Hello, loyal readers!

I apologize for the unannounced hiatus; I had some personal troubles and such and did not have the will to update.

Luckily, I have my will back, so expect some chapters! However, updates will be sparse because I am very busy.

Hope you enjoy this chapter~!

(Disclaimer: Orihara Izaya, Heiwajima Shizuo and all others mentioned from anime/manga Durarara! Belong to Narita Ryohgo-sensei)

(WARNING THIS STORY HAS MALExMALE RELATIONSHIPS. You have been warned.)

Izaya woke with what felt like jackhammers pounding into his brain. He shifted slightly and groaned, the earsplitting headache traveling down his spine and making his whole body scream with pain. His mouth felt like sandpaper and tasted foul, as if he'd licked a gritty road. He pulled the covers over his head and carefully cracked his carmine eyes open, unwilling to unveil his face and expose his now-light-sensitive eyes to the blinding glare of the morning sun.

He stayed that way till he felt a bit more awake. His body felt as if someone had throttled him with a slab of cement, then thrown him in a pit of nails and broken glass. He lagged the way the cheap library computers often did, yanking the raven through pin-lined molasses. He could feel the alcohol churning within him already.

Carefully, he pushed the covers back and sighed with relief once he realized that someone had kindly drawn the heavy velvet curtains. He sat up as gently as he could, and put forth his best effort to keep from throwing up…but gagged anyway. He made a mad dash for the bathroom and made it just in time to puke his guts out into the toilet. He heaved till his body shook and finally came to a stop with a shuddering cough.

He leaned his head against the cold bathroom wall and flushed the toilet. He groaned and raised his head enough to where he could rest his chin against the wall and look at up towards the ceiling.

"Is this what morning sickness feels like?" he inquired, smirking despite himself. With a sigh, he managed to painfully pull himself off the floor.

The raven was lucky he had afternoon classes; it was already 10:30 in the morning. He dragged himself back to the bedroom and came to a halt by the nightstand. It seemed someone had…folded his trousers and jacket and placed them there along with a tray containing covered dishes, and a thermos full of tea, plus a small bottle of Advil.

Wait a second…if his pants where there…then…what…

The raven glanced down for the first time and stared, horrified, at the long expanse of creamy skin where it should be covered by the black fabric of his trousers.

"What-!" his hands immediately darted forward to pull his shirt down as far as it would go to hide his upper thighs. How did he manage to lose his pants?! Exactly what had happened…?

Izaya thought hard, his forehead scrunching as he tried to recall. However, his mind drew a blank. The events from the night before seemed wiped from his memory. He remembered challenging Shizuo to a tolerance contest he knew he'd lose (the sole purpose being to mess with the irritable blond), the sickening burn of the alcohol (which did indeed feel ten times worse coming back up), and…singing songs. Not very appropriate songs either.

He groaned and slapped his hands over his face, "Idiot, idiot, IDIOT!" He had gotten too drunk! Hopefully, his lack of sobriety had only irritated Shizuo more. Once he saw Shizuo later today, he'd definitely know if he had succeeded or if drunken Izaya had let him down.

His actions did have reason; Izaya was naturally not one to trust. He was a man of masks; hiding a fragile, vulnerable being behind a coy smirk and smart words. Acting out and doing his best to piss off his host was simply a test. He wanted to see just how far he could push Shizuo, see how much the blonde could take before finally losing his temper. This test was his safety net and he gave it to everyone he found interesting…the only exception being Shiki.

However, that wasn't his priority at the moment.

His stomach was protesting rather loudly to not being fed and one glance towards the mirror confirmed bedhead of epic proportions. The hung-over raven dragged himself to the bathroom once again, finished his morning rituals, took a refreshing shower and finally resurfaced feeling less like a freight train hit him.

He slipped on his clothes and plopped down on the bed, yanking the tray of covered dishes into his lap. He removed the lids to discover a thin miso soup, four neatly packed onigiri, and strips of dried salmon. He pouted and poked at the food.

"Ne, Shizu-chan, what kind of third class food is this? Rich people aren't supposed to serve cheap food!" he whined. Truth be known, he was content with this breakfast. However, he felt the need to complain, regardless of whether or not there was anyone to listen; Izaya was perfect and because he was perfect he deserved the perfect breakfast and if he did not receive the perfect breakfast, he had every perfect right to perfectly complain.

He took an enormous bite out of an onigiri and felt his stomach churn. Eyes wide, he grabbed the thermos and chugged down the tart herbal tea to soothe his stomach. Okay…so…perhaps a light breakfast was a better idea than the extravagant feast Izaya would have required for any other day. As he ate, the raven continued whining to the air.

"This soup is too bland! Shizu-chan has incapable chefs. Why is it so hooot? Urgh, my head hurts. Stupid Shizu-chan and his stupid alcohol," he sipped his tea. "It didn't even taste good, stupid protozoa." He finished his breakfast quickly and popped two Advil.

He set the dishes and the Advil on the tray and carefully balanced it on his forearms. He hurried out of his room and down the stairs. As he made his way to the dining area, he took a moment to survey the manor. It seemed most of the servants stayed away from the main part of the estate, probably avoiding Shizuo's wrath by remaining in the servants' quarters.

Izaya frowned; the brute must have been lonely. Then again, Heiwajima Shizuo wasn't exactly known for being a virgin. Izaya guessed that the blond must spend enough time with his fuck-buddies to get over being lonely.

He waltzed into the dining room, expecting to see the protozoa sitting at the table. Instead, he was met with an empty room and a clean table. Izaya's enthusiasm visibly dimmed. So is this how Shizuo felt when he came down for his meals and found the dining room empty? Izaya never took his meals alone. Namie was always there to complain about his lack of a steady job or his late rent, and sometimes Shiki was there.

The days Shiki was there always felt like heaven to Izaya. Never mind the fact that the impassive older man never made much eye contact let alone spoke, it made Izaya immensely happy to be in the other man's company for something other than sex. Shiki staying for a meal was a holiday to Izaya; more rewarding than Christmas, more exciting than his birthday, more festive than Thanksgiving. On days that Shiki stayed, Izaya had hopes that maybe they'd become more than just two people who screwed.

Of course, that was all over now since Shiki had decided to break up. The word "break up" seemed inappropriate for this situation, since it was reserved for the ending of a relationship. What Izaya had had with Shiki was no relationship. It had simply been an arrangement that had suited both their tastes….that is, until Izaya fell in love.

The raven's face contorted in misery; "love", what a silly concept. Before Shiki, Izaya was certain he'd never love one person more than all the rest, now he was determined to keep himself safe from such a painful emotion.

He set his tray down on the dining table and began backing out of the dining room. Love was nothing but a liability, and Izaya was certain he'd never love again.

Around 1:30 pm, the raven headed to University. After a few lectures, Izaya was granted a leisure day to work on his senior project. The carmine-eyed man headed to the computer lab at the far end of campus. This lab was surprisingly deserted since the air-conditioning in that particular room tended to malfunction and keep the room a biting 48 degrees Fahrenheit. The university had said they'd fix it, but it had been nothing but an empty promise.

The cold didn't bother Izaya, not when he wore thick black jeans and a comfy parka. Besides, the raven found he thought better in the cold. The slim man took a seat at one of the computers, his designated computer, and logged into his account.

His project was rather straight forward; developing a refined criminal database for the Tokyo PD. What made his software different from the others was its amazing ability to categorize and tally the offender's crimes. Their criminal records were grouped by whatever was entered into the search engine, be it gang ties, drugs, or something as intricate as the number of stab wounds on a victim.

Not only that, there was facial recognition software that Izaya had created himself and the feed from every street camera in Japan included within the database. One name into the search engine and the software was able to pull up every bit of information on the offender from birth to present second. It was an efficient tracker by following credit card purchases and traffic cam images, a highly dignified criminal pad with every ounce of information any cop could ever need, an extremely effective way of recognizing the same (and similar) perpetrators, and it had the ability to pull up any sort of information within a second. It was the ultimate police gadget.

Now, if Izaya could just work out the bugs and test it with the local PD he'd be home free. As he worked, the raven allowed his mind to wander. Surprisingly, his thoughts led him back to a certain blond ameba.

Never in his life had he met a human he enjoyed bothering as much as his beloved Shizu-chan. The blond man's passionate, angry reactions gave the raven a sadistic, giddy delight that made him forget his sorrows at least temporarily.

Izaya wanted nothing more than to drown his sorrows the best he could. In order to keep his masks intact, he needed to be able to suppress his pains. His lips twitched into a smirk. He wouldn't mind drowning in Shizuo.

Actually, that was a rather appealing thought. The blonde's attraction to Izaya was easy to catch and the raven would enjoy manipulating that. Besides, he was a healthy young man and healthy young men got horny occasionally. He needed a good fuck. A good fuck that had no feelings or relationships attached.

Shizuo was extremely irritated and it was easy to tell with how hard he was striking the keys on his laptop. It seemed the poor device absorbed all of Shizuo's negative emotions. Tom and Vorona had been surprised this morning to find the blond at the office a good three hours before everyone else. Shizuo had been working relentlessly with a disgruntled look upon his face.

The only good thing that came out of Shizuo's annoyance seemed to be the pile of work that was being blown through at an ungodly pace. The blond had already completed ten months of work in a little over five hours. Everyone else in the office rushed to keep up with their boss; the many emails that flooded their inboxes making them feel pressured to keep pace with their blond demon of an employer.

He had kissed-no, made out with Izaya. With Orihara Izaya, someone he was positive he hated. Shizuo's mind reeled with the thought and he found himself jabbing his fingers into the computer keys in an extremely violent fashion. Taking a deep, somewhat calming breath, he leaned back in his chair.

Orihara Izaya, an obnoxious little flea who lived to annoy the shit out of him. He sighed deeply, thinking back to the night before. To the soft red-tinted lips, porcelain skin the color of thick cream, slim waist and shapely ass…just the thought made him desire the louse even more. That's right; Heiwajima Shizuo desired him. He wanted Izaya more than he thought he could ever want another person.

It was repulsive.

Shizuo scowled at a spot on the wall, disgusted with himself for being beguiled by the raven haired tempter. He felt an almost animalistic need for Izaya; nothing romantic, of course, just the desire to fuck him senseless in every position known to man or beast. Twice. Yeah, definitely animalistic.

Shizuo's expression softened and he sighed quietly. Another event of last night had been the raven's pained weeping. The blond felt a sharp sting within his chest, a sliver of pity. He had felt awful watching Izaya's blubbering. Poor Izaya…

Whoever Shiki was, he weren't a very responsible lover. In all honesty, despite Izaya's retarded teasing, Shizuo believed he deserved someone who would treat him properly. Everyone deserved someone who would treat them properly. It upset Shizuo to see a person like Izaya cry over having his heart broken. Perhaps it was best not to dwell on it; the blonde got a feeling that by thinking too much on the Shiki subject he was violating the privacy of both men.

Sighing, he went back to work, his pace much slower since he had calmed down.

By the time Shizuo reached home at the end of his work day, it was well past midnight. He stretched as he slipped out of his car, sighing deeply and cracking his neck. He was extremely tired, more so than usual. It seemed that every high had a low; his high while working had reached the stars and his slam down low had landed him smack dab in the center of the Earth.

He began his trek to the front door, his legs heavy with exhaustion. He wanted nothing more than to crash in bed and sleep forever….not that it would happen what with the flea. As far as Shizuo knew him, Izaya would find a way to annoy him some more before he could make it to bed. Goddamn it, it had been Izaya's fault anyway that last night he had-

The blond froze, right in front of the door, his eyes as wide as saucers and his figure stiff. It had never occurred to him how he was meant to behave after last night. Did Izaya remember what had happened? The thought that the flea had recollection of what Shizuo had done made the world dangerously tip. How was he supposed to deal with that?

Perhaps he could avoid Izaya all together if he stayed in his room, or maybe it was better he not come home tonight. Yes, that sounded fabulous; he'd just call up some successful business woman or another who wanted to sleep with him and head to a hotel. Yes, perfect.

The blonde man turned around, ready to do as he had just planned only to come face to face with the louse himself. Izaya rocked back and forth on the heels of his shoes, a smirk on his lips.

The same lips Shizuo had been kissing last night.

'Whoa, calm down, Shizuo,' the blonde told himself. 'Deep breaths.'

"Hey, Shizu-chan~" the raven purred, his voice as sultry and teasing as always. "Are you planning on going inside or do all protozoans stand there and gape at their doors for a while before entering?"

Shizuo flushed and grumbled incoherently before unlocking the door and throwing it open. The house was dark, the servants all back in their quarters to avoid having to see the master of the house, who always seemed to be in a rotten mood after work. Shizuo was grateful for the lack of illumination; his blush had spread across his face inconveniently and was making its way down his neck.

Without looking at Izaya, he made a beeline for the stairs, aiming to head to the bathroom and then to bed. However, the other man slid in from of him, effectively blocking his way. Izaya had shut the main door with a quiet thud, leaving almost no light. Faint silvery moonlight streamed in from the windows and shed a soft shimmering light over the two men.

In the dimness, Izaya looked ethereal; the silver glow made his hair appear even silkier, his eyes brighter with the starlight shining on his lashes. He took several steps back, his heels echoing in the manor. Shizuo, once again, made for the stairs…only to find that the raven had hopped onto the steps as well.

Izaya stood on the third step, while Shizuo stood on the ground; the dark-haired man taller than the other due to higher ground. The raven leaned closer, the blonde captivated by the carmine glow of the former's eyes.

"Ne, Shizu-chan," Izaya said quietly, his arms slipping around Shizuo's neck and his breath ghosting over the other man's lips. "I have a proposition for you~"

I sense a lemon fast approaching, ohoho. *v*

Isthisparadise: Thank you so much, friend! Please stay tuned for more~

Cloudsofsand and akurokushizaya3: xDD I'm glad my lame attempts at humor made you guys laugh!

MarquiseVriskaSerket: Trololololol~

bleepbloop559: Thank you so much, sweetie! ;u; It always makes me happy when others compliment my writing because I lack confidence. Thank you so very much! I hope you stay tuned for the rest of this stupid story! XD

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