{Shizuo's POV}

I awoke with a snarl.

Dammit, this room again! So that hadn't been a dream?

Izaya was sprawled out on the floor a short distance from me. I looked around, almost instantly seeing the teenager crouched defensively in the corner. Our gazes locked, not in challenge, but wariness.

This kid... He was the 'specimen' these Omega bastards had made for us...?

I could still recognize him as the slender body that Izaya and I had chosen, but it was harder now. He wore the same kind of white clothes as Izaya and I. His hair was similar to mine in length, dark brown with natural black highlights. His skin was fair. His eyes were two different colors, the right one being a color like mine and the left looking like Izaya's.

"Hey..." I murmured, trying to fill the silence. He blinked, shifting a little.

Izaya groaned suddenly, rolling so he was facing me. The movement startled the boy, making him growl and tense up. Izaya opened his eyes, blinking a few times before sitting up. "Shizu-chan..."

"Don't call me that!" I spat furiously.

"So that wasn't a dream...?" the louse sighed dejectedly. As if remembering something, he looked around. As his gaze landed on the boy in the corner, he fell utterly silent, staying still.

All of us were quiet, not quite sure how to react to the other party. The boy slowly relaxed, his body visibly less tense, but his gaze remained wary, flickering between the two of us.

How the hell were we supposed to do this...?

"Do you have a name?" Izaya ventured softly. I wanted to hit myself for not thinking of that first.

"No. I think you're supposed to give me one." came the equally soft reply. His voice was... different. Like some sort of combination between my own and Izaya's, but slightly higher-pitched.

"Great, something to kill each other over." I muttered.

"If you don't like it that much, then don't help!" Izaya snapped. I snarled at him, shifting into a position that would make it easier to beat him. Izaya ignored me, turning back to the boy, crossing his legs as he did so. "Do you know of any names you might like to have?"

Damn, since when was the louse this thoughtful towards the feelings of others?!

"Nothing like either of yours, so it's original. Not anything stupid, either. Something with meaning behind it." the kid replied shortly.

"Any ideas, Shizu-chan?"

"Call me that again and I'll beat your brains in." I warned, wishing I had a cigarette. I sighed, tilting my head back to stare at the bright lights on the ceiling. "Something to do with perfection. I don't fucking know! I wasn't able to think up a name for a goldfish, you think I can think up one for a person?!"

"You couldn't come up with Bubbles or Goldie?" Izaya asked in amazement.

"Too stereotypical." I huffed, my cheeks burning a little, much to Izaya's amusement.

"Something perfect, huh...?" Izaya said thoughtfully, tapping his fingers against his chin. The kid tilted his head to the side. "How about Eidolon?"

"Huh?" I said in confusion.

"Eidolon. It has two literal meanings, but is used for many things. The two literal meanings are, one, a specter or phantom, and two, an idealized person or thing." the kid replied, nodding slowly.

"So, does Eidolon work for you?" Izaya smiled.

"... Yeah, I guess so. It'll do."

I huffed, turning away from Izaya.

"We won't hurt you. You can come out of the corner. I know, why don't you come sit over here?" Izaya got on his hands and knees, reaching out to pat the floor several feet away from and roughly between the two of us. Eidolon eyed us warily for a moment longer, then got smoothly to his feet. Coming to the spot indicated by Izaya, he crouched down into the same defensive position. "There, see? Now it's easier to talk to each other."

"Y'know what? I'm gonna leave it all to you, wake me when we can go home." I muttered, laying back down and rolling onto my side.

"Shizu-chan, get up." Izaya ordered, thwapping me on the shoulder.

"Last warning, louse...!" I growled, rolling over to face him, propping myself up on one arm.

"I take it you two don't get along well..." Eidolon murmured, tossing his head so that his bangs weren't in his eyes.

"That's right. This flea's made my life nothing but hell since high school. The only reason I haven't taken advantage of being locked in this room to kill him is that I need him to get me out at the moment." I hissed, pushing myself up. I gave Izaya a shove while I was at it. He hissed back, kicking me in the side. Eidolon cleared his throat before we could take it any further, reminding us of the current situation.

Back in our quiet triangle, we exchanged looks and drummed our fingers against our legs or the floor.

After who-knows-how-long, Eidolon looked up and asked, "How would you define perfect?"

"Uh-mm!" Izaya and I said at the same time. I crossed my arms over my chest, blowing air out of my cheeks. Izaya ran his hand through his hair, not looking at Eidolon.

"You don't know." Eidolon concluded.

"So we'll come up with it now." I huffed. "Considerate for others."

Cough-cough, not Izaya, cough-cough.

"Able to take care of themselves. Knowledgeable about many things, but not all-knowing." Izaya added.

"Selfless, caring, healthy, physically fit, creative." I listed.

"Since when did it become a competition, Shizu-chaaan?" Izaya smirked.

I roared furiously, pouncing on him. Eidolon got up and retreated back to his corner as Izaya and I began rolling around the floor, tearing at each other.

OOOOooooOOOOooooOOOO

{3rd Person POV}

The woman Izaya had nicknamed 'Rabbit' shook her head, clicking her tongue. "Hopeless. We may as well dispose of them this instant and send the subject to Lab Twelve." she muttered, scribbling a note on her clipboard.

"The qualities they were listing for the perfect person were good, though." piped up a man wearing a fox mask. His job was to stay and watch the room during his shift. "Considerate for others, able to take care of themselves, knowledgeable but not all-knowing, selfless, caring, healthy, physically fit and creative. We should keep these for future references."

Rabbit tapped her pen against her mask, short, quick taps of plastic against porcelain. With a curt nod, she ordered, "Keep recordings of any other ideas they have. As useless as they seem so far, they may prove the best option."

The door opened, making Rabbit snarl as she whipped around. However, she instantly fell silent, bowing her head and scribbling notes onto her clipboard.

The person standing in the door was very different from the rest of the Omega Science workers. For one thing, they were much smaller, lithe and delicate. They wore black leather with gold embellishments. Their mask, compared to the others, was far more original, more of a masquerade ball mask than the festive masks the workers wore. A black rabbit mask with gold decorations, covering only their upper face. Fierce golden eyes blinked coldly before the owner slipped back out of the room, the door shutting silently behind them.