Part one: wedding attire
"Do you always dress like a bartender?"
"Hmm?" Shizuo asked good naturedly, "What brings this about?"
Varona looked at him curiously, tilting her head slightly, "It's just," She started, "It is all I ever see you wear. Do you own others clothes? Surely you can afford some."
He blinked and then started laughing. Calming a little bit he explained, "Don't worry, I'm not living on scraps."
"Oh no, Shizuo-senpai, I didn't mean to imply-" Varona quickly backtracked before he cut her off.
"I know what you meant, feels good to know someone cares." Shizuo smiled as she averted her eyes in embarrassment. "And, for the record, I do own other clothes. I just..." He shrugged, "...Don't ever feel like wearing them, you know?"
Varona continued to stare at him and shook her head to affirm no, she did not know. Shizuo sighed, he supposed he never did tell her about his brother, or his past for that matter. Normally he wouldn't really care, but ever since Varona returned she'd been more open about, well, pretty much everything. It made him want to be more open as well, even if he wasn't really keeping secrets in the first place.
"You know my brother, right?" He asked.
"The actor, he came by with that singer."
"Yeah, well, he made it big as an actor and I had just gotten a job as a bartender," Shizuo said, keeping his face neutral, "It seemed pretty promising; a job I might actually keep for a while, so he bought me a bunch of bartender uniforms as a show of faith in me."
"So it is a tribute to your brother and his kindness." She summarized, "You are very sweet."
Shizuo smiled and rather sheepishly said, "I guess, maybe at the beginning, but now it's sort of apart of my 'image' as Tom would put it. So a little less sentimental."
They continued past the shops and businesses at a casual pace. It was evening in Ikebukuro and the nightlife was beginning to come out. Not that they were a problem outside of being annoying. Varona also received a lot of…hmm…attention.
It was obvious why, Shizuo thought to himself, she's an attractive, foreign woman, of course people would give her attention. If she didn't exude such a scary aura more men would probably try something, but thanks to her demeanor, it saved her a lot of trouble. There were a couple times when someone would be brave (or stupid) enough to approach her and she would have to turn them down. Often times she would tell Shizuo afterwards and they would laugh about it.
After the time she'd been back, they'd grown to be really close friends, which Shizuo was thankful for. He never had many friends before and now the list seemed to grow at an exponential rate. Glancing down to her he wondered briefly if she shared his sentiments. That train of thoughts was derailed as they passed a store for formal wear.
Varona's eyes lit up as she gazed upon the dresses in the window. He could tell she was trying to be subtle about it, but for a trained assassin she could be really obvious sometimes. The dresses she was looking at were the big ball gown ones, like something out of a fairy tale.
"The dresses in the Disney movie Cinderella are actually based off a 50's fashion designer than any historical fashion." She suddenly informed him, eyes still glued to the display.
Remembering how she was about the cakes earlier, Shizuo started walking toward the entrance and asked, "So, do you want to take a look?"
She stared at him with those blue eyes and nodded subduedly following him through the doors.
The store was a pretty good size, not too crowded, with for the most part just displays of the clothes you could buy. The rest were probably in a storage room. It was empty from what Shizuo could tell, which suited him just fine, salespeople were often pretty pushy.
Varona seemed to gravitate toward the wedding dresses, rightly so, he thought, as they were by far the most impressive. She seemed in a trance as she approached one in particular, a lacy, sparkly dress with an extremely large skirt. It had an embroidered sash around the waist and three-quarter lace sleeves, sparkling in the spot lights around it.
She reached out as if to touch it, but drew her hand back as if realizing where she was. Awe was evident on her face and Shizuo was in a similar state, just for a little different reason and a little better at hiding it.
"A bride that wears that one would have to be something to not be out done it." Shizuo joked, breaking the silence that had settled on them.
"I've never seen a dress like this in the flesh." Varona said, a far off look in her eyes, "Only in catalogs and online. This is- this is like-"
Before she could finish, a cheery voice called out to them. "Can I help you with anything?" A smiling sales clerk said, approaching them from the back of the store.
Varona still didn't seem to totally have the dress out of her head as she failed to subtly steal glances at it. She certainly wouldn't be outdone by that dress, he thought to himself, she wouldn't allow herself to be out done by anything. If anything it would probably just enhance her natural beauty. And she had a lot of that.
Making up his mind Shizuo asked Varona, "Do you want to try it on?"
She looked shocked, as if the the thought had never crossed her mind, but nodded nonetheless.
"This one?" The Clerk asked nodding toward the one Varona was infatuated with. She nodded again as the Clerk led her to the back presumably the dressing rooms, "What's your size, ma'am? Although this one is generally custom ordered so we don't have many sizes, But you look kind of like a model so something is bound to fit."
She continued to babble, with Varona answering when necessary. Shizuo was all but ignored, not that he really mind as the conversation was rather one sided.
"You know, usually you'd have to make an appointment, but as it is almost closing time and it's like a graveyard in here, I thought 'hey, why not!' Nothing wrong with a spontaneous fitting!" The clerk looked to Varona, expecting an answer.
"Yes, thank you."
When they reached the fitting rooms, the clerk went into one of the back rooms to find the right size while Shizuo and Varona waited in the lounge.
"Thank you for this." Varona said suddenly.
"What are you thanking me for?"Shizuo said, sitting down on one of the couches, "I just went in a store with you."
She shook her head and opened her mouth to respond, but at that moment the sales clerk returned.
"Okay! Found it!" She exclaimed, the doers swinging shut behind her, "it's a little heavier than I thought it would be." A peal of laughter came forth from her. Then seeing Shizuo, gasped in mock horror. "Oh no! Don't you know it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her dress before the wedding!"
"But we're not getting married," Shizuo explained, a little uncomfortable how people always assumed Varona and him were a couple. He knew it all started because of Izaya, that snake, spreading rumors to make Shizuo look weak, but this woman probably didn't know much about the underbelly of this city. Ever since Varona returned, they had been spending more time together, but they weren't together, not like that. Still, people assumed they were an item. It was kind of annoying.
The clerk still looked a little skeptical, so Varona said, "It's really fine if he's here." Moving towards the changing rooms.
Looking between the two of them, she finally said, realization dawning on her face, "Ahh, I get it. He's your gay best friend."
Varona gasped in shock and maybe a little bit of humor.
"That explains the clothes and dye job, not to mention his-" and before he could explain yet again or hear the rest of the sentence, the clerk spirited Varona away into the dressing rooms. Shizuo just hoped Varona would clean up this misunderstanding.
Not that there was anything wrong with being gay, he just didn't want Izaya to get control of anymore rumors. Things like that tend to snowball into something crazy. Although Varona wasn't one to tease, he was pretty sure if she did she wouldn't be malicious about it. She was too nice for that.
Shizuo waited for a while. How long, he wasn't really sure. It felt like more time than was, probably due to how bored he was. There was nothing to entertain him except wedding catalogs and fashion magazines, not exactly his taste in literature. Just as he was contemplating flipping through a magazine promising 'The Return of Black and White; How to Make a Statement' when the clerk came back.
He all but forgot she existed when Varona followed, making her grand entrance. She looked like some sort of princess, furthering the image with a veil that incorporated a tiara. Briefly he wondered how she would look with full hair and makeup, but dismissed the thought quickly; Varona always looked like a dream. Shizuo could almost imagine her walking down the aisle, it would probably be a western wedding since she would look a little out of place in a traditional one (although how would she look in a kimono? Shizuo made a mental note to figure that out later), there would be an ice sculpture and a giant cake. What kind should the cake be? He knew she liked sweets, but maybe his favorite, strawberry with cream cheese frosting, would be the one she hated. Oh well, they could go cake tasting later and find something awesome. On the wedding day, she would have to be careful not to get her dress dirty…
Wait. Where did that come from? When did he start thinking about her like that? Brushing past that, Shizuo figured he should probably vocalize some of his thoughts so she didn't take his starring the wrong way.
It turned out he took a little bit too long to respond to be considered normal. Varona's eyes stared imploringly to him, waiting for his response.
"It suits you." He said, eyes not leaving her for a second.
Turning her head to gaze at her reflection in the mirror, she froze. Transfixed by the vision that was her, she whispered, "Thank you."
The sales clerk laughed awkwardly, breaking the tension. "I feel like I'm intruding, but the store will be closing soon, so if there are any other dresses you want to try now would be the time."
"No," Varona answered, turning back toward the dressing rooms with a swish of her voluptuous skirts, "This will be fine."
"Okay, but if you want to buy this dress I'll have to warn you, it is on the top tier in terms of quality, brand and price." She pulled out a tablet and typed something on to it, "Also, it will take a few weeks to get here, so I hope the date isn't too soon."
"Oh, but I already told you, I'm not getting married." Varona reminded her.
"Oh! Yes, that." She giggled conspiratorially, then, attempting to hide her smile said, "I'll help you out of that dress and you and your friend can be on your way. By the way," She directed this next part to him, "I never did catch your name."
Why did he feel this was going to bite him in the butt?
"Shizuo, Heiwajima." Her eyes didn't flash with recognition, cementing his suspicion that she probably didn't have any shady connections. Still a little strange not to have ever heard of him; maybe she was new to this area?
"Well, glad to be able to help you." Shizuo nodded and Varona and the clerk disappeared into the dressing rooms again.
This wait didn't feel as long as the last one. This time he had a bit more to think about, mainly Varona in a wedding dress. Yep, much more to think about.
Varona came back out dressed in her regular clothes and he stood to follow her to the exit.
"I never thought I'd see myself in a wedding dress." Varona confessed after they had walked out of the store and down the street a ways.
Neither did I, Shizuo thought to himself, voicing instead, "You looked like a princess."
She eyed him, "All brides look like princesses, that's the nature of the dress."
After that exchange, they walked in silence for a while. Until Shizuo had to say something.
"Either way, I thought you looked nice, but then again you always look nice."
"Shizuo-senpai is too sweet." She said in an endearing tone. He couldn't tell if she was teasing him or not, but it still made his chest grow very warm.
Watching her carefully out of the corner of his eye, Shizuo started thinking again. Sure his bartender uniform was his signature look, but right now he was imagining a totally different set of clothes. Clothes that would match a certain dress worn by a certain woman.