Durarara!! Halloween Secret Santa Please check out the faq! Please submit all gifts by 11:59pm October 28, American Eastern Standard Time. Now accepting applications Now accepting applications tracking: drrrsecretsandyclaws
Who the lucky recipient is: @markovgirlfanfic
Who you are (if anonymous, just write ‘anon’): @harlequinade-13
Character/s and/or ship/s: Shizaya - Relationship ; Izaya, Shizuo, Namie, Shinra, Celty
Quick summary (or anything you want the recipient to know): Secret Sandy Claws for Markovgirlfanfic! So sorry this took a while to get up. I had some issues, but I hope you enjoy this! It’ll also be posted on my AO3, Harlequinade13. I had this fic in mind and when I saw you wanted Shizaya and some Izaya/Namie snark, I finally got around to writing it! Happy Halloween!
They’d stayed out all night like they were teenagers again, he and Shizuo.
Izaya found the monster, still masquerading as one of his beloved humans, on an impromptu trip to Ikebukuro, when pacing around his apartment ceased to assuage his growing restlessness. Izaya baited Shizuo from the stairwell of a building not far from Russia Sushi. It was easy enough to pick him out from the late evening crowd below and the sight of him sent Izaya’s blood pumping, the railing creaking under his palms as he leaned over it to taunt his enemy. The bite of metal on his hands soothed his agitation somewhat but Izaya wanted– no, needed– more. A brawl that left them both bloody and bruised, perhaps, or a rough tumble in a sketchy hotel if they could manage it, a back alley if they couldn’t. Izaya was up for either that night. But it was up to Shizu<i>chan</i>- he may not have been human but Izaya still liked to see what he’d do.
There was a teeth-grinding moment when Shizuo stopped walking, as if trying to decide whether or not he’d heard his name. He took a long drag from his cigarette and threw it to the ground, eyes narrowing as he stamped it out.
When he finally looked up, Izaya sighed and leaned back while still holding onto the rail. He meet Shizou’s burning gaze, and with a flash of his teeth in greeting Izaya took off, shoes pounding a quick escape on the metal stairwell with the sound of his own name echoing behind him.
-
Izaya did eventually make it into an alleyway, though he went alone and at well past the time when the adrenaline and opportunity of night faded into morning. In much the same way sunlight dimmed the luster of neon signs. He leaned against the brick wall and clutched his aching side, head tipped up toward the sliver of bright sky between two grey buildings. His breathing was labored and painful, his sleeve wet with blood, but a grin stretched across his face nonetheless.
In his pocket, his personal phone buzzed. He’d fallen into the habit of only bringing one if he planned on fighting the monster, as a preemptive measure.
He answered without looking at it; they called him everyday before school. “Hello, Mairu.”
“Iza-nii!” There was the sound of muffled voices and what Izaya assumed was the phone being transferred to Kururi, who also said his name, albeit quieter and with much less enthusiasm. Then Mairu was yelling. “Iza-nii! We <i>have</i> to meet Hanejima Yuuhei! The things I’d let him do to me–”
“Please,” Kururi said.
Izaya sighed. It hurt. He wondered if his ribs were broken. “For the last time,” he said. “I can’t help you. And even if I could, I wouldn’t.”
“Mean.”
Izaya hung up. He could only imagine what his sisters would do if they knew about Shizu-<i>chan</i>’s familial relation– harass them both, probably. He shrugged, debating whether or not it would be worth telling them, and started the exceptionally agonizing walk home.
On the way, Celty sent him a text demanding to know what he’d done to Shizuo. She seemed so <i>angry</i>, and she didn’t even pretend she was human. It was cute, really.
Izaya thought back to the image of blood blooming beneath Shizu-<i>chan</i>’s white shirt, the way he’d kept moving, kept pushing forward with the narrowed eyes of a beast as Izaya waved a knife dripping with crimson. The sight of him wasn’t quite as lovely as it would have been if he’d been human but this was Shizu-<i>chan</i>. It hardly mattered.
He sent Celty a smiley face emoji in response.
–
By the time he limped into his apartment, he was really fucking over being injured. The disconnect between his body and his mind was never more bothersome than when it hindered his ability to act on the impulses his mind conjured. Apart from that, he just hurt. Adrenaline and arousal had ways of making anything bearable.
“It’s 7:00 in the morning.”
Namie stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed, an ugly scowl turning down the corners of her mouth.
Izaya spread his arms wide ignoring a twinge of pain. “I’m up early.”
“Like hell.”
Izaya ignored her, deciding to answer the call of the couch instead. He practically fell on to it.
“You were out provoking that man, weren’t you?” Namie asked, a sneer curling snake-like in her voice, as if she thought she’d actually latched on to something revealing.
“Go away Namie,” he said, shifting his good arm to shield his eyes from the morning sun streaming through his windows. “I have. A headache.”
“You think I care. Where is it?”
Izaya rolled his eyes, though she wouldn’t have been able to see it. “You aren’t getting that head. You were never getting that head. So please, stop.”
“I won’t. I’ll find it.”
“You’re under my employ, and you’ll do as I say.”
“I’m not your slave.”
“Of course. Taking away a human’s free will is appalling.”
“That’s why you’re opposed to it? Because of your stupid voyeurism fetish?”
“It’s not a fetish.” He glared up at her before moving his arm back. “I just enjoy observing people. I love humans.”
“That’s not love. I believe the word you’re looking for is ‘fascination’.”
“Oh?” Izaya laughed, ignoring the ache in his ribs, and sat up a little unsteadily. “Care to explain it, then?” He raised an eyebrow, a mocking smirk on his face. “What is love according to Yagari Namie?”
Starry-eyed, she launched into a monologue about her brother and how she’d do anything for him, including murder Izaya to get to the dullahan’s head. Which, she reminded him, she would gladly do even if he didn’t have the head.
He didn’t have the energy to be surprised she was still asking for it.
Izaya rolled his eyes and fell back into his previous position. “That’s not love. The word you’re looking for is 'obsession’.”
“You mean like your obsession with the man who did that to you?”
“Oh, that,” Izaya said. “Well,that’s certainly not love either. He’s not even human.”
“What is it then?” Namie asked warily.
“Something you couldn’t even begin to understand.”
Namie scoffed. “At least I know what I want, instead of going around in circles all the time.”
“You’re so oblivious it’s pathetic.”
“Screw you.”
“I’m done talking,” Izaya murmured. “Go obsess over your brother somewhere else.”
Namie stomped off and Izaya sat up, head spinning. He called Shinra.
-
“It’s done already?” Izaya tipped his head back as he walked. He shifted the phone against his ear. “It’s amazing how quickly humans can work with a little external motivation.”
Hinata’s relieved sigh brought static with it. “Yes, it’s ready. You’re free to see it now, if you want.”
Izaya smiled. “I think I will.” He snapped the phone shut before Hinata could say anything else.
And then a vending machine smashed into the street just ahead of him. As pedestrians scattered, Izaya spun on his heel, shoved his work phone into his pocket, and said, “Hello, Shizu-<i>chan</i>.” <i>Right on schedule.</i>
Shizuo was frowning, angry, but the stillness of his stance– upended street sign in hand and all– spoke of exhaustion. Neither of them were known for that sort of thing, and the strangeness of it on a not half-dead Shizuo made it immediately apparent. That, and having anything in common with a monster was jarring.
“Get the fuck out,” Shizuo growled.
“But Shizu-<i>chan</i>,” Izaya whined. “I just wanted Russia Sushi.”
“Liar.”
Izaya pulled out his knife, the swish of the blade through the air like waving a red cape in front of a bull. “Rude,” he said. “I’ll have to tell Simon you said that. Then again, what do monsters know about good food?”
The curl of his lip was the only warning Izaya had before the Shizuo swung the sign through the air. Izaya jumped, but the metal bit into his right ankle with enough force to send him sprawling. A few days with little to no sleep and a lot of fighting were starting to get to him. But Izaya was nothing if not quick. He was on his feet again, adrenaline dulling the pain, and leading a monster down the now-deserted street.
He ducked into an alleyway, drawing Shizuo from the beating heart of the city to its extremities.
Trusting that he would follow. Animal behavior was usually easier to predict than a human’s and In this case, he didn’t want Shizuo to surprise him.
When he reached the dirtier, less commercial part of town, he took a turn he normally didn’t. He found the place easily enough, though it had no real defining features as requested.
He was just outside of Ikebukuro.
Izaya leaned against the door and waited. His ankle hurt. With his arms crossed, his coat sleeves irritated the rawness of his skinned palms.
Less than a minute later, Shizuo showed up. He climbed the stairs, a bent sign balanced on his shoulder, the metal creaking under his grip.
“What are you doing up here, flea?”
Izaya showed his teeth, spreading his arms wide in a gesture of welcome. “Negotiating.”
“What?”
“This door will only open for one of us. Just needs your thumbprint here.” He demonstrated and the door opened to reveal a small bedroom. “See? Even a dumb beast could do it.”
Shizuo’s jaw clenched audibly. The metal curled in on itself in his hand.
“This space,” Izaya said, “is a truce between us. We’ll continue our little fights in Ikebukuro. That is, until I get bored and finally kill you. Except for when we come here.”
“I don’t want to hear 'Ikebukuro’ from your rotten mouth ever again.”
Izaya tilted his head.
Shizuo sighed. “So you’re sayin’ you want to make a habit out of fucking? Or is this some kind trick?”
Izaya closed the door and put his hands into his pockets. He shrugged. “We can do whatever we want here. We don’t even have to be friends.” He smiled, let his voice drop into something akin to a caress. “If you can refrain from trying to kill me, I’ll let you do whatever you want to me. And I’ll expect you to return the favor, Shizu-<i>chan</i>.”
Shizuo stared. Then asked, low and bitter, “Why do you want me of all people?” He took a step forward, shoes touching the edge of the top step. “For this.”
Izaya tipped his head back and laughed. “Faking insecurity, are we?”
Shizuo’s face went red. But he dropped his chin and spoke with his own imitation of something soft. “I wouldn’t have expected something like this from you.”
Izaya was reminded of a conversation he’d had with Shinra that morning.
<i>“You know,” he said with that annoying know-it-all lilt to his voice, glasses slipping down his nose. “Sleeping with Shizuo-<i>kin</i> is really diminishing your objectivity.”
Izaya, who’d been focusing on the steady pull of the needle and thread in his arm, used a glare at Celty as an excuse to look away from Shinra. Celty held up her hand in a placating gesture. She wore her usual leather and clutched the coffee cup Shinra had been drinking from.
“Oh, she told me, of course,” Shinra said brightly. Fondly. “But it’s obvious. There’s even a mark under your collar there. And this is the most severe injury you’ve had in weeks. Shizuo-<i>kun</i> wasn’t any better than you. And he’s not as good at hiding it.”
Izaya met Shinra’s eyes, challenging. “How do you know I didn’t just decide not to let you prod at me?”
“Oh, I figured.” Shinra shrugged. “But that doesn’t help your case.”
Izaya rolled his eyes, focused again on the pull of skin of his arm. He glanced at Celty again. “What would you know about objectivity?”
“I don’t need it,” Shinra said. “I want to learn more about Celty as her boyfriend, not as a scientist.”
Izaya rolled his eyes. “And what makes you think I’m interested in learning anything about Shizu-<i>chan</i>? He’s not even human. I don’t need objectivity to be around him.”
Shinra laughed. His hands remained completely steady.
Izaya looked away.</i>
In the present, Izaya’s fingers curled around the handle of his pocket knife. It grounded him. “There. I took the initiative.” Izaya shrugged, pushed away from the wall. “You can decide for yourself if you’re interested.” He smiled brightly into Shizuo’s guarded expression and waved his knife in goodbye.
He was halfway down the flight of stairs when the sound of the door opening reached his ears. “You had me hit by a truck,” Shizuo said.
Izaya stopped, fighting a smirk. “And you threw a vending machine at me. I guess reciprocation is important.”
“Whatever, flea.” Shizuo caught and held his gaze, big hands coming up to carefully undo his bowtie.
Izaya felt a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. He made his way back up the stairs.
There was the groan of metal as Shizuo released his sign. It fell to the ground with a crash. An offering of peace.
Izaya was drawn to Shizuo’s body like he was drawn to little else. He slotted himself against the other man’s side, tipped his head up to brush his mouth against a red earlobe, to capture it between his teeth. Shizuo drew in a shuddering breath.
“I know what I want,” he whispered against Shizuo’s ear. He wanted late nights with the glare of Ikebukuro’s lights around him, the rush of adrenaline in his veins. He wanted early mornings with Shizuo’s mouth on his, testing the lines between pain and pleasure. He wanted to take the monster apart with his own hands, as only a human could.
“Damn flea,” Shizuo murmured, but his voice lacked the anger it usually carried. His fingers found the underside of Izaya’s chin and lifted it, tilting his head back. Shizuo’s touch was rough but there was a distinct lack of bruising force behind it, a lack intent.
Izaya shifted between disgust and curiosity at the change. Shizuo was always like this in the beginning, like he wanted to treat Izaya differently than he usually did. Like they had that kind of relationship.
Izaya curled his hand in Shizuo’s shirt collar and tugged him down for a kiss. He moved his mouth against Shizuo’s, demanding, coaxing with tongue and teeth. When Shizuo pulled away, his eyes shone and a drop of blood welled to the surface of his lower lip. But he stepped into the room first, Izaya trailing behind him with lingering hands.
Who the lucky recipient is: @lua-russo
Who you are (if anonymous, just write ‘anon’): @ikathemadhatter
Character/s and/or ship/s: Izanamie
Quick summary (or anything you want the recipient to know): Here’s my DRRR Secret Sandy Claws gift for lua-russo, the lover of all drrr ships! I saw you like even Izanamie so I hope you like this spooky version of them uwu
Who the lucky recipient is: Shizuoro
Who you are (if anonymous, just write ‘anon’): Markovia (AO3)/Markovgirlfanfic (tumblr)
Character/s and/or ship/s: Shizuo/Izaya, Celty/Shinra, Namie
Quick summary (or anything you want the recipient to know): This got rather long so I this will be continued as a longer form fic on my AO3 account. But can be enjoyed as a standalone fic too! Happy Halloween!
Contains gore, horror, (smut later on)
- - -
“I heard Shizuo Heiwajima has finally lost his mind.”
Izaya fingers still over the text he’s been writing and he looks up from his phone toward Namie, who is stood in front of his desk with a stack of papers in an outstretched hand.
“What?” he asks, frowning. It’s the first he’s heard of this news and he’s meant to be the one with his finger on the pulse of the city. “What are you talking about?”
Namie gives him a bored look and reaches into her pocket for her phone. She flips it open and hands it to Izaya, who snatches it petulantly out of her grasp. “Aren’t you watching the chat room?”
The informant throws her phone back to her and drags his laptop closer. “I’ve been working on the Awakusu ‘mole’ case, Namie. I’ve been a bit busy today.”
“Busy,” she repeats, with a sneer. “Yet you’ll drop everything to find out about your ‘Shizu-chan’. When are you two getting married again?”
The informant pouts at her, irritated that she’s still bringing it up. A few weeks ago Shizuo turned up at his front door, veins bulging out of his head, growling about how he was going to kill Izaya for some recent misdemeanour. For a while they’d danced around Izaya’s apartment, knives nicking skin and missed punches pounding into drywall, until finally Shizuo managed to grab the other man by the throat and shove him against the wall. They’d been in that position before and the hatred between them was as violent as ever - but something was different. That ‘something’ lead to the informant excitedly kissing Shizuo, who after a moment of shock, returned the gesture. They’d just started tearing at one another’s clothes when Namie walked through the front door with the bag of takeaway Russia Sushi Izaya ordered her to buy. Shizuo turned a bright shade of scarlet and hastily made his way out of the apartment, her presence clearly jolting him back to reality.
Namie spent most of the afternoon chuckling through a nasty smirk at the informant until he’d had enough and sent her home. Izaya still hadn’t been able to put his finger on what possessed him to plant his lips on the monster he hated most in the world but he guesses it’s was most likely a mixture of adrenaline and the concussion caused when Shizuo banged him into the wall. That had to be it, he didn’t feel anything for the stupid monster. They’d seen each other a number of times since then and their interactions had moved back to routine street-fights, nothing of the brief kiss was mentioned. Izaya didn’t think much on the matter, in fact he was rather disgusted with himself for committing such an act. It must have been a temporary act of madness.
“Screw you. Aren’t you meant to be leaving?” Izaya snaps. He waves a dismissive hand at her and spins his chair around so he can trawl through the chat room in relative privacy. The messages started only a hour ago, around eight o’clock, but they’ve been non-stop since.
Heiwajima’s going crazy in Bukuro!
What happened? Is he okay?
Shizushizu looks like hell, doesn’t he? Oh no, wait! He looks like Akihito Kanbara when he goes berserk!
Shut up Erika, he’s way stronger than that. More like a Titan - like Eren Yeager!
Pipe down you two.
He’s all bloody and shit!
Is he okay? Not to sound horrid but he looks rabid.
Woah! Is he fighting with the Headless Rider?!
He raises a brow at the last message. Shizuo fighting with Celty - surely not, those two monsters were joined at the hip. They’re probably talking nonsense, most likely Shizuo has gotten himself into a rage and the Dullahan is trying to calm him down. Same shit, different day. Frankly, it’s too cold outside for Izaya to be bothered to go and watch. Just as he’s about to switch back to the document he’s been working on, a media file pops up in the chat. Izaya frowns and clicks on the play button. The clip is short, only around twenty seconds long but the content is more than enough to make the informant’s face light up with excited curiosity. He snaps his laptop shut and drags his coat off the back of his chair onto his body as he hurries toward the front door. Namie watches him go with passive eyes, her own finger stilled over the play button of the video.
“I take it I’m locking up then,” she sighs, irritably. “This had better be good.”
Izaya stuffs a number of switchblades from the sideboard into his jacket pockets and flashes Namie a grin. “I have no idea whether this is good but it’s certainly interesting. Don’t wait up for me!”
“I won’t be here when you get back asshole, I have a life too!” she shouts at him as he slams the door behind him. She shakes her head and looks back at the still video on the screen. For a moment she debates whether or not it’s even worth watching but curiosity gets the better of her so she clicks play and rests her chin against her knuckles. Namie’s passive gaze widens with surprise as the empty room fills with the sound of the carnage on the screen.
-0-
Shizuo Heiwajima is sleeping. His arms and legs feel like lead, he can’t move but his eyes are open, they must be open. There’s smoke everywhere - smoke or steam. Whatever it is it’s hot against his skin and so thick that he can’t see anything but a deep, endless grey. Then, something in the cloud moves, a monster prowling around the edges of the dream, its teeth bared, mouth open and dripping. For once he can’t move, his strength has deserted him. It looks toward him, eyes two flat, dark circles among the smoke. Slowly it grows closer and Shizuo sucks in a breath when the sudden stench of raw meat forces its way into his nostrils. At first the smell disgusts him, then it settles in the back of his throat, on his tongue, then worms its way down to fill his lungs and suddenly it isn’t so bad. No, if anything it’s good. The monster smiles at him. Shizuo doesn’t smile back, not yet. The smell disconcerts him, he doesn’t like that he likes it. There’s something wrong with him.
He starts to panic but he still cannot move.
There’s the low hum of conversation somewhere in the distance, too distorted for him to make out individual words. Coolness spreads over him slowly, then he begins to feel something else - the weight of his body, the hard metal surface beneath his back, the burn of sterile wash against the back of his throat. The smoke is still there, lurking at the edges of his consciousness and the smell is still burning his nostrils. He longs to see who’s speaking but finds himself still unable to open his eyes. Instead, there’s a panicked voice at his ear and the gentle brush of feather-light hair against his cheek. Somewhere in the background, he can hear the rhythmic beeping of a machine.
“Jesus, Shizuo, what have you gotten yourself into this time?” Shizuo never thought he would be happy to hear the whining tone of Shinra Kishitani but in that moment his voice anchors him back into reality, gives him something past the pain to reach toward. “What the hell has happened to him?”
There’s silence for a while, then Shinra lets out an aggravated gasp. “That can’t be real, surely Celty? It is? Well, I guess I’ve seen stranger things happen. What on Earth am I supposed to do? Hold him down? Celty - it’s Shizuo. He’s- oh jeez! Use your shadows, quickly!”
A heavy weight presses roughly into him and a sudden pulse in the centre of his chest shocks him. The delicious rotting stench pervades his nose and floods his brain. Why tame yourself, something tells him, you’ve always been a monster haven’t you? The feel of skin, of flesh, warm and supple against his chest makes his senses go haywire. Adrenaline pumps through his veins, setting his blood ablaze. It hurts, he wants to scream. Let me help you, it speaks again. He’s so hungry.
“Fuck, Celty, hold him! H-hello? Who’s th- oh for the love of- what are you doing here? This isn’t a good time!”
Another voice speaks from somewhere in the ether, another one he recognises. The sound of it causes an angry rumble low in his chest. “I had a feeling Celty would bring Shizu-chan here. What happened to him? Why does his face look someone’s dragged a rake across it?”
“Stand back, Izaya!”
“I just wanna look at his face, Shinra. Calm down, I fight him every day, I’ll be fine.”
Shizuo lets out a harsh roar and his eyes snap open. His body rolls, back arches upward, but something strong holds him down. The restraint and the sound of Izaya’s laughter makes his thoughts grow wilder and he starts gnashing his teeth, dreaming of gnawing on flesh and bone. Cool evening air fills his lungs and causes goosebumps to erupt across his skin. His eyes dart manically from side to side as the smoke clouds his vision again. The monster smiles and Shizuo smiles and snaps his teeth forward, mouth aching to latch around tender human flesh. He manages to get his mouth around something, around a solid but slender forearm. Blood fills his mouth and fuck it’s sweet and delicious and any human thought he had left quickly dissipates. There’s another rush of energy and he roars, limbs twisting into shapes they should not and his bones crack under the weight. Before he can bite down harder into the flesh in his mouth a heavy weight collides with his cheek and his head rolls back against the ground. The arm disappears but Shizuo can’t stop himself, he keeps screeching and blindly searching for something to bite onto. His back arches, his elbows jerk backward and when his shoulders break, the shock forces him into unconsciousness.
There’s an odd smile on his face when his exhausted body slumps against the surgical table like a rag doll.
-0-
“You’re a moron,” Shinra states, pinning the bandage around Izaya’s arm carefully in place. He glares up at the smirking informant and folds his arms across his chest. “Seriously, can you just listen to me for once?”
“I am listening, my dear Shinra,” Izaya replies, smoothly. He flexes his hand and winces as pain shoots down his arm. The monster’s bitten deeply into the skin and it hurts to wriggle his fingers even a little. He can feel the stitches moving through his skin and the sensation makes him feel slightly sick. When he turns his gaze back up to Shinra his nausea only intensifies. Izaya’s blood is all over his friend’s coat, his hands - it’s disgusting. “You’re just not telling me what I want to hear. What has happened to that stupid beast?”
Shinra sighs again and takes off his bloody glasses so that he can wipe them on a clean patch of his shirt. They’re sitting around the table in the kitchen-diner but they can still hear the sound of Shizuo thrashing and screeching from behind the metal, dead-bolted door that leads to Shinra’s lab. After he woke up again, Celty tethered him to the bed using thick band of shadows around his throat and wrists, worried that he was only going to hurt himself further. She’s leaning against kitchen table now, watching the live footage of the lab on Shinra’s laptop. From the way she’s fidgeting, she’s clearly nervous and Izaya wonders if Shizuo is really strong enough to break through the powers of the supernatural.
“So,” he continues, resting his wounded arm on the table. “Are you going to tell me? Because I will find out somehow.”
Shinra places his glasses back on his nose and looks at Izaya tiredly. “He’s been- ugh, how do I explain it?”
“What?”
Celty shoves her PDA in front of Izaya’s face from across the table. Shinra’s father experimented on him.
“Shingen?” he frowns, glancing back at the doctor. “What experiment?”
“To be honest, I’m still a bit hazy on the details. Dad didn’t tell me a lot,” Shinra explains. “He’s been testing cell mutation, seeing if he can infuse human DNA with non-human creatures.”
Izaya purses his lips, confused. “Like animals?”
Creatures like me. Celty types. She pauses and turns her helmet toward Shinra, who nods in return. There are other things out there too, like Jurogumo and Cu Sith.
“And hellbeasts. Grims. Werewolves,” Shinra finishes, softly. Izaya’s brow furrows. Most wouldn’t believe such a story but the informant has long lived in the world of the abnormal - he’s sitting near a headless woman and a man who was once possessed by a demonic sword, nothing is impossible anymore. “Dad told me he was working on these things a while ago. I didn’t see him for a few months, in fact I only heard from him once, by phone. He asked if my friend Shizuo was still freakishly strong and if- well, he said it was only hypothetical, and-”
“And what, Shinra?” Izaya asks, leaning forward. Nothing this interesting has happened for a long time and Izaya is more than a little interested in the outcomes of this story.
It’s Celty who answers. If he was strong enough to survive a mutation.
“I didn’t know he was going to do it!” Shinra exclaims, exasperated. He turns to Celty and raises his hand to grasp hers. She steps away from the computer and places her arm comfortingly around his shoulders. “I didn’t hear from him again until today.”
Izaya shakes his head in disbelief. “Shizuo wouldn’t agree to be experimented on, Shinra. He always used to throw you across the room as soon as you got a band-aid out.”
“I know. He didn’t consent to it, Dad just shoved a auto-injector into the back of his neck when he wasn’t looking. Then he called Celty and told her to come deal with him because Shizuo started going nuts,” Shinra continues, pulling Celty closer. “And of course, my beloved rushes out to help him because she’s so utterly wonderful.”
Celty bops him softly on the head as her PDA floats in front of Izaya’s face. Shingen sent us a very pleasant message asking us to deal with him because the reaction wasn’t ‘quite’ what he was expecting.
“So here we are,” Shinra sighs, leaning against Celty’s stomach. He isn’t as chirpy as he usually is and Izaya wonders if he’s genuinely upset about what is happening. He’s never cared that much for either of them before, or at least it’s never appeared that way. “I’ve no idea what to expect, so we’re just gonna have to wait it out.”
I hope he’s okay. I’ll beat Shingen up for this.
The informant rolls his eyes and points to the feed playing on the laptop. Shizuo is still jerking around frantically, looking as if he’s about to pull his arms out of their sockets. His mouth is open, teeth gnashing, Izaya’s blood on his lips and splattered down his chin. He’s thankful the brute didn’t get his teeth further into his arm or he could have torn the muscle straight off the bone.
“He’ll be fine, look at him. He’s as monstrous as he ever was,” Izaya chuckles. Shinra doesn’t look placated, in fact his face turns a worrying shade of green and he looks on the verge of throwing up. “Shinra, listen. You know I’m not one to speak any niceties about our dear Shizu-chan but if anyone is going to survive something like this, it’s going to be him. Unfortunately.”
Shinra smiles wearily and nods, rubbing his cheek against Celty’s suit. “I guess you’re right.”
Izaya grins. “I’m always right.”
-0-
“Ah Izaya, you’re here!” Shinra calls, waving him through into the lab. Izaya sheds his coat, remembering to slip a knife into his pocket before hanging it up on the back of the front door. “Come over, I need to gloat about you being wrong.”
The informant frowns and walks in the direction of Shinra’s fleeting lab coat. Celty is sat on the sofa in a shirt and a pair of Shinra’s boxers playing a video game and she waves at him casually as he passes her. It’s odd to see her out of her cat-suit. She’s got a great figure, he’s noticed that before, but he’s never gotten a good look at much of her skin. It’s so pale that it’s verging on alabaster and unusually smooth, as if all potential imperfections and blemishes have been sanded away and polished. Even if you ignore the lack of head, there are things that show the woman isn’t human. Izaya shoots her a flirtatious wink and she raises a middle finger toward him.
“Don’t tell Shinra,” he calls, coyly.
Shinra pokes his head out from the entrance to lab as Izaya approaches. “Don’t tell Shinra what?”
The informant laughs and walks past him into the laboratory with his hands in his pockets. “Don’t tell Shinra I was flirting with his girlfriend.”
When he turns to taunt his friend further, Shinra’s already right in his face, grinning like a maniac. The doctor prods Izaya roughly in the chest with his forefinger. “Flirt with my girlfriend and I’ll surgically remove your legs, kay?”
“I’m only joking Shinra,” Izaya chuckles, backing away with his hands in the air. “I prefer them with heads.”
“Ugh, why am I friends with you again?”
“I’ve honestly no idea.”
The two of them smile at one another and head deeper into the lab. The air-con is set to freezing, so Izaya pulls his coat closer around his body and huffs warm breath into his cupped palms. He can’t hear any screaming, nor thrashing around, in fact it’s deathly silent. Perhaps the monster died, he thinks. The idea brings a smile to his face.
“He’s not dead,” Shinra comments, clearly understand the look of excitement on Izaya’s face. The informant pouts and sighs in exaggerated disappointment. “But he is um, well, it’s hard to explain so I’ll just show you.”
The doctor rounds a corner and points in the direction of the operating table ahead of them. Shizuo’s laying in the same spot as yesterday, in the same tattered, bloody clothes. When they move closer, Izaya can see that his eyes are open. Their usual honey colour has vanished, it looks as if the pupil has leaked out into the iris, leaving only flat black circles. The whites of his eyes are reddened by burst blood vessels, as are certain patches of the skin on his face. Izaya frowns, thinking back on the bloody mess that was left of his head yesterday.
“What happened to his face?” he asks. He keeps a few feet away from the table this time, not willing to lose mobility in his other arm either. “He looked like he’d been through a shredder yesterday.”
“Strangely enough he did that to himself,” Shinra explains. He makes a motion with his hands as if clawing at the skin of his cheeks. “He kept shrieking that there was something in his head.”
Izaya clicks his tongue derisively. “There’s nothing in that thick head of his.”
“You’re so mean,” the doctor laughs, shaking his head. “Anyway, he healed up. His bones cracked back into place and his skin just starting stitching itself back together. It really was marvellous to watch, so bizarre! I kept the tapes so I could go back and wat-”
“Focus, Shinra.”
“Ah, right. Well, eventually he stopped thrashing and shouting and passed out. He’s been like this for hours now, so I’m not really sure what to do.”
Izaya raises a brow. “Have you tried slapping him?”
“And get my hand bitten off? No thank you.”
“I’ll happily smack the stupid beast.”
The doctor claps his hands together and rounds the table so that he’s standing in front of the other man. “Please go ahead.”
Izaya narrows his eyes. It’s never a good sign when Shinra looks at him like that, it means he’s plotting something and Izaya doesn’t like being on the receiving end of schemes but the opportunity to punch Shizuo isn’t one he’d ever pass up lightly. The monster is completely out of it and he’s still strapped to the table with Celty’s shadows, how dangerous could it be? He smirks and takes one of the knives from his pocket, flicking it open as he approaches the table. If only Shinra weren’t there to stop him, this would be the perfect opportunity to kill Shizuo. It would be so easy to slit his throat. Perhaps-
“Time to wake up, Shizu-chan,” he cooes, mockingly. He raises the knife and stabs it deeply into the soft area beneath his right collarbone.
Shinra gasps and takes a few steps back. “Izaya! What the fuck? You said a slap!”
“Oh Shinra, don’t worry yourself,” Izaya snorts, spinning around so that he could give the doctor a lazy smile. “I’ve stabbed him a thousand times bef-”
He’s cut off when a hand clamps around the back of his throat and he’s yanked off the floor into the air. Fingers crush into his windpipe so he scrabbles to get his nails into the flesh that’s choking him. Heavy panting rumbles close to his ear and there’s hot breath on the back of his neck. Izaya kicks his legs back but it’s like slamming his feet against a brick wall. Shinra’s looking at him, terrified.
“Sh-Shizuo,” the doctor says, raising his hands. “Put him down. Celty! Get in here!”
The Dullahan comes running into the laboratory seconds later. She halts when she catches sight of Izaya thrashing around in the grip of the now-standing Shizuo. The informant glares at her and his hand moves down to his pocket so that he can take hold of another knife.
“Little help?” Izaya gurgles. He stabs the knife backward over his head into Shizuo’s forearm. The sudden pain makes the blond release Izaya onto the floor and he roars as he clenches the bloody limb to his chest. Izaya scrabbles up as Celty steps forward and releases a number of shadows across the room. They slam hard into Shizuo and shove him back into the wall, where they wind around his neck and hold him in place. He keeps trying to lurch forward, clawing forward with outstretched hands. The way his blood-matted hair has fallen over his eyes and his teeth are bared give him the appearance of a wild animal. The sounds he’s making only add to that.
“Iz-a-ya,” he snarls, straining against the shadow collar.
Izaya staggers to his feet, palming his injured neck as he wheezes in much-needed air. The monster is baying for his blood with an aggressive intensity that he hasn’t seen before. Shizuo is usually angry during their chases but this is different. Now he looks like he wants to eat him alive. Celty moves closer with her hands raised in a gesture of peace but Shizuo continues raving, spitting with rage.
“Be careful Celty!” Shinra warns, worriedly. He turns to Izaya and allows the informant to use his shoulder as support. “Are you okay?”
The informant nods and gathers himself for a moment before dropping his hand and standing upright. When he speaks his voice is hoarse. “Y-yeah. Stupid brute.”
When he looks back at the monster, he’s calmer than before. He’s stopped clawing at the air and panting from over-exertion, propping himself up against the wall like he’s about to keel over if only the collar would let him. Celty has his full attention, he’s staring intensely at her as she grows closer but he doesn’t lash out, even when she’s within reach. She tentatively places her hands on his chest and he tenses up, uncertain of the situation. After a few seconds he relaxes and she slides the knife out of his torso and drops it on the floor. He hisses with pain so she holds his cheek in her palm and gently strokes her thumb over his cheek. Slowly, so as not to set him off, she wraps her free hand around the handle sticking out of his forearm and pulls it swiftly out. The man makes a low whine and she runs her hand over his head to sweep his hair out of his eyes. As she soothes him, she turns back to Shinra and beckons him over. The doctor nods and gathers a few supplies from the drawer underneath the operating table.
“I’d better get those cleaned,” he mutters, half to himself. He moves toward Celty and looks back at Izaya with a tired smile. “Isn’t she a wonder?”
“A real monster whisperer,” Izaya murmurs. He walks over to the table and sits atop it, watching intently as Shinra starts to clean the stab wounds and Celty continues to keep the beast calm. Shizuo locks eyes with him and Izaya can’t look away. At first the monster’s stare is blank, it’s almost as if he’s looking straight through the other man, then Izaya winks at him and there’s the first flicker of recognition in Shizuo’s eyes. His blown-wide pupils retract and the familiar honey colour finally becomes visible. Some of the tension around his mouth eases, then his eyes narrow, his lips drop and he’s scowling angrily at the informant.
Izaya chuckles and leans back on his good arm. “Nice to have you back, Shizu-chan.”
-0-
“Make yourself at home,” Shinra comments, sarcastically. He sits down on the opposite side of the dining table and drags the bowl of rice in front of Izaya over so that he can swipe some.
Izaya rolls his eyes and swallows the mouthful of food he’s half chewed. “Don’t mind if I do. You guys were taking ages.”
“We had to clean him up and make sure he was safe! You didn’t have to stay, Izaya.”
“As if I’d leave,” he scoffs, waving a hand carelessly in the air. “This is far too fascinating a situation to pass up.”
The doctor shakes his head and starts spooning food into his mouth as Celty and Shizuo appear from the laboratory. The blond looks a little more put together, he’s clean and his hair is slightly damp indicating he’s been in the shower. He’s dressed in some clothes that he recognises as Shinra’s. The tracksuit bottoms are a little short and the t-shirt is a little tight but they’re better than the bloody shreds that were his bartending uniform. Izaya sends a lazy smirk the blond’s way and chuckles darkly under his breath.
“You really are a monster now, aren’t you Shizu-chan?” he murmurs.
Shizuo visibly winces at the insult and he clenches his fists as an automatic reaction. Slowly, he takes in a deep breath and lets it go before looking up at the informant. “The only reason I’m not beating you to shit right now is cos I don’t wanna cause more trouble for Celty and Shinra.”
“How noble,” Izaya sneers. He pulls up his sleeve to show Shizuo the bandage on his forearm. “You owe me an apology, y’know? For nearly biting my arm off?”
“Fuck off.”
Izaya laughs and follows the blond with his gaze as he collapses into the chair next to Shinra. “Now, while I don’t really give a shit about your well-being, I am interested in what’s happening to you. So please-”
The blond purses his lips and leans back in the chair, folding his arms across his chest. For a long moment he just glares at Izaya, then he sighs and looks down at the already-healing stab wound by his wrist. “I don’t remember much. Just-”
Celty holds up her PDA in one hand and touches him lightly with the other. Just what, Shizuo?
His jaw tenses and he opens his mouth to speak, then closes it again and shakes his head. He doesn’t want to tell them about the things he saw in the darkness of his dreams, nor about the way the smell of Izaya’s blood is making his stomach rumble. It tasted so sweet, it still lingers in the back of his mouth. “Doesn’t matter. I don’t remember anything.”
Izaya clicks his tongue derisively. He can see straight through Shizuo’s lies and he knows the monster can tell that from the way he won’t meet the informant’s eye. Shinra stands up and fishes his phone out of his pocket with a tired sigh.
“I’m gonna try and contact my Dad,” he says, wearily. “I need to find out more about what he gave to you if we’re going to be able to control the after-effects.”
Celty pats Shizuo’s shoulder as Shinra gets to his feet and disappears into another room. We should talk a little more about what might happen. I’ve only seen a couple of lycanthropes before but I’ll tell you all I can.
“What’s a lycanthrope?” Shizuo asks, frowning.
The informant clicks his tongue derisively. “A werewolf, you moron.”
Shizuo’s face flushes red then he stands up jerkily with his fists clenched at his sides, looking very much like he wants to tear Izaya’s head off. The beginning of a growl starts low in his chest but is quietened when Celty places a hand on his shoulder and shoves her PDA in Izaya’s face.
You should leave.
“Ah, but it was just starting to get fun,” Izaya complains, with a dramatic sigh. He shrugs and grabs his jacket from the back of the chair, folding it over his good arm. “Never mind. I’m sure I’ll see you both very soon.”
As he wanders to the front door, Celty taps out another message and holds it up to Shizuo, who glances briefly down at it, then back up at Izaya’s retreating form. I can make some food if you like. Are you hungry?
Shizuo nods absently, gaze firmly locked on Izaya. The smell of meat pervades the air and he can still taste the bitter metallic tang of the informant’s blood swilling around his mouth. “Starving.”
-0-
The next time Izaya sees Shizuo, he’s storming through the crowds of Ikebukuro as if he’s got somewhere to be. The informant grins lazily and starts to follow him. There’s no way Izaya can let the monster go without a little taunting, not after their last meeting. Shizuo seems surlier than usual, he’s not paying attention to the people whose shoulders push against his and many of them go sprawling from the force of his movement. Izaya wonders if his situation has worsened or if he’s had a bad day - either way he’s going to make the man’s mood a lot worse. The blond rounds a corner out of the crowds into an empty alleyway, one of many which they’ve both fought in before. Izaya smirks and speeds up to catch up with the other man only to find that he’s sat on the floor of the alley with his head turned away from the approaching informant. He frowns and slips a flick-knife from his pocket, stopping a few feet away from Shizuo for security.
“Drunk again, Shizu-chan?” he sneers. The blond flinches at the sound of his voice and a sharp crack rings out in the lonely alley. When he turns fully, Izaya notices that the left sleeve of his shirt is rolled up on his bicep and there’s a needle sticking out from the curve of his elbow. In his surprise he’s managed to bend the body of the syringe and the glass has shattered onto the floor. The informant raises a brow. “Drugs? New low.”
Shizuo stares blankly at the shattered glass as he slides the needle out of his arm onto the floor. For a moment he’s still, then he stands up and starts searching through the pockets of his coat, brow furrowed in concern.
“Going to ignore me, Shizu-chan? You know we have lots to talk about. Y’know, like you being a Universal monster, our little tryst last month-”
“Piss off you fucking flea,” he growls, pulling a small black wallet out of his pocket. He unzips it quickly and starts rifling through the inner pockets for something. “Shit, fuck, dammit.”
Izaya looks down at the warped syringe then back up at Shizuo. “What are you talking about?”
“I left it at home,” Shizuo says, to himself. “I only needed one so I- fuck. I gotta message Celty.”
The blond throws the wallet onto the floor and starts to stride in the opposite direction to Izaya, tapping away on his phone. The informant doesn’t like being ignored, so he sprints forward and slices through the back of Shizuo’s coat with his knife. Immediately, Shizuo whirls around and catches Izaya by his collar, lifting him off the floor so that he can slam him hard into the wall of the alley. His mobile clatters to the floor at their feet and beeps as a message sends. The way Izaya lands forces his injured arm to be twisted behind his back. It collides with the wall and Izaya lets out a low gasp when he feels the stitches around the bite mark burst. Moisture drips down his arm and soaks into his sleeve so he starts pushing against Shizuo with his free hand. The blond is glaring at him angrily, veins bulging in his forehead like they’re about to burst.
“Shinra’s dad gave me that stuff,” he hisses, fist tightening around Izaya’s collar. “I need to take it at or I’ll-”
Izaya shoves his hand into Shizuo’s face and the impact is enough to make the blond release him and he slides to the ground, spluttering due to the previous constriction on his throat. He pushes up his sleeve and wrinkles his nose in disgust at the sight of all the blood.
“Look what you did, you stupid beast,” Izaya grunts, pushing himself to his feet. He whips another knife from his pocket and holds it level with Shizuo’s chest. The other man is looking at the open wound with his wide eyes and his lips drop open in surprise. “What are you talking about?”
The blond remains silent but he moves forward until Izaya finds himself backed against the wall. Shizuo’s chest is pressed against the tip of the knife. It doesn’t pierce through his clothes but it’s enough that Izaya feels the pressure on the handle. The monster is still looking at his bloody arm and his pupils start to blow wide, his left eye twitches and his mouth drops open further until Izaya can see his teeth. The informant smirks but nervousness starts to twist his guts.
“Not feeling well, Shizu-chan?” he mutters. The veins in the blond’s forehead look ready to burst from beneath his skin. “I’d love to stay and play but it’s getting dark and I should-” The penny drops and a cold feeling runs down Izaya’s spine. He glances up and sees the faded shade of the full moon becoming visible as the sky darkens. “You’re joking right?”
Shizuo blinks and sucks in a laboured breath. “I need to get medicine or-”
“Well go get it then,” Izaya replies, harshly. “What’s stopping you?”
He swallows thickly and Izaya feels the weight against the knife grow heavier. The way Shizuo’s looking at him is disconcerting, his eyes are devoid of their golden hue and there’s an odd mixture of lust and violence in them. When he speaks again his voice is abnormal, a low rasp that Izaya can barely make out.
“I’m hungry.”
Izaya grits his teeth and darts beneath Shizuo’s arm just as the man leans in to grab at him. The blond is faster than usual and almost catches Izaya by the sleeve but the informant slices his hand making him draw back. He starts slowly walking away, keeping on eye on the monster who is nursing his bleeding hand. When the two lock eyes again Izaya is surprised to see desperation on Shizuo’s face.
“I need Celty,” he says, hoarsely. “I don’t wanna hurt anyone.”
“And why would I help you?” Izaya replies, carefully.
Shizuo’s body twitches suddenly, as if he’s been injected with adrenaline. “You always talk ‘bout loving humans right? Ah, fuck - hurts. I could kill someone.”
“You got me there,” he replies, fishing his phone out of his pocket. It’s not out of care for Shizuo, nor really for the humans he claims to love, but for concern of his own well-being. Izaya is a capable man but he’s knows his own limits and he can’t face Shizuo head on when he’s unaware of where the transformation could lead. Better to let another monster take care of him. He quickly taps out their location and sends a message to Celty. The Dullahan is always glued to her PDA so she replies almost instantly to tell Izaya she’d be there in a few minutes. “She’s on her way. You should be more careful or more people might start to realise what a monster you are. Then again, that might be a good thing! You’d prove me right all along.”
“Shut up, f-flea,” he murmurs, words slurring as if he’s drunk. Shizuo closes his eyes and his body twitches once more before he doubles over, clutching his chest. With a pained whine, he leans against the wall with one arm propping him up. Izaya frowns and grips the handle of his knife a little tighter. The blond looks up at him again and Izaya grimaces at the sight of his cheekbones pushing through his skin. He tries to say something but the words turn into a disturbing gurgle when Shizuo lurches forward and drops to his knees. Izaya takes a few steps back in caution but finds himself unable to look away from the horrendous sight before him. Shizuo’s limbs are jerking around into abnormal positions as if some vile puppet master is trying to rearrange his skeleton. Inhuman noises fill the alley. There’s cracking and popping from his bones, a grim squishing sound from the way his muscles are stretching and compressing around his new form and the mixture of panting and retching coming from his mouth make it sound like he’s going to throw up. Izaya lets out a shaky breath, somewhat exhilarated by the bizarre sight before him. Shizuo’s hands crunch as they reform, the fingers elongating and nails curving into sharp claws. The veins all over his body are standing out from beneath his skin, the colour far darker than it should be.
Izaya jumps when a hand lands on his shoulder and he spins around, blade swiping through the air. The knife hits something solid then his wrist is dragged down past his hips and he’s pulled face to visor with the Dullahan. He grins and pulls his hand back, flicking the knife back into his pocket. “Hello dear Courier. You took your time.”
Celty doesn’t reply, she shoves past him and raises her hands in preparation to contain the creature writhing on the floor. Izaya pouts and turns so that he can peer over her shoulder. Shizuo’s barely recognisable anymore, his clothes are barely tatters around his twisted body, his face has malformed and elongated into a snout, filled with a number of vicious-looking fangs. Most of his skin has ripped wide open, splattering blood across the pavement. It looks as if he’s pulling off clothes, tearing the last human pieces of flesh away, and patches of thick, wiry hair is starting to sprout from out of these gashes.
“How disgusting,” he states, wrinkling his nose at the gore. Celty ignores him and starts to wind her shadows around Shizuo’s jerking limbs. They stick to his arms and legs and finally cover his entire body just as he leaps upright. Another extension shoots from Celty’s back and shoves Izaya back against the alley wall just as the monster smacks into her chest. The two of them go flying backward, a few feet past where Izaya’s landed. The thing that was Shizuo gets back onto its feet and faces the informant, flat black eyes locking onto the human’s. It’s not how Izaya imagined a werewolf would look. The thing’s skin is leathery with only a few patches of bloody brown hair across its torso. It’s a bony creature but from the look of the muscles working beneath the wrinkled skin, it’s strong - much like Shizuo’s usual appearance. Every inch of the body looks stretched out and given that his human form is already tall, the monster is verging on seven foot when it stands fully upright. It moves a step closer to Izaya and reaches out with a gnarled claw. A low whine sounds from it, then Izaya takes a step back and the noise drops to a growl. The creature bares its mangled teeth and roars in the informant’s face. Before it can move any closer a giant band of shadow wraps around its chest and tugs it back to the floor, where it starts thrashing and snarling like a caged animal. Celty, now standing, waves a hand at Izaya to indicate that he should run. This is too much, even for Izaya so the informant nods and sprints down the alley with the sound of the creature baying for his blood ricocheting off the walls.
He doesn’t stop running until he’s safely triple-locked behind the door of his apartment, where finally he collapses onto the sofa and catches his breath. Adrenaline is coursing powerful through his body, he can hear the pounding of his over-exerted heart thrumming in his ears and his hands are trembling. Izaya laughs - he’s scared, he’s actually scared! Upon this realisation he laughs excitedly and laces his shaking fingers together. It’s very rare for him to be terrified so the experience is exhilarating for him. Eventually his breathing slows, his hands still and the terror turns to intrigue. His injured arm is sticky and when he peels off his coat there’s blood everywhere. Thankfully it has crusted over in some areas but there are a few patches where the blood is still seeping so he fetches the first aid kit from the kitchen. Izaya has never been any good at patching himself up and the angle is awkward so he wraps the bandage sloppily but it’s enough for tonight. He’ll have Namie redo it tomorrow.
The memory of Shizuo turning into that thing plays over and over in his mind. For once he draws blanks on what to do next. He has the information, he’s seen the creature with his own eyes - now what? It’s hardly something that he can exploit, it seemed out of control. Izaya turns his head and gazes of the window at the swollen, pock-marked moon hanging over the city. A dull pain starts throbbing up and down his injured arm. He glances down at the bandage, then back at the moon and a cold feeling runs down his spine.
My spooky Halloween (and bday) present for @dotaccino /Sumi, from Jabby (kaneki-ken)! It’s a drawing for an AU where Chikage is Kadota’s teacher.
The beanie will soon return to his owner, but not before their little study session during winter ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I didn’t feel like this gift was good enough, so I also did this drawing of bear Shizuo. One day I still will write all the AUs we planned for our wonderful ships <3
Who you are (if anonymous, just write ‘anon’): Liane aka imagine-ikebukuro
Character/s and/or ship/s: Shizaya (and mentions of Shinra x Celty)
Quick summary (or anything you want the recipient to know): A little drabble of cute Shizaya. Wedding Planner / Florist !AU featuring a playlist with a moodboard as the cover!
P L A Y L I S T
Nature brings peace to humans and what else to strive for than the bliss of comfort and quiet? Watching flowers bloom and arranging them to a complete picture like handling puzzle pieces never fails to calm Shizuo down.
One might argue any other job would be more fitting for the blonde. Many could imagine him as anything, anything but a florist. The job requires a calm hand and patience. Still, despite his struggles when it comes to that, he finds himself at ease in his little safe space that is his flower shop, his bubble, his literal garden of Eden.
While you can’t say Shizuo is clumsy in particular, nor too energetic in the manner of enthusiasm, he’s known to… have his rough edges. It’d be a blatant lie to say he’s never broke numerous of pots or never butchered taking care of the most expensive of roses. Though it would be just as much of a lie to say he doesn’t love and enjoy the job either way.
It’s almost like he’s blooming more than the plants surrounding him.
It has been this way for every job so far, even if there really hadn’t been many (people still assume he’s not qualified and made for the job.)
Every job but this one.
“Here’s the list. I figured Shinra would overdo it with ideas, so maybe try and balance it out with Celty’s wishes.” Even just the slick voice and sly grin has him think about which flowers would be most poisonous for fleas. “I can count on you, right? We don’t want to mess up arranging the wedding of our best friends, eh?”
“Whatever,” Shizuo tches without even granting him another glance. Instead, he just nods, fixating his gaze upon the paper with the handwriting, which he can’t help but notice seems a tad too neat and calculatedly clean.
Especially the trademark logo itself looks particularly fancy and professional. Orihara Izaya, Wedding Planner. Unlike Shizuo, the raven found a job fitting more perfectly than any other. A job which requires careful calculation and the skill to know what pleases the customer the most. To be able to read a human’s wish from the shine of their eyes is likely Izaya’s special skill.
The two truly are like day and night. One of them has a successful business with a job which couldn’t be more appropriate for his personality and skills and the other seems like a lost soul, happy in his own bubble, but receiving belittling glances from outside.
From the corner of his eyes the blonde glances up to the raven and his mind begins to wander. Why would Izaya out of all people hire him to take responsibility for the flower decor? Surely Shinra and Celty wouldn’t insist on any scenario that would require the two arch enemies to team up, unless they’d want their wedding celebration to end in pure chaos, right?
“That still is a lot. Are you sure a bigger company wouldn’t be better for this?”
The sound of his arrogant chuckle has Shizuo tense up and it takes everything for him to not crumple the sheet in his fingers out of annoyance.
“I’m going to go ahead and say this isn’t about you not wanting to take this job because of Shinra and Celty,” Izaya begins while swiftly swinging his feet, walking around the shop and looking around.
“No shit, asshat,” Shizuo groans as he sends a glare his way. “I don’t like the idea of you bossing me around. There’s plenty of other people for you to enslave.”
“Wrong,” Izaya sighs. His steps find a new target as he walks back to approach Shizuo again, locking eyes with him directly. “As crazy as it sounds, you’re supposed to work with me, not under me, silly.” He pauses his speech and the smirk on his lips widens. “Unless that’s what you prefer and–”
“Shut up, flea. I’m still not having it. Why would you want me to do it?”
“Opposites attract, you know? People always say counterparts can only clash against each other. I say they coexist and depend on each other. Plus, it’s practical, if you prefer the simple answer. We’re colleagues, we don’t have to marry each other. Unless that's–”
This time a sharp glare from the blonde is enough to shut Izaya up and instead of the raven finishing his sentence he just laughs.
His slim fingers place a small bundle of white flowers on the counter and his eyes, just as bright as ever, carefully watch Shizuo’s expression with the same calculated grin he always wears. “Can you tell me what flower this is, Shizu-chan?”
“Lilium regale,” Shizuo answers hesitantly, confused as to what he’s trying to get at.
“Perfect!” Izaya exhales with a content nod as if praising him. “Make sure you get those for the bride’s bouquet. Oh, and for what it’s worth, I quite like those too. Just in case you need to know for when our time comes.”
[ – the day would not exist without the night and vice versa. ]
Who the lucky recipient is: @birdybomb
Who you are (if anonymous, just write ‘anon’): @lua-russo
Character/s and/or ship/s: Celty, Saki, Anri, Erika, Shinra, with ship teases for Shinra/Celty, Walker/Erika, Mikado/Anri, Masaomi/Saki (possibly OT4 if you squint tbh)
Quick summary (or anything you want the recipient to know): Some snippets with Celty, Shinra, Anri, and Erika as they get ready for Celty’s Halloween party.
Tried to do something that included a lot of favorite characters and ship teases.
Formatting is kinda messed up on here, but it will be uploaded to my ao3 (harleyquinzel) so feel free to check it out there!
The Halloween party is, strangely enough, Celty’s idea. Though an American-style Halloween is one of the last things Shinra would have expected her to take an interest in, she gets the idea in her mind nonetheless, asking him questions about it all the way in August, and the closer it gets to October, the more clear it becomes that she wants to do something on the thirty first. And, since his offers of a private, romantic night in are met with the usual elbow jab, he has no choice but to agree to have people over to celebrate with them.
“At the very least, you should put on a nice costume for me,” he says with a sigh. “I think that’d be proper payment, don’t you?”
“ First of all, there’s no way I’m wearing anything you’d pick out in front of the guests ,” she replies. “ Second of all, I do live here too, you know. I shouldn’t have to repay you to have friends over. ”
“Hey, wait a second! You said you wouldn’t wear something like that in front of guests ! Does that mean you’re more willing to dress up for me when we’re alone ?” asks Shinra with a wide grin.
Celty’s shoulders sag as she types, “ You’re really hopeless, you know ?”
~X~
Both Mikado and Anri find themselves with invitations, and are told they can bring friends, so naturally, the first people who come to mind are Saki and Masaomi. The four of them have been growing closer lately, though it’s a little weird at times, considering those two are dating while Mikado and Anri are still trying to figure out how they fit into the group, much less what they are to each other.
“I’ve never been to a party like that before,” says Saki. “It’s pretty exciting, huh?”
“I wouldn’t know what to dress up as,” Anri replies. “I think Celty wants us to all wear costumes, but…”
“Don’t you have a friend who’s good at that kind of stuff?” she replies. “Like, she does a lot cosplay or something?”
Anri is surprised that Saki remembers Erika that well, but more surprised that she didn’t think of it first.
“That’s right, I guess I could ask her about it…still, I don’t know if I should bother her about it…”
“I thought she loved dressing you up. I bet she’d be excited if you asked!” Saki says. “I can ask with you, if you want, but I don’t really know her that well.”
So the two of them decide to talk to Erika, and Anri finds herself spending even more time with Saki. The two of them are closer now than she ever expected them to be, but, then again, they did hit it off rather well when they first met. It’s nice, having a friend like her, and Anri is happier every day with all the friends she has.
~X~
“I’d love to help you guys with costumes!” Erika says. “It’ll probably be easier than getting Yumachi to agree with me on a theme for the party, at least.”
It’s only recently that Erika and Walker began dating, though if you asked anyone they would assume that the two of them have been together for much longer, considering how inseparable they’ve always been. And, naturally, being a couple hasn’t changed much about their interactions, and they are still just as close, and bicker just as much, as before.
“If you’re already busy with that, we won’t bother you,” Anri says quickly, looking down, and her shyness is so adorable that Erika feels like she could squeeze her and never let go.
But she refrains and instead says, “Nah, it’s not gonna be that hard. I bet i have a lot of stuff to fit the two of you, and your boyfriends, and even if I have to do some alterations, I can basically do those in my sleep.”
Anri’s face goes red at the mention of a boyfriend, which seems to amuse Saki to no end. However, Erika now has something more important on her mind than guiding her younger friend’s love life, and that is figuring out what she has that will be the perfect look for the girls in front of her and the boys they’ll have with them. She’s glad that they at least won’t be nearly as picky as Walker is, and soon enough, she’s sorting through her closet, jotting down ideas for classic Halloween costumes.
Now all she has to do is convince Anri to rock a lower bustline, and they’ll be set!
~X~
“Our theme is voice actors!” is the first thing Walker says when Shinra lets him and his friends inside. “At least, for me and Erika. Those two were lame and didn’t want to dress up as anything tonight!” Behind him, Kadota and Saburo make faces at his words, and Erika smiles and waves, stepping forward.
“Yeah, see, this is the closest we could get to agreeing on anything, so-” She keeps going as Shinra lets them all in, but he only understands about half of what she says, and even less of what Walker interjects. They’re some of the first to arrive at the party, with the exception of Seiji and Mika, because Mika wanted to help Celty with food for the party.
Now that that’s all done, she’s changed into a dark formal gown, looking beautiful yet eerie with the scar around her neck, and Seiji stands at her side, looking elegant, but disinterested as always. The two of them look perfectly suited for each other tonight, regardless, though Shinra can’t spend too long taking in the guests before he hears the doorbell again.
This time, he’s greeted by Anri as a witch- with her arms crossed over her chest despite the neckline being a bit more modest than most costumes of that nature- who is accompanied by a vampire Mikado, and Masaomi in torn clothes with stitches painted on his exposed skin, with Saki on his arm in some sort of pumpkin themed getup. Behind them is Shizuo and his two coworkers, though they also chose to forgo costumes tonight, and Shinra doesn’t feel nearly so out of place now, considering all he did was splash some red food coloring on an old lab coat while Mika had it out to cook.
But it doesn’t really matter who all is dressed up and who isn’t; Celty wearing what she thinks is similar to what she used to wear before, seems to be having the time of her life either way.
In fact, she’s having so much fun that when his father and stepmother show up with their tall Russian friend in tow, she doesn’t mind nearly as much as she normally would. Shinra isn’t even sure how they heard about it, though of course Emilia is excited to celebrate a Halloween more familiar to her. However, it’s hard to determine exactly what she and the two men with her are supposed to be, and Shinra gives up trying to figure it out almost immediately.
~X~
Celty’s party doesn’t turn out much differently than any other gatherings that she has, but she’s left giddy by the end of the night, and when the last guests leave- and she’s even so lucky that her kind-of-in-laws aren’t hard to get rid of- she sinks down on the couch, her outfit returning to its normal state.
“Aw, is that all I get tonight? What happened to our private party?” Shinra whines.
“ I never said anything about a private party, that was all you. ”
“You don’t have to be so mean to me!” he protests. “I played the part of the perfect host all night , don’t I get a little reward? Hey, don’t sigh at me like that!”
Celty knows that he’s right, that he did do a very good job entertaining guests with her tonight, and that, even if he isn’t much of a party person, he still looked to be having a good time. And she rather likes the way his jaw drops when her clothes shift into something more revealing.
“A-a nurse? Just for me? Have I died and gone to heaven? Oh, Celty, you’re amazing, you know that? I really am the luckiest- ow!”
“ Don’t over do it ,” she types, once she’s finished jabbing him.
Who the lucky recipient is: @xxyuichanxx
Who you are (if anonymous, just write ‘anon’): @soutenkyuu
Character/s and/or ship/s: Shizuo x Yui (OC)
Quick summary (or anything you want the recipient to know): I tried to go with an Autumn theme for this one. You mentioned that you really like to see pictures of Shizuo and your OC, so I wanted to do that for you. I really hope you like it!
Who the lucky recipient is: @soutenkyuu
Who you are (if anonymous, just write ‘anon’): shiiverse (@shizuor )
Character/s and/or ship/s: Shizuo/Varona
Quick summary (or anything you want the recipient to know): ‘There’s no moment of clarity, of a spark, of a grandiose—something. No stringing of words Shizuo can’t be bothered to use when yelling it out into the rain maintains the same effect, no waking up in the middle of night—2.33am—to find the world changed and the sky brighter.‘
It’s not like in the movies.
(I hope you enjoy this, Soutenkyuu!)
There’s no moment of clarity, of a spark, of a grandiose—something. No stringing of words Shizuo can’t be bothered to use when yelling it out into the rain maintains the same effect, no waking up in the middle of night—2.33am—to find the world changed and the sky brighter. Somewhere in between chasing the debtors off Tom’s back and drinking coffee from vending machines, the realization came to him, and Shizuo is all kinds of unsure about what to make of it.
“Shizuo-senpai,” Varona calls. “Coffee?”
“Sure,” he accepts, in an unfamiliar voice. As expected, he moves forward to take the coffee from Varona’s hands, holding it by his side as a czzsh sings into the air as she opens her own can to sip from it. Maybe the sunset draping over her reminds him of something, or maybe it makes him forget everything, but Shizuo is stepping closer without thinking. And then he stops. Stops, just like that. Still with an unopened can of coffee dangling from his fingers, lips slightly parted like he’d forgotten the list of things he’d wanted to say, exhaling as if he’d just remembered how to escape the feeling of breathlessness surrounding his chest. “You okay?”
Varona levels her eyes with his. So many months and Shizuo has never learnt how to handle her gaze. “I am of excellent physical condition for the time being. If I were to face emotional distress, Shizuo-senpai, I will not hesitate to voice my discomfort. Rest assured.”
“Good to know,” Shizuo answers.
He’s not blind. He knows of the career Varona leads, the trips she makes every so often out of Japan to… somewhere. Heiwajima Shizuo isn’t the kind of person to let these kinds of things leave his attention so easily, and it’s exactly this reason why he tries not to leave Varona more frizzled than needed whenever she drops by in Japan (not like she ever is). Her career is hers, after all, and if it has to involve top secret, highly stressful situations, then when she comes by as a form of vacation, he’ll make sure it feels like one. But again, somewhere along the way, somewhere along the way, a realization forms within, and it’s one that even the bitterest of coffee couldn’t make him forget.
“Varona,” Shizuo says, voice sounding like it’s 2.33am. Then stupidly, he pauses. Just a single pause, a single rest, and time ticks on and the next minute arrives.“…We should go.”
She nods, once. “Affirmative. Let us rendezvous at the appointed meeting site.”
But the thing is this: the realization doesn’t just go away because he wants it to. In some other time, in some other place, maybe Shizuo would stand before he again, except in that time he’s more composed and there’s actually a spark, some form of clarity in his thoughts about what he wants to say, wants to tell her, wants to confess. But—
“Shizuo-senpai,” snaps him out of his thoughts, and Varona’s firmness wanes before him. Her lips part as she breathes in a quiet breath, eyes shutting as her head shakes slightly before she opens them again. “I am reluctant to interrupt, but we need to proceed to move, do we not? Or is… there still something you wish to say?”
And Shizuo has to remember this, to repeat it to himself again and again: the realization doesn’t just go away because he wants it to. He swallows, nodding. “Yeah. Yeah. I mean—no, nothing to say,” he tells her before he can properly think about the weight of his words, about the implications. “Just…”
Shizuo swallows.
“Can I?”
Varona blinks. Her eyes widen into puzzlement, opened can forgotten by her side the same way Shizuo’s unopened drink still is cold against the rising heat of his fingers. Her lips purse but the gleam in her eyes—the waning firmness from before—is different now, and Shizuo is certain, he is sure. He’s never been looked at like this before. He’s never looked at anyone like this before.
“Can you…?” she repeats, trailing off at the end. A softer voice now. “Reason to grant permission is unclear.”
And then Shizuo leans forward, slightly. “You know. Can I?” he repeats. “Kiss you. Can I kiss you?”
He sounds just as robotic as she does at times (the hilarity doesn’t escape him), but Varona either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care enough to bother remarking about it. Her eyes dart down, to his lips, and back up to his eyes again, and she studies him for some time with an unreadable expression across her face. Shizuo breathes as silently as he can. If he breathes too shallowly, or too deep, or too loud, this moment between them might vanish.
“It will be… what is colloquially referred to as my first. I…”
“…you?” Shizuo asks when Varona doesn’t finish her sentence.
“…I grant permission,” she says, and she moves.
Stunned, he almost pulls back, but Varona is lightly grasping onto his shirt to support herself, and oh. He responds quickly, clumsily, free hand finding solace in the silk of her hair. Before he knows it, her own hand is curling hard into his shirt and his eyes are closed now, and the only thing he can think of is: it’s not violent.
It’s everything he doesn’t expect his first kiss to be like, a lot slower, gentler. For one long moment, as Varona leans even closer against his chest, it feels like he could stay like this forever. It’s only been seconds, but for one long moment, there’s a fire blazing somewhere within his chest that not even the (now brighter) sunset could replicate.
“I didn’t think,” Shizuo tries at first, when they break apart, before shaking his head and exhaling. He steps back, orients himself with the world again. “We should… drink up first,” he says, raises his can.
Varona purses her lips in amusement. “There is someone we are forgetting.”
“…We gotta go,” Shizuo immediately says.
This time, though, they do leave, and it’s more than easier now to grasp the curve of her wrist with his own rough fingers, easier to eventually slip lower and lower until he finds a strange familiarity in the warmth of her fingers close to his own.
Who the lucky recipient is: @kaneki-ken
Who you are (if anonymous, just write ‘anon’): @xxyuichanxx
Character/s and/or ship/s: Haruna Niekawa owo
Quick summary (or anything you want the recipient to know): I hope you like it ;w; I couldn’t think of anyone better than Haruna for halloween when I saw your favourites list so I just had to draw her- Happy Halloween!
Who the lucky recipient is: @imagine-ikebukuro
Who you are (if anonymous, just write ‘anon’): @duradura-rara
Character/s and/or ship/s: Haruna Niekawa owo
Quick summary (or anything you want the recipient to know): Here’s my DRRR Secret Sandy Claws gift for imagine-ikebukuro! I saw that you like Izaya, and you were interested in receiving somethin spooky, sooo, demon Izaya!
“Kida-kun! Th-that’s not the costume you said you’d be wearing at all!” Mikado cried out as he spotted his boyfriend, who was wearing a vampire costume, fake blood on his chin.
“But you’re wearing the one I was expecting.” Kida replied, grinning. Mikado was wearing a onesie and cat ears, and a little collar. He looked embarrassed, blushing now that he realized Kida wasn’t wearing the matching outfit, and he’d been played.
“Yeah, but that was because you said you wanted us to match!” Mikado replied indignantly. “This is embarrassing if it’s just me!”
Kida grinned wider. “Mikado, Mikado, I knew this was the only way to get you wear it! And don’t you think a vampire better suits me than a puppy?”
“…because you prey on the innocent?” Mikado replied in a deadpan to Kida’s grand gesture, trying to look annoyed despite the blush across his face.
“That’s not exactly what I meant but I’ll take it.”
“And you’re saying a kitten fits me then?” Mikado asked glumly.
“Yep!” Kida laughed. “Both are extremely cute and fun to snuggle!”
Mikado blushed. “K-Kida-kun!” He covered his face in his hands, embarrassed. His boyfriend was so over the top sometimes.
As a result, he didn’t notice Kida move around behind him, and as he took his hands off his face, Kida pulled him in for a kiss.
Mikado looked surprised, but then leaned into the kiss. Both boys blushed fiercely as they pulled away, Kida grinning wildly.
“Let’s go enjoy Halloween, Mikado.” He said, grabbing his boyfriend’s hand.
How should we go about submitting if we need to submit on the 28th? Make our post private?
Just submit directly into this blog's submission!It's ok if you're late, posts won't be going out until the 31st! I only chose the 28th incase people needed the extra time??? An earlier due date pushes procrastination back but if extra time was needed then. It could be given without issue you know?
I'm hopeful and didn't account for school to take such an emotional toll this week... as I've never done this before I'm trying to put in lots of thought about who I'm pairing with who. I'm sorry for the delay but you will get your person in the next two days, I'm super sorry
Alright! So there was enough interest, so let’s talk about how this works!
Application
From now (September 17th, 12:01 am EST) to October 1st 11:59 EST, This blog will be accepting applications for those who wish to participate in this event! The applications will be submitted into the submit on this blog only. Applications are as followed:
The blog you’ll be using to participate:
Your favourite character:
Your least favourite character:
Ships you like: Your notp/s:
What you’ll be gifting (art/writing/gif set/etc):
Anything you what your Secret Sandy Claws to know (things you’d like the most, things you definitely don’t want, romantic letters and/or confessions, etc):
Waiting
Once submissions have closed, by October 4th, 11:59 pm, I’ll have handed out who needs to gift who, and that’s when the fun begins! Write, draw, edit or whatever else for your person!
Gifts should be submitted to this blog by October 28th, 11:59 pm, if extra time is needed, please let me know so that I can accommodate accordingly.
Halloween!
On the date of October 31st, all treats (please no tricks!) will be queue’d out onto the blog! Of course everything won’t be done at once, but everyone’s will gift be posted between 7am to 12pm EST
In the meanwhile
This blog will reblog Halloween prompts, try and come up with it’s own content, depending on what I (a full time college student) can do, so please bear with me! However, this blog already has some great content from last year, and so feel free to look at those!
Be sure to read the FAQ if you have any questions! Or send me an ask!
Alright! So there was enough interest, so let’s talk about how this works!
Application
From now (September 17th, 12:01 am EST) to October 1st 11:59 EST, This blog will be accepting applications for those who wish to participate in this event! The applications will be submitted into the submit on this blog only. Applications are as followed:
The blog you’ll be using to participate:
Your favourite character:
Your least favourite character:
Ships you like: Your notp/s:
What you’ll be gifting (art/writing/gif set/etc):
Anything you what your Secret Sandy Claws to know (things you’d like the most, things you definitely don’t want, romantic letters and/or confessions, etc):
Waiting
Once submissions have closed, by October 4th, 11:59 pm, I’ll have handed out who needs to gift who, and that’s when the fun begins! Write, draw, edit or whatever else for your person!
Gifts should be submitted to this blog by October 28th, 11:59 pm, if extra time is needed, please let me know so that I can accommodate accordingly.
Halloween!
On the date of October 31st, all treats (please no tricks!) will be queue’d out onto the blog! Of course everything won’t be done at once, but everyone’s will gift be posted between 7am to 12pm EST
In the meanwhile
This blog will reblog Halloween prompts, try and come up with it’s own content, depending on what I (a full time college student) can do, so please bear with me! However, this blog already has some great content from last year, and so feel free to look at those!
Be sure to read the FAQ if you have any questions! Or send me an ask!
