[Izaya's POV]

The two knocked on Shinra's door just a few hours later after Izaya had texted Shinra that they were coming and that he shouldn't use any meat in their meal. He wasn't sure if Shinra already knew about his boyfriend's diet but he didn't want him getting deathly sick, after all. Izaya was still worrying himself over whether or not he had concealed the hickey from earlier properly when the door opened, making him give his old smirk to the man behind the door as Kasuka smiled politely.

Izaya had noticed a while ago on the way there that, despite smiling and laughing again, Kasuka still wasn't over Nakura and Shara's deaths. In the car he had kept going back to that zoned out look he'd had when he first left this apartment, just void of any emotion and making him look slightly lost. It hasn't even been a week yet and I'm making him go back but... Maybe this can be a bit like therapy for him. All we're doing is having a meal, not talking about them.

The two walked in behind their host and could already smell the food cooking. Izaya's stomach growled as he recognized the smell of fatty tuna, making his cheeks go a light pink when both Kasuka and Shinra chuckled. "So, how have you two been? And not just recently, in general. I wanna know all about the last few months that Izaya has been sneaking away from us." Shinra asked through the island that connected his kitchen and living room.

The doctor was currently cooking alone, not unexpected seeing as his lover of choice had no taste-buds, so they could only assume their other host would be home soon.

Kasuka and Izaya glanced at each other, wondering where to start before Izaya answered. "Well, everything has been fine. I mean, it obviously didn't suck because now I have a boyfriend." the informant shrugged, getting a grin from Kasuka.

"Same with me, except work has been irritating. But that's to be expected too." Shinra just nodded from where he was, glancing over at them whenever he had the chance. "Hey, where's Celty?" Kasuka added, obviously realizing that the rider wasn't in the apartment with them if it was deathly quiet besides the sounds of them and cooking.

"She's off on an assignment right now and I said she could go if she wanted. She never has had fun watching other people eat." The doctor, glancing at the clock before drawing his attention back. "She should be back before it's time to eat though, she misses talking with Izaya and it wouldn't hurt her to get to know you as well."

"Right. She seems nice." Kasuka answered, not sure where to go from there. Thankfully, Shinra always seemed to be the one furthering conversation.

"So, you two are dating and you have been for how long now?"

"About three months." "Really, three months already?" "Yup, I counted earlier. Crazy..."

"You two are awfully close already for only dating three months." Shinra noted, casting them another glance.

"Well, we met a couple months before that, Shinra. It's not like we saw each other and just said 'hey, lets try this'." Izaya told him, not realizing he had said it so stubbornly before he felt Kasuka hold his hand, obviously to keep him from snapping at the other. And he didn't plan to, of course, Shinra didn't ask anything wrong but after already being threatened about their relationship he would rather keep it doubt free for a while.

"True, true. I am curious as to what he did to make you like him though, you haven't had a relationship since early highschool.. And that relationship didn't even last a week." the doctor carried on, grinning when Izaya just gave a shrug to answer him, obviously embarrassed. Kasuka was looking at him to, wanting an answer to the question, and he looked away from him as his cheeks grew darker.

"It's none of your business Shinra. Stuff happened and I like him now, that's what matters." the informant blew off, getting a squeeze to his hand and for a moment he thought he'd offended his boyfriend. But Kasuka was just shaking his head with a small laugh when Shinra pouted from not hearing what he wanted.

"Well, it's nice to see you so happy. I don't think I've ever seen you genuinely smile this much since we met in middle school. Even then this used to be so rare." Shinra muttered on, almost talking to himself now as the couple scooted closer together, cuddling where they were on the couch as Izaya's stomach growled again during the wait.

"Shinra, what are you making?" Kasuka asked for him, almost eagerly. The informant was sure he heard some kind of growl come from Kasuka too at this point. Stupid studio, working us through lunch and keeping him late.

"Shrimp stir-fry." he replied cheerfully, making both of his guests explode in a blush when their stomachs growled in unison. "I take it you were better off not knowing?" They both nodded.

Just when Izaya suspected that he was going to be sick if he didn't get food, Shinra turned off the stove and Celty walked in, greeting them with a wave before grabbing her PDA. [Hey guys. Nice to see you again.] she typed, letting them read it as she took off her helmet and allowed her smoke to spread out a bit. Izaya glanced at his boyfriend to make sure he wasn't staring, since Kasuka had only seen her without a helmet once or twice.

The actor had given her a couple glances, like he had misinterpreted what he'd seen the first time and had to double check, but after that quit looking and just continued the conversation. "Hello, Celty. Glad you could join us too." the ravenett said politely, giving her a small smile that was slightly more reserved than the one given to Shinra. You act like your shy, stop that.

Izaya straightened himself up as Celty continued typing again and Shinra started plating their food. [Glad I could be here too. It looks like dinner's ready so you wanna go sit at the dining table or just settle here?]

"The table's fine." Izaya answered, almost running to the table as his stomach growled again. Once they were all settled with a plate, minus Celty, they started chatting again during the meal. Shinra asked them a bunch of things like how many dates they'd been on and relationship things like that while Celty kept jabbing him in the side, not too hard since he was eating, and adding more questions that were a bit more commonplace; like how was work going for both of them, how much of a dick has Shiki been, what film is Kasuka working on now and what part.

The whole thing was relaxing honestly and Izaya wondered why he had pushed these few friends of his away this whole time. Even if he was busy, they seemed pretty flexible with their own schedules to see him, and were obviously very interested in him and Kasuka. We'll have to make up for lost time I guess. Even if I didn't want to, Kasuka would tell me to.

The conversation had a small dip in it when Celty ran out of her own questions and they were left only to Shinra's, but they just kept answering dutifully or giving shrugs when they didn't really feel like answering. The only question that caught them off guard finally came, making them glance at each other. "So, I've been wondering.. You said you met a few months ago and then you hit it off a while ago, but I never asked. How did you guys meet? I'm sure if it was when Kasuka was hanging out with Shizuo then the meet wouldn't have been very warm." the doctor asked, watching them with a smile as the two debated inwardly on how to answer.

We could lie, but Kasuka isn't the best at lying to people with a smile. Plus, we'd have to keep up that lie for years probably.. Uggh, what do we do?

"Well, actually, me and Izaya did meet when Shizuo was with me but it was years ago. Shizuo and you and Izaya were still in sophomore year." Kasuka explained, making Izaya confused for a second before he realized what he was doing. Fucking bless you for your half-lies!

"Yeah. And no, it wasn't the most cheerful introduction in the world, or a.. well, a proper one, but that's when we officially met. When we caught back up this time it was through Kasuka's work. I just happened to be there when they were starting to film something." Izaya continued on, watching as Shinra just nodded with interest, eyes bright as he heard the 'love story in progress' finally be revealed of it's prequel.

And he wasn't exactly lying either. He'd met Kasuka through his work, Izaya's hobby, and Izaya just so happened to be picked for the same one as Kasuka. And what a lovely coincidence it was.

[Ah. So, you two just started talking and realized you got along?] Celty suggested, watching them as the couple shared a look, shrugging to give a more or less answer.

"Pretty much. We just saw each other and started having a normal conversation since aniki wasn't there. It went a lot better than expected." Kasuka chuckled, holding Izaya's hand under the table again. It wasn't like they thought Shinra and Celty wouldn't appreciate them being affectionate while they talked about this but for Izaya it was just plain embarrassing, and Kasuka was nice enough to notice that and not make a show of them holding hands.

Shinra and Celty nodded, once again wishing them well before they started to finished their meal again and had a small dessert, which was actual dessert for Kasuka and Shinra while Izaya was finally presented his fatty tuna as a substitute for the sweet mochi. Then finally it was time for Kasuka and Izaya to go home, which home they weren't sure of yet but they were going, and both their hosts get them a warm farewell. Celty stayed behind to shut the door behind them and just before they did, she got their attention with a wave and started typing.

[You two are an adorable couple. Keep it up, Kasuka. Kobayashi-san.] And with that she shut the door, leaving a open-mouthed pair of astonished men in her wake outside the doctor's apartment.

Chapter 62!

Hey guys! Sorry about not uploading anything yesterday but I was tired and nothing was looking right, so I post-poned this chapter and left a little crack-fic for you all in the 'Dura Love!' story as consolation. I hope it makes the wait a little better!

So, what do you guys think of Celty knowing? In my opinion she is the most observant of them all, so it made sense to me, and I wanted to leave this off on a good note.

And if you're wondering how I was just thinking of her doing one of her assignments (the one she just got back from actually) and noticing a poster image of 'Kobayashi-san' and recognizing him.

I hope you all liked this chapter! Favorite, follow and review to see more!