[Izaya's POV]

"No, sorry. I still have a ton to do today." the informant said softly, frowning to himself as he looked at the list of assignments in front of him on his new laptop. Just like he'd expected the moment he left Shiki's office, for the last couple days there had been almost an endless stream of assignments waiting for him. He cut it down by getting rid of the ones his boss hadn't personally assigned but the list was still awfully long, the time limit given for him to do every one of them being 3 weeks. And, unlike what he was used to, a couple of his current assignments were to find members of the Yakuza who had recently tried to bail out, them running off in groups to try and get away. Sorry I have to drag you back guys. I don't want to be here either.

Kasuka just sighed over the phone softly but said that he understood. "Can I at least come over and talk while you work again? Or are your assignments really difficult?" the actor asked him, getting a hum in reply.

"Well.. That depends. I have a couple that are harder and a couple that I could talk to you while doing but I have no idea how long the harder ones will take so I should start on those first..." Izaya worked out aloud, not wanting the other ravenett to think he was just pausing to make blowing him off more believable.

"Okay.. Just remember to take breaks every couple hours, alright?"

"Yes, Kasu-kun."

"And remember to eat. I'm going to text you at midnight and see if you did if you aren't asleep by then."

"Alright, Kasu-kun."

"... I love you, Izaya." Kasuka finished, making Izaya blush but grin, knowing half of the reason Kasuka said it was to check that he was really listening.

"I love you too, Kasuka. I'll try to get at least a couple of these done by Friday so we can go on that date this weekend, kay? Good night." the informant replied, just imagining the smile on the other's face when he'd said it back to him so easily.

Of all the things they had imagined having a hard time with in their relationship, it had been saying those three words to each other and saying them at the right time. It wasn't uncommon for them to hear about a couple being made for each other but saying something at the wrong time and it beginning to head downhill from where they'd been. But somehow after a couple months of being together, them jokingly saying it on an off chance had turned into them saying it whole-heartedly almost every time they had a conversation like this or when they talked about each other, and thankfully every time they said it it got easier.

"Good night, Iza-chan." Kasuka finished, hanging up and leaving Izaya to the dreaded assignments.

"Alright.. So I have to track their new identities, if they have one, find out where they're headed or where they are, figure out who they're with or who they took with them and then figure out the best way for Shiki to trap them and get them back so the fucker doesn't think I'm slacking off... Fun." the ravenett grumbled to himself, pushing his bangs out of the way for a moment before sighing and getting to work. "This is gonna be a long week."

[Kasuka's POV]

"I told you to eat something!" Kasuka sighed in exasperation as he heard Izaya's stomach growl once again as the informant worked meticulously on his laptop even at their shared workplace. The ravenett just gave him a small, sorry smile as he glanced away from the extra work.

"I know, I know. But at least I got to bed at an okay time. Besides, they'll be getting us lunch soon." Izaya replied, just getting a shake of the head from his boyfriend.

"True. I still don't get why you have so many assignments now though. You've never been this busy.." the actor mumbled, leaning onto him and wrapping his arm around the older man's shoulders.

"I've been busier than this before, just ask Namie whenever you get the chance. Once I'm done with these first ones I'll have more time though, I promise." the informant reassured, smiling still though it didn't seem as relaxed. Kasuka just nodded and pressed a kiss to Izaya's temple as he turned back to his work again, the actor picking up his script and skipping through it absently as he tried to distract himself.

He couldn't help noticing that whenever Izaya talked about work he would get uncomfortable or quiet, giving him simple answers instead of letting him know everything. And he knew part of it was that he shouldn't know about Izaya's work in the first place for his own safety but he'd rather hear about it from him and be in danger than just watch patiently as Izaya got more reserved whenever he was given multiple assignments. It was almost like working in general made him nervous, but Kasuka had no clear idea of why. Maybe that's just how people are when they're in an illegal business. It can't be easy.

And it really couldn't, always having to lie about what you do for money and where you're going if you're called up. But Izaya didn't have those particular problems, if he had work then he could just say he was busy and there wouldn't be any further questions than 'when do you think you'll be back?'.

Kasuka tried not to let it bother him too much, since it wasn't originally his business and Izaya had been doing this probably for a lot longer than Kasuka realized, but when he glanced over to see Izaya forgetting to smile and just working intently, eyes skimming over whatever information he was finding and looking bored out of his mind, not to mention tired.. well, Kasuka found it a lot harder to listen to his head than usual.

"Hey, Izaya." the actor muttered, grabbing his boyfriend's attention enough for him to look up again. "Do you like your job? ..Your first one, I mean." Kasuka clarified, the informant looking confused at first. Izaya blinked once as he thought, biting his lip almost as he glanced at the laptop in front of him again, fingers now immobile where they were hovering above the keys.

"I dunno.." Izaya admitted, glancing up at him again with a small shrug before he went back to working. "I'm good at it."

"I didn't mean do you like how you work; I mean, do you like doing it." the actor tried again, watching as Izaya seemed to lean into his assignment more. "You almost never have a smile on your face when you work anymore." Kasuka announced, making his voice one tone louder this time so Izaya wouldn't ignore him. If he did then Kasuka would drop it anyway, he didn't want to tick off his lover or anything, he just wanted to know what was going on in Izaya's head.

Izaya continued to ignore him for a minute before saving whatever he'd just done and shutting his laptop. "Kasuka, what you're asking me is the same as asking anyone 'do you enjoy breathing?'. It doesn't matter what you say, you're going to end up doing it anyway." the informant sighed, moving his laptop onto the couch beside him before leaning into the actor a bit more and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Can we focus on your job now? I'm sorry we haven't memorized anything in two hours." the informant pressed, glancing up at him with a look something close to defeat.

Kasuka, not knowing how to respond, just nodded and grabbed their scripts, beginning their scene and letting them move on from the conversation until they were finally called up for filming.

Chapter 67!

So, no real drama but no excess fluff either, just enough for them to keep being happy.

I thought it was about time that Kasuka got more interested in Izaya's work, after all most of the drama that they've been in so far was fully caused by it, and as we know Izaya isn't the happiest camper with work at the moment

Maybe we'll even touch back to those old memories again in the future ;3

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

PS. Chlistopherous: I like the idea of having Shizaya (more than likely being one-sided) in here. It would be a little difficult to work in as an actual plot point because of how they've already been interacting so far though. I'll keep thinking of how to work it into the story but it might only be possible much, much later in the story, maybe even in a 'secondary-sequel' if this story turns out to be as long as I think it will be. Whether or not it's worked in as a plot-point, I could slip in some ideas of Shizaya in here as crack though, humor throughout the story. We'll just have to see what happens ^^