A/N: See, I can update in a timely fashion...! I promised! I delivered! Whew. (It's easier when all I have to do is revision, ahaa, but normally I procrastinate on that, too...) These chapters will get a little longer each time.

"…I'm here."

"Indeed you are!" Namie's boss, having risen from his seat a few seconds before her arrival, neither missed a beat nor concealed surprise as he took a step towards her with arms spread out wide in welcome, as though expecting a hug. "And what punctuality! I was actually starting to think you wouldn't come… you proved me wrong, though! What a relief."

"You expected this?" The look on Namie's face immediately following her own question made her embarrassment at having overlooked his predictive abilities rather obvious. "You hung up on me!"

"Namie-san," Izaya smiled at her all too innocently as he plopped back down on the dark sofa in his usual spot, "have you ever heard of reverse psychology…?"

So this was worse than a prediction—it was trickery, plain and simple. The woman glowered at him as she considered how foolish she'd been to assume her appearance would be a complete shock. "Have you ever heard of a conscience?"

"…You really do think I need a dictionary, don't you… I didn't realize that asking for company was something I should feel guilty for."

"No, but manipulating others instead of simply asking like a normal human being damn well should be." However, Izaya was certainly not a 'normal' human...

"I think you're overestimating my capabilities there, don't burden me with unrealistic expectations for my character!" Tch. 'Character' sure is right... the creep belongs in some fictional story—no person like this should ever exist. "But, since you brought it up, I did ask—and politely, if I remember."

…Damn. He had her there.

"And if you'd just come quietly without question," he continued, "we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

"As opposed to what, then?"

Izaya tilted his head a few degrees to the left. "'What', what?"

He'd just said that there was another outcome depending on her willingness, yet he was now asking her to clarify what it was?

…Of course. He wants to make it seem as though suggesting a different activity is my idea. Well, I'm not falling for it… "What exactly would we be doing, instead of this? I can't imagine you wanting me over in the middle of the night for any reason other than to talk my ear off as usual, considering that's all you do." She spent enough of her daytime listening to his chatter as she worked. There had been several times before when she'd left the office and came back to find him still talking as if she hadn't; she was sure that there were times he didn't even notice her absence when his back was turned or if he hadn't taken his eyes off the computer, but usually he looked up at her with a start as she returned and informed her that "it's really rude to walk away while someone's speaking to you, you know."

She knew Izaya had the habit of surmising his thoughts aloud without caring whether someone else was around to hear them or not, of course, and had the feeling that he simply liked to hear himself talk… but he tended to take every chance he got to give her a hard time for being so 'inconsiderate' anyway.

"…You are really a simpleminded woman, aren't, you… and a bit oblivious."

"Excuse me?" She had gone out of her way to get out of bed and drive to his place in the dead of night at his request, and now he had the damn nerve to insult her? Ungrateful bastard...!

"Maybe 'in denial' fits this situation better, though? Because I can't imagine you'd truly come here just to talk to me—or are you really so selfless?" But Izaya shook his head. "I wouldn't believe that even if you were the one paying me."

She didn't like where this was going. At all. "Then just what the hell do you think my intentions are...?"

"Well, I'm saying that you probably have an idea in the back of your mind. But if you can't admit that, we could find out together… it's up to you."

She hated the way he deliberately talked in circles until someone forced him to get to the point. "Damn it, stop deflecting! You're the one who told me come over—this was your idea, not mine, so cut the crap and tell me what you really wanted."

Silence.

Namie couldn't tell whether the pause made her more irritated or more anxious.

"…Tonight, anything you're willing to give," Izaya finally said. "No pressure, of course."

"What…?"

Izaya sighed. "Are you really this stupid, or just in disbelief?" He peered up at her from his seat, staring her straight in the eye as he made his proposal. "Namie-san, I'm asking you to sleep with me… or, I'm giving you the leeway to make a move, if you'd like to. No strings attached or professional consequences—just two lonely adults sharing a considerably less lonely experience with one another."

No. No, no, no. Namie simply stared at him, dumbfounded. "You're… joking. This is a joke. Please… tell me you're not being serious…"

"Oh, I'm completely serious."

She should've consciously anticipated this. Warning her he might need her afterhours; the phone call at this time of night; the mere fact that he would call her in for anything other than work at all; and, dear lord, she remembered now that sarcastic hint about lending him 'a warm embrace'… how the hell had she failed to read that sign?

But… perhaps she had expected this…?

NO. I don't want to admit that. I won't.

After all, it was far easier to assume he was kidding as usual—at the very least, exaggerating—than give any credence to the possibility that he might actually want that type of 'physical' company from her… so much less embarrassing, and not nearly as shameful as considering it a valid option on her end with any seriousness. In response to his accusation of denial, she could feign innocence—"I don't know what you're talking about"—though it was a little too late for that after his bluntness; say that he'd misjudged her—"You obviously don't know me as well as you think"—which he could easily counter with one of his accurate and therefore even more annoying than usual psychoanalyses (something he was eerily good at); or tell him flat out that he was wrong—"I've never thought of something like that in all the time I've known you"—which he'd only try to present as evidence that she was being dishonest with herself, and him. Whether or not that was the truth was in fact the question at hand—one she was clearly not keen to reflect on.

Is there really no way out of this?

Invested in the exchange, it didn't even dawn on her that she could simply walk out on him now. But although her situation was seeming hopeless to her on the surface, another solution was presenting itself as the seconds ticked on; the longer it took her to answer, the more he would read into it as her giving his offer serious consideration, and that was the last thing that would help her cause.

After all, there was always honesty.

A/N: ...Eehhh, going over the next parts and looking more closely at the site's ratings, maybe I should change the T to an M instead... "non-explicit adult themes" is more accurate than "minor suggestive", isn't it? I mean, entering the discussion stage, this is getting not very minor at all. I apologize for leading everyone on into this not-so-fluffy mess. But ~communication~ is important, right...! Whatever happens... I won't make any change until the next update if anyone wants to give input on the ratings. (This fic won't end up MA, though! M is the limit!)