Do Somethin'

[tossingtrashcans]

Shizuo handed Shinra a bottle of water before he nodded to Kida and walked over. He poured Kida a glass of something that was sitting there then handed it to him before he returned to getting shit ready around the office.

It wasn't long before some people he didn't know showed up, followed some someone he did. “Hey Simon.” He said.

“Shizuo!” The Russian called out and walked over to him, “Where Izaya?” He asked looking around.

Shizuo shrugged and looked up to Kida, “I think he's on his way.” He said then looked to Simon, “Something to drink?”

“Water. If you know what I mean.” He said.

Shizuo nodded then poured Simon a shot of vodka then brought to the man. He returned to the liquor and took a step back, trying to figure out what he wanted. He wanted at least one drink in his system before Izaya got there.

He settled on making himself a appletini. Thankfully, Izaya had 100 proof top shelf vodka. Oh bless his taste in alcohol. Once the drink was mixed and made he poured it into a scotch glass, lifted it and downed it quickly. He pulled the glass away and breathed out. He took a little more time making the second one.

Just as he turned around from taking a drink from his second one did he see Izaya walk through the door.

“Sup.” He said, raising the glass to him before he took another drink. He walked around and pushed Shinra closer to Simon, then joined Simon on the couch, engaging the two in light conversation.

[Deleted]

Shinra looked around, blankets snug around him and smiled. There was the man of the night… Izaya Orihara. He dared to move his arm and wave at the other, a bright smile on his face despite the tremor in his movements. He wished he could jump up and tackle Izaya to the ground and hug him to death but – perhaps lucky for the informant – that was impossible.

Izaya was, needless to say, looking completely shocked. It was like a surprise party. Shizuo didn’t take well to surprise parties – last time Shizuo was surprised, someone landed in the hospital. But Izaya nearly cried when they were graduating and Shinra decided to throw him a surprise “congrats on your acceptance!” party.

Izaya was cute that way. It was one of the reasons he liked the guy so much.

“Izaya-kuuuuuuun!” he giggled, trying to catch his attention, “’aven’t seen you in a while…. Hey, you look like the cat I had in either grade….” He mumbled, referencing the black and white coat Izaya ALWAYS wore.

[UndergroundGod]

There was not only someone in his office… there were a lot of someones in his office. After being frozen in the doorway for about thirty seconds, Izaya decided that that was silly and took a few steps just inside the doorway, obviously still in shock as his eyes moved around the room.

Ran, Mikage, Namie, Haruna, Kine, Kida (Ran, Mikage, and Kida were entangled in potential death match, but there was nothing new there)… but as he looked around, it wasn't just his "elite" team in the room. Shinra was there, looking light-headed and amused; Simon, too, with a grin on his face and vodka in his hand; and… Shizuo. What the hell was Shizuo doing there? In the haze of his confusion at the sight of all these people scattered about his office, socializing (and probably straining not to murder each other), the single most perplexing presence was Shizuo's. Seeing the man added to the shock that froze him in place near the doorway as he tried to swallow exactly what was going on here.

He noted vaguely that they had gotten into his fully stocked bar, though Izaya didn't really mind. The alcohol was mostly for guests anyway, as Izaya rarely drank except to make clients feel comfortable and if he did, it was only wine. Though he could deal with a buzz, Izaya had never particularly liked being intoxicated as it made him unable to think clearly. Due to his dislike of the drink and his thin body, Izaya was an incredible lightweight, which only encouraged him to stay away from the drink.

Kida had opened a $600 bottle of 1983 Cheval Blanc and was more or less chugging it like it was some bottom shelf booze. Shizuo had something that looked suspiciously like an appletini that he raised to Izaya as he greeted him with a casual, 'sup.'

The boy thankfully offered an explanation to him, claiming that he'd decided to throw an office party, though that still didn't explain why Shizuo, Shinra, or Simon were there, as none of them were related to his office.

It was Shinra's greeting that caught his attention the most though. This was why he'd avoided visiting the man since the attack. Seeing Shinra made the surprised look on his face finally soften. Ever since the incident, it was so hard to look at his once dear friend, because every time he did Izaya was reminded of just how powerless he was, even when it really mattered. Shinra was still in a wheelchair, unable to walk, and he was obviously a bit loopy. On heavy pain meds, Izaya guessed.

Izaya forced a smile to his lips as he looked at his friend, taking a few steps closer to him, even as his heavy heart throbbed painfully.

What was this really all about?

[Deleted]

After Izaya seemed to calm down was Kida's turn to glomp him. He tried to remember what his favorite drink was, the one that he always drank when things got intense back when they first met, and had a glass poured out, waiting for Izaya, which was now going into the man's hand. "I hope you didn't mind I invited a few extra people. Karisawa-san and company might show up, as might..." he paused, no that was far too painful to think about right now. He shook the thoughts away. "As might Anri-chan, if her schedule's cleared enough."

He doubted that Mikado even read his text before he deleted it. And even then, why would Mikado go out of his way for Izaya anymore when the leader of the Blue Squares -- not the figurehead, but the real one -- wanted Izaya dead? Oh well. Time to crank the music. "There's some food on the table, if you're hungry. Don't worry, I'm the one who made it."

[UndergroundGod]

Out of nowhere, Kida threw himself at him, somehow hugging him despite having wine glasses in both of his hands. Izaya nearly jumped, but caught himself in time to prevent embarrassment.

He was terribly out of his element. The last thing he'd had that was even close to a party was when he'd gotten his team together. At the time, he'd suggested a hot pot party, but he'd never really thought it would happen, not with the individuals that made of his group and the frequency with which they exchanged all-too-casual death threats. None of them really… got along too well.

Kida claimed to have invited a few others as well, Karisawa being that girl in Dotachin's group of friends, and… even Anri Sonohara? Though Izaya doubted she would show up, they were hardly on good terms.

Kida shoved the glass of red wine into Izaya's hand and he noticed it was the Italian Chianti wine he liked. Again, Izaya wasn't much of a drinker… but as he heard Ran making a lewd remark to someone behind him, he had a feeling it was going to be a long night. It might be good to be a little sauced for all of this. At least that seemed to be Kida's theory on it. And Kida wasn't dealing with half the things that were hurling themselves around Izaya's head.

He raised the glass to his lips, took a long drink.

Trying to distract himself from the worry swirling around his head, he grinned at Kida, teasing, "And that's supposed to comfort me? I've tasted your cooking, you know. At least tell me Saki helped."

[Deleted]

Watching Izaya's eyes widen marginally at the hug was all that Kida needed to assure himself that Izaya was still in shock over the surprise party. That was perfect. It wasn't at all often that anyone could manage to surprise their boss, and so this moment was meant to be savored.

"Anri's his friend with the big tits, right?" Ran had asked, thinking Kida wasn't able to hear over the sound of Kida cranking up the music. This...was met with a nearly crazed warning look. Kida was so not in the mood for this man today, all things considered. In the end, he just slapped that smile he so often wore in the face of epic stupidity and decided to let it go.

Izaya spoke, a teasing tone in his voice, which Kida had long since gotten used to. If you knew how to read Izaya, the first thing you look through his what was his poker face and what he truly meant in his statements. Teasing tones could mean about anything...if you were new to this game. If you weren't, then the way he said it implied he was trying to get out of saying that he hasn't eaten in a while. Dammit, why were he and Saki the only people that actually tried to make sure Izaya minded his health?

"I promise you, it's grilled, so it doesn't suck." He pointed to the portable grill that was waiting in case Kida needed to make more. "See? Now eat. Really, Izaya, I know how to read you just as well as you can read me. Also, Simon brought ootoro for you, in case you decide my cooking isn't suitable for your palate." He was about half-joking there.

Kida paused, thinking. What else needed covering? Did anything else need covering? He supposed not. That was always a good thing. So, instead, that sly, not-quite-showing-teeth smile that Kida was oh so good at when he was up to no good crossed over his face.

"I also made sure that the upper level is inaccessible unless, say, you know how to vault over a couch..."

So if Izaya just needed to be alone for a while, or if he finally decided to act on what everyone knew already, he and Shizuo would not be disturbed.

The smile went back to his normal grin. "Of course, now that you're here, Saki and I want to dance~" and he went off to grab his girlfriend to do so. After all, it was a party and dancing was good getting your leg muscles back to par.

[UndergroundGod]

Kida tried to reassure him that the food had been grilled so it was fine… and there were a few other people around eating it so that it couldn't be too horrible. Kida had probably been improving recently. Considering his diet had consisted mostly of instant ramen when he's first gotten involved with Izaya, there was nowhere for Kida to go but up. Izaya supposed he could give the food a try at least, since he hadn't eaten since earlier that morning…

"Really, Izaya, I know how to read you just as well as you can read me."

The words had been embedded between sentences, but they hadn't avoided Izaya's detection. It reminded him distinctly of what Simon had said to him so long ago, that despite what Izaya thought, people could see right through him. Izaya didn't like thinking about that. He had so much confidential information tucked away in his head, about himself and about others, that he didn't like to think that people couldn't see that… and it had to be a lie that most people could. Izaya couldn't imagine that every person he walked by knew what he was thinking… No, people like Simon sure, sometimes Shinra… and, he supposed, Kida. Even then, he didn't like thinking that people knew exactly what was going on in his head.

The mention of ootoro immediately made him perk, his stomach gurgling slightly at the thought. The prospect of his favorite food was somehow a comfort and he made a mental note to thank Simon.

Kida then took on a mischievous grin, though Izaya wasn't quite sure what it was about, as he was only explaining that they'd used the couch to block off the stairs so that no one could go up there. Which was a good idea, as Izaya didn't want people tramping all over his office. He couldn't imagine why Kida would make that devious face about it, though.

The smile became more innocent again (as innocent as Kida's smiles ever were, anyway) and Kida ran off to grab Saki for a dance.

Izaya sighed and shook his head with a vague smile. He still felt like something more was going on, but he'd seemed to rub off on Kida after all this time; it was getting so it was fairly impossible to get a straight answer out of the boy, so Izaya knew better than to try to pry more with him. He took another sip of his drink, and headed over to the food table to see what he thought he could stomach…

[tossingtrashcans]

Shizuo looked up to Simon, “No.” he muttered then lifted the glass up and finished it off. He got up then nodded to Simon as he handed him the shot glass.

He walked around the two of them and headed over to make himself a thrid and get Simon another shot. He was roughly minding his own business and he knew to cut himself off when the drinks started tasting more like vodka and less like apples. He poured the mix into the scotch glass then took a drink as he poured a shot for Simon.

He glanced over and saw Izaya just a stones throw away. He pretty much ignored the man for the first time. Ever. He grabbed the shot then walked back over.

Once it was handed over to Simon he sat down and took another drink. He held the glass in his hand, watching Izaya with the food. Wondering.

Shinra snapped him out of it before his thoughts went to in depth.

[Deleted]

Haruna wasn't quite sure what was going on, but she wasn't sure that she wanted to. All the strange blond had told her was that Izaya was not himself, and if he doesn't feel better soon, she might not get to see Takashi.

Takashi Takashi Takashi Takashi she needed to see Takashi why wouldn't Izaya ever let her go see him?

She still smiled at Izaya as he sat down, letting himself grab some food from the grilled meal that the blond boy provided. It was pretty good, after all, and she happily started to talk Izaya's ear off about her beloved Takashi and that evil parasite of a girl that took him away from her.

---

Ran, in the meantime, just sat there and listened to that idiot Saika girl ramble on about nobody of consequence. His mind was more preoccupied with other things, things that actually help him instead of hindering.

For example, the stupid leader of the Yellow Scarves was completely off guard. He brought his stupid girlfriend, and they were in the middle of the floor doing this stupid dance that was probably the latest craze for kids their age. It would just be so easy to bump him and seeing if he knew how to fly.

That was completely against his plan for revenge though. He needed to wait before he acted out against anyone under Izaya's protection. It really shouldn't have surprised him that the shogun of the Yellow Scarves was actually Izaya's favorite pet. After all, Izaya's influence is what turned the tide of the war, and now, despite the informant having turned his back against him, there was Kida Masaomi, alive and well despite his attempts to choke him out, dancing around with what counted a high position of trust with Izaya (he personally would not let anyone less than trustworthy go after his nemesis) and that skank he called a girlfriend.

...Yumasaki and Karisawa first, Ran, with Kadota out of the way Yumasaki and Karisawa will show themselves soon, and when no other choice presents itself, so will Togusa.

---

Kida was a bit worried about how everything was on some sort of standstill. It was like nobody here liked each other. Which, well, that isn't exactly much of an exaggeration, but Kida was not going to let Izaya slip up and lose to Jinnai just because things aren't going his way. Usually, the minute the first couple hits the dance floor is when the ice is officially broken and the party starts.

Grabbing Saki's wrists and spinning her in so her back pressed against his front, and then spinning himself loose, he tried to think quickly. How was he supposed to get everything to work?

Saki was pressed up against again, Kida's leg in between hers as his hands went over her legs and hips. What could work?

Well, there was always letting a fight break out, but Kida was a lover, not a fighter. Usually. He was definitely Saki's lover tonight, though. Hmm...

"Come on, guys, it's a party, not a meeting!"

[UndergroundGod]

After getting himself a plate, he had a choice of where to sit. Mikage and Namie were across the room, discussing something, so on the couch, there were seats open next to Ran and Haruna…

Izaya picked the lesser of two evils and sat down next to Haruna. She would talk his ear off, he was already well aware of that, but it was better than having to suffer through Ran talking to him. To be honest, Haruna's single-minded devotion to seeing Takashi again was something of a relief for him. She had a singular motivation, which made it significantly easier to manipulate her. All he needed to do was assert that he was the one in control of letting her see Takashi again and she was putty in her hands. He would only expect betrayal from her if someone could possibly offer a more immediate path to Takashi, and Izaya didn't have to worry about that, considering the man had gone deep into hiding after leaving Ikebukuro.

From time to time, to keep her satisfied, he would feed her pictures of the man that had been snapped in secret in the countryside.

Kida was next down on the list in terms of who Izaya felt most secure in dealing with, though he was well above her in terms of usefulness and reliability. Izaya at least knew he didn't have to worry about Kida maliciously turning his back on him. Though still aware of the possibility (as he was with anyone), Izaya would be most surprised if Kida were the one to stab him in the back.

Namie was doing it for the money and for the hope that she would get to watch Izaya crash and burn in a front row center seat. She was happily transparent about that fact.

And Ran, of course, was the one Izaya knew to watch out for. The thing was, Ran's plan was set up like a row of dominoes, his revenge carefully planned with each victim carefully ordered and lined up. Izaya couldn't be taken out before so many others, who couldn't be taken out before a few certain people. In theory, as long as Izaya kept that first domino from falling, Ran was a safe pawn to manipulate.

It only took a minute or so for Izaya to drown her out, nodding slightly at intervals to show he was listening, as he ate the food that… wasn't all that bad. Kida and Saki were doing some dance that Izaya preferred not to watch, so instead he leaned back in his seat, looking casual.

Kida's call just a moment later nearly made him laugh. The boy couldn't have gotten together a more ragtag group for a social event and if he actually though he was going to get anyone else to dance, he was far crazier than Izaya had anticipated. Izaya wasn't sure anyone else in the room even knew HOW to dance, and if they did, he was sure the dancing would look awkward at best.

Besides, there were no other couples there and no one else in the room even had a feasible dance partner.

[Deleted]

The rest of the crowd that was Dragon Zombie stared at their boss's unofficial right hand man as if he'd gone outright insane. Dancing? What?

Finally Kida put a hand on his chest and sighed dramatically, as if he had made a joke that Mikado didn't get, for the millionth time. "Alright, I guess that means I'm just gonna have to dance with all of you until you guys feel better about it."

He went to the first coworker he could find, Mikage, and grabbed her by the hand, leading her out. "Okay, you first."

Mikage stood there, watching as Kida tried to teach her...until he final gave up and she strolled back to the bar. How annoying, he hated when women did this.

"Saki, why must your kind be so difficult?" He narrowed his eyes; the giggle and shaking of her head was all the answer he needed.

Haruna got pulled up, and for a while, it was going great. She had her arms around his neck and was moving semi gracefully, and all was well.

"Hey, you're not that bad, Haruna <3"

"You better hope Takashi doesn't find out that I danced with you."

[UndergroundGod]

Of course, Izaya should have known better than to think something like that would make Kida give up. The boy was… persistent, sometimes dangerously so, and nothing as silly as no one having a suitable dance partner was going to stop him from trying to make everyone in the room dance.

As Izaya watched Kida move over towards Mikage, he took a long drink from the glass of wine and accidentally finished it off, already beginning to feel the warmth of the drink on his cheeks.

To be honest, he didn't think about how he hadn't eaten all day and how the food that was in his stomach mostly consisted of two little bites of grilled fish. He didn't think about what sort of affect that alcohol would have on a lightweight like him on a near-empty stomach, and he didn't particularly want to. He was sick and tired of thinking. He'd been doing nothing BUT thinking for months and months and he was tired of it. For once, he just wanted to relax and NOT think.

What he wanted was another glass of wine.

Not trusting anyone around him enough (considering, as Haruna got tugged to her feet by Kida, who must seriously have a death wish, that only Ran was there to watch his plate), Izaya took what food was left on his plate and headed for the bar with it.

As he turned to look over there, he saw that Shizuo was standing behind it, making himself another lime green drink that had to be at least his second since Izaya got there, though more likely his third or fourth if he'd been here for any length of time. It was sort of surreal to actually see Shizuo standing behind the bar. He always wore those bartender uniforms and Izaya supposed he had worked that job for quite some time, so when it came to pouring and mixing drinks, Shizuo very much looked like he knew what he was doing. Izaya had just never seen him in this element before and he watched him for a moment.

Once that first drink was finished and poured into the scotch glass he was using, Mikage leaned over the bar and Shizuo set to work mixing up something orange and red in a tall glass.

The wine Izaya wanted was on the far side of the bar, on the other side of the man, and Izaya wasn't sure what he would do if he approached him… though to be honest, Izaya was in the mood to throw caution to the wind and what better way to do that that to talk to Shizuo. Besides, Izaya hadn't had the energy to be bothered with being chased the last few times they had crossed paths so who knew… maybe the man had grown out of his need to throw a fit whenever they saw each other.

He would have thought more about the man (because there was a lot to think about)… but again, he was trying NOT to think.

Instead he swallowed and headed up towards the bar, setting his plate on it and leaning in a little. He was trying to grin, to keep that carefree mask on his face, but his heart was throbbing as he stood there, only the bar and a few feet of space separating him from the older man, and he couldn't keep that grin on his face, couldn't look Shizuo in the eye, resulting in a more timid look on his features as he spoke, "Hey, mind handing me the chianti? It's the round bottle that looks like it's in a basket."

[tossingtrashcans]

Shizuo didn't really seem to mind when people asked him to make them a drink. He did it for awhile a few years ago. He had picked up a few things here and there that he still remembered. Once they had their drink he walked back and started making his now fourth appletini. They were a sweet and rather alcoholic drink he seemed to enjoy.

He glanced up and noticed Izaya was walking closer as he was pouring the vodka into the glass. He listened as Izaya spoke but said nothing. He just set the vodka down turned around skimmed the shelf and grabbed the one that Izaya wanted. He opened it and held it out to him. Setting the cork down, he grabbed his glass and sniffed it. He made a face then added a little more vodka, capped it then returned it to it's place.

Shizuo grabbed a straw then stirred his drink up.

He watched as Izaya poured the beverage himself. He wondered just how out of it the man was. He seemed rather lax over the fact that here just inches from him he stood. There was no angry words exchanged, no enraged comments. Just them being slightly tipsy adults.

Shizuo tossed the stir stick then picked the glass up once more and took a drink, perfect.

[UndergroundGod]

Wordlessly, Shizuo turned to the shelf, grabbing the correct bottle. The man popped the cork and handed the chianti towards Izaya.

As he was handed the bottle, Shizuo's hand was at the top of the neck and Izaya reached to grab it right beneath Shizuo's hand… and as he did, their hands touched briefly, brushing lightly past one another. Instantly, Izaya felt his head tilting and his cheeks flush; though he was set on blaming the reaction on wine, he offered a soft "thanks," then turned his head downwards a bit more in an effort to hide the reaction from Shizuo.

Come to think of it, it had been a long time since he'd had any contact with Shizuo. Over the years, there had been the occasional angry forehead pressed together, but it was so rare that they touched, and hadn't been at all on the past few months and something about the soft heat of Shizuo's skin against his shook him.

Izaya filled the glass nearly to the rim, and decided to drink a little now… but then he ended up finishing half of the very full glass in a long continuous swallow (even though that just wasn't the way one was supposed to drink wine), as if that was the only thing he could think of to fill the awkward silence that had settled between them. He was probably drinking far too much, far too fast, but he was quickly realizing that he didn't care. Really, he couldn't even force himself to care. For reasons beyond the awkward company and his current mood, he suddenly didn't care how drunk he got.

It was so strange that without anything rude to say to Shizuo, Izaya couldn't think of anything to say to him at all.

He finished the wine in a long gulp, and poured himself a new glass, just as full as before, took his plate and his wine, and headed back to his seat.

[Deleted]

Kida took a break from dancing a few minutes later, finding the wine bottle and pouring himself a legitimate this time. Ah. It's about halfway gone already? Oh well. Maybe he was sharing the bottle with someone. After all, there were plenty of people here.

He waved at the redheaded man strolling on with the gaudy cane, who bent down to his ear to whisper that Shiki was caught up with work and might not make it. Kida blinked, whispering back that Shiki needed to be here if he wanted to still be working with Izaya. The yakuza shrugged, bending down to say that if he can make it, he will, but sometimes it just wasn't easy.

Kida sighed, taking a long drink from his wine glass.

"...Aren't you a little young for that, Kida-kun?"

Kida waved the question off. "Nah, I'm close enough to twenty. Are you staying?"

"I can't stay any more than my boss can. I might come back later though, alright?"

Kida snickered and grinned, waving as the one-eyed man headed back for the door after giving a quick greeting to Izaya. He drained his cup in the matter of a minute or two, trying to think of alternative there. He had gotten Shizuo to show up, but he was pretty sure that Shiki was just as important to Izaya, and him not showing might actually be counterproductive.

Sighing, he took his bottle and refilled it. He wasn't feeling anything. Maybe this stuff wasn't going to be enough to get him to feel that delicious warmth and buzz that he needed in order to just plain function around these people. The people that he invited just for the sole purpose of keeping him sane through all this had yet to show up, and he wasn't holding his breath. After all, Anri probably said it best when she sent him the text to remind him that Izaya is the person that had caused all of Kida's problems currently.

Eventually he'd get around to telling her that there was no way in hell that it was all Izaya when the true problem was lying deeper, was hiding in Ikebukuro where none of them could find it.

Maybe somehow Jinnai was responsible for the sudden change in Mikado. After all, Mikado was sitting back with the Blue Squares right now, plotting their next move, and somehow Kida just refused to believe that he was moving on his own accord, not when Izaya had a war to create. Mikado would have stayed where he was if the strings were in Izaya's hands. He told Izaya to watch him, to keep him protected. izaya was not so stupid as to deny him of that.

Kida pressed his head to the cool surface of the bar, losing his ability to think. Good, good. Thinking was bad. He was supposed to be having fun tonight. He had Saki, he had a few pretty girls, he had Izaya, and really, because of how Izaya had played his cards, that was all that Kida really felt he needed.

So nevermind Jinnai. Nevermind Mikado. Nevermind anything.

He reached for his glass and soon number four joined number three, and another glass was filled, waiting to help him numb all these negative thoughts coursing through his mind.