❄~Snow Buddies~🌨

Shizuo frowned as the man rambled, seemingly unaware of how insulting half of what he said was. He grit his teeth, and slowed his breathing while he listened. When the man was finally done, Shizuo thought about how to reply.

"I don't understand everything you just said. Apparently you think I am a tree, but I'm not the one being shady. I appreciate you taking me in, but I'm not offering you my body to pay for the room. If I have a soul, I'm not trading it for a place to sleep. I don't know what information you might want from me, but I will try to answer any reasonable questions." Shizuo said.

Talking about equal exchange is easy when you have a lot to trade, and saying you don't care about money is easy when you are wealthy. This guy fit his idea of the wealthy nearly perfected. Arrogant, self-important, and assuming. Full of shit. He didn't pick this room for any reason other than that it was the very last one available in the whole city. Shizuo didn't see any purpose in continuing down that line of thinking, though. The man could say whatever he wanted, the words he spoke weren't as important as the actions he took.

"You can spend your money however you like, and keep whatever company you like. I didn't mean to imply you couldn't. I just want you to know I cannot afford to pay an equal share. I'm not going to kiss your ass, but I'll be grateful. I'm not really interested in your money, or your looks. I'm just interested in keeping out from the cold." Shizuo said.

If I every really needed money, Kasuka would loan it to me. Shizuo thought.

"When it comes to equal exchange, how does someone decide what's equal? Your money is worth less to you, yen per yen, than my money is to me, yen per yen. You're much more willing to part with it. I can tell just by looking at you that you are willing to pay more for things than I am, because you can afford it. You probably paid more for one or two of your outfits than I paid for all of my clothes combined... So 1,000 yen isn't worth the same to two people." Shizuo said.

"But 'the company of another who will not kiss my ass' seems valuable to me, and I don't value it much at all. You have plenty of money, and I have plenty of people to spend time with that won't kiss my ass. So, how much is your money worth, and how much is my company worth?" Shizuo said.

Shizuo's frown deepened, as the blonde man tried to figure that out himself. "I know a guy. I don't like him much. But he charges 50,000 yen per hour to just talk to you, plus you have to pay for any food or drink. I'm sure he's a lot more charming than me, but he'd also be kissing your ass a lot. But if that's the price of company, then that's the price of company. This room costs 40,000 yen per day, I know because I was trying to figure out how I was going to pay it."

Shizuo smiled at the man and shrugged. "I guess, though, I have less experience and I'm probably a lower quality product than he is, though he would have qualities you would hate. I suppose if I charged 10% of what he would, that would mean..."

Shizuo furrowed his brow and did math.

"Eight hours per day would be equal." Shizuo concluded.

Hands Off

“Kadota. You’re not OK. Really.” Shizuo said firmly. “People don’t get that drunk when they are OK. Especially not alone.”

Shizuo shook his head. “You can go home, if you want, but I’d feel better if we talked about first.”

take two and scene

“Better? In some ways, I guess. I went on a date the other day, but it was for practice, or something. But it’s been more of the same other than that.” Shizuo said.

“If... well, if you don’t feel safe... I’m sure it will be fine? But if you need a place to stay, I have an extra bed for when my brother visits, and I have a second room with a desk in it. It’d be better, though, if we just helped stop the criminals, I guess.”

German Chocolate

Shizuo was frowning ferociously at a pair of swim trunks, and then another. “They all look the same. How am I supposed to decide?”

Finally he randomly grabbed a pair and frowned at it before throwing it at the rack and grabbing another.

“This one. I’m going to wear...” Shizuo frowned and grabbed another. “Maybe this..?”

“I’ll try them both and see how they look.” He said, clearly annoyed at the clothes.

The Storm

“No, I actually really don’t like cooking at all, but if I don’t cook, I don’t eat, and starvation seems like a long and miserable way to go.” Shizuo said, continuing to work.

Shizuo briefly remembered that he has just been trying to kill himself by getting hit by lightning, but his mood had improved drastically for some reason. Someone with a formal education on the matter might have wanted to guess at the cause and affect of his moods, but Shizuo was just happy to be happy, sad to be sad, angry to be angry...

“Huh.” He said to himself, realizing that his mood always spiraled like that. Feeling any emotion made him feel that emotion to be feeling that emotion. He supposed that was normal though, people liked to be happy and didn’t like other emotions.

“Well, it’s almost done. Luckily, most of the things I know how to make don’t take long. Just hate to wait for the... and the rice is done too.” Shizuo said. The clattering of bowl precludes the dish being served suddenly.

The meal was... sweet. Shizuo used too much sugar in his sweet sticky rice, and the fish had too much honey. It wasn’t horribly sweet, but perhaps surprisingly, and it certainly would have been better with less sugar in it. Shizuo, however, didn’t seem to notice.

“Tell me something interesting about yourself.” Shizuo asked. He rather liked hanging around with Azami. At least he didn’t have to worry about accidentally killing him or anything.

“Oh? That is inter-”

“...”

Hachi-kun, up on a pole, dancing seductively. Wearing... Oh dear lord.

“...”

“OK.”

I Feel Dismayed

“I don’t… I didn’t say that.” Shizuo said. “But…”

Shizuo thought about it. “If you actually kill him, and you can prove it without a doubt…”

“Sure, I’ll do anything.” Shizuo said, looking away. This guy was starting to make Shizuo feel uncomfortable. “But, like what?”

“Shouldn’t sell yourself if you don’t know the buyer.” he mumbled a bit amused at the others uneasiness. It was kinda cute. Made him want to unsettle him further but he let it go and nodded. “Alright, its settled! I’ll bring you Orihara’s head and you’ll go on a date with me~! No cutting corners! it’s gotta be a good date! so prepare yourself! For I’ll find this orihara and then i’ll whisk you away for a magical night!” he jumped around excitedly as the idea of the date drowned out the prospect of just what it would take to get it. 

Shizuo bit his lip and nodded at the other man. "I won't cut any corners. If Izaya is dead, I'll really need to celebrate, and that'll mean pulling out all the stops."

Watching the man bounce around erratically made Shizuo worried what the man thought a date was, but to have his most hated enemy dead, Shizuo would happily give up his life or livelihood. Hopefully whatever this deranged man had in mind wouldn't be much worse than that.

"What sort of magical night? Like, visiting the aquarium?" Shizuo tried to think of what could be done out here.

Shizuo hadn't been on many dates; in fact he had just recently started dating. His first date had been only about a month ago. Shizuo wondered if he was jumping off into the deep end with this guy. What sort of man would literally kill for a date? What sort of things would such a man find fun to do on a date? Kill other people? No, if Kindred wanted Shizuo to kill innocent people, Shizuo would just have to break his word. But maybe the man was just unhinged, and a date like walking through the back would be fine.

Shizuo suddenly remembered something Erika had warned him about and then shuddered. What if the Kindred was a yandere? He probably was. Maybe Shizuo had just made a terrible mistake.

The Storm

Shizuo nodded to Rio. He stepped into the bathroom, closing the door with the definite click of the lock. A few seconds later the shower turned on, and in less than five minutes it cut off again.

A short while later, Shizuo emerged in just a towel, holding onto it with one hand while he dried his hair with the smaller towel in his other. He walked to his room, and shut the door behind him. After what seemed to be much longer than it should have been, Shizuo exited his room.

A rare sight, Shizuo was wearing a black T-Shirt with the word RAMUNE across the top and a crashing wave under it. He was also wearing black jeans, which appeared to be a bit loose. Shizuo waved at Rio as he crossed the room to the kitchen and got to work.

Along with fish and rice, Shizuo pulled out a small container of a sauce that was clearly homemade. "It's actually easier to cook for two. Since I don't buy prepackaged food, all the things I buy have enough food for two people. I don't like leftovers, so cooking for a second person is just the excuse I need not to have to eat any."

The rich smell of fish wafted into the air. Shizuo hummed for a few seconds while he cooked, and then looked up at Rio and quickly looked away. He reddened slightly and stopped humming. "If it's too cold, you can turn the heater up."

Hands Off

abandonedrage​

“Large I guess. I don’t really pay attention to specifics.” He glanced up at Shizuo and made eye contact for a few seconds before the blonde looked away.

Water droplets streamed down the man’s toned body as he moved toward his friend. Considering the line of work, the condition of his body wasn’t surprising to him but to anyone who had the opportunity to see him without his baggy clothes was blessed. 

Kyohei didn’t mind being practically naked in front of his friend considering they were both guys right? It’s not it’s really anything he hadn’t seen. The brunettes hair had fallen in his face as he moved around. 

“I’m sorry about this. Thanks for helping me out.” 

Continuing to avoid looking at the still wet and poorly covered body of his friend, Shizuo mumbled a quick "OK. It's fine." before going back into his room.

Returning with a pair of gray jeans and a white shirt with the word 'Ramune' written in teal bubbles that came out of one of their iconic bottles, Shizuo laid the clothes out on the table. Without anything else to do, Shizuo scooped up the dishes and washed them, clearly avoiding looking anywhere near Kadota.

"Once you are dressed, we can talk more." Shizuo said, trying not to seem rude but also uncomfortable with his friend's scantly clad appearance.

I Feel Dismayed

“I don’t... I didn’t say that.” Shizuo said. “But...”

Shizuo thought about it. “If you actually kill him, and you can prove it without a doubt...”

“Sure, I’ll do anything.” Shizuo said, looking away. This guy was starting to make Shizuo feel uncomfortable. “But, like what?”