It's too painful to carry on her dreams... Even though it feels like she's been at it for sometime now...

She had good dreams and it only made her feel sick when she realized they were good. She feels like clearing the air with him will probably make her feel so much better regardless if he acts negative about her honesty.

She tries building courage inside of herself as she exits his room. She feels stiff as a board once she makes it to the hallway. She can hear him in the kitchen like he always is. She closes her eyes tightly and then walks into the living room. Opening her eyes, she sees him with some boxes. He makes eye contact with her but then carries on with what he was doing.

She felt just a little distance from that gesture but she manages to walk towards the counter and sit down. Rio notices how dark it is outside... She's been asleep for a while...

She opens her mouth to say something when she notices what was inside one of the boxes. It was a bottle of alcohol. Vodka perhaps...? How did he get this? Where did he gets this?

"Why do you have this here...?" She asks without thinking.

He takes his time to answer. He doesn't look at her not even once. It was like he just wanted to focus on one thing...

She looks back down at the bottle and he finally says, "it's just a drink. I thought maybe it was about time I ask for one."

"I didn't take you for a drinker..." She says.

In that moment he locks eyes with her. His smile was so dark. It was so open to her that something was wrong... But it made her too scared to ask.

She uncomfortably shifts her eyes towards the boxes again and then back at him. He notices her small struggle with what to say... And decides to help her out.

"You want some?" He asks.

She's startled by his offer. She sees him reach for the bottle and waits for her answer. Rio has never really touched alcohol... This makes her feel uneasy...

"I... I'm sort of too young to.."

"Really? You're going to tell me an 18 year old like yourself has never once wanted to try just a little bit?"

Rio saw no desire for it when everything in the world was normal. Suddenly... When everything turned to kill or be killed, it was like she needed something to keep her mind off of things. She thought about what would of given her that affect... Even for a little while...

She smiles and says," Just... A little bit won't hurt, right?"

She walks towards the sofa and sits down trying to think of a way to tell him about what she had on her mind the whole time she slept. Maybe in a moment where it seems like he's completely zoned out. Maybe that will work...

He brings small shot glasses with him and sets them on the table. He serves her some first and then fills his up slightly.

Rio begins to feel nervous. Maybe this isn't the best idea... What if she can't, for the life of her, hold her liquor?

"It just takes one gulp." He says and swallows the alcohol down like it's water. She stays frozen thinking of a way to drink her portion. "Man... Vodka was never my favorite. Though... It does has this bitter taste so I can't say I hate it."

She closes her eyes and takes a small sip to just try it out. Right off the bat she feels it in her nose and tongue. It stings just a little and the taste is unbearable. She wouldn't exactly call it a bitter taste. She swallows it and even then her throat still felt it. She clears her thoughts and sees she still has a lot more to drink.

"You don't like it?" He asks. "I can't blame you."

"It's... Alright..." She says trying to convince herself it wasn't that bad. She goes to take another sip when he calls her name quietly.

She looks over at him as he says, "how about we make things interesting?"

Rio doesn't follow and asks him what he means.

"Have you ever played this one game called 'I've never?'"

Rio suddenly got a bad feeling about what brought this on... But she couldn't care less at that very moment... He... Wants her to know more about him...? This is something she has been wanting...!

She lowers the glass away from her face and says, "I've played it a lot when I was out in the forest with my group. No one really took it seriously though..." She quietly laughs at the memory on the suggestions her last group would lay out for the game. You can so tell which stories were lies and it was funny to see people actually put down their fingers to mess with everyone.

"Only... You played it with the usual five or ten fingers, right?"

Rio nods and waits for him to continue explaining. He gets up from the sofa and sits down on the floor next to his small coffee table. He makes himself comfortable and then signals for her to sit down on the floor too. She presses her lips together and does what she is told. She places her drink on the table and notices him serving himself some more.

"So the drinking version of this is simple. You say "never have I ever", or "I've never" for short, and then say a statement of some kind. The usual thing comes next that when you did the action at some point in your life, instead of putting a finger down, you take a drink."

Rio listens more and more and it makes her worried. She doesn't understand why her gut feeling is telling her that this just isn't a good idea...

Perhaps it's just because she knows she'll be the one getting tipsy much faster than he will. This isn't a fair fight.

"I'll start if you want me to." He says.

Rio holds her urge to stop this from going further and nods.

He thinks for a while and then finally he says, " I've never gotten anything lower than a C on any of my tests back in high school."

Rio waits a bit, trying hard to remember, and she gives him a smile as she drinks some of the vodka to the best of her ability.

"Ah." He says as he points at her. "I knew it."

"You got lucky this time." She says and realizes it's her turn. She thinks hard, trying to think of something good, and finally got one that is subtle. " I have never drank alcohol until now."

He gives her a cheeky grin and drinks. "I didn't do it often back then." He says. "But sometimes it was necessary."

"You're the type to drink your problems away?" She's asks.

He leans back on the sofa and looks at her. "I suppose you can say that."

She didn't feel like he meant it. He's more of a mystery now than ever. When she feels like she knows him somewhat, he turns around and changes entirely. He's very odd.

"I've never broken my ankle from tripping on a plug to a lamp before."

Rio drinks a little and kicks him lightly under the table. "You should try it sometime. It's real fun."

Izaya pours more to his drink and she starts thinking again.

"I... Have never..." She catches herself. She was about to say she has never kissed anyone before... But she has... And he's sitting right in front of her. She looks up at him and softens her shoulders. To this moment, she still has no idea why he did that. It makes her sad thinking about how she was so scared to the point of wanting to leave...

Though, she wasn't exactly scared of him... She was scared of what she would do if she ever caught feelings for him.

"Rio?"

She stiffens her shoulders again and closes her eyes, "I-I have never... Loved someone romantically before..."

It was quiet suddenly.

She opens her eyes and he stays where he is. He doesn't lean in to take a drink. She sinks low seeing him this way. Just the idea that he never loved anyone...

"You... Never-"

"You'll have to take the drink since I didn't drink to your statement." He says, interrupting her.

Rio frowns and stands on her knees. "Y-you're changing the game rules!"

"Actually, that's a real rule. Sorry for not telling you about it earlier but I'm telling you now so isn't that what matters?"

She heavily breathes as she stares down at him... And she finally sits down to take another drink from the disgusting beverage.

"I've never killed a living person before."

The brunette hesitates as she barely finished drinking for the last statement. She looks at him knowing that that is a personal statement. It's how the game is played but... Doesn't he think that's going too far?

At this point, her smile is officially wiped off and he studies her as she stares back at him. She raises the glass to her face giving him a soft glare and drinks whatever is left of the whole glass. He cracks a small smile and then he drinks with her. Rio slowly widens her eyes.

He puts the glass away from his mouth and quietly says, "...I guess we're both not on the nice list this year..." He then takes the bottle as she stares at him and pours more for her, "you've been the one taking more drinks out of both of us. How about you give details?"

Rio feels her stomach turn as he said that. "No thank you." She feels her face burn up with rage. How insensitive of him!

"I'll tell you if you want to know-"

"Not even a little." She says in a serious tone.

He stops fiddling with her emotions as he waits for her statement. Rio didn't want to continue the game if he's going to act this way. She has noticed his cocky change in attitude. It's very annoying.

But... In the end... She has to do what he says. She doesn't have a choice.

She thinks deep and just says whatever came to her mind.

"I..., and I'm so glad for this..., have never been in that situation where I have to save someone who doesn't seem like they'll make it." Rio says. She has only witnessed deaths in front of her and amongst other things... But she really is glad she never had to do that.

Izaya rubs his glass with his thumb. Rio suddenly hiccups and her face becomes more red.

He could just say he has never seen that happen just to get her to drink more... But in the end... He took the drink. Rio freezes and looks at his glass and then at him. "I...I'm so sorry..." She notices that he probably does that a lot since he's alway out of the walls helping people. How can she have forgotten that?!

"It's okay. It would of been worse if I had known her longer, I guess."

Rio doesn't like the way Izaya talks about people most of the time. He never talks about the other four that came first before her. Though, she already feels like he didn't really care much about them at all...

He sits back and relaxes his muscles. She was still thinking of the four and wondering if they still talk to him like she had hoped when she almost ran away from here. That is... If they're still alive here...

He calls her by her name and she gives him her full attention as he blurts out, "Did you really forget about the kiss that fast?"

Rio slowly stiffens herself after he said that so casually. She trembles at her legs trying to think of what to say. She then angrily says out loud, "Wh-what do you mean? You told me to get over it. I'm just doing you a favor!"

He sees her face become redder and she tries hiding it with her hair. Izaya only brought it up because she made him remember about if after stating that for the game. He notices that she's completely in the dark. He's making her confused by the second.

He sighs and says, "You're right. I'm sorry for getting you fluster-"

"I am not flustered!"

Izaya shuts his mouth and puts up his hands to his chest level as to say 'take it easy.'

She closes her eyes tight trying to calm herself down. She hasn't showed this side to anyone before. Now the alcohol is spilling all her secrets.

"What I meant to say was..." He starts "the reason I bring it up is because I feel like you have the right to know what was going through my mind when I did it. It took me time to realize this."

Rio shakes her head to disagree. She does not want to know. He could of told her before but he didn't. She wants to forget it like he had asked her to do.

He thinks for a while and then puts a hand out on the table to get her to listen to him. "I want you to know. It was for a legitimate reason that I can't really put my finger on. Will you help me?"

Rio freezes not knowing what to say.

Perhaps if they talk about this, she can tell him easily about what she had planned to do and tell him they're pretty much even now.

She presses her lips together and nods.

He smiles and sits back on the sofa. Rio waits for him as she takes the vodka bottle in her hand and pours him some more.

"It happened yesterday." He says. The seriousness of his tone gave Rio shivers. "I was distracted the whole day... I was out of the walls scouting when I hear someone yelling. That guy who helped me get you out of the woods was there with me but I ran off first... I guess that was my first mistake..."

Rio's hands start to clam up. She wanted to stop him from talking... Perhaps it hurts him a little to remember but she can never tell with him. She's just not good at reading people like she thought she was...

"I ran to the nearest river" he continues, "and saw her there yelling for my help. I go to her telling her everything was going to be okay like I knew everything."

He pauses and then he shifts where he sits. He thinks about going on... But he's come this far already...

"She was yelling too loud..." He says.

Rio swallows and stays completely still. "She was being followed by this heard of biters and my job was to take her out of the river because I thought she was stuck..." He finally looks up at Rio for a moment. "She was bit on both legs. She really thought she was still able to walk. I didn't know what to do... I just stayed there." He waited for a moment. Rio didn't want to stop hearing his story anymore. "My soldier friend helped me out of the situation, but we got cornered in no time. He yelled at me to leave her and... I was still stuck on what to do. I wanted to get out of there with everyone alive even if it meant ending her life myself... But then it happened... They took her away from me and I tried reaching for her." He slowly makes a sad smile. "But then he shot her before I can get to her.. And I was taken away from there."

Rio waits for more but realizes that was it. She had no idea he witnessed that all in one day. She was going to leave the next day. She was going to leave him.

She shakes at her hands. Now she does not want him to know. She doesn't want him to ever find out.

"You know it's funny... I felt like it was a sign." He says. Rio shivers again. She didn't notice she is holding her breath. "I felt like something was going to happen eventually to you... But I never really knew how or in what way." Rio is transfixed in his stare. She can't look away. "I suppose... You can call it in a way that I was alert on losing you."

. . .

She shifts and stands up only to have her head spin from the alcohol and she sits back down...

So he kissed her because he thought something might of happened to her? Does he really care about her that much?

"You were scared of losing me?" She asked without thinking.

"That's what I'm not sure of. I could of had someone else in my mind."

"But you didn't, did you?" She catches herself asking too much questions and raises her hands to his face. "D-don't answer that."

He smiles and sits up to place his elbows on the table. She backs up and sits on the floor again. They keep the room silent. They don't think of something to say. He's thinking about how if it really was a good idea to tell her... And her thoughts are clouded with thoughts about him. She becomes red and places her hands on her face. She didn't want to admit to it, but he has made his way into her. Maybe it's just the alcohol making her think this way.

"I want to continue the game since it's my turn." He states. Rio nods her head and listens to him still hiding away in her hands.

Izaya looks up at her. She has had enough to drink... She looks so light and completely away from the planet. She looks troubled.

He places his drink on the left and leans closer to her over the table. She takes her hands away from her face and sees his approach. She gasps lowly and tries backing up but he grabs onto her wrist very lightly as to say 'don't go'. He pulls her in and she smells his vodka filled breath. She felt her insides go heavy and her eyes close tightly. She involuntarily touches his sleeve and tugs at it 'I won't.'.

He starts his next statement as if he didn't even have to think of it.

"I've never tried betraying someone who helped me out before."

Hello! It's emilyartstudios just wondering if there's any prompts that my readers especially love that I can make for Izaya and Rio? I feel like everytime I start something for them, it winds up being so bland. I need maybe enthusiasm from someone that really wants this AU or that small moment that would go great because it's actually in character or something.

let me know and I'll pick the ones that I can actually write about since I'm so not 100% the best at this most of the time lolol

again, thank you so much for reading and I hope to write for my other story as well (art block is so bad to it honestly)