Author's Note: I've got some essays to be doing for college, but I wanted to get this little chapter up because it's something I've been excited about happening for a while now, weeeeeelp.
No matter what happens, it will always be my head-canon that Izaya is an early bird and Shizuo is a proper grump ass in the morning. ALWAYS. This chapter is for vikymarvel, in the hopes that Iza-chan's little flirting will appease her fangirl mind for now.
Well, without further ado, onwards with the update! Hopefully the little twist will make up for the length, eh~?
The first thing that Izaya noticed when he awoke that morning was that it was warm. It was clearly morning, and from the brightness of the light streaming in through the window, it was probably closer to noon than anything else. No, it was that warmth that hit him first, striking him softly as his mind clawed its way back to consciousness. He was used to waking into warmth of course, he always made sure his Shinjuku loft was delightfully toasty, even in the depths of winter; but this, he wasn't used to this sort of heat. This was enveloping him, circling around him and drawing him in, though not in some kind of smothering, capturing way that Izaya would have shied from. Rather this was something new, delightfully so, something that he found himself drawn deeper into, craving more of. It wasn't until a few minutes later, when he had finally shaken the prying fingertips of sleep from himself, that he realised where that source of heat was coming from. Shizuo Heiwajima himself.
The two of them had fallen together at some point during their slumber, for Izaya now found his cheek planted firmly against something that was distinctly Shizuo. There was a chest before him, naked and marred with scars that looked all too brutal up close, rising and falling in a steady rhythm, accompanied by the firm thump, thump, thump of a heartbeat; all signs to the raven that the blonde was still fast asleep, still lost somewhere in a daze of dreams and normality that he wasn't able to attain in his real life no doubt. His arms had entwined around Izaya, as if to pen the informant to his chest, his hands resting quietly on the small of the raven's back. Izaya's own hands had been just as naughty while he had been asleep it seemed, one had simply come to rest on the oaf's chest, tucked between their bodies, still nearly flush against each other; the other had found its way to settle on Shizuo's waist, hanging lazily over the man's side as if that was perfectly normal, just where it belonged.
Izaya simply blinked at the body next to him, a little frown twisting at his brow, but he made no effort to move from where he lay. It was funny that this should feel so comfortable and so natural, as if this was the sort of relationship he had been meant to fall into for a long time now. He still couldn't shake that little feeling that this was all so odd though, wrong, and he doubted that he ever would. It wasn't just because it was Shizuo Heiwajima laying there, encircling him in that warm hold, because Izaya had mostly soared past that obstacle. He'd dealt with that in a manner of speaking, had learnt to look past it. No, if he really thought about it, this whole scenario was odd to him. He'd never really been in something like this, whatever the hell it was. Shiki had never exactly hung around for cuddles in the afterglow of a passionate night, and his lovers that had followed after were never permitted to stay long enough to get a good morning grope. And then here he was, ensnared in the heated, delicious warmth of a monster, one who was supposed to hate him with every part of his very being. He should hate this, should be shoving Shizuo out of the way and leaving now that his body had found its satisfaction, its peak, sated again.
And yet that heat was too delicious to give up, the strangely protective feeling of those arms caging him in – not that he ever would have admitted that to himself, or to anyone else who had asked – and the scent of the blonde curled against him, Izaya was quite content indeed to remain where he was. Ha! Whoever would have thought that he should find himself here, in this position with this man, and enjoying himself along the way. If someone had told him six months before that he would be here, he'd have laughed himself hoarse and sent them from his office with a pretty little pattern of knife cuts as a parting gift. Funny how things can change, funny how love has a way of turning everything on its head, funny, that's what it was.
For another hour or so, Izaya wasn't really sure nor did he particularly care, he dozed again; drifting in and out of consciousness was strangely calming, like a little cat nap, basking out in the warmth of the afternoon sun. He normally rose early, timed his day with the rising of the sun, not one to waste even a second of his time, though it was something he could afford to waste and greatly at that. The very fact that he was here, lounging in a bed in the middle of the morning, was just another change to his life, just another step into the unknown. Izaya found the change intoxicating, and decided to himself that maybe more lie-ins were called for in future; and maybe he'd even get Namie to deal with those early morning clients he normally saw and bring him ootoro in bed instead—
Shizuo let out a little yawn when he finally woke, alerting Izaya to that fact. The blonde seemed unaware at first that there was another body in his bed, attempting to stretch his muscles with another yawn. It wasn't until he found that one arm, which Izaya had taken to using as a pillow, didn't move that his eyes opened to lower to his bed guest. The raven was quick to spot the initial dash of confusion and that old little flicker of anger or dislike or something like that dance across the liquid gold of Shizuo's eyes before the blonde covered them with a mask of apparent indifference.
"It's time to wake up sleeping beauty~! Your prince is here!" Izaya half sang and half mocked, propping himself up somewhat by leaning on one elbow. His mouth tilted up in that same little smirk that usually filled it, a laugh yet to be spilled ghosting on his words. He wanted to laugh at the state of Shizuo's hair, blonde strands stuck up all over the place, ruffled and messy. He wondered if Shizuo knew how good it looked on him.
If looks could kill, Izaya was certain that his body would have withered away on the spot from the look that Shizuo shot his way. The blonde's lips tilted down into a scowl, and with another growl, the blonde had closed his eyes again and rolled to his side. Izaya simply grinned at the back now facing him.
"Oh, does Shizu-chan not want his true love's kiss?" he teased, another low chuckle half falling from his mouth. He lay back down too, faking a sigh and rolling onto his back. His body still tingled, and it was simply crying out for a shower and good scrub, but for now, he wasn't going anywhere; certainly not when there was so much fun to be had playing with the monster like this. Whoever said he wasn't allowed just a few games now and then? "Ah, that's a shame indeed. I guess you can never, ever wake—"
"How is this so easy for you?" Shizuo cut across before Izaya could finish. His voice was low, husky and deep though not simply because of the sleep still clinging to his body. The oaf was still half asleep, and yet it wasn't hard to see through that, to see that the blonde was genuinely seeking an answer, that he was clearly still having trouble sorting through this, whatever it was.
"Whatever makes you think that it's easy for me?" Izaya replied, taking a second or so afterwards to pause, waiting for the blonde to reply if he felt the need to do so. When that answer never came, the information broker opened his mouth to speak again, only to be cut off before he could do so; not by the blonde himself, but by the insistent, and yet perfectly polite knocking at Shizuo's front door.
Shizuo groaned, half tucking himself further into the bed as if that would make whoever it was go away. One of his hands reached up to rub his face, covering his eyes from the light that was streaming in, far too brightly for someone who had just woken.
"Tch~ Shizu-chan is too lazy to even answer his own front door," Izaya rolled his eyes, clicking his tongue at the behaviour of the man beside him. In all honesty, he wondered why he was really surprised that the brute was so childish about his morning attitude when he acted the same in many other areas of his life; it was almost endearing, and perhaps it would have been more so if Izaya was such an early bird, wasn't so disapproving of those who always lazed around in bed. Once in a while was okay perhaps, once in a while. "It's a good thing I'm here to get it for you then, isn't it? I hope you can afford my services though, I don't come cheap~"
Shizuo merely hummed out some kind of grumbled response, and Izaya wondered if he'd already fallen asleep again. Another eye roll coincided with another knock at the door, and so Izaya found himself sliding out of the bed in order to do something the blonde should have been doing. Not that he was going to complain, it would be more than interesting to see who was on the other side and bothering Shizuo on his day off. As far as he was aware, the blonde had a limited number of friends, and so someone who wanted to spend time with him was always going to be entertaining to play with too. Izaya tugged on Shizuo's crumpled shirt from the floor, not bothering with the buttons, simply hugging it closed around him.
"Why do you keep doing that?" came a gruff question as Izaya was halfway out of the bedroom door. He paused at that, turning to look back at the man who had addressed him. Shizuo had apparently not fallen asleep again, propping himself up against the headboard of the bed, one eye cracked open and a hand running through his hair. The raven cocked a brow, waiting for Shizuo to elaborate on what he had just said, "Wearing my clothes I mean,"
"Oh~ would you prefer if I just wondered about the place naked?" Izaya replied with a throaty chuckle, not even missing a beat with his reply, "Eh~ I never had you pegged as such a pervert, Shizu-chan!"
He didn't stop to wait for a reply after that, turning once again and continuing off towards the door. He half hoped it was that little elderly lady from just next door, imagine what a surprise she would have to find him answering Shizuo's door wearing the man's shirt. The look on her face, oh, now wouldn't that just be priceless?
Shizuo wasn't sure at what point he realised that letting Izaya answer his front door was not a wise move. It hadn't been when the raven had slipped from the bed, and it hadn't even been when he had stood in the doorway, making comments that sent Shizuo's mind curling in on itself. He guessed it had been just after the raven had moved, and he had been preparing to cuddle back down under the bed sheets for another hour or so of sleep on his day off.
And then it had hit him, like some kind of vending machine to the head, like a knife to chest, and the blonde had shot back up and out of bed at that. Of course it wasn't a good idea to send him, why had he thought that it would be? Fuck, fuck, fuck—
As he scrambled to pull on his underwear, discarded on the floor from last night, he could hear Izaya half humming to himself as he moved through the other room. Who knew who could be waiting on the other side? Anyone, everyone. All it would take for Shizuo's entire world to come crashing down around his head would be for the wrong person to be stood on the other side of that wood. He wasn't ready for anyone to know yet; he didn't want them to know because he still didn't know about this yet. Still, still, still. Izaya and he were meant to hate each other, and maybe somehow they still did, and if someone were to find them here together, then what sort of nasty, tricky little questions would that raise? Shizuo didn't want to think about it. He wasn't ready.
He half stumbled into the doorframe on his way out of the bedroom, stubbed his toe on the corner of the sofa as he hurried through the living room and towards the door in the hope that—
Light was pooling in from the door at the end of the little hallway, and Izaya was stood with one hand on the doorknob, the other keeping Shizuo's own shirt in place around him. Shizuo couldn't see his face, but from the way he stood, he'd not been expecting to find who was on the other side of the door. Shizuo knew straight away that the scene wouldn't look good, whoever it was. He couldn't see just yet, was still just out of reach. Izaya in his clothes, himself half naked, together, ruffled hair and flushed faces, well, that would give anyone the wrong impression. Shizuo supposed bitterly that it was the right one in this case. It wasn't until Shizuo had made his way down the hallway that he understood the reason why the raven seemed so uncomfortable.
"A-ah, Shizuo," came the stuttered greeting of Mr Tom Tanaka.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.