The snow falls around the two of them in a way that seems like it in of itself is waiting for the inevitability of conflict. Shizuo's glare is fixed heavily on Izaya's back as his legs swing over the edge of the roof of Sunshine 60. He had followed the scent of the other as it dripped down into the city.
Izaya has to know that Shizuo is there. His approach hadn't exactly been quiet, but Izaya hadn't shifted an inch and sure as hell hadn't given Shizuo a passing glance since he stepped onto the roof.
"Izaya," Shizuo growls, breaking the silence that was louder than any of the traffic on the busy street below them.
"What is it, Shizu-chan?" He says, barely pulling his voice into a purr and still not bothering to turn around, but he and Shizuo have been at this long enough for the later to know the body language of the other.
Izaya's shoulders are slumped over his torso with his hands wrapped weakly around the top of the safety fence he's sitting on. It's more for show than anything else, but it's a sign that Izaya isn't immediately armed. He can't make an attack without some semblance of movement to grab at the knives hidden in his sleeves and in his pockets. Shizuo is convinced that if he were to push him, he wouldn't be able to grapple for his own safety, but he's tired and he knows that Izaya's grip would tighten into stability if he thought there was an active threat. But there isn't. Shizuo isn't making any threats beyond the warn of Izaya's name on his lips, and Izaya isn't poking at the fragility of Shizuo's temper.
Shizuo's elbows press into the frigidity of the fence beside Izaya, and he lights a cigarette, begging that the burn of nicotine is enough to overwhelm the cold of the air around them and tension prickling awareness of their proximity into his shoulders. It doesn't work, but the warm chuckle that comes deep from the back of Izaya's throat, drags his attention from the cherry head burning on his next inhale.
"I know you didn't just come up here to pollute my air."
"No," Shizuo huffs, but he isn't as annoyed as he thought he would be at the sound of Izaya's voice. "I came up here to kick your ass, but I'm not lookin' for a fight if you aren't."
"I'm not," he says immediately on a sigh that plumes from his mouth in a cloud of moist heat into the cold. "I just like to get away from the immediate hustle and bustle of it all from time to time."
"I'm not surprised you didn't get invited to any parties tonight."
Izaya bristles at the comment, finally settling wine red eyes on to Shizuo's person, and he feels the heat of his stare burn into self consciousness up his neck. "I'll have you know that I had a variety of invitations, however there wasn't anyone that I wanted to ring in the new year with."
"Can't you get in trouble for bailing on your clients like that?"
"The invites were to company parties- more formalities than anyone actually desiring my presence."
He's somber again, staring out into Ikebukuro's skyline with more distraction in his eyes than Shizuo is used to seeing. He looks less like he's enjoying the view, and more like he's zoning out on a fixed point ahead of them while lost in thought. Shizuo snuffs out what's left of his cigarette and immediately lights another.
"Chain smoking like that is terrible for your health," he offers offhandedly.
"Did you come up here to be alone?"
"I did," he says, but he's reaching out to grab at Shizuo's sleeve with icy-red fingers before the other has a chance to move. "But you can stay."
Izaya's watch lights up on his wrist. The square display comes alive with an animation of fireworks just as fireworks light up the spaces of dark sky between the buildings in front of them.
"Happy new year, Shizu-chan," he says, and for the first time that evening, Shizuo gets a good look at his face.
Izaya looks tired, but his smile is reaching his eyes in a way that Shizuo is convinced can't be anything but sincere.
"Yeah." He pushes out on a breath he didn't know he was holding, dropping the cigarette from his fingers to the ground far below them. "Happy new year, Flea."
"That's rude," Izaya coos, but it lacks all of the usual animosity that carries in his voice. "Didn't you get invited to any parties?"
"Tom invited me out with him, but I bailed when I smelt you."
"Cancelling plans for me, aye Shizu-chan? I didn't think what we have meant that much to you."
Shizuo laughs loud and honestly at that. Even if they both claim it's hate, Izaya has always been what's most important to Shizuo.
"Sucks for you, though," Izaya smirks again, a little less sharp and a little more earnest. "You probably could have tricked some poor girl into kissing you."
"You don't have anyone either. What does that make you then, huh?"
"Charitable," he says mirthfully, and like that he's pulling at Shizuo's collar, tugging him up to collide their lips in something much sweeter than either had expected.