Magic and Mystery Coil by Allegory_for_Hatred

Royal Flush

What in the world is Snape doing here!?

Snape blinked several times upon entering the room, like he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

Honestly, Dazai was kind of doing the same. He'd been half-expecting Blaise and Pansy to show up—he knew they often skipped out on parties together. But Snape? The one professor Dazai knew would be prickly about his presence. Here? Now?

Draco was shooting him increasingly frantic looks. Dazai almost wanted to return them, but he pulled himself together quickly. There was no space for mistakes. Not now.

"Severus," Dazai greeted, cheeky. "What brings you here?"

Snape shook himself visibly. He looked entirely rattled to his core, but that single motion seemed to shake most of his sense loose. But for once, he didn't berate Dazai for the overly familiar name. He took a step into the room, but halted before coming any closer. When Snape scanned Dazai's face intensely, something in his expression twisted. "...what is this?"

Dazai rocked back on his feet, wondering how long he could stall Snape without risking the professor seeing Mori.

Witheringly, Dazai realized the answer was 'not long at all.'

He made his next decision accordingly. "I'm visiting Draco, obviously."

"You should be at home. In Yokohama," Snape said stiffly. He looked between Draco and Dazai again, but his eyes kept slipping anxiously to the bandage over Dazai's eye. Eventually, he stopped fighting the urge, and just kept his eyes on Dazai alone. "What happened." It was not a question.

"I booked a plane, then Draco let me in the window," Dazai replied evasively, then realized he didn't exactly have the luxury of playing around like that right now. A second later, he corrected sheepishly, "Mori doesn't know I'm here."

Hook.

Snape's brows furrowed. He looked pained. "You ran away from home?"

Line.

Dazai nodded, accepting the guess as truth. Snape already looked to believe it before Dazai even agreed. Purposefully, Dazai scratched his cheek—right below where the bandages snugged over his eye.

As expected, Snape's eyes widened. He reached every conclusion he wanted to reach. Dazai welcomed them. "Shit," he hissed. Then, Severus was crossing the room and stooping down to hover nervously over Dazai—like he was afraid Dazai might shatter.

And sinker!

Snape believed the lie fully! He certainly wouldn't be questioning Lucius' allegiances if he thought Dazai had merely run away here to find refuge with a friend. Snape was too predictable like that, really. Always ready to find him hurting. Now all Dazai needed was for Snape to leave.

"If Luc—uh, Draco's dad finds out Draco let me in, we'll all be in deep shit."

"Language," Snape chided distractedly. He was still looking Dazai up-and-down for other wounds. There was nothing to find, though. His less significant wounds were either covered or had already healed. He agreed, "you can't stay here."

Dazai pretended to waffle on that idea for several seconds. "No... I'll head back home tonight. Or tomorrow, if I can't catch a plane by then."

Snape took that in with a furrowed brow. He stared in silence for a long moment, an odd expression warring on his face. But all the while Snape was clearly deep in thought, his eyes never once left Dazai. Dazai shifted uncomfortably despite himself. Snape's heavy stares had always left him feeling wrong-footed. And though Snape was often quite easy to distract, Dazai rarely liked doing so. Making the man angry was one thing. But tugging at Snape's concern for him was always uncomfortable. At least this time, the self-inflicted cuts on Dazai's arms were covered.