Chapter 3: Virgin wave

The bass inside the oval lounge surged for a moment of peak ecstasy on the floor above. It was hardly heard, but caused Izaya's glass of water to form ripples nonetheless.

A quick gaze was spared into the newly found stranger's directions as Izaya pierced the piece of lemon in his drink with his straw.

European. Or American? Izaya wasn't too sure what he was looking at.

The tall well defined build served as indications for both, but his Japanese had been top notch, or rather, too good to not be a local.

He was exceedingly good looking and the blond hair only accentuated a certain air of sophistication.

Was it dyed or natural?

Eyes of warm amber settled on Izaya paired with the slightest hint of dissatisfaction.

Spotting the emerald clips on each of this man's black sleeves and the fact that he stood behind the counter revealed pretty quickly that he had been hired as the new bartender.

Right.

The last one quite roughly a week ago, didn't he?

Releasing the piece of lemon from its gruesome fate, Izaya dropped it on the napkin next to his glass.

God damn this headache was going to be the end of him.

"What does it mean to you?" the stranger asked with not much bite to his words and took a sip of his drink.

His attitude held a certain kind of hostility, yet it seemed he wasn't out to start a fight.

It was a mixture Shizuo didn't know how to judge. Considering the way he had chased away the young lady he had expected him to be arrogant and self-centered but somehow none of these traits fit the bill.

Eyes of a brown that had at some point kissed a cherry reflected in the golden light of the bar. Shizuo couldn't tell in the dimly lit area of the lounge but he would have almost said they appeared to be red.

Pale skin faded into delicate shoulders and an even leaner body.

Shizuo admitted that he looked gorgeous. He was obviously a guy that rarely took a no for an answer with even less encounters of such.

Yet, despite the woman's reaction that had obviously gone against his normal interactions, this stranger had remained exceedingly calm.

Feeling his own disposition shrink by the second Shizuo realized he might have been in the wrong for trying to defend the girl.

His question had been valid, but so was the stranger's answer.

Nothing.

That's what this stranger's interaction meant to him.

Because at the end of the day it didn't matter who he served at this bar.

Reaching up, Shizuo pulled a fresh cocktail glass from the row above.

"Want a cocktail?" he asked with an unintended hint of annoyance in his voice.

He hadn't quite intended to sound rude, but hadn't especially tried to show a smiling face either.

His guest seemed to notice as he rose a brow in mild rejection.

"...if it tastes like your attitude then no thank you," he snorted pointing out Shizuo's mistake.

Hesitation caused Shizuo's hands to still for a moment as he internally sighed.

Right.

He had to get serious.

There was a reason he was here after all.

A smile wasn't something he was going to flash around the entire night like Evelyn did, but he knew how to stay professionally polite.

"Sorry it's my first day in a while. How would you phrase it?"

Izaya had expected a lot, really, but a bartender asking how to bartend had certainly not been part of his array of options.

"What? Are you trying to get tips for your job from a guest?"

It appeared Shizuo had amused his guest. A faint, albeit mischievous smile rested in his eyes paired with a certain kind of danger.

Almost like a cat watching a bird at the open window waiting for a chance to strike.

"You look like you spend a lot of time in clubs so why not. I bet you saw more bartenders than this location ever will," Shizuo argued and the cat's eyes glinted.

"Not half wrong," Izaya hummed. Both elbows pulled up to rest on the counter as he set his chin in his palms. "Slide one over."

Confusion reflected in the bartender's expression.

"What?"

Nodding towards the wall of liquors behind Shizuo's back, Izaya clarified.

"A cocktail. The best bartenders are those who remain quiet and serve before the guest even gets to announce his wish."

Izaya could spot pretty much every alcohol in existence on the generous shelves. High quality stuff too.

He had seen Cyle purchase one or two bottles for clients and the prices were as elevated as their tastes.

The bartender seemed hardly amused by his request and made zero advances to serve Izaya as wished.

"How would I know what you like to drink?"

A fair question. But at this point this little conversation had long transformed into a game on Izaya's part. A game only he could win.

"Guess," he ordered with a shrug of his shoulders and a sweetly dangerous smile on his lips.

Shizuo knew a trap when it was laid out as carefully as this on sight.

Walking away and asking Evelyn to take over this guest was one of many options he could take.

Having served a few drinks to the gentleman on the other side of the room she had apparently gotten stuck. Having taken a seat she was joining the conversation with quick smiles and ease. Shizuo's body had tensed for a second when he noticed earlier, but it seemed she was okay with the treatment and not being held hostage by words holding unspoken threats.

Glancing at his guest, Shizuo frowned.

It would need just one call to get her to come over.

But he refused to give up as quickly as that.

Because this game had turned into a challenge inside his head as much as it had for this guy.

And he wanted to win.

The list of cocktails being served at this bar was longer than the queue outside and Shizuo knew it by heart.

A couple tonics came to mind just from the way he judged this person's character. He wasn't the type to endulge in sweet parfaits or drinks associated with a similar taste he suspected. Cream liqueur, caramel syrup and chocolate of all kinds were immediately scrapped from the list in Shizuo's mind.

How about coffee?

The white Russian Evelyn served to one of their guests earlier this evening came to mind, but somehow even that one struck Shizuo as wrong.

Besides, there were a million ways to drink coffee, guessing a cocktail from their card was going to be easy compared to figuring out the way this man drank his daily dose of caffeine.

A cheshire smile laid on his customer's lips as he drank his water with not a single care in the world.

Confidence radiated from his eyes and Shizuo paused in his thoughts.

He seemed overall bored. Bored by the people around here. By the atmosphere. Even the dangers and thrill of being surrounded by highly professional drug dealers seemed to pearl off his presence like droplets of water on a glass surface.

Meaning he was here a lot.

Eyes narrowing for a second Shizuo understood he was being played and his guest seemed to pick up on his realization as his eyes glinted.

He had been here a million times already. He even had his favorite spot reserved for all people that knew of his presence.

Meaning he knew every drink by heart and had probably had well enough of each of them.

Shizuo's lips formed the slightest smile at the way he had been played so efficiently. But he would not lose.

Leaving the cocktail glass behind, Shizuo quickly circled to the fridge.

A chilled glass was pulled from the back along with cream, crushed ice, blueberry syrup and coconut milk.

Filling the glass with ice first, Shizuo quickly reached for the shaker. It wasn't hard, really. A no brainer drink, simple and pretty.

Before Izaya knew it the new bartender returned to his seat and his final beverage was served before his eyes.

"Here."

Looking at the drink served, Izaya raised a brow before turning the glass left and right. Blue and white mixed in a graceful spiral, dipping aquamarine at the bottom and covered by white on top.

The multiple spades sunken inside the glass added to the charme of its conical shape and a piece of pineapple, cut to a diamond stuck to the side of this pretty well known drink.

The bartender lost.

Or so Izaya would have liked to think, but something about the brimming confidence he radiated caused him to hesitate.

"What's that?" he asked, but the bartender merely shrugged.

"You looked like none of the drinks on the card would satisfy you so I made you a personal favorite."

A personal favorite?

Izaya lifted an eyebrow as he looked at his drink once more. The bartender made it sound as if he had served him a novelty.

But no matter how he looked at it, this was a regular blue Curacao, no?

The look, the smell, everything about it seemed as ordinary as it could get.

Not losing eye contact once Izaya took a sip.

And Shizuo smiled.

He hadn't failed to notice how his guest wavered in his unshakable confidence. Even if he declined the drink, his reaction was already a win in Shizuo's book.

"And?" he asked the second his guest had taken a sip.

Surprise lingered in his guest's eyes. Grasping the glass with both hands he full on blinked three times in a row.

And then it came. At first it was just a light shaking of shoulders. A hand covering his lips there a few chuckles here, but after a minute he was full on laughing.

Pulling the drink closer Izaya took another approving sip of his drink, confirming what he had noticed earlier and his amusement only tripled.

This guy, really-

"It's strikingly good," he answered truthfully, and snorted shortly before lifting an eyebrow. "But, did you forget the alcohol?"

Embarrassment, a quick apology and rushed words was what he expected from the bartender. Crushing confidence certainly was no part of that.

"It's my own creation and I hate alcohol so no that was on purpose."

A disbelieving snort laid on Izaya's lips and he shook his head slowly before taking another sip.

"Name?"

It was good.

"I call it virgin wave."

Tasted similar to a blue curacao, but fresher, more livid and sweet in just the right way. The bartender called it his own creation- what did he add to achieve the taste? Honey, perhaps?

A kind of caramell?

Stirring the cream on top, Izaya pulled out a spoon hidden beneath the top layer and swallowed the delicious treat.

His headache appeared to be gone. Whether the laughter or the ice in the cocktail had achieved such a result was unclear but he was grateful as it was.

Feeling yet another uncontrollable smirk draw upon his expression, Izaya shook his head.

"You are the first bartender to serve me a drink without alcohol."

Curiosity but not a shred of fear laid in the bartender's eyes as he hummed.

"Does that mean I failed?"

Saying yes would have been easy. There was no objectivity in matter of tastes and winning his little game would have been as easy as retaking his favorite spot inside this lounge.

But somehow Izaya didn't feel like winning today.

Downing the rest of his drink he finished the treat he had been served with grace before putting it back on the counter.

"Not necessarily."

Loud beats traversed the walls and for a second quick movement's busied the dancefloor as a few guests rose to leave.

Cyle was one of them. Spotting the guy from the corner of his eyes the man quickly nodded.

"Are you coming?"

And Izaya wasn't the only one who had seen the guy.

Upon entry Evelyn had warned Shizuo about a certain type of guests visiting their establishment. It had not occurred to Shizuo even once that his new guest was part of them.

Quick and smooth his customer slipped from his seat. A single glance was cast towards Shizuo and with a playful glint he grinned, "See you tomorrow, new guy."

Curiosity and surprise lingered in Shizuo's eyes as he watched the guy leave as quickly as he had come.

The glass still stood at the counter and he quickly cleared it away.

Who was that?

He noticed with the slightest hint of regret that he had failed to catch his name.

A soft groan caught Shizuo's attention next as Evelyn finally returned behind the counter.

"Sorry, that took me a while. I hope it was no trouble," she apologized quickly and Shizuo gave an assuring smile.

"No worries, everything is fine." Delighted and very much pleased, his senior smiled and turned to the cutting board. Scraps of pineapple rested on top and before long the woman had counted two and two together.

"He ordered a cocktail?" she asked with more astonishment than needed and it took Shizuo a second to realize she was actually talking about his special guest.

"Is that uncommon?" he found himself asking and Evelyn chuckled with newfound curiosity.

"Very, in all these years I have not seen him take a sip of alcohol. I thought he was abstinent or something."

Hell, yes.

It was probably childish to feel this much joy from having outwitted his counterpart, but Shizuo couldn't quite get around the fact that he had just hit the mark dead on with his idea.

It certainly elevated his mood and motivation to continue serving drinks for the next few hours.

Were all guests here like this? The last time he had been around barely anyone was able to hold a decent conversation.

Noticing his lack of knowledge, Shizuo turned to face his senior.

"Who is he?" Judging from the way both the staff of this establishment as well as the drug dealers present were enamored by applications of emerald he guessed it was some kind of dress code reserved for acquaintances of the club's owner only.

But instead of a name he received a warning sight. A smile, dipping into a very healthy dose of respect showed on Evelyn's face as she shook her head slowly.

"It's better if we don't know." It was advice. A gentle hint that it was safer for both of them to not get involved with any of the people visiting this area.

She had already warned Shizuo before. And despite the slight setback he appreciated her care.

"Ah, about the salary-" she suddenly said, clapping her hands shortly in what seemed to be an apology for forgetting to ask.

"I don't need one."

Shizuo had always been the type to talk before thinking, and right now he had done the same, causing a very perplexed expression to show on Evelyn's face.

Confusion opened her lips, then closed them again as she blinked.

"... you are joking right?"

Quickly correcting his mistake, Shizuo nodded, "I am. What do you need?"

His confirmation only seemed to throw her off even more.
"You are… quite funny," she chuckled, and shook her head, as if to rid herself of the fuzzy mess in her head. "The bank data please."

And Shizuo smiled.

So this was it, his first day at his old job.

"Sure thing, I will get it by tomorrow."

to be continued~