Always somewhere in rarepair hell

fyodor just kind of incidentally neglects his physical needs while dazai is a master of self-neglect. as such he is much more adept at recognizing poor eating, hygiene and sleeping habits in others. that does not necessarily motivate him to take care of them, he would much prefer to manipulate the people he cares about into picking up better habits of their own accord. but he also recognizes fyodor as a lost cause. which does not make him any less allergic to showing pure unfiltered genuine care, especially with fyodor, who was much more open to the two of them starting a relationship, while dazai had to be worn down to accepting it. acting like a doting partner, even in small ways, feels like admitting defeat, so his way of taking care of fyodor without having to swallow his pride has strangely morphed into some version of mutual self-care.

(੭ ˘•ω•˘)੭ु⁾⁾

fyodor hasn’t eaten all day, incidentally neither has dazai. and he doesn’t want to, he’s not hungry, he doesn’t need to eat. but fyodor should. what better way to get him to do that than cooking a slightly too large meal for himself and offer fyodor half of it. maybe even a bit more than that. unlike dazai, who just lazes about without purpose all day, fyodor, incorrigible workaholic that he is, needs all the nutrients he can get for his sickly body to keep up with the pressure he puts on himself. did dazai put a little more effort into preparing the dish because of that or did he just want to use up the staggering amount of expiration date approaching ingredients they have lying around? who's to say.

but you see, he didn’t go out of his way to do something nice for fyodor, in fact he benefits from it because he didn’t even want to eat a small portion, let alone the super-sized meal he ended up making. next time he'll be a bit more portion conscious. neither of them are big eaters after all.

it becomes a habit, one that fyodor is very much aware of too. and although he himself is rarely the first to realize that they haven’t eaten in a while, he ends up sharing every little snack he used to get for himself only. always taking two candies from the jar, snapping up crackers and chocolate bars despite the crumbs they leave on his desk, letting dazai have the first sip of his coffee or the new tea blend he decides to try, habitually ripping up a sweet pastry to offer dazai half before they’ve even left the bakery. it works for him too, half a pastry is plenty enough for him.

_(ˇωˇ」∠)_

dazai hasn’t slept in days. he’s tired but can’t sleep. fyodor probably could if he unglued himself from his monitor and laid down in his comfy comfy bed. the comfy comfy bed dazai is currently occupying, getting secondhand blue-light blasted by fyodor’s multi-screen set-up, still unable to sleep. he could go lay in his own bed, in his own room, free of overworked hardware glowing, making noise, further preventing him from falling asleep. but oh my darling fyodor your bed is so so much more comfortable, please turn off your beast of a computer and let me take a nap. whining and complaining about how his ideal sleeping conditions are not being met until fyodor relents and for lack of anything else to do (and thanks to the sudden wave of exhaustion that hits him when he gets up from his workspace) joins dazai in bed.

see, it’s all calculated. falling asleep is so much easier too when you can’t toss and turn as much because it might disturb your severely sleep-deprived cuddle buddy.

[ID: 3 grayscale digital comic pages about Oda Sakunosuke and Edogawa Ranpo from "Bungou Stray Dogs" during the events of "Dazai Osamu and the Dark Era."

Page 1:

Ranpo: "Because if you go...you're gonna die."

Oda: "I know."

First panel shows Oda and Ranpo talking on a bridge in the rain. Ranpo's thoughts begin: "That man..." Second panel depicts Oda's back as he goes to confront Mimic, walking off into the darkness. Ranpo's thoughts: "I remember." Third panel is a close up of Ranpo's sad and pensive expression, he still has his glasses on. Ranpo's thoughts: "It was //him//..." Fourth panel shows a close up of a teen Oda, in the background is the scene from "The Untold Origins of the Detective Agency" when Ranpo and Fukuzawa see Oda surrender after killing his employer. Ranpo's thoughts end: "...from all those years ago."

Page 2:

4 staggered panels with Ranpo's thoughts overlapping the scenes.

"It's strange." First panel shows Ranpo looking out the window while eating a lollipop. Second panel has Yosano smiling with a nondescript speech bubble. "Yosano said the same thing yesterday." Third panel is a close up of a file folder stuffed with papers, the labels nondescript. "The president asked me to pick up more stuff from that place." Fourth panel depicts Ranpo holding an umbrella from behind on the same bridge he ran into Oda, he is looking over at the water. "It's raining //again//."

Page 3:

In a sequence of 3 panels, a shadowy scribbled figure passes by a scribbled Ranpo, the third panel depicts an extreme close up of Ranpo's eye widened in shock. The final scene shows the Ranpo grabbing Oda's arm tightly, leaning towards him with a concerned expression. Oda turns and looks at Ranpo in slight surprise. Their figures are outside but overlapping the fourth panel, which shows the vista from the bridge. This time the rain has stopped and the clouds are lighter.