crowspace | For ninjou.

[Odasaku goes to bed feeling uneasy, like he's made a misstep or five but it's too late to take anything back even if he knew where he'd gone wrong.

In the morning he gets up early. The smell of fried egg is likely to wake Dazai, and he'll find Odasaku in the kitchen cooking an omelette.

It's important to feed house guests, especially ones with hangovers.]

[Dazai finally falls asleep, sober and filled with discomfort over both his position on the couch and with how he made Odasaku feel and react. He deserves more respect than someone just jumping on him and kissing him.

Still once he's out, he's out. He sleeps hard and half falls off the couch, but he does wake right away when the smell of food hits him. It's nice. It's not something he experiences pretty much ever. Just laying there and enjoying it helps him shake off the latent feelings from the night before. The kiss... he didn't forget. It's fuzzy, but he didn't forget, and he doesn't regret it. He wants to finish the job and make Odasaku understand.

Who knows.

He shoves himself off the couch and takes off his suit jacket and tie, trying to be as comfortable as possible for the confrontation. That's all he can call it.]

Morning...

Good morning.

[Odasaku's not an expressive person. He doesn't tense up when Dazai speaks to him, or avoid his gaze. To all appearances, everything is normal and fine.]

Did you sleep well?

[He nods, smiling and moving over to lean on the counter.]

I haven't slept like that in a while. What about you?

Not bad.

[Not great, either. Acceptably.]

I hope you like eggs.

I do.

[Smiling. Just... keep smiling.]

I don't usually get breakfast.

That's not healthy for you. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

[He tries not to fuss over Dazai too much, but this is an important, undeniable truth.]

Is it?

[Humming thoughtfully, Dazai crosses his arms and looks up at the ceiling. It's not awkward. He swears.]

You'll have to remind me.

[Not awkward, no. Certainly not.]

Alright.

[...He doesn't want to breach the subject, but he has to, eventually.]

Do you remember last night at all?

[Actually, that breaks the tension for Dazai, who sighs and grins over at Odasaku.]

What, do you mean the part where I kissed you and you completely rejected it? Or the part where I almost slept on your floor?

[Odasaku's eyes widen for a moment, before he looks away.]

...I wasn't going to let you sleep on my floor. But I meant the first part.

[It wasn't a complete rejection. He told Dazai that already.]

[He said it to see what reaction it would get if he misrepresented the situation. It's not a good enough response.]

Right. Yes, I remember that. Obviously. Why wouldn't I? I was lucid.

[But see him being good and not acting on it?]

I meant everything I said, too.

So did I.

[Odasaku shuts off the stove. He has the feeling this conversation will be distracting, and the omelette was about done anyway.]

I'm paying attention to you.

[So if he still wants to... he can try again.

It's still frightening. But it's something he can't push away with the excuse that he doesn't want to take advantage of his drunk friend this time.]

[Ah. There he goes, safety first, even conscious and patient and good. Dazai envies that purity a little. Wonders how he keeps it. Thinks it's too good for the life he leads... but that he's suited to it somehow, too.

If Odasaku looks uneasy at all, Dazai's not going to do this. But he calms, because Odasaku does that to him, and he breathes, because he feels like he has to.]

[Uneasy's not the word. Maybe he's a little confused about how he got in this situation, but mostly just - waiting. Waiting for Dazai's lead, as usual.

If Dazai backed out now, Odasaku wouldn't think any less of him for it. And part of him doesn't know what he'll do if he doesn't back out - not the immediate issue of how to respond to a kiss, because he knows that much, but after, the what-are-we-now and do-we-do-that-again that inevitably follow those things.

But that part isn't too loud right now. Right now he's just... patiently waiting for Dazai to make his choice.]

[Dazai waits, watches, and clucks his tongue a little.]

Stop thinking so hard. You're going to hurt yourself.

[He doesn't want to back out. He wants to know. Just... he wants to know what it feels like to be that close to someone he genuinely doesn't dislike. Someone he actively likes. A good, solid, principled man, even if he is a little foolish.

Dazai, of course, has no interest in men. Of course. But Odasaku is something wholly different, and... well, it's only a kiss.

He won't back down.

Turning toward Odasaku, he puts a hand on his shoulder and moves him so they'll face each other.]

Tell me to stop if you want me to stop. I have absolutely no authority over you on this one, you know.

I know. I would, if I wanted you to.

[There are some things he knows he shouldn't let Dazai push him around on. This is one of them. And he wouldn't, even if Dazai didn't say so.]

...But I don't think I will.

[Maybe it's alright to admit that much out loud. Odasaku isn't one to hide things - he just isn't always sure whether it's alright to put them into words.]

Good. Just this once, then.

[He doesn't waste much time, but when he leans in, a hand on the side of Odasaku's neck, he's far more gentle and on target than last night. It is soft and warm and chaste, nothing so foolish as before. It's an experiment. It's respectful and cautious and there's only a slight movement of Dazai's lips before he pulls away a few centimeters.

His eyes are closed. He doesn't need to look.]

It's not so bad, is it?

[It's not anything like the messy, drunken kiss of last night. That had inspired a hundred different emotions in Odasaku, not all of them positive.

This is just... nice. It's sweet in a way he wouldn't expect from Dazai and values all the more because he doesn't expect it. It doesn't make him panic or wonder what he should do - the opposite, it settles exactly what he wants to do in his mind.

He makes a soft sound of agreement, then leans in to kiss Dazai again, just as chastely.]

[He's satisfied enough when he breaks the kiss, but if Odasaku wants more, he'll gladly give it. It warms him thoroughly and makes him feel placid to be this close to Odasaku, makes him smile into the returned kiss before settling that hand on the back of his neck rather than the side. He deserves kindness, not the bull Dazai was trying to pull last night. The drink made him bold, but it also made him honest. He had to follow through.

It won't go anywhere, or so he thinks, but he tilts his head only a little and parts his lips ever so slightly to see what happens. It's a suggestion, a question, but nothing he's moving forward with.]

[The suggestion makes Odasaku blush (even he has some reactions he can't control) and he hesitates a moment before answering the invitation just a little, lightly teasing Dazai's lips with the tip of his tongue.

It's not the first time he's kissed someone like this, certainly, but it's the first time he's kissed Dazai likes this, and if anything that makes him want to slow down and enjoy it for what it is.

One of Odasaku's hands settles on Dazai's shoulder. The other comes to rest on the small of his back.]

[That's... nice. Really nice. Odasaku is moving things along, and the hand on his back encourages Dazai all the more. He mirrors the action of his tongue, a tease, a touch, just a small gesture to let him know that it's good, and he's content. But always, always there's the unspoken statement that he's fine with just this, or fine with stopping.

Still, the hand on his back... He can take a small risk, can't he?

Dazai steps in, draping his arms around Odasaku's neck, lazily leaning in so they're closer and there's the tiniest shift in the pressure of the kiss. This is an irreverent man's action, something he likely shouldn't fall into so easily, but that he's decided to. The kiss itself is still mild, but he's making a point that he's happy, and that he'll rely on Odasaku in this, as in many affairs that have nothing to do with business.

If he wants to admit that he's fairly attached, that's fine, but he can't do it out loud. He acknowledges it in his mind, then.

This man... Nothing will change, nothing can, but for a few minutes, maybe they can be friends.]

[Dazai's happy. Dazai meets genuine happiness so rarely that they might as well be strangers. Odasaku can't tell how much of his heart fluttering is from his own enjoyment or from being pleased for Dazai's sake.

Maybe he shouldn't be able to tell. They're both happy with this, and that's the important thing.

His thumb rubs gentle circles on Dazai's back as the kiss continues, Odasaku teasing Dazai's other lip. He pulls back for a moment, only to lightly kiss Dazai's jaw instead. There's no rush.

(If he or Dazai has to go to work today, he's completely forgotten. The omelette getting cold isn't even worth considering in the first place.)]

[Forget the Port Mafia for a little while. Forget everything and everyone. Can't Odasaku just accept that Dazai is embracing him and fairly draped on him, wanting nothing but his company? They're ignoring the world together, for such a stupid reason as this, but the fact remains that they are.

And Dazai could not be happier. He tries not to make the soft, happy sound in the back of his throat, but it doesn't work at all and he feels like he's going to evaporate with Odasaku's hand on his back like that.

Then... he pulls away, and his lips are elsewhere, making Dazai curiously tip his head to expose wherever Odasaku's attentions may go. There are stupid bandages everywhere. He's an accident prone, reckless maniac with nothing to lose, ever. Odasaku makes him think he'd miss life just a little if he died.

Still, he'll tip his head and nuzzle Odasaku's neck, much as he had last night, but more gently and with less motive. He just wants to be close.]

Thanks...

Don't thank me.

[The answer is quick, though not particularly harsh. The bandages are annoying and in the way, but he doesn't feel he has the right to even ask to take them off, and anyway removing 'clothing' would be - something else. He's not quite ready to instigate that.]

I like this too. So you shouldn't thank me.

[The words are breathy, near Dazai's ear.]

For ninjou.

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