"Shinra?" I turned, eyes widening in the slightest as he stared back at the doctor.
Within a second, Shinra let out a shriek, his hands thrown in the air, fingers curling and twitching as he shook in his shoes.
Dark shadows began to spew out across the floor, twisting together and morphing into a large-pitch black scythe to wield in Celty's hands. She lifted it high, grazing the apartment ceilings as Shinra stared frozen still looking at me in shock.
My hands braced against the couch, ready to run in case the fairy decided to swing her weapon down. I was almost certain that a Dulluhan's scythe would manage to hurt this form. Instead, she stood frozen, arms quivering in a strange sense as she stood with the thing still raised high in the air. Her stance was still wide-legged and sturdy, ready for combat, there something ominous as waves of shadow puddled out from under her yellow helmet.
And yet she stood there with shaky hands, frozen in what almost seemed confusion as the dark sheet of glass from her helmet stared back at me.
Before my eyes could even settle on her helmet long enough to notice the lack of my reflection- Shizuo stood in front of me hands frantically waving something ridiculous.
"Hold on a second Celty-!" Celty's scythe leaned even further away in her questioning grip as she looked towards Shizu-chan. "Shit- Everybody just calm down! I can explain-" His words rolled out into a growl as he glared at Shinra, who had not managed a single understandable word as mumbled out sounds with a pointed finger raised towards me.
"I-IZAYA!?" Shinra managed to sputter out, his hands shook as he let out a final squeak, though I wasn't quite sure if it was from the sight of me or the burning glare Shizuo had sent his way.
I blinked back at Shizuo before staring back at the doctor, everybody in the stand-still was frozen solid in their spot allowing the silence to begin filling the room. After a few drawled-out seconds, Celty's shoulders slumped with a heft, her blade dispersing into shadows as she quickly pulled out her PDA instead.
With the most apparent threat of an all looming scythe gone, Shizu-chan also relaxed, at least a bit, his hands falling to the sides instead of where he had them raised- almost as if he had made himself some sort of makeshift-human shield.
My brows furrowed as I looked at the back of Shizuo, who still stood standing in front of me as he stared at the other two. I rose from the couch, lips pursed as I couldn't pull my gaze away from the iron wall Shizu-chan's back had seemed to create.
I shook my head, sliding to stand at the side of Shizu-chan, choosing to ignore the strange display, in favor of getting a clearer view of the other two.
Pulling on a familiar tilt of a smile, I watched as the other two gawked at me. Smooth curls of black pulled off my form as my jacket swayed with my steps, "Hello Shirna- Celty." It was truly amusing how their shoulders jerked back at the sound of my voice
Shinra's hands, one of which was still pointed rather harshly towards me, began to teeter, lowering slowly to hang limply at the doctor's sides.
"How..?" Shinra's jaw sat relaxed and open- his words much quieter now that his previous screams as his head lolled between me and Shizu-chan.
"We're not exactly sure." The beast quirked an awkward smile, his hand raising to rub at the back of his neck as he felt what I could only presume to be Celty's looming-headless gaze.
"So- It's really you? Your Izaya?" Shinra's brows were twitching in unison with his fingers as he swallowed.
I stared at him for a moment, unsure of Shinra's entirely baffled display. My usual expression was kept splayed across my features as I closed my eyes and shrugged, "Of course Shinra, who else could I be?" Shaking my head in theatric disbelief.
There was a quiet sniffle.
My eyes flickered open.
The love-struck doctor stood with his eyes glossed over, forcing himself to blink a few times to quell the oncoming emotion as he stoned his face into something sturdy-
He was failing. Quiet obviously.
I could only hope that the slight softening in my expression wasn't noticeable to the other two.
"Shinra-?" I cursed myself at the tone of my voice, the sound coming out softer rather than as teasing as I'd hoped it to be. "Are you crying?"
"No!" His arms came up to rub against his eyes, something akin to a child trying to act tough as he rubbed his face with a fury, leaving his glasses askew and tilted on the end of his nose. "I- I just-" He sniffed.
My grin warped into something lopsided as I watched him grow frustrated with his eyes, blinking as he stared upwards, mumbling something about 'Just getting a little emotional about his darling Celty's beauty.'
I huffed out a laugh, "Mhm, sure..." The sarcasm was thick on my tongue as I grinned back at the doctor, the expression much more real as it curled around the ends of my eyes while Shinra looked around in faint embarrassment.
The whole situation was highly amusing.
Shizu-chan rumbled out an awkward sense of laughter to the side of me. With a glance, it was easy to notice as he rubbed the back of his nape that Celty had typed out a long message of what could only be many, upon many questions.
"Well-" Shizu-chan cleared his throat. "We're not exactly sure..." His eyes glanced over the long paragraph once more as his face pinched into something confused with the slightest kindling of frustration.
Peeking back once more, I looked towards Shinra, who in the time had managed to collect himself at least a bit in order to participate in the conversation.
"Okay okay! Just let me explain from the beginning how about that?" Shizuo held up his arms in surrender, as the other two leaned into him with curiously-tense shoulders.
My lips quipped at the display, noticing the tell-tale signs of his growing irritation which was mainly being caused by Shinra who was yet to notice the signs himself in favor of his own curiosity.
The monster growled a warning which the doctor seemed to finally catch onto as he reeled himself backward.
"Like I've said we really don't know much but...Izaya's been a spirit since a few months after his- his death. And for some reason is stuck to me." He glanced towards me as he began explaining, "Also, he can go anywhere in my apartment but has to stay close to me when outside of the apartment. His weird-fog things keep him within a certain distance- Kind of like a leash."
I scowled at his choice of words.
The term leash left much to be desired.
[By 'Weird-fog,' Do you mean those strange shadows on Izaya?] Celty typed, holding it up so that everybody could read it.
Shizu-chan nodded and I decided to stay quiet, contemplating on letting Shizuo stutter over his explanation alone on the matter. "Yeah, they've been there since the beginning. We figured it was just part of the whole 'ghost' situation..."
Deciding against the petty sealed lips, I nodded, "Yes, though they don't appear to be the same in the sense of yours Celty. I cannot manipulate them or control them in any sense." My hand waved through the flickering puffs of black from my jacket as I spoke.
Shinra hummed in thought as he glanced between Celty and me as said Dulluhan promptly took off her motorcycle helmet. "Yeah, they do look a little different. Celty's of course are much more beautiful-!"
[Strange. They do seem familiar, but only in the sense of spirit-likeness. Maybe its because were different 'species?'] Celty promptly ignored the fawning doctor, her screen shining towards Shizuo who bobbed his head in agreement.
Celty's hands came back to curl her PDA close to her chest. There was a stand-still of silence for a moment, except for Shinra's blabbering which Celty quieted with a quick jab to the rib.
Nobody knew quite what to say, and whether it was in my normal behavior or not- I figured it better to stay quiet in the matter in case the Dulluhan decided it best to act instead of listening.
Her feet shuffled for a moment before her fingers danced over the keys, [Shizuo? Could I speak privately to you please?]
"Uh- Yeah sure," He glanced around the small apartment for a moment before shuffling outside and into the apartment complex's halls with Celty following close on his heels.
Shinra stood next to me for a moment, silence wrapping around us into something that teetered on the feeling of awkwardness. He stood staring at the door Celty and Shizuo had just exited.
It was obvious what their topic of conversation would be...
I just wonder how Shizu-chan is going to handle it. The Dullahan could hound him on an abundance of different questions and concerns, she had always been the type to worry for those close to her- And it just so happens the monster was one of her best friends. If anything, they could even be talking about how to go about exorcising me...
Most likely, actually.
Shinra cleared his throat, rocking back and forth on the soles of his shoes as he looked at me. My brow arched, humoring the blatant curiosity growing on his face- along with something at the edges of his eyes I wasn't fully prepared to delve into.
Not yet at least.
"So...you've really been living with Shizuo all this time?" Shinra laughed, wavering on something nervous.
"Yup, ridiculous isn't it?" I grinned, "Truly this must be some sort of divine punishment." Shinra's shoulders seemed to lower in the slightest, his smile holding a bit more sincerity as he watched my familiar personality.
"Jeez, you haven't changed a bit!" He shook his head.
I couldn't help but chuckle, as much as I'd like to agree with him, I wasn't blind to notice a few differences.
Such as my growing comfort with the idea of living with the protozoan of all people, but like hell was I going to admit that aloud.
I gave a dramatic shrug, plopping down onto the couch's cushions while Shinra came to join me, sitting on an armchair to my left. He twiddled with his thumbs, peeking towards the front door every few seconds as we both sat waiting for the other to speak first.
I sighed, "Truly Shinra if you have any questions about me, ask away! I know that doctor-mind of yours must be foaming at the mouth with unsatisfied curiosity."
Shinra scrunched up in the slightest, a reaction I honestly wasn't expecting. I was assuming he'd be more inclined to push those ridiculous glasses of his up and allow a flood of questions to escape his mouth. Instead, he just kept quiet as the fidgeting grew in speed.
"Shinra?" I titled my head.
"Sorry," He laughed half-heartedly, "It's just- strange being able to talk with you again."
Ah.
My mouth scrunched tight as I flickered my gaze away, deciding that the dingy coffee table was a much better thing to focus on. I had expected questions, curiosity, and brashness, not-
Not this.
I responded in kind, a laugh teetering out with about the same effort Shinra had given. These sort of conversations, as silver-tongued as people have claimed me to be, It was definitely not my strong suit to openly just... talk.
Though... I suppose if anybody deserved at least an effort-
It would be Shinra.
I cleared my throat while straightening my back against the couch, "Well, you aren't doing much talking..." I tried to quell the mockery from my tone.
Shinra's head lowered a little, allowing for his glasses to slide just the slightest into something off-center. His mouth opened, then shut, before repeating the process once more. "Yeah..." He croaked out. "Hey, Izaya?"
"Hm?"
"Sorry." His voice cracked. "For.. for not being there more- Y'know?" His hand came up to ruffle the back of his messy hair, huffing out a laugh.
My eyes widened, black smoke flickering along with the unfamiliar feeling growing in my chest. I was confused- and had no clue how to respond to something like that. He had nothing to be sorry for-!
Nobody did.
Shinra's neck sunk in, making himself smaller as he finally looked over to properly make eye contact. His eyes were glossed over from behind his glasses.
"I- I know it's probably strange- and you probably find it ridiculous. Who knows- maybe your even mad? But- I can't not admit that I've missed you Izaya. You and I were, are- friends! And..." He sunk under my gaze, whispering out the end of his words with something uncertain.
"Shinra, I don't find it ridiculous, nor am I angry." I kept my shoulders back and spine straight, feigning some sort of confidence while I spoke with a clear voice, "It's just surprising is all."
He hummed before something cracked in his throat, "Well-! It-It's nice to be able to talk to you again at least!" Finally, that familiar grin stretched across his face, his eyes were still glossy but it didn't stop the strange comfort I felt with seeing my only friend smile.
I couldn't help how my grin softened a bit as well, "It's nice to be able to talk to you again as well." I admitted, quietly. Shinra's smile faltered, warping into something strange as he squeaked a theatrically-pained noise.
His palms quickly came up to cover both his eyes, he quivered a sigh, "That's not aloud you jerk- What the hell?" He laughed along with his own sniffles, "Man-! I need my darling Celty to comfort me!"
Shinra took off his glasses before tilting his head back and aggressively drying his eyes with his hands. I chuckled, shaking my head at his growing dramatics. "So- you really don't have any questions? I would've expected you to be enthralled with the idea of ghosts and spirits. Seeing as they have a connection to your- 'Darling Celty.' " I air-quoted the ridiculous nickname he'd labeled the Dulluhan.
His eyes sparked alit as he wiped away the last bit of dew threatening to leave his eyes. "Oh yes yes! So many questions! I'd ask if I could dissect you a bit but that seems impossible." He quipped as he leaned forward, waving a hand to faze through my arm as he stared in awe. "Though I do suppose there's always your actual- buried body..."
"Shinra."
"I'm just joking!" The doctor laughed, holding his hands in surrender as his grin stayed stamped on his face. My eyes squinted with suspicion while he shrunk into the cushions, pursing his lips into something guilty behind his smile, "Your body wouldn't be in good condition to dissect anyway-"
"Shinra." Shinra laughed louder, and I couldn't help but snicker along with him.
I'd be a fool to admit a part of me has missed this. Though, I suppose one would have to be at least a bit foolish to be friends with this love-crazed doctor.
"But seriously Shinra. Don't even think of dissecting my corpse."