Shizuo grimaced.
"Is that…is that any good…?"
Izaya burst out laughing.
"Your face, oh Shizu-chan, if you could see it, too funny. Sorry to disappoint you, it's just dim-sum. Tasty buns."
"Oh, right. Sounds good."
Izaya set the low table and prepared a short pot of steaming water.
"We're drinking tea…?"
"Traditionally this food is eaten with tea so I got a proper infusion for the occasion."
"'Traditionally'? Strange, you caring about such things."
They sat around the table, Izaya distributing the steamed buns between the two of them.
"Why not?"
"You're so modern."
"Heh, true. But as you know I give a lot of thought to what I eat and only care for properly made food with the best ingredients. So I value time stamped flavor combinations and formulas. Culinary is a process of selecting what flavors do work together and how to arrange them as perfectly as possible. It follows that the generations that have worked to hone these flavors should have picked up a few things along the way. You can think of it in evolutionary terms if you will. The dishes that have been transmitted from generation to generation must have something going for them. Except natto, that remains a mystery to me."
Shizuo laughed and took a sip of dark almost scentless tea.
"Natto, huh…yeah, just the smell alone is a bit…bad."
"Of course, this is not to say that I am not open to new developments in cuisine but I prefer to put my trust in the food that has already proved its worth."
"This one is stuffed with veggies."
Shizuo had just bitten into a bun.
"And you don't like vegetables?"
"Didn't know they could be this tasty."
"The palate, like so many things, can be educated."
A comparison to sex occurred very naturally to Izaya and he kept it to himself deliberately. It was a subject he simply did not want to breach with Shizuo for many reasons.
"I got this idea that Chinese food is greasy but this is very good."
"Unfortunately what is readily available from abroad tends to be a minimum common denominator of dubious quality. You should see what passes for Japanese food overseas."
"You know so much about food but you're so skinny."
"That is because I have an amazing metabolism. What can I say, I'm blessed in many ways. Also, I run for my life all the time so I get plenty of exercise."
Izaya munched a beef filled bun that he held with both hands. Shizuo found it cute.
"And what do you think of cheese sushi?"
Izaya wiped his lips on the napkin and adopted a most solemn demeanor.
"I believe that it is a crime against humanity on par with the holocaust."
"That bad….?"
"Yes. That bad."
"I've tried it and it was real weird."
"Some innovations in gourmet culinary are too bizarre. Such as using liquid nitrogen, molecular gastronomy and deconstructed food."
"Nitrogen? People cook with that?"
"I wouldn't but it is all the rage in some circles. But I prefer food that is done in a more instinctive way, so to speak."
"But no chicken feet?"
Shizuo smiled as if to join Izaya in his harmless mischievous way.
"You never know. Perhaps chicken feet are so amazing that once we try it we will want nothing else."

Later Shizuo insisted in doing the dishes. Izaya lounged on the sofa.
"I had something of an argument…with Mairu."
Shizuo blinked in surprise. He got the impression that the siblings had patched up things.
"Really?"
"Somewhat. I can't agree with her being out in the streets this late at night. This is Tokyo, it is dangerous for anyone and doubly so for teenage girls. But we reached an agreement."
"I'm glad."
"Even arguing is better than a kind of stale silence."
Shizuo joined him on the sofa, there was plenty of space so Izaya could remain lying on his back, eyes closed and very much at ease. The eyepatch made him look disarmingly fragile.
"I guess that at times talking things through is needed."
"Aye, so it is."
"Izaya?"
"Hmm?"
"Nothing."
Shizuo knew that he had something to say, something of vital importance but the words failed him. And that because Shizuo could not envision the shape of what he wanted to convey. It remained within as a vague thing that he could not properly grasp let alone communicate.
"Ah, I'm too tired."
Shizuo made as if to carry him to bed but brought himself to a full stop just in time.