optimalsolution | Duplicity Inbox

[ Akutagawa is hesitant to send a message at all — these lines are almost certainly not secure and he’s under strict instruction to pretend that he doesn’t know Mori. His options, though, are unfortunately limited. While he might otherwise approach Dazai or Chuuya, neither of them seem like particularly good choices given the issue. ]

Hello.
Please contact me at your earliest convenience.

- Akutagawa Ryunosuke

[ It’s plain enough, he thinks. No mention of their relationship with one another; he can pass it off as accidentally sending a message to someone by mistake if he truly needs to. ]

[He knows that Akutagawa would not contact him without a very specific reason, so he wastes no time with asking for further details.]

We will meet at the park in the Down.

[ Akutagawa is prompt as always. The atmosphere of the Down is one that’s more familiar than the ritz and glam of the Up, but familiarity isn’t enough to make him okay with the idea of staying there. He’d escaped this life, after all, and he had no desire to return to it.

He settles on a bench in the park and waits for his boss. He doubts he needs to say anything when Mori arrives — Mori is observant, more so than most. The scar on Akutagawa’s neck, while mostly even, doesn’t have the precision of a skilled surgeon. Due to the small variances in the line (almost inevitably from times Akutagawa had taken a shaky breath during the scarification), the tattoo of a Submissive is visible in spots.

It’s hard to remain stoic when he feels nothing but rage. It builds in him, desperate for a release. It’s a small miracle that he hasn’t killed someone yet. ]

[Mori is indeed observant, and while he wasn't exactly looking for the tattoos of a Submissive it doesn't take long for him to spot it on his subordinate when he draws closer to him. He stops n front of where Akutagawa is seated, hands in the pockets of his doctor's coat. Even though he is smiling there's no excess of warmth in his words.]

Your designation has changed.

[He doesn't even feel it necessary to comment on the scar; he knows who did it. After all, no normal person would be allowed close enough to Akutagawa to do such a thing, and even if they could manage to get within range he doesn't doubt for a moment that they wouldn't have lived long enough to make such a clearly purposeful scar.]

[ Hearing it out loud makes Akutagawa grit his teeth. This shouldn’t be possible. He’s worked far too hard to be kicked back into the slums. He isn’t a stray dog anymore, and he’s certainly no one’s Submissive. ]

It has.

[ He doesn’t bother to hide the anger in his voice. Someone has to pay for this — someone will pay for this — but still has the courtesy to let Mori know before he barrels in headfirst to deal with it. ]

[That rage certainly doesn't surprise Mori, although his expression does become a little more solemn. He has heard about designations being changed and perhaps he should have monitored Akutagawa a little more closely to ensure that he had been contracted, but with Fort Harmony he had admittedly been dealing with other matters.

But the situation is still salvageable. There is always an optimal solution.]

Is Dazai-kun aware of this yet?

No. I haven’t spoken to him.

[ It said something about the situation that Akutagawa had chosen to go to Mori over Dazai. Not telling Dazai isn’t an option; sooner or later he will find out. Still, having Dazai be the first to know had felt too much like letting him win.

Dazai may be their ally here, but Akutagawa hadn’t wanted to give him the satisfaction. Especially since Dazai had gone so far as to slit his throat to prove a point. ]

[That is something of a surprise, but at the same time Mori is aware of just how prideful Akutagawa is. Even if he has accepted that Dazai is working with them in this place he undoubtedly still doesn't trust him or want to show that the executive holds any power over him.

Of course More knows better and he's certain that Dazai does too.]

Well since it's come to this point it's no longer an option for you to remain uncontracted for long. [Perhaps he should have required Akutagawa to contract Chuuya back in the Fort when he was still a dominant... But that could have also aroused suspicion. Regardless there was no point in wasting time on thinking about lost opportunities.]

Have you at least found anyone who would be suitable?

I haven't.

[ It isn't that he hasn't tried, but an actual partnership with someone remains entirely unappealing. It's unavoidable here, but that isn't encouragement enough. He prefers working alone.

It's worse now that his new designation means he that said partnership will mean that someone owns him. The only person he'd ever felt comfortable giving true power over him is Dazai, and Dazai had made that... complicated when he'd betrayed the Port Mafia. ]

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