Okay, so this is the first prize fic for the conteat in The Thankful Tree. It's for Azlea, who was the first person to get all 16 people matched with what they're thankful for.
Prompt: "it's always the quiet ones"
I dunno how well I stuck to that, but I hope you like it, Azlea!
Disclaimer: Tania, Malcolm, and Supai are mine. But I don't own Durarara.
It's always the quiet ones
It was common knowledge -or close to it anyway- that Malcolm Yuuki was the younger brother of Tania Yuuki, one of the teachers at Raira Academy, the school he attended. It was also almost-common knowledge that while Tania kept her emotions in check and rarely showed amusement or anger or any other feeling, Malcolm was completely emotionless. He showed no feeling. Ever. He spoke in a toneless voice that many called hollow -when he spoke at all, that is. He rarely talked to his classmates, and avoided speaking in class. He couldn't possibly have real emotions, right?
But he could -and this was very uncommon knowledge- have a sense of humor, and he did care for his sister.
After all, she had helped him and his only friend, Supai Orihara, to become the bounty hunter and informant they were today.
They both owed her, and even emotionless Malcolm knew it.
So when Tania Yuuki, the sister who was one of the only people he cared for -not that he would ever show it in a way normal people could understand- when she started dating Shizuo Heiwajima, the famed Fortissimo of Ikebukuro, he was the closest to happy he had ever been.
She deserved to be with the person she liked, and he knew that Shizuo wouldn't hurt her. Maybe he couldn't; she had talked him out of his infamous blind rages often enough that people had started to notice.
Anyway, Malcolm watched his sister steadily grow more cheerful, more open. He knew that for normal people -people with emotions- it was healthy for them to show those emotions around people they trusted, people they cared about.
So he was as close to pleased as he could get when he saw how his sister flourished in her relationship with Shizuo.
And yet...something was missing. Malcolm knew that physical affection was important in a romantic relationship. But Shizuo and Tania didn't touch a lot. At first, he couldn't figure out why; the correct emotions seemed to be there, after all. So he asked Supai, who often helped him understand the odd and often complex emotions of normal people.
"He's scared," Supai said flatly.
"Shizuo?" Malcolm guessed.
"No, the neighbor. Yes, Shizuo. He's scared that if he gets close to her physically, he might hurt her accidentally," the young informant told him.
"Then he needs to stop being scared," Malcolm decided.
"It's not that easy. He can't just turn off his fear," Supai said.
"I know. But he still needs to stop. And we have to help him do it. We owe it to Tania," Malcolm replied. Then he waited. He knew Supai would come up with a plan; the cousin of the infamous Izaya Orihara always had a plan.
Supai didn't disappoint his friend.
"Okay. I bet if we can get them to kiss once, then that will open the door so to speak, and then they'll work their way through their current physical distance from there," Supai announced.
"How can we do that?" Malcolm asked.
"I don't know..." Supai admitted. Malcolm grinned.
"I have an idea," he said. Supai blinked; it was incredibly rare to see any expression on his friend's face, and a grin was the rarest of his expressions.
"What's your idea?" the young informant asked almost warily.
Shizuo knew something was up when he got a text from Tania. She usually called him; she knew that he liked the calming effect her voice had on him even over the phone.
'Can you drop by my place around 6?' the text read. Shizuo frowned, then shrugged. Whatever was going on, he was sure she would tell him when he got there.
'Sure. See you then,' he replied.
Tania didn't know why Malcolm asked her not to come home until six, and from the snickering she could hear in the background of the call -it sounded like Supai- she figured she would put off finding out for as long as possible.
Which is why she ended up standing outside the apartment she and Malcolm shared, unlocking the door as Shizuo walked up.
"Hey," he greeted her. She smiled a little -which was the equivalent of beaming, coming from her- and finally managed to open the door.
"Hi, Zuo. What's up?" she asked, pleased but a little confused by his presence.
"You asked me to come, so here I am," he answered. Tania tilted her head. She hadn't asked him to come, but she wasn't about to send him away.
"Oh. Hm. Well, come in," she invited, mind racing. She stepped inside and slipped off her shoes, and Shizuo followed her example, a little confused by her reaction.
Tania paused in the small entryway. Something was different... She looked around carefully. Nothing was out of place.
"Something wrong?" Shizuo asked. Tania started to answer, then stopped, frowning at the ceiling, where a clump of green leaves was fixed to the entry light.
"Not wrong, exactly," she muttered. "Just...odd." Her boyfriend followed her gaze upward and grunted in surprise.
"Is that...mistletoe?" he muttered. "But why...?"
"Oh come on! Everybody knows you're supposed to kiss if you're under the mistletoe with someone!" Supai's voice complained. "You two are seriously impossible!" Both adults turned to see Supai leaning against the doorframe leading to the small living room area and Malcolm peering around him with an actual smile on his face.
"What?" Shizuo frowned at the two high schoolers.
"That's a Christmas tradition," Tania pointed out. "Which is still a month away."
"It still counts! You two have to kiss!" Supai insisted. Tania shook her head slightly and stretched up on tiptoe to kiss Shizuo's cheek. The blond smiled at her.
"That doesn't count! You're supposed to kiss on the lips!" Surprisingly, this came from Malcolm. Shizuo raised an eyebrow, noticing the expectant look on the usually blank face.
"Why do I get the feeling this is a mini-conspiracy?" the former bartender muttered.
"Maybe because it is?" Tania suggested.
"Kiss her! Kiss her!" Malcolm chanted. Tania frowned.
"Malcolm, it's not up to you whether or not-"
"Eh, why not? The kid won't shut up til I do. Besides, I've wanted to for a while now," Shizuo admitted. Tania whirled, dark chocolate eyes widening.
"Zuo-?" Anything else she might have said was cut off as he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, allowing himself to kiss her for the first time. For a moment, Tania was too astonished to do more than let it happen. When she didn't respond immediately, Shizuo started to pull back, blushing. But then Tania stretched up on tiptoe again, this time to prolong the contact.
Several long moments later, the sound of Supai and Malcolm high fiving made the couple remember other people existed. Both adults flushed scarlet.
"It worked!" Supai exclaimed.
"Told you it would!" Malcolm replied, laughing. Shizuo eyed them warily, still blushing.
"You two think this is funny?" Tania snapped, just as red as her boyfriend.
"I don't. He does," Supai answered, nodding to Malcolm.
"Ani...your brother has a weird idea of what's funny," Shizuo grumbled.
"Most people think I'm just plain weird," Malcolm pointed out. He was still laughing. "Besides, haven't you heard? It's the quiet ones who are weirdest," he added.
"I don't think that's how that goes..." Tania muttered.
"Who cares?" Shizuo asked. Then he kisses her again.