starsburned

[starsburned]

his gaze sharpens the tiniest bit, unmoving for a moment. it wasn't the argument that he had wanted, but it's what he had expected. perhaps he was to blame for letting it go on as long as it had. if he had snipped the bud before it bloomed, it possibly wouldn't have come to this.

"this is your home, chuuya; we're your family now." he speaks with the same tone, violet eyes locked on his executive. "what do you plan on doing the moment that it's your turn to lead the port mafia? there won't be room for them in that world. you understand that, don't you?"

there were many sacrifices that he himself had made for the organization. he understood where chuuya stood, but their world was much different.

"it's going to hurt worse then that it will now."

He glanced back up, brow still furrowed a bit. "Yeah, I know. You told me the same thing the day I joined. When I swore myself to you."

Averting his gaze, he breathed out a conflicted sigh.

"I know what you're saying Boss, and I know why, but... asking me to just drop every bit of loyalty I have to them... it's not even like asking me to cut off a limb or cut out my eyes, knowing I'd be useless to you and the organization like that and become disposable. That'd be easy by comparison. You're stronger than me in that regard, I guess, but it doesn't change everything else I'm willing to do for the organization or putting priority on whatever else you need me to do."

He realizes that it's probably a weak and damning argument from Mori's perspective, realizes that it's a dangerous thing to say considering the nature of the mafia itself, but he also recognized that Mori was being more upfront with him than he had to and he'd never shied away from honesty with his Boss, when he thought it really mattered.

"Besides, when it comes to the Sheep, Shirase and Yuan are exceptions. All the rest I'm sure have no love at all for me. Eventually Shirase will leave the country again, and Yuan... I doubt she'll be very forgiving when the order to finally dispose of the Agency comes down. Even if I wanted to, its not like there's actually a Sheep gang to go back to, much less one that would want me back. This is the only place I have to come back to, when everything is said and done. For as long as you have space for me in it, anyway."

[starsburned]

"i only asked verlaine to monitor your activity with the sheep. gin must've been his idea." folding his hands in front of him, he doesn't look away from his executive. "i understand your ties to your former family, but it's time that you decide where your loyalties lie. you can't have one foot in the mafia while also having one foot with them."

he leans forward some before rising to his feet. "rimbaud is more of a precaution than anything else. if you were to ever cross me, half of the organization would as well without question. there would also be verlaine to consider in that rebellion since his only tie here leads back to you. the port mafia would be no more, so it would have to be silenced quickly and carefully."

mori takes a few steps around his desk, hands folding behind his back now. "i have to be ready for any and every outcome. that's what a leader must do."

@starsburned [x]:

The seconds feel more like minutes.

Really, Mori could react any which way. Regardless of whether or not there was any truth to it, bringing up something that was... well, basically an accusation at his Boss was potentially dangerous waters. It was always a very real possibility that stating his suspicion so openly could result in anger or, at the very least, displeasure that he would be so brazen and simultaneously foil what had clearly been meant to be a secret, even if Mori was very rarely riled to that degree.

But Chuuya had built his entire mafia career off of taking leaps of faith, knowing that the fall might break him. This was no different.

"It was kind of hard not to when I ended up with his Ability around my throat. I mean the possibility crossed my mind a lot earlier than that... but I didn't really want to jump to conclusions and had almost forgotten about it until then. But if I'd thought of it as a possibility, I was sure you must have realized the possibility of using him like that already also."

Considering the topic, his tone and posture were still noticeably mellow.

"It's not just him, either. You also have Verlaine and Gin monitoring me and the Sheep. That part at least I've known for a while." He sighed aloud a moment. "...but it's not like I don't get it, or like it'd be the first time. Being that I was the former leader of a rival organization, and with a powerful Ability like mine, it's not really any wonder to me why."

He absently touched his lower back, dropping his head a little and furrowing a brow. The scar Shirase had left him with was well-faded with age by now, but he still remembered the exact spot better than he remembered his own name.

"...I... can't really even speak to trust. I'm really the last person that has any room to be preaching to anyone what that means or that the closest people to you will never do something like that, so it's not exactly something I can be mad about... but..."

[starsburned]

There's a small white box left on Mori's desk, with an individual cake topped in mixed fruits inside, and an accompanying bottle of wine. Nothing too big, in case Mori planned to go out shopping for more sweets with Elise later, but still a decent enough size to enjoy either way and split it with Elise if he wanted, or just give the whole thing to her.

On top was also left a small, hand-written note.

Everything's been pretty tense lately and you've been working hard. Maybe I could offer you another shoulder massage like before. Whenever you want, just ask. Cheers Boss.

violet eyes read over the note while one hand rests atop the box. he might just take him up on that shoulder massage later. moving the note to his desk, he takes a peek inside the box and a smile forms.

mori supposes that he could indulge a little in that vicious sweet tooth of his for once.

belated father's day || @frost-eyed-autumn

[starsburned]

Since Dazai loved it so much the first time, someone rigged his office door to drop a life sized screaming zombie doll right on top of his head the moment he walks in to work. Enjoy.

did he yelp when he walked into his office? maybe. is he going to rip it down and return it to receiver? yes. especially since he knows where it came from. he's making sure to customize it too, gluing on tentacles and an octopus head before he's marching it right over to chuuya's office to hang up.

enjoy your zombie octopus, mutt.

@frost-eyed-autumn

[starsburned]

A hand reaches up to massage his neck, watching Mori start to work on the reports he'd just delivered before he could fully exit the room.

Well... might as well rip the bandaid off...

"Fyodor... wasn't the only reason why you reinstated Rimbaud as an Executive... was he, Boss?" Even as he poses the tentative question, he'd made a point to leave considerable distance between him and Mori's desk. Just in case the question made him tense.

silence falls over the room, however brief it is, but it probably feels a lot longer. mori doesn't stop what he's doing, however, an easy smile painting his lips. "no, it's not the only reason. i'm sure that you of all people should know by now that my reasoning isn't that shallow."

violet eyes flick up from the paper, sharp gaze focusing on chuuya's face. "i take it that you've figured out one of the the many other reasons." a pause and a slight tilt of his head. "and that you're possibly upset with said reason. i understand if so, but understand that this is all for the good of the organization in the end."

if chuuya were to ever defect, there was no way that mori himself could stop him. especially since he and those former sheep were awfully close, a question of loyalty still lingered. one that he didn't dare voice.

@frost-eyed-autumn

[starsburned]

pocky is quick to make herself comfortable on chuuya's shoulder, curling up some into the crook of his neck. chinchilling for real for a while until dazai comes looking for her.

Smiles and helps boost her up on his shoulder.

"Well alright then... I guess you're Chinchilling with me for a while. Hah..."

[starsburned]

she allows the scritches to continue for a moment before pushing his finger away, only to try and climb onto his arm. it's perch time, gravity ginger man.

Cute...

All the soft scritches for his tiny new friend. He'd steal you so fast if you weren't the Boss's present for that stupid cockroach.

[starsburned]

thank you for your patience. i'm sorry that it's taking me so long to get things done. life hasn't really been the kindest to me lately.

[starsburned]

and pocky's just melting into his touch, closing her eyes and twitching her tail. two little paws reach out to grasp onto his finger. this is heaven.

chuuya is now friend.

@starsburned:

pocky's just gonna stare up him with her big beady eyes.

Looks at Pocky and then casts a quick glance around before taking a glove off and reaching to lightly scratch under her jaw.

Not a fucking word to Dazai. You got that, you fat little... soft... plush... rodent?

Oh gods its so soft and plush its criminal. What the fuck?

[starsburned]

it’s soukoku over for me

[starsburned]

@starsburned ;; 👥 mori & kishi, 👥 rimbaud & dazai, 👥 dazai & yuan, 👥 mori & rimbaud

👥 mori & kishi

small little occasional presents end up on his desk from her every once in awhile, the reason he knows it's from her is because her writing is so very distinct. she writes it in english in cursive, specifically, doctor cursive along with initialing it. she knows he can understand it. they're both busy sometimes so, she offers little reminders that she's thinking of him still even if the morgue keeps her busy.

👥 rimbaud & dazai

Rimbaud often times finds himself checking on Dazai. sometimes it's out of the blue but most times he lets Dazai know ahead of time. he'll make sure that he's eating and drinking well. just taking care of himself in general, and if he isn't? he can and will take care of him if Dazai doesn't try to take care of himself. he won't be there 24/7 obviously because Paul takes up the majority of his time if not he's working. BUT, he makes time to check in on Dazai, always. he's like a little brother to him. and he doesn't really want to lose him anytime soon.

Rimbaud taught Dazai how to play piano himself, he used to play but he typically doesn't now unless he's asked.

👥 dazai & yuan

she likes to take a lot of photos with him, they're all saved on her phone, she gets them printed out and puts them in a photo album so she has a photo album of the both of them. she has one for photos of her and everyone in her life in general but, separate ones with her and her partners so she can look over it with them and reminisce on old memories. the good, the embarrassing, the funny, you name it and she most likely has it in there. she doesn't stop and take a million photos but, she has enough to fill up a book with six to seven years of memories with his photo album.

👥 mori & rimbaud

their relationship may be a little stiffer now as opposed to back then, but there is a lot of genuine care Rimbaud still caries for him. even if he hates feeling like he's working under anyone. he's still unhappy about being an executive honestly, but it's what it is. he does care for Mori as a friend even if Mori has nearly crossed over a line once or twice. they have tea sometimes when Rimbaud is free if not coffee. just casually catching up with one another even if things are different now.

[starsburned]

"are you sure that it doesn't have to do with rimbaud's rough treatment?" violet eyes drift back to chuuya, but they're not as sharp as they had been moments ago. "because i'm certain that you were wearing it before the incident happened."

That tone and look is like a block of ice running down his spine in the dead of summer. It's not like he's scared of what Mori himself would physically do to him. In a contest of brute strength, there would be a clear winner. It's something much fundamentally deeper and more personal that strikes at a nerve even Mori's surgically precise scalpels could never hope to hit. Something that scares him a Hell of a lot more than even Rimbaud's sub-space does.

"Oh. I just... didn't really feel like having it on today." It's as poor of a lie as they come as he tries to cover his discomfort with forced dismissive humor, averting his gaze. He's still two steps on the back foot when Mori follows up with his question, so he really didn't have a good excuse lined up or thought to have one before he arrived, but in hindsight he really should have expected Mori to call it into question. Not much slipped by his Boss's watchful eye, even things that might otherwise seem insignificant.

[starsburned]

"long time coming or not, i'd prefer that it doesn't happen again anytime soon." his tone is as sharp as his eyes as they fall on chuuya, but it eventually softens again. "i don't have any doubt in my mind that you will, chuuya. you've never let me down before now and i know that won't change."

a few beats of silence pass before mori turns his attention to the city below them, straightening some. "is there a reason why you removed your choker?"

"Yeah, I know, Boss." It's little more than a grumble barely above his breath, keeping his head down even as he glances to the side when Mori takes a seat.

Looking ahead, he stares at the ground for a moment before finding his voice again.

"Honestly it was just a long time coming. It doesn't really have anything to do with all this other shit. I'm not making excuses though. I know why you're upset with me. I'll try to do better."

[starsburned]

"i suppose that this fight between the two of you makes a little more sense then." mori sighs, tucking his phone away into his coat pocket as he moves back over to sit down. "but let's try to poke less at tender spots."

of course, he couldn't expect that to last forever. especially not with the people that chuuya and dazai were, and had been since the moment that they'd come in contact with each other.

"i understand that current events have the lot of you restless, but that energy should go into solving the problem at hand rather than fighting each other."

He glances up and follows Mori with his eyes as he moves towards the desk, before looking ahead again and sinking against the cushions behind him.

If it's important or concerns him, Mori will tell him, and he does.

He thinks about it for a moment, because to be honest, everything before getting blindsided by Illuminations was a little bit of a blur after the fact. It wasn't really a habit of his to linger on the concept of fear, but that Ability honestly scares the shit out of him.

"Yeah. I guess that sounds about right."

[starsburned]

Send 👥 for a headcanon relating to both of our muses

[starsburned]

the buzz of mori's phone on his desk catches his attention and he glances back to it before rising to his feet. fingers brush over chuuya's hair as he passes and stopping once he's at the desk to pick it up and unlock it.

reading it over, he sends a text back before turning to chuuya once more. "apparently, dazai is speaking to rimbaud at the moment and told him that the reason the fight started was because oda sakunosuke was brought up. is that true?" mori doesn't sound upset at the very least.

if anything, he just wanted the fighting to come to a stop, and was perhaps a bit disappointed that it'd come to this point. his executives shouldn't be trying to break each other's bones. but he supposes that it would be an unrealistic expectation for it to come to a stop all together.

A thoughtless huff escaped his nose. There it was. If he was honest, it was the lecture he was expecting before he ever even stepped foot in Mori's office. Especially after Rimbaud had mentioned being sent.

And really, he knows for a while probably really means it'd be nice if it never happened again, but...

It takes all of his willpower not to reach up and massage his neck. Not because it hurt or anything, but because of the implication. He's not as restrained in managing to completely hold back the slight grimace that curls at one corner of his lip for a moment, gaze downturned in the closest thing to submission that he ever gives anyone.

"Yes sir."

[starsburned]

If you're a writer you're supposed to write a lot of bullshit. It's part of the gig. You have to write a lot of absolute garbage in order to get to the good bits. Every once in a while you'll be like "Oh, I wish I hadn't wasted all that time writing bullshit," but that's dumb. That's exactly the same as an Olympic runner being like "Oh, I wish I hadn't wasted all that time running all those practice laps"