#started as a smol idea i didnt think itd end up this long lmao

[soukokuforthesoul]

soukoku who live together, and it’s just another random day, chuuya’s opening a window to let in the cool night air, dazai’s laying on the floor fiddling with chuuya’s phone (his own stopped working a while ago). it’s one of the rare nights they finish work at the same time, but they’ve lived together long enough that they work through their own routines just fine either way. chuuya’s starting to wrestle himself out of his waistcoat as he starts towards the closet for more comfortable clothes. dazai, who was swiping through chuuya’s pictures, stops on one where chuuya caught dazai asleep in the bathtub, something he hadn’t known existed in chuuya’s camera roll. he looks up at chuuya for a moment. chuuya, feeling eyes on him, turns as he pops the final button out.

“mm?”

“chibi, are we married?”

somehow, chuuya doesn’t even flinch. he just raises an eyebrow, completely used to dazai’s bullshit. “no, not legally,” he says slowly. he’s already caught onto dazai’s train of thought, probably glimpsed the picture. “why?” he asks anyway, more of obligation.

“we live together,” dazai starts, turning the phone off. “we have been for forever. we’ve been ‘not dating’ forever, too. we know each other more than anyone else, probably. we trust each other more than anyone else.”

“we’re not dating?”

dazai hums. “we never officially said anything about it.”

“then how are we married, if we’ve never officially said anything about that either?” chuuya tosses the waistcoat into the basket for laundry, starting with his shirt. he turns away from dazai, going back to scouring for clothes.

“so we’re married!” dazai concludes, sitting up.

“since when?”

“since now!”

chuuya makes a noncommittal noise in response, taking out a hanger from the closet and, satisfied, slips the shirt off of it and puts it on the bed, hanging the hanger back up. he finds a pair of shorts to go with it, then finishes undressing.

dazai watches with a pout. “chuuya, let’s say our vows now, ‘kay? i promise to love— wait. okay, never mind,” he says, mostly to himself.

chuuya snorts and pulls the shirt on—oh, it’s dazai’s, which feels like more proof that they should be married—before turning to dazai. “changed your mind?”

“nuh uh.” dazai struggles up to crawl over to him, clinging onto his bare legs. he hooks his chin up, resting on chuuya’s waist, as he gazes up at him with something like the love he’d just refused to speak of. “we can be married without words. without legal documents.”

“thought you were tryna be a good person now,” chuuya teased, ruffling his hair.

“since when was illegal marriage a bad thing,” dazai muttered, nuzzling into chuuya’s stomach. “is that even a thing?”

“dunno. get off me, mackerel, i gotta put my clothes on,” chuuya huffs, trying to tug him off. dazai resists, conjuring impossible (for him) strength from nowhere simply to latch onto him like a koala.

shaking his head, chuuya bends over, flailing slightly until he snatches up his shorts from the bed. then, looking down, he flicks dazai’s forehead. “off, you little leech.”

dazai whines and snatches the shorts from chuuya, scooting back enough to hold them out to his feet. “ill dress you!” he declares. chuuya rolls his eyes but steps into them anyway.

with little care, dazai pulls them up to chuuya’s waist, only for chuuya to complain about them being on backwards. dazai grins and stands only to tackle chuuya onto the floor, making him yelp and instinctively flip them over so dazai’s the one tumbling down instead.

“oh, my god, you fucking idiot,” chuuya groans, sitting up, glaring at dazai.

dazai, from the floor, smiles innocently up at him. “chibi should mess up his hair more often!” he states, tugging chuuya down by the hem of his shirt, mussing up the auburn locks.

chuuya grumbles but leans down to press his face to dazai’s chest, breathing softly. “fine, we can be married. only if you promise not to make this a problem.”

“i’ll always be your problem,” dazai says affectionately, then squeezes chuuya into a suffocating embrace.

“fuck you,” a muffled retort from a squished chuuya, the words tickling dazai through his clothes. he hums and it vibrates against chuuya’s cheek, and despite himself, chuuya smiles, escaping from dazai’s not-quite death grip.

he bends down to bait dazai into a kiss, only to knock his forehead against dazai’s. “go change, you idiot. i’ll start dinner.”

“chuuyaaaaa!” dazai whines, hurrying up after chuuya to catch his kiss, a frown gracing his lips when he isn’t quick enough and chuuya’s already at the door. “how dare you deprive your husband of your affection!”

“you just wanted to call yourself that, didn’t you?” chuuya laughs, voice echoing slightly in the hallway.

“chuuya’s huuuusband!” dazai calls after him.

he falls back down onto the floor as he listens to chuuya’s footsteps make their way to the kitchen. then, to himself, he says, “and now chuuya’s my husband. hehe.”

“i heard that!” chuuya shouts from wherever in the house.

a smile brightens on dazai’s face. “chuuya’s mine, now!”

he gets indignant complaints back, but he tunes them out, turning chuuya’s phone back on and quickly typing in the password just to gaze at the wallpaper—a picture taken a couple years back, of the two of them on chuuya’s motorcycle, dazai clinging for dear life onto chuuya’s waist as chuuya laughed with the widest smile ever. dazai smiles back at it, and proceeds to stare until the phone automatically fades to black. he taps it back on. chuuya keeps smiling at him until the battery runs out and dazai’s forced to put it to charge. still, it’s engrained in his mind, and he thinks he would be happy if it was the last thing he ever saw.

he stands and wanders down to his chuuya now, slipping his arms around chuuya’s waist like he had done in the picture. he’s met with an indifferent greeting, and he leans down to kiss chuuya’s head.

“i love you, chuuya,” he says brightly.

“hm. love you too,” chuuya murmurs, mixing some vegetables into a pan.

dazai smiles. maybe he’ll be fine living a little bit longer. for this.