moment, the puppy came from wherever it had been to jump at Chuuya's legs, tail wagging as it barked happily.
"Hi, hm, I missed you, princess," Chuuya petted her, smiling just a tiny bit. But the puppy clearly wasn't done; she stood on her back legs and pawed at her knees, sniffing at her clothes. "No, no, princess, be a good girl and move, mommy wants to take a bath."
The puppy didn't understand anyway. Chuuya really wondered how people made dogs obey so easily; she had had this puppy for two years and it still didn't follow instructions most of the time. And Chuuya didn't want to yell at her, but usually that was the only way to make her obey. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that the puppy began to lick her pants.
"No," Chuuya said firmly, raising her voice. "Go. Go. Don't do that."
That, and only that, made the puppy move back, ears down.
Chuuya sighed and took off her gloves. "Did you already eat?" She left the dirty gloves on a small table and walked slowly to the bathroom as she unbuttoned her shirt.
Silence.
"Dazai?" Chuuya looked over her shoulder.
But there was just silence. That little shit.
Chuuya turned around. "Dazai, I'm talking to you."
Dazai blinked, as if out of a trance. "Ah?"
"Did you already eat?"
"Nope! I was waiting for Chuuya."
"Dumbass. What if I came back later?"
"Well, I'd wait more." Dazai shrugged one shoulder, hands behind her back. She had that small smile that made Chuuya wonder if there was something wrong or if she was just overthinking it.
Deciding on the overthinking option, Chuuya turned around and walked to the bathroom. The only lights were the ones on the Christmas tree and the decorations, but the house, in general, was dark and cold. Actually, Chuuya had forgotten to take a coat with her to the mission and had been freezing; because of that, she prepared the tub with warm water.
As the tub was filled, she stood by the sink. She left her shirt there, her belt, her choker, then her pants. When she was going to take off her bra, she stopped. She leaned closer to the mirror. She moved the strap of her bra to the side—that. Just under it, she saw tiny red dots; at first, she thought it was just her freckles and that the bra was too tight, but no. There were even some little pimples, all over the place where the strap had been.
How did she not notice it before?
Chuuya frowned at her reflection, touching her skin. She checked the other side. The same.
And fine, she was used to having some pimples here and there, but was this a sign her bra was not exactly a good one?
She sighed and reached behind to unclasp the bra. Then, she took off her underwear. She was going to move to the tub, but stayed for a bit longer, looking at herself in the mirror. Anyway, before she could start to think of any flaw her mind could point out, she walked to the tub.
As if the universe hated her, when she finally got in the tub, finally relaxing, she heard the door being opened. She hadn't locked it, because there was no need; it wasn't like she was with a stranger. Chuuya submerged a little more, sighing. The water was warm and it felt like a massage for her muscles; she wanted to be alone, just a bit. But of course, Dazai had other plans.
When Chuuya looked at her, Dazai just blinked at her.
Dazai didn't move from the door, just showing her head and a small smile. As if asking for permission. As if Dazai ever did that. That woman just took and took, never asked—okay, fine, that was an exaggeration. Or maybe not. It was complex.
"Just come in," Chuuya muttered and looked away. She leaned her head back against the edge and closed her eyes.
Oh.
That was life.
She heard Dazai's steps getting slowly closer. Then, some more rustling until it stopped. By the way the light that filtered through her eyelids got dimmed, she guessed Dazai was sitting on the edge of the tub. But she didn't open her eyes to make sure. Not that it was necessary anyway.
"Some of your coworkers came by earlier," Dazai said quietly. "They asked for you, said they were going to celebrate and invited you. I guess they didn't know you were working."
"Hm."
"But Chuuya didn't come home when she told me she would, so I thought…" Dazai trailed off.
There was no need for words.
In any case, Chuuya knew Dazai wasn't going to say it. But Chuuya knew it. Dazai thought Chuuya had finished her mission and gone to celebrate with them. Which was so ridiculous Chuuya snorted, opening her eyes just to give Dazai a look. Because, fine, they weren't dating, but there was something between them, they both knew it. Please, they fucked, they cuddled, they basically lived together, Dazai called her all those awful pet names, Chuuya took care of that mackerel, they kissed goodbye, woke up most of the time together…
There was something.
What?
Who knew.
But even if Dazai was annoying most of the time, endlessly teased her, or made her lose her temper, she didn't feel like celebrating with her coworkers. It wasn't personal. Their celebrations often included a lot of alcohol, talking shit, and other idiotic stuff. While she just wanted to be at home; celebrating with Dazai could mean nothing more than eating, drinking, maybe watching a movie and then sleeping.
And maybe, just maybe, she preferred spending time with Dazai.
But that was a maybe.
Chuuya reached out and waited for Dazai to take her hand. Dazai's skin was cold—usually, it always was cold; she didn't know why. Looking Dazai in the eye, she took her hand and pressed a kiss to it. She didn't say anything, because words would sound awkward, because words were never enough, never right. And because she knew Dazai was just testing whatever people called telepathy, or whatever magic Dazai had to read her mind, to know her. A magic that also made her be read.
Just as things were supposed to be, Dazai leaned down, balancing over her, and kissed her lips. Chuuya shifted enough so her neck didn't hurt from the position; her hand went to the back of Dazai's head, pulling her a little closer, drinking the dramatic gasp Dazai let out for almost falling into the tub.
Once they parted, when Chuuya looked at those big brown eyes swallowing her whole, Chuuya felt utterly tired. She wasn't sure why, and it wasn't like she wasn't already feeling tired—just that now she felt like she could fall asleep right there. Her eyelids felt heavier, way heavier.
Chuuya let her go and rested back against the edge again.
"Did Chuuya know shrimps have their hearts in their heads?" Dazai tilted her head to the side, grinning. "Now it makes sense why Chuuya thinks with her heart sometimes."
Chuuya blinked very slowly, then yawned. "What the fuck are you even talking about now?"
"Their hearts are like here," Dazai pointed to the back of her neck. "More or less."
She wasn't sure why she was confused; Dazai was the one to throw random facts without context. Chuuya should be used to it already.
"And all their organs float in their blood because they don't have arteries, isn't that funny?"
"…Funny is a word…" Chuuya murmured, blinking a few times to keep her eyes open.
"Also, I just found another animal with blue blood," Dazai added happily, "octopuses! First slugs and now octopuses? Wow."
Chuuya stared at her, half hearing, half trying not to fall asleep. "Hm."
Dazai batted her lashes; Chuuya saw her mouth opening and closing, but she couldn't make out the words. "Come on, you're gonna get all wrinkled like a raisin."
Chuuya nodded then.
It took her a few long moments to get out of the tub; it wasn't that she felt weak, but her body felt really heavy at the moment. Dazai made a whole show just because Chuuya wet her skirt—but in Chuuya's defense, it wasn't her fault that Dazai decided to use a long skirt. After it, Dazai finally helped her get dried, a little bit of touching here and there that Chuuya decided not to mind because she was too exhausted to indulge in whatever Dazai wanted to do.
In the bedroom, Dazai didn't let Chuuya get dressed by herself.
"Chuuya's my teddy bear, so I'll get her dressed the way I want," Dazai said, opening the closet doors.
Chuuya gave her a look and sat on the bed, holding onto the towel around herself tightly. It was cold—she was trembling a little.
Of course, Dazai chose that dumb pajama Chuuya bought when she was drunk. It was blue with little bunnies all over; on the shirt, there was a big bunny, a cute one. Chuuya felt ridiculous wearing it, she wasn't sure why. Maybe because she wasn't a child; she was a mafioso, for fuck's sake, she just killed people off—using cute things didn't seem to suit her. But she indulged just because Dazai seemed all happy in the end.
Tsk.
Doing things for that idiot.
Though she couldn't help it. There was something in the way Dazai's big brown eyes lit up, in the way her cheeks flushed ever so slightly, how her smile made her whole face soften, how she looked at Chuuya like she was the most beautiful person ever. It made Chuuya's blood feel like heavy and thick hot honey. It made her feel…
She didn't know.
Annoyed? Furious?
…With the need of punching something. Or maybe squeezing it. She wasn't sure. She felt aggressive for some reason.
Deciding she was too tired for anything, Chuuya just yanked Dazai down by her collar, inhaling her sweet perfume before cupping her cheeks—Dazai's cheeks were just a little warm, and suddenly a little pink too. Chuuya simply stood up on her toes and kissed her. Thankfully, it made her feel less aggressive, calmer, like a thousand little sparks were in her chest.
"Let's eat?" Dazai asked when she pulled back.
Chuuya nodded.
Well, maybe she felt aggressive because she was hungry.
Food was good. Delicious even. Dazai admitted she bought most of the food, and to Chuuya's surprise, Dazai had actually cooked—just a few things, but she had. That was a lot. Chuuya feared for her kitchen every time Dazai entered. But what she said she did—some rice and apparently some kind of chicken—was good.
"It's a little salty, but…" Chuuya murmured. "Don't get in the kitchen again, thank you."
"That bad?!" Dazai whined.
"No. It's fine. But I fear for my kitchen's well-being."
"Hey! I'm trying!"
"Don't."
Chuuya didn't expect Dazai to offer to clean the dishes, but she let her do so. In the meantime, she sat on the couch, petting her puppy while staring at the Christmas tree blankly. When she leaned back on the couch, she felt a little cold. She didn't understand why it was cold; there was heating in the house. Surely it was on… right?
She stood up to check it.
It wasn't turned on.
Now it made sense.
When she was going to turn it on—
"No, no, no, leave it like that," Dazai quickly said, wiping her hands on a cloth and walking to her.
"Uh? It's cold as fuck. I'm freezing."
"Chuuya," Dazai gently grabbed Chuuya's hands, "you have a fireplace and don't use it? Uh-uh."
"Fuck the fireplace, I'm freezing—"
"Come on, come on, come on," Dazai whined, wrapping her arms around Chuuya's shoulders.
Chuuya rolled her eyes, and her head hurt a little at it. Damn it. She went back, then sat on the couch and watched Dazai turn the fireplace on.
It was funny.
Dazai was determined to light it up with wood, not using a damn lighter for it. So it took her several minutes.
"Why? If ancient people could, why can't I…" Dazai muttered, grinding the two wooden branches hard.
"Uh, who knows. You should ask them," Chuuya teased as she petted the puppy.
"Ha ha, so funny."
"I know, I know." She chuckled.
"Don't laugh at me! Chuuya!" Dazai turned a little her head to glare at Chuuya.
Chuuya smirked. "Now, don't yell, be a good girl and focus so I don't freeze my ass."
Dazai huffed and turned around. After a long, dramatic show of grinding the wooden branches, she visibly gave up and went to the kitchen for a lighter. Then she stared at the fireplace for a few seconds and went back to the kitchen. Chuuya felt amused by her weird behavior, but when Dazai came back with a piece of paper, Chuuya felt a little proud of Dazai's idea. Dazai knelt down and ripped the paper into small pieces, put it under the wood, and lit it.
"Good job," Chuuya said, smirking at her.
Dazai huffed and stood up. "I would have lit it without a lighter, but you doubted my skills," she said, making a face. She left the lighter aside and sat next to Chuuya.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say…" Chuuya leaned against her, resting her head on Dazai's shoulder. "I still think the heating is better, but well."
"Chuuya has me to warm up—my body warmth, I mean." Dazai wrapped an arm around Chuuya's shoulder, pulling her closer.
"Of course."
"I'm better than a fireplace or heating," she added quietly.
"Of course you are…" Chuuya closed her eyes, relaxing against her.
"When is one supposed to say Merry Christmas? Today or tomorrow?"
"Whenever you want, honey," Chuuya murmured, her voice sleepy.
There was silence. Then Dazai pressed her cheek against Chuuya's hair.
"Merry Christmas, then."
"Merry Christmas, idiot."
"Hey! It was a sweet moment."
Chuuya looked at her and blinked, deadpanning. In any case, she leaned closer and pressed a kiss to Dazai's pouty lips before resting her head on her shoulder again. "Shut up."