bsd oneshots from ao3

(suegiku) heatwave anxiety

JOUNO HATES THE summer heat. The offensive sunlight made his skin crawl with sweat beneath the layers of his uniform. He could hardly breathe. What was worse was the smell that accompanied it. His sharp nose picked up the repulsive scent of sweat almost immediately. It almost made him gag.

It was unbearably hot in the Hunting Dogs headquarters that day, and sadly, the air-conditioning units had yet to be properly installed after Teruko destroyed it last time in a fit of anger. It was overwhelmingly hot, so much so that it was starting to distract him from his work (mostly listening through the audio files picked up from concealed listening devices of various interrogations). Jouno could feel a headache building at the back of his head; one that was determined to make the rest of his day utterly miserable.

There was a loudness in his ears, pounding away as the interrogation audio began to grate on his heightened hearing. The heat wasn't making this much better either - he began to heave for breath a bit heavier, unbuttoning his shirt slightly. Everything seemed to be on the verge of his nerves, grinding against the edges of his weary patience.

And it seemed the heat was starting to affect his co-workers as well... Teruko began complaining about the heat, commanding Tachihara in her usual booming voice to go find someone who could fix this situation. Tachihara responded with a 'Teruko-san, no one is going to come in this heat...' and chaos ensued between them. Jouno was used to this sort of behavior, but it seemed to worsen his headache. The heat continued to sour his mood further.

His jaw was clenched with irritation as his heightened senses began picking up various noises and scents. The smell of Tachihara's long-forgotten coffee, the whirring noise from Teruko's fan, Tetchou's loud ass breathing, Fukuchi's laughter in the other room over, the horrid scent of his own sweat-

"Jouno?"

Jouno snapped from his thoughts, looking up to look towards Tetchou's direction. He sat across from the white-haired agent, silently observing amidst the chaos.

"Are you okay?"

Jouno's jaw was clenched tight with growing anxiety - it was a frequent occurrence for him to be overwhelmed by his heightened senses. He relied on them often, but it was made worse with all that was going on on a day such as this. Upon hearing the sound of Tetchou's (was that... concern?) voice, he immediately stopped the habit of grinding down on his teeth.

"Yeah," he responded, his words quieter than usual. It lacked his usual bite, Tetchou even noticed... But said nothing. Jouno was already in a bad mood, he didn't need to make it worse.

"Mm," Tetchou hummed, it was a soothing sound to Jouno's ears. "Okay."

Afterward, Teruko and Tachihara settled their feud with the fan. Fukuchi even grew quiet in the other room. And for Tetchou, he breathed a bit lighter than usual.

Jouno sighed quietly, the anxious knot in his chest loosening as everything began to settle with peace. It was just another day at the office.