On Monday Izaya drags himself to his favorite spot in the library, same time as always, to see Shizuo sitting in that rickety wooden chair by the closet waiting for him.

"Morning." Shizuo grunts at Izaya's arrival. Izaya is too drained from lack of sleep to respond.

Since Shizuo had already broken the lock some time ago, he had no reason to wait for Izaya to open the door.

But he does and follows Izaya right on his heels. Defeating the possible effort of respecting Izaya's space that might have manifested in the form of waiting for Izaya to enter the closet.

Not that Izaya minds. He can't wait for Shizuo's electric touch to erase the memory of Kanra awkwardly hanging off that Blue Square's arm a few hours ago. At the very least Shizuo smells nice.

As soon as they're inside the safety of their little back room the boys drop their stuff in front of the door and slide down adjacent sides of the wall in sync - both sluggish with Monday morning. Despite his exhaustion, Izaya can't help but smile a little and tosses his legs on top of Shizuo's.

Shizuo grunts and pushes Izaya's feet out of his lap, successfully knocking loose his school slippers, but Izaya bounces right back. This time digging cold feet into Shizuo's thighs.

"Stop that." Shizuo grunts, but it sounds more like he's laughing than angry.

Ah… I'm flirting again, aren't I? Really, it's second nature at this point. Especially with Shizu-chan.

"My feet are cold. Be a nice beast and warm them up for me." Izaya teases, trying to swallow his own laughter. "It's the least you can do after luring me into your lair yesterday." He peers at Shizuo over the brim of his glasses with a grin that twists into something more light-hearted than usual.

Shizuo throws Izaya's feet out of his lap again, hard enough to throw Izaya's balance with it. "Hey! You forced your way into my 'lair'!"

"You invaded mine first. We're even." This time, Izaya re-orients his balance and slides down his wall much like he did when they first sat across from each other like this to stretch his foot out far enough to press his sock-covered toes to Shizuo's shoulder.

Shizuo doesn't look like he thinks they're even at all, but if he's upset about Izaya messing up his bed he can cry Izaya a river. That's not nearly as bad as what happened when Shizuo pinned him down and pulled his hair…

Izaya still hasn't forgiven all the accidental sexual torment Shizuo puts him through - and he wouldn't be Izaya without getting some revenge.

This time instead of throwing Izaya off Shizuo grabs Izaya's foot and yanks it upward - fully extending his arm pull Izaya away from the wall and let him fall to the floor completely. Izaya tries to swallow a squeak of surprise and is sprawling for balance and traction, but has no hope of freeing his foot from Shizuo's grip. Izaya is left with his head, arms, and shoulders as his only points of contact with solid ground while his lower body is lifted into the air with his leg, hovering over Shizuo's knees.

Without his regular means of wiggling his way to freedom, Izaya kicks his free leg out, aiming for Shizuo's face, in retaliation. It doesn't even occur to him to hold back. The potential backlash of kicking someone he wants in the face doesn't even enter Izaya's mind.

It's just too much fun.

His counterattack is in vain. Shizuo has far more experience with fighting than Izaya does and even though he never has to block blows he catches Izaya's free foot with ease. With both of his legs trapped and totally off-balance Izaya is running out of options. He's about to switch tactics and prepares to spout off some innuendo that Shizuo will be vulnerable to - probably something about having his legs spread - when Shizuo surprises him again by proving that just because his hands are full doesn't mean Shizuo is out of options.

The grip on Izaya's ankles tightens as the only warning before Shizuo hooks Izaya's calves over his shoulders and stands up.

"Sh-Shizu-chan!" Izaya cries in indignation, voice cracking up high at the end. "Stop it! Put me down!" His arms flail as he instinctively tries to right himself.

Shizuo laughs at pretends to think about it. "I don't know Izaya. You look pretty cute like this." He teases, looking down at Izaya with a grin up to his brown eyes. "But try not to be so loud, this is a library."

Distraught doesn't even begin to cover it as the blood rushes to Izaya's head. He knows that he's always this vulnerable around Shizuo. Without a doubt, Shizuo is the most dangerous person in the city - maybe even more dangerous than gangsters with illegal firearms. But being subjected to his strength, harmless as it is, and being made to feel helpless because of Shizuo never fails to excite Izaya in every sense of the word.

Izaya gets his arms under his head and manages to steady himself with a partial handstand so he's no longer swaying. It's hotter and harder to breathe for a few reasons but Izaya manages to collect himself enough to resort to his tried and true method of taming the beast. He cranes his neck, searching to catch Shizuo's eyes with his own.

"Oh come on, Shizu-chan, aren't I always cute? You're hurting my feelings." He says, dipping his voice low in just the right way to fluster Shizuo. "I bet you're just saying that because you can see up my shirt. If you wanted a peek, all you had to do was ask…"

"No! I mean, yes but- No! That's not what I-!"

Works every time.

Izaya isn't in the mood to hold back, so he doesn't, and laughs. It has that edge of mania his natural laugh always has, but it's not malicious or condescending. He's just laughing at his own joke.

And Shizuo must be able to hear what kind of laugh it is too because then he laughs.

Again, it's Shizuo who remembers where they are first and he quickly hushes Izaya. Both of them work to swallow their laughter so they're not caught, but light-headed Izaya has a much harder time reigning in his giggles while Shizuo lowers him to the floor. Fortunately, it's early enough that the library is empty and the librarian is watching her drama before many students arrive.

Izaya is flat on his back and still giggling from the wild ride and the head rush when Shizuo sits down on the floor next to him.

"Sshhhh, shut up, Izaya." Shizuo hisses out while catching his own breath and covers Izaya's mouth to silence him. "That old bat is scarier than the both of us. I ain't gettin' caught 'cause you're letting some of your crazy out." Shizuo is smiling so warm that Izaya thinks he could have said literally anything and it would have made him feel good. Almost as good as being on the floor with Shizuo over top of him again.

Izaya tries to say: "It's your fault." But the words are muffled by Shizuo's palm. So Izaya does what any reasonable person would do and licks Shizuo's hand with the entire length of his tongue.

"That's disgusting!" Shizuo pulls his hand back like Izaya's tongue is made of fire, and judging by the red in his face, it might've felt like it too.

The heat on Shizuo's cheeks weighs Izaya's eyelids down to half-mast and makes his own body a bit hotter and Izaya can't resist teasing him some more.

Poor Shizu-chan is just too much fun.

"Oh don't act so repulsed by me now…" Izaya purrs, feeling deliciously in control again. "You seemed to love having me in bed earlier." He wonders what he looks like. What Nakura saw in this face, and what Shizuo sees in this face. Black horns come to mind and another delirious giggle bubbles out from between his lips.

Shizuo, to his credit, manages to string some actual words this time.

"I-Izaya come on, don't joke like that…" He chuckles awkwardly, eyes flickering down to Izaya's lips.

Izaya hums noncommittally and tips his head back to expose his neck to his tamed monster, just for the pleasure of looking down his nose at Shizuo and making an offering of himself at the same time.

Izaya considers his options for what to do next. Shizuo is sitting just within reach. So naturally, Izaya sits up just enough to wrap his arms around Shizuo's neck and lays back to ease Shizuo down with him. The rush of power that comes with effortlessly guiding Shizuo's movements never gets old. Once Izaya is laying flat on his back again and Shizuo is sitting above him, craned down uncomfortably to follow Izaya's urgings but not laying beside him out of nerves, Izaya leans in and kisses Shizuo on the nose again.

"Don't worry, Shizu-chan. I loved it too."

The rest of the week Izaya does not seem to hesitate to press himself close to Shizuo whenever they are in their sacred space together and Shizuo couldn't be happier. All of his free time at school is spent in this forgotten closet with an almost other-worldly boy who smells like poison and is better than a whole pack of American Blue's.

Every day he and Izaya are touching somehow. First, they started to sit side-by-side, shoulders brushing while they read quietly together. Then, they pressed together while Izaya tutored Shizuo in the subjects he missed most often to try to get his studies back on track. Despite the obvious distraction of it being Izaya, he was a decent teacher.

Now they've somehow gotten closer. Shizuo doesn't think that either of them decided to have Izaya sit between Shizuo's legs and lean back against his chest with that pink blanket wrapped around the both of them, he thinks they just fell into the position together.

Shizuo doesn't know what he did to deserve this. Such a cute, little nerd snuggling into him, complaining about the cold until Shizuo wraps the blanket around them and encases his senses shamelessly in the scent of bitter almonds while Izaya reads to him doesn't seem like something Shizuo's earned.

The only thing Shizuo isn't happy about is how increasingly tired Izaya seems to be. Every day he acts sleepier and a sleepy, grumpy Izaya may be adorable, but it's not healthy. Most students are tired this time of year from studying. Shizuo knows that Izaya doesn't study. He doesn't know if Izaya's got insomnia, his sisters keeping him up, or if he's up all night making dastardly plans.

It's gotten so bad that Izaya's started re-reading sentences.

"You already read that part."

"I was just testing you."

"No, you weren't," Shizuo says, hunching forward to rest his chin on Izaya's shoulder. "When did you go to bed?"

"At night."

Shizuo sighs and knows Izaya is going to be difficult until they die, so he stops asking.

"You need to sleep."

"I'm fine."

"That wasn't a question."

Shizuo plucks the book out of Izaya's limp hands with surprisingly little resistance. He marks the page, places it to the side and tightens his hold around Izaya's waist before he can think himself out of what he's about to do.

As long as Shizuo doesn't think too much, it's easy to tip their weight to the side and lie down together with Izaya still cradled into his chest. Shizuo tucks his face into the back of Izaya's neck for a few calming breaths. He expects Izaya to wiggle out of his arms like an unhappy cat, or at least complain, but Izaya just presses back into Shizuo's body heat and lets his eyes slip shut.

As nice as this feels, now Shizuo is very worried. But right now the best he can do is shift one arm to make it a pillow for Izaya and readjust the blanket on top of them.

Shizuo suspects that Izaya's too young for whatever's keeping him up all night.