The mission had been a long and exhausting one. Chuuya's limbs were sore, his bones ached at the very prospect of moving as he slowly jammed his key into the keyhole of his apartment door and lumbered into his apartment.

He had been gone for a total of three days, off in enemy territory collecting information because apparently just straight up using his ability on the spot and confronting them was a poor choice without information.

Of course, the boss had every right to send Chuuya in, though, in the end, he ended up having to fight the ability users anyways. There was no need to draw it out for three whole days but sometimes Chuuya had the suspicion that the boss was testing him even if he had already earned himself the spot of executive.

Chuuya scoffed to himself, putting his hand on the wall to stabilize himself as he trudged further into his penthouse apartment.

If he was any more aware, not beaten and sore from the assignment, he would have noticed the pair of larger shoes by the door. Shoes that were definitely not his. He would have noticed the way his lights were on instead of off, the way his apartment seemed lived in instead of how desolate it should have been.

Chuuya preferred the finer things in life, shamelessly luxurious items because he had all of this money he might as well throw it at something. It filled that void of time he had lived on the street.

Chuuya didn't even notice that Dazai was on his couch, a wine bottle from his collection held in hand and eyes trained on the TV until he reached his bedroom door.

When Dazai cleared his throat Chuuya nearly jumped out of his skin, whipping around and nearly falling over from the action of the quick movement. When his hazed eyes landed on Dazai his stiffened posture relaxed slightly, "Oh, it's you."

Dazai made a distressed noise, "What do you mean 'Oh it's you?' I'm offended, slug. Offended!" He continued to whine indignantly and Chuuya really didn't have the energy to fight back so he only gave Dazai an exhausted look before turning back to his room to face plant in his Alaskan-king-sized bed. The largest size known to man.

He didn't even hear the noise of confusion Dazai made when he eventually quieted down or him shuffling to his room.

"My my Chibi, rough day?"

Chuuya groaned into his pillow, muscles practically quivering with tension because while his mind was ready to sleep for a solid five days, his body was still reeling from the action.

"Rough three days," he corrected, voice sounding like absolute shit.

He couldn't see Dazai but he could practically feel the calculating look the other was giving him. "I see," he finally said, and Chuuya was clinging onto the small hope that maybe he would just leave him alone for the night.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen.

"Is Chuuya planning to sleep in his dirty work clothes?" Dazai mused as if Chuuya wasn't lying right next to him. "That is quite unsanitary."

Lifting up his hand to give Dazai the middle finger was an exhausting yet gratifying experience.

Instead of launching into dramatics, Dazai simply patted Chuuya's back and began moving around his apartment like some sort of creep. Chuuya's sleep-hazed mind was too exhausted to care at the moment as he could finally sink into his mattress and give in to the sweet sweet lull of sleep.

He only managed to fall into a light slumber when around five minutes later Dazai was poking at him. Chuuya murmured a curse under his breath and turned his head away.

"If Chuuya is so insistent on staying asleep then it looks like I'll have to carry him like a princess!"

Chuuya's eyes snapped open.

Because if there was one thing he knew about Dazai, it was that he had noodle arms and in no way would be able to carry him to wherever he was going to kidnap him to.

"What do you want?" Chuuya hissed as he sat up, body screaming in protest.

Dazai adopted a softer tone, rare but Chuuya had been seeing more of it lately. "I ran a bath for you, better get in before it gets cold."

Chuuya was honestly too shocked to do anything but swallow thickly and nod as he slid off of his bed and continued on his trek to his master bathroom. Dazai didn't help him, knowing that Chuuya would snap at him if he even tried.

But Chuuya did appreciate the sudden thoughtfulness that Dazai was showing. They both knew that Chuuya took care of his hygiene and cared about filth. On any other day, he would be questioning the man's motives, but Dazai seemed to genuinely care lately, so Chuuya would give him the benefit of the doubt.

Dazai placed one of Chuuya's overly fluffy towels on the edge of the bathtub as Chuuya slipped in, hissing in a mixture of pain and satisfaction when his battered body came in contact with the water. It was the perfect temperature, just steamy enough to feel nice but not hot enough to scald his already irritated skin.

Dazai slipped to the floor beside the tub, eyeing him with an emotion Chuuya didn't care enough to decipher at the moment. "They really did a number on you."

Chuuya chuckled bitterly, the movement sending jolts of pain up his ribs, "Ya think?"

Dazai frowned, cupping his cheek in his palm as he leaned his elbow against the side of the tub next to Chuuya's head. Chuuya appreciatively leaned against the towel so that his head wasn't leaning on the cold marble of the rub.

"You should take tomorrow off."

Well, that was out of the blue.

"Hah?" Chuuya tilted his head slightly, sinking further down into the water. "I have to go in and file reports."

"But you're hurt, take a day to recuperate," Dazai suggested and Chuuya sighed.

"Look I'm hurt I'm not about to fuck in this condition-"

"No no Chibi, you have it wrong," Dazai's lips tilted upwards, amusement laced in his tone. "We will do nothing more but lay in bed and watch television tomorrow."

"Yeah, except I have work-"

Dazai's eyes darkened, "I will call Mori myself."

Chuuya's eyes widened because if Dazai was willing to actually speak to the man then Chuuya must look worse than he originally thought.

He shifted in the tub, causing small waves to ripple around him, "I guess I can call in, Ane-San would definitely insist on it and cover for me."

"See Slug? No need to stress," Dazai said and Chuuya didn't even realize how his mind had already been jumping to all of the paperwork he would need to fill out until Dazai had freed up his day.

Sometimes it felt as if the bandaged idiot knew him better than he knew himself.

Chuuya huffed and leaned further back against the towel, eyes sliding closed. Exhaustion weighed heavy on his limbs as sleep called him again.

Dazai silently shuffled around him and Chuuya nearly jumped when nimble fingers began to card through his hair, rubbing at the scalp. It took a moment for Chuuya to realize that Dazai was getting his hair wet and shampooing it and something warm settled in Chuuya's gut at the action.

Dazai continued with the ministrations, removing the grime from his hair and cupping a hand over Chuuya's eyes when he poured water to wash the soapy suds away.

Chuuya hummed in approval, for once allowing himself to relax under someone else's hold. Though apparently, it didn't stop there, because Dazai moved down to the nape of his neck, rubbing little circles and easing the tension away before proceeding to his shoulders.

Chuuya went boneless under Dazai's firm yet gentle grip as he rubbed the knots out from his shoulder and upper back, kneading at the bruised skin and careful around the tender areas.

When they were younger Dazai had never been so tentative and caring, but now, lately, Chuuya had seen this side of him more often and now he was inclined to believe that maybe he had changed for the better after all.

It was a nice thought process to cling onto.

They continued in silence, Chuuya making small noises of appreciation here and there, though he didn't even realize he had fallen asleep again until Dazai was tapping on his less bruised shoulder and hooking his arms under Chuuya's armpits to assist in helping him up.

"Thanks," Chuuya grumbled when a fluffy towel was wrapped around him, and the smile Dazai gave him was a soft one.

"Anything for Chuuya."

The honesty in his eyes made Chuuya's sleep-addled brain run rampant.

Chuuya sat on the counter as Dazai wrapped up his bruised body to where they were matching, rubbing ointment over fresh cuts and blooming bruises until he was thoroughly taken care of.

Chuuya didn't bother with a shirt, his skin felt hot to the touch anyways, perhaps it was for the best that he took the next day off because he would for sure get a fever from all of the work he had done.

He didn't need to communicate it with Dazai, who tossed him a pair of sweatpants and swiftly exited the room as Chuuya slipped under the covers.

Just as sleep was going to embrace him again, his body was being nudged upwards. Chuuya didn't fight it this time, not even opening his eyes when he felt Dazai slide in between his back and the headboard, making Chuuya lean against his front as he detangled his fiery hair with a comb he had found on the dresser.

Chuuya was very particular with who touched his hair because very few could come close to it, but Dazai had always been one who could tangle his long fingers through his hair and relax his muscles.

Dazai brushed through his locks until they were undoubtedly detangled, gathering up his hair and wrapping it in a rubber band in a ponytail just as Chuuya always liked to sleep in it.

"One more thing," Dazai murmured, voice low as something cold landed in his hand. Chuuya's eyes fluttered open as he looked down at the water bottle and medication that doubled as a pain reliever and a fever reducer.

Dazai really knew how to be attentive.

Chuuya swallowed the pills with the water and handed them off to Dazai, who discarded them hopefully in his kitchen. Chuuya flopped back down, mourning the loss of Dazai's colder body against his furnace-like one, but it was short-lived because Dazai slipped under the covers next to him a few mere minutes later.

"Does Chuuya feel better now?" Dazai asked, genuinely curious.

"Mmh," Chuuya scooted further back against Dazai, and under any other circumstance, he would be arguing over who got to be the big spoon and who got to be the little spoon, but for now he would let Dazai have the win.

Dazai hummed and the noise sent reverberates through his chest, making Chuuya relax impossibly more against him.

"I take that as a yes."

Magical hands once again came back to play with a stray strand of hair and Dazai snickered, "Chuuya is like a cat."

Chuuya briefly threw a hand back to weakly slap Dazai on the nose, "Call me that an' I'll scratch you."

"How scandalous~"

Chuuya didn't even have time to berate Dazai and his filthy mind before sleep finally overtook him and he was out like a light.

He ended up needing to take more than one day off, two until his fever tapered off and one so he and Dazai could go to the new seafood place that was opening up near Dazai's dorm apartment.

Maybe self-care was more of an important thing than Chuuya had originally thought it to be.

Perhaps he would indulge in it more often.