"Chuuya, are those heels?"

"Shut up."

A formality took place tonight. Most people were encouraged to go to this event, Dazai and Chuuya being part of this classification.
Chuuya knew there would be dancing. He knew that Dazai would most likely want to dance with him (and that he would want to dance with Dazai). However, due to their height difference, it made things more...challenging, when they tried being close. Chuuya already had to stand on his toes every time he wanted to give Dazai a kiss, and even then he still couldn't reach his tantalizing lips.

So, to make this night easier for him, he got special dress shoes that elevated his height a few centimeters. Nothing drastic, wouldn't want to look foolish.

Although of course Dazai would find away to make him feel so.

"You sure? Those look like heels to me, Chuuya," Dazai teased.

"They're not," Chuuya argued.

"Oh yeah?" Dazai provoked. "Then what are they?"

"Men's dress shoes that increase my height so it's easier to dance with you, you fucking tree."
Dazai let out a laugh. "Aww, you care that much about me?" he said.

"No," Chuuya fibbed. "I couldn't care less. Just don't want to hear your incessant mockery."

"You're pretty much running that risk either way."

Chuuya sighed. "Whatever, let's just go," he exhaled.

"If you didn't care, you wouldn't go through the effort of searching through the shoes section for hours and dropping 7500 yen for those just so you could dance with me," Dazai said in his head.

Some things were best kept to himself.

"Come on, Chuuya," Dazai complained, "I thought you got those shoes so you could dance with me easier. So get up from the bar and dance with me."

"They hurt my feet, shitty Dazai," Chuuya remarked. "Let me sit here for awhile before I get metatarsalgia."

"Alright, just let me get a drink first."

After resting for what felt like an hour--even though it was only ten minutes--Chuuya stood up from the bar. "Alright, extra-stuff-that-comes-with-bandages, let's go to the dance floor and kill my feet."

Dazai laughed. "I could never pass up on an offer like that."

The two headed to where the band was. Dazai dramatically kissed Chuuya's hand and cheesily asked him to dance (Chuuya pretended that it bothered him), then they shakily put their hands on each other and somewhat pathetically attempted to waltz. They may be good singers, but they were not so inclined with dancing.

At least the shoes helped increase Chuuya's height and made it a bit easier to reach Dazai's shoulders than it would've been without them.

They stood there dancing for awhile; Dazai enjoyed the peace and intimacy, Chuuya enjoyed it as much as he could for his feet hurting like hell. He swore that the moment he got home he would burn the shoes.

~

Eventually Chuuya cracked from the aching in his feet and went back to the bar (after hastily apologizing to Dazai). He tore off the shoes and sighed in relief.

Dazai sat beside his partner. "You doing alright there?" he asked.

"Well, my shoes are filled with my blood, and I can't feel anything but pain in my feet, so yeah, I'm just peachy," Chuuya replied, not holding back on sarcasm in the slightest.
Dazai smiled and lightly put a hand on Chuuya's shoulder. "You didn't have to go through all that pain and trouble for me," he said.

"I wanted to," Chuuya replied. "The 21-centimeter difference screws me over and I can never do anything romantic because I can't reach your stupid fucking face."

Dazai laughed. "You're so cute, Chuuya," he said.

Chuuya's face flushed. He sputtered a bit and then looked away from Dazai and mumbled a "Fuck you."

"Do you wanna go home now?" Dazai asked. "I'll carry you to the car. And I'll get the lighter and gasoline to get rid of those shoes for you."

Chuuya nodded.

Dazai smiled at Chuuya, picked him up, and piggybacked him into the shotgun. Dazai wasn't normally Chuuya was the one to drive, but he would probably be to distracted by the pain in his feet to be able to do so. Chuuya did not like the way Dazai drove, but decided to not complain.

When they arrived home, Dazai picked up Chuuya and put him on the couch. Before doing anything with the shoes, Chuuya needed a chance to rest.

Dazai sat beside him. He gently nudged Chuuya's hair and have him a soft kiss on the forehead.

"You need rest," he said, "we can burn the shoes tomorrow, okay?"

Chuuya could not get himself to speak much, so he just nodded in agreement.

Dazai stood up to get Chuuya a blanket. He knew he wouldn't want to move at all until the pain subsided.

He felt something grab his shirt. He turned around and looked at Chuuya.

"Would you...stay here for a bit?" he muttered. That was an out-of-character request of him.

Dazai smiled. "You want me to snuggle you?" he teased.

Chuuya nodded.

Dazai did not expect Chuuya to take him up on his offer, but he nevertheless got back on the couch and embraces his partner.

"I'm never wearing heels again," Chuuya said coldly. He rested his head on Dazai's shoulder and began to fall asleep.

"You don't have to," Dazai said to the sleepy Chuuya. He knew Chuuya probably couldn't hear him. "I'll try making it easier for you from now on. I don't want you losing the ability to walk."

It wasn't long before Dazai fell asleep beside him.

Chuuya woke up later than normal. For once later than Dazai. When he woke, Dazai was gone. He looked down and saw charred shoes with his phone beside them, a mark showing he received a new message. He turned on his phone and read it.

"You were still asleep and I had to leave to get ready for work. Hope your feet fe better. Also I took care of the shoes. They won't hurt you anymore."

Chuuya smiled ever-so-softly.

Suddenly the pain in his feet felt as if it went away, in exchange for a warm feeling in his chest.