Tension

[tossingtrashcans]

Shizuo took another hit from his smoke and shook his head a little. Of course everything was a negotiation with Izaya. He shouldn’t be as surprised as he was in all honesty. But he would focus on the other part of what he had said.

“So, you want a repeat of tonight, granted perhaps not the same thing, but… well you know. Intimate stuff.” Shizuo said and took the last drag from the cig before he put it out and turned to face Izaya. Giving the smaller man a once over. He had spent a great deal of the last few weeks just dreaming up and thinking about this moment, and who was he to not indulge a bit. Especially since Izaya was willing to stop pinning things on him.

“Uhh, yeah sure. We can hook up again. Call it an overall truce for the time being. And if people ask, well it’s none of their damned business.” He said with a firm nod as he moved around scooting closer to Izaya.

Wrapping his arm up and around the man he pulled him in and breathed out slowly. “If you’re cool with it then, we can sit here like this for a little while the game show plays then go to sleep. I gotta meet Tom in the morning.” He said before stifling a small yawn.

[UndergroundGod]

Izaya was grateful for whatever insight had led Shizuo to that conclusion. He absolutely wanted this to happen again, even though he couldn’t make himself say the words, could maybe only express an honest desire if his life depended on it... but thankfully, Shizuo had picked up on that without him needing to say it.

So they would hook up, as Shizuo had put it, again. And they’d keep things between the two of them, keep it a secret. Yeah, Izaya could live with that. He didn’t see any advantage in advertising this new aspect of their relationship to anyone anyway. The less people that knew it was happening, the less people he’d have to lie to about it when it was over.

He noticed Shizuo scooting closer to him, so he was far less shocked as Shizuo’s arm moved around him to pull him closer. He leaned into the movement and wound up pressed to the side of Shizuo’s chest once more, though this time, he settled against him immediately, letting his head lean against Shizuo’s shoulder, and letting his eyes slip shut as he let out an exhale.

He knew he shouldn’t get used to this. He couldn’t imagine this thing with Shizuo would be anything more than a passing fancy. He’d be lucky if they fooled around for maybe a few months before Shizuo’s interest in the whole thing was satisfied and he moved on... but in spite of believing that rather firmly, Izaya couldn’t help but let himself indulge.

[tossingtrashcans]

Shizuo shifted and settled against Izaya as they sat and cuddled together. He was getting drowsy, his eyes slipping shut after a few minutes. Damn he was just so tired. He had a somewhat busy day with Tom and collecting today, and then the added activities. He was strong, yes but he got tired.

Shifting his head a little he let the rest of the episode play before he moved and turned the TV off. Without even thinking about it, he kissed Izaya’s head softly and pulled away to settle himself down in the bed. He moved the blanket up and laid on his back.

“Night Zaya” He muttered softly before he breathed out slowly and felt himself relax into the bed.

[UndergroundGod]

Shizuo’s soft little kiss splashed a tiny bit of heat across his cheeks again, and when Shizuo adjusted on the bed to lay down, Izaya did the same. He was more of a night owl himself, and an insomniac at the best of times anyway, so he wasn’t as tired as Shizuo seemed to be, but he wasn’t going to argue.

Izaya mimicked Shizuo, lying on his back, getting used to the feel of Shizuo’s mattress compared to his own, and when Shizuo wished him good night, he replied back, “Night.”

He didn’t fall asleep, but he did relax. He let his body go loose against the bed, let his eyes close, and focused on the sound of Shizuo breathing next to him. The experience was a strange one. Izaya had slept alone... for a very long time. Unlike some families that had a bedroom shared by children and parents, Izaya’s parents’ home was large, with enough rooms that Izaya had had his own bedroom since he was old enough to get in and out of bed on his own. He’d never had the experience of his sisters coming to his bedroom after a nightmare for comfort because they’d always had each other, and they had their own room as well. He’d never had sleepovers with friends because he... he hadn’t really had any friends, not until Shinra, and at Shinra’s he’d been given his own room to sleep in as well. And as an adult, well... he’d never had any situations in which he wasn’t falling asleep in a room by himself.

So it was strange, being able to hear the slow breaths of another person next to him. He thought it might be disconcerting if he didn’t know that that someone was Shizuo.

It was... a while later, he wasn’t sure how long, his thoughts drifting to his schedule tomorrow, to random upcoming to do lists, things he needed to prioritize and things that could wait to be addressed... but Shizuo’s breathing had been slow and steady for a long while when Izaya decided to turn onto his side, open his eyes and just... watch Shizuo for a bit. It was dark, but Izaya could see well enough with the moonlight coming in past the blinds. He tried to just let his thoughts drift as he watched Shizuo’s profile, his lashes splayed against his cheeks, his face peaceful, his chest rising and falling rhythmically beneath the blankets. At some point, when Izaya’s thoughts and heart threatened to start running free over the idea of falling asleep next to Shizuo in his bed, he reigned them in by turning his focus onto matching Shizuo’s breaths, inhaling and exhaling in time with them.

Eventually, Izaya felt his eyelid growing heavy. He let them close again, and finally fell asleep.

[tossingtrashcans]

Shizuo was actually surprised by how fast he fell asleep next to Izaya. He was utterly exhausted, a long day and lots of unusual exercise. When his alarm went off he half rolled over and tapped his phone to silence it. Rolling back to his original position he nuzzled himself into the body his arms were wrapped around.

Opening his eyes he froze, uhhh what? He shifted a little and spotted Izaya waking. Oh. Oh! Yeah, well, uhh damn. Time to get up. Shizuo shifted away from Izaya and moved to the edge of the bed and stretched his arms over his head. He got up and pulled his t-shirt up off himself in one motion. He folded it and set it on his dresser before he dropped his pants and did the same.

Getting into his closet he pulled out fresh and clean pants, button up and vest. Pulling each item slowly. Turning to face the person on his bed as he tucked in his shirt and then buckled his pants. “Sorry for how early it was.” He said, it was just shortly past eight in the morning.

“I usually meet Tom around nine” He said as he started to button the vest. Once that was done he walked over and got his items off the nightstand and put them away in the appropriate pocket.

[UndergroundGod]

Izaya’s face scrunched up in displeasure at the sound of the alarm, used to sleeping in a couple hours later than it currently was, though... after falling asleep, he hadn’t woken back up, which was usual for him, so in terms of rest, though he’d rather sleep in, it hadn’t been a bad night for him at all. It only took him a half a second to realize what had woken him, where he was, whose bed he was in, his mind used to adjusting quickly to his surroundings. He felt Shizuo move behind him, felt his go for his alarm, and then...

Then rolled back over to cuddle him. Izaya felt his heart fluttering for the brief moment that it lasted, before Shizuo abruptly rolled away from him and out of bed.

He took his time getting up. He didn’t have to rush off anywhere, and realistically, he could take his time getting dressed if Shizuo needed to eat breakfast, or go through his morning routine was. He yawned, stretched his arms out wide across the bed. His chest arched upward as that stretch worked itself through him.

“It’s fine,” Izaya said, waving his hand at him dismissively. Shizuo didn’t need to apologize. Izaya had known Shizuo would have work in the morning, and he’d chosen to stay regardless. He slowly pushed himself up, swinging his legs down over the side of the bed, before yawning again, covering his mouth with his hand before reaching up to rub his eyes carefully.

[tossingtrashcans]

Shizuo slipped his lighter into his pocket last and nodded. Looking up he stopped dead. Watching Izaya stretch and move around in his bed with his old clothes on was actually kinda of… no. Shizuo shook his head and cleared his throat.

“Well, I’m going to scramble up some eggs and have some tea. Do you want anything before we leave?” He asked as he walked around the bed. “Oh and I moved your clothes into a pile here,” He said gesturing by the chair in his bedroom. “If you don’t want eggs and tea, I could make coffee.” He seemed to be the kind of person that’d have caffeine in the morning and nothing else.

Shizuo wrapped his bowtie around his neck and adjusted it loosely into place as he waited for an answer.

[UndergroundGod]

He couldn’t read Shizuo’s thoughts of course, but if he could, he would have said that Shizuo was right about half the time. It was really a coin toss as to whether Izaya bothered eating in the morning or if he’d just have something to drink before getting to work and waiting until lunch. Sometimes, when Izaya did have breakfast, he then wouldn’t bother to eat until dinner. It usually depended on his mood, and if he was in a sour one, he had a tendency to lose his appetite.

The fact that Shizuo was offering to make him breakfast was... well, a surprising one to say the least. He’d expected that Shizuo would eat, but... for whatever reason, he hadn’t thought Shizuo would include him in those breakfast plans. It seemed... intimate, somehow, or... familiar in a way that Izaya hadn’t expected from their hook up.

“I’ll have whatever you’re having,” he said with a grin, feeling a little tickled over the idea of Shizuo cooking for him. Imagine that, after 8 years of continuous death threats, all it took was a kiss, a couple of make out sessions, and getting off together for Shizuo to be willing to cook breakfast for him.

[tossingtrashcans]

Shizuo nodded, “ Alright. I'll let you get dressed and cook.” He said before he walked around the bed and looked down at Izaya still sitting in his bed.

Without thinking he moved his hand up and tipped Izaya's head back, looking his face over before he leaned down and kissed him softly. Dropping his hand he turned and left the room.

Heading to the kitchen he let out a deep breath. Moving around the small kitchen he added more water to the electric kettle and set the temp before getting out the eggs and left over rice he had in the fridge from yesterday. He'd do an egg and rice seasoned scramble for them.

[UndergroundGod]

Izaya didn’t think much of it as Shizuo moved over towards him, but as his hand reached down to his jaw to tip his head back, Izaya’s pulse fluttered, his breath stuttering lightly in his chest. His eyes slipped shut as Shizuo’s lips pressed softly to his...

The kiss was quick, over as suddenly as it started, and then Shizuo was out of the room and headed towards the kitchen... As much as Izaya disliked having him go, it was probably for the best that he’d left, that he hadn’t turned around, because the look on Izaya’s face was a little more honest than Izaya would have intended, an open sort of aching want in his eyes that too fully betrayed the longing in his chest.

The expression lingered there for a few seconds, Izaya’s heart full of possibilities and more hope than he was comfortable with despite his every intention to squash it.

This wouldn’t last. It couldn’t. But fuck if Izaya didn’t want it more than he’d wanted almost anything else.

He shook his head to clear the thoughts, the turmoil, and finally pushed himself up from the edge of the bed to get dressed. He took his time, almost reluctant to slip out of Shizuo’s clothes, and when he was back in his own clothes, he left Shizuo’s borrowed garments in a semi-neat pile where Shizuo had placed his clothes.

It was a few minutes before he wandered over towards the kitchen, looking around more as he went. He’d been in Shizuo’s apartment before, just once, but not with permission, and not in the daylight, so he felt the urge to take in details he might have missed on the previous visit.

He leaned against the door frame, looking more casual than he felt as he took in the small kitchen as well.

“Smells good,” he commented lightly. Casual conversation, he could do that right? Not everything that came out of his mouth had to be teasing or sassy or suspicious. He didn’t do it much, but he could, and if he just actively tried to temper his tone (or maybe his intentions), his natural instinct towards curiosity could be useful for more than profit-driven information gathering. After all, it was natural to want to know more about someone you were sleeping with, wasn’t it? “Do you cook often?”

[tossingtrashcans]

Shizuo glanced up as he heard Izaya ask him a question. “Uhh, yeah. Usually breakfast and sometimes I’ll prepare dinner. Tom and I get lunch out almost every day. “ he shrugged as he moved the eggs in the skillet.

“Oh I made some tea too, if you wanna pour some out. Food should be done soon.” He said as he moved and slid from side to side getting two plates down before going back to the skillet and adding the rest of the white rice to the egg and then some seasoning. He wasn’t going to overthink too much about Izaya asking casual questions. No point in not answering, but also whatever this was. Wasn’t it just… sex? It had to just be sex. Anything more and Shizuo would have to go kick rocks.

[UndergroundGod]

Izaya hummed thoughtfully at the response, intrigued by it. For whatever reason, he'd never thought of Shizuo as much of a cook (he wasn't much of one himself so it wasn't a judgmental assumption), but it seemed like Shizuo cooked a bit more than he'd guessed--though not much more, as he ate out lunch most days at least, which Izaya could relate to, as nearly all of his meals were from restaurants.

Although, maybe Shizuo's cooking meant he'd be getting more homemade breakfasts, if he played his cards right, if this happened again as it seemed it was going to. Izaya thought he would like that.

He took a step into the small kitchen, still peering about inquisitively as Shizuo mentioned the tea. Izaya realized then that the kettle had just wound down and that there was a small pot and cups sitting out, a container of tea nearby... trying not to think about it too much, he scooped some tea into the pot and poured the hot water into it.

[tossingtrashcans]

Shizuo watched Izaya as he walked from one side of the kitchen to the other. Still weirdly unsure that something wasn't going to happen that would lead to a fight or a knife in his back.

Nothing had happened yet that could lead that way, but he still didn't fully trust Izaya not to use this situation to his advantage. After all, Izaya was a snake and snakes strokes when they feel cornered.

“Foods about done” he said softly as he shifted and moved to pull two mix matched plates down and placed them on the counter. He also opened a drawer and pulled out two sets of eating chopsticks.

Moving back over to the pan he gave it one last stir before he turned the burner off and moved the pan over each plate. Dividing the food up evenly between the two plates. He kind of wished he had some more to add to it but he wasn't expecting to need more food.

Returning the pan to the stove he grabbed the salt and pepper and tucked them into his arms before grabbing the plates and moving everything to his small two seater table.

He had to shift and move a stack of magazines to the counter and put the honey and sugar on the table.

“Uhhh, alright. Let's eat.” He said before he sat down.

[UndergroundGod]

At this point, Izaya didn't share Shizuo’s fear about expecting a sudden attack. Izaya had spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to piss Shizuo off--which meant he had a semi-decent idea of what to avoid, and he was pretty sure that he'd be safe as long as he didn't do something intentional to anger Shizuo.

Besides, they had called a truce, and Izaya knew that Shizuo was generally pretty true to his word.

Assuming he was on tea duty, he set the kettle back down once the water was poured and let the tea steep while Shizuo finished cooking. He moved the cups to the table, and after he heard Shizuo moving the plates, he turned to pour the tea out into the cups before taking a seat and looking over the food on the plate. It looked and smelled delicious and Izaya was trying very hard not to feel incredibly touched about Shizuo making food for him.

“Itadakimasu,” Izaya said with a genuine smile, before picking up the chopsticks Shizuo had provided him and beginning his meal.

[tossingtrashcans]

Shizuo shifted the last item down to the table before he pulled the chair out and sat down. Letting Izaya join him he nodded and repeated “Itadakimasu.” before he picked up his chopsticks. He took a few slow bites before reaching out his other hand to add sugar to his tea and remove the tea bag.

Not the best breakfast he’s even thrown together but it was better than nothing, and honestly he was surprised he even had enough left over for them both to eat. He really needed to stop at the store on the way home this evening.

Granted he didn’t end up running into Izaya and making out with him in an alley way again. Course the chances of it happening again tonight was just silly. They’d part ways this morning and process and deal with their own shit as they needed to. Which for Shizuo meant drinking with Tom after work tonight.

Or maybe he’d call Shrina… no. Absolutely not. He would rather have a conversation about this with Celty then Shrina.

Shizuo sipped the tea and set the cup down softly before he went back to eating. Glancing up at Izaya. What the f*ck was wrong with him?