Work Text
Strangers
Their first meeting is but a fleeting glance. Chuuya's eyes are immediately drawn to the strange boy - he has a mop of brown hair almost obscuring the sharp features of his face, his leg is in a cast, and one of his eyes is wrapped in thick bandages. As Kouyou leads him away, Chuuya can't stop thinking about the boy with the bandages and cold, dead eye.
Friends
After their first few missions as a team, Chuuya has decided that he hates the boy. He is frustratingly manipulative, impossible to read, and just downright irritating. He either acts too rashly or thinks too much; stays silent for days or chatters on endlessly - Chuuya doesn't think he can last another day with the incessant suicidal commentary. Despite all this, however, Chuuya begrudgingly admits that boy is the closest thing he's ever had to a friend.
Best Friends
They've known each other for two years when they stop pretending. Facades and masks are worn away as they begin to find solace in each other. Sharp glares and thoughtless deceit give way to light hearted banter and wary truthfulness. It isn't much, but Chuuya is willing to wait. After all, they have all the time in the world.
Lovers
Soukoku. Double Black is what others call them. The name is whispered in terror and spite. They are seen as monsters. Demons. Beasts that relish carnage. But the words don't sting as they should. Both have finally found somewhere they belong - they belong to none but each other; Partners in every sense of the word. And for the first time since he can remember, Chuuya is satisfied.
Strangers
They pass each other in the street often enough; though the spaces they occupied at each other's sides have been replaced. Although neither makes any effort to acknowledge the other's existence, it's impossible for Chuuya to completely ignore his ex-partner's annoying antics - even when they're not directed at him. So, more often than not, Chuuya finds himself studying the man, carefully observing his interactions and noting the changes in the boy he first saw. And not much has changed: he's still seems the same as the exasperating, suicidal waste of bandages he's always been. But when he stares at that carefree smile, Chuuya wonders if he had ever known Dazai at all.