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Dazai flopped backwards, letting out a long sigh as he fell, ending in a small grunt when he hit the mattress. The apartment was so empty and quiet when Chuuya wasn't there. It had been nice at first, but now it was just boring -and maybe just maybe, ever so slightly lonely.
He rolled over onto his stomach and buried his face in an orange scented pillow, kicking his legs into the air like a giddy schoolgirl. He could call Chuuya if he wanted to.
His partner had probably landed in Florence by now.
It was almost a shame that Dazai didn't really feel like calling him. The brunet laid there in silence with his face flat against the pillow, gnawing on the inside of his cheek.
The apartment was really quiet though.
And Dazai could do with some good entertainment. After all, he had just spent the whole day with Akutagawa and, good God, that kid wouldn't know a joke if it kicked him in the face.
As he weighted the pros and cons, his phone began to ring, the sound of the obnoxiously high yap of a cartoon puppy causing Dazai to groan into his pillow. "Can't you ever let me decide anything on my own?" Dazai grumbled into the pillow, his words coming out muffled like his mouth was stuffed with cotton. "Stupid dog.".
He let it ring longer than he could have, pretending he wasn't going to answer before flinging out a long arm towards the nightstand, bony fingers groping blindly for his phone.
He didn't even need to look to know who it would be, that obnoxious ringtone was for one person and one person only.
Chuuya Nakahara, otherwise known in Dazai's contacts as Pint-sized malewife. Dazai didn't even bother to raise his head after accepting the call, simply setting his phone beside him and leaving it at that.
"You okay?" Chuuya asked his slightly rough and definitely fatigued voice verging on concern, ick. "What took you so long?". "M' fine," Dazai mumbled into his pillow, knowing what his partner was worried about. "M'bored".
Dazai could hear Chuuya let out a tiny, relieved sigh and took it as an okay to commence complaining shrilly to the ginger who most definitely had a pounding headache.
"It's so boringggg here without Chibi!" the brunet whined, turning his head just enough so that Chuuya would be able to hear him well. "I need my daily dose of stupidity, or I might get too smart for this world! Then I'd have no choice but to ascend! And what would my poor doggy do without his master?!".
"I don't think that's something you have to worry about." Chuuya replied, his tone toeing the line between slightly amused and extremely ticked off.
There was a small sound on Chuuya's end, like a chair being drawn back and someone sitting down, but Dazai didn't care to look at what was most assuredly a video chat, not yet at least.
Though, he was curious about how his partner would look now that he had just finished an eighteen-hour flight from Yokohama to Florence, not to mention that he was alongside Paul Verlaine of all people, but for now resting his head on his very comfortable -stolen from Chuuya- pillow took priority.
"So mean, Chuuya~" Dazai pouted, turning his head farther and shifting his phone so he could look at the screen. And sure enough, he was right. Chuuya sat in front of the camera in an expensive looking, bleach white hotel room, still damp from a shower, his mid-length ginger waves dripping on his bare shoulders.
"Stop using that fuckin' voice, it's too late for it." Chuuya grumbled, scrunching a product into his hair that made it turn into a wet version of the usual perfect curly waves. "And I have shit to do later.". Dazai raised his eyebrows. "What time is it for you?".
"Nine thirty." Chuuya replied dully, combing his hair back with his fingers and securing it in a loose bun. "And we just got here. It's three for you right?". "Mhm," Dazai said, his eyes sliding from Chuuya's collarbones down to the sparkle of bar piercings through his nipples.
They fell into a comfortable silence, Chuuya beginning his second skin routine of the day and Dazai gnawing on his lip as he watched his partner with a faint blush on his pallid cheeks. It almost felt like it was like it usually was, with the two of them in the same room, trying to finish up their routines so that they could cram in a couple of hours of sleep before getting back to work.
"How's it been with Verlaine?" Dazai asked, standing up from his bed and taking his phone with him in search of food, now that he felt he could eat. Chuuya gave a lazy shrug, rubbing balm on his lips that made them look like glossy red candy. "Not bad, he hasn't said much so far, he was sleeping on the plane here.".
"We got moeche for dinner, it was pretty good" Chuuya added with a sly smirk. "I might make some for you when we get back.". The brunet's face lit up, a wide grin spreading across his face and summoning dimples into his cheeks. "Really?!". "I said I MIGHT." the ginger repeated firmly. "If you behave.".
Dazai fluttered his eyelashes innocently. "I have no clue what Chuuya's talking about, I am the most well-behaved person to ever live.". Chuuya scoffed, rolling his -very pretty- duel toned eyes. "Bullshit, what about that one time you-".
"Did you hear something?" Dazai asked, cutting him off. "I could have sworn I heard a very little dog!". "Go to Hell." Chuuya snapped, standing up and pulling on a shirt, revealing that at some point he had gotten a navel piercing and hadn't told his partner.
"That's what I've been trying to do!" Dazai complained in reply, retrieving a container of leftover manju Chuuya had made before the trip -likely because he knew Dazai wouldn't eat anything on his own that wasn't something Chuuya made, and the brunet had been fixated on manju for the past few weeks.
Chuuya rolled his eyes again, the pretty crescent of ocean blue in his left eye catching the light and glittering like a stolen jewel. "Try harder!". "I AM! A certain SOMEONE just keeps stopping me!" Dazai griped in return, throwing himself onto the couch instead of returning to his bedroom, knowing that Chuuya would likely cook him alive when he returned from Italy if he got crumbs all over their bed. Chuuya was about to snap back but before he could, the door to his hotel room opened and a mellow accented voice spoke off-screen.
"Chuuya? Everything alright?" Verlaine asked, causing Dazai to scrunch up his nose like the scent of the blond's heavy eucalyptus cologne was wafting through the screen. Chuuya turned and flashed his self-proclaimed brother an award-winning smile learned from non-other than the late Walter Lippmann himself. "Yep, all good. D'you know when we're leaving?".
"Seven hours and thirty minutes." Verlaine answered, making Dazai mime gagging even though Verlaine couldn't see him and Chuuya wasn't paying attention. "So, at four?" Chuuya said, to confirm his math was correct. Verlaine must have nodded because Chuuya bestowed upon him another smile he didn't deserve. "Go get some sleep, I will too in a bit." the ginger told his older brother.
Verlaine hummed. "Alright. Sleep well Chuuya.". The door shut and Chuuya's attention was back to Dazai, where it should be. Dazai opened his mouth to insult the blond but before he could, Chuuya shot him a glare that sent hot fizzles down the brunet's spine. "Don't." Chuuya warned, standing up and flopping down on his own bed.
Dazai pouted and stuck out his tongue. "Chuuya's no funnnn~". "Shut up, Osamu." Chuuya said, closing his eyes and scrubbing a hand across his face with a long sigh. "I'm too sober to listen to you right now.". Dazai considered continuing to whine but decided against it in the end due to how jetlagged Chuuya must be feeling, instead he stuffed an entire manju into his mouth.
Chuuya heard the brunet's chewing and cracked open the eye that was all brown. "Those good?".
Dazai bobbed his head in agreement, if there were only very few things he'd never lie about, Chuuya being a good cook was one of them. Chuuya cracked a smile that made Dazai's cheeks redden and his stomach warm. Dazai was swallowing down the first manju and was about to reach for a second when Chuuya raised his eyebrows expectantly. "Thank you, Chuuya." the brunet said dully, his voice going flat, he would've said thank you on his own, eventually.
Chuuya sighed pleasantly, rolling over and pillowing his head on his arm. "Music to my ears. Think you could say that again?". "In your dreams." Dazai replied, snapping the lid of the container back on and standing up to return it to the fridge.
~*~
They fell into a comfortable silence once Dazai returned to his room, with Chuuya skimming the details of his job for the night and Dazai reluctantly working on his own paperwork for once, because it really couldn't wait another day. Chuuya yawned and rubbed his eyes, stretching out like a cat -something that never failed to endear him to the very soft spot Dazai had deep in his heart for the fluffy creatures.
"M'gonna sleep now." Chuuya said, voice thick with sleep as he tossed his pamphlet aside and nestled into the fluffy hotel blankets that Dazai knew for a fact were inferior to the ones he himself was snuggled in, after all, Dazai was extremely picky with what kinds of fabrics and textures got to touch his body and Chuuya would throw away nearly any amount of money to stop Dazai from complaining.
Dazai hummed and shifted his glasses, which were starting to slide from his nose. "Mmkay. Sweet dreams, Chuuya.". "Are you hanging up, or am I?" the ginger asked, his pretty eyes closed and his cheek squished against his wrist. "Neither." Dazai replied simply, turning a page and marking the one beneath it. Chuuya yawned again, his words coming out as thick and slow as molasses. "Mm, alright. G'night 'Samu.".
Dazai couldn't help but chuckle at how tired he sounded. "Good night Chuuya.".
It really didn't take long for Chuuya to fall asleep, just twenty seconds and he was out like a light, snoring softly with his wine-red lips parted slightly. Dazai chuckled again, quieter this time and murmured softly to his sleeping partner. "I love you Chuuya. Sleep well.".