Author's Note: Apologies for the lack of updates for the past few days – I kind of had a bit of a dip in motivation for writing and my laptop crashed yesterday and I've literally only just managed to get it to turn on again. On the plus side I've made heaps of progress with my cosplay outfit for MCM, at least I'm being creative in some way right? (/w\)

Also, no reviews on the last chapter guys – way to break my heart~~~~! Time to go and drown my sorrows in instant noodles and milkshake, welp~ Just a short update tonight seeing as it's getting kind of late, but I wanted to update to let you all know I'm still here.

Human beings are always terrified by change. They become so engrossed in their routines and their structure that when something breaks that, they are caught off guard; they falter, they stumble and sometimes, they fall. That was just a fact of humanity, something that Izaya saw over and over and over in every human that crossed his path. It was irrefutable; he'd tried and tested it himself. He'd watch his little playthings as they got on with their routine, as they got used to certain things, started to take them for granted, and then he'd pull that thing out from under their very feet. The free fall they fell into after that was inevitable, they didn't know how to cope, so they became scared, they feared the new and unfamiliar way of things. They began to panic, drawing away like they might from some hideous monster, as if that would save them from all of this. Izaya knew what it looked like, he knew what happened to humans when they changed, he could see the signs.

Right now, he was spotting them in Shizuo.

He had settled himself against the wall to watch the blonde after he had vanished and the door had been shut on Tom Tanaka's form. It was obvious that Shizuo was concerned by the appearance of his friend and employer, and Izaya supposed that any rational person would be in the same frame of mind too; but he was far from rational, in all manner of speaking. Izaya was used to picking out human behaviour, but from the way Shizuo was stood, the raven was sure that even an amateur could see that the blonde was about to crumble. He could hear the little curses tumbling from the other man's mouth, could see the way his fists were clenched tightly together. His shoulders were tensed, and he had moved across the room as far away from Izaya as was probably possible in the little apartment. The old part of him wanted to laugh, to comment on how remarkable it was that a monster like Shizuo could feel something as human as he was right then and there. It was almost impossible to keep that laugh limited to a smirk when the plant pot landed at his feet, and the raven was gifted with a glimpse of the old Shizuo, the monster, the one who wanted his head on a platter. The old him was more than happy to see that he was still there, under the surface, just like he was himself.

Izaya couldn't help the little quip that came out of his mouth, a little presence from the old him to the Shizuo stood before him. Monster to monster, that's all it was. Maybe that was how he dealt with the change, the uncertainty, Izaya didn't know, didn't care. The fact that Tom had appeared and all but stumbled onto their little relationship, if that's what it was now, didn't bother him as much as it was clearly bothering Shizuo. Maybe at one point it would have, but now things had changed, now he didn't care.

He'd never really had problems with scandal about his life or himself. That was just another fact about humanity. People like him were always talked about, in the light of day and in the underworld of the night. He was used to it, used to be the centre of scandal, of gossip. He was used to people dragging his name around, making up shit ugly rumours just because they didn't like the way he worked, the way he walked, talked, breathed. What did one more scandal matter to him? It didn't, and Izaya was pretty sure that Tom wasn't the kind of person to go throwing the knowledge he had come across around the city either. He certainly wouldn't do that to Shizuo, and the raven doubted that Tom even had the spine or desire to do it to him either. From what Izaya knew, the man was as mild mannered as anything, and he didn't understand why Shizuo was so upset, so angry, about this.

Maybe it was because the blonde was still ashamed of doing things like this or because he'd not come to terms with his feelings that he was so worked up. Izaya supposed that was pretty likely with the blonde, because he was pretty sure that Shizuo hadn't dealt with his emotions yet, hadn't moved past the initial 'I'm supposed to hate you' barrier, even now, after they'd slept together and woken up together and managed to get along just fine. Maybe it was because Shizuo was just a private person in general, he knew from years of prodding and poking at the blonde that was true as well; monsters always were stingy on their life details. Ha, ha.

If Izaya hadn't been so personally involved he would have spent more time picking apart that process, more time mocking the blonde, laughing at him and this human emotional bullshit that he was going through. That's what the old him would have done at any rate, he would have remained perched against the wall, smirking and laughing and mocking until Shizuo had burst, yelling and screaming and roaring like monsters do. It didn't seem like that long ago that would have been the case, that would have been just what they did, the natural order of things.

"Go get fucking dressed," Shizuo bit out with a grumble. Izaya couldn't help but smirk at that, waiting for a little while longer where he perched against the wall before he complied, pushing away and into the bedroom to shed Shizuo's clothes in favour of his own.

Funny how a little emotion and a few heated kisses in the night could change that.