Two days later, Shizuo and Izaya had found themselves outside of Shinra's door, waiting to be let in. From what they could tell, the party had already started. Music could be heard from inside, and many voices merged together into a garbled mess. Izaya was bundled under a large scarf that covered half his face, and wore a Christmas sweater that Shinra had asked them to wear.

"It's a bad sweater theme!" he had said. To Izaya, it was the stupidest idea he had ever heard. But what was more depressing was that Shizuo didn't even have a bad Christmas sweater.

Or at least, he looked pretty damn good in the sweater he had chosen. Yeah, it had reindeer on it, and was pretty gaudy. But it clung to his body perfectly, but was just baggy enough to seem comfortable.

Izaya glanced down at himself and smirked. He was never one to fully follow rules. Yes, he wore a Christmas sweater, but it was far from ugly. It was simple and tasteful. The only details on the navy colored shirt were the white snowflakes that eventually grew heavier until it turned into a white trim along the hem.

"Izaya! Shizuo! Glad you came!" Shinra welcomed as he opened the door. Shizuo smiled as stepped inside.

"Of course. Took the flea a while to get ready though." he chuckled. Izaya narrowed his eyes, but grinned anyways.

"It takes a while to look this good, Shizu-chan~"

Shizuo ignored Izaya's remark and found himself surrounded by Erika and Walker and their game of 20-questions.

Was he feeling better? Was he going to be strong ever again? Would he ever chase Izaya around? Was Izaya really helping him? Were they living together yet? Did they make sweet love yet?

Shizuo felt himself getting embarrassed and he was positive his cheeks were flushing. "Ah-ah yeah I'm feeling better. I think I'll get most of my strength back. Maybe? Yeah, the flea's actually-No not together, but I go over there a lot…W-WHAT? NO!"

Izaya watched Shizuo get bombarded with questions - most of them involving Izaya and his relationship with Shizuo. He chuckled and sat up at the kitchen counter, chin in his hand. His eyes grazed over the crowd, amazed at how many people Shinra seemed to know.

His eyes caught onto familiar gold eyes, and he felt a smirk pull at his lips. He had assumed that the young teens would be here. He was positive Celty had invited Anri, who would of course bring Mikado and Kida with her.

Kida glared at Izaya intensely, making Izaya grin wider. But someone passed in front of Izaya, and broke off the connection. When Izaya looked back to where the blonde was, he and his friends were gone.

"Izaya!"

The informant turned on his seat and smiled smoothly at Shinra, "Yes?" Shinra leaned forward and slid Izaya a glass of eggnog. Izaya frowned, "No thank you."

"Come on, you gotta drink up a bit. It's New Years! It's the time to party and have fun!"

"You know I don't drink."

"But this is eggnog."

"Eggnog has alcohol in it."

Shinra sighed and rolled his eyes, "I know you're not the best at holding your liquor, but really. It's not gonna kill you! It's just a little bit. It's just to loosen you up." Izaya glared at Shinra and was going to retort when Shizuo reached over him and grabbed the eggnog from Shinra.

"Stop worrying about him. He's too much of a wuss to handle it." Shizuo snickered, sitting on the chair next to Izaya and taking a sip of the warm beverage. It was Shizuo's favorite thing about the holidays. Who cares about gifts and Santa and snow when there was nice, warm eggnog.

"Shizuo! You shouldn't be drinking while on your medication!"

Izaya glared at Shizuo and grabbed his glass, splashing a bit as he forcefully ripped it from Shizuo's grasp. "Don't worry Shinra. I said I'd watch over the overgrown child, didn't I?" He tilted his head in a quick nod and held up the glass, sneering, "Cheers, brute." He took a quick swig of it, enjoying every drop that passed his lips.

Shinra grinned, pouring a glass for himself, and a non-alcoholic glass for Shizuo. He called Kadota over, sliding him a glass as well. Shinra lifted his mug and beamed, "Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

The four clanked their glasses, taking a big gulp. It was like high school. Of course, back then Izaya would be pushing Shizuo off his chair, and the two would have started a fight. But the four of them together was nonetheless nostalgic.

It wasn't long until the quartet was buzzed, minus Shizuo of course. They four talked about their high school life, with Izaya bringing up many stories on how he managed to piss off Shizuo. A few times the brute wanted to smash Izaya's face in, but held back by sipping at the eggnog. However, their reunion didn't last long because the first one to lose their control was the host himself.

Shinra was similar to Izaya in a sense - he couldn't hold his alcohol. He was stumbling around and trying to greet people who had already come. After a while, Celty had found him and stayed by him, making sure he didn't cause any trouble - although she had to put up with him cracking jokes and laughing at everything he saw.

Kadota was a little tipsy, but not enough to make a fool of himself. He would have continued to talk to Shizuo, but had to leave once he learned that Walker and Erika had locked themselves in the bathroom by jamming the lock. Was the duo drunk? Not at all - they just managed to somehow break the door.

This left Shizuo alone at the bar, sipping his second non-alcoholic eggnog. Izaya had silently left soon after he was given his second drink, although Shizuo didn't bother to ask where. He didn't think he would have to babysit the informant.

However, he was getting bored sitting up at the counter and watching the younger kids playing their dancing games. He left, leaving his drink at the table, and walked around the apartment.

Most people didn't seem to recognize him. He was a bit thankful for that. He didn't feel the desire to mingle with all the guests. He was happy to just talk to those he knew. Although, most of the people he knew were singing bad karaoke in the den.

"Hey Shizuo!"

Shizuo turned to see Tom walking up, a sway in his step that let Shizuo know he had a little too much to drink. Tom slapped his hand on Shizuo's back and grinned, "So, I heard you're doing better!"

"Yeah. A lot better." Shizuo smiled, holding Tom up as he slouched over. "I was thinking that when Shinra gave the ok, I could start working again." He suggested.

Tom nodded and grinned, "Sounds good to me! You could just be there to intimidate. Although, you'll have to die your hair back. No one will recognize who you are with that color! Hell, I hardly recognized you!"

"No one can recognize Shizu-chan when he looks like that~" Izaya slurred as he came around the corner, with a new glass that was filled with a clear liquid. Shizuo instantly assumed it was something harder - like vodka.

"Oi Flea, you might wanna be careful."

"Ahh, screw being careful. It's the holidays, isn't it? The one time of year to let loose, neh? Of course, besides your birthday, but who's counting."

The informant sauntered over, a smirk on his face as he passed Shizuo. "You know, you should loosen up more~" Shizuo growled, fist clenching.

"Shut up louse, you're the one who didn't even wanna come." he grunted. Izaya just turned and downed the rest of his drink, hissing as it burned his throat. He grinned and set his glass down on a table, shrugging.

"Well now I'm here, and now I'm bored. I'm looking for a bit of fun~"

"Go find it somewhere else."

"Shizuo, I'll be back. Going to the bathroom." Tom quickly said before walking to the bathroom, only to find that Kadota was having trouble getting the knob to work.

Shizuo groaned and watched the flea as he twirled around smoothly, not a hint of drunkenness in his gait. The only hint of his current tipsy state was the swing in his hips as he walked.

Izaya glanced over his shoulder, smirking teasingly as his cloudy eyes beckoned Shizuo to follow.

His better judgment told Shizuo to not follow the flea. Past experience told him to never trust him, especially when mischief was clearly plastered on his face. His instinct told him to just leave Izaya altogether. But his heart urged him on, and he found himself following Izaya down the hall like a moth to the flame.

Izaya turned, walking backwards so he could watch Shizuo with those darkened eyes. The sly informant turned around a corner with a grace that Shizuo would have never thought possible for someone that tipsy, and picked up his pace to keep up.

When he turned the corner, he found that the den was now that of an amateur nightclub. The lights were low, except for the Christmas lights that hung from the ceiling. Izaya stood along the edge of the crowd, hair hanging low to cover his sultry eyes that bore into Shizuo's.

That stare…its intensity made Shizuo's heart hammer. He would blame the alcohol if he had any. The fact that he really didn't have anything to blame it on caused him to worry a bit. He thought he was attracted to the soft side of Izaya; attracted to Psyche.

That gaze. That smirk. That demeanor…that was definitely not Psyche.

But it was turning him on.