foundfate | PSL (closed)

PSL (closed)

[The shop had finally settled again. It was a bit of a relief, because it hadn't anchored to a world in nearly two weeks, and Watanuki's food stores had started to run low. A shopping trip would be in order, mostly to replenish his nonperishable before the shop set out looking for another world in need of his help.

Usually Watanuki could guess when a move was about to happen, but sometimes it happened out of the blue. Like this last move, which had come so soon after arriving in the previous world. That usually meant that his services were in dire need and that people's souls were calling out to him, even if they didn't quite know it themselves yet. Watanuki would just have to wait for them to come to him.

His first visitor, at least, wouldn't take too long to get there. Watanuki always had a sense of when someone was to arrive, and as soon as the shop's gates had opened and revealed itself to the busy streets of Yokohama he had felt the impending arrival of a customer. It was enough to pique his interest, because he didn't usually get a visitor on the same day after a shop move. Someone was very perceptive, it seemed.

By the time his guest would arrive, Watanuki had already set up some tea in one of the sitting rooms. The summer was at its end, and the cool breeze felt nice enough that Watanuki had decided to open the movable doors to reveal the backyard, which was still bathed in the greens of summer. They could stay cool without the need of an air conditioner that way.

From there, he waited. He had a feeling that his guest was a particularly clever one, so he felt sure that they would find their way to the sitting room on their own.]

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{Dazai snickered and poked the center of Atsushi's forehead.]

Tempting a calamity already? How bold of you, when there's no telling what such an event might do to the tides. [He shook his head in amusement.] A full transformation might suffice. That's a state your rational mind doesn't necessarily have a large degree of influence over, no?

Well...that's true, I guess. But, um, stay close in case it doesn't work?

[Atsushi didn't want to rampage around the shop or anything. Watanuki, interestingly enough, didn't react one way or the other to the idea of a transformation. He stood by passively and watched instead as Atsushi, once he got untangled and stepped to a clear part of the backyard, focused and transformed into the tiger.

...and it promptly looked at Dazai and Watanuki with a hunger in its eyes, any trace of Atsushi gone. Lights out, nobody's home. Watch out for the tiger that was getting ready to pounce.

Watanuki still looked unconcerned, though. Even as the two girls ducked into the shop to hide.]

[As far as Dazai was concerned, it was merely a question of who the tiger would go for: after all, the worst he'd get was an armful of teenager. Not so much for Watanuki.]

Tora-saaan~!

[Look at this waving palm, tiger. Pounce anywhere else, and you get a heavy nose boop.

Now. Time to see what that sun did, in the time Dazai kept himself from intervening]

[The sun actually did Jack All, for reasons that Watanuki would explain once he was asked. Which he figured would happen soon, because that tiger was absolutely pouncing towards Dazai. Pounce, boop, nap time!

Watanuki watches the whole event impassively. Does Dazai let Atsushi tumble to the ground, or does he catch him?]

[What Dazai did was not quite a catch: boop the tiger's nose, catch Atsushi's wrist and pull him to the grass, letting gravity do its work. Happy napping, tiger, and be a good arm rest while Dazai stretched out on the grass indulgently.]

Well, that's that. [He glanced at Watanuki and pointed at the sky.] How relevant is the daylight here?

[Wishes, according to stories, were oddly specific contracts. Moreover, there might be a reason for Watanuki giving Atsushi a sun - the light of which was reflected by the moon.]

[Dazai plz, don't just drop Atsushi on the ground like that. Even lowering gently was silly.

Watanuki didn't even bother glancing up before shaking his head, though.]

Not at all. He has the daylight within him, will will block any unwanted transformation from here on out. Just as you wished for.

[And that was the key part: Dazai's wish had been to control the transformations, not the tiger itself. And while Atsushi was certainly in complete control of the transformations now, control of the tiger would take time and hard work on his own.]

[Ahh. So that was it. Dazai chuckled and exhaled softly.

Sorry not sorry, Atsushi. To begin with, Dazai was already crouched on the ground when the tiger began its descent, and the brunet couldn't be bothered to move.]

Let me guess: to have also wished for him to retain his consciousness would have cost more. [Dazai idly began touseling Atsushi's hair. Good luck in finding a comb.] What would you have claimed next - my coat?

Your identity as 'a member of the Armed Detective Agency'.

[Since Dazai has already made two wishes, Watanuki will answer his questions honestly.]

The coat would have been an accurate physical representation of it, I suppose, but the cost is much, much greater than the ability to hide. And asking you to give up all of yourself is not a price that is conductive to a long life. I think I should refrain from angering a certain someone too. He can actually hurt me, if he tries. Which I suspect he might if I even consider taking a deal like that.

[That first sentence made Dazai visibly grimace.

Hearing what Odasaku might do, too, stirred a strange tangle of feelings that had been building up since the start of this strange afternoon. It was one thing to miss the man, and entirely different to miss his very presence in a context outside of nostalgia.

...he really, really wanted to see Odasaku. He was probably frowning severely right now, like those days where he couldn't satisfy his want for curry thanks to a dozen other errands.]

He would be. [Dazai tried to smile, glancing down at Atsushi. Ahh, this was tough.] His last request, after all, was what led me to the Agency. It'll be a pain, having to look for work again. I don't do well in work environments with too many restrictions, you see.

[What an unconvincing attempt to lighten the mood.]

[It was very unconvincing, yep. But it made Watanuki smile sadly.]

I figured, which was why I didn't offer it initially. Over the years I have gotten good at telling the answers my customers need, rather than what they are asking for.

He will be fine. The tiger is no normal tiger, and will always take control when he transforms fully. But now he has the choice of when to transform, so he can mitigate the risk presented to everyone else.

Good enough.

[Or so he said with an accepting sort of satisfaction. That was, at the end of the day, the freedom he'd asked for on Atsushi's behalf.

He hummed. Watanuki, really, was kind. He said as much as he attempted a one-hand braid - not even having flexible fingers could do much, and Atsushi's hair was short.]

You're too nice, you know.

So I have been told.

[There weren't any repercussions this time, as Watanuki had taken an adequate price. But he was a shopkeeper who sometimes used his own body and blood to make the transaction easier for the wishing person to handle. He just couldn't keep the cold indifference that Yuuko had at times.]

He should wake up shortly. And I should warn you, he seems like a smart one. If he comes back and makes a wish on his own, I will grant it.

Ahh, what a pain.

[The situation was, rather than the two people involved. It wasn't like he could stop an Atsushi who really set out to do something.

With a hum, Dazai stood up and brushed his coat. Atsushi, he'd leave on the grass - no reason to shock the kid by being too nice outside of any harrowing life-changing events.]

I suppose I should just keep him busy.

We'll be out of your hair soon, then.

[Watanuki simply offered up a smile.]

Of course. My shop never lingers in a single world for too long. Though if you ever have need of my services in the future, you will be able to find me.

[Single world, eh?]

Of course.

[As promised, they did leave when Atsushi woke up. The only question Dazai didn't dodge had to do with Atsushi's control.

He excused himself soon enough and made his way to Lupin. Things returned to relative normality outside the shop - Odasaku moved things less and...

...and knowing the man was still hovering around didn't make Dazai's routine easier. He said as much a few days later, visiting Oda's grave.

Wishes were dangerous things. Knowing they could be fulfilled was deadly. Like this, he could accept Watanuki's assessment that Dazai shouldn't be in charge of that Book.

It took a while between the distractions of mundane matters and cases, but Dazai found himself in front of the shop. It was evening, he was tipsy, and there was another bottle of sake in the paper bag he carried.

Odasaku's birthday was in October.]

Knock knock.

[So he announced, rather than knocking.]

I'm on the back porch.

[Watanuki's voice carried through the house, so Dazai would know where to find him.

He also had three empty sake cups waiting next to him, but no bottle of sake. An interesting setup, really. It was like he had expected Dazai to come with a drink.

His outfit that day was a bit less revealing, but no less fancy. It seemed as though he was always dressed up in some way. He also had his pipe out, though he wasn't smoking it quite yet. It was full of tobacco and he had a book of matches ready, though.]

[Please. "Less revealing" was an understatement to Watanuki's barely dressed countenance from last time.

Following the sound of that voice was easy, even under the influence.]

Yo.

[Dazai sat on the porch next to the setup, not commenting on the three cups ---

No, that second part was a lie.]

He can drink here?

[Color him surprised. Had he known, he would've brought whiskey instead.]

Not exactly. If the right liquor is present he can, but that liquor is difficult to obtain. It's more of a symbolic gesture otherwise.

[Something something honoring the dead, or whatever.

Also, Watanuki looked slightly put-out.]

He didn't believe me when I said you would show up today.

Huh. [Nothing too different from the second glasses he usually ordered or poured.] What counts as the 'right liquor'?

And really, Odasaku, what's there to not believe? [Screw heating up the sake - Dazai filled the three cups now, straight from the bottle.] It's a nice night, and not going straight home is a perfectly sensible decision.

[Would've been more convincing if the skies weren't, y'know. Cloudy.]

Ones brewed under the right conditions, or made by the right hands. It takes skill to make a drink for the dead. And the results of that skill are sought after by many.

[He watched all three cups get poured, and then he picked up the one closest to him. A bit forward of him, honestly, since usually the most-senior person went first. It spoke volumes as to what he assumed their ranks were in relation to each other. It also made it clear he saw this as a social call, not as a customer visit. If it had been otherwise, he would have waited for Dazai to drink first.]

Mind, I can obtain such a liquor. It just has a cost.

[That was fine. Dazai wasn't one to care for seniority outside of necessary business etiquette or if he was with the Agency or Hirotsu - after all, he had been in a spot where he was younger than the people he commanded.]

Of course it does. [Not a surprise by now, and Dazai reached for his own cup.] If such a person advertised their services in certain circles, they'd be swimming in profit, setting aside the issue of potential detractors.

And trust me, they do advertise. Though the 'profit' is likely different than what you are imagining.

[Sip sip siiiiip. For someone who looks like a teenager, he sure can handle his liquor.]

Potential detractors aren't much of an issue, though. They tend to either find their own niche or their own territory.

If they charge anything like you, I won't be surprised.

[Three cheers to drinking properly. Dazai would be the last person scandalized to see a teenager imbibing.]

Good for them, really. The question, on the other hand, is if most people would be able to see them.

[This, now, was closer to a thought that's been niggling in the back of his mind for a while.]

Those who need to see them can see them.

[Oh look, there's the mysterious talk again. Watanuki seemed to like speaking like he knew a lot more than he was letting on. Which he did, but he was probably being impolite to talk like that. He was too used to being around people in the know.]

[The mysterious talk, incidentally, also served as giving Dazai a taste of his own medicine.]

That doesn't apply to everyone who are needed at a particular moment.

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