Was this really happening? Was Izaya really being this childish? The very idea of this pettiness was enough to make Tsukumoya’s hands shake, and he pushed away from Izaya roughly.
He stared at him, eyes narrowed and a frown etched into his features, before a look of determination passed over him.
“I’ll tell you everything I’ve noticed. Stop me when i get to what you’re refusing to talk to me about.”
He took a deep breath and gripped Izaya’s shoulders more tightly, then rearranged himself on Izaya’s lap.
There was something just a little terrifying about feeling so many things at once, about having the intense desire to say something snarky in response and being completely unable to. All Izaya could do for a moment was just stare back at him mutely, each attempt to speak ending in instant failure. Finally he gave up on it and kept his mouth closed, but he knew the damage had already been done.
He had labored under the delusion that Tsukumoya had actually failed to notice since he had not said anything. He had never expected the reverse to be true. How had he noticed so much about him? Even the hip injury he had been keeping silent about. It wasn’t a bad injury, but it had been painful enough, and that meant no one was to know about it. And yet Tsukumoya had caught on without any apparent effort.
It took enormous focus and restraint to keep himself from reacting to the fingers touching his ear, and he felt suddenly very foolish for putting up such a fuss. He felt angry with himself, but even angrier at Tsukumoya for being so stupid. Of course he had been talking about the earrings--the most obvious change in the previous week. Why was he such an idiot?
Finally he broke eye contact and let himself take a single, steadying breath. His thoughts collected, he found his voice once again, a little surprised by his own casual tone.