indensity | when you're helpless, waiting to collide

when you're helpless, waiting to collide

[Chuuya has lost all track of time while he's been there. The drugs they've injected him with has him slipping in and out of consciousness, and it's making it difficult to think, made worse by the fact that every inch of his body seems to hurt. He only vaguely remembers the fight. He's pretty sure his coffee had been drugged when he bought it, that or his croissant, and then when he'd felt so dizzy only his ability could keep him standing, he'd been attacked out of nowhere by two ability users. One of them had some sort of lightning based ability, he's not sure about the other.

He's pretty sure he has a concussion.

He's been trying to gauge his injuries, figure out if he'll be able to move, trying to figure out a way to break himself free. He's chained up, but he should be able to break those if the drugs wear off. The door to this room looks solid, but he can break it. If not for the drugs.

At some point, someone comes into the room and injects him with another dose, and he loses all consciousness again. When he wakes up, he starts the thought process over. Where is he, can he fight, how will he get out. He's not the type to ever just wait to be rescued.]

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[It's not like Dazai keeps tabs on Chuuya, most of the time. They may have the occasional not!date for fucking, and Dazai likes to steal or ruin Chuuya's things just because he can, but on the (w)hole, Dazai still despises Chuuya more than life itself. The less he sees or even hears of him, the better!

But something is wrong. When his sources start whispering about a mafia executive being kidnapped, Dazai just laughs (not in their faces, of course); when details about which exec it is follow, the idea only becomes more absurd. But, shockingly, a quick investigation suggests a core of truth at the very least, and when he calls Chuuya's cell phone only to go ignored, all doubt soon vanishes, and Dazai immediately gets to solving the issue.

He also cuts out the sources in question because they're clearly bought by Mori, instructed to leak information to get Dazai to do his dirty work, but that is a matter of course. Dazai is starting to regret not staying in the mafia simply to murder Mori, just a bit.

Dazai appreciates that Chuuya is drugged, really: maybe he won't remember much of what ends up happening. If he doesn't remember Dazai's involvement at all, so much the better! The rescue, when it finally happens, is fast enough. Silenced shots, few and far between, aimed well; volleys of loud gun fire immediately after, an escalating cacophony that ends in sudden silence. Then, Dazai's hooded figure carrying Chuuya out through hallways painted with blood and bodies. If Chuuya manages to make a fuss in spite of everything, Dazai is not above drugging Chuuya with the handy dandy drugs on site, either. He's already putting in all this effort! He doesn't want to be kicked to death for his trouble.

Chuuya's apartment may not seem the most logical choice, but it's familiar, and very safe, and Dazai won't have to endure any bitching about how things are not up to Chuuya's standards. ~~Also: he can drink Chuuya's booze.~~ Disappearing into the night after dropping Chuuya off is, sadly, not an option, due to Chuuya's injuries. Dazai is just going to deal with the worst of those - as far as he can see - and dump Chuuya into his own bed, sitting beside it with booze and a probably-terrible book Chuuya had lying around, while he waits for Chuuya to wake up.]

[Chuuya briefly returns back to consciousness at the sounds of gunfire. It's a sound he's trained to respond to after years in the mafia, in the Sheep, and the part of his brain that's able to think coherent thoughts is immediately yelling at him to get ready to fight. But he can't fight. He can't move. He tries, and gets as far as to lift his head before a pain of wave and nausea forces him to close his eyes instead.

The next time he opens his eyes, it's to find that Dazai is carrying him. There's the overwhelming smell of blood and gunfire, but his ex-partner is the one person he's ever learned to really rely on - Dazai always has his back when it matters - which means he can safely let himself pass back out.

He doesn't wake up again until after they're back in his apartment. He stirs more slowly this time, body shifting under the blankets before he rolls onto his side, ending up with his face pressed into Dazai's thigh. He stays there for a few minutes. Even through his closed eyelids the light is painful, like a hangover after a long day of drinking on no food. He moves his arm up just to shield himself from it, turns his face more downards, so when he finally speaks it's incredibly muffled.]

What --

[What happened? He's struggling to remember. But speaking is definitely making the nausea hit him hard, so he gives up after just that one word.]

[Ah, there we go, Dazai thinks as Chuuya starts to stir. The investigation, the rescue; those were all fine, accomplished with little enough effort. If he's gotten injured during it all, it's not especially serious, and no one will ever know for the bandages covering him as a habit.

This is the part he's not looking forward to: the aftermath, where people may want to talk about things. Happenings; feelings. Why can't things simply be over when they're over? But humans aren't very good at letting go, and Chuuya is the worst at it of all of them.]

That's my line.

[Dazai's voice doesn't lose its borderline playful undertone, refusing to allow any seriousness in, but serious he is, admonishing. It's really dumb of Chuuya to let himself be kidnapped that way, not to mention rude to make Dazai fix it. (Not that Chuuya forced Dazai, technically - however, he might as well have, since he didn't rescue himself! Clearly it counts.)

But the less said about that, the better, so:] What is this trash that you're reading?

[Something pretentious and French, matching Chuuya's taste in wine but not his literally-anything-else.

That's definitely a better thing to focus on than anything more serious.]

[He winces as Dazai speaks. He's too loud. Chuuya regrets asking his question, or waking up, because silence and unconsciousness was much better. But as usual when Dazai asks a serious question (he doesn't sound serious, but he is, Chuuya can always tell), Chuuya takes a moment to consider it, to give a serious answer. Or he would, if his mind could focus. What did happen?

Was he drugged or attacked?]

Bought a coffee.

[That's what he remembers. He's pretty sure that coffee was drugged, but that's too many words for him right now. If Dazai wants more details than that, he'll have to wait until his head doesn't feel like it's trying to explode. Dazai might have been serious, but he didn't sound urgent, so he'll move on to the next question.

He peeks out. Squints with one eye at the book. And then immediately buries himself back down against Dazai's thigh to hide from the evil bedside lamp.]

's good book.

[He hasn't actually had the time to read it yet. But if Dazai calls it trash, he'll call it good, on principle.]

When did you learn French?

[The coffee, then. No further explanation is needed, really, and while Dazai isn't above rubbing in how dumb Chuuya was to buy from what was, apparently, an untrustworthy source, that is not his goal at the moment.]

Whaaat, it's just French, isn't it? [He may or may not have learned it just because Chuuya knows it, and anything Chuuya can do, Dazai can do better.] Anyway, your taste is terrible as always.

[Which is a good excuse to close the book with a clap, and set it aside. Dazai has better things to do than reading right now, anyway.

He looks down at Chuuya, and since Chuuya isn't looking back to see it, there may even be something like sympathy in his eyes. Or maybe it's just apathy? Who really knows!]

Where are you still hurting?

[Not "Are you still hurting?" because that would never get an honest reply. (Dazai isn't sure this will, either, but that can't be helped.) Dazai has done his best to clean and patch Chuuya up, but that doesn't mean he can't have missed anything, especially if it's internal.]

[It's a relief, the way they can still communicate with almost no words, because the idea of explaining anything more really feels beyond him at the moment. But when Dazai drops it, he knows he got the explanation he needed.]

You have no taste.

[It's weak, as far as insults go. Weaker than the ones they usually throw back and forth. Dazai will just have to be satisfied with that for now. He'll make up for it later. But he doesn't like that next question, either. It forces him to acknowledge the pain, instead of trying to ignore it, like he had been.]

I'm fine.

[Clearly not true. He knows Dazai won't buy it. He groans, and starts to shift, moving his legs, his arms, just checking how they feel. Those seem fine at least. But the rest of him --]

Head. [Concussion, he thinks. Or just the drugs. It's difficult to tell.] Ribs.

[And minor pain in a lot of other places, but minor pain isn't something either of them would ever really worry about. It will heal.]

[Dazai narrows his eyes at that initial reply, but only because he's too lazy to roll them. "Fine", sure. Everything about this is positively screaming "fine". But at least Chuuya is fine enough to pretend that he's fine, so in that respect there's some truth to it.

If it's a concussion, there's no point in worrying about that now: since it's been going on for a while already, there's little to do but let it heal. Likewise with the drugs wearing off. Ideally, Dazai would have dumped Chuuya at a hospital and stayed out of the picture altogether (or close enough), but there are several reasons why that's just not a good idea, so here they are.]

Stop lying around, then! [He makes it sound as bored as he possibly can. If Chuuya has any broken ribs, this will be better:] Hope you enjoy sleeping upright.

[He will be kind enough not to poke Chuuya somewhere painful for motivation, let alone try to drag him up... for now. If Chuuya thinks he gets to be stubborn about this, though, he is very, very wrong.]

... Do you want something to drink?

What?

[He just sounds annoyed at those two comments. He's not really adding two and two together at the moment, so he's just going to brush that off as Dazai being Dazai, instead of anything he needs to pay attention to. It does still sound serious, but... For once he doesn't feel like getting up, even though normally he hates showing this kind of weakness.

He realizes that Dazai might be getting up, though, and will be taking his thigh with him, so he starts searching around for a pillow to hide under instead.]

Water.

[He has enough pillows, so it only takes a second. He shoves it over his head to block out the light.]

[Oh well, after everything that Chuuya has already been through, a few more minutes of lying around can't hurt, probably. He wants to drink, anyway, which is not only a good sign, but will also require the aforementioned sitting up. And so for once, Dazai doesn't keep nagging, just getting up to fetch some water.

You owe him for this, Chuuya. He's just saying! ... Except he's not saying anything at all, for what it's worth.

Before long, he returns with a glass, and sits on the edge of the bed, rather than bodily getting on top of it again. In spite of what was surely a successful rescue, he's having certain Feelings, and he doesn't like any of them. To push them away, he puts on a sing-song voice.]

Come, come, it's chibi wake-up time~! If you want to drink water, you're going to have to sit up.

[Chuuya let's out an annoyed groan, filled with anger at the situation, and especially at Dazai, even though none of this is Dazai's fault and Chuuya is actually pleased he's here. None of that is relevant, though, when Dazai is such a convenient target. And he doesn't want to move and Dazai is making him.

(To give him water that Chuuya requested, but still.)

He does get up, though, after a second. Trying hurts more than he'd thought it would, so he cheats by using his ability a little, making Chuuya's weight on the mattress shift. Once he's seated, he leans back against the headboard, squinting at Dazai because he can no longer avoid the light.]

I hate you.

[Translation: Thank you. Because actually saying thank you would be a sin between them, or something. And there's no actual venom in the words, so Dazai should know. He takes the glass gratefully, managing a small sip.]

How long has it been?

[Dazai lets Chuuya take his time sitting up, because 1. like hell is he going to help when he doesn't need to, because that would be effort, and 2. if he doesn't touch Chuuya, Chuuya can cheat with his ability, and so retain some semblance of dignity in all this. Dazai may still rub in the rescue if he feels like it, but that will be on his own terms, not because of the state other people put Chuuya in.]

Yes, yes, I'm glad to see you're still lively.

[What with the hatred, and all. Not that Chuuya is very lively otherwise, but he's getting better, and that's good enough for now.]

Since you came back here? About six hours. [Dazai is bored now! How dare you stay unconscious for that long. (Okay, he's not really bored. The excuse to do nothing is welcome, but since he's not feeling great about the state Chuuya is in, obviously it must be boredom he's feeling.)] Since you disappeared, roughly four days.

[... Maybe he should have lied about it, tried to freak Chuuya out a little, but he's just not feeling it. They'll go back to their usual banter soon enough.]

Shit.

[That's a long time. Too long. It's humiliating to think about, but at least the pain and remnants of the drug are making it difficult to focus on any thought, so that won't really hit him until later. And he's got other things to worry about first, anyway.]

Does the Port Mafia know I'm safe?

[He assumes that they do. Dazai could have used Chuuya's phone to get
a message to them, or - if his phone was lost - he knows how to do it through other ways. And four days is a long time. Chuuya knows how important he is, and while the Port Mafia doesn't often waste resources on someone getting themselves kidnapped, they will for him. They'll tear this city apart if they have to, and even Dazai wouldn't want that.

But he won't be able to relax until he knows for sure. If Dazai hasn't let them know, then Chuuya will have to. He'll have to go in soon anyway. Talk to Mori. Apologize.]

I brought you back here, didn't I? I didn't hide it.

[So: no, Dazai hasn't told the Port Mafia (because fuck them, and for making him do their dirty work too), but yes, the Port Mafia assuredly knows. Dazai knows how to stay unseen, but once at Chuuya's apartment, he didn't bother to. The mafia must be keeping an eye on Chuuya's apartment anyway, especially since he disappeared, so that's that problem solved, as far as Dazai is concerned.]

Honestly, if they were so concerned about you, they should have been the ones to rescue you in the first place.

[For once, Dazai isn't saying it to be a dick; in fact, there are details he's not sharing, to avoid being a dick at this specific time. But he's frustrated with Chuuya's absurd priorities when the mafia doesn't exactly return the favor, and Dazai will let that frustration out with this minor dose of bluntness.]

[It's not a yes or a no, but it's still an answer, and Chuuya trusts Dazai. If he thinks the Port Mafia knows, then they know. It's still annoying when he would have preferred an actual message, and he does kind of want to demand his phone, or Dazai's phone, just to call Mori, but it can probably wait five minutes. That's probably a disloyal thought to have.

But he's curious about Dazai's annoyance. He hadn't questioned how he was rescued before now, not when he can barely think, but there's clearly something he's missing.]

Why did you save me?

[When the Port Mafia could do so a lot more easily. Dazai is Dazai, but he's still just one person. Not to mention, why would Dazai even bother?]

Somebody had to.

[And the mafia apparently couldn't be bothered!! But again, even though Dazai is hinting at that, refusing to lie about it, he's not going to over-emphasize it, either. Chuuya can draw his own conclusions; he's not likely to do anything with them, anyway, which is even more reason for Dazai not to put in any effort.

Dazai really dislikes this conversation regardless, so it's time for a diversion.]

Or could it be you're finally seeing the light and becoming a suicide maniac too?

Like hell.

[He'd object more loudly, but he still feels like shit, so he'll save that for later.

But it doesn't matter what state he's actually in, he can definitely tell when Dazai is hinting at something. He's known him for too long by now, after all. It's just that... His head hurts like hell. The nausea is bad, even though he's tamping it down as best he can, slowly sipping the water Dazai brought him. It's nearly impossible to think like that.]

And it had to be you. [And not because Dazai chose it. He gets that much. He's not sure how he feels about the fact that the Port Mafia apparently wouldn't.] Do I have to figure out what you're trying to tell me right now?

[Because if there's something Chuuya needs to understand here, something that can't wait - if there's something that still needs to be done - then he'll drag himself out of bed in spite of the state he's in. He'll push through it. Dazai knows he will, he's seen Chuuya do it before. But if he doesn't have to...

Dazai might be the only person he's willing to (indirectly) admit to that he's not actually feeling up to it just yet.]

So it would seem.

[He's not buying it, really. Nothing about this operation required his specific skills. If the mafia casually declined doing the dirty work, they may certainly have had legitimate reasons for that, but this - dragging in Dazai? That was just bullying Dazai, really.

He still isn't beyond the idea of one day making Mori memento mori.]

Nope. You don't have to do anything.

[Couldn't, either, but Dazai isn't stupid enough to point out the obvious. Chuuya would hop out of bed at the merest hint of it, he's pretty sure. And, even if not... what would it really accomplish to over-emphasize a fact that won't make a difference to Chuuya anyway? Okay, it might briefly be funny to watch Chuuya hop of out bed only to collapse less than two seconds later, but Dazai can't really be bothered.

Besides, he'd be the one who needs to carry Chuuya back into bed, again. Obviously, that is too much effort, and so it only makes sense that he'll avoid it altogether.]

Just get some rest, Chuuya. Everything else can wait.

[Chuuya lets out a frustrated sigh.]

I hate resting.

[But he knows it's a good idea. Unfortunately. He hates when Dazai is right. Really, he would have preferred being told that they had no time, that he had to get out of bed and get ready to fight, but his body is kind of screaming at him to sleep. He sets his water glass on the nightstand next to him - he'd managed about half, which is at least something.

He rubs a hand over his face.]

I'm gonna ask you about it.

[Just... later. Much later. He's already struggling to keep his attention on this conversation, and he doesn't have the energy to puzzle out vague answers from Dazai. He really wants to lie down again actually.]

This better heal fast.

Who knows? Maybe you'll finally grow some sense, and start to like it.

[LOL nope definitely not. But Dazai can hope! He is a nice person that way!! (He is not a nice person in any way.)

Dazai is definitely not looking forward to Chuuya asking much of anything, but... it's whatever. He can't do anything about it now, and with any luck, Chuuya will forget about it.
... Okay, probably not. But maybe Dazai will be able to evade Chuuya's questions just long enough that he can finally sneak out when Chuuya is doing a bit better, and just bodily avoid him. Sounds like a plan!]

It's just some drugs and a cracked rib or two. ["Just".] You'll be better again in no time.

[Actually, maybe Dazai should have taken some of those drugs with him..? You never know when they'd come in handy!]

Keep sitting! You'll heal faster.

[... And since Chuuya can't lie down, Dazai will. Because -... Well, just because he can, duh.]

Someone has to be willing to work.

[Though Dazai is lazy up until the point he decides something needs to be done, Chuuya knows, at which point he'll make sure to do what's necessary to reach whichever outcome he wants. And he did rescue Chuuya, so maybe accusing him of not working is a bit unfair, but that has never mattered between the two of them. It's casual, familiar banter. Dazai wouldn't want Chuuya to thank him anyway, even though he is grateful. Sort of.

Mostly he's annoyed that he needed rescuing.

He starts grabbing pillows from around him - he keeps a lot on his bed, and they're going to come in handy now. He shoves them behind his back to get comfortable, wincing a bit at the movements, but otherwise trying his best to ignore the pain. He really wants to just lie down next to Dazai. Dazai deserves to be the pillow in this situation, because Chuuya knows he'd complain about it.]

If it takes more than a day to heal, then I'm not waiting.

[He will (probably), he's just whining. He really does hate this. He hates feeling weak, and he hates knowing that he's letting the mafia down. Though it is kind of nice to have Dazai here.

So maybe he'll just close his eyes for now and try to forget about the rest.]

Someone is regretting the work he did already.

[Whyever did he rescue you... It's a mystery. (Not that he really regrets it, but still.) But it's a fairly unspirited counter, lacking any real annoyance. They're going through the motions here, but Chuuya isn't exactly in peak condition, and even Dazai doesn't feel like kicking Chuuya when he's down. (Mostly because Chuuya is always down. Look at him, all the way down there!)]

Fine, fine... But you promised, now. One full day.

[Chuuya didn't promise anything, but he said a thing, and Dazai will use that in any way he sees fit. He doesn't intend to babysit Chuuya forever, anyway - it sure is time for Mori's people to take over, at some point - but he'll take that first, "promised" day, and roll with it. He'll just have to see when he feels like he can pull his hands off the whole affair.

But first: sleep! If Chuuya's legs are not too injured, Dazai will use him as a pillow, because frankly he deserves a lot more than that for his valiant rescue efforts. Even though Chuuya's legs are too hard to be a comfortable pillow, anyway. D'oh...

Well, it's not like Dazai will sleep much, regardless. He's more interested in making sure that Chuuya sleeps, and then maybe he'll do some damage control after his sudden disappearance from the ADA, and perhaps send a passive-aggressive text to Mori after all about how the job is done, if only to get the asshole to send them a bunch of food and drink for the next day or so. Which Dazai will never admit came from Mori, but whatever.

At least Chuuya will have a nice breakfast when he wakes up?]

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when you're helpless, waiting to collide

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