Izaya only waits a day before going back to Ikebukuro, despite his reluctance to go he still needs to finish his job for Shiki and there's a chance that he might not even see Shizuo. He gathers what information he can about the mole, what he found will definitely help, and heads back towards Shinjuku.

He's almost out of the city when he sees Shizuo, the blond is talking with his coworkers, a peaceful look on his face and something tugs in Izaya's chest. He ignores the feeling and turns to leave but before he can get out of sight a voice calls out.

"Izaya, wait!"

and the spark of his collar stops him cold. He sighs and turns to face Shizuo with a pointed look. Shizuo gives him a sheepish look.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to order you around. I take it back."

Izaya nods in understanding, at least Shizuo can recognize what he did wrong.

"What did you want, Shizu-chan?"

He keeps his voice civil despite his discomfort, he doesn't know how much the band can control on it's own and hanging around Shizuo could be dangerous. Shizuo sighs.

"I think we should talk about yesterday."

Izaya frowns, they probably should.

"Not in public. Come to my apartment."

It's a risky suggestion but he'd rather be home where he feels more in control, plus talking about this in public has to much potential for eavesdroppers to learn his weakness. Shizuo nods.

"I gotta let Tom-san know but I'll meet you there."

Izaya waves dismissively and turns away as Shizuo goes back to his coworkers. He heads home and makes some tea as he waits for Shizuo to arrive, hopefully things don't go completely out of his control.

...

Shizuo thinks over what he wants to say on his way to Izaya's apartment, everything's been so complicated lately and just when it seemed like it might start to calm down soon the collar had to go throw a new wrench in their lives, it's a mess.

Even worse was the dream he'd had last night, Izaya had begged so prettily for him to fuck him and he blushes just remembering the dream, he pushes the memories aside before he has an unwanted reaction. He's already at Izaya's apartment and Izaya definitely wouldn't appreciate him showing up with a boner.

He knocks on the door and it opens a few moments later. Izaya lets him in with an unreadable look and Shizuo sighs as he sits on the couch, accepting the tea Izaya hands him with a nod of thanks.

Izaya sits across from him and crosses his legs.

"You start."

Shizuo nods, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"What exactly happened yesterday?"

It seems a good way to start. Izaya tenses at the question though so maybe not.

"The collar was manipulating my words and actions. It hazed over my thoughts which made it easier to mislead what I meant to say or do. It wasn't truly controlling me but it's still troublesome."

Shizuo's brow furrows, that sounds bad.

"Do you think it could get worse?"

Izaya shrugged, looking troubled.

"I don't know, that's the worst part, there's a lot we don't know and there's not way to find out unless it happens."

Shizuo frowns, a heavy feeling in his stomach, Izaya looks so stressed at the thought of what the bond could do and Shizuo wants to help him but he doesn't know how. He's not sure when he started to become genuinely fond of Izaya but that could be the bond's control as well. How are they supposed to know what's real and what isn't? It's all too confusing.

"What should we do?"

Izaya rubs his temples like his head hurts, Shizuo bites down the urge to find him some pain pills.

"I don't know, Shizu-chan. I really don't."

Izaya's voice is bitter, his emotions not hidden for once.

"I don't know either."

He admits.

"But I'll do whatever you need me to do. Should we stay away from each other?"

Izaya sighs.

"I don't think that would help, unfortunately, if we did that the bond might step up its game. I think we need to meet relatively often to appease the bond, I'd say at least twice a week, maybe more. We'll have to figure things out as we go."

Shizuo nods, that seems reasonable.

"Your place or mine?"

And it's only after he says it that he realizes how that sounded. His cheeks tinge pink but Izaya doesn't seem to notice.

"I don't think it matters. We'll decide on a case to case basis."

It's the best plan they have so Shizuo agrees easily. They talk a little while longer before Shizuo leaves. He feels a little better about this whole thing. As long as they can keep control and not piss each other off this should work out… Hopefully.

...

Izaya takes some pain pills once Shizuo leaves and flops onto the couch with a sigh. His revenge plans are starting to look less and less possible, will the bond even allow it if he tries to hurt Shizuo? Probably not. Shizuo staying away from him doesn't seem to be a good solution either, the bond would find a way to force them together.

He definitely hasn't forgiven Shizuo or Shinra but that's starting to take backseat to the current stress. At least Shizuo is being understanding, there are much worse things than being stuck with Shizuo in this situation. He doesn't like to admit it but Shizuo isn't a bad person when he can help it. He'll have to find a nonviolent revenge that doesn't push Shizuo away… That seems impossible but surely he can do it.

This situation with Shizuo is a mess, he doesn't want a romantic partner, and he certainly wouldn't pick Shizuo for that role if he did, but apparently this is what fate demands. Izaya won't give in though, there's no way he'll let himself be controlled this way.

He pushes the thoughts from his head and gets up to work more on Shiki's job, the information he gained today should help quite a bit. He works for the rest of the day and heads to bed after a quick dinner, he feels a little better about this entire situation and is able to fall asleep quickly.