Caught In The Doghouse

by NoodleRamen

Izaya traps Shizuo in a room under his apartment. Rated M for various reasons. Present for e-pon.

Caught In The Doghouse

Disclaimer: Durarara isn't mine.

"When was this installed?" Namie was certain she had never seen this trap door before. Not only that but as this was an apartment, she wasn't sure where this thing could possibly lead.

"Recently. I've acquired the apartment below so I thought it'd be nice to have direct access." Izaya sounded like he was making a perfectly reasonable suggestion but as he was a known psychopath, it wasn't going to be as innocent as it seemed.

"I don't know why I'm asking this but… Why did you buy the apartment downstairs?"

"Storage." Her scepticism was obvious. "I have a lot of stuff."

"Right…" She decided she would pursue this no further. If he'd decided to lock a lot of people up down there or even stash bodies, then it was better for her to stay ignorant. She was already in trouble over her actions at Yagiri pharmaceuticals so she couldn't afford more attention.

Izaya wasn't planning on involving her anyway. What he was about to do was something only he wanted to be involved in. This would be a purely personal project.

Once she had left for the evening, he strolled over to the trap door and pulled it open. This revealed a ladder lowering into a very brightly lit room. Climbing down the ladder revealed that this was in fact, a padded cell. No windows and doors were in the room with chains attached to the wall being the only piece of furniture. It was a pretty dull room to be in.

But then, thought Izaya, the main attraction isn't here yet. A smile appeared on his face. This was going to be the fun part. Now he just had to get the sedative and the dart gun.

Venturing out of his apartment building, he headed towards the Ikebukuro area. Finding his target would be simple. This was odd when you considered how crowded the city was but most of the people here couldn't rip street signs out of the ground and throw vending machines into the air.

Only five minutes of searching the central area had been needed before a wild vending machine went soaring up into the sky with a sudden loud yell accompanying it. Moving in this direction he could see a blonde man in a bartender's uniform storming off down the street.

Following him was easy, the hard part was finding a suitable spot to fire the tranquiliser gun from. When Shizuo moved down a side alley, Izaya ducked behind a wall and took aim. Thirteen darts later and Shizuo was collapsed on to the floor. It had been a near miss. The fun part was getting his unconscious ass back to the apartment. At least most of the taxi drivers in the area would be willing to do anything if you had enough money.

Although Shizuo had been given enough sedative to kill a normal man, there was still the worry that he would suddenly wake up on the way home. For this reason, Izaya had a bottle of the sedative and a syringe in his pocket, ready for any hint that the man was starting to wake up.

Luckily for Izaya, there were no signs of movement all the way home and he managed to get Shizuo up into the apartment (with help from his taxi driver) and chained up in his new 'guest room'. After ensuring the chains were completely secure and putting a bucket in the corner nearby, he climbed up out the trap door, pulling the ladder with him. The real fun would begin tomorrow.

-Page Break-

It was while he was flicking through a stack of papers on his desk (mainly he was deciding which information would be most useful in blackmail), he heard loud banging noises and muffled cursing coming from downstairs. As the room was pretty sound proofed, the person down there must've been very loud.

Izaya chuckled as he thought about the fun he was about to have. Namie kept shooting glances at the trap door and then at him.

"I'm taking the rest of today off," she announced. Without waiting for his permission she grabbed her bag and jacket and waltzed out of the front door.

This wasn't a problem for Izaya since it meant he was now free to visit his new 'roommate'. Once he opened the trap door he could hear the shouting pause but once he'd pushed the ladder down and started climbing down into the room, Shizuo had a glimpse of his captor.

"Izaya you prick!" Izaya got a great deal of amusement from seeing Shizuo attempting to break the chains tethering him to the wall.

"Have a nice sleep, Shizu-chain?" The fact that he was smiling just pissed Shizuo off even more.

"I will kill you!"

"See, the problem with that is that you can't move. And if you did somehow manage to kill me, you'd be here until you died. In short, you need me if you want to survive." He placed a real emphasis on the word need. It gave him a bit of a thrill.

"What the hell are you doing? What do you want?" The chains were shaking with the strain of keeping him in one place.

"I thought you could do with a break. You've been working so hard recently Shizu-chan." And now the fake look of concern. Of course this was guaranteed to increase his rage.

"I want to break you." Doubtless this was true as it was all the man ever tried to do. "Let me out of this fucking room. Right now."

"No." Only one syllable yet it gave him so much pleasure.

"You piece of shit!" And the full struggle resumed.

"You should really calm down Shizu-chan or else I will have to leave." This time he made sure to use the tone of an admonishing parent.

"Fuck you!"

"I warned you." After tutting at the blonde, he turned around and climbed up and out of the room. As he pulled up the ladder and dropped the trap door he was hit with a constant sea of insults.

Izaya then leisurely made his way to the desk with his computer. From his desktop he opened up a stream, which showed constant footage of his prisoner. The small webcam had been easy to install. It had been added as a safety measure since if the man did escape from his chains, it would be best to know before he opened the trapdoor. Although it had to be said that if Shizuo could break those chains then getting through that door would be child's play.

Izaya kept the video stream up for the whole of the afternoon, occasionally glancing over at it whilst looking through papers and answering phone calls. Shizuo struggled against his restraints for most of the day and it wasn't until the late evening that he slumped back against the wall and started panting.

When he had finished with everything he had to do for that day and after glancing at Shizuo to ensure all was well, Izaya switched off the computer and headed up to his bedroom. Tomorrow he was going to have a bit more fun with his new toy, but in the meantime, sleep was looking good.

-Page Break-

The next day Izaya had a lie-in, an essential part of any weekend. This led on to a leisurely breakfast and after that a quick step over to his laptop which showed that his guest was still in the same place as yesterday. Having ascertained that he was still trapped, Izaya went into the kitchen and poured out a glass of water. As a good host he wanted to ensure that his guest stared healthy. This time when he went down, awkwardly carrying the glass, Shizuo didn't bother screaming at him. Instead he had this glare on his face as he watched the man across the room.

"Good morning Shizu-chan!" He even gave him such a lovely smile.

"Don't talk to me you piece of shit." His unusually quiet demeanour was covering up the seething pit of rage. His voice was shaking with it.

"That isn't very kind Shizu-chan."

"Stop calling me that! My name is Shizuo Heiwajima!"

"I prefer Shizu-chan."

"I don't care what you prefer."

"You should care. As you now rely on me you should care very much." This caused Shizuo's face to further contort with rage.

"I don't rely on anybody and definitely not you!" The chains were really straining once again. "Now unchain me!"

"Calm down or I won't give you any water." It would be a pain if the man died too quickly after all.

"I don't want anything from you!"

"I think you do really." Izaya sighed as if bored and put the glass down on the floor as close to Shizuo as he dared. He did have to move back quickly however as Shizuo's leg quickly swung round, nearly hitting him. The glass tipped, leaving a puddle of water on the floor. "That was rather stupid of you Shizu-chan. I'm not going to bring you anymore water either."

"Fuck off!" Izaya shrugged and left him to it. This had been his request after all.

Part of him wished he had restrained his movements more but at the same time it added an element of danger to his visits. It would be boring if it was too easy for him after all.

After showering and generally getting ready for his day, he made sure to have a quick glance at Shizuo before he went out. The main was slowly lowering his body, his arms fully outstretched so as to improve his reach. Every now and then he scowled up at the trap door. Satisfied no one was coming, he started trying to suck up as much of the water on the floor as possible.

I'm impressed. It would seem that Shizu-chan is a lot smarter than expected. As Izaya had only seen the man in full fits of rage, he felt like a scientist witnessing a rat making its way through a maze. Pleased that his plaything wasn't stupid enough to let himself die, he didn't bother to visit the man again that day.

-Page Break-

"Bring me some apples when you come in." Izaya was on the phone to Namie. Formalities were never necessary with her.

"Apples." She was used to his various eccentricities but this seemed very random.

"I'm in the mood for some. Make sure they're fresh." And he put the phone down before she could start complaining.

Shizuo had still been alive this morning, something that Izaya was pleased to note, and he was also still restrained. He considered taking him another glass of water but as his pet had been very disrespectful yesterday he decided he was going to have to wait. Bad behaviour needed to be punished after all.

In fact, Izaya had barely any time for himself that day. It was Monday morning and so meetings had been arranged and deals needed to be sorted. When Namie left at the end of the day he sat back in his chair and pulled up his new favourite channel. As expected his pet was still tugging on the chains, however his struggles seemed less vicious than they had been. Even the great Shizuo Heiwajima would weaken after three days with little water and no food.

And speaking of… Izaya hopped out of his chair and made his way to the kitchen. After pouring out another glance of water, he grabbed a knife and started slicing up one of the apples. Only one of course. The man couldn't be allowed to get too much of his strength back. Shizuo still gave him one of his trademark hateful glares but his eyes had less of a focus in them than before.

"I brought you some water. And a little treat too." He climbed back up the ladder and brought down the small plate with the apple slices on it. The water he placed close to Shizuo again although this time a kick wasn't aimed at him. He'd stuck a straw in it. Hopefully the blonde would get the reference. The apples he held on to.

"Just put that down and leave." His voice sounded gravelly and so it was clear his throat was very dry.

"No, no Shizu-chan." He waggled his finger at him. "That's not how this is going to work."

"Stop fucking around!" He could never get bored of the hate.

"Here's what I'm going to do." Izaya deliberately sidestepped the other man talking to him. "You eat what I give you and only when I give it to you."

As the man didn't seem to understand, Izaya picked up an apple slice and held it out to him. He made sure to add a smile.

"Say Ahhh~." Comprehension suddenly dawned on his face.

"No way in hell." If one thing could be said for him, it was that he did stick to his convictions.

"What's wrong?"

"I am not eating from your hand!" This would be tantamount to relying on his enemy, something he could not bear.

"Aren't you hungry? You haven't eaten in a couple of days." He knew the man was going to be desperate.

"I won't!" In spite of everything, he still managed to look as determined as ever. It was very impressive.

"You are so stubborn Shizu-chan. Ah well, I guess you're not that hungry." And he walked off carrying the apple slices with him. It was quite simple really. If he didn't eat from Izaya's hand then he didn't eat at all. No matter how strong you were, anyone would fold if they were deprived of food.

The next day Izaya went in with water and an apple again. Still Shizuo refused to eat from his hand. Clearly he was starting to weaken however. He barely spoke at all when normally he couldn't restrain himself. Perhaps he would be more rational in this state. Izaya hoped so. Dealing with someone who got so angry that words couldn't affect them was funny, but also irritating.

The day after nothing happened yet again. The man was a lot more stubborn than most people would be in the same situation. But Izaya was patient and he knew that Shizuo couldn't possibly last that much longer. He was correct. His prisoner broke the next day.

"Hello again Shizu-chan." Shizuo barely lifted his head as the man entered the room. "Feeling hungry?" The lack of response brought a smile to his face.

Placing the water down in the same spot, Izaya put the plate of apple slices on the floor and crouched next to it, putting himself at eye level with his captive.

"Are you going to continue to be stubborn or are you going to do the smart thing today? He picked up an apple slice and held it out to the man. "Now say Ahhh~."

It didn't take very long for Shizuo to take it. At first the man could only think of fighting Izaya and escaping. A few days of hunger had changed his priorities pretty quickly. He despised Izaya with every cell in his body but if he died down here the psychopath could do whatever he wanted with his body. Not only that but if he ate he could gain some strength back, increasing his chances of escape later.

Although he had spent every waking moment thinking this through, it didn't change the intense loathing and humiliation he felt at taking food from his enemy's hand. When he looked at Izaya his eyes still burned with hate. Izaya had a smug grin and an air of self-satisfaction. Once he had fed him the whole apple he picked up the plate to leave.

"I knew you weren't that stupid." As he climbed back up the ladder he could feel those rage filled eyes burning into his back.

-Page Break-

After that first session, Shizuo would eat from Izaya's hand every day. Though he did do it, it was never willingly. He'd always hesitate and always stare at him with hate filled eyes. The food did give him a little more energy but Izaya was careful. He only fed him a small amount of food every day. The man could not be allowed to get back to his full strength.

A couple of days later, he started going down twice a day. As a result the man became a lot more lucid than he had been. This meant his resistance towards Izaya increased. Although Izaya had him literally eating out of his hand, internally the man was fighting him completely. Admittedly this did make things more enjoyable but as the man was starting to get used to eating from his hand, it was time to push things a little more.

Screwing with someone's head required time and patience, something Izaya had in spades. That afternoon, after freeing up his appointments, he opened up his bottom drawer and pulled out the tranquiliser gun. The man was restrained but not enough to let Izaya be comfortable enough to approach Shizuo with a syringe in his hand. To be extra careful he didn't even go into the room, instead choosing to snipe him from the open trapdoor. The man had barely anytime to prepare himself.

When Shizuo woke up he had been moved slightly. The chains were holding him more firmly against the wall and his legs were completely pinned down. The most noticeable change was that he was now naked. This, combined with a bucket of soapy water and a sponge, and it was clear what Izaya was planning.

"Oh good, you're awake." Izaya hopped down the ladder. He'd rolled his sleeves right up in readiness.

"Don't you fucking dare." The eating out of his hand was bad enough, but actual physical contact was repulsive to him.

"I had to Shizu-chan. You've been wearing the same clothes for days."

"That's your problem." Obviously he hated feeling filthy but having Izaya touch him would be worse.

"I'm already washing your clothes, I couldn't possibly put them back on something dirty." It was fun trying to persuade him when they both knew he was going to do what he wanted to anyway.

"Don't touch me! Don't you dare fucking touch me!" His rage was building but there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. In his current state all he could do was lie there and let Izaya do what he wanted. The man was happy to oblige.

Izaya dipped the sponge into the water, wrung it out, and then started cleaning Shizuo, starting from the feet. As he did he made sure to put his hand down on the blonde's leg. Happily the leg muscles could be felt tensing up as he tried to rid himself of the unwanted contact.

Izaya made sure to take his time slowly rubbing the man all over. Shizuo was furious at his complete helplessness. When he got to the chest area, Izaya came even closer until he was only centimetres away from Shizuo's face, He started cleaning the man's shoulders this time staring directly into his eyes.

"Do you feel better Shizu-chan?"

"I hate you! I fucking hate you! I want to break every bone in your stupid body!" And now he was really thrashing around. Still he continued to slowly rub down his favourite bartender. Once he had finished, Izaya made sure to wring the sponge out over Shizuo's head, soaking his hair through.

Now he went back up the ladder, carrying his bucket with him. He returned not long after this with a large fluffy towel. It would be cruel to leave the man soaking wet after all.

"Stop it! Just leave me alone!" This was pushing him close to the edge.

"Fine, I'm pretty much done anyway." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a filled syringe. Before Shizuo could say anything else Izaya had plunged the needle into his neck and once again everything was going black.

When he regained consciousness he was back in his old looser restraints. However he was also missing most of his clothing. Only his boxers, shirt and bowtie had been put back on. His rage returning, he started thrashing around violently.

Throughout this, Izaya could hear bangs and shouting. It was like some kind of background music to his reading. After a long period of this everything went silent. Izaya listened for a moment and smiled to himself.

-Page Break-

When Izaya went in to give Shizuo his breakfast the next day, the man was slumped on the wall, completely motionless. He didn't even react to Izaya's presence. Normally there would at least be scowling.

"Morning Shizu-chan." The man's head moved slightly but he didn't look up. Izaya then held out a piece of orange. Unlike the last few times he just took it with no resistance. His eyes were blank. Emotionally he had completely drained himself and now he just felt too tired to even react to anything that happened to him. This led to mixed emotions for Izaya.

It was annoying that he wasn't getting any kind of reaction but it also made it more likely that he could do what he wanted. Deciding to try this, he held out the water glass. Shizuo allowed him to press it up to his lips and drank the water. It just wasn't worth caring.

Now for the real test. Izaya stood up at full height and walked closer. As he was usually able to move enough to swipe at Izaya this was a risky move. However, even though Izaya was standing within half a metre of him, Shizuo stayed still. Crouching slowly until he was at eye level, Izaya's eyes looked into Shizuo's. His eyes were completely blank.

Reaching out a hand he placed it slowly on to the blonde head. He flinched and a look of revulsion appeared on his face but he didn't strike out. Izaya ran his fingers through the man's hair. It was slightly greasy but pleasant. Satisfied, he stood and walked away.

"See you around." With a little wave he left the room. There was something very satisfying about what he had just done.

-Page Break-

Because Shizuo no longer bothered to resist it was easy for Izaya to go down there frequently. Sometimes he'd just wander down for the sake of it. Shizuo just sat there as Izaya played with his hair. At one point he even loosened the arm restraints but this still did nothing. Considering how often the man had tried to kill him, it was very enjoyable.

For Shizuo this was some kind of hell. He'd stopped reacting since no matter what he did, it made no difference. Especially after the forced washing. Emotionally and physically he was exhausted and was losing weight from the low amount of food he was being given. The chances of him being allowed to regain his strength were low and so he knew he had no choice but to let Izaya do what he wanted. Even the increased movement in his arms did nothing.

A few weeks after Shizuo had stopped reacting, Izaya was walking back to his flat with a carrier bag. It contained a film. Usually he never bothered with movies but this one seemed simple and easy to watch. Not to mention the fact that the main actor in it was Shizuo's younger brother. The blonde had been well behaved recently so he had decided that he deserved a treat. He practically skipped home.

Izaya had spent the morning setting up a TV in what was now thought of as Shizuo's room. Namie had spent barely any time around him as he kept giving her days off, something that she wasn't complaining about. He was well aware that she was using the time to stalk her brother but hey, that was her business.

"I've bought you a present Shizu-chan." He held up the carrier bag and Shizuo looked at it with little interest.

Until the film started playing and he heard Kasuka's voice. He hadn't been thinking about his brother. Indeed he had been trying to avoid these kind of thoughts. But now there he was on screen acting in some kind of romantic comedy.

"Your brother's not bad. The movie on the other hand…" Izaya was already bored but he was interested in what his captive's reaction would be.

Shizuo was staring at the screen completely expressionless and with tears running down his face. This was an unexpected sight. But then, he'd never seen Shizuo feel anything but anger. Slowly he reached forward and switched the TV off, his eyes never moving from Shizuo's face. Even when the screen went black, he continued to watch where Kasuka had been.

"Something wrong Shizu-chan?" He tried to keep up his usual tone but admittedly he was shocked. This was not Shizuo. Even more than the man who had gone completely blank, this seemed wrong.

"Why are you doing this?" It was the first time he'd spoken in so long and his voice sounded strange from lack of use.

"Because I wanted you." It seemed the only answer that was appropriate. He would never go to this kind of effort for anyone else.

"Why?" This he was unsure of. Since they'd been in middle school he'd watched him. The boy was uncontrollable and always filled with rage and so he was a challenge for the boy who had normally wrapped other people around his little finger.

"Because you interest me."

"And what are you going to do with me?" He hadn't thought past trapping him and all this was just a bonus.

"I needed a roommate." And pet.

"…Why don't you just kill me?"

"What?"

"I said why don't you just kill me?" Now he'd gotten angry again. It was the first time in quite a while.

"Kill you?" He didn't have to fake the look of surprise. It was the last thing he'd expected from Shizuo.

"I can't live like this, I am tired! So, so tired. Just finish it." He had given up.

"No."

"Why not?" Izaya could feel anger building up inside of him. This was far more suiting to Shizuo but he couldn't help himself.

"You aren't Shizu-chan. He would never give up like you, he would keep fighting until he died. You are pathetic."

"You did this! You made me this way, it's your fault!"

This was true but he still disliked hearing it. He needed Shizuo to fight him back and to hate him. Even when he used to try to kill him, it was preferable to this. There were no clear action from this point. Shizuo was really broken and crying and he, although knowing a lot about human interactions, could not react normally.

And so he just did what he'd seen people do on TV. He walked over and put his arms around the man. His frame was a fair bit smaller than it had been in the past. Shizuo was also unused to human interaction due to the majority of people avoiding him and his bad temper. Though he could still react like a normal person. Without thinking about who he was with and where he was, he put his arms around Izaya and buried his face in his chest, something he couldn't even remember doing much as a child.

Neither of them realised the situation they were in until they'd been sitting there a while. Izaya was trapped between Shizuo's arms and his chest. He may have lost a lot of weight and be greatly weakened but he was still much stronger than the average person. If he chose to, he could easily snap Izaya's spine. As he'd been feeling suicidal just moments before, it was doubtful that the threat of slowly starving to death would scare him. Shizuo was also realising what position he was in. He could never break those chains but if anyone came to look for Izaya, they might find him. His grip tightened.

Izaya felt this and let his body go limp. The man loved life and so the prospect of death scared him, but there was no use fighting it needlessly. Shizuo felt this unexpected movement and slowly moved his head until he was looking directly into Izaya's eyes.

Shizuo had been ready to die at that moment but the chance of revenge had made him feel more alive than he had in weeks. Izaya was feeling a real lack of control in this situation and there was a small amount of fear in his eyes. The two surveyed each other.

Shizuo slowly loosened his gip and released the man who backed off as soon as he could. Usually he would've gone all out to kill him but his head had felt surprisingly clear. Izaya Orihara was a psychopath and a monster. But Shizuo wasn't one. Not when he could think. Without a word, Izaya left his captive in his prison and went back to the safety of his office.

-Page Break-

The next day, Izaya found himself staring at the trap door whilst sitting on his desk. Shizuo could've killed him, but he hadn't. He felt like he'd narrowly escaped mauling by a bear. It was unsettling to say the least. Even more so when you considered how difficult it was to unsettle him.

And so he carried on making phone calls and talking to different contacts, not bothering to visit Shizuo as he had been doing. Procrastination wasn't something he normally did so it showed how much of an effect this had had on him. By the end of the day he knew he'd have to go down there. If he wanted to keep Shizuo alive then he would have to take responsibility for his life.

Shizuo hadn't been fed at all that day and he'd been quite depressed last night and so he decided to give him a bar of chocolate along with the bunch of grapes he'd originally bought. He'd heard many things about the anti-depressant effects of chocolate from Namie after all.

Unlike the Shizuo of the past couple of weeks, he was watching Izaya as he entered the room. There wasn't much of the anger he'd shown in the past, rather he was just watching him warily.

"Afternoon." He put on his smile to gain some semblance of normalcy.

"Hurry up." His voice still sounded husky, like it was difficult for him to talk.

"If you insist." For a moment he was unsure as to whether or not he should feed him as usual but when he knelt down Shizuo opened his mouth. "What are you doing?"

"Getting this over with." If you insist. The fact that the man was allowing him to hand feed him was something that didn't go unnoticed by Izaya. This meant he was going to enjoy himself a little bit. He made sure to feed him as slowly as possible, to drag it out.

"Can't you go any faster?"

"You should savour it. I've brought you a little treat." He pulled out the chocolate bar. "You want it?"

"I'll eat anything just don't be a dick." This was more like the normal Shizuo he knew.

"Alrighty then."

After feeding the man he paused. Recently he'd been petting the man afterwards. Shizuo noticed he was being watched and glared back at him.

"Aren't you going to leave now?"

"I need to destress first." Shizuo knew what he was hinting and he didn't like it at all.

"Will you go afterwards?"

"Yes." Shizuo didn't say anything else and Izaya reached forward and started running his fingers through the hair. The brown roots were starting to come through, something that made him smile. At his touch, Shizuo grimaced in revulsion but said nothing.

"Well, I'll see you again tomorrow."

Although he didn't bother visiting him again that night, the next day he brought down a small pile of magazines with breakfast.

"I thought you could do with some kind of entertainment," was the explanation he gave. He doubted Shizuo liked reading but since he'd spent the last few weeks staring at walls, the magazines would surely be an improvement. Shizuo merely grunted in acknowledgement. When he returned later in the day, they'd been shifted around. On the way out again, he paused.

"Is there anything you'd like me to bring you Shizu-chan?"

"…My trousers."

"Really?" He'd have expected something else.

"It gets cold." This was something he hadn't considered. The only thing he didn't want to do was take off the leg restraints. Sedating the man would've been an option but for some reason he found himself reluctant to do this. Instead he decided to compromise and chucked a blanket down there.

-Page Break-

Izaya knew he was becoming weird when he found himself checking the camera not onto to find out if Shizuo had escaped, but to make sure that he was ok. The man spent most of his time just sitting there. Probably he was bored. Getting all of his appointments over with for the day, Izaya ended up climbing down into Shizuo's room with a game console under his arm.

"Fancy a game Shizu-chan?"

"I hate those things." Izaya was certain he could work out why. Someone with a temper that bad would struggle with something as frustrating as a video game.

"You can watch me play or you can join in." The whole point of this was that he personally was bored and trying to entertain himself.

He loaded up the game and tossed a controller in Shizuo's direction. The man picked it up with a look of uncertainty but didn't complain when Izaya set him up as a second player. They were playing street fighter, something that he'd decided was suiting for his present company.

Izaya didn't play this very often but he was known for being good at things such as games and so he was able to pick it up quite quickly. Shizuo was less talented in this department and so ended up doing things like sending his character off in weird directions and firing attacks into walls. This meant he ended up shouting at his character more and more as time went on. The more Izaya beat him, the angrier he became.

It was certainly a novelty to Izaya to see his enemy yelling at someone who wasn't him for a change. He wasn't going to complain about this. It was pretty damn funny.

Eventually Shizuo completely lost his rag and ripped the controller off of the wire and lobbed it at the TV screen. The sheer force behind it meant that the controller ended up going straight through the TV and embedded itself into the wall. After a moment's silence, Izaya started laughing.

"What's so goddamn funny?!" Shizuo wasn't happy that he seemed to be being mocked.

"You. You're hilarious."

"Shut up!" Izaya decided it would be best if he left before Shizuo found more ammo.

The next day Izaya thought he would do something nice for Shizuo. He came downstairs carrying a bowl of water, a towel and some hair dye.

"Your roots are starting to show Shizuo-chan."

"I don't need it." This would be a level of intimacy that he wasn't sure he'd like.

"It won't take that long." And so with great reluctance he was forced to sit there and allow Izaya to start putting bleach on the roots of his hair. His hands were quite soft and he put it on surprisingly gently. Shizuo felt kind of sleepy from the comforting touch and he had to stop himself from falling asleep. Although the fact that the water that he used to wash the dye off had gone cold did ruin it slightly.

"Sorry about that Shizu-chan, I left it a while."

"Why didn't you get some more water?"

"Because it's heavy. Now calm down or I won't dry you off."

The day after this, they ended up eating lunch together. Izaya had been bored and so decided he would eat with his 'roommate' tonight. He'd been in the mood for something crappy so ended up buying a meal from the burger place down the street. Being the kindly man that he was, he even got a packet of fries and a burger for his 'friend'.

This was the man's first taste of fast food in weeks and he almost bit Izaya scoffing it down. The man was perfectly capable of feeding himself with his loosened restraints but it was fun to hand feed him. He was a sadistic bastard after all.

"Enjoy that?"

"Yes." He'd added so much pleasure into that syllable. Seeing Shizuo happy was also odd as it was his first time.

"I still have a few more fries left if you want them."

"…Please?" He was blushing and had a pained grimace on his face from the awkwardness.

"As you're asking so nicely." Because he was being quieter than usual, Izaya made sure to shift a little closer.

"Why is your phone always ringing?" This was said between mouthfuls. Shizuo had heard it ringing almost non-stop sometimes.

"You hear it? The sound proofing here really needs to be sorted." Some of his activities didn't need over hearing. "I contact a lot of people in my line of work."

"Which is?"

"You don't know?" He'd assumed everyone knew what he did. Everyone associated with a certain circle anyway and Shizuo was definitely well within that.

"I just think of you as the man I want to kill." As Izaya always wound Shizuo up, he could see why he wouldn't take much of an interest in his actions. Probably he thought it was unessential to know about his job.

"I can see that. I'm an information broker." This was met with a blank look. "I buy and sell information."

"Oh."

When Izaya brought down Shizuo's breakfast the next day, it was his turn to ask questions.

"Why are you always so violent?" He vaguely knew why but it couldn't help to ask the man himself.

"I don't know. I can't control myself when I get angry."

"How have you not completely broken your body by now?" He remembered reading about his hospital visits throughout childhood.

"I have. They healed though."

"May I have a look?" He gestured to one of Shizuo's arms. The guy didn't look happy but held it out anyway. Izaya ran his hand along his wrist, feeling the small bumps where his bone had broken in the past. "Interesting."

"It isn't." There was a bitter tone in his voice.

"I find everything interesting. Particularly things I don't understand."

"Including me?" They stared at each other a minute.

"Especially you." And he hopped up to leave as the words sunk in. Glancing at the camera he saw Shizuo had a bright red face and was staring at the trap door.

-Page Break-

After that, the next week was relatively mundane. Izaya didn't often have people to talk to since people never turned to him for general chat and Shizuo only had Izaya to talk to right now. Of course this was something he kept forgetting.

This was the worst thing that anything had ever done to him and yet his feelings were conflicted. He wanted to punch Izaya, to kill him, to wipe that smug look off of his face. But something stopped him. Thinking wasn't something he tended to do since dwelling on his problems never did him any good. Now all he ever had to do with his time was think.

This boredom meant that he found himself looking forward to Izaya's visits. Something that scared him. Possibly it was because he now associated Izaya with food and so was mixing up feelings of pleasure at gaining food with positive feelings for his captor.

Or is it that thing… The one people get when they're held hostage… Copenhagen? No, Stockholm syndrome. This seemed just as likely. Lots of people ended up having conflicted feelings for their captors and so he knew it wouldn't be unusual.

Later that night Izaya appeared. It was the first time in a while that he hadn't come in during the day and part of him had started to worry. Obviously this wasn't because he was worried about Izaya. If that bastard died no one would know he was down there.

"Where have you been?" This he shouted out before Izaya had the chance to say anything.

"Out? Does it matter?" The man's reaction greatly amused him.

"I didn't know!"

"I don't usually tell you." Shizuo couldn't think of a response, so clouded was his brain by rage. "Why, were you worried?"

"No!" He said this too quickly to be believed.

"I was meeting up with a few Yakuza. They wanted information on some of their rivals."

"What if the rivals find out?"

"I'll offer them some information." He didn't seem too worried about the possible consequences.

"Isn't that dangerous?" Of course it was.

"Perhaps. I can handle it though."

"Why are you risking it?"

"Why does it matter?" A small smile had appeared.

"If you died, what would happen to me?"

"I'm so flattered that you care." Ignoring Shizuo's anger he sat down in front of him and started pulling bits of food from his pockets. "I got you a few things today."

Because of the way they had been, Izaya had sat a lot closer than he would have done before. As he was distracted Shizuo was able to grab his arm and pull him closer, grabbing his black shirt at the neck.

"What are you doing?"

"Can you get out of this?" Why he felt the need to do this he didn't know.

"Obviously I can't." He didn't have his switchblade with him and Shizuo was a lot stronger than the average man. There was nothing he could do in this situation.

"If you can't get out of this, how would you deal with a pissed off Yakuza gang?"

"I just would. Does it really matter anyway?"

"It does!" He was getting more agitated and so was struggling to form full words.

"…I know what I'd do." Shizuo just stared at him.

"How?" Izaya leaned forward and kissed him. He wasn't sure why he did it, only that he felt it was a good way of freaking the man out. And then Shizuo started kissing him back. It was purely instinctive and neither of them thought about it at first. When they realised what they were doing Shizuo let go and pushed him away. Izaya didn't want to stick around either.

Back upstairs he sat down on his desk chair. He was supposed to be the one in control here and he had let his guard down. This was becoming dangerous. Izaya loved humans. Watching humans, playing around with humans, but people never loved him. He knew what he was and he had accepted that a while ago. What had just happened in there had never happened before when someone had known his real nature. This could get dangerous.

-Page Break-

The morning after the kiss was a weird morning indeed. For once in his life, Izaya didn't have a plan. He'd been in situations like that before, but none involving any emotional distress. On his part anyway. Not that not going down there wasn't an option. Shizuo could die. The fact that this bothered him caused a little jolt at the pit of his stomach.

When he had first put him in there he'd wanted to keep him alive for his own amusement. It had been a fact that Shizuo was the one human he truly wanted to see dead. Now he didn't want anything to happen to Shizuo. He wanted to keep him down there.

I really have gotten soft. This last month appeared to have changed him and not necessarily for the better. Nevertheless, he tried to put on an act of normalcy as he went to visit Shizuo.

"I've brought you some breakfast Shizu-chan."

"I can see that." It seemed he wasn't the only one feeling different today. The blonde could barely look at him and was going very red.

They had been fairly talkative the last few weeks so the fact that Izaya fed him in silence felt like a giant step backwards. Social awkwardness suited Shizuo in one of his normal moods but in Izaya it was very much out of character. So much so that he couldn't stand it any longer.

"Feeling ok this morning Shizu-chan?" Small talk. Oh dear. He was very unimpressed with himself today.

"I'm alive." And Shizuo was being deliberately obtuse.

"Enjoying your croissant?"

"It's fine."

"Thinking about what I'd look like naked?" Why he'd said this he didn't know but it had just came out. At least Shizuo's reaction made it worth it.

"Why are you saying that bullshit to me?!" He sounded angry but he'd never been any more red.

"It just popped into my head." As honestly all things he said did. "Well, if we're done down here…"

"Wait!" Shizuo went to move forward, only stopped by the chains.

"Yes?"

"Why did you do that?"

"Because you'll die without food of course."

"That is not what I meant." As if Izaya wasn't able to work it out. It was still too easy to fuck with him.

"Ohh, the kissing." He paused as if he was thinking deeply about it. "That is it, right?"

"You know it is!" Shizuo was starting to revert to his usual state of wanting to murder the stupid man.

"I did it because I wanted to, that was all."

"Why did you want to though? You hate me." This was a far better question. It was nothing so complicated as him having deep feelings for Shizuo but it was no simple impulse either.

"Life is full of mysteries, some of which are unsolvable."

"Don't be a prick."

"If you're going to be rude, I'm leaving." Shizuo seemed to have nothing else to say and so Izaya left him to it.

-Page Break-

"Look what I've got." Getting it down there had been a bitch but Izaya had managed to acquire another television. It wasn't an especially good one since he knew Shizuo would probably end up breaking this one as well.

"I am not playing another game. Ever." Izaya had a plan however.

"You notice I haven't brought you any food? You want breakfast, you'll have to play a game with me." Nobody else ever would. Namie refused point blank. This was why he was happy to have Shizuo here. The man had no choice but to do what he said.

"I can't play the fucking thing!"

"You don't have to win, you just have to play." If Shizuo wasn't fed until he won, the man would most probably starve to death. The only reason he was doing this was because, aside from that kiss, things were beginning to stagnate. Probably this was his problem.

Shizuo had been here for a while and they were getting used to each other's company. A routine had been put in place and so things didn't feel so major anymore. There wasn't so much of a thrill for him since Shizuo had seemed to lessen his hatred, something that he'd always believed to be impossible.

And so he'd decided that things needed to be mixed up a little. You gave a dog treats for doing tricks and so he figured this could work on a similar principle. Shizuo wasn't doing any work at all and was probably very bored and becoming lazy.

Shizuo lost easily, especially as Izaya didn't take it easy on him, even glancing back at his face every now and then. The contorted look of rage kept appearing and for a horrific moment, Izaya thought 'how cute'. The shock caused him to allow Shizuo to get one hit in.

"As promised Shizu-chan, you played one game so you get breakfast." Creepy thoughts like the one he had just had could be pushed away. Without thinking he even ruffled Shizuo's hair after the man had done eating. Both of them felt a bit odd about this but neither wanted to show it.

The game hadn't exactly been any different but Izaya had gotten ideas from this. Perhaps there was a way to reason with Shizuo after all.

-Page Break-

It was whilst he was watching TV the next day that Izaya got an interesting idea. Whilst drinking his coffee and making Shizuo's breakfast, he happened to see an advert. It featured the usual mix of scantily clad girls wearing animal ears.

This would normally be ignored but as he was currently thinking up ideas on how to make Shizuo work, this caught his attention. After watching the entire thing through, a small smile appeared on his face. Once Shizuo had been fed, a trip to Akihabara would be needed.

Later that night he returned carrying a small bag. The contents of this were fairly simple but he knew Shizuo wasn't going to like it at all. For that reason, he made sure to bring some sedative just in case.

"Evening." Entering the room he noticed an interesting phenomenon, something he'd thought he'd seen recently but never as obviously as this. When Shizuo saw him there was a small moment where his face seemed to brighten as if he was happy to see the man. Then he remembered who it was and quickly started scowling instead.

This did amuse Izaya. Probably Shizuo was starving for human contact and so that, along with the presence of food, meant he was happy to see the man.

"What do you want?" His gruff demeanour was hiding the annoyance he had at feeling pleasure at sighting Izaya.

"I figured we could do something fun before dinner." Their definitions of fun varied massively so the fact that he was instantly on his guard wasn't surprising.

"What?" Izaya reached into his bag and pulled out a headband with dog ears attached. What he was planning was very obvious. "No."

"Oh come on Shizu-chan!"

"Haven't you humiliated me enough?"

"You would think so, but no."

"I'm not doing it." He was starting to lose his temper.

"You don't understand what's at stake here Shizu-chan. If you do this, I will make you a full meal. Anything you want, including dessert." This caused an internal conflict that showed on his face. "If you don't do it, I will sedate you and stick it on and you won't get any food either."

"You bastard." Shizuo really wanted to rip the chains from the wall and beat him with them.

"It's up to you Shizu-chan. There's also a tail by the way." Izaya then held up the syringe so that Shizuo would know he was serious.

"…What kind of food?"

"I've got a lot of things. Rice, noodles, pizza, steak. Whatever you want." Shizuo could feel his mouth watering as he envisioned all of these foods. Internally there was battle occurring between pride and hunger. It wasn't long before a victor emerged.

"I'll do it."

"Clever Shizu-chan. Or should I say, Shizu-wan?"

"I hate you." The worse part was that Izaya planned on putting them on him himself. To reduce the rage he closed his eyes and tried not to think about how Izaya was basically touching his ass to attach the tail. The headband he also attached, before stepping back to admire his handiwork.

"You look very cute Shizu-wan. It even matches your hair colour." Going around several shops had proven worth it. When Shizuo stared up at Izaya with bright red cheeks and an embarrassed grimace, Izaya couldn't help but admire the scene. It was so good he had to snap a photo.

"You didn't say anything about cameras!"

"It's only for me." Although he could just go through the camera footage for the day and take a few screen shots. The stuff stayed on there for a couple of days after all.

"I've done it, so get cooking."

"You have to keep it on for dinner obviously."

"Just hurry up!"

"So impatient. You haven't even told me what you want."

"…Russian sushi." It was the only thing that came to mind.

"You want a takeaway?"

"I haven't had any in a while!"

"Fine. And for dessert?"

"…Pudding."

"As in those pudding cups?"

"Yeah those." He seemed to be zoning out so Izaya decided to leave.

An hour later and Izaya came down the ladder carrying a Russian sushi take out box with two cups of pudding balanced on the top. There was also another surprise for Shizuo.

"Here's your food nya." The guy actually did a double take. Izaya hadn't stopped at plain old dog ears and had gotten some black cat ears and a tail for himself.

"What are you doing?"

"Call me Iza-nyan." Shizuo just stared at him as he placed the container on the floor and picked out a sushi roll for his captive. "Say nyaa~."

"Stop the cat puns." Clearly something about Izaya wearing cat ears bothered him but he still took the food. The pudding in particular he really enjoyed.

"You like pudding a lot then?" It was the closest to really happy he'd ever seen him.

"I like sweet things." And again he looked off into the distance. "When I was eight my brother stole my pudding."

"Oh?"

"I picked up the fridge."

"Even then you were impressive." And of course terrifying. Shizuo didn't seem to be paying much attention to him. "Shizu-wan."

"I need to ask you something." This was surprisingly polite for him.

"What is it?"

"How long are you going to keep me here?" Izaya was kind of surprised. This hadn't come up in a while and Shizuo hadn't seemed as bothered about his imprisonment.

"I hadn't thought about it."

"What I really mean is, am I ever going to leave? Or are you going keep me here for the rest of our lives?" Admittedly that did appeal to him.

"I don't know." For once. This hadn't been planned as a lifetime thing but he didn't want to get rid of Shizuo. The man was preferable whilst in here to when they encountered each other out on the streets. And having such intimate control over his life gave him more of a thrill than any orchestrating of a conflict ever had.

"Can't you take this more seriously? It's my fucking life!"

"Don't I take good care of you Shizu-wan?"

"But I can't do anything in here!"

"You don't hurt anyone either. I thought that was something you wanted?" Izaya didn't know why he was bothering to persuade the blonde. All he had to do was keep him here, regardless of consent. For some reason, getting Shizuo's approval mattered.

"I don't have any control here either!"

"So if you have more control in your life, you'll be happier?" This was something that was easily solvable. "I can do something about that."

"You could let me leave."

"I have another idea." He stood up, dusting off his trousers. "Good night Shizu-wan."

-Page Break-

The fact that he'd forgotten to take the dog ears off of Shizuo occurred to him when he walked in again. The blonde appeared to have forgotten too so he looked confused at Izaya's smirk.

"I see you like the ears Shizu-wan." Shizuo scowled, felt his head and ripped the things off throwing them across the room. The tail followed suit.

"Just shut up!" He was so embarrassed it was kind of adorable.

"I had an idea by the way. Something interesting." Like any half-sensible dog Shizuo was suspicious. "You said you wanted more control, so I'll give you that." Within reason and under certain conditions.

"What's the catch?"

"You have to earn it of course." This part would be difficult.

"How?"

"For today… If you kiss me I'll take the chains off of your legs." Why he'd decided on kissing he couldn't quite decide. He'd been planning on getting him to give him a foot massage but he'd just said kissing without thinking about it.

"Kiss you?" Shizuo was conflicted on his actions here. The restraints rubbed on his skin and made movement difficult. But on the other hand, he'd have to kiss someone he hated.

Hated? Yes, hated. The fact that he'd paused to consider whether he hated him shook Shizuo to his very core. This was something that he had never doubted before.

"Will you do it? It's up to you of course." Izaya wanted him to agree. For some reason he wanted Shizuo to willingly touch him. It would be him instigating contact and making the choice.

He even crouched in front of Shizuo and watched him with his strange brown eyes as he wrestled with his brain. When the blonde had made the decision, he wanted to get it out of the way as quickly as possible. This meant he grabbed Izaya quickly and just forced them together.

Considering that he only needed to do this momentarily, it went on for much longer than expected. They kind of started to relax into it before Shizuo pulled back. Both of them stared at each other for a minute.

"Are you sure you're straight, Shizu-chan?" He meant this as a joke.

"Yes! I've had a girlfriend!" This was news to Izaya. News he was certain he didn't like.

"A girlfriend."

"Yes."

"When?" He never remembered seeing any girlfriend or hearing of her either. All he knew was that he disliked this female.

"A couple of years ago. Does it matter?"

"And what happened?"

"She left me because I kept hurting her ok?" Izaya could see this happening but he still couldn't shake off the irritation he felt at this news.

"I see…"

"So?"

"What?" He was even sounded tetchy at this point.

"I kissed you so take off the chains."

"Fine I will."

"…Are you angry?"

"No." He pulled the key out of his pocket and started undoing the chains. This would be an extremely risky operation if Shizuo decided to kick out but he didn't particularly care at the minute. "Done."

For the first time in a while, Shizuo had free movement in his legs but instead of attacking, he simply watched as Izaya left, wondering what he had apparently done wrong.

-Page Break-

Izaya's bad mood lasted until the next morning and he stormed around his apartment slamming things down. He'd had barely any sleep either but he still couldn't work out what it was that had irritated him. After hours of pondering he decided to push it to the back of his head and focus on what he had planned to do with his captive.

Because he knew Shizuo's legs were free, he was extra cautious when he went down there. He had decided that he was really going to risk it today. If anything went wrong he would probably die or at least face serious injury.

No matter how rational he had seemed recently, Shizuo was like a wild animal. A lot of things could quickly anger him, although in this case just seeing Izaya could set him off. This was going to be the ultimate test. If it worked, Shizuo would have really given in to him. Izaya made sure to put a silken rope in his pocket as he walked in.

"Nice sleep Shizu-wan?"

"…Are you…?"

"Am I what?" Shizuo had been trying to work out why Izaya had suddenly seemed angry but as the man seemed to have forgotten he gave up. It wasn't like he cared about the bastard.

"Nothing. What do you want?" He wanted to get more of the restraints taken off.

"You're getting on with this quickly." Shizuo just continued to stare at him.

"What do I have to do?"

"Well this one is quite fun actually." For Izaya mainly. He pulled the silk rope out of his pocket. "I'll take all of your restraints off of you if you let me tie your hands together with this."

"That's slightly worse."

"That's not all of it. I'll also let you go upstairs with me." At this Shizuo was interested. He hadn't seen any natural light or even walked in a very long time. "The thing is you have to do as I say and not attack me or try to escape or anything."

"I won't do anything."

"I'm guessing this means you agree?"

"Yes…" Shizuo hated the idea of being led around on a rope but he'd get to move around and leave this stupid room.

"Good boy." This annoyed Shizuo but he made sure to hold back. When Izaya unlocked his arms there were a few seconds when he was free. For a few moments Shizuo considered punching him and running but something stopped him. This probably was because he'd become used to obeying Izaya. The shock of knowing he hadn't done anything when Izaya finished tying his hands together was large.

The other thing was that he had gone from being held by thick metal to a thin scrap of fabric. If he tried, even a little, he would easily break it. Izaya stood up and tugged Shizuo slowly to his feet. His legs were very weak from lack of use and so he was very shaky. Nearly falling over was embarrassing, especially as he'd had to lean on Izaya to steady himself.

"Ok there Shizu-chan?"

"Fuck off." He had some pride left. Not much but some.

Getting up the ladder was the hardest part but when he got to the top, he had his first view of the sky in a long time. It was grey and cloudy with patches of sunshine shining through. Not exceptional weather but he had to stare.

"Like the view, Shizu-chan?" Izaya was amused at the awed expression on the man's face. When Shizuo saw him staring he scowled. Izaya led the blonde over to his desk. He was planning some fun.

"Sit under the desk."

"Why?"

"Because my secretary will be in soon and she doesn't know about you."

"So I have to stay under there?" It looked really uncomfortable.

"If you don't want her looking at you whilst you're in this state. It's up to you really." Shizuo didn't like it, but he didn't want this random woman seeing him like this either, so he grudgingly crawled under the desk and sat, legs hunched up to his chest. Izaya tied the rope to one of the desk legs and then sat on his chair. His legs were almost touching the blonde and he could feel the man's warmth emanating off of him.

Before going to get Shizuo he had prepared a plate of sliced apples and he picked up one of the slices and held it out under the desk. Seconds later he felt Shizuo take it from his hand. In some ways this felt better than giving it to him whilst chained up.

When Namie arrived looking pissed off at him, the fun was really going to begin. Once she had made him coffee and sat down he decided to start.

"Have you heard anything about Shizu-chan recently? I haven't seen him in a while." He tried to make his voice sound casual though knowing the blonde was listening made him want to chuckle.

"How would I know? Don't you hate each other anyway?" Namie was more annoyed that he had interrupted her when she was trying to see if she could find something to stick in her brother's phone so she could bug his phone calls.

"Just curious." And now to add to it. He reached under the desk until he felt something soft. Slowly he buried his fingers in Shizuo's blonde hair and sat stroking him. It was quite soothing; he could understand why people had pets. Shizuo at first tried to move away but Izaya wouldn't leave him alone.

Over the next couple of hours he sat doing work and making phone calls, occasionally reaching down to play with his toy. The more he did it, the less Shizuo resisted until eventually he actually started to enjoy the sensation. Not that he'd let Izaya know. Eventually he decided to take pity on his prisoner.

"You know Namie, I have a real hankering for some dango."

"Good for you." She attempted to ignore him on the principle that he would eventually go away if she did it often enough.

"Get me some. And make sure there's a lot. Enough for four people maybe."

"Greedy asshole." Pissing her off was almost as fun as annoying Shizuo as she could throw some great tantrums. When the front door slammed shut he pushed the chair back and glanced at Shizuo.

"Ok down there Shizu-chan?"

"What do you think?" His legs were cramped up and his back was killing him. Plus he was feeling weird from having Izaya petting him for hours. Not only that, but there was literally nothing stopping him from escaping right now.

"Perhaps you should go back to your room? You are looking very tired."

"No." He didn't want to be shut up again after being in an open room like this.

"In that case…" He untied the silk rope and led him out. "Follow me."

Warily Shizuo followed Izaya up the stairs to the elevated area of the apartment. All he could think was that Izaya's place was infinitely better than his, assuming he still had a home. The rent most definitely hadn't been paid in over a month. He led him to the end door which opened up on a bedroom. Like the rest of his apartment, it was very minimalist with only a bed, a side table with lamp and clock, and wall cupboards on one side. Everything was white. At the end of the room was a metal door leading on to an en-suite. It allowed him to get ready quickly in the mornings.

"You can sleep in here."

"Fine." Izaya nudged Shizuo onto the bed and then left the room, shutting the door behind him. He hadn't bothered to tie him up but somehow he knew the guy wouldn't be going anywhere.

-Page Break-

Once he had gotten rid of Namie for the day, he picked up the box containing the remains of the dango and headed up to see his 'roommate'. Shizuo was deeply asleep and Izaya watched him for a moment. Everyone thought of Kasuka as being the attractive brother but Shizuo was a lot better looking when he wasn't angry. Probably it was because he showed more genuine emotion.

"Wake up!" Shizuo sat up quickly, momentarily confused by where he was and what was happening. He saw Izaya in the doorway and fixed his eyes on him warily. "I brought you some dango."

"Thank you." He sat cross legged on the bed as Izaya put food into his mouth.

"I like you like this Shizu-chan. When you're actually being reasonable." This was the Shizuo you saw when he wasn't angry. Quiet and relaxed. Well not completely. There was a watchful look he aimed at Izaya.

"Ready to go to bed Shizu-chan?" Izaya was exhausted after a long day of screwing with people.

"You mean to that room?"

"I consider it yours."

"I don't like it." Shizuo didn't know why he'd bothered to say this. If anything it would persuade his captor to make things so much worse.

"You could sleep in here maybe?"

"Ok." They both sat in silence as the enormity of this hit them.

Shizuo could leave if he wanted to but at the same time he couldn't. The weirdest part was watching Izaya changing in front of him. The man was very skinny, much smaller then he seemed under his clothes. There were even some small scars, probably from their fights over the years.

Eventually they were both laying side by side under the covers and staring at the ceiling. It took a very long time for either of them to get to sleep.

-Page Break-

Izaya was the first one to wake up the next morning and part of him was surprised to still be alive. Shizuo hadn't touched him at all. The man had just slept through the night. Being chained to the wall hadn't been comfortable and he hadn't been able to relax in that room. The bed was just so comfy in comparison.

The man didn't even stir when Izaya made his way downstairs in his pyjamas. It was a weekend so he could relax. He wasn't expecting anything until the bell rang half an hour later. It was a large package, something he'd ordered a week ago. He'd almost forgotten it so it filled him with excitement.

Shizuo was still asleep so he decided to do the kindly thing and bring him a cup of coffee.

"Rise and shine Shizu-chan." Shizuo opened his eyes and stared at the figure leaning over him. "I've got a surprise for you."

"What?" Izaya smiled and held up a maids dress. This led to mixed feelings, namely panic and anger. "What the hell is that?"

"I thought you'd look very cute as a maid."

"No."

"I'll untie your hands? And you can go wherever you like in the apartment. No other conditions, you just have to wear this." Surely not an unreasonable request?

"Why do you even have that?"

"I bought it online. I thought you would look good. You have a great figure."

"…And you won't take any photos?"

"Nope."

"Fine." Izaya grinned, draped the dress on to the bed and untied the silk rope.

Once Shizuo had been freed, Izaya decided to leave the room. He could get himself changed for once. Plus it was a little intimidating to have the strongest man in Ikebukuro wandering freely. He waited for what felt like an age for Shizuo to emerge. There was a good chance he wouldn't bother to even put the thing on but eventually he did appear.

He was bright red and looked extremely pissed off. He hadn't even bothered with the hat. He was also fairly slim around the waist so the dress suited him quite well.

"You look so adorable Shizu-chan."

"Just shut up."

"If you look on Namie's desk, you'll find a feather duster. If you want something to do." Shizuo gave him the dirtiest look but did as he was told.

He'd gotten so used to eventually doing what Izaya wanted that disobeying didn't occur to him. At first. The longer he wandered round the apartment the more this occurred to him. Physically he was not restrained at all and so could just leave at any minute.

So why don't I? The only thing that stopped him was the uncertainty. He'd been here for a relatively short period but it had been long enough. He was struggling to think or do anything for himself. Shizuo stopped which Izaya noticed quickly enough.

"Problem Shizu-chan?" He'd been lounging on one of his double sofas, reading a book.

"I'm not doing this."

"Oh? You realise I'll have to punish you Shizu-chan?" Izaya pulled a filled syringe out of his pocket. Shizuo's body moved on automatic. He crossed the room in seconds, knocked the syringe out of his hand and crushed it under his boot. Then he had hold of both of Izaya's hands. If he chose to kill him, then there was nothing the guy could do about it.

I knew this would happen. I shouldn't have taken the risk. Izaya sighed. It had been a lot of fun while it had lasted.

"What are you going to do now Shizu-chan?" Before this would've been easy. So easy. He would've ripped the man in half and been done with the main source of all of his problems. But now…

He let go of Izaya's arms and headed up to the bed room. It was clean now but he was planning on ripping it apart until he found all of his clothes. The rest of the apartment would follow if he didn't find what he wanted.

Izaya sat and listened as Shizuo ripped doors off of wardrobes and tipped the bed over. Outwardly calm, his heartbeat was hammering in his chest. This would be his chance for escape. Once Shizuo had gotten dressed he'd be straight back for him and so it would be better to leave now.

Yet he stayed waiting. His survival instincts were not pleased with this and protested quite vocally. Even when the banging stopped and the sound of a shower started up, he continued to wait.

Shizuo later emerged, fully in his bartender's outfit, looking just like his old self. Well, not quite. When he looked at Izaya the look of hate was much more subdued than usual. Izaya was almost surprised.

"You stayed."

"I thought you'd like to talk Shizu-chan." And I'm feeling suicidal apparently. Awkwardly, Shizuo lowered himself onto the sofa opposite, neither of them breaking eye contact.

"You ruined me." His voice was accusing.

"Did I?"

"Don't give me that shit!" And Shizuo grabbed the table and sent it flying into the wall. Surprisingly it wasn't aimed at him. "Why don't I want to kill you?!"

"If it makes you feel better, I no longer want you dead either." He'd gone from indifferent to the man's existence, to enjoying his company.

"Why?!" He was yelling at himself as much as he was yelling at Izaya.

"For you I'm guessing some kind of Stockholm syndrome. For me, maybe it's something similar." He knew there was a version for the captor after all. He also seemed to enjoy seeing Shizuo but he wasn't going to add in that part.

"I don't want to need you!" Shizuo stormed over and punched the wall. Because he felt like he did need Izaya. It had gotten into his head and he was angry and scared in equal measure.

"Come here Shizu-chan." He patted the space next to him. It didn't take long for the blonde to join him. Izaya reached out and stroked the man's hair. It had become like stress relief for him and Shizuo hated the fact that he did feel calmer for this.

"You have nice hair."

"…What should I do?" He said it very quietly.

"Do?"

"Now I don't know what to do." He didn't want to be chained up again but he couldn't quite leave either. Now it had come to it, there was some kind of mental block.

"You could clean my flat and fix everything you broke?" Shizuo scowled at him so Izaya pulled his hand back. "Don't you want to leave? See your friends, your brother?"

"I don't know." If even Kasuka wasn't making him motivated, this was serious.

"You can stay here of course."

"I'm not going back in that room."

"Of course not." His voice took on a soothing note. It really was like calming a wild animal. "I'll make coffee."

Whilst he was in the kitchen Shizuo watched him. Slowly he stood up and walked towards the little psychopath and grabbed him from behind. He wasn't trying to kill Izaya but he needed to touch him.

"You're being quite affectionate Shizu-chan."

"Shut up." Izaya turned and looked straight into his eyes. From there it moved into kissing. This started off gently but slowly became more intense. Both of them had needed this and from there it went steadily downhill. It ended up with the two of them lying in bed together, clothes strewn down the stairs.

"Feel better Shizu-chan?" Even he did. It had felt good with Shizuo. Someone who knew how fucked up he was and had still chosen to have sex with him.

"Yes…" He'd felt like he needed this. Needed Izaya. This brought about a lot of conflicting feelings. As he usually did when feeling weird recently, he reached out and grabbed Izaya, burying his face into his chest. Izaya put his hand in his hair and lay stroking him.

This was a very fucked up situation, especially considering recent events and they both knew it. That didn't stop either of them from holding onto each other.

"You know Shizu-chan… that dress I got you comes with a matching one in brown." Shizuo glared at him.

"I am never wearing another dress again."

"Oh no, that one's for me."

"…Why?"

"I didn't want you to be lonely Shizu-chan." Shizuo placed his face back down into Izaya's chest to hide the blush. He was often lonely but no one generally commented on it. No one even thought of it. "I saw that."

"Shut up."

"You want me to wear it?"

"Later." For now, he was content to stay like this, pushed up against his worst enemy.

This was requested by my best friend e-pon as a Christmas present but I got really into the story idea she gave me and ended up finishing it stupidly early XD As she's just finished her master's degree, this is a graduation present instead. I'm not sure how good it is but I really loved writing it so I hope it's just as fun to read (even if it gets a bit dark :L).