Chapter 10: Two way Protection

Had the guy told him that glasses were used to hold liquid it would have served as more interesting information than the card that was extended towards Izaya.

Disregarding the piece of cardboard entirely Izaya didn't bother to hide his reluctance to interact with this individual as he glared at the guy.

"Eavesdropping is a bad habit just so you know."

A smeary smile crawled along the fossilized man's lips and he showed nothing but pure confidence despite the adversity.

"Only good lawyers know where to dig to find the gold," he replied with certain calmth and all intentions to turn this insult into a favorable conversation.

Annoying.

Turning the card he had been handed Izaya glanced at the crisp cardboard covered with smooth texture. Golden lines had been stamped onto the card and the words general council throned right on top of it. Izaya was of course aware that this man's position was none to be neglected from the get go. Depending on the company he was responsible for providing legal advice for he could be missing out on a chance to expand his network of useful pawns.

Especially his age and the way he handled himself spoke of decades of experience.

And yet, right now?

He couldn't be less interested even if he tried.

Flicking the card back he showed not a shred of the admiration this lawyer sought.

"Is that supposed to impress me?" Music thrummed and the beats peaked as the lawyer's expression refused to falter. The card had met his jacket and fallen to the ground but he seemed to have no intention to pick it up.

Smile still in place as well as the unfitting confidence he leaned onto the counter while not letting his eyes trail off his current target.

"I know every answer to every question you have never thought of," he tried showing off and those words might even have passed as a proper flirt, had they not been spoken by a voice too old to even consider visiting a club.

Izaya was done with this conversation and so should he. "Okay, then do tell me," Izaya flashed his most innocent smile and curiosity as he met the guy's glance in faked interest. "Is suicide self defence since you are killing the person that is trying to kill you?"

Music thrummed and the beats accelerated as if underlining Izaya's satirical question. Purple and violet danced on the lawyer's confused expression as that confidence slipped for just a second.

"...what?"

The purple flashed to bolts of blue and white, just as Izaya's expression as he took a satisfying sip from his virgin screwdriver. A glance was cast towards the lawyer and his eyes, alluring as they were, did not fail to transmit his amount of satisfaction as he hummed.

"What a disappointment, seems you don't know all answers I desire."

That hit hard.

Izaya could tell by the way the lawyer's shoulder sank. He was faltering. In both his confidence as well as his presence. And yet there was still the slightest hint of resistance glinting in his old eyes. A smile was forced back onto his old lips as he caught himself.

"Desire is a complicated thing and even harder to please. Give me your number and we can talk over it at dinner?"

This geezer.

He really wasn't giving up. The slightest frown played along Izaya's face as he moved the screwdriver aside in order to face the guy head on.

"Why would I?" The question was serious. No hint of playfulness or jokes was hidden beneath his words as he didn't care anymore about the amount of dissatisfaction he showed.

Usually he was all up for smiles and games as long as they worked in his favor. But it seemed this time he needed heavier artillery to kill this beast.

And the bartender seemed to have noticed that as well.

"He is not interested, you should have understood that much." Surprised to hear his newest center of interest speak up for him, Izaya looked towards the bartender.

He was in the middle of mixing another drink it seemed. A glass was turning in his hands as he sprinkled its top with a thin layer of salt.

Reposado tequila and orange liqueur had joined the freshly squeezed limes in their destined shaker and with a quick and elegant motion the bartender poured the three main ingredients of what appeared to be a margarita into his already prepared glass.

His words had been a most obvious warning to the lawyer and the glances the bartender cast towards the guy were of most obvious displeasure.

But of course none of that was going to convince this old guy to give up.

Moving the ordered cocktail into the direction of his female colleague the lawyer dismissed the warning as quickly as it came.

"Come on, I can see we are destined to be together," the lawyer spoke, but Izaya's attention had long digressed from this boring topic. The bartender was a much more interesting topic to follow as Izaya couldn't help but wonder what caused this guy to carry as much confidence as he did.

"If it's meant to be you will guess it," he replied in an effortless manner, successfully halting the smooth advances by the geezer.

"What?" the lawyer was starting to fumble, and the sight on display grew more and more pathetic by the second.

"My number," Izaya sighed and forcefully brought his attention back to the lawyer.

An almost horrified expression drew across his features as he seemed to slowly realize that his prestige was not the key to every goal he had.

"That's nine digits," he pointed out in a last attempt to convince Izaya of a different outcome. He even managed a smile to the sinking ship that this conversation was. And so did Izaya as he showed his best smirk and tilted his head.

"Good luck? I heard morons have it in spades. So you should be able to get it right on your first try."

"You-" That's it. Now he was losing it.

Izaya could tell by the way his body tensed that he was about to move. To do what exactly he couldn't tell, just that it wasn't going to be anything he liked. Anger sept off his expression and he rose from his seat. To do what? Touch him?

Disgust in its purest form rose from the back of his throat as Izaya slipped from his own seat.

He hadn't really paid any further attention to the bartender. The last he saw was him serving the drink he had made to the guests that had ordered it. Izaya hadn't really noticed that he returned. And he certainly didn't expect him to move forth from the bar when he did.

Like a rainbow rising amidst pouring rain the bartender suddenly appeared to Izaya's right. A glance was cast. One of surprise mostly. And before Izaya even got the chance to ask or argue about the bartender's intentions he already executed what he had in mind.

The back of the lawyer's shirt was grabbed in an unceremonious fashion of raw strength and even less care and he pulled the annoying bastard into the direction of the entrance. Letting go at the precise moment that the lawyer lost his balance, Izaya could do nothing but watch as he stumbled a few awkward steps ahead.

"Enough," the bartender announced with the same timber voice of melted honey and dark chocolate, and yet turned to the guy it couldn't have held a darker tone.

Craning his neck towards the most obvious path he nodded towards the entrance.

"See the door?" he asked, but didn't mean to get an answer. "Use it."

Not many people noticed the light commotion. But even those who did only cast a spare glance towards the old guy before stifling a snickering smile.

All in all nothing was left for the lawyer than humiliation if he dared to turn around again, and he knew.

Shot hesitation and signs of pure blooded anger battled for dominance in his old eyes, but he turned and left.

Just as the bartender had asked him to.

Shizuo was sure of his victory and even more satisfied that the annoying geezer was finally sparing them from his disgusting advances.

And yet the second Shizuo turned his virgin wave showed none of the appreciation he had thought he might.

Instead a glare rested in his eyes paired with the slightest hint of a smile.

"Any reason you interfered?" A bit of confusion rested in Shizuo's mind as his brows furrowed. He obviously liked that Shizuo got rid of the pest and yet he seemed mad.

"He annoyed me," Shizuo announced with the simplicity of actual truth, and for just a second that veil of madness lifted off his guest's eyes. He couldn't help but snort as the simple reply and sighed instead as he approached Shizuo with elegant steps.

"Understandable, but as a bartender, take my advice," his gaze was serious and words even more as he paused in his steps right next to Shizuo. Their shoulder barely brushed and his voice whispered in quiet caution. "You shouldn't just ditch anyone you see in here." A warning. Shizuo could recognize one when it was being handed to him as obvious as this. "I know you don't care what I do and I appreciate the fresh slate but not everyone is like me," his favorite guest continued and for a moment Shizuo was too surprised to utter a worthy response.

The music had tuned down and the dim lights of gray and green made it hard to read his guest's expression as the DJ prepared for the drop.

"Are you watching out for me?" Shizuo asked the question on top of his head without any filter, and he seemed to have caught his guest off guard as his expression shifted.

A blink followed. One of surprise on his own side it seemed, paired only with the shortest hint of a smile.

"I wouldn't need to if you were more attentive."

The beat dropped and the crowd moved. Nothing too unorderly or overly obscene, but somehow the rigid motion all around served a blinding contrast to the static moment that left Shizuo speechless.

He had expected a lot. Really.

But that?

Shizuo couldn't remember the last time someone actually looked out for him. And yet, here he was. This special guest. With no ulterior motives, no reasons to meddle, no orders to use him.

His guest didn't even realize what those words meant to Shizuo and it showed on his face as his brows scrunched.

"What?" he asked in the dimly lit room and Shizuo smiled.

"Nothing. I got it," he answered quickly. Then paused as he leant a bit closer to his guest's ear. "Then view it as payback."

Payback?

Izaya blinked.

"For what?"

And somehow the way those bartender's eyes lingered on him seemed awfully addicting. Pure. Captivating. And with a depth to lose oneself in.

"For your interest," the bartender spoke in his raw yet gentle tone full of appreciation and somehow Izaya found himself at a loss for words.

Right.

Because he cheered him up. That was the reason, right?

Izaya was a fan of riddles, especially those hard enough to barely be solved by him, and somehow he felt he was shown exactly that as he tried judging the bartender's expression.

But sadly there was not much time left to wonder as his eyes caught a different subject entering the oval room with radiation confidence. Russian bodyguards left and right only emphasized his importance and Izaya quickly greeted the man with a nod as soon as their eyes met.

Shizuo had obviously noticed his favorite guest's attention shift and followed his gaze to the reserved table in the corner.

"Don't wait for me darling, this is gonna take a while," his virgin wave joked in the sweetest voice and somehow Shizuo couldn't help but snort at the new nickname. He wanted to ask who this guy was, wanted to know why his favorite guest was meddling with them.

But he was well aware that all of those questions were locked beyond a level that he had yet to unlock.

Walking over without any further exchange Izaya quickly met up with his counterpart.

"Добрый вечер Mr. Kurokivitsch," Izaya greeted politely upon arrival and the Russian benefactor of their newest trade showed a most pleased grin. "I like that you call this hour barely evening when the day is almost over," he hummed with a pleased expression and nodded towards this new counterpart before signing for Izaya to take his seat.

Shizuo saw the interaction, albeit heard close to nothing over the distance of thrumming beats and louder music. The DJ was firing up the crowd, and as much as cheerful laughter and moving bodies served their workplace he despised the way they hindered him from listening in.

"All good?" Evelyn had approached from the side much quicker than Shizuo had noticed her and he turned with a slight hint of surprise.

Light of pinks traversed her worried expression and Shizuo realized he must have appeared quite odd to her, standing in front of the bar, staring into the crowd without any cocktail on hand or guest to talk to.

"Of course. Need a hand?" he quickly asked while turning towards the counter and referred to a group of young gorgeous girls that seemed ready to order more than just a round of drinks. Giggles and squeals over messages read to each other from their phones served quite the endearing picture of a girl's night out.

"Ah, I didn't mean to scold you or anything. If you need a break you can step out for a moment," she quickly spoke and raised her hand to sign the motion made when smoking and Shizuo snorted.

Of course. She thought he needed a fix.

As if on cue the sullen mood that had weighted on his shoulders emerged from the back of his mind. And yet it wasn't the only thought that did. He expected a certain feeling of drain, and exhaustion. Less physical but more on a mental side. But somehow none of that followed as his eyes glanced towards his favorite guest.

He saw his expression, the way he moved his hands to underline the words he spoke and the radiating confidence carrying them to success.

He didn't know what he was doing, just that this was what his virgin wave looked like when he actually wanted something and that sight was somehow enough to blow that cloud of gray off Shizuo's mind.

A distraction, huh? This guy certainly had managed to serve the best kind.

"Shizuo?" Evelyn repeated and the blond turned with a smile as he headed back to the bar.

"Thank you, but I don't need one."

to be continued~