Chapter 27: Odd nostalgia

Stones and heaps of earth formed the uneven ground before them. It was at a small hill protruding from the otherwise low ground that suffered a new fate as Shizuo picked a stone from the ground.

With the blast of a cannon ball a half moon shaped crescent forced itself into the ground as the earth exploded from the force it had met.

Without losing a heartbeat Shizuo moved down into the newly created shallow sinking and dropped Izaya with as much care as he could muster at this speed.

His wrist was bitten while Izaya came to a quick halt on his feet and poured onto the ground.

The pendant Izaya had been given hung from his neck but was quickly pulled off as the demon grasped it.

As if having touched vermin the demon cast the crimson stone into the puddle of blood. Light, bright and unbelievable radiant glimmered for the single second that it touched the liquid- but as quick as its appearance had been it disappeared again.

Silence grew across their makeshift hideout and Izaya found himself rather confused.

He was about to ask what Shizuo was doing and why they were down here and not moving further away from the mimic, but he didn't get the chance to as said creature gallantly decided to make its entrance.

A hiss, reserved for venomous snakes only, resounded from the forest and Izaya's eyes located the creature just in time to see it lunging towards him.

He expected Shizuo to move- to kill it on the spot- maybe burn it with fire, or rip it apart. There were many ways to murder a creature like this.

Unexpectedly, Shizuo didn't even twitch.

But the creature did.

Harsh and loud the sound of bones cracking and blood spurting resounded as the body of the mimic crashed against an invisible wall-

"Fuck you." Shizuo announced with his arms crossed and the creature shrieked upon its gruesome fate.

Multiple eyes made to impersonate its victims rolled around in various directions as it searched for the reason it was hindered from proceeding towards its prey.

Izaya cringed slightly at the way the half torn body of the worm-like structure convulsed before them in obvious anger and demise.

"A barrier?" he asked, referring to the invisible wall that had kept the mimic away, and Shizuo nodded.

"Not too strong, but enough for this little bastard."

Again the creature slammed its wormly body against the barrier, but to no avail. Only more of its tentacle-like shapes protruding from popped eyeballs suffered a torn fate and it screamed in agony.

Not minding the creature Shizuo simply sat down on the ground and Izaya found himself mildly confused. "Why are you not killing it?"

"It will die by itself," Shizuo sighed, before breathing a heap of fire towards the last of vegetation that had survived his earlier assault.

"How?" Izaya asked, while watching the small twigs of what used to be a bush crackle as it transformed into a fireplace.

"The transformation into their chosen prey sacrifices a large portion of their lifeforce. Enough for it to die a natural death in under an hour," Shizuo explained and Izaya found himself quite astounded.

"Then why do they hunt this way?" It made no sense. At least to him. He also didn't expect an answer, since Shizuo barely held any, but this time he gave it with a smile.

"Because eating me would have prolonged its life for another hundred years at least."

Heh.

Looking towards the creature once more Izaya realized it had paused in its useless attempts to charge against the barrier and seemed to contemplate its options.

"That long?" he asked, while joining Shizuo at his fire.

"High risk, high reward," the demon shrugged, "It knew exactly what it was doing and now that it failed it will die."

Again the creature spasmed and circled the barrier. It was trying to find an opening to sneak into instead of trying to crush in here by force. It was fast too, erratic almost, and Izaya found himself realizing that its actions were not driven by greed but despair.

As if having given up the mimic suddenly moved to the side, and out of their vision.

"It's searching for easier prey. Not like there is anything close by after the Serpent passed the area." Shizuo added with a sigh and let his head thud against the earthly wall of their small abyss. Looking at Izaya his gaze met his for a second. "Sorry I know you are probably not a fan of sitting around and waiting, but these are really a hassle. It might turn into you the second I decide to get out and kill it."

Ah.

Shaking his head softly Izaya couldn't help but feel a smile creep onto his face. This demon, really. "I don't mind."

This creature had tried to kill them. Empathy aside for its fate of surefire death, Izaya was not enough of a saint to feel bad over its suffering after it had tried to get them both killed.

Tilting his head back into his neck Izaya looked towards the sky instead.

It was slowly starting to tint into beige and red. Or at least he thought so considering the top view was mostly blocked by the crowns of massive trees.

Feeling his body calm down and the adrenaline he had felt earlier subsided, his brain took a different turn of thoughts as he looked back at the demon.

"So you can tell when I'm afraid?" he asked, and Shizuo's expression slipped into a proud smile.

"And when you lie."

Blinking softly, Izaya felt quite caught at those words.

"That's new-" He had lied a lot to the demon- or had he? He had always been good with words, and even better telling the truth in a way that created a lie without a lie.

Similarly to how he never specifically told Shizuo that he was a demon, he suggested that idea by only bringing up topics that seemed to align.

"It's not all too reliable, but I learned to distinguish the scent," Shizuo shrugged, and Izaya felt his interest spike as his lips curled into a smile and his chin met his palm.

"I'm curious, what do lies smell like?"

The question came unexpectedly, it seemed, as the demon took a second to respond. Looking left, then right he tilted his head and even touched his chin in a moment of contemplation.

"... bitter," he decided after a minute, "Smoked. They way meat starts to smell the second it turns from crisp to coal."

Heh.

So he smelled like ash when he was lying?

"And the truth?" Izaya asked, but Shizuo snorted.

"There is no smell to truth. It's more of a matter of whether there is an absence of that coal or not."

It was then that a soft stab of mild pain grazed Izaya's right ear and he flinched. It felt like a needle suddenly piercing his skin- and so he reached for the spot, half expecting for it to meet some kind of mosquito or an injury he hadn't noticed earlier.

It was blood that met his fingertip upon touch and with mild surprise Izaya glanced at the droplet that had smeared his fingertip.

"Did it injure you?" faster than Izaya could see, Shizuo had approached and for a second his heart skipped a beat.

Oddly at a loss of words Izaya looked at the demon and his honest concern.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully, having learned that lying was no option and the demon's eyes narrowed for a second.

Without warning Shizuo leaned in. Close.

Much closer than he had been when he had thrown Izaya across his shoulder.

And somehow for some reason Izaya suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of nostalgia.

Of familiarity.

His right hand urged to move. To do what he couldn't tell-

All he knew was that his body had turned stiff as a board and mind was running wild with thoughts he didn't understand.

Longing of a kind he couldn't explain bubbled up inside his chest and he quickly turned his head to the side to give Shizuo a better view of his ear.

What was he thinking about?

This was a demon-

"Hold still," Shizuo suddenly announced as his palm reached for his ear. He paused midway, as if he were contemplating his next action and shortly met Izaya's eyes, "And close your eyes."

Izaya did as ordered- no questions asked, no idea what was going to happen.

It was then that a slight pinch of pain met his ear- and suddenly it was gone. The piercing sensation from earlier, and just by the way the warmth crept back to basketing Izaya's frame he knew Shizuo had moved away.

"You can open them again," the demon announced and Izaya snapped his eyes back open.

Shizuo had returned to his earlier position and seemed completely unfazed. Fingers trailing back to his ear, Izaya tried to find out what it was that Shizuo had done.

"What did you do?"

Hesitation marked the demon's attitude as he opened his mouth only to close it again. "I think you are better off not knowing," he said after a few seconds and Izaya felt his skin crawl at his brain's capacity and creativity triggered by that response.

What had it been that had made his ear bleed?

Something disgusting. He was sure of it.

At his ear?

The voices and how only he had heard them came back to mind along with some pretty disturbing ideas as to how they got there and he quickly shook his head as if to chase them away.

"I think you are right," he announced quickly and sighed.

This demon- just how many more creatures were they going to encounter? How many more dangers was Shizuo going to evade or murder?

Looking at him Izaya couldn't help but notice how incredibly human this demon appeared to be when it came to his body.

Safe for the black gown there was nothing protecting his skin. Or his bones.

His heart- apparently demons had some. Meaning they had organs too.

The mimic tried to kill him by ripping it out, that meant demons could die from injuries as much as humans could, right?

Blinking softly, Izaya hummed before speaking, "I'm curious, is there anything that can kill you?"

Unexpected laughter met his question as Shizuo raised an eyebrow, "Looking to get rid of me already?"

Izaya snorted, "Of course, what else?"

Picking up a twig that lay scattered further away from the flames Shizuo used it to poke at the fire.

Sparks ignited and the pleasant sound of cracking wood reached his ears. "There are a few things," he started, "Holy spells. Injuries caused by curses. Successive blows of magnit."

Having caught the unfamiliar word, Izaya's attention peaked. "Magnit? What's that?"

Right.

Humans wouldn't know, and especially this one. "A substance found close to hell's core. Some demon's use parts of it to spike their armor or weapons," he explained, "I can heal myself easily from any injury caused by creatures, but slashes made by magnit don't recover as easily so if I take too much damage it's over."

"So if someone stabbed you in the heart with a spear made of that material-" Izaya asked, fading out towards the end as Shizuo was already nodding.

"I would die I guess."

Wow.

How awfully nonchalant.

From the way Shizuo said those words they almost seemed as if he didn't care about his death, but Izaya could tell it was more of a matter of not believing that there was anything that would be able to kill him.

Confidence in short.

And yet, somehow, Izaya suddenly found himself fearing that exactly that might happen.

For no reason at all.

Really.

Shizuo had not once shown even the slightest hint of a weakness, and yet-

"But demon's stay away from you, right?" Izaya asked, and somehow Shizuo's expression told him that he had not managed to hide his intentions hidden in that question as well as he would have liked too.

"... are you worried about me?" the demon joked, obviously thinking he was misinterpreting Izaya's words, and Izaya blinked.

"No, but I doubt I will find another demon willing to guide me to Crysteria."

Ah.

Too late Izaya realized his mistake.

He had said no.

And just as quickly as that sentence had flown from his lips Shizuo picked up the fine scent of coal.

Hesitation marked Shizuo's expression as he smelled the lie and the truth in that answer and Izaya cursed his lips for speaking as fast as they had.

Shizuo didn't experience the feeling of flattery a lot, or embarrassment for that matter, but the unspoken words in that lie tugged at his heart in a way he couldn't quite interpret. Too many meanings layered in that response, along with an obvious interest in his well being and company that elevated Shizuo's mood quite a bit.

Voice dropping to a whisper he showed a playful smile, "... bold aren't you?"

Clearing his throat Izaya quickly steered the conversation into a more favorable direction as he pointed towards the forest.

"Is it dead?"

Right.

The mimic.

They were still waiting for it to meet its end.

A bit of time had passed and with those injuries Shizuo doubted the mimic was going to survive a long time.

Listening to the faint sounds of nature he tried to pick up a sound indicating its movement, but nothing.

Was it dead?

"Wait here, I will check," he suddenly announced, and without waiting for agreement or approval he jumped onto the ledge of his freshly created abyss, and subsequently out of the barrier.

Faster than expected Izaya found himself alone at the demon made fireplace.

A groan left his lips as soon as Shizuo was gone and he touched his forehead in a form of self scolding.

What the hell was going on with him?

What was that sensation earlier?

That touch-

Was he seriously crushing on a demon?

No matter how he looked at it, that hadn't been a normal reaction. Shizuo was just checking for any injuries. He had just wanted to make sure he was fine.

What was wrong with him?

Shizuo was a demon.

Sure, attractive in his appearance, there was no denying that, but a demon.

His body consisted of unhuman raw strength. Of an unwavering stance. Considering how easily he was throwing Izaya around as he pleased, he was nothing but a plaything in his hands when it came to strength.

Feeling anything even close to attraction was absolutely foolish in such a setting.

Demonkind didn't differentiate either, Shizuo already said so, meaning he could do as he pleased at any time.

That was clearly dangerous and nothing he should fool around with.

It would take Shizuo a simple twist and turn to shove him against a wall and-

Thoughts coming to a short stop, Izaya's mind wiped blank for a second as he looked at the dancing , jumping and dancing on the twigs it was being fed, it continued thriving with clear joy.

And Izaya?

Izaya glared at his dick.

Great.

Now he was horny.

to be continued~

xDDD Hello everyoneeee! Sorry I was gone for so long- I had pneumonia for the longest fucking time and was pretty out of it xD

BUT I am bbbaaacckk xD And ready to serve delicious updates again on every Saturday to come haha :3

With that being said, I hope you like the direction this is going into xD

We are heading into quite the troubling feelings and areas now xD So be prepared for love, lust and danger C: xDDDDDD

With that being said, see you next Saturday~! Cx