Chapter 12: Oyster's shell
Izaya's lips involuntarily curled into a grin.
Nothing but the comforting silence of vibrant colors of beige and gold doused the club into quite the alluring setting.
He had been talking almost nonstop the past few hours and the exhaustion of having to weigh each of those words in proper judgment had been quite draining. Logically speaking Izaya should be feeling anything but willing to converse right now.
And yet here he was.
The warmth of the cup holding his precious coffee sept through the thin rim and Izaya glanced forth from curious lashes as he took another sip.
The bartender was being flirty.
He could tell from his expression, his tone, his words and most importantly the captivating gaze locked onto him.
Izaya was aware of it, and yet not repulsed.
"Strong. Both in will and body," he started answering the bartender's question and let his chin rest upon his wrist as he met his gaze. Izaya usually wasn't the type to share his readings as easily as this, but somehow right now he felt putting out anything but his honest uptakes was going to pose offense. "I suspect stubborn too when it comes to the right things. You get what you want no matter the consequences and you don't care what people think about you doing so," he concluded quickly and the bartender's lips twitched into flattered approval. Izaya didn't need confirmation of his words to know that they were true. He had gotten acquainted with too many people in his life to draw anything but the right conclusions when it came to their character. And yet right now he felt a hint of pride by the way the bartender's eyes agreed.
The music coming from above started to fade as even the last of the workers were finally finishing their shifts and Izaya paused for a second before carefully directing his gaze towards the blond.
"You haven't asked my name once, meaning you are perceptive enough to realize what's going on down here without needing someone to tell you but bold enough to ignore the rules," he surmised further, and somehow the tension in the room only increased with his words.
A friction of thrill and fun seemed to build between the two as Izaya found himself quite lost in the bartender's expression.
He had no business earning the bartender's approval and yet felt the urge to impress him.
And he did.
"Not bad." The smile the bartender was wearing gave away just how accurate his guess had been and left Izaya more than satisfied.
"Your turn," Izaya announced while taking a sip of this diminishing coffee as the curiosity gnawing on his mind grew stronger with each passing second.
Shizuo snorted. "I'm not as good at reading people as you are."
"False modesty doesn't suit you."
Fast.
That reply came as quick as lightning and caused Shizuo to blink. He had expected a lot, but not this degree of perception. Within seconds it was as clear as daylight, that his guest was not going to take a simple excuse as an answer and somehow that caused the amount of excitement to be felt, to double.
Crossing his arms Shizuo let his back rest against the back of the bar in a more relaxed fashion.
"You are smart," he started pointing out the most obvious traits first, "Not only in picking up people's motives but also in a more formal sense. Witty too. Excellent in sarcasm." An approving nod affirmed Shizuo's words as his guest's lips formed a smile against the cup. It caused Shizuo's own expression to mimic and increased his confidence of bold guesses. "You dislike shows of status and don't care about your own and you are an older brother," he concluded with conviction.
Izaya had been quite relaxed.
Amused too, maybe even interested in the blond.
But that single sentence caused him to tense in his seat as the perfect smile he had worn slipped from his lips. "Why do you think I have siblings?" It was a whisper, barely audible and unsettling to a fault.
Within seconds the entirety of the cozy morning hours had frozen to an icicle.
His guest's expression had vastly changed in a matter of seconds.
Shizuo had fucked up. He was aware. But the reason was not.
"The way you moved to guard the girl. You spared not a second to think before leaping in," he continued despite feeling that it was wrong to do so, but somehow his tongue wouldn't listen. "And you used plural just now, meaning I'm right and it's more than one."
He knew he was right the second he spelled those words, and yet he wished he could take them back.
It was haunting. The similarity suddenly reflected in his guest's eyes.
Shizuo had been the one feeling down when he started the shift, and now the tables seemed to have turned.
Awfully quiet and void of any answer his virgin wave merely hummed before taking another sip from his depleting coffee.
Something about the topic of his siblings seemed too touchy to bring up and Shizuo regretted doing so the moment he finished talking.
Guilt along with disappointment spread its dark wings into the vast space.
A few agonizing seconds passed and suddenly the silence around them became apparent with heavy force.
Shizuo hadn't realized how quiet it was when they didn't talk.
Bound to nothing but his own thoughts his lips remained void of words to use as he tried to decipher the mood.
Was it the topic or a phrase he used? A memory?
The conversation was over. That much was obvious. And Shizuo was at fault for sticking his nose into details he wasn't supposed to.
But suddenly his guest sighed.
A smile. Much more gentle and undeserving of the situation appeared on his lips as he rested his chin on his palm.
"Bodyguard," he suddenly spoke with words that sounded awfully favorable, breaking the context of their conversation at a level that Shizuo failed to follow.
"Huh?" he uttered mildly perplexed.
He could have left the bar.
Thanked him for the coffee and disappeared only to never talk to Shizuo again. It was a sad result that Shizuo had deemed very much adequate to this heavy silence.
But he didn't.
Instead he remained, with eyes brightened by curiosity and a glint to them that held Shizuo in a clutch tighter than he had ever felt.
"I'm trying to guess your former job. Since you were a bit rusty at serving guests I'm guessing it was not that of a bartender."
His tone had changed.
That's the first thing Shizuo realized. And somehow he suddenly felt light. Relieved all in front probably. But more so captivated.
Whatever it was that he had mindlessly brought up, it seemed to have both upset and earned his trust at the same time. A mix that shouldn't mend well but somehow did.
His guest's demeanor had changed.
Sarcasm and plays of words were his preferred way of conversing, but the underlying attitude had shifted into something much closer than before and caused Shizuo's own guard to drop.
"And a bodyguard was the best shot you had?" he asked, much more freely and void of the bartending act, and his guests smiled as he picked up the adequate change and shift of the topic at hand.
A smile pressed against his lips and his eyes narrowed to a teasing taunt. "Am I wrong?" It was funny, considering Izaya hated losing he was awfully glad he hadn't guessed correctly from the get go.
"Who knows?" his bartender shrugged with a kind of nonchalance that served more of a joke than an actual attempt to evade the question.
It was a challenge yet again, one that his bartender was going to truthfully confirm once he spoke the correct answer.
Judging from his reaction now, bodyguard was not the job he had worked before and Izaya hummed in spiking curiosity.
"Why did you take this job?" He needed more information. Hints of some sort.
But the bartender seemed awfully difficult to trick.
"What do you mean?"
Feigning innocence now? Too late.
"You should be aware that not only money is changing possession here," Izaya pointed out and behind his back. The reference to his previous Russian partners was clear as daylight. "If you want to bartend, there are a lot more decent bars around."
His eyes held a glint of tease, and yet a spark of actual care seemed to remain and caused Shizuo's lips to tug into a curious smile.
"Are you looking out for me?" The question was as bold as it had hit bulls eye it seemed, considering his virgin wave's reaction.
His guest seemed awfully startled by the counterquestion and offered a quick shrug instead of an answer. "Would be a shame if you ended up being shot in the back one day just for serving the wrong guy the wrong drink, don't you think?"
An awfully flattering statement, neither confirming nor denying his question. His guest was playing him like a fiddle in the midst of a raging sea and Shizuo found himself oddly fine with the idea.
He was aware of the truth carried in his words. One didn't need to be a genius to understand that serving the job of a bartender in this club was paired with a bottomless pit of risks.
He should be careful with his words, and even more so with his special guest. And yet somehow he didn't feel appalled to talk to his virgin wave.
Coming closer he crossed his arms on top of the counter and nodded towards the ceiling. Or rather. The drinks. The mirrors settled upon the walls and the entirety of the oval room.
"I used to work here," he announced what he shouldn't give away easily, but somehow he felt it was fine with this guy.
"When?" Curiosity spiking infinitely he immediately craved more answers and caused Shizuo's lips to form a smile. "Ten years ago. Was my first job."
Ten years?
It took Izaya only a fraction of a moment to derive a lot more from this piece of information than it seemed to deliver. His age for one thing. Seemed to be close to his own, because judging the bar they weren't going to hire a teenager so he must have been at least eighteen years old, making him something around twenty now.
Also- who on earth would let a young adult like that bartend in a place like this if they didn't have some sort of connection?
… either that, or really bad luck.
Loan sharks, ways to pay up a debt and reasons alike popped to mind as Izaya gauged the probability of each.
And yet, despite the many conclusions he had drawn, he spoke of none openly.
Because the way this bartender moved, carefully, dedicated but also incredibly composed, he felt like he just pried open an oyster that was supposed to stay shut for eternity.
Was he making amends for bringing up something he shouldn't have earlier? Izaya couldn't tell, all he knew was he seemed to have earned a right he didn't know.
"And you got fired from your new job?" he asked instead and the bartender confirmed. "You could say so, yeah."
Fired, huh? A cheshire smile spread across Izaya's lips as he grinned.
"What did you do? Insulted the wrong person?"
A good guess. Better than anything else at least. It caused amusement to spread across the bartender's expression.
Amusement- and a touch of danger.
Izaya couldn't tell what it was that suddenly caused the shift in perception, but it did, and Shizuo spoke.
"I killed the owner."
The last sip of coffee should not have been taken at that moment as Izaya found himself choking for a second.
Bold, emotionless, wearing a smile the answer had held a tune that better fit an announcement of today's drinks than the content they truly held.
Searching for hints of humor or jokes Izaya looked at the bartender in pure perplexion.
But Shizuo remained static, unfazed- and for some reason awfully unreadable.
Feeling his own lips tug into a smile masking insecurity, Izaya tried to cover his loss of understanding as he shook his head in mild amusement and snorted.
Nah.
He was messing with him.
But it was the best joke and act he had seen in a while. He almost believed him.
It was an experience as fascinating as the entirety of this strange man, and yet Izaya didn't find himself offended.
This was just as far as his bartender was willing to go. He had reached the oysters limit, just as the bartender had reached his earlier. And that was fine.
They were not here to pry or interrogate, and so he gently pushed the empty cup towards the bartender with a smile on his lips.
"Thanks for the coffee."
His smile was returned with equal interest and mischief. "It was a pleasure." And honestly? Nothing better could have been said to end this evening with a cherry on top.
A last glance was cast and Izaya pushed himself from the counter.
He was in a good mood, better than he had felt for the entirety of the week honestly. Was it the guy himself? The fact that he had gotten to converse about anything that was not related to his work? He couldn't tell.
All he knew was this warmth in his chest as he ascended the stairs leading to the exit of the building.
Not a soul was met. A cleaner spared him a very short glance, initiated by surprise and ended by recognition, but he was used to that. He was used to the way people treated him depending on their status. He was used to these halls and to the limousine that was waiting in front of the club.
One should think that since he was used to all of this, that a mere change of location wouldn't affect his conscience. Not anymore. Not after all this time.
But it did.
The second he got out of the club everything turned dull.
The back of the limousine was graciously opened and Izaya slipped into his seat. It was comfortable if nothing else and for the smallest second a yawn dared to slip.
Crap he was tired.
The car's door acted like a barrier to the real world beyond that bar and he sighed.
"The usual place?" The driver asked the question he always asked, and honestly Izaya wished he could break out of this endless wheel with a different answer.
But he couldn't and so he sighed as he replied the only valid answer to the question.
"The usual place."
to be continued~
Flirting is good and all, but at the end of the day we are missing a little action here aren't we? A little spark of danger C: ... let' fix that in the next update C: xD