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tickles-tea · 1 year

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A Different Kind of Lullaby

Happy birthday, Izaya! Another year of being stuck in the eternal hell of loving you and I wouldn’t have it any other way ~ This is actually a very overdue commission for @happyandticklish and I cannot apologize enough for how late this is, I’m so fucking sorry This ended up a little more,,,thoughtful? Introspective? Than I meant it to but I hope you enjoy orz Inspired by this post Also posted on ao3

Izaya always had to make things difficult.

If Shizuo wanted to go right, Izaya would go left. If Shizuo wanted to go up, Izaya would dig down. If Shizuo wanted to go over, Izaya skipped around.

Even when Izaya also wanted to go right or up or over, he still found a way to oppose Shizuo. He would talk his way in twists and turns, scrambling Shizuo’s mind until Shizuo decided they should go left, down, and around. And that’s when Izaya would tell him he was wrong.

Izaya was clever, able to steal any sense of satisfaction Shizuo might have felt from getting his way, all without lifting a finger. It pissed him off.

Shizuo could already feel the irritation growing in his chest and pulsing at his temples. Of course the flea would find a way to make the simple action of going to sleep an arduous event. Every night, Shizuo would try to coax him to bed at a reasonable time, pressing gentle kisses to the nape of his neck as he hunched over his keyboard. He understood that Izaya’s -shitty, rotten- work was important to him and tried to be reasonable in his demands. However, with the time edging closer to sunrise than sunset, Shizuo no longer had the patience for tenderness. Especially when he could see those dark circles marring Izaya’s beautiful face from across the room.

He would get more demanding; glaring at the back of Izaya’s head until his gaze had its own presence, physically dragging Izaya’s chair away from the desk, and -on particularly impatient days- shutting Izaya’s laptop on his fingers. It didn’t always work, but there was a sense of gratification in making Izaya just as annoyed as he was.

Some days, however, Izaya gave in to Shizuo’s wishes and crawled into bed beside him before the time turned back to single digits. He’d pull his ridiculously soft comforters up to his chin and cuddle up close until Shizuo could feel warm breath on his collarbone. Then Shizuo would smile and tuck his face into his lover’s hair. He would fall asleep to the soothing scent of the man he once hated. The man he now loved.

The man he now wanted to smother with one of the stupid memory foam pillows.

Because after only ten minutes, Izaya would start tossing and turning and rustling the sheets like he couldn’t get comfortable. It was amazing how such soft sounds could become deafening in the silence of the night. To Shizuo’s sleep-addled mind, the quiet brush of silk might as well have been clanging metal. Shizuo would think he was doing it on purpose if it weren't for how Izaya seemed to take special care not to tug on their shared blanket too much. As if he was trying not to wake him.

It was that consideration that kept Shizuo’s tone soft when he finally turned his head to look at Izaya. “Oi, what’s your problem?” His voice was rough with sleep and his lips were tugged down in a frown. Squinting in the darkness, he could just make out Izaya stilling where he’d been about to roll over for the hundredth time. Shizuo blinked a few times, allowing his eyes to adjust to the dark room.

All of the irritation that had been steadily building up disappeared the moment he saw Izaya’s face. He looked awful. It was like someone had smudged graphite beneath both of his eyes. His eyes, usually so bright with mischief and cunning, were dull and glassy from exhaustion, and his lopsided smile was weak and halfhearted. But it was his words that brought it all together into one big recipe for concern. “Ah, Shizu-chan, did I wake you?”

There was no way Izaya would speak so softly if he was actually trying to get on Shizuo’s nerves. Sickeningly sweet and innocent, yes, but not soft.

“Yeah,” Shizuo answered simply, knowing there was no point in lying. A dead man wouldn’t be able to sleep through Izaya’s restless squirming. “You alright?”

Izaya’s brow furrowed slightly, as if he hadn’t expected that reaction. He didn’t look pleased about it either. Of course the expression didn’t last long, because even exhausted, Izaya felt the need to wear a mask. He’d gotten better about showing his true feelings, but he still had his moments. Shizuo figured that after doing it for so many years it’d just become a habit. Izaya’s whiny, overdramatic response was no surprise.

“It’s impossible to sleep when Shizu-chan is hogging all of the blankets! I can’t get comfortable at all!” He lamented with a great sigh, flopping onto his back with all of the drama of a Broadway reject.

Shizuo looked down at the covers. They were about an inch closer to his side of the bed. Maybe an inch and a half if he took a particularly deep breath. His exasperation from before threatened to return, but reminding himself of Izaya’s obviously performative brattiness kept it at bay. He breathed in, pulling the blanket that extra half inch. If that’s what Izaya wanted to do, so be it.

Playing along with Izaya’s halfhearted charade, Shizuo clicked his tongue in faux annoyance. “Then get your ass over here,” he snapped, reaching over to pull Izaya closer. One of the most irritating parts of nights like these was the fact that Izaya always ended up on the other side of the bed and out of his arms. Izaya made a quiet sound of surprise as his face was suddenly smushed against Shizuo’s chest. “There. Better?”

Of course, Izaya protested and squirmed in his hold, trying to push away. Shizuo didn’t budge. “I can’t breathe, you brute!” He complained, growing more agitated with how unbothered Shizuo was by his struggles.

“Too bad. If you pass out, at least we’ll both get some sleep.”

Izaya spent the next few minutes trying and failing to break free of his prison, all the while Shizuo teetered on the edge of wakefulness and slumber. Pushing at his chest was like pushing against a brick wall, and his legs were quickly pinned beneath one of Shizuo’s when Izaya tried kneeing him where not even his super strength could save him. But Izaya was persistent. He’d taken to wiggling as much as he could in hopes that Shizuo would get annoyed and release him, but if Shizuo was bothered, he definitely didn’t show it. Only when his strength was completely spent did Izaya give in. Well, almost.

Shizuo’s eyes fluttered open when he felt a sudden sharp pinch in his chest. Looking down, he saw Izaya trying his best to sink his teeth deeper into Shizuo’s skin. A last-ditch show of defiance. The bite itself didn’t hurt, but Shizuo still growled because Izaya was so damn petty.

He backed down though, because even with that nasty glare on Izaya’s face, he still looked exhausted. Shizuo sighed and loosened his grip slightly now that Izaya wasn’t fighting it. “You look like shit.”

Izaya gave him a flat look. “How charming.”

Shizuo’s brow twitched, but he still ran a gentle hand up and down Izaya’s back as an apology. He let silence fall between them, allowing them both to decompress. It was almost impressive how they could work each other up so quickly over the smallest things. However, it was even more amazing how they could come back together after it all.

The rhythmic slide of Shizuo’s palm along his spine eased away Izaya’s tension slowly but surely. The stiff line of his shoulders softened, and his frown melted away with a content sigh. He tucked his face against his lover’s chest, willingly this time, much to Shizuo’s relief.

“Hey…” Shizuo started, waiting for Izaya’s quiet hum of acknowledgment. “Is it work?” He slipped his hand under the soft cotton of Izaya’s sweater to trace idle patterns across his back. It seemed to soothe him.

Izaya didn’t respond right away, but when he did, he sounded weary. “Mm. This job has been unexpectedly complicated. I get a headache even thinking about it,” he sighed, twitching a bit when Shizuo’s fingers brushed across his shoulder blades. “Shizu-chan’s brain must live such an easy life, hardly having to work~.”

He squawked when Shizuo pinched his hip in retaliation, trying hard to stifle his giggles when fingers spidered up his back. The sound sparked a light in Shizuo’s mind and he grinned wickedly in the darkness.

“Oh yeah? Well yours seems to not know when to give it a rest. Maybe I should give it a hand, huh?” He growled playfully, relishing in the look of panic that spread across Izaya’s face.

“D-don’t, you protozoan!” He protested, words tripping over each other as he rushed to get them out.

Calloused fingertips tickled down Izaya’s spine to dance along his sides in spite of Izaya’s protests. Having already used up all of his strength trying to escape Shizuo’s grasp before, he didn't have the energy to hold back the stream of giggles that fell from his lips. “Shihihizu-chahahan! Knock it off, you b-ahaha!!” His words dissolved into a cackle when Shizuo squeezed at his hips again. Whatever insult he was about to shoot off, Shizuo didn’t want to hear it. Not when it was this late and Shizuo had possibly just discovered a way to get his restless flea to sleep.

Still, he kept his touch gentle. He left Izaya’s hips alone-it was almost ridiculous how sensitive he was there-and directed his wandering fingers to Izaya’s back instead. The ghost of a fingertip brushing up his spine had him gasping and arching his back, while blunt nails skittering over his shoulder blades had him curling forward with breathy snickers.

“What do you thihihink you’re doing?” Izaya hissed, not quite as biting as he probably meant it to be with a helpless smile trembling at his lips.

Shizuo gave an easy shrug. “Giving your brain somethin’ else to focus on. Are you still thinking about work?”

Izaya’s eyes widened a fraction before they narrowed into an annoyed glare. While he didn’t respond verbally, his expression gave a clear enough answer. Shizuo smirked, smug in his little victory. Though, that same smirk softened on surprised fondness when, instead of coming up with some witty comeback, Izaya sighed and tucked his head under Shizuo’s chin. It was an unexpected show of vulnerability, indulging in this comfort without alcohol or endorphins to blame. They’d been dating-officially, that is- for a few months now, but intimacy did not come easily to Izaya. Initiating or accepting, Izaya always felt the need to put up some irritating front.

Then again, it’s not like Shizuo was the poster boy for communication either. Thoughts that should have taken the form of words on his tongue instead came as a weapon in his hands.

These hands that were known to enact unimaginable violence now traced along Izaya’s skin with the utmost care, combatting Izaya’s racing mind in place of the thugs he usually faced.

He didn’t need a clenched fist or the crunch of metal between his grip to win this battle. A featherlight touch up the knobs of his spine had Izaya gasping with a shiver, a teasing brush of a nail at the dip of his lower back guaranteeing that his mind wouldn’t stray.

Shizuo’s own attention didn’t stray so much as it slowly faded into thoughtless contentment. His fingers moved of their own accord, and Shizuo enjoyed the minuscule reactions they prompted from the man in his arms. Izaya was quiet but in the dark silence of the night, his sharp little exhales when a finger edged a bit too close to his ribs were undeniable. He squirmed some, huffed out breathy not-quite laughs, but mostly he melted.

Shizuo didn’t know what Izaya had been thinking about before this, but the warm breath he could feel against his throat- evening out more and more as the time passed-told him that it was no longer tonight’s problem.

Perhaps it’d come back tomorrow night to try to keep Izaya from getting the few hours of rest he allowed himself. Perhaps it’d be dealt with long before the sun dipped below the skyline. Whatever the case, Shizuo would be here, ready to lull Izaya to sleep with a different kind of lullaby.

#durarara #izaya orihara #shizuo heiwajima #Shizaya #tickling #ticklish!izaya #Happy birthday Izaya!#I stayed up way too late working on this but Izaya comes before all else #My writing #commision

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