Chapter 65: Investigation
Izaya had never really been a fan of church. Too many people used their belief to rectify inhuman actions or desires with the label of greater good.
So the prayers recited at the front of the hall barely grazed Izaya's ears as he waited for the priest to finish.
A few old people had gathered inside the hall. Whether they were strangers or part of the monastery was nothing he could tell, but he dearly hoped for the former to be true.
Their surveillance video was still going viral and even if these skeletons barely knew about the existence of the internet, there was no saying that their grandchildren wouldn't tell them.
Legs crossed and arms spread on the backrest of the bench he tilted his head back to examine the ceiling. It was when he arrived at the count of thirty angels that the priest signaled for the end of the preach.
A golden cup was placed on top of the pedestal covered in white tablecloth and he turned to bow before the altar.
Slowly but surely the fossils forced their way out of the benches and assembled at the corridor leading to the back.
With a heartily jump Izaya tore his body from the uncomfortable position and steered towards their most recent savior.
"Father, I have a question." Surprise flashed across the priest's expression for a moment. The smile that replaced his features came quickly, but Izaya's perception was better than that.
he had seen the paper the priest tried to hide behind his back and just like that the smile stayed in the priest's face as Izaya circled to his back.
Looking at the candles in the room, stopped in time Shizuo couldn't help but be mildly fascinated by the concept of Izaya's power.
That and the fact that he still appeared to be unaffected.
"What are you doing?" he asked, watching Izaya as he circled to the back of the frozen priest.
The piece of paper was placed in a fairly awkward position and Izaya craned his neck in order to make out its content.
"Reading," he announced shortly while nudging the tip of the paper to the side. "He was trying to hide this."
The paper appeared to be fairly old. That or the priest was a fan of dipping his documents into coffee.
There was a name, a date, and most importantly a name.
Mihail Morokov.
Sounded russian.
The message too, but gladly Izaya had always been a fan of the language and had no troubles reading its contents despite the obvious attempt to keep the message secret.
A smile grazed his lips and he hummed, "Interesting."
"What?" Shizuo had approached the priest as well. It was a bit unsettling to look at the priest staying still like that. The more time passed, the creepier the smile felt and Shizuo couldn't help but expect a jumpscare like in horror movies.
But Izaya didn't answer, instead he circled away from the priest.
Shizuo's wrist was grabbed in an unexpected moment and the now black haired man dragged back to his original position.
"Just play along," Izaya whispered, and with that the priest's smile finally moved, just as the rest of the candles, flickering inside the hall.
Gentle eyes rested upon them and for just a short second the man of religion seemed a bit confused.
But the paper was grasped tightly and his eyes showed a gentle smile nonetheless.
"How can I help you?"
Proceeding down the soft elevation of the altar, his voluptuous cloak grazed the top of the marble slightly.
Either he hadn't noticed Izaya used his time stopping ability or he decided to not let it show. Both worked in Izaya's favor.
"The question should be, how can we help?" Izaya offered with his best smile and the priest's expression lightened.
Taiding his hand with the same motion he used earlier to bless the people praying inside the hall he shook his head.
"You don't have to do anything, just stay here until everything has calmed down."
"You mean until Mihail is done clearing our name?" Almost immediately the priest's expression fell.
Izaya almost felt bad for putting their savior on the spot like this. His altruism was exceptional and Izaya actually believed he owned up to the morals he preached.
Pulling the paper to his face the priest quickly skimmed its content only for more puzzlement to fill his eyes.
"How do you-" he faded out and Izaya smiled.
"Let me guess his ability. Memory manipulation?"
Truth to be spoken, the content of the paper had been negligible. Apart from the name and a short message saying everything was proceeding smoothly there had been no more hints as to what it was about.
But Izaya was smart. And his conclusions and perception more often on point than not.
An educated guess here and a bold statement there and he received all answers needed right from the priest's nose.
The man of religion seemed to notice as much, but funnily enough it wasn't rage he displayed, like Roy had.
Instead he showed a smile of relief.
"I was aware of an ability that lets you stop time, but is mind reading part of that as well?" he asked gently.
The relief Izaya felt at that response was stronger than he liked to admit. He had obviously guessed right, and considering the priest's reaction they held not a shred of resentment against the two of them.
It was good news for once. News that he had not made any more enemies.
"I just took an educated guess. Your conviction about us being able to leave without danger was brimming with too much confidence to stem from god's will alone," he shrugged and the priest nodded as if taking mental notes for the next time he slithered into an interrogation.
"He can manipulate memories. Soften reactions. Through viral means too," the man of religion continued, obviously casting aside all secrets as irrelevant in the face of Izaya.
The action was appreciated as much as it was scorned by Izaya.
Such an ability was way too powerful to simply reveal upon question. To stranger's too.
He really hoped the priest's missing reluctance to answer didn't only stem from Izaya's brimming charisma or this monastery was going to run into troubles at some point.
"... and currently he is trying to clear all evidence on us?" he continued, and the priest nodded.
"More or less. But you gave him a lot of work to do."
Manipulation through the media, huh? Sounded like an average advertising strategy. A campaign to save their faces in front of the public, secretly supported by supernatural means.
"Risky," Izaya added and for the first time of the day the priest actually frowned. It was clear he rarely did as his forehead barely formed the folds needed to sign disagreement.
A sign of a very open and understanding man.
"How? No one will notice anything. His ability works subconsciously," he elaborated, but entirely missed Izaya's point.
"How about betrayal?" This wasn't about his ability not working, but rather about how this person called Mihail could use it against them.
One disagreement with the guy and he might as well subconsciously suggest to every human present that it was wise to burn down this monastery filled with demons.
The priest seemed to understand Izaya's conclusion, but only had laughter to show.
"He would never betray us," the priest said with more confidence of goodwill than Izaya dared to hold for himself. "He has been a lamb of my herd for over a decade. If there is one person you can trust it's him."
Doubt, that's what Izaya's immediate response was to the statement- but the priest seemed not in the mood to discuss the topic further.
Extinguishing some candles at the altar with a careful palm behind to keep sparks from igniting the table cloth he proceeded down the corridor of benches.
"Well then, if you would excuse me."
And with that he disappeared past the heavy door.
Izaya didn't know what to make of the priest's attitude. He seemed fairly carefree, yet oddly in control.
Question was if that control was perceived with something to back it or baseless trust.
The large candles at the front of the altar had stopped providing the majority of light source, but that only enhanced the windows.
Glass of various colors and shapes presented yet another skillful artwork and protected lights of orange red and white.
A tinge of green at the bottom happened to lightly graze Shizuo's black hair and added a gracefully bewitching aura to his body.
He had taken his seat in one of the benches and picked up a bible displayed in the rows.
"Didn't know protozoans could read," Izaya joked while approaching the gentle giant.
Not a brow twitched as Shizuo gently turned another page, oddly captivated. "Do you believe in god?"
A bit offended that Shizuo completely ignored his joke, Izaya let himself slump down next to him.
"Where did that come from?"
Shizuo shrugged. "I dunno, never really thought about it."
Looking at the pages displayed, Izaya skimmed half of the page Shozuo was looking at.
Chapter Genesis. He was looking at the beginning of world creation.
Letting his head tilt back he looked at the ceiling.
"Do you?"
"I asked first." Shizuo clarified and Izaya snorted.
God, huh?
Had been a while since he had to think about such a theoretical topic.
"... yes and no," he sighed, not exactly giving Shizuo the answer he sought.
"Meaning?" Shizuo asked, putting the bible back into its designated place.
Izaya shrugged, "Well seeing how we are incubi and capable of stopping time I guess it wouldn't be too far off to believe something like a powerful entity exists. But if that's the case then it must be one fucked up guy with all the wrong fetishes. Watching all these people disappear and get raped from something he probably created himself proves a really rotten character." He knew he didn't need to go into detail for Shizuo to understand who he was talking about.
Hachiro. And probably countless other incubi who suffered the same fate. Kasuka was one too. Sheer luck had spared him a life of demise and Izaya was pretty sure Shizuo was aware of that. "So yeah, I would rather believe there is no god, because if there were he would be a pretty decent asshole and that's not the kind of person I want to imagine watching over me 24/7."
Certainly, Shizuo could get behind that.
"So? Your conclusion?" Izaya pressed on, reminding Shizuo that it was now his turn to provide answers.
"... I don't think I can believe in one. I haven't seen something like a god all my life. But I wish I could."
Leaning on his elbow, Izaya hummed, "Why?"
"I don't know, but people usually look happy when they pray. Like, when someone dies, they are less sad thinking they will meet again one day. Or when they are scared or in trouble, they stay calm believing somehow everything will turn out well as long as they believe. I wish I could do that," Shizuo hesitated for a second as another idea formed in his head. Tilting his head he sighed. "I know self control isn't a synonym for god but-"
"Why not?"
Surprised, Shizuo's head turned. He had expected a laugh to be honest, or a sarcastic joke, but the honesty Izaya looked at him with was not part of that.
Crossing his arms on top of the next bench Izaya let his chin rest on them.
"If god is supposed to be everywhere and affect everyone, he might as well be control itself. Control of physics, control of day and night, control of one's mind and desires," he elaborated, "Viewing god in a more structural way suits you better than just praying to some old fart at least." A smile sneaked onto his expression and he turned his head. "I'm a fan of your idea actually. Quite scientific for your standards, nothing I would have expected of a protozoan."
It was an obvious tease, but still sort of a compliment.
Shizuo snorted, "I know you think I'm stupid but I hope you recall we graduated from the same school. I might not have gotten straight A's but I did pay attention in classes."
A mischievous smile spread across Izaya's lips as he rose from his seat, "You know," he started, and before Shizuo knew it Izaya had slipped onto his lap. His arms connected behind Shizuo's neck and his breath ghosted above his lips.
"Actually I don't think you are stupid. Just more on the practical side of nature," a misdirecting smile sneaked onto his lips, "Which isn't the worst."
Shizuo snorted, "Is it?" and Izaya leaned in closer. Their lips were almost touching and his intentions quite clear.
But somehow Shizuo felt more comfortable rather than horny.
The way Izaya fit in his lap so perfectly just seemed so right it made his chest swell with different emotions.
Not in the mood to resist the urge he unexpectedly pulled Izaya close and nuzzled inside his neck.
A soft yelp escaped Izaya's lips and he blinked at the treatment.
"What are you doing?" he snorted, and Shizuo looked up at him with eyes so awfully golden and innocent.
"Loving you."
It was cheesy, it was unexpected, but most importantly it was honest.
Horny, but still flashed, Izaya couldn't help but sigh as he closed his eyes and let his forehead connect with Shizuo's shoulder.
"... I lost," he announced, making Shizuo blink.
"What?"
"Our challenge."
Shizuo only remembered their little game of making each other horny now and snorted.
Yeah.
Izaya had lost, because he was the one with a raging hard on while Shizuo had calmed down.
Control, huh?
He had more self control in that regard than Izaya had.
"Guess I won," he whispered and glanced up to meet Izaya's gaze.
Izaya's eyes were locked elsewhere as he licked his lips.
"Does that mean our appointment is off?"
Appointment. Shizuo couldn't remember the last time they used the term seriously.
Seemed like it had been a decade ago. A smile grazed his lips as his palm dived into the back of Izaya's shirt.
"What? You want me to ravage you? Inside a chapel?" He meant for the words to sound accusing, but somehow they turned out seductive.
At the end of the day this was Izaya. He loved Izaya and Izaya was obviously very horny right now.
So who was he to decline?
to be continued~
Sorry for the delay xD I was visiting my hometown and completely overlooked that yesterday was Saturday xDDDD At least I have a 5 out of 5 winstreak this week hahaha